'Extinct' Primate Returns After 65 Years
BBC - The first known photograph of a rare primate that was feared extinct has been captured by researchers in central Sri Lanka.
The Horton Plains slender loris, which has short, sturdy limbs and long fur, was tracked down in highland forest.
The photo shows an adult male sitting on a branch.
The elusive primate has been spotted only four times since 1937 and disappeared altogether from 1939 until 2002, when it was last glimpsed.
Experts feared the primate, whose numbers fell dramatically as much of its habitat was lost to crops and tea plantations, had become extinct.
The mysterious creature was traced by a joint team from the Zoological Society of London (ZSL) and Sri Lanka who conducted about 1,000 nocturnal searches in mountain forest.
The researchers were able to capture and physically examine one of the creatures, before releasing it back into the wild.
ZSL conservation biologist Dr Craig Turner said: "We are thrilled to have captured the first-ever photographs and prove its continued existence - especially after its 65-year disappearing act.
"This is the first time we have been able to conduct such a close examination of the Horton Plains slender loris," he said.
Slender lorises are small, nocturnal primates found only in the tropical forests of southern India and Sri Lanka.
About 6-10in long (15-25cm), their large eyes help their night-time hunting.
While the slender loris is extremely rare, other types of loris thrive in parts of South Asia and South East Asia.
Some communities believe eating loris flesh can treat leprosy. Tonics made from the animals are claimed to heal wounds and broken bones, and help women regain strength after childbirth.
In Sri Lanka, there is a belief that the animal's body parts can ward off the "evil eye" and be used to curse enemies. The primate's tears have been used as an ingredient in love potions.
Every year thousands of lorises are caught to supply such uses.
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Genetic Surprise!
thesun - The stunned black dad of a newborn, WHITE, baby girl declared yesterday — "I'm sure she's my kid ... I just don't know why she's BLONDE."
British Nmachi Ihegboro has amazed genetics experts who say the little girl is NOT an albino.
Dad Ben, 44, a customer services adviser, admitted: "We both just sat there after the birth staring at her."
Mum Angela, 35, of Woolwich, South London, beamed as she said: "She's beautiful - a miracle baby."
Ben told yesterday how he was so shocked when Nmachi was born, he even joked: "Is she MINE?"
He added: "Actually, the first thing I did was look at her and say, 'What the flip?'"
But as the baby's older brother and sister - both black - crowded round the "little miracle" at their home in South London, Ben declared: "Of course she's mine."
Blue-eyed blonde Nmachi, whose name means "Beauty of God" in the Nigerian couple's homeland, has baffled genetics experts because neither Ben nor wife Angela have ANY mixed-race family history.
Pale genes skipping generations before cropping up again could have explained the baby's appearance.
Ben also stressed: "My wife is true to me. Even if she hadn't been, the baby still wouldn't look like that.
"We both just sat there after the birth staring at her for ages - not saying anything."
Doctors at Queen Mary's Hospital in Sidcup - where Angela, from nearby Woolwich, gave birth - have told the parents Nmachi is definitely no albino.
Ben, who came to Britain with his wife five years ago and works for South Eastern Trains, said: "She doesn't look like an albino child anyway - not like the ones I've seen back in Nigeria or in books. She just looks like a healthy white baby."
He went on: "My mum is a black Nigerian although she has a bit fairer skin than mine.
"But we don't know of any white ancestry. We wondered if it was a genetic twist.
"But even then, what is with the long curly blonde hair?"
Professor Bryan Sykes, head of Human Genetics at Oxford University and Britain's leading expert, yesterday called the birth "extraordinary".
He said: "In mixed race humans, the lighter variant of skin tone may come out in a child - and this can sometimes be startlingly different to the skin of the parents.
"This might be the case where there is a lot of genetic mixing, as in Afro-Caribbean populations. But in Nigeria there is little mixing."
Prof Sykes said BOTH parents would have needed "some form of white ancestry" for a pale version of their genes to be passed on.
But he added: "The hair is extremely unusual. Even many blonde children don't have blonde hair like this at birth."
The expert said some unknown mutation was the most likely explanation.
He admitted: "The rules of genetics are complex and we still don't understand what happens in many cases."
The amazing birth comes five years after Kylie Hodgson became mum to twin daughters - one white and the other black - in Nottingham.
Kylie, now 23, and her partner Remi Horder, now 21, are both mixed race.
Even so the odds were estimated at a million to one.
The Sun told in 2002 how a white couple had Asian twins after a sperm mix-up by a fertility clinic.
Yesterday three-day-old Nmachi's churchgoing mum Angela admitted that she was "speechless" at first seeing her baby girl, who was delivered in a caesarean op.
She said: "I thought, 'What is this little doll?'
"She's beautiful and I love her. Her colour doesn't matter. She's a miracle baby.
"But still, what on earth happened here?"
Her husband told how their son Chisom, four, was even more confused than them by his new sister.
Ben said: "Our other daughter Dumebi is only two so she's too young to understand.
"But our boy keeps coming to look at his sister and then sits down looking puzzled.
"We're a black family. Suddenly he has a white sister."
Ben continued: "Of course, we are baffled too and want to know what's happened. But we understand life is very strange.
"All that matters is that she's healthy and that we love her.She's a proud British Nigerian."
Queen Mary's Hospital said: "Congratulations to Angela and her family on the birth of their daughter."
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Vaccine Patch May Replace Needles
A vaccine patch could cut out the need for painful needles and boost the effectiveness of immunization against diseases like flu, say US researchers.
The patch has hundreds of microscopic needles which dissolve into the skin.
Tests in mice show the technology may even produce a better immune response than a conventional jab.
Writing in Nature Medicine, the team of researchers said the patch could one day enable people to vaccinate themselves.
Each patch, developed by researchers at Emory University and the Georgia Institute of Technology, contains 100 "microneedles" which are just 0.65mm in length.
They are designed to penetrate the outer layers of skin, dissolving on contact.
To test the technology, the researchers loaded the needles with an influenza vaccine.
One group of mice received the influenza vaccine using traditional hypodermic needles and another group were vaccinated with the patch.
Patches that had no vaccine on them were applied to a third group of mice.
Three months down the line the team found the patch appeared to produce a more effective immune response in mice, then infected with the flu virus, than a standard vaccination. Continue reading at Vaccine Patch May Replace Needles
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New Twist in Natalee Holloway Case...May Have Been Sold as Sex Slave
nydailynews - Accused murderer. Pathological liar. Sex trade recruiter?
Joran Van der Sloot -- who is under investigation for two high-profile murders – also is being probed for the disappearance of young women he recruited for a sex slave gang in Thailand, according to the National Enquirer.
The Dutch playboy fled to Bangkok in 2008 after he wasn't charged in the 2005 disappearance of Alabama high school student Natalee Holloway. Last month he was jailed in Peru pending trial on charges of murder and robbery in the May 30 death of 21-year-old Stephany Flores.
While in Bangkok, Van der Sloot lured young women by posing as a production consultant with a model agency, using the name "Murphy Jenkins," according to the tabloid. He convinced them he was going to send them to Europe to become models, and even printed phony business cards.
Several of the girls have gone missing.
"Girls who are approached by sex traffickers here often get killed, especially if they discover they are being tricked into prostitution and start to resist or threaten to go to the police," a Thai law enforcement official told the Enquirer.
"Many of these girls have no legal documents. If they go missing, nobody notices. It's easy to kill them, hide the bodies and get away with it."
The sick game ended when a friend of Van der Sloot in Holland contacted Dutch journalist Peter de Vries, who set up a sting operation at a Thai hotel. The undercover operation was his second involving Van der Sloot. Previously, he had taped the 22-year-old confessing to being with Holloway the night of her disappearance.
"Joran showed up with several girls he'd recruited by telling them they'd be photo models in Holland. He promised they'd make big money and live a luxurious life," the journalist told the tabloid.
"In reality, his plan was that once they arrived in Holland, they'd be forced into prostitution in Dutch brothels."
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Mmmmm....Zombie Jerky
Q: What is Zombie Jerky?
A: Zombie Jerky is a processed jerky made from the finest of zombies (or "cows" as some people might call them). Harcos Laboratories makes it a policy to never create new zombies, and just uses one of the many naturally-occurring zombies that can be found out trudging in the streets. Often times the same zombies that are used for the gathering of our Zombie Blood are used for Zombie Jerky as well. Consider it one of the many ways that Harcos Labs is going green.
Q: Why is Zombie Jerky green?
A: Well, Zombie Blood is green. This jerky used to be a part of a zombie who had green blood flowing through it. Did we also mention that it has a whole 11 grams of protein? That makes it awesome, especially for the body builders on the run. Leave the protein bars at home and bring a bag of this delicious green jerky with you for during your workout routines and zombie hunting expeditions.
Q: Will I be considered a cannibal if I eat this jerky?
A:When a zombie eats a human is it considered cannibalism? Nope. A majority of our Facebook fans believe the exact same thing towards eating zombies. So at least among those on Facebook you will be embraced and not considered a cannibal. As one of our fans (Neven) said in response to this very question: "No. It makes you AWESOME."
Q: Are there any flavors besides Teriyucky?
A: At this moment in time, no. It took us a while to find the perfect blend of spices to bring out the best taste in our zombie meat, and we haven't touched it since. It might have been also because one of our testers became a zombie after eating a first round of test jerky, but since then we have fixed the formula and have had no cases of zombification.
NOTE: I'm not endorsing the product...just thought it was an interesting marketing strategy - Buy 'Zombie Jerky'...Lon
Fortean / Oddball News - 7/20/2010
