Monday, March 27, 2006

March 27th - or the answer is 42

The L.A. Times reports...

"Scientists in northeastern Ethiopia said they have discovered the skull of a small human ancestor that could be a missing link between the extinct Homo erectus and modern humans."

Haven't we been here before? They find a shard of skull an inch square and from that they can deduce the individual of whom it formed a part was 165cms tall, weighed 58kgs, had shoulder-length black hair and general body hair all over, would have worn size 8 antelope skin footwear and enjoyed a last meal of braised hippo bottom in piquant sauce with a few yams and native berries on the side.

ABC News took this a little further, essentially explaining the fact they found something somewhere and we really know nothing about what we've found, where we found it, or how old it really is.

"The cranium dates to a time about which little is known the transition from African Homo erectus to modern humans. The fossil record from Africa for this period is sparse and most of the specimens poorly dated, project archaeologists said."


CNN is telling us something about heads missing from the bodies of 30 people found in yet another grave in Baghdad.

Shit, wonder where they could have got to.


Ok, this next item is just way too creepy. Women's Lib gone off-the-scale kind of mental. German scientists have discovered sperm from adult mice exhibit stem cell like qualities. The logical inference is that human sperm may be able to do likewise and if that's the case, it would be unnecessary to destroy or create embryos.

Didn't Monty Python warn us that every sperm is sacred? Now the Sydney Morning Herald is saying it.

You women don't have to worry about this, but I for one don't especially like the idea of boffins eyeing off my nads for the contents thereof. Particularly not German boffins. Suppose they get all hyperactive about the medical benefits of massive supplies of stem cell qualitative sperm and we see formations of Boffin S.S. squads demanding of all chaps a regular supply.


Brrrr...

Change of subject.

One closer to my heart, the Boston Globe is reporting local politicians are moving to raise the minimum age for drivers to get their licences.

"A junior at Reading Memorial High School, Nadeau was killed when the BMW in which she was riding hit a tree on Route 128 in Wakefield on March 17. The driver, 16-year-old Scott Connolly of Reading, was also killed in the crash."

Being an old fart, I'd have no qualms about raising the age to 21.