Mid Ulster identified as 'giant hotspot' by scientists

An area in Northern Ireland has been identified as a "giant hotspot" by scientists studying a gene defect which causes people to grow abnormally tall.

One in 150 people in Mid-Ulster were found to carry the gene, compared to one in 1,000 in Belfast and one in 2,000 in the rest of the UK.

More than three-quarters of carriers will never develop health issues, but it can cause long-term problems and be potentially life-threatening for those that do.

Scientists hope the work will help find those at risk of passing on the gene.

The gene - called AIP, but known as the "giant gene" - can result in too much growth hormone, which is produced and released by the pituitary gland, a pea-sized gland just below the brain.

The excessive production occurs as the result of a non-cancerous tumour in the gland.-read more and see video

day my tooth was chipped .

sorry folks another story from primary school in 70s.i was getting ready to tuck into a rice crispy pudding after dinner as i bite down i went into instant pain due to a small piece of my front tooth being chipped.to this day its still chipped mainly due to 2 reasons -part of me and fear of the dentist.

new colours for hard hats.

yes the humble yellow hard hat is getting a facelift and being replaced by a new colour  code for them -build u.k- black - supervisor-orange -signalls-white -competent operative and vehicle marshal,blue -everyone else.site staff who are first aiders or fire marshals will have  a sticker -http://builduk.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Safety-Helmet-Colours-Build-UK-Standard.pdf

MICE WHISTLE LIKE A JET ENGINE TO ATTRACT A MATE

Mice make whistling noises to seek sex by using a mechanism similar to that of a jet engine inside their throats, research has found.

It was previously thought that these ‘Clangers’-style songs were either the result of a mechanism similar to that of a tea kettle, or of the resonance caused by the vibration of the vocal cords.

But a study co-authored at the University of Cambridge and published in the journal Current Biology has found that when mice ‘sing’, they use a mechanism similar to that seen in the engines of supersonic jets.

The high frequency whistles are used by mice to attract mates and for territorial defence.

“Mice make ultrasound in a way never found before in any animal,” said the study’s lead author Elena Mahrt, from Washington State University.

The researchers found that mice do not use vibrating vocal folds in their larynx to make their ultrasonic sounds.

Instead, they point a small air jet coming from the windpipe against the inner wall of the larynx, causing a resonance and producing an ultrasonic whistle.

Using ultra-high-speed video of 100,000 frames per second the researchers showed that the vocal folds remain completely still while ultrasound was coming from the mouse’s larynx.

“This mechanism is known only to produce sound in supersonic flow applications, such as -read more

devils link to south west.

devils limekiln-this is a rock on lundy island which is said to have been put their by the devil himself .the devil is said to dumped the surplus rock offshore in shutter rock to trap mariners .the chasm is 370 ft deep ,250 ft wide at the top dropping into the sea. devils boulder -this is the name of a stone dropped by the devil in an act of temper as flying through the air.every year on the 5th November the local man of the village of shebbear  perform a ceremony of turning the boulder.first church bells  are rung ,men with crowbars do the formidable task of turning the stone over.it is believed if this ceremony is not performed a calamity will fall on shebbear. during ww 1 when discontinued the following year was a disaster for village and neighbouring farms.in ww 2 the church bells were forbidden and all harvests during this time were  bad.

Osprey nesting tower erected in Yelland

AN OSPREY nesting platform is to be put up overlooking the Yelland estuary so the rare birds can be spotted during their bi-annual migrations.

There are only thought to be around 200 breeding pairs in the UK and it is hoped that the new nesting platform will give people in North Devon the chance to observe them during their trips between the North of the UK and West Africa.

Read more at http://www.northdevonjournal.co.uk/osprey-nesting-tower-erected-in-yelland/story-29776098-detail/story.html#L8PS1IYiVtjmDzWk.99

i ran away at school due to my name .

at primary school in the 70,s i was asked to be in a play about Cleopatra not for my acting skills but because of my first and middle name - mark antony  and i had to kiss a girl,yuk.i as you can guess did not do this request but runaway from school instead.for years i would refuse to use my middle name due to this memory and if you are wandering where it came from my mum was a fan of richard burton in the film cleoparta.