Clipmarks |

Redheads will be extinct in 100 years say scientists

Thu, 23 Aug 2007 09:45:47 GMT

clipped by: michellezm

REDHEADS are becoming rarer and could be extinct in 100 years, according to genetic scientists.

The current National Geographic magazine reports that less than two per cent of the world's population has natural red hair, created by a mutation in northern Europe thousands of years ago.

Global intermingling, which broadens the availability of possible partners, has reduced the chances of redheads meeting and producing little redheads of their own.

It takes only one red-haired parent to produce ginger-headed babies, but two redheads obviously create a much stronger possibility.

If the gingers really want to save themselves they should move to Scotland.

An estimated 40 per cent of Scots carry the red gene and 13 per cent actually have red hair.

Some experts say that redheads could be gone as early as 2060, but others say the gene can be dormant for generations before returning.

today's carriers are more prone to skin cancer and have a higher sensitivity to heat and cold-related pain.

Tags: genetics, anthropology, current affairs

Cats’ sleeping positions

Thu, 23 Aug 2007 05:54:54 GMT

clipped by: rko2007
clipper's remarks: They're really tired, maybe playing too hard

Clip Source: www.zuzafun.com

Cats’ sleeping positions

Tags: cats, sleep, position, posture

World's Largest Carpet Woven for Worshippers

Wed, 22 Aug 2007 09:13:39 GMT

clipped by: Deepti
clipper's remarks: By any measure, it's a marvel—as a work of art, as an article of devotion, as a testament to the richness of hand-made craftwork. But who's going to take it outside and beat it?

Long known for its delicate and ornate Persian rugs, Iran has recently been losing market share to cheaper Asian manufacturers, according to industry reports

Clip Source: news.nationalgeographic.com

Authorities in Iran unveiled what they described as the world's largest hand-woven rug yesterday at Tehran's open-air prayer grounds

At 60,546 square feet (5,625 square meters), the carpet is the size of a soccer field and was woven by 1,200 weavers in three villages over the course of a year and a half

The mammoth floor covering is destined for a monumental new mosque under construction in the United Arab Emirates. Emirati officials commissioned Iran's state-owned rug manufacturer to create the piece for the central prayer hall of the giant Sheikh Zayed mosque, slated to open this fall in the capital city of Abu Zaby (Abu Dhabi)

Weavers in Iran's northwestern Khorasan Province used 38 tons of wool and cotton from Iran and New Zealand to fashion the colorful covering, tying a staggering 2.2 billion knots in the process

Half of the commission, estimated at 5.8 million U.S. dollars, will go to the villagers

Tags: carpet, worship, mosque, uae, abu dhabi, iran

Free Movies Online - Watch Online - No Catch

Wed, 22 Aug 2007 23:24:42 GMT

clipped by: digits
clipper's remarks: I have found a few sites that have free movies available for viewing online. Recently I have been watching Michael Moore's "Sicko". Click my Free-Movies Stumble tag to find Sicko for example.

Clip Source: digits.stumbleupon.com

Free Movies Online Database

Also shows, cartoons, documentaries, and anime, and music videos.

~ Watch online for free ~
[ Click here to see the movie database ]

[ Free Movies Stumble tag || My Free Movies tag ]

Tags: movies, free, free movies, cartoons, documentaries, anime, shows, television, tv

Homosexuality in Animals

Wed, 22 Aug 2007 08:47:44 GMT

clipped by: Ashes2Ashes

Clip Source: www.newscientist.com

In the mid-1970s Wolfe was in the wilds of Japan studying macaques.

became apparent that the females were having sex with one another. And these encounters weren't mere flings.

Females paired off for days or weeks at a time, forming exclusive couples. They moved around together, and spent ages grooming one another between bouts of sexual activity that typically culminated in orgasm for both partners.

convinced she was witnessing homosexual behaviour, but most researchers were sceptical. "They said that females were mounting each other by mistake—they didn't know what they were doing,"

"People wanted to believe that only weirdo humans engaged in this behaviour."

"part of what primates do, part of their total sexual repertoire"

And not just primates, according to a compendium of animal homosexuality, just published in Britain by Bruce Bagemihl

scoured the scientific literature

He also contacted scores of researchers to add details

a species-by-species profile of more than 470 species.

Tags: japanese macaque, monkeys, animals

Pot plant a court headache

Thu, 23 Aug 2007 09:36:58 GMT

clipped by: michellezm

Clip Source: www.news.com.au

A MAN charged with taking a marijuana plant into a Brisbane court won an adjournment today when he complained of a headache which required treatment - with cannabis.

Peter Till, 39, of Nimbin in northern NSW, told the Brisbane Magistrates Court he uses the drug for pain relief.

Mr Till has pleaded not guilty to one count of possession of a dangerous drug after allegedly taking a 90cm-tall plant into the Brisbane Magistrates Court on January 8, 2007.

Mr Till claims his decision to take the plant into the court complex was not unlawful as he was planning to tender it as evidence in an unrelated court matter.

The court heard Mr Till used a yellow sack to carry the plant into the court complex, and that it was discovered and seized by security guards after he put it on the security x-ray machine's conveyor belt.

He told the court he had tried many types of prescription drugs to ease the pain, but cannabis was the only thing that worked.

He was arrested later that afternoon.

Tags: cannabis, marijuana, twack, zol, twig, nsangu, health, medicine

George & Jesus

Wed, 22 Aug 2007 02:17:40 GMT

clipped by: kkcapricorn
clipper's remarks: Georgie, Georgie, just look what you have done!

Clip Source: www.opednews.com

Is George W. Bush proof that we live in a universe devoid of intelligent design? Bush, of course, is famous for asserting that Jesus was his favorite political philosopher. He has also claimed that God wanted him to be president. Perhaps the Almighty has a sense of humor,

the Bush administration’s missionary zeal to spread democracy across the Arab world, beginning in Iraq, was just part of a larger effort to export its libertarian ideology and Christian values into the heart of the Middle East. God knows, the Saddamists and Islamicists could do with a little more capitalism, but more religion?

Bush is a throwback to leaders who operate according to the discredited theory from the Dark Ages known as “the divine right of kings.” According to this deeply irrational idea the monarch is acting as God’s representative on earth and his decisions are divinely guided. Bush’s disastrous reign is a reductio ad absurdum argument against this theory.

Tags: bush, religion, kings, middle east