Amazing news

  In a controversial milestone, researchers have cloned a pair of macaques using a method that could, in theory, be used to clone humans. MEET THE FIRST MONKEY CLONES OF THEIR KIND In a world first, Chinese researchers have successfully cloned macaques using the same technique that yielded the famous clone Dolly the sheep. The milestone, published in Cell on Wednesday, marks the first time that primates have ever been cloned in such a manner. The years-long effort, led by Chinese Academy of Sciences postdoctoral fellow Zhen Liu, culminated in the recent birth of two female macaques, Zhong Zhong and Hua Hua. The macaques’ names are drawn from the word zhonghua, an adjective for the Chinese people. The two macaques—eight weeks and six weeks old—are genetically identical, both clones of the same donor culture of fetal monkey cells. The young monkeys are reportedly healthy and currently live in an incubator. The discovery potentially leads to a brave new world of biomedical research an...

  On San Diego’s harbor, right next to the maritime museum aboard the aircraft carrier USS Midway, stands a 25-foot-tall statue depicting a sailor kissing a nurse. The sculpture titled "Unconditional Surrender” is based on a famous photograph clicked by Alfred Eisenstaedt in Times Square of New York, on August 14, 1945, after U.S. President Harry S. Truman announced the end of World War II. The photograph appeared on the 1945 issue of Life magazine, and since then it has become one of the most iconic image of America’s victory celebration. But "Unconditional Surrender”, as well as the original photograph, has been drawing heat from women’s right groups as well as other vocal members of the public, in recent years, for depicting what appears to have been a sexual assault rather than a celebration of love between two willing partners. “Unconditional Surrender” in San Diego, on the left. Photo credit: Kevin Harber/Flickr. The original photograph “VJ-Day Kiss” by Alfred Eisenstae...

  Where do hairs for fashion wigs and hair extensions come from? The answer is: everywhere, but the majority of them come from China and India, where human hair is a lucrative business. In India, China, and eastern Europe, small agents tour villages coaxing poverty-stricken women to part with their hair for a small payment. Sometimes, husbands would force wives into selling their hair and slum children would be tricked into having their heads shaved in exchange for toys. There was one incident in India where a group of men held down a women, cut off her locks and took off with it. A woman gets her head shaved at the Thiruthani Murugan Temple in Tamil Nadu. Photo credit: Allison Joyce But what’s more disturbing is that many temples in South India are reaping millions of dollars in profit from religious sacrifice made by pilgrims without their knowledge. The hair donors, many of which are poor, never receive a penny in return. Many of these women are not even aware that the hair they...

The event combines three unusual lunar events; a super moon, a blue moon and a total lunar eclipse It's the third in a series of 'super moons,' when the moon is closer to Earth in its orbit - known as perigee    Asia, Australia, the Pacific Ocean, and the West Coast of North America will get the best view of the event While people in the eastern Hemisphere saw their last Blue Moon total lunar eclipse in 1982, for the Western Hemisphere, this eclipse will be the first blue moon total eclipse since 1866  A rare celestial event that hasn't been seen by much of the world in more than 150 years is set to grace the skies on Wednesday. A 'super blood blue moon' will be visible on 31 January, with western North America, Asia, the Middle East, Russia and Australia getting the best view of the stunning event. A 'super blue blood moon' is the result of a blue moon – the second full moon in a calendar month – occurring at the same time as a super moon, when the moon...