Latest news with #Lamm
Miami Herald
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- Miami Herald
Kelly: Damaging lies continue to be spread about the these Dolphins
'A lie can travel halfway around the world while the truth is putting on its shoes.' Mark Twain supposedly said that, but there are some sites, sources, pundits who claim the 'Huckleberry Finn' author actually didn't. 'The truth has no defense against a fool determined to believe a lie.' Twain supposedly said that too, but then again, there are sites claiming that the legend of American literature didn't say that either. Who can you believe anymore? I have been a media member for more than half my life, two plus-decades, and my answer would be: 'be careful with who you trust for information.' Or better yet, find credible people [sources] you can trust based on their track record. And in this age of information — all it takes is typing something into a search engine, or asking Chat GPT — it shouldn't be that hard. But it is. And the problem has infiltrated sports as well. 'Someone said that I've slammed Dolphins culture,' offensive lineman Kendall Lamm stated on a rare Instagram post, obviously intended to clear his name from something that began circulating last week. The lie that was stated, and attributed to an ESPN report — which was never produced — was about Lamm allegedly claiming he understands why the Eagles played in two Super Bowls the past three seasons. It supposedly praised Eagles players for never being late, not being toxic and spending 15 minutes after every practice sharing personal struggles to stay mentally sharp. Then it claimed those are all things Lamm never experienced with the Dolphins. 'I enjoyed my time in Miami and it will be near and dear to me forever. When it comes to this article that's being sent, or an article that's published, unless I just completely forgot doing this, it had to be misconstrued or taken out of context because I have nothing but the most respect for everyone in Miami, and the people in Miami know that,' said Lamm, who signed with the Eagles this offseason, and is playing for his sixth team in 11 seasons. 'Things like this really don't bother me. Anyone can come to me and ask me the truth and I'll tell you,' Lamm continued. 'When it comes to culture and all that, bro, don't put me in the middle. Don't try to spin things because you guys feel [someway] about Miami. I loved my time in Miami to tell you the truth. Please, I am not the one. I would never even speak about Miami like that. Never! Never!' Lamm, who started 16 of 33 games he played for Miami as a key reserve on the offensive line the past three seasons, is a straight shooter. I got to know him well the past two seasons, and developed a great deal of admiration for him. If there was an issue, he would speak on it. The fact he wants to distance himself from those made-up words shouldn't be ignored. The sports world knows the Dolphins had a tardiness problem last year because the head coach specifically called his players out about it before their exit interviews, minutes before the team spoke to the press, in an effort to inspire change. The Dolphins, who produced a 8-9 season in a year where quarterback Tua Tagovailoa missed six and a half games because of injuries, turned their back on a ton of veterans this offseason, and have put one of the team's best players [cornerback Jalen Ramsey] on the trading block in an effort to facilitate that culture change. Everyone associated with the team swears they have noticed a change within the locker room. They spoke about it so much, so often this offseason it got annoying. The problem is, we won't know if this culture change is real until adversity hits, which is generally when we see teams splinter, much like last year's Dolphins seemingly did. There's no secret everyone on the football side of the organization is on the hot seat, and everyone in Miami Gardens realizes the Dolphins need to produce a winning record for those in power to stay employed. 'Their positive working relationship is an asset to the Dolphins, and I believe in the value of stability,' owner Steve Ross said in a statement announcing general manager Chris Grier and head coach Mike McDaniel were being retained at the end of the 2024 season. 'However, continuity in leadership is not to be confused with an acceptance that status quo is good enough. And there it is, the 'status quo' won't be good enough. 'We will take a hard look at where we have fallen short and make the necessary changes to deliver our ultimate goal of building and sustaining a winning team that competes for championships,' Ross said. Subsequently, the Dolphins lowered the team's payroll, reduced the team's spending in the offseason, are discussing trading away two of the team's top players (Ramsey and Pro Bowl tight end Jonnu Smith), and pushed toward a youth movement for the first time in McDaniel's tenure. We will soon learn if this speeds up the end of this regime, or fixes the Dolphins. The saddest thing about this South Florida fan base is that many Dolphins fans are pulling for failure in 2025 with the hope that it will lead to a full scale reset, as if that has changed the trajectory of the franchise in the last dozen or so regime and coaching changes since coach Don Shula was pushed out in 1995, and quarterback Dan Marino was forced into retirement in 1999. Mind you, those were also resets lobbied for by most of the Dolphins fan base. Football had changed and Shula couldn't adapt. The franchise needed Jimmy Johnson. Then Marino was past his prime, so it was OK to let Johnson push him into retirement. Whether that's the truth, or fiction depends on your agenda, and the same can be said about the next statement. The 2025 Dolphins have talent — not as much as the 2023 team, but enough to produce a winning season — and will succeed or fail based on Tagovailoa and the roster's health, Tyreek Hill's level of productivity, the effectiveness of the rebuilt offensive line and whether defensive coordinator Anthony Weaver can orchestrate the franchise's third straight top-10 defense. Very little of that has anything to do with the culture of the team, or what a former player says, or doesn't say about the Dolphins organization.
USA Today
6 days ago
- Sport
- USA Today
30 Most Important Eagles of 2025: No. 30 Kendall Lamm
Every day from now until the start of training camp, we're counting down our 30 Most Important Eagles for the 2025 season. The Philadelphia Eagles are gearing up for Super Bowl defense, which features plenty of new and returning faces within the organization. Several players, coaches, and front-office members are crucial to the team's success this season. Every day from now until the start of training camp, we're counting down our 30 Most Important Eagles for the 2025 season. We'll recap their 2024 season, look ahead to 2025, and tackle the most significant question facing them this year. First up is Kendall Lamm, a veteran offensive tackle who'll have the role of being the immediate backup for Jordan Mailata and Lane Johnson. Background Position: Offensive Tackle Age: 33 Experience: 11-year vet 2025 cap hit: $1,305,000 2024 recap According to Pro Football Focus, in the 2024 season, Lamm ranked first among tackles with zero sacks allowed and 10th among tackles with a pass-blocking grade of 83.1. 2025 outlook The Eagles shored up the depth along the offensive line with the addition of Lamm. Lamm played 15 games for the Dolphins in 2024 and is entering his 11th year in the league. The 6-foot-5, 308-pound tackle started seven games in 2024 and is the front-runner for the swing tackle position. Biggest question: Can Hamm hold off Myles Hinton? Lamm was signed by the Texans as an undrafted free agent out of Appalachian State in 2015. He spent four seasons in Houston before playing for the Browns in 2019 and 2020. After a one-year stint with the Titans in 2021, Lamm joined the Dolphins in 2022, where he has spent the last three seasons, playing 33 games. Lamm will compete with Darian Kinnard, Myles Hinton, and Laekin Vakalahi for the backup offensive tackle spot. 30 Most Important Eagles of 2025 We're counting down our 30 Most Important Eagles of 2025. Check back every day leading up to the start of training camp. No. 30 OL Kendall Lamm
Yahoo
11-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
SXSW London: Man hoping to bring dodo and mammoth back to life teases Jurassic Park collaboration
The man working on bringing the dodo and woolly mammoth back to Earth has hinted at the SXSW London event at a collaboration between his bioscience lab Colossal and the Jurassic Park films. The entrepreneur Ben Lamm, founder of Colossal Biosciences, has long been asked about the parallels between his work and the films of Jurassic Park, but has insisted returning the dinosaurs to Earth isn't possible at present due to the lack of available DNA. Dodos and mammoths died out more recently and DNA is available from fossils. Speaking at the SXSW London event in Shoreditch, Lamm teased a future partnership. During a panel discussion with the actor Sophie Turner, Lamm said he was 'very excited about Jurassic Park, and maybe there's future things coming. Not in the dinosaur world, but with those guys.' Lamm has always insisted his 198 employees at Colossal Biosciences are nothing like the fictitious world of Jurassic Park. Speaking to The Guardian earlier this year when asked about the comparison, he said: 'People have to remember that that was a movie, right?' Jurassic World Rebirth, the sixth film in the franchise, arrives in UK cinemas on 2 July. Colossal Biosciences has used genetic engineering processes to bring back to life the dire wolf, an extinct species that lived around 10,000 years ago. The three dire wolves are in a private 2,000-acre ecological preserve somewhere in the US, although the location has not been revealed. They are named Romulus, Remus, and Khaleesi, inspired by the TV series Game of Thrones. Also at the SXSW London event, Lamm revealed he hoped to share further news about Colossal's journey to returning the Dodo to Earth this summer. SXSW London features panels and events with entrepreneurs, film-makers, musicians and thought leaders and runs in Shoreditch until 7 June. Mayor Sadiq Khan opened the event, which originated in Texas in 1987, by pitching London as an international AI hub. Read more:
The South African
07-06-2025
- Science
- The South African
Colossal Biosciences' mission to reawaken Earth's lost wilds
Ben Lamm, co-founder and CEO of Colossal Biosciences, recently shared insights in a lively interview on the TechStuff podcast, hosted by Oz Woloshyn. The Dallas-based biotech firm is making headlines with its bold mission to resurrect extinct species. This included the dire wolf and woolly mammoth through pioneering genetic engineering. Lamm addressed the ethical debates head-on. When accused of 'playing God,' he fired back, 'We play God every day. Taking cholesterol medication is playing God on a personal level. Cutting down rainforests or overfishing oceans is playing God. So why not do it in a way that helps conservation and inspires science?' His frankness cuts through the noise, positioning Colossal's work as a natural extension of humanity's ongoing impact on nature. The company's first breakthrough came with the dire wolf. Lamm described the moment he saw the pups at five weeks old as deeply emotional. 'I got chills bumps. I teared up. It's very, very emotional.' The viral video of the dire wolf pups howling even moved Peter Jackson. The Lord of the Rings director and Colossal investor, was 'overwhelmed' seeing them for the first time, according to Time Magazine. Colossal's approach is rigorous and ethical. Lamm emphasised their 90 %+ efficiency in genome editing, achieved without unintended side effects. 'We read the DNA at every step. It's computationally heavy and costly, but we ensure every embryo is healthy. We're certified by the American Humane Society because we care about animal welfare and conservation,' he said. The company also sparked public fascination with its 'woolly mice' — a genetically engineered mouse with mammoth traits created in just one month. Lamm joked that the mice 'were objectively cute and took the Internet by storm,' proving their process works. He confirmed that similar edits have been made in Asian elephant cells. This is the closest living relative of the woolly mammoth, with hopes to bring a mammoth equivalent to term soon. Lamm called out what he sees as hypocrisy in popular culture. 'People love Jurassic Park's dinosaurs but don't want to call our dire wolves dire wolves. It's a semantic question, not scientific. It's a human construct.' This highlights the cultural challenges Colossal faces in gaining acceptance for de-extinction. With half the world's species forecasted to be extinct or endangered within 25 years, Lamm's vision offers hope through technology. His mission goes beyond spectacle; it aims to restore ecosystems and inspire new generations in science and conservation. Colossal Biosciences is reshaping how we think about nature, responsibility, and the future of biodiversity. As Lamm puts it, 'Sometimes when you work on new things, it's scary and hard. But I'm not backing off the mission.' This pioneering blend of cutting-edge science and bold vision could soon change the natural world Let us know by leaving a comment below, or send a WhatsApp to 060 011 021 1. Subscribe to The South African website's newsletters and follow us on WhatsApp, Facebook, X and Bluesky for the latest news.
Time Business News
25-04-2025
- Science
- Time Business News
Dire Wolf DNA Unlocks New Conservation Pathways Through Colossal's Work
The resurrection of the dire wolf by Colossal Biosciences represents not only a remarkable achievement in de-extinction but also a significant advancement in conservation methodology that could benefit numerous endangered species. The genetic techniques, reproductive technologies, and conservation approaches developed through the dire wolf program establish new pathways for preserving and potentially restoring biodiversity in an era of accelerating extinction. Central to these conservation applications is Colossal's deliberate strategy of pairing de-extinction work with parallel efforts focused on endangered species. As Ben Lamm, the company's CEO and co-founder, has emphasized, 'We try to pair every animal de-extinction event with a species preservation event.' This approach acknowledges that de-extinction technologies must demonstrate practical conservation benefits to justify their development, establishing an ethical framework that connects the resurrection of lost species with preservation of existing ones. The most direct conservation application emerging from the dire wolf program involves North American red wolves. This critically endangered species now numbers fewer than 25 individuals in the wild, facing imminent extinction despite decades of traditional conservation efforts. Using technologies developed through their de-extinction work, Colossal has successfully cloned several red wolves from different genetic founder lines. This achievement has 'already increased the genetic pool of red wolves by 25 percent,' according to Lamm, potentially offering a lifeline to a species that has been hovering on the edge of extinction. The specialized cell collection methodology refined during the dire wolf program has particular relevance for endangered species conservation. Rather than using invasive tissue sampling techniques that can stress already vulnerable animals, Colossal developed a method for harvesting endothelial progenitor cells from bloodstreams. This minimally invasive approach provides viable cells for genetic analysis and potential cloning while minimizing disruption to donor animals. For critically endangered species where every individual is precious, this reduced-stress collection method offers significant welfare advantages over traditional tissue sampling. Genetic diversity management—a critical challenge for small populations of endangered wildlife—represents another area where dire wolf technologies have conservation applications. The computational modeling techniques developed to predict how genetic modifications would express in living dire wolves can be adapted to identify which genetic interventions might most effectively increase population viability in endangered species with minimal disruption to adapted traits. This predictive capability could help wildlife managers make more informed decisions about genetic rescue interventions for inbred populations facing extinction vortexes. The reproductive technologies refined through the dire wolf program offer particular promise for species facing fertility challenges. The successful birth of dire wolves through surrogate mothers from a different species demonstrates the viability of cross-species surrogacy for endangered canids and potentially other taxonomic groups. This approach is valuable for species with minimal populations where natural reproduction is limited by geographical isolation or behavioral factors. The comprehensive pre-implantation genetic screening protocols developed for dire wolf embryos could similarly aid in optimizing genetic outcomes in captive breeding programs for endangered wildlife. Climate adaptation represents another area where dire wolf methodologies may assist contemporary conservation. The genetic modifications that recreated dire wolf traits effectively compressed thousands of years of evolution into a single generation. Similar targeted modifications—guided by appropriate ethical frameworks and ecological considerations—could potentially help vulnerable species adapt to rapidly changing environmental conditions that outpace natural evolutionary processes. This approach raises profound ethical questions but may become increasingly relevant as climate change accelerates beyond the adaptive capacity of many species. Disease resistance enhancement provides another potential conservation application. Many endangered species face threats from novel pathogens or diseases that spread through fragmented populations with limited genetic diversity. The precise genetic modification techniques developed for the resurrection of dire wolves could be adapted to enhance disease resistance in vulnerable populations without compromising overall genetic integrity. This targeted approach offers advantages over conventional breeding strategies that often require multiple generations to achieve similar results, time that critically endangered species may not have. Indigenous partnerships established through the dire wolf program offer valuable models for contemporary conservation. Colossal has engaged with several tribal nation,s including the MHA Nation, the Nez Perce Tribe, and the Karankawa Tribe of Texa,s to incorporate traditional ecological knowledge into both de-extinction and conservation work. These collaborative approaches demonstrate how scientific methodologies and indigenous knowledge systems can complement each other in developing more holistic and culturally responsive conservation strategies for contemporary wildlife. The funding model developed for dire wolf de-extinction may prove as significant for conservation as any specific technology. Colossal has raised over $435 million since its founding in 2021, demonstrating that ambitious approaches to biodiversity can attract substantial capital investment. The company's success in positioning genetic interventions as both technological frontiers and conservation tools suggests potential pathways for endangered species programs to access funding sources beyond traditional conservation grants and donations, potentially transforming conservation finance for particularly challenging cases. Public engagement strategies developed through the dire wolf program demonstrate how charismatic species can generate interest in broader biodiversity issues. By connecting the dire wolf resurrection to popular culture references, particularly through George R.R. Martin's involvement as a cultural advisor, Colossal has created multiple entry points for public engagement with scientific concepts. Conservation organizations working with less famous endangered species could potentially adapt these narrative approaches to generate greater support for their work. For Martin, whose writings helped reintroduce dire wolves to popular consciousness before their physical resurrection, the conservation implications represent a significant outcome. As a Cultural Advisor to Colossal, Martin has written in his personal blog about the responsibility that accompanies humanity's growing capacity to shape biodiversity outcomes, connecting storytelling to both scientific advancement and conservation ethics. The ultimate conservation pathway unlocked by dire wolf DNA may be a fundamental shift in how humanity approaches extinction itself. By demonstrating that extinction can potentially be reversed through targeted intervention, Colossal challenges the conservation community to consider more active approaches to biodiversity preservation and restoration. This paradigm shift suggests that extinction may increasingly become a choice rather than an inevitability for species threatened by human activities and environmental change—a perspective that could transform conservation from a discipline focused primarily on minimizing losses to one that is equally engaged in actively restoring what has been lost. TIME BUSINESS NEWS
