Hundreds of Reindeer Died by Lightning. Their Carcasses Became a Laboratory.

Arguably the most uplifting article in today's, yesterday's, this week's, this month's, last month's NYT. Even somewhat funny that it's in the Trilobite section! While I'm not a scientist and don't play one on TV, anything having to do with reindeer gives me immediate, sentimental pause. Kudos to all involved in creating this marvelously thought provoking piece!

I'm curious how common lightning is and has been in this area. Reindeer often (but not always) inhabit areas where lightning has been rare, historically, and is growing more common as we continue to cause changes to our climate. Is this die-off a sign of things to come?

The aim of this research is, based on my understanding, to find out if changes in biodiversity are possible. The research raises three issues; namely "change", "bio" and "diversity". Those are complex questions. But I also know that there is a simple answer to every complex question. So, let's tackle this. When I look at the people walking on a crowded street, I don't see uniformity, I see "diversity". I also know that nothing stays the same, and that "change" is an immutable law of nature. The last issue concerns "bio", which implies life. And given that everything on earth has "energy", it can be assumed that that energy is "life" itself. So, my layperson's conclusion to this complex question is that "changes in biodiversity" are not only possible, they may even be desirable.

Existence is metamorphosis.

I always look forward to new articles from this section. Eye-opening stuff every time.

This is a wonderful article. NYT readers, though, might not know that what the researchers did and are doing is closely-related to a many-decades-old discipline known as "taphonomy," which is the study of what happens in the near term after organizations die. What's different about taphonomy is that taphonomists, usually paleontologists, are interested in how these processes affect the formation of fossil assemblages (a rather longer-term prospect than what we see here). Am I being clear that I think this is a fantastic, admirable study that's yielded very interesting results? I hope so, because I do. It's just great. I'm just offering a little scientific context.

Macabre and educational; my dream date!

Dead whales that sink to the bottom of the ocean also create islands of biodiversity that last for months to years.

Fascinating, as always. Thank you for the Trilobites articles.