Mysterious mummy lays in Geology Hall

Although now at home in the Rutgers Geology Hall, the female mummy that resides on the Old Queens campus building spent many years in a far more undignified place: one of the closets of the New Brunswick Theological Seminary.That's right, mummy.Few students here are aware of the opportunity to catch a rare glimpse into the burial ceremony of a foreign and strange culture.

Of course, other than its resting place, there is very little known about the mysterious mummy."We know it came from Northern Egypt, but that's about it," said William Selden, the collections manager of the Geology Hall.Other than that and the fact it dates to about 320 or 330 B.C., Rutgers experts are unaware of exactly where the mummy originated from, or to what family the woman belonged.

Read the full story at The Daily Targum...

http://www.dailytargum.com
/media/paper168/news/2005/10/28/
PageOne/Mysterious.Mummy.Lays.In.Geology.Hall-1037715.shtml?norewrite&sourcedomain=www.dailytargum.com

Supercomputer doubles own record

The Blue Gene/L supercomputer has broken its own record to achieve more than double the number of calculations it can do a second. It reached 280.6 teraflops - that is 280.6 trillion calculations a second.

The IBM machine, at the US Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, officially became the most powerful computer on the planet in June.

Read the full story at BBC News...
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/4386404.stm

Major dust storm on Mars

(SPACE.com) -- A major dust storm has just broken out on Mars and the event will be visible this weekend with good-sized backyard telescopes.

The timing is incredible. Amateur skywatchers around the world are planning to gaze at Mars Saturday night because it will be closer to Earth than anytime until the year 2018.

Major dust storm on Mars
http://www.cnn.com/2005/TECH/space/10/28/mars.storm/index.html

Italian laboratory clones 14 pigs

The Italian researchers who produced the first horse clone have announced the birth of 14 cloned piglets. The animals were born several weeks ago at the Laboratory of Reproductive Technology in Cremona. Research leader Prof Cesare Galli said the pigs would help in understanding animal to human organ transplants.

Read the full story at BBC News...
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/4386510.stm

Pyramid found in Sarajevo?

Bosnia's leading Muslim daily Dnevni Avaz writes excitedly about "a sensational discovery" of "the first European pyramid" in the central town of Visoko, just north of Sarajevo.

Excavations at a hill site above the town have been going on for several months and initial analyses "have confirmed the original claim that this is Europe's first pyramid and a monumental building, similar in dimensions to the Egyptian pyramids."

"The pyramid is 100 metres high and there is evidence that it contains rooms and a monumental causeway ... The plateau is built of stone blocks, which indicates the presence at the time of a highly developed civilisation," the daily explains.

"Archaeological excavations near the surface have uncovered a part of a wall and fragments of steps," it reveals.

"Visocica hill could not have been shaped like this by nature," geologist Nada Nukic tells the daily. "This is already far too more than we have anticipated, but we expect a lot more from further analysis," she concludes.

Read the story at BBC News
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/4377290.stm

Mars is ready for another close-up.

For the second time in nearly 60,000 years, the Red Planet will swing unusually close to Earth this weekend. Mars' latest rendezvous will not match its record-breaking approach to Earth in 2003, when it hovered from 35 million miles away. But more skygazers this time around can glimpse the fourth rock from the sun because it will glow above the horizon.

Read the full story at BBC News...
http://www.cnn.com/2005/TECH/space/10/27/mars.close.up.ap/index.html

New Digs Decoding Mexico's "Pyramids of Fire"

Using picks, shovels, and high-tech forensic sleuthing, scientists are beginning to cobble together the grisly ancient history and fiery demise of Teotihuacán, the first major metropolis of the Americas.

The size of Shakespeare's London, Teotihuacán was built by an unknown people almost 2,000 years ago. The site sits about 25 miles (40 kilometers) north of present-day Mexico City. Temples, palaces, and some of the largest pyramids on Earth line its ancient main street.

Read the full story at Nation Geographic News...
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/index.html

Y chromosomes reveal founding father

About 1.5 million men in northern China and Mongolia may be descended from a single man, according to a study based on Y chromosome genetics1. Historical records suggest that this man may be Giocangga, who lived in the mid-1500s and whose grandson founded the Qing dynasty, which ruled China from 1644 to 1912. The analysis is similar to a controversial study in 2003, which suggested that approximately 16 million men alive today are descended from the Mongolian conqueror Genghis Khan2.

Read the full story at news @ Nature.com

http://www.nature.com/news/2005/051024/full/051024-1.html

Venus spacecraft 'in good shape'

The investigative tests on Europe's delayed Venus mission spacecraft are looking promising, say officials. Wednesday's planned launch was postponed when contamination was found inside the Russian-made rocket. Inspections show the spacecraft is in good condition and should be cleaned up within days, the European Space Agency (Esa) said.

Read the full story at BBC News...
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/4374692.stm

Gaza's ancient history uncovered

All through the heat of summer archaeologists dug and sifted through the dunes on the edge of Gaza City. Gradually walls, homes, and the outlines of alleyways emerged from the sand. These were the bones of the ancient Greek city of Antidon. And they were testimony to the extraordinary richness of Gaza's past.

Not only the Greeks passed this way. The Pharaohs of ancient Egypt, the Persians, the Romans, the Crusaders, the Turks, the British and many others left their mark on Gaza.
It has been described as one of the world's oldest living cities.

Read the full story at BBC News...
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/4365440.stm

Teams fail to recreate Archimedes' fabled death ray

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — It wasn't exactly the ancient siege of Syracuse, but rather a curious quest for scientific validation. According to sparse historical writings, the Greek mathematician Archimedes torched a fleet of invading Roman ships by reflecting the sun's powerful rays with a mirrored device made of glass or bronze.

More than 2,000 years later, researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the University of Arizona set out to recreate Archimedes' fabled death ray Saturday in an experiment sponsored by the Discovery Channel program MythBusters.

Read the full story at USA Today...
http://www.usatoday.com/tech/science/2005-10-22-deathray_x.htm

Europe's Venus mission delayed

The launch of Europe's first mission to Venus, due to have taken place next Wednesday, has been postponed.
The European Space Agency (Esa) has not yet announced a new date for the launch, only that it will be delayed by "several days".

The probe is to blast off aboard a Russian Soyuz rocket from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

Read the full story at BBC News...
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/4365704.stm

Hubble turns eye to moon

CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida (AP) -- The Hubble Space Telescope has taken a rare look at the moon to gauge the amount of oxygen-bearing minerals in the lunar soil that could be mined by astronauts and used in a new moon mission.
NASA said Wednesday that the telescope's ultraviolet observations of two Apollo landing sites and an unexplored but geologically intriguing area will help scientists pick the best spots for robot and human exploration.

Read the full story at CNN News...
http://www.cnn.com/2005/TECH/space/10/20/hubble.moon.ap/index.html

Chad celebrates new fossil centre

Chad is celebrating the opening of its first palaeontology department - only the fourth in Africa - following a discovery which shook up the understanding of human origins.
Until a few years ago, most people thought that the human line emerged in East Africa's Rift Valley. Scientists like Dr Louis Leakey helped make the region famous, and called the area the "cradle of mankind".

Read the full story at BBC News...
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/4357986.stm

5,000-year-old treasure rediscovered in library storage room

Valdosta State University Odum Library has uncovered an ancient treasure that excites even the mildest Indiana Jones wanna-be. The treasure is a collection of 5,000-year-old Babylonian cuneiform clay tablets, dating back from 2300 BC to 500 BC. Cuneiform is one of several writing systems of the ancient East, in which wedge-shaped impressions were made in soft clay tablets. These tablets, delicate in nature, literally fit in the palm of one’s hand, measuring only 1.5 inches squared.

Read the full story at Valdosta State University...
http://www.valdosta.edu/news/releases/babylonian.tablets.101905/

The Czech Republic's biggest excavation reveals layers of history.

Every Czech school child knows the story. Prague was a crowded medieval city bursting at the seams when, in 1348, its problem was solved at a stroke by the brilliance of Charles IV. The greatest of Czech kings ordained that a massive swathe of farmland around the walled city should become a new urban space called Nove Mesto, or New Town. The Prague we know today is said to be largely a product of Charles IV's effort at urban planning.

REad the full story at Archaeology.com
http://www.archaeology.org/0511/abstracts/prague.html

Fugitive rat sets distance record

The swimming ability of a rat which crossed open sea to find new territory has impressed New Zealand scientists. The rodent had been radio tagged and its movements tracked by researchers to learn more about pest species and how they invade small islands.
The rat was released on the uninhabited island of Motuhoropapa but refused to be captured at the project's end.

Read the full story at BBC News...
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/4356980.stm

Helen of Troy Existed?

Helen of Troy, described in the epic poem The Iliad, was based on a real woman, according to a new book that weaves history, archaeology and myth to recreate the famous ancient Greek beauty's life.

According to the new theory proposed by Bettany Hughes, Helen's mythological character was inspired by a wealthy Bronze Age leader from the southern mainland of Greece.
Hughes, a former Oxford University scholar who has conducted research in the Balkans, Greece, and Asia Minor, was unavailable for comment.

Read the full story at The Discovery Channel.com
http://dsc.discovery.com/news/briefs/20051017/helen.html

Sweden discovers 'zombie worms'

A new species of marine worm that lives off whale bones on the sea floor has been described by scientists. The creature was found on a minke carcass in relatively shallow water close to Tjarno Marine Laboratory on the Swedish coast. Such "zombie worms", as they are often called, are known from the deep waters of the Pacific but their presence in the North Sea is a major surprise.

Read the full story at BBC News...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/4354286.stm

Ocean reclaiming Titanic liner

BBC Northern Ireland's environment correspondent Mike McKimm helped place a plaque to the hundreds who died in the Titanic disaster. On a dive to the ill-fated ship he discovered that the once magnificent liner is disintegrating into the Atlantic, her resting place for the past 93 years."She is falling apart" - the comments of one diver emerging from a Russian Mir submersible after a recent dive to Titanic.

Read the full story at the BBC News...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/northern_ireland/4352568.stm

Venus mission ready for blast off

Europe is poised to send a spacecraft to Venus, our closest planetary neighbour and a hothouse world that has been described as Earth's "evil twin". Venus Express will blast off aboard a Russian rocket from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on 26 October. It will slip into orbit around Venus next year, using science instruments to study the planet from space.

Read the full story at BBC News...
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/4350394.stm

Team widens search for 'Hobbits'

The team behind the "Hobbit" finds have been widening their search for remains of the strange little humans on Flores island - with tantalising results.
Since last year, the remains of at least nine individuals have been found in a cave on the Indonesian island.

The discovery team has now excavated more than 500 stone tools from another, much older, site about 40km away.

Read the full story at BBC News...
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/4339740.stm

Winged Goddesses Flew over Iran

Tehran, 12 October 2005 (CHN) – The recent excavations in Rabat Teppe archaeological site in Sardasht, Northwestern Iran, led to discovery of four icons of winged goddesses on bricks which belong to 3000 years ago. These are the first ever winged goddesses found in Iran.In initial measures, the area of the archaeological site was believed to be 14 hectares but recent studies extend its measures to 25 hectares. “This season of the excavations has led to discovery of four winged goddesses in Rabat Teppe which can be traced back to the Iron Age, about 3000 years ago. This kind of icons has never been seen in any Iranian archaeological site before,” said Reza Heydari, an archaeologist of Western Azarbaijan Cultural Heritage and Tourism Organization.

Read the full story at CHN News...

http://www.chn.ir/en/news/?id=5810&section=2

Big stars born near black hole

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- Dozens of massive stars, destined for a short but brilliant life, were born less than a light-year away from the Milky Way's central black hole, one of the most hostile environments in our galaxy, astronomers reported on Thursday.

On Earth, this might be a bit like setting up a maternity ward on the side of an active volcano. But researchers using the Chandra X-ray Observatory and other instruments believe there is a safe zone around black holes, a big dust ring where stars can form.

Read the full story at CNN News...
http://www.cnn.com/2005/TECH/space/10/13/black.hole.reut/index.html

A-bomb system can warn of tsunami

Monitoring stations set up to detect atomic explosions could help predict the path of a tsunami, research shows. Californian scientists have analysed sound waves produced in the Indian Ocean by last December's Asian tsunami. Writing in the journal Geophysical Research Letters, the team says the tsunami produced a "unique" signal.

Read the full story at BBC News...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/4330286.stm

Oldest noodles unearthed in China

The remains of the world's oldest noodles have been unearthed in China.
The 50cm-long, yellow strands were found in a pot that had probably been buried during a catastrophic flood. Radiocarbon dating of the material taken from the Lajia archaeological site on the Yellow River indicates the food was about 4,000 years old.

Read the full story at BBC news...
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/4335160.stm

China launches manned space flight

A rocket carrying two Chinese astronauts on the country's second manned space mission blasted off Wednesday from a heavily guarded launch base in the country's desert northwest. In a sign of official confidence in the mission, the communist government broke with the military-run space program's usual secrecy and showed the launch live on state television.

Read the full story at CNN News...
http://www.cnn.com/TECH/space/

Egypt prepares new probe of mystery pyramid shafts

CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt will send a robot up narrow shafts in the Great Pyramid to try to solve one of the mysteries of the 4,500-year-old pharaonic mausoleum, Egypt's top archaeologist said on Monday.

Zahi Hawass told Reuters he would this week inspect a robot designed to climb the two narrow shafts which might lead to an undiscovered burial chamber in the pyramid of Cheops at Giza, on the outskirts of Cairo. Hawass said the shafts and stone panels which block them could mark the location of the burial chamber of Cheops, also known as Khufu. That would mean none of the chambers already discovered in the pyramid were the pharaoh's real tomb.

The shafts were last probed in September 2002, when a robot drilled a hole through one of the stone panels to reveal a small empty space at the end of which lay another panel, which appeared cracked and fragile.

http://news.yahoo.com

Napoleon 'not killed', paper says

A manuscript believed to have been written by a doctor who examined Napoleon Bonaparte's body could put an end to the theory he was murdered. Many historians have claimed the French Emperor was poisoned with arsenic, although the official cause of his death in 1821 was stomach cancer. Now a document found in a Scottish cottage seems to confirm the official theory of his death while in exile.

Read the full story at BBC News...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/cumbria/4318288.stm

History lies in the silt of Tyre

Nineveh is now a collection of dusty mounds on the Tigris near Mosul, endangered by looting in the lawlessness of modern Iraq, but Tyre survives as a modest port on the coast of Lebanon. It is also an archaeological site of immense potential importance, a study concludes. The silting up of its ancient northern harbour “means that the heart of the Bronze Age, Phoenician, Greek, Roman and Byzantine ports could be excavated on land, in much the same way as a classic terrestrial dig,” say Nick Marriner, a British archeologist.

Marriner, who has been working with Christophe Morhange of the Université de Provence and his colleagues in their investigation of historic Mediterranean ports, notes in the Journal of Archaeological Science: “Tyre’s ancient northern harbour has been a source of scientific intrigue and debate for many centuries. Many scholars have long questioned whether the modern port corresponds to its counterpart in antiquity.”

Read the full story at Times Online...
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,61-1818472,00.html

China countdown to space launch

China plans to launch its second manned spacecraft on Wednesday morning, space officials have told the official Xinhua news agency. Officials also told Xinhua that two astronauts had been chosen for the Shenzhou VI mission, though they have not yet been publicly named. Earlier reports indicated the craft is set to orbit the earth for five days.

Read the full story at BBC News...
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/4329556.stm

More Flores 'Hobbits' described

Scientists have discovered more remains of the strange, small people that once lived on Flores island, Indonesia. The announcement last year detailing a single, partial skeleton caused a sensation when it was claimed to be a human species new to science.

Homo floresiensis, as it was called, was little more than a metre tall and lived 18,000 years ago.
Now, the same team tells Nature journal it has skeletal remains from at least nine of the "Hobbit-like" individuals.

Read the full story at BBC News...
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/default.stm

Wild gorillas seen to use tools

Gorillas have been seen for the first time using simple tools to perform tasks in the wild, researchers say. Scientists observed gorillas in a remote Congolese forest using sticks to test the depth of muddy water and to cross swampy areas. Wild chimps and orangutans also use tools, suggesting that the origins of tool use may predate the evolutionary split between apes and humans.

Read the full story at BBC News...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/4296606.stm

Cassini pictures spongy Hyperion

It may have the look of a giant sponge, but this is Saturn's moon Hyperion, as pictured by the Cassini spacecraft. The US-European probe has just made a flyby of the satellite, crossing its surface at a distance of just 500km. The surface is speckled with impact craters which scientists say have been modified by some process, not yet understood, to create the strange look.

Read the full story at BBC News...
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/4298080.stm