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Epimetheus, a nonspherical body measuring about 89 mi (144 km) by 67 mi (108 km) by 61 mi (98 km), is one of Saturn's 48 confirmed natural satellites. It was discovered in 1966 and photographed in 1980 by the Voyager 1 probe. Epimetheus and another moon, Janus, are co-orbital, meaning that they share nearly the same orbit. About every fourth year, the lower, faster satellite overtakes the other and is boosted into the higher orbit. After what mythological figure is Epimetheus named? More...
Historic Trivia - Snowball
THE CAT WHO CAUGHT A KILLER
Douglas Beamish thought he got away with murder.
And he might have, if it weren't for the case-making evidence furnished by his cat.
It happened in 1994, when Canadian authorities on Prince Edward Island found Shirley Duguay buried in a shallow grave. Royal Canadian Mounted Police were called in to investigate. They paid particular attention to a blood-soaked leather jacket in a plastic bag that had been buried along with the body. Unfortunately, the blood was all Duguay's, and therefore useless for DNA comparisons. But forensics experts discovered something else; twenty-seven strands of white hair that, upon closer examination, were determined to come from a cat. The Mounties recalled that Beamish, Duguay's estranged common-law husband, lived not too far from the grave site with his parents - and that they owned a white feline named Snowball.
The Mounties obtained a blood sample from Snowball, hoping to compare it to the DNA in the hairs. The problem, they soon discovered, was that no-one had ever done such a thing before.
After a series of calls, the authorities located perhaps the only people on the planet who could help - a team of researchers at the National Cancer Institute's Laboratory of Genomic Diversity in Frederick, Maryland, which was developing a map of the feline genome.
The academics had never before participated in a CSI-style criminal investigation, and it took some convincing to get them on board. Once they signed on, however, they were able to quickly isolate the genetic code in the jacket hairs and match it to the blood sample from Snowball. Using this evidence, and the expert testimony of the scientists who developed the technology, ~Beamish was convicted of murder and sent to prison. The case set a precedent for the use of cat DNA to place criminals at the scenes of crimes. Afterward, the U.S. Department of Justice awarded a $265,000 grant to create a National Feline Genetic Database. It developed the technology necessary to help forensics labs around the world trace cat hairs found at crime scenes to specific pets.
Thanks to Snowball, criminals (about a third of whom own felines) can now be busted by their own furry friends.
Saturn's Moon Epimetheus is Discovered
Epimetheus, a nonspherical body measuring about 89 mi (144 km) by 67 mi (108 km) by 61 mi (98 km), is one of Saturn's 48 confirmed natural satellites. It was discovered in 1966 and photographed in 1980 by the Voyager 1 probe. Epimetheus and another moon, Janus, are co-orbital, meaning that they share nearly the same orbit. About every fourth year, the lower, faster satellite overtakes the other and is boosted into the higher orbit. After what mythological figure is Epimetheus named? More...
- 1958 - World's first communication satellite launched
A product of a highly secretive project, SCORE (Signal Communications by Orbiting Relay Equipment) was launched aboard the Atlas rocket from Cape Canaveral, Florida. Once in orbit, it relayed the first message sent to Earth from space - a short statement by American President Dwight D. Eisenhower. - 1912 - Piltdown Man Hoax
The announcement by British archeologist Charles Dawson at a conference of the Geological Society of London was received with very little skepticism in the field of paleoanthropology. The discovery of fossilized remains of an unidentified human ancestor in Piltdown, East Sussex, England, was thought to have provided valuable clues about human evolution. It wasn't until 1953 that the Piltdown Man was discovered to be a hoax - with the skull consisting of the jawbones of an orangutan and the cranium of an adult human being. - 1892 - The Nutcracker makes it debut in St. Petersburg, Russia
The two-part ballet was inspired by German author Ernst Theodor Amadeus Hoffmann's novella The Nutcracker and the Mouse King. Even though the ballet's score was composed by the famous Russian composer, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, it did not get good reviews. It was only in the mid-20th century, that The Nutcracker gained popularity among theater goers, especially during Christmas time in the United States. - 1865 - Thirteenth Amendment to the US Constitution adopted
The first of the 3 Reconstruction Amendments, the Thirteenth Amendment abolished slavery and involuntary servitude. The other two Reconstruction Amendments – the Fourteenth and the Fifteenth Amendments – extended citizenship rights, equal protection of the law, and the right to vote to all Americans irrespective of their "race, color, or previous condition of servitude."
Historic Trivia - SnowballTHE CAT WHO CAUGHT A KILLER
Douglas Beamish thought he got away with murder.
And he might have, if it weren't for the case-making evidence furnished by his cat.
It happened in 1994, when Canadian authorities on Prince Edward Island found Shirley Duguay buried in a shallow grave. Royal Canadian Mounted Police were called in to investigate. They paid particular attention to a blood-soaked leather jacket in a plastic bag that had been buried along with the body. Unfortunately, the blood was all Duguay's, and therefore useless for DNA comparisons. But forensics experts discovered something else; twenty-seven strands of white hair that, upon closer examination, were determined to come from a cat. The Mounties recalled that Beamish, Duguay's estranged common-law husband, lived not too far from the grave site with his parents - and that they owned a white feline named Snowball.
The Mounties obtained a blood sample from Snowball, hoping to compare it to the DNA in the hairs. The problem, they soon discovered, was that no-one had ever done such a thing before.
After a series of calls, the authorities located perhaps the only people on the planet who could help - a team of researchers at the National Cancer Institute's Laboratory of Genomic Diversity in Frederick, Maryland, which was developing a map of the feline genome.
The academics had never before participated in a CSI-style criminal investigation, and it took some convincing to get them on board. Once they signed on, however, they were able to quickly isolate the genetic code in the jacket hairs and match it to the blood sample from Snowball. Using this evidence, and the expert testimony of the scientists who developed the technology, ~Beamish was convicted of murder and sent to prison. The case set a precedent for the use of cat DNA to place criminals at the scenes of crimes. Afterward, the U.S. Department of Justice awarded a $265,000 grant to create a National Feline Genetic Database. It developed the technology necessary to help forensics labs around the world trace cat hairs found at crime scenes to specific pets.
Thanks to Snowball, criminals (about a third of whom own felines) can now be busted by their own furry friends.
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61-BLUES
