Man’s Genes ‘Key To Baby’s Sex’

A man’s genetic make-up may play a role in whether he has sons or daughters, a study of hundreds of years of family trees suggests.

Newcastle University researchers found men were more likely to have sons if they had more brothers and vice versa if they had more sisters.

They looked at 927 family trees, with details on 556,387 people from North America and Europe, going back to 1600.

The same link between sibling sex and offspring sex was not found for women.

The precise way that genes can influence baby sex remains unproven.

But the Evolutionary Biology study could clear up a long-standing mystery – a flood of boy babies after World War I.

While a woman will always pass a female “X” chromosome via her egg to her child, the father effectively “decides” the sex of the child by passing on either another “X” in his sperm, making a girl, or a “Y” chromosome, making a boy.

While the birthrate is almost 50/50, suggesting that overall men will deliver equal amounts of “X” sperm and “Y” sperm, scientists have suspected that in some individual couples the balance is shifted in favour of either boys or girls.

Various explanations have been put forward for this, ranging from differences in the time in the woman’s monthly cycle that sex happens, to the amount of time that sperm spend waiting in the testicles.

The Newcastle study, by Dr Corry Gellatly, is strong evidence that there is a genetic component.

He found that within families, boys with lots of brothers were more likely to have a higher number of sons themselves and those with lots of sisters were more likely to have lots of daughters.

War babies

Dr Gellatly said it was likely that a genetic difference affected the relative numbers of “X” and “Y” sperm within those produced by the man.

This gene, while only active in the man, could be carried by men and women.

“The family tree study showed that whether you’re likely to have a boy or a girl is inherited.”

He said that the effect was to actually balance out the proportion of men and women in the population.

“If there there are too many males in the population, for example, females will more easily find a mate, so men who have more daughters will pass on more of their genes, causing more females to be born in later generations.”

In the years after World War I, there was an upsurge in boy births, and Dr Gellatly said that a genetic shift could explain this.

The odds, he said, would favour fathers with more sons – each carrying the “boy” gene – having a son return from war alive, compared with fathers who had more daughters, who might see their only son killed in action.

However, this would mean that more boys would be fathered in the following generation, he said.

Water Found In Hot Planet’s Orbit

Scientists say they have found evidence for water vapour in the atmosphere of a planet 63 light-years from Earth.

The “hot Jupiter” planet’s surface temperatures exceed 900C.

Writing in the journal Nature, the scientists say their discovery may help find planets that can support life.

In a separate study, the US space agency (Nasa) says it has found carbon dioxide in the atmosphere of the same planet.

Molten core

The planet known as HD 189733b is classed as a hot Jupiter due to its fiery molten centre and heavily gaseous atmosphere, which mimics the atmosphere of Jupiter, the gas giant in our own solar system.

The generation of heat by the planet’s core provides the key to why scientists have been able to identify water vapour in its atmosphere.

Gases in the planet’s atmosphere modify the wavelengths of heat radiation coming from the planet’s hot surface. These wavelengths can be detected by space telescopes such as Hubble or the Sun-orbiting Spitzer telescope used in this study.

The type of gas present in the planet’s atmosphere can be determined by looking at the spread of infrared radiation reaching the telescope, each gas producing a different wavelength.

Dr Drake Deming from Nasa’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Maryland, US, has looked for signs of water on similar gas giants in the past. He says water vapour in the atmosphere leaves an unmistakeable signal.

“It produces a unique fingerprint, water vapour modulates the shape of the radiation in a very characteristic way,” he said.

As the planet is so far away it is hard to determine how much of the radiation detected by the telescope comes from this gas giant and how much from the star it orbits.

The scientists solved this problem by studying its orbit.

“There is a time when we know the planet is not visible, so we know the light comes only from the star,” says Dr Carl Grillmair from the Spitzer Science Center at the California Institute of Technology, who led the research.

They found HD 1897733b goes round its star every 2.2 days, by taking measurements over several orbiting cycles and deducting the radiation produced during the time when they couldn’t see the planet – when it was behind its star – they were able to see how much radiation the planet emitted on its own.

“The key to these measurements is the eclipse geometry, we have a unique moment in which to observe the star in isolation,” said Dr Deming.

Carbon Dioxide

The scientists were puzzled by earlier observations of HD 189733b and similar gas giants. They expected to see water vapour, but the telescopes did not detect any.

“We concluded there was no water a couple of years ago, the theoreticians were upset, they’d predicted it would be there. We didn’t understand it. We looked much harder we watched it for over 120 hours, and sure enough there was the signature matching brilliantly with the models,” said Dr Grillmair.

He suggests the planet’s proximity to the star means its atmosphere is constantly changing.

“With planets this close to their star, the star covers perhaps half the planet, you’re going to get enormous heat loads that create storms, perhaps clouds one year and none the next – this thing is changing right before our eyes” said Dr Grillmair.

The scientists suggest high clouds created by the storms may have hidden the water vapour in the earlier observations, they are confident that the latest findings are correct.

“What’s new about this is it’s unequivocal,” says Dr Deming.

In a separate development, Nasa says the Hubble space telescope has detected carbon dioxide in HD189733’s atmosphere.

Although the agency is keen to stress the planet is far too hot to support life, it says the finding represents an important proof of concept, showing that it is possible to detect CO2 in the atmospheres of distant planets orbiting other stars, and that the same method could be used to look at planets which might support life.

“The very fact we are able to detect it and estimate its abundance is significant for the long-term effort of characterising planets to find out what they are made of and if they could be a possible host for life,” said Mark Swain, a research scientist at Nasa’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, who analysed the Hubble images.

Google Tells Us What We Look For,Updated

What do Sarah Palin, Facebook and Euro 2008 have in common?

They are all on the list of the top 10 fastest-rising queries on Google during 2008.

The search engine has published its year-end Zeitgeist, the tool which reveals what internet users are searching for.

The most searched term for Google users in the UK was Facebook while the BBC came second and its iPlayer service was the fastest rising query.

The list also reveals what global preoccupations are and this year the US election candidates and the Beijing Olympics figure high.

The things people around the globe have in common are a strong interest in socialising and politics, according to Marissa Mayer, vice-president of search at Google.

“Social networks comprised four out of the top 10 global fastest-rising queries while the US election held everyone’s interest around the globe,” she wrote on Google’s official blog.

Popular politicians

The economic crisis has made an impact on UK searchers with “money saving expert” and “hot uk deals” making the top 10 finance-related searches.

Gordon Brown will be pleased to hear that he beat David Cameron into second place on the list of most popular politicians among UK searchers.

Barack Obama made it into third place with rival John McCain coming in seventh.

Foodies were interested in recipes for cupcakes, meatballs, lemon posset and pork belly, while the hottest tickets in the UK went to Oasis and Leonard Cohen (first and second respectively).

Popular music

While news and weather tend to be the most searched for terms globally there are still plenty of country-specific quirks, according to Ms Mayer.

“Russians elected Dmitri Medvedev as their president but a couple of popular music acts got more attention from Google searchers,” she wrote.

In Poland the fifth fastest-rising term was Jozin z Bazin, the title of a 1978 Czech song which has been popular on YouTube.

Argentines Use ‘Free-kick’ Spray

The Argentine Football Association is to introduce an aerosol spray to stop defenders creeping closer to the ball during a free-kick.

From next year, referees will use the spray in first division matches.

Referees will mark a temporary white line 9.15 metres (10 yards) from the ball, which defenders cannot cross. The spray will disappear 30 seconds later.

Pablo Silva, who invented the spray, got the idea when he failed to score with a free-kick at an amateur match.

“In the 88th minute, we were losing 1-0 and won a free-kick on the edge of the area. When I took the kick, the wall was three metres away,” he told Reuters earlier this year.

“The referee didn’t book anyone and didn’t do anything,” he said.

“We lost the game, and driving home later, with a mixture of anger and bitterness, I thought that we must invent something to stop this.”

The spray has been given a trial in second division matches and a similar spray has been used in some competitions in Brazil.

History Of Omar Mokhtar And Libya

Omar Mokhtar:
Omar Mokhtar was from the tribe of Mnifa, born in a small village called Janzour located in the eastern part of Barqa not to be confused with the city of western Libya called Janzour which is more well known. He was the leader of the resistance movement against the Italian military occupation of Libya for more than twenty years.

A teacher of the Quran by profession, Mukhtar was also skilled in desert tactics. He knew his country’s geography well, and used that knowledge to his advantage in battles against the Italians, who were not accustomed to desert warfare. He repeatedly led his small, highly alert groups in successful attacks against the Italians, after which they would fade back into the desert terrain. Mukhtar’s men skillfully attacked outposts, ambushed troops, and cut lines of supply and communication. The Italians were left astonished and embarrassed to have been outsmarted and tricked by mere “Bedouin.”

In 1922 he reorganized the Mojahideen and re-ignited the resistance against Italy after World War I when the Italians thought that they succeeded in silencing the Libyan resistance. Omar Al-Mokhtar, was ill couple of times and many of his comrades asked him to retire and leave the country, he was about 83 years old. But he refused and kept fighting and he deserved a name given to him as “The Lion of the Desert.”

Italian Invasion in Libya:
In October of 1911, Italian colonial battleships reached the shores of Tripoli, Libya. The Italian’s fleet leader, Farafelli, made a demand to the Libyans to surrender Libya to the Italians or the city would be destroyed at once. The Libyans fled, but the Italians attacked Tripoli anyway, bombing the city for three days and thereafter proclaiming the Libyan population in Tripoli to be “committed and strongly bound to Italy.” The event marked the beginning of a series of battles between the Italian occupiers and the Libyan Omar Mukhtar’s forces.

Feeling that they may lose Libya to the Mojahideen, the Italian authorities sent one of their bloodiest high ranking officers Badolio who used the most inhuman measures to end the resistance. He did not just lead the fight against Omar Al-Moktar and his comrades, but he also punished even those who were living peacefully in the cities and villages accusing them of helping the Mojahideen. Badolio was not the only one whome the Italian government thought able to end the Libyan resistance through using the most inhumane and blodiest measures. Mosoliny, the infamous Italian dictator, sent another high ranking officer to kill thousands and thousands of inocent Libyans, young and old. fighters and non-fighters. Mosolini thought that the solution to the Libyan problem was Rodolfo Grasiani and by sending him to lead the fight against the Libyans he was telling his cabinet that anything and everything must be done to control Libya.

Major Battles:
The Italians first concentrated their attack on the coast cities, Tripoli, Benghazi, Misrata and Derna. Major battles took place in Al-Hani near Tripoli (October 23, 1911) , Ar-Rmaila near Misrata, Al-Fwaihat near Benghazi (March 1912) and Wadi Ash-Shwaer near Derna. Other battles took place on the coast and in other cities, villages, mountains and desert. One of the major battles was Al-Gherthabiya near Sirt (April 1915) where the Italians lost thousands of their soldiers.

Although the Italians succeeded in controling most of Libya after years of resistance and struggle (Jihad), they could not control the whole country because the Libyan fighters (Mojahideen) left their homes and headed for the mountains where they planned their attacks against the Italian armies. Some of the major Libyan fighters (Mojahideen) against the Italians were Omar Al-Moktar, Ramazan As-Swaihli, Mohammad Farhat Az-Zawi, Al-Fadeel Bo-Omar, Solaiman Al-Barouni and Silima An-Nailiah to name a few. Omar Al-Moktar is considered the great symbol for the Libyan resistance (Jihad) against the Italian occupation. He reorganized the Mojahideen in The Green Mountain (Aj-Jabal Al-Akdar) North East Libya and he re-ignited the resistance against Italy after World War I when the Italians thought that they succeeded in silencing the Libyan resistance.

The Original Rebel and Plannings of Omar and Italians Army:
In the mountainous region of Jebel Akhdar (the Green Mountain) Italian Governor Mombelli succeeded in 1924 in activating a counter-guerrilla force that inflicted a harsh defeat on the rebels in April 1925. Omar then quickly modified his own tactics. In March 1927, notwithstanding the occupation of Giarabub (February 1926) and the reenforcement of the oppression under then Governor Teruzzi, Omar surprised an Italian military force at Raheiba. Between 1927 and 1928 Omar fully reorganized the Senusite forces, who were being hunted constantly by the Italians.

Even General Teruzzi recognized Omar’s qualities of “exceptional perseverance and strong will power.” Pietro Badoglio, the new governor of Libya (January 1929), after extensive negotiations was able to reach a compromise with Omar similar to previous Italo-Senusite accords. Italian sources falsely described the situation as an act of complete submission by Omar.

At the end of October 1929 Omar denounced the compromise and reestablished a unity of action among Libyan forces, preparing himself for the ultimate confrontation with General Rodolfo Graziani, the military commander from March 1930. Having failed in a massive offensive in June against Omar’s forces, Graziani, in full accord with Badoglio, De Bono (minister of the colonies), and Benito Mussolini, initiated a strong plan to decisively break off the Cirenaica resistance. The plan was to transfer the Gebel population (around 100,000 persons) to concentration camps on the coast and to close the borders. Grasiani built a wired wall 300 Kilometers long, 2 meters high and 3 meters wide from Bardiyat Slaiman port North Libya to Al-Jagboub South East Libya, thus preventing any foreign(Egypt) help to the fighters and breaking up the solidarity of the population.

From the beginning of 1931 the measures taken by Graziani took their toll on the Senusist resistance. The rebels were deprived of help and reinforcements, spied upon, hit by Italian aircraft, and pursued by the Italian forces aided by local informers. In spite of hardships and increasing risks, Omar courageously continued the fight, but on September 11, 1931, he was ambushed near Zonta because they were out of food, out of mens, out of information and very little ammunations left.

Italian Army forced Libyians to live in Camps:
Italian Army built concentration camps where thousands of Libyans must live under complete control of the Italian army. Grasiany built concentration camps in: Al-Aghaila, Al-Maghroun, Solouq and Al-Abiyar to name a few. By the end of November 1929 all Libyans who live in tents in Al-Jabal Al-Akdar, Mortaf-Aat Al-Thahir from Beneena North to Ash-Shlaithemiya South, from Tawkera to the southern desert of Balt Abdel-Hafeeth and all the members of any tribe that has one or more of its sons fighting with Mojahideen, all those and more, thousands and thousands of Libyans were forced to leave their land and live in one of the concentration camps mentioned above.

In 1933, the Italian Army Health Department Chairman, Dr. Todesky wrote in his book (Cerinaica today): “From May 1930 to September 1930 more than 80,000 Libyans were forced to leave their land and live in concentration camps, they were taken 300 at a time watched by soldiers to make sure that the Libyans go directly to the concentration camps.

Peoples life in the Camps:
Life in the camps was miserable and thousands of Libyans died of hunger, illness and some of them were hanged or shot because they believed to be helping the Mojahideen. Dr. Todesky wrote (continued from his book) “By the end of 1930 all Libyans who live in tents were forced to go and live in the camps. 55% of the Libyans died in the camps.” The Libyan historian Mahmoud Ali At-Taeb said in an interview with the Libyan magazine Ash-Shoura (October 1979) that in November 1930 there were at least seventeen funerals a day in the camps due to hunger, illness and depression.

When some world newspapers talked about the inhumane life in the concentration camps in Libya, the Italian army started giving the Libyans some dry parley (22 Kilo-grams per person per month!…) which was too little to late. Outside the camps, in the mountains, the Mojahideen continued to fight the Italian occupation, but by the year 1931 the Mojahideen were out of food, out of information and out of ammunitions. The leader of the Mojahideen, Omar Al-Moktar, was ill couple of times and many of his comrades asked him to retire and leave the country, he was about 83 years old. But he refused and kept fighting.

No respect of human laws:
Grasiani agreed to go to Libya if and only if Mosolini let him do the job without any consideration or respect for rules and laws in Italy or in the World and Mosolini agreed immediately. He planned his murderous attack on the Libyans, all Libyans according to Mosoliny’s Motto “If you are not with me, you are against me!” which means the only way to control the country is by killing almost half of its population and the Italians did cause the death of half of Libya’s men, women, elderly and childern, directly through public hangings and shootings and indirectly (hunger, illness and horror) for the sake of one thing: showing the world that they have the power to invade and capture colonies just like the other powers in the world.

Capture and Execution:
Mukhtar’s nearly twenty years struggle came to an end when he became wounded in battle and was subsequently captured by the Italian army. The Libyan hero was treated like a prize catch by the Italians. Though in his late eighties, Mukhtar was shackled with heavy chains from his waist and wrists because of the army’s fear that he just might escape. Mukhtar’s capture was a serious blow to his people. However, his resilience had an impact on his jailers, who later said they were overwhelmed by his steadfastness. His interrogators later confessed that Mukhtar looked them in the eye and read verses of peace from the Qur’an as he was tortured and interrogated.

Mukhtar was tried, convicted, and sentenced to be executed by hanging in a public place. The fairness of his trial has been disputed by historians and scholars. When asked if he wished to say any last words, he replied with the Qur’anic clause:

“From Allah we have come, and to Allah we will return.”
On September 16, 1931, in the hope that the Libyan resistance movement would wither and die without him, Mukhtar was hanged in front of his followers in the concentration camp of Sollouq the orders of the Italian court. They forced the Libyans to watch their hero been hanged. There were no considerations of human rights in the Libya.

But, remember that the Italians caused the death of half of Libya’s population and killing Omar Al-Moktar to the Italians was ending the Libyan resistance which to them means finally taking control of the country after 20 years of struggle. Libya was under the Italian occupation till 1943 when Italy was defeated in World War II and Libya became under the Allies Armies occupation till December 24, 1951 when Libya achieved its independance after years and years of occupation.

Many peoples have taken inspiration from Omar Mokhtar struggle:
Today his face is shown on the Libyan 10 Dinar bill. His final years were immortalized in the movie The Lion of the Desert (1981), starring Anthony Quinn, Oliver Reed, and Irene Papas.

Streets are named for him not only in his native Libya but in many other Arab countries as well. In particular, many fighters which they are fighting for their rights have taken inspiration from his struggle.