Welcome to Science Saturday, where the Overnight News Digest crew informs and entertains you with this week's news about science, space, and the environment.
This week's featured story comes from Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics via physorg.com.
Tatooine-like planet discovered (w/ video)
September 15, 2011
Although cold and gaseous rather than a desert world, the newfound planet Kepler-16b is still the closest astronomers have come to discovering Luke Skywalker's home world of Tatooine. Like Tatooine, Kepler-16b enjoys a double sunset as it circles a pair of stars approximately 200 light-years from Earth. It's not thought to harbor life, but its discovery demonstrates the diversity of planets in our galaxy.
"Kepler-16b is the first confirmed, unambiguous example of a circumbinary planet - a planet orbiting not one, but two stars," said Josh Carter of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics (CfA). "Once again, we're finding that our solar system is only one example of the variety of planetary systems Nature can create."
More science, space, and environment stories after the jump.
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Slideshows/Videos
PhysOrg: Light from a water bottle could brighten millions of poor homes (w/ video)
by Lisa Zyga
September 16, 2011
As simple as it sounds, a one-liter plastic bottle filled with purified water and some bleach could serve as a light bulb for some of the millions of people who live without electricity. Originally developed by MIT students, the "solar bottle bulb" is now being distributed by the MyShelter Foundation to homes throughout the Philippines. The foundation’s goal is to use this alternative source of daylight to brighten one million homes in the country by 2012.
In order to make the water bottles "light up," holes are cut in the metal roofs of homes and a bottle is placed and sealed into each hole so that its lower half emerges from the ceiling. The clear water disperses the light in all directions through refraction, which can provide a luminosity that is equivalent to a 55-watt electric light bulb, according to the MyShelter Foundation. The bleach prevents mold growth so that the bulbs can last for up to five years.
Astronomy/Space
University of California, Santa Cruz via physorg.com: Small distant galaxies host supermassive black holes
September 15, 2011
Using the Hubble Space Telescope to probe the distant universe, astronomers have found supermassive black holes growing in surprisingly small galaxies. The findings suggest that central black holes formed at an early stage in galaxy evolution.
"It's kind of a chicken or egg problem: Which came first, the supermassive black hole or the massive galaxy? This study shows that even low-mass galaxies have supermassive black holes," said Jonathan Trump, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of California, Santa Cruz. Trump is first author of the study, which has been accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journal and is currently available online.
University of Amsterdam (Netherlands) via physorg.com: Neutron star blows away models for thermonuclear explosions
September 14, 2011
Amsterdam astronomers have discovered a neutron star that confounds existing models for thermonuclear explosions in such extreme objects. In the case of the accreting pulsar IGR J17480-2446, it seems to be a strong magnetic field that causes some parts of the star to burn more brightly than the rest. The results of the study, by Yuri Cavecchi et al. (2011), are to be published in the journal Astrophysical Journal Letters.
Astrobio.net via physorg.com: Rocky planets could have been born as gas giants
By Nola Taylor Redd
September 16, 2011
When NASA announced the discovery of over 1,200 new potential planets spotted by the Kepler Space Telescope, almost a quarter of them were thought to be Super-Earths. Now, new research suggests that these massive rocky planets may be the result of the failed creation of Jupiter-sized gas giants.
Most astronomers currently believe planets are created by a method known as core accretion. Giant disks of gas circle newborn stars. Grains in these disks bond together to form larger objects known as planetesimals, which collide, creating larger and larger clumps of material. When the clumps reach a critical mass, their gravity pulls in gas from the disk around them.
But last summer, Sergei Nayakshin of the University of Leicester in the United Kingdom proposed a new theory for planetary formation. Known as "tidal downsizing," it works at a faster pace.
Agence France Presse via physorg.com: US satellite may crash back to Earth Sept 23: NASA
September 17, 2011
A 20-year-old satellite that measured the ozone layer is expected to crash back to Earth late next week, but NASA said it still does not know where it will fall.
The US space agency stressed that the risk to public safety from the Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite (UARS) is "extremely small," and said that most, but not all, of the gear will burn up on re-entry into Earth's atmosphere.
"Re-entry is expected Sept. 23, plus or minus a day. The re-entry of UARS is advancing because of a sharp increase in solar activity since the beginning of this week," NASA said in a brief update on its website on Friday.
"Safety is NASA's top priority," it added, noting that throughout history, there have been "no confirmed reports of an injury resulting from re-entering space objects."
Agence France Presse via physorg.com: Virgin aims for first space launch within a year
September 15, 2011
British business magnate Richard Branson hopes to launch a vessel into space within the next 12 months, kicking off an era of commercial space travel.
"The mother ship is finished... The rocket tests are going extremely well, and so I think that we're now on track for a launch within 12 months of today," he told CNN's Piers Morgan late Wednesday.
"This could be the beginning of a whole new era of space travel, which will be commercial space travel."
Evolution/Paleontology
Academy of Natural Sciences via physorg.com: New species of ancient predatory fish discovered
September 12, 2011
The Academy of Natural Sciences today announced the discovery of a new species of large predatory fish that prowled ancient North American waterways during the Devonian Period, before backboned animals existed on land.
Drs. Edward "Ted" Daeschler and Jason Downs of the Academy and colleagues from the University of Chicago and Harvard University describe the new denizen of the Devonian they named Laccognathus embryi in the current issue of the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology.
The 375-million-year-old beast was discovered by the same group of researchers who discovered Tiktaalik roseae, the important transitional animal considered "a missing link" between fish and the earliest limbed animals. The fossil remains of the new species were found at the same site as Tiktaalik, on Ellesmere Island in the remote Nunavut Territory of Arctic Canada.
Society of Vertebrate Paleontology via physorg.com: Teeny teeth indicate ancient shark nurseries
September 13, 2011
Fuelled by Hollywood and its vision of Jaws, sharks conjure images of fearsome predators patrolling our seas in search of their next unfortunate victim. It is therefore hard to imagine sharks as relatively small, harmless fishes living in lakes and rivers, as many species were more than 200 million years ago. Some scientists have suggested that these ancient sharks bred in the shallows of freshwater lakes, forming nurseries for their hatchlings. Reporting in the most recent issue of the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, a team of German paleontologists support this claim with spectacular 230 million-year-old fossil egg capsules and tiny teeth from Kyrgyzstan.
Johns Hopkins University via physorg.com: Newborn dinosaur discovered in Maryland
September 14, 2011
No, this isn't Jurassic Park. Researchers at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine with help from an amateur fossil hunter in College Park, Md., have described the fossil of an armored dinosaur hatchling. It is the youngest nodosaur ever discovered, and a founder of a new genus and species that lived approximately 110 million years ago during the Early Cretaceous Era. Nodosaurs have been found in diverse locations worldwide, but they've rarely been found in the United States. The findings are published in the September 9 issue of the Journal of Paleontology.
"Now we can learn about the development of limbs and the development of skulls early on in a dinosaur's life," says David Weishampel, Ph.D., a professor of anatomy at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. "The very small size also reveals that there was a nearby nesting area or rookery, since it couldn't have wandered far from where it hatched. We have the opportunity to find out about dinosaur parenting and reproductive biology, as well as more about the lives of Maryland dinosaurs in general."
The fossil was discovered in 1997 by Ray Stanford, a dinosaur tracker who often spent time looking for fossils close to his home; this time he was searching a creek bed after an extensive flood.
American Museum of Natural History via physorg.com: Archaeopteryx and the dinosaur-bird family tree
September 15, 2011
The magpie-sized Archaeopteryx had bird and dinosaur features and helped show that birds evolved from dinosaurs. However, recent research in the journal Nature questions its position in the dinosaur-bird family tree.
Scientists know birds evolved from dinosaurs because many fossils have been found of ancient animals with both bird and dinosaur features, including the famous Archaeopteryx that lived 147 million years ago.
Archaeopteryx had a feathered tail and wings with a flight feather arrangement just like modern birds. But it also had a long bony tail, teeth, and 3 fingers ending in claws, like dinosaurs.
The first Archaeopteryx skeleton fossil was uncovered in 1861 in Solnhofen, Germany, and is looked after at the Natural History Museum. It provided the first evidence that helped demonstrate that modern birds descended from small meat-eating dinosaurs.
University of Alberta (Canada) via physorg.com: Tree resin captures evolution of feathers on dinosaurs and birds
September 15, 2011
Secrets from the age of the dinosaurs are usually revealed by fossilized bones, but a University of Alberta research team has turned up a treasure trove of Cretaceous feathers trapped in tree resin. The resin turned to resilient amber, preserving some 80 million-year-old protofeathers, possibly from non-avian dinosaurs, as well as plumage that is very similar to modern birds, including those that can swim under water.
U of A paleontology graduate student Ryan McKellar discovered a wide range of feathers among the vast amber collections at the Royal Tyrrell Museum in southern Alberta. This material stems from Canada's most famous amber deposit, near Grassy Lake in southwestern Alberta.
Hat/Tip to annetteboardman for these stories.
Biodiversity
NPR: Miami Invaded By Giant, House-Eating Snails
By NPR Staff
In southwest Miami, a small subdivision is being called "ground zero" of an invasion by a destructive, non-native species.
"It's us against the snails," Richard Gaskalla, head of plant industry for Florida's Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, tells weekends on All Things Considered host Guy Raz.
That's the Giant African Land Snail, to be precise. They can grow to be 10 inches long. They leave a slimy trail of excrement wherever they go. They harbor the microscopic rat-lung worm, which can transmit meningitis to humans. And they will literally eat your house.
"They'll attach to the side of the house and eat the stucco off the side of the house," Gaskalla says. The snails are also attracted to garbage and pet food that's been left out.
Hat/tip to nonnie9999 for this story.
Biotechnology/Health
Columbia University via medicalxpress.com: Children with autism and gastrointestinal symptoms have altered digestive genes
September 17, 2011
Researchers at the Center for Infection and Immunity (CII) at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health and at the Harvard Medical School report that children with autism and gastrointestinal disturbances have altered expression of genes involved in digestion. These variations may contribute to changes in the types of bacteria in their intestines.
...
Many children with autism have gastrointestinal problems that can complicate clinical management and contribute to behavioral disturbances. In some children, special diets and antibiotics have been associated with improvements in social, cognitive and gastrointestinal function.
The investigators found that children diagnosed with autism and gastrointestinal disturbances have abnormalities in levels of genes for enzymes that break down sugars and for molecules that transport them from the lumen of the intestine into the blood. These variations were also associated with changes in the bacterial composition of the intestine.
Cornell University via medicalxpress.com: Breaching the blood-brain barrier: Researchers may have solved 100-year-old puzzle
September 13, 2011
Cornell University researchers may have solved a 100-year puzzle: How to safely open and close the blood-brain barrier so that therapies to treat Alzheimer's disease, multiple sclerosis and cancers of the central nervous system might effectively be delivered. (Journal of Neuroscience, Sept. 14, 2011.)
The researchers found that adenosine, a molecule produced by the body, can modulate the entry of large molecules into the brain. For the first time, the researchers discovered that when adenosine receptors are activated on cells that comprise the blood-brain barrier, a gateway into the blood-brain barrier can be established.
Although the study was done on mice, the researchers have also found adenosine receptors on these same cells in humans. They also discovered that an existing FDA-approved drug called Lexiscan, an adenosine-based drug used in heart imaging in very ill patients, can also briefly open the gateway across the blood-brain barrier.
University of Haifa (Israel) via medicalxpress.com: 'White' light suppresses the body's production of melatonin
September 12, 2011
Exposure to the light of white LED bulbs, it turns out, suppresses melatonin 5 times more than exposure to the light of High Pressure Sodium bulbs that give off an orange-yellow light. "Just as there are regulations and standards for 'classic' pollutants, there should also be regulations and rules for the pollution stemming from artificial light at night," says Prof. Abraham Haim of the University of Haifa.
"White" light bulbs that emit light at shorter wavelengths are greater suppressors of the body's production of melatonin than bulbs emitting orange-yellow light, a new international study has revealed.
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The study investigated the influence of different types of bulbs on "light pollution" and the suppression of melatonin, with the researchers recommending several steps that should be taken to balance the need to save energy and protecting public health.
PhysOrg via medicalxpress.com: Cancer 'smart bomb' created from a crocus
by Deborah Braconnier
September 13, 2011
(PhysOrg.com) -- Scientists from the UK have figured out a way to turn chemicals found in the crocus flower which blooms throughout the UK into a ‘smart bomb’ of sorts when it comes to a new cancer medication. This new treatment may potentially create a drug that is capable of targeting cancerous tumors, such as associated with breast, colon, lung and prostate, without causing any side effects.
The researchers, from the Institute for Cancer Therapeutics at the University of Bradford, have published their work in Cancer Research and had it showcased at the recent British Science Festival.
Salk Institute via physorg.com: Are genes our destiny? 'Hidden' code in DNA evolves more rapidly than genetic code, scientists discover
September 16, 2011
A "hidden" code linked to the DNA of plants allows them to develop and pass down new biological traits far more rapidly than previously thought, according to the findings of a groundbreaking study by researchers at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies.
The study, published today in the journal Science, provides the first evidence that an organism's "epigenetic" code - an extra layer of biochemical instructions in DNA - can evolve more quickly than the genetic code and can strongly influence biological traits.
While the study was limited to a single plant species called Arabidopsis thaliana, the equivalent of the laboratory rat of the plant world, the findings hint that the traits of other organisms, including humans, might also be dramatically influenced by biological mechanisms that scientists are just beginning to understand.
Climate/Environment
Agence France Presse via physorg.com: Arctic sea ice shrinks to third lowest area on record (Update)
September 15, 2010
Arctic sea ice melted over the summer to cover the third smallest area on record, US researchers said Wednesday, warning global warming could leave the region ice free in the month of September 2030.
Last week, at the end of the spring and summer "melt season" in the Arctic, sea ice covered 4.76 million square kilometers (1.84 million square miles), the University of Colorado's National Snow and Ice Data Center said in an annual report.
"This is only the third time in the satellite record that ice extent has fallen below five million square kilometers (1.93 million square miles), and all those occurrences have been within the past four years," the report said.
Texas A&M via physorg.com: Cities to grab lands equaling size of Mongolia In next 20 years, study says
September 15, 2011
In the next 20 years, more than 590,000 square miles of land globally — more than twice the size of Texas — will be gobbled up by cities, a trend that shows no signs of stopping and one that could pose threats on several levels, says a Texas A&M University geographer who is part of a national team studying the problem.
Burak Güneralp, a research assistant professor in the Department of Geography at Texas A&M, says urban areas are growing faster than urban populations and by 2030, urbanized land worldwide will grow by 590,000 square miles — more than twice the size of Texas, or about the size of Mongolia. He is part of a team that includes three other researchers from Yale, Stanford and Arizona State and their work is published in the journal PloS ONE.
"This massive urbanization of land is happening worldwide, but India, China and Africa have experienced the highest rates of urban land expansion," Güneralp explains. "Our study covered the 30 years from 1970 to 2000, and we found that urban growth is occurring at the highest rates in developing countries. However, it is the North America that experienced the largest increase in total urban land."
Geology
Carnegie Institution via physorg.com: Diamonds show depth extent of Earth's carbon cycle
September 15, 2011
Scientists have speculated for some time that the Earth's carbon cycle extends deep into the planet's interior, but until now there has been no direct evidence. The mantle–Earth's thickest layer –is largely inaccessible. A team of researchers analyzed diamonds that originated from the lower mantle at depths of 435 miles (700 kilometers) or more, and erupted to the surface in volcanic rocks called kimberlites.
The diamonds contain what are impurities to the gemologist, but are known as mineral inclusions to the geologist. Analysis shows compositions consistent with the mineralogy of oceanic crust. This finding is the first direct evidence that slabs of oceanic crust sank or subducted into the lower mantle and that material, including carbon, is cycled between Earth's surface and depths of hundreds of miles.
The research is published in the September 15, 2011, online Science Express.
NASA/JPL via physorg.com: NASA Mars research helps find buried water on Earth
By Alan Buis
September 15, 2011
A NASA-led team has used radar sounding technology developed to explore the subsurface of Mars to create high-resolution maps of freshwater aquifers buried deep beneath an Earth desert, in the first use of airborne sounding radar for aquifer mapping.
The research may help scientists better locate and map Earth's desert aquifers, understand current and past hydrological conditions in Earth's deserts and assess how climate change is impacting them. Deserts cover roughly 20 percent of Earth's land surface, including highly populated regions in the Arabian Peninsula, North Africa, west and central Asia and the southwestern United States.
Psychology/Behavior
UCLA via physorg.com: Psychologists discover a gene's link to optimism, self-esteem
By Stuart Wolpert
September 14, 2011
UCLA life scientists have identified for the first time a particlular gene's link to optimism, self-esteem and "mastery," the belief that one has control over one's own life -- three critical psychological resources for coping well with stress and depression.
"I have been looking for this gene for a few years, and it is not the gene I expected," said Shelley E. Taylor, a distinguished professor of psychology at UCLA and senior author of the new research. "I knew there had to be a gene for these psychological resources."
The research is currently available in the online edition of the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) and will appear in a forthcoming print edition.
The gene Taylor and her colleagues identified is the oxytocin receptor gene (OXTR). Oxytocin is a hormone that increases in response to stress and is associated with good social skills such as empathy and enjoying the company of others.
University of Edinburgh (UK) via physorg.com: Study: Self-delusion may be a winning survival strategy
September 14, 2011
Harbouring a mistakenly inflated belief that we can easily meet challenges or win conflicts is actually good for us, a new study suggests.
Researchers have shown for the first time that overconfidence actually beats accurate assessments in a wide variety of situations, be it sport, business or even war.
However, this bold approach also risks wreaking ever-greater havoc. The authors cite the 2008 financial crash and the 2003 Iraq war as just two examples of when extreme overconfidence backfired.
PhysOrg: Research team develops mathematical model to explain harmony in music
by Bob Yirka
September 12, 2011
(PhysOrg.com) -- Bernardo Spagnolo of the University of Palermo in Italy and his Russian colleagues have developed a model that they believe explains why it is we humans hear some notes as harmonious, and others as dissonant. The team, as described in their paper in Physical Review Letters, say that such harmony can be explained by our auditory neural system.
Most people can hear the difference between harmony and general noise. It’s evident in a guitar chord: strike the notes C, E and G together and you get the familiar C Major Chord, so often heard in popular music. Mess up one note though, and everyone will wince. The same can be seen watching American (or other country) Idol; not when a contestant singing A cappella goes off key, but when a singer hits (or misses) a note that harmonizes with a note played on an accompanying instrument.
There have been many theories suggested over the years as to how and why we hear some groupings of notes as pleasing and others as wrong, or off. Some have suggested that our brains simply receive a stream of notes and make of it what we will. Spagnolo et al, however, disagree, and they have a model that they say proves it.
University of California, Berkeley, via medicalxpress.com: Tinnitus discovery could lead to new ways to stop the ringing
September 12, 2011
Neuroscientists at the University of California, Berkeley, are offering hope to the 10 percent of the population who suffer from tinnitus – a constant, often high-pitched ringing or buzzing in the ears that can be annoying and even maddening, and has no cure.
Their new findings, published online last week in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, suggest several new approaches to treatment, including retraining the brain, and new avenues for developing drugs to suppress the ringing.
"This work is the most clearheaded documentation to this point of what's actually happening in the brain's cortex in ways that account for the ongoing genesis of sound," said Michael Merzenich, professor emeritus of otolaryngology at UC San Francisco and inventor of the cochlear implant, who was not involved with the research. "As soon as I read the paper, I said, 'Of course!' It was immediately obvious that this is almost certainly the true way to think about it."
Monash University (Australia) via phyorg.com: Keeping tabs on Skynet
September 12, 2011
In line with the predictions of science fiction, computers are getting smarter. Now, scientists are on the way to devising a test to ascertain how close Artificial Intelligence (AI) is coming to matching wits with us, and if it’s drawing ahead.
Associate Professor David Dowe of Monash University’s Faculty of Information Technology, together with Dr Jose Hernandez-Orallo from Universitat Politecnica de Valencia in Spain have developed and conducted initial trials of a prototype Anytime Universal Intelligence test designed to gauge and compare the intelligence of humans, animals, machines, and, in principle, anything.
Both humans and an AI program known as Q-Learning undertook different versions of the test, with considerable work on adapting the interface necessary before animals can be tested. Despite not being a sophisticated program, Q-Learning scored competitively compared with the human participants.
Archeology/Anthropology
University of Leeds (UK) via physorg.com: Seeing beneath the soil to uncover the past
Archaeology is no longer just about digging holes. New research by a team led from the University of Leeds promises to improve the investigation of our heritage from the air.
The work should revolutionize the use of 'state-of-the-art' remote sensing technology, improving the 'hit rate' of aerial archaeology without physically disturbing sites of cultural heritage.
Over half of the archaeological sites in the UK have been detected using aerial photographs. Heritage experts and researchers use these pictures to find where once obvious walls, tracks, ditches and pits are now buried by studying changes to crop growth or soil color.
However, this technique is difficult to use on heavy, clay-like soils because the dense soil structure makes it far harder to spot signs of the past. Even on well-drained soils, where the technique works best, many details of a settlement's layout will be missed.
Agence France Presse via physorg.com: Neanderthals ate shellfish 150,000 years ago: study
September 15, 2011
Neanderthal cavemen supped on shellfish on the Costa del Sol 150,000 years ago, punching a hole in the theory that modern humans alone ate brain-boosting seafood so long ago, a new study shows. The discovery in a cave near Torremolinos in southern Spain was about 100,000 years older than the previous earliest evidence of Neanderthals consuming seafood.
Neanderthal cavemen supped on shellfish on the Costa del Sol 150,000 years ago, punching a hole in the theory that modern humans alone ate brain-boosting seafood so long ago, a new study shows.
Summit County Voice: Archaeology: Where did the Neanderthals go?
Cambridge researchers say they were simply outnumbered by modern Homo sapiens moving north from Africa
By Bob Berwyn
Posted on September 17, 2011
SUMMIT COUNTY — After puzzling over the disappearance of European Neanderthals for decades, researchers at Cambridge University say they’ve discovered why they were displaced about 40,000 years ago.
The answer, it turns out, isn’t all that complicated. The Neanderthals simply were outnumbered by modern humans arriving from Africa, who simply swarmed the region with more than 10 times the populations of the Neanderthal inhabitants.
N.Y. Times: Into the Stone Age With a Scalpel: A Dig With Clues on Early Urban Life
By SUSANNE FOWLER
Published: September 7, 2011
CATALHOYUK, TURKEY — A pair of space-age shelters rising from the beet and barley fields of the flat Konya Plain are the first clue to the Catalhoyuk Research Project, where archaeologists are excavating a 9,000-year-old Neolithic village.
The experts, armed with scalpels, gingerly scraped away micro-layers of white plaster from a wall deep in the dig last month to reveal what the project director, the British archaeologist Ian Hodder, called a “very exciting” and “particularly intriguing” painting with deep reds and reddish oranges thought to be made with red ochre and cinnabar.
Sydney Morning Herald (Australia): Respect for London's elders
September 10, 2011
If you think the Tower is the city's oldest site, think again. Simon Webb reveals mysterious locations that predate the Romans.
Visitors to London, as well as many of those who live in the city, assume it has little to offer in the way of historical remains much older than the Tower of London or Westminster Abbey, both of which are about 1000 years old.
But the city's history goes back much further. Indeed, the Tower of London is a mere youngster compared with the oldest man-made structure in central London, which predates it by an astonishing 5000 years. But more on it later.
LiveScience: Visible Only From Above, Mystifying 'Nazca Lines' Discovered in Mideast
By Owen Jarus
They stretch from Syria to Saudi Arabia, can be seen from the air but not the ground, and are virtually unknown to the public.
They are the Middle East's own version of the Nazca Lines — ancient "geolyphs," or drawings, that span deserts in southern Peru — and now, thanks to new satellite-mapping technologies, and an aerial photography program in Jordan, researchers are discovering more of them than ever before. They number well into the thousands.
Referred to by archaeologists as "wheels," these stone structures have a wide variety of designs, with a common one being a circle with spokes radiating inside. Researchers believe that they date back to antiquity, at least 2,000 years ago. They are often found on lava fields and range from 82 feet to 230 feet (25 meters to 70 meters) across.
LiveScience: Bones of Roman-Era Babies Killed at Birth Reveal a Mystery
By Wynne Parry
LiveScience.com – Tue, Sep 13, 2011
The bones spent close to a century in 35 small boxes meant to hold loose cigarettes and shotgun cartridges, each box big enough to hold the complete skeleton of one infant. Then Jill Eyers found them in a museum archive.
"It was quite heart-rending, really, to open all these little cigarette boxes and find babies inside," said Eyers, an archaeologist and director of Chiltern Archaeology in England. "But they kept very well over 100 years."
These remains were already ancient by the time they were excavated from the English countryside in 1912 and put into boxes. Eyers estimates they are now about 1,800 years old, dating back to the time when England was part of the Roman Empire.
Delaware Coast Press: Original vacationers left artifacts
Written by Michael Morgan
Sep 14, 2011
When Francis Jordan, a businessman who specialized in importing chemicals, visited the north shore of Rehoboth Bay in 1868, he found "there was no visible habitation within five miles ... except a rough plank shed erected by the fraternity of sportsmen as a shelter during the autumn." Jordan, however, discovered a level stretch of ground that ran for about three-quarters of a mile before it ended a little north of Rehoboth Bay. Punctuating the hard-packed earth were a series of small, intriguing conical shell mounds that piqued Jordan's curiosity.
Jordan did not return for a thorough investigation of the coastal shell mounds until 1879. In the interval, Rehoboth Beach had been established, and hotels and cottages had been constructed a short distance from the mounds, but the small piles of shells remained intact. When Jordan dug into the mounds, he found "mingled with the mollusks fragments of pottery in large quantities, celts, arrowheads, and a variety of other stone implements and ornaments, the bones of animals and many pieces of calcined stone."
Tel Aviv University (Israel) via physorg.com: Seaside fortress was a final stronghold of early Islamic power
September 15, 2011
Archaeologists have long known that Yavneh-Yam, an archaeological site between the Israeli cities of Tel Aviv and Ashdod on the Mediterranean coast, was a functioning harbor from the second millennium B.C. until the Middle Ages. Now Tel Aviv University researchers have uncovered evidence to suggest that the site was one of the final strongholds of Early Islamic power in the region.
According to Prof. Moshe Fischer of TAU's Department of Archaeology and Near Eastern Cultures and head of the Yavneh-Yam dig, the recent discovery of a bath house from the Early Islamic period which made use of Roman techniques such as heated floors and walls, indicates that Arabic rulers maintained control of the site up until the end of the Early Islamic period in the 12th century AD. Considered alongside other datable artefacts — such as pottery, oil lamps and rare glass weights — this architectural feature demonstrates that Arabic control was maintained in Yavneh-Yam at a time when 70 percent of the surrounding land was in the hands of Christian crusaders.
Discovery News via MSNBC: Did zombies roam medieval Ireland? Sleep on it
Archaeological digs unearth skeletons with large stones wedged into their mouths
By Rossella Lorenzi
Two early medieval skeletons were unearthed recently in Ireland with large stones wedged into their mouths — evidence, archaeologists say, that it was feared the individuals would rise from their graves like zombies.
The skeletons, which were featured in a British documentary last week, emerged during a series of digs carried out between 2005 and 2009 at Kilteasheen, near Loch Key in Ireland, by a team of archaeologists led by Chris Read from the Institute of Technology in Sligo, Ireland and Thomas Finan from the University of St. Louis.
Associated Press via Art Daily: Israeli lifeguard Avi Afia rescues sunken treasure from the Mediterranean sea near Tel Aviv
By: Daniel Estrin, Associated Press
JERUSALEM (AP).- Israeli lifeguards plunged into the Mediterranean sea this month on an unusual rescue mission: to pull out an ancient ship's anchor.
Lifeguard Avi Afia first spotted the tip of the anchor on a daily swim five years ago. It was peeking out from the sandy ocean floor about 150 feet (60 meters) from the coast.
It wasn't until this month that the sands shifted to reveal the treasure in its entirety: a nearly 7-foot (2.1 meter), 650-pound (300 kilogram) iron anchor, probably a spare in the belly of a Byzantine ship that crashed and sank in a storm about 1,700 years ago, said archaeologist Jacob Sharvit of Israel's Antiquities Authority.
The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Mystery boat discovered in Lake Monroe
By TOM KNOX, Business writer
DEBARY -- Archaeologist Jeff Moates had zero visibility as he dived into the brown water of Lake Monroe in search of a submerged shipwreck.
It was difficult to spot as he couldn't even see his hand an inch away from his face.
The picture was much clearer, though, on the 23-foot SeaCraft boat that Moates dived off last Wednesday. As he swam, extending his flippers to feel for where the boat should be, the crew on the boat followed his every movement.
The Baltimore Sun via physorg.com: Archaeologists in Maryland say they have found long-sought Zekiah Fort
By Frank D. Roylance, The Baltimore Sun
September 16, 2011
Archaeologists in southern Maryland say they have solved a mystery that has baffled historians since at least the 1930s. They say they have found Zekiah Fort.
The fort was established in 1680 by Gov. Charles Calvert, the third Lord Baltimore, for the protection of the Piscataway people and other Maryland Indian groups that were the targets of raids by "foreign" Susquehannock and Seneca warriors from the north.
Five weeks of digging this spring and summer, led by St. Mary's College of Maryland anthropologist Julia King, have turned up Indian pottery mixed with glass trade beads, arrowheads fashioned from English brass, gun parts and a silver belt hanger for an English sword.
The News Journal (Delaware): Archaeologists begin intricate task of saving DeBraak's hull
Written by MOLLY MURRAY
The News Journal
12:14 AM, Sep. 8, 2011
The musket balls, once at the ready for an 18th century sea battle, are vacuum packed in the same plastic bags home cooks use to store leftovers.
The socks, a little stained, but otherwise perfect -- are spread out in acid-free boxes.
And the bilge pump rests in a specially built roller cart.
But the one piece of the 18th century HMS DeBraak -- raised from the sea floor off Lewes in the summer of 1986 -- that hasn't been carefully conserved and preserved is the largest of some 20,000 artifacts: the giant section of the 85-foot long vessel's hull.
Hat/Tip to annetteboardman, who sent in the above articles.
Physics
University of California, San Diego, via physorg.com: Endgame for the Higgs Boson
By Susan Brown
September 14, 2011
The last missing piece of scientists’ fundamental model of particle physics is running out of places to hide.
That piece, an elementary particle called the Higgs boson that is thought to give all matter mass, has evaded detection so far. But physicists working at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) near Geneva, Switzerland, including a contingent of more than two dozen scientists from the University of California, San Diego, have ruled out most of the range of masses the Higgs could have, leaving just a narrow span where the elusive particle might be found.
“If it exists, it has to be there. And if it’s not there, it will be known to be science fiction by December,” Vivek Sharma, a physics professor at UC San Diego told Science NOW. Sharma coordinates the international team searching for Higgs boson with the CMS detector, one of two large instruments deployed in the search. The other is called ATLAS.
Chemistry
Purdue University via phyorg.com: Study finds more effective way to dry ethanol, reduce costs
By Brian Wallheimer
September 14, 2011
Purdue University researchers have found an alternative environmentally friendly and energy-efficient way to dry corn ethanol, and their proof is in the pudding.
Michael Ladisch, a distinguished professor of agricultural and biological engineering; Youngmi Kim, a Purdue research scientist; and Ahmad Hilaly, director of process research at Archer Daniels Midland, found that the shape and structure of tapioca pearls are ideal for removing water from ethanol. Their findings were reported in the July issue of the journal Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research.
After fermentation, ethanol contains between 6 percent and 12 percent water, which must be removed to make it fuel-grade. Many ethanol plants use corn grits, which absorb water, or molecular sieves, silica-based particles with tiny pores that only retain water molecules. Ladisch and Kim found that tapioca pearls work better than the conventional corn grit adsorbents.
RIKEN (Japan) via physorg.com: Building better memories with supramolecular structures that act as tiny magnets
September 16, 2011
In a step towards realizing ultrahigh-density storage devices based on individual molecules behaving as magnets, researchers in Japan have developed a candidate building block -- a supramolecular ferromagnet, which is a caged molecule with magnetic properties. The Japanese research team was led by Takuzo Aida at the RIKEN Advanced Science Institute, Wako, and Kentaro Tashiro at the National Institute for Materials Science, Tsukuba.
Energy
PhysOrg: New 'Koomey’s Law' of power efficiency parallels Moore's Law
By Bob Yirka
September 15, 2011
(PhysOrg.com) -- For most of the computer age, the central theme in computer hardware architecture has been: create more computational power using the same amount of chip space. Intel founder Gordon Moore even came up with a “law” based on what he’d seen up to that point to predict how things would go in the future; that computing power would double every year and a half. Now Jonathan Koomey, a consulting professor at Stanford has led a study that shows that the electrical energy efficiency of computers has been following roughly the same path. He and his colleagues from Microsoft and Intel have published the results of their study in EEE Annals of the History of Computing that shows that the energy efficiency of computers has doubled nearly every eighteen months (now called appropriately enough, Koomey’s Law) going all the way back to the very first computers built in the 1950’s.
This is not the first time Koomey’s name has been in the news, just last month he was the lead author of a paper that showed that electricity consumed by data centers in the U.S. and around the world grew at a slower pace (from 2005 to 2010) than had been predicted by a 2007 U.S. EPA report. This time around, Koomey, in collaboration, with Intel and Microsoft has been studying how much electricity is used relative to processing power, by computers in a historical context. Way back in 1956, for example, ENIAC, one of the first true computers, used approximately 150 kilowatts of electricity to perform just a few hundred calculations per second.
Science, Space, Environment, and Energy Policy
Agence France Presse via phyorg.com: Lawmakers question WHouse role in wireless project
September 17, 2011
Republican lawmakers say the White House may have tried to push through a company's proposed wireless network despite objections from the military that the project could disrupt vital satellite navigation systems.
Lawmakers this week raised fresh questions about the proposed network by Virginia-based Lightsquared, a firm backed by billionaire Philip Falcone, a prominent donor to Obama's Democratic party.
At a hearing Thursday of the House of Representatives strategic forces subcommittee, the Republican chairman, Michael Turner, said he would request that the House Oversight Committee investigate whether the company received special treatment from the White House or federal regulators.
Science Education
The Daily Sundial: Anthropology student becomes an archaeologist for the summer
By Kristina Sanborn
Hours go by in the hot summer sun, digging and screening for bits and pieces of archaeological gold. Fieldwork for the day comes to a close and team members, caked with sweat and dirt, seek relief from the desert heat with sun-showers, which are merely 5-gallon hanging solar insulated bags of water.
“We laughed about our misery,” said Silva Boghosian, as she described the “full-on primitive camping” she experienced during her first archaeological fieldwork class in Utah this summer.
“We laughed about our misery,” said Silva Boghosian, as she described the “full-on primitive camping” she experienced during her first archaeological fieldwork class in Utah this summer.
The Daily Sundial is the student newspaper of one of my alma maters, Cal State Northridge, or CSUN, where I received my M.S. in Geology.
Calcutta News: Museum study, conservation - new-age career options
Calcutta News.Net
Saturday 17th September, 2011
(IANS) Growing awareness about art and culture is opening up new education avenues like museology, conservation and art history for Indian youngsters with a flair for aesthetics and love for the land's millennia-old heritage.
Museums are moving out of the confines of centralised institutions to connect to people, entrepreneurs are investing in art galleries and the government is stepping up initiative to preserve heritage.
In the last decade, heritage studies have become increasingly popular with rising awareness about museology, the study of museums, said C.V. Ananda Bose, vice-chancellor of the National Museum Institute (NMI), a premier heritage education centre here.
Hat/Tip to annetteboardman for this story.
Science Writing and Reporting
PhysOrg: PHD Comics hits the big screen
by Deborah Braconnier
September 16, 2011
(PhysOrg.com) -- If you are a graduate student, you are more than likely aware of the popular Piled Higher and Deeper, or PHD, Comics created by Jorge Cham. These comics cover the everyday struggles that scientists face while in grad school in a humorous and accurate depiction.
For the last year, grad students around the world have found themselves missing their regular comics, it now appears that creator Jorge Cham had a very good reason for the comic going MIA. He has been working with a team of grad students from California Institute of Technology, or Caltech, to create a live-action film where the characters of his comic strip come alive.
Science is Cool
L.A. Times: Mexico aims to make end of Maya calendar a starter for tourism
Hollywood depicts the Maya calendar's end as a cataclysmic event. But top Mexican tourism officials are betting an invitation to see Maya ruins will attract hordes of older, wealthier U.S. visitors.
By Hugo Martin, Los Angeles Times
September 17, 2011
The ancient Maya calendar ends Dec. 21, 2012, and Hollywood has wasted no time portraying the coming date as the trigger of a worldwide cataclysm.
But in Mexico, where drug violence has hobbled the nation's $70-billion tourism industry, government leaders hope to counter Tinseltown's doomsday scenario by promoting 2012 as the year of the tourist.
Several of Mexico's top tourism officials have been making the rounds in their northern neighbor, betting that an invitation to see Maya ruins will attract hordes of older, wealthier U.S. visitors keen on Mexican culture.
Hat/Tip to annetteboardman for this story.