Major University Study of Yeti Announced!

Oxford University and Switzerland’s Lausanne Museum of Zoology have a joint study of alleged remains or samples of Yeti and bigfoot.   They will use the latest advances in genetic analysis.

Bigfoot Footprint Found in Illinois!

The footprint above measures 18 inches long.  It was reported to the Chatham,  Illinois police by local resident Michael Patrick.   The print had been discovered by crewmen who were replacing a pool liner on his mother’s property.   The night before strange animal noises had been heard in the area that had spooked a neighbor’s German Shepherd.  As yet there is no explanation for the unusually large footprint.  Nor  for a series of five “claw marks” found nearby.

Source.

Ridley Scott’s Alien Prequel Shelved!

In a shocking development for Hollywood,  a studio has opted for originality over franchise.  What?!?  Tell us it isn’t true.  Well, we can’t, because they have.

Ridley Scott has shelved his plans to make a prequel to Alien in favor of directing an original sci-fi film entitled Prometheus.  Here’s the skinny from EW:

“The Alien Prequel” has morphed into something else entirely — a film called Prometheus, slated for release March 9, 2012. The script, written by Scott and Damon Lindelof, will tell a completely different science fiction tale. “While Alien was indeed the jumping off point for this project, out of the creative process evolved a new, grand mythology and universe in which this original story takes place,” Scott explains in the press release. “The keen fan will recognize strands of Alien’s DNA, so to speak, but the ideas tackled in this film are unique, large and provocative.” Swedish actress Noomi Rapace (The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo) is already attached to star in one of the film’s five major roles, a “scientist” named Elizabeth Shaw.

We’re excited that Scott is doing sci-fi.  And even more excited that it’s ORIGINAL sci-fi.  And with “Lost” scribe Damon Lindelof handling the writing chores, we bet it will genuinely be original.

Mammoths Return in Four Years!

Yup, we could have one of those woolly creatures walking among us that soon.  The major hurdle, how to extract genetic material from long frozen tissue, has been overcome thanks to the pioneering research of Dr. Teruhiko Wakayama, of the Riken Centre for Developmental Biology.

So now Akira Iritani, a professor at Kyoto University, has reactivated his plans to clone a mammoth; a proposal he abandoned several years ago when attempts to extract mammoth DNA proved fruitless.   But with that technique seemingly now his grasp, Iritani is full of enthusiasm:

Now the technical problems have been overcome, all we need is a good sample of soft tissue from a frozen mammoth.

Iritani plans a trip to Siberia to hunt for such tissue in the permafrost of that region.  Once the tissue is found, and genetic material is recovered,  it will be need to be placed in the nucleus of an elephant egg.  An elephant will then be impregnated with this egg, and carry the mammoth to term.

Iritani believes the recovery and successful implantation will take approximately two years.  And elephants have a gestation period of about 600 days.  And Iritani believes this means:

[ A] healthy mammoth could be born in four or five years.

Very exciting.  Will there be a Mammoth Park?  Would you pay good money to see one in the flesh?  And, most importantly, will there be running and screaming?

Share y0ur thoughts with us about this scientific breakthrough in out comments section.

Cause of the Economic Crisis? DNA!

From the BBC:

Some people who take big risks on the stock market can blame their genes for their behaviour, work suggests.

The US scientists say their findings might give an insight into one reason for the current economic slump.

The Northwestern University team found two genes that regulate the hormones dopamine and serotonin could predict whether a person would gamble.

The same genes have already been linked to addiction and negative emotions, PLoS ONE journal says.

Read the rest of the article here.

Blood From Mosquito Leads to Potential Prosecution

Blood from mosquito traps Finnish suspect

Mon Dec 22, 6:10 am ET

HELSINKI (AFP) – Police in Finland believe they have caught a car-thief thanks to a DNA sample taken from a sample of his blood found inside a mosquito.

Last June a car was stolen in Lapua, some 380 kilometres (235 miles) north of Helsinki. It was soon found near a railway station in Seinaejoki, about 25 kilometres from where it was stolen.

“A police patrol carried out an inspection of the car and they noticed a mosquito that had sucked blood. It was sent to the laboratory for testing, which showed the blood belonged to a man who was in the police registers,” inspector Sakari Palomaeki told AFP.

The suspect, who has been interrogated, has insisted he did not steal the car, saying he had hitchhiked and was given a lift by a man driving the car.

Palomaeki said a prosecutor would decide if the evidence was solid enough for charges to be pressed.

Finnish police said it was rare for them to use insects to solve crimes, although they are interested in everything found at a crime scene.

“It is not usual to use mosquitoes. In training we were not told to keep an eye on mosquitoes at crime scenes,” Palomaeki said, laughing.

“It is not easy to find a small mosquito in a car, this just shows how thorough the crime scene investigation was,” he added.