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 the states of Connecticut, Florida, Indiana, Michigan, North Carolina, Ohio, and Texas.
This week's featured story comes from the Los Angeles Times.
Drought covers 100% of California for first time in 15 years
By Jason Wells
April 25, 2014, 6:53 a.m.
A prolonged period of below-average rainfall has put the entire state of California under some level of drought, ranging in severity from moderate to exceptional, for the first time in 15 years.
The latest drought monitor released by the National Climatic Data Center this week shows that the entire state is under moderate drought conditions, but within that map, 76.6% of the state is experiencing extreme drought conditions, and for 24.7% of the state, the level of dryness is "exceptional."
During the same period last year, none of the state was considered to be under extreme or exceptional drought conditions, and just 30% fell under the "severe" category, according to the assessment released Thursday.
More stories after the jump.
Recent Science Diaries and Stories
Spotlight on Green News & Views: Sun rising, Cowboy and Indian Alliance against Keystone XL
by Meteor Blades
Why Net Neutrality? Because We Paid For It!
by AceDeuceLady
This week in science: Calentamiento de la Tierra
by DarkSyde
Mole's Cool News Roundup 2
by mole333
Slideshows/Videos
National Geographic News: Cold War Spy-Satellite Images Unveil Lost Cities
Cold War reconnaissance photos triple the number of known archaeology sites across the Middle East
Dan Vergano
National Geographic
Published April 25, 2014
A study of Cold War spy-satellite photos has tripled the number of known archaeological sites across the Middle East, revealing thousands of ancient cities, roads, canals, and other ruins.
In recent decades archaeologists have often used declassified satellite images to spot archaeological sites in Iraq, Turkey, and Syria.
BBC: Napoleonic French skeletons unearthed in Fareham garden
22 April 2014 Last updated at 21:47 BST
The skeletons of what are believed to be at least two French soldiers, captured during the Napoleonic War, have been discovered in a back garden in Hampshire.
KHOU: ‘No way!’ Clock found in shipwreck debris off Galveston
by Doug Miller / KHOU 11 News
khou.com
Posted on April 17, 2014 at 6:49 PM
Updated Monday, Apr 21 at 10:58 AM
GALVESTON, Texas -- An underwater archeology project coordinated from a high-tech command center in Galveston has discovered a centuries-old clock amid the debris of a shipwreck found in the Gulf of Mexico.
Deep in the briny waters of the gulf, the timepiece’s round face marked with Roman numerals -- spotted in live images transmitted by a robotic vehicle – delighted scientists spending much of this week remotely exploring a debris field from what apparently was a disaster at sea in the early 1800s.
Wired: The Hackers Who Recovered NASA’s Lost Lunar Photos
By Doug Bierend
Sitting incongruously among the hangars and laboratories of NASA’s Ames Research Center in Silicon Valley is the squat facade of an old McDonald’s. You won’t get a burger there, though–its cash registers and soft-serve machines have given way to old tape drives and modern computers run by a rogue team of hacker engineers who’ve rechristened the place McMoon’s. These self-described techno-archaeologists have been on a mission to recover and digitize forgotten photos taken in the ‘60s by a quintet of scuttled lunar satellites.
The Lunar Orbiter Image Recovery Project has since 2007 brought some 2,000 pictures back from 1,500 analog data tapes. They contain the first high-resolution photographs ever taken from behind the lunar horizon, including the first photo of an earthrise (first slide above). Thanks to the technical savvy and DIY engineering of the team at LOIRP, it’s being seen at a higher resolution than was ever previously possible.
Past Preservers on Blogspot: Opening of the Replica of Tutankhamun's Tomb
Cairo, Madrid & Luxor - 22nd April 2014 - The exact facsimile of the Tomb of Tutankhamun has been installed underground in a building next to Carter’s House, at the entrance to the Valley of the Kings and is due to be officially opened on 30th April 2014.
The facsimile, made by Factum Arte, Madrid is the most accurate large-scale facsimile to be made to date. This is the culmination of many years work and is an important milestone in the approach to responsible heritage management and the use of advanced technology in the promotion of sustainable tourism. It has been made with the full support of the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism, the Minister of State for Antiquities and with the backing of the European Union. The facsimile is a gift to the people of Egypt from Factum Foundation. It is housed in an underground building designed by the Tarek Waly Centre: Heritage and Architecture, Cairo. Past Preservers was proud to have assited as local agents for Factum Arte in Egypt. The public opening will be 1st May 2014.
The work has involved the development of advanced 3D technologies for recording the tombs and perfecting the method to replicate them. It is the first stage of a larger project that involves the creation of facsimiles of the Tombs of Seti I and Nefertari – both currently closed to the general public.
Hat/Tip to annetteboardman for these stories.
University of Connecticut: Spring Fling Celebrates Sustainability
By: Peter Morenus
April 23, 2014
UConn marked Earth Day 2014 with a range of activities to promote environmental awareness.
Michigan State University: Making malaria history
April 23, 2014
Malaria is an ancient disease that still lives—and kills—around the globe. This is the story of an MSU researcher’s decades-long battle to uncover the mysteries of the disease in the hopes of putting an end to it.
NASA: Earth Day 2014 on This Week @NASA
NASA activities for the celebration of the 44th Earth Day included an event at Washington, DC's Union Station, featuring Hyperwall and Science Gallery exhibits highlighting the agency's Earth science work to understand and protect our home planet. Online, people around the world were encouraged to post a photo of themselves with their local environment as a backdrop -- as part of NASA's global "selfie", to promote environmental awareness. 2014 is the first year in more than a decade that NASA is launching five Earth Science missions into space. Those missions will address critical environment and climate related challenges facing our planet. Also, Humans to Mars, Space station spacewalk, Two-day rendezvous test, Science & Engineering Festival, FIRST Robotics championship and more!
NASA: Earth Day Greetings from the ISS
The crew of the International Space Station send their greetings to everyone around the world on Earth Day, April 22, 2014.
Science at NASA: ScienceCasts: Lettuce Orbit Earth -- A New Form of Life Takes Root on the ISS
A new life form is taking root on the International Space Station, and its name is "Outregeous." The space-faring lettuce was delivered to the space station by a SpaceX Dragon capsule on April 20th.
JPL/NASA: LDSD: We Brake for Mars
NASA tests a supersonic parachute under Mars-like conditions for future exploration.
Discovery News: Why Does Russia See So Many Meteors?
A few days ago, a fireball lit up the skies over Murmansk in Russia. It seems like Russia sees more meteors than the rest of the world. Trace is joined by Ian O'Neill from Discovery News to discuss why this is.
Astronomy/Space
The Register (UK): Asteroids as powerful as NUCLEAR BOMBS strike Earth TWICE YEARLY
Cold War tech detects worldwide hit rate
By Iain Thomson,
A study using data from monitoring stations designed to enforce a nuclear test ban treaty shows that the Earth is enduring far more dangerous asteroid impacts than previously thought.
Hat/Tip to annetteboardman for these stories.
Ohio State University via Science Daily: Cardiothoracic surgeon launches research into space
April 21, 2014
When an unmanned supply mission launched into space on April 18, bound for the International Space Station, it meant something extraordinary to Dr. Peter Lee, a cardiothoracic surgeon at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center. That's because his research experiment is on board.
Lee has been fascinated by space exploration since he was a child. Now, that fascination has evolved into a passion for space medicine and learning about the effects of space travel on the heart.
"It's more than the joy ride of traveling in space. I don't have to do that. What excites me is being a part of the science, the learning and the research," Lee said.
NASA via Science Daily: Asteroids as seen from Mars -- A Curiosity rover first
April 24, 2014
A new image from NASA's Curiosity Mars rover is the first ever from the surface of Mars to show an asteroid, and it shows two: Ceres and Vesta. These two -- the largest and third-largest bodies in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter -- are the destinations of NASA's Dawn mission. Dawn orbited Vesta in 2011 and 2012, and is on its way to begin orbiting Ceres next year. Ceres is a dwarf planet, as well as an asteroid.
Climate/Environment
Space.com: China's 'Great Wall of Dust' Seen From Space
By Stephanie Pappas, Senior Writer
Northern China is infamous for dust storms that can sometimes choke Beijing in a yellow haze. A new satellite image shows one of these storms from above.
...
storms are so common in northern China and Mongolia that they have a name: Asian Dust. About 60 percent of the year's dust storms occur between March and May, according to the Taiwan Air Quality Monitoring Network. At this time of year, the ground is dry and free of snow, which allows strong surface winds to whip up clouds of dust and carry them for miles.
Hat/Tip to annetteboardman for these stories.
Biodiversity
Audobon Magazine: Why the Passenger Pigeon Went Extinct
And whether it can, and should, be brought back to life a century after it disappeared.
By Barry Yeoman
Published: May-June 2014
"Men still live who, in their youth, remember pigeons; trees still live who, in their youth, were shaken by a living wind. But a few decades hence only the oldest oaks will remember, and at long last only the hills will know."
--Aldo Leopold, "On a Monument to the Pigeon," 1947
In May 1850, a 20-year-old Potawatomi tribal leader named Simon Pokagon was camping at the headwaters of Michigan's Manistee River during trapping season when a far-off gurgling sound startled him. It seemed as if "an army of horses laden with sleigh bells was advancing through the deep forests towards me," he later wrote. "As I listened more intently, I concluded that instead of the tramping of horses it was distant thunder; and yet the morning was clear, calm, and beautiful." The mysterious sound came "nearer and nearer," until Pokagon deduced its source: "While I gazed in wonder and astonishment, I beheld moving toward me in an unbroken front millions of pigeons, the first I had seen that season."
Hat/Tip to annetteboardman for these stories.
Purdue University: Genome yields insights into golden eagle vision, smell
April 24, 2014
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Purdue and West Virginia University researchers are the first to sequence the genome of the golden eagle, providing a bird's-eye view of eagle features that could lead to more effective conservation strategies.
Their study calls into question long-held assumptions about golden eagle vision, indicating that the raptors might not be as sensitive to ultraviolet light as previously thought. The genome also suggests that golden eagles could have a sharper sense of smell than researchers realized.
Additionally, the genome provides thousands of genetic markers that will help researchers track populations and monitor eagle mortality.
North Carolina State University: Researchers Sequence Genome of Tsetse Fly
April 24, 2014
An international consortium of researchers, including an entomologist from North Carolina State University, sequenced the genetic blueprint, or genome, of the tsetse fly, one of the world’s most dangerous vectors of human and livestock disease.
Tsetse flies (Glossina morsitans) are found in Africa, feed exclusively on blood and transmit sleeping sickness, or African trypanosomiasis. Some 70 million people are at risk of infection. Learning more about the fly’s genome may aid disease prevention, says Dr. Max Scott, professor of entomology at NC State and a co-author of a paper that describes the tsetse fly’s genome, published this week in the journal Science.
Tsetse fly reproduction is rather unique among insects, Scott says. Females develop and lay only one egg at a time, in contrast to distant cousins like blowflies, which lay hundreds of eggs at once. Tsetse fly females feed their developing larvae with “milk” proteins from a “nursing” gland; these proteins, the paper finds, are similar to those of placental mammals and marsupials.
Biotechnology/Health
National Geographic News: Severe Scurvy Struck Christopher Columbus's Crew
Sailors' skeletons suggest scurvy scuppered Europe's first New World town.
Dan Vergano
National Geographic
Published April 15, 2014
Severe scurvy struck Columbus's crew during his second voyage and after its end, forensic archaeologists suggest, likely leading to the collapse of the first European town established in the New World.
In 1492, Christopher Columbus crossed the Atlantic, beginning Europe's discovery of the New World. Two years later on his second voyage, he and 1,500 colonists founded La Isabela, located in the modern-day Dominican Republic.
Hat/Tip to annetteboardman for these stories.
Purdue University: Study identifies enzymes that help fix cancer-causing DNA defects
April 22, 2014
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Purdue University researchers have identified an important enzyme pathway that helps prevent new cells from receiving too many or too few chromosomes, a condition that has been directly linked to cancer and other diseases.
Mark Hall, associate professor of biochemistry, found that near the end of cell division, the enzyme Cdc14 activates Yen1, an enzyme that ensures any breaks in DNA are fully repaired before the parent cell distributes copies of the genome to daughter cells. This process helps safeguard against some of the most devastating genome errors, including the loss of chromosomes or chromosome segments.
"It only takes one cell to start a tumor," Hall said. "This study gives us a platform for figuring out exactly what these enzymes are doing in human cells and how they impact genome stability and the avoidance of cancer."
Purdue University: Gold nanoparticles help target, quantify breast cancer gene segments in a living cell
April 22, 2014
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Purdue University researchers have developed a way to detect and measure cancer levels in a living cell by using tiny gold particles with tails of synthetic DNA.
A team led by Joseph Irudayaraj, professor of agricultural and biological engineering, used gold nanoparticles to target and bind to fragments of genetic material known as BRCA1 messenger RNA splice variants, which can indicate the presence and stage of breast cancer. The number of these mRNA splice variants in a cell can be determined by examining the specific signal that light produces when it interacts with the gold nanoparticles.
"This is a simple yet sophisticated technique that can be used to detect cancer in a single cell and determine how aggressive it is," said Irudayaraj, who is also the deputy director of the Bindley Bioscience Center. "Being able to quantify these genetic molecules could ultimately help clinicians provide better and more individualized treatment to cancer patients."
Michigan State University: Vermin vs. Venom - The Grasshopper Mouse
April 25, 2014
Grasshopper mice have developed the evolutionary equivalent of martial arts to use bark scorpions' greatest strength—their venom—against them. The MSU-led research could lead to advances in treating pain in humans.
The painful, potentially deadly stings of bark scorpions are nothing more than a slight nuisance to grasshopper mice, which voraciously kill and consume their prey with ease. When stung, the mice briefly lick their paws and move in again for the kill.
The grasshopper mice are essentially numb to the pain, scientists have found, because the scorpion toxin acts as an analgesic rather than a pain stimulant.
Michigan State University: Cell resiliency surprises scientists
April 24, 2014
New research shows that cells are more resilient in taking care of their DNA than scientists originally thought. Even when missing critical components, cells can adapt and make copies of their DNA in an alternative way.
In a study published in this week’s Cell Reports, a team of researchers at Michigan State University showed that cells can grow normally without a crucial component needed to duplicate their DNA.
“Our genetic information is stored in DNA, which has to be continuously monitored for damage and copied for growth,” said Kefei Yu, MSU Professor. “If the cell is unable to make copies of its DNA or if it overlooks mistakes in its structure, it can lead to cell death or the production of cancerous cells.”
Michigan State University: Away from the light: Students design blanket to help jaundiced babies
April 23, 2013
About 60 percent of infants are born jaundiced and many spend their first days of life isolated from their mothers underneath special lights that help them eliminate the excess bilirubin in their bloodstreams.
However, three Michigan State University College of Engineering students have come up with something that may put those babies back in their mothers’ arms: A prototype of a blanket-like device that wraps around the child and breaks down bilirubin molecules.
Michigan State University: Jen Cordes Owen: Superspreaders of infectious disease
April 23, 2014
The world is experiencing an unprecedented increase in the amount of emerging infectious diseases, which pose significant risk to both wild and domestic animal and human populations. Individuals in a population, whether they are animal or human, can play very different roles in how diseases are spread.
A way to illustrate this variation in disease dynamics is looking at “superspreaders.” These are individuals within a population that are more likely to contribute to the spread of infectious diseases than other individuals. For instance, we find for many disease outbreaks only 20 percent of a population is responsible for 80 percent of the transmission events. Typhoid Mary is a notorious example of a superspreader; she alone was responsible for spreading typhoid fever to 51 different individuals in the early 1900s.
A critical part of studying disease dynamics is understanding the factors that underlie such differences in individuals. But we have little knowledge of why some individuals in a population are more likely to be superspreaders compared to others.
North Carolina State University: New Ultrasound Device May Aid in Detecting Risk for Heart Attack, Stroke
April 24, 2014
Researchers from North Carolina State University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill have developed an ultrasound device that could help identify arterial plaque that is at high risk of breaking off and causing heart attack or stroke.
The new ultrasound device will help identify "vulnerable" plaque that increases risk of heart attack or stroke. Click to enlarge.
At issue is the plaque that builds up in arteries as we age. Some types of plaque are deemed “vulnerable,” meaning that they are more likely to detach from the artery wall and cause heart attack or stroke.
“Existing state-of-the-art technologies are capable of determining if plaque is present in the arteries, but can’t tell whether it’s vulnerable. And that makes it difficult to assess a patient’s risk,” says Dr. Paul Dayton, co-author of a paper on the new device and professor in the joint biomedical engineering department at NC State and Chapel Hill. “Our goal was to develop something that could effectively identify which plaques are vulnerable.”
Ohio State University: Stem Cells in Circulating Blood Affect Cardiovascular Health, Study Finds
Systems approach is used in lieu of isolating adult stem cell types
April 24, 2014
COLUMBUS, Ohio – New research suggests that attempts to isolate an elusive adult stem cell from blood to understand and potentially improve cardiovascular health – a task considered possible but very difficult – might not be necessary.
Instead, scientists have found that multiple types of cells with primitive characteristics circulating in the blood appear to provide the same benefits expected from a stem cell, including the endothelial progenitor cell that is the subject of hot pursuit.
“There are people who still dream that the prototypical progenitors for several components of the cardiovascular tree will be found and isolated. I decided to focus the analysis on the whole nonpurified cell population – the blood as it is,” said Nicanor Moldovan, senior author of the study and a research associate professor of cardiovascular medicine at The Ohio State University.
University of Cincinnati: Two Genes Linked to Inflammatory Bowel Disease
April 22, 2014
CINCINNATI—Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD), a group of chronic inflammatory disorders of the intestine that result in painful and debilitating complications, affects over 1.4 million people in the U.S., and while there are treatments to reduce inflammation for patients, there is no cure.
Now, Cincinnati Cancer Center and University of Cincinnati Cancer Institute researcher Susan Waltz, PhD, and scientists in her lab have done what is believed to be the first direct genetic study to document the important function for the Ron receptor, a cell surface protein often found in certain cancers, and its genetic growth factor, responsible for stimulating cell growth, in the development and progression of IBD.
These results are published in the advance online edition of the American Journal of Physiology-Gastrointestinal and Liver Physiology.
Psychology/Behavior
Red Orbit: The Maya Perspective On The Material World Has Parallels With Today’s Online Culture
April Flowers for redOrbit.com – Your Universe Online
We take it for granted that our lives, and our beliefs, are intrinsically different from cultures of the past. They built pyramids and temples, we play on Facebook and build virtual lives.
A new study from the University of Cincinnati, however, shows that the ancient Maya might just have been big fans of Facebook. They believed that material objects, like a courtier’s mirror or a sculptor’s carving tool, could be imbued with part of the owner’s identity. They considered such objects to be alive, naming them, talking to them, and taking them to special events.
UC’s assistant professor Sarah Jackson claims that such behavior isn’t much different than today’s selfie-snapping culture where a Facebook profile can become as important to a person’s identity as his or her real-world interactions. Jackson presented her findings on the interesting parallels between ancient Maya and modern-day views on materiality at the Society for American Archaeology’s (SAA) annual meeting on Friday.
Hat/Tip to annetteboardman for these stories.
Purdue University: Study: Touch influences how infants learn language
April 22, 2014
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Tickling a baby's toes may be cute but it's also possible that those touches could help babies learn the words in their language. Research from Purdue University shows that a caregiver's touch could help babies to find words in the continuous stream of speech.
"We found that infants treat touches as if they are related to what they hear and thus these touches could have an impact on their word learning," said Amanda Seidl, an associate professor of speech, language and hearing sciences who studies language acquisition. "We think of touch as conveying affection, but our recent research shows that infants can relate touches to their incoming speech signal. Others have looked at the role of touch with respect to babies forming an attachment and physical development. But until now the impact of touch on language learning has not been explored."
The findings are published in Developmental Science and a video of Seidl explaining the research is available online. Seidl's research was supported by the National Science Foundation. She is interested in the multitude of cues or sources of information that babies may combine to learn their language. Learning words presents a challenge for infants since most of the words they hear are presented in a continuous stream of speech, rather than isolated words, by their caregivers.
University of Michigan: Optimistic spouse better for partner's health
April 22, 2014
ANN ARBOR—If your spouse expects good things to happen, your health may be in luck.
Having an optimistic spouse predicted better mobility and fewer chronic illnesses over time, even above and beyond a person's own level of optimism, according to a new University of Michigan study.
The findings appear in the current issue of Journal of Psychosomatic Research.
Michigan State University: Cyber buddy is better than 'no buddy'
April 23, 2014
A Michigan State University researcher is looking to give exercise enthusiasts the extra nudge they need during a workout, and her latest research shows that a cyber buddy can help.
The study, which appears in the Games for Health Journal, is the first to indicate that although a human partner is still a better motivator during exercise, a software-generated partner also can be effective.
“We wanted to demonstrate that something that isn’t real can still motivate people to give greater effort while exercising than if they had to do it by themselves,” said Deborah Feltz, a University Distinguished Professor in MSU’s kinesiology department who led the study with co-investigator Brian Winn, associate professor in MSU’s College of Communication Arts and Sciences.
The implications from the research also could open the door for software and video game companies to create cyber buddy programs based on sport psychology.
North Carolina State University: Study: People Pay More Attention to the Upper Half of Field of Vision
April 22, 2014
A new study from North Carolina State University and the University of Toronto finds that people pay more attention to the upper half of their field of vision – a finding which could have ramifications for everything from traffic signs to software interface design.
“Specifically, we tested people’s ability to quickly identify a target amidst visual clutter,” says Dr. Jing Feng, an assistant professor of psychology at NC State and lead author of a paper on the work. “Basically, we wanted to see where people concentrate their attention at first glance.”
Researchers had participants fix their eyes on the center of a computer screen, and then flashed a target and distracting symbols onto the screen for 10 to 80 milliseconds. The screen was then replaced by an unconnected “mask” image to disrupt their train of thought. Participants were asked to indicate where the target had been located on the screen.
University of Texas: Coming Up with Explanations Helps Children Develop Cause-and-Effect Thinking Skills, Study Shows
April 22, 2014
AUSTIN, Texas — Asking children to come up with explanations — even to themselves — enhances their cause-and-effect learning abilities, according to new psychology research from The University of Texas at Austin.
The study, published in the Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, shows that young children who come up with explanations while learning are able to connect new ideas with prior cause-and-effect knowledge. By forming their own generalizations, learners can more efficiently understand novel information, says Cristine Legare, associate professor of psychology and lead author of the study.
To examine the potential benefits of explanation-based learning, Legare and her collaborator, Tania Lombrozo of the University of California at Berkeley, presented 182 preschoolers (ages 3 to 6) with a mechanical toy composed of colorful, interlocking gears with a crank on one end and a propeller on the other. After showing the children the basics of the toy’s moving parts, the researchers separated the children into two groups and asked them to either explain or observe the toy. To assess the learning effects of explanatory versus descriptive responses, the researchers prompted the children with more questions about the toy’s appearance and structure.
According to the results of both studies, the explainers across all age groups outperformed other children in understanding the cause-and-effect operations of the toy. They were also better at rebuilding the toy and transferring that new knowledge to other learning tasks. However, explaining does not improve — and can even impair — memory for details, such as the toy’s size, shapes and colors.
Archeology/Anthropology
Al Ahram (Egypt): Two Saiti tombs unearthed near Egypt's Minya
Two 26th Dynasty tombs have been discovered at Al-Bahnasa archaeological site in Middle Egypt, containing mummies, coins and even mummified fish
A Spanish-Egyptian team has uncovered two 26th Dynasty tombs during excavation work at Al-Bahnasa archaeological site in Minya.
Al-Bahnasa was known in the ancient Egyptian era as the town of Pr-Medjet, developing in the Graeco-Roman period to be the city of Oxyrhynchus.
The Guardian (UK): Archaeologists' findings may prove Rome a century older than thought
As Italian capital approaches 2,767th birthday, excavation reveals wall built long before official founding year of 753BC
John Hooper in Rome
It is already known as the eternal city, and if new archaeological findings prove correct Rome may turn out to be even more ancient than believed until now.
Next week, the city will celebrate its official, 2,767th birthday. According to a tradition going back to classic times, the brothers Romulus and Remus founded the city on 21 April in the year 753BC.
The Telegraph (UK): Ancient Rome was bigger than previously thought, archaeologists find
Archaeologists have discovered that the Ancient Roman neighbourhood of Ostia was far bigger than previously thought, extending over the River Tiber
British scientists have discovered a new section of the boundary wall of the river port of ancient Rome which they say proves that the city was much larger than previously estimated.
Researchers from the universities of Southampton and Cambridge uncovered the extra section of the wall at Ostia while conducting a survey of an area between the port and another Roman port called Portus - both of which are about 30 miles from the Italian capital.
The Guardian (UK): Ancient Rome's tap water heavily contaminated with lead, researchers say
Supply became contaminated as it passed through giant network of lead pipes that distributed water around city, scientists believe
Ian Sample, science correspondent
The Guardian
Tap water in ancient Rome, provided by its famous aqueducts, was contaminated with up to 100 times more lead than local spring water, researchers say.
Huge volumes of fresh water flowed along aqueducts to the heart of the Roman empire but the supply was contaminated as it passed through the giant network of lead pipes that distributed water around the city.
The Journal (UK): Community dig sheds new light on Wark Castle in Northumberland
Excavations are the latest in a series by the Flodden 500 Archaeological project and reveal true size of Northumberrland castle
By Tony Henderson
Apr 21, 2014 11:15
A community dig has shed new light on a castle which for centuries was in the front line of the conflict between England and Scotland.
It has shown that Wark Castle on the Northumberland side of the River Tweed was more of a heavyweight prospect than previously believed.
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Culture 24 (UK): Skeletons of foetus, heavily pregnant woman and crammed men found at York church
By Ben Miller
25 April 2014
The bones of a foetus and its heavily pregnant mother have been found in a chamber of All Saints church in York, where three men were found “shoved” into a tomb with grave markings designed to ward off evil spirits during the early 13th century.
Ancient serviceable drains, pottery fragments dating from Roman times to the 18th century, entrenched Viking pottery and Anglian pieces with possible links to the baptism of St Edwin, the 7th century King of Northumbria, have also been discovered in the Lady Chapel, where a medieval-style tile pavement has been laid in an English parish church for the first time in 500 years.
The Star (Malaysia): Malacca treasure no longer a myth
MALACCA: A scene out of Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves may be played out soon in present-day Malacca. The door to a cavern in which priceless treasure dating back more than five centuries is believed to be buried, has been found.
In echoes of folklore, there are symbols to be decoded to gain entry into the cave on Pulau Nangka, an islet 17km off the coast here.
Baltimore Sun: Patterson Park dig uncovering traces of War of 1812 militia camp, defenses
Archaeologists unearthing butcher's shop they say served as military headquarters
By Scott Dance, The Baltimore Sun
April 20, 2014
When Samuel Smith, major general of the Maryland militia, needed a headquarters to plot Baltimore's defense from British invaders in the summer of 1814, archaeologists believe he called on the owner of a shop that gives Butcher's Hill its name.
Jacob Laudenslager leased much of what is Patterson Park today from landowner William Patterson, including a butcher's shop steps from where the park's iconic pagoda sits today.
Archaeologists have uncovered a wall of that structure as they embark on a dig for a better understanding of what happened when thousands of militiamen camped along the hills of southeast Baltimore during the War of 1812. An excavation that began Wednesday has uncovered artifacts including bricks, mortar, glass, nails, shards of pottery and a gunflint — used to ignite gunpowder inside 19th century firearms.
LiveScience via Yahoo!News: NYC Artifacts, Including City Hall Douche, Get a New Home
By Megan Gannon, News Editor | LiveScience.com
Thousands of artifacts unearthed in New York City, ranging from a Revolutionary War-era bayonet to a 19th-century douche, are finally getting a home in Manhattan.
New York's Landmarks Preservation Commission announced that it is creating the New York City Archaeological Repository for the vast collection of artifacts owned by the city.
L.A. Times: 1888 shipwreck in San Francisco Bay hailed as big historical find
By Lee Romney
April 24, 2014, 8:40 a.m.
The rediscovery near the Golden Gate Bridge of a 202-foot-long passenger steamship that sank in 1888 is being hailed as restoring an important historical link to San Francisco’s early Chinese American community.
The City of Chester was headed up the California coast to Eureka with 90 passengers on Aug. 22, 1888, when it was struck by the steamer Oceanic about 10 a.m.
Impaled on Oceanic, which was arriving from Asia, the City of Chester remained afloat for six minutes before sinking. Sixteen people died in the accident. Initial reports had criticized Oceanic's Chinese crew, but that turned to praise when the crew's bravery in rescuing many of the City of Chester’s passengers came to light.
Hat/Tip to annetteboardman for these stories.
Paleontology/Evolution
University of Tubingen (Germany) via Science Daily: First Eurasians left Africa up to 130,000 years ago
Scientists have shown that anatomically modern humans spread from Africa to Asia and Europe in several migratory movements. The first ancestors of today’s non-African peoples probably took a southern route through the Arabian Peninsula as early as 130,000 years ago, the researchers found.
A team of researchers led by the University of Tübingen's Professor Katerina Harvati has shown that anatomically modern humans spread from Africa to Asia and Europe in several migratory movements. The first ancestors of today's non-African peoples probably took a southern route through the Arabian Peninsula as early as 130,000 years ago, the researchers found. The study is published by Professor Katerina Harvati and her team from the Institute for Archaeological Sciences at the University of Tübingen and the Senckenberg Center for Human Evolution and Palaeoenvironment, in collaboration with colleagues from the University of Ferrara, Italy, and the National Museum of Natural History, France. The study appears in the online Early Edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
LiveScience: Neanderthals Had Shallow Gene Pool, Study Says
By Charles Q. Choi, Live Science Contributor
Neanderthals were remarkably less genetically diverse than modern humans, with Neanderthal populations typically smaller and more isolated, researchers say.
Although Neanderthals underwent more genetic changes involving their skeletons, they had fewer such changes in behavior and pigmentation, scientists added.
Washington University St. Louis via Science Daily: The story of animal domestication retold: Scientists now think wild animals interbred with domesticated ones until quite recently
A review of recent research on the domestication of large herbivores suggests that neither intentional breeding nor genetic isolation were as significant as traditionally thought. "Our findings show little control of breeding, particularly of domestic females, and indicate long-term gene flow, or interbreeding, between managed and wild animal populations," a co-author said.
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Recent research on the domestication of donkeys, camelids (which includes dromedaries, Bactrian camels, llamas and alpacas) pigs, cattle, sheep and goats suggests that neither intentional breeding nor genetic isolation were as significant as traditionally thought, the scientists said.
Hat/Tip to annetteboardman for these stories.
Geology
LiveScience: Missing Link? Mississippi Floods, and a Great City Disappears
By Becky Oskin, Senior
The mysterious abandonment of one of North America's first big cities may be linked to a massive Mississippi River flood 800 years ago, a new study finds.
In the bottom of an oxbow lake next to Cahokia, Ill., which was the most powerful and populous city north of Mexico in A.D. 1200, lie the buried remains of a flood that likely destroyed the crops and houses of more than 15,000 people. Researchers investigating pollen records of Cahokia's farming and deforestation discovered distinctive evidence of the flood: a silty layer 7.5 inches (19 centimeters) thick. The silt is dated to A.D. 1200, plus or minus 80 years, said Samuel Munoz, lead study author and a geographer at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Hat/Tip to annetteboardman for these stories.
Michigan State University: New discovery helps solve mystery source of African lava
April 23, 2014
Floods of molten lava may sound like the stuff of apocalyptic theorists, but history is littered with evidence of such past events where vast lava outpourings originating deep in the Earth accompany the breakup of continents.
New research at Michigan State University shows that the source of some of these epic outpourings, however, may not be as deep as once thought. The results, published in the Journal Geology, show that some of these lavas originated near the surface rather than deep within the mantle.
When geoscientists want to learn more about massive lava flows – the kind that accompany continental rifting and continent break up – they conduct field studies of the African tectonic plate. Here, the Great Rift Valley of East Africa provides a snapshot of how a continent can be torn apart.
Energy
University of Michigan: Innovative algae research keeps students in state
April 23, 2014
ANN ARBOR—A growing partnership between the University of Michigan and a company in Dexter is a model for how university-to-business ties can produce significant mutual benefits.
The collaboration in the last several years between Valicor Inc. and the U-M College of Engineering also illustrates how innovative programs can keep recent graduates working in Michigan on world-class technologies.
At the heart of the sharing agreement are important new scientific and technological advances in what could be called the greenest of the burgeoning green energy movement—algae research. Valicor is working with the lab of U-M chemical engineering professor Phillip Savage on new, more efficient ways to extract oil and other elements from microalgae for use in biofuels, pharmaceuticals, nutritional supplements, animal feed and other products.
Physics
Michigan State University: MSU physicists push new Parkinson’s treatment toward clinical trials
April 21, 2014
The most effective way to tackle debilitating diseases is to punch them at the start and keep them from growing.
Research at Michigan State University, published in the Journal of Biological Chemistry, shows that a small “molecular tweezer” keeps proteins from clumping, or aggregating, the first step of neurological disorders such as Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease and Huntington’s disease.
The results are pushing the promising molecule toward clinical trials and actually becoming a new drug, said Lisa Lapidus, MSU associate professor of physics and astronomy and co-author of the paper.
Chemistry
Science Network WA (Australia) via PhysOrg: Micro-scale technique helps preserve rock art legacy
Apr 23, 2014 by Geoff Vivian
An interdisciplinary team has used a new technique known as plasma oxidation to produce radio carbon dates for paint fragments as small as 10 micrograms in width.
Archaeologist and UWA Winthrop Professor Jo McDonald, says her team spent three years documenting rock art sites along the Canning Stock Route, in the eastern Pilbara, at the request of traditional owners.
"A lot of them had had not been visited for a very long time," she says.
Hat/Tip to annetteboardman for these stories.
University of Michigan: Chameleon crystals could make active camouflage possible
April 23, 2014
ANN ARBOR—The ability to control crystals with light and chemistry could lead to chameleon-style color-changing camouflage for vehicle bodies and other surfaces.
University of Michigan researchers discovered a template-free method for growing shaped crystals that allows for changeable structures that could appear as different colors and patterns.
One source of color in crystal structures is the spacing between the particles that make up the crystal. The spacing can determine which colors of light the crystal absorbs and which it reflects, resulting in the visible color. By changing the spacing and other aspects of the crystal structure, it is possible to change the color.
Science Crime Scenes
USA Today: Site of rare Indian artifacts paved over in California
Doug Stanglin, USA TODAY
An ancient American Indian burial ground and village dating back 4,500 years was found in California's Marin County and quietly destroyed to make way for a multimillion-dollar housing development, the San Francisco Chronicle reports.
Archaeologists tell the newspaper that a 300-foot-long site in Larkspur contained Coast Miwok life from before the time of King Tut's tomb, including 600 human burials, tools, musical instruments and harpoon tips along with bones of bears and a ceremonial California condor burial.
Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) via Science Daily: The blood preserved in the preserved relic pumpkin did not belong to Louis XVI
The results of an international study indicate that the DNA recovered from the inside of a pumpkin, attributed so far to the French King Louis XVI, does not actually belong to the monarch, guillotined in 1793. Complete genome sequencing suggests that blood remains correspond to a male with brown eyes, instead of blue as Louis XVI had, and shorter.
CSIC researcher Carles Lalueza-Fox, from the Institute of Evolutionary Biology (a joint centre of CSIC and Pompeu Fabra University-UPF), explains: "When the Y chromosome of three living Bourbons was decoded and we saw that it did not match with the DNA recovered from the pumpkin in 2010, we decided to sequence the complete genome and to make a functional interpretation in order to see if the blood could actually belong to Louis XVI."
L.A. Times: Painting may have been tossed in trash just after selling for millions
By David Ng
April 10, 2014, 9:48 a.m.
The security guard is an art critic?
A painting that recently sold at auction in Hong Kong for about $3.7 million is feared to have been thrown out in the trash, according to reports from China.
Hat/Tip to annetteboardman for these stories.
Science, Space, Health, Environment, and Energy Policy
The Art Newspaper: Crimea’s looted treasure on the political agenda
Russian attention is turning to the region’s ancient sites, but some doubt whether it will stop the smuggling
By Sophia Kishkovsky.
Russia’s annexation of Crimea, a region rich in archaeological sites that are routinely targeted by looters, has thrust illegal excavations around the shore of the Black Sea onto the political agenda. Mikhail Piotrovsky, the director of the State Hermitage Museum in St Petersburg, which has run archaeological digs in Crimea for decades, addressed the topic in a presentation to the Russian parliament in March, shortly after the peninsula voted to join Russia.
Hat/Tip to annetteboardman for these stories.
University of Michigan: Lights out: The shocking link between politics and electricity in India
April 23, 2014
ANN ARBOR—About a third of India's electricity is lost each year. It just never gets billed. Some is stolen or disappears because of technical problems. It's enough power to light up all of Italy for a year.
The problem gets especially bad during elections when electricity is used to win votes, a new University of Michigan study shows. The research focused on state elections in Uttar Pradesh—the country's largest state—and found that power losses increased by three percentage points just before the polls.
"Our paper offers a political explanation on electricity loss and why it persists in plain sight," said Brian Min, assistant professor of political science. "In short, elected political leaders benefit at the polls when their constituents receive more electricity."
Wayne State University: Wayne Law clinic works to protect public health from pet coke piles
April 22, 2014
Students in Wayne State University Law School’s Transnational Environmental Law Clinic have been at the forefront of research and action into concerns about storing mountains of petroleum coke near local rivers and residential areas.
Pet coke – a byproduct of oil refining from tar sands – began being stored in four-story mounds along the Detroit riverfront near the Ambassador Bridge in fall 2012. The mounds drew public concern from business owners, community activists, environmental experts, politicians and residents in spring 2013, when photos taken from the Canadian side of the Detroit River showed clouds of dust blowing off the piles. Residents complained about breathing the dust and of it getting into their homes, and environmentalists worried that runoff from the piles would further pollute the river.
In August 2013, after months of controversy, then-Detroit Mayor Dave Bing ordered the pet coke piles removed, citing violations of city regulations. The mounds were transported elsewhere, including to Ohio. But the company that owns the pet coke is seeking to store it in River Rouge, eight miles south of its earlier location. The Wayne Law environmental clinic again is involved in the issue.
Ohio State University: Online Retailers Have Clear Advantage by Not Collecting Sales Tax
Two independent studies find effects on consumers, investors
April 22, 2014
COLUMBUS, Ohio – Two independent studies use two very different approaches to reach the same conclusion: some online retailers really do have an advantage over traditional brick-and-mortar stores.
The studies find evidence from investors, analysts and consumers themselves that suggest online stores have a competitive edge when they don’t have to collect sales tax from shoppers.
Both studies were conducted by researchers at the Fisher College of Business at The Ohio State University and their colleagues.
Texas A&M: President Obama supports biotechnology in letter to Dr. Norman Borlaug’s granddaughter
April 21, 2014
WASHINGTON, D.C. — President Barack Obama, in a recent letter to Julie Borlaug, granddaughter of the late Dr. Norman Borlaug, “father of the Green Revolution,” showed his strong support for continuing Borlaug’s legacy of using of scientific innovation, especially biotechnology, in the fight against global hunger.
Julie Borlaug is external relations director of the Norman Borlaug Institute for International Agriculture at Texas A&M University. The institute is named after her grandfather, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate and Congressional Gold Medal recipient, who was also a distinguished professor of international agriculture at Texas A&M. Borlaug passed away in 2009 at the age of 95.
The President’s letter cited Borlaug’s advances in agriculture as a “model of the American spirit of innovation and ingenuity” and stated that his “support of investment in education and continued research in the biotechnology field are inspirational.”
“I am pleased to join in celebrating the life of your grandfather, Dr. Norman Borlaug,” Obama wrote. “With unwavering commitment to feeding the hungry, leaders like your grandfather profoundly changed the way we develop food products that are accessible to the world’s increasing population.”
Science Education
University of Florida: Health promotion efforts in schools really do improve health
April 24, 2014
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Can school efforts really persuade kids not to smoke, spur teens to exercise and get little ones to eat more fruits and veggies? Yes, if these efforts are part of a schoolwide program that promotes healthy behaviors on multiple fronts, according to the results of the most comprehensive study on the effects of these programs completed to date.
“Traditionally we have had health education in schools, but the result of those efforts has been disappointing,” said Kelli Komro, a professor of health outcomes and policy in the University of Florida College of Medicine and associate director of UF’s Institute for Child Health Policy. “It is not only the curriculum that helps, but it also takes changing the school environment and the social environment so that it supports health-promoting behaviors, and linking all of this to families and communities to ensure there are coordinated messages.”
The international team of researchers, which included Komro, reviewed data from 67 studies examining schools using the World Health Organization’s health-promoting schools program. Health-promoting schools deploy multiple techniques to promote healthy behavior in children and staff members, such as adopting healthier cooking methods in the cafeteria, expanding time for physical fitness, getting parents involved through homework assignments that promote health and inviting the community in for demonstrations related to health.
They found that schools with these types of programs were successful at reducing children’s body mass index, increasing physical activity and consumption of fruits and vegetables, and decreasing cigarette use and bullying. The results were published online April 16 in The Cochrane Library, a database of systematic reviews on human health studies.
Indiana University: IU study: Death of public figures provides important opportunities for health education
More than a third of those surveyed sought information about how Steve Jobs died and about cancer after his death
April 21, 2014
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- An Indiana University study of reactions to the 2011 death of Apple co-founder Steve Jobs suggests health communicators have a critical window of opportunity after a public figure dies to disseminate information about disease prevention and detection.
The study, involving a survey of 1,400 adult men and women, found that immediately after Jobs’ death, more than a third of survey participants sought information about how he died or about cancer in general, and 7 percent sought information about pancreatic cancer, the disease that took Jobs’ life.
Lead author Jessica Gall Myrick, assistant professor in the IU School of Journalism, said 7 percent may seem low, but if applied to the U.S. population as a whole, it would constitute a significant number -- more than 2 million people -- who would have chosen to educate themselves about a specific type of cancer.
University of North Carolina: UNC celebrates North Carolina DNA Day
April 25, 2014
One hundred UNC graduate and post doctoral students will visit more than 150 high schools and 300 high school classrooms across the state today to present interactive, hands-on lessons about genetics and genomics.
The classroom visits are scheduled in celebration of North Carolina DNA Day. The celebration lasts through April to commemorate the discovery of the double helix in April 1953 and the completion of the Human Genome Project in April 2003.
“North Carolina DNA Day is a win-win program for everyone involved,” said UNC’s Patrick Brandt, director of science training and diversity. “Local high school students meet young scientists, which helps dispel outdated stereotypes about scientists. High school science teachers appreciate the visits from enthusiastic scientists who confirm that science really is cool and relevant to everyday life. And, the grad students and postdocs who visit the schools get valuable teaching experience and some time to bask in the well-deserved hero status conveyed by the high school students.”
Science Writing and Reporting
Yorkshire Post (UK): Science behind the story of Richard’s remains
The discovery of the remains of Richard III made headlines around the world. Now a new book sheds light on the archaeology involved. Chris Bond reports.
WHEN archaeologists discovered a skeleton under a council car park in Leicester in September 2012, it caused a flurry of interest not only here, but around the world.
What made this particular skeleton special, and what caused all the fuss, was who it might belong to. A team of archaeologists from the University of Leicester were searching for the grave of Richard III and the remains they unearthed had spinal abnormalities and a “cleaved-in skull”, suggesting it could be the lost king killed in the Battle of Bosworth in 1485.
Hat/Tip to annetteboardman for these stories.
Indiana University: IU Health and Vitality: Iron and heart disease, animal memory, and yoga tips
Research and insights from Indiana University
April 23, 2014
The April issue of IU Health & Vitality discusses the following topics:
• Study: Iron consumption can increase risk for heart disease
• IU study opens prospects of new treatments for memory impairment
• Yoga is supposed to bring attention -- not tension -- to the body
Texas A&M: ‘The Housing Bomb’ seeks to change priorities
Posted on April 24, 2014 by Angel Futrell
COLLEGE STATION – If the authors of a recently published book have their way, “keeping up with the Joneses” may have more to do with who has the cheapest utility bills than who’s got the biggest house.
The book, “The Housing Bomb: Why Our Addiction to Houses is Destroying the Environment and Threatening Our Society,” is the work of three research scientists concerned with the well-meaning but often misguided exploitation of natural resources. It centers around two case studies that are worlds apart: the Yellowstone National Park community and Southwestern China’s Wolong Nature Reserve, home to the giant panda.
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The book initially stemmed from Nils Peterson’s dissertation on land-use decision making around Yellowstone National Park. He found the people most concerned with the ecosystems there were also the ones who built their houses in the most fragile locations, big houses with few people living in them. The areas included wetlands, riparian areas and low elevation hillsides, all critical habitats for many wildlife species, including elk and upland game birds.
The Yellowstone research was balanced with an environmental study conducted by Liu focusing on giant panda conservation areas in China, which are touted as a model for coupled human and natural systems.
Science is Cool
Jerusalem Post (Israel): The Exodus: Does archaeology have a say?
By STEPHEN GABRIEL ROSENBERG
The Exodus is so fundamental to us and our Jewish sources that it is embarrassing that there is no evidence outside of the Bible to support it.
The short answer is “no.” The whole subject of the Exodus is embarrassing to archaeologists. The Exodus is so fundamental to us and our Jewish sources that it is embarrassing that there is no evidence outside of the Bible to support it. So we prefer not to talk about it, and hate to be asked about it.
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However, there is another way of looking at it, another way of seeking support for this fundamental experience of our peoplehood.
We do not look for evidence from the biblical text, but we can look to it for the general context of a sojourn in, and an exodus from, Egypt, and there are three major elements.
Irish Central: 16th century woodcut proves Irish were the original hipsters
Sheila Langan
A 16th-century woodcut has revealed the Irish to be the original hipsters – when it comes to hairstyles, at least.
A 1521 woodcut by German polymath Albrecht Dürer depicts five Irish soldiers: two higher-status gallowglass and their three warrior servants or “kerns.” The kerns sport distinct hairstyles that look remarkably similar to the reverse mullets of today.
The Daily Mail (UK): First Monuments Man revealed: The very complicated life of TV archaeologist who single-handedly saved Roman ruins in Libya from marauding soldiers during WWII
- Sir Mortimer Wheeler served in both the First and Second World Wars
- He joined Montgomery's North Africa campaign in 1942 as a brigadier
- Fought at El Alamein but was horrified to see troops vandalising ruins
- Took 48 hours leave, drove across country stationing troops around ruins
- Warned soldiers before invasion of Sicily not to damage historical sites
- However his private life failed to live up to his military exploits
- He was unfaithful to his wife, was known as a bully, a sex pest and a 'groper'
By Chris Pleasance
A British archeologist and TV personality has emerged as the saviour of Roman ruins during the Second World War after protecting them from Allied soldiers.
However, new research into his archives has also revealed he was a bully, a 'sex pest' and a 'groper' in his private life, and was unfaithful to his wife.
Hat/Tip to annetteboardman for these stories.