Category Archives: DNA

We are 18 days away from YOUR Missouri Football Tigers kicking off the 2021 season against Central Michigan. Do you feel that? No, not the indigestion. Next to that. Yes! That! Its excitement!

Because I am absolutely insane and keep track of fairly useless amounts of data about Missouris roster, I figured now would be a good time to let you all take a look and the makeup of this 2021 team. Theres lots of excitement about what the on-the-field product can be, yes, but arent you more excited about where they come from, the massive class imbalance, and the blue-chip ratios? I know I am!

Lets start with the roster breakdown. Heres the overview:

Let me break it down into the four subcategories here:

Per 247s Bud Elliott, the blue-chip ratio tracks how well an individual team recruits over a four-year period. Teams who are able to consistently reel in recruiting classes of 4- and 5-star kids are able to field a team with enough athleticism to compete for national championships. It doesnt mean the team is any good, mind you (think TEXAS), it just simply means their ceiling is high enough that they could hold their own against elite teams. The cutoff point is 50%, meaning 41 of a teams 82 scholarship players are 4/5 star guys coming out of high school.

At this time last year the Tigers blue-chip ratio was 5% which, as my University of Missouri education has helped me realize, is much less than 50%. However, heading into the 2021 season, Mizzous blue-chip ratio has more than doubled, currently sitting at 11%. Naturally that means that next year it will be 24% and then hit 53% in 2023 because recruiting improvement is always the same!

...but seriously, Drinkwitz and his staff have been aces on the recruiting trail and should definitely help elevate Mizzous recruiting prestige to at least the 30% level for the coming years.

Look at this. Look at this f***ing mess of class balance:

The first number is scholarship players, the number in parenthesis is when you add walk-ons.

This is the visual representation of the thing BK and I have been complaining about in multiple podcasts: the NCAA allowed EVERYONE to not have their 2020 season count on the eligibility clock has created an absolute logjam at the underclassman level. Compare this balance to the roster heading into the 2020 season:

This is why the Tigers can only take 15 commitments on Early Signing Day because theres only for sure 9 guys leaving a roster with 74 guys on scholarship. 74-9=65, 65+15=80, and you want to keep a few scholarships available for Luther Burden and Kevin Coleman the elite, February-Singing-Day dudes and the off-season transfer portal market.

Outside of running back, offensive lineman, defensive tackle, and specialists, the Tigers have at least one 4-star guy at every position. And, if current recruiting efforts hold, then the Tigers should have at least one 4-star guy at EVERY position - excluding tight end and specialists - on next years roster. Thats a good start for the SEC, and it is a good idea to get multiple 4-stars at every position going forward. That would increase the blue-chip ratio and continue to protect Mizzou from any busts that could potentially happen.

I dont want to sound like Im totally discounting the 2- and 3-star guys, by the way: Im a lifelong Missouri fan and I know what our wheelhouse is. Im just simply stating its better for 2/3-star kids to get developed over time and play above their high school rating while also recruiting a good crop of elite athleticism that can hit the field and be awesome from Game 1.

24 different states in the union and another whole-ass country/continent have contributed players to the 2021 cause. The state of Missouri, to no ones surprise, leads the way in total players on the roster, both scholarship only (17) and with walk-ons added (38). Texas is second (14/19) followed by Floridas 7 scholarship players and Georgia (5/7). Its a pretty heavy SEC footprint which is a good thing: the most talented high school football players hail from the American south - specifically Texas, Georgia, and Florida - and Mizzou has typically found success by recruiting overlooked players in talent-stocked areas to supplement the best athletes from Missouri they can sign. The Indiana pipeline has been busy as of late with the signing of Ky Montgomery and Daylan Carnell while the Michigan pipeline got a little smaller with the early drafting of Larry Borom and transfer of Aidan Harrison. Itll be interesting to see if Drinkwitzs staff does anything to further develop the Colorado pipeline (one scholarship player) or the Chicago pipeline (zero scholarship players) or if they decide that the Carolina pipeline is more valuable (two scholarship players, one on the way, plus Larry Threesticks was a Carolina kid).

Heres a visual representation of the areas that Missouri has drawn talent from to craft the 2021 roster:

This map does count walk-ons but you can see the big pockets that Missouri pulls from - St. Louis, Kansas City, DFW, Houston, central Florida. And, of course, 9,429 miles to the west is the recruiting hotbed of Melbourne, Australia (hi, Ben Key!).

Mostly just to act as a depository for my weird data hoarding, frankly. But also to give you a better idea of where the roster currently stands and provide a benchmark in order to watch as to how it evolves over time. I last did this exercise in June of 2020 and its already changed a ton: how the recruiting efforts and roster management work out over the years and the impact on what the team looks like in that timespan will be very interesting to track.

The next question to answer - and one we wont realistically get a chance at answering until Game Week - is which players see the field. Missouris most elite teams relied heavily on contributions from experienced upperclassman and young, high-level impact athletes. Missouris last recruiting class was the best ever but the four that came before that were middle of the pack nationally and near the bottom in the SEC. Playing a lot of upperclassmen helps from an experience and development standpoint while possibly limiting a teams ceiling while playing a bunch of young guys probably equates to more immediate losses in hope for the potential of more wins down the road. Rest assured, Ill analyze the hell out of the roster once we get more information.

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The DNA of the 2021 Missouri Football Tigers - Rock M Nation

After fires ripped through Washington States Olympic National Forest in 2018, firefighters found evidence of a tree heist gone wrong sawed-off stumps of protected bigleaf maple trees.

They turned to tree DNA a new area of forensic evidence to connect the stumps with the missing tree and caught the poachers red-handed.

The backstory: In the United States, tree poaching is surprisingly common. Bigleaf maple and yellow cedar are highly sought after for their beautiful wood, often used in musical instruments, art, and fine furniture. A single tree might be worth thousands of dollars, depending on its size and woodgrain patterning.

A few shredded stumps all that remains of the poached trees are sometimes the only sign that a thief was present.

Prized trees, in mostly unguarded forests, make a tempting target for timber thieves, and it is hard to nab a tree poacher after the fact. A few shredded stumps all that remains of the poached trees are sometimes the only sign that a thief was present.

Whats more, many tree species can be lawfully harvested, if they are on private land or harvested with a permit. Side-by-side, it is impossible to tell the difference between black-market timber and a log that was legally harvested.

Side-by-side, it is impossible to tell the difference between black-market timber and a log that was legally harvested.

But tree DNA can connect a log for sale on the market to a stump in the forest.

What went down: The 2018 Maple Fire destroyed 3,300 acres of Washington states Olympic National Forest. In the remains, local officials found a group of suspicious burning maple tree stumps. Someone had clearly used a saw to chop them down before the fire.

The law enforcement agents got to work. They collected genetic samples from dozens of logs, hoping the tree DNA could be used to match timber to the tree stumps. They sent the samples to Richard Cronn, a research geneticist with the U.S. Forest Service (USFS).

He used genetic analysis to match the Olympic Forest DNA to lumber sold to a local mill by defendant Justin Andrew Wilke. Wilke claimed he had harvested the three bigleaf maple trees legally, from private land. But genetic evidence connected the wood to the stumps.

The DNA analysis was so precise that it found the probability of the match being coincidental was approximately one in one undecillion (one followed by 36 zeros), prosecutors said.

This whole story is 100% a testament to the detailed investigating skills of our Forest Service law enforcement agents, Cronn says, explaining that collecting wood samples from the right lumber was like finding a needle in a haystack. They showed the determination to try to get an answer. They really invested a lot of time and took detailed notes.

According to a statement from the U.S. Attorneys Office for Western Washington, Cronn testified that the wood Wilke sold was a genetic match to the remnants of three poached maple trees investigators recovered in the Elk Lake region convincing the jury that Wilkes timber had been stolen.

The DNA analysis was so precise that it found the probability of the match being coincidental was approximately one in one undecillion (one followed by 36 zeros), prosecutors said.

The case marks the first time in federal criminal proceedings that tree DNA has been used to convict a tree poacher, the Associated Press reports.

The mind of a poacher: Wilke and his fellow conspirators had an elaborate and calculated system for poaching desirable trees, according to court documents. It involved sneaking into the forest, peeling the bark aside to assess the wood, and forging documents to convince sawmills it was legal, The Washington Post reports.

But what they didnt anticipate was a bee nest near the base of the tree. This is where the story gets muddled and cant be confirmed with evidence. Wilke says he didnt start the Maple Fire, which cost the state about $4.2 million to put out. But prosecutors say Wilke doused the bee nest with gasoline and set it alight. Ultimately, the jury did not convict Wilke of starting the fire.

When people steal trees from our public lands, they are stealing a beautiful and irreplaceable resource from all of us and from future generations, Tessa M. Gorman, acting U.S. Attorney, said. That theft, coupled with the sheer destruction of the forest fire that resulted from this activity, warrants federal criminal prosecution.

Future genetics: While genetic analysis opens up more opportunities to connect a log on the market with a damaged stump, law enforcement still needs to find both the stump and the timber. If a tree was poached deep in a national park, finding the stump could be next to impossible poachers are betting on it.

But not long after the Maple Fire investigation began, a group of volunteers for Adventure Scientists started helping to build a tree DNA database of desirable targets for poachers, which I previously reported. They sent those samples to Cronn. The idea was that by comparing lumber of unknown origin with a reference database of tree DNA throughout the country, scientists could hone in on where the tree likely came from.

Instead of needing to find a tree stump in the forest and a suspicious log for sale on the market, researchers could use a comparison to the reference database to identify the likely origin of the timber, such as a National Park or National Forest.

Cronn had already finished his analysis for the Wilke case when Adventure Scientists sent him their samples. He had explored the Olympic peninsula, collecting genetic samples and building a mini-database of his own. But, because Adventure Scientists drew from the collective effort of many volunteer citizen scientists, their database was much larger in scope. It spanned the entire bigleave maple range. So, Cronn checked his work again with the new database. Using the Adventure Scientists data, he crunched the numbers, and came up with the same conclusions.

It basically confirmed everything that we said, for this particular case. And what it ended up showing us was really how useful this particular DNA fingerprinting test would be across the range of bigleaf maple, he said.

Cronn calls it an on the shelf product something that researchers can use in future cases when the origin of a piece of timber is called into question.

Wed love to hear from you! If you have a comment about this article or if you have a tip for a future Freethink story, please email us at tips@freethink.com.

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Tree DNA convicts a poacher for the first time in federal court - Freethink

India is home to a large population of elephants and to have a clear idea about the exact number, the country will be conducting a census next year. However, unlike the last time when the population was calculated on the basis of headcount, this census will involve a more scientific approach, reported the Hindustan Times. The census beginning next year will involve camera trapping, DNA analysis of dung samples and statistical modelling of the tuskers. The methodology will be the same as the quadrennial tiger census.

Speaking about the new methodology to be used in the elephant census, SP Yadav, member secretary, National Tiger Conservation Authority and head of Central Zoo Authority, said that the old method was not scientific. The team conducting the census will first do a ground survey to record indirect elephant signs like broken branches, footprints, dung etc.

Camera trapping and DNA analysis of dung will also be used to collect data. Then, the data will be extrapolated to give a range of elephants in each region. Yadav said that the uses of this method will definitely help authorities to also improve understanding about elephants and the issues face by them

The last elephant census conducted on a headcount basis in 2017 had concluded that there were at least 27,000 tuskers present in different parts of India. The census also revealed the distribution range of the elephant population had expanded even to states that never had any recorded presence of the tusker. For the time, elephant presence was recorded in states like Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Manipur, Mizoram, Andaman And Nicobar, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh.

Asian Elephants have been listed as Endangered on the IUCN Red List of threatened species. Indian is home to more than 60 per cent of its population of about 50,000 to 60,000. The population outside India has shown a sharp decline due to loss of habitation and poaching in recent years.

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New Elephant Census to have DNA Analysis, Camera Trapping of the Tuskers - News18

Preview: 'Forensic Files II' episode on Traci Hammerberg case

The HLN true-crime series explores the 1984 murder of a young Wisconsin woman that was finally solved 35 years later using DNA evidence.

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

For the second time in less than a year, the 1984 murder of Saukville teenager Traci Hammerberg, which investigators solved 35 years later using DNA evidence, is gettingits TV closeup.

"Forensic Files II," the rebooted continuation of the long-running crime investigation series, takes a look at the case in an episode called "Grave Justice," airing at 9 p.m. Central Time on Aug. 22 on HLN (Channel 11 on Spectrum cable).

The half-hour episode recaps the basics of the initial case. Hammerberg'sbody was found on a driveway in the Town of Grafton early on Dec. 15, 1984; after a night out with friends, she had been raped, strangled and bludgeoned to death.

Suspects emerged, but without conclusive evidence, the case remained open for more than three decades. Finally, investigators sent DNA evidence from the crime scene to a genetic genealogy database and managed to identify a prime suspect: Philip Cross, an acquaintance of Hammerberg who died of a drug overdose in 2012. A DNA card for Cross proved he was a match.

RELATED: How genetic genealogy helped solve the 1984 murder of 18-year-old Traci Hammerberg

The "Forensic Files" episode focuses on how investigators followed the DNA evidence to find Hammerberg's killer.

Last fall, the Hammerberg case was the focus of an episode of true-crime maven Nancy Grace's latest series, "Bloodline Detectives." That series airs in syndication, locally on WVTVDT2 (Channel 24) at 1 a.m. late Sunday nights.

Contact Chris Foran at chris.foran@jrn.com. Followhimon Twitter at @cforan12.

Our subscribers make this reporting possible. Please consider supporting local journalism by subscribing to the Journal Sentinel at jsonline.com/deal.

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HLN's 'Forensic Files II' takes on 1984 Wisconsin murder case that was solved 35 years later using DNA evidence - Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

The all-new 2022 Jeep Grand Wagoneer

True to its history, the all-new 2022 Jeep Grand Wagoneer offers rugged off-road abilities with classic styling.

Provided by Stellantis

Mike Uhlmeyer calls the 2022 Jeep Grand Wagoneer the largest small car youll ever drive.

Thats an interesting way to describe a vehicle with three rows, seating for eight and tons of space, but the vehicles chief engineer is really talking about the driving experience responsive and easy to handle, even on twisty roads.

Its all relative, of course.

The top of the line Grand Wagoneer and its Wagoneer sibling arent sports cars or roadsters. Thats not where they live. They dont need to manage switchbacks as if they were house cats chasing the dot from a laser pointer.

These newest, poshest rides from Jeep built at Warren Truck Assembly north of Detroit are SUVs with a mission, to take the 80-year-old brand beyond the space occupied by the Grand Cherokee. They represent a foray for Stellantis into the large and premium SUV segments dominated by the Lincoln Navigator, Chevrolet Tahoe and Suburban and GMC Yukon.

They also represent the height of ambition from the companys pre-merger days when it was still Fiat Chrysler Automobiles.

The executives have big expectations, too.

We werent going to come back in the market and be in the middle of the pack, explained Rachel Fellrath, senior product marketing manager.

The Wagoneer and Grand Wagoneer will need to stand out to make an impression. They enter a market much different than the version that left it 30 years ago. Those who want plush appointments will most likely choose the Grand Wagoneer in one of three trim levels, designated as Series I, II and III.

During a presentation and drive last week that began in New Yorks Meatpacking District, a classic Grand Wagoneer Woody was on hand, but the stars of the show were the new models, which should be available later this summer, packed full of modern conveniences and safety features.

A line of pre-production Grand Wagoneers waited as auto journalists tried to absorb the details before a drive that took us through Manhattan, into New Jersey and back into New York to a hillside estate.

All cars tell a story, and for the Grand Wagoneer, in particular, its a story about opulence, said Dwayne Jackson, the chief designer.

I climbed into a Velvet Red Pearl Grand Wagoneer Series II 4X4, with a 6.4-liter V8 mated to an 8-speed automatic. The Sea Salt-colored Palermo leather seats cushioned in all the right ways, getting an assist from massage options, including Waterfall and Rock Climb. Walnut wood accents a refined nod to the wood theme of the old Wagoneer and a black interior provided a dramatic contrast.

The 471-horsepower engine provided plenty of giddy-up when called upon (the 5.7-liter, standard in the Wagoneer, promises 392 horses).

The base price had it at $93,995, but with extras, the price for this particular model topped out at $96,985.

Youd spend an extra $8,250 in fuel costs over five years compared tothe average new vehicle, according to the sticker, with a fuel economy rating of 15 mpg combined city/highway (13 city and 18 highway). The smog rating put it at 1 out of 10, with 10 being the best.

If you opted instead for the 5.7-liter V8 with eTorque assist, which is standard in the Wagoneer, youd do a tad better on the mileage 15/20/17 for the 4X4.

The most expensive Grand Wagoneer I drove wasnt the Velvet Red number. That honor went to the Bright White Series III with the Blue Agave interior, a succulent color that covers most of the surfaces inside, from seats to carpeting, but doesnt appear excessive. This combination included the heavy-duty trailer tow package and topped out at $109,980.

Towing is promoted as class-leading, and the SUV and trailer in this example came in at 7,000 pounds, which is still 3,000 pounds shy of what it promises. This towing novice had no issues maneuvering around some tight corners and varied terrain on an approximately 13-minute loop.

More: Stellantis announces plans to build electric Ram 1500, Dodge muscle car in 2024

More: Prominent Jeep detail is missing from 2022 Wagoneer, Grand Wagoneer

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The drive in the Velvet Red SUV along city streets and village roads came close to delivering the whisper quiet interior that the engineers were tasked with creating. Even with the sunroof open and the windows down, the noise didnt overpower the music. Of course, the 19-speaker McIntosh system you can set the display to show the dancing needles in the center screen is a step or five above most sound systems out there. If thats not enough, theres a 23-speaker version available, too.

Later, I got an audio demonstration from Jackson, who used Hans Zimmers Gladiator soundtrack to showcase the richness of the sound, with even strumming instruments clearly audible in the orchestra.

During a couple of stops, I tried out various seating configurations, dropping both the second and third rows to expose the full roominess of the cabin. Getting the second row back in place was not automatic, but as noted, this was a pre-production vehicle. My more-than 6-foot frame could sit in the third row and not have my knees touch the second-row seatback.

The liftgate in its up position left me enough room to stand underneath, barely brushing but not bumping my head.

Cool features were scattered throughout. One of the display screens could slide in to reveal a wireless charging pad. The accelerator pedal could be adjusted for height. An auto hold button could be pressed to let the driver take his feet off the brake pedal during extended braking stretches. The head-up display helped me manage both my speed and speed limits.

A cooler packed with half-a-dozen water bottles even replaced one of the storage bins in the Diamond Black Series II I drove on my return trip.

Safety features arent always obvious, but a check rear seat message popped up at the end of each stop, offering a reminder for me or anyone, particularly busy parents, to take another look for precious cargo.

Screens were prevalent, too, but not distracting, and passenger-side screens are polarized so the driver wont be tempted to watch whats in front of the co-pilot.

For those who want to get completely immersed, 75 inches of total screen space is available on the Grand Wagoneer. Uconnect 5 and Amazons Fire TV provide a cornucopia of entertainment options as well. In one of the demonstration vehicles, both second row seats and the front passenger screen were all watching different videos, with one paired to a cell phone. The front passenger also had the option to monitor what was on the screens in the second row.

Of course, the Wagoneer and Grand Wagoneer cant claim to beJeeps without some off-roading chops, and even though opulence is the story, the Wagoneer managed to show it belongs in the Jeep family, too.

I took a 5.7-liter V8 Wagoneer with eTorque assist on the off-road trail, crawling over a rocky incline, managing a bend with wheel tracks that had me leaning toward the ground at a steep angle and rolling in and out of craters that raised a wheel or two into the air as the SUV maneuvered through.

Hard-core off-roaders wont be trading in their Wranglers for Wagoneers or Grand Wagoneers, but thats no surprise. The surprise is that a vehicle that will be competing with the premium set in urban spaces feels so at ease outside of the city.

Contact Eric D. Lawrence: elawrence@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter: @_ericdlawrence.Become a subscriber.

Excerpt from:
First drive: 2022 Jeep Grand Wagoneer delivers 'opulence' while staying true to its DNA - Detroit Free Press

Norah Atieno (right) and Anne Wanjiru outside Nakuru Law Courts after seeking a second injunction to stop the burial process of their late husband Washington Olweny. [Kipsang Joseph, Standard]

The High Court in Nakuru has ordered aDNAtestto prove the relationship between a woman claiming to be widow to former Nakuru businessman Washington Olweny and her son.

Justice Teresia Matheka, who gave the orders yesterday, directed Norah Atieno and her son John Kevin Odhiambo to undergo thetestwithin 30 days.

She limited thetestto Atieno and her son, although she was informed that there was need to do aDNAtestto prove the relationship between Odhiambo and the late Olweny.

TheDNAtestis strictly limited to maternitytestand issues ofDNAtestbetween Odhiambo and the deceased can wait because it is not relevant at the moment, ruled Matheka.

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Justice Matheka ordered Atieno to choose the government chemist where theDNAsamples could be analysed.

She ruled on an application by Phelisiah Akoth and her sons Edwin Otieno and Timothy Ochieng' dated June 28, 2021.

Ms Akoth, Olwenys widow, filed the application and she is adamant that Odhiambo is neither Olwenys son nor Atieno's.

Through her lawyer Diana Mureithi, Akoth claims Olweny did not have a child with Atieno and that aDNAtestmust be done to prove the same.

She even told court she was willing to cover the cost of extraction of samples, collection and analysis.

The court allowed the application, noting that on June 21, while testifying, Atieno agreed to undertake aDNAtestbetween herself and her son to prove maternal relationship.Birth certificate produced was marred by inconsistencies drawing suspicions on whether Odhiambo was Olwenys son, read the application.

Atieno, Akoth and Anne Wanjiru are battling in court for a share of Olwenys estate valued at Sh200 million.

Olweny died on November 28, 2016 and the family has been in court seeking to share the property comprising a private hospital, land, commercial and residential buildings in Rift Valley, Nyanza and Nairobi.

Allan Onyango, Olwenys son, went to court to lock out Atieno and Wanjiru from his fathers property.He wants the High Court to declare his mother Akoth the only legal wife to Olweny.

The case will be mentioned on October 14, 2021.

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DNA test to prove relationship between woman and Nakuru tycoon - The Standard

New Delhi: Taliban held their first press conference today after capturing Kabul. It became clear that the Taliban will run their country according to Islamic laws and sooner or later the people of Afghanistan will have to follow Sharia. The Taliban made tall promises saying they have changed and that they will honour womens rights. The question is Can they be trusted?

Zee News Editor-in-Chief Sudhir Chaudhary on Tuesday (August 17) discussed what the Taliban rule would really mean for the Afghans, especially the women.

In the presser, the Taliban said that they have no enmity with anyone and have forgiven everyone including those who opposed them previously. It appeared that the Taliban now want to behave like a dictator who would punish and forgive people according to their will.

The Taliban said that it will soon form an Islamic government in Afghanistan and added that the countrys soil will not be used for terrorism or against any country.

They said there will be no discrimination against women, but whatever rights will be given to them, will be according to Islam. Women will be allowed to work in health, education and other areas.

They claimed that the Afghans will be completely safe under their rule.

Some countries such as Russia and Pakistan have even welcomed the Taliban. Russia said that since the arrival of the Taliban, Kabul has become more secure than before.

Pakistan went as far as saying that the Taliban have broken shackles of slavery by overthrowing the US-backed government in Afghanistan.

However, the history of the Taliban reveals a contradictory tale. At present, there is immense fear in Afghan women and rightly so.

The Taliban claim that they have changed. They say women will be given more freedom. In todays presser, a woman journalist interviewed the Taliban spokesperson. It was viewed all over the world, with some hoping that the attitude of the Taliban has changed towards women. However, this is far from the truth.

In the previous Taliban regime, Sharia laws were strictly implemented. Girls were barred from going to school. Women were not allowed to go out of the house alone. They were forced to wear burqa, failing to do so meant brutal beating. Women were not allowed to drive. Women were not allowed to go to work. In all likelihood, all of this could happen again.

Read more about Taliban here: Taliban's History

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DNA Exclusive: Have Taliban really broken `shackles of slavery` in Afghanistan? Know here - Zee News

Los Angeles A California surfing school owner was charged Wednesday with killing his two young children with a spear gun in Mexico because he believed they would become monsters, authorities said.

Matthew Taylor Coleman, 40, of Santa Barbara is facing a federal charge of the foreign murder of U.S. nationals, the U.S. attorney's office said in a statement.

Coleman confessed to the FBI during an interview that he took his 2-year-old son and 10-month-old daughter to Rosarito, Mexico, where shot a "spear fishing gun" into their chests, according to an affidavit filed by an FBI agent with the criminal complaint.

Coleman said "he believed his children were going to grow into monsters so he had to kill them," according to the court document.

A farmworker found the children's bodies on Monday at a ranch near Rosarito in Baja California, authorities there have said.

Coleman and the children had checked into a Rosarito hotel on Saturday, but video footage showed them leaving before dawn on Monday, Mexican authorities said.

The man returned alone later that morning and then left the hotel for good, authorities said.

An iPhone-finding application placed Coleman's phone in Rosarito on Sunday, and on Monday it was traced to an area of Mexico near the San Ysidro Port of Entry in San Diego, according to the affidavit.

Coleman was detained at the border checkpoint, where during an interview with an FBI agent "he explained that he was enlightened by QAnon and Illuminati conspiracy theories and was receiving visions and signs revealing that his wife, A.C., possessed serpent DNA and had passed it on to his children," according to the affidavit.

He's accused of dumping the children's bodies in a ditch near Rosarito, CBS Los Angeles reports.

The station says Coleman's wife reported to Santa Barbara police on Saturday that the family was getting ready to go camping when her husband suddenly took off with the children in the family's van. She said she didn't know where they were going and he hadn't answered her text messages.

Coleman's wife said she didn't believe the children were in any danger, that she hadn't had any problems with Coleman, and "they did not have any sort of argument" before he left, according to the court affidavit.

CBS L.A. says Coleman told FBI agents he'd put his daughter in a box for the ride to Mexico because he didn't have a car seat.

Coleman is the founder of the Lovewater surfing school in Santa Barbara.

The family's neighbors in Santa Barbara told CBS L.A. they're shocked and that Coleman seemed like a good family man. One said he is "shocked" and "stunned." He called it "immensely tragic."

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Matthew Coleman says he killed his kids over QAnon conspiracy theories and "serpent DNA" - CBS News

Denisovans are an elusive bunch, known mainly from ancient DNA samples and traces of that DNA that the ancient hominids shared when they interbred with Homo sapiens. They left their biggest genetic imprint on people who now live in Southeast Asian islands, nearby Papua New Guinea and Australia. Genetic evidence now shows that a Philippine Negrito ethnic group has inherited the most Denisovan ancestry of all. Indigenous people known as the Ayta Magbukon get around 5 percent of their DNA from Denisovans, a new study finds.

This finding fits an evolutionary scenario in which two or more Stone Age Denisovan populations independently reached various Southeast Asian islands, including the Philippines and a landmass that consisted of whats now Papua New Guinea, Australia and Tasmania. Exact arrival dates are unknown, but nearly 200,000-year-old stone tools found on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi may have been made by Denisovans (SN: 1/13/16). H. sapiens groups that started arriving around 50,000 years ago or more then interbred with resident Denisovans.

Evolutionary geneticists Maximilian Larena and Mattias Jakobsson, both at Uppsala University in Sweden, and their team describe the new evidence August 12 in Current Biology.

Even as the complexities of ancient interbreeding in Southeast Asia become clearer, Denisovans remain a mysterious crowd. Its unclear how the different Denisovan groups on the mainland and on Southeast Asian islands were related [to each other] and how genetically diverse they were, Jakobsson says.

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Papua New Guinea highlanders estimated to carry close to 4 percent Denisovan DNA in the new study were previously thought to be the modern record holders for Denisovan ancestry. But the Ayta Magbukon display roughly 30 percent to 40 percent more Denisovan ancestry than Papua New Guinea highlanders and Indigenous Australians, Jakobsson says. That calculation accounts for recent mating of East Asians with Philippine Negrito groups, including the Ayta Magbukon, that diluted Denisovan inheritance to varying degrees.

Genetic analyses suggest that Ayta Magbukon people retain slightly more Denisovan ancestry than other Philippine Negrito groups due to having mated less often with East Asian migrants to the island around 2,281 years ago, the scientists say. Their genetic analyses compared ancient DNA from Denisovans and Neandertals with that of 1,107 individuals from 118 ethnic groups in the Philippines, including 25 Negrito populations. Comparisons were then made to previously collected DNA from present-day Papua New Guinea highlanders and Indigenous Australians.

The new report underscores that still today there are populations that have not been fully genetically described and that Denisovans were geographically widespread, says paleogeneticist Cosimo Posth of the University of Tbingen in Germany, who was not part of the new research.

But its too early to say whether Stone Age Homo fossils found on Southeast Asian islands come from Denisovans, populations that interbred with Denisovans or other Homo lineages, Posth says. Only DNA extracted from those fossils can resolve that issue, he adds. Unfortunately, ancient DNA preserves poorly in fossils from tropical climates.

Only a handful of confirmed Denisovan fossils exist. Those consist of a few fragmentary specimens from a Siberian cave where Denisovans lived from around 300,000 to 50,000 years ago (SN: 1/30/19), and a roughly 160,000-year-old partial jaw found on the Tibetan Plateau (SN: 5/1/19).

Fossils from the Philippines initially classed as H. luzonensis, dating to 50,000 years ago or more (SN: 4/10/19), might actually represent Denisovans. But a lack of consensus on what Denisovans looked like leaves the evolutionary identity of those fossils uncertain.

Larena and Jakobssons findings further increase my suspicions that Denisovan fossils are hiding in plain sight among previously excavated discoveries on Southeast Asian islands, says population geneticist Joo Teixeira of the University of Adelaide in Australia, who did not participate in the new study.

Denisovans may have genetically encompassed H. luzonensis and two other fossil hominids found on different Southeast Asian islands, H. floresiensis on Flores and H. erectus on Java, Teixeira suspects. H. floresiensis, or hobbits, survived from at least 100,000 years ago to around 60,000 years ago (SN: 6/8/16). H. erectus arrived on Java about 1.6 million years ago and died out between 117,000 and 108,000 years ago (SN: 12/18/19).

Geographic ancestry patterns on Southeastern Asian islands and in Australia suggest that this region was settled by a genetically distinct Denisovan population from southern parts of mainland East Asia, Teixeira and his colleagues reported in the May Nature Ecology & Evolution.

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An Indigenous people in the Philippines have the most Denisovan DNA - Science News Magazine

DNA is in the air literally. It is wafted around by all the Earths creatures, and now scientists have found a way to detect these invisible traces of genetic material so they can identify the animals that released them.

The discovery made independently by British and Danish research groups earlier this year opens up a powerful way to pinpoint the presence of rare wildlife in deserts, rainforests and other hostile environments.

This could transform the way we study biodiversity, said Professor Elizabeth Clare of York University. Every other technique we have for tracing animals camera traps, say, or acoustic monitoring relies on the animals being physically present near or in front of you.

Trapping their DNA from the air is much less invasive, and much more flexible. You could detect the presence of creatures in caves without disturbing them, for example.

In their experiments, Clare then at Queen Mary University of London and her colleagues used sensitive filters fitted to vacuum pumps placed at 20 locations across Hamerton Zoo Park in Cambridgeshire last December. We realised a zoo would be an excellent place to test a technique like this because animals there are non-native and are spatially confined in enclosures, said Clare. It meant that if we were successful and could detect DNA in the air, we would know exactly where it was coming from and how far it had travelled.

A total of 72 air samples were collected by the team, who used polymerase chain reaction (PCR) to amplify the tiny fragments of DNA isolated in their filters. They sequenced this genetic material and compared the results with known sequences of animals and identified 17 species of zoo animal from invisible traces of their DNA released into the air.

We found tiger DNA, dingo DNA and, most of all, DNA from black and white ruffed lemurs, said Clare. Their DNA was the most widely distributed. We are not sure why but lemurs are certainly very active compared with other animals. They were bouncing around their cages, taking great interest in the people wandering past them. By contrast, a lot of other animals were lying low as it was winter.

Intriguingly, similar discoveries were made at the same time by researchers led by Christina Lynggaard and Kristine Bohmann of Copenhagen University. In their research, they sucked up air from several sites in Copenhagen Zoo and detected a total of 49 species from the DNA found in their filters.

We were astonished, said Bohmann. We got DNA from mammals, fish, birds and reptiles, from big animals and small animals, from creatures with feathers and others with scales. We even detected the DNA of guppy fish that swim in a pond in the zoos tropical house.

For good measure, both teams found they could also pinpoint the presence of local wildlife, neighbourhood pets and the animals that were there as feed for the zoo animals.

We realised we were detecting DNA from animals that were being fed to zoo animals, for instance fish, said Bohmann. We were also picking up the DNA of local cats and dogs and local wild animals. It was astonishing what we were able to detect.

Both the Danish and British projects were funded as part of high-risk, high-reward strategies set up to back speculative research projects considered to be worth financing for their widespread potential benefits.

There are all sorts of things we have to clear up now about tracking airborne DNA but the practical benefits are very exciting, added Bohmann.

Future uses of airborne DNA detectors could include tracing insect pests from air samples and pinpointing animals living in burrows without disturbing them. However, both sets of scientists acknowledge there are hurdles to be overcome before the technology becomes a standard method for studying biodiversity.

You might detect a piece of tiger DNA but at present we are not sure when it might have been released by the animal. It could be minutes or hours or days ago, said Clare. At present, we have no way of working out how long DNA survives in the air. That is one of the many aspects of this technique that we have to work out.

However, we have already got a head start. If we were the only team to come up with this, we would have to wait for others to replicate our work. Our colleagues in Denmark have already done that independently so we both know that this technology works, and it should have a really exciting future.

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DNA from thin air: a new way to detect rare wildlife in hostile environments - The Guardian