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Cloned Horses Coming to the Olympics? - 0 views

  • July 2012 the Féderation Equestre Internationale (FEI) lifted a ban on cloned horses and their progeny competing in the Olympic Games
  • cloning isn't easy, it isn't cheap, and there are no guarantees that the clone will match the talent of the original
  • cloning process can cost more than a hundred thousand U.S. dollars.
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  • first successfully cloned horse
  • was born in 2003
  • Today, there are only a few hundred equine clones, created mainly for breeding
  • a top stallion for in vitro fertilization can go for tens of thousands of dollars
  • most male horses in high-level competitions are geldings
  • a mare can bear only so many foals
  • most common use for cloned horses is to perpetuate genetic material. The original horse can travel and compete, while its copy becomes a full-time foal-making machine
  • 2007 the FEI's general assembly decided that cloning was "potentially against the spirit of sport in that it was unfair
  • key factor in the decision was the high price of cloning, which has since come
  • federation determined that the clones were only 98 percent copies of the originals
  • the error margin of a full 2 percent was what ultimately caused the FEI to overturn the ban
  • widely agreed that environment, training, nutrition, and relationship with the rider have an incalculable impact on the horse's performance
  • American Quarter Horse Association won't allow clones
  • Neither will the Jockey Club, which registers thoroughbreds in North America
  • FEI has been careful to emphasize that cloning is a breeding technique only
  • only 300-odd horses competing in the Olympics, clones have to battle their way to the top just as traditionally bred horses do.
Mars Base

Prehistoric Horses Came In Leopard Print - Science News - 0 views

  • A new analysis of DNA from the remains of 31 horses found in Europe and Siberia suggests that prehistoric horses came in bay, black and leopard-spotted at least 16,000 years ago
  • Previous genetic studies had suggested that horses were either bay or black before domestication, and more elaborate patterns emerged as a result of breeding selection imposed by humans
  • In new study published
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  • show that some prehistoric horses really did sport spots
  • 31 horses studied, 18 were bay, seven were black and six carried genetic variants that produce a leopard spotting pattern
Mars Base

Summer Olympics: 2020 | Popular Science - 0 views

  • HOLOGRAPHIC OBSTACLES
  • 100 riders are injured in eventing falls every year, and when a multimillion-dollar horse goes down, even a minor injury like a twisted ankle can end its career
  • Line-of-sight infrared beams could monitor the edges of the obstacles; if the horse breaks the beam, the system would instantly alert the judges—and the crowd—to the fault
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  • SMART LANDING PADS
  • Scoring the exact length of a long or triple jump can be imprecise and time-consuming
  • land in a sand pit
  • Researchers at Arizona State University have developed a 2,016-pressure-sensor array to map where an athlete hits the ground
  • underneath the sand in the landing pit, a dozen or so of the mats could record the exact point of touchdown
  • computer could automatically calculate the length of the jump
  • HEAD-UP GOGGLES
  • Swimmers
  • with an integrated head-up display could broadcast a live view of the competition and help racers to better pace themselves
  • AUTOMATIC GOAL KEEPER
  • German research
  • has developed an automated goal-tracking system
  • Actuators around the net generate a magnetic field across the face of the goal. When the ball passes through that field, a chip embedded in the ball sends a signal to the ref’s watch within one tenth of a second.
  • RETRACTABLE DIVING BOARD
  • On a good day, a diver’s head misses the board by a couple of inches
  • famously, Greg Louganis in the 1988 Olympics.
  • In the one second a typical diver is airborne above the plane of the board, it could retract as much as three feet
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