An eclectic assortment of stuff: food, archaeology, fun, books, history, geekery, etc.
Posted in blogging on Dec 31st, 2008
At the end of 2007, I noted that Mirabilis got 28,745 spam comments during that year.
I know you’ve been waiting all year to see what 2008’s total would be, so here you go: 35,135 spam comments.
Spam comments don’t get published here, but they cause some trouble nonetheless. I don’t have time to wade through all [...]
Posted in history & archaeology on Dec 30th, 2008
From The Telegraph: European Neanderthals had ginger hair and freckles.
In a major breakthrough, Spanish scientists have discovered the blood group and two other genes of the early humans who lived 43,000 ago.
After analysing the fossil bones found in a cave in north-west Spain, the experts concluded they had human blood group "O" and were genetically [...]
Posted in art, history & archaeology on Dec 29th, 2008
From the BBC: Artistic clues to coastal change.
Nineteenth Century artwork is a useful tool for studying coastal erosion, according to a retired coastal engineer.
Robin McInnes assessed the accuracy of geological and topological features in more than 400 paintings of the Isle of Wight and Hampshire coastline.
Dr McInnes said such old masters gave engineers the chance [...]
Posted in history & archaeology on Dec 27th, 2008
From The Guardian: 1,000 years on, perils of fake Viking swords are revealed.
It must have been an appalling moment when a Viking realised he had paid two cows for a fake designer sword; a clash of blade on blade in battle would have led to his sword, still sharp enough to slice through bone, shattering [...]
Posted in food, history & archaeology on Dec 27th, 2008
From the L.A. Times: When the woolly mammoth ran out, early man turned to roasted vegetables.
Long before early humans in North America grew corn and beans, they were harvesting and cooking the bulbs of lilies, wild onions and other plants, roasting them for days over hot rocks, according to a Texas archaeologist.
The evidence for this [...]
Posted in history & archaeology, language on Dec 26th, 2008
This Babelstone post on Byrhtferth’s Ogham Enigma is fascinating, detailed, and includes great images.
It probably comes as a surprise to most people to find out that the earliest extant manuscript to include any text written in the Ogham script is an early 12th century English manuscript copy of a work by the late Anglo-Saxon monk [...]
Posted in animals, birds, insects, etc on Dec 24th, 2008
From Science Daily: Honey Bees On Cocaine Dance More, Changing Ideas About The Insect Brain.
In a study that challenges current ideas about the insect brain, researchers have found that honey bees on cocaine tend to exaggerate.
Normally, foraging honey bees alert their comrades to potential food sources only when they’ve found high quality nectar or pollen, [...]
Posted in history & archaeology on Dec 24th, 2008
From CNN: Satellites unearthing ancient Egyptian ruins.
Archaeologists believe they have unearthed only a small fraction of Egypt’s ancient ruins, but they’re making new discoveries with help from high-tech allies — satellites that peer into the past from the distance of space.
"Everyone’s becoming more aware of this technology and what it can do," said Sarah Parcak, [...]
Posted in history & archaeology on Dec 22nd, 2008
From discovery.com: Ancient ‘Treasure’ Found in Farmer’s Bookshelf.
Italian police have found the long-sought "treasure of Satricum" in a farmer’s bookshelf, they announced at a news conference in Rome this week.
Consisting of more than 500 delicate miniature pots crafted about 2,600 years ago, the “treasure” was discovered during a police investigation in the countryside near the [...]
Posted in history & archaeology, music on Dec 21st, 2008
From Media-Newswire.com: Medieval music brought back to life.
Music from a medieval manuscript that has not been heard since the 15th century has been brought back to life, thanks to researchers at The University of Nottingham.
The project, involving collaboration with academics in Germany, has resulted in the production of a modern colour facsimile of one of [...]
Posted in coffee, environment on Dec 21st, 2008
From EurekAlert: Waste coffee grounds offer new source of biodiesel fuel.
Researchers in Nevada are reporting that waste coffee grounds can provide a cheap, abundant, and environmentally friendly source of biodiesel fuel for powering cars and trucks. [continue].
See? Espresso can power more than just my mouth.
Posted in history & archaeology on Dec 20th, 2008
From the Telegraph: Neanderthals could have died out because their bodies overheated.
Analysis of DNA obtained from Neanderthal remains has revealed key differences from modern humans that suggest their bodies produced excess heat.
While in the cold climate of an ice age this would have provided the species with an advantage, as the earth warmed they would [...]
Posted in language on Dec 19th, 2008
From World Wide Words: absquatulate.
ABSQUATULATE
To make off, decamp, or abscond.
The 1830s — a period of great vigour and expansiveness in the US — was also a decade of inventiveness in language, featuring a fashion for word play, obscure abbreviations, fanciful coinages, and puns. Only a few inventions of that period have survived to our times, [...]
Posted in history & archaeology on Dec 18th, 2008
From discovery.com: King Tut’s Father ID’d in Stone Inscription.
An inscribed limestone block might have solved one of history’s greatest mysteries — who fathered the boy pharaoh King Tut.
"We can now say that Tutankhamun was the child of Akhenaten," Zahi Hawass, chief of Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities, told Discovery News.
The finding offers evidence against another [...]
Posted in history & archaeology on Dec 17th, 2008
From Discovery of Roman Battlefield Poses Historical Riddle.
Archaeologists in Germany say they have found an ancient battlefield strewn with Roman weapons. The find is significant because it indicates that Romans were fighting battles in north Germany at a far later stage than previously assumed.
The wilds of Germany may not have been off-limits to Roman legions, [...]
Posted in history & archaeology, language on Dec 17th, 2008
From Reuters: Sudan statue find gives clues to ancient language.
Archaeologists said on Tuesday they had discovered three ancient statues in Sudan with inscriptions that could bring them closer to deciphering one of Africa’s oldest languages.
The stone rams, representing the god Amun, were carved during the Meroe empire, a period of kingly rule that lasted from [...]
What you don’t know about me is this:
At those times when Mirabilis.ca is quiet for a few days or a week, it may be that I have just become obsessed by some fascinating new topic, as I am wont to do. (LibraryThing, GPS, whatever.) I don’t just acquire new interests; I eat them up. The [...]
Posted in personal on Dec 13th, 2008
I need some help here, folks. I’m hoping you’ll be able to suggest a couple of books — or other gifts — that would be good to get the beginning teacher on my Christmas list. Here’s a bit about him:
He’s Canadian and lives in Canada.
He has a brand-new degree in education, and hopes to teach [...]
Posted in history & archaeology on Dec 12th, 2008
From Science Daily: Predecessor of Cows, The Aurochs, Were Still Living In The Netherlands Around AD 600.
Archaeological researchers at the University of Groningen have discovered that the aurochs, the predecessor of our present-day cow, lived in the Netherlands for longer than originally assumed. Remains of bones recently retrieved from a horn core found in Holwerd [...]
Posted in miscellaneous on Dec 11th, 2008
From The Japan Times: Japan’s master of an ancient Muslim art.
For Kouichi Honda, writing a beautiful line is what life is about. Getting every detail right — the subtle curves, the varying thicknesses and the density of the ink — matters to him as much as life itself.
The 61-year-old professor of international relations at Daito [...]
Posted in history & archaeology on Dec 11th, 2008
From New Scientist: Decoding a 2000-year-old computer.
Marcellus and his men blockaded Syracuse, in Sicily, for two years. The Roman general expected to conquer the Greek city state easily, but the ingenious siege towers and catapults designed by Archimedes helped to keep his troops at bay.
Then, in 212 BC, the Syracusans neglected their defences during [...]
Posted in dogs on Dec 10th, 2008
Ha! No problem. Look what Smartdogs’ Weblog found in a 1939 issue of Popular Science:
Signs reading "No Dogs Allowed" mean nothing to Miss Jeanne Lorraine, of New York City, since she taught her twelve-year-old pet toy collie, Jiggs, to drape himself around her neck and masquerade as a fur piece. The trick first worked on [...]
Posted in environment, history & archaeology on Dec 7th, 2008
From The Independent: Ancient skills ‘could reverse global warming’.
Ancient techniques pioneered by pre-Columbian Amazonian Indians are about to be pressed into service in Britain and Central America in the most serious commercial attempt yet to reverse global warming.
Trials are to be started in Sussex and Belize early in the new year, backed with venture capital [...]
Posted in history & archaeology on Dec 6th, 2008
From Ancient Roman Oil Lamp ‘Factory Town’ Found.
Italian researchers have discovered the pottery center where the oil lamps that lighted the ancient Roman empire were made.
Evidence of the pottery workshops emerged in Modena, in central-northern Italy, during construction work to build a residential complex near the ancient walls of the city.
"We found a large ancient [...]
Posted in history & archaeology on Dec 4th, 2008
From New Scientist: Spanish Inquisition left genetic legacy in Iberia.
It’s not often that cultural and religious persecution makes countries more diverse, but the Spanish Inquisition might have done just that.
One in five Spaniards and Portuguese has a Jewish ancestor, while a tenth of Iberians boast North African ancestors, finds new research.
This melting pot probably occurred [...]