COLORADO CITY, Arizona (Reuters) - In a dusty neighborhood under sheer sandstone cliffs studded with juniper on the Arizona-Utah border, a rare genetic disorder is spreading through polygamous families on a wave of inbreeding. The twin border communities of Hildale, Utah, and Colorado City, Arizona, have the world's highest known prevalence of fumarase deficiency, an enzyme irregularity that causes severe mental retardation brought on by cousin marriage, doctors say. "Arizona has about half the world's population of known fumarase deficiency patients," said Dr. Theodore Tarby, a pediatric neurologist who has treated many of the children at Arizona clinics under contracts with the state. "It exists in a certain percentage of the broader population but once you get a tendency to inbreed you're inbreeding people who have the gene there, so you markedly increase the risk of developing the condition," he said. The community of about 10,000 people, who shun outsiders and are taught to avoid newspapers, television and the Internet, is home to the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (FLDS), a sect that broke from the mainstream Mormon church 72 years ago over polygamy.
The twin border communities of Hildale, Utah, and Colorado City, Arizona, have the world's highest known prevalence of fumarase deficiency, an enzyme irregularity that causes severe mental retardation brought on by cousin marriage, doctors say.
"Arizona has about half the world's population of known fumarase deficiency patients," said Dr. Theodore Tarby, a pediatric neurologist who has treated many of the children at Arizona clinics under contracts with the state.
"It exists in a certain percentage of the broader population but once you get a tendency to inbreed you're inbreeding people who have the gene there, so you markedly increase the risk of developing the condition," he said.
The community of about 10,000 people, who shun outsiders and are taught to avoid newspapers, television and the Internet, is home to the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (FLDS), a sect that broke from the mainstream Mormon church 72 years ago over polygamy.
Gerardo Gonzales' heart started to race just before noon Saturday. He stood by his roommate on North 36th Street in Fremont with his bicycle and the support of friends who coated him with the body paint that would be his only covering. He isn't a typical "naked guy," but something intrigued the 26-year-old Seattle man about the naked cyclists -- traditionally, one of the most popular groups in the Fremont Solstice Parade. "There were about four or five guys and a few girls standing around in our group. One guy said, 'OK,' and we all 'dropped trou,'" Gonzales said. "It was pretty scary at first, but you make friends really quickly when you're out there naked." Dozens like Gonzales led the 19th annual parade, part of the Solstice Saturday celebration organized by groups including the Fremont Arts Council. Thousands of people who packed North 36th Street cheered the riders, who were painted up as bumblebees, cowboys, flags -- even one as Cuban dictator Fidel Castro.
He stood by his roommate on North 36th Street in Fremont with his bicycle and the support of friends who coated him with the body paint that would be his only covering.
He isn't a typical "naked guy," but something intrigued the 26-year-old Seattle man about the naked cyclists -- traditionally, one of the most popular groups in the Fremont Solstice Parade.
"There were about four or five guys and a few girls standing around in our group. One guy said, 'OK,' and we all 'dropped trou,'" Gonzales said. "It was pretty scary at first, but you make friends really quickly when you're out there naked."
Dozens like Gonzales led the 19th annual parade, part of the Solstice Saturday celebration organized by groups including the Fremont Arts Council. Thousands of people who packed North 36th Street cheered the riders, who were painted up as bumblebees, cowboys, flags -- even one as Cuban dictator Fidel Castro.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/6750005.stm
Huge bird dino unearthed in China The fossilised remains of a giant bird-like dinosaur have been uncovered in the region of Inner Mongolia, China. While some have theorised that meat-eating dinosaurs got smaller as they evolved to be more bird-like, this beast weighed about 1,400kg (3,080lbs). That is about 35 times heavier than other similar feathered dinosaurs. Nature journal reports that the beaked animal was 8m (26ft) long and twice as tall as a man at the shoulder; yet it was only a young adult when it died. [...]
The fossilised remains of a giant bird-like dinosaur have been uncovered in the region of Inner Mongolia, China.
While some have theorised that meat-eating dinosaurs got smaller as they evolved to be more bird-like, this beast weighed about 1,400kg (3,080lbs).
That is about 35 times heavier than other similar feathered dinosaurs.
Nature journal reports that the beaked animal was 8m (26ft) long and twice as tall as a man at the shoulder; yet it was only a young adult when it died. [...]
BOSTON, Massachusetts (AP) -- A 50-ton bowhead whale caught off the Alaskan coast last month had a weapon fragment embedded in its neck that showed it survived a similar hunt -- more than a century ago. Embedded deep under its blubber was a 3½-inch arrow-shaped projectile that has given researchers insight into the whale's age, estimated between 115 and 130 years old. "No other finding has been this precise," said John Bockstoce, an adjunct curator of the New Bedford Whaling Museum. Calculating a whale's age can be difficult, and is usually gauged by amino acids in the eye lenses. It's rare to find one that has lived more than a century, but experts say the oldest were close to 200 years old. [...]
Embedded deep under its blubber was a 3½-inch arrow-shaped projectile that has given researchers insight into the whale's age, estimated between 115 and 130 years old.
"No other finding has been this precise," said John Bockstoce, an adjunct curator of the New Bedford Whaling Museum.
Calculating a whale's age can be difficult, and is usually gauged by amino acids in the eye lenses. It's rare to find one that has lived more than a century, but experts say the oldest were close to 200 years old. [...]
It has been added to wikipedia on June 14th:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whale
