March 10, 2007

 Missing bird species rediscovered

LONDON: A bird species that has not been seen since the remains of one were found in India 140 years ago is alive and living in Thailand, scientists said on Wednesday.

The live large-billed reed-warbler was found by chance by ornithologist Philip Round as he was putting identification tags on wild birds at a water treatment plant near Bangkok last year.

“One of the birds I caught that morning struck me as very odd, something about it didn't quite add up; it had a long beak and short wings,” he said. “Then, it dawned on me — I was probably holding a large-billed reed-warbler,” he said.

The remains of another one have also been found during examination of a collection of specimens of another species at a branch of the Natural History Museum in England.

Both the living and the dead were matched to the one original sample by DNA.

Because only one sample had been known for so long — since it was collected in the Sutlej Valley in India in 1867 — there had been serious doubts over whether it was a sample of a distinct species or simply an aberration. — Reuters

Film costumes auctioned in London

What is it like to slip into James Bond’s three-piece suit? What about disappearing beneath Obi-Wan Kenobi’s rough wool cloak? Or maybe strapping on Supergirl’s blue elastic leotard and red knee-high boots?

It cost nothing to find out. However, owning the look was another matter.

More than 400 movie, TV and theatre costumes were up for auction on Tuesday at Bonhams in London, in what the British auction house called the country’s largest such sale.

Bidders were allowed to try on the clothes before the auction. There was an outfit for every taste, from Mel Gibson’s kilt in Braveheart, to Helen Slater’s cape in Supergirl and Terry Jones’ helmet from Monty Python and the Holy Grail.

The costumes were from Angels The Costumiers, which said it was trying to clear space in its warehouse and cut insurance costs. The London-based outfit-maker boasts more than 1.5 million costumes on five miles of hanging rails.

The black wool dinner jacket worn by Sean Connery in Thunderball was expected to sell for about $68,000. Obi-Wan Kenobi’s cloak, worn by Alec Guinness in Star Wars, was estimated at around $106,000.

For military movie buffs there were uniforms, helmets and jackets from The Great Escape, A Bridge Too Far and Saving Private Ryan. —AP

First woman in space dreams of flying to Mars

MOSCOW: The world’s first female astronaut Valentina Tereshkova, marking her 70th birthday on Tuesday, says she still dreams of flying to Mars — even on a one-way ticket.

In June 1963, 25-year-old Tereshkova spent 71 hours in orbit on board a Soviet Vostok spacecraft, earning a niche in the history books.

The story of the peasant’s daughter became a role model for young Soviet women.

In an interview with Komsomoskaya Pravda daily published on Tuesday she disclosed another cherished dream. “If I had money, I would enjoy flying to Mars,” she said. —Reuters

It’s true — stress makes teens break out

WASHINGTON: Teen-agers who claim that stress makes them break out are telling the truth: The stress of taking an exam can make pimples worse, researchers reported on Tuesday.

And surprisingly, inflammation may be to blame and not greasy skin, said Dr Gil Yosipovitch, a professor of dermatology at Wake Forest University School of Medicine

“A lot of our patients mention that when they are stressed, their acne gets worse,” Yosipovitch said in a telephone interview.

But which comes first — the pimples or the stress? Bacteria are often blamed for the inflammation that causes pimples.

Yosipovitch and his colleagues set up a test to find out if stress contributes, too. They recruited 94 students in Singapore, where the climate is stable, to rule out potential weather factors.

The students, with an average age of just under 15, were undergoing an annual exam that determines whether they can go on to university, or must go into a less-rigorous programme.

The students completed a questionnaire widely used in stress research, once just before mid-year exams and during the summer break. Dermatologists assessed whether the students’ acne worsened.

Exam time clearly made for breakouts, the researchers reported.

The students did not have any more blackheads or whiteheads — which are blocked pores and do not involve inflammation — but they did have more pustules or pimples which are raised bumps with pus, a finding that suggests that inflammation is to blame, and not sebum production.

Yosipovitch believes the findings may apply to other skin conditions.” A lot of our skin diseases are associated with stress -- eczema, psoriasis, chronic itch,” Yosipovitch said.

“The skin, in my opinion, is a mirror to what is going in our minds.” —Reuters

 

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