Science & TechnologyS


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Archaeologists uncover prehistoric landscape beneath Oxford


PhysOrg.com
Wed, 04 Nov 2009 21:43 UTC
Image
© PhysOrg.comArchaeologists excavating the former Radcliffe Infirmary site in Oxford have uncovered evidence of a prehistoric monumental landscape stretching across the gravel terrace between the Thames and Cherwell rivers.
The work was carried out over the summer in preparation for Oxford University's proposed Radcliffe Observatory Quarter - plans for which were revealed earlier this month.

In addition to these findings, the work has also uncovered evidence of a 6th century Saxon settlement, including a sunken featured craft hut known as a Grübenhauser and a pit containing unfired clay loom weights.
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Rocket

Elevator to Space? They're Really Trying


The Associated Press
Wed, 04 Nov 2009 06:03 UTC
Rocketing into space? Some think an elevator might be the way to go.

That's the future goal of this week's $2 million Space Elevator Games in the Mojave Desert.

In a major test of the concept, robotic machines powered by laser beams will try to climb a cable suspended from a helicopter hovering more than a half-mile (one kilometer) high.

Three teams have qualified to participate in the event on the dry lakebed near NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center at Edwards. Attempts were expected from early Wednesday through Thursday.

Funded by a space agency program to explore bold technology, the contest is a step toward bringing the idea of a space elevator out of the realm of science fiction and into reality.
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Telescope

Supernova mystery solved?

Geoff Brumfiel
Nature News
Wed, 04 Nov 2009 16:42 UTC
Image
© NASA/CXC/SAO
Sooty neutron star could lie at the heart of Cassiopeia A.

Two astrophysicists believe that they have dispelled the mystery surrounding an object at the centre of a distant supernova remnant.

Around 330 years ago, a massive star in the constellation Cassiopeia exploded. The supernova may have been recorded by John Flamsteed, the English Astronomer Royal, who, at the time, observed a 'star' in the constellation that doesn't correspond to any known on today's charts.

The remains of the supernova, known as Cassiopeia A, have been something of a mystery to astronomers. Supernovae usually leave behind an extremely dense object such as a black hole or neutron star. But for decades no such object was seen at the centre of Cassiopeia A.
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Blackbox

Murderer with 'aggression genes' gets sentence cut

Ewen Callaway
New Scientist
Wed, 04 Nov 2009 14:44 UTC
A judge's decision to reduce a killer's sentence because he has genetic mutations linked to violence raises a thorny question - can your genes ever absolve you of responsibility for a particular act?

In 2007, Abdelmalek Bayout admitted to stabbing and killing a man and received a sentence of 9 years and 2 months. Last week, Nature reported that Pier Valerio Reinotti, an appeal court judge in Trieste, Italy, cut Bayout's sentence by a year after finding out he has gene variants linked to aggression. Leaving aside the question of whether this link is well enough understood to justify Reinotti's decision, should genes ever be considered a legitimate defence?
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Magnify

Ancient DNA Reveals Lack of Continuity between Neolithic Hunter-Gatherers and Contemporary Scandinavians


Current Biology
Tue, 03 Nov 2009 20:22 UTC
The driving force behind the transition from a foraging to a farming lifestyle in prehistoric Europe (Neolithization) has been debated for more than a century. Of particular interest is whether population replacement or cultural exchange was responsible.

Scandinavia holds a unique place in this debate, for it maintained one of the last major hunter-gatherer complexes in Neolithic Europe, the Pitted Ware culture. Intriguingly, these late hunter-gatherers existed in parallel to early farmers for more than a millennium before they vanished some 4,000 years ago.
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Telescope

Hidden Territory On Mercury Revealed

Dr. Tony Phillips
Space Daily / SPX
Tue, 03 Nov 2009 19:38 UTC
Image
© NASAThis enhanced-color view was created with a statistical technique that highlights subtle color variations seen in the 11 filters of MESSENGER's wide-angle camera. The colors are often related to the composition of underlying material material.
The MESSENGER spacecraft's third flyby of the planet Mercury has given scientists, for the first time, an almost complete view of the planet's surface and revealed some dramatic changes in Mercury's comet-like tail.

"The new images remind us that Mercury continues to hold surprises," says Sean Solomon, principal investigator for the mission and director of the Department of Terrestrial Magnetism at the Carnegie Institution of Washington.

The probe flew by Mercury on Sept. 29th, executing a critical gravity assist maneuver designed to help MESSENGER enter Mercury-orbit in 2011. Despite shutting down temporarily because of a power system switchover during a solar eclipse, the spacecraft's cameras and instruments revealed 6 percent of the planet's surface never before seen at close range.

The bright region in the upper-right corner of the image surrounds a suspected explosive volcanic vent. The 290-km-diameter double-ring basin near the bottom of the image has a smooth interior that may be the result of effusive volcanism.
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Bulb

Decrease In Physical Activity May Not Be A Factor In Increased Obesity Rates Among Adolescents


Science Daily
Tue, 03 Nov 2009 14:02 UTC
Decreased physical activity may have little to do with the recent spike in obesity rates among U.S. adolescents, according to researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

Prompted by growing concern that the increase was due to decreased physical activity associated with increased TV viewing time and other sedentary behaviors, researchers examined the patterns and time trends in physical activity and sedentary behaviors among U.S. adolescents based on nationally representative data collected since 1991. The review found signs indicating that the physical activity among adolescents increased while TV viewing decreased in recent years.
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Bandaid

Increasing Number Of Injuries From Hot Tubs, New National Study Finds


Science Daily
Tue, 03 Nov 2009 13:53 UTC
Though hot tubs, whirlpools and spas are widely used for relaxation and fun, they can pose serious risk for injury. Over the past two decades, as recreational use of hot tubs has increased, so has the number of injuries. A recent study conducted by the Center for Injury Research and Policy of The Research Institute at Nationwide Children's Hospital found that from 1990-2007, the number of unintentional hot tub-related injuries increased by 160 percent, from approximately 2,500 to more than 6,600 injuries per year.

According to the study, published in the online issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 73 percent of the patients with hot tub-related injuries were older than 16 and approximately one half of all injuries resulted from slips and falls. Lacerations were the most commonly reported injuries (28 percent) and the lower extremities (27 percent) and the head (26 percent) were the most frequently injured body parts.

"While the majority of injuries occurred among patients older than 16, children are still at high risk for hot tub-related injuries," said study author Lara McKenzie, PhD, principal investigator at the Center for Injury Research and Policy at Nationwide Children's Hospital. "Due to the differing mechanisms of injury and the potential severity of these injuries, the pediatric population deserves special attention."
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Sherlock

Bulgarian Archaeologists Find Silver Treasure in Thracian Tomb


Novintie
Tue, 03 Nov 2009 06:00 UTC
Thracian tomb
© BulphotoSome of the vessels uncovered in the new Thracian tomb by the team of archaeologist Veselin Ignatov near Karanova.
A team of Bulgarian archaeologists have discovered a new tomb of an aristocrat from Ancient Thrace near the southern town of Nova Zagora.

The team led by archaeologist Veselin Ignatov found a burial tomb of 12 square meters date back to the end of 1st century and beginning of 2nd century AD. It is located outside of the village of Karanovo.

The burial site of the Thracian aristocrat contains a number of interesting items including a silver treasure of vessels and artifacts that were place there to be used by the aristocrat in his afterlife.

Those include two silver cups with images of love god Eros, and a number of other ornate silver and bronze vessels.

The archaeologists have also found a chariot and fragments of a shield. The expedition called Karanovo 2009-2010 has just started to uncover their new find, and Ignatov expects a lot more valuable items to be discovered.
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Sherlock

UK: Iron Age Treasure Found in Field


The Buteman
Tue, 03 Nov 2009 05:00 UTC
A metal-detecting enthusiast has unearthed a 2,000-year-old treasure hoard worth an estimated £1 million in a field near Stirling.

The amateur hunter, who has not been identified, found four gold neckbands dating to the Iron Age.

He informed Scotland's Treasure Trove Unit which sent a team to excavate the site, the Daily Record newspaper reported. The bands, or "torcs", made from twisted gold, are thought to date from the 1st and 3rd century BC.

A similar one found in Newark, Nottinghamshire, in 2005 sold for £350,000. The Scottish Archaeological Finds Allocation Panel will now value the latest discovery. A spokesman for the National Museums of Scotland said: "There has been a significant find."
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