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News You May Have Missed, No. 68

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Woolly Mammoth Discovered

Two farmers in rural Michigan, USA,  have uncovered a woolly mammoth skeleton in a soybean field. It is one of the most complete sets ever found in the state. The animal was an adult male in its 40s, and researchers excavated its skull, tusks, vertebrae and other bones, says the Detroit Free Press. The discovery was an accident. The farmers were digging a drainage ditch when they hit what they first thought were large pieces of wood. University of Michigan researchers say there is evidence the mammoth lived 11,700-15,000 years ago. It may have been killed by humans and left in a pond for storage. Dr Dan Fisher, director of the university's Museum of Paleontology, told reporters that the bones could help scientists determine when the first humans arrived in the area. The landowner could only give researchers a single day to unearth the bones because of a tight harvest schedule, so excavators worked feverishly until sundown on Thursday. Only 30 mammothshave been discovered in Michigan, and it is extremely rare to find a skeleton as complete as this one, said Fisher.

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Study Supports Cancer Link With Height

A Swedish study of five million people appears to support the theory that height and cancer risk are linked. The study found that taller people had a slightly higher risk of breast cancer and skin cancer, among other cancers. Its results found that for every extra 10cm (4in) of height, when fully grown, the risk of developing cancer increased by 18% in women and 11% in men. But, experts said the study did not take into account many risk factors and that tall people should not be worried. Previous studies have shown a link between height and an increased risk of developing cancer, although why it exists is not known. In a preliminary report of the study, presented at the European Society for Pediatric Endocrinologyconference, researchers from the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm describe how they tracked a large group of Swedish adults for more than 50 years. Taller women had a 20% greater risk of developing breast cancer, they said, while taller men and women increased their risk of skin cancer (or melanoma) by 30%. This study's early findings are very similar in size to those found by other studies. Dr. Emelie Benyi, who led the study, said the results could help to identify risk factors that could lead to the development of treatments. But she added, "As the cause of cancer is multi-factorial, it is difficult to predict what impact our results have on cancer risk at the individual level." Although it is clear that adult height is not a cause of cancer, it is thought to be a marker for other factors related to childhood growth. Scientists say taller people have more growth factors, which could encourage cancer development, they have more cells in their body because of their size, which increases the risk of one of them turning cancerous, and a higher food intake, which also makes them more at risk of cancer.

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Vomit-Filled Bags on Airline Flight

On a United Airlines flight home from an anniversary trip with her husband from Hawaii, Janet Masters discovered a vomit-filled motion sickness bag that had been wrapped in a blanket and stuffed in the seat back pocket. “I’ve seen and dealt with a lot of gross things,”  Masters told CBS Sacramento. “Here’s someone’s bodily fluids that I’m being exposed to.”To make matters worse, when Masters attempted to hand the repulsive package off to a flight attendant, vomit reportedly  spilled onto her husband. And despite a seat change, the smell stuck with them for the duration of the flight. “Smelling that smell on us and around us was just totally, totally disgusting,” Masters said.  A United Airlines representative apologized to the couple, saying “our cleaners apparently failed to clean all of the seatback pockets.” The airline assured the couple that its aircraft are outfitted with appropriate cleaning kits, and gave them a $300 credit toward a future United flight. But, that may not be enough to get the Masters' on another United plane. “I’ve lost a lot of faith and trust with the airline,” Masters said. The couple aren't the only United Airlines passengers to have had their travel experience spoiled by someone else's bodily fluids. In April, a family from Maryland was forced to sit in vomit during a return flight from Orlando, Florida.

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Age of Menopause Controllers Found


Sections of DNA that control when women go through the menopause have been identified by scientists. Their report in the journal Natural Genetics identified genes involved in how the body repairs itself. Ultimately the findings could contribute to a fertility or menopause test, or lead to new drugs. The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists in the U.K. said the results were important for those at risk of an early menopause. Most women go through the menopause between the ages of 40 and 60. However, what controls that timescale is not completely clear. Comparing the DNA of nearly 70,000 women allowed the researchers to identify the differences between those starting the menopause early and late. The team at Exeter and Cambridge universities showed that at least two repair mechanisms were involved. The first is used when the eggs are being formed and the woman's DNA is being broken, rearranged and repaired. The second corrects damage, caused by factors such as smoking or alcohol, throughout a woman's life. Both would influence the number of viable eggs a woman has. Women become infertile about 10 years before the menopause starts, so this knowledge could possibly lead to a test that predicts the age of menopause. Dr. Anna Murray, one of the researchers from the University of Exeter, told the BBC News website: "We would love to be able to do that, but the answer is no.[But] possibly by adding other risk factors such as smoking, hormone levels we might be able to get towards something more useful." The age of menopause is thought to be controlled by a 50-50 split between genetics and lifestyle choices. However, even after discovering 56 genetic variants linked to the age of menopause, that comprises only 6% of the total variation. Dr. Murray said the findings could help develop new drugs: "We really don't understand the process of egg loss, the timing of it, so better understanding of the basic biology of losing eggs will help us with that." The researchers also found genes that controlled menopause timing were involved in both the age of puberty and the development of breast cancer. 

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