Clipmarks | Ancient science Clips

Hundreds of New Marine Species Found

Thu, 09 Oct 2008 20:35:43 GMT

clipped by: invictus

Oct. 8, 2008 -- Hundreds of new marine species and previously uncharted undersea mountains and canyons have been discovered in the depths of the Southern Ocean, Australian scientists said Wednesday.

A total of 274 species of fish, ancient corals, mollusks, crustaceans and sponges new to science were found in icy waters up to 9,800 feet deep among extinct volcanoes, they said.

Tags: biology, oceans, marine life, science

1000 Year Old Quake Proof Buildings

Sat, 04 Oct 2008 17:58:06 GMT

clipped by: cakebelly

Clip Source: www.telegraphindia.com

1000-year-old quake-proof architecture
Science seal on ancient houses

(Top and below) The earthquake-resistant buildings in Rajgarhi in Uttarakhand

Dehra Dun, Sept. 21: People in one of India’s most earthquake-prone zones had mastered the art of building multi-level buildings resistant to seismic movement about a thousand years ago, an engineering study of the structures has revealed.

Researchers have found that ancient four-storey and five-storey buildings in Rajgarhi district of Uttarkashi in Uttarakhand reflect a distinct and elaborate style of architecture that allowed them to survive devastating quakes.

Scientists believe the Koti Banal architecture — named after a village in the district — relied on stone-filled solid platforms and judicious use of wood, which offered special advantages over other materials during earthquakes.

The Science of Gossip: Why We Can't Stop Ourselves

Sat, 04 Oct 2008 15:54:38 GMT

clipped by: einbar

Clip Source: www.sciam.com

It helped us thrive in ancient times, and in our modern world it makes us feel connected to others—as long as it is done properly

In recent years researchers have turned to the study of gossip—our predilection for talking about people who are not present. Why is news about others so irresistible?

As it turns out, gossip serves a useful social function in bonding group members together. In the distant past, when humans lived in small bands and meeting strangers was a rare occurrence, gossip helped us survive and thrive.

Our modern-day infatuation with celebrities reveals the ancient evolutionary psychology of gossip in sharp relief: anyone whom we see that often and know that well becomes socially important to us.

Clip Source: www.sciam.com

it may become more productive to think of gossip as a social skill rather than as a character flaw

gossiping is about being a good team player and sharing key information with others in a way that will not be perceived as self-serving and about understanding when to keep your mouth

The Science of Gossip: Why We Can't Stop Ourselves

Wed, 01 Oct 2008 15:10:26 GMT

clipped by: tabsey

Clip Source: www.sciam.com

In recent years researchers have turned to the study of gossip—our predilection for talking about people who are not present. Why is news about others so irresistible?

Our modern-day infatuation with celebrities reveals the ancient evolutionary psychology of gossip in sharp relief: anyone whom we see that often and know that well becomes socially important to us.

n the past few years I have heard more people than ever before puzzling over the 24/7 coverage of people such as Paris Hilton who are “celebrities” for no apparent reason other than we know who they are

And yet we can’t look away. The press about these individuals’ lives continues because people are obviously tuning in

21st-century media and Stone Age minds.

Tags: information

NASA's Roadmap to 2058

Wed, 01 Oct 2008 14:16:19 GMT

clipped by: skwirlinator

Clip Source: www.space.com

50 Years in Space: NASA's Roadmap to 2058

Some Predictions

Now for the uncertainty. Try this out for size, in 2058:

NASA is still around and narrowly focused on exploration and the goal of extending human presence throughout the solar system. The first humans have long since landed on Mars and there is a thriving science colony near the moon's south pole.

Construction has begun on a radio telescope on the moon's far side and the lunar base has been established for years as one of the nation's centers for excellence in fusion and alternative energy research.

While proof of life - ancient and bacteria-sized - exists throughout the solar system, there is still no sign of intelligent life in the universe, not that NASA is looking.

In the meantime, the commercial space world by 2058 has become a major component of the space program, bigger and busier and more productive than NASA and the military combined.

Suborbital hops as thrill rides

Tags: nasa's roadmap to 2058, nasa, space, future, technology

Team finds Earth's 'oldest rocks'

Fri, 26 Sep 2008 16:01:31 GMT

clipped by: arifsali

Clip Source: news.bbc.co.uk

Earth's most ancient rocks, with an age of 4.28 billion years, have been found on the shore of Hudson Bay, Canada.

Writing in Science journal, a team reports finding that a sample of Nuvvuagittuq greenstone is 250 million years older than any rocks known.

It may even hold evidence of activity by ancient life forms.

If so, it would be the earliest evidence of life on Earth - but co-author Don Francis cautioned that this had not been established.

"The rocks contain a very special chemical signature - one that can only be found in rocks which are very, very old," he said.

The professor of geology, who is based at McGill University in Montreal, added: "Nobody has found that signal any place else on the Earth."

"Originally, we thought the rocks were maybe 3.8 billion years old.

"Now we have pushed the Earth's crust back by hundreds of millions of years. That's why everyone is so excited."

Tags: earth, discovery, rock

Rocks May Be Oldest on Earth, Scientists Say

Fri, 26 Sep 2008 15:58:32 GMT

clipped by: hitchhiker08

Clip Source: www.nytimes.com

Rocks May Be Oldest on Earth, Scientists Say

Some scientists say ancient bedrock found in Canada could turn out to be younger rock formed from much older remnants.

A swath of bedrock in northern Quebec may be the oldest known piece of the earth’s crust.

In an article appearing in Friday’s issue of the journal Science, scientists report that portions of that bedrock are 4.28 billion years old, formed when the earth was less than 300 million years old.

Other scientists are intrigued, but not yet entirely convinced that the rocks are quite that old.

“I hope that I’m wrong,” Dr. Mojzsis said. “If that happens, I believe there will be a land rush by geologists to northern Quebec.”

If the rocks are as old as claimed, the significance would be that “they’re not dramatically different from rocks you would find today in Japan or places like that,” Dr. Carlson said.

That suggests that the process of plate tectonics, reshaping and moving continents, could have already started on the very early earth.

Tags: quebec, geology, canada, oldest rocks

Craniosacral Therapy – Healing Through Touch

Thu, 25 Sep 2008 23:35:00 GMT

clipped by: edwardmasen9
clipper's remarks: The main goal that all medicine practices share is to relieve pain and to heal. However, some of the techniques used can be odd, yet effective.

Clip Source: brainblogger.com

The field of medicine and healing encompasses varied techniques that have a common goal — to alleviate suffering and facilitate healing. The last few years have seen a revival of ancient trends in healing — the traditional Chinese science of acupuncture, the holistic techniques of Ayurveda and Naturopathy. Many of the alternative medicine techniques provide an external stimulus to accelerate healing while tapping into and enhancing the body’s healing potential. One such technique is craniosacral therapy (CST) which may be utilized as an adjunct by chiropractors, physical and occupational therapists, and osteopaths. To an onlooker or to one who receives this therapy, it appears relatively simplistic –- the therapist places his or her hands on the patient’s body and begins to move the hands without excess pressure, in a seemingly random fashion.

Tags: body, craniosacral, cst, evidence, goal, hand, healing, medicine, patient, rhythm

Fossil Reef found in Aussie outback

Tue, 23 Sep 2008 05:16:22 GMT

clipped by: pokkets
clipper's remarks: So now they think Animal life evolved 80 million years earlier than we had calculated.
clearly 'Scientific' discoveries are too often base with too little evidence. one of the Basic Principles of "science' is the development of a method and a control where a method can be repeated in an attempt to get similar or 'Identical'- through the imposition of specific qualifications. this can be difficult when most natural situations are unique, or 'one offs'
There's generally no harm in 'looking', we just have to be careful the way we describe what we find

Clip Source: www.abc.net.au

Heather Catchpole

Australian scientists have discovered an ancient reef that may push back the evolution of the earliest animals by 80 million years.

Jonathan Giddings stands next to the 650-million-year-old fossilised layers found in the Northern Flinders Ranges

The unpublished research, by geoscientists Associate Professor Malcolm Wallace, Estee Woon and Jonathan Giddings from the University of Melbourne, will be presented at the Geological Society of Australia's Selwyn Symposium on Thursday.

The researchers say they have uncovered complex organisms that in some ways resemble multicellular life in a large reef located in the Northern Flinders Ranges, 700 kilometres north of Adelaide in South Australia.

A closeup image of the fossiled coral layers from Flinders Ranges (Malcolm Wallace)

If the fossils, which are around 650 million years old, are of multicellular organisms, they would be the earliest examples of primitive animal life discovered so far, the researchers say.

Ancient reef discovered in AUS outback

Tue, 23 Sep 2008 00:43:29 GMT

clipped by: masbury
clipper's remarks: 10 times higher than Great Barrier, older than coral, 650 million years old

Clip Source: www.timesonline.co.uk

Jonathan Giddings on the escarpment of the 650 million year old marine reef discovered in Australia's outback

A 650-million-year-old reef, ten times higher than the Great Barrier Reef, has been discovered in the Australian Outback. Scientists believe that the reef, the only one of its age in the world, may hold evidence of the earliest examples of primitive animal life.

It existed for five to ten million years in a tropical period between two Ice Ages. The next closest-aged series of reefs, about 800 million years old, is in Arctic Canada.

“With the movement over millions of years on Australia’s tectonic plates, the reef has been turned 90 degrees skywards from its once horizontal position,”

would have been 1,100m (3,600ft) at its highest point, ten times higher than the 100m escarpment of the Great Barrier

The whole section can be driven or walked along

the ocean was relatively stagnant at the time and was trapping carbon monoxide

is not made of coral

constructed by microbial organisms

Tags: australia, science

Permafrost that lives up to its name

Mon, 22 Sep 2008 02:01:42 GMT

clipped by: A53GG4

Clip Source: www.nature.com

Permafrost that lives up to its name

Ancient Canadian ice survived previous warm periods.

Hannah Hoag

A 740,000-year-old wedge of ice discovered in central Yukon Territory, Canada, is the oldest known ice in North America. It suggests that permafrost has survived climates warmer than today's, according to a new study.

Undergound ice can last a long timeDuane Froese, University of Alberta

Duane Froese, University of Alberta

"Previously, it was thought that the permafrost had completely disappeared from the interior about 120,000 years ago," says Duane Froese, an earth scientist at the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Canada, who is the author of the study published today in Science¹. "This deep permafrost appears to have been stable for more than 700,000 years, including several periods that were warmer and wetter."

Tags: science

"Muddy Myths sink Queen of the Nile"

Fri, 19 Sep 2008 17:03:33 GMT

clipped by: cakebelly
clipper's remarks: Facts about Cleo:
http://www.abc.net.au/science/articles/2008/09/17/2367156.htm?site=science/greatmomentsinscience&topic=ancient

Clip Source: www.abc.net.au

Muddy myths sink Queen of the Nile

The only carving of Cleopatra in existence, pictured with her son by Julius Caesar, Caesarion, at the Temple of Hathor, Dendara in Egypt (Source: iStockphoto)

The world is fascinated by Cleopatra. Cleopatra (Cleopatra VII to be exact) was the last pharaoh of Egypt — and has inspired books, plays, movies and 32 operas.

Most of us are not experts in Egyptology, but we all think that we know a few things about Cleopatra — something along the lines that this Egyptian woman was stunningly beautiful, and committed suicide by getting a small snake, an asp, to bite her.

The only correct belief in all of that is that she was a woman.

First, Cleopatra was not Egyptian, she was Macedonian.

Alexander The Great (who was from Macedonia) conquered Egypt. After he died in 323 BC, control of Egypt passed to Ptolemy, the son of Lagus, a Macedonian nobleman.

How China's Pollution Sniffers Work

Thu, 11 Sep 2008 21:51:15 GMT

clipped by: fewstingscorpio
clipper's remarks: It all comes down to the old snoot...
Full article:
http://science.howstuffworks.com/pollution-sniffer.htm

Clip Source: science.howstuffworks.com

Inside this Article

To help combat the pollution that has resulted from China's modern industrial boom, an environmental monitoring station in the nation's Guangdong province is turning to an ancient method of detection -- the human sense of smell. Twelve trained professionals have spent their time in laboratories, exposed to a variety of noxious gases that plague the town of Panyu -- due to its plentiful factories and garbage dumps -- in an effort to detect scent profiles.

In this article, we'll learn about how the nose and the human brain detects and differentiates between smells, builds scent profiles or memories, and how scientists are using electronic devices and robots in artificial olfaction.

Global Warming Gallery

Tags: pollution, china, smell, senses, environment

All humans are one family.....literally

Tue, 09 Sep 2008 23:37:56 GMT

clipped by: darkduskx
clipper's remarks: Project tracking human origins from Africa all the way to each distant region of the world.

Clip Source: www3.nationalgeographic.com

A Landmark Study of the Human Journey

Where do you really come from? And how did you get to where you live today? DNA studies suggest that all humans today descend from a group of African ancestors who—about 60,000 years ago—began a remarkable journey.

The Genographic Project is seeking to chart new knowledge about the migratory history of the human species by using sophisticated laboratory and computer analysis of DNA contributed by hundreds of thousands of people from around the world. In this unprecedented and real-time research effort, the Genographic Project is closing the gaps of what science knows today about humankind's ancient migration stories.

Neanderthal Babies: Fast-Growing and Cute

Tue, 09 Sep 2008 17:14:07 GMT

clipped by: tabsey

Clip Source: blog.wired.com

Newborn Neanderthals were as big-headed and big-brained as ancient Homo sapiens babies, suggesting that both species possessed the complex social groups needed to cope with such arduous childbirth.

The findings come from Swiss biologists who made three-dimensional recreations of three infant Neanderthal skulls. The study was published today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, along with the visualization above.

Isn't it strange how even a baby's skeleton can look cute? I understand that we've evolved to respond instinctively and sympathetically to infant features, but this makes me feel a bit weird. If any neuroscientists out there want to scan my brain while I look at fossil babies, I'm game.

Tags: history, science