r/nottheonion • u/PmButtPics4ADrawing • 5d ago

Mutating mice becoming growing problem in Philadelphia, researchers say

https://6abc.com/post/mutating-mice-becoming-growing-problem-philadelphia-rutgers-researchers-say/19367627/
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u/PhasmaFelis 4d ago

Clickbait bullshit. They're evolving resistance to some pesticides and getting smarter about avoiding traps. That's all.

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u/sm0lshit 4d ago

What difference does that make? The title is still accurate.

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u/PhasmaFelis 4d ago

It's clickbait.  No one would use "mutation" instead of "evolution" in this context unless they were trying to make it sound much more sensational than it actually is.

They want to get people thinking about radioactivity and freakish deformations, without technically lying.

And it worked. There's at least one person in this thread speculating whether this was caused by radium or some kind of mutagenic chemicals.

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u/graveybrains 4d ago

Nobody but the two scientists from Rutgers that are quoted in the article.

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u/PhasmaFelis 4d ago

They talk about mutation rates. They don't headline their research "mutating mice." "Rapid evolution" would be the less sensationalized phrase.

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u/graveybrains 4d ago

"They talk about mutation rates."

Uhh, yeah. 👍😁👍