Geneticists have a less romantic theory. They believe it could be a genetic defect, a skin condition, or the result of poor grooming.

Untill next time...........Helives!

Israel Antiquities Authority, the custodian of the scrolls that shed light on the life of Jews and early Christians at the time of Jesus, said on Wednesday it would take more than two years to complete the project.

For many years after Bedouin shepherds first came upon the scrolls in caves near the Dead Sea in 1947, only a small number of scholars were allowed to view the fragments.

But access has since been widened and they were published in their entirety seven years ago.

Using powerful cameras and lights that emit no damaging heat or ultraviolet beams, scientists in Israel have been able to decipher sections and letters in the scrolls invisible to the naked eye.

The scrolls, most of them on parchment, are the oldest copies of the Hebrew Bible and include secular text dating from the third century BC to the first century AD.

A team of specialists has taken 4,000 pictures of some 9,000 fragments that make up the scrolls, which number 900 in total. A few large pieces of scroll are on permanent display at the Israel Museum.

"We are able to see the scrolls in such detail that no one has before," said Simon Tanner, a digital expert from King's College London, who is in charge of data collection.

Scientists hope the advanced imaging technology will also help them better preserve the scrolls by detecting any deterioration caused by humidity and heat.

Untill next time...........Helives!

Yet the "Theme from Shaft," which would earn both Grammys and an Oscar, was just a snippet of the groundbreaking music for which Hayes — who died Sunday at age 65 — was responsible.

He penned soul classics like "Hold On I'm Comin'" for Sam & Dave, helped usher in the era of disco and was a goldmine for countless hip-hop and R&B artists who used his illustrious arrangements as the focal point for their songs decades later.

"Isaac Hayes embodies everything that's soul music," Collin Stanback, an A&R executive at Stax, told The Associated Press on Sunday. "When you think of soul music you think of Isaac Hayes — the expression ... the sound and the creativity that goes along with it."

His influence also extended beyond music. His trademarked bald head, full beard and muscular frame, often adorned with a multitude of gold chains, made him a fashion trendsetter at a time when most of his contemporaries were sporting blowout Afros. He was also a symbol of black pride, and an activist for civil rights.

The Rev. Al Sharpton called Hayes a "creative genius" and added, "even in his later years he never hesitated to appear for a cause or endorse something that he felt was for the good of mankind. He will be sorely missed."

Hayes also acted in movies including "Tough Guys," "I'm Gonna Get You Sucka" and "Hustle & Flow." He had recently completed the movie "Soul Men," in which he played himself; the film also starred Samuel Jackson and Bernie Mac, who died on Saturday after a bout with pneumonia. And a new generation of fans discovered the man behind "Shaft" when, in 1997, he became the voice of Chef on the Comedy Central show "South Park."

Hayes, a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, was pronounced dead at Baptist Memorial Hospital-Memphis in Memphis, Tenn., after collapsing Sunday afternoon near a treadmill in his home nearby.

Steve Shular, a spokesman for the sheriff's office, said authorities received a 911 call after Hayes' wife and young son and his wife's cousin returned home from the grocery store and found him collapsed in a downstairs bedroom. A sheriff's deputy administered CPR until paramedics arrived.

Stanback said he was shocked to learn of the death of the singer, who was about to start work on a new record for Stax, the label Hayes helped make legendary.

In an industry filled with colorful and dynamic figures, Hayes was a standout on several levels, from his smooth baritone to his flamboyant style: It was almost as if he was made to be a musical god.

But Hayes spent the early part of his career firmly in the musical background. A self-taught musician from Covington, Tenn., he made a name for himself playing with various bands around Memphis. In 1964, he was hired by Stax Records to be a backup pianist, working as a session musician for Otis Redding and others. He also played saxophone.

He began writing songs, establishing a songwriting partnership with David Porter, and in the 1960s they wrote classic hits for Sam and Dave such as "Hold On, I'm Coming," "Soul Man," and "When Something is Wrong With My Baby." They also wrote for other Stax artists including Carla Thomas.

Hayes' work as a composer helped him secure a deal as a solo artist. His first album, "Presenting Isaac Hayes," was a poor seller, the result of an impromptu jam session. But after getting creative control, he delivered his next album, "Hot Buttered Soul" in 1969, and it made him a star.

Hayes offered something completely different to the musical world. In an era of straightened hair or Afros, Hayes was bald: "His look was just so profound," Stanback said. "He was like a superhero."

Whereas other soul crooners showed their passion through wails, Hayes delivery was calm, cool — almost subdued. He prefaced songs with "raps," and they ran longer than typical standard of three minutes: One song, a cover of Glen Campbell's "By the Time I Get to Phoenix," ran 18 minutes.

"(Radio) jocks would play it at night," Hayes recalled of his songs in a 1999 Associated Press interview. "They could go to the bathroom, they could get a sandwich, or whatever."

Next came "Theme From Shaft," a No. 1 hit from the blaxploitation film "Shaft" starring Richard Roundtree.

"That was like the shot heard round the world," Hayes said in the 1999 interview.

At the Oscar ceremony in 1972, Hayes performed the song wearing an eye-popping amount of gold and received a standing ovation. TV Guide later chose it as No. 18 in its list of television's 25 most memorable moments. He won an Academy Award for the song and was nominated for another one for the score. The song and score also won him two Grammys.

In 1972, he won another Grammy for his album "Black Moses" and earned a nickname he reluctantly embraced. He was also part of the historic "Wattstax" concert in riot-ravaged Watts neighborhood in Los Angeles.

Besides "Shaft," Hayes composed film scores for "Tough Guys" and "Truck Turner." He also did the song "Two Cool Guys" on the "Beavis and Butt-Head Do America" movie soundtrack in 1996.

Additionally, he was the voice of Nickelodeon's "Nick at Nite" and had radio shows in New York City (1996 to 2002) and then in Memphis.

Though his last big hits on the charts ended in the 1980s, Hayes' presence in contemporary music continued as his songs were sampled on numerous hits by rap and R&B performers, ranging from Ashanti to Public Enemy to Jay-Z.

"The rappers have gone in and created a lot of hit music based upon my influence," he said. "And they'll tell you if you ask."

Stanback said: "A lot of artists owe Isaac his career because a lot of music was based on his foundation."

He garnered another audience and cult following with his work on "South Park." A school cook, Chef was in many ways the voice of reason in the otherwise outrageous animated social commentary, unwittingly imparting pearls of wisdom on the schoolboys who often came to him with their dilemmas; this, in spite of the fact that his foremost devotion was — true to Hayes' music and persona — being a ladies' man.

In the 1999 interview, Hayes described the character as "a person that speaks his mind; he's sensitive enough to care for children; he's wise enough to not be put into the 'wack' category like everybody else in town — and he l-o-o-o-o-ves the ladies."

But Hayes angrily quit the show in 2006 after an episode mocked his Scientology religion. "There is a place in this world for satire, but there is a time when satire ends and intolerance and bigotry toward religious beliefs of others begins," he said.

Co-creator creators Matt Stone responded that Hayes "has no problem — and he's cashed plenty of checks — with our show making fun of Christians." A subsequent episode of the show seemingly killed off the Chef character.

Hayes remained active in entertainment, even as he became a senior citizen. His Web site listed upcoming appearances and he was making plans for his Stax album. Stanback said it was to include Hayes' work on vintage tracks that he had left unfinished over the years.

"We were actually getting ready to schedule a trip to Memphis to talk to Isaac," he said.

Stanback called his death a tragedy.

"Isaac Hayes was a wonderful human begin and his spirit will live long in the form of his music," he said.

___

On the Net:

http://www.isaachayes.com

Untill next time...........Helives!

Though his comedy drew on tough experiences as a black man, he had mainstream appeal — befitting inspiration he found in a wide range of humorists: Harpo Marx as well as Moms Mabley; squeaky-clean Red Skelton, but also the raw Redd Foxx.

Mac died Saturday morning of complications from pneumonia in a Chicago-area hospital, his publicist, Danica Smith, said in a statement from Los Angeles.

"The world just got a little less funny," said "Oceans" co-star George Clooney.

Don Cheadle, another member of the "Oceans" gang, concurred: "This is a very sad day for many of us who knew and loved Bernie. He brought so much joy to so many. He will be missed, but heaven just got funnier."

Mac suffered from sarcoidosis, an inflammatory lung disease that produces tiny lumps of cells in the body's organs, but had said the condition went into remission in 2005. He recently was hospitalized and treated for pneumonia, which his publicist said was not related to the disease.

Recently, Mac's brand of comedy caught him flack when he was heckled during a surprise appearance at a July fundraiser for Democratic presidential candidate and fellow Chicagoan Barack Obama.

Toward the end of a 10-minute standup routine, Mac joked about menopause, sexual infidelity and promiscuity, and used occasional crude language. Obama took the stage about 15 minutes later, implored Mac to "clean up your act next time," then let him off the hook, adding: "By the way, I'm just messing with you, man."

Even so, Obama's campaign later issued a rebuke, saying the senator "doesn't condone these statements and believes what was said was inappropriate."

But despite controversy or difficulties, in his words, Mac was always a performer.

"Wherever I am, I have to play," he said in 2002. "I have to put on a good show."

Mac worked his way to Hollywood success from an impoverished upbringing on Chicago's South Side. He began doing standup as a child, telling jokes for spare change on subways, and his film career started with a small role as a club doorman in the Damon Wayans comedy "Mo' Money" in 1992. In 1996, he appeared in the Spike Lee drama "Get on the Bus."

He was one of "The Original Kings of Comedy" in the 2000 documentary of that title that brought a new generation of black standup comedy stars to a wider audience.

"The majority of his core fan base will remember that when they paid their money to see Bernie Mac ... he gave them their money's worth," Steve Harvey, one of his co-stars in "Original Kings," told CNN on Saturday.

Mac went on to star in the hugely popular "Ocean's Eleven" franchise with Brad Pitt and George Clooney, playing a gaming-table dealer who was in on the heist. Carl Reiner, who also appeared in the "Ocean's" films, said Saturday he was "in utter shock" because he thought Mac's health was improving.

"He was just so alive," Reiner said. "I can't believe he's gone."

Mac and Ashton Kutcher topped the box office in 2005's "Guess Who," a comedy remake of the classic Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn drama "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner?" Mac played the dad who's shocked that his daughter is marrying a white man.

Mac also had starring roles in "Bad Santa," "Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle" and "Transformers."

But his career and comic identity were forged in television.

In the late 1990s, he had a recurring role in "Moesha," the UPN network comedy starring pop star Brandy. The critical and popular acclaim came after he landed his own Fox television series "The Bernie Mac Show," about a child-averse couple who suddenly are saddled with three children.

Mac mined laughs from the universal frustrations of parenting, often breaking the "fourth wall" to address the camera throughout the series that aired from 2001 to 2006. "C'mon, America," implored Mac, in character as the put-upon dad. "When I say I wanna kill those kids, YOU know what I mean."

The series won a Peabody Award in 2002, and Mac was nominated for a Golden Globe and an Emmy. In real life, he was "the king of his household" — very much like his character on that series, his daughter, Je'niece Childress, told The Associated Press on Saturday.

"But television handcuffs you, man," he said in a 2001 Associated Press interview before the show had premiered. "Now everyone telling me what I CAN'T do, what I CAN say, what I SHOULD do, and asking, `Are blacks gonna be mad at you? Are whites gonna accept you?'"

He also was nominated for a Grammy award for best comedy album in 2001 along with his "The Original Kings of Comedy" co-stars Harvey, D.L. Hughley and Cedric The Entertainer.

Chicago music producer Carolyn Albritton said she was Bernie Mac's first manager, having met him in 1991 at Chicago's Cotton Club where she hosted an open-mike night. He was an immediate hit, Albritton said Saturday, and he asked her to help guide his career.

"From very early on I thought he was destined for success," Albritton said. "He never lost track of where he came from, and he'd often use real life experiences, his family, his friends, in his routine. After he made it, he stayed a very humble man. His family was the most important thing in the world to him."

In 2007, Mac told David Letterman on CBS' "Late Show" that he planned to retire soon.

"I'm going to still do my producing, my films, but I want to enjoy my life a little bit," Mac told Letterman. "I missed a lot of things, you know. I was a street performer for two years. I went into clubs in 1977."

Mac was born Bernard Jeffrey McCullough on Oct. 5, 1957, in Chicago. He grew up on the South Side, living with his mother and grandparents. His grandfather was the deacon of a Baptist church.

In his 2004 memoir, "Maybe You Never Cry Again," Mac wrote about having a poor childhood — eating bologna for dinner — and a strict, no-nonsense upbringing.

"I came from a place where there wasn't a lot of joy," Mac told the AP in 2001. "I decided to try to make other people laugh when there wasn't a lot of things to laugh about."

Mac's mother died of cancer when he was 16. In his book, Mac said she was a support for him and told him he would surprise everyone when he grew up.

"Woman believed in me," he wrote. "She believed in me long before I believed."

Mac's death Saturday coincided with the annual Bud Billiken Parade in Chicago, a major event in the predominantly black South Side that the comedian had previously attended.

"It's truly the passing of one of our favorite sons," said Paula Robinson, president of the Black Metropolis National Heritage Area. "He was extremely innovative in putting his life experiences in comedic form and doing it without vulgarity.

"He was an ambassador of Chicago's black community, and the national black community at large."

A public memorial is planned for noon Aug. 16 at The House of Hope church in Chicago, said Smith, Mac's publicist.

Untill next time...........Helives!

;)

Untill next time...........Helives!

It was just a few weeks ago that Sam Kounaves, the Phoenix mission's wet-chemistry lead scientist, said, "The soil you have there is the type of soil you have in your own backyard. "You might be able to grow asparagus very well." And now, we know that there is water present in the soil.

It was way back in the early 1990's that Richard C. Hoagland (enterprisemission.com) began talking about the existence of water on Mars. As with other of his observations about Mars, his views about water on the red planet were scoffed by the "serious" scientists. One must wonder if the scoffers are now washing down copious amounts of crow with a cup of Martian water. Perhaps their crow dinner is being served with a side order of apsparagus. Where there is water in soil that is " the type of soil you have in your own backyard", it would not be surprising at all to discover there is life in that soil. In fact, if we were to be told there is no life in the Martian dirt, that statement would be less than believable.

When the Mars rover, Opportunity, began to roll across the Martian surface on Sol 36 of its duty, it shot some photos from its backward facing camera that raised more than one eyebrow. Both scientists and the media noticed that the tracks it left in the soil seemed to have a "placticity" that would not have been expected from bone dry dust. In other words, they looked like tracks made in wet soil.

Water on Mars has actually been known to be a reality for quite some time. Though the Phoenix lander has confirmed its existence by "touching" it, NASA has known for a long time there are massive amounts of water there.

Back in May of 1999, photos of a massive cyclone on Mars were released from the Hubble space telescope team. In fact, that particular cyclone was four times larger than the state of Texas. It was first imaged by Hubble on April 27, 1999.

But was the Martian cyclone just a massive dust devil? Not according to the scientists at Hubble. Here is what the Hubble website says about it:

"Astronomers using the Hubble telescope have discovered an enormous cyclonic storm system raging in the northern polar regions of the planet Mars. Nearly four times the size of the state of Texas, the storm is composed of water ice clouds like storm systems on Earth, rather than dust typically found in Martian storms."

What are the ingredients of a cyclone? Whatever they are, it is obvious that Mars has them. There is no denying the photos.

According to NASA, here are the ingredients to start and maintain a cyclone (hurricane):

1. The first ingredient in the hurricane recipe is sea surface temperature of at least 82 F.
2. rotating winds over the ocean's surface
3. Air temperature and humidity are also important factors
4. Rainfall intensity is the final ingredient

Do you notice a common denominator in all four of the factors that create a cyclone? WATER. Lots of it. Even the smallest cyclone requires lots and lots of water--an ocean of it.

The cyclone on Mars was four times larger than Texas. In fact, they eye of the Martian cyclone was about the size of Texas. Texas covers an area of 268,820 square miles (696,200 km). Simple math tells us that the Martian cyclone covered an area of 1,075,280 square miles! Now that's a cyclone.

Jim Bell, assistant professor of astronomy at Cornell and principal investigator on the team of astronomers obtaining and analyzing the Hubble images back in 1999 said at that time, "The storm we detected from Hubble appears anomalous because of its size, but I wouldn't be surprised if the Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft sees other storms of this size eventually as well."

If the MGS or any other satellite ever detected other similar storms, that information was never released to the public. That is rather mysterious in light of another of Jim Bell's statements:

"These rapidly growing and decaying systems do appear to be typical of the Martian polar weather at this season, which is mid-northern summer,"

(Emphasis added)

So the cyclone was t ypical for that region and that season. Because we have only the one set of photos of one cyclone on Mars, it would be easy to think this was some type of weird anomaly. But it wasn't. It was "typical".

Being "typical", and considering that cyclones require a large mass of warm water, is it a stretch of logic to conclude there is a warm water ocean there? Though NASA has shown us no photos of it, we can clearly see what would appear to be evidence of it--a giant cyclone. Though we have not seen photos of an ocean on Mars, a cyclone four times the size of Texas certainly demands that there be such a mass of liquid water.

About the water

For the formation of cyclones on Earth, there must be a deep, very warm mass of water. There must be a mass of warm, wet, unstable air. Perhaps the terms "warm" and "wet" are somewhat relative. After all, climate on Mars may be very different from Earth, but the physics are not different. Warm water on Mars may be 45F degrees instead of the 82F required for starting a cyclone on Earth. Perhaps the temperature differential between the water and the air is all that is needed. Nevertheless, the constant is the liquid water.

No ocean on Mars? If all the water in a cyclone four times larger than Texas were to fall to the ground directly beneath it, you would have the instantaneous formation of a large, deep lake (or a small ocean). Since we know that very large oceans spawn huge cyclones, and we know those cyclones are very much smaller than the oceans that spawned them, we may surmise there is one grand ocean somewhere in the northern latitudes on Mars. But in what form? Is it permanently liquid like on Earth? Or is it only liquid sometimes?

The Position

Why have we not seen more photos of the region where the cyclone was located? When the cyclone was photographed by Hubble, it was "located near 65 degrees north latitude and 85 degrees west longitude". Our satellites (including Viking more than 20 years ago) have a difficult time with getting photos of that region due to flight paths.

Transience

It is just possible that there is no full time ocean there. It is possible that the soil is absolutely laden with water that stays frozen for most of the year but thaws during the summer. If NASA's descriptions of the atmosphere and ultraviolet light on Mars are correct, it is possible that massive amounts of that water would vaporize almost instantaneously providing the massive upsurge of humidity in the region necessary to create a cyclone. But that would mean there must be a very large body of water just beneath the surface replenishing the water content of the surface soil year after year. The cyclone may have been produced by transient conditions that threw massive amounts of water into the air suddenly.

Either way, liquid ocean on the surface or just beneath the surface, the 1999 cyclone absolutely declares the presence of massive amounts of water in the northern regions of Mars. The evidence has been right in front of our eyes since 1999.

The team of astronomers, besides Bell, operator of HST, included Michael Wolff and R. Todd Clancy (Space Telescope Science Institute), Steven Lee (University of Colorado), Philip James (University of Toledo) and Michael Ravine (Malin Space Science Systems Inc.). SOURCE

Kevin W. Smith is a published author and the host of The Kevin Smith Show, which is the world renowned UFO/Paranormal Talk Radio Show heard in over 95 countries around the world. He is rapidly becoming known as the new Art Bell of radio.

~~~~~~~~~~~

And you all know how big an Art ell Fan I Am! ;D

Untill next time...........Helives!

"It is a miracle for me because I was able to smile again, laugh again and just feel alive again," McKinney told a news conference in the South Korea capital to show off the week-old black puppies -- all of whose names include the word Booger.

They are the work of the biotech firm RNL Bio, affiliated with the South Korean lab which produced the world's first cloned dog and is staffed with former associates of disgraced scientist Hwang Woo-suk.

She sold her house in the United States to raise the $50,000 for RNL scientists to turn skin cells taken from Booger before he died two years ago into embryos carried by two surrogate dogs for two months until giving birth to the puppies last week.

"I had to make sacrifices and I dream of the day, some day when everyone can afford to clone their pet because losing a pet is a terrible, terrible loss to anyone."

After rescuing him from a shelter 12 years ago, Booger had become an indispensable part of her life, said the 57-year-old Californian.

The lab said it hoped to make its technology more commercial along with its program to clone sniffer dogs for the Korean customs service.

"As of today, we are at the stage of receiving orders from anywhere in the world," RNL CEO Ra Jeongchan said.

RNL has said it expected to clone about 100 dogs next year and for the price to drop as technology improves.

Hwang has been on trial for more than two years on charges of breaking the law on research ethics and for misusing state funds and private donations.

RNL's research staff is made up of scientists who stayed behind when Hwang left the prestigious Seoul National University after his research results were found to be fraudulent.

Dogs are considered one of the more difficult mammals to clone because their reproductive cycle includes difficult-to-predict ovulations.

~~~~~~~~~~~

Personaly I think its wrong. And I love my Pit Bulls! I rescue them from the rings! But in my heart , I know this is wrong! First its our pets and then its a long lost child or grandma like me even! Or how about hitler? Get my meaning now?

Death is as a natural thing as being born and living out your life! This shouldnt be a quick fix for dealing with death. I dont like where this is all going! If Ive lived my life and I die, I dont want to come back! It wouldnt be me , for 1 and 2 Im probably gonna be happy right where I am and 3 Its not been studied enough to know what the long range problems will be! Good or Bad!!!

Cloning is NOT the answer! Even if some hurting people think it is! After a time of mourning , a new pup , made from the dog would have been ok but , not as the favorites replacement. It should be just as special if not more for the new pup to be the laters natural offspring!

And I dont think I would want to be the one who experiments on my dogs and then something go horribly wrong! I wouldnt want that on my conscious or my soul!

And Oh, watch the slideshow and look at what the mother of the pups has gone through! I know the moms lose weight but you can see her ribs!!! Thats not right! And they had to do a C-Section on her! The operation is certainly visible!

This woman was only thinking of her own feelings and not anything or anyone elses! They dont even mention the other dog who was carring pups! Sad realy!

And its also sad that any reasearch foundation would consider taking the money of a woman who would sell her home and give away 50,000 dollars. Well mabe she can make a quick turnover of the puppies for a profit! Now that they are famous and all!

GRRRRRR!

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080805/hl_nm/korea_clones_dc

Untill next time...........Helives!

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico - A U.S. scientist said Sunday he has discovered the globe's tiniest species of snake in the easternmost Caribbean island of Barbados, with full-grown adults typically stretching less than 4 inches (10 centimeters) long.

S. Blair Hedges, an evolutionary biologist at Penn State University whose research teams also have discovered the world's tiniest lizard in the Dominican Republic and the smallest frog in Cuba, said the snake was found slithering beneath a rock near a patch of Barbadian forest.

Hedges said the tiny-title-holding snake, which is so diminutive it can curl up on a U.S. quarter, is the smallest of the roughly 3,100 known snake species. It will be introduced to the scientific world in the journal "Zootaxa" on Monday.

"New and interesting species are still being discovered on Caribbean islands, despite the very small amount of natural forests remaining," said Hedges, who christened the miniature brown snake "Leptotyphlops carlae" after his herpetologist wife, Carla Ann Hass.

The Barbadian snake apparently eats termites and insect larvae, but nothing is yet known of its ecology and behavior. Genetic tests identified the snake as a new species, according to Hedges. It is not venomous.

Zoologist Roy McDiarmid, curator of amphibians and reptiles at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History in Washington, said he has seen a specimen of the diminutive creature. He saw no reason to argue with the assertion that it is the world's smallest snake.

McDiarmid said the Barbados creature is a type of thread snake, also called worm snake, which are mostly found in the tropics. "We really know very little about these things," he said in a Sunday telephone interview from his Virginia home.

Finding the globe's tiniest snake demonstrates the remarkable diversity of the ecologically delicate Caribbean. It also illustrates a fundamental ecological principle: Since Darwin's days, scientists have noticed that islands often are home to both oversized and miniaturized beasts.

Hedges said the world's smallest bird species, the bee hummingbird, can be found in Cuba. The globe's second-smallest snake lives in Martinique. At the other end of the scale, one of the largest swallowtail butterflies lives in Jamaica.

Scientists say islands often host odd-sized creatures because they're usually inhabited by a less diverse set of species than continents. So island beasts and insects often grow or shrink to fill ecological roles that otherwise would be filled by entirely different species.

Untill next time...........Helives!