New Evidence That Grandmothers Were Crucial for Human Evolution | Surprising Science

How would grandmothers help us live longer? According to the hypothesis, grandmothers can help collect food and feed children before they are able to feed themselves, enabling mothers to have more children. Without grandmothers present, if a mother gives birth and already has a two-year-old child, the odds of that child surviving are much lower, because unlike other primates, humans aren’t able to feed and take care of themselves immediately after weaning. The mother must devote her time and attention to the new infant at the expense of the older child. But grandmothers can solve this problem by acting as supplementary caregivers.

Read more: http://blogs.smithsonianmag.com/science/2012/10/new-evidence-that-grandmothers-were-crucial-for-human-evolution/#ixzz2WdDDXVL9 
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The Faroe Islands’ capital city of Torshavn - Roland Zihlmann/Shutterstock Faroe Islands Aim to Sequence Genes of Entire Country The country is offering whole genome sequencing to every citizen who wants it — a project that will chart the way for the future of genomic medicine. Growing up in the Faroe Islands in the North Atlantic, Edmund Jensen battled an overpowering sense of fatigue. At age 10, he developed seizures in which his limbs would stiffen and his eyes would roll back in his head, but local doctors could never diagnose his condition. In August 2008, Danish doctors identified the genetic defect that prevented his body from maintaining adequate levels of carnitine, which plays a critical role in metabolism. By then, Jensen was 21, had close-cropped brown hair and a silver hoop through his upper ear.  The day before he went to get his first prescription, he died of cardiac arrest. “Again and again, I look at his picture and cannot believe that it is true,” his father, John, wrote afterward. Jensen’s death was followed by the death of his third cousin Margretha, along with a string of macabre news articles about this undiagnosed genetic condition that had been shattering families in the Faroes for decades. The deaths became a call to action for the country’s Health Ministry, which persuaded some 30,000 citizens — about three-fifths of the total population — to submit blood samples to its new Genetic Biobank. They were all screened for Jensen’s disease, called carnitine transporter deficiency (CTD), improving and potentially saving dozens of lives. The earlier deaths would have a larger impact, though, changing the very face of health care in the Faroes and setting it on a path to become a leader in genomic medicine. http://discovermagazine.com/2013/julyaug/01-faroe-islands-aim-to-sequence-genomes-healthcare#.UcEp8_nVCz4

The Faroe Islands’ capital city of Torshavn - Roland Zihlmann/Shutterstock

Faroe Islands Aim to Sequence Genes of Entire Country

The country is offering whole genome sequencing to every citizen who wants it — a project that will chart the way for the future of genomic medicine.

  • Growing up in the Faroe Islands in the North Atlantic, Edmund Jensen battled an overpowering sense of fatigue. At age 10, he developed seizures in which his limbs would stiffen and his eyes would roll back in his head, but local doctors could never diagnose his condition. In August 2008, Danish doctors identified the genetic defect that prevented his body from maintaining adequate levels of carnitine, which plays a critical role in metabolism. By then, Jensen was 21, had close-cropped brown hair and a silver hoop through his upper ear. 

    The day before he went to get his first prescription, he died of cardiac arrest. “Again and again, I look at his picture and cannot believe that it is true,” his father, John, wrote afterward.

    Jensen’s death was followed by the death of his third cousin Margretha, along with a string of macabre news articles about this undiagnosed genetic condition that had been shattering families in the Faroes for decades. The deaths became a call to action for the country’s Health Ministry, which persuaded some 30,000 citizens — about three-fifths of the total population — to submit blood samples to its new Genetic Biobank. They were all screened for Jensen’s disease, called carnitine transporter deficiency (CTD), improving and potentially saving dozens of lives. The earlier deaths would have a larger impact, though, changing the very face of health care in the Faroes and setting it on a path to become a leader in genomic medicine.

    http://discovermagazine.com/2013/julyaug/01-faroe-islands-aim-to-sequence-genomes-healthcare#.UcEp8_nVCz4

Mare’s Milk -  Kirgiz, Kyrgystan, 2000

Mare’s Milk -  Kirgiz, Kyrgystan, 2000

campaign to wipe out the common sparrow - environmental disaster

campaign to wipe out the common sparrow - environmental disaster

China’s Worst Self-Inflicted Environmental Disaster: The Campaign to Wipe Out the Common Sparrow

Back in the 1950s, China was going through its Great Leap Forward, an effort to transform China from a largely agrarian nation to a thriving industrial Marxist powerhouse. These sweeping (and often brutal) reforms, touched virtually every facet of Chinese life — and as one particular episode in China’s history points out, the animal kingdom was also far from immune. In 1958, China ordered the extermination of several pests, including sparrows — an ill-fated campaign that eventually led to catastrophe.   more …

Zuun Taiga, Mongolia, 2007

Zuun Taiga, Mongolia, 2007

barn owl enjoys a pet

barn owl enjoys a pet

Illustration of Skeleton with Puppets

Illustration of Skeleton with Puppets

Vernazza -  Simone Pomata

Vernazza -  Simone Pomata

WOMEN WORSHIPPERS AT TEMPLE OF THE SACRED TOOTH OF BUDDHA  These Buddhist nuns have passed many hours in prayer before the seven golden and jewelled shrines at Kandy, which protect the palladium of Ceylon, object of deepest veneration to many millions of people, the Tooth of Guatama Buddha. This revered relic, which arrived in Ceylon in the fourth century, is upheld by a twist of golden wire from the heart of a large golden lotus blossom

WOMEN WORSHIPPERS AT TEMPLE OF THE SACRED TOOTH OF BUDDHA 

These Buddhist nuns have passed many hours in prayer before the seven golden and jewelled shrines at Kandy, which protect the palladium of Ceylon, object of deepest veneration to many millions of people, the Tooth of Guatama Buddha. This revered relic, which arrived in Ceylon in the fourth century, is upheld by a twist of golden wire from the heart of a large golden lotus blossom

THE MATADOR, IN COLOURED SATIN AND GOLD

THE MATADOR, IN COLOURED SATIN AND GOLD

Judge Tells Female Lawyers They Must Wear Jackets ‘With Sleeves Below The Elbow’ In The Courtroom « CBS Charlotte

Tennessee

gunsandposes: Arizona cowboys and dog, circa 1885-1885. (via)

gunsandposes:

Arizona cowboys and dog, circa 1885-1885.

(via)

Chinese Families Pose with Every Possession They Own - My Modern Metropolis

They say we live in a materialistic age. Everyone seems to be some level of a hoarder with countless possessions that they consider essential to function in the modern world. Laptops, smartphones, e-readers, tablets—how would one live without them? Delving into the question of how many things we own, electronic and otherwise, Chinese photographer Huang Qingjun has embarked on a photo project that is now known as Jiadang, or Family Stuff.

The series, which began in 2003, focuses on the poor people of China. For nearly a decade, Qingjun has been asking families to empty all of their belongings in front of their house to pose for a picture with everything they own. Amazingly, almost all of the families he has approached has complied with his request. The photographer says, “[T]hey [realized] what I was trying to do, they understood the point…They’re not like people from the city, who have so much stuff that if you asked them to do it they’d reply it was too much effort.

Ancient DNA reveals humans living 40,000 years ago in Beijing area related to present-day Asians, Native Americans

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