Clipmarks |

Dead Sea Scrolls go from parchment to the Internet

Wed, 27 Aug 2008 23:07:08 GMT

clipped by: arifsali

JERUSALEM (CNN) -- More than 2,000 years after they were written, the Dead Sea Scrolls are going digital as part of an effort to better preserve the ancient texts and let more people see them than ever before.

The high-tech initiative, announced Wednesday, will also reveal text that was not visible to the naked eye.

Over the next two years, the Israel Antiquities Authority will digitally photograph and scan every bit of crumbling parchment and papyrus that makes up the scrolls, which include the oldest written record of the Bible's Old Testament.

The images eventually will be posted on the Internet for anyone to see.

Tags: bible, internet

Michael Phelps: ‘Naturally’ transhuman

Wed, 27 Aug 2008 11:37:25 GMT

clipped by: wildcat
clipper's remarks: * He has proportionately short legs relative to his long, powerful trunk; this large upper body is the engine that powers his long arms. Moreover, his unique physique reduces drag through the water and allows for maximum propulsion.
* Phelps has a greater-than-average lung capacity allowing him to execute his underwater dolphin kicks longer than the competition.
* He has a genetic advantage that cause his muscles to produce 50% less lactic acid than other athletes. This means he can work at higher work loads for longer periods.
* With a low body fat of 4%, he is better able to convert his effort into speed.

Looking at this list it’s as if Phelps was designed to swim.

Which leads to an interesting question: Given the potential for genetic modification and gene doping, should it be acceptable for other athletes to acquire the same physiological endowments through artificial means?

If not, what makes it so acceptable to come by these traits ‘naturally?’ And how

Clip Source: ieet.org

Watching Michael Phelps swim you quickly realize that he’s not like the others. He’s clearly in a league of his own.

Or more accurately, he’s swimming in a genetic pool of his own. Phelps has a number of fortuitous physical endowments that have enabled him to dominate like no other. Simply put, he is the perfect swimmer.

Here’s what Phelps has going for him:

Most people have a wingspan that matches their height. Not Phelps. He may be 6’4” tall, but his arms extend outward to a total of 6’7”.

The average shoe size for a person the size of Phelps is 12; he wears a size 14 which gives him a 10% advantage over the competition.

He also has a larger than average hand size which allows him to move more water.

Phelps is double-jointed in the chest area; this enables him to extend his arms higher above his head and pull down at an angle that increases his efficiency through the water by as much as 20%; this also allows him to have quicker starts and turns.

Tags: natural, transhuman

Natural Fashion

Wed, 27 Aug 2008 20:56:17 GMT

clipped by: JohnWaterman
clipper's remarks: The art of the people of the Omo Valley

Clip Source: www.everyoneforever.com

"This unique art (shot by Hans Silvester) of the African Surma and Mursi tribes of the Omo Valley. These nomadic people have no architecture or crafts with which to express their innate artistic sense. Instead, they use their bodies as canvases and adorning themselves with materials obtained from their surroundings such as flowers, leaves, grasses, berries and branches which seems endlessly inventive, and above all, fun"

Clip Source: www.dailymail.co.uk

Clip Source: taintball.blogspot.com

Clip Source: www.lamaisonpresbastille.com

Clip Source: www.livresphotos.com

Clip Source: www.lamaisonpresbastille.com

Hans Silvester
biographie

Clip Source: www.amazon.co.uk

Natural Fashion: Tribal Decoration from Africa (Hardcover)

by Hans Silvester (Author)

£12.97 & eligible for Free UK delivery on orders over £15 with Super Saver Delivery. See details and conditions

New twist on generating hydroelectricity

Wed, 27 Aug 2008 07:02:19 GMT

clipped by: pokkets

Clip Source: www.abc.net.au

Eric Bland

An former steel town in the US may soon turn its local river into a source of power by using a grid of electricity-generating smart materials.

The town of Vandergrift, Pennsylvania, is planing to line the bottom of the Kiskiminetas River with tiny electric generators, which it hopes will generate between 20% to 40% of the city's electricity supply.

"Vandergrift is trying to be the model green town," says Assistant Professor Lisa Weiland, a scientist at the University of Pittsburgh

sustainable power will most likely come from a grid of undulating strips made of polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF), a material that generates a slight electrical current when it is moved, in this case, by the currents and eddies in the Kiskiminetas River.

the resulting electrical current would pass to small substations along the river's edge

"There are other materials that give better performance or have higher energy densities

But we're willing to sacrifice a little power to keep the ecosystem happy."

Stunning Garden Sculptures by Bruno Torfs

Thu, 28 Aug 2008 03:38:56 GMT

clipped by: willhelm

Clip Source: www.lifeinthefastlane.ca

Archaeologists unearth ancient tribe in Peru

Wed, 27 Aug 2008 20:48:01 GMT

clipped by: boozich

Clip Source: www.mailonsunday.co.uk

Piercing blue eyes undimmed by the passing of 1,300 years, this is the Lady of the Mask – a mummy whose discovery could reveal the secrets of a lost culture.

She was found by archaeologists excavating a pyramid in Peru’s capital city Lima,
alongside two other adult mummies and the sacrificial remains of a child.

It is the first time a tomb from the region’s Wari culture has been discovered intact and gives historians the chance to pin down exactly how the pre-Incas buried their dead.

The mummy - assumed to be a noblewoman because of the ornate mask - was found in a crouching position surrounded by ceramics and textiles associated with female weavers.

Earlier in the week, workers at the Huaca Pucllana site removed two adult mummies found lying near the lady of the mask.

Archaeologists have been excavating the area for three years and while they found plenty of artefacts, the 30 other tombs uncovered had been looted.