- Snakes are still slithery, scaly and creepy, but they
are also (allegedly) evolutionary marvels. According to the first full study
of a snake's genome, the Burmese python is one of the most evolutionarily
advanced creatures on Earth. Study co-leader David Pollock, associate professor
of biochemistry and molecular genetics at the University of Colorado School of
Medicine, announced the findings of a study on how the biggest snake in the
world has survived and thrived. "Snakes appear to have functionally evolved
much more than other species," Pollock said. He believes the findings may
even yield valuable insights into treating human diseases. One of the focal
points of the study was how the native southeast Asian snake is able to eat
prey are large or larger than itself. The python is able to do so because it
can open its head and jaw wide enough to house a meal the size of a deer, but
also because its organs supersize themselves and go into overdrive to speedily
digest the consumed animal before it rots. Within two days, the snake's heart,
small intestine, liver and kidneys increase in size, ranging from a third
larger than before to double the pre-meal size. "Genes that were fully off
are now full on," Pollock said of the change. He noted that once
the meal is fully digested, those organs shrink back to normal size. An in-depth analysis
of the Burmese python's genome revealed an intricate interplay between gene
expression, protein adaptation and changes in the genome structure that allows
these snakes to do what other creatures with the same genes cannot.
Understanding this change could allow scientists to better comprehend the
mechanisms behind human conditions such as organ failure, ulcers and more. Up
next? Lots more research for Pollock, study leader Todd Castoe and the project’s
38 co-authors from four countries………
- The questions surrounding the 2014 World Cup abound: Which
top teams will rise to the occasion in the sport’s biggest event? Will 99.95
percent of Americans change their mind and give a damn about soccer this time?
Oh, and will the soccer-crazed host country actually have all of its venues
ready for the event? While the answers to those first two questions remain
unclear, the picture is beginning to come into focus for the third one and
that’s not good news for soccer’s governing body. FIFA executives are being forced to
a back-up plan to switch World Cup matches away from trouble-hit stadia
consider around Brazil as they begin arriving in Brazil ahead of Friday’s
finals draw. In what can only be described as a less-than-ideal situation,
nearly half of the 12 venues scheduled to host games are not ready and five of
them are light years behind schedule. Last week’s tragic crane collapse in
Brazil’s largest city, Sao Paulo, killed two site workers and is expected to
set the construction process back two months at Arena Corinthians. Arena de Sao
Paulo, which is due to host the opening match involving hosts Brazil on June 12
and the second semi-final, is also a long way from completion. Stadiums in Fortaleza,
Salvador, Brasilia, Recife, Belo Horizonte and the Maracana in Rio are in solid
enough shape because they were used for last summer’s Confederations Cup, but venues
in Cuiaba, Curitaba, Manaus, Sao Paulo and Natal are huge question marks and
those arenas are slated to host 16 group stage games between them. The Arena
Amazonia in Manaus, in the heart of the jungle, the Arena da Baixada in
Curitiba and Cuiaba’s Arena Pantanal are all still building sites and the
prospect of completing all of them in the next six months isn't exactly
promising. The good news is that a country riddled with poverty will certainly
find a way to dig down deep and spend tons of money to finish the venues in
time so they can be used for a few weeks and then left vacant………
- New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie may have lost a lot of
weight, but he clearly hasn’t lost his edge when it comes to doing battle with
opponents in the public arena. Christie kicked off the week by taking the
verbal lumber to a Republican assemblyman for alleging that he had a deal with
a Democratic power broker to not financially help south New Jersey Republicans.
Assemblyman Christopher A. Brown (R-Atlantic) fired the first shot when he
conducted a radio interview in which he suggested that that Christie “cut the deal” with George Norcross, an
insurance executive and powerful Democratic leader. “That’s why he didn’t raise
any money down here,” Brown said. Perhaps realizing he had verbally vomited a
statement he could not possible defend, Brown backtracked hours later and told
the world that he obviously did not intend to say that Christie and Norcross
cut a deal. That mea culpa wasn’t enough to place the still-cherubic Christie,
who lit Brown up during a Statehouse press conference on Monday. “I meet with
George Norcross all the time. One, I had no deal with George Norcross on
politics and two, if I did have a deal, I sure as hell wouldn’t tell Chris
Brown,” Christie said. See, Christie used profanity there, so you know he’s
serious. He’s also taking a run at a politician who narrowly won re-election
and had a running mate who lost his seat to a Democrat and has requested a
recount rather than accept the will of the people. Christie also happily took a
shot at that running mate, Assemblyman John Amdoeo. “The fact of the matter is
what Mr. Brown and Mr. Amodeo should look at is why they still have $175,000 in
their campaign account in a race they lost by 40 votes,” Christie said. “It
certainly wasn’t a lack of money. Because if it was a lack of money why would
they still have $175,000 in their account?” Well played, Governor Fat Boy………
- Riot Watch! Riot Watch! It has been quite a week already
for angry uprisings across the globe and today’s coup-in-the-making comes to us
from eastern Europe, where thousands of Ukrainian protesters blocked entrances to the government
building and called for the ouster of the prime minister and his cabinet. This
inspiring scene of anti-establishment anger came as a result of the president's
decision to ditch a deal for closer ties with the European Union.
Unquestionably, the best part of the day was the besieging of the government
building one day after a huge rally in the capital by hundreds of thousands
Ukrainians. That rally fell short because it was mostly peaceful, whereas the
following day’s activities were decidedly not so. Credit for that dramatic
change goes to the bold and courageous group of protesters who tried to storm
President Viktor Yanukovych's office. Their heroic charge led to hours of
scuffles that ended with police chasing protesters away with tears gas and
truncheons. Thankfully, the hard-charging rioters took inspiration from violent
police action against protesters early on Saturday and it unquestionably galvanized
the latest round of protests, which are aimed at bringing down the president
and his government. The rioters aren't simply a collection of extremist
whackos either; three lawmakers of the governing Party of Regions have quit in
protest over the president’s decision and the opposition badly wants to oust
the Cabinet of Prime Minister Mykola Azarov. Sadly, the coalition doesn’t have the
necessary votes and a riot might be its best option. Despite the rioting, Azarov's
spokesman Vitaly Lukyanenko said the government was not planning to impose a
state of emergency. In parts of western Ukraine, where most speak Ukrainian and
lean toward the EU even local officials are getting in on the revolt. In a
truly awesome display, the mayor of Lviv called on the people there to protest
and warned that police would take off their uniforms and defend the city if
central government sends reinforcements. Yanukovych could have avoided all of
this had he merely followed through on an agreement that would have established
free trade and deepened political cooperation between Ukraine and the EU………
- There is a reason networks are so successful….at finding new
shows that even a deaf mute can tell are terrible and which are canceled after
four episodes. That reason, simply put, is that network executives are no
different than executives in any other industry in the sense that they think
they’re smarter than everyone else and that they know if a new show is good or
not, even if the concept is imbecilic and rejected by every focus group known
to man. That’s why NBC can stare down the lukewarm response to its new series “Dracula” and shrug, then decide to
green light development of a "Wolfman" series. Clearly, the rejection
of one show about an undead crwature that preys on humans and can kill in a
heartbeat is no indicactor of how the public will react to a strikingly similar
show and so the Peacock forges ahead. The Wolfman-centric series is being
developed by Daniel Knauf, who is also the writer and executive producer for
"Dracula." It would be loosely based on the 2010 movie remake of the
same name starring Benicio Del Toro and Anthony Hopkins, which was itself a
terrible recycling of a 1941 horror classic. NBC has not announced a debut date
for “Wolfman,” although it would do well to take whatever amount of time exists
between now and then and burn its marketing and promotional strategy for
“Dracula,” then start from scratch for “Wolfman.” “Dracula” was paired with "Grimm" on Friday nights and
its lack of success already has executives weighing possible backup plans for
the night………
No comments:
Post a Comment