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35,000 Year Old Ivory Carving Found

Thu, 14 May 2009 14:42:57 GMT

Ivory sculpture in Germany could be world's oldest

BERLIN – A 35,000-year-old ivory carving of a busty woman found in a German cave was unveiled Wednesday by archaeologists who believe it is the oldest known sculpture of the human form. The carving found in six fragments in Germany's Hohle Fels cave depicts a woman with a swollen belly, wide-set thighs and large, protruding breasts.

"It's the oldest known piece of figurative sculpture in the world," said Jill Cook, a curator of Paleolithic and Mesolithic material at the British Museum in London.

Tags: archaeology

Writer's Cramp Revealed on Brain Scan

Wed, 15 Apr 2009 19:07:50 GMT

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Clip Source: news.yahoo.com

Brain Scans Reveal Secrets of 'Writer's Cramp'

By Alan Mozes

HealthDay Reporter

WEDNESDAY, April 15 (HealthDay News) -- A team of French researchers has linked abnormalities in certain neural pathways of the brain to the debilitating muscle disorder known as "writer's cramp."

The finding could lead to a better understanding of the neurological basis for the resulting loss of muscle control and coordination that characterizes this difficult-to-diagnose disorder -- also known as "hand dystonia." The condition can render a patient unable to write or even maintain a functional grip when trying to perform a simple task.

Shakespeare Portrait Revealed

Mon, 09 Mar 2009 18:29:29 GMT

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Clip Source: news.yahoo.com

The Bard? Portrait said to be Shakespeare unveiled

LONDON – Scholars studying the life and times of William Shakespeare unveiled a portrait Monday believed to be the only authentic image of the Bard painted during his lifetime.

Experts at the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust believe the painting was used as the basis for the enduring engraving of Shakespeare that graces the cover of the First Folio collection of his plays.

"What makes it so important is that it's a portrait of William Shakespeare made during his lifetime," he said. "We think it was painted in 1610 and several copies of it were made early on, including the engraving. So our portrait is the primary version of one of the greatest portraits of Shakespeare."

The other images were all made after Shakespeare's death in 1616, he said, making the newly unveiled portrait unique.

Rare Egyptian Mummy Discovered

Wed, 11 Feb 2009 16:12:26 GMT

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Clip Source: news.yahoo.com

Egypt finds rare intact mummy near Saqqara pyramid

SAQQARA, Egypt (Reuters) – Egyptian archaeologists found a rare intact mummy dating to pharaonic times when they opened a sealed limestone sarcophagus on Wednesday in the shadow of the world's oldest standing step pyramid at Saqqara.

The well-preserved mummy, which escaped plunder by thieves in ancient times, could contain scores of gold amulets in the folds of its linen wrappings, Egypt's chief archeologist Zahi Hawass said.

"It is a typical mummy of the 26th dynasty...This mummy should contain amulets, golden amulets, to help the deceased go to the afterlife," Hawass told reporters after ascending from the mummy's burial chamber, accessible only by a rope pulley.

"To find an intact mummy inside a limestone sarcophagus is not common. It's rare. It's very rare," he said.

Tags: archaeology

New England's First Gold LEED Certified Library

Fri, 09 Jan 2009 20:41:42 GMT

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Clip Source: www.acorn-online.com

Library of the future: $24-million Darien Library opens Saturday

Thursday, January 08, 2009

It’s not just the construction and design that make this a library of the future — the building itself is impressive — but the attitude and new vision led by director Louise Berry. The Dewey Decimal system we grew up with is replaced by books organized by subject. There is no librarian stuck behind a desk to check out your books and media because there are four self-check-out stations allowing librarians to be among the stacks helping and talking to you.

“The idea is the libraries of the future are not warehouses of books,” Berry said.

The building, designed by Peter Gisolfi of Peter Gisolfi Assoc. of Hastings-on-Hudson, N.Y., uses a geothermal heating and cooling system. There are also sensors that can tell if a room is being used and control its temperature. The Darien Library is the first Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Gold library in New England.

Tags: library, libraries, environment, conservation, books

White Lion Cubs Born in Zoo

Mon, 15 Dec 2008 16:19:49 GMT

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Clip Source: news.yahoo.com

Two rare white lion cubs born in Belgrade zoo

BELGRADE (AFP) – Staff at Belgrade Zoo showed off two white lion cubs to the public on Sunday, the first of their rare species to be born here.

The cubs' mother was also white lioness, Masa, while their father is a regular-color lion, said zoo manager Vuk Bojovic while briefly showing them to visitors. White lions are not a separate species nor are they albino.

The genetically rare cubs, unique to the Timbavati area of South Africa, were born on Tuesday.

White lions are extremely rare in the wild because although they are considered divine by local people, they are also highly prized by hunters. A 2004 study counted only 30 of them in the African wild.

In a bid to preserve their population, they have been bred selectively for generations in zoos across the world.

1,000+ New Species Discovered

Mon, 15 Dec 2008 15:56:40 GMT

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Clip Source: news.yahoo.com

More than 1,000 species discovered in Mekong: WWF

BANGKOK (AFP) – Scientists have discovered more than 1,000 species in Southeast Asia's Greater Mekong region in the past decade, including a spider as big as a dinner plate, the World Wildlife Fund said Monday.

A rat thought to have become extinct 11 million years ago and a cyanide-laced, shocking pink millipede were among creatures found in what the group called a "biological treasure trove".

The species were all found in the rainforests and wetlands along the Mekong River, which flows through Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam and the southern Chinese province of Yunnan.

The WWF report, "First Contact in the Greater Mekong", said that "between 1997 and 2007, at least 1,068 have been officially described by science as being newly discovered species."

"We thought discoveries of this scale were confined to the history books."

Elephangs Live Longer in Wild than Zoos

Fri, 12 Dec 2008 17:03:52 GMT

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clipper's remarks: They needed a study to tell them this?!

Clip Source: news.yahoo.com

Study: Elephants live longer in wild than zoos

By RANDOLPH E. SCHMID, AP Science Writer Randolph E. Schmid, Ap Science Writer

Thu Dec 11, 9:23 pm ET

WASHINGTON – Zoo elephants don't live as long as those in the wild, according to a study sure to stir debate about keeping the giant animals on display. Researchers compared the life spans of elephants in European zoos with those living in Amboseli National Park in Kenya and others working on a timber enterprise in Myanmar. Animals in the wild or in natural working conditions had life spans twice that or more of their relatives in zoos.

Animal care activists have campaigned in recent years to discourage keeping elephants in zoos, largely because of the lack of space and small numbers of animals that can be kept in a group. Debates have been especially vocal in Dallas and Los Angeles.

Extinction Woes

Tue, 09 Dec 2008 16:27:17 GMT

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Clip Source: news.yahoo.com

21 new species in danger of extinction: UN convention

ROME (AFP) – Twenty-one animal species, including the cheetah, three dolphin families and an Egyptian vulture, were added to the list of those in danger of extinction by a UN conference that ended Friday.

Six other bird species as well as manatees have also been placed on the list of animals benefiting from increased protections, called list I.

In addition, next year has been proclaimed the "year of the gorilla" to help the survival of threatened species.

Several types of sharks have been placed on the so-called list II of threatened species, including two families of Mako sharks in the Mediterranean whose population have fallen off by 96 percent in recent years due to overfishing.

The conference also adopted a resolution that aims to reduce noise pollution in oceans caused by increases in vessels, more seismic surveys and a new generation of military sonars.

Leap Second Added to 2008

Tue, 09 Dec 2008 16:24:40 GMT

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Clip Source: news.yahoo.com

Wait a second: 2008 gets extended by timekeepers

WASHINGTON – With a brutal economic slowdown, 2008 may feel as if it will never end. Now the world's timekeepers are making it even longer by adding a leap second to the last day of the year.

Along with the economy, the Earth itself is slowing down, requiring timekeepers to add an extra second to their atomic clocks to keep in sync with Earth's slightly slowing rotation. So an extra second will be tacked on to Dec. 31 after 6:59:59 p.m. and before 7 p.m. Eastern Standard Time.

That extra second will make 2008 — already long with an extra day on Feb. 29 — the longest year since 1992.

The world started adding leap seconds in 1972, sometimes twice a year. This is first leap second since Dec. 31, 2005. This is the fourth year to have a leap day and a leap second.

Largest Extinct Reptile

Thu, 04 Dec 2008 20:34:54 GMT

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Clip Source: news.yahoo.com

Ancient Flying Reptile Bigger Than a Car

A fossil of a toothless flying pterosaur, with a body bigger than some family cars, represents the largest of these extinct reptiles ever to be found and has forced the creation of a new genus, scientists announced today.

Pterosaurs ruled the skies 115 million years ago during the dinosaur age. They are often mistaken for dinosaurs.

Mark Witton of the University of Portsmouth identified the creature from a partial skull fossil. Witton estimates the beast would have had a 5.5-yard (5-meter) wingspan. It stood more than a yard (about 1 meter) tall at the shoulder.

Witton has christened the new species Lacusovagus, meaning "lake wanderer," after the large body of water in which the remains were buried. The findings are detailed in the November issue of the journal Palaeontology.

Adopt A Kaola

Wed, 03 Dec 2008 18:44:08 GMT

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Clip Source: news.yahoo.com

Forgot socks, adopt a koala for Christmas

By Pauline Askin Pauline Askin

SYDNEY (Reuters) – They're cute, they're cuddly and, in these times of financial woe, they make an affordable festive gift that's also good for the soul -- adopt a rescued koala.

The "Adopt a Wild Koala Program" has been in operation for 15 years and is a major source of funding for The Koala Hospital, the world's only medical facility dedicated to the care and preservation of the animals.

The annual cost of adopting a koala is A$40 (17 pounds) within Australia and A$50 (21 pounds) from overseas, which the hospital said goes towards the rescue and treatment of sick and injured koalas, the release of treated animals back into the wild, as well as the preservation and expansion of their habitat.

Adopters receive a certificate, a photograph of the animal, the story of how it ended up in the hospital as well as stickers and booklets about koalas and the hospital.

Oceans Noisier b/c of Greenhouse Gases

Wed, 03 Dec 2008 18:42:57 GMT

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Clip Source: news.yahoo.com

Greenhouse gases make oceans noisier: UN, wildlife groups

ROME (AFP) – Greenhouse gases worsen ocean noise by raising acidity levels and causing sound to travel farther, making it ever harder for marine mammals to communicate, UN and wildlife experts said Wednesday.

"Acidity is a new, strange and unwanted development... for a whole range of marine animals," Mark Simmonds of the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society told a news conference.

"Noisy activities are producing an acoustic fog that prevents whales from maintaining social groups, finding each other for breeding purposes, and so forth," Simmonds said.

How Did Turtles Get Their Shell?

Wed, 03 Dec 2008 18:42:04 GMT

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Clip Source: news.yahoo.com

Shell game: How the turtle got its home

PARIS (AFP) – A stunningly intact 220-million-year-old fossil found in southwestern China appears to have settled a long-simmering debate over reptile evolution: how did turtles get their shell?

In a study to be published Thursday, scientists report on the discovery of a missing-link species -- Odontochelys semitestacea, for "toothed, half-shell turtle" -- whose outer shell emerged directly from the ribs and backbone and not from the skin, as some have argued.

The find also suggests that turtles originated in water rather than on land, and pushes back the group's first known appearance on Earth by some 10 million years.

Ancient Insent Imprint Found

Wed, 03 Dec 2008 18:40:29 GMT

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Ancient insect imprint found in Massachusetts

By Gene Emery Gene Emery

NORTH ATTLEBORO, Massachusetts (Reuters) – U.S. researchers say they have discovered what appears to be the oldest imprint of a prehistoric insect, made while the dragonfly-like creature was still alive.

"It's not a dragonfly but picture a dragonfly-like body. We're looking at something related, maybe a mayfly. They have the same body plan," said the discoverer, Richard Knecht, a geology student at Tufts University in Massachusetts.

At the time the impression was made, insects and amphibians were common. Reptiles, the ancestors of the dinosaurs, were just beginning to come to prominence.

The imprint found at a rocky outcrop near a large shopping center in North Attleboro, Massachusetts, is believed to have been made by an insect about three inches long as it stood on mud some 312 million years ago.