Sorry monkeys - no copyrights for you!
A federal appeals court has ruled that a monkey can't sue for copyright infringement on his selfie. The ruling comes after photographer David Slater set up his camera in an Indonesian forest, and Naruto, a crested macaque monkey, took photos of himself.
As you might recall, PETA sued after Slater published those pictures, claiming that Naruto's copyright was infringed since he took those photos. Initially, the lawsuit was dismissed after the court ruled that a monkey lacks the standing to sue. But, PETA appealed saying the U.S. copyright act doesn't say the author of the work has to be human.
In the opinion, Circuit Judge Carlos Bea offers, "We conclude that this monkey - and all animals, since they are not human – lacks statutory standing under the Copyright Act. We therefore affirm the judgment of the district court."
Source: NBC News
The DNA has been found inside living beings and doesn’t look like the DNA we know.
Scientists have just discovered a new form of DNA inside humans - no, not alien stuff. A new study published in “Nature Chemistry” confirms this other DNA, known as “i-motif” exists inside living beings, but is much different from the DNA that you may have learned about in science class.
We’re used to seeing DNA in its helix structure where all the compounds connect to each other almost like a ladder. Well the new i-motif is more of a knot. “The i-motif is a four-stranded ‘knot’ of DNA,” says Marcel Dinger, a co-author on the study. “In the knot structure, C [cytosine] letters on the same strand of DNA bind to each other – so this is very different from a double helix, where ‘letters’ on opposite strands recognize each other and where Cs bind to Gs [guanines].”
Researchers were able to find the new DNA using fluorescent dye that highlights the i-motif. As for what it does, more studies need to be done, but scientists believe they may help genes switch “on or off.”
Source: Nature Chemistry
Watch these lil rats have a "slap-fest" over food!