|
![]() |
|
"Think BOOM!"
Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: 33.675° N 106.475° W
Casino cash: $10229900
![]() |
Alien-Looking Skeleton Poses Medical Mystery
http://news.yahoo.com/alien-looking-...201222636.html
A teensy skeleton with a squashed alienlike head may have earthly origins, but the remains, found in the Atacama Desert a decade ago, do make for quite a medical mystery. Apparently when the mummified specimen was discovered, some had suggested the possibility it was an alien that had somehow landed on Earth, though the researchers involved never suggested this otherworldly origin. Now, DNA and other tests suggest the individual was a human and was 6 to 8 years of age when he or she died. Even so, the remains were just 6 inches (15 centimeters) long. [See Images of the Alien-Looking Human Remains] "While the jury is out regarding the mutations that cause the deformity, and there is a real discrepancy in how we account for the apparent age of the bones … every nucleotide I've been able to look at is human," researcher Garry Nolan, professor of microbiology and immunology at Stanford School of Medicine, told LiveScience. "I've only scratched the surface in the analysis. But there is nothing that jumps out so far as to scream 'nonhuman.'" Analyzing the tiny human Nolan and his colleagues analyzed the specimen in the fall of 2012 with high-resolution photography, X-rays and computed tomography scans, as well as DNA sequencing. The researchers wanted to find out whether some rare disorder could explain the anomalous skeleton — for instance it had just 10 ribs as opposed to 12 in a healthy human — the age the organism died, as its size suggested a preterm fetus, stillborn or a deformed child, and whether it was human or perhaps a South American nonhuman primate. The remains also showed skull deformities and mild underdevelopment of the mid-face and jaw, the researchers found. The skull also showed signs of turricephaly, or high-head syndrome, a birth defect in which the top of the skull is cone-shaped. The genome sequencing suggested the creature was human, though 9 percent of the genes didn't match up with the reference human genome; the mismatches may be due to various factors, including degradation, artifacts from lab preparation of the specimen or insufficient data. The team also looked at mitochondrial DNA, or the DNA inside the cells' energy-making structures that gets passed down from mothers to offspring. The so-called allele frequency of the mitochondrial DNA suggested the individual came from the Atacama, particularly from the B2 haplotype group. A haplotype is a long segment of ancestral DNA that stays the same over several generations and can pinpoint a group who share a common ancestor way back in time. In this case the B2 haplotype is found on the west coast of South America. The data from the mitochondrial DNA alleles point toward "the mother being an indigenous woman from the Chilean area of South America," Nolan wrote in an email. More mystery The jury is still out on the mutations that caused the deformities, and the researchers aren't certain how old the bones are, though they estimate the individual died at least a few decades ago. In addition, they didn't find any of the mutations commonly associated with primordial dwarfism or other forms of dwarfism. If there is a genetic basis for the deformities, it is "not apparent at this level of resolution and at this stage of the analysis," Nolan wrote in a summary of his work. In addition, even if they found those mutations, they may not explain the anomalies seen in the skeleton. "There is no known form of dwarfism that accounts for all of the anomalies seen in this specimen," Dr. Ralph Lachman, professor emeritus, UCLA School of Medicine, and clinical professor at Stanford University, wrote in a report to Nolan. This wouldn't be the first time alien-looking remains have been brought to the attention of science. The alienlike skulls of children were discovered in a 1,000-year-old cemetery in Mexico. Researchers who examined the skulls said they had been deliberately warped and illustrated a practice of skull deformation that was common at the time in Central America. "It's an interesting medical mystery of an unfortunate human with a series of birth defects that currently the genetics of which are not obvious," Nolan wrote of the Atacama skeleton. The research was featured in film "Sirius," a crowd-funded documentary that premiered on April 22 in Hollywood, Calif. |
Posts: 180,959
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
#2 |
"Think BOOM!"
Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: 33.675° N 106.475° W
Casino cash: $10229900
![]() |
__________________
I think the young people enjoy it when I "get down," verbally, don't you? |
Posts: 180,959
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
#3 |
Pessimistically optimistic.
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: Denver, CO
Casino cash: $2335086
|
Dexter McCluster's great great great granpappy.
|
Posts: 16,426
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
#4 |
Wtf now
Join Date: Dec 2001
Location: Cocoa Fl
Casino cash: $3453207
|
|
Posts: 2,946
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
#5 |
Prestige Worldwide
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: Spring Hill, KS
Casino cash: $2920526
|
Looks fake.
__________________
Adopt-A-Chief: John Dorsey
|
Posts: 18,398
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
#6 |
Stroking to the SB Champs!
Join Date: Aug 2000
Location: Flatlands of Kansas
Casino cash: $3173962
|
Are we sure that's not the skeletal formation of John Holmes dick?
__________________
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Posts: 39,348
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
#7 |
....
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: Somewhere Kansas
Casino cash: $8659352
![]() |
This is only about a week old news.
|
Posts: 27,731
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
#8 |
MVP
Join Date: Mar 2012
Location: Sydney, Australia
Casino cash: $6398501
|
Seems legit.
|
Posts: 13,750
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
#9 | ||
Mindful Taoist German
Join Date: Aug 2000
Casino cash: $8001662
|
What Mexican site did this come from?...
__________________
Quote:
Quote:
|
||
Posts: 74,341
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
#10 |
MVP
Join Date: Mar 2012
Location: Sydney, Australia
Casino cash: $6398501
|
|
Posts: 13,750
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
#11 |
Supporter
Join Date: May 2005
Location: Who knows?
Casino cash: $2805884
|
Too Fat /youknowho
|
Posts: 83,462
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
#12 |
u b illian
Join Date: Aug 2000
Location: DooDah
Casino cash: $10009436
|
|
Posts: 7,287
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
#13 |
Starter
Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: West Des Moines, Iowa
Casino cash: $10005205
|
Reminds me of the Nimerigar skeletons that were discovered up near Casper, WY.
http://www.legendsofamerica.com/wy-littlepeople.html |
Posts: 364
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
#14 |
Supporter
Join Date: May 2005
Location: Who knows?
Casino cash: $2805884
|
|
Posts: 83,462
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
#15 |
Space Cadet and Aczabel
Join Date: Aug 2000
Location: Kanab, UT, USA
Casino cash: $9333275
![]() |
__________________
Thanks, Trump for the civics lesson. We are learning so much about RICO, espionage, sedition, impeachment, the 25th Amendment, order of succession, nepotism, separation of powers, 1st Amendment, obstruction of justice, the emoluments clause, conflicts of interest, collusion, sanctions, oligarchs, money laundering and so much more. |
Posts: 40,584
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
![]() |
![]() ![]() |
|
|