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| Gods, Graves, Glyphs Weekly Digest #279 Saturday, November 21, 2009 |
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| It's a Fair Cop, but Society's To Blame Right, We'll Be Charging Them Too |
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| Scientific Fraud Caused by Social Pressures |
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· 11/21/2009 6:46:20 AM PST · · Posted by grey_whiskers · · 9 replies · · 254+ views · · Softparanorma web site · · August 10, 2009 · · Dr. Nikolai Bezroukov · |
<snip>2.4 Diagnosis #4: The Attraction of Magnificent Academic Trusels. A "trusel" is an idea or a finding that is widely perceived to be true, but which is largely useless (or even of negative value). (The idea that a truth may lack value may be disturbing, but it is true, although it is not a trusel and probably will not be thought to be magnificent.) A "Magnificent Academic Trusel" (MAT) is a trusel that has been widely acknowledged for its intellectual content (explicitly or implicitly), but without a corresponding amount of attention being given to its utility or even to its... |
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| Oh, Darwin, If You Weave Me | |
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| Just like old times: Generating RNA molecules in water |
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· 11/20/2009 10:57:11 AM PST · · Posted by decimon · · 14 replies · · 199+ views · · American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology · · Nov 20, 2009 · · Unknown · |
Appearing in the Nov. 27, 2009, issue (Vol. 284, No. 48) of JBCA key question in the origin of biological molecules like RNA and DNA is how they first came together billions of years ago from simple precursors. Now, in a study appearing in this week's JBC, researchers in Italy have reconstructed one of the earliest evolutionary steps yet: generating long chains of RNA from individual subunits using nothing but warm water. Many researchers believe that RNA was one of the first biological molecules present, before DNA and proteins; however, there has been little success in recreating the formation on... |
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| Artificial molecule evolves in the lab |
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· 01/09/2009 10:46:53 AM PST · · Posted by Coyoteman · · 66 replies · · 1,264+ views · · New Scientist · · January 8, 2009 · · Ewen Callaway · |
A new molecule that performs the essential function of life - self-replication - could shed light on the origin of all living things. If that wasn't enough, the laboratory-born ribonucleic acid (RNA) strand evolves in a test tube to double itself ever more swiftly. "Obviously what we're trying to do is make a biology," says Gerald Joyce, a biochemist at the Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, California. He hopes to imbue his team's molecule with all the fundamental properties of life: self-replication, evolution, and function. Joyce and colleague Tracey Lincoln made their chemical out of RNA because most researchers... |
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| On the Origin of Life on Earth |
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· 01/16/2009 12:31:14 PM PST · · Posted by js1138 · · 51 replies · · 2,155+ views · · Science · · January 8, 2009 · · Carl Zimmer · |
An Amazon of words flowed from Charles Darwin's pen. His books covered the gamut from barnacles to orchids, from geology to domestication. At the same time, he filled notebooks with his ruminations and scribbled thousands of letters packed with observations and speculations on nature. Yet Darwin dedicated only a few words of his great verbal flood to one of the biggest questions in all of biology: how life began. |
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| Method, not a Body of Knowledge | |
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| Catholic universities plan scientific examination of evolutionary theory [Al Gore not invited] |
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· 09/16/2008 2:00:59 PM PDT · · Posted by NYer · · 11 replies · · 391+ views · · CNA · · September 16, 2008 · |
Vatican City, Sep 16, 2008 / 10:50 am (CNA).- Two universities from different sides of the Atlantic announced plans today to hold an international conference to discuss Charles Darwin's work "The Origin of the Species." The conference will approach Darwin's theory of evolution from a scientific standpoint, rather than an ideological one, an organizer explained. "Biological Evolution: Facts and Theories. A Critical Appraisal 150 years after 'The Origin of Species'" is scheduled for March 3-7, 2009 in Rome and is being sponsored by the University of Notre Dame (USA) and the Pontifical Gregorian University. The congress, while being sponsored by... |
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| Brave New World | |
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| Human species 'may split in two' |
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· 11/14/2009 11:12:03 AM PST · · Posted by sodpoodle · · 73 replies · · 1,539+ views · · BBC News · · Tuesday, 17 October 2006, · · BBC News · |
Human species 'may split in two' Humanity may split into two sub-species in 100,000 years' time as predicted by HG Wells, an expert has said. Evolutionary theorist Oliver Curry of the London School of Economics expects a genetic upper class and a dim-witted underclass to emerge. The human race would peak in the year 3000, he said - before a decline due to dependence on technology. People would become choosier about their sexual partners, causing humanity to divide into sub-species, he added. The descendants of the genetic upper class would be tall, slim, healthy, attractive, intelligent, and creative and a... |
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| Sexualizing Lactose Intolerance | |
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| Heart and bone damage from low vitamin D tied to declines in sex hormones |
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· 11/15/2009 7:59:03 AM PST · · Posted by decimon · · 8 replies · · 571+ views · · Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions · · Nov 15, 2009 · · Unknown · |
Effects of vitamin D deficiency amplified by shortage of estrogenResearchers at Johns Hopkins are reporting what is believed to be the first conclusive evidence in men that the long-term ill effects of vitamin D deficiency are amplified by lower levels of the key sex hormone estrogen, but not testosterone. In a national study in 1010 men, to be presented Nov. 15 at the American Heart Association's (AHA) annual Scientific Sessions in Orlando, researchers say the new findings build on previous studies showing that deficiencies in vitamin D and low levels of estrogen, found naturally in differing amounts in men and... |
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| Paleontology | |
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| Evolutionary history rewritten for NZ giant birds |
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· 11/18/2009 6:39:44 AM PST · · Posted by decimon · · 11 replies · · 184+ views · · University of New South Wales · · November 18, 2009 · · Bob Beale · |
The evolutionary history of New Zealand's many extinct flightless moa has been re-written in the first comprehensive study of more than 260 sub-fossil specimens to combine all known genetic, anatomical, geological and ecological information about the unique bird lineage. That lineage ended only about 600 years ago after a journey through time that most likely began about 80 million years earlier on the prehistoric supercontinent of Gondwana, according to the study published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences by an international team of researchers. Found on the south and north islands of New Zealand, the evolutionary history and... |
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| Werewolves, Not of London | |
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| Funny, you don't look related [how did (extinct) Falkland Island wolf first get there?] |
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· 11/14/2009 9:44:11 AM PST · · Posted by Pharmboy · · 23 replies · · 948+ views · · UCLA · · 12-Nov-2009 · · Stuart Wolpert · |
Falkland Wolf (added by Pharmboy) UCLA biologists, colleagues solve mystery contemplated by Charles Darwin When Charles Darwin visited the Falkland Islands during the voyage of the Beagle in 1835, he saw a wolf-like species, wrote about it in his diaries and correctly commented that it was being hunted in such large numbers that it would soon become extinct. Darwin was baffled by how this animal got on the islands, and it figured heavily in the formation of his ideas on evolution by natural selection. Now, UCLA biologists and colleagues have analyzed DNA from museum specimens, including one collected by Darwin,... |
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| Helix, Make Mine a Double | |
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| Ancient Penguin DNA Raises Doubts About Accuracy Of Genetic Dating Techniques |
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· 11/13/2009 5:53:02 PM PST · · Posted by Natural Law · · 14 replies · · 551+ views · · Science Daily · · Nov. 10, 2009 · · Oregon State Univ et al · |
ScienceDaily (Nov. 10, 2009) -- Penguins that died 44,000 years ago in Antarctica have provided extraordinary frozen DNA samples that challenge the accuracy of traditional genetic aging measurements, and suggest those approaches have been routinely underestimating the age of many specimens by 200 to 600 percent. |
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| I'm Sure It Had Parents | |
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| Starvation 'wiped out' giant deer |
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· 11/16/2009 9:47:20 AM PST · · Posted by BGHater · · 35 replies · · 739+ views · · BBC · · 16 Nov 2009 · · Matt Walker · |
The giant deer, also known as the giant Irish deer or Irish elk, is one of the largest deer species that ever lived. Yet why this giant animal, which had massive antlers spanning 3.6m, suddenly went extinct some 10,600 years ago has remained a mystery. Now a study of its teeth is producing tantalising answers, suggesting the deer couldn't cope with climate change. As conditions became colder and drier in Ireland at the time, fewer plants grew, gradually starving the deer. The discovery is published in the journal Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology. The giant deer (Megaloceros giganteus) has become famous over... |
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| Biology and Cryptobiology | |
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| Car-Sized Creature Whacked with Tail's Sweet Spot (until 10,000 years ago) |
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· 11/15/2009 12:39:09 PM PST · · Posted by decimon · · 30 replies · · 757+ views · · Natural History Magazine · · Nov 15, 2009 · · Harvey Leifert · |
When Alex Rodriguez swings for the fences or Venus Williams tries to ace her serve, they do well to connect at the "sweet spot" of their bat or racket. That aim was apparently shared by some unlikely contenders: glyptodonts, armored mammals with clublike tails that roamed the Americas until about 10,000 years ago. The sweet spot, or center of percussion, is the point on a tool where powerful blows should be landed to maximize impact and minimize the risk of injury to the user. |
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| Prehistoric man, giant animal coexisted |
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· 11/16/2009 10:13:24 AM PST · · Posted by BGHater · · 14 replies · · 818+ views · · Arizona Daily Star · · Tom Beal · |
The secret is out: Man and gomphotheres once coexisted in Sonora. Tools and spear tips found with fossil bones at a remote Sonoran site suggest that Clovis-era hunters butchered two juvenile specimens of the elephantlike megafauna about 13,000 years ago. It's the first discovery of such recent evidence of gomphotheres in North America, said Vance Holliday, a University of Arizona anthropologist. It's also the first time gomphothere fossils were found together with implements made by Clovis people, the oldest known inhabitants of North America, Holliday said. The discovery, on a remote ranch in the Rio Sonora watershed, was actually made... |
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| Catastrophism and Astronomy | |
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| Extinction of Giant Mammals Changed Landscape Dramatically |
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· 11/19/2009 6:16:45 PM PST · · Posted by decimon · · 24 replies · · 476+ views · · Live Science · · Nov 19, 2009 · · Jeanna Bryner · |
The last breaths of mammoths and mastodons some 13,000 years ago have garnered plenty of research and just as much debate. What killed these large beasts in a relative instant of geologic time? A question asked less often: What happened when they disappeared? A new study, based partly on dung fungus, provides some answers to both questions. The upshot: The landscape changed dramatically. "As soon as herbivores drop off the landscape, we see different plant communities," said lead researcher Jacquelyn Gill of the University of Wisconsin, Madison, adding the result was an "ecosystem upheaval." Gill and her colleagues found that... |
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| Sophisticated hunters not to blame for driving mammoths to extinction |
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· 11/20/2009 8:15:28 PM PST · · Posted by SunkenCiv · · 13 replies · · 246+ views · · Guardian · · Thursday, November 19, 2009 · · Ian Sample · |
The animals, which included mammoths, elephant-sized mastodons and beavers the size of black bears, were probably picked off by more inept hunters who only much later developed specialised weapons when their prize catches became scarce. "Some people thought humans arrived and decimated the populations of these animals in a few hundred years, but what we've found is not consistent with that rapid 'blitzkrieg' overkill of large animals," said Jacquelyn Gill, a PhD student at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, who led the research team... Gill's team rules this out by putting a more accurate date on the decline and fall... |
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| PreColumbian, Clovis, PreClovis | |
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| Digging for History at the Williams Creek Campground (Crater Lake - Mt. Mazama) |
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· 11/18/2009 8:37:37 AM PST · · Posted by JimSEA · · 8 replies · · 300+ views · · KEZI.com · · 11/17/2009 · · Lindsey Do · |
ROSEBURG, Ore. -- Mount Mazama's catastrophic volcanic eruption created Crater Lake over 7,600 years ago. But it also created a sort of time capsule for Oregon scientists. Now researchers from the Umpqua National Forest and the Oregon State Museum of Anthropology are digging in. This Passport in Time project actually started last summer, but was put on hold after the Williams Creek fire broke out in July. Now dozens of volunteers and researchers are back to unearth Oregon's history. These archaeologists spend hours sifting and digging, all in hopes of finding something ancient. "We're looking for artifacts that will demonstrate... |
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| Microbial Pyromania | |
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| Study Finds Signs of Life in Ancient Lava |
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· 04/26/2004 10:14:40 AM PDT · · Posted by Junior · · 17 replies · · 384+ views · · Science - Reuters · · 2004-04-23 · |
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Tiny, bacteria-like organisms made their home in hardened lava some 3.5 billion years ago, scientists reported on Friday in a finding that pushes the limits of when life is known to have started on Earth. The microbes, known as archaea, dug into volcanic rock to form long tubes. A team from the United States, Norway, Canada, and South Africa found evidence of the lava-burrowing archaea in 3.5 billion-year-old rock in South Africa. "Our evidence is among the oldest evidence for life found so far," said Hubert Staudigel, a research geophysicist at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at... |
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| Prehistory and Origins | |
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| Shaped from clay [origin of life] |
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· 11/04/2005 5:00:06 AM PST · · Posted by PatrickHenry · · 346 replies · · 3,821+ views · · Nature Magazine · · 03 November 2005 · · Philip Ball · |
Minerals help molecules thought to have been essential for early life to form. A team of US scientists may have found the 'primordial womb' in which the first life on Earth was incubated. Lynda Williams and colleagues at Arizona State University in Tempe have discovered that certain types of clay mineral convert simple carbon-based molecules to complex ones in conditions mimicking those of hot, wet hydrothermal vents (mini-volcanoes on the sea bed). Such complex molecules would have been essential components of the first cell-like systems on Earth. Having helped such delicate molecules to form, the clays can also protect them... |
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| Multiregionalism | |
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| 'Hobbits' are a new human species -- according to the statistical analysis of fossils |
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· 11/19/2009 5:39:35 AM PST · · Posted by Pharmboy · · 30 replies · · 699+ views · · physical science news · · 19-Nov-2009 · · Dawn Peters · |
Homo floresiensis not diseased sub-population of healthy humans Researchers from Stony Brook University Medical Center in New York have confirmed that Homo floresiensis is a genuine ancient human species and not a descendant of healthy humans dwarfed by disease. Using statistical analysis on skeletal remains of a well-preserved female specimen, researchers determined the "hobbit" to be a distinct species and not a genetically flawed version of modern humans. Details of the study appear in the December issue of Significance, the magazine of the Royal Statistical Society, published by Wiley-Blackwell. In 2003 Australian and Indonesian scientists discovered small-bodied, small-brained, hominin (human-like)... |
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| Australia and the Pacific | |
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| Nan Madol: The City Built on Coral Reefs |
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· 11/16/2009 7:33:16 PM PST · · Posted by BGHater · · 5 replies · · 387+ views · · Smithsonian Magazine · · 03 Nov 2009 · · Christopher Pala · |
One of the oldest archaeological sites not on a heritage list, this Pacific state, like Easter Island, is an engineering marvel We zigzag slowly in our skiff around the shallow coral heads surrounding Pohnpei. The island, a little smaller than New York City, is part of the Federated States of Micronesia. It is nestled in a vast tapestry of coral reefs. Beyond the breakers, the Pacific stretches 5,578 miles to California. A stingray dashes in front of us, flying underwater like a butterfly alongside our bow. Our destination is Nan Madol, near the southern side of the island, the only... |
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| Professor Twist | |
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| Strange Ancient Crocodiles Swam the Sahara |
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· 11/19/2009 11:21:14 AM PST · · Posted by decimon · · 23 replies · · 731+ views · · Live Science · · Nov 19, 2009 · · LiveScience Staff · |
Paleontologist Paul Sereno and his colleagues unearthed a bizarre bunch of crocodile remains in the Sahara. The crocs sported snouts and other traits that resembled some modern-day animals and inspired nicknames, including SuperCroc (weighed 8 tons), BoarCroc (upper right), PancakeCroc (lower right), RatCroc, DogCroc and DuckCroc. Credit: Photo by Mike Hettwer, courtesy National Geographic. From a crocodile sporting a boar-like snout to a peculiar pal with buckteeth for digging up grub, an odd-looking bunch of such reptiles dashed and swam across what is now the Sahara Desert some 100 million years ago when dinosaurs ruled. That's the picture created by... |
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| Egypt | |
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| Heart Disease Found in Ancient Mummies |
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· 11/17/2009 4:25:10 PM PST · · Posted by decimon · · 22 replies · · 380+ views · · Live Science · · Nov 17, 2009 · · Charles Q. Choi · |
Scientists have uncovered heart disease in 3,500-year-old Egyptian mummies, suggesting the risk factors behind it are not just modern in nature. Heart disease is often ascribed to modern risk factors, such as smoking, unhealthy diets rich in saturated fats, salt and processed sugars, or sedentary lifestyles. But then cardiologists touring the Egyptian National Museum of Antiquities in Cairo during a medical conference last year noticed the nameplate of the pharoah Merenptah, who ruled from 1213 B.C. to 1203 B.C. It read that when Merenptah died at roughly age 60, he was afflicted with atherosclerosis, or thickening of the arteries due... |
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| Heart Disease Found in Egyptian Mummies (Pre-McDonalds) |
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· 11/17/2009 10:51:58 PM PST · · Posted by bogusname · · 7 replies · · 234+ views · · Science Daily · · Nov. 17, 2009 · · ScienceDaily · |
Hardening of the arteries has been detected in Egyptian mummies, some as old as 3,500 years, suggesting that the factors causing heart attack and stroke are not only modern ones; they afflicted ancient people, too. Study results are appearing in the Nov. 18 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) and are being presented Nov. 17 at the Scientific Session of the American Heart Association at Orlando, Fla. "Atherosclerosis is ubiquitous among modern day humans and, despite differences in ancient and modern lifestyles, we found that it was rather common in ancient Egyptians of high socioeconomic status... |
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| India / Harappa | |
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| Indus Valley's Bronze Age civilisation 'had first sophisticated financial exchange system' |
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· 11/20/2009 7:55:16 PM PST · · Posted by SunkenCiv · · 4 replies · · 50+ views · · Telegraph · · Tuesday, November 17, 2009 · · Dean Nelson · |
According to a new study of clay pots and ceramic tablets discovered almost 70 years ago in Harappa, now in Pakistan, the people of the Indus Valley had a detailed system of commodity value, weights and measures. Dr Bryan Wells, a researcher based at India's Institute of Mathematical Sciences, told The Daily Telegraph he had begun work on his thesis ten years ago when he first saw photographs of the clay pots with markings which appeared to be in proportion to their relative size. But he was not able to test his thesis until he visited New Delhi earlier this... |
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| Religion of Peace | |
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| Hindu Genocide |
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· 01/26/2006 4:38:11 AM PST · · Posted by voice of india · · 17 replies · · 1,880+ views · · Shrinandan Vyas · |
Now Afganistan is a Moslem country. Logically, this means either one or more of the following must have happened: a) original residents of Hindu Kush converted to Islam, or b) they were slaughtered and the conquerors took over, or c) they were driven out. Encyclopedia Britannica (3) already informs us above about the resistance to conversion and frequent revolt against to the Moslem conqueror's rule from 8 th thru 11 th Century AD. The name 'Hindu Kush' itself tells us about the fate of the original residents of Gandhaar and Vaahic Pradesh during the later period of Moslem conquests, because... |
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| Longer Perspectives | |
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| Jerusalem stone and the genocide of Titus |
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· 11/19/2009 7:02:50 AM PST · · Posted by US Navy Vet · · 10 replies · · 404+ views · · American Thinker · · November 19, 2009 · · James Lewis · |
Israel's high rise buildings in Jerusalem are built out of Jerusalem stone, a beautiful natural building material that makes even the new city look gloriously resurrected from the very hills themselves. Obama is a Third World socialist, meaning that he sees everything through the lens of revenge against Western colonialism of the 19th century. Where Obama sees "settlements," Israelis see 900 units of beautiful high-rise buildings made out of the living rock of the land. |
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| Let's Have Jerusalem | |
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| Evidence for kings David and Solomon |
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· 11/16/2009 9:53:22 AM PST · · Posted by BGHater · · 8 replies · · 657+ views · · Times Online · · 16 Nov 2009 · · Norman Hammond · |
"King David and King Solomon lived merry, merry lives, With many, many concubines and many, many wives. But when old age crept after them, with many, many qualms, King Solomon wrote the Proverbs and King David wrote the Psalms." There are several versions of this anonymous rhyme, but the problem, some biblical archaeologists argue, is that there is little evidence that either king existed: archaeological remains have been assigned to their reigns on the basis of cryptic verses in the Old Testament, and then used to "prove" the date of similar buildings at other sites. Until 15 years ago, Professor... |
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| Abraham's Burial Site |
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· 11/20/2009 7:28:26 PM PST · · Posted by SunkenCiv · · 7 replies · · 552+ views · · Koinonia House · · June 1997 · · Chuck Missler (I guess) · |
Jews had long suspected that the entrance to the real burial chamber must be here, and because of that they placed their prayer slips of paper in wall cracks on the exterior of the building at this same location... Dr. Jevin... recounted to Nachrichten aus Israel (News from Israel) how he forced himself through a narrow entrance, went down 16 steps and crawled along a 20-meters long, 60-cm high and 100-cm wide tunnel in order to finally reach a 3.5 x 3.5 meter room. The chamber, tunnel and steps were all made of the same worked stones as the building... |
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| Epigraphy and Language | |
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| New Exhibit: 2,000 Year-Old Temple Mount Coins |
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· 11/14/2009 6:00:33 AM PST · · Posted by GonzoII · · 7 replies · · 386+ views · · israelnationalnews.com · · 11/05/09 · · Hana Levi Julian · |
The exhibit was organized by the Israel Antiquities Authority and the East Jerusalem Development Company with funding from the William Davidson and Estanne Fawer Foundation. It is intended to be the first of several exhibitions to be presented at the Davidson Center in the Jerusalem Archaeological Garden. |
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| Fake! Fake! Fake! Fake! | |
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| Palestinian Historian: Egyptians Had the Right to Force the Jews to Build Pithom and Raamses |
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· 11/17/2009 5:42:14 AM PST · · Posted by SJackson · · 38 replies · · 587+ views · · IMRA · · 11-17-09 · |
MEMRI: Palestinian Historian Dr. Ibrahim Al-Sinwar: Ancient Egyptians Had the Right to Force the Jews to Work Building Pithom and Raamses; Benjamin Franklin Warned against the Jews MEMRI No. 2260| November 16, 2009 Palestinian Historian Dr. Ibrahim Al-Sinwar: Ancient Egyptians Had the Right to Force the Jews to Work Building Pithom and Raamses; Benjamin Franklin Warned against the Jews Following are excerpts from an interview with Dr. Ibrahim Al-Sinwar, a lecturer on Islamic history at the Islamic University of Gaza. The interview aired on Al-Aqsa TV on July 31, 2009. To view this clip, visit http://www.memritv.org/clip/en/2260.htm Dr. Ibrahim Al-Sinwar: The... |
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| Agriculture and Animal Husbandry | |
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| Valley in Jordan inhabited and irrigated for 13,000 years |
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· 11/20/2009 8:24:09 PM PST · · Posted by SunkenCiv · · 1 replies · · 19+ views · · PhysOrg · · Wednesday, November 18, 2009 · · Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research · |
Dutch researcher Eva Kaptijn succeeded in discovering -- based on 100,000 finds -- that the Zerqa Valley in Jordan had been successively inhabited and irrigated for more than 13,000 years. But it was not just communities that built irrigation systems: the irrigation systems also built communities... she has been applying an intensive field exploration technique: 15 metres apart, the researchers would walk forward for 50 metres. On the outward leg, they'd pick up all the earthenware and, on the way back, all of the other material. This resulted in more than 100,000 finds, varying from about 13,000 years to just... |
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| Turf Toe | |
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| Cerne Abbas Giant: is he older than we thought? |
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· 11/20/2009 8:07:32 PM PST · · Posted by SunkenCiv · · 14 replies · · 374+ views · · Times o' London · · November 17, 2009 · · Jack Malvern · |
The gardens were built when the Abbey of Cernes was transformed into a country mansion in the mid-16th century after the Dissolution of the Monasteries. One resident who may have been responsible for the gardens was Denzil Holles, a characterful MP who fought for the Parliamentarians but was a Royalist at heart and who occupied the house from 1642-66. The Rev John Hutchins, a local historian writing in 1774, claimed that he was told that the giant was "a modern thing" cut by Lord Holles. The National Trust, which owns the field where the giant is carved, suggests that the... |
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| Greece | |
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| Origins: The First Act -- An irredeemable debt to ancient Greek theater |
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· 11/16/2009 7:18:00 PM PST · · Posted by SunkenCiv · · 3 replies · · 155+ views · · Biblical Archaeology Review · · Rush Rehm · |
The Theater of Dionysus lies on the south slope of the Acropolis, on whose heights rose Athens's most sacred temples. Open to the sky, and looking down over the southern part of town, the theater belonged fully to the political and social world of its audience -- unlike our indoor theaters (which cut off the outside world). The beginnings of Greek theater were associated with another radical invention of the ancient Athenians: democracy. Although we find obscure references to earlier dramatists, our first secure date for tragic performances at the City Dionysia comes shortly after the expulsion from Athens of... |
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| Thrace / Bulgaria | |
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| Bulgaria Archaeologists Present Unique Thracian Tomb Finds [pics] |
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· 11/21/2009 8:44:26 AM PST · · Posted by SunkenCiv · · 8 replies · · 151+ views · · Novinite · · Tuesday, November 17, 2009 · · unattributed · |
A team of Bulgarian archaeologists led by Veselin Ignatov formally presented Tuesday their finds from the tomb of an aristocrat from Ancient Thrace near the southern town of Nova Zagora. In October and November 2009, Ignatov's team found a burial tomb of dated back to the end of 1st century and beginning of 2nd century AD, located outside of the village of Karanovo, in southern Bulgaria. The finds at the lavish Thracian tomb include gold rings, silver cups and vessels coated with gold and clay vessels. Those include two silver cups with images of love god Eros, and a number... |
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| Scotland Yet | |
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| Chilling words that triggered the bloody massacre of clan MacDonald at Glencoe to go on display |
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· 11/21/2009 8:59:07 AM PST · · Posted by Dysart · · 12 replies · · 217+ views · · The Scotsman · · 11-21-09 · · Tim Cornwell and Oliver Tree · |
THEY were the words that launched one of the darkest episodes in Scottish history, remembered and resented to this day. Clan Campbell murdered Clan MacDonald in Glencoe in 1692 Now the original handwritten order for the massacre at Glencoe "to fall upon the rebels ... and put all to the sword under seventy" goes on show in Edinburgh this week. Sent to Robert Campbell of Glenlyon, in 1692, the simple 20-line letter triggered the murder of 38 members of the MacDonald clan and is the centrepiece of an exhibition of cultural "treasures" at the National Library of Scotland. It is... |
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| Among My Souvenirs | |
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| Museum: Galileo's fingers, tooth are found |
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· 11/20/2009 12:52:47 PM PST · · Posted by JoeProBono · · 27 replies · · 481+ views · · lasvegassun · · Nov. 20, 2009 · |
Two fingers and a tooth removed from Galileo Galilei's corpse in a Florentine basilica in the 18th century and given up for lost have been found again, a Florence museum said Friday. Paolo Galluzzi, director of the Museum of the History of Science, said three fingers, a vertebra and a tooth were removed by enthusiastic admirers from the astronomer's body in 1737, 95 years after his death, while his corpse was being moved from a storage place to a monumental tomb, opposite the tomb of Michelangelo, in Santa Croce Basilica in Florence. One of the fingers was recovered soon after,... |
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| Kernels Save the General | |
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| Returning to their roots, health |
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· 11/17/2009 6:49:34 AM PST · · Posted by Pharmboy · · 21 replies · · 270+ views · · Milwaukee Journal Sentinel · · Nov. 17, 2009 · · Karen Herzog · |
Mark HoffmanSurrounded by white corn drying the traditional way, manager Jeff Metoxen talks about the benefits of white corn to a group of visitors from Germany last month at the Tsyunhehkwa Agricultural Center in Oneida. Oneida embrace planting, harvesting of white corn as a staple of diet, culture Mark HoffmanWhite corn has far fewer rows of kernels than its sweet corn cousin. Oneida - George Washington's troops at Valley Forge may have starved to death without the white corn an Oneida Indian chief gave them in the winter of 1777 during the Revolutionary War. Now, the Oneida, like other... |
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| Early America | |
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| This Day in History,November 15,1777, Articles of Confederation Adopted by Congress |
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· 11/15/2009 6:15:23 PM PST · · Posted by mdittmar · · 12 replies · · 268+ views · · various · · 11/15/09 · · various · |
The Continental Congress adopted the Articles of Confederation, the first constitution of the United States, on November 15, 1777. However, ratification of the Articles of Confederation by all thirteen states did not occur until March 1, 1781. The Articles created a loose confederation of sovereign states and a weak central government, leaving most of the power with the state governments. The need for a stronger Federal government soon became apparent and eventually led to the Constitutional Convention in 1787. The present United States Constitution replaced the Articles of Confederation on March 4, 1789. |
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| The Framers | |
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| Our 'Constitutional Moment' |
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· 11/15/2009 10:32:33 AM PST · · Posted by BGHater · · 8 replies · · 402+ views · · WSJ · · 13 Nov 2009 · · JAMES TARANTO · |
The New York newspaperman says our founding document is especially vital today, in an age of expanding state power. Seth Lipsky has a knack for seeing the bright side of things. A nearly 20-year veteran of this newspaper, including its editorial page, he cheerfully acknowledges the obvious: This is far from a golden age of free-market conservatism. Of President Obama, he tells me over lunch, "I sense that he has a very leftist, socialist-oriented worldview." Yet this makes Mr. Lipsky anything but grim: "I for one find this very exciting. . . . We're just at a great moment." Why?... |
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| The Civil War | |
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| Abraham Lincoln letter goes up for sale |
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· 11/19/2009 7:51:44 AM PST · · Posted by BGHater · · 25 replies · · 337+ views · · Guardian · · 18 Nov 2009 · · Ed Pilkington i · |
The lesson of history for any small child is that if you are lucky enough to be presented to the future president of the US, then make sure you have evidence of the encounter before bragging about it to your classmates. George Patten, aged eight, discovered the bitter truth of that maxim in 1860 after he boasted at school about having met Abraham Lincoln, having been introduced to the then presidential candidate with his journalist father. The boy's friends thought he had made the story up, and bullied him. To settle the matter, Patten's teacher wrote to the White House... |
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| World War Eleven | |
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| A Truly Remarkable Series: World War II in HD - Video |
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· 11/19/2009 6:27:07 PM PST · · Posted by Federalist Patriot · · 7 replies · · 100+ views · · Freedom's Lighthouse · · November 19, 2009 · · BrianinMO · |
The History Channel is airing this week a truly remarkable series - World War II HD: WWII in HD is the first-ever World War II documentary presented in full, immersive HD color. Culled from thousands of hours of lost and rare color archival footage gathered from a worldwide search through basements and archives, WWII in HD will change the way the world sees this defining conflict. Using footage never before seen by most Americans--converted to HD for unprecedented clarity--viewers will experience the war as if they were actually there, surrounded by the real sights and sounds of the battlefields.Here are... |
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| Normandy 1944. Then and Now. |
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· 11/18/2009 6:52:28 PM PST · · Posted by GSP.FAN · · 22 replies · · 761+ views · · AcidCow · · 2 September 2009 · · Acidcow · |
Amazing collection of photos taken during the WW2 and nowadays. The WW2 photos were taken during the invasion of Normandy on and after D-Day. |
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| Climate | |
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| Skeptics Handbook II! Global Bullies Want Your Money |
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· 11/20/2009 3:24:58 PM PST · · Posted by AFPhys · · 10 replies · · 211+ views · · www.icecap.us · · Nov. 20, 2009 · · Joanne Nova · |
Big Government has spent $79 billion on the climate industry, 3000 times more than Big Oil. Leading climate scientists won't debate in public and won't provide their data. What do they hide? When faced with freedom-of-information requests they say they've "lost" the original global temperature records. Thousands of scientists are rising in protest against the scare campaign. Meanwhile $126 billion turned over in carbon markets in 2008 and bankers get set to make billions. Twenty pages of concise commentary and cartoons: The short synopsis of how we paid to find a crisis. The... |
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| Are Brains Fish Food? | |
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| Gene protects brain-eaters from mad cow-type disease |
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· 11/18/2009 5:41:26 PM PST · · Posted by decimon · · 14 replies · · 334+ views · · Reuters · · Nov 18, 2009 · · Maggie Fox · |
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- Villagers in the highlands of Papua New Guinea who ritualistically ate human brains but did not die of a brain disease called kuru have a genetic mutation that protects them, researchers said Wednesday. Their study of the unusual cannibalistic practice shows evolution in real time in the human population, and might lead to a treatment for similar brain-wasting conditions, the researchers reported in the New England Journal of Medicine. Kuru once wiped out entire generations of women in remote Papuan villages. It was traced to a now-defunct mortuary ceremony in which women and children ate the brains... |
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| Brain-eating tribe enriches understanding of mad cow disease |
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· 11/19/2009 6:57:03 AM PST · · Posted by TigerLikesRooster · · 33 replies · · 782+ views · · The Times(UK) · · 11/19/09 · · Mark Henderson · |
November 19, 2009 Brain-eating tribe enriches understanding of mad cow disease Mark Henderson, Science Editor A cannibalistic ritual in which the brains of dead tribespeople were eaten by their relatives has triggered one of the most striking examples of rapid human evolution on record, scientists have discovered. In the middle of the 20th century the Fore tribe of the Eastern Highlands province of Papua New Guinea was devastated by a CJD-like disease called kuru, which was passed on by mortuary feasts in which the brains of the dead were consumed. Although the practice was banned in the 1950s and kuru... |
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| Rare Headshrinking Footage Confirmed? - Warning Video contains graphic images |
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· 11/16/2009 11:16:01 AM PST · · Posted by JoeProBono · · 27 replies · · 1,271+ views · · nationalgeographic. · · November 13, 2009 · |
What could be the only footage of an actual human headshrinking ceremony in South America--which shows heads being boiled and dried--may be real, says an explorer in a new documentary. Warning Video contains graphic images In its special, author and explorer Piers Gibbon set out to find out if the film is genuine. The film was made in 1961 by Polish Explorer Edmundo Bielawski, who, with a team of seven, set out to explore and document the worlds largest rain forest: The Amazon. Head-shrinking was only practiced by one portion of the Amazon jungle-dwelling population- the Shuar. Headshrinking was a... |
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| Oh So Mysteriouso | |
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| Man says 30-foot 'monster' lurking in canals of Madeira Beach |
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· 11/17/2009 7:07:06 PM PST · · Posted by Redcitizen · · 42 replies · · 1,947+ views · · Tampa Bay Online · · 11-16-09 · · By ROD CHALLENGER · |
There's something strange and big swimming in the canals of Madeira Beach along the Pinellas County coast. Those who have seen it say it's no fish and think it could be a sea serpent. Russ Sittlow, 78, has seen it. He calls the creature "Normandy Nessie" because he lives on Normandy Road. The retired engineer said he first saw "Nessie" in April. "His head come up out of the water, and then he rolled up in a double roll behind him and he was long he was huge," he said of that first sighting. |
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| Somethin' Ain't Cricket! | |
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| Diary entry may offer proof that baseball came from England |
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· 09/11/2008 3:29:28 PM PDT · · Posted by C19fan · · 35 replies · · 451+ views · · AP · · 09/11/2008 · · By Staff · |
Baseball is as American as ... tea and crumpets? |
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| Thoroughly Modern Miscellany | |
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| Astronomical Clocks -- Literally and Metaphorically |
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· 11/18/2009 8:33:43 PM PST · · Posted by tired1 · · 2 replies · · 234+ views · · news-world.us · |
Clocks are clocks are clocks -- or so you may think. However, some clocks are astronomical both literally and metaphorically. Here is a great selection of astronomical clocks of Europe. |
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| Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas | |
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| Happy Kwanzaa - (Exposè of sordid, concocted origins) |
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· 12/08/2004 12:44:17 PM PST · · Posted by CHARLITE · · 76 replies · · 3,081+ views · · FRONT PAGE MAGAZINE.COM · · DECEMBER 26, 2004 · · PAUL MULSHINE · |
On December 24, 1971, the New York Times ran one of the first of many articles on a new holiday designed to foster unity among African Americans. The holiday, called Kwanzaa, was applauded by a certain sixteen-year-old minister who explained that the feast would perform the valuable service of "de-whitizing" Christmas. The minister was a nobody at the time but he would later go on to become perhaps the premier race-baiter of the twentieth century. His name was Al Sharpton .... With money also comes forgetfulness. As those warm Kwanzaa feelings are generated in a spirit of holiday cheer, those... |
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| Faith and Philosophy | |
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| Bible written by different writers at different times for different people |
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· 12/06/2001 6:32:57 AM PST · · Posted by Weatherman123 · · 404 replies · · 6,473+ views · · me · · 12/6/01 · · me · |
Good morning folks. I came up with a new example that I think gives excellent evidence that different writers wrote different parts of the Bible. Tell me what you think. Like I could stop you! :) Let's talk about just the first two chapters of Genesis, the creation story/myth. Gn 1:1-2:4a versus Gn 2:4b-25. Can you see two distinctly different stories here? Please go read them both. Here's one example: Gn 1:1-2 In the beginning, when God created the heavens and the earth, the earth was a formless wasteland, and darkness covered the abyss, while a mighty wind swept over ... |
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| The Pagan Origin of Easter |
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· 04/16/2006 9:07:24 AM PDT · · Posted by The Lumster · · 106 replies · · 2,060+ views · · Last Trumpet Ministries · · unknown · · David J. Meyer · |
Easter is a day that is honered by nearly all of contemporary Christianity and is used to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ. The holiday often involves a church service at sunrise, a feast which includes an "Easter Ham", decorated eggs and stories about rabbits. Those who love truth learn to ask questions, and many questions must be asked regarding the holiday of Easter. Is it truly the day when Jesus arose from the dead? Where did all of the strange customs come from, which have nothing to do with the resurrection of our... |
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| Is Burial Box That of Christ's Brother? |
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· 10/21/2002 9:35:21 AM PDT · · Posted by wallcrawlr · · 382 replies · · 793+ views · · National Geographic News · · 10.21.02 · |
Researchers may have uncovered the first archaeological evidence that refers to Jesus as an actual person and identifies James, the first leader of the Christian church, as his brother. The 2,000-year-old ossuary -- a box that held bones -- bears the inscription "James, son of Joseph, brother of Jesus." Until now, all references to the three men have been found only in manuscripts. The ossuary is not quite rectangular, like most burial boxes found so far, but trapezoid in shape. It is about 20 inches long, 10 inches wide, and 12 inches high. The image on top shows the inscription "James, son of Joseph,... |
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| Rome and Italy | |
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| Basilica bones are St Paul's, Pope declares after carbon dating tests |
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· 06/29/2009 6:42:19 AM PDT · · Posted by NYer · · 61 replies · · 2,156+ views · · Timesonline · · June 29, 2009 · · Richard Owen · |
Pope Benedict XVI said last night that bone fragments found inside the tomb of St Paul in Rome had been carbon dated for the first time, "confirming the unanimous and uncontested tradition that they are the mortal remains of the Apostle Paul". He said that archaeologists had inserted a probe into the white marble sarcophagus under the Basilica of St Paul's Outside the Walls which has been revered for centuries as the tomb of St Paul. The pontiff said: "Small fragments of bone were carbon dated by experts who knew nothing about their provenance and results showed they were from... |
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| Indiana Jones and the Christian catacombs? Not quite |
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· 07/28/2009 1:34:14 PM PDT · · Posted by NYer · · 15 replies · · 843+ views · · cns · · July 23, 2009 · · Cindy Wooden · |
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Sometimes a job is just a job, even when from the outside it looks like it involves the stuff of an Indiana Jones movie. Fabrizio Bisconti is the newly named archaeological superintendent of the Pontifical Commission for Sacred Archaeology, which oversees the upkeep and preservation of 140 Christian catacombs from the third and fourth centuries scattered all over Italy. Most of the time, he said, the job is just work and study. Staff members can spend a full month with surgical tools and cotton balls cleaning a third-century sarcophagus, but then there are those stunning, shocking,... |
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| end of digest #279 20091121 | |
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· Saturday, November 21, 2009 · 55 topics · 2391537 to 2386059 · 730 members · |
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Saturday |
Welcome to the 279th issue. Fifty-five topics, that was a brainy idea, 'Civ, make more work for yourself when it's Digest time. Anyway, a great many of the 55 are older topics that popped up in searches for other things, or were spotted in a keyword scan, that kind of thing. Quite a few fall under several of the usual headings, with a focus on "Longer Perspectives". |
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| Gods, Graves, Glyphs Weekly Digest #280 Saturday, November 28, 2009 |
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| Thanksgiving | |
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| The REAL Story of Thanksgiving |
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· 11/21/2009 7:34:36 AM PST · · Posted by FreeKeys · · 129 replies · · 1,999+ views · · The Liberator Onlline · · Nov. 20, 1997 · · Paul Schmidt · |
Did you know that the first [Plymouth Colony Pilgrim's] Thanksgiving was a celebration of the triumph of private property and individual initiative?William Bradford was the governor of the original Pilgrim colony, founded at Plymouth in 1621. The colony was first organized on a communal basis, as their financiers required. Land was owned in common. The Pilgrims farmed communally, too, following the "from each according to his abilities, to each according to his needs" precept.The results were disastrous. Communism didn't work any better 400 years ago than it does today. By 1623, the colony had... |
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| George Washington's 1789 Thanksgiving Proclamation |
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· 11/25/2009 11:57:32 AM PST · · Posted by Retain Mike · · 18 replies · · 355+ views · · The Thanksgiving Story · · 1789 · · George Washington · |
Whereas it is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey His will, to be grateful for His benefits, and humbly to implore His protection and favor; and Whereas both Houses of Congress have, by their joint committee, requested me to "recommend to the people of the United States a day of public Thanksgiving and prayer, to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many and signal favors of Almighty God, especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and... |
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| The Pilgrims, Famine, and the End of Feudalism |
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· 11/25/2009 11:44:35 PM PST · · Posted by neverdem · · 9 replies · · 324+ views · · American Thinker · · November 26, 2009 · · John Hunt · |
" . . . it well appeared the famine must still ensue . . ."Famine stalked The Pilgrims the first years. But their conquest of famine helped end old world feudalism. I suggest the reader access the Project Gutenberg online edition of Governor William Bradford's Of Plymouth Plantation.[ii], for the original source, see endnotes. I'll paraphrase some passages. July 1620 The Pilgrims' contract[iii] with their financial backers, the London Merchant Adventurers Company, included conditions of seven years of joint stock and partnership and communal property, followed by a division and release from obligations, "3. ... all profits and benefits that are got... |
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| Agriculture and Animal Husbandry | |
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| Etymology of the word "Turkey" |
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· 11/24/2009 11:09:35 AM PST · · Posted by Pessimist · · 7 replies · · 245+ views · · Online Etymology Dictionary · · ? · · unknown · |
Turkey 1541, "guinea fowl" (Numida meleagris), imported from Madagascar via Turkey, by Near East traders known as turkey merchants. The larger North American bird (Meleagris gallopavo) was domesticated by the Aztecs, introduced to Spain by conquistadors (1523) and thence to wider Europe, by way of North Africa (then under Ottoman rule) and Turkey (Indian corn was originally turkey corn or turkey wheat in Eng. for the same reason). The word turkey was first applied to it in Eng. 1555 because it was identified with or treated as a species of the guinea fowl. The Turkish name for it is hindi,... |
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| Diet and Cuisine | |
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| Cavemen Roasted Birds, Too [Homo heidelbergensis] |
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· 11/27/2009 10:55:00 AM PST · · Posted by SunkenCiv · · 38 replies · · 401+ views · · Discovery News · · Wednesday, November 25, 2009 · · Jennifer Viegas · |
Early modern humans and their predecessors in Europe were mostly big game hunters, but a pile of well-nibbled bird bones suggests that at least some prehistoric European cavemen enjoyed small prey too, according to a new study. The 202 bones, belonging to the Aythya genus of diving ducks, were found at Bolomor Cave near the town of Tavernes in Valencia, Spain. The ducks date to around 150,000 years ago, and were not eaten daintily. "The birds were de-fleshed using both stone tools and teeth," co-author Ruth Blasco told Discovery News, noting that some of the ducks may have even been... |
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| Faith and Philosophy | |
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| A Feast for the Senses...and the Soul |
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· 11/27/2009 11:17:40 AM PST · · Posted by SunkenCiv · · 5 replies · · 123+ views · · BAR -- Biblical Archaeology Review · · November 2009 · · Dorothy D. Resig · |
Few activities in life are as seemingly mundane yet vitally important as eating... Ritual feasts and banquets in the Biblical world and beyond were particularly important occasions for showing devotion to a deity, solidifying social relationships and ranks, as well as teaching lessons. In antiquity, even the gods had to eat. Temple officials in ancient Babylon and Egypt were tasked with the daily feeding of their deities. The statues of these deities were more than just depictions for their worshipers; they were themselves divine, and they needed to be fed, bathed, clothed and cared for. An elaborate ritual known as... |
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| Greece | |
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| Ancient Greek worshippers showed inclination towards the Sun |
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· 11/21/2009 1:38:46 PM PST · · Posted by SunkenCiv · · 18 replies · · 325+ views · · Times of London · · Thursday, November 19, 2009 · · Mark Henderson · |
An investigation into temples built by Greek colonists in Sicily has found strong evidence that they were aligned to the East. The findings, by Alun Salt, of the University of Leicester, suggest that Ancient Greek religion may have included ritual elements inspired by astronomy, as well as illuminating the national culture of settlers who founded communities beyond the mainland. The study could settle a long-running dispute among archaeologists and classicists about temple orientation. Although it has long been known that most of these shrines face east, some academics have questioned whether this alignment reflected a deliberate plan. Critics of astronomical... |
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| Houses of the rising sun |
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· 11/25/2009 7:10:18 AM PST · · Posted by decimon · · 7 replies · · 157+ views · · University of Leicester · · Nov 25, 2009 · · Unknown · |
Research at the University of Leicester sheds new light on Ancient Greeks -- New research at the University of Leicester has identified scores of Sicilian temples built to face the rising Sun, shedding light on the practices of the Ancient Greeks. Dr Alun Salt, an astronomy technician from the Centre for Interdisciplinary Science at the University of Leicester, found that out of all the temples he surveyed in Sicily, all but three faced the rising sun. The findings have been published on line in the journal PLoS ONE. The results may imply that there is an 'astronomical fingerprint' for Greek settlers in... |
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| Religion of Peace | |
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| Taliban destroying Gandhara heritage in Pakistan |
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· 11/25/2009 10:18:03 PM PST · · Posted by SunkenCiv · · 10 replies · · 269+ views · · Himalayan Times · · November 22, 2009 · · Agence France Presse · |
Archaeologists warn that the Taliban are destroying Pakistan's ancient Gandhara heritage and rich Buddhist legacy as pilgrimage and foreign research dries up in the country's northwest. "Militants are the enemies of culture," said Abdul Nasir Khan, curator of Taxila Museum, one of the premier archeological collections in Pakistan. "It is very clear that if the situation carries on like this, it will destroy our culture and will destroy our cultural heritage," he told AFP. Taxila, a small town around 20 kilometres south of Islamabad, is one of Pakistan's foremost archeological attractions given its history as a centre of Buddhist learning... |
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| Imaginary Universe of the Left | |
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| Book Calls Jewish People an "Invention' |
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· 11/27/2009 12:31:22 PM PST · · Posted by pillut48 · · 58 replies · · 1,126+ views · · New York Slimes · · November 23, 2009 · · PATRICIA COHEN · |
Despite the fragmented and incomplete historical record, experts pretty much agree that some popular beliefs about Jewish history simply don't hold up: there was no sudden expulsion of all Jews from Jerusalem in A.D. 70, for instance. What's more, modern Jews owe their ancestry as much to converts from the first millennium and early Middle Ages as to the Jews of antiquity... Books challenging biblical and conventional history continually pop up, but what distinguishes the dispute over origins from debates about, say, the reality of the exodus from Egypt or the historical Jesus, is that it is so enmeshed in... |
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| Let's Have Jerusalem | |
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| Digital map reveals Israeli archaeology |
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· 11/21/2009 8:56:26 AM PST · · Posted by BGHater · · 2 replies · · 424+ views · · LA Times · · 20 Nov 2009 · · Suzanne Muchnic · |
A searchable map detailing 40 years of Israeli archaeological work in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, developed for the USC Digital Library, has won the 2009 Open Archaeology Prize from the American Schools of Oriental Research.A nonprofit organization founded in 1900 and located at Boston University, the American Schools of Oriental Research support the study and public understanding of peoples and cultures of the Near East. The prize, to be presented today at a professional meeting in New Orleans, recognizes "the best open-access, open-licensed, digital contribution to Near Eastern archaeology by an ASOR member." Project leaders Lynn Swartz Dodd... |
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| Korea | |
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| Mural reveals ancient connection to Uzbekistan [7th century Korean envoys?] |
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· 11/27/2009 11:00:59 AM PST · · Posted by SunkenCiv · · 6 replies · · 253+ views · · JoongAng Daily · · Friday, November 27, 2009 · · Yim Seung-hye · |
In 1965, a mural was discovered in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, when local authorities decided to build a road in the middle of the Afrasiab tepe. A tepe is a mound marking an ancient site, in this case pre-Mongol Samarkand. When it was found, the mural was weathered and its images obscured. But those who discovered it had the foresight to make a drawing of it, from which replicas have been made. A replica of this mural is now being shown as part of the exhibit "The Crossroads of Civilizations: The Asian Culture of Uzbekistan" until September of next year at the... |
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| Helix, Make Mine a Double | |
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| Research Teams Map Genetic, Genomic Patterns in Han Chinese Population |
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· 11/27/2009 8:00:28 AM PST · · Posted by BGHater · · 4 replies · · 202+ views · · GenomeWeb · · 25 Nov 2009 · · Staff · |
A pair of papers in the American Journal of Human Genetics today are highlighting the genetic and genomic variation present within the Han Chinese population. In the first of these papers, a Genome Institute of Singapore-led team developed a genetic map of the Han Chinese population by genotyping thousands of individuals from across China. The genetic variation they detected is providing insights into Han Chinese population structure and evolutionary history -- for instance, revealing North-South population structure in China. And down the road, researchers say, the results should pave the way for genome-wide association and other studies in the population."By... |
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| China | |
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| Palace of Balhae Era Unearthed by Archeologists |
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· 11/27/2009 10:49:35 AM PST · · Posted by SunkenCiv · · 4 replies · · 142+ views · · Russia IC dot com · · November 26, 2009 · · unattributed · |
A joint expedition of Russian and Korean archeologists studying a site of Balhae Era resulted in finding evidences that prove existence of a big administrative centre in the Primorye Territory in the 9th-11th centuries. "We have found a building in the shape of a palace, well-known to us from diggings of capital cities of Balhae in China. Nothing of the kind had been found in the Primorye before. The discovery confirms the supposition that Primorye was not just a periphery of the Balhae state, but an administrative centre once existed there. We are going to find out what it was... |
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| Chia Pets of the Emperor | |
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| "Terra Cotta Warriors: Guardians of China's First Emperor" preview in Washington |
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· 11/18/2009 2:33:08 PM PST · · Posted by JoeProBono · · 22 replies · · 436+ views · · upi. · · November 17, 2009 · |
A terra cotta warrior and horse is seen during a media preview for the exhibit "Terra Cotta Warriors: Guardians of China's First Emperor" at the National Geographic in Washington on November 17, 2009. The exhibit, which opens November 19, features 15 terra cotta figures. UPI/Kevin Dietsch |
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| What Would Churchill Say | |
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| Japanese experiment: Chimp vs Human Memory test- Guess who wins? |
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· 11/27/2009 12:30:27 PM PST · · Posted by bronzey · · 7 replies · · 227+ views · · Youtube · |
This is an older video, by a couple years but it is amazing to watch. The experiment pits Japanese researchers vs chimps in a memory experiment. |
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| Prehistory and Origins | |
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| Hunting for the home of Indonesia's Java Man |
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· 11/26/2009 6:47:45 AM PST · · Posted by SunkenCiv · · 16 replies · · 295+ views · · BBC · · Saturday, November 21, 2009 · · unattributed · |
This year has seen the discovery in Ethiopia of Ardi, the fossil skeleton believed to be the oldest human relative. But long before Ardi came Java Man, who was unearthed in the Indonesian village of Sangiran 120 years ago. Christine Finn has been on a quest to find the origins of this paleo-celebrity... Java Man. The name sounds like a 1970s men's aftershave. One possibly not much used because the face, lovingly reconstructed by the palaeontologists, suggested he was no great shaver. He also had small, deep-set eyes and an enormous jaw. But Java Man was still a hero when... |
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| Oh, Darwin, If You Weave Me | |
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| The Future of Evolution: What Will We Become? |
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· 11/21/2009 12:27:39 PM PST · · Posted by JoeProBono · · 61 replies · · 1,492+ views · · livescience · · 16 November 2009 · · Charles Q. Choi · |
The past of human evolution is more and more coming to light as scientists uncover a trove of fossils and genetic knowledge. But where might the future of human evolution go? There are plenty of signs that humans are still evolving. However, whether humans develop along the lines portrayed by hackneyed science fiction is doubtful. Clichés dashed An old cliché has the highly evolved humans of the future sporting large heads to hold their advanced enlarged brains, "but that's nonsense, whole nonsense," said paleontologist Peter Ward at the University of Washington at Seattle, author of "Future Evolution." "If you've ever... |
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| Darwin's Great Blunder -- and Why It Was Good for the World |
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· 11/22/2009 11:20:19 AM PST · · Posted by JoeProBono · · 29 replies · · 643+ views · · discovermagazine · · October 27, 2009 · · Bruno Maddox · |
SCOTLAND. It's a long way from anywhere to this particular spot on the steep flank of the Hill of Bohuntine, gazing east across the great green heathery abyss of Glen Roy to where it admits the mouth of the more gently scooped-out Glen Glaster. Certainly if you're coming from the States -- from Petersburg, Kentucky, say, or Dayton, Tennessee, or any other of the thousand places where you would be safer lighting a Marlboro off a burning American flag than being caught with a copy of On the Origin of Species -- you're going to find it quite a hike. But you'll be glad... |
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| Humans march to a faster genetic 'drummer' than primates, UC Riverside research says |
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· 08/31/2004 6:41:31 AM PDT · · Posted by Michael_Michaelangelo · · 53 replies · · 1,461+ views · · eurekalert.org · · 08/30/04 · · Kris Lovekin · |
Humans march to a faster genetic 'drummer' than primates, UC Riverside research says *Research runs counter to Darwin's theory of natural selection* A team of biochemists from UC Riverside published a paper in the June 11 issue of the Journal of Molecular Biology that gives one explanation for why humans and primates are so closely related genetically, but so clearly different biologically and intellectually. It is an established fact that 98 percent of the DNA, or the code of life, is exactly the same between humans and chimpanzees. So the key to what it means to be human resides in... |
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| Catastrophism and Astronomy | |
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| Supervolcano eruption -- in Sumatra -- deforested India 73,000 years ago |
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· 11/23/2009 12:23:04 PM PST · · Posted by decimon · · 25 replies · · 672+ views · · U of IL, Urbana-Champaign · · Nov 23, 2009 · · Unknown · |
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- A new study provides "incontrovertible evidence" that the volcanic super-eruption of Toba on the island of Sumatra about 73,000 years ago deforested much of central India, some 3,000 miles from the epicenter, researchers report. The volcano ejected an estimated 800 cubic kilometers of ash into the atmosphere, leaving a crater (now the world's largest volcanic lake) that is 100 kilometers long and 35 kilometers wide. Ash from the event has been found in India, the Indian Ocean, the Bay of Bengal and the South China Sea. The bright ash reflected sunlight off the landscape, and volcanic sulfur... |
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| Volcanoes | |
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| Early Volcanoes Minted Nickel |
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· 11/22/2009 9:59:56 AM PST · · Posted by neverdem · · 16 replies · · 523+ views · · ScienceNOW Daily News · · 20 November 2009 · · Phil Berardelli · |
Enlarge ImageGreen gold. A complex geological process produced this sample of nickel sulfide. Credit: Marco Fiorentini, Science Those spare nickels in your pocket might not be there without the help of ancient volcanoes that blasted sulfur dioxide into the sky billions of years ago. The discovery solves a mystery that has dogged researchers for decades, says geochemist Edward Ripley of Indiana University, Bloomington, who was not affiliated with the study. The nickel in ore deposits is actually nickel sulfide, a compound that is rich in sulfur. The sulfur is "critically important," says geochemist Douglas Rumble of the Carnegie Institution... |
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| Paleontology | |
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| A Global Catastrophic Event Wiped Out Ancient Forests |
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· 11/22/2009 8:10:55 AM PST · · Posted by GodGunsGuts · · 129 replies · · 1,867+ views · · ICR News · · November 7, 2009 · · Brian Thomas, M.S. · |
Fungi are single or multi-celled organisms that break down organic materials, such as rotting wood, in order to absorb their nutrients. Neither plant nor animal, they range from mushrooms to single-celled yeast. Scientists were investigating organic chemicals trapped in an Italian sedimentary rock formation when they found evidence that an extinct fungus feasted on dead wood during a time when the world's forests had been catastrophically eradicated.[1] What could have caused such a universal effect on forests, and why does organic material remain in rocks that are supposedly 251.4 million years old?... |
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| Dinosaurs | |
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| New Dinosaur Found; Shows How Giants Got That Way |
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· 11/25/2009 10:10:49 PM PST · · Posted by SunkenCiv · · 21 replies · · 565+ views · · National Geographic News · · November 11, 2009 · · Christine Dell'Amore · |
A new dinosaur found in South Africa has given scientists a glimpse into the evolution of sauropods, the biggest animals ever to have walked the Earth, a new study says. The newfound, 20-foot-long (7-meter-long) dinosaur species is a close cousin to the common ancestor of all sauropods -- gigantic, four-legged, long-necked, big-bellied plant-eaters. Dubbed Aardonyx celestae, the 195-million-year-old dinosaur had a lot of sauropod-like features, such as a robust skeleton for holding up its heft. (See extreme dinosaur pictures.) Unlike sauropods, though, the newfound species walked on two legs and only dropped down on all fours, the new research shows.... |
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| Biology and Cryptobiology | |
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| Dr. Noe: Nessie can't be a plesiosaur!!! |
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· 11/07/2006 7:57:15 PM PST · · Posted by Beowulf9 · · 10 replies · · 345+ views · · News.scotsman.com · · November 2nd 2006 · · Shawn Ross · |
A Loch Ness Monster theory which suggests the creature is a living dinosaur has been dealt a blow by scientists. Many believe that Nessie is a plesiosaur, a long-necked marine reptile which sought refuge in Scotland's second-largest freshwater loch when most of the species died out 160 million years ago. But Dr Leslie Noe, a palaeontologist at Cambridge University's Sedgwick Museum, discovered that the plesiosaur would have been unable to lift its head up, swan-like, out of the water. Most scientists believe the creatures became extinct with the other dinosaurs, but some insist it is possible that after the last... |
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| Recapitulating Moby Grape | |
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| Thousands of strange creatures found deep in ocean |
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· 11/22/2009 1:29:00 PM PST · · Posted by Free ThinkerNY · · 41 replies · · 1,043+ views · · Associated Press · · Nov. 22, 2009 · · CAIN BURDEAU · |
NEW ORLEANS (AP) - The creatures living in the depths of the ocean are as weird and outlandish as the creations in a Dr. Seuss book: tentacled transparent sea cucumbers, primitive "dumbos" that flap ear-like fins, and tubeworms that feed on oil deposits. A report released Sunday recorded 17,650 species living below 656 feet, the point where sunlight ceases. The findings were the latest update on a 10-year census of marine life. "Parts of the deep sea that we assumed were homogenous are actually quite complex," said Robert S. Carney, an oceanographer at Louisiana State University and a lead researcher... |
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| Fertile Crescent | |
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| Deployed Soldiers tour Great Ziggurat of Ur |
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· 11/25/2009 6:51:45 PM PST · · Posted by SandRat · · 19 replies · · 701+ views · · Multi-National Force - Iraq · · Spc. Shane P.S. Begg, USA · |
An Iraqi tour guide looks on as Soldiers from the 4th Special Troops Battalion, 4th Brigade, 1st Armored Division explore what is thought to be the biblical home of Abraham. The ruins were discovered near the Great Ziggurat of Ur, built by the Sumerians four thousand years ago to honor their moon god, Nanna. Photo courtesy of the 1st Armored Division. COB ADDER -- More than 40 Soldiers from 4th Special Troops Battalion, 4th Brigade, 1st Armored Division "Strike Force," were recently given the opportunity to tour the historical Great Ziggurat of Ur here. A local Iraqi man who has... |
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| Fake! Fake! Fake! Fake! | |
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| The Mystery of Bosnia's Ancient Pyramids |
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· 11/24/2009 11:11:01 AM PST · · Posted by BGHater · · 21 replies · · 704+ views · · Smithsonian Magazine · · December 2009 · · Colin Woodard · |
An amateur archaeologist says he's discovered the world's oldest pyramids in the Balkans. But many experts remain dubious Sam Osmanagich kneels down next to a low wall, part of a 6-by-10-foot rectangle of fieldstone with an earthen floor. If I'd come upon it in a farmer's backyard here on the edge of Visoko -- in Bosnia and Herzegovina, 15 miles northwest of Sarajevo -- I would have assumed it to be the foundation of a shed or cottage abandoned by some 19th-century peasant. Osmanagich, a blond, 49-year-old Bosnian who has lived for 16 years in Houston, Texas, has a more colorful explanation. "Maybe it's... |
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| Oh So Mysteriouso | |
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| Researcher says she found text on Shroud of Turin |
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· 11/20/2009 6:04:03 AM PST · · Posted by NYer · · 92 replies · · 2,292+ views · · AP · · November 20, 2009 · |
ROME -- A Vatican researcher claims she has found a nearly invisible text on the Shroud of Turin and says the discovery proves the authenticity of the artifact revered as Jesus' burial cloth.The claim made in a new book by historian Barbara Frale drew immediate skepticism from some scientists, who maintain the shroud is a medieval forgery.Frale, a researcher at the Vatican archives, says the faint writing emerged through computer analysis of photos of the shroud, which is not normally accessible for study.Frale says the jumble of Greek, Latin and Aramaic includes the words "Jesus Nazarene" and mentions he was... |
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| Death certificate is imprinted on the Shroud of Turin, says Vatican scholar (more info) |
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· 11/20/2009 12:00:11 PM PST · · Posted by markomalley · · 106 replies · · 1,590+ views · · The Times · · 11/20/2009 · · Richard Owen · |
A Vatican scholar claims to have deciphered the "death certificate" imprinted on the Shroud of Turin, or Holy Shroud, a linen cloth revered by Christians and held by many to bear the image of the crucified Jesus. Dr Barbara Frale, a researcher in the Vatican secret archives, said "I think I have managed to read the burial certificate of Jesus the Nazarene, or Jesus of Nazareth." She said that she had reconstructed it from fragments of Greek, Hebrew and Latin writing imprinted on the cloth together with the image of the crucified man. The shroud, which is kept in the... |
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| Does Hidden Text Prove Shroud of Turin Real? |
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· 11/22/2009 2:29:32 PM PST · · Posted by TaraP · · 23 replies · · 1,129+ views · · Fox News · · November 20th, 2009 · |
ROME -- A Vatican researcher has rekindled the age-old debate over the Shroud of Turin, saying that faint writing on the linen proves it was the burial cloth of Jesus. Experts say the historian may be reading too much into the markings, and they stand by carbon-dating that points to the shroud being a medieval forgery. Barbara Frale, a researcher at the Vatican archives, says in a new book that she used computer-enhanced images of the shroud to decipher faintly written words in Greek, Latin and Aramaic scattered across the cloth. She asserts that the words include the name "(J)esu(s)... |
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| Among My Souvenirs | |
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| Body Parts Cut From Galileo's Corpse Found After Vanishing A Century Ago [Photo of Finger] |
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· 11/21/2009 2:29:48 PM PST · · Posted by BunnySlippers · · 15 replies · · 478+ views · · Daily Mail · · 11/21/09 · · Mail Foreign Service · |
All the organic material extracted from the corpse has therefore now been identified and is conserved in responsible hands,' a spokesman for the museum said. "On the basis of considerable historical documentation, there are no doubts about the authenticity of the items.' The relics will be exhibited from early 2010, when the museum will re-open after current renovation work and will change its name to the Galileo museum. SNIP Clerics eventually denounced him to the Roman Inquisition in 1615 over his support of a heliocentric, or Sun-centered, view of the universe. Although he was cleared of any offence at that... |
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| Scotland Yet | |
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| How seat fit for a king has cast new light on Scotland's dark ages |
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· 11/27/2009 12:03:59 PM PST · · Posted by SunkenCiv · · 32 replies · · 779+ views · · The Scotsman · · Friday, November 27, 2009 · · Tim Cornwell · |
The first Pictish throne to be built for a millennium has been unveiled by researchers investigating the lives of Scotland's most mysterious tribal people. The team spent a year crafting the oak of five Scottish trees into a design modelled on ancient carvings in a project that cost around £10,000. Raised thrones were important symbols of Pictish power for church leaders and kings, but none survive. The project at the National Museums of Scotland (NMS) is part of a three-year research programme, sponsored by the Glenmorangie whisky company, and aims to improve understanding of Scottish history from 300AD to 900AD...... |
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| Caledonia | |
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| So that's what the Romans gave us -- more historic camps than anywhere [Scotland] |
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· 11/21/2009 6:41:42 PM PST · · Posted by SunkenCiv · · 16 replies · · 553+ views · · The Scotsman · · Thursday, November 19, 2009 · · Tim Cornwell · |
Scotland already has more identified Roman camps than any other European country -- reflecting Rome's repeated attempts to stamp its rule on the troublesome north. Now the number is set to increase. The first comprehensive survey of Roman remains for 30 years will boost the total of officially recognised sites and give them greater legal protection, officials said yesterday. Traces of at least 225 Roman military camps dot the Scottish countryside from the Borders to Aberdeenshire... They can be spotted today mostly from the air, where the distinctive bank and ditch defences thrown up by the legionaries still mark the... |
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| Roman Empire | |
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| Quest to find out what the Romans dropped down the drain (Bath, England) |
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· 11/21/2009 8:08:32 PM PST · · Posted by SunkenCiv · · 38 replies · · 1,001+ views · · Times of Londonium · · November 14, 2009 · · Simon de Bruxelles · |
For two millennia the Great Drain has carried the mineral-rich waters of Britain's only hot spring from the Roman Bath in Bath to the nearby River Avon. The drain runs for nearly half a mile under the city but although parts of it are large enough for a man to walk through, it has never been fully explored. Archaeologists will have their first opportunity to get inside the previously inaccessible sections of the Great Drain this month when engineers open it up for repairs. A stretch of drain built long after the Romans is causing the difficulties. The extension was... |
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| A Heart of Flaming Sulphur | |
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| Rare Michelangelo Drawing Found |
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· 07/09/2002 5:18:44 PM PDT · · Posted by grimalkin · · 2 replies · · 378+ views · · AP Online via COMTEX · · Jul 09, 2002 · · KATHERINE ROTH · |
NEW YORK, Jul 09, 2002 (AP Online via COMTEX) -- A chalk and wash drawing found in a box in a New York City design museum is a work by Michelangelo worth more than $10 million, museum officials said Tuesday. The drawing of a candelabrum is about 500 years old and in pristine condition. It has been unanimously authenticated by Italian Renaissance art scholars and is one of fewer than 10 Michelangelos known to be in the United States, according to Paul Thompson, director of the Smithsonian's Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum. The 17-by-10-inch drawing on cream-colored paper was made using... |
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| Michelangelo on Queer TV (no original title) |
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· 09/02/2003 2:10:06 PM PDT · · Posted by Salman · · 6 replies · · 232+ views · · The Bleat · · 2 September 2003 · · James Lileks · |
Late-nite idea scribbled on Post-It note, found this morning: QYR I STR8T GUY MICHELANG And for once I knew what that meant. I had seen some "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy," and in my bleary pre-crash state thought: wouldn't it make a great column to put famous historical gays on that show? Like Alexander the Great? Or Michelagelo? In retrospect, no. As a friend keeps reminding me, there's no proof Michelangelo was gay. (Uh-huh. Sure.) But I still like the idea, if only for the contrast. I always Michelangelo as a Beethovian character - dark, scowly, bothered, the antithesis... |
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| Michelangelo may have had form of autism: scientists (Asperger's) |
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· 06/01/2004 1:16:37 PM PDT · · Posted by Born Conservative · · 41 replies · · 728+ views · · Yahoo News · · June 1, 2004 · |
LONDON (AFP) - Renaissance-era artistic genius Michelangelo might have had Asperger's syndrome, a milder form of autism which causes sufferers to have difficulties with social interaction, according to experts on the condition. A by-product of Asperger's -- also known as high-functioning autism -- can be a special talent in a particular area such as art, music or mathematics. The research by a British and Irish expert in autism, published in British publication the Journal of Medical Biography, argues that Michelangelo met a number of the criteria for Asperger's. "Michelangelo was aloof and a loner," said Dr Muhammad Arshad, a psychiatrist... |
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| Middle Ages and Renaissance | |
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| Dig to Start at Shakespeare Site |
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· 11/27/2009 12:00:10 PM PST · · Posted by nickcarraway · · 8 replies · · 170+ views · · BBC · · 11/27/09 · |
Archaeologists are preparing to excavate the site of Shakespeare's final home to find out more about the history of the building. The New Place, in Stratford-upon-Avon, was built in 1483 and is thought to be where the playwright died in 1616. The building itself was demolished in 1759, but it is thought remains of the old house are still underground. Archaeologists will start initial tests on the site on Tuesday and a full dig could be carried out next year. The experts from Birmingham Archaeology will be searching for the foundations of the New Place and will be looking through... |
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| Gastronomy | |
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| Liberty, Equality, Gastronomy: Paris via a 19th-Century Guide |
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· 11/22/2009 1:55:06 AM PST · · Posted by Cincinna · · 7 replies · · 271+ views · · The New York Times · · November 22, 2009 · · TONY PERROTTET · |
A marvelous painting of a gourmand at his table hangs in the Musée Carnavalet in Paris -- a portly, pink-faced figure happily gorging on a regal casserole, with a bottle of wine at one elbow and a luscious-looking soufflé at the other. It is traditionally believed to be a portrait of Alexandre-Balthazar-Laurent Grimod de la Reyniëre, an aristocrat notorious in Napoleonic France for gratifying his palate with the same abandon as his contemporary the Marquis de Sade showed in indulging carnal desires. Whether or not the painting is actually Grimod's likeness, it captures the eccentric, omnivorous spirit that made him... |
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| Roman Empire at Home | |
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| Hadrian's Academy unearthed? |
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· 11/21/2009 8:02:20 PM PST · · Posted by SunkenCiv · · 10 replies · · 393+ views · · Blast: Boston's Online Magazine · · Thursday, November 19, 2009 · · Luna Moltedo · |
After the discovery of the building that perhaps supported Nero's rotating dining room on the Palatine, excavations for Line C of Rome's subway brought to light a building that, according to the first hypotheses made by archaeologists, is thought to be Hadrian's Academy, built in 133 A.D. to host poets, rectors, philosophers, men of letters, scientists and magistrates. Hadrian, or Publius Aelius Hadrianus, ruled from 117-138 AD. He was an avid philosopher who was commonly referred to as one of the "five good emperors." Hadrian's Wall, in Northern England was built after a great war in what was then called... |
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| Scatology | |
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| UQ archaeology digs into the life behind Pompeii [latrines] |
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· 11/25/2009 9:56:34 PM PST · · Posted by SunkenCiv · · 3 replies · · 339+ views · · University of Queensland · · November 25, 2009 · · Dr Andy Fairbairn or Andrew Dunne · |
Brisbane may be 2000 years and half-a-world away from Pompeii, but it hasn't stopped a UQ archaeologist from digging up some hidden treasures. Dr Andy Fairbairn, a senior lecturer in archaeology with UQ's School of Social Science, is working on a project looking at the life inside one of the world's most famous dig sites... He does this by collecting samples from what would have been the toilets of the day to see the types of food were eaten... He said his team of volunteer archaeology students patiently go through hundreds of bags of samples collected in Pompeii, looking for... |
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| Microfossils | |
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| Lava Cave Minerals Actually Microbe Poop [clues in the search for life on Mars and beyond] |
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· 11/25/2009 10:02:25 PM PST · · Posted by SunkenCiv · · 16 replies · · 309+ views · · Richard A. Lovett · · November 20, 2009 · · National Geographic News · |
The discovery could offer clues in the search for life on Mars and beyond, researchers said in October at a meeting of the Geological Society of America... The microbes were found on the walls of lava tubes in Hawaii, New Mexico, and the Portuguese Azores islands, a volcanic archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean... The finds include "a lovely blue-green ooze dripping out of the [cave] ceiling in Hawaii; a vein of what looks like a gold, crunchy mineral in New Mexico; and, in the Azores, amazing pink hexagons," said Diana Northup, a geomicrobiologist at the University of New Mexico... Lava... |
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| Panspermia | |
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| Fossils of Martian bugs found on meteorite that landed on Earth 13,000 years ago |
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· 11/26/2009 12:19:31 PM PST · · Posted by Free ThinkerNY · · 49 replies · · 752+ views · · dailymail.co.uk · · Nov. 26, 2009 · · Daily Mail Reporter · |
New evidence has made it more likely that remnants of Martian microbes were transported to Earth in a meteorite, it was revealed today. A study by scientists from the American space agency Nasa has found chemical signatures in the rock strongly associated with life. The discovery strengthens the case for believing that worm-like structures in the meteorite are 'microfossils' of ancient Martian bugs. Sceptics have pointed out that similar-shaped structures could be formed from non-biological processes. Another unanswered question is whether the microfossils were the result of contamination by Earthly bacteria. This was originally ruled out by Nasa but has... |
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| Climate | |
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| Past regional cold and warm periods linked to natural climate drivers |
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· 11/26/2009 2:33:21 PM PST · · Posted by decimon · · 17 replies · · 355+ views · · Penn State · · Nov 26, 2009 · · Unknown · |
Intervals of regional warmth and cold in the past are linked to the El Niño phenomenon and the so-called "North Atlantic Oscillation" in the Northern hemisphere's jet stream, according to a team of climate scientists. These linkages may be important in assessing the regional effects of future climate change. "Studying the past can potentially inform our understanding of what the future may hold," said Michael Mann, Professor of meteorology, Penn State. Mann stresses that an understanding of how past natural changes have influenced phenomena such as El Niño, can perhaps help to resolve current disparities between state-of the-art climate models... |
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| Shipwrecks | |
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| Mystery Ship Reappears On Beach [exposed by Tropical Storm Ida] |
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· 11/25/2009 8:00:53 PM PST · · Posted by SunkenCiv · · 18 replies · · 1,005+ views · · The Mississippi Press · · Tuesday, November 24, 2009 · · Guy Busby · |
For years, storms along the Alabama coast have often exposed the wreckage of a sailing ship that locals suspected was a Civil War blockade runner or a Prohibition-era rum runner or various vessels in between. When Tropical Storm Ida struck Nov. 10, the charred wooden hull reappeared on the beach six miles east of Fort Morgan in Baldwin County. The wreck is most likely to be the three-masted schooner Rachel, which ran aground on the peninsula in the first half of the 1900s, according to Mike Bailey, Fort Morgan events coordinator... The Rachel was built by John DeAngelo in Moss... |
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| The Vikings | |
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| Viking New England [from 1976, and it's not about the next Super Bowl] |
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· 11/23/2009 8:24:36 PM PST · · Posted by SunkenCiv · · 23 replies · · 531+ views · · New-England Galaxy · · Spring 1976, Vol. XVII, No.4 · · Nathaniel Nitkin · |
...Maine has a reputation of pulling archaeology out of Sunday supplement romances into science. The University of Maine excavation at Passadumkeag, along with several smaller digs scattered through the state, resulted in a detailed picture of Red Paint Man, inhabiting Maine about 1,000 B.C. His tools, utensils, and other Old Stone Age handicraft along with his usage of red ochre strongly suggest that this proto-Indian still practised Cro-Magnon culture. Another excavation at Pemaquid Point awoke a successful settlement from its long sleep under several feet of soil. Radiocarbon dating set it as early as 1540 A.D., and the colony persisted... |
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| Epigraphy and Language | |
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| United States Mint Announces 2010 Native American $1 Coin Design |
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· 11/27/2009 9:46:18 AM PST · · Posted by Military family member · · 111 replies · · 1,834+ views · · The Journal of Business · · 11/27/2009 · |
The United States Mint today announced the new design that Americans will see on the reverse (tails side) of Native American $1 Coins next year. The design, based on the theme "Government - The Great Tree of Peace," depicts the Hiawatha Belt with five arrows bound together, with the inscriptions UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, $1, Haudenosaunee and Great Law of Peace. The United States Mint will commence issuing these coins in January 2010, and they will be available throughout 2010. |
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| Pages | |
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| Rare Charles Darwin book in toilet in Britain |
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· 11/22/2009 5:25:08 PM PST · · Posted by Free ThinkerNY · · 25 replies · · 599+ views · · AFP · · Nov. 22, 2009 · |
A first edition of Charles Darwin's seminal "On the Origin of Species" will be sold this week after it was found in a family's toilet in southern Britain, an auction house said Sunday. The book, which was first printed in 1859, was bought by a family for just a few shillings in a shop about 40 years ago, Christie's auction house said. The family has since kept the work on a bookcase in the guest lavatory at their home in the Oxford area, it said. The book will go under the hammer in London on Tuesday, to coincide with the... |
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| First Edition of Darwin book found in toilet |
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· 11/24/2009 6:51:12 AM PST · · Posted by John Leland 1789 · · 16 replies · · 435+ views · · China Daily · · November 24, 2009 · · Unknown · |
LONDON: A first edition of Charles Darwin's seminal On the Origin of Species will be sold this week after it was found in a family's toilet in southern Britian, an auction house said on Sunday. |
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| Presidents of the United States | |
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| A second look at Harding |
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· 11/26/2009 12:08:35 PM PST · · Posted by Clintonfatigued · · 28 replies · · 799+ views · · The Hill · · November 23, 2009 · · David Keene · |
The real Woodrow Wilson, it turns out, was a far less admirable character than the cardboard hero we learned about in school. In fact, in some ways the boring Midwesterner who succeeded him looks better than him when one compares what the two actually accomplished. Harding famously said he wanted to restore "normalcy" to a nation on the verge of a breakdown at the end of the Great War and set about working to heal the wounds that divided the nation. During the war, Wilson attacked those he called "hyphenated Americans" as disloyal and set about systematically using his power... |
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| World War Eleven | |
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| This day in history (Marines Take Tarawa) |
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· 11/23/2009 8:36:56 AM PST · · Posted by Kid Shelleen · · 3 replies · · 248+ views · · Boston Globe · · 11/23/09 · · staff · |
In 1943, during World War II, US forces seized control of Tarawa and Makin atolls from the Japanese |
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| Longer Perspectives | |
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| Victor Davis Hanson: The New War against Reason |
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· 11/25/2009 12:19:19 PM PST · · Posted by neverdem · · 47 replies · · 1,454+ views · · National Review Online · · November 25, 2009 · · Victor Davis Hanson · |
Medieval heretic-hunters had nothing on Obama when it comes to closed-mindedness. Barack Obama promised us not only transparency, but also a new respect for science. In soothing tones, he asserted that his administration was "restoring scientific integrity to government decision-making." In our new Enlightenment of Ivy League Guardians, we were to return to the rule of reason and logic. Obama would lead us away from the superstitious world of Bush's evangelical Christianity, "intelligent design," and Neanderthal moral opposition to human-embryo stem-cell research. Instead, we are... |
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| The End of History or a History of the End? |
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· 11/24/2009 9:49:27 AM PST · · Posted by Mobile Vulgus · · 6 replies · · 163+ views · · Publius Forum · · 11/24/09 · · Warner Todd Huston · |
A few years ago, Francis Fukuyama was widely criticized for his book claiming that mankind had seen "The End of History." Fukuyama contended that liberal democracy had won the debate over which system was best and, therefore, there was necessary no more "moving forward" for man's social order. While Fukuyama might have thought the question of the best system was settled -- that being the Western democratic system -- what good does a great system do if no one is aware of it? Unfortunately, we are quickly nearing a time in our schools where any knowledge of our political system... |
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| Thoroughly Modern Miscellany | |
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| The Case of Victor Davis Hanson: Farmer, Scholar, Warmonger |
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· 05/19/2004 12:31:33 PM PDT · · Posted by robowombat · · 62 replies · · 467+ views · · The Occidental Quarterly · · Winter 2004 · · F. Roger Devlin, Ph.D · |
Everyone is a reactionary about subjects he understands. -Robert Conquest Victor Davis Hanson's name has become known to millions of people since the attacks of September 11. Beginning the very day of those terrible events, he has poured forth a stream of commentary urging a tough response against -- well, against somebody. At first it was bin Laden and al-Qaeda, of course. But as soon as the Bush administration announced that Iraq was a proper target for American retaliation, Hanson got on board. Since then he has briefed powerful... |
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| Homeschooling | |
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| Bible Accuracy |
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· 01/23/2003 4:28:55 AM PST · · Posted by calebjosh · · 13 replies · · 271+ views · · Christian Courier: Penpoints · · Monday, October 14, 2002 · · Wayne Jackson · |
Description: A poet wrote: "To err is human." This truth is forcefully illustrated when one examines the literary productions of mankind. Amazingly, however, the Bible is unblemished by the flaws that generally characterize man's writings. Robert Utley is one of today's leading historians of Old West lore. His recent book, Lone Star Justice, chronicles the history of the Texas Rangers from 1823 to 1910. In the Preface to his book, Utley points out that many who have attempted to portray the activity of America's frontier days have not been diligent in getting their background data accurate. For example, in 1956... |
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| The Civil War | |
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| How Arlington National Cemetery Came to Be |
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· 11/17/2009 10:41:54 AM PST · · Posted by BGHater · · 21 replies · · 1,045+ views · · Smithsonian Magazine · · Nov 2009 · · Robert M. Poole · |
The fight over Robert E. Lee's beloved home -- seized by the U.S. government during the Civil War -- went on for decades One afternoon in May 1861, a young Union Army officer went rushing into the mansion that commanded the hills across the Potomac River from Washington, D.C. "You must pack up all you value immediately and send it off in the morning," Lt. Orton Williams told Mary Custis Lee, wife of Robert E. Lee, who was away mobilizing Virginia's military forces as the country hurtled toward the bloodiest war in its history. Mary Lee dreaded the thought of abandoning Arlington, the 1,100-acre... |
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| Gettysburg Address Remembered |
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· 11/26/2009 5:46:15 PM PST · · Posted by Steelfish · · 8 replies · · 256+ views · · Washington Times · · November 27th 2009 · |
Gettysburg Address Remembered Thursday, November 19, 2009 - The Civil War by Martha M. Boltz Today is the anniversary of the Gettysburg Address, delivered at the dedication of the Gettysburg Cemetery in Gettysburg, PA on November 19, 1863. The assembly had just heard a speech by noted orator Edward Everett, who spoke for two and one-half hours, using 13,607 words. Quite honestly, today there are perhaps a handful of people who can remember any of what he said. The President, Abraham Lincoln, stood up at the podium, pulled a small slip of paper from his coat pocket, and began to... |
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| Amazing Original Photographs from the Civil War |
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· 11/25/2009 1:07:30 PM PST · · Posted by navysealdad · · 91 replies · · 2,885+ views · · Angelfire · |
Whether you like history or not... These are pretty amazing considering they were taken up to 145 years ago: A compendium of photos from the Civil War era. Truly fortunate that so many of these have survived. Probably a million wet plate photos were made during the civil war on glass plate. Popular during the war, they lost their appeal afterwards and so many were sold for the glass. |
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| The Revolution | |
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| Evacuation Day beacons to relay news from 1783 |
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· 11/25/2009 7:33:27 AM PST · · Posted by Pharmboy · · 23 replies · · 417+ views · · Times Herald Record · · November 25, 2009 · · Jeremiah Horrigan · |
The British weren't coming -- the British were gone. That was the message Gen. George Washington communicated to the newly independent nation 226 years ago, on Nov. 25, 1783, the day Washington officially "took back" Manhattan from the British. Without benefit of Paul Revere or Western Union, the victorious general relied on burning beacons set along the Hudson Highlands to celebrate the day, now known as Evacuation Day. On Nov. 25 of this year, the memory of those beacons and the message they brought to the country will be invoked along the same hilltops by a variety of historical groups... |
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| George Washington Re-Enactor Returns To Annapolis |
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· 11/22/2009 6:07:08 PM PST · · Posted by HokieMom · · 2 replies · · 232+ views · · WMAL · · November 22, 2009 · · AP · |
ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) - Yes, fellow citizens, that tall man you saw Tuesday night promenading around State Circle in Annapolis while wearing a blue and buff lieutenant general's uniform and a sword was none other than George Washington. The commanding officer of the Continental Army and first president of the United States was here to visit the town where, as a young man in the mid-1700s, he enjoyed all kinds of sporting events - and lost substantial sums at the horse races and gaming tables. "Reynolds Tavern," he said at one point while standing on the steps of St. Anne's... |
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| end of digest #280 20091128 | |
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