The Daily Populous

Saturday March 19th, 2022 day edition

image for Dodo DNA sequencing raises hope of bringing the bird out of extinction

The phrase “dead as a dodo” could one day no longer apply.

More than 300 years after the flightless bird became extinct, scientists at the University of California Santa Cruz have sequenced its full genome, raising the possibility that it could be brought back to life.

Beth Shapiro, a professor of ecology and evolutionary biology, told a Royal Society of Medicine webinar that her group would soon publish the complete DNA sequence of the bird after finding a “fantastic specimen” in a Danish museum.

Dodos evolved on the Indian Ocean island of Mauritius and were first spotted by Portuguese sailors in 1507.

The flightless, large-beaked birds reached a weight of up to 20kg and in some cases stood as high as a metre. »

Black man grabbing tea from car shot by New Jersey police and paralyzed, lawsuit says

Authored by nbcnews.com

A Black man in New Jersey grabbing iced tea from a car was shot and paralyzed by plain-clothed officers last month, according to a lawsuit alleging excessive force, negligence and racial profiling.

One of the men smashed the driver’s side window and Henderson was shot four times, the lawsuit said.

“A Black man sitting in a car at midnight while on a cell phone was all the unidentified police needed to smash the driver’s side window. »

Federal judge rules Kim Davis violated couples’ constitutional rights; will go to trial over damages

Authored by wkyt.com

ASHLAND, Ky. (WKYT) - A federal judge has ruled that former Rowan County Clerk Kim Davis violated the constitutional rights of two same-sex couples when she denied them marriage licenses during the summer of 2015.

Bunning denied Davis’s request for summary judgment on the question of damages, meaning that decision will still go to trial and ultimately be left up to a jury.

The plaintiffs are asking for compensatory and punitive damages, pre- and post-judgment interest, costs and attorneys’ fees. »

Tabasco bottles make a glorious return to the MRE

Authored by militarytimes.com

In 2011, the U.S. military did away with the infamous tiny Tabasco bottles, which served as much as a novelty as a flavor force multiplier, in favor of ketchup-style packets.

The Army’s Combat Feeding Division brought back the beloved Tabasco bottle.

In 1990, the military made the decision to add the fan favorite 1/8-ounce Tabasco bottles to MREs until they were retired in favor of the packets in 2011. »

The False Promise of Arming Insurgents

Authored by foreignaffairs.com

The history of these efforts should be studied carefully as policymakers face the prospect of beginning another one in Ukraine.

That record should counsel caution for the United States and its allies.

The U.S.-backed Ukrainian partisans were simply no match for Soviet intelligence, which easily infiltrated and then brutally suppressed the movement. »