Posted in history & archaeology on Apr 28th, 2009
From the Ma’an News Agency: Roman-era catacombs unearthed near Bethlehem University.
Roman-era catacombs were unearthed in Bethlehem Saturday during construction in an empty lot beside Bethlehem University.
The small underground cave system opens facing north, and held four stone coffins with engravings on each, housed in two separate dug out burial areas.
Head of Antiquates department in Jericho [...]
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Posted in history & archaeology on Apr 28th, 2009
From the (Portsmouth, England) News:Researchers solve Malta teaser.
Researchers at the University of Portsmouth believe they have solved an ancient Mediterranean mystery.
The mystery of how 2ft deep tracks were cut into the rock of Malta has been a puzzle for years.
Now Professor Derek Mottershead, of the university’s geography department, has followed generations of scholars to unravel [...]
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Posted in fun on Apr 28th, 2009
From Southern Fried Science: How to brew beer in a coffee maker, using only materials commonly found on a modestly sized oceanographic research vessel.
The tools you need are simple: an electric drip coffee maker with hot plate, a coffee filter, 2 1-liter sample jars, 2 handkerchiefs, 2 rubber bands, and a source of clean (preferably [...]
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Posted in books & lit, technology on Apr 27th, 2009
From the Guardian: Revolutionary Espresso Book Machine launches in London.
It’s not elegant and it’s not sexy — it looks like a large photocopier — but the Espresso Book Machine is being billed as the biggest change for the literary world since Gutenberg invented the printing press more than 500 years ago and made the mass [...]
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Posted in fun on Apr 20th, 2009
This is amazing, particularly what happens at about 3:09. Wow.
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Posted in history & archaeology on Apr 18th, 2009
From The Independent: The jousting accident that turned Henry VIII into a tyrant.
Henry VIII became the tyrannical monster remembered by history because of a personality change following a serious jousting accident, according to a new historical documentary.
After the accident – just before he became estranged from the second of his six wives, Anne Boleyn – [...]
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Posted in fun on Apr 15th, 2009
From Tweenbots.com:
Tweenbots are human-dependent robots that navigate the city with the help of pedestrians they encounter. Rolling at a constant speed, in a straight line, Tweenbots have a destination displayed on a flag, and rely on people they meet to read this flag and to aim them in the right direction to reach their goal.
Given [...]
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Posted in science on Apr 15th, 2009
From Newsweek: Lessons In Survival.
In a laboratory, it’s extremely difficult to study why some people are better at bouncing back than others because it’s so hard to simulate the real stresses and strains of life. Scientists can show people scary pictures or movies to trigger their reactions and measure how they recover, but it’s hardly [...]
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Posted in history & archaeology on Apr 14th, 2009
From archaeology.org: How an archaeologist learned to stop worrying and love eBay.
A little over a decade ago, archaeologists experienced a collective nightmare — the emergence of eBay, the Internet auction site that, among other things, lets people sell looted artifacts. The black market for antiquities has existed for centuries, of course, with devastating consequences for [...]
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Posted in environment on Apr 9th, 2009
From CNN: Inventor turns cardboard boxes into eco-friendly oven.
When Jon Bohmer sat down with his two little girls for a simple project they could work on together, he didn’t realize they’d hit upon a solution to one of the world’s biggest problems for just $5: A solar-powered oven.
The ingeniously simple design uses two cardboard boxes, [...]
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Posted in history & archaeology on Apr 5th, 2009
From The Independent: After 650 years, the wisdom of the Alhambra is revealed.
Visitors to the Alhambra fortress-palace in Granada have for centuries fallen into a reverie before its intricately carved medieval walls, wondering at the meaning of the Arabic inscriptions that adorn them from floor to ceiling. The script that winds round the filigree arches [...]
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Posted in fun on Apr 4th, 2009
This exchange between a user and tech support is too good to miss.
(Background: Wikipedia on holodecks.)
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Posted in history & archaeology, religion on Apr 3rd, 2009
From The Jerusalem Post: The monastery of the Gerasene swine.
On the east side of the Sea of Galilee lay a Jewish fishing village of pre-mishnaic times, at the mouth of Nahal Samak, the upper reaches of which were overlooked by the synagogue of Umm el-Kanatir. The village’s name was Kursi, and today it would have [...]
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Posted in DNA, history & archaeology on Apr 2nd, 2009
From the BBC: Clues to ancient invasion in DNA.
Scientific evidence of an ancient invasion of Scotland from Ireland may have been uncovered by DNA techniques.
Researchers from Edinburgh University said studies of Scots living on Islay, Lewis, Harris and Skye were found to have strong links with Irish people.
Early historical sources recount how the Gaels came [...]
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