npr:

I Bet I Can Create A 25 Million-Year-Old False Alarm, Says Biologist E.O. Wilson

The world’s most famous ant-scholar likes to daydream. “So much good science — and perhaps all of great science,“ he writes in his new book "has its roots in fantasy.”

Here’s his.

After seeing Jurassic Park, where scientists clone dinosaurs from the blood of ancient dino-biting mosquitoes,Wilson thought: Hmmm, that’s a little far-fetched, but I bet I can do a version that might be “really and truly possible.“

He was having lunch with the author of the film, Michael Crichton, (who also wroteThe Andromeda Strain and TV’s ER) when he outlined his plan. I can imagine Crichton leaning in, itchy with expectation. Nobody knows ants like Wilson. And Wilson likes to live dangerously (especially in his head).

Read the rest on NPR’s Krulwich Wonders.

(Photo by Noah Poritz, courtesy of Science Source)