Posted on 07/16/2004 11:27:10 PM PDT by SunkenCiv
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| Gods, Graves, Glyphs Weekly Digest #270 Saturday, September 19, 2009 |
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| Let's Have Jerusalem | |
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| The Story Told by An (2000 years) Ancient Stone - it was the Jewish people who called Jerusalem home |
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· 09/13/2009 1:11:41 PM PDT · · Posted by American Dream 246 · · 127 replies · · 1,273+ views · · Israel National News Blog · · 9/13/09 · · Israel National News Blog · |
Sometimes, all it takes is one ancient stone to upend all the vicious anti-Israel propaganda being hurled at us by our foes. Archaeologists from Israel's Antiquities Authority recently uncovered a stone carving dating back nearly two thousand years which depicts the Menorah (candelabrum) that stood in the Holy Temple in Jerusalem (see below). Jews from across the country regularly made pilgrimage to the Temple, which was the seat of Judaism and its most holy of sitesuntil being destroyed by the Roman invaders in the year 70 C.E. Obviously, the unknown artist who sculpted the stone was moved by his encounter... |
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| Ancient synagogue found in Israel |
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· 09/12/2009 6:31:31 AM PDT · · Posted by SolidWood · · 28 replies · · 1,049+ views · · CNN · · September 11, 2009 · · Kevin Flower · |
JERUSALEM (CNN) -- In what was slated to be the site of a new 122-room hotel, archaeologists say they have discovered one of the world's oldest synagogues in Northern Israel. The site, which was unearthed as preparations were being made for construction of the hotel near the Sea of Galilee, is believed to date back some 2000 years from 50BCE to 100CE. In the middle of the 120 square meter main hall of the synagogue archaeologists discovered an unusual stone carved with a seven branched menorah . "We are dealing with an exciting and unique find," said excavation director and... |
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| Religion of Peace | |
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| Wrong use of the 'P word' ( A short history of the word "Palestine." ) |
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· 09/15/2009 5:10:57 AM PDT · · Posted by SeekAndFind · · 9 replies · · 325+ views · · American Thinker · · 9/15/2009 · · Victor Sharpe · |
Throughout the Arab, and most of the Muslim world, the territory between the River Jordan and the Mediterranean Sea is called Palestine while the name, Israel, is blotted out. The so-called moderate wing of the Palestinian Authority displays a wall map behind the desk of its Chairman, Mahmoud Abbas, showing the State of Israel in its entirety but named Palestine. Indeed, the PA too often refuses to use the name, Israel, preferring to call it "the Zionist entity." In doing so, it should remove from the minds of objective observers any faith in the Arabs' interest in making a true... |
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| The Presidential Treatment | |
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| Four Left Wing Myths About Israel |
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· 09/14/2009 5:07:15 PM PDT · · Posted by SJackson · · 19 replies · · 638+ views · · Europe News · · 14 September 2009 · · Sultan Knish · |
Myth 1: "Israel was created because Europe felt guilty about the Holocaust." This left wing myth has been widely repeated, most recently by Desmond Tutu. While blatantly false on a level that even the most serious anti-Israel historian can recognize, it persists because its function is to delegitimize as the product of post-war colonial guilt, rather than longstanding Israeli national aspirations. Israel was not created in 1947. By 1947, Israel already was a functioning country with a language, culture, agriculture, universities, newspapers and military forces which proved capable of defending against the armies of several Arab nations. The only thing... |
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| Megaliths and Archaeoastronomy | |
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| Egyptian temples followed heavenly plans |
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· 09/13/2009 9:14:09 AM PDT · · Posted by BGHater · · 4 replies · · 304+ views · · New Scientist · · 08 Sep 2009 · · New Scientist · |
ANCIENT Egyptian temples were aligned so precisely with astronomical events that people could set their political, economic and religious calendars by them. So finds a study of 650 temples, some dating back to 3000 BC. For example, New Year coincided with the moment that the winter-solstice sun hit the central sanctuary of the Karnak temple (pictured) in present-day Luxor, says archaeological astronomer Juan Belmonte of the Canaries Astrophysical Institute in Tenerife, Spain. Hieroglyphs on temple walls have hinted at the use of astronomy in temple architecture, including depictions of the "stretching of the cord" ceremony in which the pharaoh marked... |
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| British Isles | |
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| Stone Age satnav: Did ancient man use 5,000-year-old travel chart to navigate across Britain? |
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· 09/15/2009 1:13:16 PM PDT · · Posted by BGHater · · 24 replies · · 491+ views · · The Daily Mail · · 15 Sep 2009 · · David Derbyshire · |
It's considered to be one of the more recent innovations to help the hapless traveller. But the satnav system may not be as modern as we think. According to a new theory, prehistoric man navigated his way across England using a similar system based on stone circles and other markers. The complex network of stones, hill forts and earthworks allowed travellers to trek hundreds of miles with 'pinpoint accuracy' more than 5,000 years ago, amateur historian Tom Brooks says. The grid covered much of southern England and Wales and included landmarks such as Stonehenge and Silbury Hill, claims Mr Brooks,... |
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| "Early man used crude version of sat-nav system' |
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· 09/17/2009 2:25:02 PM PDT · · Posted by JoeProBono · · 18 replies · · 409+ views · · indiatimes · · 16 September 2009 · |
LONDON: In a new research, a scientist has found that prehistoric man navigated his way across England using a crude version of a satellite navigation system, which was based on stone circle markers. According to a report in the Telegraph, the research, by historian and writer Tom Brooks, shows that Britain's Stone Age ancestors were "sophisticated engineers" and far from a barbaric race. Brooks studied all known prehistoric sites as part of his research. He found that the prehistoric man was able to travel between settlements in England with pinpoint accuracy, thanks to a complex network of hilltop monuments. These... |
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| Age of Sail | |
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| Scholar revives ancient subject [Cosmography] |
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· 08/08/2007 8:54:51 AM PDT · · Posted by BGHater · · 7 replies · · 408+ views · · BBC · · 05 Aug 2007 · · BBC · |
A Swansea University historian hopes to discover more about an ancient discipline which may have provided "the GPS system" of its day, 500 years ago. Dr Adam Mosley will study cosmography, a subject believed to combine geography, history and astronomy. He will also try to find out how it died out in around the 17th Century. The lecturer wants to discover more about its study and how strong its links were with the seafarers' art of navigating by the stars. The subject became popular around 500 years ago but died out and part of Dr Mosley's work will be to... |
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| Precolumbian, Clovis, and PreClovis | |
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| Get ready for the eclipse that saved Columbus |
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· 02/19/2008 9:19:42 AM PST · · Posted by BradtotheBone · · 24 replies · · 242+ views · · Brietbart · · Feb 18 06:54 PM · |
The Moon will turn an eerie shade of red for people in the western hemisphere late Wednesday and early Thursday, recreating the eclipse that saved Christopher Columbus more than five centuries ago. In a lunar eclipse, the Sun, Earth and Moon are directly aligned and the Moon swings into the cone of shadow cast by the Earth. But the Moon does not become invisible, as there is still residual light that is deflected towards it by our atmosphere. Most of this refracted light is in the red part of the spectrum and as a result the Moon, seen from Earth,... |
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| Agriculture and Animal Husbandry | |
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| Genome of Irish potato famine pathogen decoded |
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· 09/13/2009 10:31:04 PM PDT · · Posted by neverdem · · 23 replies · · 606+ views · · Broad Communications · · September 9, 2009 · · NA · |
Findings yield deep insights into the pathogen's remarkable adaptability, suggest a "two-speed" genomic strategy that enables it to outwit plant hosts A large international research team has decoded the genome of the notorious organism that triggered the Irish potato famine in the mid-19th century and now threatens this season's tomato and potato crops across much of the US. Published in the September 9 online issue of the journal Nature, the study reveals that the organism boasts an unusually large genome size -- more than twice that of closely related species -- and an extraordinary genome structure, which together appear to... |
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| The Vikings | |
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| Vikings visited Canadian Arctic, research suggests: Artifacts suggest Norse settlement in Nunavut |
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· 09/16/2009 1:02:25 PM PDT · · Posted by Nikas777 · · 23 replies · · 421+ views · · canada.com · · MAY 27, 2009 · · RANDY BOSWELL · |
This May 26 handout photo shows a Nanook archeological site on Baffin Island. Traces of a stone-and-sod wall found at the site, if confirmed, would represent only the second location in the New World where Norse seafarers -- popularly known as Vikings -- built a dwelling. Photograph by: P. Sutherland, Canadian Museum of Civilization, Canwest News Service One of Canada's top Arctic archeologists says the remnants of a stone-and-sod wall unearthed on southern Baffin Island may be traces of a... |
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| Australia and the Pacific | |
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| Chicken Bones Suggest Polynesians Found Americas Before Columbus |
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· 09/16/2009 1:07:41 PM PDT · · Posted by Nikas777 · · 82 replies · · 783+ views · · livescience.com · · 04 June 2007 · · Heather Whipps · |
Chicken Bones Suggest Polynesians Found Americas Before ColumbusBy Heather Whipps, Special to LiveScience Which came first -- the chicken or the European? Popular history, and a familiar rhyme about Christopher Columbus, holds that Europeans made contact with the Americas in 1492, with some arguing that the explorer and his crew were the first outsiders to reach the New World. But chicken bones recently unearthed on the coast of Chile -- dating prior to Columbus' "discovery" of America and resembling the DNA of a fowl species native to Polynesia -- may challenge that notion, researchers say. "Chickens could not have gotten to South America on their own -- they... |
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| Drifters Could Explain Sweet-Potato Travel |
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· 05/20/2007 4:28:04 PM PDT · · Posted by blam · · 33 replies · · 858+ views · · Nature · · 5-18-2007 · |
An unsteered ship may have delivered crop to Polynesia. Brendan Borrell Where did these come from? How did the South American sweet potato wind up in Polynesia? New research suggests that the crop could have simply floated there on a ship. The origin of the sweet potato in the South Pacific has long been a mystery. The food crop undisputedly has its roots in the Andes. It was once thought to have been spread by Spanish and Portuguese sailors in the sixteenth century, but archaeological evidence indicates that Polynesians were cultivating the orange-fleshed tuber much earlier... |
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| Biology and Cryptobiology | |
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| Extinct New Zealand eagle may have eaten humans |
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· 09/12/2009 8:48:07 AM PDT · · Posted by JoeProBono · · 44 replies · · 986+ views · · hostednews/ · · 20 hours ago · · MICHAEL CASEY · |
Sophisticated computer scans of fossils have helped solve a mystery over the nature of a giant, ancient raptor known as the Haast's eagle which became extinct about 500 years ago, researchers said Friday. The researchers say they have determined that the eagle -- which lived in the mountains of New Zealand and weighed about 40 pounds (18 kilograms) -- was a predator and not a mere scavenger as many thought. Much larger than modern eagles, Haast's eagle would have swooped to prey on flightless birds -- and possibly even the rare unlucky human. |
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| NEW SPECIES PICTURES: Giant Rat, Silky Cuscus Found |
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· 09/12/2009 3:07:10 PM PDT · · Posted by JoeProBono · · 22 replies · · 901+ views · · nationalgeographic · · September 9, 2009 · |
It may look like a ferocious mutant from the city sewer. But this newfound species of giant woolly rat is a docile denizen of the forests of Papua New Guinea. On a chilly night earlier this year, biologists Kristofer Helgen and Muse Opiang were trekking through high-elevation rain forests on the inactive volcano Mount Bosavi when a local tracker pointed out a cat-size rodent walking on the forest floor. |
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| Helix, Make Mine a Double | |
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| New Clues to Sex Anomalies in How Y Chromosomes Are Copied |
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· 09/15/2009 11:00:27 PM PDT · · Posted by neverdem · · 13 replies · · 609+ views · · NY Times · · September 15, 2009 · · NICHOLAS WADE · |
The first words ever spoken, so fable holds, were a palindrome and an introduction: "Madam, I'm Adam." A few years ago palindromes -- phrases that read the same backward as forward -- turned out to be an essential protective feature of Adam's Y, the male-determining chromosome that all living men have inherited from a single individual who lived some 60,000 years ago. Each man carries a Y from his father and an X chromosome from his mother. Women have two X chromosomes, one from each parent. The new twist in the story is the discovery that the palindrome system has... |
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| Epigraphy and Language | |
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| Language: the defining feature of human intelligence |
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· 11/06/2008 3:37:58 PM PST · · Posted by Soliton · · 10 replies · · 466+ views · · Times Online · · November 6, 2008 · · Mark Henderson · |
Language, according to the American neurobiologist William Calvin, is "the defining feature of human intelligence". With due respect to the communication skills of dolphins, chimpanzees, birds and bees, Homo sapiens is the only existing species with the power of speech. It seems to be among the qualities that separates us from other animals, that makes us human. When the FOXP2 gene and its role in language was first identified in 2001, therefore, it is hardly surprising that scientists immediately began to ask questions about its role in evolution. Might this be a "language gene" that sets humans apart, a passage... |
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| Junk DNA | |
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| Gene regulation makes the human - A stretch of non-coding DNA revs up genes during development |
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· 09/06/2008 1:48:05 PM PDT · · Posted by neverdem · · 2 replies · · 170+ views · · Science News · · September 4th, 2008 · · Rachel Ehrenberg · |
Genes alone don't make the man -- after all, humans and chimps share roughly 98 percent of their DNA. But where, when and how much genes are turned on may be essential in setting people apart from other primates. A stretch of human DNA inserted into mice embryos revs the activity of genes in the developing thumb, toe, forelimb and hind limb. But the chimp and rhesus macaque version of this same stretch of DNA spurs only faint activity in the developing limbs, reports a new study in the Sept. 5 Science. The research supports the notion that changes in... |
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| Nature vs Nurture | |
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| Culture Shock May Explain Similarity Between Humans |
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· 01/10/2009 2:19:53 AM PST · · Posted by neverdem · · 28 replies · · 1,153+ views · · ScienceNOW Daily News · · 8 January 2009 · · Ann Gibbons · |
Although humans come in many shapes and sizes, from the compact Inuit of the Arctic to the willowy Masai warriors of Africa, any two people are a lot more alike genetically than any pair of chimpanzees or gorillas. The reason may be our advanced culture, according to a new study. Our ancestors' different tools, eating habits, and even body decorations limited their mate choices to individuals of a similar culture, the work suggests, reducing the spread of new mutations across many groups. Because only a few of these ancient groups survived, humans are much less genetically diverse than other primates,... |
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| Gitarzan | |
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| DNA Chunks, Chimps And Humans: Marks Of Differences |
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· 11/06/2008 3:25:22 PM PST · · Posted by Soliton · · 10 replies · · 509+ views · · Science Daily · · Nov. 6, 2008 · |
Researchers have carried out the largest study of differences between human and chimpanzee genomes, identifying regions that have been duplicated or lost during evolution of the two lineages. The study, published in Genome Research, is the first to compare many human and chimpanzee genomes in the same fashion. The team show that particular types of genes - such as those involved in the inflammatory response and in control of cell proliferation - are more commonly involved in gain or loss. They also provide new evidence for a gene that has been associated with susceptibility to infection by HIV. "This is... |
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| Chimpanzees Are Actually Three Distinct Groups, Gene Study Shows |
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· 04/22/2007 4:27:21 PM PDT · · Posted by blam · · 22 replies · · 748+ views · · Science Daily · · 4-22-2007 · · University Of Chicago · |
The largest study to date of genetic variation among chimpanzees has found that the traditional, geography-based sorting of chimps into three populations--western, central and eastern--is underpinned by significant genetic differences, two to three times greater than the variation between the most different human populations. In the April 2007 issue of the journal PLOS Genetics, researchers from the University of Chicago, Harvard, the Broad Institute and Arizona State show that there has been very little detectable admixture between the... |
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| Howlin' with the Wolves | |
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| Dog DNA reveals man's link with best friend |
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· 09/25/2003 2:04:17 PM PDT · · Posted by RoughDobermann · · 1,218 replies · · 759+ views · · CNN · · Thursday, September 25, 2003 · · Posted: 2:18 PM EDT (1818 GMT) · |
Man's best friend, in this case a male poodle, is genetically more similar to humans than is the mouse, a more commonly used laboratory animal, according to researchers who have completed the first rough draft sequence of the genes of a dog. |
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| Dogs (not chimps) most like humans |
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· 03/26/2009 3:47:12 PM PDT · · Posted by decimon · · 52 replies · · 1,208+ views · · Discovery · · March. 26, 2009 · · Jennifer Viegas · |
Man's best friend serves as model for understanding human social behavior -- Chimpanzees share many of our genes, but dogs have lived with us for so long and undergone so much domestication that they are now serving as a model for understanding human social behavior, according to a new paper. |
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| Africa | |
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| Giant stone-age axes found in African lake basin |
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· 09/12/2009 5:44:18 PM PDT · · Posted by decimon · · 54 replies · · 970+ views · · PhysOrg.com · · September 10, 2009 · · Unknown · |
Four giant stone hand axes were recovered from the the dry basin of Lake Makgadikgadi in the Kalahari Desert. Oxford University researchers have unearthed new evidence from the lake basin in Botswana that suggests that the region was once much drier and wetter than it is today. They have documented thousands of stone tools on the lake bed, which sheds new light on how humans in Africa adapted to several substantial climate change events during the period that coincided with the last Ice Age in Europe. Researchers from the School of Geography and the Environment at the University of Oxford... |
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| Prehistory and Origins | |
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| Oldest-known fibers to be used by humans discovered |
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· 09/14/2009 9:20:55 AM PDT · · Posted by SunkenCiv · · 12 replies · · 284+ views · · Harvard University Gazette · · Thursday, September 10, 2009 · · Amy Lavoie · |
The flax, which would have been collected from the wild and not farmed, is believed to be more than 34,000 years old, making these fibers the oldest known to have been used by humans... The items created with these fibers increased early humans' chances of survival and mobility in the harsh conditions of this hilly region. The flax fibers could have been used to sew hides together for clothing and shoes, to create the warmth necessary to endure cold weather. They might have also been used to make packs for carrying essentials, which would have increased and eased mobility, offering... |
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| Silk Road | |
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| Bank Team Supports Archaelogical Dig of 7,000-Year-Old Silk Road Find |
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· 09/14/2009 9:08:31 AM PDT · · Posted by SunkenCiv · · 10 replies · · 300+ views · · World Bank (?) · · Friday, September 11th, 2009 (estimate) · · unattributed · |
In May, workers repairing the country's main east-west highway artery struck a treasure trove of urns, tools, and spearheads dating back to the Paleolithic Age of 300,000 years ago and up to the Late Hellenistic Period of the 1st century BC. In one part of the complex, workers found a Mesopotamian cylinder seal used for stamping legal agreements in 300 BC and in another, tiles from the same era reveal the existence of a temple with a ritual hearth, podium, and bread-baking oven... [S]ays Vakhtang Licheli, Prof. of Archaeology, Director of the Institute of Archaeology and Ethnology at the Tbilisi... |
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| Anatolia | |
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| Ancient figurines were toys not mother goddess statues, say experts as 9,000-year-old artefacts... |
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· 09/14/2009 9:28:22 AM PDT · · Posted by SunkenCiv · · 35 replies · · 662+ views · · Daily Mail · · Thursday, September 10, 2009 · · David Derbyshire · |
Rare find: The 9000-year-old figurines dug up in Turkey are thought to have been used as educational toys Amazing artefacts: Many of the figurines resemble animals like sheep and goats |
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| Ancient Autopsies | |
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| Lady Dai tomb among richest finds in China history |
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· 09/17/2009 8:33:59 AM PDT · · Posted by NormsRevenge · · 32 replies · · 977+ views · · AP on Yahoo · · 9/17/09 · · Sue Manning - ap · |
LOS ANGELES -- Lady Dai was a Chinese nobleman's wife in her mid-50s when she died of a heart attack. She was overweight, had diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, liver disease, gallstones and her arteries were almost totally clogged. She didn't live the healthiest life but she left behind one of the most perfectly preserved bodies in history. She was buried about 2,100 years ago. Her tomb was found in the early 1970s on Mawangdui, a hill in Changsha, near the capital of Hunan Province in China. More than 1,400 equally well-preserved artifacts found around her were designed to... |
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| Epidemics, Pandemics, Plagues, the Sniffles | |
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| Texas A&M researcher shows possible link between 1918 El Niño and flu pandemic |
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· 09/14/2009 2:12:30 PM PDT · · Posted by decimon · · 33 replies · · 607+ views · · Texas A&M University · · Sep 14, 2009 · · Unknown · |
Research conducted at Texas A&M University casts doubts on the notion that El Niño has been getting stronger because of global warming and raises interesting questions about the relationship between El Niño and a severe flu pandemic 91 years ago. The findings are based on analysis of the 1918 El Niño, which the new research shows to be one of the strongest of the 20th century. El Niño occurs when unusually warm surface waters form over vast stretches of the eastern Pacific Ocean and can affect weather systems worldwide. Using advanced computer models, Benjamin Giese, a professor of oceanography who... |
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| Greece | |
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| Syria: Where war hides history |
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· 09/14/2009 7:46:21 AM PDT · · Posted by Nikas777 · · 13 replies · · 344+ views · · csmonitor.com · · 08.26.09 · · Frederick Deknate · |
Syria is Damascus to the growing number of Western tourists here. A short trip to the Greek desert city of Palmyra, about halfway to the Euphrates from the capital, is often as far east as visitors go. Down the highway, however, where the Euphrates greens a strip of the rocky landscape, is a corner of the country less known for historical sights than for its proximity to war-torn Iraq. It is from here... |
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| Alexander the Great | |
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| Unprecedented Miniature Carving of Alexander the Great Found in Israel |
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· 09/14/2009 7:22:01 AM PDT · · Posted by Nikas777 · · 25 replies · · 840+ views · · israelnationalnews.com · · 08/25/09, 5:31 PM · · Last Update: 08/26/09, 8:01 AM · · Nissan Ratzlav-Katz · |
The mini-Alexander gemstone carving Israel News photo: (Tel Dor Excavation Delegation) Unprecedented Miniature Carving of Alexander the Great Found by Nissan Ratzlav-Katz (IsraelNN.com) Excavations in Tel Dor have turned up a rare and unexpected work of Hellenistic art: a precious stone bearing the miniature carved likeness of Alexander the Great. Archaeologists are calling it an important find, indicating the great skill of the artist. The Tel Dor dig, under the guidance and direction of Dr. Ayelet Gilboa of Haifa University and Dr. Ilan Sharon of Jerusalem's Hebrew University, has just ended its summer excavation season. For more than 30 years,... |
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| Rome and Italy | |
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| Caistor skeleton mystifies archaeologists (UK) |
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· 09/15/2009 11:09:34 AM PDT · · Posted by decimon · · 20 replies · · 850+ views · · University of Nottingham · · Sep 15, 2009 · · Unknown · |
A skeleton, found at one of the most important, but least understood, Roman sites in Britain is puzzling experts from The University of Nottingham. Dr Will Bowden from the Department of Archaeology, who is leading excavations at the buried town of Venta Icenorum at Caistor St Edmund in Norfolk, said the burial was highly unusual: "This is an abnormal burial. The body, which is probably male, was placed in a shallow pit on its side, as opposed to being laid out properly. This is not the care Romans normally accorded to their dead. It could be that the person was... |
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| Longer Perspectives | |
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| Galileo, The Medici, And The Age Of Astronomy (Exhibit at Franklin Institute) |
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· 09/18/2009 5:04:41 AM PDT · · Posted by decimon · · 8 replies · · 113+ views · · Scientific Blogging · · September 17, 2009 · · Becky Jungbauer · |
Galileo Galilei wasn't just an Italian physicist, mathematician, astronomer, philosopher and heresy suspect (not to mention father of modern observational astronomy, modern physics, science, and modern science, that last one he was named by both Hawking and Einstein). He was also a friend of the Medici, the political Italian dynasty whose patronage of scientists and artists led to the Renaissance.1 Arguably, Galileo's biggest contribution to astronomy was the development of a 30x telescope, through which he made many of his subsequent observations and discoveries (most notably the phases of Venus, the discovery of the four largest satellites of Jupiter, and... |
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| Middle Ages and Renaissance | |
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| Lincoln's Magna Carta almost destroyed |
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· 09/16/2009 6:10:23 AM PDT · · Posted by BGHater · · 8 replies · · 567+ views · · Lincolnshire Echo · · 16 Sep 2009 · · Lincolnshire Echo · |
A US worker came within seconds of destroying Lincoln's copy of the Magna Carta after nearly spraying it with a chemical cleaner. The 800-year-old document is currently on display in New York, but almost met a sticky end thanks to an overzealous cleaner. Lincoln Cathedral's archive conservation consultant Chris Woods accompanied the document, spending hours making sure the inked sheepskin which contains the charter of freedom, was placed correctly into a £42,000 vacuum-sealed display case to keep it safe from the elements. And it was, until a lock briefly malfunctioned just as a workman tried to give it a last... |
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| Early America | |
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| BOOK REVIEW: The Founding children's crusade |
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· 09/14/2009 5:32:58 PM PDT · · Posted by Pharmboy · · 22 replies · · 242+ views · · Washington Times · · Monday, September 14, 2009 · · James Srodes · |
IN PURSUIT OF LIBERTY: COMING OF AGE IN THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION By Emmy E. Werner Potomac Books, $17.95, 190 pages Reviewed by James Srodes Too often books about children are written in an infantile voice as if the audience is somehow unable to read adult themes unless the prose is watered down. Happily, the book at hand is a compelling history that is both clearly written and a riveting experience for both adults and young people who are interested in Revolutionary War history from a different perspective. The story of young people, even children, in our War for Independence has... |
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| The Framers | |
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| Happy Birthday, US Constitution! (222 years old) |
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· 09/17/2009 10:04:04 AM PDT · · Posted by BP2 · · 59 replies · · 1,248+ views · · Constitutional Congress · · September 17, 1787 · · Founding Fathers · |
Happy Birthday, US Constitution! On September 17, 1787, the supreme law of the United States was adopted by its people. Signed in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the US Constitution was ratified by conventions in each state, in the name of "The People". So durable are its words that it is the oldest written constitution in the world. This preordained parchment laid forth the three branches of our government: a bicameral Legislative Congress; an executive branch led by the President; and a judicial branch headed by the Supreme Court. Of the 4,543 words in the Constitution, perhaps none are more powerful or... |
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| War of 1812 | |
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| The Patuxent's Hidden Treasure - Archaeologists Hope to Excavate Shipwreck That Dates to War of 1812 |
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· 09/14/2009 7:43:29 AM PDT · · Posted by BGHater · · 6 replies · · 454+ views · · The Washington Post · · 14 Sep 2009 · · Steve Vogel · |
Aboard a pontoon boat chugging past the marshland of Maryland's upper Patuxent River on a recent Saturday, Ralph Eshelman pointed to the spot where the muddy brown water hides a shipwreck nearly two centuries old, part of the American flotilla that defended the Chesapeake Bay when the British burned Washington during the War of 1812. Nearly 30 years ago, Eshelman helped direct a team of marine researchers who discovered the wreck, one of the war's most significant artifacts. After a limited, month-long excavation of the site east of Upper Marlboro in 1980, the wreck was reburied under four feet of... |
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| The Civil War | |
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| Civil War battlefield sends Union soldier home, 1 year after visitor finds remains |
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· 09/15/2009 2:28:22 PM PDT · · Posted by Bodleian_Girl · · 182 replies · · 2,573+ views · · Mobile Press-Register · · 10 15 09 · · David Dishneau · |
SHARPSBURG, Md. -- An unknown Civil War soldier began his journey home to New York state Tuesday, nearly a year after a visitor to the Antietam National Battlefield spotted his remains in a cornfield that saw the fiercest fighting of the war. |
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| The Great War | |
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| Oldest Medal of Honor recipient, 100, downplays 'hero' talk |
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· 09/16/2009 3:18:32 AM PDT · · Posted by BulletBobCo · · 16 replies · · 836+ views · · CNN · · September 15, 2009 · · Larry Shaughnessy · |
PINE VALLEY, California (CNN) -- Dozens of America's greatest military heroes are gathered in Chicago, Illinois, possibly the last large gathering of living Medal of Honor recipients. Among the men with light blue ribbons holding a star around their necks signifying uncommon bravery, will be John Finn. Finn, who received the nation's highest medal for valor for his actions during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, turned 100 this summer, the oldest living Medal of Honor recipient. Finn was a lieutenant stationed at Kanoehe Bay Naval Air Station, where the Japanese struck five minutes before attacking Pearl Harbor, across southeast... |
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| World War Eleven | |
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| Get Out of Jail Free: Monopoly's Hidden Maps (helped POW's during WWII) |
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· 09/18/2009 1:41:25 PM PDT · · Posted by DemforBush · · 11 replies · · 1,165+ views · · Yahoo via ABC · · 9/17/09 · · KI MAE HEUSSNER · |
Get Out of Jail Free: Monopoly's Hidden Maps Silk Escape Maps Concealed in Game Boards Helped WWII It's a story that will forever change the way you think of the phrase, "Get Out of Jail Free... |
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| Thoroughly Modern Miscellany | |
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| Uncovered: The world's only colour pictures of Germans' World War Two surrender |
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· 09/16/2009 10:49:22 AM PDT · · Posted by Free ThinkerNY · · 22 replies · · 1,935+ views · · dailymail.co.uk · · Sept. 16, 2009 · · Daily Mail Reporter · |
The only colour photographs of the German surrender of World War Two have emerged 64 years after being taken by a lowly clerk who hid behind a tree. Crafty Ronald Playforth covertly captured one of the most historic events of the 20th century after sneaking into a clump of trees overlooking the scene of the surrender. With his camera, he snapped Field Marshall Bernard Montgomery greeting the highest ranking officers of the remains of Hitler's Third Reich outside his HQ tent. Although defeated and just days after the Fuhrer's suicide, the never-seen-before photos show the German officers looking immaculate yet... |
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| Extraordinary 19th cent. photo's of explorer's travels unearthed and he painted the colours himself |
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· 09/16/2009 10:47:13 AM PDT · · Posted by BGHater · · 38 replies · · 1,160+ views · · The Daily Mail · · 15 Sep 2009 · · Daily Mail · |
A stunning collection of photographs taken by a 19th century globetrotter has caused a stir - because he meticulously painted the colours in himself. The amazing images shed new light on the world as it was more than 100 years ago, with vivid images of snake charmers, ships on the Suez Canal and fighting Sikhs, among others.Henry Harrison, a Royal Navy Paymaster General, took the black and white†pictures on his voyages around the globe and, because he was a talented artist, was able to painstakingly colour them in. Stunning imagery: One of Henry Harrison's photographs shows prisoners in China... |
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| Catastrophism and Astronomy | |
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| Mystery of the Eltanin Antenna |
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· 01/21/2003 4:27:46 PM PST · · Posted by vannrox · · 99 replies · · 1,227+ views · · Unknown Country · · 21-Jul-2001 · · WHITLEY STRIEBER · |
Between 1962 and 1979 the NSF Polar Research Vessel Object Photographed by USNS Eltanin Eltanin surveyed Antarctic waters, studying the ocean and ocean bottom. In 1964, the ship photographed an unusual object at a depth of 13,500 feet. At the time, there was no submarine that could have carried a piece of technology to this depth. The object appears to be a pole rising from the ocean floor with twelve spokes radiating from it, each ending in a sphere. The spokes are at fifteen degree angles to each other. It is located approximately 1,000... |
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| Dead Malthusian | |
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| The Man Who Defused the 'Population Bomb' |
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· 09/16/2009 9:00:55 AM PDT · · Posted by TChris · · 20 replies · · 681+ views · · The Wall Street Journal · · 9/16/2009 · · Gregg Easterbrook · |
Norman Borlaug arguably the greatest American of the 20th century died late Saturday after 95 richly accomplished years. The very personification of human goodness, Borlaug saved more lives than anyone who has ever lived. He was America's Albert Schweitzer: a brilliant man who forsook privilege and riches in order to help the dispossessed of distant lands. That this great man and benefactor to humanity died little-known in his own country speaks volumes about the superficiality of modern American culture. Born in 1914 in rural Cresco, Iowa, where he was educated in a one-room schoolhouse, Borlaug won the Nobel Peace Prize... |
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| Oh So Mysteriouso | |
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| The Woodwose: Bigfoot's European cousin |
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· 09/18/2009 12:15:33 PM PDT · · Posted by Nikas777 · · 22 replies · · 446+ views · · itotd.com · · April 18, 2007 · · Morgen Jahnke · |
Like the Loch Ness Monster or the Abominable Snowman, I usually think of Bigfoot (or Sasquatch as he's sometimes known) as a distinctly 20th century phenomenon. However, while it's true that interest in these legendary creatures was stoked by images captured through the modern means of photography and film, the stories surrounding them actually go back centuries. From the lakes of Scotland, to the heights of the Himalayas, to the Pacific Northwest of America, locals have long attested to the presence of these elusive beings. Although little-known today, a mythical creature with striking... |
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| Kids Can Be So Cruel | |
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| 'Gollum-like' monster emerges from lake - The slimy beast terrified local children who killed it |
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· 09/17/2009 6:01:25 PM PDT · · Posted by Free ThinkerNY · · 132 replies · · 3,410+ views · · metro.co.uk · · Sept. 17, 2009 · |
A slimy, glob-like creature dubbed Gollum has terrified children after it slithered out of a lake and clambered over the rocks towards them. The young teenagers were playing by the waterfront in a Panama lake near Cerro Azul when the bald beast emerged from a cave behind a waterfall. They started screaming as it shuffled out "as if to attack them". Locals told Panama news the monster was like "Gollum from Lord of the Rings". One said: "I have only seen that creature once before - and it was in the Tolkien film." But in a "desperate bid to defend... |
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| end of digest #270 20090919 | |
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· Saturday, September 19, 2009 · 46 topics · 989491 to 2337990 · 725 members · |
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Saturday |
Welcome to the 270th issue. I barfed up the issue number for V 6, haven't looked to see when, but it's fixed. This week the list grew to 725 members, including someone joining the Digest list (has been a year or so since that happened). |
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| Gods, Graves, Glyphs Weekly Digest #271 Saturday, September 26, 2009 |
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| Let's Have Jerusalem | |
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| Egyptians Say They Found Proof of Biblical Joseph |
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· 09/24/2009 10:05:53 PM PDT · · Posted by Shellybenoit · · 25 replies · · 876+ views · · MEMRI/The Lid · · 9/25/09 · · The Lid · |
Whether you believe that the biblical account of Joseph did happen (or something close to the biblical account), or if you didn't, this account of an Egyptian archeological find in a leading Egyptian Newspaper translated by MEMRI is very cool According to a report in the Egyptian daily Al-Ahram, by Wajih Al-Saqqar, archeologists have discovered ancient Egyptian coins bearing the name and image of the Biblical Joseph. |
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| Leading Egyptian Daily 'Al-Ahram' Reports: Coins from Era of Biblical Joseph Found in Egypt |
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· 09/25/2009 9:29:35 AM PDT · · Posted by TenthAmendmentChampion · · 34 replies · · 632+ views · · MEMRI · · September 24, 2009 · · Unsigned · |
According to a report in the Egyptian daily Al-Ahram, by Wajih Al-Saqqar, archeologists have discovered ancient Egyptian coins bearing the name and image of the Biblical Joseph. Following are excerpts from the article: [1] "Koranic Verses Indicate Clearly That Coins Were Used in Egypt in the Time of Joseph" "In an unprecedented find, a group of Egyptian researchers and archeologists has discovered a cache of coins from the time of the Pharaohs. Its importance lies in the fact that it provides decisive scientific evidence disproving the claim by some historians that the ancient Egyptians were unfamiliar with coins and conducted... |
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| Top Egyptian Daily: Joseph's Era Coins Found in Egypt |
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· 09/25/2009 3:30:52 PM PDT · · Posted by STD · · 14 replies · · 486+ views · · Israel News · · 9/25/09 · · Hillel Fendel · |
Top Egyptian Daily: Joseph's Era Coins Found in Egypt (IsraelNN.com) "...discovered many charms from various eras before and after the period of Joseph, including one that bore his effigy as the minister of the treasury in the Egyptian pharaoh's court." An Egyptian paper claims that archaeologists have discovered ancient Egyptian coins bearing the name and image of the Biblical Joseph. |
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| Faith and Philosophy | |
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| The Twelve Stones Set Up At The Jordan Found With Inscriptions |
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· 09/20/2009 6:22:46 PM PDT · · Posted by Jedediah · · 16 replies · · 1,199+ views · · Jerusalem Post · · jerusalem post · |
"Then Moses and the elders of Israel charged all the people as follows: 'Keep the entire commandment that I am commanding you today. On the day that you cross over the Jordan into the land that the Lord your God is giving you, you shall set up great stones and cover them with plaster. You shall write on them all the words of this law when you have crossed over." (Deuteronomy 27:1-3). Rubble on floor may have fallen from the ceiling during earthquakes since the cavern was fashioned. Built on the foundations of an ancient Byzantine church, the Greek... |
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| Jerusalem, the City of David | |
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| Second temple period street uncovered in the city of David |
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· 09/19/2009 7:26:50 AM PDT · · Posted by chuck_the_tv_out · · 27 replies · · 537+ views · · Jerusalem Post · · 17 Sep · · BRIAN BLONDY · |
A street recently uncovered in the capital's City of David was, metaphorically, "the last seam of independent Jews in Jerusalem," Uri Goldflam of Shalhevet Education and Consulting said on Wednesday. The street connects the Jews who lost their Second Commonwealth independence in 70 CE, and the Jewish people today, Goldflam said. "The symbolism... After Jews hid beneath the stairs from the Romans, and now as a free people, Jews can again walk above the street. After 2,000 years, the steps are not silent anymore." The one-to-two-meter wide section of a stepped street believed to be Jerusalem's central thoroughfare during the... |
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| British Isles | |
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| Huge Anglo-Saxon gold hoard found |
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· 09/24/2009 4:10:21 AM PDT · · Posted by csvset · · 64 replies · · 1,999+ views · · BBC · · 24 September 2009 · · BBC · |
The UK's largest haul of Anglo-Saxon treasure has been discovered buried beneath a field in Staffordshire. Experts said the collection of 1,500 gold and silver pieces, which may date back to the 7th Century, was unparalleled in size. It has been declared treasure by South Staffordshire coroner Andrew Haigh, meaning it belongs to the Crown. Terry Herbert, who found it on farmland using a metal detector, said it "was what metal detectorists dream of". It may take more than a year for it to be valued. The collection contains about 5kg of gold and 2.5kg of silver, making it far... |
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| Unearthed after 1,400 years |
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· 09/24/2009 9:35:33 AM PDT · · Posted by Charlespg · · 29 replies · · 898+ views · · Daily mail · · 24th September 2009 · · Daily Mail Reporter · |
The largest haul of Anglo-Saxon gold ever found has been discovered by a metal detector enthusiast on farmland in Staffordshire, it was revealed today. Experts say the hoard, which is at least as significant as any other treasure from the Anglo-Saxon era ever unearthed, is worth millions and could have belonged to a king. The discovery of at least 1,345 different items, thought to date back to the seventh century, is expected to redefine perceptions of the period. Terry Herbert, from Burntwood, Staffordshire, came across the collection as he searched a field near his home with his trusty 14-year-old detector... |
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| Hoard shines light on Dark Ages (U.K.) |
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· 09/24/2009 10:12:34 AM PDT · · Posted by Red Badger · · 12 replies · · 676+ views · · BBC · · 09-24-2009 · · Dr Michael Lewis · |
Deputy head of Portable Antiquities Scheme, British Museum This treasure paints a new picture of our past and the Dark Ages. What makes it outstanding is the sheer quantity - we're talking about 1,500 objects, almost entirely precious metal. Normally you would expect a handful of objects each year of this quality for the period in question, which is the 7th Century. A metal detectorist finding just one of these objects would consider it the find of their life. To find 1,500 is bizarre and it would blow the average person's mind. Now, everybody wants to know who it belongs... |
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| Experts Awed by Anglo-Saxon Treasure |
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· 09/25/2009 12:10:39 PM PDT · · Posted by neverdem · · 19 replies · · 974+ views · · NY Times · · September 25, 2009 · · JOHN F. BURNS · |
LONDON -- For the jobless man living on welfare who made the find in an English farmer's field two months ago, it was the stuff of dreams: a hoard of early Anglo-Saxon treasure, probably dating from the seventh century and including more than 1,500 pieces of intricately worked gold and silver whose craftsmanship and historical significance left archaeologists awestruck. When the discovery in Staffordshire was announced Thursday, experts described it as one of the most important in British archaeological history. They said it surpassed the greatest previous discovery of its kind, a royal burial chamber unearthed in 1939 at Sutton... |
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| West Hanney, near Wantage, in Oxfordshire | |
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| Does brooch dug up in Oxfordshire field belong to 6th century Saxon princess? |
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· 09/21/2009 4:50:44 PM PDT · · Posted by BGHater · · 23 replies · · 716+ views · · Herald Series · · 21 Sep 2009 · · Liam Sloan · |
A SAXON brooch and skull uncovered by a metal detecting enthusiast may point to a 1,500-year-old royal grave hidden beneath a farmer's fields. The Home Office has ordered the exhumation of an early sixth century skeleton found in West Hanney, near Wantage, on Sunday to allow archaeologists to investigate the size of the burial site. The quality of the Saxon jewellery found pinned to the body has already been compared to treasure found at the Sutton Hoo burial site in Suffolk in 1939 (see panel), now on display at the British Museum. Anni Byard, Oxfordshire County Council's finds liaison officer,... |
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| Scotland Yet | |
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| Vikings 'were warned to avoid Scotland' |
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· 09/22/2009 7:10:57 PM PDT · · Posted by Arec Barrwin · · 125 replies · · 2,468+ views · · The Daily Telegraph · · September 20, 2009 · · Telegraph News · |
Vikings 'were warned to avoid Scotland' Scotland is full of dangerous natives who speak an incomprehensible language and the is weather awful. That was the verdict of a series of 13th century Viking travel guides that warned voyagers to visit at their peril. |
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| Rome and Italy | |
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| Near Army construction site in Germany, a trove of ancient Roman artifacts |
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· 09/24/2009 10:15:27 PM PDT · · Posted by Jet Jaguar · · 7 replies · · 295+ views · · Stars and Stripes · · September 24, 2009 · · By Mark Patton · |
WIESBADEN, Germany -- A team of archaeology students and experts believe they have unearthed remnants of a Roman settlement from the second or third century near the construction site of an Army housing project, but the discovery isn't expected to affect the project. The team, from nearby Mainz University, discovered a Roman coin, pieces of pottery, roof tiles, decorated bricks and 23 pieces of raw lead. The students also believe they have found the wall outlines of a building. "We think it's from the first to third century after Christ," said Dr. Guntram Schwitalla, a district archaeologist in Hessen. "If... |
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| Hesse unveils fragments of Roman emperor statue found in stream |
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· 09/21/2009 9:02:30 AM PDT · · Posted by Nikas777 · · 9 replies · · 427+ views · · thelocal.de · · 27 Aug 09 15:55 CET · · The Local · |
Hessian Science Minister Eva Kühne-Hörmann on Thursday presented fragments of a 2,000-year-old bronze equestrian statue of Roman Emperor Augustus found recently in a stream near Giessen. "The find has meaning beyond Hesse and the north Alpine region due to its quality and provenance," Kühne-Hörmann said during the presentation with state archaeologist Dr. Egon Schallmayer and Director of the Roman-German Commission Dr. Friedrich Lüth. "We've rediscovered the remnants of early European history. The unique horse head is a witness to the broken dream of the Romans... |
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| Helix, Make Mine a Double | |
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| Indian ancestry revealed |
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· 09/23/2009 5:45:59 PM PDT · · Posted by BGHater · · 64 replies · · 971+ views · · Nature News · · 23 Sep 2009 · · Elie Dolgin · |
The mixing of two distinct lineages led to most modern-day Indians. The population of India was founded on two ancient groups that are as genetically distinct from each other as they are from other Asians, according to the largest DNA survey of Indian heritage to date. Nowadays, however, most Indians are a genetic hotchpotch of both ancestries, despite the populous nation's highly stratified social structure. "All Indians are pretty similar," says Chris Tyler-Smith, a genome researcher at the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute near Cambridge, UK, who was not involved in the study. "The population subdivision has not had a dominating... |
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| Prehistory and Origins | |
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| Scandinavians are descended from Stone Age immigrants |
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· 09/24/2009 10:18:52 AM PDT · · Posted by decimon · · 18 replies · · 504+ views · · Uppsala University · · Sep 24, 2009 · · Unknown · |
Today's Scandinavians are not descended from the people who came to Scandinavia at the conclusion of the last ice age but, apparently, from a population that arrived later, concurrently with the introduction of agriculture. This is one conclusion of a new study straddling the borderline between genetics and archaeology, which involved Swedish researchers and which has now been published in the journal Current Biology. "The hunter-gatherers who inhabited Scandinavia more than 4,000 years ago had a different gene pool than ours," explains Anders Götherström of the Department of Evolutionary Biology at Uppsala University, who headed the project together with Eske... |
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| Scandinavians are descended from Stone Age immigrants |
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· 09/24/2009 2:00:23 PM PDT · · Posted by Dysart · · 9 replies · · 293+ views · · PhysOrg · · 9-24-09 · |
PhysOrg.com) -- Today's Scandinavians are not descended from the people who came to Scandinavia at the conclusion of the last ice age but, apparently, from a population that arrived later, concurrently with the introduction of agriculture. This is one conclusion of a new study straddling the borderline between genetics and archaeology, which involved Swedish researchers and which has now been published in the journal Current Biology. "The hunter-gatherers who inhabited Scandinavia more than 4,000 years ago had a different gene pool than ours," explains Anders Götherström of the Department of Evolutionary Biology at Uppsala University, who headed the project together... |
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| Agriculture and Animal Husbandry | |
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| Ancient ale: Prehistoric yeast takes beer drinkers back millions of year |
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· 09/25/2009 12:49:00 PM PDT · · Posted by Nikas777 · · 25 replies · · 591+ views · · chicagotribune.com · · Sep 24, 2009 · · Suzanne Bohan · |
Inside a stainless-steel tank at a brew pub here overlooking the redwood-rimmed Russian River, a 45-million-year-old yeast proves its mettle. And the remarkably resilient prehistoric microbe hasn't just garnered a devoted pack of Fossil Fuels Beer fans, it's also providing palpable proof of the tenacity of life on this planet. When the Australian-born owner of Stumptown Brewery, Peter Hackett, first learned of the ancient yeast, he doubted this long-extinct strain would ferment anything drinkable. It took the urging... |
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| Catastrophism and Astronomy | |
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| The Oldest Lunar Calendar on Earth |
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· 09/21/2009 4:24:31 PM PDT · · Posted by BGHater · · 16 replies · · 506+ views · · Environmental Graffiti · · 21 Sep 2009 · · EG · |
Aurignacian Lunar Calendar Photo [Anonymous] / The Oldest Lunar Calendars and Earliest Constellations have been identified in cave art found in France and Germany. The astronomer-priests of these late Upper Cultures understood mathematical sets, and the interplay between the moon annual cycle, ecliptic, solstice and seasonal changes on earth. The First (Lunar) Calendar -- The archaeological record's earliest data that speaks to human awareness of the stars and "heavens' dates to the Aurignacian Culture of Europe, c.32,000 B.C. Between 1964 and the early 1990s, Alexander Marshack published breakthrough research that documented the mathematical and astronomical knowledge in the... |
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| Precolumbian, Clovis, and PreClovis | |
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| Peruvian glacial retreats linked to European events of Little Ice Age |
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· 09/24/2009 12:54:07 PM PDT · · Posted by ConservativeMind · · 19 replies · · 380+ views · · PhysOrg.com · · Sept. 24, 2009 · · University of New Hampshire · |
A new study that reports precise ages for glacial moraines in southern Peru links climate swings in the tropics to those of Europe and North America during the Little Ice Age approximately 150 to 350 years ago. The study, published this week in the journal Science, "brings us one step closer to understanding global-scale patterns of glacier activity and climate during the Little Ice Age," says lead author Joe Licciardi, associate professor of Earth sciences at the University of New Hampshire. "The more we know about our recent climate past, the better we can understand our modern and future climate."... |
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| Navigation | |
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| Ptolemy's Geography, America and Columbus: Ancient Greeks and why maybe America was discovered |
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· 09/25/2009 12:32:08 PM PDT · · Posted by Nikas777 · · 16 replies · · 388+ views · · mlahanas.de · · Michael Lahanas · |
Ptolemy's Geography, America and Columbus: Ancient Greeks and why maybe America was discovered Michael Lahanas Aristotle: "there is a continuity between the parts about the pillars of Hercules and the parts about India, and that in this way the ocean is one." [As] for the rest of the distance around the inhabited earth which has not been visited by us up to the present time (because of the fact that the navigators who sailed in opposite directions never met), it is not of very great extent, if we reckon from the parallel distances that have been traversed by us... For... |
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| Make Me Immortal with a Kiss | |
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| Archaeologists find suspected Trojan war-era couple |
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· 09/22/2009 12:57:53 PM PDT · · Posted by NormsRevenge · · 66 replies · · 1,192+ views · · Reuters on Yahoo · · 9/22/09 · · Reuters · |
ANKARA (Reuters) -- Archaeologists in the ancient city of Troy in Turkey have found the remains of a man and a woman believed to have died in 1,200 B.C., the time of the legendary war chronicled by Homer, a leading German professor said on Tuesday. Ernst Pernicka, a University of Tubingen professor of archaeometry who is leading excavations on the site in northwestern Turkey, said the bodies were found near a defense line within the city built in the late Bronze age. The discovery could add to evidence that Troy's lower area was bigger in the late Bronze Age than... |
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| Alexander the Great | |
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| Outraged Greeks say Alexander was not bisexual (Hollyweird rewriting history) |
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· 11/20/2004 10:53:30 AM PST · · Posted by longtermmemmory · · 103 replies · · 2,234+ views · · CNN · · 11/20/2004 · · staff · |
ATHENS, Nov 19 (Reuters) - A group of Greek lawyers are threatening to sue Warner Bros film studios and Oliver Stone, director of the widely anticipated film "Alexander," for suggesting Alexander the Great was bisexual. The lawyers have already sent an extrajudicial note to the studio and director demanding they include a reference in the title credits saying his movie is a fictional tale and not based on official documents of the life of the Macedonian ruler. "We are not saying that we are against gays but we are saying that the production company should make it clear to the... |
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| New finds at rich ancient cemetery in Greece |
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· 09/21/2009 8:00:08 AM PDT · · Posted by Nikas777 · · 22 replies · · 514+ views · · google.com · · Sep 17, 2009 · · AP · |
Archaeologists in Greece say a sprawling ancient cemetery dating to the 6th century B.C. has yielded dozens of rich grave offerings, including weapons and gold ornaments. Archaeologist Pavlos Chrysostomou says 50 new graves were discovered at Arhontiko, near the ancient city of Pella, birthplace of Alexander the Great. Among the finds were two bronze helmets with gold inlay, iron weapons, statuettes and pottery. |
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| Religion of Peace | |
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| Taliban targets descendants of Alexander the Great |
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· 09/21/2009 12:09:41 PM PDT · · Posted by Nikas777 · · 40 replies · · 1,949+ views · · telegraph.co.uk · · 21 Sep 2009 · · Dean Nelson in New Delhi and Emal Khan in Peshawar · |
Taliban targets descendants of Alexander the GreatFor centuries, the blond-haired, blue-eyed people of the Kalash tribes of North West Pakistan have lived a libertine lifestyle. By Dean Nelson in New Delhi and Emal Khan in Peshawar Published: 6:48PM BST 21 Sep 2009 Children of the Kalash tribe in Northern Pakistan Photo: EPA The group, believed to be descendants of Alexander the Great's invading army, were shielded from conservative Islam by the steep slopes of their remote valleys. While Sikhs, Hindus, and Christians were slowly driven out of Pakistan's North West Frontier Province by Muslim militants, the Kalash were free to... |
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| Greece | |
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| Coast-2-Coast AM Saturday Sept 26th -Mysterious Artifact (Antikythera mechanism) |
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· 09/25/2009 4:12:01 PM PDT · · Posted by Perdogg · · 27 replies · · 701+ views · · Coast 2 Coast · |
Science journalist and author Jo Marchant will discuss the century-long quest to understand the purpose of a mysterious Greek artifact buried beneath the sea for 2,000 years. |
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| Epigraphy and Language | |
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| A Trillion Triangles |
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· 09/22/2009 4:06:41 AM PDT · · Posted by decimon · · 22 replies · · 684+ views · · American Institute of Mathematics · · Sep 22, 2009 · · Unknown. · |
September 22, 2009 -- Mathematicians from North America, Europe, Australia, and South America have resolved the first one trillion cases of an ancient mathematics problem. The advance was made possible by a clever technique for multiplying large numbers. The numbers involved are so enormous that if their digits were written out by hand they would stretch to the moon and back. The biggest challenge was that these numbers could not even fit into the main memory of the available computers, so the researchers had to make extensive use of the computers' hard drives. According to Brian Conrey, Director of the... |
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| Megaliths and Archaeoastronomy | |
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| Exact Date Pinned to Great Pyramid's Construction? |
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· 09/21/2009 6:26:02 PM PDT · · Posted by BGHater · · 23 replies · · 651+ views · · National Geographic News · · 21 Sep 2009 · · Andrew Bossone · |
The Egyptians started building the Great Pyramid of Giza on August 23, 2470 B.C., according to controversial new research that attempts to place an exact date on the start of the ancient construction project. A team of Egyptian researchers arrived at the date based on calculations of historical appearances of the star Sothis -- today called Sirius. Every year around the time of the Nile River floods, Sothis would rise in the early morning sky after a long absence. "The appearance of this star indicates the beginning of an inundation period" for the Nile, said team leader Abdel-Halim Nur El-Din, former head... |
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| Biology and Cryptobiology | |
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| U.S. scientists net giant squid in Gulf of Mexico |
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· 09/23/2009 7:20:01 AM PDT · · Posted by OneVike · · 7 replies · · 740+ views · · Reuters · · 9/22/09 · · Jasmin Melvin · |
U.S. scientists in the Gulf of Mexico unexpectedly netted a 19.5-foot (5.9-meter) giant squid off the coast of Louisiana, the Interior Department said on Monday, showing how little is known about life in the deep waters of the Gulf. Not since 1954, when a giant squid was found floating dead off the Mississippi Delta, has the rare species been spotted in the Gulf of Mexico. The squid, weighing in at 103 pounds (46.7 kg), was caught July 30 in a trawl net more than 1,500 feet underwater as it was pulled by a research vessel. The giant squid, which did... |
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| Paleontology | |
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| End of an era: New ruling decides the boundaries of Earth's history |
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· 09/22/2009 11:02:43 AM PDT · · Posted by decimon · · 32 replies · · 433+ views · · Wiley-Blackwell · · Sep 22, 2009 · · Unknown. · |
After decades of debate and four years of investigation an international body of earth scientists has formally agreed to move the boundary dates for the prehistoric Quaternary age by 800,000 years, reports the Journal of Quaternary Science. The decision has been made by the International Commission on Stratigraphy (ICS), the authority for geological science which has acted to end decades of controversy by formally declaring when the Quaternary Period, which covers both the ice age and moment early man first started to use tools, began. In the 18th Century the earth's history was split into four epochs, Primary, Secondary, Tertiary,... |
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| I'm a little dinosaur | |
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| A trip to prehistoric times: 'Dinosaurs Alive!' delves into larger-than-life creatures |
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· 09/19/2009 8:01:05 AM PDT · · Posted by SunkenCiv · · 18 replies · · 260+ views · · Southtown Star (Chicagoland) · · September 13, 2009 · · unattributed · |
Just because youngsters are back in school does not mean the family fun has to stop. One attraction that offers tons of sights and sounds as well as several learning opportunities is "Dinosaurs Alive!" at Brookfield Zoo. The "Dinosaurs Alive!" exhibit will introduce guests to dinosaurs ranging from a 4-foot-tall "baby" to adult-size species. When: Through October. Hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. weekends. Where: Brookfield Zoo, 3300 Golf Road, Brookfield. Tickets: $5 for adults, $3 for ages 3 to 11 and ages 65 and older, and free for ages 2 and... |
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| Middle Ages and Renaissance | |
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| Was Shakespeare really Fulke Greville |
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· 09/20/2009 4:30:43 AM PDT · · Posted by crypt · · 22 replies · · 626+ views · |
Was Fulke Greville really Shakespeare.Solving a Historic mystery between Shakespeare and Fulke Greville with the help of Fulke Grevilles 8th great grandson Christopher Brooke Fulke Greville and his cousin Historian Guy De La Bedoyere. |
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| Early America | |
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| Quotes from our Founding Fathers |
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· 09/22/2009 5:04:43 PM PDT · · Posted by bigoil · · 14 replies · · 337+ views · |
Greetings and salutations from a rookie Freeper. The boisterous sea of liberty is never without a wave. --Thomas Jefferson Here, sir the People govern. --Alexander Hamilton Conscience is the most sacred of all property. --James Madison Independence Forever. --John Adams The Constitution is the guide which I will never abandon. --George Washington The one who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little safety, deserve neither liberty or safety. --Benjamin Franklin |
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| The Framers | |
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| Declaration of the Causes and Necessities of Taking up Arms |
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· 09/18/2009 12:53:26 PM PDT · · Posted by neverdem · · 67 replies · · 1,833+ views · · Avalon Project · · 6 July 1775 · · Thomas Jefferson and John Dickinson · |
A Declaration by the Representatives of the United Colonies of North-America, Now Met in Congress at Philadelphia, Setting Forth the Causes and Necessity of Their Taking Up Arms.(1) If it was possible for men, who exercise their reason to believe, that the divine Author of our existence intended a part of the human race to hold an absolute property in, and an unbounded power over others, marked out by his infinite goodness and wisdom, as the objects of a legal domination never rightfully resistible, however severe and oppressive, the inhabitants of these colonies might at least require from the... |
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| Longer Perspectives | |
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| Looking Back At the Great Depression -- Tax Rates And More |
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· 09/22/2009 10:20:47 AM PDT · · Posted by Biggirl · · 4 replies · · 286+ views · · http://www.radioviceonline.com · · September 22, 2009 · · Steve McCough · |
This is not inside-baseball economics stuff -- don't be afraid. Arthur B. Laffer at the Wall Street Journal has a good historical review of the Great Depression and what happened with tax rates during the period. Laffer defines the beginning of the problem, the Smoot-Hawley tariff implemented in 1930. |
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| X Doesn't Mark the Spot | |
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| Buried treasure found in Córdoba [Spain] |
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· 09/23/2009 6:52:54 AM PDT · · Posted by BGHater · · 29 replies · · 706+ views · · Typically Spanish · · 22 Sep 2009 · · h.b. · |
13 gold coins have been found, wrapped together, by the river in Córdoba If you know where to look, buried treasure can still be found in Spain. The latest find was not however thanks to a map marked with an "X', but came as part of an archaeological excavation as part of new drainage works in Córdoba, close to the famous Roman Bridge in the city centre. 13 gold coins, escudos, from the reign of Carlos III, dated from 1776 to 1801, and wrapped in a cloth, were found under a layer of limestone which has kept them in a... |
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| Thoroughly Modern Miscellany | |
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| Local Store Selling Rare Artwork by Mount Rushmore Creator, Gutzon Boglum |
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· 09/23/2009 1:58:07 PM PDT · · Posted by potlatch · · 25 replies · · 301+ views · · The Victoria Advocate · · September 22, 2009 · · April Brandon · |
Rare Artwork by Mount Rushmore Creator For years, it sat as a paperweight in the home of Jeane Funkhouser. In fact, her daughter, Charlene Mitchell, remembers having to dust under it the entire time she was growing up. It turns out she was dusting under what may be worth millions of dollars. For several decades, the Victoria family has been in possession of an extremely rare Steuben Glass George Washington head created by artist Gutzon Borglum, the man behind the Mount Rushmore sculpture. Funkhouser, also an artist, was given the model as a gift from Borglum's son, Lincoln Borglum, in... |
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| Pages | |
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| The book I chose for a non-conservative friend |
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· 09/20/2009 11:11:52 AM PDT · · Posted by jla · · 66 replies · · 1,164+ views · · moi · · today · · moi · |
Speaking w/a pal and coworker who actually stated that communism might not be a bad idea for our country. I asked if that I gave him a book if he'd read it - he agreed - and the book I opted for is Human Action by L v Mises. Do you Freepers think this a good choice on my part? |
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| Dan Brown's 'Lost Symbol' details local mystery (CIA HQ, Langley, Virginia) |
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· 09/21/2009 4:32:02 PM PDT · · Posted by HokieMom · · 19 replies · · 925+ views · · WTOP · · 9/21/09 · · JJ Greene · |
LANGLEY, Va. - Part of the new Dan Brown novel is based on a local mystery. In the introduction to his new best-selling novel, "The Lost Symbol," author Dan Brown lists the following: "In 1991, a document was locked in the safe of the director of the CIA. The document is still there today, its cryptic text includes references to an unknown location underground. The document ... includes the phrase, 'It's buried out there somewhere.'" Brown says the 20-year-old document contains the answers to a 20-year-old mystery. WTOP's National Security Correspondent J.J. Green investigated the claim, and found out it's... |
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| Africa | |
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| The hunt for Albinos is still on |
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· 09/18/2009 10:40:54 PM PDT · · Posted by csvset · · 11 replies · · 539+ views · · The Observers · · 13/04/2009 · · Stefan Chiara Gregoracci · |
A school in Tanzania. The case of 18-year-old Moszy, who landed on a Spanish beach along with several other refugees from Africa, has raised awareness of the plight of albinos in many African countries, where witchdoctors claim albino body parts can bring wealth and good luck. Albinism is an inherited genetic condition characterised by the absence of melanin in skin, eyes and hair and can affect all races. African albinos, easily spotted by their white skin and fair hair, have long been ostracised and discriminated against. The target of superstitions... |
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| Oh So Mysteriouso | |
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| The Holy Grail of the Unconscious |
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· 09/20/2009 10:54:25 AM PDT · · Posted by BGHater · · 23 replies · · 778+ views · · The New York Times · · 16 Sep 2009 · · SARA CORBETT · |
This is a story about a nearly 100-year-old book, bound in red leather, which has spent the last quarter century secreted away in a bank vault in Switzerland. The book is big and heavy and its spine is etched with gold letters that say "Liber Novus," which is Latin for "New Book." Its pages are made from thick cream-colored parchment and filled with paintings of otherworldly creatures and handwritten dialogues with gods and devils.If you didn't know the book's vintage, you might confuse it for a lost medieval tome. And yet between the book's heavy covers, a very modern story... |
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| end of digest #271 20090926 | |
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· Saturday, September 26, 2009 · 40 topics · 2348483 to 2343445 · 725 members · |
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Saturday |
Welcome to the 271st issue. This took longer than usual because someone's been spamming the keyword for a while now, despite my requests that he not do so, and I didn't notice that this week his behavior had bumped the end out into the next screen (iow, the first 50 were not all) until I got ready to do the paste-up. The second time through FR gave me 250 topics in the first go, and as luck would have it, the "Albino" topic was actually the 50th and the "Dog DNA" from last time was the 51st, so I didn't have to redo all the small editing. Anyway, sorry for the delay. |
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| Gods, Graves, Glyphs Weekly Digest #272 Saturday, October 3, 2009 |
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| Epigraphy and Language | |
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| Symbols akin to Indus valley culture found |
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· 09/29/2009 3:17:55 PM PDT · · Posted by SunkenCiv · · 27 replies · · 356+ views · · Manorama Online · · Tuesday, September 29, 2009 · · unattributed · |
Of the identified 429 signs, "a man with jar cup", a symbol unique to the Indus civilisation and other compound letters testified to remnants of the Harappan culture, spanning from 2300 BC to 1700 BC, in South India, Varier, who led the excavation at the caves said. The "man-with-the-jar" symbol, an integral remnant commonly traced in parts where the Indus Valley civilisation existed, has even more similarities than those traced in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, he said. The 'man-with-the-jar' has been a distinct motif of the Indus valley symbols. The Edakkal engraving has retained its unique style as the engraver... |
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| Multiregionalism | |
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| Europe's oldest stone hand axes emerge in Spain [900,000 years B.P.] |
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· 09/27/2009 6:26:16 PM PDT · · Posted by SunkenCiv · · 36 replies · · 685+ views · · Science News · · Wednesday, September 2nd, 2009 · · Bruce Bower · |
A new analysis finds that human ancestors living in what is now Spain fashioned double-edged stone cutting tools as early as 900,000 years ago, almost twice as long ago as previous estimates for this technological achievement in Europe. If confirmed, the new dates support the idea that the manufacture and use of teardrop-shaped stone implements, known as hand axes, spread rapidly from Africa into Europe and Asia beginning roughly 1 million years ago, say geologist Gary Scott and paleontologist Luis Gibert, both of the Berkeley Geochronology Center in California. Evidence of ancient reversals of Earth's magnetic field in soil at... |
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| Prehistory and Origins | |
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| Human Ancestors Conflicted on Monogamy |
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· 09/28/2009 7:40:40 PM PDT · · Posted by SunkenCiv · · 33 replies · · 522+ views · · Discovery News · · Thursday, September 24, 2009 · · Michael Reilly · |
When it comes to love, we Homo sapiens are a peculiar breed: We thrill at the thought of torrid affairs while dreaming about the perfect someone with whom we can spend the rest of our lives. Some of this never-ending tug-of-war for our hearts is certainly cultural, but according to a new study it's also encoded in the finger bones of Neanderthals and the upright walking primate Australopithecus... In humans and primates, the ratio between the index and ring fingers is thought to be a telltale marker for how much of the androgen class of hormones -- and specifically, testosterone... |
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| Ardipithecus ramidus, "Ardi" | |
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| Oldest known human ancestor rewrites evolution theories |
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· 10/01/2009 12:18:15 PM PDT · · Posted by Pharmboy · · 82 replies · · 1,368+ views · · Canada.com · · October 1, 2009 · · Ken Meaney · |
Probable life appearance in anterior view of Ardipithecus ramidus ("Ardi"), ARA-VP 6/500.Photograph by: Handout, Illustrations 2009, J.H. Matternes An international team of scientists unveiled Thursday the results of 15 years of study of one of the oldest known human ancestors, Ardipithecus ramidus, which they say overturns much of what we know about human evolution. And surprisingly, it's also rewriting the story of our relation to gorillas and chimpanzees, our closest living relatives, and their development as well. Yohannes Haile-Selassie, one of the authors involved in the research and the man who discovered the first pieces of the most complete... |
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| Scientists discover pre-human ancestor who lived 4.4 million years ago |
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· 10/01/2009 3:57:48 PM PDT · · Posted by JoeProBono · · 26 replies · · 644+ views · · miamiherald · · 10.01.09 · · ROBERT S. BOYD · |
WASHINGTON -- Move over, Lucy. A 4-foot-tall female nicknamed Ardi, who lived 4.4 million years ago in Africa, has replaced you as the earliest best known ancestor of the human species. Ardi's nearly complete skeleton is 1 million years older than Lucy's, pushing back the point when hominids - pre-human primates - are known to have split from the evolutionary line that led to chimpanzees and gorillas, an international team of scientists announced Thursday. "Ardi is not a chimp. It's not a human. It's what we used to be," said paleontologist Tim White, an authority on human evolution at the... |
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| Fossils Shed New Light on Human Past (Our ancestors were more modern than scholars had assumed) |
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· 10/02/2009 7:10:16 AM PDT · · Posted by SeekAndFind · · 8 replies · · 310+ views · · Wall Street Journal · · 10/2/2009 · · Robert Lee Hotz · |
After 15 years of rumors, researchers made public fossils from a 4.4 million-year-old human forebear they say reveals that our ancestors were more modern than scholars had assumed, widening the evolutionary gulf separating humankind from apes and chimpanzees. The highlight of the extensive fossil trove was a female skeleton a million years older than the iconic bones of Lucy, the primitive female figure that has long symbolized humankind's beginnings. An international research team led by paleoanthropologist Tim White at the University of California, Berkeley, unveiled on Thursday remains from 36 males, females and young of an ancient prehuman species called... |
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| Hobbits | |
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| Hobbit species may not have been human |
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· 09/30/2009 8:51:41 AM PDT · · Posted by BGHater · · 23 replies · · 666+ views · · The Australian · · 30 Sep 2009 · · Cheryl Jones · |
AFTER five years of arguments over the so-called hobbits, the University of New England paleoanthropologist who formally described the tiny new hominin species from the Indonesian island of Flores is facing another wave of controversy. This time, Peter Brown could raise the ire of some of the scientists who supported him in an academic debate that degenerated into an international scandal. Brown, who initially placed the species in the human genus Homo and named it Homo floresiensis, is considering stripping the hobbits of their human status. More remains have been found, and the species is now represented by six to... |
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| Biology and Cryptobiology | |
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| Dragon's Paradise Lost: Komodo Dragons Most Likely Evolved In Australia, Dispersed To Indonesia |
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· 10/02/2009 4:11:59 PM PDT · · Posted by JoeProBono · · 23 replies · · 745+ views · · sciencedaily · · Oct. 1, 2009 · |
The world's largest living lizard species, the Komodo dragon (Varanus komodoensis), is vulnerable to extinction and yet little is known about its natural history. New research by a team of palaeontologists and archaeologists from Australia, Malaysia and Indonesia, who studied fossil evidence from Australia, Timor, Flores, Java and India, shows that Komodo Dragons most likely evolved in Australia and dispersed westward to Indonesia. |
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| Asia | |
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| Confucius's 2,560th Anniversary Held at His Birthplace |
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· 09/27/2009 10:44:24 PM PDT · · Posted by nickcarraway · · 2 replies · · 209+ views · · Xinhua · · 9/28/09 · |
A grand ceremony was held in Qufu, east China's Shandong Province, on Monday to commemorate the 2,560th birthday of Confucius, the great ancient Chinese thinker and philosopher revered around the world. More than 10,000 people, including his descendants, scholars and representatives from foreign embassies in China and international organizations, attended the ceremony at the Confucius Temple in Qufu, his birthplace. Confucius and his disciples advocated positive self-discipline, healthy living, maintaining harmony in family life, peace and order in the country, peace in the world. His thoughts are still studied worldwide. |
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| Precolumbian, Clovis, and PreClovis | |
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| Dig reveals ancient fields: Network of 3,000-year-old canals by Santa Cruz may be most intricate... |
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· 09/30/2009 7:49:47 PM PDT · · Posted by SunkenCiv · · 13 replies · · 364+ views · · Arizona Daily Star · · Sunday, October 27, 2009 · · Otto Ross · |
The discovery of a prehistoric irrigation system in the Marana desert is giving archaeologists a deeper glimpse into one of the first groups of people to farm in the Tucson basin. "What we're looking at is, perhaps, the earliest sedentary village life in the Southwest with people depending on agriculture as a primary food source," said project director Jim Vint. For more than 3,000 years, an elaborate ancient irrigation system has remained hidden deep beneath the sand in Marana. In January, excavation at the Pima County Regional Wastewater Reclamation Facility at Ina Road and Interstate 10 revealed the ancient irrigation... |
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| Helix, Make Mine a Double | |
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| Saami not descended from Swedish Hunter-Gathers |
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· 09/28/2009 8:11:25 PM PDT · · Posted by BGHater · · 16 replies · · 456+ views · · Science blogs · · 24 Sep 2009 · · Razib Khan · |
A few weeks ago I posted on a paper, Genetic Discontinuity Between Local Hunter-Gatherers and Central Europe's First Farmers.Another one is out in the same vein, Ancient DNA Reveals Lack of Continuity between Neolithic Hunter-Gatherers and Contemporary Scandinavians: The driving force behind the transition from a foraging to a farming lifestyle in prehistoric Europe (Neolithization) has been debated for more than a century...Of particular interest is whether population replacement or cultural exchange was responsible...Scandinavia holds a unique place in this debate, for it maintained one of the last major hunter-gatherer complexes in Neolithic Europe, the Pitted Ware culture...Intriguingly, these late... |
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| British Isles | |
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| Startling evidence of a Stone Age structure in the Solent |
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· 09/30/2009 8:05:17 PM PDT · · Posted by SunkenCiv · · 21 replies · · 517+ views · · This is Hampshire · · Sunday September 27th 2009 · · Peter Law · |
While it might have been dismissed as underwater junk by the untrained eye, the archaeologists soon realised they had discovered a vital clue to a lost civilisation. The timber was not isolated. In fact they found another 23 pieces of all shapes and sizes intersecting throughout the underwater cliff off Bouldnor, on the north coast of the Isle of Wight. They are now convinced the timber is evidence of a huge wooden structure built about 8,000 years ago by our Mesolithic ancestors. Garry Momber has been excavating the 1km-long site for more than a decade and believes it is the... |
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| Anatolia | |
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| 5,000-year-old Venus figure found in Canakkale |
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· 10/02/2009 8:11:42 PM PDT · · Posted by SunkenCiv · · 12 replies · · 296+ views · · Today's Zaman · · Friday, September 25, 2009 · · unattributed · |
A 5,000-year-old Venus figure and a seal have been found in an excavation. A 5,000-year-old Venus figure has been found as part of an excavation being carried out in Çanakkale's Ezine district. The excavation began in the field three weeks ago in cooperation with Germany's University of Tübingen. Assistant Professor Rüstem Aslan, who is vice head of the excavation, told the Anatolia news agency that the aim of the dig is to find settlements outside Troy from the Bronze Age. Some interesting findings have been unearthed during the excavation, Aslan said. "We found a 5,000-year-old Venus figure, which used to represent woman at the time, as well as a seal with which people used to mark their belongings in prehistoric ages. Such a seal is a rare piece. In addition to these items, we also found stone axes, well-processed and embellished pots and spindle-whorls, which were used for spinning wool." |
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| Greece | |
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| "The Catastrophe" What the End of Bronze-Age Civilization Means for Modern Times |
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· 09/28/2009 9:26:36 AM PDT · · Posted by Nikas777 · · 69 replies · · 954+ views · · brusselsjournal.com · · Tue, 2009-09-15 09:20 · · Thomas F. Bertonneau · |
"The Catastrophe" - Part 1: What the End of Bronze-Age Civilization Means for Modern TimesFrom the desk of Thomas F. Bertonneau on Tue, 2009-09-15 09:20 Introduction to Part I: Modern people assume the immunity of their situation to major disturbance or -- even more unthinkable -- to terminal wreckage. The continuance of a society or culture depends, in part, on that very assumption because without it no one would complete his daily round. A man cannot enthusiastically arise from bed as the sun comes up and set about the day's errands believing that all undertakings will issue vainly because the... |
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| Rome and Italy | |
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| Nero's rotating banquet hall unveiled in Rome |
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· 09/29/2009 12:55:36 PM PDT · · Posted by NormsRevenge · · 52 replies · · 1,410+ views · · AP on Yahoo · · 9/29/09 · · Marta Falconi - ap · |
ROME -- Archaeologists on Tuesday unveiled what they think are the remains of Roman emperor Nero's extravagant banquet hall, a circular space that rotated day and night to imitate the Earth's movement and impress his guests. The room, part of Nero's Golden Palace, a sprawling residence built in the first century A.D., is thought to have been built to entertain government officials and VIPs, said lead archaeologist Francoise Villedieu. The emperor, known for his lavish and depraved lifestyle, ruled from 37 A.D. to 68 A.D. The dig so far has turned up the foundations of the room, the rotating mechanism... |
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| Roman Statues Found in Blue Grotto Cave [Capri, Tiberius' palace] |
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· 09/30/2009 7:58:32 PM PDT · · Posted by SunkenCiv · · 5 replies · · 403+ views · · Discovery News · · Monday, September 28, 2009 · · Rossella Lorenzi · |
According to the reconstruction, a swarm of Tritons headed by Neptune might have lined the rocky walls of the cave. Bathed in the magic light of the grotto, the statues stood with waters at their knees. During the Marevivo survey, aimed at finding the original bases of the three statues, divers found a total of seven bases at a depth of 150 meters (492 feet). This suggests that at least four other statues lie on the cave's sandy bottom. "The sculptures were all placed at the same level. It is likely that other statues will come to light as... |
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| Epidemics, Pandemics, Plagues, the Sniffles | |
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| Aspirin Misuse May Have Made 1918 Flu Pandemic Worse |
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· 10/02/2009 10:44:59 AM PDT · · Posted by decimon · · 20 replies · · 387+ views · · HIV Medicine Association · · October 2, 2009 · · Unknown · |
The devastation of the 1918-1919 influenza pandemic is well known, but a new article suggests a surprising factor in the high death toll: the misuse of aspirin. Appearing in the November 1 issue of Clinical Infectious Diseases and available online now, the article sounds a cautionary note as present day concerns about the novel H1N1 virus run high. High aspirin dosing levels used to treat patients during the 1918-1919 pandemic are now known to cause, in some cases, toxicity and a dangerous build up of fluid in the lungs, which may have contributed to the incidence and severity of symptoms,... |
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| The Civil War | |
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| Officials think S. Carolina Civil War flag found in Iowa |
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· 10/02/2009 10:35:25 AM PDT · · Posted by iowamark · · 30 replies · · 506+ views · · Cedar Rapids Gazette · · 10/02/2009 · · AP · |
CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) -- Researchers seem to have solved the mystery of what happened to the "Big Red" flag flown by Citadel cadets when they fired on a ship trying to resupply Fort Sumter three months before the Civil War. The Post and Courier of Charleston reports a 10-by-7-foot flag with a large white Palmetto tree and a white crescent on a red field has been located in storage at an Iowa museum. Researchers think it is the same flag that flew over Morris Island when cadets fired on the supply ship Star of the West, forcing the ship to... |
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| Jerusalem, the City of David | |
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| Coins from Era of Biblical Joseph Found in Egypt |
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· 09/26/2009 7:15:42 PM PDT · · Posted by Pride_of_the_Bluegrass · · 41 replies · · 949+ views · · memri · |
"In an unprecedented find, a group of Egyptian researchers and archeologists has discovered a cache of coins from the time of the Pharaohs. Its importance lies in the fact that it provides decisive scientific evidence disproving the claim by some historians that the ancient Egyptians were unfamiliar with coins and conducted their trade through barter. "The researchers discovered the coins when they sifted through thousands of small archeological artifacts stored in [the vaults of] the Museum of Egypt. [Initially] they took them for charms, but a thorough examination revealed that the coins bore the year in which they were minted... |
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| Egyptian paper: Coins found bearing name of Joseph |
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· 09/27/2009 8:56:23 PM PDT · · Posted by cyst · · 41 replies · · 1,303+ views · · World Net Daily · · 9-26-09 · |
Egyptian coins carrying the name of Joseph, the biblical patriarch whose arrival in Egypt as a slave eventually provided salvation for his family during decades of drought across the Middle East, have been discovered in a cache of antique items shelved in boxes in a museum, according to a new report. The report from the Middle East Media Research Institute said the coins with Joseph's name and image were found in a pile of unsorted artifacts that had been stored at the Museum of Egypt. MEMRI, which monitors and translates reports from Middle East publications and broadcasters, said the original... |
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| Let's Have Jerusalem | |
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| Omrit -- Herod's mystery temple? |
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· 09/29/2009 7:15:34 PM PDT · · Posted by SunkenCiv · · 8 replies · · 317+ views · · Jerusalem Post · · September 19, 2009 · · Stephen G. Rosenberg · |
Herod built three temples in honor of his patron Augustus. One stood at Sebastia (Samaria) and a second one at Caesarea. Where was the third? Some archeologists think it was at Banias itself, but that city was dedicated to the god Pan. Andrew Overman of Macalester College in the US thinks the temple was at Omrit. Overman has been digging at the site for nearly 10 years and sees in the remains all the unique characteristics and high quality of Herod's methods of building. Like the other two temples, Omrit was approached by a grand flight of stairs that led... |
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| Near East | |
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| 3,500-year-old burial chamber discovered in Syria [Qatna] |
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· 09/28/2009 7:46:15 PM PDT · · Posted by SunkenCiv · · 10 replies · · 273+ views · · DiscoveryOn.Info · · September 22, 2009 · · IANS · |
A team of German and Syrian archaeologists have located an undisturbed Bronze Age crypt under the former royal palace of Qatna in Syria, the University of Tübingen announced on Monday. The crypt 3,500-year-old tomb contains a significant number of artefacts, as well as human bones. The team... had already discovered a royal burial chamber undisturbed by grave robbers under the palace back in 2002. This latest crypt, discovered during excavation of the northwestern wing of the palace consists of a front chamber and a grave chamber and is 4.90 by 6.30 metres large, according to a statement from the university.... |
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| Paleontology | |
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| Sharks Swarmed on Ancient Sea Monster |
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· 09/28/2009 8:10:59 PM PDT · · Posted by SunkenCiv · · 30 replies · · 869+ views · · Discovery News · · Thursday, September 17, 2009 · · Jennifer Viegas · |
Remains of a shark-bitten, 85-million-year-old plesiosaur reveal that around seven sharks likely consumed the enormous dinosaur-era marine reptile in a feeding frenzy, leaving some of their shark teeth stuck in the plesiosaur's bones, according to a new study... the first direct evidence of the diet and feeding behavior of Cretalamna appendiculata, a now-extinct early relative of today's great white sharks... lead author Kenshu Shimada describes as "arguably the most spectacular case of shark feeding on a vertebrate carcass reported to date." ...He and colleagues Takanobu Tsuihiji, Tamaki Sato and Yoshikazu Hasegawa analyzed the shark-decimated plesiosaur, Futabasaurus suzukii, which was unearthed... |
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| I'm a little dinosaur | |
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| Origin of birds confirmed by exceptional new dinosaur fossils |
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· 09/27/2009 1:50:51 PM PDT · · Posted by SeekAndFind · · 27 replies · · 590+ views · · University of Bristol Press Release · · 9/26/2009 · |
Chinese scientists today reveal the discovery of five remarkable new feathered dinosaur fossils which are significantly older than any previously reported. The new finds are indisputably older than Archaeopteryx, the oldest known bird, at last providing hard evidence that birds evolved from dinosaurs. Talking from the conference in Bristol, Dr Xu Xing, lead scientist on the report published online in Nature today, said: "These exceptional fossils provide us with evidence that has been missing until now. Now it all fits neatly into place and we have tied up some of the loose ends". Professor Michael Benton, from the University of... |
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| China finds bird-like dinosaur with four wings |
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· 09/28/2009 4:07:07 PM PDT · · Posted by NormsRevenge · · 26 replies · · 511+ views · · Reuters on Yahoo · · 9/28/09 · · Tan Ee Lyn · |
HONG KONG (Reuters) -- Chinese researchers have unearthed the fossil of a bird-like dinosaur with four wings in northeastern China, which they suggest is a missing link in dinosaurs' evolution into birds. In a paper in the journal Nature, they said they found the well-preserved fossil of the "Anchiornis huxleyi," which roamed the earth some 160 million years ago, in a geological formation in China's northeastern Liaoning province. About the size of a chicken, the fossil has a total body length of less than 50cm (20 inches) and a skull about 6cm long, lead researcher Xing Xu at the Chinese... |
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| Reproductive riddle unscrambled [Fossilized eggs found inside dinosaur supports a link with birds] |
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· 04/15/2005 6:39:50 AM PDT · · Posted by doc30 · · 495 replies · · 4,891+ views · · The Globe and Mail · · 4/15/05 · · By DAWN WALTON · |
Reproductive Riddle Unscrambled A pair of fossilized eggs found inside pelvis of dinosaur supports a link with birds Friday, April 15, 2005 Updated at 8:30 AM EST From Friday's Globe and Mail Calgary -- Scientists have for the first time discovered fossilized eggs inside the body of a dinosaur, which provides concrete clues about ancient reproduction and supports the theory that birds evolved from dinosaurs, according to research published today. The pair of hard-shelled eggs about the size of large, long yams were found inside the pelvis of a female oviraptorid, a meat-eating bipedal dinosaur that lived about 80 million... |
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| Pterosaurs Stranger Than Ever |
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· 10/16/2003 8:40:50 AM PDT · · Posted by VadeRetro · · 69 replies · · 345+ views · · Discovery Channel · · Oct. 9, 2003 · · Jennifer Viegas, Discovery News · |
New pterosaur fossils and studies are revealing just how unusual these huge, flying reptiles from the dinosaur era were. Based on current findings, many pterosaurs, which lived on nearly every continent during the Mesozoic Era from approximately 248 million to 65 million years ago, possessed tweezer-like heads, body fur and incredibly large, varied head crests. The recent discoveries, outlined in the current issue of Biologist, also suggest that pterosaurs walked on four limbs instead of two, as previously believed. Paleontologists have struggled with this issue, due to the bat-like way the flying reptile's wings were attached to its fore-limbs and... |
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| And Edgar Rice Burroughs | |
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| Cold, Scared Dinosaurs Dug Burrows |
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· 09/28/2009 7:59:28 PM PDT · · Posted by SunkenCiv · · 20 replies · · 704+ views · · Discovery News · · Friday, September 25, 2009 · · Jennifer Viegas · |
Underground Haven -- Paleontologists found the world's oldest known dinosaur burrows. They were discovered in Victoria, Australia. These down under dinosaurs really went down under, as they built complex below-ground homes consisting of a long, deep tunnel leading to a large subterranean chamber, as illustrated here. [James Hays/Fernbank Museum] |
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| Catastrophism and Astronomy | |
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| Princeton paleomagnetists put controversy to rest |
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· 10/02/2009 2:00:19 PM PDT · · Posted by decimon · · 6 replies · · 246+ views · · Princeton University · · October 2, 2009 · · Kitta MacPherson · |
The well-exposed layering of basalt flows in formations near Lake Superior is aiding scientific understanding of the geomagnetic field in ancient times. Nicholas Swanson-Hysell, a Princeton graduate student, examines the details of the top of a lava flow. (Photo: Catherine Rose) Princeton University scientists have shown that, in ancient times, the Earth's magnetic field was structured like the two-pole model of today, suggesting that the methods geoscientists use to reconstruct the geography of early land masses on the globe are accurate. The findings may lead to a better understanding of historical continental movement, which relates to changes in climate. By... |
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| Not So Ancient Autopsies | |
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| Fresh doubts over Hitler's death after tests on bullet hole skull reveal it belonged to a woman |
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· 09/27/2009 10:23:10 AM PDT · · Posted by Free ThinkerNY · · 91 replies · · 1,901+ views · · dailymail.co.uk · · Sept. 27, 2009 · · Mail Foreign Service · |
Adolf Hitler may not have shot himself dead and perhaps did not even die in his bunker, it emerged yesterday. A skull fragment believed for decades to be the Nazi leader's has turned out to be that of a woman under 40 after DNA analysis. Scientists and historians had long thought it to be conclusive proof that Hitler shot himself in the head after taking a cyanide pill on 30 April 1945 rather than face the ignominy of capture. The piece of skull - complete with bullet hole - had been taken from outside the Fuhrer's bunker by the Russian... |
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| World War Eleven | |
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| The Past Is Not Quite Past [Victor Davis Hanson on Japan in 1941, Russia now, and more] |
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· 09/29/2009 10:07:48 AM PDT · · Posted by Tolik · · 21 replies · · 882+ views · · pajamasmedia.com · · September 26, 2009 · · Victor Davis Hanson · |
War II ThoughtsWe can learn a lot about our present dilemmas through looking at the past. This month I'm teaching an intensive class on World War II, and again reminded how history is never really history. One lesson: do not judge past decisions by present considerations or post facto wisdom from a Western point of view, but understand them given the knowledge and thinking of the times from an enemy perspective.We ridicule the disastrous Japanese decision to go to war against the American colossus on December 7, 1941. But that correct analysis enjoys the benefit of hindsight, and does not... |
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| HBO's "The Pacific" Trailer |
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· 09/29/2009 8:07:56 PM PDT · · Posted by Saije · · 39 replies · · 757+ views · · HBO · · 9/17/2009 · · HBO · |
Trailer for "The Pacific", the HBO series on the war in the Pacific during WWII |
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| Pages | |
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| What are the best free "e-books" available online? |
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· 09/26/2009 7:41:33 PM PDT · · Posted by GeronL · · 87 replies · · 1,544+ views · · GeronL · |
For someone who might have missed some classics or have just decided to stop being a DUmmie... what free ebooks would you recommend? From any source, could be from Mises "library" or from Gutenberg. Links if you got them! |
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| The Framers | |
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| Freedom vs Consolidated Government - In honor of Samuel Adams birthday 9/27/1722 |
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· 09/27/2009 1:39:45 PM PDT · · Posted by listenhillary · · 3 replies · · 144+ views · · tenthamendmentcenter.com · · August 22, 1789 · · Samuel Adams · |
Freedom vs Consolidated Government Editor's Note: Samuel Adams, American Patriot and Revolutionary Leader, was born on September 27, 1722. In celebration of his birth, we present the following letter, sent by him to Elbridge Gerry, on August 22, 1789. I wrote to you hastily two days ago, and as hastily ventured an Opinion concerning the Right of Congress to control a Light-house erected on Land belonging to this sovereign and independent State for its own Use and at its own Expense. I say sovereign and independent, because I think the State retains all the Rights of Sovereignty which it has... |
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| Climate | |
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| Algae and pollen grains provide evidence of remarkably warm period in Antarctica's history |
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· 10/01/2009 4:51:14 AM PDT · · Posted by decimon · · 14 replies · · 231+ views · · Louisiana State University · · Oct 1, 2009 · · Unknown · |
Palynomorphs from sediment core give proof to sudden warming in mid-Miocene era BATON ROUGE -- For Sophie Warny, LSU assistant professor of geology and geophysics and curator at the LSU Museum of Natural Science, years of patience in analyzing Antarctic samples with low fossil recovery finally led to a scientific breakthrough. She and colleagues from around the world now have proof of a sudden, remarkably warm period in Antarctica that occurred about 15.7 million years ago and lasted for a few thousand years. Last year, as Warny was studying samples sent to her from the latest Antarctic Geologic Drilling Program, or... |
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| Longer Perspectives | |
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| The Yamal Implosion |
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· 09/30/2009 11:30:22 PM PDT · · Posted by SteveH · · 17 replies · · 679+ views · · Bishop Hill · · September 29, 2009 · · Bishop Hill · |
The Yamal Implosion September 29, 2009 There is a great deal of excitement among climate sceptics over Steve McIntyre's recent posting on Yamal. Several people have asked me to do a layman's guide to the story in the manner of Caspar and the Jesus paper. Here it is. The story of Michael Mann's Hockey Stick reconstruction, its statistical bias and the influence of the bristlecone pines is well known. McIntyre's research into the other reconstructions has received less publicity, however. The story of the Yamal chronology may change that. |
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| Religion of Peace | |
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| Report: Islam in America's Classrooms, History or Propaganda? |
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· 10/01/2009 9:23:16 AM PDT · · Posted by Nachum · · 8 replies · · 289+ views · · Act for America · · 1/28/2009 · · ACT! for America, Mission Viejo Chapter & the United American Committee Truth in Education Joint Sub · |
Introduction Imagine that one afternoon you ask your child or grandchild who is in 7th grade, "What did you learn in school today?" Much to your surprise they answer, "I learned about the African exodus to America after our country was founded." "African exodus to America?" you ask. "I never heard it called that before." "Yes, it's all here in my textbook. My teacher says that earlier explanations of how Africans came to the new world as "slaves" were written by uninformed, America-hating authors who have been discredited." You open her brand-new textbook to the chapter on "The African Exodus... |
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| Thoroughly Modern Miscellany | |
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| Elderly Dales man banks £410,000 after rare notes found in his house clearance[UK] |
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· 10/01/2009 10:59:45 AM PDT · · Posted by BGHater · · 10 replies · · 427+ views · · Yorkshire Post · · 01 Oct 2009 · · Simon Neville · |
Clearing out your home can uncover all sorts of trinkets long forgotten, but for one resident of the Yorkshire Dales it led to the discovery of six genuine treasures he never knew he had. And now the rare Australian banknotes hiding under the lining paper of his chest of drawers have fetched a staggering £410,490 at auction. The elderly owner in his 80s, who wants to remain anonymous, was due to move into a retirement home and called in his local auctioneers to go through the house and see what they could sell for him. Rodney Tennant, of Tennant's Auctioneers,... |
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| end of digest #272 20091003 | |
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· Saturday, October 3, 2009 · 38 topics · 2353572 to 2349160 · 728 members · |
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Saturday |
Welcome to the 272nd issue. Many thanks for all the great topics, thanks to all who posted them and/or pinged me about them. |
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Thanks, SunkenCiv, for all the great info you share!
Donation made - AZ is only 14th so far :(
Nice job! And thanks for the kind remark.
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| Gods, Graves, Glyphs Weekly Digest #273 Saturday, October 10, 2009 |
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| Catastrophism and Astronomy | |
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| New Ancient Fungus Finding Suggests World's Forests Were Wiped Out In Global Catastrophe |
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· 10/08/2009 6:50:24 PM PDT · · Posted by SunkenCiv · · 20 replies · · 367+ views · · ScienceDaily · · October 2, 2009 · · Adapted from materials provided by Imperial College London · |
Tiny organisms that covered the planet more than 250 million years ago appear to be a species of ancient fungus that thrived in dead wood, according to new research published October 1 in the journal Geology. The researchers behind the study, from Imperial College London and other universities in the UK, USA and The Netherlands, believe that the organisms were able to thrive during this period because the world's forests had been wiped out. This would explain how the organisms, which are known as Reduviasporonites, were able to proliferate across the planet... By analysing the carbon and nitrogen content of... |
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| Helix, Make Mine a Double | |
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| Human genetics: Hit or miss? |
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· 10/07/2009 9:16:02 PM PDT · · Posted by neverdem · · 2 replies · · 133+ views · · Nature News · · 7 October 2009 · · Kelly Rae Chi · |
Genome-wide association studies have identified hundreds of genetic clues to disease. Kelly Rae Chi looks at three to see just how on-target the approach seems to be. Download a PDF of this story Five years ago human geneticists rallied around an emerging concept. Technology had granted the ability to compare the genomes of individuals by looking at tens of thousands of known single-letter differences scattered across them. These differences, called single nucleotide polymorphisms or SNPs, served as reference points or signposts of common variation between individuals. The idea was that common variants in the genome might contribute to the genetics... |
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| 3-D Structure Of Human Genome: Fractal Globule Architecture Packs Two Meters Of DNA Into Each Cell |
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· 10/08/2009 6:27:40 PM PDT · · Posted by SunkenCiv · · 11 replies · · 252+ views · · ScienceDaily · · Thursday, October 8, 2009 · · Adapted from original article written by Steve Bradt, Harvard University · |
...they describe a new technology called Hi-C and apply it to answer the thorny question of how each of our cells stows some three billion base pairs of DNA while maintaining access to functionally crucial segments... says co-first author Erez Lieberman-Aiden... "But if the double helix didn't fold further, the genome in each cell would be two meters long. Scientists have not really understood how the double helix folds to fit into the nucleus of a human cell, which is only about a hundredth of a millimeter in diameter. This new approach enabled us to probe exactly that question."... |
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| Prehistory and Origins | |
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| Europe's oldest stone hand axes emerge in Spain [900,000 years B.P.] |
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· 09/27/2009 6:26:16 PM PDT · · Posted by SunkenCiv · · 36 replies · · 768+ views · · Science News · · Wednesday, September 2nd, 2009 · · Bruce Bower · |
A new analysis finds that human ancestors living in what is now Spain fashioned double-edged stone cutting tools as early as 900,000 years ago, almost twice as long ago as previous estimates for this technological achievement in Europe. If confirmed, the new dates support the idea that the manufacture and use of teardrop-shaped stone implements, known as hand axes, spread rapidly from Africa into Europe and Asia beginning roughly 1 million years ago, say geologist Gary Scott and paleontologist Luis Gibert, both of the Berkeley Geochronology Center in California. Evidence of ancient reversals of Earth's magnetic field in soil at... |
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| Make It An Ardi's Night | |
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| Fossils radically alter ideas about the look of man's earliest ancestors |
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· 10/03/2009 4:08:45 PM PDT · · Posted by Pride_of_the_Bluegrass · · 63 replies · · 1,156+ views · · Los Angeles Times · · October 2, 2009 · · Thomas H. Maugh · |
A treasure trove of 4.4-million-year-old fossils from the Ethiopian desert is dramatically overturning widely held ideas about the early evolution of humans and how they came to walk upright, even as it paints a remarkably detailed picture of early life in Africa, researchers reported Thursday. The centerpiece of the diverse collection of primate, animal and plant fossils is the near-complete skeleton of a human ancestor that demonstrates our earliest forebears looked nothing like a chimpanzee or other large primate, as is now commonly believed. Instead, the findings suggest that the last common ancestor of humans and primates, which existed nearly... |
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| Fossils Shed New Light on Human Past (Our ancestors were more modern than scholars had assumed) |
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· 10/02/2009 7:10:16 AM PDT · · Posted by SeekAndFind · · 8 replies · · 360+ views · · Wall Street Journal · · 10/2/2009 · · Robert Lee Hotz · |
After 15 years of rumors, researchers made public fossils from a 4.4 million-year-old human forebear they say reveals that our ancestors were more modern than scholars had assumed, widening the evolutionary gulf separating humankind from apes and chimpanzees. The highlight of the extensive fossil trove was a female skeleton a million years older than the iconic bones of Lucy, the primitive female figure that has long symbolized humankind's beginnings. An international research team led by paleoanthropologist Tim White at the University of California, Berkeley, unveiled on Thursday remains from 36 males, females and young of an ancient prehuman species called... |
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| Ardi's Secret: Did Early Humans Start Walking for Sex? |
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· 10/03/2009 12:34:59 PM PDT · · Posted by JoeProBono · · 46 replies · · 1,282+ views · · nationalgeographic · · October 1, 2009 · · Jamie Shreeve · |
The big news from the journal Science today is the discovery of the oldest human skeleton -- a small-brained, 110-pound (50-kilogram) female of the species Ardipithecus ramidus, nicknamed "Ardi." She lived in what is now Ethiopia 4.4 million years ago, which makes her over a million years older than the famous Lucy fossil, found in the same region 35 years ago. Buried among the slew of papers about the new find is one about the creature's sex life. It makes fascinating reading, especially if you like learning why human females don't know when they are ovulating, and men lack the clacker-sized testicles... |
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| Give It To Me Straight, Doc | |
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| Lack Of Sex Could Be A Signpost To Extinction, Claim Researchers [2005] |
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· 10/08/2009 7:56:16 PM PDT · · Posted by SunkenCiv · · 33 replies · · 419+ views · · ScienceDaily · · October 29, 2005 · · Adapted from materials provided by Imperial College London · |
Researchers from Imperial College London believe that when species become asexual they could be on their way to extinction... P. marneffei is a fungus which causes disease in people with damaged immune systems, such as HIV/AIDS patients, and it is only found in parts of south-east Asia... Dr Bill Hanage, one of the paper's authors, from Imperial College London, adds: "By being asexual, P. marneffei is not only limiting its ability to adapt, it may be at risk of becoming extinct. If it is unable to adapt to new environments, it will be unable to adapt to changes in its... |
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| India | |
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| The beef-eaters of ancient India ( Book Review |
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· 08/07/2002 10:19:39 AM PDT · · Posted by swarthyguy · · 13 replies · · 717+ views · · TLS · · 8.1.02 · · Wendy Doniger · |
The only shocking thing about this book is the news that someone has found it shocking -- has been "shocked, shocked" (as Claude Raines would have said) by the argument that people used to eat cows in ancient India. The Myth of the Holy Cow is a dry, straight academic survey of the history of Sanskrit texts dealing with the eating, or not-eating, of cows. The author, Dwijendra Narayan Jha, Professor of History at the University of Delhi, has marshalled indisputable evidence proving what every scholar of India has known for well over a century: (1) In ancient India, from... |
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| Megaliths and Archaeoastronomy | |
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| Prehistoric site found near UK's Stonehenge |
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· 10/04/2009 9:08:08 AM PDT · · Posted by decimon · · 7 replies · · 360+ views · · Associated Press · · Oct 3, 2009 · · Unknown · |
Researchers have dubbed the site "Bluehenge," after the color of the 27 Welsh stones that were laid to make up a path. The stones have disappeared, but the path of holes remains. |
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| Canary in a Coal Mine | |
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| Ancient Rainforest Revealed in Coal Mine |
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· 04/23/2007 8:11:31 PM PDT · · Posted by A. Pole · · 60 replies · · 2,243+ views · · Yahoo News · · Mon Apr 23, 2007 · · Jeanna Bryner · |
Scientists exploring a mine have uncovered a natural Sistine chapel showing not religious paintings, but incredibly well preserved images of sprawling tree trunks and fallen leaves that once breathed life into an ancient rainforest. Replete with a diverse mix of extinct plants, the 300-million-year-old fossilized forest is revealing clues about the ecology of Earth's first rainforests . The discovery and details of the forest are published in the May issue of the journal Geology. "We're looking at one instance in time over a large area. It's literally a snapshot in time of a multiple square mile area," said study team... |
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| The Lumber Region | |
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| Researchers Probe Fossilized Rain Forest |
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· 04/23/2007 8:44:05 PM PDT · · Posted by Valin · · 17 replies · · 620+ views · · Townhall · · 4/23/07 · |
Standing on the wind-swept flatlands of southern Vermilion County, you might think you'd have to drive the 180 miles to Chicago's Field Museum to find the nearest fossilized tree trunk from the Pennsylvania Age, 300 million years ago. Nah, just drill straight down. That's where coal miners working south and west of Georgetown have unearthed, chunk by fossilized chunk, what has revealed itself over the past few years to be the remains of a fossilized rain forest. It covers about 15 square miles, all more than 200 feet below ground, and probably is the largest intact rain forest from that... |
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| India | |
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| Cluster of dinosaur eggs found in southern India |
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· 10/04/2009 5:54:35 AM PDT · · Posted by decimon · · 11 replies · · 417+ views · · Reuters · · Oct 2, 2009 · · Reporting by S. Murari; Editing by Matthias Williams and Sanjeev Miglani · |
CHENNAI, India (Reuters) -- Geologists have found a cluster of fossilized dinosaur eggs, said to be about 65 million years old, in a village in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu, according to media reports. The clusters were under ash from volcanic eruptions on the Deccan plateau, which geologists said could have caused the dinosaurs to become extinct. |
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| Biology and Cryptobiology | |
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| Baby Mammoth Yields Secrets After 40,000 Years In Siberian Tundra [Amazing Find!] |
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· 10/04/2009 4:26:37 PM PDT · · Posted by Steelfish · · 31 replies · · 1,227+ views · · London Times · · October 04th 2009 · |
October 5, 2009 Baby Mammoth Yields Secrets After 40,000 Years In Siberian Tundra [Pic in URL] Sam Lister A baby woolly mammoth that died after being sucked into a muddy river bed 40,000 years ago has revealed more prehistoric secrets of how the species survived in its icy habitat. The mammoth, known as Lyuba, was about a month old when she died in the Siberian tundra, where she remained until she was discovered by reindeer herders three years ago. Her body was so well preserved in the permafrost that her stomach retained traces of her mother's milk, and scientists identified... |
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| Ice, Ice Baby: Perfectly Frozen Mammoth |
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· 10/05/2009 4:09:01 PM PDT · · Posted by Free ThinkerNY · · 41 replies · · 938+ views · · Sky News · · Oct. 5, 2009 · |
A baby woolly mammoth, frozen in soil for 40,000 years in Siberia, was so well preserved that traces of her mother's milk were still in her stomach. Lyuba, who was thought to be just one month old, was discovered three years ago when nomadic reindeer dug her up. Scientists believe she died after being sucked into a river bed. Mud was found in her trunk and throat, suggesting she had suffocated. The body is preserved enough to provide DNA samples, but the prospect cloning the creature is still a long way off. Researchers found the animals' hump acted like a... |
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| Man of the Cloth | |
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| Teacher Has Theory on the Shroud of Turin |
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· 10/08/2009 11:35:33 AM PDT · · Posted by Nikas777 · · 57 replies · · 654+ views · · AP via forteantimes.com · · Thursday March 24, 2005 1:46 PM · · NICHOLAS K. GERANIOS · |
Nathan Wilson is an English teacher with no scientific training, but he thinks he knows how Jesus' burial cloth was made and he thinks it's not a physical sign of the resurrection. In other words, in Wilson's estimation, the Shroud of Turin is a fake - produced with some glass, paint and old cloth. And that theory, especially with Easter this weekend, has so-called -- Shroudies" a buzz. -- A lot of religious people are upset," said Wilson,... |
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| Italian scientist reproduces Shroud of Turin |
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· 10/05/2009 11:22:44 AM PDT · · Posted by Gamecock · · 584 replies · · 5,122+ views · · Yahoo · · 5 Oct 2009 · · Philip Pullella · |
An Italian scientist says he has reproduced the Shroud of Turin, a feat that he says proves definitively that the linen some Christians revere as Jesus Christ's burial cloth is a medieval fake. The shroud, measuring 14 feet, 4 inches by 3 feet, 7 inches bears the image, eerily reversed like a photographic negative, of a crucified man some believers say is Christ. "We have shown that is possible to reproduce something which has the same characteristics as the Shroud," Luigi Garlaschelli, who is due to illustrate the results at a conference on the para-normal this weekend in northern Italy,... |
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| Shroud of Turin Reproduced by an Italian Scientist |
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· 10/05/2009 2:01:23 PM PDT · · Posted by pantherskincreek · · 39 replies · · 1,110+ views · · Reuters · · October 5 2009 · · Philip Pullella · |
An Italian scientist says he has reproduced the Shroud of Turin, a feat that he says proves definitively that the linen some Christians revere as Jesus Christ's burial cloth is a medieval fake.ntist Reproduces the Shroud |
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| Italian group claims to debunk Shroud of Turin |
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· 10/05/2009 6:17:42 PM PDT · · Posted by JoeProBono · · 71 replies · · 1,127+ views · · sfgate · · October 5, 2009 · · ARIEL DAVID · |
Scientists have reproduced the Shroud of Turin -- revered as the cloth that covered Jesus in the tomb -- and say the experiment proves the relic was man-made, a group of Italian debunkers claimed Monday The shroud bears the figure of a crucified man, complete with blood seeping out of nailed hands and feet, and believers say Christ's image was recorded on the linen fibers at the time of his resurrection. Scientists have reproduced the shroud using materials and methods that were available in the 14th century, the Italian Committee for Checking Claims on the Paranormal said. The group said... |
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| Scientist re-creates Turin Shroud to show it's fake |
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· 10/08/2009 10:14:43 AM PDT · · Posted by Nikas777 · · 22 replies · · 586+ views · · cnn.com · · 3:41 p.m. EDT, Wed October 7, 2009 · · Richard Allen Greene · |
Scientist re-creates Turin Shroud to show it's fake updated 3:41 p.m. EDT, Wed October 7, 2009 By Richard Allen Greene CNN (CNN) -- An Italian scientist says he has reproduced one of the world's most famous Catholic relics, the Shroud of Turin, to support his belief it is a medieval fake, not the cloth Jesus was buried in. Luigi Garlaschelli created a copy of the shroud by wrapping a specially woven cloth over one of his students, painting it with pigment, baking it in an oven (which he called a "shroud machine") for several hours, then washing it. His result... |
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| Asia | |
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| Chinese imperial throne breaks record |
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· 10/08/2009 6:57:57 PM PDT · · Posted by Pan_Yan · · 10 replies · · 266+ views · · CNN · · updated 4:43 a.m. EDT, Thu October 8, 2009 · · Pauline Chiou · |
HONG KONG, China (CNN) -- An imperial "dragon" throne owned by a Chinese emperor set the world auction record for Chinese furniture Thursday, selling for about US $11 million. There was frenzied bidding among mainland, Hong Kong and Taiwan collectors at the Sotheby's auction in Hong Kong. Thirty-six bids came in 10 minutes, with tension building as a new telephone bidder jumped into the competition. "These mainland (China) buyers, mainland collectors are ready to pay the premium it takes to secure an object of this quality," said Nicolas Chow, international head of Chinese ceramics and art at Sotheby's. The winning... |
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| Australia and the Pacific | |
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| Dragon's Paradise Lost: Komodo Dragons Most Likely Evolved In Australia, Dispersed To Indonesia |
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· 10/02/2009 4:11:59 PM PDT · · Posted by JoeProBono · · 25 replies · · 881+ views · · sciencedaily · · Oct. 1, 2009 · |
The world's largest living lizard species, the Komodo dragon (Varanus komodoensis), is vulnerable to extinction and yet little is known about its natural history. New research by a team of palaeontologists and archaeologists from Australia, Malaysia and Indonesia, who studied fossil evidence from Australia, Timor, Flores, Java and India, shows that Komodo Dragons most likely evolved in Australia and dispersed westward to Indonesia. |
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| Epidemics, Pandemics, Plagues, the Sniffles | |
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| Ebola, Marburg Source Found in Fruit Bat(Congratulations Mother Abigail & Free Republic) |
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· 10/07/2009 2:57:55 PM PDT · · Posted by James Oscar · · 28 replies · · 777+ views · · Pro Med · · Oct. 6, 2009 · · International Society for Infectious Diseases · |
Scientists are closing in on the source of Ebola and Marburg [hemorrhagic fevers], 2 of the world's most-lethal infectious diseases. After a 5-year search in the jungles of Africa, an international team of virus hunters has identified... |
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| Plop Plop, Fizz Fizz, Clunk Clunk | |
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| Aspirin Misuse May Have Made 1918 Flu Pandemic Worse |
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· 10/02/2009 10:44:59 AM PDT · · Posted by decimon · · 30 replies · · 678+ views · · HIV Medicine Association · · October 2, 2009 · · Unknown · |
The devastation of the 1918-1919 influenza pandemic is well known, but a new article suggests a surprising factor in the high death toll: the misuse of aspirin. Appearing in the November 1 issue of Clinical Infectious Diseases and available online now, the article sounds a cautionary note as present day concerns about the novel H1N1 virus run high. High aspirin dosing levels used to treat patients during the 1918-1919 pandemic are now known to cause, in some cases, toxicity and a dangerous build up of fluid in the lungs, which may have contributed to the incidence and severity of symptoms,... |
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| Rock and Roll | |
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| Princeton paleomagnetists put controversy to rest |
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· 10/02/2009 2:00:19 PM PDT · · Posted by decimon · · 11 replies · · 441+ views · · Princeton University · · October 2, 2009 · · Kitta MacPherson · |
The well-exposed layering of basalt flows in formations near Lake Superior is aiding scientific understanding of the geomagnetic field in ancient times. Nicholas Swanson-Hysell, a Princeton graduate student, examines the details of the top of a lava flow. (Photo: Catherine Rose) Princeton University scientists have shown that, in ancient times, the Earth's magnetic field was structured like the two-pole model of today, suggesting that the methods geoscientists use to reconstruct the geography of early land masses on the globe are accurate. The findings may lead to a better understanding of historical continental movement, which relates to changes in climate. By... |
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| Climate | |
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| The Yamal Implosion |
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· 09/30/2009 11:30:22 PM PDT · · Posted by SteveH · · 17 replies · · 824+ views · · Bishop Hill · · September 29, 2009 · · Bishop Hill · |
The Yamal Implosion September 29, 2009 There is a great deal of excitement among climate sceptics over Steve McIntyre's recent posting on Yamal. Several people have asked me to do a layman's guide to the story in the manner of Caspar and the Jesus paper. Here it is. The story of Michael Mann's Hockey Stick reconstruction, its statistical bias and the influence of the bristlecone pines is well known. McIntyre's research into the other reconstructions has received less publicity, however. The story of the Yamal chronology may change that. |
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| Chilly reception for theory on global warming |
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· 10/05/2009 9:08:52 AM PDT · · Posted by Nikas777 · · 29 replies · · 891+ views · · sfgate.com · · Sunday, October 4, 2009 · · David A. Fahrenthold · |
Chilly reception for theory on global warming David A. Fahrenthold, Washington Post Sunday, October 4, 2009 Has climate change been around as long as the pyramids? It is an odd-sounding idea, because the problem is usually assumed to be a modern one, the product of a world created by the Industrial Revolution and powered by high-polluting fossil fuels. But a professor emeritus at the University of Virginia has suggested that people began altering the climate thousands of years ago, as primitive farmers burned forests and built methane-bubbling rice paddies. The practices produced enough greenhouse gases, he says, to warm the... |
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| Precolumbian, Clovis, and PreClovis | |
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| THE TELLO OBELISK |
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· 02/03/2003 1:17:59 PM PST · · Posted by vannrox · · 9 replies · · 972+ views · · THE TELLO OBELISK · · 2000 FR Post 2-3-03 · · James Q. Jacobs · |
The Tello Obelisk is a prismatic granite monolith from the archaeological site of Chavin de Huantar in north-central Peru. The Obelisk features one of the most complex stone carvings known in the Americas for its time. Chavin is situated at 3,150 m in the upper Monsa River drainage, between the Cordillera Blanca and the Cordillera Oriental, two of the three ranges in the Central Andes. ChavÃŒn is located on a pass to the Callejon de Huaylas, a high elevation valley between the Cordillera Blanca and the Cordillera Negra, the western range. Radiocarbon... |
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| Egypt | |
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| Egypt Severs Ties with Louvre Over 'Stolen' Ancient Egyptian Artifacts |
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· 10/07/2009 6:33:33 PM PDT · · Posted by Pan_Yan · · 39 replies · · 361+ views · · Voice of America · · October 7, 2009 · · Staff · |
Egypt's antiquities chief says Egypt is suspending ties with the Louvre, saying the French museum has not returned what he says are stolen artifacts. Zahi Hawass on Wednesday said the Louvre has repeatedly ignored requests to return steles, or large reliefs, that date back to the time of the Pharaohs. Hawass said the Louvre purchased the four archeological reliefs that were stolen from a tomb in Luxor in the 1980s. French Culture Minister Frederic Mitterrand said Wednesday that France is willing to return the relics if they were indeed stolen from the tomb site. He says he has asked a... |
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| Anatolia | |
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| 5,000-year-old Venus figure found in Canakkale |
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· 10/02/2009 8:11:42 PM PDT · · Posted by SunkenCiv · · 24 replies · · 580+ views · · Today's Zaman · · Friday, September 25, 2009 · · unattributed · |
A 5,000-year-old Venus figure and a seal have been found in an excavation. A 5,000-year-old Venus figure has been found as part of an excavation being carried out in «anakkale's Ezine district. The excavation began in the field three weeks ago in cooperation with Germany's University of T¸bingen. Assistant Professor R¸stem Aslan, who is vice head of the excavation, told the Anatolia news agency that the aim of the dig is to find settlements outside Troy from the Bronze Age. Some interesting findings have been unearthed during the excavation, Aslan said. "We found a 5,000-year-old Venus figure, which used to... |
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| Greece | |
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| "The Catastrophe" What the End of Bronze-Age Civilization Means for Modern Times |
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· 09/28/2009 9:26:36 AM PDT · · Posted by Nikas777 · · 75 replies · · 1,200+ views · · brusselsjournal.com · · Tue, 2009-09-15 09:20 · · Thomas F. Bertonneau · |
'The Catastrophe' - Part 1: What the End of Bronze-Age Civilization Means for Modern TimesFrom the desk of Thomas F. Bertonneau on Tue, 2009-09-15 09:20 Introduction to Part I: Modern people assume the immunity of their situation to major disturbance or -- even more unthinkable -- to terminal wreckage. The continuance of a society or culture depends, in part, on that very assumption because without it no one would complete his daily round. A man cannot enthusiastically arise from bed as the sun comes up and set about the day¬'s errands believing that all undertakings will issue vainly because the... |
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| Rome and Italy | |
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| Ancient Rome's Real Population Revealed |
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· 10/07/2009 5:08:10 AM PDT · · Posted by decimon · · 32 replies · · 1,035+ views · · Live Science · · Oct 5, 2009 · · Andrea Thompson · |
The first century B.C. was one of the most culturally rich in the history of the Roman Empire - the age of Cicero, Caesar and Virgil. But as much as historians know about the great figures of this period of Ancient Rome, they know very little about some basic facts, such as the population size of the late Roman Empire. Now, a group of historians has used caches of buried coins to provide an answer to this question. During the Republican period of Rome (about the fifth to the first centuries B.C), adult male citizens of Rome could be taxed... |
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| British Isles | |
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| Gloucester body 'is Goth warrior'[UK] |
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· 10/09/2009 9:21:37 AM PDT · · Posted by BGHater · · 8 replies · · 282+ views · · BBC · · 09 Oct 2009 · · BBC · |
A late Roman period body unearthed in Gloucester has stunned experts after tests suggested it was a Goth warrior from eastern Europe. The man, aged 25 to 30, who was dug up north of Kingsholm Square in 1972, had always baffled archaeologists. His elaborate silver belt fittings, shoe buckles and inlaid knife were believed to be from an area between the Balkans and Southern Russia. Chemical tests now prove he was from east of the River Danube. This has led historians to suggest he was a Goth mercenary in the Roman Army. Pirate warden? The large bones date to about... |
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| Middle Ages and Renaissance | |
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| A High-Tech Hunt for Lost Art |
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· 10/06/2009 6:22:58 PM PDT · · Posted by BGHater · · 8 replies · · 373+ views · · The New York Times · · 06 Oct 2009 · · JOHN TIERNEY · |
If you believe, as Maurizio Seracini does, that Leonardo da Vinci's greatest painting is hidden inside a wall in Florence's city hall, then there are two essential techniques for finding it. As usual, Leonardo anticipated both of them. First, concentrate on scientific gadgetry. After spotting what seemed to be a clue to Leonardo's painting left by another 16th-century artist, Dr. Seracini led an international team of scientists in mapping every millimeter of the wall and surrounding room with lasers, radar, ultraviolet light and infrared cameras. Once they identified the likely hiding place, they developed devices to detect the painting by... |
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| Sunken Civilizations | |
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| UNDERWORLD - Graham Hancock |
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· 10/06/2009 8:25:06 AM PDT · · Posted by Nikas777 · · 8 replies · · 397+ views · · dailygrail.com · · 12:09, 30 Apr 2004 · · Greg · |
UNDERWORLD - Graham Hancock Posted by Greg at 12:09, 30 Apr 2004 Let's get this straight, right from the outset - UNDERWORLD is not FINGERPRINTS OF THE GODS. I say this, because I know that fans of Graham Hancock's work like to compare his latest efforts with the monolithic benchmark that is FOTG. And this simply isn't a valid comparison - FOTG smashed its way into our consciousness in the main because it introduced us to (or re-introduced to some) the amazing mysteries that were present in what we thought was a mundane old world. A decade or so on,... |
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| Oh So Mysteriouso | |
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| Numerous evidence of Pre-Historic Nuclear War exists |
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· 10/06/2009 7:13:37 AM PDT · · Posted by Nikas777 · · 109 replies · · 2,267+ views · · agoracosmopolitan.com · · Tuesday 6. Oct 2009 · · Brad Steiger · |
Numerous evidence of Pre-Historic Nuclear War exists: Columns of Smoke Rose as if from a Mighty Furnaceby Brad Steiger Ancient Indian Epics, especially the Mahabharata, document apparent pre-historic nuclear devastation and destruction, that is being verified by diverse scholars."Then the Lord rained down fire and tar from heaven upon Sodom and Gomorrah, and utterly destroyed them." Genesis 19:24. My previous article in The Canadian , in which I reflected upon my book Worlds Before Our Own, provoked dozens of inquiries from readers. LINK Some stated that one of the cable channels -- some thought it was the History Channel; others,... |
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| Military History | |
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| Face of Defense: Soldier Uses History for Motivation |
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· 10/05/2009 4:38:53 PM PDT · · Posted by SandRat · · 7 replies · · 210+ views · · Face of Defence · · Pfc. Andrya Hill, USA · |
FORWARD OPERATING BASE SALERNO, Afghanistan, Oct. 5, 2009 -- The Army is rich in history and legacy, and most soldiers can answer questions regarding basic knowledge such as when the Army was founded. But a 25th Infantry Division noncommissioned officer here takes historical knowledge a step further to draw motivation for his daily responsibilities. Army Staff Sgt. Tyler Fosheim, a paratrooper, considers himself a history buff. He said he uses common sense and the Army's legacy for insight and inspiration in his NCO duties as a platoon sergeant for Company D, 3rd Battalion, 509th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat... |
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| Longer Perspectives | |
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| If You Hate Obummer Read This Now... |
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· 10/08/2009 7:54:44 AM PDT · · Posted by h20skier66 · · 18 replies · · 1,266+ views · · Commodity News Center · · 10/8/09 · · Casey Research · |
This without question is one of the most thought provoking articles I've ever read. After reading it I got the full article which is 17 pages in .pdf format and even more profound. (For the record I am in no way affiliated with Casey, David Galland, or Neil Howe). If you want to know whats happening with our country and how Obummer is able to manipulate, control, decieve, and cheat the American people this is for you. Here's an excerpt: A Casey Research interview with Neil Howe, co-author of The Fourth Turning The Fourth Turning is an amazingly prescient book... |
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| US First Lady 'slave roots' found |
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· 10/08/2009 3:58:21 PM PDT · · Posted by Daffynition · · 32 replies · · 883+ views · · BBC · · 8 October 2009 · · staff reporter · |
Research into the family of US First Lady Michelle Obama has revealed that her great-great-great-grandmother was a slave given away at the age of six. According to genealogist Megan Smolenyak, the girl was described in papers only as "negro girl Melvinia". In her early teens, working as a slave on a farm in Georgia, she was made pregnant by an unknown white man. The son she gave birth to around the year 1859, Dolphus, was Michelle's great-great grandfather. Megan Smolenyak, whose discoveries have been detailed in the New York Times newspaper, said she was not surprised by what she discovered.... |
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| The Civil War | |
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| Pennsylvania historians to mark 150th anniversary of Civil War |
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· 10/07/2009 8:03:35 PM PDT · · Posted by Ditto · · 4 replies · · 163+ views · · Pittsburgh Tribune Review · · October 7, 2009 · · Bob Karlovits · |
Pennsylvania historians announced plans Tuesday to mark the 150th anniversary of the Civil War with a statewide commemoration. "The Pennsylvania Civil War 150 commemoration is far more than a formal remembrance," said Barbara Franco, executive director of the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission. "It is a collection of stories brought to life that are as epic as the fields of Gettysburg and as small as the struggles of a soldier's wife working to survive her husband's absence on a Pennsylvania farm." The early kickoff of the Civil War program is primarily a call for participation to state residents and historical... |
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| Officials think S. Carolina Civil War flag found in Iowa |
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· 10/02/2009 10:35:25 AM PDT · · Posted by iowamark · · 46 replies · · 792+ views · · Cedar Rapids Gazette · · 10/02/2009 · · AP · |
CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) -- Researchers seem to have solved the mystery of what happened to the "Big Red" flag flown by Citadel cadets when they fired on a ship trying to resupply Fort Sumter three months before the Civil War. The Post and Courier of Charleston reports a 10-by-7-foot flag with a large white Palmetto tree and a white crescent on a red field has been located in storage at an Iowa museum. Researchers think it is the same flag that flew over Morris Island when cadets fired on the supply ship Star of the West, forcing the ship to... |
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| Citadel believes it has found the original "Big Red,' its Civil War-era flag |
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· 10/03/2009 3:46:48 AM PDT · · Posted by Daffynition · · 14 replies · · 543+ views · · The (Charleston) Post and Courier · · Oct. 02, 2009 · · Diane Knich · |
CHARLESTON -- In the days leading to the Civil War, a battery of Citadel cadets on Morris Island fired at the supply ship "Star of the West" as it approached Fort Sumter, forcing the ship to turn around. A red palmetto flag flew over the cadets during the attack on Jan. 9, 1861, which marked a victory for them, and was a significant precursor to the war. The war officially began on April 12, 1861, with the Confederate bombardment of Fort Sumter. But some Citadel alumni and others consider the shots fired at "Star of the West" to be the... |
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| Jerusalem, the City of David | |
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| What Temple? Fatah says 'only a Muslim holy site' |
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· 10/05/2009 3:15:59 AM PDT · · Posted by Man50D · · 15 replies · · 594+ views · · WorldNetDaily.com · · October 04, 2009 · · Aaron Klein · |
JERUSALEM -- The Temple Mount does not exist alongside the Western Wall, and neither Jews nor Christians should be allowed to pray on the Mount site, Dimitri Diliani, the spokesman for Fatah in Jerusalem, told WND in an interview. Fatah, once named by the U.S. as a Mideast "peace partner," is the party led by Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. Diliani spoke hours after Fatah and PA officials were accused of inciting a riot on the Temple Mount, claiming Jews were threatening the site. "Don't use the term Temple Mount," Diliani lectured WND. "It doesn't exist. I don't know where... |
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| Third Temple Was Already Built in Jerusalem |
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· 10/05/2009 4:49:21 PM PDT · · Posted by STD · · 25 replies · · 1,315+ views · · self · · 10/05/09 · · self · |
On a recent History Channel presentation of 'The Naked Archeologist' the show examined the Bar Cochba Revolt of 135 AD. According to Josephus the Herodian Temple had a rectangular base measuring 450 X 450. Silver coins minted during the revolt featured a Fig Tree on one side and the rebuilt temple on the other. If the only evidence for the rebuilt temple was the widespread discovery of hundreds of thousands of the Bar Cochba silver throughout ancient Israel, there would be no controversy today. However, when the base of the Temple Mount was measured recently, the base was discovered to... |
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| Let's Have Jerusalem | |
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| Sole Video Footage of Anne Frank Posted Online |
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· 10/03/2009 3:49:15 PM PDT · · Posted by NYer · · 24 replies · · 1,492+ views · · Fox · · October 2, 2009 · |
A video showing the only footage of Anne Frank ever recorded is now available on YouTube. The video, uploaded by the Anne Frank House of Amsterdam on Wednesday, depicts the front of an apartment building where Frank's family lived on July 22, 1941, roughly a year before her family went into hiding in a secret apartment. Frank is seen on video leaning out of the second-floor window of her Amsterdam home to get a glimpse of her neighbor, who is getting married. Click here to see the video. Additional videos of an interview with Frank's father, Otto, and Frank... |
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| Warsaw Ghetto uprising leader Edelman dies at 90 |
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· 10/05/2009 3:22:53 PM PDT · · Posted by rabscuttle385 · · 25 replies · · 464+ views · · AP · · 2009-10-03 · |
WARSAW, Poland (AP) -- Marek Edelman, the last surviving leader of WWII Warsaw Ghetto uprising, died Friday in Warsaw at the age of 90. Paula Sawicka told The Associated Press that Edelman died at her family's home at 2 p.m. EDT (1800GMT) of old age. "He died at home, among friends, among his close people," Sawicka said. |
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| Thirty-Six Years Ago Today, Richard Nixon Saved Israel -- but Got No Credit |
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· 10/06/2009 7:30:20 AM PDT · · Posted by Jbny · · 64 replies · · 1,524+ views · · Commentary Magazine · · October 6th, 2009 · · Jason Maoz · |
Precise details of what transpired in Washington during the first week of the Yom Kippur War, launched by Egypt and Syria on October 6, 1973, are hard to come by, in no small measure owing to conflicting accounts given by Secretary of State Henry Kissinger and Secretary of Defense James Schlesinger regarding their respective roles. What is clear, from the preponderance of information provided by those directly involved in the unfolding events, is that President Richard Nixon -- overriding inter-administration objections and bureaucratic inertia -- implemented a breathtaking transfer of arms, code-named Operation Nickel Grass, that over a four-week period... |
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| World War Eleven | |
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| Das Loot: WWII GI Returns Books Taken in Germany Six Decades Ago |
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· 10/07/2009 8:22:54 PM PDT · · Posted by Saije · · 9 replies · · 719+ views · · Washington Post · · 10/8/2009 · · Michael E. Ruane · |
Robert E. Thomas, 83, breezed into the National Archives on Tuesday with a smile on his face, a white hankie peeking out of his suit coat pocket and an old briefcase containing the two rare books he filched in Germany 64 years ago. He was a World War II GI then, fresh from the horrors of combat. He had blundered into one of the notorious salt mines where the Germans stashed their national treasures. And this one contained books. Millions and millions of books from institutions across Germany. Thomas poked around, saw two that looked old and took them. Now,... |
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| Thoroughly Modern Miscellany | |
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| Weird US at Florida's Coral Castle |
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· 10/07/2009 9:10:55 AM PDT · · Posted by Nikas777 · · 13 replies · · 689+ views · · youtube.com · · February 15, 2007 · · WeirdUSTV · |
Weird US at Florida's Coral Castle Coral Castle: Excerpt from our History Channel show (produce by KPI) in which we explore one of the oddest and most perplexing structures in the US--if not the world--Florida's Coral Castle! |
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| Not So Ancient Autopsies | |
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| 160 years after his death, Edgar Allan Poe finally to get proper funeral |
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· 10/06/2009 10:47:11 AM PDT · · Posted by JoeProBono · · 36 replies · · 578+ views · · canadianpress · · 2 hours ago · · Ben Nuckols · |
BALTIMORE -- It's been a good 200th anniversary year for Edgar Allan Poe. The master of gothic horror has been celebrated at events in several cities to mark the bicentennial of his birth. And on Sunday in Baltimore, he'll get the funeral he never had. Fewer than 10 people attended Poe's funeral when he died in October 1849 at age 40. His cousin, Neilson Poe, never announced the great writer's death publicly. Because of intense interest, Baltimore will host two funerals. Each is expected to draw about 350 people to Westminster Hall, the former church adjacent to Poe's grave. Actors... |
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| Pages | |
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| Amazon staves off the competition -- again ( Reduces prices on Kindle reader -- again ) |
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· 10/07/2009 11:40:10 AM PDT · · Posted by Ernest_at_the_Beach · · 28 replies · · 495+ views · · MarketWatch · · Oct. 7, 2009, 12:32 p.m. EDT · · Therese Poletti · |
Commentary: Behemoth cuts prices on its Kindle e-book reader SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Amazon.com Inc. cut prices on its Kindle electronic book reader for the second time in three months, gearing up to stave off the looming competition from a host of new e-readers about to descend on the market. |
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| Dinosaurs | |
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| Would you Adam 'n' Eve it ... dinosaurs in Eden (CRE-VO) Mixing science with creationism |
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· 05/24/2005 9:14:01 PM PDT · · Posted by restornu · · 39 replies · · 994+ views · · THE OBSERVER · · 2005May 22, 2005 · · By Paul Harris · |
Eureka Springs, Arkansas The razor-toothed Tyrannosaurus rex, jaws agape, loomed ominously over the gentle Thescelosaurus, looking for plants to eat. Admiring the museum diorama were old and young visitors, listening on headphones to a stentorian voice describing the primeval scene. But the Museum of Earth History is a museum with a controversial difference. To one side, peering through the bushes, are Adam and Eve. The display is not an image of the Cretaceous. It is Paradise. 'They lived together without fear, for there was no death yet,' the voice intoned about Man and Dinosaur. Nestling deep in the Ozark mountains... |
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| Paleontology | |
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| Pterosaurs Stranger Than Ever |
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· 10/16/2003 8:40:50 AM PDT · · Posted by VadeRetro · · 69 replies · · 356+ views · · Discovery Channel · · Oct. 9, 2003 · · Jennifer Viegas, Discovery News · |
New pterosaur fossils and studies are revealing just how unusual these huge, flying reptiles from the dinosaur era were. Based on current findings, many pterosaurs, which lived on nearly every continent during the Mesozoic Era from approximately 248 million to 65 million years ago, possessed tweezer-like heads, body fur and incredibly large, varied head crests. The recent discoveries, outlined in the current issue of Biologist, also suggest that pterosaurs walked on four limbs instead of two, as previously believed. Paleontologists have struggled with this issue, due to the bat-like way the flying reptile's wings were attached to its fore-limbs and... |
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| Reproductive riddle unscrambled [Fossilized eggs found inside dinosaur supports a link with birds] |
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· 04/15/2005 6:39:50 AM PDT · · Posted by doc30 · · 495 replies · · 4,905+ views · · The Globe and Mail · · 4/15/05 · · By DAWN WALTON · |
A pair of fossilized eggs found inside pelvis of dinosaur supports a link with birds Friday, April 15, 2005 Updated at 8:30 AM EST From Friday's Globe and Mail Calgary -- Scientists have for the first time discovered fossilized eggs inside the body of a dinosaur, which provides concrete clues about ancient reproduction and supports the theory that birds evolved from dinosaurs, according to research published today. The pair of hard-shelled eggs about the size of large, long yams were found inside the pelvis of a female oviraptorid, a meat-eating bipedal dinosaur that lived about 80 million... |
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| Not So Ancient Autopsies | |
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| (Baseball Legend) Ted Williams' Frozen Head For Batting Practice At Cryogenics Lab: Book |
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· 10/04/2009 9:43:07 AM PDT · · Posted by DogByte6RER · · 21 replies · · 893+ views · · NYDailyNews.com · · Friday, October 2, 2009 · · Nathaniel Vinton · |
Head of Ted Williams was abused by employees at Alcor Life Extension Foundation in Scottsdale, Ariz., whistleblower says. AP Ted Williams, who spent his entire career with the Red Sox, died in 2002 at the age of 83. 'Frozen,' by former Alcor exec Larry Johnson, makes shocking claims about how employees treated Ted Williams' frozen head. Take our PollCryonics: Critical or near-criminal? In "Frozen," Larry Johnson, a former exec at the Alcor Life Extension Foundation... |
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| end of digest #273 20091010 | |
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· Saturday, October 10, 2009 · 55 topics · 2358466 to 2354009 · 728 members · |
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Saturday |
Welcome to the 273rd issue. Many thanks for all the great topics, thanks to all who posted them and/or pinged me about them. Biggest issue ever. |
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| Gods, Graves, Glyphs Weekly Digest #274 Saturday, October 10, 2009 |
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| Greece | |
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| Crete quarry could be original site of ancient Greek Labyrinth |
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· 10/16/2009 6:34:03 PM PDT · · Posted by BGHater · · 2 replies · · 112+ views · · Telegraph · · 16 Oct 2009 · · Telegraph · |
An old stone quarry on the Greek island of Crete which has a network of underground tunnels could be the original site of the ancient Labyrinth, the maze that housed the Minotaur of Greek legend, scholars believe. An Anglo-Greek team believes that the site, near the town of Gortyn, has just as much claim to be the place of the Labyrinth as the Minoan palace at Knossos 20 miles away, which has been synonymous with the Minotaur myth since its excavation a century ago. The 600,000 people a year who visit the ruins at Knossos are told the site was... |
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| Sunken Civilizations | |
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| Real Tsunami May Have Inspired Legend of Atlantis |
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· 10/10/2009 8:07:16 AM PDT · · Posted by BGHater · · 33 replies · · 629+ views · · LiveScience · · 09 Oct 2009 · · Charles Q. Choi · |
The volcanic explosion that obliterated much of the island that might have inspired the legend of Atlantis apparently triggered a tsunami that traveled hundreds of miles to reach as far as present-day Israel, scientists now suggest. The new findings about this past tsunami could shed light on the destructive potential of future disasters, researchers added. The islands that make up the small circular archipelago of Santorini, roughly 120 miles (200 km) southeast of Greece, are what remain of what once was a single island, before one of the largest volcanic eruptions in human antiquity shattered it in the Bronze Age... |
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| Let's Have Jerusalem | |
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| Footprints found under ancient mosaic |
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· 10/14/2009 10:39:12 AM PDT · · Posted by Jet Jaguar · · 12 replies · · 393+ views · · JPost · · October 14, 2009 · · By JAMIE ROMM · |
While they may not have been the markings of a pair of Naot sandals, Israel Antiquities Authority conservators discovered footprints over 1,700 years-old, under the Lod Mosaic and at least one print resembling a modern sandal. Head of the Israel Antiquities AuthorityArt Conservation Branch Jacques Neguer said that when removing a section of a mosaic it is customary to clean its bedding, and study the material from which it is made and the construction stages and during that process, they found the footprints under the mosaic. "We look for drawings and sketches that the artists made in the plaster and... |
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| Ancient Artisans' Footprints Discovered Beneath Lod Mosaic |
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· 10/14/2009 8:54:53 PM PDT · · Posted by bogusname · · 12 replies · · 295+ views · · Arutz Sheva · · 10/14/09 · · Hana Levi Julian · |
The ancient footprints of the artisans who built a stunning 1,700-year-old mosaic floor in Lod were discovered recently, when conservators from the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) were in the process of detaching the huge work of art from the ground. As the conservation experts worked on the plaster bedding to be done before detaching the mosaic, they were surprised to notice there were ancient foot and sandal prints beneath it. Clearly, the builders that had worked on the floor sometimes wore their sandals, and sometimes worked in their bare feet... |
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| Religion of Peace | |
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| Archeological barbarians |
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· 10/15/2009 5:45:51 AM PDT · · Posted by SJackson · · 16 replies · · 502+ views · · Jerusalem Post · · 10-15-09 · |
Last week's despoilment and devastation at the Negev's Avdat National Park, the most important Nabatean site after Petra, was shocking. UNESCO declared Avdat a World Heritage Site in 2005, but that distinction all too evidently did not bestow immunity upon it. Many of Avdat's ancient walls were daubed with black oily paint. Columns which had endured for nearly two millennia were smashed. Debris from shattered artifacts littered the compound. Vandals covered artifacts at the Ovdat National Park with paint. There is a link between this incident of extreme vandalism and the recent seething unrest in Jerusalem arising from contentions that... |
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| Egypt | |
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| Pharaonic-era sacred lake unearthed in Egypt |
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· 10/16/2009 5:19:36 PM PDT · · Posted by decimon · · 22 replies · · 328+ views · · Reuters · · Oct 15, 2009 · · Writing by Cynthia Johnston · · editing by Philippa Fletcher · |
CAIRO (Reuters) -- Archaeologists have unearthed the site of a pharaonic-era sacred lake in a temple to the Egyptian goddess Mut in the ruins of ancient Tanis, the Culture Ministry said on Thursday. The ministry said the lake, found 12 meters below ground at the San al-Hagar archaeological site in Egypt's eastern Nile Delta, was 15 meters long and 12 meters wide and built out of limestone blocks. It was in a good condition. |
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| Epigraphy... | |
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| Egypt asks British Museum for the Rosetta Stone after Louvre victory |
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· 10/09/2009 4:47:57 PM PDT · · Posted by Pan_Yan · · 29 replies · · 687+ views · · telegraph.co.uk · · 12:03AM BST 10 Oct 2009 · · Samer al-Atrush · |
Egypt wants to borrow the Rosetta Stone from the British Museum after winning a battle with France over ownership of painted rock fragments "stolen" from the Valley of the Kings. The French culture ministry has decided to return the 3,200-year-old frescoes, which disappeared in the 1980s, Egypt said, and were acquired by the Louvre in Paris in 2000 and 2003. Zahi Hawass, the head of Egypt's supreme council of antiquities, had threatened to sever relations with the Louvre unless it handed back the relics. That would have forced the French museum to suspend excavation work in the Pharaonic necropolis of... |
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| ...and Language | |
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| Technology brings new insights to ancient language (Aramaic) |
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· 10/15/2009 10:27:10 AM PDT · · Posted by decimon · · 12 replies · · 296+ views · · The University of Chicago · · October 14, 2009 · · Unknown · |
Tablets uncovered at Persepolis in Iran are covered with writing in Aramaic. The archive, being studied at the University of Chicago, provides new insights on the language, which has been written and spoken in the Middle East continuously since ancient times. (Oriental Institute, University of Chicago) New technologies and academic collaborations are helping scholars at the University of Chicago analyze hundreds of ancient documents in Aramaic, one of the Middle East's oldest continuously spoken and written languages. Members of the West Semitic Research Project at the University of Southern California are helping the University's Oriental Institute make very high-quality electronic... |
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| Biology and Cryptobiology | |
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| Video: The Orangutan and the Hound |
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· 10/16/2009 11:02:27 AM PDT · · Posted by EveningStar · · 11 replies · · 443+ views · · YouTube · · September 22, 2009 · · NationalGeographic · |
When Surya the orangutan meets a hound dog by the river, the two carry on like long lost friends. |
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| Helix, Make Mine a Double | |
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| Geneticists call for better draft sequences |
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· 10/11/2009 8:13:39 PM PDT · · Posted by neverdem · · 4 replies · · 176+ views · · Nature News · · 8 October 2009 · · Elie Dolgin · |
Proposed rankings would classify genomes by completeness and quality.Scientists have proposed classifying genome sequences into six groups, based on their quality.A. Sumner / Science Photo Library Researchers who have mapped a species' genome need to be more explicit about the quality of their sequence, says an international team of genome researchers."People generating these sequences should discriminate a bit more between the products that they provide to the rest of the scientific community," says Patrick Chain of the Joint Genome Institute at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico who is first author of a policy paper on genomic standards... |
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| Prehistory and Origins | |
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| Smithsonian Plans to Open Human Evolution Hall |
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· 10/14/2009 6:49:44 PM PDT · · Posted by HokieMom · · 16 replies · · 288+ views · · WTOP · · October 14, 2009 · · BRETT ZONGKER · |
The Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History plans to open a hall next year dedicated to the story of human evolution over 6 million years, officials announced Wednesday. The nearly $21 million Hall of Human Origins will follow milestones in history -- when humans started walking upright and started speaking, for example -- as well as the impact of climate change and extinction of ancient species. It's scheduled to open on March 17, 2010, marking the museum's 100th anniversary on the National Mall. *break* This is the Smithsonian's first permanent exhibit focused solely on human evolution. It will include hundreds... |
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| Climate | |
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| Prehistoric titanic-snake jungles laughed at global warming (at 3-5° hotter then ) |
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· 10/14/2009 11:54:03 AM PDT · · Posted by Ernest_at_the_Beach · · 18 replies · · 843+ views · · The Register · · 13th October 2009 12:35 GMT · · Lewis Page · |
Fossil boffins say that dense triple-canopy rainforests, home among other things to gigantic one-tonne boa constrictors, flourished millions of years ago in temperatures 3-5°C warmer than those seen today -- as hot as some of the more dire global-warming projections. Just like a modern jungle. Except with bloody enormous snakes. The new fossil evidence comes from the Cerrejon coal mine in Colombia, previously the location where the remains of the gigantic 40-foot Titanoboa cerrejonensis were discovered. The snake's discoverers attracted flak from global-warming worriers at the time for saying that the cold-blooded creature would only have been able to survive... |
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| Paleontology | |
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| Paper Challenges Ideas About 'Early Bird' Dinosaur [Archaeopteryx ] |
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· 10/14/2009 7:23:23 PM PDT · · Posted by SunkenCiv · · 6 replies · · 226+ views · · New York Times · · October 8, 2009 · · John Noble Wilford · |
The first fossil of the raven-size species was an immediate sensation when it was excavated in 1860, in southern Germany. It had feathers and a wishbone, like birds, but teeth and a long, bony tail, like reptiles. Coming the year after publication of "The Origin of Species," the discovery swayed many scientists into accepting Darwin's theory of evolution by natural selection. Thomas Henry Huxley, Darwin's staunch ally, recognized the fossil in a limestone slab as a transitional species between dinosaurs and birds. Over time, the 10 known specimens of Archaeopteryx became widely regarded as examples of the earliest bird, which... |
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| Dinosaurs | |
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| Huge dinosaur find in China 'may include new species' |
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· 10/14/2009 7:48:21 PM PDT · · Posted by NormsRevenge · · 12 replies · · 310+ views · · AFP on Yahoo · · 10/14/09 · · AFP · |
BEIJING (AFP) -- Paleontologists in east China may have discovered the remains of a new species of dinosaur at what is said to be the world's largest group of fossilised dinosaur bones, state media said Wednesday. Scientists in Zhucheng city, Shandong province, have for months been exploring a gully over 500 metres (1,650 feet) long and 26 metres deep that is strewn with thousands of dinosaur bones, the Jilu Evening News said. Paleontologists believe that a fossilised skeleton dug up in Zhucheng and shipped to the China Academy of Sciences in Beijing last week could be a new species of... |
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| New Study Shows Tyrannosaurus Rex Evolved Advanced Bird-Like Binocular Vision |
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· 07/03/2006 12:32:51 PM PDT · · Posted by Al Simmons · · 700 replies · · 5,207+ views · · Science News Online · · June 26 2006 · · Eric Jbaffe · |
In the 1993 movie Jurassic Park, one human character tells another that a Tyrannosaurus rex can't see them if they don't move, even though the beast is right in front of them. Now, a scientist reports that T. rex had some of the best vision in animal history. This sensory prowess strengthens arguments for T. rex's role as predator instead of scavenger. Scientists had some evidence from measurements of T. rex skulls that the animal could see well. Recently, Kent A. Stevens of the University of Oregon in Eugene went further. He used facial models of seven types of dinosaurs... |
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| Better Monitor This One | |
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| New Giant Lizard: Komodo Cousin "A Nasty Piece of Work" |
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· 10/10/2009 12:53:30 PM PDT · · Posted by JoeProBono · · 42 replies · · 1,430+ views · · nationalgeographic · · October 6, 2009 · · Christine Dell'Amore · |
A possible new species of giant prehistoric lizard -- bigger and badder than the deadly Komodo dragon -- may have stalked the ancient Australian outback, a new study says. Three fossilized bones of the mysterious 13-foot-long (4-meter-long) lizard were collected in 1966 in western Timor island, part of Indonesia. When study leader Scott Hocknull recently examined the fossils, he was "astounded" to find that they belonged neither to the Komodo dragon -- the only giant lizard species alive today -- nor Megalania, a 16-foot-long (5-meter-long) extinct monster that's among the largest lizards known to have ever lived. Giant Lizard "a Nasty Piece of Work" The "tantalizing bones" -- which date... |
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| Not So Ancient Autopsies | |
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| Fingerprint points to $19,000 portrait being revalued as £100m work by Leonardo da Vinci |
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· 10/13/2009 1:57:21 AM PDT · · Posted by Stoat · · 20 replies · · 1,012+ views · · Antiques Trade Gazette · · October 12, 2009 · · Simon Hewitt · |
Art Market Fingerprint points to $19,000 portrait being revalued as £100m work by Leonardo da Vinci 12 October 2009 ATG correspondent SIMON HEWITT gains exclusive access to the evidence used to unveil what the world's leading scholars say is the the first major Leonardo Da Vinci find for 100 years. New scientific techniques have uncovered evidence that this picture is a previously unrecognised work by Leonardo da Vinci. Is this 13 x 9in (33 x 24cm) portrait, in chalk, pen and ink on vellum, mounted on an oak board, a long-lost work by Leonardo da Vinci? That... |
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| £12,000 portrait revealed to be £100m Leonardo -- art detectives discover master's fingerprint |
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· 10/13/2009 5:53:05 PM PDT · · Posted by Free ThinkerNY · · 8 replies · · 406+ views · · dailymail.co.uk · · Oct. 13, 2009 · · Daily Mail Reporter · |
Art experts believe a new Leonardo da Vinci portrait may have been discovered -- thanks to a fingerprint. The painting, titled Young Girl in Profile in Renaissance Dress, recently sold for a mere £12,000 ($19,000). It was billed at a Christie's sale in 1998 as 'German, early 19th century'. Now a growing number of leading art experts agree that it is almost certainly by Leonardo da Vinci and could be worth about £100 million. A Paris laboratory has found that a fingerprint on the picture is 'highly comparable' to one on a da Vinci work in the Vatican, which was... |
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| Leonardo fingerprint reveals $150 million artwork |
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· 10/15/2009 1:26:32 AM PDT · · Posted by bogusname · · 7 replies · · 386+ views · · npr · · October 14, 2009 · · The Associated Press · |
A portrait of a young woman thought to be created by a 19th century German artist and sold two years ago for about $19,000 is now being attributed by art experts to Leonardo da Vinci and valued at more than $150 million. The unsigned chalk, ink and pencil drawing, known as "La Bella Principessa," was matched to Leonardo via a technique more suited to a crime lab than an art studio -- a fingerprint and palm print found on the 13 1/2-inch-by-10-inch work. Peter Paul Biro, a Montreal-based forensic art expert, said the print of an index or middle finger... |
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| Hudson River School | |
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| Taking in the Views That Led to Great Art [1800s Hudson River School of landscape painting-PHOTOS] |
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· 10/11/2009 7:01:19 AM PDT · · Posted by ETL · · 37 replies · · 840+ views · · New York Times · · October 9, 2009 · · BENJAMIN GENOCCHIO · |
From the North Lake Beach parking area in the Catskill Forest Preserve, a narrow foot trail climbs a rocky incline. After following the trail for about 20 minutes, hikers reach Artists Rock, which gives a sweeping view of the Hudson Valley, the river a sliver of silver in the distance. The trail then leaves the ledge and in less than a half mile it meets a junction with a side trail toward Sunset Rock, the prized view from atop North Mountain that by the late 19th century had become an iconic view of the northern Catskills, celebrated in the work... |
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| Art Mystery | |
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| The Puzzle of Brueghel's Paintings of Telescopes |
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· 10/15/2009 11:09:42 AM PDT · · Posted by BGHater · · 22 replies · · 761+ views · · Technology Review · · 02 Oct 2009 · · TR · |
A painting from 1617 appears to show a type of telescope thought not to have been built until much later. It's hard to find an invention more emblematic of the birth of modern science than the telescope. And yet surprisingly little is known about its early development. The inventor of the telescope remains unknown to this day. Now a study of the paintings of Jan Brueghel the Elder, a Flemish painter of the Baroque era who was working in Amsterdam at the beginning of the 17th century, is throwing some light on the early development of the telescope. It has... |
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| Middle Ages and Renaissance | |
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| Experts find rare Crusader-era murals in Syria (12th century chapel inside the al-Marqab Citadel) |
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· 10/15/2009 1:39:53 PM PDT · · Posted by NormsRevenge · · 10 replies · · 709+ views · · AP on Yahoo · · 10/15/09 · · Albert Aji and Bassem Mroue -- ap · |
DAMASCUS, Syria -- Archaeologists have discovered two Crusader-era murals depicting heaven and hell in a medieval church near Syria's coast -- a rare find that could reveal new information about the Christian knights who battled Muslims for control of the Holy Land hundreds of years ago. Experts are now renovating the 12th century paintings, which were discovered last year by a joint Syrian-Hungarian team excavating an old Crusader fortress on a hilltop near the Mediterranean Sea in the western province of Tartous. ... The murals, which measure about 8 feet (2.5 meters) high and 11.5 feet (3.5 meters) wide, were... |
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| Precolumbian, Clovis, and PreClovis | |
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| A Darker Side of Columbus Emerges in US Classrooms |
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· 10/11/2009 8:18:44 AM PDT · · Posted by reaganaut1 · · 83 replies · · 1,262+ views · · Associated Press · · October 11, 2009 · |
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) -- Jeffrey Kolowith's kindergarten students read a poem about Christopher Columbus, take a journey to the New World on three paper ships and place the explorer's picture on a timeline through history. Kolowith's students learn about the explorer's significance -- though they also come away with a more nuanced picture of Columbus than the noble discoverer often portrayed in pop culture and legend. ''I talk about the situation where he didn't even realize where he was,'' Kolowith said. ''And we talked about how he was very, very mean, very bossy.'' Columbus' stature in U.S. classrooms has declined... |
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| Yesterday's SAVAGE Nation ... Columbus Day -- Oct. 12, 2009 |
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· 10/13/2009 7:36:22 AM PDT · · Posted by fishtank · · 12 replies · · 309+ views · · edsitement.neh.gov · · Oct. 13, 2009 · · fishtank · |
Kennewick Man coverup -- referenced to Columbus Day |
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| Catastrophism and Astronomy | |
| Giant Impact Near India -- Not Mexico -- May Have Doomed Dinosaurs |
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· 10/15/2009 10:07:58 AM PDT · · Posted by decimon · · 54 replies · · 759+ views · · The Geological Society of America · · Oct 15, 2009 · · Unknown · |
Boulder, CO, USA -- A mysterious basin off the coast of India could be the largest, multi-ringed impact crater the world has ever seen. And if a new study is right, it may have been responsible for killing the dinosaurs off 65 million years ago. Sankar Chatterjee of Texas Tech University and a team of researchers took a close look at the massive Shiva basin, a submerged depression west of India that is intensely mined for its oil and gas resources. Some complex craters are among the most productive hydrocarbon sites on the planet. Chatterjee will present his research at... |
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| North America comet theory questioned |
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· 10/13/2009 8:08:29 AM PDT · · Posted by BGHater · · 22 replies · · 503+ views · · Nature · · 12 Oct 2009 · · Rex Dalton · |
No evidence of an extraterrestrial impact 13,000 years ago, studies say. An independent study has cast more doubt on a controversial theory that a comet exploded over icy North America nearly 13,000 years ago, wiping out the Clovis people and many of the continent's large animals.Sediments at the San Jon site, in eastern New Mexico, contained very low abundances of magnetic spherules said to be evidence of an impact.Vance Holliday Archaeologists have examined sediments at seven Clovis-age sites across the United States, and did not find enough magnetic cosmic debris to confirm that an extraterrestrial impact happened at that time,... |
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| Dice with the Cosmos | |
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| Sun's Plasma Balls Could Wipe Out Human Civilization.... |
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· 10/14/2009 8:32:04 PM PDT · · Posted by TaraP · · 154 replies · · 2,075+ views · · Natural News · · October 11th, 2009 · |
Natural fluctuations in the sun's atmosphere could cause it to fire a giant plasma ball at Earth, shutting down the planet's electric grids and leading to widespread social collapse, according to a report from the U.S. National Academy of Sciences (NAS). Funded by NASA, the report draws attention to naturally occurring events known as coronal mass ejections (CME), in which a ball of plasma -- the charged, high-energy particles that comprise stars -- is fired from the sun. If such a ball strikes the Earth, it could produce rapid changes in the planet's magnetic field, leading to a surge of... |
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| Not for an Age | |
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| Computer program proves Shakespeare didn't work alone, researchers claim |
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· 10/12/2009 10:28:02 AM PDT · · Posted by BGHater · · 20 replies · · 512+ views · · Times Online · · 12 Oct 2009 · · Jack Malvern · |
The 400-year-old mystery of whether William Shakespeare was the author of an unattributed play about Edward III may have been solved by a computer program designed to detect plagiarism. Sir Brian Vickers, an authority on Shakespeare at the Institute of English Studies at the University of London, believes that a comparison of phrases used in The Reign of King Edward III with Shakespeare's early works proves conclusively that the Bard wrote the play in collaboration with Thomas Kyd, one of the most popular playwrights of his day. The professor used software called Pl@giarism, developed by the University of Maastricht to... |
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| Early America | |
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| Washington: First in War, Peace -- and Accounting |
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· 10/12/2009 9:55:54 AM PDT · · Posted by BGHater · · 9 replies · · 225+ views · · The Washington Post · · 12 Oct 2009 · · Joel Achenbach · |
Vast Cache of Financial Papers Is Rich in Details One day in 1791, President George Washington received a bill for 60 pounds, 1 shilling and 7 pence from his physician friend James Craik, who regularly made the rounds at Mount Vernon. The invoice ran two pages: "Anodyne Pills for Breachy . . . Laxative Pills for Ruth . . . syphilic Pills for Maria . . . oz 1 Antiphlogistie Anodyne Tincture . . . Bleeding Charlotte . . . oz 4 Powdered Rhubarb . . . Extracting one of your Negroes tooth . . . a Mercurial Purge for... |
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| The Framers | |
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| Adams papers, Lee family papers to prove NBC in Constitution came from Vattel? |
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· 10/15/2009 2:58:49 PM PDT · · Posted by rxsid · · 86 replies · · 1,481+ views · · Examiner.com (comments) · · 10/15/2009 · · rxsid · |
Joe says: Gorefan -- My heritage includes the Adams of Massachusetts and the Herndons of Virginia. The Adams papers I am in possession of plainly state they looked to "Vattel's Law of Nations" for guidance in determining who might be qualified as a "natural born Citizen". (Yes, they capitalized "Citizen".) Do you actually believe there was no discussion of the topic by the Founding Fathers? Are you truly that ignorant of how well the Founding Fathers understood the law and its possible impact on future generations? It is very clear you haven't a clue how well educated and intelligent... |
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| The Civil War | |
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| Global Generation Republicans: The Next Birth of Freedom |
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· 10/15/2009 1:47:27 PM PDT · · Posted by AreaMan · · 10 replies · · 232+ views · · Big Government · · 15 Oct 2009 · · Rep. Thaddeus G. McCotter (R-MI) · |
Global Generation Republicans: The Next Birth of Freedom Posted By Rep. Thaddeus G. McCotter (R-MI) On October 15, 2009 @ 10:30 am In Culture, Featured Story, Politics · · 36 Comments They were "Wide Awakes" -- scores of torchbearers marching through sleepy hamlets to herald the emancipation of a people from the bonds of slavery into God-given liberty. These despised and decried champions of human freedom and defenders of American Union proudly called themselves "Republicans." Through the ensuing decades of political triumphs, falters and defeats, we Republicans never forgot our honorable heritage -- until today. Amidst the stormy present, some of... |
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| Military History | |
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| Itching to watch a Civil War movie? Civil War buffs take note |
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· 10/16/2009 6:22:57 AM PDT · · Posted by NavyCanDo · · 7 replies · · 346+ views · · IMDB ^ · |
The Colt (2005) During the heat of battle in the midst of the Civil War, a beguilingly innocent colt is born to Union Jim Rabb's beloved mare. Refusing the orders to shoot it, lest it prove a hindrance, Rabb keeps the colt as a consolation in these desperate times-a symbol of hope that leads the men of the First Cavalry on a journey of self-discovery and newfound brotherhood. A gift of hope arrives on a very special dawn for a desperate Civil War cavalry struggling to survive in the midst of battle... It's May of 1864 and the First Michigan... |
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| The Great War | |
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| The Pity of War (Review of "The Somme: Darkest Hour on the Western Front") |
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· 10/14/2009 2:13:38 PM PDT · · Posted by mojito · · 13 replies · · 432+ views · · The Atlantic · · Nov. 2009 · · Christopher Hitchens · |
Many years ago, I went to the Central Lobby of the Houses of Parliament in London to keep an appointment with the almost picturesquely reactionary Conservative politician Alan Clark. He was the son of Kenneth (later Lord) Clark -- the art historian and author of the Civilisation series -- and the heir to Saltwood Castle, in Kent. He was also the author of a 1961 book, The Donkeys, which was a history of the British General Staff in the First World War. The title came from a famous comment that had supposedly been made at that epoch by a German military strategist. Told by... |
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| World War Eleven | |
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| Recruited by MI5: the name's Mussolini. Benito Mussolini |
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· 10/14/2009 2:57:24 PM PDT · · Posted by Daffynition · · 9 replies · · 257+ views · · The Guardian UK · · 13 October 2009 · · Tom Kington · |
History remembers Benito Mussolini as a founder member of the original Axis of Evil, the Italian dictator who ruled his country with fear and forged a disastrous alliance with Nazi Germany. But a previously unknown area of Il Duce's CV has come to light: his brief career as a British agent. Archived documents have revealed that Mussolini got his start in politics in 1917 with the help of a £100 weekly wage from MI5. For the British intelligence agency, it must have seemed like a good investment. Mussolini, then a 34-year-old journalist, was not just willing to ensure Italy continued... |
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| Kelly's Heroes? | |
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| Hitler's Gold: Uncovering the Biggest Bank Heist in History |
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· 10/09/2009 7:24:03 AM PDT · · Posted by BGHater · · 11 replies · · 658+ views · · Money Hacker · · 22 Sep 2009 · · Joseph McCullough · |
Image: via Food Court LunchAmong the chaos of the collapse of Hitler's empire in April 1945 the biggest heist in history took place. Gold bars, jewels and stolen foreign currency with an estimated worth of $3.34 billion vanished from the Reichsbank vaults, in Germany.Reichsbank, Berlin 1933 Image: German Federal Archive In the ensuing decades small quantities of this bounty have turned up in Portugal, Switzerland, Turkey, Spain and Sweden but the majority remains missing. Across the world search teams look for this missing treasure and the supreme prize of the legendary Amber Room, an acquisition from St. Petersburg during WWII,... |
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| Obituary | |
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| MICHAEL KURYLA JR., 1925-2009: Survived USS Indianapolis |
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· 10/10/2009 3:58:40 PM PDT · · Posted by Saije · · 20 replies · · 722+ views · · Chicago Tribune · · 10/9/2009 · · Joan Giangrasse Kates · |
Michael Kuryla Jr. found strength from his fellow stranded Navy comrades floating in shark-infested waters of the South Pacific for nearly five days in 1945 during World War II. Their ship, the USS Indianapolis, sank in just 12 minutes after being hit by two Japanese torpedoes shortly after the ship had delivered the atomic bomb that would level Hiroshima. Three hundred of Mr. Kuryla's shipmates died that day when the ship went down. Nine hundred were left floating in only life preservers, facing a harsh sun and sharks, as three SOS calls went unanswered. An anti-submarine plane spotted them four... |
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| Presidents of the United States, and Obama | |
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| Washington to Obama -- searchable database of presidential papers and spoken remarks |
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· 10/12/2009 10:14:07 AM PDT · · Posted by deks · · 5 replies · · 247+ views · · The American Presidency Project · · Univ. of California, Santa Barbara · · 2009 · · John Woolley and Gerhard Peters · |
While searching for the context of a surprising and fragmented presidential quote I came across this database. It had the full quote in the full context. It appears to be extensive in documenting all kinds of written and spoken presidential remarks. "The American Presidency Project is the only online resource that has consolidated, coded, and organized into a single searchable database: The Messages and Papers of the Presidents: Washington -- Taft (1789-1913) The Public Papers of the Presidents: Hoover to Bush (1929-1993) The Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents: Clinton -- Obama (1993-2009) Our archives also contain... |
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| Epidemics, Pandemics, Plagues, the Sniffles | |
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| Earlier flu viruses provided some immunity to current H1N1 influenza, study shows |
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· 10/14/2009 12:31:12 PM PDT · · Posted by decimon · · 13 replies · · 356+ views · · University of California -- Davis · · Oct 14, 2009 · · Unknown · |
University of California, Davis, researchers studying the 2009 H1N1 influenza virus, formerly referred to as "swine flu," have identified a group of immunologically important sites on the virus that are also present in seasonal flu viruses that have been circulating for years. These molecular sites appear to result in some level of immunity to the new virus in people who were exposed to the earlier influenza viruses. More than a dozen structural sites, or epitopes, in the virus may explain why many people over the age of 60, who were likely exposed to similar viruses earlier in life, carry antibodies... |
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| Blinded We With Science | |
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| High-Speed 'Other' Internet Goes Global |
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· 10/16/2009 5:41:46 AM PDT · · Posted by decimon · · 9 replies · · 380+ views · · Live Science · · Oct 15, 2009 · · Robert Roy Britt · |
A super high-speed global Internet devoted solely to science and education has just expanded to include half the countries of the world, and yes, you at home can be jealous. The Taj network, funded by the National Science Foundation, now connects India, Singapore, Vietnam and Egypt to the larger Global Ring Network for Advanced Application Development (GLORIAD) global infrastructure, and "dramatically improves existing U.S. network links with China and the Nordic region," according to an NSF statement. > GLORIAD's Taj Network is not the same as "Internet 2," a domestic project aimed at connecting U.S. scientists with one another. |
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| Longer Perspectives | |
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| Row at US journal widens -- Three papers caught up in journal probe of (peer) review process. |
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· 10/11/2009 9:15:33 PM PDT · · Posted by neverdem · · 18 replies · · 789+ views · · Nature News · · 9 October 2009 · · Elie Dolgin · |
Lynn Margulis.Javier Pedreira A dispute between the editorial board of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) and an academy member has put the fate of three studies in question. In the wake of rows over a controversial paper published by the journal online in August -- but not in print -- two additional papers linked to the same academy member are now in limbo.Last month, PNAS editor-in-chief Randy Schekman wrote to academy member Lynn Margulis, a cell biologist at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, asking for "a satisfactory explanation for [her] apparent selective communication of reviews" for... |
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| Thoroughly Modern Miscellany | |
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| Barnes & Noble e-reader rumored to be merging of Kindle, iPhone |
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· 10/16/2009 5:31:49 AM PDT · · Posted by SunkenCiv · · 33 replies · · 337+ views · · AppleInsider · · Wednesday, October 14, 2009 · · Neil Hughes · |
Book seller Barnes & Noble is expected to announce its own e-reader next week, and a new report states the device will sport both black-and-white e-ink and a multi-touch, iPhone-like color display. New information and photos of the device were provided to Gizmodo, which revealed that a majority of the device will have a traditional e-ink display, much like the Amazon Kindle, which provides superior battery life. It will be a 6-inch screen with an 800x600 pixel resolution. But the bottom portion of the device will have an LCD color display sporting multi-touch technology. It will be used to browse... |
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| Oh So Mysteriouso | |
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| Doomsday: 2012 is not the end of the world, Mayan elder insists |
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· 10/13/2009 10:36:12 AM PDT · · Posted by JoeProBono · · 39 replies · · 943+ views · · telegraph · · 11 Oct 2009 · |
The year 2012 will not bring the end of the world, a Mayan elder has insisted, despite claims that a Mayan calendar shows that time will "run out" on December 21 of that year. Apolinario Chile Pixtun is tired of being bombarded with frantic questions about the end of the world. "I came back from England last year and, man, they had me fed up with this stuff," he said. A significant time period for the Mayans does end on the date, and enthusiasts have found a series of astronomical alignments they say coincide in 2012, including one that happens... |
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| Easter Island | |
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| Astronomy Picture of the Day |
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· 10/12/2009 5:32:34 AM PDT · · Posted by sig226 · · 17 replies · · 757+ views · · NASA · · 10/12/09 · · Stephane Guisard (Los Cielos de Chile) · |
Stars Over Easter Island Credit & Copyright: Stephane Guisard (Los Cielos de Chile) Explanation: Why were the statues on Easter Island built? No one is sure. What is sure is that over 800 large stone statues exist there. The Easter Island statues, stand, on the average, over twice as tall as a person and have over 200 times as much mass. Few specifics are known about the history or meaning of the unusual statues, but many believe that they were created about 500 years ago in the images of local leaders of a lost civilization. Pictured above, a large... |
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| Australia and the Pacific | |
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| Obama successfully negotiates with the Japanese for the release of 112 year old Amelia Earhart.... |
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· 10/09/2009 12:38:11 PM PDT · · Posted by Vaquero · · 14 replies · · 431+ views today · · self · |
Obama successfully negotiates with the Japanese for the release of 112 year old Amelia Earhart....Ms. Earhart today...... |
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| Canary in a Coal Mine | |
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| ON MONDAY VENT AT THE NOBEL COMMITTEE IN NORWAY BY PHONE FOR FREE!!!!!!! |
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· 10/09/2009 11:37:40 PM PDT · · Posted by rf11404 · · 18 replies · · 479+ views rf11404 · |
On Monday Morning USE FREE 411 at 1-800-373-3411 and after listening to the ad say "Free Call" then listen to another ad and then call the Nobel Peace Prize Foundation in Norway (47) 22 12 93 00 You will get 5 minutes to vent at them for Free. |
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| end of digest #274 20091017 | |
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· Saturday, October 17, 2009 · 46 topics · 2364359 to 2359347 · 730 members · |
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Saturday |
Welcome to the 274th issue. Duplicated two headers last week, and somehow managed to have 55 topics even though I think there were only 49 to be had. Since I was on dialup at the time, I was really part of a victimized class. Anyway, that's all I've got to say this week. Cookie cutter time... |
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| Gods, Graves, Glyphs Weekly Digest #275 Saturday, October 24, 2009 |
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| Climate | |
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| Ethiopia 27 million years ago had higher rainfall, warmer soil |
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· 10/22/2009 3:06:22 PM PDT · · Posted by decimon · · 27 replies · · 358+ views · · Southern Methodist University · · October 22, 2009 · · Unknown · |
Thirty million years ago, before Ethiopia's mountainous highlands split and the Great Rift Valley formed, the tropical zone had warmer soil temperatures, higher rainfall and different atmospheric circulation patterns than it does today, according to new research of fossil soils found in the central African nation. Neil J. Tabor, associate professor of Earth Sciences at SMU and an expert in sedimentology and isotope geochemistry, calculated past climate using oxygen and hydrogen isotopes in minerals from fossil soils discovered in the highlands of northwest Ethiopia. The highlands represent the bulk of the mountains on the African continent. Tabor's research supplies a... |
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| Africa | |
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| Malawi could be the cradle of humankind |
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· 10/23/2009 10:27:38 AM PDT · · Posted by decimon · · 14 replies · · 265+ views · · Reuters · · Oct 23, 2009 · · Mabvuto Banda · |
KARONGA, Malawi (Reuters) -- The latest discovery of pre-historic tools and remains of hominids in Malawi's remote northern district of Karonga provides further proof that the area could be the cradle of humankind, a leading German researcher said. Professor Friedemann Schrenk of the Goethe University in Frankfurt told Reuters that two students working on the excavation site last month had discovered prehistoric tools and a tooth of an hominid. |
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| Diet and Cuisine | |
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| Earliest evidence of humans thriving on the savannah [carniverous 2 million yrs ago] |
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· 10/23/2009 8:58:12 PM PDT · · Posted by SunkenCiv · · 5 replies · · 136+ views · · New Scientist · · Wednesday, October 21, 2009 · · Shanta Barley · |
Humans were living and thriving on open grassland in Africa as early as 2 million years ago, making stone tools and using them to butcher zebra and other animals... All of the other earlier hominins that have been found in the geological record -- such as Ardipithecus ramidus and Australopithecus afarensis -- known as Ardi and Lucy, respectively -- lived either in dense forest or in a mosaic of woodland, shrub and grasses, says Plummer... Plummer's team first started excavating Kanjera South in the 1990s, in search of primitive toolkits consisting of hammer stones, stone cores that were struck to... |
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| Prehistory and Origins | |
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| Ancient 'Lucy' Species Ate A Different Diet Than Previously Thought |
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· 10/23/2009 9:30:08 PM PDT · · Posted by SunkenCiv · · 5 replies · · 151+ views · · PhysOrg.com · · October 22nd, 2009 · · University of Arkansas · |
Research examining microscopic marks on the teeth of the "Lucy" species Australopithecus afarensis suggests that the ancient hominid ate a different diet than the tooth enamel, size and shape suggest, say a University of Arkansas researcher and his colleagues. Peter Ungar, professor of anthropology, will present their findings on Oct. 20 during a presentation at the Royal Society... "The Lucy species is among the first hominids to show thickened enamel and flattened teeth," an indication that hard, or abrasive foods such as nuts, seeds and tubers, might be on the menu, Ungar said. However, the microwear texture analysis indicates that... |
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| Egypt | |
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| King Tut Liked Red Wine |
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· 04/03/2005 8:32:09 AM PDT · · Posted by quantim · · 50 replies · · 1,537+ views · · sciencedaily.com · · 2005-04-03 · |
Ancient Egyptians believed in properly equipping a body for the afterlife, and not just through mummification. A new study reveals that King Tutankhamun eased his arduous journey with a stash of red wine.Spanish scientists have developed the first technique that can determine the color of wine used in ancient jars. They analyzed residues from a jar found in the tomb of King Tut and found that it contained wine made with red grapes.This is the only extensive chemical analysis that has been done on a jar from King Tut's tomb, and it is the first time scientists have provided evidence... |
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| Helix, Make Mine a Double | |
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| The First Men And Women From The Canary Islands Were Berbers |
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· 10/23/2009 8:30:30 PM PDT · · Posted by SunkenCiv · · 8 replies · · 187+ views · · Science News · · Wednesday, October 21, 2009 · · FECYT via Eurekalert · |
A team of Spanish and Portuguese researchers has carried out molecular genetic analysis of the Y chromosome (transmitted only by males) of the aboriginal population of the Canary Islands to determine their origin and the extent to which they have survived in the current population. The results suggest a North African origin for these paternal lineages which, unlike maternal lineages, have declined to the point of being practically replaced today by European lineages... Although contribution is now mainly European, scientists state that North African and Sub-Saharan contribution was higher in the 17th and 18th centuries. The explanation as to why... |
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| Japan | |
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| Ancient tomb unveiled in Nara |
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· 10/23/2009 8:52:28 PM PDT · · Posted by SunkenCiv · · 3 replies · · 132+ views · · Japan Times · · Friday, October 23, 2009 · · unattributed · |
KASHIHARA, Nara Pref. (Kyodo) Archaeologists showed to the media Thursday a stone chamber that was excavated at an ancient tomb near Nara and is believed to date back to the late third to early fourth centuries. The red-colored chamber measures 6.75 meters long, 1.2 meters wide and 1.7 meters high, and forms the core part of the Sakurai Chausu-yama burial mound in Sakurai, Nara Prefecture. The Nara Prefectural Kashihara Archaeological Institute restarted research on the chamber earlier this year to look into its structure. The tomb is believed to be that of a nobleman in the early years of the... |
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| Japan's Samurai art on show in New York |
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· 10/19/2009 7:40:22 PM PDT · · Posted by csvset · · 19 replies · · 395+ views · · France24 · · 20 October 2009 · · AFP · |
AFP -- The world's most comprehensive collection of armor, weaponry and art covering 700 years of Japan's fabled Samurai culture goes on exhibit this week at New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Art of the Samurai: Japanese Arms and Armor, 1156-1868" will open Wednesday, showcasing "214 masterpieces, including 34 national treasures, 64 important cultural properties, and six important art objects," the museum said in a statement. Open until January 10, the exhibit includes "armor, swords, sword fittings and mountings, archery and equestrian equipment, banners, surcoats... as well as painted screens and scrolls," some of which have never left Japan. "This... |
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| Precolumbian, Clovis, and PreClovis | |
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| Ñain An sculptures: New secrets revealed at ancient Chan Chan |
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· 10/23/2009 8:37:41 PM PDT · · Posted by SunkenCiv · · 3 replies · · 123+ views · · Peru 'blog · · Tuesday, October 20, 2009 · · after Renzo Guerrero de Luna in El Comercio · |
The discovery of 17 wooden statues at Chan Chan are enough to change our understanding of the Chan Chan urban centre. Embedded in the walls of the later -- Ñain An complex, also known as Bandelier, the figures are thought to have bid farewell to the deceased leaders. |
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| I'm Not Talkin' 'Bout Bolivia & There's No Need... | |
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| Pyramid 'renovation' may cause collapse |
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· 10/20/2009 4:59:37 PM PDT · · Posted by decimon · · 7 replies · · 261+ views · · AFP · · October 20, 2009 · · From correspondents in Bolivia · |
EAGER to attract more tourists, the town of Tiwanaku in the Bolivian Andes has spruced up the ancient Akapana pyramid with adobe instead of stone, in what some experts are calling a renovation fiasco. Now, the Akapana pyramid risks losing its designation as a UN World Heritage Site and there is concern the makeover could even cause its collapse. The pyramid is one of the biggest pre-Columbian constructions in South America and a building of great spiritual significance for the Tiwanaku civilisation, which spread throughout south-western Bolivia and parts of neighboring Peru, Argentina and Chile from around 1500 BC to... |
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| Rome and Italy | |
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| 'Dutch' Batavians more Roman than thought |
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· 10/23/2009 8:23:16 PM PDT · · Posted by SunkenCiv · · 11 replies · · 162+ views · · AlphaGalileo · · October 22, 2009 · · Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research · |
The Batavians, who lived in the Netherlands at the start of the Christian era were far more Roman than was previously thought. After just a few decades of Roman occupation, the Batavians had become so integrated that they cooked, built and bathed in a Roman manner. Dutch researcher Stijn Heeren... studied excavated artefacts and traces of settlements and burial fields in the neighbourhood of Tiel. In Dutch history, the Batavians are often presented as a brave people who resisted a cruel oppressor. But Stijn Heeren has now demonstrated that these 'simple people' also adopted a lot of Roman customs. According... |
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| Middle Ages and Renaissance | |
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| Ancient Anglo Saxon & Iron Age artefacts & human remains found between Rudston & Boynton E Yorkshire |
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· 10/23/2009 8:18:06 PM PDT · · Posted by SunkenCiv · · 11 replies · · 136+ views · · Beverley Guardian · · Thursday, October 22, 2009 · · unattributed · |
Ancient human remains have been unearthed during an archaeological dig at the Caythorpe Gas Storage site between Rudston and Boynton. Five human burials... One set of remains dates to the late Iron Age and had been buried with a simple iron brooch. Another dates back probably to the Anglo-Saxon period and had been buried with an iron knife. Archaeologists have also found evidence of a settlement at the site, including an Iron Age round house and at least one Anglo-Saxon building. Other finds recovered include a Roman brooch, an Anglo-Saxon coin, large fragments of a millstone and numerous fragments of... |
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| Britain | |
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| Durham Cathedral divers discover gold and silver treasure trove in riverbed |
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· 10/23/2009 12:28:43 PM PDT · · Posted by Winniesboy · · 7 replies · · 660+ views · · The Guardian · · October 23rd 2009 · · Maev Kennedy · |
Amateur divers discover hoard of gold and silver / Cathedral baffled by items owned by former leader / After almost 30 years, the riverbed below Durham Cathedral has given up a bewildering secret: a hoard of ecclesiastical gold and silver, including medals, goblets, and crucifixes once owned by the Queen, the pope and other state and church leaders. A total of 32 objects given as gifts to the late Michael Ramsey -- a former archbishop of Canterbury who was bishop of Durham for four years in the 1950s and spent some of his retirement in the city -- have been recovered from... |
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| The Vikings | |
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| Dublin's Viking wall comes to life |
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· 10/23/2009 10:17:37 PM PDT · · Posted by SunkenCiv · · 4 replies · · 20+ views · · dublinpeople.com · · Wednesday, October 21, 2009 · · unattributed · |
A section of Dublin's 900-year-old Viking city wall has been put on public view for the first time at the city council's civic offices on the Southside. When the Viking settlement site -- built in the 10th century AD near Christchurch Cathedral -- was first excavated over 30 years ago it caused huge controversy. The city wall at the time was earmarked for demolition and storage at another site but thousands of people demanded that the historically important area be preserved from a development that was designed to house the Dublin City civic offices. Measuring just under 20 metres in... |
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| Navigation | |
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| Did Chinese ships discover America? |
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· 10/21/2009 5:49:35 PM PDT · · Posted by BGHater · · 26 replies · · 643+ views · · The Province · · 18 Oct 2009 · · Susan Lazaruk · |
Researcher whose father found old maps posits 2000 BC voyage to west coast History books tell us that the first Chinese settlers to Canada arrived in Victoria about 150 years ago, but a U.S. researcher says she has solid evidence that they came earlier. Some 4,000 years earlier. That would be 3,500 years before 1492, when European explorer Christopher "Columbus sailed the ocean blue." Or 10,000 years after nomadic hunters from Eastern Siberia crossed the frozen Bering Strait during the Ice Age, a migration taken by modern scholars to account for North America's native population. Charlotte Harris Rees, a retired... |
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| Epidemics, Pandemics, Plagues, the Sniffles | |
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| Our Ancestors Did Not Suffer From Caries, But Took Drugs! |
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· 09/30/2002 1:47:07 PM PDT · · Posted by vannrox · · 21 replies · · 477+ views · · Informnauka Agency · · 9-26-02 · · N.I. Shishlina, Ph. D. (History), State Historic Museum, Moscow · |
When coming across ancient vessels the archaeologists first of all search for any remnants inside. As a rule, the vessels are crammed full with soil, the analysis of which can help to learn about the content of the vessel. In the course of excavation of burial mounds in Kalmykia Natalia Shishlina (State Historic Museum) collected a lot of soil samples from various vessels.... |
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| Central Asia | |
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| Archaeologist giving lecture at Dennos |
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· 10/20/2009 4:40:18 PM PDT · · Posted by SunkenCiv · · 7 replies · · 141+ views · · Traverse City Record-Eagle · · October 20, 2009 · · from Staff Reports · |
A National Geographic archaeologist will present a program in Traverse City Oct. 28. Fredrik Hiebert is curator of a national touring exhibition, "Afghanistan: Hidden Treasures from the National Museum: Kabul." The 7 p.m. lecture is free with museum admission of $6 adults, $4 children and $20 for families. Hiebert has traced ancient trade routes overland and across the seas for more than 20 years. He has led excavations at ancient Silk Road sites from Egypt to Mongolia. His discoveries in Turkmenistan at a 4,000-year-old city along the Silk Road made headlines in 2001. His talk is in conjunction with the... |
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| Prehistoric Europe | |
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| Train work uncovers Bronze Age bounty |
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· 10/20/2009 4:26:34 PM PDT · · Posted by SunkenCiv · · 25 replies · · 489+ views · · The Local · · Tuesday, October 20, 2009 · · unattributed · |
A massive dig along 22 kilometres of a new high-speed train route in Saxony-Anhalt has revealed a spectacular discovery of 55,000 artefacts -- among them skeletons that date back to the Bronze Age. The eastern German state's office of archaeology announced this week that Deutsche Bahn's construction of a new Intercity-Express (ICE) train route between Erfurt and Leipzig has proven to be a bonanza for a team of 150 experts, who have been working since September 2008 to examine some 75 hectares across the Querfurt plate near Oechlitz. The fertile region between two valleys is known to have been settled... |
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| Agriculture and Animal Husbandry | |
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| MU research team establishes family tree for cattle, other ruminants |
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· 10/19/2009 3:55:39 PM PDT · · Posted by decimon · · 30 replies · · 349+ views · · University of Missouri-Columbia · · Oct 19, 2009 · · Unknown · |
Information could be used to understand the evolution of biology and physiology of ruminants, develop healthier and more efficient cattle, find ancient relatives and understand human diseaseCOLUMBIA, Mo. ¨ -- Pairing a new approach to prepare ancient DNA with a new scientific technique developed specifically to genotype a cow, an MU animal scientist, along with a team of international researchers, created a very accurate and widespread "family tree" for cows and other ruminants, going back as far as 29 million years. This genetic information could allow scientists to understand the evolution of cattle, ruminants and other animals. This same technique also... |
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| Canary in a Coal Mine | |
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| Norwegian Wood For The Ages: 'Mummified' Pine Trees Found |
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· 10/19/2009 2:35:26 PM PDT · · Posted by Daffynition · · 29 replies · · 687+ views · · NTNU via ScienceDaily.com · · Oct. 18, 2009 · · staff reporter · |
ScienceDaily (Oct. 18, 2009) -- Norwegian scientists have found "mummified" pine trees, dead for nearly 500 years yet without decomposition. Norway's wet climate seems perfect for encouraging organic matter to rot -- particularly in Sogndal, located on Norway's southwestern coastline, in one of the most humid, mild areas of the country. In fact, with an average of 1541 millimetres of rain yearly and relatively mild winters, Sogndal should be an environment where decomposition happens fast. Not so. "We were gathering samples of dead trees to reconstruct summer temperatures in western Norway, when our dendrochronological dating showed the wood to be... |
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| Astronomy... | |
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| Cosmic Rays Help Trees Grow Big and Strong |
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· 10/21/2009 9:08:59 PM PDT · · Posted by Ernest_at_the_Beach · · 9 replies · · 238+ views · · Daily Tech · · October 21, 2009 1:26 PM · · Jason Mick (Blog) · |
Turns out a little radiation is good for you -- if you're a tree at least Scientists have discovered that tree growth appears to be spurred by increased amounts of Galactic Cosmic Rays (GCRs). (Source: Sigrid Dengel) Scientists often see the need to confirm what we already know. For example, every 11-year-old (or 41-year-old) comic book fan living with their parents knows radiation makes organisms grow bigger and stronger. However, for those who don't read comics or have hyperactive imaginations, that presumption turns out to be somewhat true -- for trees at least. A new study from the University of... |
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| ...and Catastrophism | |
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| Killer algae a key player in mass extinctions |
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· 10/19/2009 10:32:44 AM PDT · · Posted by decimon · · 11 replies · · 288+ views · · Geological Society of America · · Oct 19, 2009 · · Unknown · |
Boulder, CO, USA -- Supervolcanoes and cosmic impacts get all the terrible glory for causing mass extinctions, but a new theory suggests lowly algae may be the killer behind the world's great species annihilations. Today, just about anywhere there is water, there can be toxic algae. The microscopic plants usually exist in small concentrations, but a sudden warming in the water or an injection of dust or sediment from land can trigger a bloom that kills thousands of fish, poisons shellfish, or even humans. James Castle and John Rodgers of Clemson University think the same thing happened during the five... |
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| The Civil War | |
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| Salve for the Slavery Wound |
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· 10/18/2009 12:51:18 PM PDT · · Posted by El Gringo · · 15 replies · · 403+ views · · Thinkwright Blog · · JWThinkwright · |
Salve for the slavery woundKnowledge, it has been said, will set you free. It is a true statement, and should not be dismissed out of hand. Knowledge will also go a long way toward bringing American blacks and whites together as fellow countrymen, having full appreciation for what they have in common . . . as brothers, if you will. "What can be the content of this knowledge that would bring about this miracle?" you might ask. Answer: A broad knowledge of two topics:1. worldwide history of Black slaves, and 2. the images and ideas that are gained from a... |
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| Early America | |
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| Don't Tread on Me |
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· 10/20/2009 5:14:44 PM PDT · · Posted by The Comedian · · 7 replies · · 255+ views · · Founding Fathers Inc. · · July 5, 2001 · · Chris Whitten · |
American unity Benjamin Franklin is famous for his sense of humor. In 1751, he wrote a satirical commentary in his Pennsylvania Gazette suggesting that as a way to thank the Brits for their policy of sending convicted felons to America, American colonists should send rattlesnakes to England. Three years later, in 1754, he used a snake to illustrate another point. This time not so humorous. Franklin sketched, carved, and published the first known political cartoon in an American newspaper. It was the image of a snake cut into eight sections. The sections represented the individual colonies and the curves of... |
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| Longer Perspectives | |
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| A Voice From The Past |
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· 10/20/2009 9:50:51 AM PDT · · Posted by SWAMPSNIPER · · 20 replies · · 437+ views · · net · · October 20, 2009 · · swampsniper · |
N. Grigsby died Apr 16, 1890 aged 78 yrs, 6ms, 5ds. 2nd Lieut. Co. G, 10th ind. Cavy. -- Through this inscription I wish to enter my dying protest against what is called the Democratic party[.] I have watched it closely since the days of Jackson and know that all the misfortunes of our nation has come to it through this so called party therefore beware this party of treason." |
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| The Framers | |
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| U.S. Supreme Court: Gun control on culture war's front burner |
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· 10/19/2009 9:59:25 AM PDT · · Posted by neverdem · · 83 replies · · 1,924+ views · · United Press International · · Oct. 18, 2009 · · MICHAEL KIRKLAND · |
As the U.S. Supreme Court makes its stately way into the new term, a case over the horizon promises to hit the 20,000 gun control laws in this country with the impact of a 9mm round. The prep work came last year in District of Columbia vs. Heller. A narrow 5-4 majority struck down the gun control law in the nation's capital, and for the moment settled an argument over just what the Second Amendment to the Constitution, part of the Bill of Rights, actually means. The Second Amendment reads, "A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of... |
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| Let's Have Jerusalem | |
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| Bibi Burns Down UN with Speech, palestinian chick flees (Full Text ILLUSTRATED) |
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· 09/24/2009 8:33:32 PM PDT · · Posted by Cinnamon Girl · · 202 replies · · 8,622+ views · · PM office · · 9/24/09 · · Bibi Netanyahu · |
Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen, Nearly 62 years ago, the United Nations recognized the right of the Jews, an ancient people 3,500 years-old, to a state of their own in their ancestral homeland. I stand here today as the Prime Minister of Israel, the Jewish state, and I speak to you on behalf of my country and my people. The United Nations was founded after the carnage of World War II and the horrors of the Holocaust. It was charged with preventing the recurrence of such horrendous events. Nothing has undermined that central mission more than the systematic assault on... |
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| What are 50-year-old Egyptian guns doing roadside in Israel? |
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· 10/19/2009 8:07:44 PM PDT · · Posted by rdl6989 · · 22 replies · · 1,070+ views · · Haaretz.com · · Oct 20, 2009 · |
Archaeologists carrying out excavations prior to road-widening near Hamovil junction in northern Israel discovered a weapons cache including submachine guns and ammunition on Monday. Four submachine guns, made in Egypt and stamped in Arabic "Port Said" and the number "17," were found inside a tire, wrapped in oiled cloth. With them were 50 submachine gun 9-millimeter bullets and a khaki shirt. At first the archaeologists thought the guns had been used by Arab soldiers in the battles of 1948. About a year ago outposts were found in digs in the area, believed to have been used by Arab gangs operating... |
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| The Rock | |
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| Bedrock of a holy city: the historical importance of Jerusalem's geology |
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· 10/19/2009 11:47:57 AM PDT · · Posted by decimon · · 13 replies · · 476+ views · · Geological Society of America · · Oct 19, 2009 · · Unknown · |
Boulder, CO, USA -- Jerusalem's geology has been crucial in molding it into one of the most religiously important cities on the planet, according to a new study. It started in the year 1000 BCE, when the Jebusite city's water system proved to be its undoing. The Spring of Gihon sat just outside the city walls, a vital resource in the otherwise parched region. But King David, in tent on taking the city, sent an elite group of his soldiers into a karst limestone tunnel that fed the spring. His men climbed up through a cave system hollowed out by... |
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| Pages | |
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| Is Barnes & Noble's Nook a Kindle killer? |
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· 10/20/2009 2:03:38 PM PDT · · Posted by mgstarr · · 23 replies · · 650+ views · · CNET · · 8/20/09 · · David Carnoy · |
While information on Barnes & Noble's new e-book reader, the Nook, has been trickling out for several days, the company unveiled the new $259 device on its Web site Tuesday a few hours before the official launch event in New York. As previously reported, the Nook, billed as the first Android-powered e-book reader, features not only a 6-inch E-ink screen but a color touch screen that allows you to navigate content and also can turn into a virtual keyboard for searches. Like the Kindle, the Nook has a built-in 3G wireless connection (AT&T is the carrier). However, the Nook also... |
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| Dinosaurs | |
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| The quest to build a dinosaur |
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· 08/25/2009 6:22:10 PM PDT · · Posted by B-Chan · · 20 replies · · 829+ views · · Maclean's · · Aug 20, 2009 · · Kate Lunau · |
Jack Horner has a vision. A world-famous paleontologist who gives "an awful lot of lectures," Horner pictures himself strolling out on stage before a crowd, just as he's done countless times before. Instead of carrying the standard sheaf of notes or dusty slides, though, he has with him the ultimate prop: a real live dinosaur on a leash. "It's small, but bigger than a chicken," he writes in his new book, How to Build a Dinosaur. "Let's say the size of a turkey, one day maybe even the size of an emu." The emu-size dinosaur, he adds, "might have a... |
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| Dino Skin Preserved in Rare Fossil Find |
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· 11/22/2006 9:43:21 PM PST · · Posted by DaveLoneRanger · · 81 replies · · 3,186+ views · · Discovery News · · November 21, 2006 · · Jennifer Viegas · |
In the past, what we've learned about dinosaurs has been mostly based on bones. That might soon change with the recent discovery of an extremely well preserved, 67-million-year-old duckbilled dinosaur found with fossilized skin in the Hell Creek Formation of Montana, according to a North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences press release. The near-complete remains may yield precious soft tissue, thanks to a technique that recovered structures resembling blood cells in a Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton last year. "We've only been looking at one thing in the past, the dinosaur skeletal system, but we could learn so much more if we... |
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| Biology and Cryptobiology | |
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| Modern man a wimp says anthropologist |
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· 10/19/2009 7:14:17 AM PDT · · Posted by chessplayer · · 107 replies · · 1,914+ views · · Reuters · |
LONDON (Reuters) -- Many prehistoric Australian aboriginals could have outrun world 100 and 200 meters record holder Usain Bolt in modern conditions. Some Tutsi men in Rwanda exceeded the current world high jump record of 2.45 meters during initiation ceremonies in which they had to jump at least their own height to progress to manhood. Any Neanderthal woman could have beaten former bodybuilder and current California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger in an arm wrestle. |
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| Are you a man? If so, you are the sorriest, weakest specimen in the history of the human species |
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· 10/19/2009 9:57:39 PM PDT · · Posted by Lorianne · · 23 replies · · 683+ views · · Daily Mail UK · · 20 October 2009 · · Michael Hanlon · |
As a scientist claims modern athletes are weaklings, evidence has been forward that our male ancestors were not only faster, stronger and fitter, even their womenfolk would have wiped the floor with today's emasculated men. That's the central claim of Manthropology, a new book by Australian anthropologist Peter McAllister. In the book, subtitled The Science Of The Inadequate Modern Male, McAllister presents evidence that pre-historic Australian Aborigines could easily have outsprinted even Usain Bolt, today's fastest man on Earth. The basis of his findings? A set of 20,000-year-old preserved human footprints discovered in the Outback. They belonged to a party... |
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| Neanderthal woman could whup Schwarzenegger -- Modern man is big wuss, claims anthropologist |
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· 10/20/2009 8:43:53 AM PDT · · Posted by Ernest_at_the_Beach · · 35 replies · · 890+ views · · The Register · · 19th October 2009 12:54 GMT · · Lester Haines · |
An anthropologist has described modern man as "the sorriest cohort of masculine Homo sapiens to ever walk the planet", with even Arnold Schwarzenegger at his muscular peak no match for a Neanderthal woman in the arm-wrestling stakes. According to Peter McAllister, in Manthropology: the Science of Inadequate Modern Man, so completely wussy have we become that were Usain "Lightning" Bolt to go head-to-head with an ancient Australian aboriginal, it'd be silver medal position for the Jamaican sprinter. The prologue of McAllister's book warns blokes just how much of a humiliation they're in for, opening with: "If you're reading this then... |
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| Oh So Mysteriouso | |
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| Russia's Ancient Nanostructures |
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· 10/19/2009 8:21:33 PM PDT · · Posted by 2ndDivisionVet · · 21 replies · · 754+ views · · The Epoch Times · · October 15, 2009 · · Leonardo Vintiññi · |
An Oopart (Out Of Place ARTifact) is a term applied to dozens of prehistoric objects found in various places around the world that, given their level of technology, are completely at odds with their determined age based on physical, chemical, and/or geological evidence. Ooparts often are frustrating to conventional scientists and a delight to adventurous investigators and individuals interested in alternative scientific theories. In 1991, the appearance of extremely tiny, coil-shaped artifacts found near the banks of Russia's Kozhim, Narada, and Balbanyu rivers brought about a debate that has continued to this day. These mysterious and minuscule structures suggest that... |
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| Are serpent men from space living among us? |
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· 10/22/2009 10:36:09 AM PDT · · Posted by mainestategop · · 48 replies · · 1,120+ views · · Mainestategop · · Mainestategop · |
In the world wide web and in the publishing world, there are conspiracy theories going about concerning topics from the Kennedy assassination, aliens, 9/11 being an inside job, Chariot of the gods, a book claiming that extraterrestrials influenced the ancient world, and corporate control over government. While some present some truth, some are fantastic and even fictitious. One such theory involves ancient history and a belief that we have not been alone in the universe for sometime. British Author and Green activist David Icke has compiled a series of books claiming that since the dawn of time, Earth has been... |
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| end of digest #275 20091024 | |
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· Saturday, October 24, 2009 · 37 topics · 2369832 to 2365221 · 729 members · |
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Saturday |
Welcome to the 275th issue. Last week the header on the big digest message still read October 10 instead of 17. Please hand correct your copies by opening it in a different browser window or tab and using white-out. |
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How was your week, Civ?
It looks like the gulf stream is picking up a bit of speed. What do you think?
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| Gods, Graves, Glyphs Weekly Digest #276 Saturday, October 31, 2009 |
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| Catastrophism and Astronomy | |
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| Klondike Holds Clues to Ancient Environment |
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· 10/30/2009 6:35:59 AM PDT · · Posted by decimon · · 17 replies · · 260+ views · · Live Science · · Oct 30, 2009 · · Aaron L. Gronstal · |
Credit: Froese et al. 2009. The Klondike region of the Canadian Arctic isn't often thought of as an oasis for life. Today, the area is best known for its vast frozen wilderness, its goldfields, and as the namesake of a popular chocolate-coated ice cream treat. However, new research shows that the Klondike goldfields of Canada's Yukon Territory hold key records of a past environment that was much different than the harsh climate experienced by today's explorers, ice truckers and miners. The Klondike is part of a wider geographic area dubbed "Beringia," which includes parts of Siberia, Alaska and the Canadian... |
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| Fossil Weather | |
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| Snail fossils suggest semiarid eastern Canary Islands were wetter 50,000 years ago |
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· 10/27/2009 2:07:02 PM PDT · · Posted by decimon · · 4 replies · · 116+ views · · Southern Methodist University · · Oct 27, 2009 · · Unknown · |
Fossil land snail shells found in ancient soils on the subtropical eastern Canary Islands show that the Spanish archipelago off the northwest coast of Africa has become progressively drier over the past 50,000 years. Isotopic measurements performed on fossil land snail shells resulted in oxygen isotope ratios that suggest the relative humidity on the islands was higher 50,000 years ago, then experienced a long-term decrease to the time of maximum global cooling and glaciation about 15,000 to 20,000 years ago, according to new research by Yurena Yanes, a post-doctoral researcher, and Crayton J. Yapp, a geochemistry professor, both in the... |
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| Climate | |
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| North Carolina sea levels rising 3 times faster than in previous 500 years, Penn study says |
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· 10/28/2009 2:34:39 PM PDT · · Posted by decimon · · 69 replies · · 1,014+ views · · University of Pennsylvania · · Oct 28, 2009 · · Unknown · |
PHILADELPHIA --- An international team of environmental scientists led by the University of Pennsylvania has shown that sea-level rise, at least in North Carolina, is accelerating. Researchers found 20th-century sea-level rise to be three times higher than the rate of sea-level rise during the last 500 years. In addition, this jump appears to occur between 1879 and 1915, a time of industrial change that may provide a direct link to human-induced climate change. The results appear in the current issue of the journal Geology. The rate of relative sea-level rise, or RSLR, during the 20th century was 3 to 3.3... |
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| Maunder Laundering | |
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| Sunspots: End of Cycle 23/24 solar minimum? |
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· 10/26/2009 3:15:43 PM PDT · · Posted by steveo · · 23 replies · · 854+ views · · examiner.com · · 10-25-09 · · Steve LaNore · |
No matter what conclusions one gravitates towards regarding climate change and potential solar impacts, the data is irrefutable: the sun is slowly becoming more active. The 10.7cm radio flux spiked in late September with its highest reading in 18 months; now, and this is very significant compared to the pattern since March 2008, it has spiked again, exceeding the late September number and reaching a Cycle 24 maximum of 76.9. This is still a very low value compared to the solar maximum flux numbers, which routinely exceed 200. However, it is an upward move from the "basement" numbers of the... |
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| Greece | |
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| Ancient Greeks introduced wine to France, Cambridge study reveals [Prof Paul Cartledge] |
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· 10/27/2009 5:04:14 PM PDT · · Posted by SunkenCiv · · 39 replies · · 419+ views · · Telegraph · · Friday, October 23, 2009 · · Andrew Hough · |
The original makers of Côtes-du-Rhône are said to have descended from Greek explorers who settled in southern France about 2500 years ago... The study, by Prof Paul Cartledge, suggested the world's biggest wine industry might never have developed had it not been for a "band of pioneering Greek explorers" who settled in southern France around 600 BC. His study appears to dispel the theory that it was the Romans who were responsible for bringing viticulture to France. The study found that the Greeks founded Massalia, now known as Marseilles, which they then turned into a bustling trading site, where local... |
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| Diet and Cuisine | |
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| The spice of life |
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· 10/29/2009 8:44:59 AM PDT · · Posted by neverdem · · 15 replies · · 532+ views · · Chemistry World · · October 2009 · · Chemistry World · |
Many of the world's favourite ingredients have more to offer than just flavour, says Ned Stafford. Many also show health benefitsGarlicTo stink or not to stink, that's often the question when deciding how much garlic to pep up your dinner with. A few years ago, health-conscious cooks might also have wondered whether eating garlic would improve their health, or if such claims were just hype. Any such doubts have now been laid to rest by hundreds of scientific studies confirming garlic's powerful medicinal properties.'Garlic is one of the most researched medicinal plants ever - its health benefits are not anecdotal,... |
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| The Phoenicians | |
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| Phoenician remains found at Málaga airport |
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· 10/26/2009 7:34:38 PM PDT · · Posted by decimon · · 11 replies · · 384+ views · · Typically Spanish · · Oct 24, 2009 · · h.b. · |
Drainage work in the construction of the second runway has been moved as a result. The oldest Phoenician remains yet to be found in Málaga have been unearthed at the airport as land was moved as part of the construction of the second runway. |
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| Navigation | |
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| The map that changed the world [Waldseemuller Map] |
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· 10/29/2009 9:31:34 PM PDT · · Posted by BGHater · · 9 replies · · 666+ views · · BBC · · 28 Oct 2009 · · BBC · |
Drawn half a millennium ago and then swiftly forgotten, one map made us see the world as we know it today... and helped name America. But, as Toby Lester has discovered, the most powerful nation on earth also owes its name to a pun. Almost exactly 500 years ago, in 1507, Martin Waldseemuller and Matthias Ringmann, two obscure Germanic scholars based in the mountains of eastern France, made one of the boldest leaps in the history of geographical thought - and indeed in the larger history of ideas. Near the end of an otherwise plodding treatise titled Introduction to Cosmography,... |
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| Biology and Cryptobiology | |
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| NEW SPECIES PICTURES: 850 Underground Creatures Found |
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· 10/27/2009 1:45:18 PM PDT · · Posted by JoeProBono · · 13 replies · · 811+ views · · nationalgeographic · · October 22, 2009 · |
NEW SPECIES PICTURES: 850 Underground Creatures Found The newfound blind cave fish Milyeringa veritas, seen above, inhabits the same Cape Range aquifers as a blind cave eel found during the same survey of Australia's underground habitats. The only blind cave fish known in Australia, the 2-inch-long (5.1-centimeter-long) species is "remarkably versatile," living in freshwater or seawater in underground coastal regions during various stages of its life, researchers say." |
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| And a Pink Crustacean | |
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| Oldest lobster fossil uncovered in Mexico |
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· 05/04/2007 9:08:32 AM PDT · · Posted by DogByte6RER · · 34 replies · · 1,091+ views · · SignOnSanDiego.com · · May 4, 2007 · · REUTERS · |
Oldest lobster fossil uncovered in Mexico REUTERS May 4, 2007 MEXICO CITY -- Mexican scientists said they have identified the world's oldest lobster fossil, that of a creature alive when Africa was only just breaking apart from the Americas about 120 million years ago. The fossil is 4.7 inches long, and its shell and legs are immaculately preserved by the mud in the southern state of Chiapas, where it was found. It is dated as 120 million years old, about 20 million years older than previous lobster fossils. "This lobster that we found in Chiapas belongs to the genus that... |
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| Photo: Armadillo-like Crocodile Fossil Found in Brazil |
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· 07/10/2009 7:55:59 AM PDT · · Posted by JoeProBono · · 11 replies · · 738+ views · · nationalgeographic · · July 8, 2009 · · John Roach · |
An ancient fossil crocodile coated in armadillo-like body armor was unveiled yesterday at an environmental museum in Brazil. Dubbed Armadillosuchus arrudai, the newly described species of crocodile roamed the arid interior of Brazil about 90 million years ago, during the late Cretaceous period, scientists said. It was 6.6 feet (2 meters) long, weighed about 265 pounds (120 kilograms), and had a relatively wide head with a narrow, toothy snout. Body armor has never been "found in any other fossil or living crocodile species," Ismar de Souza Carvalho, a paleontologist at the Federal University in Rio de Janeiro, said via email.... |
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| Africa | |
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| Ancient Anthropoid Origins Discovered In Africa |
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· 10/14/2005 3:27:55 AM PDT · · Posted by PatrickHenry · · 127 replies · · 2,025+ views · · Duke University · · 13 October 2005 · · News office staff · |
New species firmly establish African roots for anthropoid line.The fossil teeth and jawbones of two new species of tiny monkey-like creatures that lived 37 million years ago have been sifted from ancient sediments in the Egyptian desert, researchers have reported. Related They said their findings firmly establish that the common ancestor of living anthropoids -- including monkeys, apes and humans -- arose in Africa and that the group had already begun branching into many species by that time. Also, they said, one of the creatures appears to have been nocturnal, the first example of a nocturnal early anthropoid. The researchers... |
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| Fossil Discovery Is Heralded |
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· 05/19/2009 7:17:53 AM PDT · · Posted by mnehring · · 89 replies · · 2,780+ views · · WSJ · |
In what could prove to be a landmark discovery, a leading paleontologist said scientists have dug up the 47 million-year-old fossil of an ancient primate whose features suggest it could be the common ancestor of all later monkeys, apes and humans. Anthropologists have long believed that humans evolved from ancient ape-like ancestors. Some 50 million years ago, two ape-like groups walked the Earth. One is known as the tarsidae, a precursor of the tarsier, a tiny, large-eyed creature that lives in Asia. Another group is known as the adapidae, a precursor of today's lemurs in Madagascar. Based on previously limited... |
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| 'Missing Link' Primate Fossil Debunked |
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· 10/21/2009 9:14:10 PM PDT · · Posted by guitarplayer1953 · · 4 replies · · 249+ views · · http://dsc.discovery.com/news/2009/10/21/ida-primate-fossil.html · · Oct. 21, 2009 · · Malcolm Ritter · |
'Missing Link' Primate Fossil Debunked Malcolm Ritter, Associated Press Oct. 21, 2009 -- Remember Ida, the fossil discovery announced last May with its own book and TV documentary? A publicity blitz called it "the link" that would reveal the earliest evolutionary roots of monkeys, apes and humans. Experts protested that Ida wasn't even a close relative. And now a new analysis supports their reaction. In fact, Ida is as far removed from the monkey-ape-human ancestry as a primate could be, says Erik Seiffert of Stony Brook University in New York. He and his colleagues compared 360 specific anatomical... |
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| Primate fossil 'not an ancestor' |
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· 10/22/2009 6:04:42 AM PDT · · Posted by IronKros · · 10 replies · · 251+ views · · BBC News · |
The exceptionally well-preserved fossil primate known as "Ida" is not a missing link as some have claimed, according to an analysis in the journal Nature. The research is the first independent assessment of the claims made in a scientific paper and a television documentary earlier this year. Dr Erik Seiffert says that Ida belonged to a group more closely linked to lemurs than to monkeys, apes or us. His team's conclusions come from an analysis of another fossil primate. The newly described animal - known as Afradapis longicristatus - lived some 37 million years ago in northern Egypt, during the... |
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| .Primate fossil called only a distant relative |
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· 10/22/2009 7:10:31 AM PDT · · Posted by MGBGUN · · 20 replies · · 350+ views · · AP · · Wed Oct 21 · · MALCOLM RITTER · |
A publicity blitz called it "the link" that would reveal the earliest evolutionary roots of monkeys, apes and humans. Experts protested that Ida wasn't even a close relative. |
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| Prehistory and Origins | |
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| Modern man had sex with Neanderthals |
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· 10/26/2009 3:33:00 PM PDT · · Posted by Dysart · · 168 replies · · 3,053+ views · · Telegraph · · 10-25-09 · · Amy Willis · |
Modern man and Neanderthals had sex across the species barrier, according to leading geneticist Professor Svante Paabo. Professor Paabo, who is director of genetics at the renowned Max Planck Institution for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, made the claim at a conference in the Cold Springs Laboratory in New York. But Prof Paabo said he was unclear if the couplings had led to children, of if they were capable of producing offspring. "What I'm really interested in is, did we have children back then and did those children contribute to our variation today?" he said in an article in The Sunday Times.... |
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| Canary in a Coal Mine | |
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| No men OR women needed: Scientists create sperm and eggs from stem cells |
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· 10/28/2009 8:01:12 PM PDT · · Posted by thisisthetime · · 67 replies · · 1,215+ views · · Daily Mail via The Woodward Report · · October 28, 2009 · · Fiona Macrae · |
Human eggs and sperm have been grown in the laboratory in research which could change the face of parenthood. It paves the way for a cure for infertility and could help those left sterile by cancer treatment to have children who are biologically their own. But it raises a number of moral and ethical concerns. These include the possibility of children being born through entirely artificial means, and men and women being sidelined from the process of making babies. Opponents argue that it is wrong to meddle with the building blocks of life and warn that the advances taking place... |
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| Australia and the Pacific | |
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| Many -- matuto -- paintings found in Kaimana |
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· 10/26/2009 11:06:01 PM PDT · · Posted by Fred Nerks · · 15 replies · · 282+ views · · Jayapura (ANTARA News) · · Monday, October 26, 2009 · · U/A · |
Jayapura (ANTARA News) - Many "matuto" paintings, as a kind of scratches from the pre-historic rock arts, were found in a number of villages which belong to Kaimana District, Provinice of Papua Barat, a local official has said. Matuto is a shape of a half-man lizard and believed as the ancestor of heroes, Head of Jayapura Archaeology Center, Drs.M.Irfan Mahmud,M.Si said here Monday. From the research, according to Irfan, a lot of matuto paintings were found at niche surfaces made as canvas for the artists of the pre-historic time in several archaeological sites. Matuto motif belongs to an anthropomorphic group... |
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| Dinosaurs | |
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| Tiniest Dinosaur in North America Found |
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· 10/25/2009 5:09:26 PM PDT · · Posted by JoeProBono · · 60 replies · · 1,343+ views · · nationalgeographic · · October 21, 2009 · |
The tiniest dinosaur in North America weighed less than a teacup Chihuahua, a new study says. Seen above as an artist's reconstruction in front of a Tyrannosaurus rex skull at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County in California, the agile Fruitadens haagarorum was just 28 inches (70 centimeters) long and weighed less than two pounds (one kilogram). The diminutive dinosaur likely darted among the legs of larger plant-eaters such as Brachiosaurus and predators such as Allosaurus about 150 million years ago, during the late Jurassic period. Parts of the skulls, vertebrae, arms, and legs from four F. haagarorum... |
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| Colossal 'sea monster' unearthed |
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· 10/26/2009 11:28:31 PM PDT · · Posted by JoeProBono · · 22 replies · · 1,253+ views · · bbc · · 27 October 2009 · · Rebecca Morelle · |
The fossilised skull of a colossal "sea monster" has been unearthed along the UK's Jurassic Coast. The ferocious predator, which is called a pliosaur, terrorised the oceans 150 million years ago. The skull is 2.4m long, and experts say it could belong to one of the largest pliosaurs ever found: measuring up 16m in length. The fossil, which was found by a local collector, has been purchased by Dorset County Council. It was bought with money from the Heritage Lottery Fund, and it will now be scientifically analysed, prepared and then put on public display at Dorset County Museum. Palaeontologist... |
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| Huge skull of ancient sea monster found |
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· 10/27/2009 10:38:04 AM PDT · · Posted by Frenchtown Dan · · 55 replies · · 1,563+ views · · The times · · 10/27/09 · · The times · |
Dinosaur experts in Dorset, England, are examining the fossilized skull of a sea monster so large they say it could have eaten a Tyrannosaurus rex for breakfast. |
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| Dinosaurs Diversified Over Time, Not Suddenly (Wouldn't ALL fossil fuel contain DNA?) |
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· 08/02/2008 11:40:34 PM PDT · · Posted by Libloather · · 102 replies · · 668+ views · · Discovery.com · · 7/23/08 · |
Dinosaurs Diversified Over Time, Not SuddenlyMany Species, Many, Many Years July 23, 2008 The belief that dinosaurs underwent explosive species diversification just before they were wiped out is an illusion, for the beasts' main evolutionary shifts took place millions of years before, a study says. The strange demise of the dinosaurs at the end of the Cretaceous era some 65 million years ago has given rise to a popular view that almost has the tinge of Greek tragedy. Just as the rulers of the Earth had reached their evolutionary zenith, a catastrophic event -- possibly a space rock that slammed... |
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| Pole-ish History | |
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| Fossil Arctic animal tracks point to climate risks (hippopotamus-like creature on an Arctic island) |
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· 04/25/2007 7:58:21 PM PDT · · Posted by NormsRevenge · · 38 replies · · 956+ views · · Reuters on Yahoo · · 4/24/07 · · Alister Doyle · |
COAL MINE SEVEN, Svalbard, Norway (Reuters) - Fossils of a hippopotamus-like creature on an Arctic island show the climate was once like that of Florida, giving clues to risks from modern global warming, a scientist said. Fossil footprints of a pantodont, a plant-eating creature weighing about 400 kg (880 lb), add to evidence of sequoia-type trees and crocodile-like beasts in the Arctic millions of years ago when greenhouse gas concentrations in the air were high. "The climate here about 55 million years ago was more like that of Florida," Appy Sluijs, an expert in ancient ecology at Utrecht University in... |
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| Fossil DNA Proves Greenland Once Had Lush Forests; Ice Sheet Is Surprisingly Stable |
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· 07/05/2007 5:14:09 PM PDT · · Posted by blam · · 33 replies · · 909+ views · · Science Daily · · 7-5-2007 · · University Of Copenhagen · |
Source: University of Copenhagen Date: July 5, 2007 Fossil DNA Proves Greenland Once Had Lush Forests; Ice Sheet Is Surprisingly Stable Science Daily -- Ancient Greenland was green. New Danish research has shown that it was covered in conifer forest and, like southern Sweden today, had a relatively mild climate. Eske Willerslev, a professor at Copenhagen University, has analysed the world's oldest DNA, preserved under the kilometre-thick icecap. The DNA is likely close to half a million years old, and the research is painting a picture which is overturning all previous assumptions about biological life and the climate in Greenland.... |
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| Fossil Suggests Antarctica Much Warmer in Past |
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· 07/24/2008 9:04:50 PM PDT · · Posted by NormsRevenge · · 9 replies · · 103+ views · · LiveScience.com · · 7/22/08 · · Andrea Thompson · |
A college student's new discovery of fossils collected in the East Antarctic suggests that the frozen polar cap was once a much balmier place. The well-preserved fossils of ostracods, a type of small crustaceans, came from the Dry Valleys region of Antarctica's Transantarctic Mountains and date from about 14 million years ago. The fossils were a rare find, showing all of the ostracods' soft anatomy in 3-D. The fossils were discovered by Richard Thommasson during screening of the sediment in research team member Allan Ashworth's lab at North Dakota State University. Because ostracods couldn't survive in the current Antarctic climate,... |
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| Rome and Italy | |
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| Exhibition explores Vandal legacy |
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· 10/24/2009 8:09:40 AM PDT · · Posted by decimon · · 11 replies · · 340+ views · · The Local · · Oct 23, 2009 · · Unknown · |
Being billed as the most comprehensive exhibition about the Vandal civilisation ever, a new show about the notorious Germanic tribe opens on Friday at Baden's state museum in Karlsruhe.The word "vandal" these days is associated with acts of senseless violence and destruction. However, this new exhibition explores the history behind the actual Vandals, a Germanic civilisation that stretched across Eastern Europe to North Africa in the 5th century. "The Vandal Kingdom" hopes to offer visitors a new perspective on this unfamiliar culture and infamous word. > Despite the Vandals' terrible reputation, Wenzel said the violence they administered across much of... |
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| Southeast Asia | |
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| The Plain of Jars: Bombs & Mystery in Laos[Graphics Warning] |
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· 10/24/2009 11:03:38 AM PDT · · Posted by BGHater · · 27 replies · · 1,381+ views · · Dark Roasted Blend · · Feb 2008 · · Avi Abrams & Chris Mitchell · |
Built by mysterious ancient people for mysterious purposes (image credit: Chris Mitchell) Ancient Laos legends tell of the giants who drank water from these enormous mysterious "cups". Similar sites were also found in Thailand and in North India. Their locations are strung along a straight line, which suggests that they were built on some kind of a trade route. Chris Mitchell from Travel Happy sent us his travelogue about this ancient site: The Plain Of Jars is probably South East Asia's most enigmatic tourist attraction. Situated in the remote north east of Laos, the mountainous communist country which has only... |
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| Sumeria | |
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| At Ur, Ritual Deaths That Were Anything but Serene |
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· 10/27/2009 4:30:35 AM PDT · · Posted by Pharmboy · · 29 replies · · 924+ views · · NY Times · · October 27, 2009 · · JOHN NOBLE WILFORD · |
University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and AnthropologyBURIAL PITA CT scan, left, of a female skull at a burial site at Ur. Women were buried with elaborate adornments, right, and warriors with their weapons. A new examination of skulls from the royal cemetery at Ur, discovered in Iraq almost a century ago, appears to support a more grisly interpretation than before of human sacrifices associated with elite burials in ancient Mesopotamia, archaeologists say. Palace attendants, as part of royal mortuary ritual, were not dosed with poison to meet a rather serene death. Instead, a sharp instrument, a pike perhaps,... |
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| Elam, Persia, Parthia, Iran | |
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| Shushan, Iranian Biblical City of Purim Drama, a Garbage Dump |
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· 03/09/2009 5:20:42 PM PDT · · Posted by Nachum · · 8 replies · · 393+ views · · Arutz Sheva · · 3/9/09 · · Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu · |
(IsraelNN.com) Iranians have turned a huge excavation site in the city of Shush, site of "Susa," the ancient city of Shushan -- center of the events in the Purim story -- into a garbage dump. Culture heritage backers put a stop to construction of a hotel on the site, according to the Tehran News, which added that residents of the Shush municipality are now filling the huge, gaping 300-foot by 300-foot hole with rubbish. |
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| Middle Ages and Renaissance | |
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| Crusader friar of Habsburg Austria [Battle of Vienna, Sept. 11, 1683 |
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· 10/25/2009 9:29:10 PM PDT · · Posted by Salvation · · 30 replies · · 490+ views · · Oriensjournal.com · · 2003 · · James Bogle · |
Crusader friar of Habsburg Austria London barrister and historian James Bogle discusses here the life and times of a great Catholic: Blessed Mark of Aviano (Marco d'Aviano in the original Italian), who deserves to be much better known in the English-speaking world. On 27 April 2003, Pope John Paul II beatified Rev Fr Mark of Aviano OFMCap (1631-99). The ceremony occurred without any world-wide protest from Muslims, and certainly nothing of the sort that accompanied the considerably more innocuous recent commentary of Pope Benedict XVI at Regensburg.Mark of Aviano was a Capuchin friar, born Carlo Domenico, in Aviano in... |
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| Longer Perspectives | |
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| When Ancient Artifacts Become Political Pawns: Egypt contesting German possession of Nefertiti bust |
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· 10/27/2009 4:22:58 PM PDT · · Posted by SunkenCiv · · 14 replies · · 251+ views · · New York Times · · October 23, 2009 · · Michael Kimmelman · |
Egypt's chief archaeologist, Zahi Hawass, announced that his country wanted its queen handed back forthwith, unless Germany could prove that the 3,500-year-old bust of Akhenaten's wife wasn't spirited illegally out of Egypt nearly a century ago... Then he said he was sure the work had been stolen... Mr. Hawass also recently fired a shot at France, demanding the Louvre return five fresco fragments it purchased in 2000 and 2003 from a gallery and at auction. They belonged to a 3,200-year-old tomb near Luxor and had been in storage at the museum. Egypt had made the demand before, but this time... |
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| Egypt | |
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| Evidence Alexander the Great Wasn't First at Alexandria |
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· 10/27/2009 8:23:54 PM PDT · · Posted by SunkenCiv · · 8 replies · · 305+ views · · LiveScience via Yahoo · · Friday, October 23, 2009 · · Andrea Thompson · |
Alexandria was founded by Alexander the Great in 331 B.C. The city sits on the Mediterranean coast at the western edge of the Nile delta. Its location made it a major port city in ancient times; it was also famous for its lighthouse (one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World) and its library, the largest in the ancient world. But in the past few years, scientists have found fragments of ceramics and traces of lead in sediments in the area that predate Alexander's arrival by several hundred years, suggesting there was already a settlement in the area (though... |
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| Megaliths and Archaeoastronomy | |
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| Stonehenge Rebuilt |
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· 10/28/2009 8:32:27 AM PDT · · Posted by Stoutcat · · 27 replies · · 799+ views · · Grand Rants · · 10-28-09 · · Gerry Ashley · |
A retired construction worker from Flint, MI named Wally Wallington thinks he might know one way [Stonehenge may have been built]. He even goes so far as to demonstrate it by building a min-Stonehenge on his property all by himself. |
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| Early America | |
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| Restoration of Elizabeth church digs up Revolutionary-era past |
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· 10/27/2009 7:44:09 AM PDT · · Posted by Pharmboy · · 11 replies · · 546+ views · · The Star-Ledger (Newark) · · October 27, 2009, · · Carmen Juri · |
ELIZABETH -- Many of the headstones marking the graves in New Jersey's oldest cemetery are no longer readable, not only because they're worn, but because they're partially underground. While excavating around the headstones in the Old First Presbyterian Church cemetery in Elizabeth last week, archaeologist Seth Gartland found stones had sunk several feet, leaving only the top half exposed. When workers elevated the decaying stones, Gartland discovered inscriptions that had long been hidden. Tony Kurdzuk/The Star-LedgerRows and rows of markers in the cemetery of the First Presbyterian Church on Broad St. The cemetery is currently undergoing a project of preserving... |
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| The Revolution | |
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| In 1809, a bizarre burial for a 'mad' general |
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· 10/24/2009 9:08:53 AM PDT · · Posted by Saije · · 21 replies · · 1,039+ views · · Pittsburgh Post-Gazette · · 10/24/2009 · · Marylynne Pitz · |
As American colonists battled for independence, Gen. "Mad" Anthony Wayne captured a British fort in New York at midnight, earning a reputation as a brilliant strategist in the chaos of battle. George Washington rode on horseback to congratulate him in person. Soldiers who noticed his reckless bravery gave him his nickname. Later, the fiery leader trained a fearsome army outside of Pittsburgh in 1792, conquered the Indians and negotiated a treaty with them so the Northwest Territory could be settled.*** After he died at age 51 from an attack of gout, his body rested for 12 years in an oak... |
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| Thoroughly Modern Miscellany | |
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| ..Precious glass negatives provide intimate glimpse into the life of an Edwardian family |
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· 10/29/2009 8:41:46 AM PDT · · Posted by C19fan · · 27 replies · · 893+ views · · Daily Mail · · October 29,2009 · · By Staff · |
Paddling in the sea while smoking a pipe, dressed in a waistcoat, stiffly starched shirt and perky straw boater; out on a fishing trip with the family and gathering for an outdoor amateur production of Twelfth Night in an age before large screen TVs and games consoles. These beautiful pictures provide an intimate spyglass into the life and leisure time of an Edwardian family - and a valuable glimpse of a bygone era. |
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| The throne clones: How the Royal Family inherited more than just their titles |
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· 10/26/2009 4:39:48 AM PDT · · Posted by Daffynition · · 22 replies · · 1,138+ views · · Daily Mail · · 26th October 2009 · · Daily Mail Reporter · |
You may think that Princess Beatrice has her father's face and her mother's hair. But as the pictures below show, she also bears a striking resemblance to a young Queen Victoria.[snip] Style queen: Queen Victoria (1819-1901) and her great-great-greatgreat-granddaughter, Princess Beatrice, have similar faces and locks Many more images at the link: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-1222921/The-throne-clones-How-Royal-Family-inherited-just-titles.html#ixzz0V2a812P6 |
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| Britain | |
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| Centuries Later, Henry V's Greatest Victory Is Besieged by Academia |
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· 10/24/2009 10:38:13 AM PDT · · Posted by Saije · · 30 replies · · 828+ views · · Ny Times · · 10/24/2009 · · James Glanz · |
The heavy clay-laced mud behind the cattle pen on Antoine Renault's farm looks as treacherous as it must have been nearly 600 years ago, when King Henry V rode from a spot near here to lead a sodden and exhausted English Army against a French force that was said to outnumber his by as much as five to one. No one can ever take away the shocking victory by Henry and his "band of brothers," as Shakespeare would famously call them, on St. Crispin's Day, Oct. 25, 1415. They devastated a force of heavily armored French nobles who had gotten... |
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| Historians Reassess Battle of Agincourt |
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· 10/25/2009 4:20:42 AM PDT · · Posted by Pharmboy · · 33 replies · · 881+ views · · NY Times · · October 25, 2009 · · JAMES GLANZ · |
MAISONCELLE, France -- The heavy clay-laced mud behind the cattle pen on Antoine Renault's farm looks as treacherous as it must have been nearly 600 years ago, when King Henry V rode from a spot near here to lead a sodden and exhausted English Army against a French force that was said to outnumber his by as much as five to one. snip...They devastated a force of heavily armored French nobles who had gotten bogged down in the region's sucking mud, riddled by thousands of arrows from English longbowmen and outmaneuvered by common soldiers with much lighter gear. It would... |
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| DId Your Ancestor Serve During the Hundred Years' War? |
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· 10/26/2009 7:20:45 AM PDT · · Posted by BronzePencil · · 90 replies · · 1,661+ views · · The National Archives - UK · · 2009 · · ICMA Centre · |
Researchers at the University of Reading (UK) and the University of Southampton (UK) recently made available the roster of men who served during the Hundred Years' War. |
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| World War Eleven | |
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| Haunting Germans with the "Ghost Army" |
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· 10/24/2009 11:48:15 PM PDT · · Posted by Saije · · 3 replies · · 443+ views · · Cleveland Plain Dealer · · 10/25/2009 · · Brian Albrecht · |
A lot of colorful phrases are associated with World War II. Like, "Nuts!" -- one American commander's defiant response to German surrender demands. Or, "Praise the Lord and pass the ammunition," attributed to a U.S. Navy chaplain during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. But here's another one, appropriate for this season. Trick or treat! The trick was setting up phony, inflatable tanks, trucks and artillery under cover of darkness. Then generating some ersatz radio traffic between units and commanders. Igniting flash canisters mimicking the glare of cannons firing. Erecting loudspeakers and playing the pre-recorded sounds of troops and vehicles... |
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| Pages | |
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| 'Barack Obama is the most powerful writer since Julius Caesar' - NEA Chairman (worship alert) |
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· 10/28/2009 6:45:38 AM PDT · · Posted by Scythian · · 120 replies · · 1,982+ views · · Drudge · |
I'm amazed the NEA Chairman can make such a statement since Obama is hiding everything he published. |
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| end of digest #276 20091031 | |
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· Saturday, October 31, 2009 · 43 topics · 2372294 to 2369974 · 729 members · |
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Saturday |
Welcome to the 276th issue. Happy Halloween. I was going to do this entirely in orange and black, but figured I might freak out some FReepers. I also restrained myself from including the scary Obama head picture. |
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| Gods, Graves, Glyphs Weekly Digest #277 Saturday, November 7, 2009 |
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| The Revolution | |
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| Revolutionary War hero Pulaski becomes honorary US citizen |
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· 11/06/2009 6:39:18 PM PST · · Posted by Saije · · 17 replies · · 214+ views · · Augusta Chronicle · · 11/6/2009 · · AP · |
Finally, Gen. Casimir Pulaski became an American, 230 years after the Polish nobleman died in Georgia fighting for what became the United States. President Barack Obama signed a joint resolution today of the Senate and the House of Representatives that made Pulaski an honorary citizen. Pulaski's contribution to the Americans' effort to leave the British Empire began with a flourish. He wrote a letter to Gen. George Washington, the Revolution's leader, with the declaration: "I came here, where freedom is being defended, to serve it, and to live or die for it." Democratic Rep. Dennis Kucinich, whose home city of... |
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| PreColumbian, Clovis, PreClovis | |
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| Oldest American artefact unearthed. Oregon caves yield evidence of continent's first inhabitants. |
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· 11/05/2009 6:37:36 PM PST · · Posted by GSP.FAN · · 28 replies · · 727+ views · · Nature.com · · 5 November 2009 · · Rex Dalton · |
Archaeologists claim to have found the oldest known artefact in the Americas, a scraper-like tool in an Oregon cave that dates back 14,230 years. |
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| Mayans | |
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| Divers probe Mayan ruins submerged in Guatemala lake |
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· 10/31/2009 1:11:54 PM PDT · · Posted by decimon · · 17 replies · · 634+ views · · Reuters · · Oct 30, 2009 · · Sarah Grainger · |
GUATEMALA CITY (Reuters) -- Scuba divers are exploring the depths of a volcanic lake in Guatemala to find clues about an ancient sacred island where Mayan pilgrims flocked to worship before it was submerged by rising waters. Samabaj, the first underwater archaeological ruins excavated in Guatemala, were discovered accidentally 12 years ago by a diver exploring picturesque Lake Atitlan, ringed by Mayan villages and popular with foreign tourists. "No one believed me, even when I told them all about it. They just said 'he's mad'," said Roberto Samayoa, a businessman and recreational diver who grew up near the lake where... |
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| Divers probe Mayan ruins submerged in Guatemala lake |
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· 11/01/2009 5:36:13 AM PST · · Posted by Frenchtown Dan · · 24 replies · · 833+ views · · Reuters · · 10/30/09 · · Sarah Grainger · |
GUATEMALA CITY (Reuters) -- Scuba divers are exploring the depths of a volcanic lake in Guatemala to find clues about an ancient sacred island where Mayan pilgrims flocked to worship before it was submerged by rising waters. |
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| Megaliths and Archaeoastronomy | |
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| Ohio Wesleyan art professor uncovers celestial connection in desert Southwest |
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· 11/03/2009 12:13:27 PM PST · · Posted by BGHater · · 37 replies · · 1,053+ views · · THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH · · 01 Nov 2009 · · Doug Caruso · |
Jim Krehbiel was up past midnight making a piece of art by layering maps and field notes onto photos he had taken of an ancient ritual site high on a cliff ledge in the desert Southwest. He looked at the image of the kiva and remembered how the ruins were nearly inaccessible. Krehbiel had to lower himself on a rope to reach them. Why, he wondered that night in the fall of 2007, would anyone build something so important in such a remote spot among the canyons and mesas? It was then that the chairman of Ohio Wesleyan University's art... |
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| Climate | |
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| Ancient Civilization Cut Path to Demise (Nasca, S. America) |
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· 11/02/2009 5:03:41 PM PST · · Posted by decimon · · 7 replies · · 226+ views · · Live Science · · Nov 2, 2009 · · Staff · |
The ancient South American Nasca civilization may have caused its own demise by clear-cutting huge swaths of forest, a new study has found. The civilization disappeared mysteriously around 1,500 years ago, after apparently prospering during the first half of the first millennium A.D. in the valleys of south coastal Peru. Scientists have previously suggested a massive El NiÃ’o event disrupted the climate and caused the Nasca's demise, but new research suggests that deforestation may have also played an important role. The Nasca are best known for leaving behind large geoglyphs called Nazca lines carved into the surface of the vast,... |
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| How the ancient Nazca civilisation sealed its own fate by cutting down forests |
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· 11/02/2009 5:04:13 PM PST · · Posted by Free ThinkerNY · · 8 replies · · 284+ views · · dailymail.co.uk · · Nov. 2, 2009 · · Daily Mail Reporter · |
The mysterious people who etched the strange network of 'Nazca Lines' across deserts in Peru hastened their own demise by clearing forests 1,500 years ago, according to British scientists. The Nazca people, famed for giant animal drawings most clearly visible from the air, became unable to grow enough food in nearby valleys because the lack of trees made the climate too dry. Archaeologists examining the remains of the Nazca, who once flourished in the valleys of south coastal Peru, discovered a sequence of human-induced events which led to their 'catastrophic' collapse around 500 AD. Author Oliver Whaley, of the Royal... |
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| Diet and Cuisine | |
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| Prehistoric Clovis culture roamed southwards: Stone tools and bones of an ancient tusker found... |
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· 11/05/2009 2:29:13 PM PST · · Posted by SunkenCiv · · 4 replies · · 250+ views · · Nature · · October 21, 2009 · · Rex Dalton · |
The bed of artefacts in the state of Sonora in northwest Mexico also includes the bones of an extinct cousin of the mastodon called a gomphothere. The beast was probably hunted and killed by the Clovis people, known for their distinctive spear points, who mysteriously disappeared within about 500 years of leaving their first archeological traces. Intact Clovis camp sites and extensive evidence of hunting has been found across the United States, with the highest concentration of sites just north of the Mexican border, in the San Pedro River basin of southeastern Arizona. But relatively little is known about their... |
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| Biology and Cryptobiology | |
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| Falklands Wolf First Appeared in North America, Researchers Say |
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· 11/05/2009 11:04:05 AM PST · · Posted by BGHater · · 16 replies · · 496+ views · · The New York Times · · 04 Nov 2009 · · Henry Fountain · |
The Falklands wolf has puzzled evolutionary biologists since Charles Darwin first encountered it during the voyage of the Beagle in the 1830s. It was the only native land mammal on the Falkland Islands, which are 300 miles off the coast of Argentina. No one knew how it got there or what mainland animals it was descended from -- and it did not help that the wolf was hunted to extinction by 1876. But using genetic analysis, Graham J. Slater, a post-doctoral researcher at the University of California, Los Angeles, and colleagues have solved some of the mystery. The closest living... |
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| Catastrophism and Astronomy | |
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| Tsunami Waves Reasonably Likely To Strike Israel, Geo-archaeological Research Suggests |
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· 10/26/2009 7:24:23 PM PDT · · Posted by rdl6989 · · 15 replies · · 340+ views · · Science Daily · · Oct. 26, 2009 · |
"There is a likely chance of tsunami waves reaching the shores of Israel," says Dr. Beverly Goodman of the Leon H. Charney School of Marine Sciences at the University of Haifa following an encompassing geo-archaeological study at the port of Caesarea. "Tsunami events in the Mediterranean do occur less frequently than in the Pacific Ocean, but our findings reveal a moderate rate of recurrence," she says. Dr. Goodman, an expert geo-archaeologist, exposed geological evidence of this by chance. Her original intentions in Caesarea were to assist in research at the ancient port and at offshore shipwrecks. "We expected to find... |
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| In the Mediterranean, Killer Tsunamis From an Ancient Eruption |
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· 11/05/2009 12:15:24 PM PST · · Posted by BGHater · · 5 replies · · 283+ views · · The New York Times · · 02 Nov 2009 · · WILLIAM J. BROAD · |
The massive eruption of the Thera volcano in the Aegean Sea more than 3,000 years ago produced killer waves that raced across hundreds of miles of the Eastern Mediterranean to inundate the area that is now Israel and probably other coastal sites, a team of scientists has found. The team, writing in the October issue of Geology, said the new evidence suggested that giant tsunamis from the catastrophic eruption hit "coastal sites across the Eastern Mediterranean littoral." Tsunamis are giant waves that can crash into shore, rearrange the seabed, inundate vast areas of land and carry terrestrial material out to... |
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| Minoans | |
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| Akrotiri, Santorini: the Minoan Pompeii - part 1 [of 6] |
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· 11/01/2009 11:02:02 AM PST · · Posted by SunkenCiv · · 15 replies · · 383+ views · · Cultural Travel Examiner · · August 28, 2009 · · Rachel de Carlos · |
The site was found by accident when the Suez Canal was being constructed in 1860. Workers quarrying Santorini's volcanic ash discovered the ruins, but serious excavations at the site didn't begin until 1967. An unfortunate collapse of the roof in 2005, which killed a British tourist, caused the site to be closed. It's scheduled to be reopened sometime after 2010. Greek bureaucracy has brought the repairs of the building to a halt, which has caused Santorini's tourist trade to suffer. Akrotiri is referred to by some as the "Minoan Pompeii" because of the similarities of the destruction by volcano and... |
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| Egypt | |
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| A Storm in Egypt during the Reign of Ahmose [The Tempest Stele] |
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· 11/01/2009 8:04:33 AM PST · · Posted by SunkenCiv · · 22 replies · · 446+ views · · Thera Foundation · · September 1989 · · last modified March 26, 2006 · · E.N. Davis · |
An inscribed stele erected at Thebes by Ahmose, the first Pharaoh of the 18th Dynasty, documents a destructive storm accompanied by flooding during his reign. Fragments of the stele were found in the 3rd Pylon of the temple of Karnak at Thebes between 1947 and 1951 by the French Mission. A restoration of the stele and translation of the text was published by Claude Vandersleyen (1967). In the following year (1968), Vandersleyen added two more fragments, one from the top of the inscription and a small piece from line 10 of the restored text, which had been recovered by Egyptian... |
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| Scotland Yet | |
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| Treasure hunt novice struck £1m gold on first outing[Scotland] |
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· 11/05/2009 11:46:18 AM PST · · Posted by BGHater · · 25 replies · · 947+ views · · Times Online · · 05 Nov 2009 · · Mike Wade · |
Five days after he took delivery of a metal detector and seven steps into his first treasure hunt, a novice archaeologist has helped to rewrite Scottish history and may be a millionaire after he unearthed four 2,300-year-old torcs made of pure gold a few feet from his parked car. David Booth, a game warden at Blair Drummond Safari Park, in Stirlingshire, bought his £240 detector from a website that claimed "treasure need not be an idle dream". What then seemed an absurd sales puff has proved strangely prophetic. The hoard he discovered at the edge of a field was described... |
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| Let's Have Jerusalem | |
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| 13th Century marble pieces found in Acre |
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· 11/03/2009 5:12:34 AM PST · · Posted by SJackson · · 6 replies · · 427+ views · · Jerusalem Post · · 11-3-09 · · JAMIE ROMM · |
In an excavation conducted in late October, about 100 meters north of the Old City wall of Acre, a unique find was discovered from the Crusader period in the 13th Century; a hoard of 350 marble items that were collected from destroyed buildings. According to Dr. Edna Stern, excavation director of the Israel Antiquities Authority, the hoard was found within the framework of an archaeological excavation conducted by the Israel Antiquities Authority before the Acre Municipality began building a new structure to house classrooms in the Hilmi Shafi Educational Campus. "We have here a unique find, the likes of which... |
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| Rome and Italy | |
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| Teutoburg Forest: The Battle That Saved the West |
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· 10/31/2009 8:03:49 PM PDT · · Posted by Coleus · · 13 replies · · 817+ views · · tna · · 09.11.09 · · John Eidsmoe · |
September, 9 A.D., Kalkriese Hill, northern Germany: the Germanic warriors waited in grim silence. Three Roman legions, commanded by General Publius Quintilius Varus, advanced across the Rhine into Anglo-Saxon territory. The Romans hoped to expand Roman power, Roman law, and Roman culture. The Germans hoped to preserve their Teutonic laws and institutions and their way of life.†Probably neither side realized that the Battle of Teutoburg Forest would decide the course of Western law and Western civilization for millennia to come.†And now, in the year 2009, the 2,000th anniversary of the battle, very few Americans have even heard of... |
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| Method, not a Body of Knowledge | |
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| Finding Critics for Science |
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· 11/04/2009 10:37:40 AM PST · · Posted by bs9021 · · 16 replies · · 171+ views · · Accuracy in Academia · · November 4, 2009 · · Allie Winegar Duzett · |
Finding Critics for Science Allie Winegar Duzett, November 4, 2009 There are many fields with rigorous critics; many writers make a living critiquing music, dance, art, and literature. At Accuracy in Media and other media watchdog groups, employees critique the claims of major news organizations. But one crucial field regularly goes without any public criticism: the field of science, and scientific discovery. "Science lacks for critics," David Berlinski claimed at a recent Heritage Foundation Bloggers' Briefing. "It is really remarkable that in the sense in which literature or dance or music has always entered public consciousness with a very rich... |
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| Prehistory and Origins | |
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| Kissing was developed 'to spread germs' |
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· 10/31/2009 7:46:34 AM PDT · · Posted by Dysart · · 18 replies · · 621+ views · · Telegraph · · 10-31-09 · |
They say the gesture allows a bug named Cytomegalovirus, which is dangerous in pregnancy, to be passed from man to woman to give her time to build up protection against it. The bug is found in saliva and normally causes no problems. But it can be extremely dangerous if caught while pregnant and can kill unborn babies or cause birth defects. Writing in the journal Medical Hypotheses, researcher Dr Colin Hendrie from the University of Leeds, said: "Female inoculation with a specific male's cytomegalovirus is most efficiently achieved through mouth-to-mouth contact and saliva exchange, particularly where the flow of saliva... |
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| Oh So Mysteriouso | |
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| Ancient Atomic Bombs |
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· 11/02/2009 10:17:50 AM PST · · Posted by BGHater · · 57 replies · · 1,625+ views · · The Epoch Times · · 31 Oct 2009 · · Leonardo VintiÃ’i · |
"Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds." -- The Bhagavad Gita Seven years after the nuclear tests in Alamogordo, New Mexico, Dr. J. Robert Oppenheimer, the father of the atomic bomb, was lecturing at a college when a student asked if there were any U.S. atomic tests before Alamogordo. "Yes, in modern times," he replied. The sentence, enigmatic and incomprehensible at the time, was actually an allusion to ancient Hindu texts that describe an apocalyptic catastrophe that doesn't correlate with volcanic eruptions or other known phenomena. Oppenheimer, who avidly studied ancient Sanskrit, was undoubtedly referring to a passage in... |
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| Helix, Make Mine a Double | |
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| Hormone That Affects Finger Length Key To Social Behavior |
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· 11/04/2009 10:57:21 AM PST · · Posted by JoeProBono · · 28 replies · · 1,082+ views · · sciencedaily · · Nov. 4, 2009 · |
Research at the universities of Liverpool and Oxford into the finger length of primate species has revealed that cooperative behavior is linked to exposure to hormone levels in the womb. The hormones, called androgens, are important in the development of masculine characteristics such as aggression and strength. It is also thought that prenatal androgens affect finger length during development in the womb. High levels of androgens, such as testosterone, increase the length of the fourth finger in comparison to the second finger. Scientists used finger ratios as an indicator of the levels of exposure to the hormone and compared this... |
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| Dinosaurs | |
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| New Dinosaur Built Like a Sherman Tank |
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· 10/30/2009 7:19:16 PM PDT · · Posted by NormsRevenge · · 36 replies · · 952+ views · · LiveScience.com · · 10/30/09 · · Jeanna Bryner · |
A husband and wife team of paleontologists has discovered a newfound species of armored dinosaur that lived 112 million years ago in what is now Montana. The duo, Bill and Kris Parsons of the Buffalo Museum of Science in New York, spotted the dinosaur's skull on the surface of a hillside in Montana in 1997. Over the next few years, they retrieved more of the now nearly complete skull along with skin plates, rib fragments, a vertebra and a possible limb bone from the dinosaur species. Now called Tatankacephalus cooneyorum, the beast is a type of ankylosaur, or a group... |
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| Newly Discovered Ankylosaur Dinosaur Is 'Biological Version Of An Army Tank' |
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· 11/01/2009 8:33:49 AM PST · · Posted by Frenchtown Dan · · 21 replies · · 725+ views · · Science Daily · · 11/01/09 · · Science Daily · |
A husband and wife team of American paleontologists has discovered a new species of dinosaur that lived 112 million years ago during the early Cretaceous of central Montana |
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| Pages | |
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| What Are You Reading Now? - My Quarterly Survey |
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· 10/02/2009 8:21:19 AM PDT · · Posted by MplsSteve · · 163 replies · · 1,738+ views · · 10/02/09 · · MplsSteve · |
OK everyone, it's time again for my quarterly "What Are You Reading Now?" survey. I always ask this because I consider most Freepers to be extremely well-read, possibly some of the more well-read groups on the Web. What you are currently reading can be anything - a technical journal, an NY Times bestseller, a classic novel, in short anything. Please do not defile this thread by replying "I'm reading this thread". It became un-funny a long time ago. I'll start. I'm reading "The Approaching Fury: Voices Of The Storm (1820-1861) by Stephen Oates. This book covers the major controversies and... |
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| World War Eleven | |
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| In 1942, it came down to one Marine |
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· 11/02/2009 10:48:15 PM PST · · Posted by Neil E. Wright · · 41 replies · · 1,692+ views · · Las Vegas Review Journal · · October 25, 2009 · · VIN SUPRYNOWICZ · |
Oct. 25, 2009 Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal VIN SUPRYNOWICZ: In 1942, it came down to one Marine It's hard to envision -- or, for the dwindling few, to remember -- what the world looked like on Oct. 26, 1942, when a few thousand U.S. Marines stood essentially stranded on the God-forsaken jungle island of Guadalcanal, placed like a speed bump at the end of the long blue-water slot between New Guinea and the Bismarck Archipelago, the most likely route for the Japanese Navy to take if they hoped to reach Australia.On Guadalcanal, the Marines struggled to complete an airfield.... |
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| Longer Perspectives | |
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| History Lesson From the 'Twenties (how government policies caused the Great Depression) |
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· 11/01/2009 3:52:19 AM PST · · Posted by reaganaut1 · · 6 replies · · 435+ views · · Barron's · · November 2, 2009 · · Thomas. G. Donlan · |
... The Great Depression was caused by misguided government policies adopted to avoid the "unsatisfactory conditions" signaled by the crash. The run-of-the-mill recession that ought to have followed the crash was magnified by the policies of the federal government during the administration of Herbert Hoover. In a paper for the National Bureau of Economic Research published last August, Lee E. Ohanian examines a continuing mistake during the Hoover administration that helped transform difficulty into calamity. An economics professor at UCLA, Ohanian has written numerous papers on the Depression. In one earlier paper, he pinned the persistence of high unemployment on... |
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| Is Barack Obama Anti-American? Barack Obama is trying to destroy America's essence |
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· 11/01/2009 10:59:46 AM PST · · Posted by American Dream 246 · · 17 replies · · 671+ views · · American Thinker · · 11/01/09 · · American Thinker · |
Everything has a fundamental essence, a quality that makes it uniquely itself. Take an orange, for example. It's not only a citrus fruit -- it's an orange-colored citrus fruit. Horticulturists can alter its size, its texture, its sweetness, and even (to a limited extent) its color, but as long as its color is orange, the fruit remains "an orange" because that color is its definition. Change the color, however, and suddenly you have the un-orange, the anti-orange. You have something completely different that no longer contains the essence of the original fruit. Lose the essence and you lose the orange.... |
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| Thoroughly Modern Miscellany | |
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| Preserved in ice for 100 years, the whisky Shackleton used to keep out the cold. |
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· 11/04/2009 6:03:37 PM PST · · Posted by GSP.FAN · · 35 replies · · 1,014+ views · · MailOnline · · 03 March 2007 · · Peter Gillman · |
They say whisky matures with age...but leaving it embedded in the Antarctic ice for almost 100 years may be going a bit far. |
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| 10 most amazing Ghost towns.. |
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· 10/30/2009 6:05:01 PM PDT · · Posted by GSP.FAN · · 33 replies · · 1,196+ views · · A Blog on Oddities · · 7 19 2008 · · Odee · |
Prypiat is an abandoned city in the Zone of alienation in northern Ukraine. It was home to the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant workers, abandoned in 1986 following the Chernobyl disaster. Its population had been around 50,000 prior to the accident. |
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| Obituary | |
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| French anthropologist Claude Levi-Strauss dies |
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· 11/03/2009 9:34:00 AM PST · · Posted by Borges · · 47 replies · · 885+ views · · Yahoo - AP · · 11/03/09 · |
PARIS -- Claude Levi-Strauss, widely considered the father of modern anthropology for work that included theories about commonalities between tribal and industrial societies, has died. He was 100. The French intellectual was regarded as having reshaped the field of anthropology, introducing the concept of structuralism -- concepts about common patterns of behavior and thought, especially myths, in a wide range of human societies. Defined as the search for the underlying patterns of thought in all forms of human activity, structuralism compared the formal relationships among elements in any given system. During his six-decade career, Levi-Strauss authored literary and anthropological classics... |
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| French anthropologist Claude Levi-Strauss dies |
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· 11/03/2009 11:48:21 AM PST · · Posted by 1rudeboy · · 1 replies · · 255+ views · · AP via Yahoo · · November 3, 2009 · · ANGELA DOLAND · |
PARIS -- Claude Levi-Strauss, widely considered the father of modern anthropology for work that included theories about commonalities between tribal and industrial societies, has died. He was 100. The French intellectual was regarded as having reshaped the field of anthropology, introducing structuralism -- concepts about common patterns of behavior and thought, especially myths, in a wide range of human societies. Defined as the search for the underlying patterns of thought in all forms of human activity, structuralism compared the formal relationships among elements in any given system. During his six-decade career, Levi-Strauss authored literary and anthropological classics including "Tristes Tropiques"... |
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| end of digest #277 20091107 | |
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· Saturday, November 7, 2009 · 30 topics · 2380560 to 2375462 · 729 members · |
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Saturday |
Welcome to the 277th issue. We're nearly a third through another volume of the Digest. A mere 30 topics, which means this should go quickly. I've got some banking and shopping to do, and a 25 minute drive, not to mention taking a shower and pulling on some clothes, all before lunch. It's shaping up into a beautiful day, by the look of it. |
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