2007年11月7日星期三
Man almost tosses 4-carat diamond
MURFREESBORO, Arkansas (AP) -- Chad Johnson has found about 80 diamonds at Crater of Diamonds State Park, but on Monday he nearly threw away his largest find yet. 
A 4.38-carat, tea-colored diamond found in Murfreesboro, Arkansas, is shown in photo released by Crater of Diamonds State Park.
A cube-shaped rock plucked out of his sifters turned out to be a 4.38-carat, tea-colored diamond.
Johnson, 36, made the dig Saturday at the park and left his equipment in a locker. When he came back Monday morning, he made the discovery.
Crater of Diamonds State Park, which opened in 1972, is the world's only diamond-producing site open to the public, and visitors can keep the gems they unearth. The largest diamond found at the park was the 16.37-carat Amarillo Starlight, a white diamond found in 1975.
Johnson's find is the second-largest diamond uncovered at the park this year. In June, a Louisiana man found a 4.8-carat stone. More than 700 diamonds have been found there this year.
Since moving to Arkansas from Iowa in February, Johnson said, he was living off money made by selling diamonds. He only recently took a job at a convenience store, partly because he "got tired of selling diamonds to make ends meet."
Park officials declined to speculate how much money Johnson could get for the diamond. Johnson suggested he expects much more than what he is used to getting.
"If someone offers me that much money, it's theirs," Johnson said.
A 4.38-carat, tea-colored diamond found in Murfreesboro, Arkansas, is shown in photo released by Crater of Diamonds State Park.
A cube-shaped rock plucked out of his sifters turned out to be a 4.38-carat, tea-colored diamond.
Johnson, 36, made the dig Saturday at the park and left his equipment in a locker. When he came back Monday morning, he made the discovery.
Crater of Diamonds State Park, which opened in 1972, is the world's only diamond-producing site open to the public, and visitors can keep the gems they unearth. The largest diamond found at the park was the 16.37-carat Amarillo Starlight, a white diamond found in 1975.
Johnson's find is the second-largest diamond uncovered at the park this year. In June, a Louisiana man found a 4.8-carat stone. More than 700 diamonds have been found there this year.
Since moving to Arkansas from Iowa in February, Johnson said, he was living off money made by selling diamonds. He only recently took a job at a convenience store, partly because he "got tired of selling diamonds to make ends meet."
Park officials declined to speculate how much money Johnson could get for the diamond. Johnson suggested he expects much more than what he is used to getting.
"If someone offers me that much money, it's theirs," Johnson said.
2007年11月2日星期五
Passenger 'hid monkey under hat'
Passenger 'hid monkey under hat' 
The monkey was said to have been well-behaved on the flight
Monkey behind bars
A man has been questioned by police at LaGuardia airport in New York after smuggling a monkey onto a flight from Florida by hiding it under his hat.
Passengers spotted the animal when it climbed out and perched on the man's ponytail, Spirit Airlines spokeswoman Alison Russell told reporters.
Ms Russell said the monkey - a marmoset - spent the remainder of the flight in the man's seat and was well-behaved.
It is unclear whether the unnamed man will face any criminal charges.
The man's journey originated in Lima, Peru. Ms Russell said it was not known how the man avoided detection there, and during a several-hour stopover in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
When passengers noticed the fist-sized primate on the flight, they asked the man "if he knew he had a monkey on him", Ms Russell said.
New York animal control officials said the monkey appeared to be healthy, the Associated Press news agency reported.
It said the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention was planning to quarantine the animal for a month.
After that, the monkey could be sent to a zoo, AP said.
The monkey was said to have been well-behaved on the flight
Monkey behind bars
A man has been questioned by police at LaGuardia airport in New York after smuggling a monkey onto a flight from Florida by hiding it under his hat.
Passengers spotted the animal when it climbed out and perched on the man's ponytail, Spirit Airlines spokeswoman Alison Russell told reporters.
Ms Russell said the monkey - a marmoset - spent the remainder of the flight in the man's seat and was well-behaved.
It is unclear whether the unnamed man will face any criminal charges.
The man's journey originated in Lima, Peru. Ms Russell said it was not known how the man avoided detection there, and during a several-hour stopover in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
When passengers noticed the fist-sized primate on the flight, they asked the man "if he knew he had a monkey on him", Ms Russell said.
New York animal control officials said the monkey appeared to be healthy, the Associated Press news agency reported.
It said the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention was planning to quarantine the animal for a month.
After that, the monkey could be sent to a zoo, AP said.
2007年11月1日星期四
Cat joins exclusive genome club
Last Updated: Thursday, 1 November 2007, 15:25 GMT   |
| Cat joins exclusive genome club | |||||||
| The domestic cat now joins the select club of mammals whose genome has been deciphered - including dogs, chimps, rats, mice, cows and people. The genome map is expected to shed light on both feline and human disease. Cats get hundreds of illnesses similar to human ones, including a feline version of HIV, known as FIV, and a hereditary form of blindness. Cinnamon, a four-year-old Abyssinian cat, is descended from lab cats bred to develop retinitis pigmentosa, a degenerative eye disease, also found in humans, which can lead to blindness. Earlier this year, with the help of the sequence, scientists found the gene change, or mutation, that causes the condition in cats.
Analysis of the cat genome sequence could also shed light on everything from evolution to the origins of feline domestication, they say. "We can start to interpret them in terms of one of evolution's special ever lived," said Dr Stephen O'Brien of the US National Cancer Institute, who spearheaded the project. Like other mammals, the cat has around 20,000 genes. By comparing its genome - the genes that build and maintain the body - to those of other mammals, researchers can study differences in biology, evolution and behaviour. "One thing I'd like to discover is the genes for good behaviour in the cats - the genes for domestication, the things that make them not want to kill our children but play with them," he added
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