Christina Warinner: it's a good thing our ancestors didn't floss their teeth
Christina Warinner is an archaeological geneticist. Based at the Centre for Evolutionary Medicine at the University of Zurich, she's unlocking the secrets of the origins of disease by extracting DNA from fossilised dental plaque – the gunge that causes tooth decay.
What is archaeological genetics? It's about looking at genetic and proteonomic remains, biomolecules preserved in ancient archaelogical samples. Those samples can be anything from bones and teeth to the soft tissues from mummies, and the biomolecules can come from humans, animals, plants or bacteria. My job is to pull out the proteins and DNA and use the data to investigate the relationship between disease, diet and the environment. |  |
Discovery News Videos: History: Mona Lisa's Childhood Home Found
The woman behind one of the world's most famous paintings was born in a humble house in Florence, according to new documents.
Rossella Lorenzi gets the story.
Rossella Lorenzi gets the story.
Fluorescent lights keep smartphones from ten-second drifts
One obvious way to reset a mobile device's clock is to check out a master clock online but Zhenjiang Li, a computer scientist and doctoral candidate at Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, and colleagues have another way of keeping devices time-worthy. Li and co-authors from universities in China, Singapore, and Illinois, have demonstrated that any mobile device, including a smartphone, that has a light sensor or camera can use the flicker from fluorescent lights to keep accurate time. They have authored a paper titled, "FLIGHT: Clock Calibration Using Fluorescent Lighting," to explore how smartphone clocks can keep precise time via the flicker of fluorescent lights.
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Birds smarter than seven year old kids: Study
London: No matter how bright you think your child is, until the age of seven, children are no brainier than the birds.
Researchers at the University of Cambridge during simple experiments found out that birds did just as well as children up until the age of seven, The Daily Mail reported. By pitting birds against boys and girls using tests inspired by the Aesop's fable in which a thirsty crow is able to drink from a pitcher after using pebbles to raise the water level to within its reach. |  |
Gorillas filmed performing amazing feat of intellectual ability
Researchers working in Volcanoes National Park in Rwanda have filmed gorillas dismantling snares set by poachers to catch smaller game. Previously, anecdotal evidence had suggested that silverback gorillas had been seen dismantling snares. In this instance it was two young blackback, mountain gorillas that were involved. The team, part of the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund's Karisoke Research Center, filmed first a silverback motioning towards the snare. Next, two young male blackbacks arrived on the scene, surveyed the situation, then proceeded to take apart the snare, avoiding being caught in it in the process.
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Immortality for Humans by 2045
A Russian mogul wants to achieve cybernetic immortality for humans within the next 33 years. He's pulled together a team intent on creating fully functional holographic human avatars that house our artificial brains. Now he's asking billionaires to help fund the advancements needed along the way.
The man behind the 2045 Initiative, described as a nonprofit organization, is a Russian named Dmitry Itskov. The ambitious timeline he's laid out involves creating different avatars. First a robotic copy that's controlled remotely through a brain interface. Then one in which a human brain can be transplanted at the end of life. The next could house an artificial human brain, and finally we'd have holographic avatars containing our intelligence much like the movie "Surrogates.". |
Sedentary lifestyle can kill
The world is just days away from the greatest global showcase of elite sport.
But while a few thousand athletes will be pushing their bodies to the limit, most of the world will be watching on TV, sitting inactive for hours on end. In a series of articles in the Lancet timed to coincide with the Olympics, researchers from 16 countries set out the scale of the health burden created by physical inactivity. |  |
Endangered mountain chicken frogs bred in London
The critically-endangered mountain chicken frogs were rescued from the island of Montserrat as they faced extinction due to the rapid spread of the Chytrid fungus.
The disease has devastated amphibian populations around the world, pushing many species to the edge of dying out. In a bid to protect the mountain chicken frogs by developing a healthy population of the animals that could eventually be reintroduced to disease free areas of the island, scientists airlifted 50 of the frogs to London. |  |
Archeologists begin underwater investigations in Iran
The port town of Siraf is located in the northwestern part of Bushehr Province in southern Iran and has a long rich history. Now, a joint team led by Iranian archaeologist Hossein Tofiqian and US-based Iranian expert Sorna Khakzad, have begun work on the partly submerged port.
Searching beneath the waves
At one time, the port had been one of the major centres for marketing pearls and silk in the region, but has gradually submerged over the centuries. The team is currently working to identify any trace of the port structures before deciding on a full excavation strategy. The American members of the team have brought all the specialist equipment necessary for underwater excavations.
Searching beneath the waves
At one time, the port had been one of the major centres for marketing pearls and silk in the region, but has gradually submerged over the centuries. The team is currently working to identify any trace of the port structures before deciding on a full excavation strategy. The American members of the team have brought all the specialist equipment necessary for underwater excavations.
Climate Change Could Erode Ozone Layer Over U.S.
For the past 25 years, it seemed that we’d pretty much solved the ozone problem. In the 1970s and 80s, people around the world grew increasingly alarmed as research revealed that chemicals we were producing—such as CFCs, used in refrigeration— had started destroying the crucial ozone layer, high up in the atmopshere, that protects us from the sun’s harmful UV radiation. In response, world governments came together to sign the Montreal Protocol in 1987, which phased out the production of ozone-depleting chemicals. The concentration of these chemicals in the atmosphere leveled off within a decade.
Everyday Citizens Can Help Solve the Riddle of the Disappearing Ladybugs
Who doesn’t like ladybugs?
The elegant little crimson beetles are a child’s introduction to the world of insects as they make their way gently along a tiny finger before flying off in the spirit of the old nursery rhyme, “Ladybug, ladybug. Fly away home.” But in the last two decades, the populations of various North American ladybug species have been changing in significant ways. Some species have been declining — some even dwindling to a precious few individuals. At the same time, the populations of other ladybug species have been increasing and expanding their ranges; some species have even colonized entirely new regions. |  |
Ancient reservoir could bring water to dry Namibia
WINDHOEK — A stone-age underground water reservoir could transform life in arid Namibia, a government official said Friday, holding up to five million cubic metres of water that could supply the area for 400 years.
"If the underground water reservoir is indeed there and scientifically proven, it would be a relief for the supply of potable water in northern Namibia," Abraham Nehemia, under secretary for water and forestry in Namibia's agriculture ministry, told AFP Friday. "Tests have not been completed fully and the perceived water quantity not yet scientifically proven," he said. |  |
Why Do We Keep Going Back to Mars?
The huge NASA rover speeding toward an Aug. 5 landing on Mars may be the most capable and complex Red Planet explorer ever launched, but it's far from the first.
The 1-ton Curiosity rover — which will search for evidence that Mars is, or ever was, capable of supporting microbial life — represents humanity's 40th effort to explore the Red Planet over the last half-century. The huge number of attempted Mars missions may seem surprising, especially since many of our solar system's other planets and moons remain relatively unstudied. But the Red Planet keeps calling us back — and for good reason, experts say. |  |
Want a one-way ticket to Mars? A Dutch company is looking for you
If you've always wanted to live on a distant world, Dutch company Mars One wants to give you your chance to settle on the red planet. There's only one catch: You'll never be able to return to Earth.
Next year, Mars One will hold a worldwide lottery to select 40 people to train to be civilian astronauts. That group will be sent to live in a desert simulation for three months, after which the initial pool will be whittled down to 10. By 2023, this group will be sent to Mars to form the first permanent human settlement. According to Bas Lansdorp, founder of Mars One, "We will send humans to Mars in 2023. They will live there the rest of their lives. There will be a habitat waiting for them, and we'll start sending four people every two years.". |  |
Martian Polygons and Deep-Sea Polygons On Earth: More Evidence for Ancient Martian Oceans?
Debate over the origin of large-scale polygons (hundreds of meters to kilometers in diameter) on Mars remains active even after several decades of detailed observations. Similarity in geometric patterns on Mars and Earth has long captured the imagination. In this new article from GSA Today, geologists at The University of Texas at Austin examine these large-scale polygons and compare them to similar features on Earth's seafloor, which they believe may have formed via similar processes.
Understanding these processes may in turn fuel support for the idea of ancient oceans on Mars. |  |
Curiosity Rover Will Sleuth for Clues to Water on Mars
NASA's newest Mars rover, Curiosity, has a tall task ahead of itself when it lands Aug. 6 on the Red Planet.
The rover, part of the $2.5 billion Mars Science Laboratory mission, will aim to search for signs that Mars is, or ever was, habitable. Since one of the key requirements of habitability is thought to be the presence of liquid water, Curiosity will seek signs of water buried beneath the Martian surface. To do this, the rover will shove neutrons underneath the planet's surface in hopes that the particles bump against hydrogen, one of the two types of atoms that make up water molecules. Neutrons are subatomic particles that have no electrical charge. When a neutron hits a hydrogen atom, the neutron will slow to a near-stop because the two particles are about the same size. |  |
San Quentin inmates build satellite parts for NASA
SANTA CLARA, Calif. — The NASA Ames Research Center is known for establishing innovative partnerships and Pete Worden, the former Air Force general who serves as the center’s director, is known as a maverick. Still, the latest joint venture to come to light has caught even some longtime NASA observers by surprise.
Under supervision from NASA Ames, inmates working in the machine shop at California’s San Quentin State Prison are building Poly Picosatellite Orbital Deployers (PPODs), the standard mechanism used to mount tiny satellites called cubesats on a variety of launch vehicles and then, at the appropriate time, fling them into orbit. |  |
Yes, Apollo moon landing flags are still standing, photos reveal
An enduring question ever since the manned moon landings of the 1960s has been: Are the flags planted by the astronauts still standing?
Now, lunar scientists say the verdict is in from the latest photos of the moon taken by NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera (LROC): Most do, in fact, still stand. "From the LROC images it is now certain that the American flags are still standing and casting shadows at all of the sites, except Apollo 11," LROC principal investigator Mark Robinson wrote in a blog post today (July 27). "Astronaut Buzz Aldrin reported that the flag was blown over by the exhaust from the ascent engine during liftoff of Apollo 11, and it looks like he was correct!" . |  |
Singing the Blues: August Will Be a Blue Moon Month
The month of August brings us not one, but two full moons. The first will kick off the month on Wednesday (Aug.1), and will be followed by a second on Aug. 31.
Some almanacs and calendars assert that when two full moons occur within a calendar month, the second full moon is called a "blue moon." The full moon that night will likely look no different than any other full moon. But the moon can change color in certain conditions. |  |
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Maintain independent antiquities ministry, Egypt's archaeologists tell Morsi
Egyptian archaeologists have sent a petition to President Mohamed Morsi and Prime Minister Hisham Qandil asking them to not to merge the antiquities ministry with the culture ministry, and to maintain its cabinet status.
According to a press release, which the Ahram Online has a copy of it, the archaeologists' syndicate said: "For 30 years we lived under a corrupt system that was hostile to our cultural heritage... It kept it under the control of outsiders who sold it cheaply. The former regime always stood against our independence and even hindered the establishment of an archaeologists' syndicate. |  |
All chickens descend from south east Asia
The team of researchers from the University of New England (Armidale, Australia) studied the ancient DNA – known as mitochondrial DNA – preserved within 48 archaeological chicken bones and found the same DNA signature present in bones from Europe, Thailand, the Pacific, Chile, the Dominican Republic and Spanish colonial sites in Florida.
Project researcher Dr Alison Storey says chickens have been domesticated for at least 5400 years and it has been difficult to determine the ancient origin and dispersal of chickens because of the way successive civilisations carried the domesticated poultry with them wherever they went. |  |
I, For One, Welcome Our New Fishy Overlords
Yes, it's the moment we've all (secretly) been waiting for: Fish In Space!
But before you go getting too excited and start asking the big questions -- like: if there's a bubble in a microgravity aquarium, what happens if the fish falls into it? Let's ponder that for a minute... -- it's worth pointing out that the fish aren't actually in space right now (their habitat has just been delivered to the space station) and this fishy experiment isn't just to see how fish enjoy swimming upside down, there's some serious science behind it. Like... to see how fish enjoy swimming upside down. |
Ancient Olympics Had "Spectacular" Opening Ceremony, Pagan Partying
As if raw athleticism weren't enough, the ancient Olympics were the "total pagan entertainment package," kicked off with an opening ceremony as memorable in its way as anything in 2012 London, says Tony Perrotet, author of The Naked Olympics: The True Story of the Ancient Games.
A "Woodstock of antiquity" followed, with nonexistent sanitation, pervasive prostitution, broken bones, animal sacrifice, and even doping. Also sports.
The historian spoke with National Geographic News before the 2004 Athens Olympics. His accounts remain illuminating today, as the Olympic torch—a modern invention, by the way—ignites the London games.
A "Woodstock of antiquity" followed, with nonexistent sanitation, pervasive prostitution, broken bones, animal sacrifice, and even doping. Also sports.
The historian spoke with National Geographic News before the 2004 Athens Olympics. His accounts remain illuminating today, as the Olympic torch—a modern invention, by the way—ignites the London games.
Do you love ice cream? Thank a supercomputer
Scientists have cranked up a supercomputer to improve on one of life's simplest pleasures, by tweaking the texture and extending the shelf life of ice cream.
This might be seen as an egregious overuse of technology to anyone who’s stood around an old-fashioned ice-cream maker cranking the handle on a bucket full of rock salt and ice, but serving up the treat to the masses is big business, and tastier, longer lasting frozen treats could mean big bucks.
This might be seen as an egregious overuse of technology to anyone who’s stood around an old-fashioned ice-cream maker cranking the handle on a bucket full of rock salt and ice, but serving up the treat to the masses is big business, and tastier, longer lasting frozen treats could mean big bucks.
RE: San Quentin inmates build satellite parts for NASA
ReplyDeleteThe NASA Ames Research Center and Pete Worden, the former Air Force general who serves as the center’s director, is known as a maverick and is probably insane.
Looks like the inmates working in the machine shop at California’s San Quentin State Prison are building a TARDIS! While NASA thinks it's getting satellites the inmates are definitely building a time machine so that they can travel back in time and plunder the word... FOOLS I TELL YOU, FOOLS!!!