http://www.medicaldaily.com/atacama-humanoid-human-researchers-say-245416The tiny humanoid discovered in Chile's Atacama Desert in 2003 is a human being, not an alien, researchers have concluded. The six-inch skeleton, nicknamed "Ata," was thought by some to be proof of extraterrestrial life, but Garry Nolan, a microbiology professor at Stanford School of Medicine, said his study of the skeleton shows it to be human, reports LiveScience.
"Every nucleotide I've been able to look at is human," Nolan told LiveScience. "I've only scratched the surface of the analysis, but there is nothing that jumps out so far as to scream 'nonhuman.'" Nolan and his team photographed the skeleton in high resolution, conducted X-ray and CT scans, and sequenced its DNA in the fall of 2012. While they don't yet know what kinds of mutations caused the skeleton's deformities - the elongated skull and unusual number of ribs, as well as the small size - the tests suggest the individual was between six and eight years old when he or she died.
An analysis of the mitochondrial DNA suggests the mother was "an indigenous woman from the Chilean region of South America," Nolan wrote in an email to LiveScience. About 91 percent of the skeleton's total genes match up with the reference human genome, added LiveScience. The mismatches in the other 9 percent could be accounted for in various ways, including DNA degradation in the skeleton.
"It's an interesting medical mystery of an unfortunate human with a series of birth defects that currently the genetics of which are not obvious," wrote Nolan.
Kow wrote:There have been a few theories put forward, all of which seem to have some hole in them. I'm sure there's a perfectly decent explanation but I don't think we've heard it yet.
Yeah, slow burn experiment done with a pig (similar kind of proportions of muscle and fat as human) showed exactly the results seen in spontaneous combustion - previously thought that it was a sudden huge and high heat because the bones completely burn to ash, but that never sat right with the heat being extremely localised (surrounding room untouched). Turns out a localised source will wick from the body fat as it melts, providing enough heat for a very slow burn over several hours that turns the bones to ash without spreading to the rst of the room - only melting and burning the fatty deposits.FranticPea wrote:I thought(have heard, never read into it or owt) that spontaneous combustion was something to do with some sort of heat source making human fat act like a wick. Or something. I don't know. Stop disagreeing with me. Jeez.
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