A long-lost love letter to a student in the US has finally been delivered at his alma mater — but, after a delay of 53 years.
California University of Pennsylvania, which has received the letter, is now forwarding it to Muhammad Siddeeq at his Indianapolis home after his friends and family members heard news reports about it sent to a student with his former name, the Washington Observer-Reporter reported.
The letter addressed to Clark Moore and postmarked February 1958 arrived at the university campus last week.
The note ends: “I still miss you as much as ever and love you a thousand times more. Please write me real soon. Vonnie.”
Siddeeq, 74, was quoted as saying, “I never dreamed of anything like this. First of all, I’m surprised. The letter is just a testament of the sincerity, interest and innocence of that time.”
Siddeeq, who graduated from California University in 1965, said he married Vonnie, and they had four children before divorcing.
He said he remarried and fathered an additional 15 children with his second wife. (PTI)
How mole got its extra ‘thumb’
Washington: Most pawed animals have 10 fingers but one of the main exceptions is the little mole: it has an extra ‘thumb’. But how this extra thumb, which it rests upon while digging and thus increases the size of its digging apparatus, develops in mole was unknown, until now.
An international team of researchers have now uncovered the background to the development of the mole’s extra “thumb”: A bone develops in the wrist that stretches along the real thumb, giving the paw a bigger surface area for digging.
Polydactyly — the presence of supernumerary fingers — is a phenomenon that has already been observed in various land animals in Devon and is also fairly common in humans, dogs and cats. In moles, however, polydactyly is the norm, which means the program is constantly activated during embryogenesis.
Researchers headed by Marcelo Sanchez-Villagra, a professor of paleontology at the University of Zurich, studied the molecular-genetic origin and development of the extra thumb in moles.
Unlike the other fingers on the mole’s hand, the extra thumb does not have moving joints. Instead, it consists of a single, sickle-shaped bone. Using molecular markers, the researchers can now show for the first time that it develops later than the real fingers from a transformed sesamoid bone in the wrist. In shrews, however, the mole’s closest relative, the extra thumb is lacking, which confirms the researchers’ discovery. (ANI)
Ex-IMF chief now a ‘hot dog’
PARIS: He’s been called many things over the past few months… but Dominique Strauss-Kahn is now a hotdog.
An American-style diner on the outskirts of Paris has created a controversial sausage which shares the same initials as the former IMF chief.
Posters in the restaurant’s windows show a woman holding the ‘Double Sausage Kosher’ hotdog, against the Manhattan skyline. The DSK costs just under 15 euros, and is served with a side of coleslaw.
Philippe Rottemberg, Rotz’s owner, explained, saying, “We did this double kosher sausage with the initials. And then we wanted to get a little closer to French and foreign politics in order for everyone to have an interest in trying this DSK sausage.”
Rottemberg says the hotdog is an attempt to put a humorous spin on the controversy, adding, “Listen, honestly, today we have about 90 per cent of people who laugh, who see our communications both online and in our restaurant, and who took it with a lot of humour. But obviously, you can’t please everybody.” Customers can’t help but laugh. (Reuters)
Young women urged to strip ‘for Putin as president’
London: In a bid to support Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin in a presidential vote, an online campaign has been launched urging young women to support him by taking off their clothes.
Called ‘Putin’s Army’, it features a video of a blonde student called Diana who struts along Moscow’s streets in high heels and a black suit before scrawling “I will tear my clothes off for Putin” on a white top in red lipstick and starting to undo her clothes, reports the Telegraph.
Inviting girls to strip off for Putin for the chance of winning an iPad2, the campaign comes ahead of the March 2012 presidential vote.
The goal: For Putin to be president! said a statement on its page on social networking site vkontak-te.ru/armiaputina. (ANI)