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| Gods, Graves, Glyphs Weekly Digest #269 Saturday, September 12, 2009 |
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| Religion of Peace | |
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| NEVER FORGET: Where Were you on 9/11? |
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· 09/10/2009 9:48:39 PM PDT · · Posted by DaveLoneRanger · · 518 replies · 6,812+ views · |
Seeing none from this year, I would like us to share our memories of 9/11. Like Kennedy's assassination or Pearl Harbor, few can ever forget where they were on that dreadful day. Please share your memory of 9/11, where you were, and also tell us in a few sentences how it changed you. |
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| Biology and Cryptobiology | |
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| The rat that's the size of a cat: BBC team discovers 40 new species in 'lost world' |
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· 09/07/2009 5:35:41 AM PDT · · Posted by Wardenclyffe · · 38 replies · 1,059+ views · · dailymail.co.uk · · 07th September 2009 · · Paul Revoir · |
Rats as big as cats, fanged frogs and grunting fish - they sound like something from a horror movie. But, incredibly, there is a 'lost world' on a distant island where these nightmarish creatures really exist. A team of scientists discovered the bizarre animals - and dozens of others - at a remote volcano in Papua New Guinea. In the kilometre-deep crater of Mount Bosavi, they found a habitat teeming with life which has evolved in isolation since the volcano last erupted 200,000 years ago. Among the new species was the the Bosavi Woolly Rat. One of the biggest rats... |
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| Lost world of fanged frogs and giant rats discovered in Papua New Guinea |
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· 09/07/2009 11:36:01 AM PDT · · Posted by NYer · · 47 replies · 1,269+ views · · Guardian · · September 7, 2009 · · Robert Booth · |
A lost world populated by fanged frogs, grunting fish and tiny bear-like creatures has been discovered in a remote volcanic crater on the Pacific island of Papua New Guinea. A team of scientists from Britain, the United States and Papua New Guinea found more than 40 previously unidentified species when they climbed into the kilometre-deep crater of Mount Bosavi and explored a pristine jungle habitat teeming with life that has evolved in isolation since the volcano last erupted 200,000 years ago. In a remarkably rich haul from just five weeks of exploration, the biologists discovered 16 frogs which have never... |
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| Horse Eels | |
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| Loch Ness Monster monster spotted on Google Earth |
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· 09/04/2009 2:45:36 AM PDT · · Posted by Daffynition · · 69 replies · 1,649+ views · · The Telegraph · · August 27, 2009 · · staff reporter · |
AN eagle-eyed security guard with too much time on his hands claims to have found photographic evidence of the Loch Ness Monster in satellite images. British security guard Jason, 25, told The Sun "I couldn't believe it. It's just like the descriptions of Nessie." Researcher Adrian Shine, of the Loch Ness Project, said: "This is really intriguing. It needs further study." Sightings have been claimed for centuries. The object, pictured to the right, can be found by entering co-ordinates Latitude 5712'52.13"N, Longitude 434'14.16"W in Google Earth. |
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| Gigantopithecus | |
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| Kentucky man says photo might show Bigfoot raiding his garden |
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· 09/08/2009 10:11:58 PM PDT · · Posted by Artemis Webb · · 64 replies · 1,724+ views · · kfor.com · · 090809 · |
JEFFERSON COUNTY, KU -- Conspiracy theorists have tried to prove the possibility of aliens, sea monsters, and even shape shifters, now there is a mystery in Jefferson County. Kenny Mahoney, born and raised in Fairdale, snapped a picture of what some people are calling Big Foot. His hunting camera, which is operated by a motion detector, normally picks up rabbits, deer and turkeys, but on September 1st around 2:15 p.m. it picked up a strange image that looks like some sort of large black creature, one Mahoney estimates taller than he. "It looked like it had the outline of a... |
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| Deep Blue See | |
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| Forget the Goggles: Chlorophyll Eye Drops Give Night Vision |
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· 09/07/2009 5:00:20 AM PDT · · Posted by decimon · · 28 replies · 964+ views · · Discover · · September 4, 2009 · · Melinda Wenner · |
Seeing in the dark could soon be as easy as popping a pill or squeezing some drops into your eyes, thanks to some new science, an unusual deep-sea fish, and a plant pigment. In the 1990s, marine biologist Ron Douglas of City University London discovered that, unlike other deep-sea fish, the dragonfish Malacosteus niger can perceive red light. Douglas was surprised when he isolated the chemical responsible for absorbing red: It was chlorophyll. "That was weird," he says. The fish had somehow co-opted chlorophyll, most likely from bacteria in their food, and turned it into a vision enhancer. |
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| Helix, Make Mine a Double | |
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| Evolution's Little Helper: Xeroxed Genes |
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· 09/05/2009 12:33:45 AM PDT · · Posted by neverdem · · 11 replies · 432+ views · · ScienceNOW Daily News · · 3 September 2009 · · Elizabeth Pennisi · |
Enlarge ImageGood catch. Using zebrafish, researchers were able to track down the gene that causes this giant mirror carp to have few, large scales. Credit: Oliver Hasselhoff A long-standing question in biology is how evolution tinkers with genes without mucking things up. The prevailing theory is that the genome has copies of critical genes, so that if mutations spoil one, there's a backup. Now researchers have new proof that evolution can work this way. The scientists tracked down a duplicated gene that made possible so-called mirror fish, which have large, reflective scales. "This is a valuable proof of concept... |
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| Prehistory and Origins | |
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| Georgia fossil suggests key stage of human evolution was in Europe [not Africa] |
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· 09/09/2009 9:20:25 PM PDT · · Posted by bruinbirdman · · 42 replies · 635+ views · · The Times · · 9/9/2009 · · Mark Henderson · |
A key stage in human evolution may have taken place on the fringes of Europe and not in Africa as has generally been thought, scientists said yesterday. Fossils of an ancient human relative, or hominin, from Georgia dated from 1.8 million years ago suggest that the first of our ancestors to walk upright could have done so in Eurasia, the British Science Festival was told. David Lordkipanidze, director of the Georgian National Museum, said the skulls, fossils and limb bones found at Dmanisi in 1999 and 2001 raise the possibility that Homo erectus, a forerunner of modern humans, evolved in... |
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| Neandertal / Neanderthal | |
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| Neanderthals wouldn't have eaten their sprouts either |
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· 09/07/2009 11:18:08 AM PDT · · Posted by SunkenCiv · · 39 replies · 525+ views · · PhysOrg · · August 12th, 2009 · · Denholm Barnetson · |
Spanish researchers say they have found that a gene in modern humans that makes some people dislike a bitter chemical called phenylthiocarbamide, or PTC, was also present in Neanderthals hundreds of thousands of years ago... The scientists made the discovery after recovering and sequencing a fragment of the TAS2R38 gene taken from 48,000-year-old Neanderthal bones found at a site in El Sidron, in northern Spain, they said in a report released Wednesday by the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC)... Substances similar to PTC give a bitter taste to green vegetables such as Brussels sprouts, broccoli and cabbage as well... |
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| Let's Have Jerusalem | |
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| 'Massive' ancient wall uncovered in Jerusalem |
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· 09/05/2009 7:36:06 AM PDT · · Posted by Not gonna take it anymore · · 27 replies · 1,158+ views · · CNN · · updated 3:10 p.m. EDT · · Fri September 4, 2009 · · No author listed · |
JERUSALEM (CNN) -- An archaeological dig in Jerusalem has turned up a 3,700-year-old wall that is the largest and oldest of its kind found in the region, experts say. The wall is built of enormous boulders, confounding archaeologists as to how ancient peoples built it. Standing 8 meters (26 feet) high, the wall of huge cut stones is a marvel to archaeologists. "To build straight walls up 8 meters ... I don't know how to do it today without mechanical equipment," said the excavation's director, Ronny Reich. "I don't think that any engineer today without electrical power [could] do it."... |
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| Rome and Italy | |
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| Largest-ever collection of coins from Bar-Kokhba revolt found |
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· 09/09/2009 7:24:27 AM PDT · · Posted by decimon · · 7 replies · 349+ views · · The Hebrew University of Jerusalem · · Sep 9, 2009 · · Unknown · |
Jerusalem, Sept. 9, 2009 -- The largest cache of rare coins ever found in a scientific excavation from the period of the Bar-Kokhba revolt of the Jews against the Romans has been discovered in a cave by researchers from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and Bar-Ilan University. The coins were discovered in three batches in a deep cavern located in a nature reserve in the Judean hills. The treasure includes gold, silver and bronze coins, as well as some pottery and weapons. The discovery was made in the framework of a comprehensive cave research and mapping project being carried out... |
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| British Isles | |
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| Recent discovery of a Roman Coin Hoard in the Shrewsbury Area[UK][10K Coins] |
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· 09/10/2009 8:45:56 AM PDT · · Posted by BGHater · · 31 replies · 642+ views · · Finds · · 07 Sep 2009 · · Daniel Pett · |
A very large and important find of a hoard of Roman coins was recently discovered by a novice metal detector user in the Shrewsbury area. This is probably one of the largest coin hoards ever discovered in Shropshire. The finder, Mr Nic. Davies, bought his first metal detector a month ago and this is his first find made with it. The hoard was discovered close to a public bridleway on land that Mr Davies did not have permission to detect on. All land is owned by someone and it is important that permission to search is obtained in advance. The... |
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| Epigraphy and Language | |
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| Fairy tales have ancient origin |
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· 09/06/2009 9:48:41 AM PDT · · Posted by decimon · · 26 replies · 671+ views · · Telegraph · · Sep 5, 2009 · · Richard Gray · |
They have been told as bedtime stories by generations of parents, but fairy tales such as Little Red Riding Hood may be even older than was previously thought. A study by anthropologists has explored the origins of folk tales and traced the relationship between varients of the stories recounted by cultures around the world. The researchers adopted techniques used by biologists to create the taxonomic tree of life, which shows how every species comes from a common ancestor. Dr Jamie Tehrani, a cultural anthropologist at Durham University, studied 35 versions of Little Red Riding Hood from around the world. |
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| Greece | |
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| Archaeology meets mythology in Mycenean Pylos (King Nestor) |
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· 09/11/2009 6:02:06 AM PDT · · Posted by decimon · · 9 replies · 251+ views · · Science Codex · · Sep 10, 2009 · · Unknown · |
Close-up of palace walls. Credit: University of Missouri-St.Louis Pylos drain. Credit: University of Missouri-St Louis Clearing thick brush from a mound at his archaeological dig site in Pylos, Greece, Michael Cosmopoulos found a real-life palace dating back to the mythical Trojan War. The palace is from the Mycenaean period (1600-1100 B.C.), famous for such mythical sagas as the Trojan War. It is thought to sit within one of the capital cities of King Nestor, a personality featured in the legends of the war. "We are thrilled, excited and fascinated at the prospect of continuing its excavation," said Cosmopoulos, the Hellenic... |
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| Byzantine Empire | |
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| The text of the film "The fall of an empire -- the Lesson of Byzantium" |
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· 09/08/2009 7:58:51 AM PDT · · Posted by Nikas777 · · 27 replies · 601+ views · · vizantia.info · · Archimandrite Tikhon (Shevkunov) · |
The text of the film "The fall of an empire -- the Lesson of Byzantium" Archimandrite Tikhon (Shevkunov) Russian winter landscape. A church. A snowstorm. Narrator. Hello. In 1453, the Byzantine Empire fell. Let us now take a look at how this happened. Islamic chant weaves into the gusts of freezing wind. Instanbul. The muezzin continues his prayer, amplified by a loudspeaker. The noise of a market place in a Middle Eastern city. Turkish conversation. Narrator. This city was once called Constantinople; six centuries ago it was the capital city of what was without exaggeration one of the greatest civilizations in world... |
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| Anatolia | |
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| Is Turkey Renaming Istanbul Constantinople? |
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· 09/08/2009 7:28:05 AM PDT · · Posted by Nikas777 · · 45 replies · 697+ views · · foreignpolicy.com · · SEPTEMBER 4, 2009 · · NICK DANFORTH · |
Is Turkey Renaming Istanbul Constantinople? Chances of Turkey and the Kurds reaching a rapprochement are at their highest in 25 years. But what does that mean for Turkification -- and what concessions are the Turks willing to make? BY NICK DANFORTH · · SEPTEMBER 4, 2009 Last month, Turkish President Abdullah Gul broke a long-standing national taboo: He called the remote village of Guroymak by its Kurdish name, Norshin. The president's opponents say renaming Istanbul Constantinople on highway signs will inevitably follow. Or worse. For many Turks, saying Norshin leads to saying Kurdistan, and saying Kurdistan leads to recognizing an independent... |
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| Precolumbian, Clovis, and PreClovis | |
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| Guatemala Mayan city may have ended in pyramid battle |
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· 09/06/2009 10:00:03 AM PDT · · Posted by decimon · · 17 replies · 494+ views · · Reuters · · Sep 3, 2009 · · Sarah Grainger · |
EL MIRADOR, Guatemala (Reuters) - One of Guatemala's greatest ancient Mayan cities may have died out in a bloody battle atop a huge pyramid between a royal family and invaders from hundreds of miles away, archaeologists say. Researchers are carrying out DNA tests on blood samples from hundreds of spear tips and arrowheads dug up with bone fragments and smashed pottery at the summit of the El Tigre pyramid in the Mayan city of El Mirador, buried beneath jungle vegetation 8 km from Guatemala's border with Mexico. Many of the excavated blades are made of obsidian which the archaeologists have... |
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| Australia and the Pacific | |
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| British archaeologists solve the mystery of the Easter Island red hats |
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· 09/07/2009 8:49:36 AM PDT · · Posted by BGHater · · 21 replies · 633+ views · · The Daily Mail · · 07 Sep 2009 · · Sarah Nelson · |
A team of British archaeologists has solved the mystery of how the famous statues dotting the landscape of Easter Island acquired their distinctive red hats. Dr Sue Hamilton from University College London and Dr Colin Richards from the University of Manchester believe the hats were constructed in a hidden quarry and then rolled down from the slopes of an ancient volcano. They are the first archaeologists ever to have excavated the Puna Pau quarry on the tiny Pacific island. The team have discovered the mystery behind the red hats worn by the Easter Island statues Around 70 intact giant red... |
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| Giant statues give up hat mystery |
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· 09/06/2009 10:54:18 PM PDT · · Posted by Wardenclyffe · · 25 replies · 910+ views · · BBC News · · 6 September 2009 · · Sudeep Chand · |
Archaeologists have solved an ancient mystery surrounding the famous Easter Island statues. At 2,500 miles off the coast of Chile, the island is the world's most remote place inhabited by people. Up to 1,000 years ago, the islanders started putting giant red hats on the statues. The research team, from the University of Manchester and University College London, think the hats were rolled down from an ancient volcano. Dr Colin Richards and Dr Sue Hamilton are the first British archaeologists to work on the island since 1914. They pieced together a series of clues to discover how the statues got... |
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| Climate | |
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| Cold winters drive great tits to eat bats, reports expert |
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· 09/10/2009 4:41:56 PM PDT · · Posted by JoeProBono · · 120 replies · 2,932+ views · · timesonline · · September 9, 2009 · |
A much-loved garden bird has been exposed as a ruthless killer after being observed seeking out and eating hibernating bats. The great tits were provoked into the unusual behaviour after suffering food shortages during particularly harsh winter weather. Over the course of two winters, ornithologists observed the birds searching for, killing and eating 18 bats in caves in the B¸kk Mountains in northeast Hungary. The birds normally live on seeds and insects such as caterpillars and spiders but during the winter these can be in very scarce supply. In particular, snow cover can make it impossible for the great tits... |
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| SOLAR MINIMUM VS. GLOBAL WARMING |
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· 09/05/2009 5:29:51 AM PDT · · Posted by ETL · · 19 replies · 1,046+ views · · SpaceWeather.com · · September 4, 2009 · |
SOLAR MINIMUM VS. GLOBAL WARMING: From 2002 to 2008, decreasing solar irradiance has countered much anthropogenic warming of Earth's surface. That's the conclusion of researchers Judith Lean (NRL) and David Rind (NASA/GISS), who have just published a new analysis of global temperatures in the Geophysical Research Letters. Lean and Rind considered four drivers of climate change: solar activity, volcanic eruptions, ENSO (El Nino), and the accumulation of greenhouse gases. The following plot shows how much each has contributed to the changing temperature of Earth's surface since 1980: Volcanic aerosols are a source of cooling; ENSO and greenhouse gases cause heating;... |
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| Global warming hysteria on the rocks |
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· 09/05/2009 7:03:21 AM PDT · · Posted by neverdem · · 17 replies · 788+ views · · NJ.com · · September 03, 2009 · · Paul Mulshine · |
I've noted in the past the one big flaw in the global-warming theory: No one knows what the climate will be in the future. For various reasons, including a recent absence of sun spots, we could be entering a cooling trend. In that case, a bit of human-induced global warming would be a good thing. So I was amused when Assemblyman Mike Carroll of Morris County sent me a link to this New York Times article reporting that anthropogenic global warming may have the effect of preventing another ice age. "In the very long term, the ability to artificially warm... |
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| 'Global Cooling' Exhibit Still on Display at the Smithsonian |
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· 09/09/2009 2:34:18 AM PDT · · Posted by StACase · · 18 replies · 692+ views · · TreeHugger.com · · 09. 8.09 · · Brian Merchant · · Brooklyn, New York · |
'Global Cooling' Exhibit Still on Display at the Smithsonian by Brian Merchant, Brooklyn, New York on 09. 8.09 ... Photo via Yglesias The Smithsonian boasts one of the nation's most respected, most visited, and most famous group of museums. So what's it doing still displaying an exhibit based on 1970s-era science--that the earth is undergoing 'global cooling'--in its Natural History Museum in 2009? You're probably most likely to hear about global cooling these days from climate change deniers who sometimes say something along the lines of: "Well, scientists said that there was global cooling in the '70s. Now it's global... |
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| Catastrophism and Astronomy | |
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| Crystal Cave of Giants (Amazing Pictures!) |
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· 09/09/2009 9:42:26 AM PDT · · Posted by Squidpup · · 52 replies · 2,760+ views · · Stormchaser · · September 9, 2009 · · George Kourounis · |
Crystal Cave of Giants Naica, Mexico - Sept 3 - 6, 2009 Air Temperature of 50C(122F) + Relative Humidity of over 90% = Humidex Value of 105C (228F) !! This is one of the most extreme places on the planet. The Crystal Cave of Giants was accidentally discovered in 2000 by miners working in the silver and lead mine at Naica, Mexico. It lies almost 300 meters (900 feet) below the surface of the Earth and it contains the largest crystals known in the world, by far. The largest crystals are over 11 meters long (36 feet) and weigh 55... |
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| Middle Ages and Renaissance | |
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| Undercover Queen: THE SECRET WIFE OF LOUIS XIV Françoise d'Aubigné, Madame de Maintenon |
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· 09/07/2009 2:41:35 PM PDT · · Posted by Cincinna · · 25 replies · 1,004+ views · · The New York Times · · September 6, 2009 · · Veronica Buckley · |
"Kings," Louis XIV once observed, "should enjoy giving pleasure" and when it came to the fairer sex, he obeyed this precept zealously and often. "They're all good enough for him, provided they're women," his sister-in-law remarked, "peasants, gardeners' daughters, chambermaids, ladies of quality"; women of every stripe benefited from the Sun King's sexual largesse. Neither the bonds of matrimony (to the sad, neglected Marie-Thérèse of Spain) nor the intrigues of his "official" mistresses (one of whom, Athénaïs de Montespan, wasn't above spreading the rumor that a particular rival had scabs all over her body) could deter him from sharing the love. But the prospect of eternal damnation was, to a Catholic sovereign, a rather more forceful deterrent. As Louis aged — afflicted by chronic tooth decay, a prostate tumor and a nasty case of gout — he worried that his adultery might cost him the kingdom of heaven. Eventually and paradoxically, this concern propelled him into a liaison with the morally exacting, middle-aged Françoise d'Aubigné, Marquise de Maintenon. To the astonishment of the court, accustomed to a monarch whose tastes ran more to pulchritude than to piety, she exerted such influence over him in his final years that once he was a widower he even, despite her shameful origins as a convicted felon's daughter, deigned to wed her (albeit secretly). In his well-known chronicle of Louis XIV's reign, the Duc de Saint-Simon demonized Madame de Maintenon as ruthless schemer whose devoutness was a ruse, devised solely to exploit her lover's fear of sin. While likewise revealing that her faith was a matter of strategy rather than of substance, "The Secret Wife of Louis XIV: Françoise d'Aubigné, Madame de Maintenon," by Veronica Buckley, offers a lively, sympathetic portrayal of the woman who, against all odds, succeeded in taming the royal tomcat. |
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| Ancient Autopsies | |
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| Ancient 'smell of death' revealed |
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· 09/10/2009 2:52:39 AM PDT · · Posted by Natufian · · 27 replies · 930+ views · · BBC · · 09/10/2009 · · Matt Walker · |
When animals die, their corpses exude a particular "stench of death" which repels their living relatives, scientists have discovered. Corpses of animals as distantly related as insects and crustaceans all produce the same stench, caused by a blend of simple fatty acids. The smell helps living animals avoid others that have succumbed to disease or places where predators lurk. |
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| Faith and Philosophy | |
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| Maybe religion is the answer claims atheist scientist (This guy would make a great Art Bell guest) |
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· 09/06/2009 11:31:09 PM PDT · · Posted by blueglass · · 6 replies · 335+ views · · Telegraph UK · · 9-7-09 · · Richard Alleyne · |
Lord May, the president of the British Science Association, said religion may have helped protect human society from itself in the past and it may be needed again. "A supernatural punisher maybe part of the solution." He said in the past a belief in a god, or gods, that punish the unrighteous may have been part of the mechanism of evolution that maintains co-operation in a dog-eat-dog world. Having a god as the ultimate punisher was possibly a logical step for a society to take, he added. "Given that punishment is a useful mechanism, how much more effective it would... |
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| The Great War | |
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| Stunning Pre-Revolutionary Russian Color Photos |
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· 09/07/2009 9:20:56 PM PDT · · Posted by Steelfish · · 35 replies · 1,207+ views · · Newsweek · · September 07, 2009 · |
Architecture, Churches, Infrastructure, and People of Pre-Revolutionary Russia. Photographer uses unique method to develop color photos. |
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| Longer Perspectives | |
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| 'FOX News Reporting: Do You Know What Textbooks Your Children Are Really Reading?' |
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· 09/06/2009 6:23:17 AM PDT · · Posted by Freedom Dignity n Honor · · 165 replies · 3,180+ views · · Fox News · · Sept. 4, 2009 · · Fox News · |
Host Tucker Carlson, asked experts, teachers, publishers and parents the same question: "Do you know what is inside your children's textbooks?" From kindergarten through college, we found staggering errors and omissions which may be pushing agendas, hidden and otherwise. We spoke to the author of "The Language Police," education historian Diane Ravitch, who said textbook publishers censor images or words they deem to be controversial in children's textbooks. She told us that publishers pander to special interest groups, and assemble bias and sensitivity review committees. These committees decide what words to ban or redefine, and even what images are deemed... |
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| New Amster, New Amster, Dam Dam Dam | |
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| New York's Coldest Case: A Murder 400 Years Old |
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· 09/06/2009 2:01:04 PM PDT · · Posted by BGHater · · 20 replies · 757+ views · · The New York Times · · 05 Sep 2009 · · Sam Roberts · |
The victim: John Colman. Not much is known about him, much less about his murder. His body was hastily buried and has never been found. A weapon was recovered, but it vanished. The only account of the crime is secondhand, pieced together from a few witnesses, some of whom might have harbored a grudge. The chief suspects were singled out because of racial profiling but were never questioned. No one was ever prosecuted. It was on Sept. 6, 1609 -- 400 years ago Sunday -- when this, the first recorded murder in what became metropolitan New York, was committed. Colman... |
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| Early America | |
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| Mendham dig yields Revolutionary War artifacts[NJ] |
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· 09/10/2009 3:02:21 PM PDT · · Posted by BGHater · · 12 replies · 284+ views · · The Star-Ledger · · 09 Sep 2009 · · Dan Goldberg · |
MENDHAM -- Rick Pressl burst into the board of trustees meeting, a boyish exuberance overcoming his normally reserved temperament. The retired fire chief pulled aside Tanya Sulikowski, the executive director of the Schiff Natural Lands Trust, to show off a rusty, barely recognizable object. It was a Revolutionary War era stirrup, Pressl said, his first major find while excavating the nature preserve. He would soon have much more to show the board. Photo by Hilary Klimek/For the Star-LedgerRick Pressl, a retired fire chief, and students from Ridge High School have unearthed Revolutionary War era memorabilia in Mendham, including a set... |
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| The Presidential Treatment | |
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| President's Day -- Grover Cleveland (Attention, Obama administration!) |
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· 09/07/2009 5:08:28 AM PDT · · Posted by SE Mom · · 30 replies · 1,139+ views · · Threedonia · · 6 September 2009 · · Floyd · |
Next up, Grover Cleveland. Get a load of this letter he wrote to a young man seeking a government job. And this guy was a Democrat. EXECUTIVE MANSION ALBANY February 4, 1885 MY DEAR YOUNG FRIEND I cannot attempt to answer all the letters addressed to me by those both old and young who ask for places But if you are the boy I think you are your letter is based upon a claim to help your mother and others who are partly dependent upon your exertions I judge from what you write that you now have a situation in... |
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| Thoroughly Modern Miscellany | |
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| Groovy artifacts from 1960s Marin County commune sorted |
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· 09/06/2009 2:16:09 PM PDT · · Posted by Wardenclyffe · · 19 replies · 581+ views · · The Sacramento Bee · · Wednesday, Sep. 2, 2009 · · Susan Ferriss · |
NOVATO -- The '60s aren't dead. They're in an archaeological site north of San Francisco. An old commune where the Grateful Dead and other bands used to romp is being excavated and items catalogued by state park archaeologists at Olompali State Historic Park. Among the artifacts: the classic hippie beads, a marijuana "roach clip," fragments of tie-dyed clothes, and a reel-to-reel tape a Marin County studio technician has promised to try to restore. They are the stuff of memories for Noelle Olompali-Barton, who was 16 when she and her showbiz mom plunged into California's new counterculture, retreating to this once-private... |
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| Oh So Mysteriouso | |
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| 6 Lost Treasures Just Waiting To Be Found |
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· 09/09/2009 12:46:50 PM PDT · · Posted by BGHater · · 26 replies · 1,029+ views · · Mental Floss · · 08 Sep 2009 · · Rob Lammle · |
Last month we told you about people who stumbled upon their fortune. If you haven't found your own copy of the Declaration of Independence or a few thousand Ancient Roman coins, let me give you a push in the right direction with these tales of lost treasures that are just waiting for you to find them. 1. The Lying Dutchman? Arthur Flegenheimer, who went by the alias "Dutch Schultz," was a New York mobster during the 1920s and '30s known for his brutality and hard-nosed business tactics. By the time he was 33, Dutch had taken on the Mafia in... |
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| end of digest #269 20090912 | |
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· Saturday, September 12, 2009 · 34 topics · 2337119 to 2331917 · 722 members · |
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Saturday |
Welcome to the 269th issue. Last week's editor's error was that I put "Sep 09" instead of "Sep 05", and you probably didn't even notice. :') To make up for it, I'm posting this issue one day early. Well, actually, only about 2 1/2 hours early local time. For many FReepers, I come across as a time traveller. ;') |
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| Gods, Graves, Glyphs Weekly Digest #270 Saturday, September 19, 2009 |
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| Let's Have Jerusalem | |
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| The Story Told by An (2000 years) Ancient Stone - it was the Jewish people who called Jerusalem home |
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· 09/13/2009 1:11:41 PM PDT · · Posted by American Dream 246 · · 127 replies · · 1,273+ views · · Israel National News Blog · · 9/13/09 · · Israel National News Blog · |
Sometimes, all it takes is one ancient stone to upend all the vicious anti-Israel propaganda being hurled at us by our foes. Archaeologists from Israel's Antiquities Authority recently uncovered a stone carving dating back nearly two thousand years which depicts the Menorah (candelabrum) that stood in the Holy Temple in Jerusalem (see below). Jews from across the country regularly made pilgrimage to the Temple, which was the seat of Judaism and its most holy of sitesuntil being destroyed by the Roman invaders in the year 70 C.E. Obviously, the unknown artist who sculpted the stone was moved by his encounter... |
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| Ancient synagogue found in Israel |
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· 09/12/2009 6:31:31 AM PDT · · Posted by SolidWood · · 28 replies · · 1,049+ views · · CNN · · September 11, 2009 · · Kevin Flower · |
JERUSALEM (CNN) -- In what was slated to be the site of a new 122-room hotel, archaeologists say they have discovered one of the world's oldest synagogues in Northern Israel. The site, which was unearthed as preparations were being made for construction of the hotel near the Sea of Galilee, is believed to date back some 2000 years from 50BCE to 100CE. In the middle of the 120 square meter main hall of the synagogue archaeologists discovered an unusual stone carved with a seven branched menorah . "We are dealing with an exciting and unique find," said excavation director and... |
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| Religion of Peace | |
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| Wrong use of the 'P word' ( A short history of the word "Palestine." ) |
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· 09/15/2009 5:10:57 AM PDT · · Posted by SeekAndFind · · 9 replies · · 325+ views · · American Thinker · · 9/15/2009 · · Victor Sharpe · |
Throughout the Arab, and most of the Muslim world, the territory between the River Jordan and the Mediterranean Sea is called Palestine while the name, Israel, is blotted out. The so-called moderate wing of the Palestinian Authority displays a wall map behind the desk of its Chairman, Mahmoud Abbas, showing the State of Israel in its entirety but named Palestine. Indeed, the PA too often refuses to use the name, Israel, preferring to call it "the Zionist entity." In doing so, it should remove from the minds of objective observers any faith in the Arabs' interest in making a true... |
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| The Presidential Treatment | |
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| Four Left Wing Myths About Israel |
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· 09/14/2009 5:07:15 PM PDT · · Posted by SJackson · · 19 replies · · 638+ views · · Europe News · · 14 September 2009 · · Sultan Knish · |
Myth 1: "Israel was created because Europe felt guilty about the Holocaust." This left wing myth has been widely repeated, most recently by Desmond Tutu. While blatantly false on a level that even the most serious anti-Israel historian can recognize, it persists because its function is to delegitimize as the product of post-war colonial guilt, rather than longstanding Israeli national aspirations. Israel was not created in 1947. By 1947, Israel already was a functioning country with a language, culture, agriculture, universities, newspapers and military forces which proved capable of defending against the armies of several Arab nations. The only thing... |
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| Megaliths and Archaeoastronomy | |
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| Egyptian temples followed heavenly plans |
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· 09/13/2009 9:14:09 AM PDT · · Posted by BGHater · · 4 replies · · 304+ views · · New Scientist · · 08 Sep 2009 · · New Scientist · |
ANCIENT Egyptian temples were aligned so precisely with astronomical events that people could set their political, economic and religious calendars by them. So finds a study of 650 temples, some dating back to 3000 BC. For example, New Year coincided with the moment that the winter-solstice sun hit the central sanctuary of the Karnak temple (pictured) in present-day Luxor, says archaeological astronomer Juan Belmonte of the Canaries Astrophysical Institute in Tenerife, Spain. Hieroglyphs on temple walls have hinted at the use of astronomy in temple architecture, including depictions of the "stretching of the cord" ceremony in which the pharaoh marked... |
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| British Isles | |
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| Stone Age satnav: Did ancient man use 5,000-year-old travel chart to navigate across Britain? |
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· 09/15/2009 1:13:16 PM PDT · · Posted by BGHater · · 24 replies · · 491+ views · · The Daily Mail · · 15 Sep 2009 · · David Derbyshire · |
It's considered to be one of the more recent innovations to help the hapless traveller. But the satnav system may not be as modern as we think. According to a new theory, prehistoric man navigated his way across England using a similar system based on stone circles and other markers. The complex network of stones, hill forts and earthworks allowed travellers to trek hundreds of miles with 'pinpoint accuracy' more than 5,000 years ago, amateur historian Tom Brooks says. The grid covered much of southern England and Wales and included landmarks such as Stonehenge and Silbury Hill, claims Mr Brooks,... |
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| "Early man used crude version of sat-nav system' |
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· 09/17/2009 2:25:02 PM PDT · · Posted by JoeProBono · · 18 replies · · 409+ views · · indiatimes · · 16 September 2009 · |
LONDON: In a new research, a scientist has found that prehistoric man navigated his way across England using a crude version of a satellite navigation system, which was based on stone circle markers. According to a report in the Telegraph, the research, by historian and writer Tom Brooks, shows that Britain's Stone Age ancestors were "sophisticated engineers" and far from a barbaric race. Brooks studied all known prehistoric sites as part of his research. He found that the prehistoric man was able to travel between settlements in England with pinpoint accuracy, thanks to a complex network of hilltop monuments. These... |
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| Age of Sail | |
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| Scholar revives ancient subject [Cosmography] |
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· 08/08/2007 8:54:51 AM PDT · · Posted by BGHater · · 7 replies · · 408+ views · · BBC · · 05 Aug 2007 · · BBC · |
A Swansea University historian hopes to discover more about an ancient discipline which may have provided "the GPS system" of its day, 500 years ago. Dr Adam Mosley will study cosmography, a subject believed to combine geography, history and astronomy. He will also try to find out how it died out in around the 17th Century. The lecturer wants to discover more about its study and how strong its links were with the seafarers' art of navigating by the stars. The subject became popular around 500 years ago but died out and part of Dr Mosley's work will be to... |
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| Precolumbian, Clovis, and PreClovis | |
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| Get ready for the eclipse that saved Columbus |
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· 02/19/2008 9:19:42 AM PST · · Posted by BradtotheBone · · 24 replies · · 242+ views · · Brietbart · · Feb 18 06:54 PM · |
The Moon will turn an eerie shade of red for people in the western hemisphere late Wednesday and early Thursday, recreating the eclipse that saved Christopher Columbus more than five centuries ago. In a lunar eclipse, the Sun, Earth and Moon are directly aligned and the Moon swings into the cone of shadow cast by the Earth. But the Moon does not become invisible, as there is still residual light that is deflected towards it by our atmosphere. Most of this refracted light is in the red part of the spectrum and as a result the Moon, seen from Earth,... |
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| Agriculture and Animal Husbandry | |
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| Genome of Irish potato famine pathogen decoded |
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· 09/13/2009 10:31:04 PM PDT · · Posted by neverdem · · 23 replies · · 606+ views · · Broad Communications · · September 9, 2009 · · NA · |
Findings yield deep insights into the pathogen's remarkable adaptability, suggest a "two-speed" genomic strategy that enables it to outwit plant hosts A large international research team has decoded the genome of the notorious organism that triggered the Irish potato famine in the mid-19th century and now threatens this season's tomato and potato crops across much of the US. Published in the September 9 online issue of the journal Nature, the study reveals that the organism boasts an unusually large genome size -- more than twice that of closely related species -- and an extraordinary genome structure, which together appear to... |
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| The Vikings | |
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| Vikings visited Canadian Arctic, research suggests: Artifacts suggest Norse settlement in Nunavut |
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· 09/16/2009 1:02:25 PM PDT · · Posted by Nikas777 · · 23 replies · · 421+ views · · canada.com · · MAY 27, 2009 · · RANDY BOSWELL · |
This May 26 handout photo shows a Nanook archeological site on Baffin Island. Traces of a stone-and-sod wall found at the site, if confirmed, would represent only the second location in the New World where Norse seafarers -- popularly known as Vikings -- built a dwelling. Photograph by: P. Sutherland, Canadian Museum of Civilization, Canwest News Service One of Canada's top Arctic archeologists says the remnants of a stone-and-sod wall unearthed on southern Baffin Island may be traces of a... |
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| Australia and the Pacific | |
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| Chicken Bones Suggest Polynesians Found Americas Before Columbus |
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· 09/16/2009 1:07:41 PM PDT · · Posted by Nikas777 · · 82 replies · · 783+ views · · livescience.com · · 04 June 2007 · · Heather Whipps · |
Chicken Bones Suggest Polynesians Found Americas Before ColumbusBy Heather Whipps, Special to LiveScience Which came first -- the chicken or the European? Popular history, and a familiar rhyme about Christopher Columbus, holds that Europeans made contact with the Americas in 1492, with some arguing that the explorer and his crew were the first outsiders to reach the New World. But chicken bones recently unearthed on the coast of Chile -- dating prior to Columbus' "discovery" of America and resembling the DNA of a fowl species native to Polynesia -- may challenge that notion, researchers say. "Chickens could not have gotten to South America on their own -- they... |
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| Drifters Could Explain Sweet-Potato Travel |
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· 05/20/2007 4:28:04 PM PDT · · Posted by blam · · 33 replies · · 858+ views · · Nature · · 5-18-2007 · |
An unsteered ship may have delivered crop to Polynesia. Brendan Borrell Where did these come from? How did the South American sweet potato wind up in Polynesia? New research suggests that the crop could have simply floated there on a ship. The origin of the sweet potato in the South Pacific has long been a mystery. The food crop undisputedly has its roots in the Andes. It was once thought to have been spread by Spanish and Portuguese sailors in the sixteenth century, but archaeological evidence indicates that Polynesians were cultivating the orange-fleshed tuber much earlier... |
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| Biology and Cryptobiology | |
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| Extinct New Zealand eagle may have eaten humans |
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· 09/12/2009 8:48:07 AM PDT · · Posted by JoeProBono · · 44 replies · · 986+ views · · hostednews/ · · 20 hours ago · · MICHAEL CASEY · |
Sophisticated computer scans of fossils have helped solve a mystery over the nature of a giant, ancient raptor known as the Haast's eagle which became extinct about 500 years ago, researchers said Friday. The researchers say they have determined that the eagle -- which lived in the mountains of New Zealand and weighed about 40 pounds (18 kilograms) -- was a predator and not a mere scavenger as many thought. Much larger than modern eagles, Haast's eagle would have swooped to prey on flightless birds -- and possibly even the rare unlucky human. |
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| NEW SPECIES PICTURES: Giant Rat, Silky Cuscus Found |
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· 09/12/2009 3:07:10 PM PDT · · Posted by JoeProBono · · 22 replies · · 901+ views · · nationalgeographic · · September 9, 2009 · |
It may look like a ferocious mutant from the city sewer. But this newfound species of giant woolly rat is a docile denizen of the forests of Papua New Guinea. On a chilly night earlier this year, biologists Kristofer Helgen and Muse Opiang were trekking through high-elevation rain forests on the inactive volcano Mount Bosavi when a local tracker pointed out a cat-size rodent walking on the forest floor. |
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| Helix, Make Mine a Double | |
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| New Clues to Sex Anomalies in How Y Chromosomes Are Copied |
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· 09/15/2009 11:00:27 PM PDT · · Posted by neverdem · · 13 replies · · 609+ views · · NY Times · · September 15, 2009 · · NICHOLAS WADE · |
The first words ever spoken, so fable holds, were a palindrome and an introduction: "Madam, I'm Adam." A few years ago palindromes -- phrases that read the same backward as forward -- turned out to be an essential protective feature of Adam's Y, the male-determining chromosome that all living men have inherited from a single individual who lived some 60,000 years ago. Each man carries a Y from his father and an X chromosome from his mother. Women have two X chromosomes, one from each parent. The new twist in the story is the discovery that the palindrome system has... |
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| Epigraphy and Language | |
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| Language: the defining feature of human intelligence |
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· 11/06/2008 3:37:58 PM PST · · Posted by Soliton · · 10 replies · · 466+ views · · Times Online · · November 6, 2008 · · Mark Henderson · |
Language, according to the American neurobiologist William Calvin, is "the defining feature of human intelligence". With due respect to the communication skills of dolphins, chimpanzees, birds and bees, Homo sapiens is the only existing species with the power of speech. It seems to be among the qualities that separates us from other animals, that makes us human. When the FOXP2 gene and its role in language was first identified in 2001, therefore, it is hardly surprising that scientists immediately began to ask questions about its role in evolution. Might this be a "language gene" that sets humans apart, a passage... |
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| Junk DNA | |
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| Gene regulation makes the human - A stretch of non-coding DNA revs up genes during development |
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· 09/06/2008 1:48:05 PM PDT · · Posted by neverdem · · 2 replies · · 170+ views · · Science News · · September 4th, 2008 · · Rachel Ehrenberg · |
Genes alone don't make the man -- after all, humans and chimps share roughly 98 percent of their DNA. But where, when and how much genes are turned on may be essential in setting people apart from other primates. A stretch of human DNA inserted into mice embryos revs the activity of genes in the developing thumb, toe, forelimb and hind limb. But the chimp and rhesus macaque version of this same stretch of DNA spurs only faint activity in the developing limbs, reports a new study in the Sept. 5 Science. The research supports the notion that changes in... |
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| Nature vs Nurture | |
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| Culture Shock May Explain Similarity Between Humans |
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· 01/10/2009 2:19:53 AM PST · · Posted by neverdem · · 28 replies · · 1,153+ views · · ScienceNOW Daily News · · 8 January 2009 · · Ann Gibbons · |
Although humans come in many shapes and sizes, from the compact Inuit of the Arctic to the willowy Masai warriors of Africa, any two people are a lot more alike genetically than any pair of chimpanzees or gorillas. The reason may be our advanced culture, according to a new study. Our ancestors' different tools, eating habits, and even body decorations limited their mate choices to individuals of a similar culture, the work suggests, reducing the spread of new mutations across many groups. Because only a few of these ancient groups survived, humans are much less genetically diverse than other primates,... |
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| Gitarzan | |
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| DNA Chunks, Chimps And Humans: Marks Of Differences |
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· 11/06/2008 3:25:22 PM PST · · Posted by Soliton · · 10 replies · · 509+ views · · Science Daily · · Nov. 6, 2008 · |
Researchers have carried out the largest study of differences between human and chimpanzee genomes, identifying regions that have been duplicated or lost during evolution of the two lineages. The study, published in Genome Research, is the first to compare many human and chimpanzee genomes in the same fashion. The team show that particular types of genes - such as those involved in the inflammatory response and in control of cell proliferation - are more commonly involved in gain or loss. They also provide new evidence for a gene that has been associated with susceptibility to infection by HIV. "This is... |
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| Chimpanzees Are Actually Three Distinct Groups, Gene Study Shows |
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· 04/22/2007 4:27:21 PM PDT · · Posted by blam · · 22 replies · · 748+ views · · Science Daily · · 4-22-2007 · · University Of Chicago · |
The largest study to date of genetic variation among chimpanzees has found that the traditional, geography-based sorting of chimps into three populations--western, central and eastern--is underpinned by significant genetic differences, two to three times greater than the variation between the most different human populations. In the April 2007 issue of the journal PLOS Genetics, researchers from the University of Chicago, Harvard, the Broad Institute and Arizona State show that there has been very little detectable admixture between the... |
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| Howlin' with the Wolves | |
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| Dog DNA reveals man's link with best friend |
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· 09/25/2003 2:04:17 PM PDT · · Posted by RoughDobermann · · 1,218 replies · · 759+ views · · CNN · · Thursday, September 25, 2003 · · Posted: 2:18 PM EDT (1818 GMT) · |
Man's best friend, in this case a male poodle, is genetically more similar to humans than is the mouse, a more commonly used laboratory animal, according to researchers who have completed the first rough draft sequence of the genes of a dog. |
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| Dogs (not chimps) most like humans |
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· 03/26/2009 3:47:12 PM PDT · · Posted by decimon · · 52 replies · · 1,208+ views · · Discovery · · March. 26, 2009 · · Jennifer Viegas · |
Man's best friend serves as model for understanding human social behavior -- Chimpanzees share many of our genes, but dogs have lived with us for so long and undergone so much domestication that they are now serving as a model for understanding human social behavior, according to a new paper. |
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| Africa | |
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| Giant stone-age axes found in African lake basin |
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· 09/12/2009 5:44:18 PM PDT · · Posted by decimon · · 54 replies · · 970+ views · · PhysOrg.com · · September 10, 2009 · · Unknown · |
Four giant stone hand axes were recovered from the the dry basin of Lake Makgadikgadi in the Kalahari Desert. Oxford University researchers have unearthed new evidence from the lake basin in Botswana that suggests that the region was once much drier and wetter than it is today. They have documented thousands of stone tools on the lake bed, which sheds new light on how humans in Africa adapted to several substantial climate change events during the period that coincided with the last Ice Age in Europe. Researchers from the School of Geography and the Environment at the University of Oxford... |
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| Prehistory and Origins | |
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| Oldest-known fibers to be used by humans discovered |
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· 09/14/2009 9:20:55 AM PDT · · Posted by SunkenCiv · · 12 replies · · 284+ views · · Harvard University Gazette · · Thursday, September 10, 2009 · · Amy Lavoie · |
The flax, which would have been collected from the wild and not farmed, is believed to be more than 34,000 years old, making these fibers the oldest known to have been used by humans... The items created with these fibers increased early humans' chances of survival and mobility in the harsh conditions of this hilly region. The flax fibers could have been used to sew hides together for clothing and shoes, to create the warmth necessary to endure cold weather. They might have also been used to make packs for carrying essentials, which would have increased and eased mobility, offering... |
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| Silk Road | |
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| Bank Team Supports Archaelogical Dig of 7,000-Year-Old Silk Road Find |
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· 09/14/2009 9:08:31 AM PDT · · Posted by SunkenCiv · · 10 replies · · 300+ views · · World Bank (?) · · Friday, September 11th, 2009 (estimate) · · unattributed · |
In May, workers repairing the country's main east-west highway artery struck a treasure trove of urns, tools, and spearheads dating back to the Paleolithic Age of 300,000 years ago and up to the Late Hellenistic Period of the 1st century BC. In one part of the complex, workers found a Mesopotamian cylinder seal used for stamping legal agreements in 300 BC and in another, tiles from the same era reveal the existence of a temple with a ritual hearth, podium, and bread-baking oven... [S]ays Vakhtang Licheli, Prof. of Archaeology, Director of the Institute of Archaeology and Ethnology at the Tbilisi... |
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| Anatolia | |
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| Ancient figurines were toys not mother goddess statues, say experts as 9,000-year-old artefacts... |
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· 09/14/2009 9:28:22 AM PDT · · Posted by SunkenCiv · · 35 replies · · 662+ views · · Daily Mail · · Thursday, September 10, 2009 · · David Derbyshire · |
Rare find: The 9000-year-old figurines dug up in Turkey are thought to have been used as educational toys Amazing artefacts: Many of the figurines resemble animals like sheep and goats |
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| Ancient Autopsies | |
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| Lady Dai tomb among richest finds in China history |
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· 09/17/2009 8:33:59 AM PDT · · Posted by NormsRevenge · · 32 replies · · 977+ views · · AP on Yahoo · · 9/17/09 · · Sue Manning - ap · |
LOS ANGELES -- Lady Dai was a Chinese nobleman's wife in her mid-50s when she died of a heart attack. She was overweight, had diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, liver disease, gallstones and her arteries were almost totally clogged. She didn't live the healthiest life but she left behind one of the most perfectly preserved bodies in history. She was buried about 2,100 years ago. Her tomb was found in the early 1970s on Mawangdui, a hill in Changsha, near the capital of Hunan Province in China. More than 1,400 equally well-preserved artifacts found around her were designed to... |
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| Epidemics, Pandemics, Plagues, the Sniffles | |
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| Texas A&M researcher shows possible link between 1918 El Niño and flu pandemic |
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· 09/14/2009 2:12:30 PM PDT · · Posted by decimon · · 33 replies · · 607+ views · · Texas A&M University · · Sep 14, 2009 · · Unknown · |
Research conducted at Texas A&M University casts doubts on the notion that El Niño has been getting stronger because of global warming and raises interesting questions about the relationship between El Niño and a severe flu pandemic 91 years ago. The findings are based on analysis of the 1918 El Niño, which the new research shows to be one of the strongest of the 20th century. El Niño occurs when unusually warm surface waters form over vast stretches of the eastern Pacific Ocean and can affect weather systems worldwide. Using advanced computer models, Benjamin Giese, a professor of oceanography who... |
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| Greece | |
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| Syria: Where war hides history |
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· 09/14/2009 7:46:21 AM PDT · · Posted by Nikas777 · · 13 replies · · 344+ views · · csmonitor.com · · 08.26.09 · · Frederick Deknate · |
Syria is Damascus to the growing number of Western tourists here. A short trip to the Greek desert city of Palmyra, about halfway to the Euphrates from the capital, is often as far east as visitors go. Down the highway, however, where the Euphrates greens a strip of the rocky landscape, is a corner of the country less known for historical sights than for its proximity to war-torn Iraq. It is from here... |
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| Alexander the Great | |
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| Unprecedented Miniature Carving of Alexander the Great Found in Israel |
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· 09/14/2009 7:22:01 AM PDT · · Posted by Nikas777 · · 25 replies · · 840+ views · · israelnationalnews.com · · 08/25/09, 5:31 PM · · Last Update: 08/26/09, 8:01 AM · · Nissan Ratzlav-Katz · |
The mini-Alexander gemstone carving Israel News photo: (Tel Dor Excavation Delegation) Unprecedented Miniature Carving of Alexander the Great Found by Nissan Ratzlav-Katz (IsraelNN.com) Excavations in Tel Dor have turned up a rare and unexpected work of Hellenistic art: a precious stone bearing the miniature carved likeness of Alexander the Great. Archaeologists are calling it an important find, indicating the great skill of the artist. The Tel Dor dig, under the guidance and direction of Dr. Ayelet Gilboa of Haifa University and Dr. Ilan Sharon of Jerusalem's Hebrew University, has just ended its summer excavation season. For more than 30 years,... |
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| Rome and Italy | |
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| Caistor skeleton mystifies archaeologists (UK) |
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· 09/15/2009 11:09:34 AM PDT · · Posted by decimon · · 20 replies · · 850+ views · · University of Nottingham · · Sep 15, 2009 · · Unknown · |
A skeleton, found at one of the most important, but least understood, Roman sites in Britain is puzzling experts from The University of Nottingham. Dr Will Bowden from the Department of Archaeology, who is leading excavations at the buried town of Venta Icenorum at Caistor St Edmund in Norfolk, said the burial was highly unusual: "This is an abnormal burial. The body, which is probably male, was placed in a shallow pit on its side, as opposed to being laid out properly. This is not the care Romans normally accorded to their dead. It could be that the person was... |
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| Longer Perspectives | |
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| Galileo, The Medici, And The Age Of Astronomy (Exhibit at Franklin Institute) |
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· 09/18/2009 5:04:41 AM PDT · · Posted by decimon · · 8 replies · · 113+ views · · Scientific Blogging · · September 17, 2009 · · Becky Jungbauer · |
Galileo Galilei wasn't just an Italian physicist, mathematician, astronomer, philosopher and heresy suspect (not to mention father of modern observational astronomy, modern physics, science, and modern science, that last one he was named by both Hawking and Einstein). He was also a friend of the Medici, the political Italian dynasty whose patronage of scientists and artists led to the Renaissance.1 Arguably, Galileo's biggest contribution to astronomy was the development of a 30x telescope, through which he made many of his subsequent observations and discoveries (most notably the phases of Venus, the discovery of the four largest satellites of Jupiter, and... |
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| Middle Ages and Renaissance | |
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| Lincoln's Magna Carta almost destroyed |
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· 09/16/2009 6:10:23 AM PDT · · Posted by BGHater · · 8 replies · · 567+ views · · Lincolnshire Echo · · 16 Sep 2009 · · Lincolnshire Echo · |
A US worker came within seconds of destroying Lincoln's copy of the Magna Carta after nearly spraying it with a chemical cleaner. The 800-year-old document is currently on display in New York, but almost met a sticky end thanks to an overzealous cleaner. Lincoln Cathedral's archive conservation consultant Chris Woods accompanied the document, spending hours making sure the inked sheepskin which contains the charter of freedom, was placed correctly into a £42,000 vacuum-sealed display case to keep it safe from the elements. And it was, until a lock briefly malfunctioned just as a workman tried to give it a last... |
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| Early America | |
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| BOOK REVIEW: The Founding children's crusade |
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· 09/14/2009 5:32:58 PM PDT · · Posted by Pharmboy · · 22 replies · · 242+ views · · Washington Times · · Monday, September 14, 2009 · · James Srodes · |
IN PURSUIT OF LIBERTY: COMING OF AGE IN THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION By Emmy E. Werner Potomac Books, $17.95, 190 pages Reviewed by James Srodes Too often books about children are written in an infantile voice as if the audience is somehow unable to read adult themes unless the prose is watered down. Happily, the book at hand is a compelling history that is both clearly written and a riveting experience for both adults and young people who are interested in Revolutionary War history from a different perspective. The story of young people, even children, in our War for Independence has... |
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| The Framers | |
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| Happy Birthday, US Constitution! (222 years old) |
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· 09/17/2009 10:04:04 AM PDT · · Posted by BP2 · · 59 replies · · 1,248+ views · · Constitutional Congress · · September 17, 1787 · · Founding Fathers · |
Happy Birthday, US Constitution! On September 17, 1787, the supreme law of the United States was adopted by its people. Signed in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the US Constitution was ratified by conventions in each state, in the name of "The People". So durable are its words that it is the oldest written constitution in the world. This preordained parchment laid forth the three branches of our government: a bicameral Legislative Congress; an executive branch led by the President; and a judicial branch headed by the Supreme Court. Of the 4,543 words in the Constitution, perhaps none are more powerful or... |
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| War of 1812 | |
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| The Patuxent's Hidden Treasure - Archaeologists Hope to Excavate Shipwreck That Dates to War of 1812 |
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· 09/14/2009 7:43:29 AM PDT · · Posted by BGHater · · 6 replies · · 454+ views · · The Washington Post · · 14 Sep 2009 · · Steve Vogel · |
Aboard a pontoon boat chugging past the marshland of Maryland's upper Patuxent River on a recent Saturday, Ralph Eshelman pointed to the spot where the muddy brown water hides a shipwreck nearly two centuries old, part of the American flotilla that defended the Chesapeake Bay when the British burned Washington during the War of 1812. Nearly 30 years ago, Eshelman helped direct a team of marine researchers who discovered the wreck, one of the war's most significant artifacts. After a limited, month-long excavation of the site east of Upper Marlboro in 1980, the wreck was reburied under four feet of... |
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| The Civil War | |
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| Civil War battlefield sends Union soldier home, 1 year after visitor finds remains |
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· 09/15/2009 2:28:22 PM PDT · · Posted by Bodleian_Girl · · 182 replies · · 2,573+ views · · Mobile Press-Register · · 10 15 09 · · David Dishneau · |
SHARPSBURG, Md. -- An unknown Civil War soldier began his journey home to New York state Tuesday, nearly a year after a visitor to the Antietam National Battlefield spotted his remains in a cornfield that saw the fiercest fighting of the war. |
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| The Great War | |
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| Oldest Medal of Honor recipient, 100, downplays 'hero' talk |
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· 09/16/2009 3:18:32 AM PDT · · Posted by BulletBobCo · · 16 replies · · 836+ views · · CNN · · September 15, 2009 · · Larry Shaughnessy · |
PINE VALLEY, California (CNN) -- Dozens of America's greatest military heroes are gathered in Chicago, Illinois, possibly the last large gathering of living Medal of Honor recipients. Among the men with light blue ribbons holding a star around their necks signifying uncommon bravery, will be John Finn. Finn, who received the nation's highest medal for valor for his actions during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, turned 100 this summer, the oldest living Medal of Honor recipient. Finn was a lieutenant stationed at Kanoehe Bay Naval Air Station, where the Japanese struck five minutes before attacking Pearl Harbor, across southeast... |
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| World War Eleven | |
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| Get Out of Jail Free: Monopoly's Hidden Maps (helped POW's during WWII) |
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· 09/18/2009 1:41:25 PM PDT · · Posted by DemforBush · · 11 replies · · 1,165+ views · · Yahoo via ABC · · 9/17/09 · · KI MAE HEUSSNER · |
Get Out of Jail Free: Monopoly's Hidden Maps Silk Escape Maps Concealed in Game Boards Helped WWII It's a story that will forever change the way you think of the phrase, "Get Out of Jail Free... |
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| Thoroughly Modern Miscellany | |
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| Uncovered: The world's only colour pictures of Germans' World War Two surrender |
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· 09/16/2009 10:49:22 AM PDT · · Posted by Free ThinkerNY · · 22 replies · · 1,935+ views · · dailymail.co.uk · · Sept. 16, 2009 · · Daily Mail Reporter · |
The only colour photographs of the German surrender of World War Two have emerged 64 years after being taken by a lowly clerk who hid behind a tree. Crafty Ronald Playforth covertly captured one of the most historic events of the 20th century after sneaking into a clump of trees overlooking the scene of the surrender. With his camera, he snapped Field Marshall Bernard Montgomery greeting the highest ranking officers of the remains of Hitler's Third Reich outside his HQ tent. Although defeated and just days after the Fuhrer's suicide, the never-seen-before photos show the German officers looking immaculate yet... |
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| Extraordinary 19th cent. photo's of explorer's travels unearthed and he painted the colours himself |
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· 09/16/2009 10:47:13 AM PDT · · Posted by BGHater · · 38 replies · · 1,160+ views · · The Daily Mail · · 15 Sep 2009 · · Daily Mail · |
A stunning collection of photographs taken by a 19th century globetrotter has caused a stir - because he meticulously painted the colours in himself. The amazing images shed new light on the world as it was more than 100 years ago, with vivid images of snake charmers, ships on the Suez Canal and fighting Sikhs, among others.Henry Harrison, a Royal Navy Paymaster General, took the black and white†pictures on his voyages around the globe and, because he was a talented artist, was able to painstakingly colour them in. Stunning imagery: One of Henry Harrison's photographs shows prisoners in China... |
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| Catastrophism and Astronomy | |
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| Mystery of the Eltanin Antenna |
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· 01/21/2003 4:27:46 PM PST · · Posted by vannrox · · 99 replies · · 1,227+ views · · Unknown Country · · 21-Jul-2001 · · WHITLEY STRIEBER · |
Between 1962 and 1979 the NSF Polar Research Vessel Object Photographed by USNS Eltanin Eltanin surveyed Antarctic waters, studying the ocean and ocean bottom. In 1964, the ship photographed an unusual object at a depth of 13,500 feet. At the time, there was no submarine that could have carried a piece of technology to this depth. The object appears to be a pole rising from the ocean floor with twelve spokes radiating from it, each ending in a sphere. The spokes are at fifteen degree angles to each other. It is located approximately 1,000... |
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| Dead Malthusian | |
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| The Man Who Defused the 'Population Bomb' |
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· 09/16/2009 9:00:55 AM PDT · · Posted by TChris · · 20 replies · · 681+ views · · The Wall Street Journal · · 9/16/2009 · · Gregg Easterbrook · |
Norman Borlaug arguably the greatest American of the 20th century died late Saturday after 95 richly accomplished years. The very personification of human goodness, Borlaug saved more lives than anyone who has ever lived. He was America's Albert Schweitzer: a brilliant man who forsook privilege and riches in order to help the dispossessed of distant lands. That this great man and benefactor to humanity died little-known in his own country speaks volumes about the superficiality of modern American culture. Born in 1914 in rural Cresco, Iowa, where he was educated in a one-room schoolhouse, Borlaug won the Nobel Peace Prize... |
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| Oh So Mysteriouso | |
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| The Woodwose: Bigfoot's European cousin |
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· 09/18/2009 12:15:33 PM PDT · · Posted by Nikas777 · · 22 replies · · 446+ views · · itotd.com · · April 18, 2007 · · Morgen Jahnke · |
Like the Loch Ness Monster or the Abominable Snowman, I usually think of Bigfoot (or Sasquatch as he's sometimes known) as a distinctly 20th century phenomenon. However, while it's true that interest in these legendary creatures was stoked by images captured through the modern means of photography and film, the stories surrounding them actually go back centuries. From the lakes of Scotland, to the heights of the Himalayas, to the Pacific Northwest of America, locals have long attested to the presence of these elusive beings. Although little-known today, a mythical creature with striking... |
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| Kids Can Be So Cruel | |
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| 'Gollum-like' monster emerges from lake - The slimy beast terrified local children who killed it |
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· 09/17/2009 6:01:25 PM PDT · · Posted by Free ThinkerNY · · 132 replies · · 3,410+ views · · metro.co.uk · · Sept. 17, 2009 · |
A slimy, glob-like creature dubbed Gollum has terrified children after it slithered out of a lake and clambered over the rocks towards them. The young teenagers were playing by the waterfront in a Panama lake near Cerro Azul when the bald beast emerged from a cave behind a waterfall. They started screaming as it shuffled out "as if to attack them". Locals told Panama news the monster was like "Gollum from Lord of the Rings". One said: "I have only seen that creature once before - and it was in the Tolkien film." But in a "desperate bid to defend... |
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| end of digest #270 20090919 | |
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