Magical Monday is here and science talk returns to brighten your day one more time with selections from science sites across the globe. New discoveries, new takes on old knowledge, and other bits of news are all available for the perusing in today's information world. Today's tidbits include the later Stone Age got an earlier start than thought in South Africa, extraordinary human sculpture unearthed in Turkey, the giant moa had climate change figured out, people with allergies may have a lower risk of brain tumors, a small species of deep sea squid can jettison its arms as a defensive tactic, and a water desalination system that works up to several times faster than others.
Pull up that comfy chair and grab a spot on the porch. There is always plenty of room for everyone. Another session of Dr. Possum's science education, entertainment, and potluck discussion is set to begin.
Featured Stories
A new study says about the same time humans were migrating to Europe from Africa, the later Stone Age got a start in the south.
The study shows the onset of the Later Stone Age in South Africa likely began some 44,000 to 42,000 years ago, said Paola Villa, a curator at the University of Colorado Museum of Natural History and lead study author. The new dates are based on the use of precisely calibrated radiocarbon dates linked to organic artifacts found at Border Cave in the Lebombo Mountains on the border of South Africa and Swaziland containing evidence of hominid occupation going back 200,000 years.
The Later Stone Age is synonymous to many archaeologists with the Upper Paleolithic Period, when modern humans moved from Africa into Europe roughly 45,000 years ago and spread rapidly, displacing and eventually driving Neanderthals to extinction. The timing of the technological innovations and changes in the Later Stone Age in South Africa are comparable to that of the Upper Paleolithic.
A
colossal human sculpture was unearthed by archeologists digging at a site in southeastern Turkey.
A large semi-circular column base, ornately decorated on one side, was also discovered. Both pieces are from a monumental gate complex that provided access to the upper citadel of Kunulua, capital of the Neo-Hittite Kingdom of Patina (ca. 1000-738 BC).
(snip)
The head and torso of the human figure, intact to just above its waist, stands approximately 1.5 metres in height, suggesting a total body length of 3.5 to four metres. The figure’s face is bearded, with beautifully preserved inlaid eyes made of white and black stone, and its hair has been coiffed in an elaborate series of curls aligned in linear rows. Both arms are extended forward from the elbow, each with two arm bracelets decorated with lion heads. The figure’s right hand holds a spear, and in its left is a shaft of wheat. A crescent-shaped pectoral adorns its chest. A lengthy Hieroglyphic Luwian inscription, carved in raised relief across its back, records the campaigns and accomplishments of Suppiluliuma, likely the same Patinean king who faced a Neo-Assyrian onslaught of Shalmaneser III as part of a Syrian-Hittite coalition in 858 BC.
The second sculpture is a large semi-circular column base, approximately one metre in height and 90 centimetres in diameter, lying on its side next to the human figure. A winged bull is carved on the front of the column and it is flanked by a sphinx on its left. The right side of the column is flat and undecorated, an indication that it originally stood against a wall.
Though the
ancient giant moa is extinct today climate and environment change apparently had little to do with their loss.
The giant birds - measuring up to 2.5 metres high and weighing 250 kilograms - were the largest herbivores in New Zealand's pre-human environment but were quickly exterminated after the arrival of Polynesian settlers.
(snip)
"Moa were not in serious decline before humans arrived, as has been previously suggested, but had relatively stable population sizes. The overwhelming evidence suggests that the extinction of moa occurred due to overhunting and habitat destruction, at a time of relative climatic stability."
At last
a possible positive aspect of allergies is reported suggesting some people with allergies may have a lower risk of brain tumors.
Many previous studies of the link between allergies and brain tumor risk have been based on self-reports of allergy history from patients diagnosed with glioma. No previous studies have had access to blood samples collected longer than 20 years before tumor diagnosis.
The current study also suggested that women whose blood samples tested positive for specific allergy antibodies had at least a 50 percent lower risk for the most serious and common type of these tumors, called glioblastoma. This effect for specific antibodies was not seen in men. However, men who tested positive for both specific antibodies and antibodies of unknown function had a 20 percent lower risk of this tumor than did men who tested negative.
Glioblastomas constitute up to 60 percent of adult tumors starting in the brain in the United States, affecting an estimated 3 in 100,000 people. Patients who undergo surgery, radiation and chemotherapy survive, on average, for about one year, with fewer than a quarter of patients surviving up to two years and fewer than 10 percent surviving up to five years.
A never-before-seen defensive tactic is described for a small species of
deep sea squid as they counterattack and leave the tips of their tentacles attaches as a defensive measure.
(Researcher) Stephanie Bush said that when the foot-long octopus squid (Octopoteuthis deletron) found deep in the northeast Pacific Ocean “jettisons its arms” in self-defense, the bioluminescent tips continue to twitch and glow, creating a diversion that enables the squid to escape from predators.
“If a predator is trying to attack them, they may dig the hooks on their arms into the predator’s skin. Then the squid jets away and leaves its arm tips stuck to the predator,” explained Bush. “The wriggling, bioluminescing arms might give the predator pause enough to allow the squid to get away.”
In some parts of the world a major source of potable water is in salty supplies. A
new method of desalination offers hope for the future of those dependent on these water sources.
“While capacitive desalination (CD) should theoretically be able to desalinate any water with an efficiency comparable to reverse osmosis (RO), in its current state, CD is most useful and best applied to the important problem of processing brackish water type salinity solutions at slow rates,” Santiago said. “However, we should not underestimate the importance of treating brackish water. For example, in large regions of the world (including North America), brackish water is projected to be the main source of water for desalination processes that provide drinking water. Brackish water is also the concentration range of effluent of some industrial processes, such as coal bed methane production; treating this water is essential for proper practical waste reduction.” The researchers added that CD systems could make an impact on desalinating salt water on a small scale, such as in the form of truck-bed sized devices for disaster relief.
Knucklehead's Photo of the Week
Maroon Clownfish (showing cheek barb)
©Knucklehead, all rights reserved, presented by permission. (Click on the image to see more in the same series.)
Other Worthy Stories of the Week
The history (and artistic de-evolution) of patent drawings
Concussions and head impacts may accelerate brain aging
Moths actively seek out best hiding places
Dams impact carbon dynamics in U.S. rivers
Coral reef thriving in sediment-laden waters
Archeologists discover the tomb of a Mayan prince in Mexico
Quantum cryptography takes a practical step
An invasive crayfish species proves to be the ultimate survivor
New technology eliminates plant toxins
Hubble sees a ten billion year stellar dance
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NASA picture of the day. For more see the NASA image gallery or the Astronomy Picture of the Day Archive
Infrared View of the Small Magellanic Cloud, NASA, Public Domain