Science & TechnologyS


Clock

Flashback Is the Truth About Masada Less Romantic?

Kim Stubbs
History News Network
Mon, 12 Jun 2006 12:00 UTC
"When we carefully examine ....... the Great Revolt and Masada, a portrait of heroism ...... is simply not provided. On the contrary. The narrative conveys the story of a doomed (and questionable) revolt, of a majestic failure and destruction of the Second Temple and of Jerusalem, of large-scale massacres of the Jews, of different factions of Jews fighting and killing each other, of collective suicide (an act not viewed favourably by the Jewish faith) by a group of terrorists and assassins whose "fighting spirit" may have been questionable."
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Magnify

Flashback Some Masada Remains Questioned by Study

Matti Friedman
Associated Press
Sat, 23 Jun 2007 06:33 UTC
An Israeli anthropologist is using modern forensics and an obscure biblical passage to challenge accepted wisdom about mysterious human remains found at Masada, the desert fortress famous as the scene of a mass suicide nearly 2,000 years ago.

A new research paper published Friday takes another look at the remains of three people found at the site and given a state burial by Israel as Jewish heroes. The remains, the study says, could actually be those of the Jews' Roman enemies.

The remains of two male skeletons and a full head of woman's hair, including two braids, were found in a bathhouse by archaeologists in the 1960s. They were long thought to belong to a family of Zealots, the fanatic Jewish rebels said to have killed themselves rather than fall into Roman slavery in A.D. 73, a story that plays an important role in Israel's national mythology.

The bathhouse remains became a key part of the site's story. Yigael Yadin, the renowned Israeli archaeologist in charge of the first dig, thought they illustrated the historical account of Zealot men killing their wives and children and then themselves before Roman legionnaires breached Masada's defenses.
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Bulb

Mouse Study: When It Comes To Living Longer, It's Better To Go Hungry Than Go Running


APS
Wed, 14 May 2008 09:05 UTC
A study investigating aging in mice has found that hormonal changes that occur when mice eat significantly less may help explain an already established phenomenon: a low calorie diet can extend the lifespan of rodents, a benefit that even regular exercise does not achieve.

"We know that being lean rather than obese is protective from many diseases, but key rodent studies tell us that being lean from eating less, as opposed to exercising more, has greater benefit for living longer. This study was designed to understand better why that is," said Derek M. Huffman, the study's lead author.

The study applies only to rodents, which are different in some key ways from humans, cautions Huffman. However, at least two studies which examined people who engage in high-volume exercise versus people who restricted their calorie intake, had a similar outcome: caloric restriction has physiological benefits that exercise alone does not. Researchers expect that clues to the physiology of longevity in mice will eventually be applied to people, Huffman said.
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Ark

Divers find Caesar bust that may date to 46 B.C.


Associated Press
Tue, 13 May 2008 22:59 UTC
Paris - Divers trained in archaeology discovered a marble bust of an aging Caesar in the Rhone River that France's Culture Ministry said Tuesday could be the oldest known.

Cesar Bust
©AP photo/Culture Ministry, C. Chary/HO
A life size marble bust of Julius Cesar is seen. The bust, probably dated 46 BC, was discovered last year after underwater searches in the Rhone River near Arles, southern France.

The life-sized bust showing the Roman ruler with wrinkles and hollows in his face is tentatively dated to 46 B.C. Divers uncovered the Caesar bust and a collection of other finds in the Rhone near the town of Arles - founded by Caesar.
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Star

Solar "Fire Fountain"


Space Weather
Tue, 13 May 2008 21:11 UTC
Yesterday's solar "fire fountain" has subsided and the source has revealed itself. "It's a crackling, energetic region on the sun's surface," reports Pete Lawrence, who sends this picture from Selsey, UK:

sun fire fountain
©Pete Lawrence
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Cloud Lightning

Massive Lightning Storm Over Saturn

Richard Macey
Smh.com
Sat, 03 May 2008 18:39 UTC
About every third night Trevor Barry, a retired Broken Hill mine worker, turns his attention to the sky. What he has been seeing has delighted scientists around the world.
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Sherlock

Archaeologist Uses Satellite Imagery To Explore Ancient Mexico


Science Daily
Tue, 13 May 2008 16:54 UTC
Satellite imagery obtained from NASA will help archeologist Bill Middleton peer into the ancient Mexican past. In a novel archeological application, multi- and hyperspectral data will help build the most accurate and most detailed landscape map that exists of the southern state of Oaxaca, where the Zapotec people formed the first state-level and urban society in Mexico.

southern state of Oaxaca
©Rochester Institute of Technology
In a novel archeological application, multi- and hyperspectral data will help build the most accurate and most detailed landscape map that exists of the southern state of Oaxaca, where the Zapotec people formed the first state-level and urban society in Mexico.

"If you ask someone off the street about Mexican archeology, they'll say Aztec, Maya. Sometimes they'll also say Inca, which is the wrong continent, but you'll almost never hear anyone talk about the Zapotecs," says Middleton, acting chair of the Department of Material Culture Sciences and professor in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology at Rochester Institute of Technology. "They had the first writing system, the first state society, the first cities. And they controlled a fairly large territory at their Zenith - 250 B.C. to 750 A.D."
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Sheeple

When Following The Leader Can Lead Into The Jaws Of Death


Science Daily
Tue, 13 May 2008 13:25 UTC
For animals that live in social groups, and that includes humans, blindly following a leader could place them in danger. To avoid this, animals have developed simple but effective behaviour to follow where at least a few of them dare to tread -- rather than follow a single group member.

This pattern of behaviour reduces the risk of imitating maverick behaviour of an individual as the group recognise that consensus is better than following someone that goes it alone.
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Sherlock

Digging Deeper Into The Genetics Of Schizophrenia By Evaluating MicroRNAs


Science Daily
Tue, 13 May 2008 13:07 UTC
Researchers at Columbia University Medical Center have illuminated a window into how abnormalities in microRNAs, a family of molecules that regulate expression of numerous genes, may contribute to the behavioral and neuronal deficits associated with schizophrenia and possibly other brain disorders.

human chromosome 22
©Columbia University Medical Center
Shown here is human chromosome 22 and the piece of the chromosome missing in some patients with schizophrenia. Loss of this chromosomal piece (22q11) is the only known recurrent copy number mutation associated with schizophrenia. The corresponding region on mouse chromosome 16 is indicated along with the position of the engineered deletion in the mouse model. The engineered deletion results in alterations in microRNA production and as a result neuronal and behavioral deficits.

In the May 11 issue of Nature Genetics, Maria Karayiorgou, M.D., professor of psychiatry, and Joseph A. Gogos, M.D., Ph.D., associate professor of physiology and neuroscience at Columbia University Medical Center explain how they uncovered a previously unknown alteration in the production of microRNAs of a mouse modeled to have the same chromosome 22q11.2 deletions previously identified in humans with schizophrenia.
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Robot

Designing Bug Perception Into Robots


Science Daily
Tue, 13 May 2008 13:02 UTC
Insects have provided the inspiration for a team of European researchers seeking to improve the functionality of robots and robotic tools.

The research furthers the development of more intelligent robots, which can then be used by industry, and by emergency and security services, among others. Smarter robots would be better able to find humans buried beneath the rubble of a collapsed building, for example.

SPARK Robots Optimised Image
©ICT Results
SPARK Robots Optimised Image.
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