For most animals, the milkweed plant is far from appetizing: It contains nasty toxins called cardenolides that can make the creatures vomit and, should they ingest enough, cause their hearts to beat out of control.
Yet some insects appear entirely unfazed by the powerful poison. The monarch butterfly’s colorful caterpillars, for example, devour milkweed with gusto — in fact, it is the only thing they ever eat. They can tolerate this food source because of a peculiarity in a crucial protein in their bodies, a sodium pump, that the cardenolide toxins usually interfere with.
All animals have this pump. It’s essential for physiological recovery after heart muscle cells contract or nerve cells fire — events that are triggered when sodium floods into the cells, causing an electrical discharge. After the firing and contracting is done, the cells must clean up, and so they turn on their sodium pumps and expel the sodium. This restores the electrical balance and resets the cell to its usual state, ready again for action.
Cardenolides are noxious because they bind to key parts of these pumps and prevent them from doing their job. This makes animal hearts beat stronger and stronger, often ending in cardiac arrest.
But since animals are under constant competition for food sources, the ability to eat plants that are toxic to others offers a fantastic opportunity, and many insects have evolved ways to do so.
And PHYS.ORG notes:
The fruit flies in Noah Whiteman's lab may be hazardous to your health.
Whiteman and his University of California, Berkeley, colleagues have turned perfectly palatable fruit flies—palatable, at least, to frogs and birds—into potentially poisonous prey that may cause anything that eats them to puke. In large enough quantities, the flies likely would make a human puke, too, much like the emetic effect of ipecac syrup.
That's because the team genetically engineered the flies, using CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing, to be able to eat milkweed without dying and to sequester its toxins, just as America's most beloved butterfly, the monarch, does to deter predators.
This is the first time anyone has recreated in a multicellular organism a set of evolutionary mutations leading to a totally new adaptation to the environment—in this case, a new diet and new way of deterring predators.
Like monarch caterpillars, the CRISPRed fruit fly maggots thrive on milkweed, which contains toxins that kill most other animals, humans included. The maggots store the toxins in their bodies and retain them through metamorphosis, after they turn into adult flies, which means the adult "monarch flies" could also make animals upchuck.
New topic, the way earth's inhabitants have evolved. This is also from PHYS.ORG:
An international research team led by Giuseppe Marramà from the Institute of Paleontology at the University of Vienna discovered a new and well-preserved fossil stingray with an exceptional anatomy, which greatly differs from living species. The find provides new insights into the evolution of these animals and sheds light on the recovery of marine ecosystems after the mass extinction occurred 66 million years ago. The study was recently published in the journal Scientific Reports.
Stingrays (Myliobatiformes) are a very diverse group of cartilaginous fishes which are known for their venomous and serrated tail stings, which they use against other predatory fish, and occasionally against humans. These rays have a rounded or wing-like pectoral disc and a long, whip-like tail that carries one or more serrated and venomous stings. The stingrays include the biggest rays of the world like the gigantic manta rays, which can reach a "wingspan" of up to seven meters and a weight of about three tons.
Fossil remains of stingrays are very common, especially their isolated teeth. Complete skeletons, however, exist only from a few extinct species coming from particular fossiliferous sites. Among these, Monte Bolca, in northeastern Italy, is one of the best known. So far, more than 230 species of fishes have been discovered that document a tropical marine coastal environment associated with coral reefs which dates back to about 50 million years ago in the period called Eocene.
Okay, personal story. First interest in science? We -- my sisters and brother would watch FLIPPER together. And we had some books that were my dad's when he was a kid. They were like Encyclopedia's but for kids. They were thin, oversized books. And they were about sports, science, cars, etc. I can remember seeing the one with sting rays once and only once before that became my book and woe to anyone who thought they could look at it. I found the sting rays fascinating. They reminded me of Spider-Woman who had those wings on her costume -- between her arms and stomach (the way Spider-Man did later) -- so she could fly. I came up with my own super hero: Sting Ray. I used an old hammock that we had that was fraying. It was all rope, no canvas. I would attach an end to each wrist and my mom would pin one middle part to my shirt and then I was Sting Ray. :D I remember that so well. I'd use it later when playing Storm on X-MEN.
"Iraq snapshot" (THE COMMON ILLS):
Thursday, October 3, 2019. Even Joe Biden's friends in the press
denying anything wrong took place demonstrates that Joe did something
wrong and meanwhile the protests continue in Iraq.
In the United States, the race for the Democratic Party's presidential nomination continues. While Senator Bernie Sanders has been temporarily sidelined due to surgery, War Hawk Joe Biden continues to flounder as desperation hits in.
In the United States, the race for the Democratic Party's presidential nomination continues. While Senator Bernie Sanders has been temporarily sidelined due to surgery, War Hawk Joe Biden continues to flounder as desperation hits in.
I will put the integrity of my whole career in public service to this nation up against President Trump's long record of lying, cheating, and stealing any day of the week.
Will you put that record up?
Is that the record where you tell the public that you always believed Anita Hill but others -- including a US senator -- are on the record saying you told them you knew Anita was lying? Is that the record?
Or is it the record where you were a cheerleader for the Iraq War? Have you ever apologized to the Iraqi people for that? You certainly haven't apologized to the American people. You've either said that you were tricked by Bully Boy Bush or you've lied that you were against it as soon as it started.
Is it the record where you pushed through the 'crime' bill that targeted African-Americans? This as your little blond princess niece assaults a police officer and does no time and then, a few years later, is caught stealing over $100,000 and does no time.
Caroline Biden. Apparently she has a major vag problem. Apparently she's crusty lips down there. Apparently she had to steal a credit card and charge over $100,000 worth of Vagisil at a drug store to deal with her crust lips and to stop popping out loafs of sourdough bread from her personal oven. Apparently, one of her boyfriends asked her why she was chewing bubble gum with her vagina and she replied that wasn't bubble gum, those were yeast bubbles.
That's got to be it, right? The press doesn't want to talk about a thirty-something woman who's Joe Biden's niece and stole over $100,000 so it's got be vag related, right? That's the only reason they're so mum on the topic. (See Nora Ephron's essay "Dealing With The, Uh, Problem.")
When is Joe going to be asked why his niece was shown favoritism?
Joe's hoping and praying that his hideous campaign can struggle on through South Carolina. He knows he's losing Iowa, he knows he's losing New Hampshire. but if he can stay in until South Carolina, he just knows he'll prove to be a winner.
Now Iowa, please remember, knocked him out of the race in 2008. He bowed out immediately after.
But he thinks the myth of Joe Biden support among African-Americans will save him this go round.
He is not huge with African-Americans. He's popular with middle-aged and elderly African-Americans but, as his own campaign polling demonstrates (his campaign poured over it Monday), it's a very soft support. It's doubtful South Carolina African-Americans from his age range will stick with him if he loses Iowa -- forget losing Iowa and New Hampshire.
Joe's desperate and it's really starting to show.
And he's right, Donald Trump is not going to destroy Joe Biden -- mainly because Joe's doing such a good job of that all by himself.
Whenever he's lying, Joe likes to claim that he's the voice of truth. That's his tell.
Or have we all forgotten this: "This is the God's truth. My word as a Biden."
So many whores rush to prop Joe up. Like here.
Twitter has since removed the video featuring Nickelback’s song “Photograph” for copyright reasons that President Trump tweeted on Wednesday.
This, as the president accused Joe Biden of abusing his power to help his son. There’s no evidence of wrongdoing, @kwelkernbc reports.
There is ample evidence Joe abused his power. That's why we have ethical guidelines. Is everyone forgetting that Hillary Clinton, becoming Secretary of State, had to draw a wall between herself and the Clinton Foundation? That she couldn't be seen as helping Bill?
That's what ethics are about.
Now first off, the fact that THE TODAY SHOW has to insist (lie) that Joe has done nothing wrong is proof that he's done something wrong.
He was the Vice President of the United States at the time. He was supposed to avoid conflicts of interest. And at his level, that wasn't enough. He was supposed to avoid any actions that might have the appearance of a conflict of interest.
That's the standard. If that's hard for whores who pass themselves off as journalists to understand, they might want to check with their own HR departments because that's similar to the ethical standard that they are supposed to operate by.
TODAY airing a segment goes to the reality that Joe did not avoid the appearance of a conflict of interest. Did he do worse than that? I have no idea. It appears he did but that's why you have investigations. But what is known -- what is demonstrated just by the continued conversation around this -- is that Joe did something wrong.
And let's remember whose administration he served in: Barack Obama's -- Barack who came into the White House promising greater openess, more transparency. How does that reconcile with the profiting Hunter Biden and James Biden did while Joe was vice president?
It doesn't reconcile.
NBC reporting on the 2013 Official Visit to China where Joe Biden brought his son, Hunter.
"Unknown to the press back then Hunter Biden was forming a Chinese private equity fund...10 days after the Biden's trip Shanghai authorities issued the funds business license."
Ken Silverstein (WASHINGTON BABYLON) notes:
At the same time, MSNBC, Adam Schiff, chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, and the usual #Resistance figures are also hard to take seriously. Just as Trump’s defenders have immediately and reflexively dismissed any impropriety on the president’s side, the Democrats — and much of the media — have rushed to defend the Biden family from allegations of political profiteering.
Yet there’s plenty of evidence to back that up, even if Trump has exaggerated many of the charges. Much of it has already emerged and plenty more will during the Democratic primaries, because it’s low hanging fruit for his rivals for the nomination. “Interviews, court records, government filings and news reports, however, reveal that some members of the Biden family have consistently mixed business and politics over nearly half a century, moving from one business to the next as Joe’s stature in Washington grew,” Politico reported in early August, in a story headlined “Biden Inc.”
Today NBC had a story about a 2013 trip to China by Joe, then Veep, and son Hunter Biden, then looking for business opportunities, that looks shady as shit. Here’s an excerpt:
As he accompanied his father to China, Hunter Biden was forming a Chinese private equity fund that associates said at the time was planning to raise big money, including from China. Hunter Biden has acknowledged meeting with Jonathan Li, a Chinese banker and his partner in the fund during the trip, although his spokesman says it was a social visit.
The Chinese business license that brought the new fund into existence was issued by Shanghai authorities 10 days after the trip, with Hunter Biden a member of the board...
Hunter Biden’s spokesman, George Mesires, told NBC News that Hunter Biden wasn’t initially an “owner” of the company and has never gotten paid for serving on the board. He said Hunter Biden didn’t acquire an equity interest in the fund until 2017, after his father had left office.
And when he did, he only put in about $420,000 — a 10 percent interest. That puts the total capitalization of the fund at the time at about $4.2 million.
Joe Biden has said he has “never spoken to my son about his overseas business dealings. Hunter Biden has said he didn’t meet with Chinese government officials during the trip and did no business on it, even though he met with Li, the Chinese banker and soon-to-be business partner. And oh yeah, the investment fund’s formation documents were filed in November 2013, just a month before the the China trip.
Joe's never asked about Iraq. Despite his self-admission that Barack put him in charge of Iraq (2009 through 2016), Joe's not asked about Iraq. Sometimes, the press will note he voted for the war. But Joe was in charge of Iraq and Iraq was much worse off at the end of Barack's two terms than it was at the start of Barack's first term.
Baghdad has imposed an indefinite curfew after two days of chaotic protests across Iraq that left nine dead
u.afp.com/Ja2E
It turned deadly, did it?
Well when security forces start using bullets on protesters, deaths tend to happen. I'm surprised that the press wants to act surprised by this. CNN says 14 of the 15 dead are protesters.
That’s why the government blocked the internet so they can do whatever they want to those peaceful protesters and nobody knows what the hell is going on out there!
#save_the_iraqi_people
#Iraq_protest
#العراق
#العراق_ينتفض
#بغداد
#ساحة_التحرير
The Iraqi government has a long, long history of turning off the internet when they want to shut down conversations and to tamp down on the truth. ALJAZEERA notes:
"All through the evening, we've been hearing the sound of gun fire and sirens," said Al Jazeera's Imran Khan, reporting from Baghdad. The demonstrations have spread to several cities across the country, with demonstrators in Najaf reportedly setting fire to government buildings, he said.
The Iraqi government has been taken by surprise over the size of the rallies, which were mostly organised on social media, he said, adding: "The government appears to be very concerned about these protests spreading. They are restricting live broadcasts from the protest scene, as well as social media platforms, like Facebook and Twitter."
The Iraqis are never resting, the strongest people who have no cover, all this is nonsense and they are still standing there to protest their rights. You will see better days, God willing #Save_the_Iraqi_people #Iraq
This is a major issue and a major story. Why is the press not demanding some sort of response from Joe I-was-in-charge-of-Iraq from 2009 through 2016?
At least 16 people were killed from clashes between security forces and protesters over the past few days, Iraq's Human Rights Commission says.
People are taking to the streets to protest unemployment, corruption and a lack of basic services
The world must listen..#Iraq_protest #العراق_ينتفض
Protesters in Iraq defy curfew as widespread anti-government protests enter the third day.
Police have opened fire to disperse protesters in Baghdad.
The death toll has risen to at least 20 aje.io/rlsdb
Meanwhile, the US military brass offers the usual 'all sides' b.s.
US military in Baghdad issues unusually blunt warning amid sustained protests in Iraq. "Coalition troops always reserve the right to defend ourselves."
Who started the violence?
#Watch: #PM @AdilAbdAlMahdi's #militias and #Iran-backed al-Khorasani militias violently beating #Iraqi #demonstrators and army soldiers
#BaghdadPost #Save_the_Iraqi_people
#IraqProtests #IraqInitiative #TahrirSquare #saveIraqipeople #SaveIraq #FreeIraq
Rt.@thestevennabil-#Iraq #Iran
This is significant, #Karbala Iraqi protesters chanting “Labayak ya Hussien” while gov't forces show a violent response, mismanagement at its best and this will lead to more people coming out to protest by nightfall
The following sites updated:
