Friday, 13 December 2013

Anonymous7 December 2013 18:32

does this mean that a nother load of science is redundant, or would anyone care to think again, listen to David attenbroughs' commentaries, he talks as if evolution happens on one single day that aint right

genisis

ABORIGINEE SONGS

Australia a land of enchantment and mystery, accepted by most people as different in evolutionary terms from the rest of the life supporting areas on earth.

To the history books of British origin, Australia was discovered by Captain Cook.However I would prefer to accept that he started the colonisation of the region on and around the date of 1770. In Europe these were the days of discovery .

Peoples of different race and creed coming together as never before, little did they realise the extent of travel that would occur in the later half of the twentieth century, nor the understanding en mass about racial harmony. In fact all the scientists were unable to adopt a gentle pose toward the aboriginal people.These people, the aboriginees, being spread over a vast area were of different tribes and yes primitive,but the fascinating thing is that their culture holds valuable clues to our own origins.How ? the story goes something like this,

The land is vast and primeval, man has descended his forfathers countless times,life is a continuous fight for survival,we haven’t reached far into our own evolution,no paper and pen are there to record stories although we enjoy an art form of decoration and cave painting.

To exist in this harsh enviroment is learning from fathers , mothers and ancestral ways,everything is told ,heard and interpreted from others points of understanding.

an aboriginal guy who goes by the name of” Bob Mazza” . He is a musician who admits that he makes the music of his people.It is mainly created by beating sticks together, blowing through hollow branches and chanting, which give a good history lesson into the evolution of music itself.

They have language,and as Bob Mazza tells,” stories are told around the fire”, food gathering and hunting are the order of the day,recall the definitions in your history books, people are described as hunter gatherers,some lived in the deserts some on the coast and were even themselves developing at different rates;

quote from Bob,” go back long long time, white fella he call it dream time,

2 .

Corobaree is the time when my people come together to sing and dance, very good time that one,that’s how come our culture is here today,we tell the dream time stories to our children,they learn about the spirit ancestors. Them spirits made this land you know, the rivers, the mountain, the rocks, the trees. Them spirits taught us how to live.A lot of them songs are sacred you know, only a man initiated into the tribal law can listen , some of our music is for everybody round the camp fire a lot of good fun.

Yumo, from another part of australia they’ve got their own dream time stories but we’ve all got the same time.

For a long long time stories were handed down father to son, mother to daughter, over and over from before time, many thousands of years.This last phrase is the influence of european culture on the mind of this guy Bob Mazza and obviously so is the English language ,that is unavoidable, so is the fact that not for much longer and i mean a couple of generations only,will it be possible to hear from anybody who can understand the culture that existed prior to the European colonisation of these lands.

Sentiment apart,this situation is like the extinction of the Dinosaur,once lost it cannot be studied as a living entity.That may .not be at first reflection a problem,solely it may not be, but

the state of progress to me warrants these cultures to be reflected on now while

Saturday, 7 December 2013

Neanderthal sex boosted immunity in modern humans

By Matt McGrathScience reporter, BBC World Service Infographic

Human leucocyte antigen (mauve) is expressed on the outside of white blood cells

Sexual relations between ancient humans and their evolutionary cousins are critical for our modern immune systems,researchers report in Science journal.

Mating with Neanderthals and another ancient group called Denisovans introduced genes that help us cope with viruses to this day, they conclude.

Previous research had indicated that prehistoric interbreeding led to up to 4% of the modern human genome.

The new work identifies stretches of DNA derived from our distant relatives.

In the human immune system, the HLA (human leucocyte antigen) family of genes plays an important role in defending against foreign invaders such as viruses.

The authors say that the origins of some HLA class 1 genes are proof that our ancient relatives interbred with Neanderthals and Denisovans for a period.

“Start Quote

Getting these genes by mating would have given an advantage to populations that acquired them”

Peter Parham

At least one variety of HLA gene occurs frequently in present day populations from West Asia, but is rare in Africans.

The researchers say that is because after ancient humans left Africa some 65,000 years ago, they started breeding with their more primitive relations in Europe, while those who stayed in Africa did not.

"The HLA genes that the Neanderthals and Denisovans had, had been adapted to life in Europe and Asia for several hundred thousand years, whereas the recent migrants from Africa wouldn't have had these genes," said study leader Peter Parham from Stanford University School of Medicine in California.

"So getting these genes by mating would have given an advantage to populations that acquired them."

When the team looked at a variant of HLA called HLA-B*73 found in modern humans, they found evidence that it came from cross-breeding with Denisovans.

Scanty remains

While Neanderthal remains have been found in many sites across Europe and Asia, Denisovans are known from only a finger and a tooth unearthed at a single site in Russia, though genetic evidence suggests they ranged further afield.

"Our analysis is all done from one individual, and what's remarkable is how informative that has been and how our data looking at these selected genes is very consistent and complementary with the whole genome-wide analysis that was previously published," said Professor Parham.

A similar scenario was found with HLA gene types in the Neanderthal genome.

"We are finding frequencies in Asia and Europe that are far greater than the whole genome estimates of archaic DNA in modern humans, which is 1-6%," said Professor Parham.

The scientists estimate that Europeans owe more than half their variants of one class of HLA gene to interbreeding with Neanderthals and Denisovans.

Asians owe up to 80%, and Papua New Guineans up to 95%.

Uneven exchange

Other scientists, while agreeing that humans and other ancients interbred, are less certain about the evidence of impacts on our immune system.

"I'm cautious about the conclusions because the HLA system is so variable in living people," commented John Hawks, assistant professor of anthropology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, US.

DNA from a tooth (pictured) and a finger bone show the Denisovans were a distinct group

"It is difficult to align ancient genes in this part of the genome.

"Also, we don't know what the value of these genes really was, although we can hypothesise that they are related to the disease environment in some way."

While the genes we received might be helping us stay a step ahead of viruses to this day, the Neanderthals did not do so well out of their encounters with modern human ancestors, disappearing completely some 30,000 years ago.

Peter Parham suggested a parallel could be drawn between the events of this period and the European conquest of the Americas.

"Initially you have small bands of Europeans exploring, having a difficult time and making friends with the natives; but as they establish themselves, they become less friendly and more likely to take over their resources and eliminate them.

"Modern experiences reflect the past, and vice versa."

oldest human DNA

Saturday, 7 December 2013

oldest

Leg bone gives up oldest human DNA

By Paul Rincon Science editor, BBC News website

The Pit of Bones has yielded one of the richest assemblages of human bones from this era

The discovery of DNA in a 400,000-year-old human thigh bone will open up a new frontier in the study of our ancestors.

That's the verdict cast by human evolution experts on an analysis in Nature journal of the oldest human genetic material ever sequenced.
The femur comes from the famed "Pit of Bones" site in Spain, which gave up the remains of at least 28 ancient people.
But the results are perplexing, raising more questions than answers about our increasingly complex family tree.
The early human remains from the cave site near the northern Spanish city of Burgos have been painstakingly excavated and pieced together over the course of more than two decades. It has yielded one of the richest assemblages of human bones from this stage of human evolution, in a time called the Middle Pleistocene.

“Start Quote

We need all the data we can get to build the whole story of human evolution”

End Quote Prof Chris Stringer Natural History Museum

To access the pit (called Sima de los Huesos in Spanish) scientists must crawl for hundreds of metres through narrow cave tunnels and rope down through the dark. The bodies were probably deposited there deliberately - their causes of death unknown.

The fossils carry many traits typical of Neanderthals, and either belong to an ancestral species known as Homo heidelbergensis - or, as the British palaeoanthropologist Chris Stringer suggests - are early representatives of the Neanderthal lineage.
DNA's tendency to break down over time means it has not previously been possible to study the genetics of such ancient members of the human family.
But the recent pace of progress in sequencing technology has astonished many scientists: "Years ago, geneticists said they wouldn't be able to find DNA that was older than 60,000 years old," said co-author Jose Bermudez de Castro, from the National Research Centre for Human Evolution (CENIEH), a member of the team that excavated the fossils.
"Of course, that wasn't true. The techniques have advanced hugely."
Siberia to Iberia

Professor Chris Stringer from the Natural History Museum in London describes the significance of the discovery

Researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany, under the supervision of Prof Svante Paabo, have been helping drive those advances. The success reported in Nature was the result of applying techniques developed for sequencing the degraded DNA found in Neanderthal fossils to even older specimens.
Prof Paabo, the institute's director, said: "Our results show that we can now study DNA from human ancestors that are hundreds of thousands of years old," adding: "It is tremendously exciting."

Smart spiral

Zip, Ladder, DNA beads, typewriter, phone cord

Is DNA the 'smartest' molecule in existence?
How does DNA testing work?

The scientists were able to stitch together a near-complete sequence of mitochondrial DNA, or mtDNA (the genetic material contained in the tiny "batteries" that power our cells) from the ancient femur. But comparisons of the genetic code with that from other humans, ancient and modern, yielded a surprise.

Rather than showing a relationship between the Spanish specimens and Neanderthals, which might be expected based on their physical features, the mitochondrial DNA was most similar to that found in 40,000 year-old material unearthed thousands of kilometres away at Denisova Cave in Siberia.
The Denisovans were a sister group to the Neanderthals, with distinct genetic characteristics. Identified only by DNA extracted from a tiny finger bone and tooth, they are, as some researchers have remarked, "a genome in search of a fossil" because there are no substantial remains representative of this group.
By using missing mutations in the old DNA sequences, the researchers calculated that the Pit of Bones individual shared a common ancestor with the Denisovans about 700,000 years ago.
Muddle in the middle

The Pit of Bones is difficult to access but has ideal conditions for DNA preservation

So there are several possibilities as to how Denisovan-like DNA could turn up in Middle Pleistocene Spain. Firstly, the mitochondrial DNA type from the pit came from a population ancestral to both the Spanish hominids and to Denisovans.
Secondly, interbreeding between the Pit of Bones people (or their ancestors) and yet another early human species brought the Denisovan-like DNA into this western population. Prof Bermudez de Castro thinks there may be a candidate for this cryptic ancestor: an earlier human species known as Homo antecessor. One million years ago, antecessor inhabited the site of Gran Dolina, just a few hundred metres away from the Pit of Bones.
Prof Chris Stringer, from London's Natural History Museum, told BBC News: "We need all the data we can get to build the whole story of human evolution. We can't just build it from stone tools, we can't just build it from the fossils. Having the DNA gives us a whole new way of looking at it."

Techniques developed to sequence Neanderthal DNA can be applied to older fossils

However, he points out, mtDNA is a small and unusual component of our genetic blueprint, from which only limited conclusions can be drawn. For example, no sign of the interbreeding we now know took place between Neanderthals and modern humans remains in the mtDNA of modern people.
To get the full picture, scientists had to sequence nuclear DNA (that kept in the nuclei of cells) from Neanderthals and compare it with that in present-day populations. Likewise, the true relationships between the Pit people and other ancient populations may only be known if and when nuclear DNA is available.
This will be a challenge given the age of the Spanish fossils, but their good state of preservation - largely a product of the fairly constant temperature inside the cave - gives hope.
"That is our next big thing here, to sequence at least part of the nuclear genome from the individual in the Sima de los Huesos," Svante Paabo told BBC News.
"This will answer definitively the question of how they are related to Neanderthals, modern humans and Denisovans."
Paul.Rincon-INTERNET@bbc.co.uk and follow me on Twitter

Wednesday, 13 November 2013

£2.3m

Richard III: Greatest archaeological discovery of all?

Leicester / 12 February 2013

Roman cavalry helmet found in Cumbria in 2010 and sold for £2.3m Sutton Hoo (pictured) - Anglo-Saxon ship burial famous for its lavish jewellery

Saturday, 5 October 2013

Rachael Maskell of the Unite trade union

NHS pay proposal criticised by health unions

COMMENTS (828)

The NHS's £109bn budget is under severe pressure

Unions have criticised proposals to halt an increase in NHS pay in England.

Rises across the public sector have been capped at 1%, but the Department of Health wants to withhold this increase for its 1.3m staff.

It told the NHS pay review body the rise was not affordable alongside the current system of small, automatic annual rises.

Rachael Maskell of the Unite trade union said staff deserved the pay reward for "holding the NHS together".

Health trusts are currently under pressure to make savings and the NHS wage bill accounts for around 40% of its budget.

The Department of Health (DoH) proposes using the funding intended for the 1% rise to "modernise" pay structures.

It says these increments - linked to length of service and satisfactory performance - add £700m to salary costs.

But the DoH has stressed no decisions on changes to pay have been taken, insisting independent bodies will make their recommendations next year.

The plans, which were outlined in the DoH's submission to two independent pay review bodies, have been criticised by Unite.

Ms Maskell said: "The Department of Health have got other choices. They're entering into a re-organisation which is costing £3bn, which nobody asked for and isn't adding anything to patient care.

"It is about choices and the NHS staff have already had two years of a pay freeze - 1% last year - and, quite frankly, are really falling behind inflation now with their wages."

Ms Maskell told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that motivation and morale was down among frontline health workers.

"The reality is that staff do deserve this pay reward because they're holding the NHS together at this very difficult time," she said.

However, in its submission to the NHS pay review body, the DoH points to a staff survey suggesting high levels of motivation and morale.

"The government's view, therefore, remains that basic pay increases should only be implemented if there is strong evidence that recruitment, retention, morale or motivation issues require this," the department says in its written submission.

'Inflammatory' plan

The department wants the pay review bodies - which are due to make a recommendation on pay in February or March - to defer the planned 1% pay rise until it has negotiated a move to seven-day working with unions.

But staff representatives have reacted angrily to the plans.

"What they have done is inflammatory," said Christina McAnea, head of health at Unison and joint chair of the NHS Staff Council.

"They must have known how unions would react. We are not going to negotiate while a gun is held to our head for a paltry 1% pay rise - our members will not react well to that."

Dr Mark Porter, chairman of the BMA Council added: "We recognise fully the economic constraints the NHS is working under but the continued erosion in the real value of contracts for doctors has now reached a critical point."

And he told the Guardian newspaper that it was "insulting at best" for the government to "imply that unless NHS staff endure what is effectively another year of pay cuts they will put patient safety at risk".

'Affordable' service

However, a DoH spokeswoman stressed that the proposals would "help protect jobs and improve care".

She said: "Many NHS staff have continued to receive pay rises of up to 6% and we want to keep working with the trade unions and employers on affordable pay.

"The measures we are proposing will help increase quality for patients and help us realise our vision of an affordable seven-day service."

Setting out the government's spending plans in June, Chancellor George Osborne said ministers were working to "remove automatic pay rises" for teachers, health professionals, prison and police staff.

The department drew attention to Mr Osborne's comments and confirmed it wanted NHS pay to have "stronger links to performance, quality and productivity".

Thursday, 3 October 2013

There is a greater shortage of parking space for residents in Kensington and Chelsea

Luxury car worth £1.2m clamped outside Harrods

Koenigsegg CCXR and a Lamborghini Murcielago LP670-4 SuperVeloce clamped outside Harrods

The Koenigsegg CCXR and Lamborghini Murcielago were both clamped outside Harrods

A luxury car valued at £1.2m was clamped outside Harrods in central London after being illegally parked.

The Koenigsegg CCXR and a £350,000 Lamborghini Murcielago LP670-4 SuperVeloce were both clamped on the afternoon of 22 July.

Kensington and Chelsea Council said the light-blue vehicles were in serious contravention of parking rules.

The Knightsbridge store was bought by investors from Qatar in April for £1.5bn.

It was bought by the Qatar Holding group, led by the Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Hamad Bin Jassim Bin Jabr Al-Thani, from Mohammed Al Fayed.

Both the cars are very rare with the Swedish-made Koenigsegg being one of only six ever made.

'Effective deterrent'

A Harrods spokesman said: "Any matters relating to parking tickets and enforcement are strictly the domain of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea."

The council said £120 penalty charge notices were issued, but the cars were released for £70 each as the fines were paid within 14 days.

A spokesman said: "There is a greater shortage of parking space for residents in Kensington and Chelsea than practically anywhere else in the country.

"At the same time we have a huge number of visiting motorists attracted here by our fine shops, restaurants and other attractions.

"Our priority is our residents. To keep space available for them, we must deter visitors from taking up residents' bays and our experience is that clamping is simply the most effective deterrent."

Wednesday, 21 August 2013

Mashco-Piro tribe

Peru's isolated Mashco-Piro tribe 'asks for food'

The tribe was filmed making contact with another remote community

Members of one of the most isolated tribes on Earth have briefly emerged from the Peruvian jungle to ask for food, according to local activists.

A group from the Mashco-Piro tribe made contact with villagers, apparently sparking a tense stand-off.

The tribe, which numbers in the hundreds, has had virtually no contact with the wider world.

Campaigners say logging and urban development have diminished the area in which the tribe can live.

The Mashco-Piro are one of several tribes designated by the government as "uncontacted people".

The government forbids direct contact because the tribes' immune systems are not thought able to cope with the type of germs carried by other Peruvians.

Anthropologist Beatriz Huertas told the Associated Press news agency that the tribe could sometimes be seen migrating through the jungle during the dry season.

But it was strange to see them so close to the village across the river, she said.

"It could be they are upset by problems of others taking advantage of resources in their territories and for that reason were demanding objects and food of the population," she said.

Footage filmed late in June and released by local rainforest campaign group AIDESEP and the Fenamad federation for indigenous rights showed the tribe members crossing the river.

Saul Puerta Pena, director of AIDESEP, said the footage showed the tribe asking for bananas.

"There is a canoe sent by another remote indigenous community, which does not live in isolation, to send them food," he said.

"But the tribe cannot come into contact with the remote community still because any illness could kill them."

There are thought to be between 12,000 and 15,000 people from "uncontacted" tribes living in the jungles east of the Andes.

moderation

bionow

Friday, 13 December 2013

genisis

Saturday, 7 December 2013

Neanderthal sex boosted immunity in modern humans

Neanderthal sex boosted immunity in modern humans

“Start Quote

oldest human DNA

Saturday, 7 December 2013

oldest

Leg bone gives up oldest human DNA

“Start Quote

Smart spiral

Wednesday, 13 November 2013

£2.3m

Saturday, 5 October 2013

Rachael Maskell of the Unite trade union

NHS pay proposal criticised by health unions

Thursday, 3 October 2013

There is a greater shortage of parking space for residents in Kensington and Chelsea

Luxury car worth £1.2m clamped outside Harrods

Wednesday, 21 August 2013

Mashco-Piro tribe

Peru's isolated Mashco-Piro tribe 'asks for food'

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bionow

Friday, 13 December 2013

Saturday, 7 December 2013

Neanderthal sex boosted immunity in modern humans

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Saturday, 7 December 2013

oldest

Leg bone gives up oldest human DNA

“Start Quote

Smart spiral

More on This Story

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Wednesday, 13 November 2013

Saturday, 5 October 2013

NHS pay proposal criticised by health unions

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Thursday, 3 October 2013

Luxury car worth £1.2m clamped outside Harrods

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Wednesday, 21 August 2013

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MSN UKAngry Peruvian tribe emerges from its Amazon wilderness isolation18 hrs ago

Guardian.co.ukTribal contact in Peru causes alarm23 hrs ago

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