An eclectic assortment of stuff: food, archaeology, fun, books, history, geekery, etc.
Posted in animals, birds, insects, etc on Mar 25th, 2008
From the Daily Mail: Smile you’re on ele-vision: How a camera attached to an elephant’s trunk captured amazing jungle views.
We revealed the amazing story of how four tiger cubs were captured on special cameras in logs carried by elephants – giving the most intimate insight into their early lives ever recorded.
Now, we show for the [...]
Posted in education on Mar 21st, 2008
From the New York Times: Idaho Turns to Chess as Education Strategy.
Once a week, Deborah McCoy, a third-grade teacher in Donnelly, Idaho, unpacks chessboards and pieces and spends an hour teaching her 20 students how to play the game.
Mrs. McCoy does not do this because she is passionate about chess; she barely knew how to [...]
From discovery.com: Shroud of Turin’s Authenticity Probed Anew.
The Shroud of Turin, the 14- by 4-foot linen believed by some to have been wrapped around Jesus after the crucifixion, might not be a fake after all, according to new research.
The director of one of three laboratories that dismissed the shroud as a medieval artifact 20 years [...]
Posted in religion on Mar 21st, 2008
Ah, now this I find refreshing. From the Ottawa Citizen: If you reject Christianity, don’t join the church.
It’s Easter and time for the annual journalistic display of baffled hostility to Christianity. On cue the Roman Catholic archbishop of Ottawa, Terrence Prendergast, pops up with the suggestion that adherents to his church who don’t actually observe [...]
Posted in Italy, history & archaeology on Mar 20th, 2008
From the Guardian: Ancient Artifacts Seized Near Rome.
Police seized some 1,000 ancient artifacts from a wealthy Italian man’s country house outside Rome that were stolen from one of Emperor Trajan’s villas, prosecutors said Wednesday.
Authorities contend the artifacts, which were being used to decorate the man’s weekend residence, were ripped off the walls of what is [...]
Posted in personal on Mar 19th, 2008
Thanks to those of you who sent me email over the last while, wondering how I was doing and what had become of me. I’ll try to get back to you all in the next few days. It turns out that the best way to hear from you folks isn’t to blog, but to stop [...]
Posted in history & archaeology, religion on Mar 19th, 2008
From the Israel Antiquities Authority: A Silver Coin That Was Used To Pay The Half Shekel Head-Tax To The Temple Was Found In Jerusalem.
This coming Thursday, before reading the Scroll of Esther, all devout Jews will contribute a sum of money — "a reminder of the half shekel" — which is a tradition that took [...]