Scientists are talking for the first time about the old idea of resurrecting extinct species as if this staple of science fiction is a realistic possibility, saying that a living mammoth could perhaps be regenerated for as little as $10 million.
A woolly mammoth hair ball. Hairs like these were used to sequence the mammoth genome. The same technology could be applied to any other extinct species from which one can obtain hair, horn, hooves, fur or feathers, and which went extinct within the last 60,000 years, the effective age limit for DNA.
Though the stuffed animals in natural history museums are not likely to burst into life again, these old collections are full of items that may contain ancient DNA that can be decoded by the new generation of DNA sequencing machines. If the genome of an extinct species can be reconstructed, biologists can work out the exact DNA differences with the genome of its nearest living relative...Full Story
(CNN) -- Some lawmakers lashed out at the CEOs of the Big Three auto companies Wednesday for flying private jets to Washington to request taxpayer bailout money.
Chrysler CEO Robert Nardelli, left, and Ford CEO Alan Mulally testify on Capitol Hill on Wednesday.
"There is a delicious irony in seeing private luxury jets flying into Washington, D.C., and people coming off of them with tin cups in their hand, saying that they're going to be trimming down and streamlining their businesses," Rep. Gary Ackerman, D-New York, told the chief executive officers of Ford, Chrysler and General Motors at a hearing of the House Financial Services Committee.
"It's almost like seeing a guy show up at the soup kitchen in high hat and tuxedo. It kind of makes you a little bit suspicious."
He added, "couldn't you all have downgraded to first class or jet-pooled or something to get here? It would have at least sent a message that you do get it."Full Story
In the past we have had rocker-stars, from time to time, regal us with their own special brand of shenanigans and heathen-like behavior. They commit the kind of shit behavior that would make anyone witnessing these acts text WTF to their friends; What the Fuck indeed?
Behavior such as trashing expensive hotel rooms, biting the heads off live bats, to playing records backwards to reveal their satanic messages. And let us not forget the infamous fish story. Through the years we have accepted all this, even come to expect it from them. But all these deeds pale in comparison to the deeds of LA rocker-star the Fabulous Miss Wendy. So let’s ask her about them.
Mad Mike: Ok Miss first question, what are you working on now slash your current projects?
Miss Wendy: Currently I am throwing a GIANT party on December 3rd, at the New Safari Sam's (now located at the historic Regent Theatre) in Downtown Los Angeles. I will be celebrating my debut record and showing 2 brand new music videos to do so! "Bam" like Emeril :)
Mad Mike: Hmm.. So keeping that in mind what exactly are your goals? Isn’t it true you’re plotting to take over the world with your own army of zombies?Read More
CHICAGO (Reuters) - A transgender man who is six months pregnant said in an interview aired by Oprah Winfrey on Thursday that he always wanted to have a child and considers it a miracle. "It's not a male or female desire to have a child. It's a human desire," a thinly bearded Thomas Beatie said. "I have a very stable male identity," he added, saying that pregnancy neither defines him nor makes him feel feminine.
Beatie, 34, who lives in Oregon, was born a woman but decided to become a man 10 years ago.
He began taking testosterone treatments and had breast surgery to remove glands and flatten his chest.
"I opted not to do anything with my reproductive organs because I wanted to have a child one day," he told the talk show host. Beatie's wife Nancy said she inseminated him with a syringe using sperm purchased from a bank.
Now, he said, his size 32 jeans are getting a bit tight and his shirts are a bit stretched.
Nancy, to whom he has been married for five years and who has two grown daughters by a previous marriage, also appeared on the show, saying the couple's roles will not change once the baby is born.
"He's going to be the father and I'm going to be the mother," she said. Their marriage is legal and he is recognized under state law as a man.
The couple was shown on video provided by People Magazine, which collaborated with Winfrey on the show, showing the room that will be the baby's nursery. Beatie said the little girl was going to be "daddy's little princess."
The couple was also filmed in their hometown of Bend, Oregon, where he underwent an ultrasound showing the baby in his womb.
"I can't believe it. I can't believe she's inside me," Beatie said while watching the ultrasound image. "We see her as our little miracle."
His obstetrician, Dr. Kimberly James, who practices in the Oregon town, told Winfrey, "This is a normal pregnancy." She said Beatie stopped taking testosterone two years ago and his levels of the hormone are normal. "This baby is totally healthy," she said. "This is what I consider a normal pregnancy."
The couple said they had been turned down by a number of other doctors before James agreed to take him as a patient. The couple said an earlier attempt at pregnancy failed when he developed a tubal pregnancy, resulting in surgery that removed his Fallopian tubes.
The couple said they decided to go public with the pregnancy because they wanted to control the way the news got out. "We're just going to have the baby now," Nancy said. "If we have to, we'll go hide." The couple runs a small business in Bend and has some savings, she said. In addition, Beatie is working on a book about his childhood, his mother's suicide and his life growing in Hawaii where, as a girl, he was a teen beauty pageant contestant and earned a martial arts black belt. Winfrey called the development "a new definition of what diversity means for everybody."
President-elect Barack Obama called Nancy Reagan this afternoon to apologize for a joke about her having held "seances" in the White House, an Obama aide said.“President-elect Barack Obama called Nancy Reagan today to apologize for the careless and off handed remark he made
during today’s press conference," said transition spokeswoman Stephanie Cutter. "The President-elect expressed his admiration and affection for Mrs. Reagan that so many Americans share and they had a warm conversation."
Obama was asked at his press conference today if he'd spoken to all the "living" presidents."I have spoken to all of them who are living," he responded. "I didn’t want to get into a Nancy Reagan thing about doing any seances."
He was apparently confusing stories about Reagan's consulting with an astrologer with those about other First Ladies -- from Mary Todd Lincoln to Hillary Clinton -- who tried to make contact with figures from the past.
Link to Conference Video.
By Ben Smith 06:20 PM
TORONTO –Sarah Palin unwittingly took a prank call Saturday
Palin campaign spokeswoman Tracey Schmitt confirmed she had received the prank call.
He tells Palin one of his favorite pastimes is hunting, also a passion of the 44-year-old Alaska governor. “I just love killing those animals. Mmm, mmm, take away life, that is so fun,” the fake Sarkozy says.
“Well, I think we could have a lot of fun together while we’re getting work done,” Palin counters. “We can kill two birds with one stone that way.”
The comedian jokes that they shouldn’t bring Cheney along on the hunt, referring to the 2006 incident in which the vice-president shot and injured a friend while hunting quail.
“I’ll be a careful shot,” responds Palin.
She replies: “Well, see, we’re right next door to different countries that we all need to be working with, yes.”
Palin praises Sarkozy throughout the call and also mentions his wife Carla Bruni, a model-turned-songwriter.
“You know, I look forward to working with you and getting to meet you personally and your beautiful wife,” Palin says. “Oh my goodness, you’ve added a lot of energy to your country with that beautiful family of yours.”
The Sarkozy impersonator tells Palin his wife is “so hot in bed” and then informs her that Bruni has written a song for her about Joe the Plumber entitled “Du rouge a levres sur une cochonne” — which translates as “Lipstick on a Pig.”
He also tells the Alaska governor that he loved the “documentary” made about her and referred to a pornographic film with a Palin look-alike made by Hustler founder Larry Flynt.
She answers tentatively, “Ohh, good, thank you, yes.”
The callers then reveal the prank and identify themselves and their radio station.
“Ohhh, have we been pranked?” Palin asks before handing the phone to an aide who ends the call.
Obama’s campaign spokesman Robert Gibbs, commenting on the prank, said: “I’m glad we check out our calls before we hand the phone to Barack Obama.”
ELIZABETHTON, Tenn. -- A new father has secretly named his baby girl Sarah McCain Palin after the Republican ticket for president and vice president.
Mark Ciptak of Elizabethton put that name on the documents for the girl's birth certificate, ignoring the name Ava Grace, which he and his wife had picked earlier.
"I don't think she believes me yet," he told the Kingsport Times-News for a story to be published Tuesday. "It's going to take some more convincing."
Ciptak, a blood bank employee for the American Red Cross, said he named his third child after John McCain and Sarah Palin to "to get the word out" about the campaign.
"I took one for the cause," he said. "I can't give a lot of financial support for the (McCain/Palin) campaign. I do have a sign up in my yard, but I can do very little."
AP
Tuesday, 2008-14-288
