Fact or fiction

Scientist Claims US Lab Engineered ‘Humanzee’ Human-Chimp Hybrid 100 Years Ago

A prominent US scientist has claimed researchers in Florida succeeded in breeding a human-chimp hybrid called a ‘humanzee’ in controversial, long-rumoured 1920s research.

Evolutionary psychologist Gordon G. Gallup, Jr., who achieved renown for his pioneering mirror self-recognition experiments with animals in the 1970s, says a former university professor told him the hybrid creature was born at an animal research laboratory where he once worked.

“One of the most interesting cases involved an attempt which was made back in the 1920s in what was the first primate research centre established in the US in Orange Park, Florida,” Gallup told The Sun.

“They inseminated a female chimpanzee with human semen from an undisclosed donor and claimed not only that pregnancy occurred but the pregnancy went full term and resulted in a live birth.”

There is little reason to think such an experiment successfully took place – and plenty of reasons to believe it didn’t – but having an otherwise respected researcher make such a statement is drawing attention to this old rumour once again.

Despite the significance of this purported breakthrough, Gallup, now a researcher at the University of Albany, says dictates of conscience over the humanzee experiment didn’t take long to catch up with the scientists involved.

“In the matter of days, or a few weeks, they began to consider the moral and ethical considerations and the infant was euthanised,” Gallup told The Sun, adding that the unidentified mentor who confided in him attested to the veracity of the controversial saga.

“He told me the rumour was true. And he was a credible scientist in his own right.”

But is it true? While it’s impossible to disprove Gallup’s claims, there are a lot of uncertainties around the story, which is making us pretty doubtful.

First up, the timeline. The institution Gallup says carried out the experiment is these days called the Yerkes National Primate Research Centre – but it was established in 1930, not in the 1920s.

Its founder, psychologist and primatologist Robert Yerkes, was a divisive figure in the scientific community, given his stated support for eugenics research, but he was also fascinated by animal behaviour, especially that of primates.

Before it was called the Yerkes National Primate Research Centre, Yerkes’ lab went by other names during the 1920s, including the Yale Laboratories of Primate Biology, and the Anthropoid Breeding and Experiment Station in Orange Park, Florida, which presumably is the facility Gallup is referring to.

While Gallup doesn’t identify which university professor told him about the humanzee, it’s not the first time this mystery confidante has been mentioned.

In a 2009 documentary, Gallup stated this “credible source” actually witnessed the birth of the hybrid offspring, before later retracting the claim.

“I didn’t say that happened,” he told The Florida Times-Union in 2009.

“I said there is a persistent rumour it happened.”

Robert Yerkes (Yerkes National Primate Research Centre)

Per an account of the incident that no longer appears on Wikipedia but is preserved across numerous internet forums:

“Gallup claimed he heard the story as a young graduate student, when an elderly academic confided in him that he had been part of the team behind the experiment. Gallup added that he feels the colleague telling him of this genuinely believed the story to be true but that he, Gallup, has never been able to prove it one way or another.”

We may never know whether Gallup’s claims are accurate, but even if they’re not, it’s certainly not the only time scientists are reported to have explored the possibilities of human-ape hybridisation.

Researchers in the Soviet Union and China have both experimented with the idea.

Russian biologist Ilya Ivanovich Ivanov attempted the same thing in the 1920s, but failed to achieve a successful pregnancy in female chimpanzees artificially inseminated with human sperm.

Reported later experiments involving human females were thankfully cut short – due to the death of the intended male orangutan sperm donor.

Decades later, Chinese experiments in the 1960s explored the same territory, but again eventually failed.

Indeed, the world’s most famous example of a humanzee ultimately turned out to be nothing of the sort.

A performing chimp called Oliver brought to the US from Africa was once suspected (or at least marketed) to be some kind of ‘missing link’ humanzee hybrid, given his reported human-like appearance, ability to walk upright, and preference for companionship with humans.

Later genetic testing confirmed he was, in fact, a chimpanzee.

So ultimately, all we’re left with in light of Gallup’s latest claims, is more of what one journalist described as par for the course in terms of the rumours that always surrounded Robert Yerkes’ primate research lab: “dark, deep speculation, wild exaggeration and tall tales shamelessly told around a thousand campfires”.

If that’s all we know for sure, it’s the exact opposite of what Yerkes wanted when he established the centre in 1930.

“It is true we do not court publicity,” he wrote at the time. “Far too often it results in misunderstanding, unenlightened criticism or, worse still, ridicule.”

Source: https://sciencealert.com

Fact or fiction

Was an Angel filmed over a house extinguished by firefighters?

Having appeared on the network, this photo caused a lot of comments – from the fact that it really was a Guardian Angel who guarded the firefighters during work, to those who assured that all this was just an illusion, no more complicated than a cloud in the shape of a lamb.

At the end of December 2020, while extinguishing a fire in the Polish village of Maldyty, an Angel hovered over the firemen, or at least something like an Angel. This photo appeared on the Facebook page of the Maldyta fire station and generated many comments.

“This is something that was formed during the last extinguishing of the fire from the ignition of soot in the chimney in Maldyty. Write in the comments your thoughts about it,” was written under the picture on their FB page.

Poles are known to be very religious and there are plenty of people willing to comment on the picture.

Many indeed believed that the Angel oversaw the work of the firemen and, perhaps, even helped them to extinguish the fire. But there were also enough of those who believed that it was all just a random silhouette between clouds in the sky and pareidolia (illusion). The photo was taken by an unspecified person sitting in the cab of a car parked next to the burning house.

“Christians have always believed in the existence of guardian spirits. Some call them Guardian Angels. The Bible confirms their existence,” Pastor Leszek Kozheniecki told reporters, commenting on this photo.

By the way, Kozhenetskiy is a well-known Polish pastor who believes in the existence of supernatural beings.

Three years ago, he told the press that he had driven out the evil spirit that settled in his house in Turza Wielka. One of the firefighters who worked on the extinguishing of the house that night said:

“If we have this kind of protection watching over us, I am pretty calm about safety during work.”

Fact or fiction

The skeleton of a mysterious “prehistoric beast” found in Antarctica?

Photo: © thesun.co.uk/Google Earth

Blogger MrMBB333 shared an image of a “mysterious creature.” It was discovered 80 kilometers off the coast of Antarctica in a remote region of Antarctica, according to the Sun.

According to the blogger, the pictures are screenshots from the Google Earth service, which were sent to him by his subscriber and conspiracy theorist under the nickname BONKERS.

They estimate the length of the remains at 3.6-6 meters.I don’t know if it was frozen for thousands of years or appeared recently,- the blogger said.

MrMBB333 believes the skeleton belonged to a dinosaur. He came to this conclusion by examining the front and hind limbs of the creature. His subscribers are sure that these are the remains of a seal.

The skeleton of a mysterious "prehistoric beast" found in Antarctica? 95 — © thesun.co.uk/Google Earth

A google search for seal skeleton images shows a pretty good match,- one of them wrote.

Other subscribers call the skeleton “suspicious”. They explain that “seals have no hind legs.” Another wrote that the remains belonged to an alligator or some other reptile.

In the comments, conspiracy theorists also expressed their opinion that “Antarctica is full of unexplained phenomena that may be related to ancient aliens.”

It is also believed that most of the “discoveries” made by users of Google Earth can be explained by the unusual shape of ice or other natural phenomena.

MrMBB333 uploaded his investigation video to YouTube on January 5. Since then, the video has been watched more than 200,000 times.

Fact or fiction

150 thousand years old Metal pipes in Tibet, contradict the official history

It is said that there is a mountain in Tibet that contains a network of special formations that extend to the nearest lake. Many researchers believe that this is an artificial pipeline system. But, strangely enough, its origin dates back to the era of the Neanderthals.

Photo from open source — Photo: open sources

This mountain rises about 40 km from the city of Dalingha in the Tibetan Autonomous Region. It is called Baigongshan (White Mountain). In the world, it is better known for the wonderful formations that are in its heart and wide surroundings – they are called the Baigong pipes.

This miracle has been the subject of controversial discussions for many years. Some believe they are a natural formation, but there are many who are sure that someone built them in the distant past to drain the lake. They base their arguments on research results, but there is a catch; the mysterious aqueduct should have appeared 150 thousand years ago. Traces of settlements around the mountain are not even older than 30 thousand years. So who could build metal pipes inside an uninhabited mountain?

There are three caves at the foot of Mount Baigongshan, two of them have already collapsed and are inaccessible, but the largest of them has since been the target of many tourists who come to the area.

The cave looks like it was artificially created by someone. Visibility is enhanced by a massive pipe about forty centimeters in diameter that sticks out of the stone.

Another apparently hollow pipe of the same diameter ran into the cave from the top of the mountain. Another one came from the bottom of the cave somewhere below.

At the entrance to the cave, you can see several other pipes with a diameter of 10 to 40 cm. All this gives the impression of the remains of some ancient system or mechanism. About 80 meters from the cave, Lake Toson sparkles with a large number of scattered pipes on the beach.

They stretch from east to west and have a diameter of 2 to 4.5 cm, these archaeological finds are described by the Chinese scientist Liu-Shaolin:

The unmistakable rust color indicates that they are made of metal. And their craftsmanship showcases advanced attachment techniques. Who could have built such a complex pipe system? Only one who knew well what he was doing and why.

The version that such an engineering miracle was created by the Chinese disappears immediately. The inhabitants of the Middle Kingdom could not build something like that 150 thousand years ago. As the authors of many amazing inventions, bureaucracy became one of them. Therefore, it is simply impossible to imagine that such a large-scale and, without exaggeration, a great construction project was reflected in any ancient Chinese source. Any emperor, during whose reign this happened, would make sure that his great deed was not forgotten by descendants.

Baigong tubes are another unsolved mystery in human history. This find once again refutes the facts of the official history. Where is the true and where is the misconception? Maybe there will be people among the readers who will logically explain the origin of the ancient aqueduct.