How do you take down a $20 billion black market and save the rhinos with a 3D printer? Like this.
With rhinos on the verge of extinction, this start-up is the species' best chance of survival.
A biotech start-up named Pembient is hoping to put an end to rhino poaching in a very unconventional way.
Pembient's goal is to create artificial reproductions of wildlife products — like rhino horn and elephant ivory — in an effort to wipe out the black market.
Basically, they're giving rhino horn consumers what they want — or rather, artificial, genetically identical 3D printed versions of what they want.
Yep, they plan to do all this through 3D printing; creating a product indistinguishable from the real thing. And by "indistinguishable from the real thing," I don't just mean in appearance. I'm talking about appearance, feel, weight, right down to the genetic makeup.
It's really cool, futuristic-sounding technology that the company says they hope to be able to unveil in June this year.
See that thing in the middle? That's the “fake" one.
Source: Arvind Gupta/Twitter: "The world's first man-made rhino horn! #unbelieveable @pembient @indbio @sosventures"
By flooding the market with a genetically identical product, the black market price will drop considerably, making rhinos a less lucrative target for poachers.
"We surveyed users of rhino horn and found that 45% of them would accept using rhino horn made from a lab," said Matthew Markus, CEO of Pembient, in a press release. "In comparison, only 15% said they would use water buffalo horn, the official substitute for rhino horn."
It's great that nearly half of the people Pembient surveyed would knowingly use lab-made rhino horn, but what's even better is that if the end product is as good as they would lead everyone to believe, it could have the effect of overloading the rhino horn supply (because it'd be indistinguishable from real rhino horn) and force the market price of rhino horn down, making it less attractive to poachers.
In other words, Pembient's 3D-printed rhino horn could undercut the entire black market. This seems like a solid approach because, honestly, other anti-poaching efforts haven't worked.
Poaching might not seem like that big of a problem, but when I started digging into it, what I found was horrifying and heartbreaking.
Over the past 40 years, 95% of the world's rhino population has been lost to poaching.
Just last year, more than 1,200 rhinos were killed in South Africa. That doesn't mean much without additional context. Well, here it is: That was a record high, up by more than 20% over the previous record high (which happened to be in 2013). Also, since 2007, poaching has increased 90 times over.
Rhinos are in trouble. Big, big trouble.
Nearly every species of rhino is considered critically endangered, with some species — like the Northern white rhino — having their numbers dip into the single digits. And yet they're still hunted.
As for why rhinos are poached, it has to do with the value of their horns.
Rhino horns have been valued at up to $35,000 per pound on Asia's black market. Comparatively, that means that pound for pound, it's worth as much as cocaine.
Knowing this, it's easy to understand why someone would break laws to bring down rhinos: it's big money. Big, big money.
And demand for rhino horn is boosted by the (erroneous) belief that the horn can cure cancer, strokes, and all sorts of diseases.
While it's illegal to possess rhino horn powder in a number of countries, demand still exists. In large part, the unproven belief in this brand of alternative medicine is what drives the poaching industry.
This photo shows a woman in Hanoi, Vietnam grinding a rhino horn down to powder.
This plan might be the last chance to shift momentum in the rhino trade before rhinos go extinct.
It looks like virtually every other method of reducing rhino poaching has come up short.
"Rhino ambassadors" made up of people like Vietnamese pop star Hong Nhung have gotten increasingly involved with efforts to shift public opinion on the use of rhino horn powder.
"People back home need to learn that we need to keep these animals for future generations and not let them disappear," Nhung told the Agence France-Presse.
Hong Nhung is seen here in September 2014 near a dead white rhino near Kruger National Park.
Users of rhino horn powder swear by it (despite the lack of evidence that it actually serves a medicinal purpose). This keeps demand high, and so long as that demand exists, poachers will continue to kill rhinos.
This man was protesting outside the Chinese embassy in Pretoria, South Africa, in September 2011.
So, if demand is going to stay naturally high, how do you bring it down? Raise the supply (with lab-produced horn)! If that works, the price of rhino horn will plummet, and poachers will be less and less inclined to take the risks needed to continue poaching.
When it comes to taking down a $20 billion industry like the illegal wildlife trade, all options have to be on the table, and it seems like Pembient has as good a chance as any to create real change that benefits the world's rhino population.
The Frenchman's monologue was absolutely spot on 
A court reporter taking notes.via
Depiction of Jesus Christ in Heaven.via
A photo of Santa Claus.via
A man sweating in his car.via
Many people—including 
If not for that darn silver....
Sadly, Lake Tahoe's proposals were overruled. 
National parks are the ultimate tourism magnets. 
Entire economies depend on a local national park. 
Dinosaur National Monument looks like a national park, but is it?
There's a reason why some people can perfectly copy accents, and others can't
Turns out, there's a neurodivergent link.
A woman in black long sleeve shirt stands in front of mirror.
Have you ever had that friend who goes on vacation for four days to London and comes back with a full-on Queen's English posh accent? "Oooh I left my brolly in the loo," they say, and you respond, "But you're from Colorado!" Well, there are reasons they (and many of us) do that, and usually it's on a pretty subconscious level.
It's called "accent mirroring," and it's actually quite common with people who are neurodivergent, particularly those with ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder). According Neurolaunch, the self-described "Free Mental Health Library," "Accent mirroring, also known as accent adaptation or phonetic convergence, is the tendency to unconsciously adopt the accent or speech patterns of those around us. This linguistic chameleon effect is not unique to individuals with ADHD, but it appears to be more pronounced and frequent in this population."
Essentially, when people have conversations, we're constantly "scanning" for information—not just the words we're absorbing, but the inflection and tone. "When we hear an accent, our brains automatically analyze and categorize the phonetic features, prosody, and intonation patterns," writes Neurolaunch. For most, this does result in copying the accent of the person with whom we're speaking. But those with ADHD might be more sensitive to auditory cues. This, "coupled with a reduced ability to filter out or inhibit the impulse to mimic…could potentially explain the increased tendency for accent mirroring."
While the article explains further research is needed, they distinctly state that, "Accent mirroring in individuals with ADHD often manifests as an unconscious mimicry of accents in social situations. This can range from subtle shifts in pronunciation to more noticeable changes in intonation and speech rhythm. For example, a person with ADHD might find themselves unconsciously adopting a Southern drawl when conversing with someone from Texas, even if they’ve never lived in the South themselves."
People are having their say online. On the subreddit r/ADHDWomen, a thread began: "Taking on accents is an ADHD thing?" The OP shares, "My whole life, I've picked up accents. I, myself, never noticed, but everyone around me would be like, 'Why are you talking like that??' It could be after I watched a show or movie with an accent or after I've traveled somewhere with a different accent than my 'normal.'
They continue, "Apparently, I pick it up fast, but it fades out slowly. Today... I'm scrolling Instagram, I watch a reel from a comedian couple (Darcy and Jeremy. IYKYK) about how Darcy (ADHD) picks up accents everywhere they go. It's called ADHD Mirroring??? And it's another way of masking."
(The OP is referring to Darcy Michaels and his husband Jeremy Baer, who are both touring comedians based in Canada.)
Hundreds of people on the Reddit thread alone seem to relate. One comments, "Omfg I've done this my whole life; I'll even pick up on the pauses/spaces when I'm talking to someone who is ESL—but English is my first language lol."
Sometimes, it can be a real issue for those around the chameleon. "I accidentally mimicked a waitress's weird laugh one time. As soon as she was out of earshot, my family started to reprimand me, but I was already like 'oh my god I don’t know why I did that, I feel so bad.'"
Many commenters on TikTok were shocked to find out this can be a sign of ADHD. One jokes, "Omg, yes, at a store the cashier was talking to me and she was French. She's like 'Oh are you French too? No, I'm not lol. I'm very east coast Canada."
And some people just embrace it and make it work for them. "I mirror their words or phrase! I’m 30. I realized I start calling everyone sweetie cause my manager does & I work at coffee shop."
This article originally appeared in May.