Ronan Taylor, a GWCS junior, was one of six youth speakers at a Tedx Talk event in Fairfax, VA on Saturday, May 16, 2015.  The theme of this event was:  The Examined Life.  Ronan gave an illustrated talk entitled 'Is Extinction Permanent?'  Ronan talked about the new, exciting possibilities for cloning extinct animals such as the Pyrenean ibex, the woolly mammoth and even the dinosaurs!  If a species dies can it come back? Can we bring it back? In 2000 a beautiful and majestic species went extinct, the Pyrenean ibex. The last individual dubbed Celia was found dead. A biotech company called Advanced Cell Technology attempted to clone one. They succeeded, but the animal died shortly after it was born. Nowadays technology has improved and I believe we can create a completely healthy ibex. In fact I believe we can do better. Perhaps mammoths, mega fauna and possibly even dinosaurs could be recreated. The ecological and tourist applications are almost endless, but there is one very important question we should be asking. Should we bring back extinct species?

Click Here to view Ronan's talk.

Although most people are familiar with TED Talks, many have not heard about TEDx Talks which are becoming more and more popular in communities around the world.  "TEDx was created in the spirit of TED's mission, 'ideas worth spreading.' It supports independent organizers who want to create a TED-like event in their own community."