A Burmese python crosses a Florida road. Most pythons are not this easy to spot.
The Python Challenge sounded like a pretty bad idea. In reality, it was probably worse than most people imagined.
Late last year, the state of Florida announced it would host a first-ever Python Challenge, a month-long contest in which participants are encouraged to patrol public hunting lands and kill non-native species of pythons. It?s been estimated that tens of thousands of these snakes now dwell in Florida?s swamps. The predators can easily reach lengths of 16 feet, and they?ve been blamed for the declining populations of rabbits, foxes, and raccoons.
To get rid of the invasive serpents, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission decided to call on anyone and everyone adventurous (read: crazy) enough to head into the swamps and hunt snakes. The challenge officially kicked off on January 12. According to the Sun Sentinel, at least 1,563 hunters registered for the contest, which promises cash prizes, including $1,500 for most Burmese pythons caught and $1,000 for the longest Burmese python caught.
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From the beginning, there have been skeptics. The Miami New Times described the challenge as ?an idea straight out of the hormone-addled mind of a 14-year-old who plays too many first-person shooters,? and noted that critics ?predicted the only casualties would be weekend warriors knocked out by dehydration and flying shrapnel.? Still, some 1,500 individuals decided the $25 entry fee was worth it, considering the possibility of winning the cash rewards.
Those who envisioned piling up pythons left and right are now sorely disappointed. The vast majority of hunters didn?t catch a single snake. By the time the final count has taken place, it?s believed that a grand total of 50 snakes will have been caught. Python Challenge organizers say they are pleased with the results. ?One of the goals we set for this, when we started the project, was to increase awareness of the Burmese pythons and (their impact) on the Everglades ecosystem,? a researcher from the University of Florida, one of the event?s sponsors, said, according to the Daily News.
That goal probably wasn?t exactly what the hunters had in mind when they headed out into the swamps, knee-deep in water, machete in hand. ?I wanna make some money, man.? That?s the reason a camo-wearing man named Jimmy Ferguson gave to the Miami New Times for why he was wading in the water with his 18-year-old daughter on the challenge?s first day.
Collectively, Ferguson and the rest of the hunters paid in the neighborhood of $39,000 in Python Challenge entry fees. Meanwhile, Florida will pay out just $8,000 in prize money, though organizers do offer suggestions for selling snake skins. Of course, only a tiny portion of participants have any skins to sell.
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And why haven?t more snakes been caught? ?The reason people aren?t catching that many is they don?t have a clue where to look,? Kenneth L. Krysko, a researcher at the University of Florida Museum of Natural History, told the Sun Sentinel. ?Look at all the yahoos coming down here.?
Tales of drunkenness and shenanigans have abounded, including a few reports of Python Challenge ?yahoos? taking pot shots at native animals they?re not supposed to be hunting. Another reason given for the skimpy snake count is that participants were not allowed to hunt in Everglades National Park proper, which is believed to be a non-native python hot spot. We?ll all find out who won the Python Challenge prizes on February 16, when an awards ceremony is scheduled. Quite a few hunters already know that they?re not even in the running.
[unable to retrieve full-text content]Mitochondrial DNA, passed through the female line, helped identify the remains of a skeleton as Richard III?s, but firmer proof will come from matching the Y chromosome.
Apple and Google are enemies and partners at the same time due to asymmetric competition. According to a report from Morgan Stanley, Google could pay more than $1 billion in 2014 to remain the default search engine on iOS. In 2009, Google paid only $82 million for the privilege. Analyst Scott Devitt believes that it is a per-device deal growing every year.
LOS ANGELES, Feb 12 ? A genetically-engineered virus tested in 30 terminally-ill liver cancer patients significantly prolonged their lives, killing tumours and inhibiting the growth of new ones, scientists reported on Sunday.
Sixteen patients given a high dose of the therapy survived for 14.1 months on average, compared to 6.7 months for the 14 who got the low dose.
?For the first time in medical history we have shown that a genetically-engineered virus can improve survival of cancer patients,? study co-author David Kirn told AFP.
The four-week trial with the vaccine Pexa-Vec or JX-594, reported in the journal Nature Medicine, may hold promise for the treatment of advanced solid tumours.
?Despite advances in cancer treatment over the past 30 years with chemotherapy and biologics, the majority of solid tumours remain incurable once they are metastatic (have spread to other organs),? the authors wrote.
There was a need for the development of ?more potent active immunotherapies?, they noted.
Pexa-Vec ?is designed to multiply in and subsequently destroy cancer cells, while at the same time making the patients? own immune defence system attack cancer cells also,? said Kirn from California-based biotherapy company Jennerex.
?The results demonstrated that Pexa-Vec treatment at both doses resulted in a reduction of tumour size and decreased blood flow to tumours,? said a Jennerex statement.
?The data further demonstrates that Pexa-Vec treatment induced an immune response against the tumour.?
Pexa-Vec has been engineered from the vaccinia virus, which has been used as a vaccine for decades, including in the eradication of smallpox.
The trial showed Pexa-Vec to be well tolerated both at high and low doses, with flu-like symptoms lasting a day or two in all patients and severe nausea and vomiting in one.
The authors said a larger trial has to confirm the results. A follow-up phase with about 120 patients is already underway.
Pexa-Vec is also being tested in other types of cancer tumours. ? AFP/Relaxnews?
Apple and Google are enemies and partners at the same time due to asymmetric competition. According to a report from Morgan Stanley, Google could pay more than $1 billion in 2014 to remain the default search engine on iOS. In 2009, Google paid only $82 million for the privilege. Analyst Scott Devitt believes that it is a per-device deal growing every year.
LOS ANGELES, Feb 12 ? A genetically-engineered virus tested in 30 terminally-ill liver cancer patients significantly prolonged their lives, killing tumours and inhibiting the growth of new ones, scientists reported on Sunday.