samhexum

A team of scientists recently revealed they are able to keep the brain of a pig alive outside of its body for 36 hours after it has been decapitated. Researcher Nenad Sestan, who led the group of Yale University scientists, discussed the findings at a recent National Institutes of Health conference centered on brain research. Though the heads were no longer attached to the bodies, Sestan and his team were able to keep the brains alive by connecting them to a closed-loop system known as “BrainEX,” which pumps body-temperature artificial blood to the necessary parts of the brain to keep it alive. Sestan declined to comment further on the findings when reached by MIT Technology Review, but the findings are significant, with Sestan calling them “mind-boggling” and unexpected, since individual brain cells were found to be capable of normal activity, even if the decapitated pigs never regained consciousness. “These brains may be damaged, but if the cells are alive, it’s a living organ,” Steve Hyman, director of psychiatric research at the Broad Institute in Cambridge, Massachusetts, told Technology Review in an interview. “It’s at the extreme of technical know-how, but not that different from preserving a kidney.” The research has implications not only for how scientists understand the human brain but could change the way we perceive death, consciousness and other things associated with thought. In the NIH presentation, Sestan said the technique was likely to work in any species, including primates. “This is probably not unique to pigs,” he added. Before it gets to that stage though, ethics need to be considered, which Sestan and his team expressed concerns over. Some experts have speculated deceased humans who are disembodied could be used to test new and speculative cancer and Alzheimer drugs that have been deemed too dangerous to try on a living being. “There are going to be a lot of weird questions even if it isn’t a brain in a box,” said an advisor to the NIH who didn’t wish to speak on the record. “I think a lot of people are going to start going to slaughterhouses to get heads and figure it out.” Nonetheless, Sestan is anxious to see how the technology is received by both others in the community and the general public. “People are fascinated,” he told Technology Review. “We have to be careful how fascinated.”

Ford is eliminating nearly all of its car models in North America as it reinvents itself as a utility vehicle-focused brand in an effort to improve its operating efficiency and profit margin. The Taurus, Fusion, Fiesta and C-Max will be discontinued, leaving only the Mustang and a new crossover-style compact called the Focus Active in showrooms alongside its growing lineup of SUVs. The move comes just a few weeks after the automaker announced plans to have eight utility vehicles on sale by 2020, including a new Bronco and an all-electric performance model codename Mach 1. The Focus Active is not counted among these. Ford didn’t reveal the fate of the sedans that are currently in Lincoln’s lineup, but said the luxury division as a whole is not in jeopardy despite it being a low performing area in the company. Sedans and hatchbacks will continue to be offered in other markets around the world.

A Long Island woman was busted for driving with a startling 26 license suspensions, Suffolk County police said. Jahnay Harley, 26, was driving her 2016 Mercedes-Benz west on Schleigel Avenue in North Amityville around 4:20 p.m. Monday when police saw her go through several stop signs, authorities said. Cops pulled her over, conducted a check on her license — and found out it been suspended more than two dozen times. As officers arrested her, the Amityville woman became agitated and spit at the cops, police said. She was charged with aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle, resisting arrest, obstruction of governmental administration and harassment. Police say a teenage driver in Minnesota trying to get her license crashed into the examination station. Authorities say the 17-year-old girl inadvertently put the 2014 Chevrolet Equinox in drive instead of reverse at the start of the test Wednesday in Buffalo, Minnesota. When the girl stepped on the accelerator, the car lurched forward, jumped the curb and plowed through the front of the station in a strip mall. Buffalo Police Chief Pat Budke says the girl was not hurt, but her car had significant damage. No one inside the office was hurt, but the crash damaged the building's brick wall and glass windows. The 60-year-old woman who was giving the test was taken to a hospital with noncritical injuries. http://synd.imgsrv.uclick.com/comics/cl/2018/cl180408.jpg A Houston-area woman was released from prison Friday, 15 years after she was convicted of running over and killing her cheating husband. Clara Harris, now 60, of Friendswood served all but five years of a possible 20-year prison term for the murder of her husband and fellow dentist David Harris in 2002, the Houston Chroniclereported. She was released Friday morning from a women's prison near Waco, smiling as she climbed into a gray Ford SUV,KTRK-TV in Houston reported. Her case made national headlines as it chronicled the stunning downfall of a prominent couple who owned several dental complexes, according to the Chronicle. After confronting her husband's receptionist, with whom David Harris was having an affair, Clara Harris fought with her and hit her with her car. That was nothing compared to the punishment her husband received, the Chronicle reported. The couple's then-17-year-old stepdaughter was in the car with Clara Harris and testified in court that she had run over David Harris three times. According to conditions of her parole, Harris will have to avoid contact with her former in-laws, her stepdaughter and her husband's former mistress, KTRK reported. In addition, she must live in Galveston County and wear an ankle monitor. "Clara served more time than most similarly situated people," her attorney and family friend Emily DeToto said in theChronicle. "A jury spoke, and she's done her time. I look forward to catching up with her soon."

Horny monkeys that will sleep with anything have created a new species Sex-mad monkeys have been mating with other species, creating an entirely new hybrid population of apes — and scientists are absolutely fine with it. The primates from Tanzania’s Gombe National Park have been at it for hundreds or even thousands of years, according to a new study. By peeping into the DNA from the feces (Ewwwwwwwww!) of 144 guenon monkeys from the site, researchers found evidence of ongoing mating between two genetically distinct groups. These apes are known for their striking features long thought to be signs of species-specific mating – some have bushy beards, others have brightly-colored tufts of hair and even more have big noses. But the new study, published in the International Journal of Primatology, suggests they may not be that choosy after all. The data indicates that the park, originally colonized by red tails, was at one stage invaded by blue apes on the hunt for mates. And neither type of primate was put off by the other’s distinct features, opening the floodgates to cross-species copulation – with future generations of hybrid monkeys following suit. But guenons aren’t the only amorous apes that have shrugged off sexual norms. There’s also the macaque, which has been spotted having sex with deer numerous times. Oh, deer! “The Gombe hybrid population is extremely valuable because it can be used as a model system to better understand what hybridization looks like and how genetic material moves between species,” said Detwiler. “We have this amazing laboratory in nature to help us answer many questions about hybridization and how species boundaries are maintained. “This research is very timely because hybridization often occurs in response to environmental changes, as we are seeing with climate change and modified landscapes – it is nature’s way to respond.”

I don't know how long Yvette Nicole Brown's run is going to be on MOM, but her character has potential. And Gus has absolutely STOLEN both episodes he's been in. I hope he appears more often than Violet & Roscoe in the future. Andrea Bordeaux as Special Agent Harley Hidoko and Nia Long as Executive Assistant Director Shay Mosley have been positive additions to NCIS: LA.

http://boysintheband.com/app/themes/serino/dist/images/hero-desktop.jpg

OPINIONS? I'm just happy that when you watch it on demand, you can fast-forward through it. So few networks allow that anymore. John Gidding is one of the new designers. He looked great on the reunion show with short hair.

The new Donna Summer musical is not hot stuff By Johnny Oleksinski NY POST April 23, 2018 | 9:45pm | Ariana DeBose, who gives the most impressive performance of the 3 women playing Donna Summer, can't save this hot mess of a bio-musical. "SUMMER" Running time: 100 minutes, no intermission. Lunt-Fontanne Theatre, 205 W. 46th St.; 212-575-9200 “When I’m bad, I’m so, so bad,” Donna Summer sang in “Last Dance,” and that perfectly describes the new Broadway musical about her life. “Summer,” which opened Monday, is borderline incoherent. It turns a complex woman’s life into a hagiography, a slide show of events — Boston childhood, stint in Europe, fame, motherhood, illness — minus context or emotion. Three women play her at different points in her life, which they narrate like Bible passages. Storm Lever’s Duckling Donna, Ariana DeBose’s Disco Donna and LaChanze’s Diva Donna are excellent, especially DeBose (late of “Hamilton”), and they sing the heck out of “MacArthur Park,” “I Feel Love,” “On the Radio” and more. Trouble is, they also play the woman’s mother, friends and sisters. Keeping track of the double casting is a struggle. You’d think the songs would redeem this show. Summer sang some of the best dance music of all time, and 23 classic numbers are jammed into less than two hours. But some of the tunes here — including a rendition of “No More Tears” Summer belts out while being beaten by her German ex — are hard to enjoy. Des McAnuff, who gives us more ups and downs than a heart monitor, directed this mess. Remarkably, he’s the same man who made a hit out of “Jersey Boys.” This time he seems to have Scotch-taped together some wonky ideas, such as having women play producers David Geffen and Giorgio Moroder. That might have been fine if McAnuff actually committed to it, but Casablanca Records president Neil Bogart is played by a dude, as are Summer’s lovers, so whatever point McAnuff was trying to make is lost. For a show that openly encourages theatergoers to stand up and dance, their only real opportunity to do so comes at the end and lasts all of three minutes. Before then, we get some awkward business about the anti-gay remarks Summer reportedly made at a 1983 concert. Although she denied she’d said them at the time, many of her most devoted followers were upset. In “Summer,” the singer, who died of lung cancer in 2012, offers an explanation, an apology and a declaration of how much she loves her gay fans. True or not, it’s a cheap moment. Enough is enough!

You would cry too, if it happened to you.

Avo, a lonely avocado roaming parts of Astoria, is looking for something to fill its pit. That’s the premise of a three-minute short film, “The Pits,” which uses puppets to tell a story. David Bizzaro, a New York City-based puppeteer, wrote, edited and created the puppets for the film. “Puppetry is an art form that can connect with adults and children without feeling muted or dulled for the younger audience,” Bizzaro said. “‘The Pits’ was created for everyone in the world to enjoy no matter how young, old, or what language they speak.” The short film was shot live, and Avo can be seen walking down 39th Avenue in Astoria trying to fill its pit with everything from a bottle cap to a leaf. It does not include any dialogue but uses music from Emmy Award-winning composer Brian Aumueller to narrate Avo’s journey. “The Pits” will be available to screen on Vimeo on April 23. Director Mike Hayhurst, who also founded Evening Squire Productions and co-produced the film, said that the theme in “The Pits” was universal. “The great thing about ‘The Pits’ is the universality of such a small story,” he said. “We’ve all known those moments in life where you search in all the wrong places to find fulfillment, to find what it is you’re missing.” The film was accepted into more than 30 film festivals and premiered at the New York International Children’s Film Festival, an Oscar-qualifying event. Bizzaro, who also owns The Bizzaro Company, has built puppets for The Jim Henson Company and currently works as a puppet wrangler on “Sesame Street.” He has also created music videos for The Flaming Lips and recently received a Made in NY fellowship, which has allowed him to begin developing another short film, “Sheep Cake.”

A cowboy and a firefighter were among the heroes who pulled a New Mexico mom back into their airplane after an explosion tore a hole in the cabin and sucked the woman partway out, according to reports. The Boeing 737 carrying Southwest Airlines Flight 1380 suffered a catastrophic engine failure at about 32,000 feet an hour into its LaGuardia-to-Dallas trip, forcing an emergency landing at Philadelphia International Airport. Mother of two Jennifer Riordan was pulled partway out of the plane when shrapnel shattered her window and the cabin began to depressurize. That’s when a pair of Texans — Stetson hat-wearing farm real estate worker Tim McGinty and firefighter Andrew Needum — sprang into action. “When we saw the window was gone, somebody saw the lady out of the window, so just tried to get her back in and wasn’t strong enough,” McGinty told NBC. “A fireman, from Celina, Texas, jumped in there and helped and between the two of us, we were able to get her back in.” “Some heroes wear capes, but mine wears a cowboy hat,” McGinty’s wife, Kristen, told USA Today.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kWakhcidWPk

Bronx bully wanted for attacking 14-year-old girl with can of Chef Boyardee lasagna BY NICOLE HENSLEY NEW YORK DAILY NEWS Wednesday, April 18, 2018, 5:45 AM Cops are on the lookout for the Bronx bully who weaponized a can of Chef Boyardee lasagna last month to hurt a 14-year-old girl. Police on Wednesday shared footage of the brutal food fight inside an aisle at a Morrisania bodega on E. 163rd St. near Tinton Ave. The mustached suspect walked toward the young victim with what appeared to be a 15oz can of the pasta and sauce and smacked her upside the head during the March 2 assault inside F.M. Grocery. The suspect bolted, leaving behind the girl with a cut head. First responders rushed the girl to Bronx Lebanon Hospital, where police said she was treated and released. Police said a dispute between the victim and her attacker prompted the attack but the nature of the argument was unclear. The attacker was described as a man believed to be in his mid-20s, about 5’9” and 180 pounds. He was seen in the video sporting a blue hooded sweater, gray sweatpants and black sneakers. Anyone with information about the suspect is asked to call the NYPD’s Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1(800) 577-TIPS.

DEAR ABBY: Six years ago, my husband of 20 years was in a serious accident. He was placed on disability because of it. Because of the accident, he can’t perform sexually because his “goods” don’t work. I am many years younger than he is and still in my prime. I need and want the cuddling and intimacy I’m not getting and haven’t gotten for years. I have thought about finding a friend with benefits, but that’s risky. I can’t talk to him because he flips out and says, “Then leave!” I feel our marriage has become just a living arrangement. Talking to a counselor or a doctor is out because he will refuse. Please help. —LOST AND LONELY DEAR LOST AND LONELY: Your marriage doesn’t have to be “just a living arrangement.” Although sex may no longer be possible with your husband, there’s no reason why there can’t be cuddling, intimacy and affection. Talking to a licensed marriage and family therapist will be helpful for you, whether or not your husband agrees to go with you. DEAR LOST AND LONELY: Why don't you write to Melania and ask how SHE deals with the problem. DEAR ABBY: My boyfriend, “Troy,” takes it as a personal offense that I won’t share a hotel room with him and his younger son (age 15) when we go out of town to see his older son play college sports. Troy wants me to go to all of the games, but I have said I will only go when it’s the 15-year-old’s weekend to be at his mom’s (Troy’s two sons have different mothers). I am extremely uncomfortable sharing the same hotel room, and Troy refuses to get separate rooms. Do you agree that I’m unreasonable? — “BAD SPORT” IN OHIO DEAR “BAD SPORT”: No, I do not. You should not be talked into doing anything that makes you uncomfortable, so stick to your guns. DEAR “BAD SPORT”: That depends. What does Sonny Boy look like?

Are there any Boston-area posters here? Do you like my AnchorHoney Ben? I had a crush on him when he was the early morning anchor on Fox5-NYC. He's cute, has a great voice, & an even better personality. The morning news has never been the same since he left for Beantown. I always wondered how he'd get along there, since he always blasted Tom Brady & The Patriots as cheaters when he was in NY. I occasionally watch his (afternoon) newscast online: http://www.wcvb.com/nowcast

I'm curious if any of you realized the headline was a joke related to the cartoon that began this thread. Of course subtitles are necessary; I wouldn't have been able to understand the last episode of GREY'S ANATOMY without them. (I don't speak Italian.) In Rio, I saw The Jagged Edge, A Day At The Races, The Color Purple, Karate Kid Deux, and ET. I had taken a 2-week trip to spend some time alone. The movies were in English, with Portuguese subtitles. It was great, because I'd always get the jokes and laugh half a second before the rest of the audience. What really made me laugh were the two crying chickens with handkerchiefs.

Harry Anderson, the amiable actor who presided over the NBC comedy “Night Court” for nine seasons, has died at his home in Asheville, N.C., according to a local media report. He was 65. Anderson was found at his home by police officers early Monday morning, according to a report by WSPA-TV, the CBS affiliate in Greenville, N.C. No foul play was suspected, police told the station. Anderson was a magician turned actor who was known as a rabid fan of jazz singer Mel Torme. The affection for Torme was woven into his TV alter ego, Judge Harry Stone, a quirky character who ruled the bench at a Manhattan night court. The sitcom was a mainstay of NBC from 1984 to 1992. Anderson earned three consecutive Emmy nominations for his work on the show from 1985-1987.

Kevin Kiermaier needs thumb surgery, reportedly expected to miss 8-12 weeks Kevin Kiermaier is expected to miss eight to 12 weeks after undergoing surgery to repair a torn ligament in his right thumb, according to the Tampa Bay Times. The Rays announced the injury Monday and placed Kiermaier on the 10-day disabled list but did not disclose a timeline for how long the two-time Gold Glove winner will be sidelined. Kiermaier suffered the injury on a headfirst slide into second base during Sunday’s game against the Philadelphia Phillies. Rays manager Kevin Cash said after the game that Kiermaier could “miss a chunk” of the season. The injury-plagued Kiermaier, who had been scheduled to undergo an MRI on Monday, also acknowledged after the game that “the odds are [not] in my favor.” Kiermaier, 27, has missed significant time each of the last three seasons because of injuries. He missed nearly two months in 2016 because of a broken hand and appeared in just 98 games last season because of a fractured hip. Make a wish… and blow! http://www1.pictures.zimbio.com/gi/Boston+Red+Sox+v+Tampa+Bay+Rays+G6ak_YKZsQwx.jpg

Club Cumming’s love for live music is being investigated by the New York State Liquor Authority. The club founded by actor Alan Cumming is under the watchful eye of the SLA for “not complying” with the original license it was granted upon opening in the fall of 2017. “Club Cumming applied as a bar with no live music or DJs,” an SLA representative told Page Six on Wednesday. “The SLA opened an investigation after receiving complaints from the local Community Board that the licensee was not complying and charged the bar with failure to conform on February 23, 2018. Club Cumming can submit an application to change their method of operation to allow for live music/DJs.” When reached for comment, promoter and partner at the East Village venue Daniel Nardicio acknowledged the error. “Due to rookie mistakes Alan and I didn’t apply to have live music, but we feel this is just an oversight,” he told Page Six in a statement on Thursday. “When the Community Board sees just how much Club Cumming brings to the area culturally, we’re pretty confident they’ll ok the change of method of operation.” Referring to the club as a “forefront of an even larger movement to legitimize and honor NYC Nightlife, Music and Arts,” Nardicio touted appearances by Paul McCartney and Emma Stone at the hot spot, adding that “because of the fact that Club Cumming has no record of issues with the police, or calls to 311 about noise, and because of the overwhelming support we’ve been getting from our actual neighbors, we cannot foresee any problems with this slight bureaucratic change to our method of operations.” They will be meeting with the Community Board in the “near future,” he said. Club Cumming occupies what had been the space of Eastern Bloc for 12 years. On social media, Tony-winning Cumming has reached out to locals to sign a petition in an effort toward granting permission for live music acts — such as performer Amanda Lepore, who took the stage Tuesday night — and DJs in the club. “Do you live within a two block radius of @clubcumming? If so PLEASE come in and sign our petition to help us keep live music and DJs happening in the bar every night,” the “Instinct” star pleaded on Instagram on Tuesday. “We need to convince the State Liquor Authority to do so and we need the signature of as many local residents as possible. We hope we are an asset to the community and we are asking you to help us stay one.” So far, they’ve garnered over 100 signatures with over a month left to get the number required. “We feel good about this, and look forward to working with our local community board to resolve this so we can continue our work at Club Cumming,” Nardicio said.