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A comment on U.S. Agency Declares 21 Species Now Extinct L. Parent comment

Re:U.S. Agency Declares 21 Species Now Extinct L by agevag on Monday November 20, 2023 @07:58AM (#38347320)
No, the energy was spent and now we have it in the form of petroleum, which we use to advance our civilisation at an extremely fast rate.
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Re:U.S. Agency Declares 21 Species Now Extinct L by itishappy on Monday November 20, 2023 @12:43PM (#38351344)
Sure, we can burn animals for energy, but the following process:

Nature -> Petroleum -> Refinery -> Power Plant -> Simulation -> R&D -> Production -> Testing -> Drug

is significantly less efficient than:

Nature -> Testing -> Drug

The argument is that we could likely be advancing biotech industries at an even faster rate.

The time energy that goes into designing something is valuable, and we lose access to that once we lose access to that species.

Put in Douglas Adams terms: "If you try to take a apart a cat to find out how it works, the first thing you have on your hands is a non-working cat."

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