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Friday, 3 July, 2015
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alIenS are real and they look juSt lIke huManS, claIMS top ScIentISt
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top scientist has claimed “we are not alone” and suggested aliens look just like humans. Biologist Simon Conway Morris, an expert in evolution at the University of Cambridge, said the chances of alien life evolving elsewhere in the universe are “pretty high”. Professor Morris, a fellow at St John’s College, Cambridge, sets out his ideas in a new book called The Runes Of Evolution. In this weighty tome, the Professor discusses a theory called convergence, which suggests evolution may proceed along certain lines rather than being a chaotic process. If true, this would mean ET is “almost guaranteed” to possess limbs and a head,
‘terminator’ tweet about someone killed at vW plant by robot goes viral, people poke fun at death instead AgeNcies Be careful what you tweet - especially if you’ve got a similar name to a famous sci-fi character. That’s what one journalist whose name will be familiar to Terminator fans learned yesterday. Financial Times writer Sarah O’Connor tweeted out a story about someone being killed by a robot at a car factory. As any fan of the recently rebooted Schwarzenegger series knows, that is rather similar to the end of the first film. In the 1984 classic, a woman called Sarah Connor is nearly killed by the Terminator robot in a factory. Terminator fans weren’t slow to respond, and soon the tweets started flying with a series of references to the James Cameron blockbuster. The tragic incident took place at a Volkswagen factory in Kassel, Germany, when a 21year-old man died. In response to the viral trend the FT’s employment correspondent Ms O’Connor - who after all doesn’t share exactly the same name as the character - reminded the fans that someone had died.
People born to genetically-diverse parents likely to be taller and more intelligent, says study
dog eats leg of man found dead in australian home meLBourNe agencies Police checking on a home in suburban Australia found the body of a man whose leg had been gnawed to the bone by a dog, a report said Thursday. The man, reported to be 49 but not named, was found by police and council staff making a welfare check southwest of Melbourne on Tuesday, Victoria state police and the Greater Geelong City Council said in a statement. Neighbours had reported persistent barking from a dog inside the house in a suburb of Geelong, the Geelong Advertiser said. “Police looked through the door at the rear of the house and saw a male on the bed,” Sergeant David Magher told the newspaper. “His right leg was missing and the other gnawed to the bone. The dog inside the unit appeared to be extremely aggressive so council rangers were called in to restrain the dog.” It was not known what breed of dog was involved or whether the man was already dead when the dog starting eating his leg. Police said his death was not being treated as suspicious, with a report to be prepared for the coroner. The newspaper said the man was last seen four weeks earlier and lived by himself.
Swaledale storm with golf ball sized hailstones breaks windows and car screens courtesy mirror This was the biblical scene yesterday as hailstones the size of golf balls fell from the sky during a rare supercell storm as the hottest July day was ever recorded. Car windscreens and windows of houses were smashed and satellite dishes BENT in the freak 20 minute storm as it hit the Yorkshire Dales. New mum Linda Scott, who gave birth to a baby girl just four weeks ago and only moved into her new house with husband Robin, 31, on Monday, described the “carnage”. The 30-year-old’s home suffered smashed windows, broken roof tiles, a cracked Sky dish and even broken birdbaths from the icy aerial assault. Have you taken video or pictures of thunderstorms where you are? Share them with us using the form below or email yourmirror@mirror.co.uk She told Mirror Online: “It was a really hot and humid day and this huge cloud was suddenly looming over us at about 8.30pm. “All of a sudden there were these unbelievably huge hailstones coming down and bouncing up - they just kept coming.
courtesy mirror
courtesy iNdepeNdeNt The children of genetically-unrelated parents are more likely than those with similar genes to be taller and more intelligent according to the biggest study yet of human genetic diversity in an age when more people than ever are marrying people from different parts of the world. Scientists found that height and general intelligence were two traits that appear to be increasing as a result of the mixing of DNA between genetically-diverse parents who on average share fewer genes than more closely related individuals. However, the researchers also found that the increasing genetic diversity of the human population appeared to have little or no effect on a range of other medical traits, such as blood pressure, which could affect peoples’ health over their lifetimes. Ever since Charles Darwin, scientists have argued over the effects of “inbreeding” between close relatives such as first cousins, but there have been few studies to look into the positive benefits of “outbreeding” between more distantly-related parents with widely different genetic backgrounds. The latest research, published in the journal Nature, analysed more than 100 separate studies carried out around the worldinvolving some 350,000 people living in
both rural and urban environments. The research compared the genetic diversity of genome data with 16 biomedical traits, from height and cholesterol levels to cognitive ability and academic achievements. The researchers found that four traits – height, lung capacity, general cognitive ability and educational attainment – had increased significantly in line with the level of out breeding resulting in increased genetic diversity within the genomes of individuals living as far apart as Finland and East Asia. Peter Joshi of the University of Edinburgh, the first author of the study, said that the researchers attempted to compensate for environmental effects – such as differences in upbringing due to socio-economic status – that could have influenced the results. However, even after taking these non-genetic factors into account, they still found that the degree of genetic-diversity was a significant factor affecting the four traits. “We’ve found that the genetics are associated quite robustly across populations and although we tried to compensate for environmental factors, we think the genetic effects are real,” Dr Joshi said. “There has been speculation ever since Charles Darwin that genetic diversity would be beneficial in terms of evolutionary fitness. We think genetic diversity decreases the chances of inheriting defecting copies of the same gene from both father and mother,” he said. “Our research answers questions first posed by Darwin as to the benefits of genetic diversity. Our next step will be to hone in on the specific parts of the genome that most benefits from diversity,” he added. Although the effects are relatively small, the scientists calculated that they would be equivalent to the children of first cousin marriages being an average 1.2cm shorter than the children of genetically-diverse parents, and having a typical academic attainment which is equivalent to 10 months less in full-time education.
Teenage girl dies from heart attack after not going to the toilet for eight weeks courtesy iNdepeNdeNt A teenager suffering from a phobia of toilets has died from a heart attack. Emily Titterington, 16, died after going eight weeks without a bowel movement which left her with a compressed her chest cavity and displaced organs. An inquest in Turo, Cornwall, heard that Emily’s life could have been saved with appropriate medical treatment, but she had refused medical examinations. Home Office pathologist Dr Amanda Jeffery said her symptoms were in keeping with a condition known as “stool withholding”, which is more frequent in children. A post-mortem examination revealed the 16-year-old had a “massive extension of the large bowel,” which Jef-
fery described as “like nothing I have ever seen before – it was dramatic”. Emily, who also had mild autism, had suffered with bowel problems for most of her life but doctors had been unable to determine the cause. Her GP Dr Alistair James said that Emily’s mother, Geraldine, 59, had battled with her daughter to be medically examined in the period leading up to her death, but her protests were in vain. Dr James told the coroner that he had prescribed laxatives but had not examined Emily’s abdomen. He said: “Had I done so, we would be having a different conversation. Her death could have been avoided with the right treatment at the right point.” Emily collapsed while at
home in St Austell, Cornwall on 8 February 2013. Paramedics attempted to revive her but she was later pronounced dead in hospital. Lee Taylor, a paramedic who attended the family’s home twice in the night of her death, described Emily as “looking pale” on his first visit. She complained of pain between her shoulders blades, he told the inquest, but he did not notice any abdominal swelling and she refused to go to hospital and was extremely reluctant to be examined. Taylor said that when he and a student paramedic arrived at the family home for the second time that night after 4am, “her father James was outside shouting at us to help, saying something had gone badly wrong.”
think intelligently and perhaps even have orgasms - just like us earthlings. “Evolution is far from a random process,” he said. “If the outcomes of evolution are at least broadly predictable, then what applies on Earth will apply across the Milky Way, and beyond.” Professor Morris said he is surprised we have not yet discovered aliens which look and sound like us, given the immensity of the universe. He added: “I would argue that in any habitable zone that doesn’t boil or freeze, intelligent life is going to emerge. “And given the number of potential planets that we now have good reason to think exist, even if the dice only come up the right way every one in 100 throws, that still leads to a very large number of intelligences scattered around, that are likely to be similar to us.”
Inventor of ‘SMS’ dIeS aged 63
courtesy mirror The man who helped bring texting to the world has died at the age of 63. Matti Makkonen became known as the father of SMS after developing the idea of sending messages via mobile networks. But the Finnish engineer – who had been ill – was quick to point out that he didn’t invent the technology single-handedly. Makkonen said that he considered the development of SMS a joint effort and that it was Nokia who helped to popularise the service. Jarmo Matilainen, of telecoms group Finnet, described pal Makkonen as a “grand old man of the mobile industry”. He added: “It’s very sad. He was just going to retire and he should have had many years ahead.” But Makkonen leaves behind one of the world’s most popular technologies. Estimated number of text messages sent worldwide Even though internet-based services like Whatsapp and Facebook Messenger have surged in popularity, SMS messaging still has huge usage around the world. Recent research suggests that by the end of 2017, there will be over 2.5 billion people using “over-the-top” apps like the ones mentioned above. However, a massive 6.4 billion people will still be sending texts. But when it comes to message frequency, the numbers are somewhat different. By the end of 2017, researchers expect 32 trillion messages to be sent annually over apps compared to only 7.89 trillion text messages. The prediction for worldwide SMS traffic in 2015 is a peak of 8.3 trillion messages over the course of the year, with 50% of that coming from the Asia Pacific region. Speaking to the BBC in 2012 - over SMS, of course - Makkonen said that he believed texting (in some form) would be around “forever”. In Makkonen’s eyes, the real launch of SMS was in 1994 with the launch of the Nokia 2010, a handset that made it easy to type out messages for the first time.
ohio courtroom evacuated because of grenadeshaped perfume bottle
ciNciNNAti agencies A suspicious item that prompted a Cincinnati courthouse evacuation turned out to be a perfume bottle shaped like a World War II grenade. Hamilton County Sheriff Jim Neil told reporters that the bottle was shaped like a “pineapple” hand grenade and was in a woman’s suitcase. The building was evacuated around 8:30 a.m. Tuesday and then closed for the rest of the day after a suspicious item was noted in a security screening. Sheriff’s official Jim Knapp said earlier that something “didn’t look right” in the screening. A bomb-sniffing dog was brought over, and authorities evacuated the courthouse based on its response. Neil says that he isn’t sure what prompted the dog’s response. He says no charges are expected.