Welcome to Science Saturday, where the Overnight News Digest crew, consisting of founder Magnifico, regular editors maggiejean, wader, Man Oh Man, side pocket, rfall, and JML9999, alumni editors palantir, Bentliberal, Oke, jlms qkw, Interceptor7, and ScottyUrb, guest editors annetteboardman and Doctor RJ, and current editor-in-chief Neon Vincent, along with anyone else who reads and comments, informs and entertains you with this week's news about science, space, health, energy, and the environment.
Between now and the end of the primary season, Overnight News Digest: Science Saturday will highlight the research stories from the public universities in each of the states having primary or special elections for federal or state office this year plus stories from all research universities in major cities having municipal elections as listed in the Green Papers or the 2014 Daily Kos Elections Calendar. Tonight's edition features the research and outreach stories from Connecticut, Massachusetts, Michigan, Texas, and Virginia.
This week's featured story comes from Science at NASA and Space.com.
ScienceCasts: A Sudden Multiplication of Planets
Today, NASA announced a breakthrough addition to the catalog of new planets. Researchers using Kepler have confirmed 715 new worlds, almost quadrupling the number of planets previously confirmed by the planet-hunting spacecraft. Some of the new worlds are similar in size to Earth and orbit in the habitable zone of their parent stars.
Population of Known Alien Planets Nearly Doubles as NASA Discovers 715 New Worlds
By Mike Wall, Senior Writer
February 26, 2014 01:01pm ET
NASA's Kepler space telescope has discovered more than 700 new exoplanets, nearly doubling the current number of confirmed alien worlds.
The 715 newfound planets, which scientists announced today (Feb. 26), boost the total alien-world tally to between 1,500 and 1,800, depending on which of the five main extrasolar planet discovery catalogs is used. The Kepler mission is responsible for more than half of these finds, hauling in 961 exoplanets to date, with thousands more candidates awaiting confirmation by follow-up investigations.
"This is the largest windfall of planets — not exoplanet candidates, mind you, but actually validated exoplanets — that's ever been announced at one time," Douglas Hudgins, exoplanet exploration program scientist at NASA's Astrophysics Division in Washington, told reporters today.
More stories after the jump.
Recent Science Diaries and Stories
Green diary rescue: 'Mind-boggling' amounts of cesium at Fukushima, OIG clears pipeline contractor
by Meteor Blades
The Daily Bucket - Bufflehead love
by OceanDiver
This week in science: All these dirty worlds are yours
by DarkSyde
Slideshows/Videos
WUNC: 'You Can Never Truly Understand What Happened Centuries Ago': The Slave Cabin Project
By Leoneda Inge
There is no official count on how many slave cabins are left standing across the country today. You might ask, “Who’s counting?”
Well, the South Carolina-based Slave Dwelling Project is counting and so is the National Trust for Historic Preservation.
Archaeologists at James Madison’s Montpelier estate in Virginia set out to locate where slave cabins once stood on its property. And last week, a group of people helped re-build a part of that history.
Hat/Tip to annetteboardman for these stories.
University of Connecticut: Studying Heart Disease and Infertility Links
As we mark Heart Disease Awareness Month, Dr. Annabelle Rodriguez-Oquendo, associate professor of cell biology at UConn Health, is interviewed on NBC CT about her groundbreaking studies of a genetic link between healthy HDL cholesterol, heart disease, and infertility in women. Her discoveries are helping lead to the development of methods to diagnose and, ultimately, treat heart disease and improve a woman's ability to conceive.
University of Massachusetts Medical School: Helping children on the autism spectrum better communicate
A team of UMass Medical School researchers are developing tools for the classroom and clinic to help teach communication skills to nonverbal children on the autism spectrum who struggle to understand that pictures relate to real-life objects or events.
Funded by the National Institutes of Health, the research is being led by Commonwealth Medicine Director of Academic Development William McIlvane, PhD. Researchers are working with students at public and private schools across Massachusetts who have been diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorders.
"I think of myself and my colleagues as toolmakers," said Dr. McIlvane, also professor of psychiatry at UMMS, whose team is in the third year of a four-year project. "We don't want to give the teachers, clinicians, speech language pathologists very complicated instructional procedures. We want to give them something they can buy over the counter that won't cost very much -- their education and clinical budgets can afford it -- and is evidence based instructional technology at the highest level."
Texas A&M: Anti-Biofouling Coatings at the Karen L. Wooley Laboratory
Dr. Karen Wooley and graduate students in the Wooley Laboratory have developed an anti-biofouling polymer coating for ships that is nontoxic and preserves the health of the ocean and port environments.
Also see the related story under Chemistry.
Virginia Tech: Hydraulic Fracturing Research - Virginia Tech
John Chermak, associate professor of practice in geosciences, investigates the potential effects of hydraulic fracturing on the environment. By analyzing shale samples drawn from miles below the Earth's surface, his research team can examine if and how trace elements are released in the energy production process commonly known as fracking.
Virginia Tech: Groundwater/Rock Interactions - Virginia Tech
Arsenic can be found in many minerals contained in aquifers but this harmful element does not always contaminate groundwater within the aquifer. Madeline Schreiber, associate professor of hydrogeosciences, investigates the complex relationship between groundwater and the aquifers they flow through.
JPL/NASA: NASA's AIRS Sees Rivers of Rain for California
Wet weather is again hitting drought-stricken California as the second and larger of two back-to-back storms makes its way ashore. The storms are part of an atmospheric river, a narrow channel of concentrated moisture in the atmosphere connecting tropical air with colder, drier regions around Earth's middle latitudes. The storm that arrived on Feb. 26, 2014, and the one about to hit, are contained within the "Pineapple Express," an atmospheric river that extends from the Pacific Ocean near Hawaii to the Pacific coast of North America, where it often brings heavy precipitation. This next storm is expect to be the largest rain producer in Southern California in three years.
NASA: Global Precipitation Satellite Launched on This Week @NASA
The Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) mission's Core Observatory launched from Japan's Tanegashima Space Center on February 27, Eastern Standard Time. The joint NASA and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency effort uses the Core Observatory as the anchor of a network of international satellites designed to provide next-generation observations of rain and snow worldwide every three hours. Data from the mission will help study climate change, freshwater resources, and natural hazards such as floods, droughts, and hurricanes. Also, Monitoring California's drought, Spacewalk mishap report, Orion test article at Langley, More Kepler planets and Hubble supernova photo!
Astronomy/Space
The Punch (Nigeria): The archaeology of the stars
by New York Times Service
February 25, 2014
Four years ago, Anna Frebel, a young astronomer at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, found an ancient star in a neighboring galaxy whose chemical composition proved nearly identical to some unusual stars on the outskirts of our own galaxy, which are older than the Milky Way itself.
It was a striking discovery, suggesting that the relatively young Milky Way is growing by conquest — “cannibalising” nearby older dwarf galaxies. And it underscored the importance of a new way of learning how the universe evolved from the Big Bang to the modern cosmos.
Hat/Tip to annetteboardman for these stories.
Climate/Environment
BBC: Jersey site that was last Neanderthal home is studied
An ice age site said to be one of the last known places Neanderthals lived is being studied to assess storm damage.
La Cotte in St Brelade, Jersey, was hit by south-westerly storms including winds of up to 100mph in February.
Western Digs: Monster Surf Exposes Rare Petroglyphs in Hawaii
Blake de Pastino
Feb 20,2014
Epic winter swells just off of Oahu, Hawaii, have churned up monster waves more than 7 meters high, sent seawater surging around the foundations of beachfront homes, and gnawed away at sandy cliffs along the island’s North Shore.
They’ve also exposed rare petroglyphs that have not been seen in years.
The unusually strong seasonal surf has washed away layers of sand all along Pupukea Beach, just east of the big-surf mecca of Waimea, to reveal dozens of large glyphs carved into the bench of lava rock.
Mail&Guardian (South Africa): Parts of SA may see more rainfall, research shows
Sarah Wild
25 Feb 2014 13:07
While most climate change predictions point to water shortages for South Africa, and the landscape becoming increasingly arid, new research out of Wits University shows parts of the country may see more rainfall as tropical storms move south.
There is a myth that there will be an increased number of tropical cyclones as the surface ocean temperatures climb, as a result of climate change. But research by PhD candidate Jennifer Fitchett and supervisor Professor Stefan Grab from the Wits School of Geography, Archaeology and Environmental Science shows these storms are not becoming more frequent, but they are moving south. Their research was published in the International Journal of Climatology.
Hat/Tip to annetteboardman for these stories.
University of Michigan: Ambitious new pollution targets needed to protect Lake Erie from massive 'dead zone'
February 26, 2014
ANN ARBOR—Reducing the size of the Lake Erie "dead zone" to acceptable levels will require cutting nutrient pollution nearly in half in coming decades, at a time when climate change is expected to make such reductions more difficult.
That's one of the main conclusions of a comprehensive new study that documents recent trends in Lake Erie's health. It offers science-based guidance to policymakers seeking to reduce the size of toxic algae blooms and oxygen-starved regions called hypoxic zones, or dead zones—two related water-quality problems that have seen a resurgence in the lake since the mid-1990s.
The report from the multi-institution EcoFore-Lake Erie project states that a 46 percent reduction in the amount, or load, of phosphorus pollution would be needed to shrink Lake Erie's Central Basin hypoxic zone to a size last seen in the mid-1990s—a time that coincided with the recovery of several recreational and commercial fisheries in the lake's west and central basins.
Biodiversity
Houston Chronicle: Texas arrival of new mosquito-borne virus called inevitable
By Heather Alexander, Houston Chronicle
February 26, 2014
Doctors at UTMB in Galveston say a U.S. outbreak of a new, debilitating mosquito-borne disease is inevitable after locally acquired cases of it showed up in the Caribbean and Latin America for the first time.
Chikungunya (PRON chik-en-gun-ye) is spread by mosquitoes and has been gradually spreading throughout the world since an epidemic broke out in Asia in 2006.
Hat/Tip to annetteboardman for these stories.
Virginia Tech: Virginia Tech scientist proposes revolutionary naming system for all life on Earth
BLACKSBURG, Va., Feb. 24, 2014 – A Virginia Tech researcher has developed a new way to classify and name organisms based on their genome sequence and in doing so created a universal language that scientists can use to communicate with unprecedented specificity about all life on Earth.
In a paper published in the journal PLoS ONE, Boris Vinatzer proposes moving beyond the current biological naming system to one based on the genetic sequence of each individual organism. This creates a more robust, precise, and informative name for any organism, be it a bacterium, fungus, plant, or animal.
Vinatzer, an associate professor in the College of Agriculture and Life Science’s Department of Plant Pathology, Physiology, and Weed Science, suggests a new model of classification that not only crystalizes the way we identify organisms but also enhances and adds depth to the naming convention developed by the godfather of genus, Carl Linnaeus. Scientists worldwide have used the system that Linnaeus created for more than 200 years.
Michigan State University: Livestock found ganging up on pandas at the bamboo buffet
February 28, 2014
Pandas, it turns out, aren’t celebrating the Year of the Horse.
Livestock, particularly horses, have been identified as a significant threat to panda survival. The reason: They’re beating the pandas to the bamboo buffet. A paper by Michigan State University panda habitat experts published in this week’s Journal for Nature Conservation explores an oft-hidden yet significant conflict in conservation.
“Across the world, people are struggling to survive in the same areas as endangered animals, and often trouble surfaces in areas we aren’t anticipating,” said Jianguo “Jack” Liu, Rachel Carson Chair in Sustainability at Michigan State University. “Creating and maintaining successful conservation policy means constantly looking for breakdowns in the system. In this case, something as innocuous as a horse can be a big problem.”
Biotechnology/Health
Polish Press Agency: Mystery of diseases of ancient Mesopotamians
21.02.2014
The skeleton of a man with an amputated leg in upper third of the thigh, found in Tell Barri site, photo by A. So?tysiak
After a half century of intensive research in Mesopotamia, scientists still know little about the diseases which plagued the people of the most famous kingdoms of the ancient world.
So far, the research focused on excavations in towns and settlements, and analysis of cuneiform texts. Arkadiusz So?tysiak of the Institute of Archaeology, University of Warsaw decided to fill this gap and collected all previously published reports of anthropologists who examined human remains in the area of Mesopotamia.
International Business Times: Dental Plaque of Medieval Germans Provides 'Microbial Pompeii' of Bacteria
By Hannah Osborne
Dental plaque from 1,000 years ago has revealed how medieval Germans suffered from the same bacterial disease as humans today.
Scientists at the University of Oklahoma analysed the dental plaque from 1,000-year-old teeth that had been preserved from a human in the German Medieval population.
Hat/Tip to annetteboardman for these stories.
University of Connecticut: UConn Stem Cell Lines Go Global
By: David Bauman
February 25, 2014
The University of Connecticut recently signed an agreement with a global supplier of biological research tools to market stem cells developed here to investigators studying genetic disorders around the world.
The partnership with KeraFAST will ease the way for other institutions to obtain the cell lines, resulting in more widespread use in the research community, according to Marc Lalande, executive director of Genomics and Personalized Medicine Programs at UConn, and director for both the UConn Stem Cell Institute and the Institute for Systems Genomics.
KeraFAST offers an array of biological materials and scientific tools to academic, government, and industry research laboratories worldwide. The company handles requests between institutions and speeds up the licensing process. UConn’s stem cell lines are the first the company is marketing, says Lalande.
University of Massachusetts: Wang to Examine if Cereal is to Blame for Ballooning Waistlines
February 26, 2014
The obesity rate in the United States has increased from nearly 15 percent in the 1980s to almost 36 percent today. Emily Wang, assistant professor of resource economics, will explore one factor behind the ballooning of Americans’ waistbands in a talk titled “The Evolution of Nutritional Quality: The Case of the Ready-to-Eat Cereal Industry,” on Tuesday, March 4 at 2 p.m. in 905 Campus Center.
Despite the growing public concern and increased government intervention, no consensus has been reached regarding the causes behind the abrupt increase in the obesity rate. Wang argues that a natural starting point is to study the evolution of the quality of food consumption over time. This talk documents the evolution of nutritional quality of available products, focusing specifically on the intake of ready-to-eat cereals over nearly a quarter century.
University of Michigan: Newer diabetes drugs cost more, but may not work better
February 27, 2014
ANN ARBOR—Two newer classes of drugs to treat adult-onset diabetes may be no more effective than the old standby, yet they cost significantly more over the course of a patient's disease.
That's according to a National Science Foundation-funded study by researchers at the University of Michigan, Mayo Clinic and North Carolina State University.
Based on a simulation model that involved 15 years worth of actual patient data from more than 37,000 individuals, the researchers found that the newer drugs cost patients and insurance companies anywhere from $1,600 to $2,400 more.
Michigan State University: Exploring link between marriage and heart disease
February 27, 2014
Does the stress of marriage contribute to heart disease, which accounts for one of every four deaths in the United States?
A federally funded study aims to find out. Michigan State University’s Hui Liu will lead one of the first national interdisciplinary efforts to investigate how biology and social factors interact within marriage to affect cardiovascular health.
Liu is a medical sociologist whose previous research on the tie between relationships and health has been featured in the New York Times, Time, NBC News and other media outlets. The latest study is funded by a $619,645 grant from the National Institute on Aging, which is part of the National Institutes of Health.
“The importance of this study is highlighted by the continued high prevalence of cardiovascular disease in the United States,” Liu said. “We plan to provide nationally representative evidence on how marriage affects cardiovascular health and elucidate the multiple mechanisms in this relationship. The findings will have important implications for health policy and practice.”
Michigan Tech: New Biological Scaffold Home, Sweet Home, for Stem Cells
February 24, 2014
Our cells don’t live in a vacuum. They are surrounded by a complex, nurturing matrix that is essential for many biological functions, including growth and healing.
In all multicellular organisms, including people, cells make their own extracellular matrix. But in the lab, scientists attempting to grow tissue must provide a scaffold for cells to latch onto as they grow and proliferate. This engineered tissue has potential to repair or replace virtually any part of our bodies.
Typically, researchers construct scaffolds from synthetic materials or natural animal or human substances. All have their strengths and weaknesses, but no scaffolds grown in a Petri dish have been able to mimic the highly organized structure of the matrix made by living things, at least until now.
Texas A&M: Taking Control of childhood asthma in South Texas
February 28, 2014
Throughout the past two decades asthma cases have steadily increased as a major pediatric health concern across the United States and in Texas. According to the American Lung Association and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, asthma is one of the most common chronic disorders for children today.
The Rio Grande Valley of South Texas has some of the highest asthma related hospitalization rates for children in the state. This is in large part due to high levels of pollen in the air, high usage of agriculture pesticides, and a high poverty rate.
“Many people are not aware that the majority of asthma triggers may be found in and around their homes,” said Genny Carrillo Zuniga, M.D., Sc.D., M.S.P.H., M.P.H., associate professor at the McAllen Campus of the Texas A&M Health Science Center School of Rural Public Health.
Common asthma triggers, according to Carrillo Zuniga, include mold, dust mites, pet dander, rodent and insect droppings, excessive moisture, cleaning products, pesticides and cigarette smoke.
Texas A&M: Texas A&M Part Of Cat Genome Project, Holds Promise For Better Animal And Human Health
February 28, 2014
A cat may have only nine lives, but it has tens of thousands of genes that determine everything from physical traits to disease susceptibility. Researchers, including a team at Texas A&M University, will work to sequence the cat genome in hopes of finding keys to better health - not only for cats, but also humans.
William Murphy, a professor at Texas A&M’s Department of Veterinary Integrative Biosciences, in the College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences, and his team join researchers at the University of Missouri, Cornell University and the University of California-Davis in the “99 Lives Cat Whole Genome Sequencing Initiative,” to sequence the 20,000 genes in various breeds of cats.
The term “genome” refers to all of an organism’s genetic material.
Murphy, who specializes in mammalian comparative genomics, especially feline genetics, explains that sequencing a whole genome means identifying, in order, every DNA base in the genome. “Until very recently, most of the cat genome has remained un-deciphered,” Murphy notes. “Just recently, the complete genome of a single cat was determined.”
Texas A&M: Faster screening test to identify Tuberculosis
February 28, 2014
With 9 million new cases and 2 million deaths annually, Tuberculosis is the second most prevalent and deadliest infectious disease worldwide. As an airborne disease, it spreads easily and is very contagious. Quick detection and identification is the key to success in preventing the spread of the disease.
Conventional tuberculosis screenings suffer from low sensitivity, specificity, and high-cost. The gold standard for the diagnosis of active tuberculosis still relies on time-consuming culture tests that take 10 to 40 days to complete the screening process.
Recent nanopore research by Assistant Professor Hung-Jen Wu of the Artie McFerrin Department of Chemical Engineering at Texas A&M University, along with the Houston Methodist Research Institute, has led to a new screening tool that quickly identifies the M. tuberculosis antigen, CFP-10.
Texas A&M: This or that: foods for a healthier heart
February 27, 2014
More than 26.5 million Americans are currently diagnosed with heart disease. And while it is difficult to reverse, it can be prevented through subtle lifestyle modifications. By changing your diet and making more health-conscious food choices, your risk of heart disease can decrease drastically.
“There isn’t a single food that will completely take away your risk for heart disease, but a healthy combination of foods can help lower it,” says Joy Wahawisan, Pharm.D., BCPS, assistant professor at the Texas A&M Health Science Center Irma Lerma Rangel College of Pharmacy in Kingsville. Wahawisan has extensive experience consulting non-ICU cardiac patients after they’ve suffered heart attacks or strokes.
One of the major causes of heart disease is formed by a buildup of plaque in the arteries that can take years or decades to develop. This plaque causes the arteries to close, which then ceases oxygen flow to the heart and causes heart attacks. It can also cause a lack of required oxygen to the brain that can lead to strokes.
University of Houston: Targeting Metabolism to Develop New Prostate Cancer Treatments
UH Scientists Look at How Enzyme Functions Correlate with Disease Progression
By Lisa Merkl
February 27, 2014
A University of Houston (UH) scientist and his team are working to develop the next generation of prostate cancer therapies, which are targeted at metabolism.
Dan Frigo in lab 2014 portrait?With approximately one out of six American men being diagnosed and nearly a quarter of a million new cases expected this year, prostate cancer is the most common malignancy among men in the U.S. Since prostate cancer relies on androgens for growth and survival, androgen ablation therapies are the standard of care for late-stage disease. While patients initially respond favorably to this course of treatment, most experience a relapse within two years, at which time limited treatment options exist. At this stage, known as castration-resistant prostate cancer, androgen-deprivation therapies are no longer effective, but interestingly, androgen receptor signaling is still active and plays a large role in the progression of the cancer. Because of this, both androgen receptors and the processes downstream of the receptor remain viable targets for therapeutic intervention. Unfortunately, it is unclear which specific downstream processes actually drive the disease and, therefore, what should be targeted.
Daniel Frigo, an assistant professor with the UH Center for Nuclear Receptors and Cell Signaling (CNRCS), has set his sights on a particular cascade of biochemical reactions inside the cell. Focusing specifically on an enzyme known as AMPK, which is considered a master regulator of metabolism, Frigo and his team have demonstrated that androgens have the capacity to take control of this enzyme’s molecular signals.
Virginia Tech: Researchers establish benchmark set of genotypes for human genome sequencing
BLACKSBURG, Va., Feb. 26, 2014 – Led by biomedical engineer Justin Zook of the National Institute of Standards and Technology, a team of bioinformaticians from Harvard University and the Virginia Bioinformatics Institute at Virginia Tech has presented new methods to integrate data from different sequencing platforms, thus producing a highly reliable set of genotypes that will serve as a benchmark for human genome sequencing.
“Understanding the human genome is an immensely complex task and we need great methods to guide this research,” Zook says. “By establishing reference materials and gold standard data sets, scientists are one step closer to bringing genome sequencing into clinical practice.”
The methods put forth by the researchers make it increasingly possible to use an individual’s genetic profile to guide medical decisions to prevent, diagnose, and treat diseases — a priority of the National Institutes of Health. Their work was published in the Feb. 16 issue of Nature Biotechnology.
Virginia Tech: Researchers work with novel wireless technologies to improve safety in hospitals, health care
BLACKSBURG, Va., Feb. 25, 2014 – Medical mistakes happen every day, even with the best doctors and nurses. One way to reduce medical errors is to adopt new wireless technologies that improve health care and reduce costs, according to researchers with Virginia Tech's Institute for Critical Technology and Applied Science.
Hospitals are dense electromagnetic environments with multiple wireless devices working in one room. The problem is these devices do not work well together and often interfere with each other.
To address the challenges of the increasingly cluttered wireless spectrum and identify related applications, Wireless@Virginia Tech is partnering with the Center for Advanced Engineering and Research and the Mid-Atlantic Broadband Cooperative to form the Spectrum Management Research Testbed for Healthcare Group.
Psychology/Behavior
University of Connecticut: How Late-life Depression Relates to Dementia
By: Chris DeFrancesco
February 26, 2014
The connection between late-life depression and cognitive decline in older adults is a major focus of Dr. David Steffens, professor and chair of the UConn Health Department of Psychiatry.
Steffens is credited with contributing to the understanding of this relationship and helping advance the field of geropsychiatry by The American College of Psychiatrists, which just presented him with the career recognition Award for Research in Geriatric Psychiatry.
Steffens’ work in this area goes back to his days at Duke University, where his study of patients with late-life depression included brain scans and cognitive testing. He continues that research at UConn.
University of Massachusetts: ‘Team of Rivals’ Approach Works for Sparrows Defending Territories, UMass Amherst Study Finds
Rare behavior now documented in a common backyard bird species
February 26, 2014
AMHERST, Mass. – A new study of territorial songs used by chipping sparrows to defend their turf reveals that males sometimes will form a “dear enemy” alliance with a weaker neighbor to prevent a stronger rival from moving in. University of Massachusetts Amherst graduate student Sarah Goodwin and her advisor, behavioral ecologist Jeffrey Podos, report their findings in the current issue of Biology Letters.
They say that Goodwin’s playback studies, funded by the National Science Foundation, for the first time demonstrate the birds’ use of a stereotyped, specialized signal, in this case chipping sparrow trills, to establish brief periods of cooperation among neighbor birds who are otherwise rivals.
Playback studies involve placing a loudspeaker and a species-appropriate taxidermic bird model on one male bird’s territory and playing the song, creating a simulated rival. Goodwin conducted 48 playback trials, 24 of each fast or slow trill-rate condition, in two western Massachusetts counties over two breeding seasons from May 2011 through July 2012.
University of Michigan: A picture is worth a thousand smells
February 27, 2014
ANN ARBOR—Looking at a picture of a chocolate chip cookie fresh from the oven, you can almost smell it.
With a picture and some suggestions it turns out you virtually can, according to new research from University of Michigan marketing professor Aradhna Krishna.
The research has important implications for the multibillion-dollar food advertising industry as the imagined smells can trigger an increased desire for the food.
Michigan State University: Does solitary confinement fuel more crime?
February 25, 2014
Solitary confinement does not make supermax prison inmates more likely to re-offend once they’re released, finds a study on the controversial penitentiaries led by a Michigan State University criminologist.
The study – one of the first to examine recidivism rates among supermax inmates – refute critics’ claims that serving extended time in isolation leads to more crime. Super-maximum security units, known as supermax units or prisons within prisons, are designed to house problematic inmates by keeping them isolated for as long as 23 hours a day.
Jesenia Pizarro, lead author on the study and MSU associate professor of criminal justice, said it wasn’t time in isolation that was tied to repeated offenses for supermax inmates. Instead, it was the same factors that led inmates from the general prison population to re-offend – in other words, they tended to be young drug offenders with prior convictions and disciplinary charges while in prison.
University of Virginia: Study: Racial Bias in Pain Perception Appears Among Children as Young as 7
Fariss Samarrai
February 27, 2014
A new University of Virginia psychology study has found that a sample of mostly white American children – as young as 7, and particularly by age 10 – report that black children feel less pain than white children.
The study, which builds on previous research on bias among adults involving pain perception, is published in the Feb. 28 issue of the British Journal of Developmental Psychology.
“Our research shows that a potentially very harmful bias in adults emerges during middle childhood, and appears to develop across childhood,” said the study’s lead investigator, Rebecca Dore, a Ph.D. candidate in developmental psychology at U.Va.
Dore noted that this finding is important because many kinds of explicit biases emerge in early childhood – such as children wanting to play with friends of their own race – but those types of biases often decline in later childhood.
University of Virginia: Study: Immune System Has Dramatic Impact on Children’s Brain Development
February 26, 2014
New research from the University of Virginia School of Medicine has revealed the dramatic effect the immune system has on the brain development of young children. The findings suggest new and better ways to prevent developmental impairment in children in developing countries, helping to free them from a cycle of poverty and disease, and to attain their full potential.
U.Va. researchers working in Bangladesh determined that the more days infants suffered fever, the worse they performed on developmental tests at 12 and 24 months. They also found that elevated levels of inflammation-causing proteins in the blood were associated with worse performance, while higher levels of inflammation-fighting proteins were associated with improved performance.
“The problem we sought to address was why millions of young children in low- and middle-income countries are not attaining their full developmental potential,” said lead author Nona Jiang, who performed the research while an undergraduate student in the laboratory of Dr. William Petri Jr. “Early childhood is an absolutely critical time of brain development, and it’s also a time when these children are suffering from recurrent infections. Therefore, we asked whether these infections are contributing to the impaired development we observe in children growing up in adversity.”
Their findings offer a potential explanation for the developmental impairment seen in children living in poverty. They also offer important direction for doctors attempting to combat the problem: By preventing inflammation, physicians may be able to enhance children’s mental ability for a lifetime.
Archeology/Anthropology
New Zealand Herald: Returning Mungo Man no easy task
By Kathy Marks
In February 1974 geologist Jim Bowles came across a 42,000-year-old skeleton in a dry lake bed in outback New South Wales. The discovery rewrote Australian history and made headlines around the world, revealing that the continent had been occupied for twice as long as previously thought.
Nature World News: Bering Land Bridge Could Have Been Inhabited for 10,000 Years
By James A. Foley
North America's first inhabitants migrated from mainland Asia across a land bridge spanning the Bering Sea before traveling south and eventually settling across the land. But a group of anthropologists suggest that this migration was not rapid, and that these people settled upon the land bridge known as Beringia for as many as 10,000 years before moving on.
Dennis O'Rourke, an anthropologist from the University of Utah contends that Beringia - which is now covered by the Bering Sea - was inhabited roughly 25,000 years ago until the earliest North Americans arrived upon the melting of glacial ice sheets some 15,000 years ago.
BBC: Rare Neolithic or Bronze Age rock art in Ross-shire
By Steven McKenzie
A rare example of prehistoric rock art has been uncovered in the Highlands.
Archaeologists made the discovery while moving a boulder decorated with ancient cup and ring marks to a new location in Ross-shire.
When they turned the stone over they found the same impressions on the other side of the rock. It is one of only a few decorated stones of its kind.
National Geographic News: Gladiator School Discovery Reveals Hard Lives of Ancient Warriors
Archaeologists have mapped an ancient gladiator school, where the famed warriors lived, trained, and fought.
Dan Vergano
National Geographic
Published February 25, 2014
Ancient Rome's gladiators lived and trained in fortress prisons, according to an international team of archaeologists who mapped a school for the famed fighters.
Discovered at the site of Carnuntum outside Vienna, Austria, the gladiatorial school, or ludus gladiatorius, is the first one discovered outside the city of Rome. Now hidden beneath a pasture, the gladiator school was entirely mapped with noninvasive earth-sensing technologies. (See "Gladiator Training Camp.")
The discovery, reported Tuesday evening by the journal Antiquity, makes clear what sort of lives these famous ancient warriors led during the second century A.D. in the Roman Empire.
ANSA (Italian National Press Agency): Archaeology: ancient Roman house found in Arezzo
Excavations continue, medieval knight burial found
27 February, 12:29
(ANSAmed) - AREZZO, FEBRUARY 27 - An important archeological find of ancient Roman ruins has been made at the Medici Fortress of Arezzo in central Italy. During work for the reorganization of the historic building, evidence of an ancient Roman structure dating from the early decades of the first century AD were brought to light - probably a residence, or domus.
...
The ancient ruins are believed to be a residential building from the Roman period in which three rooms so far have been identified. Remains of painted wall and floors have been found in two partially investigate rooms. The building, located in the northeastern plateau of the San Donato hill, was perched above the hillside's the steep slopes overlooking the valley below.
York Press (UK): Archaeology Live! to excavate the churchyard of All Saints North Street in late March
9:42am Friday 28th February 2014 in News
THE team behind the seven-year-long archaeological dig in Hungate are to move on to the site of an historic church in York.
Archaeology Live! will be starting work at All Saints North Street in late March, excavating in the churchyard and hoping to find evidence of medieval, Viking, and even Roman life on the site.
PR Web: Archaeologists Utilize X-Ray Technology to Uncover Shipwreck Secrets
With the help of Flagler Hospital and Monahan Chiropractic, archaeologists from the St. Augustine Lighthouse & Museum are piecing together a shipwreck puzzle with artifact x-rays.
St. Augustine, FL (PRWEB) February 28, 2014
Clustered around a computer screen, a team of archaeologists and radiology technicians anxiously wait for today’s technology to reveal yesterday’s secrets. When the black and white images finally appear, the insides of a concreted artifact recovered from the ocean floor are revealed to the world for the first time in more than 200 years.
Starr Cox, conservator for the St. Augustine Lighthouse & Museum, has been using x-ray and CAT scan technology for years to identify concreted objects recovered by shipwreck divers with the Lighthouse Archaeological Maritime Program (LAMP).
“After so many centuries in salt water, a hard exterior layer of crust builds up around certain artifacts, especially iron objects,” said Cox. “Using x-rays we can see what’s inside the concretions and determine the best course for extracting and conserving the artifact.”
Hat/Tip to annetteboardman for these stories.
Paleontology/Evolution
Science News: Human ancestors at West Asian site deemed two species
Disputed fossil study splits a pivotal early Homo species in two
by Bruce Bower
5:31pm, February 27, 2014
A controversial fossil and soil analysis concludes that a key West Asian site hosted not one but two Homo species, one living around 1.8 million years ago and another several hundred thousand years later.
Discovery News: How Humans Went From Being One Shade to Many
by Jennifer Viegas
Feb 25, 2014 07:00 PM ET
Our primate ancestors that first lost most of their body hair were likely pale skinned, according to a new study that concludes our human forebears probably evolved darker skin later to safeguard against skin cancer and other problems that can result from too much sun exposure.
The study, published in the latest Proceedings of the Royal Society B, helps explain both the historical origins and biological significance of skin coloration in humans.
Hat/Tip to annetteboardman for these stories.
Geology
Michigan State University: Gauging what it takes to heal a disaster-ravaged forest
February 24, 2014
Recovering from natural disasters usually means rebuilding infrastructure and reassembling human lives. Ecologically sensitive areas need to heal, too, and scientists are pioneering new methods to assess nature’s recovery and guide human intervention.
The epicenter of China’s devastating Wenchuan earthquake in 2008 was in the Wolong Nature Reserve, a globally important valuable biodiversity hotspot and home to the beloved and endangered giant pandas. Not only did the quake devastate villages and roads, but also the earth split open and swallowed sections of the forests and bamboo groves that shelter and feed pandas and other endangered wildlife. Persistent landslides and erosion exacerbated the devastation.
Typically such natural damage is assessed with remote sensing, which can be limited in fine details. Scientists at Michigan State University and in China embarked on a dangerous boots-on-the-ground effort to understand how well the trees, bamboo and critical ground cover were recovering. Their work, which is relevant to disaster areas worldwide, is reported in this week’s Forest Ecology and Management.
Energy
Michigan State University: MSU advances algae’s viability as a biofuel
February 26, 2014
Lab success doesn’t always translate to real-world success. A team of Michigan State University scientists, however, has invented a new technology that increases the odds of helping algae-based biofuels cross that gap and come closer to reality.
The current issue of Algal Research showcases the team’s invention — the environmental photobioreactor. The ePBR system is the world’s first standard algae growing platform, one that simulates dynamic natural environments.
Simply put, ePBR is a pond in a jar that helps identify, cultivate and test algal strains that have the potential to make the leap from lab to pond, proliferate in real-world, real-pond settings and produce the most oil.
Physics
University of Michigan: 'Photon glue' enables a new quantum mechanical state
Feb 28, 2014
ANN ARBOR—Like a spring connecting two swings, light can act as photon glue that binds together the quantum mechanical properties of two vastly different materials.
The effect could harness the most useful characteristics from each material for hybrid solar cells and high efficiency lighting, among other applications.
Researchers at the University of Michigan and Queens College, City University of New York, used light to create links between organic and inorganic semiconductors in an optical cavity—a mirror-lined nanoscale filament about 1/1,000th the width of a hair.
Chemistry
The University of Connecticut: Breaking Bad’s Bad Chemistry
By: Nicholas Leadbeater, Department of Chemistry
February 27, 2014
As the final episodes of Breaking Bad became available for the first time on Netflix this week, UConn chemistry professor Nicholas Leadbeater offered a three-part examination of the chemistry behind the hit television show.
University of Michigan: Pinwheel 'living' crystals and the origin of life
February 24, 2014
ANN ARBOR—Simply making nanoparticles spin coaxes them to arrange themselves into what University of Michigan researchers call 'living rotating crystals' that could serve as a nanopump. They may also, incidentally, shed light on the origin of life itself.
The researchers refer to the crystals as 'living' because they, in a sense, take on a life of their own from very simple rules.
Sharon Glotzer, the Stuart W. Churchill Collegiate Professor of Chemical Engineering, and her team found that when they spun individual nanoparticles in a simulation—some clockwise and some counterclockwise—the particles self-assembled into an intricate architecture.
Texas A&M: Texas A&M Chemist Uses Nanomaterials to Engineer Healthcare Improvements
COLLEGE STATION -- One of the most basic tenets of science is observation, an essential tool with the power not only to prevent but also in some cases redefine failure.
A few years ago, a student in Texas A&M University chemist Karen L. Wooley's organic nanomaterials-based research laboratory was working to synthesize polymers in hopes of exploiting their protein-like properties. Instead of the anticipated result, he got an amazing one, unexpectedly discovering that they form gels, creating diverse opportunities from materials to medicine in the process.
"One of the most interesting things about research, I think, is when something surprising happens," Wooley said. "If the student is aware enough and observant enough to realize that what was observed was not expected and then follow through to characterize exactly why it happened and what the molecular structure is that led to that kind of behavior, then it can lead to entirely new research directions."
Science Crime Scenes
The Art Newspaper: Verdict due in Rome on the Getty's Victorious Youth
Greek bronze sculpture found off the Italian coast gets its day in court
By Hannah McGivern. Web only
Published online: 25 February 2014
Italy's Supreme Court is due to hear today, 25 February, the case of the ancient Greek bronze at the centre of a long-running restitution battle between Italy and the Getty in Los Angeles.
The statue, known as the Athlete of Fano or the Victorious Youth, has long been a star object of the Getty Villa in Malibu. It was acquired by the Getty in 1977. Found in 1964 by Italian fishermen in the Adriatic off the coast near Fano, Italy claims that it was illegally exported.
The Local (Germany): Amateur treasure hunter finds Roman gold hoard
German archaeologists have recovered a find of over a million euros worth of Roman gold and silver jewellery from an amateur treasure hunter who dug it up illegally in a forest.
The unnamed treasure seeker came across the buried treasure, estimated to be worth more than €1 million, while searching a wooded area in southern Rhineland-Palatinate with a metal detector.
The Jakarta Post (Indonesia): Eight ancient statues missing in East Java
Indra Harsaputra, The Jakarta Post
Eight ancient relics have reportedly gone missing from the Ponorogo regency administration hall in East Java.
Rizki Susantini, archeologist at the Trowulan Cultural Heritage Conservation Center (BPCB), said the missing artifacts included three fragments from the Nandi, Agastya and Ganesha statues. Two temple stones were also missing.
Today's Pulse: Miami uses hi-tech tools to recreate stolen artifacts
By Eric Robinette
Staff Writer
OXFORD — For Miami University, 3-D isn’t just a gimmick for the movies. The technology can also recreate stolen artifacts.
Jeb Card, a visiting professor of anthropology at the university, is using 3-D scanning and printing to create replicas of ancient artifacts, including two that were stolen from the department last June.
Hat/Tip to annetteboardman for these stories.
Science, Space, Health, Environment, and Energy Policy
Luxor Times on Blogspot Netherlands: Finally, Ministry of Antiquities has control over the discovered tombs in Aswan
Dr. Mohamed Ibrahim, Minister of Antiquities said that the ministry will start a project for the restoration and conservation of 4 tombs in Elephantine Island.
The tombs were found by the local people and the ministry managed to take control over them in the beginning of this week after successful attempt in cooperation with the Tourism and Antiquities Police and the people of Gharb Aswan Village.
The minister referred to the measures had been implemented to secure the site of the discovered tombs to stop infiltration to the tombs.
Shropshire Star (UK): National experts talk about Oswestry hillfort’s future
TV archaeologist Stewart Ainsworth has claimed ancient hillforts should be “treasured” – and insisted surrounding fields should also be protected from development.
The Time Team archaeologist said areas surrounding the likes of Oswestry’s Iron Age hillfort – which he described as “spectacular” – were just as important as the hills due to their historical and religious significance.
He made the comments while attending a seminar event at Oswestry Memorial Hall, which was held by campaigners fighting plans to build 117 homes near the town’s hillfort.
The Art Newspaper: Ancient Buddhist caves in China could ‘turn to sand’
Sites containing third-century wall paintings face destruction from natural forces
By Hannah McGivern.
Urgent conservation work is needed to save a series of caves in northwest China containing ancient murals by Buddhist monks, which are threatened with destruction from the forces of nature.
The network of 236 sandstone caves extend over an area of two to three kilometres in the vast, sparsely-populated autonomous Xinjiang region of China, along the ancient Silk Road. The caves were inhabited by Buddhist monks and used as temples between the third and the eighth centuries, and are lined with murals providing a rich picture of early Buddhist culture.
The caves, known locally as Kezer, are prone to deterioration, particularly from moisture, because of their geological composition, which includes many soluble salts. Although the region is very dry, any rainwater could have “distastrous consequences”, according to Giorgio Bonsanti, an expert in wall painting preservation. He told our sister paper, Il Giornale dell’Arte, “the signs of progressive decay, which in the long term would turn everything to sand, are dramatically evident.”
The Art Newspaper: Turkey plans to rebuild religious school next to Hagia Sophia
Proposal comes amid talk of turning the museum and World Heritage Site into a working mosque once again
By Garry Shaw.
The Turkish government plans to reconstruct a demolished madrasa (religious school) next to Istanbul’s Hagia Sophia Museum, a Unesco World Heritage Site since 1985. But the local branch of the International Council on Monuments and Sites (Icomos) strongly protests these plans, calling the proposed construction a “new fake historic monument” that would undermine the area’s significance.
Hat/Tip to annetteboardman for these stories.
University of Massachusetts: ‘Oddball Science’ Has Proven Worth, Say UMass Amherst Biologists
February 27, 2014
AMHERST, Mass. – Scoffing at or cutting funds for basic biological research on unusual animal adaptations from Gila monster venom to snail sex, though politically appealing to some, is short-sighted and only makes it more likely that important economic and social benefits will be missed in the long run, say a group of evolutionary biologists at the University of Massachusetts Amherst.
Writing in a recent issue of BioScience, researchers Patricia Brennan, Duncan Irschick, Norman Johnson and Craig Albertson argue that “innovations often arise from unlikely sources” and “reducing our ability to creatively examine unique biological phenomena will ultimately harm not only education and health but also the ability to innovate, a major driver of the global economy.”
First author Brennan, known for her duck genitalia studies that could eventually aid human medical science points out, “Basic science has increasingly come under attack, and there is a growing perception that studying ‘odd’ science ideas with no clear societal benefits should be stopped. But we feel that these are the precise sorts of investigations that may lead to major innovations in biomedicine, technology and military applications.”
University of Michigan: High-tech manufacturing hub could create 10,000 jobs
February 23, 2014
ANN ARBOR—The $148 million high-tech manufacturing research institute set to open this spring in metro Detroit is expected to bring 10,000 jobs to the region within the next five years.
The American Lightweight Materials Manufacturing Innovation Institute (ALMMII), announced by the White House on Saturday, will be led by the University of Michigan, Ohio-based manufacturing technology nonprofit EWI and The Ohio State University. More than 50 other companies, universities and nonprofits from around the country also will be involved in the public-private partnership. Its main office will be in Canton, Mich., with key support in Columbus, Ohio.
The institute is designed to establish an ecosystem to support the production of advanced lightweight metals in a part of the country that's often considered the historic seat of American manufacturing. It will enable research and development projects as well as education and training programs to prepare the workforce. It is expected to have both national and regional impacts.
Michigan State University is also participating; see
MSU partner in manufacturing innovation institute.
University of Texas: UT Austin Selected as Partner to Lead White House Initiative to Advance Digital Manufacturing and Design
February 25, 2014
AUSTIN, Texas — President Barack Obama and the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) today announced the establishment of the Digital Manufacturing and Design Innovation Institute (DMDI), a new $320 million research collaboration that includes The University of Texas at Austin’s Cockrell School of Engineering.
The Institute will be funded by a $70 million grant from the DOD, along with $250 million in contributions from industry, academia, government and community partners. DMDI, which will be known as the Digital Lab for Manufacturing (Digital Lab), will be housed in Chicago-based UI Labs, with a network of manufacturing partners and research sites across the United States.
UT Austin’s Cockrell School is one of only six engineering schools across the nation to be selected to be an integral partner in the Digital Lab. UT Austin will serve as the lead team for universities, companies and research institutions in Texas. In all, the Digital Lab has 40 industry partners and more than 30 partners from academia, government and community organizations.
The investment is part of President Obama’s vision to re-invigorate U.S. manufacturing, creating new jobs and economic development and spurring future innovation. The grant was formally awarded on Tuesday, Feb. 25, at a White House ceremony. The Digital Lab will be a self-sustaining research institute following the initial five-year federal investment.
Michigan Tech: What do We do Now? Family Members and the Brain Dead
February 25, 2014
When a patient is declared brain dead, what options are available for family members? Who decides his or her fate? A recent case in California triggered the interest of Syd Johnson, assistant professor of philosophy at Michigan Technological University.
Her article, “A Tragic Death and a Fight for Life,” was published in Impact Ethics: Making a Difference in Bioethics.
In it, she addresses the California case and the many issues involved in it and similar cases.
Virginia Tech: Researchers seek ways to bring high-speed Internet to more homes and businesses in rural Virginia
BLACKSBURG, Va., Feb. 24, 2014 – Many families and businesses in rural Virginia don’t have ready access to high-speed connections to the Internet. Virginia Tech researchers are out to change that.
Wireless@Virginia Tech is testing new technologies that will make it possible for high-speed Internet to reach more homes and businesses through a project called the “Spectrum Management Research Testbed – Self-Sustaining Broadband Network.”
In traditional broadband Internet access by wireless internet service providers, the more end users, the faster the infrastructure costs can be recovered and a profit can be realized.
However, rural areas have a lower population density, which gives little incentive for service providers to build in those areas. The lack of broadband limits business and education growth for the region.
Science Education
The Cornell Daily Sun: Concerns About Job Market Lead Students to STEM Majors
By JINJOO LEE
February 25, 2014 4:25 am
Advocates for the humanities have expressed concerns in the past few years about the looming threats to humanities majors in the U.S. — ranging from general concerns about high unemployment rates for humanities graduates to a recent 2013 Congressional proposal to cut 50 percent from the National Endowment for the Humanities. Cornell, too, seemed to feel the impact in 2011, when the number of degrees awarded in the humanities plummeted.
Since 2003, the percentage of students with a humanities major in the College of Arts and Sciences fluctuated between 35 to 41 percent, before dropping to 31 percent in 2011. Since then, the percentage of students with a humanities major increased by one percentage point for the Class of 2013.
Meanwhile the number of students with a major in a science, technology, engineering and mathematics field has steadily increased in the last decade, according to figures provided by the University Registrar.
Hat/Tip to annetteboardman for these stories.
University of Michigan: Planet Blue report highlights U-M sustainability achievements
February 24, 2014
ANN ARBOR—The University of Michigan continues to show immense growth and engagement in sustainability education, research and operations, as shown in the 2013 Sustainability Progress Report released this week.
In 2013, more than 30 students declared sustainability as a minor, the Planet Blue Ambassador Program grew to 1,300-plus dedicated individuals, and the university awarded more than $3.8 million in funding for U-M Water Center projects focused on Great Lakes restoration efforts.
"Each year, the university continues to make great strides in the area of sustainability in our research, education and operations," said Don Scavia, special counsel to the U-M president on sustainability and director of the Graham Sustainability Institute.
University of Michigan: Former astronaut Mae Jemison to speak at U-M
February 24, 2014
Former NASA astronaut Dr. Mae Jemison—the first woman of color to go into space aboard the Space Shuttle Endeavour—will give the keynote address at the 32nd annual Women of Color Task Force Career Conference.
The conference, "Transforming the Face of Leadership," is the largest staff development event at the University of Michigan.
As an environmental studies professor at Dartmouth College, Jemison taught and researched technology design and sustainable development with special emphasis on developing countries.
Virginia Tech: At the touch of a finger: Virtual patient helps students learn anatomy
ROANOKE, Va., Feb. 27, 2014 – One of the anatomy labs at the Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine was hushed the other day, hushed except for the soft voices of a dozen faculty members clustered around a six-foot-long table at the front of the room.
From a distance, they almost resembled a surgical team. Upon closer inspection, however, the focus of their quiet intensity became clear: a virtual patient embedded in the table’s electronic display. The group was being trained on a system that would enable them to teach anatomy like never before.
The table’s maker – Anatomage – enhances traditional anatomy instruction with modern computer and imaging capabilities. The result is a simulated high-tech operating table complete with virtual life-sized patients, touch-screen navigation, and a computer software system that has seemingly endless applications.
Science Writing and Reporting
Michigan State University: Solving ‘the boy problem’
February 27, 2014
Boys will be boys, goes the old adage, but it’s exactly this philosophy that has hurt young men in urban classrooms for more than a century, a Michigan State University scholar argues in a new book.
Many boys have devalued academic success since schooling was made mandatory starting in the early 1900s, Julia Grant writes in “The Boy Problem.” Today, boys make up two-thirds of the special education population and black and Latino males in particular face high rates of suspensions, expulsions and imprisonment.
On Feb. 27, the Obama administration unveiled an initiative called “My Brother’s Keeper” to address some of the most persistent social and economic problems faced by boys of color, including educational opportunities. Grant said the program appears to rest partly on the assumption that what black youth need is more male role models and masculine guidance.
Science is Cool
Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Oldest cheese ever found uncovered on the neck of mummies
Creepy, but interesting
By Rick Couri
The cheese was found on the neck of mummies dating to 1615 BC, making it by far the oldest ever discovered.
The find came in China, and it’s said the cheese is in remarkably good shape considering its age.
"We not only identified the product as the earliest known cheese, but we also have direct evidence of ancient technology," Andrej Shevchenko told USA Today.
The Age (Australia: Camels rock the world of religion
Sam de Brito
February 23, 2014
Foul-smelling and ill-tempered, camels might have gained a few admirers among atheists this month after helping science further rock the world of religion.
As reported in National Geographic, archaeologists have proved camels weren't domesticated in Israel until 930 BC - "several centuries after they appear in the Bible". This strongly suggests many parts of the Bible featuring the one-humped dromedary are not quite accurate. It quotes research by archaeologists from Tel Aviv University confirming camels played no role in the lives of biblical figures such as Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, "and were almost certainly inserted into the story centuries later".
ANSA (Italian National Press Agency): Nine manuscripts with biblical text unearthed in Qumran
West Bank excavation site known for Dead Sea Scrolls
27 February, 16:53
(ANSAmed) - ROME, FEBRUARY 27 - The West Bank excavation site Qumran has brought to light another exceptional find after that of the Dead Sea Scrolls. Working on materials from archaeological excavations of the 1950s, archaeologist Yonatan Adler found three phylacteries - pouches used by religious Jews containing small manuscript scrolls with a biblical text - dating back to about 2,000 years ago.
LiveScience via Mother Nature Network: Arrgh, mateys! Researcher unearths adventures of a 17th-century pirate alliance
These pirates were outlawed privateers dedicated to attacking 'traditionally' British enemies and trading in both Canada and Africa.
By Owen Jarus, LiveScience
Thu, Feb 27, 2014 at 10:51 AM
An alliance of pirates preyed on ships laden with treasure, outmatched Britain's Royal Navy, elected their own admiral and, ultimately, were destroyed in a cataclysmic battle against a Dutch fleet in 1614.
They were a pirate alliance which operated on the southwest coast of Munster, Ireland, in the early 17th century, and now new archaeological and historical research reveals new details about their adventures.
The York Press: Ragnarok apocalypse finale to the 2014 Jorvik Viking Festival
8:20am Monday 24th February 2014
HUNDREDS of people gathered in York to count down to the end of the world this weekend.
The Norse apocalypse Ragnarok was interpreted in a spectacular light and sound show and battle re-enactment at the Eye of York on Saturday, as the grand finale of the annual Jorvik Viking Festival.
Danielle Daglan, festival director, said the city could breathe a sigh of relief that the world did not end.
Hat/Tip to annetteboardman for these stories.
University of Texas: TV Talk Shows Advocating for Disaster Relief Instead Provide Celebrity Therapy, Study Finds
February 27, 2014
AUSTIN, Texas — In the wake of a natural disaster or global crisis, TV talk shows often advocate for relief efforts by enlisting "celebrity humanitarians" to raise awareness. However, rather than focusing on the individuals affected by the disaster and surrounding social circumstances, TV talk shows tend to focus on the individual experiences of celebrities, in a sense providing on-air "therapy" sessions for the celebrities.
This is according to a new study by a University of Texas at Austin Moody College of Communication researcher that examines coverage by "The Oprah Winfrey Show" of the 2010 Haiti earthquake. "Shock Therapy: Oprah Winfrey, Celebrity Philanthropy, and Disaster 'Relief' in Haiti" by Associate Professor Dana Cloud appears this month in Critical Studies in Media Communication.
Cloud said talk shows use therapeutic conversations to argue for what journalist Naomi Klein calls the "shock doctrine" — the demolition and economic exploitation of disaster-stricken societies and states.
