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Ancient tomb made from blue and white porcelain bowls unearthed in China

Thu, 04 Sep 2008 10:15:00 -0400

The archaeology department of China’s Chongqing Municipality have announced the discovery of a tomb made from more than 2,000 blue and white porcelain bowls, which dates back to the Qing Dynasty.

The tomb was found by a team of road workers in E’Ling Street, in the Yuzhong district of Chongqing.

The Chongqing Economic Times quoted archaeologists as saying that this kind of tomb is very rare and had probably been constructed by migrants to the area.

When the first bowl was dug out, the workers thought nothing of it and discarded it, but as more bowls emerged, they realized they had discovered something unusual and called the city’s cultural relics administration.

The archaeology department sent a team to investigate, which discovered a tomb constructed from porcelain bowls.

Lying just 60 centimeters under the road surface, the bowls had been piled together to form a tomb. The coffin and other funerary objects were then placed inside.

The bowls and the basic structure of the tomb were scarcely damaged, despite lying directly under a road, but tomb raiders had stolen the contents.

Almost all the funerary objects had been taken, and the identity of the person buried there will probably remain a mystery.

The bowls remained intact because they were stuck together very tightly, and secured with sticky rice and cement, which helped the tomb retain its shape.

According to archeologists, it would be a very difficult task, requiring chemical solvents, to separate one bowl from the others.

The bowls are Qing Dynasty qing hua ci bowls, very common in that period. The images and flower patterns on the porcelain look brand new.

Some experts have speculated that the reason for using bowls as construction materials was that the occupant of the tomb would have something to eat in the afterlife.

Archeology team leader Li Dadi said that this kind of tomb is very rare in Chongqing and was probably constructed by occupants of a Qing Dynasty migrant settlement. (ANI)

Pre-Inca tombs and archaeological remains found in Peru’s Colca canyon

Thu, 04 Sep 2008 10:14:00 -0400

A scientific expedition, made up of Polish, North American, and Peruvian specialists, discovered tombs, apparently from the Pre-Incan culture, as well as archaeological remains in Peru’s Colca canyon.

According to a report in Living in Peru, the finding was when the team was covering a zone never explored due to its inaccessibility and lack of technology.

The trip allowed scientists to carry out works in the geological, hydrogeological, hydrographical, speleological (study of caves and caverns) ambits, as well as in the electromagnetic field, for which high technology equipment was used to compile exact data on each explored area.

During the expedition, denominated “Colca Condor 2008”, specialists took samples of the different rocky formations and water with the aim of analyzing its composition and temperature, data that allowed knowing with accuracy how the initial stretch structure of the canyon is formed, which is the deepest on the planet.

Along the explored zone, the expedition discovered bone remains, some of them with skin and hair remains, in good state of conservation and apparently belonging to the Pre-Incan nobility; as well as a complex of ruins that was denominated Peruvian-Polish Archaeological Complex Sombreroyoc-Pinchollo.

After expressing his will to convoke experts in the topic, sponsors, and a greater number of Peruvian adventurers for a next excursion to the zone in 2010, the Polish specialist assured to make an active promotion internationally to the candidature of the Colca canyon as one of the seven natural world wonders. (ANI)

Archaeologist uncovers Roman settlement in US

Thu, 04 Sep 2008 10:13:00 -0400

An archaeologist has uncovered the foundations for a Roman settlement on East Cleveland coast in the US.

According to a report in The Northern Echo, the archaeologist in question is Steve Sherlock, who was helped by volunteers from Teesside Archaeological Society, to find a 1,600 year-old site for creating jet jewellery.

Sherlock had earlier uncovered evidence of Anglo-Saxon royalty in a farmer’s fields near Loftus last year.

“It’s another completely exciting find, even though I didn’t expect to find it. I came here to find a Saxon settlement and I’m discovering a very significant Roman site, too,” he said.

“To find a significant Roman site at Street House that is contemporary with the Roman signal station at Huntcliff is fantastic. Here at Street House we have found a Roman jet working site that would have made jet jewellery,” he added.

Aerial photographs first guided Sherlock’s Iron Age research project to the location in 2004, showing evidence of an Iron Age enclosure, then last year, the site revealed 109 Anglo Saxon graves, dating back to the seventh century.

A hoard of brooches, pendants and beads was also uncovered in superb condition and a gold brooch - a bracteate - will go on show in a special display at Redcar’s Kirkleatham Museum.

According to Coun Sheelagh Clarke, Redcar and Cleveland Council’s cabinet member for culture, leisure and tourism, “This is another magnificent find that shows what a rich and varied cultural heritage we have in east Cleveland.”

An open day on Sunday, September 7, from 10.30am-4pm, including guided tours at the site will clearly show visitors the entrance to the building, a cobbled road leading to the entrance and the stone foundations. (ANI)

Why coffee and ciggies often seem to go hand in hand

Thu, 04 Sep 2008 10:10:00 -0400

Cigarettes'' power may not be in nicotine itself, according to a new study, which suggests that, its ‘influence’ may be in how it enhances other experiences.

The study by Kansas State University psychology professor explains why for a smoker who enjoys drinking coffee, the nicotine may make a cup of joe even better.

Matthew Palmatier, assistant professor of psychology at K-State said that people might not be smoking to obtain a pleasurable drug state, but they may be smoking in order to regulate their mood.

He said this might be a reason why people find it hard to kick the butt.

"People have very regimented things they do when they smoke. If you think about where people smoke or who they smoke with, you realize that it occurs in very specific places, often with a specific group of people,” said Palmatier.

“Maybe it''s a reason why nicotine is so addictive — if you get used to having that extra satisfaction from things you normally enjoy, not having nicotine could reduce the enjoyment in a given activity,” he added.

Palmatier is currently focussing on how this phenomenon can be used to better design tobacco addiction treatments, usually offered in patches and pills.

During the study, rats were allowed to self-administer nicotine by pushing a lever. The main source of light in their testing environment shuts off when the rats earn a dose of nicotine. After about a minute, the light comes back on to signal that more nicotine is available.

The analysis showed that the rats weren''t really that interested in nicotine by itself.

"We figured out that what the rats really liked was turning the light off," Palmatier said.

"They still self-administered the nicotine, but they took more of the drug when it was associated with a reinforcing light," he added.

The study appears in the August issue of Neuropsychopharmacology. (ANI)

Soon, a safer air traffic control system that will require no human input

Thu, 04 Sep 2008 10:09:00 -0400

A group of researchers are working on an air traffic control system that will not require any human input, for all variables including weather conditions as well as current airplane locations and probable routes will be monitored by a computer model.

The computer model, University of Texas professor Constantine Caramanis, lead researcher Cynthia Barnhart, and other colleagues from MIT are developing will monitor weather conditions as well as current airplane locations and probable routes.

The new mathematical model combines theories and calculations from probability, statistics, optimization modeling, economics and game theory.

"There is currently no unified decision-making framework for air traffic flow optimization. The complicated nature of the process, and the need to make quick adjustments when changes occur, will best be addressed with a mathematical model that combines theories and calculations from probability, statistics, optimization modeling, economics and game theory," said Dr. Caramanis.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) provides each airline with a set limit of planes that can take off and land during any given timeframe.

These slot decisions are based on estimates of what will optimize air traffic flow, keeping in mind imperfect weather predictions, the changing mix of flights airlines wants to move, and other variables for the thousands of flights that travel through the skies daily. The airlines then choose the flights.

To develop the air traffic optimization model, the researchers will also consider new ways to lessen delays and flight cancellations. For example, they will consider the possibility of allowing airlines to barter for slots when one airline can''t get a flight off the ground and others could do so.

"The idea is to have an overarching optimization model that allows balance and flexibility to the decisions being made so that we can successfully exploit whatever slack in the system we can. Our model will have autonomous re-configurability which is the ability to adapt to new information on its own," said Caramanis. (ANI)

Astronomers take closest look ever at black hole''s edge in Milky Way

Thu, 04 Sep 2008 10:08:00 -0400

By combining telescopes in Hawaii, Arizona, and California, astronomers have taken the closest look ever at the giant black hole in the center of the Milky Way.

They detected the structure at a tiny angular scale of 37 micro-arcseconds - the equivalent of a baseball seen on the surface of the moon, 240,000 miles distant.

These observations are among the highest resolution ever done in astronomy.

"This technique gives us an unmatched view of the region near the Milky Way''s central black hole," said Sheperd Doeleman of MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology).

According to Jonathan Weintroub of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics (CfA), "No one has seen such a fine-grained view of the galactic center before.

"We''ve observed nearly to the scale of the black hole event horizon - the region inside of which nothing, including light, can ever escape," he added.

Using a technique called Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI), a team of astronomers, led by Doeleman, employed an array of telescopes to study radio waves coming from the object known as Sagittarius A (A-star).

In VLBI, signals from multiple telescopes are combined to create the equivalent of a single giant telescope, as large as the separation between the facilities.

As a result, VLBI yields exquisitely sharp resolution.

The Sagittarius A radio emission, at a wavelength of 1.3 mm, escapes the galactic center more easily than emissions at longer wavelengths, which tend to suffer from interstellar scattering. Such scattering acts like fog around a streetlamp, both dimming the light and blurring details.

VLBI is ordinarily limited to wavelengths of 3.5 mm and longer. However, using innovative instrumentation and analysis techniques, the team was able to tease out this remarkable result from 1.3-mm VLBI data.

The team clearly discerned structure with a 37 micro-arcsecond angular scale, which corresponds to a size of about 30 million miles (or about one-third the earth-sun distance) at the galactic center.

With three telescopes, the astronomers could only vaguely determine the shape of the emitting region.

Future investigations will help answer the question of what, precisely, they are seeing: a glowing corona around the black hole, an orbiting "hot spot," or a jet of material.

Nevertheless, their result represents the first time that observations have gotten down to the scale of the black hole itself, which has a "Schwarzschild radius" of 10 million miles.

"This pioneering paper demonstrates that such observations are feasible," commented theorist Avi Loeb of Harvard University. "It also opens up a new window for probing the structure of space and time near a black hole and testing Einstein''s theory of gravity," he added. (ANI)

Oldest Gecko fossil found in amber

Thu, 04 Sep 2008 10:07:00 -0400

Scientists have unearthed a piece of fossilized tree sap known as amber containing parts of a hundred-million-year-old gecko, which is the oldest specimen ever found of the animal.

According to a report in the National Geographic News, a foot, toes, and part of the tail are all that remain of the recently found reptile, which the researchers say is a new species that is 40 million years older than the previous record holder.

The foot is so well preserved that scientists can clearly see its intact toe pads, or lamellae, covered with the microscopic hair-like structures that give modern geckos the ability to stick to walls and ceilings.

Based on the number of lamellae present, the team, based at Oregon State University, has estimated that the ancient gecko was a youngster that was less than an inch (2.5 centimeters) long when it died.

The animal could have grown to be as much as a foot (a third of a meter) long, the team suspects.

According to the researchers, the discovery shows that geckos lived in Asia during the lower Cretaceous period, 97 million to 110 million years ago, and that the animals had already evolved their unusually adhesive feet. (ANI)

Human skeleton inside underwater Mexican cave may be oldest ever found in Americas

Thu, 04 Sep 2008 10:06:00 -0400

Archaeologists have discovered what may be the oldest human skeleton ever found in the Americas, deep inside an underwater cave in Mexico.

Dubbed Eva de Naharon, or Eve of Naharon, the female skeleton has been dated at 13,600 years old.

According to a report in National Geographic News, if that age is accurate, the skeleton-along with three others found in underwater caves along the Caribbean coast of the Yucatan Peninsula-could provide new clues to how the Americas were first populated.

The remains have been excavated over the past four years near the town of Tulum, about 80 miles southwest of Cancún, by a team of scientists led by Arturo Gonzalez, director of the Desert Museum in Saltillo, Mexico.

"We don''t now how the people, whose remains were found in the caves, arrived and whether they came from the Atlantic, the jungle, or inside the continent," Gonzalez said.

"But we believe these finds are the oldest yet to be found in the Americas and may influence our theories of how the first people arrived," he added.

Concepcion Jimenez, director of physical anthropology at Mexico''s National Institute of Anthropology and History, has viewed the finds and has said that they may be Mexico''s oldest and most important human remains to date.

"Eva de Naharon has the paleo-indian characteristics that make the date seem very plausible," Jimenez said.

The three other skeletons excavated in the caves have been given a date range of 11,000 to 14,000 years ago, based on radiocarbon dating.

The remains were found some 50 feet (15 meters) below sea level in the caves off Tulum. But, at the time, Eve of Naharon is believed to have lived there, sea levels were 200 feet (60 meters) lower, and the Yucatan Peninsula was a wide, dry prairie.

The polar ice caps melted dramatically 8,000 to 9,000 years ago, causing sea levels to rise hundreds of feet and submerging the burial grounds of the skeletons.

Stalactites and stalagmites then grew around the remains, preventing them from being washed out to sea.

Gonzalez has also found remains of elephants, giant sloths, and other ancient fauna in the caves.

If Gonzalez''s finds do stand up to scientific scrutiny, they will raise many interesting new questions about how the Americas were first peopled.

Clues from the skeletons'' skulls hint that the people may not be of northern Asian descent, which would contradict the dominant theory of New World settlement.

That theory holds that ancient humans first came to North America from northern Asia via a now submerged land bridge across the Bering Sea.

"The shape of the skulls has led us to believe that Eva and the others have more of an affinity with people from South Asia than North Asia," Gonzalez explained. (ANI)