Making a real Jurassic Park...well, sort of
That series of steps might have sounded pretty fanciful back in 1993 when the blockbuster film "Jurassic Park" (based on the book by Michael Crichton) hit theaters. Today though, in the world of genome sequencing, transgenic (hybrid) animals, and bacteria built from scratch in the lab, the resurrection of extinct species sounds a little more feasible. Is it?
Turns out scientists might very well create dinosaurs or dinosaur-like creatures in the not-so-distant future. They won't do it in the way Crichton envisioned, though.
Unfortunately, DNA molecules, the genetic instructions for creating life, break down over time. Sixty-five million years have passed since dinosaurs last flew, swam and walked the Earth, and DNA seldom stays intact longer than 500,000 years. According to Jack Horner, a renowned dinosaur paleontologist at Montana State University and the technical adviser for all the Jurassic Park films, we've never actually found dino DNA. He and his colleagues discovered soft tissue from a Tyrannosaurus rex in 2005, but even that contained no usable material: "The soft tissue is apparently composed of biomolecules other than DNA," Horner told Life's Little Mysteries.
Even if we do someday find ancient dinosaur DNA, it will be in shambles — snippets of code just a few base pairs long. We'll have no idea how to stitch the snippets together. Thus, sequencing the dinosaur genome from fossilized tissues or blood may never be a viable route to their revival.
Jurassic chicken
But geneticists are trailblazing an alternative path to Jurassic Park. In the past few years, several groups working independently have begun to awaken the dormant dinosaur DNA present in one of the extinct creatures' descendents: chickens, whose genome is fully sequenced. Led by Horner, the scientists hope to eventually grow a chicken that has teeth, scales, a tail, and forelimbs. In a word, they want to build a "dinochicken," and it'll be pretty darn close to the real thing.
First, in 2005, developmental biologists John Fallon and Matt Harris at the University of Wisconsin were experimenting with mutant chicken embryos when they noticed strange protuberances emerging from the chicken fetus's jaws. The bumps turned out to be saber-shaped teeth identical to those of embryonic alligators.
The toothy chicken embryos were mutants — they possessed a recessive gene that kills fetuses before they're born. As a side effect (unrelated to how it killed them), that gene was switching on another one that has lain dormant in chickens' evolutionary line for at least 70 million years: an ancient dinosaur tooth gene. Fallon and Harris created a virus that behaved similarly to the lethal recessive gene present in the mutant chickens, but without being deadly. When they inserted the virus into normal chicken embryos, they grew teeth.
Later, a paleontologist named Hans Larsson at McGill University found that chicken embryos' start out with tails. At a certain point in a chick's development, a genetic switch flips and the tail goes away. Using growth hormones to try to override the stoppage, Larsson and his colleagues are attempting to flip the switch back (though they haven't done so yet).
In the same vein, Horner believes chicken embryos can eventually be genetically manipulated to develop forearms instead of wings. "The absence of a tail, the difference between wings and grasping forearms, and the absence of teeth are all subtle evolutionary changes on a basic dinosaur plan," he wrote in a book he co-authored with James Gorman called "How to Build a Dinosaur" (Dutton 2009).
So how long will it be before the scientists create a dinochicken? "It may be a few years as it mostly depends on funding," Horner said. In a world where cancer remains uncured, not everyone thinks dinosaur revivalism deserves a share of the meager monetary offerings available for scientific research. Others — perhaps, someday, a wealthy private investor — think it would be cool. - lifeslittlemysteries
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UFO...5 miles wide!
MUFON CMS - Missouri, August 7, 2011 - Huge Disc - shaped object hovering over downtown Kansas City.
I left my office and was traveling west on 23rd street in Independence, Missouri just past Noland road when I saw a huge disc shaped dull gray metallic object hovering at what looked like the north half of downtown Kansas City directly to my west and slightly north. You can see the KC skyline clearly from the high hill I was driving on.
As a UFO investigator, I shouldn't be shocked by anything, but in this case, I was very surprised by what I saw, especially since I had received a report earlier in the day from a witness who described a similar very large craft in South Kansas City.
The object did not move and I saw it clearly for two to three seconds, which was long enough to know I saw SOMETHING. It was a disk shape, with flat sides, and a domed top. I could not see any details or lights. I estimate the size to be 5 miles wide.
I immediately called several people I knew and other MUFON field investigators to see if they could see anything from their vantage point.
After I arrived home, I found that I had left my good cameras at the office and only had my cell phone camera (it figures). So I went outside and started taking random photos of the sky. Just as I turned the camera off I noticed what looked like a commercial jet flying at high speed and low (maybe 5,000 ft or less) and almost completely sideways with both wings clearly visible! It was banking hard to the left heading from Northeast to Southwest. That type of manuever is usually reserved for smaller craft and fighter jets, not a commercial airliner.
The jet was a silver and peach color - the peach may have been a reflection of the sun. I tried to get the camera ready again but was not fast enough. Total time in view was approximately six seconds.
Right after the jet was out of sight, a large round white object the size of a dinner plate at arm's length with a hole in the center appeared and disappeared in the exact same location as where I first saw the jet appear, or when I first noticed it.
I then posted a message to the Missouri MUFON chat list about what was going on and after receiving some other messages put together a timeline of events. -
12:15 p.m. - A witness called to report a giant UFO over south Kansas City (see other report filed) -
1:30 - 3 p.m. - A UFO spotter and photographer in Topeka, Kansas (72 miles from KC) photographs multiple UFOS in "battle mode." He has been able to capture UFOs on film using a special method and AB UV sunglasses. -
2 p.m. - A Kansas City MUFON member reported a large number of UH-60 helicopters flying very low at treetop level at 125th and State Line in south Kansas City. This is definitely NOT a normal occurrence for that area. -
4:20 PM - I saw the large disc over downtown KC, then the plane and white disc. -
5:20 PM - a MUFON field investigator saw a strange cloud with structure North of Iatan, MO from his vantage point across the river in Kansas. -
10:30 PM - my daughter called, she was watching the skies and saw a black helicopter with no markings flying very low at tree top level in Independence, MO, just a few blocks from my house. -
3:00 AM Sunday - St. Louis, MO- a MUFON field investigator and her entire neighborhood were awakened by a very loud strange banging and humming noise along with what sounded like gunfire, that lasted for several minutes. The vibration seemed to be coming from a spot in the sky. They have not identified the source yet.
Note: I don't know if this is related, but since it is also strange I thought I'd mention it. The next day (Sunday) a big storm came in very quickly with high winds that caused a large number of power outages throughout the city and took our power out for 7 hours.
Just prior to the storm, I took my Nikon camera outside to take some pictures as it came in. I had the camera set at 1/200 sec without flash and multi-shot mode. I took 6 pictures in a row, then analyzed them. In one shot out of the series there are multiple orbs in my yard, and in subsequent photos there are tiny red and blue lights that can't be explained. No rain was falling at that point.
After taking the photos, I went inside and the lights flickered on and off six times. I then took a nap (which is unusual for me) and was unaware that the power had gone completely off. I was in a dead sleep, and was awakened by a loud static noise with lots of voices talking at the same time coming from the radio. I sat up and looked at the radio, but the power was out so it should have been impossible for that to happen.
On Monday, we had two guests and a guest speaker from St. Louis MUFON attend our monthly meeting. After it was over we were standing outside talking and I saw a bullet-shaped white line, then a white crescent shaped object appear and dissapear very quickly. These were west of our location in Westport in Kansas City. No one else saw anything.
I am surmising that some of these objects are things that come into view for a short period of time, and are noticed by clairvoyants like me, but not by others. Perhaps they are entering or exiting wormholes, or are cloaked somehow and uncloak accidentially for a few seconds.
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Crashed experimental craft may have prompted past UFO reports
"On August 11, 2011, the Falcon HTV-2 project came to an end near the Kwajalein Atolls in the South Pacific," said MUFON STAR Team Manager and Texas Chief Investigator Fletcher Gray.
"US Military launched this hypersonic test aircraft sometime this month in California. Most of the reports that I read about this project didn't indicate a launch date. Reports from the MUFON CMS data did indicate that this vehicle may have been launched as early as August 9, 2011, around 10:40 p.m.
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"News reports did indicate that the launch took place at Vandenberg Air Force Base located in southern California. The flight path of the launch was over the Pacific Ocean toward the Kwajalein Islands. This would place the craft over the Hawaiian Islands. Information from the witness report leads this Investigator to believe that DARPA didn't conduct a press release until two days after the event. An eyewitness coming fourth validates the reporting system of MUFON being a great research tool for Ufology. The CMS II reporting system aids Investigators to complete their mission statement 'The Scientific Study of UFO's for the Benefit of Humanity.'
"A witness on vacation in the Hawaiian Islands filed the following statement: (MUFON Case 30796 Witness statement reads in part) 'On August 9, 2011 around 10:40 p.m. I noticed it because I was staring right where it seems to appear out of thin air. It was a ball of light that resembled an egg/oval/missile leaving a pretty large trail that glowed just as bright behind it. We watched it cross the sky for about 3-5 seconds when it accelerated and the object itself expanded or glowed brighter and disappeared.'
"The Falcon Hypersonic Technology Vehicle is designed to fly anywhere in the world in less than 60 minutes. This aircraft can fly speeds of up to 13,000 mph, and experience temperatures in excess of 3500 F. Research on the Falcon indicates that it is designed to carry a payload for striking capability anywhere in the world. Researching the DARPA web site, it seem that this vehicle used a Minotaur IV launch vehicle to put the payload in flight.
"The HTV-2 has a long history back to test flights as early as 2003. The delta shaped craft has gone through several design changes. One design it had vertical wings located at the rear of the craft for stability. The last three years reports have been filed with MUFON of this design type. The X-37 also has this same design with the vertical tail wing. The X-37 is a deployment vehicle for the US Air Force to deploy satellites since the shuttle program has come to an end. The latest model of the HTV-2 the vertical wings were removed for easy deployment. The body or fuselage is a uni-body type and is shaped like an arrow head.
"Other test projects of this type called Black Swift and the HTV-3 may have contributed to a lot of the sighting reports over the years that may have been filed with MUFON. These test may have been the earliest long range deployment and stability flights conducted by theUS Air Force. It is not known at this time if the HTV-2 can be put into low orbit and maneuvered to it's striking point. Indications are this test flight lost control at Mach 20 and splashed down near the Kwajalein Atolls. This Investigator will follow-up on reports in reference to this type of events as they come in."
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Mexican Tinkerbell, er....fairy
An unemployed 22-year-old bricklayer claims he has found a fairy in this western Mexican metropolis.
Jose Maldonado, who charges a monetary 'donation' in exchange for displaying what appears to be a simple plastic figure kept in a container of formaldehyde, says he has already received 3,000 visits from people eager to see the so-called fairy at his home in Lomas Verdes, one of Guadalajara's poorest and most dangerous neighbourhoods.
'I was picking guavas and I saw a twinkling. I thought it was a firefly. I picked it up and felt that it was moving; when I looked at it I knew that it was a fairy godmother,' Maldonado told EFE.
The tale of the fairy that Maldonado claims to have discovered last weekend has run like wildfire through the area and his home is now besieged by the curious, some of whom wait for up to an hour to enter.
What Maldonado shows the paying public is a small container filled with formaldehyde containing a humanlike figure about 2 centimeters tall, with a gelatinous consistency and a certain resemblance to Peter Pan's Tinkerbell.
Maldonado says that what seems to be just a little plastic figure is a fairy and that it was alive when he found it. And there are those who believe him.
'I've seen everything and, yes, I believe the fairy is real. Therefore, I wanted to come to confirm that those myths are true,' said Cesar Ramirez, a visitor.
To be allowed to examine the 'fairy' for a few seconds and take a photograph of it, the curious must make a donation to financially help out Maldonado who recently lost his job.
His neighbours have also taken advantage of the situation to sell photographs and keyrings with the image of the fairy for about 20 pesos ($1.60), as well as refreshments including drinks and food to those people while they wait in line outside Maldonado's house. - maktoob
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Filming skunk ape proving problematic
David Shealy’s list of grievances against the National Park Service is long and longstanding.
Shealy, the owner of Trail Lakes Campground in Ochopee, says the staff at the Big Cypress National Preserve has stolen his customers, blocked his access to the park and created a hazard by not providing hunters with adequate means of disposing of dead animal parts.
But his latest claim strikes at the heart of his being -- hindering his ability to market the skunk ape.
Shealy is the world’s foremost purveyor of skunk ape lore, the legends of a Yeti-like creature roaming the wilds of the Everglades and Big Cypress. Continue reading at Filming skunk ape proving problematic
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The Messiah has Returned?
My UFO phenomenon began on the way to visit my grandmother in western Kentucky. We were riding north on Highway 51 late at night listening to the AM radio when we heard a news report of UFO’s seen in western Kentucky and western Tennessee. I looked out the back window at the stars above stating that I wish I could see a UFO. It wasn’t two weeks later I had my wish. I was back at home in Memphis when my mother asked me to take out the garbage at 10pm Sunday 15 November 1964. I went out back and I looked up and saw a white full moon above then I looked around and to the east I saw a full orange full moon rising. I looked back above and noticed the white full moon shaped UFO again for a few minutes until it ascended in the sky looking like a bright star at high altitude. I believe this phenomenon was outside of my head and it was fantastic.
In 1964 the “Moon of Memphis” appeared at 10 pm Sunday 15 November over the city of Memphis. It was a night with two moons in the sky, the “Moon of Memphis” overhead and the lunar moon rising in the east. There is significance to this event because the timing of the event has biblical implications. First it appeared in 1964 which can be analyzed to derive meaning. If you take the alphabet and match the letters with numbers then you can derive a numeric number for words. I analyzed many religious words and I found two that are interesting. The English word Israel and the English word Zion both decodes to 64 sixty four. Israel is a word that has meaning to the Jewish, Christian, and Muslim religions. The word Zion is a word that means Israel and Jerusalem in particular. In Revelations of the Bible, there is writing about a New Jerusalem or a new Zion. Could the timing of the “Moon of Memphis” mean that it was God’s New Jerusalem or Zion?
The “Moon of Memphis” was possibly the same object as the “Star of Bethlehem” but at a much lower altitude. The Book of Mormon states that a bright light appeared in the sky over Bethlehem. Was this the Star of Bethlehem at a much lower altitude like the “Moon of Memphis”? The “Moon of Memphis” ascended and appeared as a bright star until it ascended out of sight. The symbol of Islam is the moon and star. Was the “Moon of Memphis” trying to send a meaning to Islamic believers? At high altitude it appeared like a bright star reminding me of the “Star of David” or the “Star of Bethlehem”. It seems that the “Moon of Memphis” was trying to relay meaning to all of the religions of Zion; Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. This event also suggest that the "Star of Bethlehem" appeared as a very bright star from a distance but appeared as a full white moon to the people directly under it giving a moon-like light to the community below and baptizing the people with the Holy light of God.
The “Moon of Memphis” is a sign, the lamb of God, of the return of the Messiah for it is written:
Revelation 21:23 “The city had no need of the sun or of the moon to shine in it, for the glory of God illuminated it. The Lamb is its light.
Revelation 22:5; “There shall be no night there: They need no lamp nor light of the sun, for “the Lord God gives them light” And they shall reign forever and ever.
With the “Moon of Memphis”, the New Jerusalem will be made and with its power, the people will have light. This Holy city may not come about anytime soon according to scriptures, but the “Moon of Memphis” is proof that God can make good his promise to bless this new city with heavenly light not from the sun or the moon. Since the “Moon of Memphis” appeared over Memphis, Tennessee (USA) in 1964, it is possible that this city is similar to the New Jerusalem, an important city of God. The “Moon of Memphis” proved in 1964 to produce light as bright as the moon and I suspect that it could produce a much brighter light if it had to. It is a commitment to the earth to always be with us during good times and bad times. The “Moon of Memphis” is the lamb of God and also the Holy Grail or Holy light of Christ. Celebrate and be exceedingly joyous of the truth and existence of the “Moon of Memphis”.
The historic battle of Armageddon was probably the famous Six Day War of Israel in 1967. This war fulfilled prophesy and it occurred just several years after the return of Jesus Christ's spirit, the Messiah, and other new Messiahs that came in the "Moon of Memphis" event. Apparently Jesus knew that with the turmoil in the world and Middle East, He and other Spirits of God had to appeared or return to work with this earth to make it more peaceful. The Cold War with the Soviet Union and China were also very serious concerns to God. Many prayed to God and Jesus to help and their prayers were answered with the "Moon of Memphis" appearance and influence. Maybe prophesy of gloom were indicators when Godly influence was necessary to help humanity. Maybe every generation in need get their own second coming of Jesus or appearance and influence of God. For this generation the 1964 appearance of the "Moon of Memphis" was our second coming of Jesus and coming of new generations of Spirits of God made from collected spirits from the best of God's creation and the best of humanity.
In the New Testament book of Revelations from the Bible, John of Patmos may have been mislead because of his association of disasters and end of the world in association with the return of the Messiah, Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ had a good character and kind personality and his return has created a world that is more in tune with him as a messiah and savior. We see the understanding and appreciation between nations and cultures; we see many nations dedicated to preserving peace and cooperation; we see much charity from many nations to other nations; we see animals receiving preserves and protection; we see kinder view of other religions; we see advancement in construction, science and technology; we see the human race living more comfortable and entertained; we see cooperation between nations to prevent and resolve issues of war; we see remarkable improvement in medicine and health; and we see the advancement of food production. These are but a few of the many things that also truly mark the return of the Messiah for Christians and coming of the Messiah for other religions. A true sign of God, the "Moon of Memphis" is a sign that a kind God is with us and dedicated to all things living. Do not follow prophets of gloom, but understand that disasters are natural phenomenon that can not easily be predicted but we can overcome the trauma with our faith in a kind God and Messiah. The best of your religion will not fail you if you try to be kind in every way and not lose reverence to our kind lord, our God.- newsvine
NOTE: this is one of several posts by William Bickers and his UFO theory 'The Moon of Memphis'. You can find his other posts at Bicker's archive. Take it for what it's worth...but it does make for interesting reading. Lon
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