|
FLASHING UFO SPOTTED IN NOTTINGHAMSHIRE, UK
On Sunday, May 5, 2002, at 3 a.m., Clive Howe was in the bedroom of his
home in Bingham, Nottinghamshire, UK when he saw a strange light in the
sky moving very slowly.
"At a little after 3 a.m. in the morning," Clive reported, "I
looked out my bedroom window and saw a flashing light which at first I
thought to be a light aircraft. It was approximately two miles (3.2 kilometers)
away and at an altitude of a couple of thousand feet. As I watched, I
realized that the object wasn't moving, and the light's flashing was more
erratic than that of an aircraft. Two smaller lights then appeared on
either side of the object and moved outwards from the main body. These
remained in position for the rest of the sighting."
"I fetched my binoculars and could clearly see clusters of different
coloured lights flashing at varying intensities (green, orange, yellow,
red--C.H.) The shape appeared to be a saucer. I woke my girlfriend who
looked and confirmed what I had seen."
"I then fetched my digital camera and photographed the object as
best I could. I heard no sound and detected no smell. The object remained
in the same position for over an hour. I stopped watching as dawn approached
and light cloud began to obscure the object."
|
Tuesday, June 11, 2002
Researchers at Nexia Biotechnologies in Quebec have inserted genes from
a spider into domestic goats.
The goal is to produce goats that give milk containing the protein
building blocks for spider silk.
It's not really obvious to anyone that one would choose a goat to produce
spider silk, but as it turns out, the combination of the two makes a
lot of sense. We domesticated goats about 8,000 years ago. Why? Simply
because they can take low quality forage such as leaves and sticks and
turn it into high-quality protein in the milk. We're harnessing this
protein synthetic capability to produce different types of protein and
spider silk is one of them.
The drive to produce recombinant spider silk really . . . derives from
the fact that spider silk has these wonderful mechanical properties
-- very lightweight, superstrong.
Surgical sutures made from spider silk are thin, strong and soft. Spider
silk fishing line is strong enough to catch a lunker -- yet biodegradable.
There are military applications -- and even the fashion world is interested
in spider silk fabric.
For a transcript of the interview with Dr. Turner, go to earthsky.org.
|
