Pale white dire wolf in grassy field, forest background.

The De-Extinction of Dire Wolves: Colossal Success or Dire Mistake?

On April 7, a biotechnology company named Colossal Laboratories & Biosciences came forth with an extremely bold claim against the laws of nature itself: that using their revolutionary “de-extinction” technology, they can “mak[e] extinction a thing of the past.” As a proof of concept, Colossal revealed that they had made 20 edits to a gray wolf embryo’s DNA and, on October 1, 2024, three dire wolf pups were born, the first of their species to walk the earth in over 10,000 years. To many, this is a spark of hope. 

Vibrant spring flowers including calla lilies and orange blossoms at eCorsair event.

Annual Spring Festival of Flowers

On the first weekend of April, the Milton campus at Pensacola State College held its annual flower festival. With the help of the University of Florida and the Institute of Food and  Agricultural Sciences, the area was filled with all kinds of plant nurseries, tents with information about conservation, woodworkers, painters, live music, food trucks, and much more.

Child facing an adult in a tense moment, highlighting themes of adolescence and emotional struggles.

“Adolescence” and the Unspeakable

It’s difficult to look at a travesty happening before your eyes. We talk frequently about how easily we can look up and get obsessed with extreme acts of violence even before the rise of the internet, but that’s not what’s being talked about. The real travesty is to look not just at the impact of such violence but also at the aftermath and see the effect. The crying, the trauma, the anger, the backlash, and – most distressingly – the ways such acts of death can affect people.

Audience watching Hadestown performance at historic Saenger Theatre in Pensacola.

Hadestown: Broadway Songbirds Visit Pensacola’s 100-Year-Old Saenger Theatre

The Saenger Theatre has long been a large part of Pensacola’s arts and culture. Standing in the heart of Downtown Pensacola since 1925, the theatre recently celebrated its 100-year anniversary. To commemorate it, they hosted a grand reopening ceremony with a ribbon cutting and cake on April 4. On top of this, the Saenger hosted two free showings of the Phantom of the Opera silent film, one of the firm films to be shown back when it first opened in the 1920’s.