A team of scientists from Japan and Germany succeeded in making a bigger neocortex in a marmoset fetus by tweaking a single gene.

The neocortex is the part of the brain involved in spatial reasoning and language.

Let the comparisons to replicating human evolution begin!

First, the ethical consideration: the pregnancy was terminated after 100 days.

The difference between a human and monkey brain is more than just size. There are differences in the relative sizes of brain sections, the number of folds present in the brain, and neurons' production. All of these increased after the gene-altering.

Fun fact: the larger the brain, the more folds are required to fit inside the skull.

Turning this into a story: what if super-smart monkeys take over the world? Oh wait, that's already been done.

What about an alternate history where it wasn't just humans who evolved courtesy of the gene? A fantasy story about an Earth populated by the four types of great apes: gorillas, orangutans, chimpanzees, and humans.

The story could start millions of years after the split, in what appears to be a modern world. There are four great civilizations where a specific type of ape is most common. Each of the governments deals with other species in different ways.

Humans keep gorillas, orangutans, and chimpanzees in designated reserves.

Gorillas allow all species free reign over their lands.

Chimpanzees keep the other apes in separate reserves for each species.

Orangutans subjugate the other species, making them slaves.

The four main characters in the story could be one from each species who discover mental links independent of physical distances. Similar to "Sense8."

First, they work to find each other. Three then discover that the fourth is held a chimpanzee held in orangutan lands. The first story could revolve around trying to get them free.

Subsequent books could be about running from orangutans trying to recapture the chimpanzee, fighting back against a government organization that wants to recreate their links for their own benefit, and discovering when apes are born with the connection.

The Popa Langur has been confirmed as a new species by a joint effort of scientists from three organizations. The hunt began when bones in a 100-year-old natural history collection were reexamined using modern technology, suggesting the species was separate from other monkeys in Myanmar.

They are named after Myanmar’s Mount Popa, an extinct volcano where the largest group of monkeys live (approx. 100 individuals).

This group makes up nearly half of the existing specimens. Unfortunately, the species is critically endangered–estimates of the total number still in existence range from 200-260.

This got me thinking: what if a human found themselves in a similar situation? Maybe a cohort of 250 is taken into space?

I’m reading The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy for the first time and imagine a similar start to the story. A group of people belongs to a cult that just so happened to be correct about a coming apocalypse. An alien saves the entire group, taking them light years away to a habitat built for them.

Humans have to navigate infringements on their environment by outside companies wanting natural resources, hunting, and losing their main food supplies. In short, everything endangered species deal with now.

The main character would be a child who grows up watching the interaction between the humans in charge and the aliens, the primary contact being between those in preservation groups.

I’m imagining a cross between Octavia Butler’s Dawn and The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy.

This could easily be a series where some group members escape and adapt to life in a city and complete destruction and relocation of their habitat. The eventual assimilation with an alien species would end the human race.

Twelve people in Denmark have been infected by a coronavirus variant from a new animal carrier: minks. It’s a different type than the one responsible for the pandemic.

Officials aren’t taking any chances with a spreading outbreak and plan to cull the entire mink population.

There’s a potential silver lining from this newly discovered transmission vessel. With any luck, this news will kill rumors about the deliberate spread of COVID-19 from Chinese labs.

 A complete culling of minks on Danish farms will result in the death of between 15 and 17 million animals.

What if a more ubiquitous animal was discovered carrying a virus that could spread to humans? Maybe one that was important for US agricultural production?

In a story based on this scenario, we could look back at a more potent form of mad cow disease. With the entire US cattle population’s culling, a new synthetic type of meat and milk created in a lab would dominate the market.

The main character could be a young girl who raises a cow hidden in a cave, similar to stories of secret dragons. Then, when the animal is discovered, a race to save its life begins. First, with locals who try and kill the cow, then with scientists who want to destroy the last remaining specimen of the species.

The cow and the girl are aided by an underground movement that has been able to keep a few of the animals alive, unknown to mainstream society. The bulk of the novel could be the trip out of US borders, taking the cow to a place either in Canada or Mexico where it could live without worry. Similar to “Free Willy.”

Thinking about the idea further, it could actually be a dragon story and explain why dragons are so rare in the first place. I’ve never written a fantasy story before, but this could be my chance to pay homage to the numerous fantasy movies and novels I read as a child.

Scientists have filmed a ram's horn squid in its natural habitat using a remote-controlled camera. The squid is tiny, just 7cm long.

Ram's horn shells are commonly found on beaches throughout the world. The squid uses the internal shell to maintain buoyancy­; the cuttlefish is the only other animal with the shell inside their bodies.

The only movement in the video is the fins at the squid's base. With its tentacles and head above and fins below, the creature's position in the video has scientists questioning their beliefs about how the animal moves throughout the ocean. In aquariums, the tiny squids orient themselves with the tentacles down.

Turning this into a story, what if a conservationist discovers a rare, endangered animal in an area about to be destroyed by developers? They could have to fight to save the animal, then their lives when the developers see their future profits torn away.

The story would be a thriller, complete with a Rambo-like sidekick who takes up the cause. It was supposed to be one of his final jobs, but instead, he's pulled into a fight to keep the scientist alive.

The story could end with the delivery of documents to a government official, who shuts down the development firm.

The second book in the series would be about a pharmaceutical company that isn't interested in the property but the creature itself after discovering properties that could revolutionize medicine. A thriller in the wilderness would turn into a thriller in the city, fighting to stay alive while uncovering the pharma company's illegal business practices.

This duo, the scientist and the mercenary, could go on to save endangered plants and animals all over the world. Each time, they take a stand against large corporations that not only want control of nature but want to kill the two people standing in their way.