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Excavations in Vietnam shed light on Stone and Bronze Age

Mon, 06 Oct 2008 05:30:00 -0400

Excavations at two regions in Vietnam have revealed findings from the Stone Age and Bronze age, which includes tombs and artifacts.

Following excavation work at the Dong Trong I and II grottoes in the northern province of Quang Ninh, archaeologists affirmed that this was the tomb of Stone Age humans belonging to the Ha Long culture, dating back to 3,000 - 4,000 years ago.

Meanwhile, bronze work excavated at Go Bong in the midland province of Phu Tho has shed light on the Phung Nguyen culture (about 3,500-4,000 years ago).

Last year, a major dig at the Co Loa''s Thuong Temple on the outskirts of Ha Noi revealed that it was a major centre of activity during the An Duong Vuong and Ngo Quyen dynasties. Much of the metalwork for Co Loa Citadel (built in the year 257 BC) was also made there.

Together with the Illinois University in the US, excavation work at Luy Hao-Thanh Trung revealed that the Co Loa Citadel was the site of an earlier structure, and that it had subsequently been enlarged four times.

Meanwhile, after the fifth excavation of the Ho Citadel in the central province of Phu Yen during the 5th-7th century, archaeologists from the institute and the Phu Yen Museum discovered that the Cham culture had reached a high degree of sophistication. (ANI)

Newly found aerosols from Sahara could be useful to study climate change

Mon, 06 Oct 2008 05:29:00 -0400

Scientists have characterized a new type of aerosols from the Sahara desert, which could be useful to study climate change.

The characterization was made by scientists from the Soil Science and Geopharmacy Research Group of the University of Granada in Spain.

Known as ''iberulites'', the aerosols could be useful for the study of relevant atmospheric reactions from Earth.

Researchers have insisted that such iberulites form in the troposphere from mineral small grains emitted from desert soils and bordering regions, burst into the atmosphere in a chaotic way, collect water vapour which becomes condensed and make up little rain drops.

Scientists point out that the Sahara is a powerful emitter of atmospheric dust, which travels to the Amazon and Caribbean regions, including Florida, also reaching the North of Europe, Israel and even the Himalayas.

Such mineral grains, which contain iron, calcium, sulphur and sometimes phosphorus, fertilize the soil, forests and plankton of the oceans, lakes and seas they go through.

Such small drops of water and mineral dust grow in size as they collide with others and capture more dust, and are subject to characteristic hydrodynamic processes.

As they get dry, they are swept away by powerful air drafts.

During this trip, which can take several days, the iberolites experience a series of physical-chemical reactions and processes simultaneously, such as the incorporation of SO2 from volcanic areas (the Canary Islands), or the adhesion of planktonic organisms, virus and marine salts in the surface of the immature iberulite as they get close to the Atlantic area of Portugal, Morocco and the Gulf of Cadiz.

Hydrodynamic processes, mechanically generated in such minuscule water and dust drops, form the shape of the artefact until it becomes a new atmospheric aerosol particle called iberulite with a vortex, quite similar to a micro spherulite.

The researchers have pointed out that, obviously, "the fact that they have been collected in Granada does not exclude that, due to gravity, the biggest ones also fall in the Earth''s surface before arriving here".

According to Jesus Parraga Martinez, of the Department of Edaphology and Farming Chemistry of the University of Granada, "The relevance of the discovery is that the atmosphere sends us a ''present'' manufectured by her, which tells us that the law of nature is able to create very beautiful and internally structured shapes from chaos in spite of the turbulent environment in which they are created".

The research has fully revealed the mechanisms for the formation of iberulites, which could be useful as environmental or paleoclimatic markers, or to change the models of radioactive transference in the atmosphere. (ANI)

Apple trashes Steve Jobs’ heart attack rumours

Sat, 04 Oct 2008 11:45:00 -0400

Apple says that the rumours that its chief executive Steve Jobs suffered a heart attack are untrue.

The rumours started spreading after the publication of a report by online citizen journalist site iReport, and appearing on other blogs and forums shortly afterwards.

However, an Apple spokesperson has now refuted the report.

"The rumours that he has had a heart attack are untrue," the Telegraph quoted Apple as saying.

Technology bloggers, analysts, and investors have been concerned about the health of the Apple chief executive for some months.

When the iPhone 3G was launched in San Francisco in July, Jobs'' gaunt appearance caused a flurry of worry, and led to speculation that the pancreatic cancer he successfully fought in 2004 had returned.

In September, an online news wire service accidentally published Jobs'' stock obituary, which was swiftly removed after the error had been spotted.

At last month''s "Let''s Rock" event, to unveil a new iPod line-up, Jobs appeared less thin and in good spirits, and joked that reports of his death had been greatly exaggerated. (ANI)

Smoking, coal use will claim 80million Chinese lives in next 25 years

Sat, 04 Oct 2008 11:44:00 -0400

Smoking and coal fuel use in homes are likely to claim more than 80 million people’s lives over the next quarter-century in China, according to a new research.

The study says that if current levels of smoking and biomass and coal fuel use in homes continues, between 2003 and 2033 there will be an estimated 65 million deaths from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and 18 million deaths from lung cancer in China, accounting for 19 percent and 5percent of all deaths in that country during this period.

Researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) predict that the combined effects of these two major factors alone will be responsible for more than 80percent of COPD deaths and 75 percent of lung cancer deaths in China over a 30-year period, reports the Lancet.

But interventions to reduce smoking and household use of biomass fuels and coal for cooking and heating could significantly reduce the number of deaths.

The findings are from a study that will appear online on October 4, 2008 and in the October 25, 2008 print issue of The Lancet. It is the first quantitative analysis to look at the combined effects of smoking and household fuel use on COPD, lung cancer and tuberculosis (TB).

Respiratory diseases are among the 10 leading causes of deaths in China. About half of Chinese men smoke and in more than 70percent of homes in China residents cook and heat their homes with wood, coal and crop residues.

Smoking and pollution from indoor burning of these fuels are major risk factors for COPD and lung cancer and have been linked with tuberculosis (TB). (ANI)

Change in bald eagle diet linked to sea otter decline

Sat, 04 Oct 2008 06:37:00 -0400

A new study has found that the decline of sea otters along Alaska’s Aleutian Islands has forced a change in the diet of a terrestrial predator – the bald eagle.

The study demonstrates the extraordinary complexity of marine ecosystems and how far-ranging the impacts can be when there is a population shift in a keystone species like the sea otter.

When abundant, sea otters prey on, among other things, sea urchins that attach themselves to the “holdfasts” of huge strands of kelp.

The tiny urchins eat the tissue of the kelp, killing it, and when their population becomes too large, they can destroy entire kelp beds.

These kelp beds are host to a variety of fish that historically have comprised a part of the bald eagles’ diet.

The loss of kelp forest with the decline of sea otters has forced the bald eagles to adapt and target new prey, primarily seabirds, according to Robert Anthony, an ecologist at Oregon State University and leader of the Oregon Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit.

“Bald eagles have evolved to become opportunistic foragers, and they can survive on a wide, diverse diet,” said Anthony.

“This kind of adaptive behavior may not work as well with other species, but bald eagles appear to have suffered no ill effects from the otter decline and, in fact, they have had more young, on average, when sea otter populations are at their lowest numbers,” he added.

“We think it may be because birds and mammals have a higher caloric content per unit weight than fish and the extra calories may have given a boost to their overall reproductive success,” Anthony hypothesized.

“During the five-year period before breeding age, they do scavenge some as they hone their hunting and foraging skills, and they have adapted those skills to prey on a variety of birds, mammals and fish,” said Anthony.

In the Aleutian study, they shifted their diets toward seabirds instead of fish and sea otter pups after the decline in sea otters.

Co-author Jim Estes, of the U.S.G.S. and the University of California at Santa Cruz, theorizes that the decline of sea otters in Alaska may be tied to increased predation by killer whales.

Bald eagles themselves preyed upon sea pups to supplement their fish diet and can fly off with a pup that weighs as much as 4-5 pounds.

“The link between sea otters and bald eagles transcends five trophic levels, pointing out how complex and far-reaching the effects of sea otters can be on near-shore marine communities,” said Anthony. (ANI)