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| Gods, Graves, Glyphs Weekly Digest #296 Saturday, March 20, 2010 |
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| PreColumbian, Clovis, PreClovis | |
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| Medieval Warm Period seen in western USA tree ring fire scars- 3,000 yr Sequoias Fire History |
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· 03/17/2010 6:52:08 PM PDT · · Posted by Ernest_at_the_Beach · · 15 replies · 458+ views · · Wattsupwiththat.com · · March 17, 2010 · · Anthony Watts · |
Here is just one more indication that despite what some would like you to believe, the MWP was not a regional "non event".Top: Mann/IPCC view, bottom historical view From a University of Arizona press release,Giant Sequoias Yield Longest Fire History from Tree RingsCalifornia's western Sierra Nevada had more frequent fires between 800 and 1300 than at any time in the past 3,000 years, according to a new study led by Thomas W. Swetnam, director of UA's Laboratory of Tree-Ring Research. This cross-section of a giant sequoia tree shows some of the tree-rings and fire scars. The numbers indicate the year... |
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| Prehistory & Origins | |
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| Smithsonian opens $21M human evolution hall |
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· 03/17/2010 9:45:29 AM PDT · · Posted by JoeProBono · · 37 replies · 499+ views · · hosted · · Mar 17 · · BRETT ZONGKER · |
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History is opening a new permanent exhibit exploring human evolution over 6 million years. The nearly $21 million Hall of Human Origins opens Wednesday. It will include more than 285 fossils and artifacts, including the only Neanderthal skeleton in the United States.... |
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| The Hobbits | |
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| Hobbit Ancestors Once Colonized Indonesia Island |
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· 03/18/2010 6:05:41 PM PDT · · Posted by SunkenCiv · · 23 replies · 354+ views · · ABC News (from Reuters) · · March 17, 2010 · · Tan Ee Lyn, ed by Sugita Katyal · |
Ancestors of a hobbit-like species of humans may have colonized the Indonesian island of Flores as far back as a million years ago, much earlier than thought, according to a new study published Thursday. These early ancestors, or hominins, were previously thought to have arrived on the island about 800,000 years ago but artifacts found in a new archaeological site suggest they might have been around even earlier... The arrival of hominins is also believed to have resulted quickly in the mass death of giant tortoises and the Stegondon sondaari, a pygmy elephant, on the island. In their paper, the... |
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| Navigation | |
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| More evidence unearthed at ancient port of Muziris |
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· 03/19/2010 4:40:01 PM PDT · · Posted by SunkenCiv · · 1 replies · 115+ views · · The Hindu · · Sunday, March 14, 2010 · · A. Srivathsan · |
Pattanam, a small village located 25 km north of Kochi, is the new pilgrimage spot on the international archaeological map. This quiet place, archaeologists now confirm, was once the flourishing port known to the Romans as Muziris and sung in praise by the Tamil Sangam poets as Muciri. Every year since 2005, excavations have yielded artefacts, structures and even a canoe in one instance to confirm this conclusion. This year has also been productive for archaeologists. A figure of a pouncing lion carved in great detail on a semi precious stone and a bright micro metal object with intricate designs... |
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| Megaliths & Archaeoastronomy | |
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| Kerala's possible Mediterranean links unearthed by researchers |
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· 03/19/2010 4:28:26 PM PDT · · Posted by SunkenCiv · · 3 replies · 107+ views · · Business Ghana · · March 9th 2010 · · GNA · |
A wide range of megalithic burials recently discovered in some northern districts of Kerala during a research project have thrown light on possible links between the Mediterranean and Kerala coasts in the prehistoric stone age that occurred between 6000 BC and 2000 BC. The researchers, however, say further studies and analysis are required to establish the thesis. Interestingly, the finds were unearthed at a time when the researchers have firmly established the maritime links between the Mediterranean region with Kerala since ancient times... The recent study was done by V P Devadas, principal investigator, as part of a project of... |
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| Catastrophism & Astronomy | |
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| How discovery off the Norfolk coast holds the key to Norway's past |
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· 03/19/2010 4:22:22 PM PDT · · Posted by SunkenCiv · · 21 replies · 339+ views · · EDP24 · · Thursday, March 18, 2010 · · Sarah Brealey · |
It is just eight inches long, but its discovery changed what we know about prehistoric Europe and our ancestors. The harpoon, which was found by a Lowestoft fishing trawler in 1931, was yesterday under the lens of a Norwegian television crew, who are making a documentary on the origins of Norway. It is 14,000 years old, but in perfect condition, the points carved into it still sharp. It would have been used for hunting by modern man in late Paleolithic or early Mesolithic times; a time before written records when people lived in hunter-gatherer communities. But it is where it... |
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| Climate | |
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| About Belgrade |
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· 03/17/2010 4:43:47 AM PDT · · Posted by Stilmat · · 9 replies · 200+ views · · Infostar · · 17.03.2010 · · Aleksandar · |
Belgrade, city of very tumultuous history, one of the oldest in Europe. Its history has lasted for 7000 years. The area around the large rivers was inhabited in the Paleolithic period. From the older stone age, came the remains of human bones and skulls of Neanderthals, found in a quarry near Leötane, in a cave in the vicinity of the Cukarica Bajloni market. Remains of late Stone Age culture were found in Vinca, Zarkovo and Upper Town, above the confluence of the Sava and Danube. This indicates that the area of Belgrade has been continually inhabited and that the intensity... |
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| Faith and Philosophy | |
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| Bulgaria Archaeologists, Architects Move to Save Cybele Temple |
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· 03/19/2010 4:32:02 PM PDT · · Posted by SunkenCiv · · 7 replies · 117+ views · · Novinite · · Friday, March 12, 2010 · · unattributed · |
A commission of archaeologists and architects is set on securing a National Monument status for the temple of Greek goddess Cybele in Bulgaria's Balchik. The absolutely unique Cybele temple was uncovered by accident in April 2007 at the construction site of a hotel owned by a local entrepreneur. The special commission has been appointed by Culture Minister Vezhdi Rashidov in order to figure out how to preserve the temple. The status of a National Monument is going to bring a total ban of any construction activities in the area of the Cybele temple. Currently, the invaluable archaeological site lies in... |
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| Thrace | |
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| Bulgaria: Archaeologists Finally Put Date on Ancient Starosel Tomb |
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· 03/18/2010 6:11:11 PM PDT · · Posted by SunkenCiv · · 16 replies · 290+ views · · BalkanTravellers.com · · Tuesday, March 16, 2010 · · unattributed (novinite.com) · |
A team of archaeologists from the Bulgarian National History Museum, with the help of a German lab, has finally managed to estimate the time of the construction of the largest underground temple on the Balkan Peninsula, the Thracian Starosel tomb to the fourth century BC. In the summer of 2009, the archaeological team, led by Dr. Ivan Hristov, took samples from a stake in the middle of the tomb where gifts to the Greek goddess of the hearth Hestia were laid... The sample underwent radio carbon dating analysis in Dr. Bernd Krommer's laboratory in Heidelberg, Germany, which showed that the... |
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| Egypt | |
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| A blue mystery (Crawling for cobalt) |
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· 03/17/2010 11:54:46 AM PDT · · Posted by decimon · · 7 replies · 990+ views · · Washington University · · Mar 17, 2010 · · Diana Lutz · |
Jennifer Smith, PhD, associate professor of earth and planetary sciences in Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis, was belly crawling her way to the end of a long, narrow tunnel carved in the rock at a desert oasis by Egyptians who lived in the time of the pharaohs. "I was crawling along when suddenly I felt stabbed in the chest," she says. "I looked down and saw that I was pressing against the broken end of a long bone. That freaked me out because at first I thought I was crawling over bodies, but I looked up... |
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| King Thoth | |
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| Huge monkey god statue found |
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· 03/18/2010 8:08:35 PM PDT · · Posted by SunkenCiv · · 70 replies · 1,163+ views · · Straits Times · · Tuesday, March 16, 2010 · · AFP · |
Egyptian archaeologists have discovered a colossal ancient statue of the pharaonic deity of wisdom, Thoth, in the shape of a baboon, the council of antiquities said in a statement on Tuesday. The four-metre tall statue was discovered in four pieces along with two statues while workers were lowering ground waters beneath Luxor to help preserve the city's pharaonic temples, the statement said. It dates back to the 18th Dynasty, which ruled Egypt until 1292 BC. 'It is the first time that a statue of Thoth, depicting him as a monkey, of this magnitude has been discovered,' Mansur Boraik, head of... |
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| Not So Ancient Autopsies | |
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| Medieval Child's Brain Found Preserved |
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· 03/19/2010 4:17:00 PM PDT · · Posted by SunkenCiv · · 12 replies · 266+ views · · Discovery News · · Monday, March 15, 2010 · · Rossella Lorenzi · |
An international team of researchers has identified intact neurons and cerebral cells in a mummified medieval brain, according to a study published in the journal Neuroimage. Found inside the skull of a 13th century A.D. 18-month-old child from northwestern France, the brain had been fixed in formalin solution since its discovery in 1998. "Although reduced by about 80 percent of its original weight, it has retained its anatomical characteristics and most of all, to a certain degree its cell structures," anatomist and palaeopathologist Frank Ruhli, head of the Swiss Mummy Project at the University of Zurich, Switzerland, told Discovery News. |
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| Middle Ages & Renaissance | |
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| Ancient crucifix found in Gloucestershire is treasure |
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· 03/19/2010 8:04:49 AM PDT · · Posted by NYer · · 20 replies · 860+ views · · BBC · · March 18, 2010 · |
A late-Medieval crucifix found in Gloucestershire has been declared treasure by a coroner.The 500-year-old silver pendant was discovered by a man in Yanworth, near Cirencester, in June 2009. It depicts Christ on the front flanked by the Virgin Mary and John the Evangelist and on the reverse, St Christopher carrying the Christ Child. Cirencester's Corinium museum hopes to buy the cross, which is now being valued by independent auctioneers. Kurt Adams, finds liaison officer for Gloucestershire and Avon, said: "Finds such as this silver cross are a very rare finds, especially when considering this object is a truly exceptional example... |
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| [Gloucestershire's] Cheese Rolling Abandoned |
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· 03/14/2010 4:01:06 PM PDT · · Posted by Diana in Wisconsin · · 33 replies · 510+ views · · Med India · · March 13, 2010 · · Staff Writer · |
A 200-year old traditional festival of rolling the cheese down a steep hill has been canceled following rising fears over the safety of the participants. The age-old festival saw participants chase down large blocks of Double Gloucester cheeses down the steep side of Cooper's Hill with injuries being a common side effect of the event. However the rising popularity of the event means that a large number of people gather to watch the chase with last year's event boasting of a 15,000 strong spectators. The regional police contacted the organizing committee and advised them to cancel this year's event after... |
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| Big Buttons | |
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| Saxon object mystery for Canterbury experts |
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· 03/18/2010 7:14:03 PM PDT · · Posted by SunkenCiv · · 43 replies · 805+ views · · BBC · · Wednesday, March 17, 2010 · · unattributed · |
Experts have been unable to identify the silver, bronze and wooden disc A Saxon object which was uncovered in an archaeological dig in Kent cannot be identified by experts. The circular silver, bronze and wooden disk was found in a Saxon burial ground at The Meads, Sittingbourne, in 2008. Despite using microscopes, X-rays and reading articles about burial grounds, the Canterbury Archaeological Trust (CAT) has been unable to identify it. CAT believe that the object could be a decorative form of mount as it was discovered next to a sword. Finds manager of CAT Andrew Richardson said: "We don't currently... |
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| All Is True | |
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| 'Lost' Shakespeare Play Double Falsehood Published |
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· 03/16/2010 12:25:03 AM PDT · · Posted by nickcarraway · · 29 replies · 374+ views · · BBC · · Monday, 15 March 2010 · |
A play which was first discovered nearly 300 years ago has been credited to William Shakespeare. The work, titled Double Falsehood, was written by the playwright and another dramatist, John Fletcher. Theatre impresario Lewis Theobald presented the play in the 18th century as an adaptation of a Shakespeare play but it was dismissed as a forgery. But scholars for British Shakespeare publisher, Arden, now believe the Bard wrote large parts of the play. Researchers think the play is based on a long-lost work called Cardenio, which was itself based on Don Quixote. "I think Shakespeare's hand can be discerned in... |
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| British Isles | |
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| Unseen images of a lost London (Victoria/Edwardian vs. Modern) |
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· 03/18/2010 6:47:11 AM PDT · · Posted by C19fan · · 13 replies · 875+ views · · Daily Mail · · March 18, 2010 · · Claire Cohen · |
They are a remarkable window onto a bygone age. A snapshot of a city in transition - with horse-drawn carts and cobbled streets replaced by a booming industrial revolution. Lost in the archives of English Heritage for 25 years, these never-before published images have now been compiled into a book. From Victorian London to the devastation of two world wars, they provide a unique record of a vanishing way of life in the capital. Here, CLAIRE COHEN compares the London of a century ago with photographs taken at the same locations today. |
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| Roman Empire | |
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| Hadrian's Wall lights up to mark 1600th anniversary of the end of Roman rule |
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· 03/14/2010 5:45:20 PM PDT · · Posted by naturalman1975 · · 64 replies · 1,567+ views · · Daily Mail (UK) · · 14th March 2010 · · Rhianna King · |
The majestic Hadrian's Wall is an awe-inspiring sight at the best of times. But last night it took on a magical new light as 500 flaming torches were dotted end to end along the 84-mile long Roman fortification. As night fell, a group of 500 volunteers holding gas-powered beacons and standing 250m apart created a 30 minute 'line of light' in a spectacle to mark the 1600th anniversary of the end of Roman rule. |
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| Agriculture & Animal Husbandry | |
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| Honey bees secret world of heat revealed |
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· 03/17/2010 9:43:10 PM PDT · · Posted by fishhound · · 60 replies · 1,059+ views · · The Telegraph UK · · 13 Mar 2010 · · Richard Gray, Science Correspondent · |
The secret of honey bees' success has been discovered living deep inside their hives - a special type of bee which acts like a living radiator, warming the nest and controlling the colony's complex social structure. The "heater bees" have been found to play a crucial, and previously unappreciated, role in the survival of honey bee colonies. Using new technology that allows sceintists to see the temperature inside the bee hives, researchers have been able to see how heater bees use their own bodies to provide a unique form of central heating within a hive. They have found that these... |
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| Diet and Cuisine | |
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| New beer made from pre-Prohibition recipe |
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· 03/18/2010 8:04:22 AM PDT · · Posted by 1rudeboy · · 53 replies · 1,045+ views · · Chicago Sun-Times · · March 18, 2010 · · Sandra Guy · |
MillerCoors will test a new full-bodied beer based on an unexpectedly unearthed pre-Prohibition recipe in select historic bars in Chicago, possibly including Lottie's in Bucktown, a company spokesman said Wednesday. The beer, available only on draft starting in May, is called Batch 19 to signify the year that Prohibition was ratified, 1919, said MillerCoors spokesman Peter Marino. It took effect in 1920. Marino said Keith Villa, a master brewer at MillerCoors' brewery in Golden, Colo., discovered the recipe six years ago when Villa helped rescue archival records from the brewery's flooded basement. Villa was intrigued by the recipes that the... |
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| China | |
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| Traditional Theory Challenged After Tea Leaves Found in Famous Chinese Tomb |
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· 03/17/2010 10:42:46 PM PDT · · Posted by nickcarraway · · 18 replies · 382+ views · · Xinhua · · 2010-03-18 · |
Chinese archeologists have found remnants of tea leaves in tea sets unearthed from the family graveyard of the country's first known anthropologist, a man who lived 900 years ago. The finding challenge the traditional theory that infused tea became popular only in modern times, said Zhang Yun, a researcher with Shaanxi Provincial Institute of Archeology. Pieces of green tea were found in a dozen bronze, porcelain and stone tea sets unearthed from a cluster of 29 tombs in Lantian County, he said. Zhang led the excavations that lasted from December 2007 to December 2009, which produced a variety of sacrificial... |
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| Ancient Autopsies | |
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| Mummy find in China desert stirs ethnic debate [Caucasian Features] |
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· 03/16/2010 3:18:32 PM PDT · · Posted by James C. Bennett · · 33 replies · 1,661+ views · · The Times of India · · 17 March 2010 · · Nicholas Wade · |
In the middle of a terrifying desert north of Tibet, Chinese archaeologists have excavated an extraordinary cemetery. Its inhabitants died almost 4,000 years ago, yet their bodies have been well preserved by the dry air. The cemetery lies in what is now China's northwest province of Xinjiang, yet the people have European features, with brown hair and long noses. Their remains, though lying in one of the world's largest deserts, are buried in upside-down boats. And where tombstones might stand, declaring pious hope for some god's mercy in the afterlife, their cemetery sports instead a vigorous forest of phallic symbols,... |
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| Africa | |
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| When did the first 'modern' human beings appear in the Iberian Peninsula? |
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· 03/15/2010 1:20:40 PM PDT · · Posted by decimon · · 16 replies · 399+ views · · Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona · · Mar 15, 2010 · · Unknown · |
A research project at the Universitat Autónoma de Barcelona supports the hypothesis that there was no overlap or relationship with the Neanderthals. Research carried out by a group of archaeologists from the Centre for Prehistoric Archaeological Heritage Studies of the Universitat Autónoma de Barcelona (CEPAP_UAB) at the Cova Gran site (Lleida) has contributed to stirring up scientific debate about the appearance of the first "modern" human beings on the Iberian Peninsula and their possible bearing on the extinction of the Neanderthals. The samples obtained at Cova Gran using Carbon 14 dating refer to a period of between 34,000 and 32,000 years... |
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| Life Imitating Art, Vice Versa | |
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| Headless Man's Tomb Found Under Maya Torture Mural |
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· 03/14/2010 8:15:25 PM PDT · · Posted by SunkenCiv · · 37 replies · 820+ views · · National Geographic News · · March 12, 2010 · · John Roach · |
The tomb of a headless man adorned with jade has been discovered beneath an ancient Mexican chamber famously painted with scenes of torture. Found under the Temple of Murals at the Maya site of Bonampak, the man was either a captive warrior who was sacrificed -- perhaps one of the victims in the mural -- or a relative of the city's ruler, scientists speculate... At the time of the murals' creation, about A.D. 790, Bonampak was a city of thousands. Today its most prominent vestige is a long-overgrown, partially excavated acropolis in the middle of a vast tropical rain... |
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| Oh So Mysteriouso | |
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| Emile Fradin, peasant-proprietor of the Glozel hoard, died on February 10th, aged 103 |
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· 03/14/2010 6:49:58 AM PDT · · Posted by SunkenCiv · · 21 replies · 483+ views · · The Economist · · March 11th 2010 · · unattributed · |
The finds were hugely intriguing. Visitors to Mr Fradin's museum, admission four francs, would find -- will still find -- masks and carvings of faces without mouths; bones pierced with holes, with the sun's rays scratched round them; ceramic pots, schist rings, polished stones. Some figures were hermaphrodite idols, with phalluses in their foreheads. Several bone carvings showed reindeer running, though reindeer were thought to have died out in that part of France 10,000 years earlier. But most exciting were the dozens of square clay tablets inscribed with letters which, if Neolithic, predated by many millennia the Phoenician characters from... |
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| Epigraphy and Language | |
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| Vatican Researcher Claims to Have Found Text on Shroud of Turin |
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· 11/22/2009 8:48:25 AM PST · · Posted by SeekAndFind · · 12 replies · 567+ views · · Christian Post · · 11/21/2009 · · Aaron Leichman · |
A Vatican researcher claims she found nearly invisible text on the Shroud of Turin that includes the words "Jesus Nazarene" and mention of a death sentence. Barabara Frale, who makes the claim in a new book, says the faint writing emerged through a computer analysis of photos of the shroud, which is not normally accessible for study. Frale believes the text -- a jumble of Greek, Latin and Aramaic -- was written on a document by a clerk to identify the body and that the ink had seeped into the cloth. Despite the historian's claim, skeptics, not surprisingly, were quick... |
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| Let's Have Jerusalem | |
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| Iraqi Author Aref Alwan: The Jews Have an Historic Right to Palestine |
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· 03/17/2010 9:22:52 AM PDT · · Posted by PRePublic · · 17 replies · 223+ views · · memri · · Apr, 2008 · |
Iraqi Author 'Aref 'Alwan: The Jews Have an Historic Right to Palestine In an article posted December 7, 2007, on the leftist website www.ahewar.org,[1] 'Aref 'Alwan, an Iraqi author and playwright who resides in London and is the author of 12 novels,[2] states that the Jews have an historic right to Palestine because their presence there preceded the Arab conquest and has continued to this day. In the article, titled "Do the Jews Have Any Less Right to Palestine than the Arabs?" 'Alwan called on the Arab world to acknowledge the Jews' right to Palestine, because justice demanded it and... |
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| World War Eleven | |
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| The Eichmann Files - Classified Documents Could Be Released after 50 Years |
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· 03/16/2010 8:16:08 PM PDT · · Posted by Titus-Maximus · · 15 replies · 581+ views · · Spiegel · · 3/11/10 · · Leon Dische Becker · |
Fifty years after Nazi war criminal Adolf Eichmann's arrest by the Israeli Mossad in Argentina, basic details about his 15 years as a fugitive remain a government secret. The files kept by Germany's foreign intelligence agency, the BND, remain classified today -- allegedly for reasons of national security. A German journalist is now suing in a federal court for the release of the files. Fifty years have passed since Adolf Eichmann's arrest, but the German foreign intelligence agency, the BND, is still hoping to prevent the release of files detailing his post-war movements. A Federal Administrative Court in Leipzig is... |
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| Up to 25,000 died in Dresden's WWII bombing - report |
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· 03/18/2010 6:08:22 AM PDT · · Posted by decimon · · 37 replies · 524+ views · · BBC · · Mar 18, 2010 · · Unknown · |
Up to 25,000 people died in the Allied bombing of Dresden during World War II - fewer than often estimated, an official German report has concluded.The Dresden Historians' Commission published its report after five years of research into the 13-15 February 1945 air raid by Britain and the US. The study was aimed at ending an ongoing debate on the number of casualties in the German city. Germany's far-right groups claim that up to 500,000 people died. They say the bombing - which unleashed a firestorm in the historic city when Nazi Germany was already close to defeat - constituted... |
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| Japan's World War blunder |
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· 03/14/2010 9:36:52 AM PDT · · Posted by Saije · · 46 replies · 1,224+ views · · Toronto Sun · · 3/14/2010 · · Eric Margolis · |
Sixty-five years ago this month, three U.S. Marine Corps divisions were assaulting the heavily fortified volcanic island of Iwo Jima. In the bloody battle, 6,821 Americans and some 33,000 Japanese died or went missing. My late father, Henry M. Margolis, fought at Iwo as a member of the renowned 5th Marine Amphibious Division. So frightful was the battle, he rarely spoke of it in later years. The United States military faced a well-armed, courageous Japanese foe in the Pacific campaign and won decisive victories, such as Midway, the Marianas and Leyte, that rank among history's most glorious battles. A leading... |
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| Pages | |
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| Ain't Gonna Study War No More (Borders Bookstore vs. Universities; VDH ping) |
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· 03/18/2010 6:12:31 AM PDT · · Posted by C19fan · · 18 replies · 433+ views · · National Review Online Corner · · March 18, 2010 · · Peter Robinson · |
Today on Uncommon Knowledge, Victor Davis Hanson, military historian and author of Father of Us All: War and History, Ancient and Modern, contrasts the recent collapse of military history as an academic discipline with the abiding interest in the subject displayed by ordinary Americans. If we walked right over to the campus bookstore or looked in the university's catalog of classes, we would see gender studies this, gender studies that, anything with "studies" -- leisure studies, race studies, environmental studies. Military history? Not there. But if we walked right down to Borders Books, a commercial enterprise, we'd see that under... |
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| Obituaries | |
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| Actor Peter Graves found dead at his home in Pacific Palisades |
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· 03/14/2010 6:17:55 PM PDT · · Posted by Daffynition · · 202 replies · 6,922+ views · · LAT · · March 14, 2010 · · staff reporter · |
Actor Peter Graves was found dead Sunday at his home in Pacific Palisades, according to law enforcement sources. Graves, who stared in "Mission: Impossible," "Airplane!" and Billy Wilder's "Stalag 17"--apparently died of natural causes, the sources said. Graves was 83, according to a biography on the website IMDB.com. [snip] |
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| Peter Graves, Spymaster and Host, Is Dead at 83 |
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· 03/14/2010 7:31:00 PM PDT · · Posted by Brandonmark · · 57 replies · 2,048+ views · · The New York Times · · March 14, 2010 · · MICHAEL POLLAK · |
Peter Graves, the cool spymaster of television's "Mission Impossible" and the dignified host of the "Biography" series, who successfully spoofed his own gravitas in the "Airplane" movie farces, died Sunday. He was 83. He died of a heart attack at his home in Pacific Palisades, Calif., said Fred Barman, his business manager. It was a testament to Mr. Graves's earnest, unhammy ability to make fun of himself that after decades of playing square he-men and straitlaced authority figures, he was perhaps best known to younger audiences for a deadpan line in "Airplane!" ("Joey, do you like movies about gladiators?") and... |
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| Helix, Make Mine a Double | |
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| Five reasons Henrietta Lacks is the most important woman in medical history |
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· 03/17/2010 4:28:37 PM PDT · · Posted by James C. Bennett · · 13 replies · 463+ views · · Popular Science · · 5/2/2010 · · Popular Science · |
In 1951, Henrietta Lacks, a poor woman with a middle-school education, made one of the greatest medical contributions ever. Her cells, taken from a cervical-cancer biopsy, became the first immortal human cell line -- the cells reproduce infinitely in a lab. Although other immortal lines have since been established, Lacks's "HeLa" cells are the standard in labs around the world. Together they outweigh 100 Empire State Buildings and could circle the equator three times. This month, PopSci contributor Rebecca Skloot's book, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, tells the story behind the woman who revolutionized modern medicine. Here, five reasons we should... |
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| Thoroughly Modern Miscellany | |
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| I Was A Spy For The FBI (March 1961 article in Ebony Magazine) |
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· 03/17/2010 2:43:57 PM PDT · · Posted by lowbridge · · 7 replies · 409+ views · · Ebony Magazine · · March 1961 · · Julia Clarice Brown · |
Housewife bares communist plot to infiltrate civil rights organizations and negro churches |
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| The Revolution | |
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| Montpelier to celebrate James Madison's birthday |
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· 03/14/2010 9:45:43 AM PDT · · Posted by Saije · · 3 replies · 135+ views · · Culpeper Star-Exponent · · 3/14/2010 · · Alison Brophy-Champion · |
James Madison's Orange County home offers free admission all day Tuesday in honor of the fourth president's 259th birthday. Born 1751 at Port Conway in King George while on a visit to his grandmother, Madison was raised at Montpelier, the oldest of 12 children. He is buried on the grounds of his lifelong home in the family cemetery, site of a special ceremony in honor of his birthday March 16 at 1:30 p.m. Former Deputy Secretary of Education Eugene Hickock will deliver remarks at the cemetery along with Quantico Marine Corps Base Chief of Staff Col. Thompson Gerke, who will... |
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| end of digest #296 20100320 | |
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| Gods, Graves, Glyphs Weekly Digest #297 Saturday, March 27, 2010 |
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| The Revolution | |
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| How Apropos - Obama Signs ObamaCare On 235th Anniv. Of Henry's "Give Me Liberty, Or Give Me Death" |
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· 03/23/2010 10:58:31 AM PDT · · Posted by Starman417 · · 31 replies · 338+ views · · Flopping Aces · · 03-23-10 · · Aye Chihuahu · |
I find it appropriate, though certainly and unintentionally ironic, that this date was chosen for the signing of the health care reform bill which will, over both the short and long haul, forge chains with which the American People will be bound. What's the irony you ask? Well, I'm glad you asked. You see, on this date in 1775 Patrick Henry delivered what is one of the most often quoted lines ever delivered: "Give me Liberty, or give me Death." Patrick Henry's speech served to urge the American People to shed the chains of Britain. The irony continues if... |
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| This Day in History: The Stamp Act is Passed! |
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· 03/22/2010 8:00:32 AM PDT · · Posted by McBuff · · 32 replies · 1,068+ views · · Vanity · · 3/22/2010 · · McBuff · |
George Santayana said that those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeating history. Today marks the 245 anniversary of the passing of The Stamp Act. It was repealed one year later, however the spark of the American Revolution was ignited. In this most timely hour, let us learn from our history, let us learn from the ways of the sons of liberty, let us be heartened by their example. A spark has been ignited and a new revolution is underway! |
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| "When, in the course of human events, it becomes necessary..." |
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· 03/20/2010 5:41:03 PM PDT · · Posted by SE Mom · · 85 replies · 2,015+ views · · The Pennsylvania Packet · · 4 July, 1776 · · Hancock,Adams,Paine et al · |
When, in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the laws of nature and of nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation. We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life,... |
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| Headed for Auction: Back-Channel Gloom on Revolutionary War |
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· 03/23/2010 6:18:29 AM PDT · · Posted by Pharmboy · · 32 replies · 617+ views · · NY Times · · March 22, 2010 · · SAM ROBERTS · |
Letters to and from Henry Strachey, secretary to the British commanders in chief, are being auctioned as the Copley Library sells its collection. Despite King George's boast that "once these rebels have felt a smart blow, they will submit," back-channel messages from British generals and diplomatic officials in America during the Revolutionary War, some of them previously unpublished, turn out to have been decidedly more pessimistic. As early as June 1775, after the Battle of Bunker Hill -- which the Redcoats technically won -- Gen. John Burgoyne pronounced British military prospects in America "gloomy" in what he called "a crisis... |
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| Early America | |
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| Scotch Irish Settlement of the Shenandoah Valley |
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· 03/20/2010 8:00:24 AM PDT · · Posted by jay1949 · · 43 replies · 562+ views · · Backcountry Notes · · MArch 20, 2010 · · Jay Henderson · |
"These [Scotch Irish settlers] were the right sort of people to found a commonwealth that should stand the wear and tear of a hundred ages." -- Henry Ruffner, President of Washington College (1836-1848). Ruffner's "Early History of Washington College" recounts the settling and development of the Valley of Virginia. An excerpt from "Early History" was printed in Henry Howe, "Historical Collections of Virginia" (1852), which fortunately is more available than the original. Reproduced here are Howe's introduction and the engaging Ruffner excerpt. |
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| Remains near bridge site may be old fort [18 c French fort in Vermont] |
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· 03/24/2010 6:30:48 PM PDT · · Posted by SunkenCiv · · 9 replies · 275+ views · · Press Republican · · March 23, 2010 · · Lohr McKinstry · |
Part of a stone foundation discovered next to one of the old Champlain Bridge pillars could be from a small French fort built in 1731. The foundation is about a foot and a half from the side of a pillar on the Vermont shore, but archeologists don't know if it's from the fort or an early house. The Champlain Bridge closed Oct. 16, 2009, and was destroyed by controlled explosives Dec. 28. A new bridge is scheduled to be constructed nearby starting this spring... The foundation is about a foot below the surface of the ground and was discovered during... |
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| Navigation | |
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| Shipwreck may be oldest off North Carolina coast |
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· 03/24/2010 6:09:50 PM PDT · · Posted by SunkenCiv · · 23 replies · 530+ views · · Reflector · · Wednesday, March 24, 2010 · · Associated Press · |
Wooden pegs rather than iron spikes held this ship together, like other English ships at the time, Henry said. The wood appears to be live oak, an indicator it could have come from an early Virginia colony, he said. |
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| The Civil War | |
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| The American Minute: Rufus King, Anti-Slavery Efforts - Supreme Court Justices - Repubs |
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· 03/24/2010 3:22:34 AM PDT · · Posted by Freedom'sWorthIt · · 6 replies · 119+ views · · The American Minute · · March 24, 2010 · · William J Federer · |
American Minute for March 24th: William Jay, son of the First Supreme Court Chief Justice, helped found New York City's Anti-Slavery Society in 1833. His son, John Jay, was manager of New York Young Men's Anti-Slavery Society in 1834. Supreme Court Justice Joseph Story helped establish the illegality of the slave trade in the 1844 Amistad case. Salmon P. Chase, appointed Chief Justice by Lincoln, defended so many escaped slaves in his career he was nicknamed "Attorney-General of Fugitive Slaves." Cassius Marcellus Clay, diplomat to Russia for Lincoln and Grant, founded the anti-slavery journal True American in 1845 and helped... |
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| Civil War History Meets Twitter @Discovercivwar |
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· 03/23/2010 9:17:07 PM PDT · · Posted by stainlessbanner · · 19 replies · 317+ views · · Archives · · March 23, 2010 · |
Civil War History Meets Twitter @Discovercivwar Follow the National Archives' Upcoming Civil War Exhibit on Twitter Washington, DC -- You can now follow the National Archives' exhibition marking the sesquicentennial of the Civil War, Discovering the Civil War on Twitter [http://twitter.com/discovercivwar]. Followers can discover the Civil War for themselves through tweets highlighting the people and stories of the Civil War linking to images of items that will be featured in the exhibition such as letters, diaries, photos, maps, petitions, receipts, patents, amendments, and proclamations. @discovercivwar will also alert the public to exciting, free programs related to the exhibition that will be held... |
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| Religion of Pieces | |
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| Faith in History: Islam in America's History - William J Federer |
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· 03/23/2010 4:02:34 AM PDT · · Posted by Freedom'sWorthIt · · 20 replies · 432+ views · · Faith in History · · March 23, 2010 · · William J Federer · |
William J Federer's great work: Faith in History - program that can be viewed on TCT TV - or online at TCT.TV website, Video on Demand, Click on the "Faith in History Icon... Today's "lesson" on the Christian Faith and its impact on our history - begins with a quotation from Obama to the effect that America owes much to Islam. William Federer goes through the History of how Islam has indeed impacted our nation...perhaps not in the context that Obama tried to suggest. |
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| PreColumbian, Clovis, PreClovis | |
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| America's architectural heritage: Native American mortuary temples |
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· 03/24/2010 6:05:59 PM PDT · · Posted by SunkenCiv · · 9 replies · 156+ views · · Richard Thornton · · Wednesday, March 24, 2010 · · Architecture & Design Examiner · |
Archaeologists believe that many Native American cultures were obsessed with death and the hereafter. The most obvious evidence is the abundance of burial mounds containing human remains with grave openings. However, certain cultures not only built burial mounds, but also earthen complexes contain burial mounds, geometric patterns and mounds, which did not contain burials. North of the Southern Highlands, these ceremonial complexes contain few or no houses. This means that people traveled to these sites from distant villages in order build, worship, trade and socialize. There is evidence that some cultures even brought the remains of their love ones to... |
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| Helix, Make Mine a Double | |
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| Greenland Vikings 'had Celtic blood' |
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· 03/23/2010 8:28:05 PM PDT · · Posted by SunkenCiv · · 55 replies · 712+ views · · cphpost.dk · · Friday, March 19, 2010 · · RC News · |
An analysis of DNA from a Viking gravesite near a 1000 year-old church in southern Greenland shows that those buried there had strong Celtic bloodlines... The analysis -- performed by Danish researchers on bones from skeletons found during excavations in south Greenland -- revealed that the settlers' Nordic blood was mixed with Celtic blood, probably originating from the British Isles. Danish archaeologists are currently conducting the first regional study of southern Greenland's original settlers, whose colonies date back to the year 985. The skeletons disinterred outside the old church also date back to just a few years after that period... |
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| Ancient glyphs and a Celtic connection theory |
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· 03/24/2010 1:55:24 AM PDT · · Posted by Palter · · 14 replies · 543+ views · · Blue Mountains Courier Herald · · 16 Mar 2010 · · Erika Engel · |
A local man is out to change history. Or, more specifically, suggest that there might be some changes required in Canada's history books, and give us more reason to celebrate St. Patrick's Day. Robert Burcher, a photographer and enquiring mind living in Slabtown, has recently finished the manuscript for a book that represents 16 years of research, a basement full of resources and several trips around Ontario and Ireland. His research was born in the Peterborough Petroglyphs. A vast expanse of rock carvings surrounded by conflicting interpretations and curious spectators. Burcher was most intrigued by what looked like the image... |
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| Ancient Autopsies | |
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| New ancestor? Scientists ponder DNA from Siberia |
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· 03/24/2010 12:16:23 PM PDT · · Posted by decimon · · 19 replies · 391+ views · · Associated Press · · Mar 24, 2010 · · MALCOLM RITTER · |
NEW YORK -- In the latest use of DNA to investigate the story of humankind, scientists have decoded genetic material from an unidentified human ancestor that lived in Siberia and concluded it might be a new member of the human family tree. The DNA doesn't match modern humans or Neanderthals, two species that lived in that area around the same time -- 30,000 to 50,000 years ago. But "the human family tree has got a lot of branchings. It's entirely plausible there are a lot of branches out there we don't know about." |
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| DNA identifies new ancient human dubbed 'X-woman' |
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· 03/24/2010 1:38:44 PM PDT · · Posted by smokingfrog · · 33 replies · 823+ views · · BBC · · 3-24-10 · · Paul Rincon · |
Scientists have identified a previously unknown type of ancient human through analysis of DNA from a finger bone unearthed in a Siberian cave. The extinct "hominin" (human like creature) lived in Central Asia between 48,000 and 30,000 years ago. An international team has sequenced genetic material from the fossil showing that it is distinct from that of Neanderthals and modern humans. Details of the find, dubbed "X-woman", have been published in Nature journal. Ornaments were found in the same ground layer as the finger bone, including a bracelet. Professor Chris Stringer, human origins researcher at London's Natural History Museum, called... |
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| Possible new human ancestor found in Siberia |
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· 03/24/2010 4:05:58 PM PDT · · Posted by edcoil · · 33 replies · 675+ views · · reuters · · 3-24-10 · · edcoil · |
Genetic material pulled from a pinky finger bone found in a Siberian cave shows a new and unknown type of pre-human lived alongside modern humans and Neanderthals, scientists reported on Wednesday. |
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| Gene research reveals fourth human species |
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· 03/24/2010 7:40:24 PM PDT · · Posted by dangerdoc · · 22 replies · 561+ views · · Financial Times · · 3/24/10 · · Clive Cookson · |
A fourth type of hominid, besides Neanderthals, modern humans and the tiny "hobbit", was living as recently as 40,000 years ago, according to research published in the journal Nature. The discovery by Svante P‰‰bo and colleagues at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany, is based on DNA sequences from a finger bone fragment discovered in a Siberian cave. EDITOR'S CHOICE Science briefing: Biofuel breakthrough - Feb-26 Public losing faith in science - Feb-22 Science briefing: Tracking cancer changes - Feb-19 Scientists discover the secret of ageing - Feb-15 Genome of balding Arctic ancestor decoded - Feb-10... |
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| Prehistory & Origins | |
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| Human ancestors walked comfortably upright 3.6 million years ago, new footprint study says [Laetoli] |
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· 03/23/2010 8:20:49 PM PDT · · Posted by SunkenCiv · · 31 replies · 408+ views · · Scientific American · · March 20, 2010 · · Katherine Harmon · |
A comparison of ancient and contemporary footprints reveals that our ancestors were strolling much like we do some 3.6 million years ago, a time when they were still quite comfortable spending time in trees, according to a study which will be published in the March 22 issue of the journal PLoS ONE... Although some researchers have argued that the 4.4 million-year-old ancient human Ardipithecus ramidus ("Ardi") described in October 2009 was adept at walking on her hind legs, many disagree... Likely left by Australopithecus afarensis, the same species as "Lucy," these prints show an upright gait, but it has remained... |
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| Biology and Cryptobiology | |
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| Biology May Not Be So Complex After All, Physicist Finds |
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· 03/20/2010 10:10:30 PM PDT · · Posted by LibWhacker · · 18 replies · 542+ views · · ScienceDaily · · 3/19/10 · |
ScienceDaily (Mar. 19, 2010) -- Centuries ago, scientists began reducing the physics of the universe into a few, key laws described by a handful of parameters. Such simple descriptions have remained elusive for complex biological systems -- until now.Emory biophysicist Ilya Nemenman has identified parameters for several biochemical networks that distill the entire behavior of these systems into simple equivalent dynamics. The discovery may hold the potential to streamline the development of drugs and diagnostic tools, by simplifying the research models. |
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| Why everything you've been told about evolution is wrong (now this is weird) |
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· 03/19/2010 4:56:11 PM PDT · · Posted by chessplayer · · 578 replies · 4,079+ views · · Guardian (UK) · |
What if Darwin's theory of natural selection is inaccurate? What if the way you live now affects the life expectancy of your descendants? |
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| Diet and Cuisine | |
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| Onions Made Pre-Human Ancestors Cry Too, Study Suggests |
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· 03/24/2010 7:10:29 PM PDT · · Posted by SunkenCiv · · 18 replies · 211+ views · · LiveScience · · Friday, March 19, 2010 · · Staff · |
During the Cambrian Period, which lasted from 543 million to 490 million years ago, life forms included primitive marine organisms, such as echinoderms (a group that now includes sea stars and sea cucumbers), annelid worms and sponge-like organisms. Garrity and his colleagues reconstructed TRPA1's family tree back some 700 million years using a variety of bioinformatic methods (bioinformactics applies computer programs and statistic techniques to study biological data). For instance, the researchers compared the TRPA1 protein from different organisms to see how similar they were. They then used several computer programs to figure out how the proteins would relate to... |
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| What's the Frequency, Kenneth? | |
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| New Method Could Revolutionize Dating of Ancient Treasures |
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· 03/24/2010 5:54:06 PM PDT · · Posted by SunkenCiv · · 26 replies · 351+ views · · Eurekalert! · · Tuesday, March 23, 2010 · · Michael Bernstein · |
In conventional dating methods, scientists remove a small sample from an object, such as a cloth or bone fragment. Then they treat the sample with a strong acid and a strong base and finally burn the sample in a small glass chamber to produce carbon dioxide gas to analyze its C-14 content. Rowe's new method, called "non-destructive carbon dating," eliminates sampling, the destructive acid-base washes, and burning. In the new method, scientists place an entire artifact in a special chamber with a plasma, an electrically charged gas similar to gases used in big-screen plasma television displays. The gas slowly and... |
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| India | |
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| New research cuts into origins of iron and steel in India |
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· 03/22/2010 9:55:08 AM PDT · · Posted by decimon · · 8 replies · 318+ views · · University of Exeter · · Mar 22, 2010 · · Unknown · |
A small but intrepid team of Exeter staff and students have returned from a six-week archaeological research expedition to a remote region of rural Andhra Pradesh in India. The team, led by Dr Gill Juleff of the University of Exeter's Department of Archaeology, formed one half of a project to study the origins of high carbon steel-making in the southern Indian sub-continent. Funded by UK India Education and Research Initiative (UKIERI), the 'Pioneering Metallurgy' project is a joint venture between Exeter and the National Institute of Advanced Studies (NIAS), Bangalore. Setting out at 7.00 every morning from their base camp... |
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| Epigraphy and Language | |
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| How the Alphabet Was Born from Hieroglyphs |
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· 03/24/2010 6:51:18 PM PDT · · Posted by SunkenCiv · · 14 replies · 455+ views · · Biblical Archaeology Review · · Mar/Apr 2010 · · Orly Goldwasser · |
By the beginning of the Egyptian Middle Kingdom (a few years after 2000 B.C.E.), the pressure of immigrants on the eastern Delta was so strong that the Egyptian authorities built a series of forts at strategic points to "repel the Asiatics," as the story of Sinuhe tells us.1 More than a century later, however, Egyptian policy toward the Asiatics changed. Instead of trying to prevent them from coming in, the Egyptians cultivated close relations with strong Canaanite city-states on the Mediterranean coast and allowed select Asiatic populations to settle in the eastern Delta. The last of the great pharaohs of... |
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| Mesopotamia | |
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| After Years of War and Abuse, New Hope for Ancient Babylon |
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· 03/24/2010 6:22:24 PM PDT · · Posted by SunkenCiv · · 11 replies · 266+ views · · New York Times · · March 22, 2010 · · John Noble Wilford · |
A current study, known as the Future of Babylon project, documents the damage from water mainly associated with the Euphrates River and irrigation systems nearby. The ground is saturated just below the surface at sites of the Ishtar Gate and the long-gone Hanging Gardens, one of the seven wonders. Bricks are crumbling, temples collapsing. The Tower of Babel, long since reduced to rubble, is surrounded by standing water. Leaders of the international project, describing their findings in interviews and at a meeting this month in New York, said that any plan for reclaiming Babylon as a tourist attraction and a... |
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| Elam, Persia, Parthia, Iran | |
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| Parthian Bistun Will Be Excavated |
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· 03/24/2010 5:50:06 PM PDT · · Posted by SunkenCiv · · 5 replies · 134+ views · · Circle of Ancient Iranian Studies · · Tuesday, March 23, 2010 · · unattributed · |
With regard to the discovery of the Parthian site, Daneshian explained: "The slope is mostly situated within the boundary of Bistun's World registered heritage site, near the [historical] hillside and the Achaemenid inscription, which is confirmed to be a settlement dating back to Arsacid dynasty. A current survey as well as the previous research and recovered artefacts points out to the importance of the settlement during the Arsacids dynastic period in this part of the country." The ancient site of Bistun has suffered extensively since 1979 and the rise of the clerical regime to power in Iran. Bistun like hundreds... |
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| Faith and Philosophy | |
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| Happy Norooz! |
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· 03/20/2010 12:32:43 PM PDT · · Posted by sionnsar · · 70 replies · 905+ views · · FarsiNet · · 3/20/2010 · |
Nowruz 2569 (1389) will begin on... |
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| China | |
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| Ruins of 2,000-year-old city found in China |
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· 03/24/2010 6:08:19 PM PDT · · Posted by SunkenCiv · · 1 replies · 186+ views · · Times of India · · Wednesday, March 24, 2010 · · unattributed · |
BEIJING: Archaeologists in China have found the ruins of a 2,000-year-old city dating back to the Eastern Han Dynasty, a report said Wednesday. The site, located near Fujiacun village in Fengcheng city in Jiangxi province, covers about 18,000 square metres and is surrounded by a moat, Xinhua news agency reported. About 30 metres of the wall surrounding the ancient city was still standing on its west and pieces of broken tiles were found scattered on the ground, it said. Villagers said they had seen stone implements at the site in the past, but none was found during a field trip... |
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| Roman Empire | |
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| Back in business: Pompeii snack bar re-opens... nearly 2000 years after it was destroyed by the eruption of Mt Vesuvius |
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· 03/20/2010 12:08:05 PM PDT · · Posted by Free ThinkerNY · · 47 replies · 895+ views · · dailymail.co.uk · · March 20, 2010 · · Rhianna King · |
In AD79 it was Pompeii's most popular hang out, where locals would stop off to meet friends and partake in a snack of baked cheese smothered in honey. Now, nearly 2000 years after the Italian city was buried under ash and rubble by the devastating eruption of Mount Vesuvius, its favourite snack bar has re-opened. For the first time the thermopolium, as it is called in Italy, will be open to tourists after having undergone and excavation and restoration process over the past few months. Tomorrow 300 VIPs selected at random will attend an advance opening of the snack bar... |
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| Let's Have Jerusalem | |
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| Even Though Obama Doesn't, The Ancient Greeks Recognized Jerusalem as Jewish Capital |
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· 03/27/2010 8:17:53 PM PDT · · Posted by Shellybenoit · · 16 replies · 244+ views · · the Lid/Jerusalem Post · · 3/27/2010 · · The Lid · |
Monday Night Jews across the world will be sitting down with family and friends to begin the first Passover Seder. Passover is a holiday where we celebrate our freedom as a nation. at the beginning of each Seder we say the following words This year we are here, next year in the land of Israel; this year we are slaves, next year, we will be free men. You see, we don't begin the Seder with a prayer. We begin with a confident statement of fact: This year we are here; but next year we will be in Jerusalem. This year... |
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| Transcript of Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's AIPAC speech |
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· 03/22/2010 11:00:59 PM PDT · · Posted by beagleone · · 135 replies · 2,262+ views · · Politico · · 23/22/2010 · · Binyamin Netanyahu · |
Members of the Obama Administration, Senators, Members of Congress, Ambassadors, Leaders of AIPAC, Ladies and Gentlemen, As the world faces monumental challenges, I know that Israel and America will face them together. We stand together because we are fired by the same ideals and inspired by the same dream the dream of achieving security, prosperity and peace. This dream seemed impossible to many Jews a century ago. This month, my father celebrated his one-hundredth birthday. When he was born, the Czars ruled Russia, the British Empire spanned the globe and the Ottomans ruled the Middle East. During his lifetime, all... |
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| Egypt | |
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| Jews Barred from Cairo's Maimonides Synagogue |
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· 03/28/2010 7:11:53 AM PDT · · Posted by SJackson · · 11 replies · 249+ views · · Arutz Sheva · · Hana Levi Julian · |
(IsraelNN.com) The Egyptian government has announced that it will not allow Jews to pray in Cairo's newly-restored Maimonides Synagogue, in retaliation for Israel's security response to Arab rioting on the Temple Mount. "The Al-Aqsa Mosque is part of the heritage of the Palestinian Arabs and Israel is not entitled to block them from it," said Dr. Zahi Hawass, Secretary-General of Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities. A Qatari newspaper quoted Hawass in a telephone interview late last week as saying the Maimonides Synagogue would be treated an an Egyptian antiquity, not a Jewish house of worship. Nor will he allow the... |
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| Climate | |
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| 'science's dirtiest secret: The "scientific method" of testing hypotheses by statistical analysis stands on a flimsy foundation.' |
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· 03/21/2010 9:37:39 AM PDT · · Posted by Ernest_at_the_Beach · · 24 replies · 499+ views · · Wattsupwiththat.com · · March 20 , 2010 · · Anthony Watts · |
'science's dirtiest secret: The "scientific method" of testing hypotheses by statistical analysis stands on a flimsy foundation.' The quote in the headline is direct from this article in Science News for which I've posted an excerpt below. I found this article interesting for two reasons. 1- It challenges use of statistical methods that have come into question in climate science recently, such as Mann's tree ring proxy hockey stick and the Steig et al statistical assertion that Antarctica is warming. 2- It pulls no punches in pointing out an over-reliance on statistical methods can produce competing results from the same... |
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| Dinosaurs | |
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| New Dinosaur: "Exquisite" Raptor Found |
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· 03/20/2010 9:11:31 AM PDT · · Posted by JoeProBono · · 23 replies · 1,124+ views · · nationalgeographic · · March 19, 2010 · |
Like a zombie clawing its way out of the grave, a new dinosaur species was discovered when scientists spotted a hand bone protruding from a cliff in the Gobi desert of Inner Mongolia, paleontologists have announced. Called Linheraptor exquisitus, the new dinosaur is a raptor, a type of two-legged meat-eater, that lived during the late Cretaceous period in what is now northeastern China "We were looking at these very tall red sandstone walls that were all abraded by the wind, and I saw this claw sticking out of the side of the cliff," recalls Jonah Choiniere, a grad student at... |
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| Dinosaur Buried Alive By Collapsing Sand Dune [this didn't just happen] |
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· 03/24/2010 7:19:40 PM PDT · · Posted by SunkenCiv · · 40 replies · 1,018+ views · · LiveScience · · March 23, 2010 · · Jeanna Bryner · |
A plant-eating dinosaur might have been swallowed up by a collapsing sand dune some 185 million years ago in what are now Utah's red rocks. The desert disaster likely plopped the dinosaur onto its head, where it remained until being discovered by a local historian and artist in 2004... in the Comb Ridge area near Bluff, Utah, when he spotted the bony fossil protruding from the multicolored cliffs of the Navajo Sandstone, which represents the remains of a huge sand dune desert as large as the modern-day Sahara Desert. As such, the dinosaur has been named Seitaad ruessi, derived from... |
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| First tyrannosaur fossil from Southern Hemisphere |
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· 03/25/2010 11:34:11 AM PDT · · Posted by cajuncow · · 14 replies · 252+ views · · yahoo news · · 3-25-10 · · Randolph E. Schmid, AP · |
WASHINGTON -- A foot-long piece of bone unearthed in Australia is the first evidence that ancestors of the mighty T. rex once lived in the Southern Hemisphere. The remains are from an animal much smaller than the famed predator, but add to the knowledge of how this type of dinosaur evolved. The discovery is reported in Friday's edition of the journal Science by a team of researchers led by Roger B. J. Benson of the department of earth science at England's University of Cambridge. |
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| Scientists unearth Australian T rex |
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· 03/27/2010 7:44:04 PM PDT · · Posted by myknowledge · · 5 replies · 174+ views · · Australian Broadcasting Corporation · · March 26, 2010 · · Dani Cooper · |
Australian scientists say they have discovered the first evidence that an ancestor of the mighty Tyrannosaurus rex once roamed across Australia. The finding, published today in the journal Science, fills a major gap in the evolutionary history of T rex and overturns the theory the giant predator was a purely northern hemisphere animal. It also puts a dampener on hopes of finding a unique Australian dinosaur, says Museum Victoria curator of vertebrate palaeontology Dr Tom Rich. The discovery is based on a pubic bone found about 20 years ago at Dinosaur Cove, 220 kilometres west of Melbourne in Victoria. It... |
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| British Isles | |
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| The antique chair that gives an eye-popping insight into Edward VII's debauched youth |
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· 03/22/2010 7:02:40 AM PDT · · Posted by C19fan · · 40 replies · 2,777+ views · · Daily Mail · · March 22, 2010 · · Eugene Costello · |
Among the bordellos of Victorian Paris, Le Chabanais was the most exquisite, and the most lavish. Over the years this "maison de tolerance' -- the word "brothel' was considered too tawdry -- saw visitors as illustrious as Humphrey Bogart, Mae West and Cary Grant. But in the 1880s, one of its principal clients was the future King Edward VII, then known to everyone as "Bertie', the playboy Prince of Wales. Each of the establishment's 30 rooms had its own theme, such as Moorish, Louis XIV and ancient Roman -- but Bertie's favourite was the Hindu room. |
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| Epidemics, Pandemics, Plagues, the Sniffles | |
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| Swine Flu Pandemic Reincarnates 1918 Virus |
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· 03/24/2010 5:42:49 PM PDT · · Posted by neverdem · · 40 replies · 684+ views · · ScienceNOW · · March 24, 2010 · · Jon Cohen · |
Enlarge Image Crystal ball. The 2009 pandemic virus has the same amino acids at the tip of its HA as the 1918 strain shown here bound to an antibody (red and yellow ribbons) taken from a survivor of the 1918 pandemic. Credit: R. Xu et al., Science (Advanced Online Edition) Researchers have found that the H1N1 swine influenza virus that last year caused the first human pandemic in 4 decades shares an important surface protein with the virus responsible for the 1918 flu, the deadliest in human history. This newfound similarity answers many mysteries about the 2009 pandemic, including... |
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| Thoroughly Modern Miscellany | |
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| Buy a Texas town! - The Grove, Tx - April 23, 24,25, 2010 |
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· 03/20/2010 1:25:52 PM PDT · · Posted by deport · · 36 replies · 931+ views · · Beaumont Enterprise · · 3-20-2010 · · The Bayou Blog · |
Next Month you can buy a Texas Town. He's tried. For two years, Moody Anderson has attempted to sell the Texas "ghost town," The Groves. Even had it up on eBay. There were no takers. Fickle bunch, those eBay folks. The Groves is a made up of five buildings, each containing hundreds of collector's items. We'll let Texas Escapes give a proper description: "This is a very well preserved 1860's museum town full of authentic, articles and artifacts from that era. There is also written documentation of The Grove's birth to its desertion in the 40's when TxDOT re-routed... |
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| end of digest #297 20100327 | |
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