How wolves became lovable dogs: they just made an extra copy of the gene that codes for a growth-promoting protein called fibroblast growth factor 4 (FGF4)- Eurekalert
A single evolutionary event appears to explain the short, curved legs that characterize all of today's dachshunds, corgis, basset hounds and at least 16 other breeds of dogs, a team led by the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI), part of the National Institutes of Health, reported today.
Man under threat of extinction- EurekAlert
Scientists have long suspected that the sex chromosome that only males carry is deteriorating and could disappear entirely within a few million years, but until now, no one has understood the evolutionary processes that control this chromosome's demise. Now, a pair of Penn State scientists has discovered that this sex chromosome, the Y chromosome, has evolved at a much more rapid pace than its partner chromosome, the X chromosome, which both males and females carry. This rapid evolution of the Y chromosome has led to a dramatic loss of genes on the Y chromosome at a rate that, if maintained, eventually could lead to the Y chromosome's complete disappearance.
Dumb People
Manufacturing new bugs to bug us- Military Developing Half-Robot, Half-Insect 'Cybug' Spies- Fox News
Researchers are now experimenting with developing insect cyborgs or 'cybugs' that could work as spies.
Miniature robots could be good spies, but researchers now are experimenting with insect cyborgs or "cybugs" that could work even better.
Scientists can already control the flight of real moths using implanted devices.
The military and spy world no doubt would love tiny, live camera-wielding versions of Predator drones that could fly undetected into places where no human could ever go to snoop on the enemy.
The cost of love- $11 million: Yahoo! News
A former Colorado Department of Revenue supervisor says love for her ex-boyfriend led her to steal $11 million in unclaimed tax refunds from the state. The ex-boyfriend, Hysear Randell, is on trial in Denver this week on charges of theft, forgery, computer crime and racketeering.
...Randell, who is married, is accused of using the money to pay for delinquent child support, land deals, diamond jewelry, cars and business ventures.
Aside from some jewelry and trips, Cawthra, 32, said she didn't benefit from the money she stole.
A case of mistaken identity- Yahoo! News
A Georgia man spent more than a year behind bars for failing to pay child support for a child that wasn't his, but he was released after DNA tests showed he wasn't the father.
Frank Hatley, 50, had been jailed since June 2008 for not making payments, but two separate DNA tests in the last nine years showed he was not the father of the boy, who is now 21.
Thank God for small mercies- RedOrbit
An Ohio judge said he likely will not jail a man whose firearm possession violation cost him a testicle. Thomas Hatfield, 30, pleaded guilty Thursday in Cincinnati to being a felon with a firearm after he accidentally shot off one of his own testicles May 4 with a .38-caliber semiautomatic handgun.
And you can't get clever than this (even if you tried hard)- Xenophilia
A man insisted on being arrested after he walked into a western North Carolina bank while on the phone with a 911 operator to report that he planned to commit a robbery.
...The man told the operator he wasn’t armed and had a robbery note.
Clever Thinking:
Legalise Marijuana and tax it (Hope no politician in Tamil Nadu sees this)- LAist
If marijuana were to be legalized for recreational use, it would raise nearly $1.4 billion for the California, announced a state tax board yesterday. The numbers were from an analysis of a bill, AB390, introduced earlier this year by San Francisco Assemblymember Tom Ammiano.
Under the legislation, which was originally estimated to raise around $1 billion, those aged 21 and over could purchase marijuana for recreational use. It would be sold with a $50 per ounce fee in addition to sales taxes.
And what's more,
"Not included are savings in law enforcement costs for investigating, arresting, prosecuting, and imprisoning marijuana offenders, which are estimated to total some hundreds of millions per year," states a press release from the California Chapter of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws.
But we are what we are:
So at least let's meditate on these wonderful photos from Indian Temples and Iconography by Kavitha:
Be Happy.
So we need not worry about the population rise.
ReplyDeleteYes- man would be a brief footnote in Earth's history. Someday in the future, an archaeologist will uncover a strange skeleton and she would wonder how it is related to humanity- some body parts would look risible to our progeny, i think.
ReplyDeletethe photographs all of tiruvannamalai?
ReplyDeletebeautiful photos, right? Must make a poster of it!
ReplyDeleteRegards,
Baskr
If people are made to use drugs freely, the govt will earn more as how TN govt earns by liquor.
ReplyDeleteBut its indirect burden of fathering the orphans will increase and it will disturb the society as a whole.
the money spent of drugs, liquor will not be sufficient to feed the orphans. A lot of addicts will turn up to the public hospitals at their old ages.
yes, but, ""Not included are savings in law enforcement costs for investigating, arresting, prosecuting, and imprisoning marijuana offenders, which are estimated to total some hundreds of millions per year," states a press release from the California Chapter of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws."
ReplyDeleteAnd again, you have to offset the social and medical costs against long life with its chronic illness: people addicted to drugs are liable to live for a short time, and won't incur much cost by way of hospitalization (suicides, mostly?)- so if you just let them take drugs and sign off the way they like to do, and going by the TN Governance model- they won't take to crime or anything- they will get it free if they can prove they are sufficiently poor: I think this would make economic sense in a perverse way.