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Astronaut Edgar Mitchell Claims Alien Cover-up

Dr. Edgar Mitchell is a veteran of the Apollo 14 mission and he was the sixth man to walk on the Moon. Dr. Mitchell also insists that aliens have visited Earth and that governments are actively covering it up. "I happen to have been privileged enough to be in on the fact that we've been visited on this planet and the UFO phenomena is real," Dr Mitchell said. "It's been well covered up by all our governments for the last 60 years or so, but slowly it's leaked out and some of us have been privileged to have been briefed on some of it. "I've been in military and intelligence circles, who know that beneath the surface of what has been public knowledge, yes - we have been visited. Reading the papers recently, it's been happening quite a bit." Dr Mitchell, who has a Bachelor of Science degree in aeronautical engineering and a Doctor of Science degree in Aeronautics and Astronautics claimed Roswell was real and similar alien visits continue to be investigated. He told the astonished Kerrang! radio host Nick Margerrison: "This is really starting to open up. I think we're headed for real disclosure and some serious organisations are moving in that direction." NASA issued a quick denial. In a statement, a spokesman said: "NASA does not track UFOs. NASA is not involved in any sort of cover up about alien life on this planet or anywhere in the universe. "Dr Mitchell is a great American, but we do not share his opinions on this issue." If Dr. Mitchell is correct about a cover-up than this is exactly the type of denial one would expect NASA to make. You can listen to the interview with Dr. Mitchell where he discusses the UFO phenomena here. Permalink | Recent Headlines | News Feeds Read more…

New Male-specific Gene In Algae Unveils An Origin Of Male And Female

19.12.2006 04:06 Science - Source: ScienceDaily Headlines

By studying the genetics of two closely related species of green algae that practice different forms of sexual reproduction, researchers have shed light on one route by which evolution gave rise to reproduction though the joining of distinct sperm and egg cells. The findings, which indicate that a gene underlying a more primitive system of reproduction was likely co-opted during evolution to participate in sex-specific sperm development, are reported by Hisayoshi Nozaki and colleagues at the University of Tokyo, Rikkyo (St. Paul's) University, and Osaka University. The paper appears in the December 19th issue of the journal Current Biology, published by Cell Press.

The familiar notion of the separate male and female sexes exhibited by animal and plant species is based in part on the anatomically and genetically distinct gametes, sperm and egg, produced by members of each sex. But the evolutionary origin of oogamy--reproduction though joining of distinct sperm and egg cells--is in fact poorly understood. In particular, it has remained unclear how oogamy arose from isogamy, a more simple form of sex in which very similar reproductive cells take on different "mating types" but do not differentiate as distinct sperm and egg. The transition from isogamy to oogamy has apparently occurred multiple times during the evolution of animals, plants, and some algae, but how did such transitions occur"

In their new work, the researchers established a genetic connection between male sexuality of an oogamous multicellular green algae species, Pleodorina starrii, and one of the mating types of its isogamous ancestor, the unicellular alga Clamydomonas reinhardtii.

In C. reinhardtii, isogamous sexual reproduction occurs through "plus" (MT+) and "minus" (MT-) mating types. MT- represents a "dominant sex" because a particular gene, MID ("minus-dominance") of C. reinhardtii is both necessary and sufficient to cause the cells to differentiate as MT- isogametes. However, no sex-specific genes related to MID had been identified in closely related oogamous species. The researchers now report that they have successfully identified a version of the MID gene in Pleodorina starrii. This "PlestMID" gene is present only in the male genome, and it encodes a protein localized abundantly in the nuclei of mature sperm. The findings indicate that P. starrii maleness evolved from the dominant sex (MT-) of its isogamous ancestor. This breakthrough in understanding provides an opportunity to address any number of extremely interesting questions regarding evolution of oogamy and the origins of male-female dichotomy.

The researchers include Hisayoshi Nozaki of the University of Tokyo in Tokyo, Japan; Toshiyuki Mori, Osami Misumi, and Tsuneyoshi Kuroiwa of Rikkyo (St. Paul's) University in Tokyo, Japan; Sachihiro Matsunaga of Osaka University in Osaka, Japan.

This work was supported by Grant-in-Aid for Creative Scientific Research (No. 16GS0304 to H.N.) and by Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (No. 17370087 to H.N.) from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, Japan.

Nozaki et al.: "Males evolved from the dominant isogametic mating type." Publishing in Current Biology 16, R1018-1020, December 19, 2006 DOI 10.1016/j.cub.2006.11.019. http://www.current-biology.com