Category Archives: DNA

On Monday, a jaw-dropping Halo Infinite video kept showing up on my Twitter feed that looked like something out of a Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild speedrun.

The video, from Australian YouTuber Mint Blitz, begins with Master Chief armed with a massive hammer behind a Warthog vehicle. In an impressive sequence taking place over a matter of seconds, Mint Blitz swings the hammer to send the Warthog flying while almost simultaneously using Master Chiefs new grappling hook on the vehicle to slingshot himself into the air like Spider-Man. As hes soaring high above Zeta Halos treetops, he uses the thruster powerup and then, inexplicably, just keeps flying forward. After 39 seconds in the air, he finally lands, gracefully setting down on top of a tall tower thats likely supposed to otherwise be inaccessible.

Mint Blitz is almost assuredly doing something Halo Infinite developer 343 Industries never specifically intended. I cant imagine that players are supposed to be able to fly straight forward without falling for more than half a minute. But based on a conversation I had with 343 Industries, it seems like the studio is fine with letting players figure out how to do similarly outlandish stunts and doesnt plan to patch those sorts of things out.

It would actually have to be something that causes the game to lock up for us to be wanting to stop it, 343 Industries associate creative director Paul Crocker tells The Verge. Id love it if someone managed to speedrun the game by using some crazy combination of mechanics to get there.

Unless its brick-blocking player progression or their ability to enjoy the game, well fix it, adds character director Stephen Dyck. Those are the types of things we patch. Otherwise, we love seeing that kind of stuff.

Dyck argues that pushing the boundaries is something thats part of Halos DNA. He gave an example of trying to squeeze a vehicle where you technically arent supposed to. If the player wants to invest time and energy into doing that, and then ultimately theyre successful, and they get the vehicle where they technically werent supposed to? Awesome, he says.

Crocker shared the story of a time the development team spent two hours trying to get a Ghost (kind of an alien hovercraft speeder) into a certain building. When they wrote up this huge bug [report] about, I can get a Ghost in, we need to fix this, we went, Nope. Youre totally able to do that, Crocker said.

Seeing the things players end up doing also inspires the team for things they make down the line, according to Dyck. Well see interesting things that players are gravitating towards, and were like, Cool, yeah, well lean into that one.

Pushing worlds to their limits can give games extended lives. People are still actively shaving time off Breath of the Wild speedruns more than four and a half years after its original release, for example. And Halo fans have already shown theyre a persistent bunch, having spent seven years trying to get into a cutscene room in Halo: Reach.

343 Industries hasnt said whats next for Halo Infinites campaign, so we dont know how the next chapter on Zeta Halo may unfold. But while were waiting for whats to come, Im looking forward to seeing whatever tricks top Mint Blitzs epic flight across the map and it seems like 343 will be, too.

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Halo Infinites creators say your wildest stunts are part of the series DNA - The Verge

A galactic jet has been ejected from the only black hole that humans have ever taken an image of, and researchers believe it's shaped like a helix.

VIEW GALLERY - 3 IMAGES

Messier 87 galactic jet helix structure.

According to a statement from the National Radio Astronomy Observatory, the black hole is located 55 million light-years from Earth at the center of the elliptical galaxy called Messier 87, which is the same and only black hole ever to be photographed. The National Radio Astronomy Observatory states it operated the Very Large Array and found that the jet is shaped by a corkscrew-shaped magnetic field that stretches from the center of the black hole out at a distance close to 3,300 light-years.

"By making high-quality VLA images at several different radio wavelengths of the galaxy Messier 87 (M87), we were able to reveal the 3-dimensional structure of the magnetic field in this jet for the first time," said Alice Pasetto, lead author of the study and an astronomer at the National Autonomous University of Mexico.

Messier 87 black hole photographed.

The recent observation of this magnetic field marks a milestone as it's now the longest magnetic field detected for a galactic jet, according to the National Radio Astronomy Observatory. The researchers explain that helical magnetic fields are typically found closer to the center of the black hole, as they are assumed to play a role in creating a narrow jet. However, researchers were surprised when the helical structure of the jet for Messier 87 extended so far.

"Helical magnetic fields are expected close to the black hole, and are thought to play a highly important role in channeling the material into a narrow jet. But we didn't expect to find such a strong helical field extending so far outward," said Jose M. Marti, co-author of the study and an astronomer at the University of Valencia in Spain.

Observations revealed that the total length of the Messier 87 galactic jet that shoots energy and matter out into space is around 8,000 light-years long.

For more information on this story, check out this link here.

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Supermassive black hole caught blasting out jet shaped similar to DNA - TweakTown

The man charged with raping two lifeguards at deserted pools in Northern Virginia is challenging the method by which police identified him as a suspect, in an appeal to Virginia's Supreme Court.

A Virginia man whos serving 65 years in prison for brutally raping two lifeguards in Alexandria and Fairfax County will ask Virginias Supreme Court to overturn his convictions, based on the way he was caught.

On Tuesday, attorneys for Jesse Bjerke will ask the commonwealths highest court to throw out his 2020 conviction and sentence for attacking lifeguards at deserted pools in Fairfax in 2014 and Alexandria in 2016.

The focus of the appeal, filed by Bjerkes attorney Christopher Leibig, challenges the constitutionality of the way detectives used familial DNA analysis to confirm Bjerke was the man who raped the lifeguard in the Alexandria attack. The same analysis was later used to link Bjerke to the earlier Fairfax County rape.

In 2019, genealogy researchers used public databases to link DNA recovered from the victim in the 2016 attack to a member of Bjerkes family.

While tailing Bjerke to an Old Town restaurant, detectives picked up two drinking straws Bjerke had used, after he tossed them in the garbage.

The straws were submitted to Virginias Department of Forensic Science, which developed a DNA profile from the straw. The findings enabled police to get an arrest warrant for Bjerke, who was unaware police considered him a suspect.

After his arrest, a buccal swab of Bjerkes DNA was analyzed, and matched the DNA found on the victim, according to prosecutors.

While not challenging the DNA findings, Bjerkes attorney has said police should have gotten a search warrant before submitting the straws for DNA analysis.

During trial and in his appeal, Leibig disagreed with rulings that said detectives could analyze DNA recovered from a discarded straw in the same way they can search for clues and evidence in garbage left outside a persons home.

In his petition to Virginias Supreme Court, Leibig said while courts have upheld the constitutionality of investigators harvesting evidence, including fingerprints from discarded garbage, Bjerkes case is different.

We leave traces of our genetic identity everywhere we go. These genetic traces, all of them capable of conveying extensive private information about us, are not abandoned in any traditional sense. These invisible troves of information are necessarily and unintentionally left behind. They can be easily collected, Leibig said.

Leibig argues a search warrant should be required before investigators can analyze DNA in the same way a search warrant is required before police can analyze the contents of a legally seized cellphone.

While cutting-edge technology is often used in law enforcement, Leibig says courts are often asked to set limits on whether usage violates a persons constitutional rights against unreasonable search and seizure.

It necessarily take a while for issues like this to work their way through courts, Leibig said.

Although police can lawfully follow people on a public street, Leibig said over time courts re-evaluate the reasonable expectation of privacy standard.

It was clear that people in society found the idea of GPS monitoring of the totality of their movements by the government substantially intrusive, and far different from being followed down the street in person, wrote Leibig.

In his conclusion, Leibig asks Virginias Supreme Court to address the issue, and overturn his clients conviction: At the present time there is no binding Virginia precedent about the Fourth Amendment implications of warrantless DNA testing of genetic material unintentionally shed in public.

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Man convicted of raping two lifeguards appeals to Va. Supreme Court over DNA collected from drinking straws - WTOP

ELIZABETHTON Wednesday was science day in the first-degree murder trial of Chad Benfield, accused of sexually assaulting his neighbor, 89-year-old Mary Nolen, on July 14, 2017.

On the morning of the second day of the trial, the jury heard the videotaped testimony of Dr. Eugene Scheuerman of the William L. Jenkins Forensic Center at East Tennessee State University. He described the autopsy of Mary Nolen.

Scheuermans testimony was presented to the jury by video because he was suffering from terminal cancer at the time he described the autopsy. He has since died.

In the afternoon, the jury heard the videotaped testimony of Special Agent Jennifer Millsaps of the Tennessee Bureau of Information Crime Laboratory in Knoxville, describing how she determined some of the DNA she discovered in a fingernail clipping of Nolen could have come from Benfield.

Scheuerman testified that Nolen died at 1 p.m. on July 26, 2017, at the Johnson City Medical Center. He said the cause of death was complications of blunt force trauma of the head and neck of the 89-year-old woman. He showed photographs of the autopsy, which showed severe bruising of her lower head, neck, chest and back. He said she suffered no broken bones and no recent injury to her brain.

The forensic pathologist said he did not see any physical trauma to the vaginal area, but the absence did not eliminate the possibility that a sexual assault took place. He said he could not give an opinion on the matter. He said Nolen had several medical problems that contributed to her decline, including heart disease, high blood pressure and diabetes.

Millsaps testimony was based on two separate DNA tests. One was a short tandem repeats test, which showed that skin cells found on a vaginal swab of Nolen found DNA from 3 persons. One was Nolen and one was unknown. The third person was a match with Chad Benfield.

The second test was focused on the Y chromosome, which is only found in males. That test determined that the skin cells would have come from Benfield or some other male in his paternal family.

In the videotape, defense attorney Chris Byrd asked Millsaps about the number of skin cells needed to conduct the tests. She told him it takes between 75 and 125 cells. The tests did not find semen in the sample.

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Autopsy, DNA testing outlined in second day of Benfield trial - Johnson City Press (subscription)

It wasnt until 2015 that the Defense Department finally granted the lab approval to exhume all the unknown graves of the Oklahoma.

We were ready to go, said LeGarde.

But the forensic obstacles had only just begun to emerge.

It was soon apparent that mitochondrial DNA, the type that is inherited from the maternal line, wasnt enough to tell many of the sailors apart. Mitochondrial DNA is relatively easy to collect because it is so abundant but it also means relatives who are possible donors for a match are limited to those only within unbroken maternal lineage.

Unlike Jesus Garcia, who was one of the few non-Caucasian crew members (in a still-segregated Navy, he was limited to jobs serving the ships officers), the vast majority of the Oklahoma crew was white. They were about the same age (most of them between 18 and 25) and mostly the same height (the average between five-foot-seven and five-foot-nine).

It wasnt simply that bone length and size were so similar. There were numerous cases of overlapping genetic markers; in other words, the heritage of the sailors was so similar that even though they were not related their ancestors were.

McMahon explained it this way: You have John Smith and Tim McMahon. Both their ancestors are from England, and they have the same mothers line basically, or the same sequence.

One of those DNA sequences, for instance, matched the remains of 25 individuals, all of them Caucasian. So, 25 people all have that same mitochondrial DNA and many of those were about the same height and age, explained LeGarde. So, the anthropologists were kind of stuck again. What do we do next?

Investigators knew they had to gather DNA samples from the crew members paternal line. This material is less plentiful in each cell and therefore harder to collect. But its also more precise, giving investigators a greater potential pool of relatives for samples to compare to the unidentified remains. That meant collecting more DNA samples from relatives.

If we didn't have that DNA, LeGarde explained, we wouldn't be able to do what we have done.

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How DNA Solved One of the Final Mysteries of Pearl Harbor - POLITICO

NEW BEDFORD Rose Marie Moniz knew the man who is now suspected of bludgeoningher to death in her Acushnet Avenue home in 2001.

No one else would know until 20 years later, when the Bristol County District Attorney got a break in the cold case.

David Reed, the half-brother of Moniz, was indicted last week by a Bristol County grand jury on charges of murder and armed robbery.

The key piece of evidence wasnt a gun or knife.

It was a seashell.

Im pleased to announce the indictments related to the previously unsolved cold case homicide of Rose Marie Moniz, Quinn said in a media statement. She was a mother who was brutally murdered inside the sanctity of her own home. Thanks to the efforts of my Cold Case Unit, along with detectives from our state police unit and New Bedford Police, we were able to bring some sense of relief to the victims family, all of whom suffered for the past 20 years from not knowing what happened to Ms. Moniz.

According to the DA, Moniz, 41, was discovered by her father, Alfred Cunha Jr, on the morning of March 23, 2001, when he went to pick her up for a doctors appointment. Her home was in disarray with numerous kitchen items strewn about the floor and the contents of Monizs purse on the living room floor. Cunha found her dead in the bathroom.

Police officials determined that Moniz had been bludgeoned with a fireplace poker, a cast iron kettle and a conch shell. Her purse was emptied out on the floor and an undetermined amount of cash was stolen. The autopsy report described significant trauma to her head including skull fractures, gaping lacerations and other injuries that resulted in bleeding from both ears, broken nasal bones, and a broken left cheek bone. The medical examiner also noted multiple contusions resulting from blunt trauma all over her body.

More: New Bedford man was stabbed to death in 1978. The DA is revisiting the cold case.

Police noted that there was no sign of forced entry into the home.

Two suspects including her son were dismissed early on and the case went cold.

In 2019, investigators from Quinns Cold Case Unit and a lieutenant from the Massachusetts State Police Unresolved Crimes Unit were reviewing more than 70 Bristol County cold case homicides dating back to the 1970s. Of particular interest to investigators was how the conch shell was used in the Moniz killing. Autopsy photos of the victims face showed that the victim had suffered numerous abrasions and contusions which suggested that the spiny exterior of the conch shell hit the victims face.

The DA suggested that the killer would need to put his fingers inside the opening of the conch to hold it as firmly as was needed to strike the victim with extreme force. The shell was tested for DNA evidence and it matched Reeds DNA. Testing of samples from underneath Monizs fingernails also determined that Y-STR DNA from Reed's male family tree was found. Y-STR DNA technology is used as an investigatory tool.

In 2016, Reed was sentenced to serve 3 to 4 years in state prison for jumping bail in a separate case against him and was required to submit a sample of his DNA to the state DNA database.

Investigators have also been able to obtain further evidence to connect Reed to the 2003 assault and robbery of another New Bedford woman.

More: Bristol County DA re-investigating murders of three elderly SouthCoast women

In late August 2020, Massachusetts State Police Lieutenant Ann Marie Robertson assigned to the district attorneys office, and New Bedford Police Detective Andrew Simmons attempted to interview Reed at his residence on Milton Street in Dartmouth. After the brief interview, Reed fled the state.

Reed was 33 years old at the time of Monizs murder. He lived in Acushnet and New Bedford.

Two years after Monizs murder, another New Bedford woman was brutally beaten and robbed. According to the DA, a private citizen heard a woman screaming for help around 10:45 p.m. on the night of June 10, 2003. The screams he heard were coming from the direction of the Oceanside Plaza. He opened his door and saw the victim and noticed that she was covered in blood. She had been bludgeoned in the head with a tire iron. She told police her attacker had taken her to a secluded area in his truck, where he beat her with the weapon before pushing her out of his truck and leaving her bleeding from her head in a dark, isolated alley. Her purse was stolen in the attack.

More: New Bedford man sentenced to life in prison for 2018 brutal stabbing of Wareham woman

The next month, she saw him driving by her house on Durfee Street. She called the investigating detective. Her nephew and five others jumped into a minivan and followed Reeds truck. The nephew later told police that Reed attempted to lose them. Reed's truck struck a parked vehicle but continued to flee. New Bedford police picked up on the chase near New Bedford High School and called for a backup. Officer Alan Faber was approaching from the other direction in a marked cruiser with his lights on when Reed attempted to avoid being stopped at the intersection of Hillman Street and Rockdale Avenue. He crashed his truck head-on into officer Fabers cruiser causing significant damage and injuring the officer.

The DA said that even after the crash, Reed tried to push the cruiser out of the way with his truck. Other responding officers apprehended Reed. The woman he had assaulted was taken to the arrest scene where she identified the truck and Reed as her attacker.

Reed was charged with robbery and assault of the victim, and the incident involving the ramming of the police cruiser.

He was released on bail and due back for a jury trial in June 2004.

The DA said Reed fled the state and lived in Florida and Hawaii before moving to Alabama where he worked in a lumber yard and eluded police for almost a decade. Reed was taken into custody in May 2015 when he came back to Massachusetts. The woman he had assaulted and robbed had died six months earlier. The charges related to her assault and robbery were dismissed without prejudice to the Commonwealth on March 25, 2016 because there was insufficient evidence at that time on which the Commonwealth could proceed to trial, according to the DA.

Although prosecutors could not go forward on those charges back then, Reed was held on an indictment for felony bail jumping and still had the pending District Court charges related to his attempt to flee from police and the resulting police cruiser crash. In 2016, he was sentenced to serve 3 to 4 years in state prison on those charges. As a result of these convictions, Reed was also required to submit a sample of his DNA to the state DNA database.

Reed was captured on September 10, 2021, sleeping at the Providence Rescue Mission shelter in Rhode Island. Reed is currently being held in jail in connection to the alleged 2003 assault and robbery, as further evidence connected to the incident has resulted in a renewed indictment.

Reed will be arraigned in Fall River Superior Court on Friday, December 10at 9 am. charging him with the murder and armed robbery of Moniz.

"We look forward to prosecuting this case in open court, Quinn stated.

At the time of the slaying, neighbors and family members gathered at the crime scene and spoke quietly to one another, as the home stood behind police caution tape with Easter decorations in the windows.

Her sister, Kim Pacheco (Morrett in 2001), told the Standard-Times back then that Moniz stayed home most days and did not go out much.

Moniz was noted for having frequent yard sales, one neighbor said in a Standard-Times story the day after the killing. She saidsomeone complained about the cars and traffic from the yard sales. After the complaint, the yard sales abruptly stopped.

Moniz was a lifelong resident of the city and was a member of the First Church of Nazarene. She had worked part-time at the Donut Mill in Acushnet and F.C. Foods, according to her obituary. In her leisure time, she enjoyed arts and crafts and working in her yard.

She is buried in Pine Grove Cemetery in New Bedford. Her headstone is decorated with a holiday wreath with a red bow, holly twigs and pine cones. A single red rose, on the other side of the headstone,continues to bloom despite the oncoming winter. The stone reads: Those we love remain with us for love it self lives on.

Reed served as a pallbearer for her funeral.

Alfred Cunha, Jr., was born in New Bedford, worked as a foreman in the fishing industry and was well known on the waterfront, according to his obituary. He loved going on trips to New Hampshire and spending time with his family. He reportedly fathered Reed from an extramarital affair.

He died on Aug. 3, 2016 after a brief illness. He was 89.

Frances Cunha died one year after her husband Alfred at the age of 78. She worked as a packer and trimmer for F.C. Seafood.

They both went to their graves never knowing who killed their daughter.

Monizs brother, Fred Cunha, said his sister took care of everyone who needed it. When his own wife was ill, he said it was Moniz who helped him take care of her. Cunha also tells about a customer at the donut shop whod lost his wife and Moniz would make him pots of soup.

But theres something that disturbs him all these years later.

Monizs son, Robert was questioned by police in his mothers death, but was ruled out as a suspect.

Cunha said Robert, who was 19 back in 2001,worked late and usually got home around 11 p.m. He said Moniz called her son to tell him she had ordered a pizza. However, Robert didnt go right home after work and went out with friends, Cunha said. Not wanting to get caught staying out late, Cunha said Robert went up to his room through the back way through the dining room and up to his bedroom.

Robert was awakened the next morning by his grandfathers screams when he discovered Monizs body in the bathroom.

"My father thought Robert was dead too, because his car was in the driveway," Cunha said.

For 20 years this has hung over his head, Cunha told The Standard-Times, because people thought Robert was still a suspect. Cunha said he recently took Robert out for breakfast and was eager to tell their waitress about the break in the case, but before he could, he said the waitress interrupted him and said, It was the son, wasnt it?

I want everyone that thinks it was her son, to know that they have been wrong this whole time, Cunha said.

"She was the most awesome person you'd ever want to meet," Cunha said.

Standard-Times digital producer Linda Roycan be reached at lroy@s-t.com. You can follow her on Twitter at@LindaRoy_SCT. Support local journalism by purchasing a digital or print subscription to The Standard-Times.

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DNA on seashell points to family member as murder suspect in New Bedford cold case - SouthCoastToday.com

Unearthing ancient relics can tell you many things about a ghost civilization, but where you found those relics is not necessarily where those long-lost people came from.

For years, the origins of the Etruscans remained an unsolved mystery. They inhabited central Italy for two thousand years before the Roman Empire flourished and were thought to have emerged there. However, there were suspicions that they migrated from somewhere else (not in an Ancient Aliens type of way). Where their strange and now dead language came from is unknown, but it was definitely not Indo-European. So how did they materialize?

Researcher Cosmio Psoth of the University of Tbingen, who recently coauthored a study in Science Advances, revealed they crossed the steppes of what is now Russia and Ukraine to reach the Italian peninsula of Etruria. This disproves the assumption that language and origins are always related in some way or another. Etruscan genes were relatively stable until the Roman Empire took over, and conquering rulers seized foreign lands and brought in new blood.

The Etruscans carried the steppe-related genetic component derived from populations that likely spread Indo-European languages across Italy. Nevertheless, they preserved their cultural and linguistic identity, Psoth told SYFY WIRE.

Psoth and his colleagues investigated the secrets that the Etruscans had been hiding for thousands of years because they wanted to trace the genetic origin of a population that had either already been in Italy for millennia or come out of nowhere. They werent the only people in Europe to speak a non-Indo-European language. The Basque of Iberia (who now live in Spain and Southwestern France) are another population who still speak a language unrelated to those considered to be European. What happened with the Basque was a result of intermarriage, so the same possibly happened with the Etruscans.

What is now known through the analysis of ancient DNA is that the ancestry of the Etruscans is linked to other Bronze Age peoples who spread Indo-European languages throughout Europe. Ancient Greek historians like Herodotus assumed an Anatolian or Aegean origin of the Etruscans because they saw what could have been cultural elements that evidenced this in Etruria. No shade, but Herodotus, who dragged the Scythians for being barbarian drug addicts, had a penchant for exaggerating. Later hypotheses thought the Etruscans were a local population.

If the Etruscan language were indeed a relic language that predated Bronze Age expansions, then it would represent one of the rare examples of language continuity despite extensive genetic discontinuity, challenging previous hypotheses about an Anatolian origin, Psoth said.

Even though they came from elsewhere, the genetic profiles of the Etruscans and the Latins who lived in Rome are rather similar despite their cultural and linguistic differences. Extracting DNA from bones and teeth showed both share steppe ancestry. Maybe, like the Basque, the Etruscans merged with other populations in Italy over a long stretch of time, through the Roman Empire. This can only be proven with substantial sequencing of genomes from individuals who lived in central Italy during the Bronze Age.

So what was the Etruscan language closest to? Rhaetic and Lemnian, two other dead languages that originated in the Eastern Alps and the island of Lemnos in the Aegean Sea, are related. These languages are considered Tyrsenian paleo-European tongues that predated anything Indo-European. The Tyrrhenian people who spoke these languages were not Greek (sorry Herodotus). Though there are several hypotheses for the origins of Tyrsenian languages, how they arose is still not certain. Etruscan eventually assimilated with Latin and died out.

During the Roman Imperial period, central Italy experienced a 50% genetic shift, as a result of admixture with eastern Mediterranean populations, to a great extent likely slaves, but also military units and merchants, Posth said.

Like their language, the Etruscans would also go on to assimilate with other peoples in the ancient Roman empire, so their genetic profile did not stay intact, but some of their genes still live on. Maybe you are descended from the Etruscans and dont even realize it.

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This mysterious ancient civilizations DNA was not what we thought it was - SYFY WIRE

Humanity has been chasing longer life since time before history, probably since about five minutes after we first realized we would die one day. Weve invented stories of stones, elixirs, and fountains, all of which promise eternal youth if only we could find them.

A new study by Gregory L. Owens from the Department of Integrative Biology at the University of California, Berkeley, and colleagues, draws a map to a new location of the fountain of youth hidden in the genome of rockfish. Their findings were published in the journal Science.

There are dozens of species of rockfish, all of which have wildly different lifespans that depend largely on their size and where they live. The shortest-lived swim the waters of the North Pacific for little more than a decade. At the other end of the spectrum, some species can live more than two centuries. Scientists sequenced the genome of 88 species in order to identify the genes and gene families responsible for their incredible longevity.

We sequenced the whole genome of 88 species and then we did high-level chromosome analysis for five of those species, Owens told SYFY WIRE.

For most of the species the genome was sequenced, but those sequences werent placed in order. Its akin to having all of the puzzle pieces but not putting the puzzle together. For the five species which were the focus of the study, the team completed as much of the puzzle as was possible.

Thats a logistical constraint. It takes a lot of money to get to that level, so we picked five of them which spanned across the range of rockfish from short-lived to long-lived and focused on them, Owens said.

Theres a strong correlation between size, living depth, and lifespan. Those rockfish who live the longest tend to be larger and live hundreds of meters below the oceans surface. The relationship with size makes intuitive sense, animals which are larger will have fewer predators and are less likely to be eaten, allowing them to live longer by simple virtue of avoiding snack time. This trend largely holds true outside of fish populations as well. In general, larger animals, whether fish, mammal, or otherwise, live longer than their smaller neighbors. The reason fish at lower depths live longer could have something to do with temperature.

It tends to be colder deeper down, Owens said. The prevailing wisdom is colder means slower metabolism, which means longer life. How fast organisms live energetically is often correlated with lifespan. So, perhaps some of the species live longer because theyre modifying their metabolism.

Those surface-level observations were validated by the genetic analysis. Those fish which are documented to have longer lifespans had key differences in their DNA, related to mutation and metabolic rates.

We found there was an enrichment in DNA repair genes. This makes sense because cancer is often driven by mutations. This natural selection helps the long-lived species have fewer mutations and prevent cancer in old age. We also see genes involved in insulin-signaling, Owens said.

Being born with the potential for longevity doesnt necessarily ensure a long life, however. Those deep-dwelling rockfish also have lower populations than their smaller, shallow-swimming relatives. They might lay millions of eggs over their centuries-long lifetimes, but very few of those offspring will survive childhood. Being a baby rockfish puts you at risk of predation, but there might also be self-regulating ecological limits on the overall population.

The bigger fish tend to have lower population size, probably because they take up more niche space in the environment. If fish are bigger, they eat more, they take up more ecological space. They have millions of babies but have very high mortality of the young, Owens said.

The research also indicated the longevity of rockfish might continue to expand, due to their unusual reproductive strategy. Many animals have a reproductive stage, then begin to decline and become less reproductively active. Mutations in the genome during this stage dont hold much evolutionary weight because they arent passed on. For rockfish, that isnt the case.

They just become bigger and have more and more eggs. They become more fecund, Owens said. Thats an evolutionary scenario where there could be selection for even longer life. We think this could be the deeper evolutionary reason for why they are living this long.

The presence of these genes isnt just good news for rockfish. Although our evolutionary relationship with rockfish is distant, identifying these genes can inform scientists looking at aging in model systems and in humans. Some of the beneficial mutations present in the longest-lived rockfish regulate processes which cause cancers and aging in humans.

If you want to live forever, or at least for a couple centuries, it pays to be a big, cold fish. Failing that, it helps to understand them better.

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Scientists located the rockfishs genetic fountain of youth - SYFY WIRE

PHILADELPHIA - Desperate times call for desperate measures.

That, more than anything else, may explain the New York Giants decision to fire offensive coordinator Jason Garrett on a short week that also includes the Thanksgiving holiday.

Former Cleveland Browns head coach Freddie Kitchens, who had been a senior offensive assistant for Giants head coach Joe Judge and Garrett, will take over the play-calling duties for the 3-7 Giants against the surging 5-6 Eagles on Sunday.

I dont think theres ever an ideal time to make a move like this in-season, but, to me, its whenever its necessary to make the move, you go ahead and make it, Judge said on a conference call Wednesday.

Going into the bye week we were coming together as a team in all three phases. There was some progress being made, but ultimately, we need to be more productive as an offense.

Judge, a Philadelphia native, is attempting to build a culture of accountability in North Jersey for an organization that has hit the skids in recent seasons.

Dating back to 2017 the once-revered Giants franchise has been a bottom-feeder with a record of 21-53 that span, including the 3-7 mark this season. Another three losses over the final seven games and New York will record double-digit setbacks for the fifth straight campaign and Judge could be updating his resume after just two seasons at the helm.

I tell the team all the time Im not afraid to make moves whenever necessary to put our team in a position to be successful, said the embattled coach.

MORE:Jordan Mailata Said he Protected his Family Against the "Dirty"

What Judge doesnt want anyone to think is that Garrett was scapegoated in order to remove the target off the head coachs own back.

Lets be clear, someones not taking the fall, Judge said, This isnt a blame game. I made it very clear to our guys. Im in no way concerned or influenced by external criticism or perception.

In Judges mind, its just about getting the Giants out of the 3-7 hole where the final NFC playoffs spots figure to go to teams with either slightly above or slightly below .500.

My job is to make sure I make the best decisions for the team and put everyone in position for success, Judge said.

The second-year head coach even thanked Garrett, the long-time mentor in Dallas, for helping him grow into the big chair in the nations largest media market

I appreciate what Jason did. I have a very good relationship with Jason. Hes been very good to me in terms of being a young head coach and sharing his wisdom and experiences, Judge said. Hes helped me grow a lot. Hes helped this team grow a lot. Phenomenal job building relationships in this building.

For Eagles rookie coach Nick Sirianni the move complicated things a bit from a preparation standpoint.

You have to go back and look at some things that Kitchens did at Cleveland and some of those things like that, he said. Of course, you look for every advantage, every edge, some of the tendency things. You got to go back and look at what they had.

I've said this before in here, it's a different play-caller. There's going to be different looks. There's going to be different things that he does, Coach Garrett didn't do, or vice versa. We just got to be ready for everything.

MORE:Blowout Loss in Vegas Led to Eagles Turnaround - Sports ...

Veteran defensive tackle Fletcher Cox explained that the unique circumstances almost have to have the Eagles looking inward.

The biggest thing is making it about us, Cox said on Wednesday. We know that theyre going into a switch, and this is a division game. Basically, it comes down to we kind of know them, they maybe know us from the film theyre watching, but the biggest thing is making it about us, making sure whatever [defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon] calls everybody is doing their job and holding them accountable.

Will they have some wrinkles? Im sure they will, but the biggest thing for us is executing our game plan like weve been doing.

-John McMullen contributes Eagles coverage for SI.com's EagleMaven and is the NFL Insider for JAKIB Media. You can listen to John, alongside legendary sports-talk host Jody McDonald every morning from 8-10 on Birds 365, streaming live on both PhillyVoice.com and YouTube. John is also the host of his own show "Extending the Play" on AM1490 in South Jersey. You can reach him at jmcmullen44@gmail.com or on Twitter @JFMcMullen

Ed Kracz is the publisher of SI.coms Eagle Maven and co-host of the Eagles Unfiltered Podcast. Check out the latest Eagles news at http://www.SI.com/NFL/Eagles or http://www.eaglemaven.com and please follow him on Twitter: @kracze.

Excerpt from:
Eagles Will Default to Their DNA to Deal with Giants OC Change - Sports Illustrated

Rather than focus in on the Ultra Boost most current, adidas now utilizes the full range of versions. Here, the 5.0 makes a return, kicking off the month of December in a color palette not too unlike an alternate Spider-Man costume.

Both black and blue threads are used in the Primeknit, the former effectively serving as the base. The cool tones, then, set in atop the toe, tongue, and side, highlighting the 5.0s unique hybrid weave pattern. Via the cage, counter, BOOST, and the like the aforementioned neutral makes a full appearance, at points a backdrop to the red-hued stripes and branding.

Enjoy a close-up look at the colorway below and expect to see them on adidas.com by December 1st.

In other news, the Cool Grey 11s are making their debut that month as well.

Where to Buy

Make sure to follow @kicksfinder for live tweets during the release date.

Mens: $180Style Code: GZ1350

North AmericaDec 1st, 2021 (Wednesday)

See the original post:
The adidas Ultra Boost 5.0 DNA Kicks Off December In Black, Blue, And Red - Sneaker News