Female hammerhead sharks can reproduce without having sex, scientists confirm.
The evidence comes from a shark at Henry Doorly Zoo in Nebraska which gave birth to a pup in 2001 despite having had no contact with a male. Genetic tests by a team from Belfast, Nebraska and Florida prove conclusively the young animal possessed no paternal DNA, Biology Letters journal reports.
The type of reproduction exhibited had been seen before in bony fish but never in cartilaginous fish such as sharks. Parthenogenesis, as this type of reproduction is known, occurs when an egg cell is triggered to develop as an embryo without the addition of any genetic material from a male sperm cell.
The puzzle over the hammerhead birth was reported widely in 2001, but it is only with the emergence of new DNA profiling techniques that scientists have now been able to show irrefutably what happened.
The investigation of the birth was conducted by the research team from Queen's University Belfast, the Southeastern University in Florida, and Henry Doorly Zoo itself.
The scientists say the discovery raises important issues about shark conservation. In the wild, these animals have come under extreme pressure through overfishing and many species have experienced sharp declines.
If dwindling shark groups resort to parthenogenesis to reproduce because females have difficulty finding mates, this is likely to weaken populations still further, the researchers warn.
Wednesday, May 23, 2007
We're watching you !
The UK's first police remote control helicopter has taken off. Merseyside police are using the "spy drone", fitted with CCTV cameras, mainly for tackling anti-social behaviour and public disorder.
The machine is 1m wide, weighs less than a bag of sugar, and can record images from a height of 500m.
Originally used by the military, it is due to be operational by June for a full three-month trial, which is the "first of its kind" in the UK.
The drone will also be used for monitoring traffic congestion and investigations are to be made into its possible role in firearms operations.
The machines, which are flown by remote control or using pre-programmed GPS navigation systems, are silent and can be fitted with night-vision cameras.
Tuesday, May 22, 2007
Sleepless in Penzance: Day8
A Cornish man attempting to break the world record for sleep deprivation says he is feeling fine, despite being awake for more than a week.Tony Wright, 42, from Penzance, started his attempt to beat the current record at 0600 BST on 14 May.
The current record stands at 264 hours - 11 days.
Mr Wright said: "It's a bit difficult for me to say but I feel fine - there's a lot of pressure and there's been troughs of tiredness, but I feel OK."
He has been passing the time by playing pool and keeping an online diary.
In one of the entries, Mr Wright described his experience of nearly falling asleep on Saturday as: "The flat screen starts turning into a multi-dimensional portal to another world and the text into a welcoming entourage of giggling dancing pixies and elves.
There's a live webcam here
Wheelchair man 10 times limit
A Man in a wheelchair German stunned police when they pulled him over for using the road and found he was 10 times over the legal alcohol limit for drivers.
“He was right in the middle of the road,” said a spokesman for police in the northeastern city of Schwerin today.
“The officers couldn't quite believe it when they saw the results of the breath test.
"That's a life-threatening figure.”
The 31-year-old told police he had been out drinking with a friend and was about 2km from home when a squad car stopped him as he passed through the village of Ventschow.
Police said that because the man was technically travelling as a pedestrian, he could not be charged with a driving offence.
“It's not like we can impound his wheelchair,” the spokesman said.
“But he is facing some sort of punishment.
"It's just not clear yet what exactly that will be.”
“He was right in the middle of the road,” said a spokesman for police in the northeastern city of Schwerin today.
“The officers couldn't quite believe it when they saw the results of the breath test.
"That's a life-threatening figure.”
The 31-year-old told police he had been out drinking with a friend and was about 2km from home when a squad car stopped him as he passed through the village of Ventschow.
Police said that because the man was technically travelling as a pedestrian, he could not be charged with a driving offence.
“It's not like we can impound his wheelchair,” the spokesman said.
“But he is facing some sort of punishment.
"It's just not clear yet what exactly that will be.”
ABBA museum
THE world's first museum in honour of legendary Swedish disco group ABBA will open in an old customs building in central Stockholm in 2009. “ABBA the Museum” will be on the island of Soedermalm, in a waterfront building a short walk from the city centre.
The exhibition will fill three floors and more than 4000 square metres of material related to the super group, initiators and ABBA fans Ewa Wigenheim-Westman and Ulf Westman said.
The old customs building - Tullhuset - is a protected heritage site on the banks of the Baltic Sea, not far from another popular tourist attraction, the Old Town. “The city will rebuild Tullhuset and work will begin at the end of the year. Afterwards the museum will pay rent,” Stockholm mayor Kristina Axen-Olin said.
“So far we don't know how much it will cost.”
The couple behind the project, Wigenheim-Westman and Westman, pitched their idea for a museum last November and initially indicated it would open in 2008.
The museum will be an ultramodern place, filled with ABBA's music, original clothes, images, instruments and much more that captures the group's heyday in the 1970s and 1980s, the couple said.
The exhibition will fill three floors and more than 4000 square metres of material related to the super group, initiators and ABBA fans Ewa Wigenheim-Westman and Ulf Westman said.
The old customs building - Tullhuset - is a protected heritage site on the banks of the Baltic Sea, not far from another popular tourist attraction, the Old Town. “The city will rebuild Tullhuset and work will begin at the end of the year. Afterwards the museum will pay rent,” Stockholm mayor Kristina Axen-Olin said.
“So far we don't know how much it will cost.”
The couple behind the project, Wigenheim-Westman and Westman, pitched their idea for a museum last November and initially indicated it would open in 2008.
The museum will be an ultramodern place, filled with ABBA's music, original clothes, images, instruments and much more that captures the group's heyday in the 1970s and 1980s, the couple said.
An American in Nuremburg
A naked American tourist raised eyebrows when he went for a walk through a German city and told police he thought this was acceptable behaviour in Germany.
“We have been having unusually hot weather here lately but, all the same, we can't have this,” a spokesman for police in the southern city of Nuremberg said. “The man said he thought walking around naked was tolerated in Germany.”
Many Germans enjoy nude sunbathing which is allowed in public parks.
The 41-year-old was carrying his clothes in a bag when police stopped him yesterday evening after complaints from pedestrians.
The tourist was not under the influence of drugs, said police.
They made him get dressed and pay a €200 ($329) deposit pending his investigation for indecent behaviour.
“We have been having unusually hot weather here lately but, all the same, we can't have this,” a spokesman for police in the southern city of Nuremberg said. “The man said he thought walking around naked was tolerated in Germany.”
Many Germans enjoy nude sunbathing which is allowed in public parks.
The 41-year-old was carrying his clothes in a bag when police stopped him yesterday evening after complaints from pedestrians.
The tourist was not under the influence of drugs, said police.
They made him get dressed and pay a €200 ($329) deposit pending his investigation for indecent behaviour.
Four fired for Gossiping
Four Hooksett, N.H., town employees are out of a job, fired for gossiping. The controversy over the decision led to a public hearing on the matter last week.
The former employees said they were talking about a rumor that was making its way around town about Town Administrator David Jodoin's relationship with another town employee. Jodoin complained to the Hooksett Town Council, which then launched an investigation that resulted in the firings of the women, all of them longtime employees with spotless work records, according to WCVB-TV in Boston.
The employees, identified as former Director of Assessing Sandy Piper, former code enforcement Officer Michelle Bonsteel, and their assistants, Jessica Skorupski and Joanne Drewniak, have their own lawyer and are trying to get their jobs back.
"People talk amongst other people, and that is what we were doing. We were friends," Piper said. "The rumor came from outside. I mean, people in town are talking," said Skorupski.
A lawyer hired by the fired workers said at a hearing that the firings were unfair because the women were not given verbal or written warnings and because other employees who also gossiped were not disciplined.
"There were questions about the fact that the townspeople were bringing it into Town Hall, and there was discussions about why that was the case. And the discussions focused on the fact that one employee was getting preferential treatment in terms of salary, in terms of closeness with the administrator," said the workers' attorney, B.J. Branch.
Branch also said the free-speech rights of government employees have been upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court and that the Town Council doesn't have the right to fire workers.
"I'm on a roller coaster -- I go anywhere from outrage to deep depression where all I can do is cry," said Bonsteel.
"I have nightmares at night; I don't sleep that well. I'm losing all the benefits. I'm there nine years -- I have one more year to be vested. It breaks my heart to think that now I have to start all over again and go elsewhere," said Drewniak.
Council members aren't commenting, but the town lawyer, Debra Ford, said at a public hearing that the rumor the women were talking about was serious and had the potential to damage his marriage and career. The lawyer who investigated the rumors for the town, Lauren Simon Irwin said the employees' behavior was cause for discipline under personnel rules.
The Town Council has until May 25 to confirm the firings or reverse them.
The former employees said they were talking about a rumor that was making its way around town about Town Administrator David Jodoin's relationship with another town employee. Jodoin complained to the Hooksett Town Council, which then launched an investigation that resulted in the firings of the women, all of them longtime employees with spotless work records, according to WCVB-TV in Boston.
The employees, identified as former Director of Assessing Sandy Piper, former code enforcement Officer Michelle Bonsteel, and their assistants, Jessica Skorupski and Joanne Drewniak, have their own lawyer and are trying to get their jobs back.
"People talk amongst other people, and that is what we were doing. We were friends," Piper said. "The rumor came from outside. I mean, people in town are talking," said Skorupski.
A lawyer hired by the fired workers said at a hearing that the firings were unfair because the women were not given verbal or written warnings and because other employees who also gossiped were not disciplined.
"There were questions about the fact that the townspeople were bringing it into Town Hall, and there was discussions about why that was the case. And the discussions focused on the fact that one employee was getting preferential treatment in terms of salary, in terms of closeness with the administrator," said the workers' attorney, B.J. Branch.
Branch also said the free-speech rights of government employees have been upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court and that the Town Council doesn't have the right to fire workers.
"I'm on a roller coaster -- I go anywhere from outrage to deep depression where all I can do is cry," said Bonsteel.
"I have nightmares at night; I don't sleep that well. I'm losing all the benefits. I'm there nine years -- I have one more year to be vested. It breaks my heart to think that now I have to start all over again and go elsewhere," said Drewniak.
Council members aren't commenting, but the town lawyer, Debra Ford, said at a public hearing that the rumor the women were talking about was serious and had the potential to damage his marriage and career. The lawyer who investigated the rumors for the town, Lauren Simon Irwin said the employees' behavior was cause for discipline under personnel rules.
The Town Council has until May 25 to confirm the firings or reverse them.
Go tidy your room!
A nine-year-old German girl was so upset about having to tidy her room she put up a sign in her window urging passers-by to call police for help.
Pedestrians in the central city of Braunschweig saw the girl crying in the window, holding up a sign up saying "Help! Please call the police!" Next to her sat a small boy. Quickly alerted, officers rushed to the scene to discover the girl had rowed with her mother about tidying her room and enlisted her two-year-old brother's aid to attract attention.
"The room looked like a battlefield," said a spokesman for local police on Monday. "Officers told the girl to tidy her room. When they came back two hours later to check, it was all cleaned up. And the mother and daughter had made up too."
Pedestrians in the central city of Braunschweig saw the girl crying in the window, holding up a sign up saying "Help! Please call the police!" Next to her sat a small boy. Quickly alerted, officers rushed to the scene to discover the girl had rowed with her mother about tidying her room and enlisted her two-year-old brother's aid to attract attention.
"The room looked like a battlefield," said a spokesman for local police on Monday. "Officers told the girl to tidy her room. When they came back two hours later to check, it was all cleaned up. And the mother and daughter had made up too."
Tidy profit
A cliff-top lighthouse with spectacular views sold six years ago by Eastbourne Borough Council for £900 has gone on the market for £850,000.Belle Tout, which sits on Beachy Head, in East Sussex, and featured in the BBC programme Changing Rooms and the series The Life and Loves of a She-Devil, has undergone extensive refurbishment during the past six years, turning the Grade II listed property into a luxury home. The owner, who had leased the lighthouse from the council, bought the freehold for £900 in 2001.
Locals have pointed out two drawbacks to the property – the location is a notorious suicide spot and the lighthouse stands on a cliff that is crumbling into the sea. When built in 1834, Belle Tout was 35m (114ft) from the cliff edge. By 1999 the distance was only 3.5m and, in a spectacular feat of engineering, the entire structure was moved 50m inland. A spokesman for the Environment Agency said, however, that the tower could be moved again.
School report : Ding bat
A secondary school has apologised after a confidential report book which called pupils names like "ding bat" and "wally" was found lying in a street.
The booklet, produced by The Howard School for boys, in Rainham, Kent, carried a specific message on its front page - "Do not leave lying around".
It was discovered on a pavement by a shopper in Rainham.
It referred to one boy as a "ding bat" who was "away with the fairies", and another as being a "bit of a wally".
One entry also said a particular boy's mother was "quite rough".
The school said it regretted the incident and was reviewing procedures.
The booklet, produced by The Howard School for boys, in Rainham, Kent, carried a specific message on its front page - "Do not leave lying around".
It was discovered on a pavement by a shopper in Rainham.
It referred to one boy as a "ding bat" who was "away with the fairies", and another as being a "bit of a wally".
One entry also said a particular boy's mother was "quite rough".
The school said it regretted the incident and was reviewing procedures.
Jetlag? Have a Viagra
Argentinian researchers say the male impotence drug Viagra may be useful for treating jet lag.
Researchers exposed hamsters to lights which were turned on and off to simulate jet lag, and found that adult male hamsters given Viagra recovered from jet lag up to 50 per cent faster.
But the study found the drug only appeared to help the rodents when it was given before the equivalent of an eastbound flight, not the reverse.
Researchers exposed hamsters to lights which were turned on and off to simulate jet lag, and found that adult male hamsters given Viagra recovered from jet lag up to 50 per cent faster.
But the study found the drug only appeared to help the rodents when it was given before the equivalent of an eastbound flight, not the reverse.
A call from on high
A British climber has set a world record by making a mobile phone call from the top of Mount Everest. In the early hours of 21 May, Rod Baber made two calls from the mountain's north ridge.In the first call Mr Baber described the view, how cold it was and what he wanted to do when back at base camp; he then rang his wife and children. The calls were made possible when China set up a mobile base station with a line of sight to the north ridge.
Mr Baber set off from the UK for the Himalayas on 30 March and since mid-April has been getting used to living at high altitude.
Prior to 15 May, when the final ascent began, Mr Baber and the other members of the expedition had been trekking up and down Everest to familiarise themselves with the route and prepare their bodies for the punishing ordeal.
To make the call at the summit, 8,848 metres, Mr Baber had to contend with high winds and temperatures of -30 degrees. The call was made to a voicemail account created by sponsor Motorola to ensure the attempt was recorded.
Mr Baber also did not have much time to make the call because those climbing Everest typically only stay at the summit for 15 minutes. Making such a call is dangerous as talking into the handset meant he had to remove his oxygen mask.
Batteries for the Motorola handset he used were taped to his body to ensure they stayed at a high enough temperature to power the phone.
Mr Baber also claimed a separate record for sending the highest text message.
From base camp before making the attempt to reach the summit of Everest, Mr Baber said: "Everest symbolises the greatest challenge to any climber." He added that making the call from the mountain was a "once in a lifetime" opportunity.
Monday, May 21, 2007
Goats for jobless
Jobless Romanians are to be given goats instead of welfare benefits as part of a scheme to make them contribute more to the economy.
Under the pilot project, welfare benefits are to be axed from September in a collection of villages in southeastern Romania, the Independenta district, where unemployed families instead will receive 10 goats each.
They will be expected to milk the animals and sell milk and cheese to earn an income, and when they find work, they will have to return the goats to the local council.
The scheme has been set up by the council's campaigning mayor, Cristea Gascan, who said: "We have 30 families that are on benefits, and just paying them cash does not help them or us. But with goats they are making a positive contribution to the economy and will be working instead of sitting at home expecting handouts."
John Cleese Memorial Tip
A rubbish tip in New Zealand has been named after John Cleese because the actor said he hated the place on a visit last year.
A sign bearing the title 'Mt. Cleese' appeared recently at the Awapuni Landfill in Palmerston North after a local satirist said it should be renamed the 'John Cleese Memorial Tip: All manner of crap happily recycled'.
Cleese started out as part of the Monty Python team and went on to star in hits such as the 1970s TV comedy Fawlty Towers and Hollywood movie, A Fish Called Wanda.
He offended locals during a show last year when he called Palmerston North the 'suicide capital of New Zealand' adding that he hated it. A council waste manager Chris Pepper said officials did not erect the sign and the renaming was not official.
However, they are in no hurry to take it down as Pepper added: 'Somebody had the sign made up as a joke. Nobody has said ... pull it down. People just smile.'
A sign bearing the title 'Mt. Cleese' appeared recently at the Awapuni Landfill in Palmerston North after a local satirist said it should be renamed the 'John Cleese Memorial Tip: All manner of crap happily recycled'.
Cleese started out as part of the Monty Python team and went on to star in hits such as the 1970s TV comedy Fawlty Towers and Hollywood movie, A Fish Called Wanda.
He offended locals during a show last year when he called Palmerston North the 'suicide capital of New Zealand' adding that he hated it. A council waste manager Chris Pepper said officials did not erect the sign and the renaming was not official.
However, they are in no hurry to take it down as Pepper added: 'Somebody had the sign made up as a joke. Nobody has said ... pull it down. People just smile.'
Radiation pants
Men in Switzerland worried about their testicles getting zapped by mobile phone radiation can now buy radiation-proof boxer shorts.Clothes manufacturer Andreas Sallmann is producing the heavy-duty underwear at his factory in Amriswil.
He said he wanted to produce the garments to protect his six sons and secure the future of the company.
'If I am right and mobile phone radiation damages fertility then I won't have any customers left.'
Sweaty Idol
Hundreds of people have flocked to a remote village in eastern Nepal to see a "sweating" idol of a Hindu god, a sign of impending turmoil or natural disaster for the devoutly religious nation.
Witnesses said that sweat seeped out of the idol of the Bhimeshwor god at a temple in Dolakha, a few hours drive from Kathmandu, during evening prayers at the weekend.
"I saw the right side of the black stone idol had become wet because of sweating," said Shanta Krishna Shrestha, chairman of a committee responsible for maintaining the temple. This denotes something like major political change or a natural calamity," said Shrestha. "We must hold special prayers and make sacrifices asking for forgiveness."
Sacrificing animals such as goats or roosters to appease gods is common among Hindus in Nepal.
Sweating was seen on the idol in 2001, media reported, months before a palace massacre when King Birendra and eight other members of the royal family were shot dead in a drug-and-drink fuelled shooting spree by the then crown prince, who later turned the gun on himself.
Witnesses said that sweat seeped out of the idol of the Bhimeshwor god at a temple in Dolakha, a few hours drive from Kathmandu, during evening prayers at the weekend.
"I saw the right side of the black stone idol had become wet because of sweating," said Shanta Krishna Shrestha, chairman of a committee responsible for maintaining the temple. This denotes something like major political change or a natural calamity," said Shrestha. "We must hold special prayers and make sacrifices asking for forgiveness."
Sacrificing animals such as goats or roosters to appease gods is common among Hindus in Nepal.
Sweating was seen on the idol in 2001, media reported, months before a palace massacre when King Birendra and eight other members of the royal family were shot dead in a drug-and-drink fuelled shooting spree by the then crown prince, who later turned the gun on himself.
Cutty Sark fire
A fire which swept through the famous 19th Century ship Cutty Sark may have been started deliberately, police say. The ship, which was undergoing a £25m restoration, is kept in a dry dock at Greenwich in south-east London.An area around the 138-year-old tea clipper had to be evacuated when the fire broke out in the early hours. A Cutty Sark Trust spokesman said much of the ship had been removed for restoration and the damage could have been worse.
Half the planking and the masts had been taken away as part of the project.
The chief executive of the charitable Cutty Sark Trust, Richard Doughty, said: "What is special about Cutty Sark is the timbers, the iron frames that went to the South China Seas, and to think that that is threatened in any way is unbelievable, it's an unimaginable shock."
Following an inspection of the site on Monday afternoon, Mr Doughty said: "Buckling of the hull remains a big fear but until we do the measurements we are not going to
know."With my naked eye, as far as I have been able to see, the structure of the ship seems to be intact."
Police are analysing CCTV images which are thought to show people in the area shortly before the fire started.
A number of witnesses have already come forward and the police are urging anyone else who may have been in the area to contact them.
A silver car was seen leaving the scene but police say there is nothing at this stage to link it to the fire.
Sunday, May 20, 2007
Fabia cake car advert
I just love this avdert, where they make a car out of sponge, with jelly for lights and treacle for oil.
High climber
An 18-year-old woman has reached the summit of Mount Everest, becoming what is believed to be the youngest person to scale the highest peaks on each of the seven continents.
"We made it to the top!" Samantha Larson, of Long Beach, gasped to her mother in New York via satellite phone from the top of Everest on Thursday, the Los Angeles Times reported Saturday.
According to 7summits.com, a Web site that tracks those who have accomplished the feat, completing the climb in Nepal makes Larson the youngest person to have completed the "seven summits" challenge, breaking a 2006 record set by then-20-year-old British climber Rhys Miles Jones.
Larson, who graduated last year with a 4.43 grade-point average from Long Beach Poly High School, put off going to Stanford University for a year so she could scale some of the world's tallest peaks with her father.
The Nepalese government said Friday she was the youngest foreigner ever to reach the 29,035-foot summit of Everest, though some climbing Web sites claim a 17-year-old boy from France did it in 1990.
A 15-year-old Sherpa girl from Nepal was the youngest ever to climb Everest.
Larson has been climbing sky-high mountains since she was a child. She reached the summit of South America's Aconcagua when she was 13 and Africa's Mount Kilimanjaro when she was 14.
"We made it to the top!" Samantha Larson, of Long Beach, gasped to her mother in New York via satellite phone from the top of Everest on Thursday, the Los Angeles Times reported Saturday.
According to 7summits.com, a Web site that tracks those who have accomplished the feat, completing the climb in Nepal makes Larson the youngest person to have completed the "seven summits" challenge, breaking a 2006 record set by then-20-year-old British climber Rhys Miles Jones.
Larson, who graduated last year with a 4.43 grade-point average from Long Beach Poly High School, put off going to Stanford University for a year so she could scale some of the world's tallest peaks with her father.
The Nepalese government said Friday she was the youngest foreigner ever to reach the 29,035-foot summit of Everest, though some climbing Web sites claim a 17-year-old boy from France did it in 1990.
A 15-year-old Sherpa girl from Nepal was the youngest ever to climb Everest.
Larson has been climbing sky-high mountains since she was a child. She reached the summit of South America's Aconcagua when she was 13 and Africa's Mount Kilimanjaro when she was 14.
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