Over the last forty years I’ve spent a lot of hours working with various types of software, and the one thing that has always stood out as a lifesaver is the ‘Edit Undo’ command. The opportunity to go back a step and undo a mistake, or simply start again, has always felt somewhat miraculous. It’s a bit like waking from a nightmare and finding everything is OK, or—like a new video meme that offers the option of being cryogenically frozen until the recently elected US administration has changed—the option to sit out the world’s problems for a while. Looking through this issue, I was struck by the story of how white-tailed eagles have returned from extinction in the UK. Michael McCarthy spotted a pair flying over Cerne Abbas recently and there was also a flurry of excitement when they were seen over Symondsbury, near Bridport. White-tailed eagles, also known as sea eagles, were hunted to extinction in these parts and the last breeding pair is said to have been in 1780. This has got to be one of those moments where conservationists have proved that the concept of ‘Undo’ can be taken way beyond computer software. A return from extinction is the stuff of science fiction. However, as Michael McCarthy also points out, his excitement is tempered by concern over the loss of other species. According to the World Wildlife Fund, over 10,000 species go extinct every year. Seeing the return of one, albeit very large species is exciting. So, maybe attempting an ‘Edit Undo’ attitude to other disasters might be helpful, or just hopeful. The least we can do is make sure that DNA tissue of potentially endangered species is frozen until we have a more harmonious and forward-thinking future. Mind you, that might only work if more harmonious and forward-thinking people were frozen as well.
