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Novel Coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 Transmission electron micrograph of SARS-CoV-2 virus particles, isolated from a patient. Image captured and color-enhanced at the NIAID Integrated Research Facility (IRF) in Fort Detrick, Maryland. Credit: National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, NIH A unique type of tiny antibody produced by llamas could provide a new frontline treatment against COVID-19 that can be taken by patients as a simple nasal spray. Research led by scientists at the Rosalind Franklin Institute has shown that nanobodies—a smaller, simple form of antibody generated by llamas and camels—can effectively target the SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes COVID-19. They found that...

According to the study, published in journal Cell, this protein, called the spike protein, allows the coronavirus to break into host cellsMolecules derived from the immune system of the South American mammals illamas may block the entry of the novel coronavirus into host cells, according to a study which could lead to a potential avenue for COVID-19 treatment. Researchers, including those from The University of Texas (UT) at Austin in the US, have linked two copies of a special kind of antibody molecule produced by the llama immune system to create a new type that binds tightly to a key...

Last year archaeologists in Peru announced the discovery of a centuries-old ritual massacre, at a site they believed was the largest known case of child sacrifice ever found. Buried beneath the sands of a 15th-century site called Huanchaquito-Las Llamas were nearly 140 child skeletons, as well as the remains of 200 llamas. While the reasoning behind the gruesome mass murder of the boys and girls — who were only between the ages of 5 and 14 — cannot be definitively determined, the researchers now say the act was done out of desperation in response to a disastrous climatic event: El...

Archaeologists in northern Peru say they have found evidence of what could be the world’s largest single case of child sacrifice. The burial site, known as Las Llamas, contains the skeletons of 140 children who were aged between five and 14 when they were ritually sacrificed during a ceremony about 550 years ago, archaeologists said on Friday. The site, located near the city of Trujillo, also contained the remains of 200 young llamas apparently sacrificed on the same day. The burial site was apparently built by the Chimú empire. It is thought the children were sacrificed as floods caused by...

Evidence for the largest single incident of mass child sacrifice in the Americas— and likely in world history—has been discovered on Peru's northern coast, archaeologists tell National Geographic. More than 140 children and 200 young llamas appear to have been ritually sacrificed in an event that took place some 550 years ago on a wind-swept bluff overlooking the Pacific Ocean, in the shadow of what was then the sprawling capital of the Chimú Empire. Scientific investigations by the international, interdisciplinary team, led by Gabriel Prieto of the Universidad Nacional de Trujillo and John Verano of Tulane University, are ongoing. The...

wo teens are in police custody after authorities say they confessed to the March 5 shooting of a llama, and the beheading of another. The pair of 16-year-old boys were charged Thursday with one count each of animal cruelty and two counts each of misdemeanor criminal mischief, police said. "Just when you think you've heard it all, along comes a bizarre case that makes you wonder what goes through people's minds, especially young people," Constable Alan Rosen told ABC's Houston station KTRK-TV.

Miners in northwestern Canada have discovered ice age camel bones whose DNA is forcing scientists to redraw the family tree of the now-extinct species. Grant Zazula, a paleontologist with the Yukon's Department of Tourism and Culture, said three fossils recovered from a gold mine in the Klondike in 2008 are the first western camel bones found in the territory or Alaska in decades. Scientists had believed western camels that once lived in North America were related to llamas and alpacas common to South America, but they now have genetic proof that the animals are more closely tied to the camels...

The trail-blazing escape artists known as Kahkneeta and Laney are prohibited from making public appearances after their owners were contacted by the U.S. Department of Agriculture with bad news. USDA officials revealed Bub Bullis and Karen Freund lacked the proper permits to show the animals off at public events, like the senior home show-and-tell they escaped on Feb. 26 in Sun City, Ariz. "They just totally destroyed everything I had planned for my retirement," Freund told the Associated Press. "We've taken them to schools before. Now they're telling me I can't do anything, even like a photo shoot."

Hugh and Developing!! Loose Llamas in Sun City!!

Police were involved in an unusual kind of chase on a motorway near Gothenburg on Saturday night. Their quarry was not escaped prisoners or speeding motorists, but rather two circus llamas. The camelids had escaped from Circus Maximum in Vallhamra, and made their way to the E20 motorway, the principal route between Stockholm and Gothenburg. Police tried to catch the creatures, but their efforts served more to alarm them, and they ran backwards and forwards across the motorway, Expressen reports. The chase continued for an hour before circus staff and police managed to catch the frightened llamas.

After the Korean War, the Army gave up pack animals for trucks, planes and choppers to transport troops and equipment. But recently -- remember those folks on horseback routing the Taliban in Afghanistan? -- it's become clear that Special Forces might find themselves needing horses, mules and donkeys, and perhaps the occasional camel or llama, to move around. But who remembers how to deal with these critters? No problem. Couple years ago the Army put together a 225-page field manual -- "Special Forces Use of Pack Animals" -- that provides a comprehensive overview on the care and feeding and uses...

Llamas joins Israeli troops on frontline Fri Feb 3, 12:40 PM ET JERUSALEM (AFP) - The Israeli army has gone wild and enlisted the llama, originally from Latin America, as a new if unconventional hardware carrier for infantry units on rugged terrain, a military source said. Two commando units operating in northern Israel near the volatile Lebanese border have been supplied with llamas each capable of carrying 60 kilograms (132 pounds), the source said. A disciplined beast, the llama has excellent hearing and a highly developed sense of smell, according to army logistics chief General Itzhak Ben Tov. On the...

Welcome to The Hobbit Hole! Fare you well! Fare you well! First thread: New Zealander builds Hobbit holeSecond thread: The New Hobbit HoleThird thread: The Hobbit Hole III - Journey to the Cross-roads! (Congratulations, we filled it up!) Fourth Thread: The Hobbit Hole IV - The Road Goes Ever On...Fifth Thread: The Hobbit Hole V - Where Many Paths and Errands Meet...Sixth Thread: The Hobbit Hole VI - And Whither Then? I Cannot Say...Seventh Thread: The Hobbit Hole VII - But not yet weary are our feet... Eighth Thread: The Hobbit Hole VIII - Still round the corner we may...

Hello! Just wanted to pass this information along to everyone, thought you might enjoying watching it. Attention!! We would like every llama owner and lover to be aware of an exciting 1/2 hour llama program that is being aired on RFD-TV. The showings will be at the following times: July 4th at 6:30pm. July 5th at 2:30am and again at 10:30am July 9th at 5:00pm. It will be shown on channels: Dish Network channel #9409 Direct T.V. channel #379 Cable T.V. (check your local listings) This was filmed on a llama ranch and features Cart Pulling, Fiber, Youth, A Breeding...

A Taiwan stock trader mistakenly bought T$7.9 billion ($251 million) worth of shares with a mis-stroke of her computer, meaning her company is looking at a paper loss of more than $12 million and she is looking for a new job. The trader with Fubon Securities mis-keyed in a small order from Merrill Lynch Monday, creating confusion when many small firms inexplicably surged the 7 percent trading limit. "Something like this is difficult to explain to superiors," a Fubon executive said Tuesday. Fubon said that the trader was unfamiliar with new computer systems and would be fired. "There is a...

October 5 Today is the Anniversary of Monty Python's Flying Circus! The Flying Circus debuted this day, 35 years ago, on television at 10:50 PM on BBC-1. The world was never the same. (October 5, 1969)

FAIRBANKS, Alaska - Hikers in the Chena River State Recreation Area east of Fairbanks have been bumping into a loose llama and authorities are trying to figure out where it belongs. George Carroll and Lisa Dick spotted the llama on the Chena Dome Trail on Monday about two miles from the trailhead at 49.1 Mile Chena Hot Springs Road. A family coming down the trail warned Carroll and Dick that there was a llama ahead so they weren't as shocked as they might have been, Carroll said. "It was standing in the middle of the trail with no bridle or...

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Llama attacker gets three years in prison Brandon R. Eldred, who pleaded guilty in the beating of three pet llamas in East Lake, begs for leniency. But the judge says a probation violation "blew that opportunity." By ED QUIOCO, Times Staff Writer© St. Petersburg Times, published June 20, 2002 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Brandon R. Eldred, who pleaded guilty in the beating of three pet llamas in East Lake, begs for leniency. But the judge says a probation violation "blew that opportunity."A weeping Brandon R. Eldred pleaded with a judge for leniency, saying he should be sentenced lightly for his crimes because he...