Settle It Once and For All?

Hardly, at least i don't think so.

Oxford University of England wants to use genetic analysis of the physical evidence to determine the existence, or lack thereof, of the Yeti and Sasquatch.

The researchers are asking people with such physical evidence to send in pictures and descriptions.  They want to choose the best samples, then do DNA analysis to figure out exactly what species of creature the evidence came from.

Geneticist Bryan Sykes believes that using objective evidence that "cannot be falsified" will determine, once and for all, if these creatures exist.

My hind foot, as an elderly family member of mine used to say.

If you are convinced you saw one of these creatures, and saw that it left behind fur, and you gathered it as evidence, and some high-falutin' science type tells you it's actually coyote or yak, are you going to believe him?  Not by a long shot, most of them.

They will believe that it's some unknown species and that the science guys are helping the government hide the evidence.

In theory, it's brilliant, like the researcher must be to have been able to become a geneticist.

In reality, he probably hasn't met some of the people who are possibly going to crawl out of the woodwork on this one.

Some of them, yes, are reasonable, think they saw an unusual creature, gathered the fur or tooth or whatever, and if it turns out to genetically be a common animal, will reasonably say, "I was mistaken in what i thought I saw."

Others will still call coyotes with a bad case of ringworm "chupacabras" and believe in UFO's, probably, too.

Good luck, Mr. Sykes.  It will interest me to follow your findings, but please don't believe that because the genetic evidence can't be faked, you will convince some of these people.

Old legends die too hard for that.
 

Today is

Ambarvalia -- Ancient Roman Calendar (purification festival to Ceres, date approximate)

Arbor Day -- Aston-on-Clun, Shropshire, England (a Poplar tree in town is decorated and left that way year round; probably associated with Oak Apple Day)

Ascension of Baha'u'llah -- Baha'i

Castleton Garland Celebration -- Derbyshire, England (a Garland King and Lady ride the bounds of the parish on white horses, after which the garland the King wore is placed on the church tower; possibly dating back to Oak Apple Celebrations)

Democracy Day -- Nigeria

End of the Middle Ages Day -- considered such by many historians because of the fall of Constantinople on this day

Mount Everest Day -- Nepal

National Coq Au Vin Day

Oak Apple Day / Royal Oak Day -- England (celebration of the restoration of the monarchy; no longer officially recognized, but many localities have traditions that have grown up around this date which are still celebrated)

Runic Half-Month of Odal (home, possessions) commences

Squoosh an Ice Cream Sandwich Day -- rules say you must squoosh, not squish or squash!

St. Bona of Pisa's Day (Patron of couriers, flight attendants, guides, pilgrims, travellers; Pisa, Italy)

Tara Puja -- Tibetan Buddhist (fast of Bodhisattva Goddess Tara)

UN Peacekeepers Day -- International


Anniversaries Today:

Rhode Island becomes the 13th US State, 1790
Wisconsin becomes the 30th US State, 1848


Birthdays Today:

Noel Gallagher, 1967
Melissa Etheridge, 1961
Adrian Paul, 1959
Annette Bening, 1958
LaToya Jackson, 1956
Danny Elfman, 1953
Anthony Geary, 1947
Al Unser, 1939
Paul Erlich, 1932
John F. Kennedy, 1917
Tenzing Norgay, 1914
T.H. White, 1906
Bob Hope, 1903
G.K. Chesterton, 1874
Patrick Henry, 1736


Today in History:

Ottoman armies under Sultan Mehmed II Fatih capture Constantinople after a siege, ending the Byzantine Empire, 1453
Charles II (on his birthday) is restored to the throne of Great Britain, 1660
Treaty of Middle Plantation establishes peace between the Virginia colonists and the local Natives, 1677
The right of Canadians to keep Indian slaves is upheld at Quebec City, 1733
In Patrick Henry's historic speech against the Stamp Act, he answers a cry of "Treason!" with, "If this be treason, make the most of it!" 1765
Present constitution of Switzerland takes effect, 1874
Chemist John Pemberton places his first advertisement for Coca-Cola, the ad appearing in the Atlanta Journal, 1886
Igor Stravinsky's ballet score The Rite of Spring receives its premiere performance in Paris, provoking a riot, 1913
Ocean liner RMS Empress of Ireland sinks in the Gulf of St. Lawrence with the loss of 1,024 lives, 1914
Bing Crosby, the Ken Darby Singers and the John Scott Trotter Orchestra record Irving Berlin's "White Christmas", the best-selling Christmas single in history, for Decca Records in Los Angeles, 1942
Edmund Hillary and Sherpa Tenzing Norgay become the first people to reach the summit of Mount Everest, 1953
First of the annual Bilderberg conferences, 1954
Amputee  Steve Fonyo completes cross-Canada marathon at Victoria, British Columbia, after 14 months, 1985
Space Shuttle Discovery completes the first docking with the International Space Station, 1999
Olusegun Obasanjo takes office as President of Nigeria, the first elected and civilian head of state in Nigeria after 16 years of military rule, 1999
A WWII Memorial is dedicated in Washington, D.C., US, 2004