{"id":2628809,"date":"2026-07-12T10:16:01","date_gmt":"2026-07-12T14:16:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/always-trust-the-science-researchers-learn-their-woolly-mammoth-backbone-actually-belonged-to-whale\/"},"modified":"2026-07-12T10:20:05","modified_gmt":"2026-07-12T14:20:05","slug":"always-trust-the-science-researchers-learn-their-woolly-mammoth-backbone-actually-belonged-to-whale","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/always-trust-the-science-researchers-learn-their-woolly-mammoth-backbone-actually-belonged-to-whale\/","title":{"rendered":"Always Trust the Science? Researchers Learn Their Woolly Mammoth Backbone Actually Belonged to Whale"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">28<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Falways-trust-the-science-researchers-learn-their-woolly-mammoth-backbone-actually-belonged-to-whale%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2628809&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/this-is-what-happened-the-last-time-israel-invaded-lebanon-washington-examiner\/\" title=\"This is what happened the last time Israel invaded Lebanon - Washington Examiner\">provided content discusses<\/a> the nature of science, emphasizing that it is not a flawless set of absolute truths but rather a human endeavor subject to limitations, errors, and influence from social and political narratives. It highlights historical examples where scientific understanding was incorrect or misled the public, such as the mistaken identification of whale bones as <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/a-mammoth-disappointment\/\" title=\"A Mammoth Disappointment\">mammoth remains<\/a>, the widespread endorsement of smoking as healthy, the use of barbaric lobotomies to treat mental illness, and recent dietary studies suggesting that certain supposedly healthy foods might accelerate cognitive decline. The text also critiques the overconfidence in &#8220;settled science,&#8221; especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, citing instances where <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/homeland-security-authorizes-tsa-to-enforce-joe-biden-mask-mandate\/\" title=\"Homeland Security Authorizes TSA to Enforce Joe Biden Mask Mandate\">public health measures<\/a> and guidance where later shown to lack solid <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/not-based-on-science-rep-massie-refuses-pelosi-mask-mandate-for-floor-vote\/\" title=\"\u2018Not Based On ...\u2019: Rep. Massie Refuses Pelosi Mask Mandate For Floor Vote\">scientific backing<\/a>. it advocates for a more cautious and critical view of scientific claims,recognizing that science is an evolving process that can be misled,and that blindly trusting every scientific assertion can be risky.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><br \/>\n<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC \"-\/\/W3C\/\/DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional\/\/EN\" \"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/TR\/REC-html40\/loose.dtd\"><br \/>\n<?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><html><body><\/p>\n<section> \t\t\t\t<script>console.log(\"ad slot (AC1)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC1)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC2)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC3)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC4)\")<\/script><\/p>\n<p>\u201cScience\u201d is not a monolithic set of truths that the general public should only eagerly await to be bestowed upon them by elites who supposedly know better.<\/p>\n<p>A more honest appraisal of science recognizes its limitations, its missteps, and its being subject to social and political narratives.<\/p>\n<p>Take an example of science\u2019s lack of perfection from the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.smithsonianmag.com\/smart-news\/mysterious-mammoth-fossils-discovered-in-alaska-turned-out-to-be-whale-bones-180987882\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Smithsonian<\/a>. In the 1950s, naturalist and archaeologist Otto Geist found woolly mammoth backbones while in Fairbanks, Alaska. The bones were housed at the University of Alaska Museum of the North for 70 years.<\/p>\n<p>Radiocarbon dating helped scientists conclude these bones were only 1,900 to 2,700 years old, much younger than other woolly mammoth bones that were over 10,000 years old.<\/p>\n<p>As it turns out, these usurpingly young bones did not belong to a wooly mammoth. They were whale bones.<\/p>\n<p>Is that anecdote meant to chastise Geist or scientists working with the bones? Certainly not, but is a noteworthy story in proving that the scientific process, when run by humans, is fallible.<\/p>\n<p>For roughly a century, as noted by <a href=\"https:\/\/scienceinsights.org\/when-cigarettes-were-considered-healthy-1800s-to-1964\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Science Insights<\/a>, smoking was not only considered healthy, but prescribed by medical doctors. Smoking \u201cwas actively reinforced by the medical establishment and the tobacco industry through physician endorsements, fabricated surveys, and aggressive advertising.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The American public relied on the science, and the science said smoking was harmless, a night and day difference to the prevailing view now.<\/p>\n<p>The lobotomy \u2014 the act of putting an ice pick through a patient\u2019s eyelid to sever supposedly bad brain connections used in the 20th century \u2014 was once pushed as a cure to mental illness. It was a barbaric practice that ruined lives, including that of Rosemary Kennedy, the sister of former President John F. Kennedy, who became unintelligible after receiving the procedure.<\/p>\n<p>Again, patients trusted the science.<\/p>\n<p>More recently, the <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2026\/03\/29\/health\/popular-healthy-food-was-actually-linked-to-faster-brain-decline-surprising-experts\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">New York Post<\/a> reported a staple food in the Mediterranean-DASH Intervention for Neurodegenerative Delay \u2014 a diet claiming to reduce Alzheimer\u2019s and dementia \u2014 actually increases cognitive decline.<\/p>\n<p>The diet includes whole grains like oats and brown rice, which a study from the Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery &#038; Psychiatry says is associated with a faster decline in the brain\u2019s grey matter.<\/p>\n<p>During COVID, we were repeatedly told to trust the science because, to refer back to that false notion, it is some ironclad set of unchanging truths that the plebeians of the world only need to have revealed to them.<\/p>\n<p>The science said to take an experimental vaccine and several booster shots. The science said these measures were safe.<\/p>\n<p>Never mind health complications or deaths thereafter, largely dismissed as \u201cvaccine misinformation.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>A man who even called himself the science \u2014 the former Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Dr. Anthony Fauci \u2014 told Americans to stay six feet apart to stop the spread. He later admitted there was not a scientific backing to the rule per a report by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.usatoday.com\/story\/opinion\/columnist\/2024\/06\/05\/fauci-hearing-covid-social-distancing-wrong\/73962967007\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">USA Today<\/a> from June 2024.<\/p>\n<p>There is settled science, but it is buffoonery to act like every claim of science is settled.<\/p>\n<p>It is not only foolish, but dangerous.<\/p>\n<div style=\"background-color: #f7f7f7; color: #171717; display: flex;font-size: 16px;font-weight: 600;line-height: 1.5;margin: 24px 0;padding: 18px 20px 18px 30px;text-align: left;\">\n<div style=\"align-self: stretch;border-left: 3px solid #171717;flex-shrink: 0;padding-left: 20px;\"><\/div>\n<p><a style=\"text-decoration: none;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/preferences\/source?q=https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/\">Choose The Western Journal as your preferred source on Google and never miss reporting that defends truth, protects freedom, and advances Western civilization<\/a><\/div>\n<p style=\"border: 1px solid #f5f5f5; padding: 16px;\">Advertise with The Western Journal and reach millions of highly engaged readers, while supporting our work. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/advertise-us\/?wj_source=article\">Advertise Today<\/a>.<\/p>\n<div style=\"position: relative;\">\n<div class=\"ff-fancy-header-container\"> \t\t\t \t<\/div>\n<div class=\"entry-submit-correction inner-content\">\n<div class=\"correction-form\">\n<form style=\"display: none;\">\n<div class=\"sc-name-field\"> \t\t\t\t\t\t<label>* Name<\/label> \t\t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"text\" name=\"name\" required> \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<div class=\"sc--field\"> \t\t\t\t\t\t<label>* <\/label> \t\t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"text\" name=\"\" required> \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<p> \t\t\t\t\t<label>* Message<\/label> \t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t<textarea name=\"message\" required><\/textarea> \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"required-message\" style=\"display: none; padding-bottom: 15px;\">* All fields are required.<\/div>\n<p> \t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"submit\" value=\"Submit\" onclick=\"event.preventDefault(); firefly_sc();\"> \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"firefly-sc-confirm\" style=\"display: none;\">Success!<\/div>\n<\/p><\/form>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p> \t\t<script> \t\t\tfunction firefly_sc() { \t\t\t\tif( typeof window.captchaPublicKey == typeof undefined ){ \t\t\t\t\tconsole.error('window.captchaPublicKey is not defined'); \t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\tgrecaptcha.execute( window.captchaPublicKey, { action: 'submit_correction' } ).then( function( token ) { \t\t\t\t\tvar opts = { \t\t\t\t\t\taction:    'firefly_sc_submit', \t\t\t\t\t\tname:      document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"name\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\t:     document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\tmessage:   document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"message\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\tpost_id:   firefly_post_id, \t\t\t\t\t\tcap_token: token \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\tvar inputs = [ 'name', '', 'message' ];  \t\t\t\t\tfor( var i = 0; i < inputs.length; i++ ) if( ! 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