Nine percent of the Western Hemisphere’s mammals—and up to 40 percent in some regions—may not be able to outpace climate change. “I think it’s important to point out that in the past when climates have changed—between glacial and interglacial periods when species ranges contracted and expanded—the landscape wasn’t covered with agricultural fields, four-lane highways and parking lots, so species could move much more freely across the landscape,” says Joshua Lawler, associate professor of environmental and forest sciences at University of…
Selected by dianearees
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Most Topular Stories
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Mammals may not get to cool climates in time
Holy Kaw!16 May 2012 | 12:09 pm -
Reassessing Abri Castanet
About.com Archaeology14 May 2012 | 7:16 amAn article in PNAS published on May 14, 2012, describes a fundamental reassessment of the Upper Paleolithic Aurignacian site of Abri Castanet, in the Dordogne region of France, which pushes the date of its artwork back to among the earliest known in the world, about 37,000 years ago....Read Full Post -
Divers Stumble upon Bronze Statue in Bulgarian Black Sea
Archaeology Daily News14 May 2012 | 4:00 pmNoviniteTwo divers, father and son, from Bulgaria's Black Sea city of Burgas, found in the waters near the historical town... -
Archaeology expedition creates hope of God's plan for all of us
archaeology - Yahoo! News Search Results16 May 2012 | 10:32 amTEL MARESHA, Israel -- The underground cave in which we are digging for archeological treasures here is domed with rock, cool and a bit damp. -
Wednesday, May 16
Archaeological News from Archaeology Magazine16 May 2012 | 9:52 amA team of French archaeologists has unearthed an 11,000-year-old farming village on the island of Cyprus. The evidence, including bones and burned seeds, suggests that the Early Neolithic farmers came from the Middle East soon after the rise of agriculture, bringing plants, dogs, and cats with them. They supplemented their diets with wild boar that [...]
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Holy Kaw!
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Mammals may not get to cool climates in time
16 May 2012 | 12:09 pmNine percent of the Western Hemisphere’s mammals—and up to 40 percent in some regions—may not be able to outpace climate change. “I think it’s important to point out that in the past when climates have changed—between glacial and interglacial periods when species ranges contracted and expanded—the landscape wasn’t covered with agricultural fields, four-lane highways and parking lots, so species could move much more freely across the landscape,” says Joshua Lawler, associate professor of environmental and forest sciences at University of… -
Time of year matters for vitamin D risk
16 May 2012 | 12:08 pmWhen considering a patient’s blood vitamin D levels, it may be best to consider a lower threshold for concern, as well as the time of year. "In evaluating health risk," the University of Washington researchers conclude, "season-specific targets for Vitamin D blood concentration may be more appropriate than a static target when evaluating patients health risk." Full story at Futurity. More research news from top universities. Permalink | Leave a comment » -
The (not so correct) anatomy of sea life
16 May 2012 | 11:52 amMarine biology, scharine schiology. Pleated Jeans skips scientific facts for its series of sea life diagrams. Via Pleated Jeans. (H/T @laughingsquid) Laughing is good for you. Permalink | Leave a comment » -
The mechanics of eclipses [infographic]
16 May 2012 | 9:11 amWhen the moon passes in front of sun, as viewed from Earth, the eclipse that occurs is visible from a narrow path on Earth that corresponds to the location of the moon's shadow. During a total solar eclipse, this path is known as the path of totality. WARNING: Never look directly at the sun during an eclipse with a telescope or your unaided eye. Severe eye damage can result and scientists use special filters to safely view the sun. Via Space. The view from space. Permalink | Leave a comment » -
Clean air improves heart health, Olympics show
16 May 2012 | 8:39 amUsing the 2008 Beijing Olympics as a lab, researchers found evidence that even short-term reduction in air pollution exposure improves a person’s cardiovascular health. “Beijing is one of the most polluted cities in the world, and the Chinese government had proposed to reduce pollution levels to be comparable to other Olympic host cities,” says USC Professor Junfeng (Jim) Zhang. “We wanted to take advantage of such a huge intervention and look at what happens to people biologically.” Full story at Futurity. More research news from top universities. Permalink |…
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About.com Archaeology
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Reassessing Abri Castanet
14 May 2012 | 7:16 amAn article in PNAS published on May 14, 2012, describes a fundamental reassessment of the Upper Paleolithic Aurignacian site of Abri Castanet, in the Dordogne region of France, which pushes the date of its artwork back to among the earliest known in the world, about 37,000 years ago....Read Full Post -
Classic Maya Astronomical Mural
11 May 2012 | 4:20 amA fascinating report in Science today, and featured in an upcoming issue of National Geographic, is that of a newly discovered mural including astronomical tables at the classic Maya site of Xultún. ...Read Full Post -
Horses from the Western Steppes
10 May 2012 | 3:51 amNew DNA evidence published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences earlier this week supports the domestication of horses as having occurred one time, somewhere in the western steppe region of Eurasia, somewhere in what is today Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, or Uzbekistan. ...Read Full Post -
Ancient Roadside Inns
7 May 2012 | 2:04 amIn one of the Time Team programs I reviewed last week, the team investigated a Roman mansio--the Empire's version of a way station or roadside hotel. Read Full Post -
Exchange Systems and Trade Networks
4 May 2012 | 1:45 amAn important concept used in archaeological and anthropological study for the past 150 years or more is that of exchange systems or trade networks. Exchange systems are the way consumers connect with producers of goods, services and ideas. ...Read Full Post
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Archaeology Daily News
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Divers Stumble upon Bronze Statue in Bulgarian Black Sea
14 May 2012 | 4:00 pmNoviniteTwo divers, father and son, from Bulgaria's Black Sea city of Burgas, found in the waters near the historical town... -
First Evidence of a Cult in Judah at Time of King David
14 May 2012 | 4:00 pmScience DailyProf. Yosef Garfinkel, the Yigal Yadin Professor of Archaeology at the Institute of Archaeology at the Hebrew University of... -
Refugees from the Ice Age: How Was Europe Repopulated?
14 May 2012 | 4:00 pmScience DailyScientists have used DNA analysis to gain important new insights into how human beings repopulated Europe as the Ice... -
The Story of a Site and a Project: Excavating Tel Kedesh
14 May 2012 | 4:00 pmArchaeology MagazineIn 1997, archaeologists Sharon Herbert and Andrea Berlin began an excavation project at Tel Kedesh, an enormous mound located... -
Mystery of the Domestication of the Horse Solved: Competing Theories Reconciled
14 May 2012 | 4:00 pmScience DailyNew research indicates that domestic horses originated in the steppes of modern day Ukraine, southwest Russia and west Kazakhstan,...
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archaeology - Yahoo! News Search Results
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Archaeology expedition creates hope of God's plan for all of us
16 May 2012 | 10:32 amTEL MARESHA, Israel -- The underground cave in which we are digging for archeological treasures here is domed with rock, cool and a bit damp. -
Scientist at Work Blog: How to Uncover Underwater Artifacts
15 May 2012 | 12:24 pmDiving for Maya artifacts involves high-tech diving equipment and low-tech archaeology tools like pulleys and buckets. -
Chinese archaeology proves early East-West links
14 May 2012 | 7:33 pmThe vast but little known north-western Chinese region of Xinjiang has presented a University of Sydney archaeologist with exciting new evidence of early contact between China and the West. -
Archaeology student finds unmarked grave in park
14 May 2012 | 7:55 amThe parcel of land nestled between South Sixth Street and Wayne Avenue in Indiana where Indiana County's Memorial Park is located was first surveyed in 1774, and generations ago it was a church cemetery. Near the park's winding sidewalks, bandstand and doughboy statue are 33 marked graves. -
El Paso Museum of Archaeology will host night-sky storytelling event Friday
13 May 2012 | 11:10 pmVisitors to the El Paso Museum of Archaeology can hear Native-American tribal stories and learn about the stars and night sky this week.
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Archaeological News from Archaeology Magazine
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Wednesday, May 16
16 May 2012 | 9:52 amA team of French archaeologists has unearthed an 11,000-year-old farming village on the island of Cyprus. The evidence, including bones and burned seeds, suggests that the Early Neolithic farmers came from the Middle East soon after the rise of agriculture, bringing plants, dogs, and cats with them. They supplemented their diets with wild boar that [...] -
Tuesday, May 15
15 May 2012 | 9:55 amEngravings at the French rock shelter site of Abri Castanet have been dated to 37,000 years ago, making them at least as old as the paintings of the Grotte Chauvet. The Abri Castanet engravings were carved in the limestone ceiling of the shelter, which was probably used by reindeer hunters. “But unlike the Chauvet paintings and [...] -
Monday, May 14
14 May 2012 | 9:50 amA Polish oil company worker has discovered a World War II-era Kittyhawk P-40 crashed in Egypt’s Western Desert. The Royal Air Force pilot of the plane is thought to have survived the June 1942 crash because his parachute had been used to make a shelter. No human remains have been found. The Egyptian military has removed [...] -
Friday, May 11
11 May 2012 | 10:20 amAt the site of Xultún in northern Guatemala, a team from Boston University has uncovered the oldest-known astronomical tables of the Maya, which were incised and painted on the walls of a room in a 1,200-year-old residential building. The room, thought to have been a working space for scribes, had been built with a stone [...] -
Thursday, May 10
10 May 2012 | 10:18 amJohn MacGinnis of Cambridge University was deciphering the text on a 2,800-year-old Assyrian clay tablet from Turkey when he realized that the names of some of the women listed in the text were unique. He thinks the names may represent women prisoners of war who were captured in the Zagros Mountains of western Iran, and [...]
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ScienceDaily: Archaeology News
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Ancient tree-ring records from southwest U.S. suggest today's megafires are truly unusual
16 May 2012 | 9:03 amToday's mega forest fires of the southwestern U.S. are truly unusual and exceptional in the long-term record, suggests an unprecedented study that examined 1,500 years of ancient tree ring and fire data from two distinct climate periods. Researchers constructed and analyzed a statistical model and found that today's dry, hot climate combined with the past century of human fire suppression is causing megafires. -
Anthropologists discover earliest form of wall art
14 May 2012 | 12:29 pmAnthropologists working in southern France have determined that a 1.5 metric ton block of engraved limestone constitutes the earliest evidence of wall art. Their research shows the piece to be approximately 37,000 years old and offers rich evidence of the role art played in the daily lives of Early Aurignacian humans. -
Ancient ballgame reveals more about early Mesoamerican society
8 May 2012 | 12:21 pmNew research explores the importance of the ballgame to ancient Mesoamerican societies. Dr. Blomster's findings show how the discovery of a ballplayer figurine in the Mixteca Alta region of Oaxaca demonstrates the early participation of the region in the iconography and ideology of the game, a point that had not been previously documented by other researchers. -
Early North Americans lived with extinct giant beasts, study shows
3 May 2012 | 12:39 pmA new study that determined the age of skeletal remains provides evidence humans reached the Western Hemisphere during the last ice age and lived alongside giant extinct mammals. The study addresses the century-long debate among scientists about whether human and mammal remains found at Vero Beach in the early 1900s date to the same time period. Using rare earth element analysis to measure the concentration of naturally occurring metals absorbed during fossilization, researchers show modern humans in North America co-existed with large extinct mammals about 13,000 years ago, including… -
Skeletons found at mass burial site in Oxford could be 10th-century Viking raiders
1 May 2012 | 5:48 pmThirty-seven skeletons found in a mass burial site in the grounds of St John's College may not be who they initially seemed, according to Oxford researchers studying the remains.
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Stone Pages Archaeo News
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Human migrations: Eastern odyssey
15 May 2012 | 12:27 amSome 74,000 years ago, a volcano called Toba on the Indonesian island of Sumatra unleashed one of the greatest eruptions ever known, spreading ash across southern Asia. The catastrophe had... -
The Dolmen at Monticello
15 May 2012 | 12:24 amThe village of Monticello - near Finale Ligure, in the west of Italy, is located along the western slopes of Gottaro. The dolmen is located in Valeggia, 199 metres above... -
Did ancient Germans steal the pharaoh's chair design?
13 May 2012 | 11:56 pmRoughly 3,500 years ago, folding chairs remarkably similar to ones found in Egypt suddenly became must-have items in parts of northern Europe. The simple design consists of two movable wooden... -
Mexican experts find ancient blood on stone knives
13 May 2012 | 11:55 pmTraces of blood and fragments of muscle, tendon, skin and hair found on 2,000-year-old stone knives have given researchers the first conclusive evidence that the obsidian blades were used for... -
New study chronicles the rise of agriculture in Europe
13 May 2012 | 11:54 pmAs reported in the 27 April issue of the journal Science, an analysis of 5,000-year-old DNA taken from the Stone Age remains of four humans excavated in Sweden is helping...
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Everyone's Blog Posts - ArchaeoSeek
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The Cave Dig
16 May 2012 | 8:43 amWe have received a new group!! Danielle and Nathalie are exposing SU15 towards the NE. We have found another bronze talaiotic button!! as well as more iron bracelet fragments, pottery and small beads. sanisera@arrakis.es -
The Roman City Dig
15 May 2012 | 3:01 pmStudents continued excavating superficial layer 1159. They started to expose some stones that might be forming part of a new structure. A pottery fragment with stamped decoration with the shape of a Christian cross was found! It belonged to a plate from the TS Clara (African red slip ware) type. -
Thank you Session #1!
10 May 2012 | 9:19 amThank you Session #1 for starting the season off in such a great way! We will miss you! -
LITHIC INDUSTRY HAS BEEN FOUND AT THE CAVE!!!
4 May 2012 | 10:36 amLITHIC INDUSTRY HAS BEEN FOUND AT THE CAVE!!!It was retrieved from the human bone bed layer and it clearly shows a retouch sequence. Tomorrow we will have a practical in archaeological drawing and photograph before we finally lift the whole layer. -
A comment on Egypt travel.
3 May 2012 | 11:02 amI was in Egypt touring for 3 weeks in February. We were in Aswan, Luxor and Cairo and felt perfectly safe. This was my 6th time in Egypt in the last 10 years. The major thing we saw this time was the extreme lack of tourists and the desperation of those that depend on them for business. Was great for us. No crowds anywhere. The people are very friendly. It's a place not to be missed!! Janice Armstrong May 3, 2012
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Burke Blog
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Science News Roundup: (Mostly) archaeology edition
7 May 2012 | 11:18 amSome highlights from science news in the past couple weeks: Penguin from space. Scientists count penguins from space: Scientists have completed the first count of emperor penguins from space by estimating the number of birds using Very High Resolution (VHR) satellite images of Antarctica and collaborating the counts with ground and aerial counts. (Note that these were penguins being counted from space, NOT penguins from space being counted. :-) Using satellite images allows more accurate counts of the penguins, due to their harsh environment. DNA points to common ancestors of modern… -
SCIENCE!!! Comics - Episode Seven: We heart WILD River Otters!
27 Apr 2012 | 9:14 amThis week's comic goes out to all of nature's cute critters that we love and adore and want to take home with us. Still, most animals are better off in their natural habitats. It's better for us to love and appreciate them for what they are—wild animals. You can see wild river otters around Washington state. Try spotting them from a high lookout (like a bridge or the top of a hill) near their feeding areas. Learn more about river otters and how to live with them if you find them as your neighbors (hint: don't let them den under your porch). If you see an otter (or other wildlife)… -
Science News Roundup
13 Apr 2012 | 11:21 amNitrous oxide is a greenhouse gas A Burke Blog post on the highlights of recent natural history and cultural news: Chemists at the University of California at Berkeley have found the chemical fingerprint of fertilizer in the increase of nitrous oxidea greenhouse gasin the atmosphere; the rise of nitrous oxide in the atmosphere can now be linked to increased fertilizer use. A partial foot discovered in Ethiopia provides evidence of another human-like species that lived at the same time as Lucy, 3 million years ago in northern Africa. Unlike Lucy's foot, the new foot has an opposable big toe… -
SCIENCE!!! Comics - Episode 6: When is a scalloped hammerhead not a scalloped hammerhead?
6 Apr 2012 | 5:00 pmThis week! When is a scalloped hammerhead not a scalloped hammerhead? (or: A tail of two sharks) This week's comic is based on a press release from Nova Southeastern University. Several news sites have covered this story, including Discovery News and Live Science. Learn what makes one species different from another from UC Berkeley - it's a harder and more interesting question than you might think! You can find out more about shark finning, and find out how shark fin soup alters the ecosystem. Shark finning is now banned in the US, but shark products that result from shark… -
Short Take: Recovering Northwest Coastal Indian Food Traditions
28 Mar 2012 | 2:20 pmLast month, traditional foods educator Elise Krohn joined nine other food experts to give a short talk as part of the Burke Museum's "Short Takes on What the World Eats" at the Neptune Theater. She spoke about individuals and organizations working to restore traditional Native knowledge of the tending, harvesting, preserving, and preparing traditional northwest Native foods. Other speakers discussed topics from wild food foraging to eating bugs. If you missed Elise Krohn's talk, you can watch it below, and check out our YouTube channel for more Short Takes. If you enjoyed Elise Krohn's talk,…
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Tacoma Art Museum Docents Blog TAM Docents Blog
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TAM Docents: June Opportunities
16 May 2012 | 8:33 amHello Docents,I hope you all have gotten a chance to enjoy the warm weather we have been having! I am happy to say almost every shift in June is covered! There are only a handful of shifts that need a docent. Please let me know if you are interested in taking on one of the following shifts:Open Shifts:Late Night Thursday, June 7th, from 5 pm to 8 pm – This is the last late night Shift of HIDE/SEEK! Thursday, June 14th, from 11 am to 3 pm Friday, June 29th, from 11 am to 3 pm Saturday, June 30th, from 11 am to 3 pm I also still need at least 3 docents to help out with the following tours… -
Upcoming trainings & fun opportunities
15 May 2012 | 9:02 amHello docents: I hope you are enjoying the glorious weather we’re having lately! I’ve attached the updated docent training calendar for the next couple months. I will be overseeing docent training—with some much appreciated help from Megan R—until we hire for the new position. We have not yet posted that opening, and as we craft the position and think about what we are looking for in the person who will fill it, I’d love to hear from you about anything you feel is especially important for us to keep in mind. Some things to note about the attached… -
TAM Docents: HELP!! Docent Tours!
11 May 2012 | 2:48 pmHello Docents, Now I am going to start begging for your help! If you are available to help out with the following tour, it would be greatly appreciated! It is a week away and we still are need of a docent! There will be a special gift for the person that is able to help out with this tour! Tour Type: The 10th NW BiennialTour Contact: Shirley Loper 206.323.3382 Organization:… -
A fun opportunity
11 May 2012 | 2:31 pmHello Docents, I wanted to le you know about a fun opportunity coming up next week: Lunch with Frye DocentsFriday, May 18, 12 – 1 pmDocents from the Frye are visiting for a tour (11-12), and invited us to join them for lunch following! Please take advantage of this opportunity to meet and bond with other local docents.Please RSVP to Megan R by May 15. I hope you all are getting a chance to enjoy this fabulous weather! Best,Megan Megan Ristine | TACOMA ART MUSEUMEducation and Volunteer Coordinator T: 253.272.4258 x30261701 Pacific Avenue, Tacoma,… -
TAM Docent Needs: May Updates
9 May 2012 | 9:30 amHello Docents, I am still looking for a docent or two to help with one or more of the following tours: Tour Type: The 10th NW BiennialTour Contact: Shirley Loper 206.323.3382 Organization: SAM Volunteers Date & Time: Saturday, May 19,…
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Aardvarchaeology
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Live Drummer Plays Impossible Machine Beats
16 May 2012 | 6:20 amBizarre musical development. The drum and base genre of music was created when people turned up the tempo on drum machines to insane speeds. But this guy plays drum and base beats live! Ree-spect! Read the comments on this post... -
Recent Archaeomags
15 May 2012 | 11:58 amCurrent Archaeology #266 (May) has a big feature on the Medieval and Renaissance version of Saint Paul's cathedral in London. The current one designed by Christopher Wren, I learned, re-uses none of the earlier edifice's fabric and is not even orientated on the same axis. It was the world's first purpose-built Protestant cathedral, completed in 1710. What happened to the old cathedral? Well, first the Reformation, then a century of neglect while only the chancel remained consecrated, and then in 1666 the Great Fire of London. Finally Wren's building crew tore down whatever was left. Then a… -
Pondering a Professional Plan B
14 May 2012 | 6:20 amI'm a month from my 20th anniversary as a professional archaeologist and I'm considering my options. Unlike most people who make a living in my trade I have not worked much in contract archaeology and I have spent only a few months on the dole. Instead my main source of income during these two decades has been research grants from private foundations. Not big ones, but many of them. With a frugal lifestyle and no departmental overhead, I have produced more publications per krona than most. This has increased my chances of finding renewed funding. Publish or Perish has been my rule. Secondary… -
All My Readers are Descendants of Slaves
13 May 2012 | 6:20 amI was thinking about African American culture and how it still shows signs of these people descending from slaves, US slavery having been abolished less than 150 years ago. And I asked myself, what is that subculture going to be like a few hundred years in the future? Then it hit me. That's where my subculture is now. I've made the point before that all my readers are descendants of royalty. But a far greater percentage of our pedigrees lies with the slaves. All currently living members of the various European ethnic groups have ample slave ancestry. Slavery was common in Iron Age Scandinavia… -
Swedish Runic Corpus On-line
12 May 2012 | 6:20 amHere's an extremely useful resource. The Swedish National Heritage Board has scanned the great multivolume corpus publication of Swedish runic inscriptions, Sveriges runinskrifter, and put it on-line for free. Currently as PDF files, but in the future there will also be a structured database. Though the PDF:s have been run through optical character recognition, they don't seem to have been indexed on Google (yet?). For an example, read about (p. 547 ff) Kalv's runestone U 875 at Focksta in Hagby, Uppland, shown above. Read the comments on this post...
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Scientific American - Archaeology & Paleontology
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Ancient Time: Earliest Mayan Astronomical Calendar Unearthed in Guatemala Ruins
10 May 2012 | 12:01 pmAn excavation of an archaeological site in Guatemala has uncovered Mayan astronomical records dating to the ninth century A.D. The tabulated numbers, which predate existing Mayan astronomical documents by several hundred years, chart the motion of the moon and also seem to relate to the orbits of Mars and Venus. (And good news: they do not predict the world will end this year --in fact, some of the numbers appear to refer to dates far in the future.) [More] -
Recommended: Bird Sense
4 May 2012 | 10:00 amBird Sense: What It’s Like to Be a Bird [More] -
Stonehenge Had Lecture Hall Acoustics
3 May 2012 | 2:35 pmThe stone slabs of England's Stonehenge may have been more than just a spectacular sight to the ancient people who built the structure; they likely created an acoustic environment unlike anything they normally experienced, new research hints. [More] -
Giant Flealike Pest Put the Bite on Dinosaurs
3 May 2012 | 2:15 pmPaleo-pests about 10 times bigger than today's fleas may have sneaked up on a huge dinosaur, crawled onto its soft underbelly and taken a bite, likely a painful one, say researchers who have discovered fossils of the flealike organisms. [More] -
Triumph of the Titans: How Sauropods Flourished (preview)
30 Apr 2012 | 6:00 amEver since fossils of the behemoth, long-necked dinosaurs known as sauropods surfaced in England nearly 170 years ago, they have awed and confused scientists. Even when the great English anatomist Sir Richard Owen recognized in 1842 that dinosaurs constituted a group of their own, apart from reptiles, he excluded the gigantic bones later classified as sauropods. Instead he interpreted them as belonging to a type of aquatic crocodile, which he had named Cetiosaurus, or “whale lizard,” for the enormous size of its bones. Nearly 30 years later, in 1871, University of Oxford geologist…
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Talking Pyramids
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Giza 3D: Peter Der Manuelian and Mehdi Tayoubi
10 May 2012 | 4:58 amYesterday the Giza 3D Project was launched at a gala event at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts (MFA). Peter Der Manuelian After the event I caught up virtually with Peter Der Manuelian, Giza Archives Director at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts and Philip J. King Professor of Egyptology at Harvard University, and Mehdi Tayoubi, Vice-President Digital & Experiential Strategy at Dassault Systémes to find out a bit more about the project. Welcome Peter and thank you for taking the time out for this interview. Giza Archives: The online repository of archaeological data from the Harvard… -
Giza 3D – Virtually Exploring Giza
9 May 2012 | 1:22 amWorld leading 3D software company Dassault Systémes and Harvard University last night officially unveiled Giza 3D to the world at a gala event at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts (MFA). It presents the results of over a 100 years of work by the MFA and Harvard University expedition led by George Reisner in the first half of the 20th century. A computer generated avatar of renowned Egyptologist George Andrew Reisner Almost forty years of archaeological data collected from those expeditions has, over the past ten years, been laboriously digitised to form the Giza Archives. This includes: 1,300… -
The Pyramids: Between Life and Death
16 Apr 2012 | 2:14 pmBehenu's Pyramid Texts A workshop on pyramids is to be held at Geijersalen, Engelska Parken, Uppsala University over two days, May 31st and June 1st. Speakers will include such notables as Denis Searby, Peter Jánosi, Miroslav Barta, Tarek el-Awady, Jaromir Krejci, Mark Lehner, Catherine Berger, Harold Hays, Roman Gundacker, Nils Billing and Erika Meyer-Dietrich. There are some very interesting topics on the programme, such as Erika Meyer-Dietrich’s session: Sonic acting in the pyramid of queen Neith – statements about sound in ritual texts from the time of Pepi II and Catherine… -
Pottery Sherds Add 1500 Years to the Age of the Meidum Pyramid Field
23 Mar 2012 | 1:45 pmPolish researcher Teodozja Rzeuska says her research indicates that the Meidum necropolis was used as late as the New Kingdom period, extending its history by over 1500 years. After early publications by pioneering archaeologist William Matthew Flinders Petrie and others, Rzeuska says that it became “dogma that in Meidum the dead had been buried only in the early reign of the fourth dynasty.” Her research re-analyzed the pottery, other artifacts and dated excavation reports to completely reshape the chronology of the site. This new study calls for a reexamination of the many reports based… -
Archaeology Hangout this Friday Night
29 Feb 2012 | 12:44 pmYou may have noticed that the activity here on Talking Pyramids has died down a bit over the past few months. My ever faithful and trusty assistant Bennu has continued posting lots of news items every day on Twitter, which you can read in the side bar on Talking Pyramids. GooglePlus The reason for the slow down of posts here on Talking Pyramids is partly due to GooglePlus. Since June last year I’ve been spending a lot of time trying out the new service by Google called GooglePlus. In case you’re not familiar with it, GooglePlus, or G+ for short, is a little bit like a…
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And Did Those Feet
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The Old Operating Theatre Museum - the quirkiest museums in London? - Telegraph
15 May 2012 | 1:23 amWhat are the quirkiest museums in London? - Telegraph -
Low Cost training - a casualty of the Arts Council
12 May 2012 | 5:53 amMuseums in London used to get access to inexpensive training - this has ended as a result of the change over from MLA, London to the Arts Council.It beggars belief how incompetently this change over has been managed. -
Museums and the future
2 May 2012 | 7:33 amTrendsWatch2012.pdf (application/pdf Object) -
MA slams proposal to scrap DCMS and national museum funding | Museums Association
25 Apr 2012 | 8:13 amThe Museum Association reported:'MA slams proposal to scrap DCMS and national museum funding | Museums Association: The Museums Association has strongly criticised a proposal put forward yesterday by the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) calling on the government to scrap the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) and funding for national museums.The free-market thinktank claimed that taxpayers would save £1.6bn if all spending on DCMS ceased. This saving could be used to slash the rate of corporation tax, cut fuel duty by 3p or partly abolish inheritance tax, the report… -
American Postcards | By Ronan Haughton | Category: Arts & Photography | Blurb
25 Apr 2012 | 12:51 amAmerican Postcards documents the experiences and impressions of three European photographers in post 9/11 USA (2004 to 2005). It features photography and writing by London College of Communication graduates (BA Photography) Norman Wilcox (UK), Amanda Johansson (Sweden) and Ronan Haughton (Ireland). It also features the work of Art Kaligos (USA), a photography graduate from Parsons School of Design New York. American Postcards also features exclusive writing by Peter D. Osborne, author of 'Travelling Light, travel and visual culture'."Then the police stop us. They’re friendly, they pose for…
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About.com Ancient / Classical History
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On This Day in Ancient History - A 14-Year-Old Became Emperor
16 May 2012 | 12:43 amElagablus Coin © Copyright the Trustees of the British Museum, produced by Natalia Bauer for the Portable Antiquities On this day in ancient Roman History - May 15: He ...Read Full Post -
Guess Who
15 May 2012 | 11:42 pmCC Flickr User Rictor Norton & David Allen Hints: 1.) Facing right is Socrates. You are to guess the man facing the left. 2.) Last week's Classics feel good story Columbia University custodian to graduate after 12 years of part-time study (courtesy of the Rogue Classicist) features a man who graduated from Columbia with a degree in Classics and a senior paper on this man. Answer Related: Sculptors Ancient Philosophers Timeline Greek Tragedy The Golden Age of Latin Drama Sign up for my free, weekly Ancient/Classical History newsletter -
These Are Pairs of ... ?
15 May 2012 | 1:43 pm© Clipart.com Guess what these pairs of names have in common. Leuconotus and AltanusLibonotus and SubvesperusArgestes and EtesiaeCircias and CorusThracias and GallicusSupernas and CaeciasCarbas and OrnithiaeEurocircias and Volturnus Answer Related: Zeus' Mates and Children Names and Types of Nymphs Mars and Venus Caught in a Net The 4 Roman Winds Plutarch Sign up for my free, weekly Ancient/Classical History newsletter -
Myth Monday - The First Tyrant
13 May 2012 | 11:55 pmCandaules, His Wife, and Gyges by William Etty 1820PD Courtesy of Wikipedia Today's Myth Monday features a story about the first tyrant known to the Greeks. It could be based on history, since the main male character is, but the actual coup is very unlikely to have happened in this way. Read Full PostMyth Monday - The First Tyrant originally appeared on About.com Ancient / Classical History on Monday, May 14th, 2012 at 06:55:59.Permalink | Comment | Email this -
Do You Know the Connection Between Immolation and Salted Cakes?
13 May 2012 | 2:31 amOn This Day in Ancient History - May 13:Vestal Virgins worked on the mola salsa, the Romans' sacred salted cake. In her online article on mola salsa, author Caroline Tully cites Robin Lorsch Wildfang's book on Vestal Virgins to say that this was one of the days on which the Vestal Virgins gathered unripe spelt to use in the mola salsa. The grain would then Read Full PostDo You Know the Connection Between Immolation and Salted Cakes? originally appeared on About.com Ancient / Classical History on Sunday, May 13th, 2012 at 09:31:16.Permalink | Comment | Email this
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History.com - This Day in History - Lead Story
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May 16, 1929: First Academy Awards ceremony
15 May 2012 | 9:00 pmOn this day in 1929, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences hands out its first awards, at a dinner party for around 250 people held in the Blossom Room of the Roosevelt Hotel in Hollywood, California. The brainchild of Louis B. Mayer, head of the powerful MGM film studio, the Academy was organized in May 1927 as a non-profit organization dedicated to the advancement and improvement of the film industry. Its first president and the host of the May 1929 ceremony was the actor Douglas Fairbanks, Sr. Unlike today, the winners of the first Oscars--as the coveted gold-plated statuettes…
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History Net: Where History Comes Alive - World & US History Online
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Daily Quiz for May 16, 2012
15 May 2012 | 5:01 pmHospital Sketches was the first successful book by this writer. -
Tapes Give New Voice to JFK's Vietnam Doubt
15 May 2012 | 2:14 pmThe last 45 hours of more than 248 hours of declassified conversations of President John F. Kennedy, taped in the White House shortly before his death, reveal a president worried about where the war in Vietnam was headed. On the … -
Letters from Readers - June 2012
15 May 2012 | 1:44 pmThose Beautiful Evil Eyes Reading "Rescue in Death Valley" (April) relating to Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron 163, the "Evil Eyes," took me back to Aug. 8, 1966. I was a platoon sergeant with E Company, 2nd Battalion, 4th Marines, 3rd … -
CH-21 Shawnee, the Flying Banana
15 May 2012 | 12:20 pmThe Shawnee troop transport was first deployed to Vietnam in December 1961 -
Daily Quiz for May 15, 2012
14 May 2012 | 5:01 pmDwight F. Davis, a tennis player who founded the International Lawn Tennis Challenge - renamed the Davis Cup - also served as secretary of war in this president’s administration.
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History Is Elementary
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Sell Those Textbooks!
4 May 2012 | 7:46 amI gave Dear Daughter some money last week to clean out a few closets upstairs......so I wouldn't have to.She deposited three large containers with odds and ends at the bottom of the steps and announced she was done. I said....."Oh, are those things to throw away?" She responded yes, but I was already ticking off things I could readily see as items I had paid for and might want to use again, so......instead of hauling the containers off to the street to the trash I sat down and went through the containers. I made three piles.....keep, Goodwill, and… -
The Atlas of True Names
3 May 2012 | 9:43 pmOne of the maps available from The Atlas of True NamesTake a look at the map I posted above. Notice something strange? This map is from The Atlas of True Names.This site…..The Atlas of True Names…..is a truly unique resource. The website states its purpose is to reveal the etymological roots, or original meanings, of the familiar terms on today’s maps of the World, Europe, the British Isles and the United States……The ‘True Names’ of 3000 cities, countries, rivers, oceans and mountain ranges are displayed on these four fascinating maps, each of… -
A Quiet, Simple Life
2 May 2012 | 7:58 amThere are many places I like. There are a few I love. Then there are those unique places that I fall in love with and could stay there forever.Seaside, Florida is one of those places for me.Seaside, FloridaThe minute I enter the picturesque town I feel the creative energy. I feel the friendliness of the town, and the Victorian charm draws me in.A fantastic livable space....It’s just an added bonus that sandy white beaches and the emerald water of the Gulf of Mexico are just mere steps away.The town was developed in the late 1980s as a modern day… -
A Topic for Discussion...Handicaps and Politics
10 Apr 2012 | 11:25 amWhen you stop for a moment and consider Franklin Delano Roosevelt you have to be amazed and filled with awe that a man who had suffered through such a tremendous physical tragedy as he did during the summer of 1921 was able to rise to the highest office in the land given prevailing opinions concerning the disabled at that time.FDR contracted polio…or what was thought to be polio while on vacation and even though various cures never worked to restore his legs he also never accepted the fact his paralysis was permanent and constantly felt he was getting better. Many state today… -
Bullets and Ballots
27 Mar 2012 | 4:33 pmThe song I’ve posted below isn’t as popular as Marvin Gaye’s hit “What’s Going On?”, but it is from the same album….the first of its kind for Motown…a concept album.Gaye wrote the songs during a time of great depression when he isolated himself from the outside world. This site explains....Through television news broadcasts, Gaye saw the racial, political, and social problems that were plaguing the world, manifestations from the explosion of political and social activism that took place during the late ‘60s. As he wallowed in his seclusion, Gaye read letters from his…
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About.com American History
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Gideon v. Wainwright
29 Apr 2012 | 6:17 amIn 1963, the US Supreme Court ruled on Gideon v. Wainwright, a landmark decision requiring states to provide defense counsel in all criminal cases on the basis that it would be a violation of the sixth amendment rights. Due to this, the number of public defenders in the country exponentially rose. Learn more about this important case and its significance:...Read Full Post -
James Monroe - 5th US President
27 Apr 2012 | 9:04 pmJames Monroe was born on April 28, 1758 to relatively wealthy Virginia planters. However, both of his parents soon died, and he inherited his father's estate at a young age. Monroe had a distinguished career during the American Revolution. Afterwards, he had a huge political career that included all of the following positions at one time or another:...Read Full Post -
Top 10 Significant Presidential Elections
27 Apr 2012 | 2:12 amAs the nomination for Mitt Romney seems to be more and more assured, America is heading into its 57th presidential election. Only time will tell how significant this election will be. The following article takes a look at the ten most significant presidential elections in US history....Read Full Post -
Ulysses S Grant
26 Apr 2012 | 8:59 pmOn April 27, 1822, Ulysses S Grant was born. He was destined to lead the Union forces during the US Civil War. After the war, he rode a wave of popularity to be elected as the eighteenth president of the United States. Unfortunately, his time in office was wracked by five presidential scandals. Sadly, after the presidency, he lost all his money and wrote his memoirs as a way to raise money for his wife before his death on July 23, 1885. -
John Wilkes Booth's Death...
25 Apr 2012 | 8:59 pmOn April 26, 1865, John Wilkes Booth was found hiding with co-conspirator David Herold in a barn near Port Royal, Virginia. While Herold surrendered, Booth refused so the barn was set on fire. In the ensuing chaos, a soldier shot and killed Booth. However, there are some who claim that he did not die but instead escaped despite the fact that many people who knew Booth identified his body. There are many conspiracies surrounding Abraham Lincoln's death including ones that Secretary of War Edwin Stanton, ones that involved Andrew Johnson, and even one that included the Catholic Church. ...Read…
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O Say Can You See?
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Frame an Iconic American: Who's in the lead?
16 May 2012 | 8:30 amVoting for our Frame an Iconic American contest opened May 11, 2012 and will run through May 26, 2012. Here's where the votes currently stand: If you haven't yet voted, you can still help choose a historical figure whose biographical portrait will be composed by Robert Weingarten, a noted photographic artist. Read about Audie Murphy, Alice Paul, Celia Cruz, Samuel Morse, and Frederick Douglass and then vote for the figure you would like to see portrayed. The finished portrait will be unveiled this fall and displayed at the Smithsonian. -
Discovery in the collections: 1914 Kodachrome of George Eastman
15 May 2012 | 8:22 amYou know how sometimes you are looking for one thing, but find something else that is even better? This color portrait of George Eastman, the founder of the Eastman Kodak Company, is an example. It was taken by photographer Joseph D’ Anunzio on September 2, 1914, more than 20 years before Kodachrome film was introduced to the public. How is that possible? George Eastman by Joseph D’ Anunzio, September 2, 1914. The photograph came to the Photographic History Collection by an accident that worked to the museum’s advantage. In 1969, several hundred portraits were donated to the collection… -
Frame an Iconic American: Vote for your favorite historical figure
11 May 2012 | 10:32 amHelp choose a historical figure whose biographical portrait will be composed by Robert Weingarten, a noted photographic artist. Read about Audie Murphy, Alice Paul, Celia Cruz, Samuel Morse, and Frederick Douglass and then vote for the figure you would like to see portrayed. The finished portrait will be unveiled this fall and displayed at the Smithsonian. Voting opens May 11, 2012 and runs through May 26, 2012. This project is inspired by the exhibition Pushing Boundaries: Portraits by Robert Weingarten, on view July 2-October 14 at the Smithsonian’s International Gallery,… -
Frederick Douglass: Orator, Activist, and Bad, Bad Man
11 May 2012 | 9:50 amThe National Museum of American History and photographer Robert Weingarten are working in collaboration to build a historic portrait with help from the public. During the week of May 7-11, the museum will present five blogs about significant individuals in American history. Between May 11-26, visitors can vote on which of these historic figures they would most like to see depicted in the portrait. Once a winner is announced, the public will have further opportunity to contribute to Weingarten’s unique process of visual biography. The finished portrait will be displayed at the… -
Samuel Finley Breese Morse: Artist and Inventor
10 May 2012 | 7:35 amThe National Museum of American History and photographer Robert Weingarten are working in collaboration to build a historic portrait with help from the public. During the week of May 7-11, the museum will present five blogs about significant individuals in American history. Between May 11-26, visitors can vote on which of these historic figures they would most like to see depicted in the portrait. Once a winner is announced, the public will have further opportunity to contribute to Weingarten’s unique process of visual biography. The finished portrait will be displayed at the…
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Discovery News - History News
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A Mummy Switcheroo
15 May 2012 | 2:38 pmA mummy that was thought to be one of the ancient god Min's priests is actually the remains of another man. -
Beheading: Once a Nobleman's Death
15 May 2012 | 11:08 amCutting off a person's head is a particularly horrific method of execution -- and that's one reason it's popular among some groups. -
Europe's Early Man Drew Female Sex Organs, Animals
14 May 2012 | 12:00 pmThe engraved and painted images found on a limestone wall are believed to be the oldest wall art. -
Early Europe Art Depicts Female Sex Organs: Photos
14 May 2012 | 12:00 pmThe drawings of female sex organs and animal art were found in a limestone block in southern France. -
Parenting Lessons From the Ancient World
13 May 2012 | 5:40 amParents today are no more deserving of adulation in the form of flowers and gift cards than their ancestors.
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International Cognition and Culture Institute
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the Journal of Cognition and Culture: a new issue
7 May 2012 | 11:16 amThe new issue (vol 12, 1-2) of the Journal of Cognition and Culture is out. For the table of content and abstracts: -
2 postdocs at UBC in evolution, cognition and culture
3 May 2012 | 7:02 amJoe Henrich informs us: The Centre for Human Evolution, Cognition and Culture (HECC) at the University of British Columbia will be hiring 5 post-doctoral researchers as part of a large, international, collaboration among psychologists, neuroscientists, anthropologists, historians, and biologists on the evolution of religion. Below is a call for applications for two of these positions. The first is for a historian to spearhead a systematic and comparative study of religion and prosociality (from the historical record). This person will work with Prof. Ted Slingerland. The second is… -
Lectureship in Cognition and Culture at Belfast
24 Apr 2012 | 3:43 amA position of Lecturer is open in the School of History and Anthropology at Queen's University, Belfast, to "teach and supervise at undergraduate and postgraduate levels, to participate in the research activities of the Institute of Cognition and Culture, to undertake research in line with the School’s research strategy, and to contribute to the School’s administration and outreach activities." Deadline: May 21, 2012. Details here. -
The social motivation theory of autism
21 Apr 2012 | 7:19 amJust out in Trends in Cognitive Sciences, "The social motivation theory of autism," an article (available here) by Coralie Chevallier, Gregor Kohls, Vanessa Troiani, Edward S Brodkin, and Robert T Schultz that challenges the dominant explanation of autism in terms of a Theory-of-Mind deficit. Given the role that the case of autism plays in our understanding of human sociality, this is of high cognition-and-culture relevance. The first paragraph of the article: "Over the past three decades, a number of theories have been put forward to… -
Do infants understand social dominance relations?
19 Apr 2012 | 12:47 amForthcoming in PNAS, a groundbreaking article by Olivier Mascaro and Gergely Csibra investigating the "Representation of stable social dominance relations by human infants" (available here). Abstract: What are the origins of humans’ capacity to represent social relations? We approached this question by studying human infants’ understanding of social dominance as a stable relation. We presented infants with interactions between animated agents in conflict situations. Studies 1 and 2 targeted expectations of stability of social dominance. They revealed that 15-mo-olds (and, to a lesser…
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Looting Matters
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Thoughts on a pair of Apulian kraters
16 May 2012 | 3:00 amSource: Schinoussa archive Conversations over the last few months have made me reflect on a pair of Apulian kraters that have been on offer on the New York market (and now sold). The pair show Amphiaros before an enthroned Pluto, and Aphrodite and Zeus flanking Adonis. They are nearly equal in height: 1.14 m and 1.12 m. The pair of kraters follow a parallel collecting history. The kraters appeared in the Hesperia Arts Auction Ltd. sale of November 27, 1990, Part II, no. 40, and were sold for $75,000 (less than the estimated $80,000-$100,000). They were sold at the… -
SLAM needs to adopt an ethical approach to the mummy mask
15 May 2012 | 4:45 amRick St Hilaire has noted that attorneys for the St Louis Art Museum (SLAM) have rejected the request for the case relating to the mummy mask to be reopened. It may have escaped the notice of the SLAM attorneys that the collecting history ("provenance") provided by the Swiss-based dealer is flawed. The curatorial team at SLAM now need to work with the Egyptian authorities to resolve the case. How does SLAM explain the discrepancy? SLAM needs to demonstrate that it has adopted the highest ethical and professional standards when it comes to the acquisition of archaeological material. -
Looting Egypt Increases
12 May 2012 | 3:45 pmThere is a report on the increased levels of looting in Egypt: "In Egypt Turmoil, Thieves Hunt Pharaonic Treasures", New York Times May 12, 2012. Illegal digs near ancient temples and in isolated desert sites have swelled a staggering 100-fold over the past 16 months since a popular uprising toppled Hosni Mubarak's 29-year regime and security fell apart in many areas as police simply stopped doing their jobs. The pillaging comes on top of a wave of break-ins last year at archaeological storehouses — and even at Cairo's famed Egyptian Museum, the country's biggest repository of pharaonic… -
St Louis Mummy Mask Back for Reconsideration?
12 May 2012 | 2:51 pmRick St Hilaire has reported that the US Attorney for Eastern District of Missouri has asked for the case relating to the Egyptian mummy mask in the St Louis Art Museum to be reopened. This is a sensible move as it is now clear that the collecting history ("provenance") supplied by the dealer does not appear to be accurate or even trustworthy. One has to ask why anybody would wish to fabricate a collecting history? If the case does reopen it will cause problems for those auction houses and dealers who have already started to cite the SLAM case. And there are implications for those museums… -
Cleveland and Turkey: Marcus Aurelius and Bubon
7 May 2012 | 3:23 pmIn 1980 Cornelius C. Vermeule put together a list of Roman imperial statues that could be linked to the sebasteion in Bubon, Turkey. Subsequent to this in 1993 J. Inan published a list of some of the present locations, and this was discussed by C. Chippindale and D. Gill in 2000. Chasing Aphrodite has now reported that the bronze headless statue of Marcus Aurelius in the Cleveland Museum of Art (inv. 1986.5) is on the list of objects that Turkey has requested for return. (The association with Bubon is clearly stated on the Cleveland website.) Cleveland is apparently unwilling to discuss…
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National Heritage Museum
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What were wheatless Wednesdays during World War I?
15 May 2012 | 6:00 amThis poster is typical of food conservation posters produced during World War I, many of which especially emphasized saving wheat and meat. Herbert Hoover (1876-1964) Administrator of the U.S. Food Administration (USFA), promoted wheatless days and meatless days for the American people. In April of 1917, the USFA began taking measures conceived to conserve food for the war effort. In particular, Americans were asked to "eat less wheat, meat, sugar, and fats" as shown in this World War I poster in the Museum's collection. These foods were to be saved for the United States Army and its… -
The Prudence Book: A List of All Masons (For Detecting Masonic Impostors)
8 May 2012 | 6:00 amFour years ago, our very first blog post was on the topic of Masonic impostors. Each May since then, we've follow up with another post on the same topic. Our earlier posts looked at Masonic impostors in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, but today we're going further back in time and looking at the subject of Masonic impostors in 1859.The Prudence Book of Freemasonry for 1859 was compiled and published by Rob Morris (1818-1888), a well-known Masonic author and book publisher based in Louisville, Kentucky. Morris was a high-profile Mason who wrote extensively and served in many… -
A New Discovery About an Old Photo
1 May 2012 | 6:00 amOne of the most exciting parts of my curatorial work is discovering new information about objects in the National Heritage Museum’s collection. Recently, I took a closer look at this photo, which the Museum purchased back in 1989. When it was acquired, the image was cataloged as one depicting a group of African American members of the Order of the Eastern Star, the Masonic auxiliary group for female relatives of Freemasons. It has been identified this way in our database ever since. But, as part of our current photo digitization project (see our post about it), we were able to take a closer… -
Don't Miss Our Lecture: Michael Halleran on Civil War Freemasonry
25 Apr 2012 | 12:58 pmWe would like to remind our readers about the next lecture in our Civil War series. Michael Halleran will join us this Saturday, April 28, at the special time of 1 p.m. to speak on "Gentlemen of the White Apron: Freemasonry in the American Civil War." To learn more about the talk and the speaker, read our previous blog post about Halleran. Here at the Museum, staff has done quite a bit of interesting research on the Civil War. Take a look at some of these previous posts - they are sure to engage your interest. If they do, Michael Halleran's lecture on Saturday may be just the way to flex your… -
Now On View: Riley Whiting Clock
24 Apr 2012 | 7:54 amThe next time you come to the Scottish Rite Massonic Museum and Library, be sure to take a look at some Masonic furniture from our collection, now on view in the hallway cases. One of the items you will see is this tall case clock made by Connecticut craftsman Riley Whiting (1785-1835). We don’t know who originally owned this clock, but in purchasing a tall clock with wooden works, the owners proved they were smart consumers. This clock was a less costly version of than the tall case clocks with metal works that had been sold in New England cities and towns for decades. Always…
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Around The Mall
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Past and Present Clash in Ai WeiWei’s “Fragments”
16 May 2012 | 11:15 amAi WeiWei's "Fragments" is now on display at the Sackler Gallery. Between 1990 and 1995, floor space under construction surged by 750 percent in Beijing. This real estate boom, coupled with new housing deregulations, “radically changed the landscape of post-Tianenmen Beijing,” says Sackler Gallery curator Carol Huh. In the rush to modernize China, ancient structures were torn down and replaced with brand new houses and apartment buildings. Chinese artist Ai WeiWei noticed the abundance of antique wood that flooded the market from this widespread demolition and began… -
How a Fallout Shelter Ended up at the American History Museum
15 May 2012 | 8:46 amIt its collection, the National Museum of American History has a fallout shelter, exhumed from a yard in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Image courtesy of NMAH. “We do not want a war. We do not know whether there will be war. But we know that forces hostile to us possess weapons that could destroy us if we were unready. These weapons create a new threat—radioactive fallout that can spread death anywhere. That is why we must prepare.” -The Family Fallout Shelter (1959), published by the United States Office of Civil and Defense mobilization The Andersons of Fort Wayne, Indiana, were… -
Events May 15-17: Words, Earth and Aloha, merengue and méringue, and ZooFari
14 May 2012 | 8:58 amSliders served at last year's ZooFari benefit. Image courtesy of the National Zoo. Tuesday, May 15 Words, Earth and Aloha Celebrate Asian Pacific Heritage Month with the American Indian Museum’s May Daily Films. Words, Earth and Aloha celebrates the Hawaiian composers who flourished between the 1870s and the 1920s, exploring the poetry and play of Hawaiian lyrics as well as the places and features of the natural world that inspired songs that remain beloved to this day. The documentary is directed by Eddie Kamae, the legendary Hawaiian musician who helped launch the Hawaiian… -
Transforming War and Trauma Experiences Through the Arts
11 May 2012 | 11:55 am"Breaking Rank" by Drew Cameron (Army) and Drew Matott (Civilian) is made from the artists' shredded uniforms. Image courtesy of the Combat Paper Project – Collaboration with Green Door Studio, Burlington, VT. Young veterans returning from the prolonged and grueling wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are finding new ways to cope with post-military life and they’re doing it through art. As a part of the Arts, Military + Healing: A Collaborative Initiative (AMH), veterans and civilians at the forefront of this movement are joining with national cultural institutions, art… -
There’s a Happening Tonight at the Hirshhorn
11 May 2012 | 9:07 amIf you haven’t yet seen Doug Aitken’s SONG 1, the nightly spectacle projected on the Hirshhorn‘s outside walls, tonight might be the right time to swing by. For one night only, the museum is shutting off the speakers and replacing the normal soundtrack with a special live concert called “SONG 1: A Happening.” Against the backdrop of the 360-film loop, the bands Geologist, High Places, No Age, duo Tim McAfee Lewis and Leo Gallo, sound collagist Oneohtrix Point Never, and minimalist composer Nicolas Jaar, all covering the Flamingos’ song “I Only Have…
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bloggers@brooklynmuseum
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Santi Moix
15 May 2012 | 12:36 pmPerched high on a lift in the fourth floor contemporary galleries, Brooklyn-based artist Santi Moix is drawing directly on the wall with charcoal to create a striking piece entitled Huckleberry Finn, “I don’t take no stock in mathematics, anyway.” A lush tree resembling a fish is already visible. The final drawing will depict Huck Finn sitting on a hammock strung between two trees. Brooklyn-based artist Santi Moix is drawing directly on the wall with charcoal to create a striking piece entitled Huckleberry Finn, "I don't take no stock in mathematics, anyway."… -
Connecting Cultures Through Books!
15 May 2012 | 9:17 amThe presence of three books in the new Connecting Cultures installation gives me a welcome opportunity to talk about these key works that are in the Library collection. This is the first of a series of blogs that will discuss the books on view as well as other ways information has been culled from the Libraries and Archives to enhance this installation. Art books have an advantage over other books since they offer many components that have an intrinsic quality. Hand colored images, good paper quality, innovative typography, overall design, types of binding—these are all elements that… -
A Sunset for 1stfans
11 May 2012 | 10:02 amIt’s been roughly three and half years since Will Cary and I started the 1stfans Membership program at the Museum; come July, the program will come to a close with a sunset—quite literally. How do you end a program with personal ties? You throw a party and, in the case of 1stfans, that will be our annual rooftop ice cream social where we watch the sun go down; this was the scene at last year's event. The program was announced in December of 2008 and was created for the Brooklyn Museum visitor who wanted something a little different than the traditional Membership structure. -
Where is our Bird Lady?
9 May 2012 | 9:41 amMany of you may be wondering where our beloved Female Figurine, nicknamed the “Bird Lady” is. One of the stars of our Egyptian collection, she normally greets visitors to the Egyptian Galleries’ Predynastic section and she’s the signature image for the second phase of our reinstallation, which opened in 2003. For this reason and because she is the most complete example of this type of figurine, the “Bird Lady” traditionally does not travel on loan to other institutions for special exhibitions, but she has taken her first voyage out of the Brooklyn Museum to be part of The Dawn of… -
The Big Picture(s)
2 May 2012 | 11:26 amAs Kevin mentioned in his last post, Connecting Cultures is presented in thematic sections: Places, People, and Things, in addition to an Introductory Center. Since the artwork was curated cross-collection, the question for me as a designer was how to visually unify artworks that spanned 5 millenia, and were products of so many unique artistic practices from around the world. The easy solution would have been to choose one color for each section, but since the room is 24-feet high, and most of the art is under 4-feet tall, that would have left a lot of empty visual space, even after…
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ExhibiTricks: A Museum/Exhibit/Design Blog
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Portland Takeaways (InterActivity 2012 Impressions)
13 May 2012 | 6:24 amWhat do a Chinese Garden and a Children's Museum have in common? That's one of the things I'm thinking about as I ponder the conversations, lessons, and visits that have taken place this past week in Portland, Oregon as the annual InterActivity conference draws to a close. Over 800 Children's Museum professionals from around the world came to share the stories, triumphs, and challenges of their existing (or emerging) institutions. Aside from obvious themes like the power of play in the lives of children, here are a few other common threads that I noticed during InterActivity: • The Maker… -
Posting from Portland (InterActivity 2012)
10 May 2012 | 7:57 amI had a great day (and night!) in beautiful Portland yesterday to kick off the 2012 InterActivity conference for Children's Museums. The highlight (besides meeting old and new museum friends from around the world) was the evening PechaKucha event. I'm a great fan of the 20x20 presentation style (each participant gets 20 slides of 20 seconds each to make their presentation.) We had an incredibly diverse set of topics courtesy of 10 amazing presenters! Amongst the highlights: Kari Jensen from OMSI started us off by talking about Green Exhibit Design (and sharing information… -
Looking Ahead to Portland for InterActivity 2012!
3 May 2012 | 11:02 amI'm looking forward to the gathering of the Children's Museum clans, otherwise known as InterActivity. This year the conference will be in beautiful Portland, Oregon and will welcome folks from around North America and many international visitors as well. I'll be giving both my brain and mouth a work out during the conference, and reconnecting with friends from Bulgaria as we start down the road to creating the new Children's Museum of Sofia! I'm thrilled and excited to be co-hosting the conference kick-off event of PechaKucha on the evening of Wednesday May 9th in Pavilion… -
Occupy AAM?
26 Apr 2012 | 6:47 amI must admit I've become extremely ambivalent about the annual AAM Conference. As time has gone by and the strictures (on methods and modes for presentations) and control (especially of the former "Standing Professional Committees") from AAM have increased, I often question the value (to me, at least) of attending the AAM Conference. For those of you in the 1% (or thereabouts) of the museum profession who will be attending the festivities in the Twin Cities, I hope you'll take some time to think carefully about, and press AAM leadership on, whether changes to the Standing Professional… -
Designer Toolkit: 100 Things Every Designer Needs To Know About People
19 Apr 2012 | 7:35 amAuthor Susan Weinschenk has put together a great reference for every type of designer called "100 Things Every Designer Needs To Know About People." Inside this pithy volume, Weinschenk gives 100 examples of the psychology of design and why some design choices work better than others. Dividing her 100 examples into thematic sections such as "How People See" and "How People Remember" the author not only provides illustrated examples of design approaches but provides links to research, websites, and online talks that let you explore specific design topics in more depth. For example in item #12…
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Material World Blog
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Objects of Affection - Programme Details
3 May 2012 | 1:40 pmMAY 4-6, 2O12 219 AARON BURR HALL Princeton University OBJECTS OF AFFECTION: TOWARDS A MATERIOLOGY OF EMOTIONS Interdisciplinary Conference http://objectsofaffection.wordpress.com/ Keynote on May 5: The New Aesthetic: Objects that Matter PATRICIA TICINETO CLOUGH (The Graduate Center and CUNY's Queens College) Program Committee: Serguei Oushakine, Anna Katsnelson, David Leheny, Anson Rabinbach, Gayle Salamon MAY 4, 2012 1.30pm – 3.15pm PANEL 1: AFFECTIVE POLITICS Chair: Anson Rabinbach (Princeton University) Sabine Kriebel (University College Cork) Left Wing Laughter: John Heartfield’s… -
Georgia O'Keeffe handles some jade
3 May 2012 | 11:47 amA nice reminder that one of the 20th Century's most celebrated modernists anchored her approach to abstraction in a deep engagement with the material world: I handled pieces of Jade—They told me it was Jade—I would not have thought what it might be—I only knew that the surfaces were fine and smooth and cold…the pleasure in the thing its self is some what dulled when you begin to wonder how that particular shape can symbolize the earth and that idea seems to take away from the pleasure one feels—just in the thing its self—So—looking up—a row of round shapes catches ones… -
Exhibition - Sir Hans Sloane
2 May 2012 | 11:41 amTHE JOHN CARTER BROWN LIBRARY announces the opening of a new exhibition which uses the history of Hans Sloane’s voyage to Jamaica in 1687 to 1689 to raise new questions about the intersection of science and slavery in the early modern Atlantic world. The exhibition is guest-curated by former JCB Fellow, James Delbourgo. The display of books, book illustrations, prints, and maps will be on view in the MacMillan Reading Room at the John Carter Brown Library at Brown University, Providence, RI, from May 1 through August 31, 2012, and can be seen in its entirety online at:… -
CFP: Feast and Famine: Exploring Relationships with Food in the Pacific
1 May 2012 | 8:42 am7 September 2012 University College London Conference organisers: Sarah Byrne (Institute of Archaeology, UCL) and Kaori O'Connor (Anthropology, UCL) Please submit a paper title and 200 word abstract by 14 May 2012 to Sarah Byrne (s.byrne@ucl.ac.uk) This one day conference is organised by the newly established UCL Pacific Islands Research Network responds to the widening interest in the political, economic, cultural and health dimensions of feasting, food production and famine in the Pacific. The conference aims to provide a platform for more engaged dialogue between archaeology, anthropology,… -
Review: Harnessing Fortune
30 Apr 2012 | 7:25 amEmpson, Rebecca, 2011. Harnessing Fortune: Personhood, Memory and Place in Mongolia. Oxford University Press. Daniel Miller, UCL One of the issues in teaching material culture studies under the auspices of an anthropology department is explaining what is, at least in my case, a very conservative attitude to ethnography. I have always insisted that my PhD students understand and undertake what could be called classic ethnographic research as the basis for their PhD. The research must be based on working with a specified group of people for at least a year, being as much engaged with their…
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Savage Minds
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How fast to an Anthropology Ph.D.?
16 May 2012 | 7:43 amIt seems universities everywhere are looking to cut down the amount of time it takes to earn a graduate degree. A story in Inside Higher Ed reports on the latest effort: [Russell Berman] and five other professors at the university have produced a paper that calls for a major rethinking at Stanford — a reduction in the time taken to graduate by Ph.D. candidates in the humanities, and preparing them for careers within and beyond the academy. The professors at Stanford aren’t just talking about shaving a year or so off doctoral education, but cutting it down to four or five years… -
Special Circumstances vs. The Dorthraki
14 May 2012 | 9:18 pmRex’s last post reminds me that I’ve been meaning to write about one of the most fascinating science fiction worlds I’ve come across in a long time. I’m talking about The Culture novels of Iain M. Banks, which I want to compare with George R.R. Martin’s Game of Thrones [the TV show - I've not read the books]. I want to talk about the role of ethnic difference in narrative, but since Rex brought up the issue of bodies, let me first note that one of the interesting things about The Culture is that unlike the many other “highly advanced alien species”… -
Highly Advanced Alien Species
14 May 2012 | 4:39 pmI was watching Star Trek the other day (Enterprise season 4) when the crew of the Enterprise met yet another highly advanced alien species. Not just ‘faster warp drives’ or ‘bigger weapons’ but a really, truly, highly advanced alien species. So advanced that, like others that have appeared on the show, they didn’t have bodies. Take a second to think about it: why do we assume that the more advanced you get, the less body you will have? Star Trek is a product of its time featuring all the teleological unilinear evolution you could shake a stick at — more… -
Anthropology’s Suicide?
13 May 2012 | 5:09 pmAnthropology is “determined to commit suicide” said David Graeber. To salvage the discipline Graeber encourages you to abandon building theory from Western philosophy. He provokes you to draw theory from your ethnographic experience. He writes: Where once we drew our theoretical terms – “totem,” “taboo,” “mana,” “potlatch” – from ethnography, causing Continental thinkers from Ludwig Wittgenstein to Sigmund Freud and Jean-Paul Sartre to feel the need to weigh in on the resulting debates, we have now reduced ourselves to the scholastic… -
Matrilineal Patterns in the Book of Genesis
13 May 2012 | 11:51 amIn honor of Mother’s Day this year I’m sharing notes from a lecture I give in my Introduction to Anthropology course. Kinship, I tell them, is the kernel of the discipline. Families are at the center of our lives, they make us who we are. So its interesting to note that in different cultures people have different ideas about who counts as family, what their roles ought to be within the collective, and what sorts of rights and obligations they ought to have over one another. We spend some time doing kinship diagrams. I show them my family and lead them through exercises where they…
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Museum Anthropology
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The 95 Percent Solution
13 May 2012 | 3:03 pmA fascinating article in The American Scientist, with clear implications for museum anthropology:School is not where most Americans learn most of their scienceThe scientific research and education communities have long had a goal of advancing the public’s understanding of science. The vast majority of the rhetoric and research on this issue revolves around the failure of school-aged children in -
Repatriation Battle Continues
11 May 2012 | 3:01 pmThe fate of the nearly 10,000-year-old remains unearthed in 1976 during renovation work at the University of California at San Diego (UCSD) chancellor’s house in La Jolla, California are still undecided.A federal court judge in San Francisco granted a temporary restraining order March 30 that prevents UCSD from giving the remains to the Kumeyaay. Last week three University of California -
Lords of Time
9 May 2012 | 1:02 pmFor those worried about an apocalypse supposedly predicted by the Maya calendar and coming at the end of the year 2012, there's very good news at a spectacular exhibition that opens in the Penn Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology this weekend. That notion of the world's end is firmly debunked in "Maya 2012: Lords of Time." So those stressed about what might happen come late December can exhale -
Opening: Curator of Global Indigenous Art
7 May 2012 | 1:01 pmThe Spencer Museum of Art seeks an innovative, team-oriented, and highly motivated Curator of Global Indigenous Art. The Spencer Museum of Art (SMA) forms a vital part of academic life at the University of Kansas (KU). The Museum supports research and promotes education across the arts, humanities, social and natural sciences through the growth and preservation of its collections, the development -
New Director of Penn Museum
4 May 2012 | 1:00 pmPresident Amy Gutmann and Provost Vincent Price are pleased to announce the appointment of Dr. Julian Siggers as Williams Director of the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, effective July 1, 2012. Dr. Siggers is currently vice president for programs, education, and content communication at the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto, Canada’s largest research museum. He
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Anthropology.net
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Nina Jablonski at AMNH’s SciCafe & Independent Evolution of Blond Hair
3 May 2012 | 4:06 pmYesterday evening I attended the American Museum of Natural History’s SciCafe with guest speaker Nina Jablonski. She gave a talk about the evolution of skin. If you are a follower of this blog, you would know the genetics of skin color is one of my favorite topics. It has been a while since I have kept up with the research, but I do remember most of the major alleles. Suffice to say, it was a pleasure to be back in the midst of it all. The talk was engaging. Many people got a chance to ask questions. This was an outstanding feature of this format in this sort of venue. Most lectures… -
The Iranian Genome Project
7 Feb 2012 | 2:17 pmYesterday, my father emailed me a link to the Iranian Genome Project that caught my eye. Ironically, Razib over at Gene Expression also highlighted this project in a recent post. Much like the intentions Harappa & Dodecad ancestry projects, of which I’ve participated in by submitting my 23andme data, the Iranian Genome Project aims to enlighten Iranian heritage and health. As an Iranian American who follows population genetics regularly, I am very keen on intersection of these two topics. I’ll be following the project, but honestly I don’t have high hopes. I would… -
Complete Denisova Genome Released
7 Feb 2012 | 12:22 pmWe’ve covered the mitochondrial genome of the Denisova individual 2 years ago, back in March 2010. For those not familiar with the Denisova hominin, this specimen represents an archaic human species present at least 41,000 years ago – coexisting with Neandertals and modern humans in the Altai Mountains of Siberia. The species is represented by a tooth and phalange. A draft of the genome was released shortly afterwards in December, 2010. Today, after 30-fold coverage of the genome using Illumina GAIIx sequencing platform, the complete genome was released. It is free to… -
Applying to Grad School in Anthropology- Where will we go?
9 Jan 2012 | 10:20 amMy graduate applications–probably like many of yours– are almost completely submitted by now. I spent the fall traveling around the east coast and filling out the same information on similar looking websites for hours on end. I poured over my personal statement line by line until I could recite it by heart and my girlfriend almost stabbed me. I met with professors, teasing myself with ideas of where I might end up next year. I’m approaching my last semester as an undergraduate at Binghamton University, and if you haven’t guessed it by the context of this blog already, my… -
Are YOU a Neandertal?
2 Jan 2012 | 8:50 pmIn 2010 the draft genome for Neandertals was released by Svante Pääbo and colleagues. It was reported that European and Asian populations are between 1-4% Neandertal—but what percentage Neandertal are you? The company known as 23andMe recently released an analysis that claims to answer precisely this question. While personal genome sequencing has not yet hit the mainstream market, 23andMe looks at SNPs, or variations in single nucleotide pairs. Through a comparison between your SNPs and those found in the Neandertal genome draft, for a couple hundred dollars you will be given a…
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ScienceDaily: Anthropology News
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Ancient tree-ring records from southwest U.S. suggest today's megafires are truly unusual
16 May 2012 | 9:03 amToday's mega forest fires of the southwestern U.S. are truly unusual and exceptional in the long-term record, suggests an unprecedented study that examined 1,500 years of ancient tree ring and fire data from two distinct climate periods. Researchers constructed and analyzed a statistical model and found that today's dry, hot climate combined with the past century of human fire suppression is causing megafires. -
Anthropologists discover earliest form of wall art
14 May 2012 | 12:29 pmAnthropologists working in southern France have determined that a 1.5 metric ton block of engraved limestone constitutes the earliest evidence of wall art. Their research shows the piece to be approximately 37,000 years old and offers rich evidence of the role art played in the daily lives of Early Aurignacian humans. -
Archaeologists discover lost language
10 May 2012 | 9:40 amEvidence for a forgotten ancient language which dates back more than 2,500 years, to the time of the Assyrian Empire, has been found by archaeologists working in Turkey. Researchers working at Ziyaret Tepe, the probable site of the ancient Assyrian city of Tušhan, believe that the language may have been spoken by deportees originally from the Zagros Mountains, on the border of modern-day Iran and Iraq. -
Whale population size, dynamics determined based on ancient DNA
9 May 2012 | 3:00 pmResearchers compare ancient, modern whale DNA to investigate discrepancies between genetic data and historical estimates. -
New light on enigmatic burial rituals in Cambodian mountains
9 May 2012 | 6:28 amResearchers working in remote Cambodian mountains are shedding new light on the lost history of an unidentified people by studying their enigmatic burial rituals.
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Dienekes’ Anthropology Blog
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Major new paper on Y chromosome haplogroup G (Rootsi et al. 2012)
16 May 2012 | 10:35 amHaplogroup G is of substantial interest to prehistorians, because it has been sampled on multiple Neolithic locations from across Europe. A new paper updates the phylogeny of this important haplogroup (left), and studies its distribution. You can find information about the frequency of different haplogroup G subclades in the freely available supplementary material (Table 1). From the paper: First, we calculated haplogroup diversity using data in Supplementary Table S1 for the 52 instances when total population sample size exceeded 50 individuals and Z5 hg G chromosomes were observed. Then we… -
ORBIS: The Stanford Geospatial Network Model of the Roman World
15 May 2012 | 8:41 amA very useful new tool. Screenshot: Example output: The fastest journey from Roma to Constantinopolis in January takes 20.7 days, covering 2951 kilometers. Prices in denarii, based on the use of a faster sail ship and a civilian river boat (where applicable), and on these road options: * Per kilogram of wheat (by donkey): 4.37 * Per kilogram of wheat (by wagon): 4.99 * Per passenger in a carriage: 580.42 -
Y chromosome diversity in Native Mexicans (Sandoval et al. 2012)
14 May 2012 | 11:43 amFrom the paper: The first dimension of the CoA (60.53%) separates Q-M3 from the rest, and the second dimension (39.47%) C-M130 from the rest. In agreement ith the known distribution of haplogroup C, we observed that the two northernmost populations of this panel (Chippewa and Sioux) cluster next to C-M130 and the rest of populations show varying proportions of Q-M242 and Q-M3. It is noteworthy that Native Mexicans are the only regional group with populations represented next to both the Q-M242 cluster and the Q-M3 cluster. In contrast, all Central and South American samples were grouped… -
Y chromosomes in Haiti and Jamaica (Simms et al. 2012)
13 May 2012 | 12:41 amThe paper investigates the different signals of patrilineal ancestry in two Caribbean islands, finding the expect signals of European and African ancestry, as well as minor other signals from the New World, East Asia, and even South Asia. I will just point out the presence of a DE* chromosome in Jamaica. Such chromosomes have occasionally turned up in both Asia and Africa, and they ought to be an object of further study, preferrably with full Y-chromosome sequencing technology, since a better resolution of the DE-YAP haplogroup's structure will go a long way towards solving many puzzles about… -
4,000 year old rock art from Mongolia
12 May 2012 | 3:22 am4000-year-old rock art discovered in Mongolia Eighteen rock art sites dating back over 4,000 years have been discovered by archaeologists in northern China's Inner Mongolia autonomous region. The prehistoric art was discovered in the Yinshan Mountains in Urad Middle Banner (an administration division of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region), said Liu Binjie, head of the Cultural Relics Bureau of Urad Middle Banner. ... Liu said that carvings of faces found on Yinshan Mountains cliffs are similar to those in the Helan Mountains, located on the boundary between Ningxia and Inner Mongolia. They…
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Animal Department
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A bowl full of mashed chow and banana…
15 May 2012 | 5:00 am…Helps the medicine go down! Keeper Jill wrote a post “Time for your medicine” about all the tricks we use to get animals to take their medicine. She posted pictures of the Red Ruffed Lemurs taking some meds. The Ring Tailed Lemurs aren’t so easy! But I found a very easy mix of mashed lemur chow and banana that seems to mask their dewormer enough for them to eat it. Here's the mashed chow Add mashed banana Add the dewormer Mix it all together Cross your fingers and hope they eat it all Cassandra (in front) and Satyrus eating their dewormer mix Lycus… -
Happy Mothers Day
13 May 2012 | 5:03 amHappy Mothers Day to all the moms out there Here are some great moms of the animal kingdom Elephants: After carrying a baby for 22 months, she delivers 250 lbs of cuteness. Octopus- Talk about self sacrifice,this mom (depending on its species) can lay up to 200,000 eggs. As if that’s not enough work she may decide to eat her own arms because she will not leave the area to look for food. The kicker is after all that she dies when the eggs start to hatch. Sea Louse- This one comes from a scene from Alien…when the babies are ready to go they nosh on mom from the inside out. -
QuikPost: Interesting wolf article
12 May 2012 | 4:48 amIt’s an interesting read- take a look at this interesting yet sad – report of a wolf in Alaska who apparently died of starvation. http://www.alaskadispatch.com/article/why-lone-alaska-wolf-traveled-thousands-miles-only-die-starvation And don’t forget, you can still help out red wolves until 11:59 PM on May 15th: The Red Wolf Coalition- the only not-for-profit whose only goal is to advocate for the long-term survival of the red wolf – is part of an Earth Day Fundraiser through Crowdrise. Right now through May 15th, the Coalition is part of Crowdrise’s Earth Day… -
QuikPost: Bear Enrichment
10 May 2012 | 5:00 amI had to make peanut butter pinecones for the Bear’s enrichment the other day and tried something a little different. I rolled the peanut butter pinecones in shredded carrots, added just a few raisins and drizzled with a little honey. Gus Bear loved them! The grass was too high that day for me to get a good picture of him eating them though. Bear Enrichment -
Groundbreaking for Red Wolf Center!
8 May 2012 | 5:46 amKim breaks ground! Kim Wheeler, the Executive Director of the Red Wolf Coalition, sent me some photos of groundbreaking for the new wolf exhibit out in red wolf country. This will be the only facility located in the heart of red wolf country- where red wolves roam free – where people can actually see a red wolf. The enclosure will be finished sometime this summer, and I’ll keep you informed as to when wolves will arrive for viewing. It’s exciting!! truck loads of fencing materials arrived May 7. Installation begins.
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New Scientist - Human Evolution
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Eau de BO: The allure of sweat
15 May 2012 | 12:00 amIs the perfume industry looking for fragrances in the wrong place? The most seductive scents might come from ourselves -
We are the improbable ape
10 May 2012 | 3:46 amIf evolution is all about "climbing mount improbable", humans have climbed higher than any -
The humanity switch: How one gene made us brainier
9 May 2012 | 8:43 amA single gene may have helped the evolution of our complex brains 2. 5 million years ago, as we were splitting from australopithecines -
Why milk doesn't turn breasts to bone
8 May 2012 | 7:41 amMilk contains enough calcium to turn nipples into bone – why do they remain soft? -
Blonde hair evolved independently in Pacific islands
3 May 2012 | 11:00 amA study of fair-haired Solomon Islanders shows that blonde hair evolved separately at least twice in humans
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American Journal of Physical Anthropology
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Fe and Cu stable isotopes in archeological human bones and their relationship to sex
11 May 2012 | 12:34 amAbstractAccurate sex assignment of ancient human remains usually relies on the availability of coxal bones or well-preserved DNA. Iron (Fe) and copper (Cu) stable isotope compositions (56Fe/54Fe and 65Cu/63Cu, respectively) were recently measured in modern human blood, and an unexpected result was the discovery of a 56Fe-depletion and a 65Cu-enrichment in men's blood compared to women's blood. Bones, being pervasively irrigated by blood, are expected to retain the 56Fe/54Fe and 65Cu/63Cu signature of blood, which in turn is useful for determining the sex of ancient bones. Here, we report the… -
Prolactin, fatherhood, and reproductive behavior in human males
11 May 2012 | 12:34 amAbstractAlthough humans are considered unusual among mammals for the intensity of care that fathers often provide offspring, little is known about the hormonal architecture regulating human paternal investment. Prolactin has important reproductive functions in both female and male mammals and other taxa, making it a candidate regulator of human paternal behavior. Notably, prolactin is higher during periods of offspring care in some species, but it is unknown if this pattern occurs in human fathers. We draw on a sample of men (n = 289; age 21–23 at baseline) from Metropolitan Cebu City,… -
Refining the genetic portrait of Portuguese Roma through X-chromosomal markers
11 May 2012 | 12:34 amAbstractDue to differences in transmission between X-chromosomal and autosomal DNA, the comparison of data derived from both markers allows deeper insight into the forces that shape the patterns of genetic diversity in populations. In this study, we applied this comparative approach to a sample of Portuguese Roma (Gypsies) by analyzing 43 X-chromosomal markers and 53 autosomal markers. Portuguese individuals of non-Gypsy ancestry were also studied. Compared with the host population, reduced levels of diversity on the X chromosome and autosomes were detected in Gypsies; this result was in line… -
Y-chromosome diversity in Native Mexicans reveals continental transition of genetic structure in the Americas
11 May 2012 | 12:33 amAbstractThe genetic characterization of Native Mexicans is important to understand multiethnic based features influencing the medical genetics of present Mexican populations, as well as to the reconstruct the peopling of the Americas. We describe the Y-chromosome genetic diversity of 197 Native Mexicans from 11 populations and 1,044 individuals from 44 Native American populations after combining with publicly available data. We found extensive heterogeneity among Native Mexican populations and ample segregation of Q-M242* (46%) and Q-M3 (54%) haplogroups within Mexico. The northernmost… -
Molecular diversity of entodiniomorphid ciliate Troglodytella abrassarti and its coevolution with chimpanzees
11 May 2012 | 12:33 amAbstractThe entodiniomorphid ciliate Troglodytella abrassarti is a colonic mutualist of great apes. Its host specificity makes it a suitable model for studies of primate evolution. We explored molecular diversity of T. abrassarti with regard to large geographical distribution and taxonomic diversity of its most common host, the chimpanzee. We found a very low diversification of T. abrassarti in chimpanzees across Africa. Distribution of two types of T. abrassarti supports evolutionary separation of the Western chimpanzee, P. t. verus, from populations in Central and East Africa. Type I T.
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Somatosphere
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Workshop on “The Rise of Child Science and Psy-Expertise,” May 29-30, London by Dominique Behague
15 May 2012 | 8:42 amBrunel University’s Centre for Research in International Medical Anthropology and the Royal Anthropological Institute will be holding a workshop on ‘The rise of child science and psy-expertise’ on May 29 and 30 in London. You can find out more information here and register for the workshop here. CRIMA RAI Workshop Flyer -
Transcriptions – Broadsheets – May 2012 by Abigail Baim-Lance
13 May 2012 | 12:09 pmBroadsheets Summaries – April 15-May 11 2012 Welcome to Broadsheets! Here you will find “cut and clip” summaries of the HIV/AIDS-related news moving quickly through the web-o-sphere. The first posts will track the news making its way through virtual reportage space. Later, we will contribute critical commentary about the news-making process and how it shapes the framing of, and responses to key issues. Tracking methods are under development, but at the outset we’re doing the following: step 1: peruse headlines captured by Google Alerts using the keywords “HIV/AIDS” and… -
Ian Hacking – “The New Me: What Biotechnology may do to Personal Identity” by Eugene Raikhel
12 May 2012 | 1:10 pmI recently came across a video of a relatively recent lecture which Ian Hacking gave at Huron University College, entitled, “The New Me: What Biotechnology may do to Personal Identity.” The short (15 min) talk — embedded below — reprises many of the issues Hacking has been dealing with for the past several years (e.g.”Ian Hacking on commercial genome-reading,” “Genetics, biosocial groups & the future of identity,”). Of course, in a broader way, these are the same issues he has been dealing with for the past several decades, an… -
DSM-5: Plus ça change … by Constance Cummings
12 May 2012 | 8:42 amCross-posted from The FPR Blog. John Gever of MedPage Today, has done a terrific summary of the proposed changes to the DSM (“DSM-5: What’s In, What’s Out“). The umpteenth person just described the DSM-5 process to me as a major rehaul. Is it? Aside from the changes in how we want to sort the world of persons living with psychiatric disorder (and everyone would agree it’s still a flawed taxonomy as long as we don’t understand cause), there are two interesting developments that presage better things to come for the next next edition. The first is the inclusion of cross-cutting… -
In the journals – May 2012 by Lara Braff
8 May 2012 | 2:16 pmArticles in this month’s issue of Cultural Anthropology concern the body, humanitarianism, and/or sovereignty (variously conceived) in the context of either religion or medicine. Brahinsky examines Pentecostal “body logics” and how “religiously inflected sensory aptitudes, or perhaps even mind-body relationships, emerge through a process of careful cultivation and nurturance” (217). Bernstein explores how Buddhist “body politics” among Buryats of Siberia help maintain their mobility, and express both cultural sovereignty and an “ideal sovereign body.” Focusing on Thakur…
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Medical Museion
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The inability of contextualism to explain disruptions and surprises
15 May 2012 | 11:47 amLast time I presented a paper criticising contextualist thinking was at the annual History of Science conference in Washington DC in November 2007 — that’s almost five years ago! I haven’t had much time over to think about the individualism/contextualism/holism issue. This museum, and a couple of kids, have taken all my time. But a recent talk by Graham Harman has reinvigorated my spirits. Here the abstract to an audio of a keynote titled “Everything Is Not Connected” that Harman gave in Berlin, 2 February 2012: The idea that everything is interconnected has become a… -
Cultivating followers on social media when you want to communicate science
14 May 2012 | 12:35 amHow do you explain why social media can be a good thing for researchers to look into? What advantages and what challenges are important to highlight? This week, I’ll be introducing social media for science communication to the Danish Public Health Sciences Alumni (in Danish). It always helps being quite convinced yourself of what you are talking about, but reading other people’s arguments can also help. Especially, if they are in line with your own experiences. I was therefore delighted to read a blog post on Nature’s community guest blog, Soapboxscience, by Matt Shipman, a… -
Look again…
11 May 2012 | 1:08 amHave you ever walked into a museum and photographed the shadowy corner of the room rather than the glass case in the middle? Have you ever stopped to look at the seemingly boring medical stuff that surrounds us – from dentures to rollators? And how often do you think about the fragility of the bones that support us into old age? On Thursday 26th April, accompanying the opening of Experiences of Ageingwe invited guests to investigate some of the overlooked aspects of medicine with their pen, lens, and hands, guided by photographer Mette Bersang, sculptor Joanna Sperryn Jones, and Lucy Lyons,… -
What would a material history of drug addiction read, look, sound, smell etc. like?
10 May 2012 | 6:01 amToday we had our weekly MUSE workshop with in-house historian of psychiatry, Jesper V. Kragh, who spoke — under the title “Changing Gender Differences: Morphine in Denmark, 1860-1960″ — about the gender dimension in his current research project on the history of drug abuse in Denmark. The discussion generated a lot of discussions — and a lively Twitter-stream, including some thoughts about a possible material history of drug addiction. (thumbnail photo credit here) -
Lucy Lyons: Artistic research
8 May 2012 | 8:53 amOn the 27. of April we opened our new exhibition ‘Experiences of Ageing‘ featuring drawings and objects from a 2-year postdoctoral research fellowship by the London artist Lucy Lyons. At the opening seminar Lucy gave a general introduction to her work in artistic research and to the exhibition. Watch this short video from the opening to find out why rollators are beautiful, how drawing can help science, and what artist research is all about: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H0Wd9K_OEM8 An online version of the exhibition is available here. To watch the full presentation click…
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ScienceDaily: Neuroscience News
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Alzheimer's gene causes brain's blood vessels to leak toxins and die
16 May 2012 | 11:00 amApoE4, a well-known genetic risk factor for Alzheimer's disease triggers a cascade of signaling that ultimately results in leaky blood vessels in the brain, allowing toxic substances to pour into brain tissue in large amounts, scientists report. -
People with paralysis control robotic arms to reach and grasp using brain computer interface
16 May 2012 | 11:00 amTwo people with tetraplegia were able to reach for and grasp objects in three-dimensional space with robotic arms that they controlled directly with brain activity. They used the BrainGate neural interface system, an investigational device currently being studied under an IDE. One participant used the system to serve herself coffee for the first time since becoming paralyzed nearly 15 years ago. -
Human genes transplanted into zebrafish: Helps identify genes related to autism, schizophrenia and obesity
16 May 2012 | 11:00 amResearchers have transplanted a set of human genes into a zebrafish and then used it to identify genes responsible for head size at birth. This finding also is related to some cases of autism and possibly schizophrenia and childhood obesity. -
Paralyzed individuals use thought-controlled robotic arm to reach and grasp
16 May 2012 | 11:00 amIn an ongoing clinical trial, a paralyzed woman was able to reach for and sip from a drink on her own -- for the first time in nearly 15 years -- by using her thoughts to direct a robotic arm. The trial, funded in part by the National Institutes of Health, is evaluating the safety and feasibility of an investigational device called the BrainGate neural interface system, which is intended to put robotics and other assistive technology under the brain's control. -
New clues on how ApoE4 affects Alzheimer's risk
16 May 2012 | 11:00 amCommon variants of the ApoE gene are strongly associated with the risk of developing late-onset Alzheimer's disease, but the gene's role in the disease has been unclear. Now, researchers have found that in mice, having the most risky variant of ApoE damages the blood vessels that feed the brain.
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Journal of Neuroscience current issue
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Cannabinoid Type-1 Receptor Reduces Pain and Neurotoxicity Produced by Chemotherapy
16 May 2012 | 9:01 amPainful peripheral neuropathy is a dose-limiting complication of chemotherapy. Cisplatin produces a cumulative toxic effect on peripheral nerves, and 30–40% of cancer patients receiving this agent experience pain. By modeling cisplatin-induced hyperalgesia in mice with daily injections of cisplatin (1 mg/kg, i.p.) for 7 d, we investigated the anti-hyperalgesic effects of anandamide (AEA) and cyclohexylcarbamic acid 3'-carbamoyl-biphenyl-3-yl ester (URB597), an inhibitor of AEA hydrolysis. Cisplatin-induced mechanical and heat hyperalgesia were accompanied by a decrease in the level of… -
Connectivity Changes Underlying Spectral EEG Changes during Propofol-Induced Loss of Consciousness
16 May 2012 | 9:01 amThe mechanisms underlying anesthesia-induced loss of consciousness remain a matter of debate. Recent electrophysiological reports suggest that while initial propofol infusion provokes an increase in fast rhythms (from beta to gamma range), slow activity (from delta to alpha range) rises selectively during loss of consciousness. Dynamic causal modeling was used to investigate the neural mechanisms mediating these changes in spectral power in humans. We analyzed source-reconstructed data from frontal and parietal cortices during normal wakefulness, propofol-induced mild sedation, and loss of… -
Correction: Stein et al., A Role for the Eph Ligand Ephrin-A3 in Entorhino-Hippocampal Axon Targeting
16 May 2012 | 9:01 am -
Regulation of Fasciclin II and Synaptic Terminal Development by the Splicing Factor Beag
16 May 2012 | 9:01 amPre-mRNA alternative splicing is an important mechanism for the generation of synaptic protein diversity, but few factors governing this process have been identified. From a screen for Drosophila mutants with aberrant synaptic development, we identified beag, a mutant with fewer synaptic boutons and decreased neurotransmitter release. Beag encodes a spliceosomal protein similar to splicing factors in humans and Caenorhabditis elegans. We find that both beag mutants and mutants of an interacting gene dsmu1 have changes in the synaptic levels of specific splice isoforms of Fasciclin II (FasII),… -
Adult Neurogenesis Is Associated with the Maintenance of a Stereotyped, Learned Motor Behavior
16 May 2012 | 9:01 amAdult neurogenesis is thought to provide neural plasticity used in forming and storing new memories. Here we show a novel relationship between numbers of new neurons and the stability of a previously learned motor pattern. In the adult zebra finch, new projection neurons are added to the nucleus HVC and become part of the motor pathway for producing learned song. However, new song learning occurs only in juveniles and the behavioral impact of adding new neurons to HVC throughout life is unclear. We report that song changes after deafening are inversely correlated with the number of new…
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neuropathology blog
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New Study Looks at Head Impacts in Youth Football
14 May 2012 | 8:43 pmWe neuropathologists, and society as a whole, has spent a lot of time over the last couple of years rethinking the long-term effects brain damage causes by repeated concussive and subconcussive blows to the heads of professional and college football players. But what about the 3.5 million kids in American who play below the high school level? Dr. Peter Cummings today sent me a link to a report regarding groundbreaking research being done at Virginia Tech in which impact-measurement instruments were placed on 7 and 8-year-old football players. Data was collected on more than 750 hits to the… -
"This is the single biggest change in education since the printing press."
4 May 2012 | 5:48 pmAnant Agarwal, President, edXOn rare occasion, I stray from this blog's focus on clinical neuropathology to inform readers about new innovations in education. After all, we neuropathologists, almost by definition, are educators. I would therefore like to introduce a new direction in higher education that may indeed change the world. I am talking about edX, a joint venture between Harvard and MIT that will offer online learning to millions of people around the world for free. Anyone with an internet connection, whether you are a shopkeeper in Bangalore or a teenager in Modesto, will soon be… -
Best Post of November, 2011: Neuropathology Focus of New SNO President's Address
3 May 2012 | 7:06 amThe next in our "Best Post of the Month" series is from November 18, 2011: Over 1400 attendees at 2011 SNO meeting in Anaheim Dr. Aldape discussed brain tumor biomarkers Same view as above, at 40XNeuropathology took center stage at the Society for Neuro-Oncology (SNO) meeting today as Dr. Kenneth D. Aldape, neuropathogist at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer, was introduced as the next president of the society. Dr. Aldape also delivered an… -
Photomicrographs of last month's spinocerebellar ataxia type 6 case
26 Apr 2012 | 12:11 pmA month ago, I posted gross photographs from an autopsy case of mine of a patient with spinocerebellar ataxia type 6. I am now following up with histologic images for this case. The most striking feature was the marked loss of Purkinje cells, which makes sense because SCA6 involves mutation of a calcium channel that is highly expressed on Purkinje neurons:Many remaining Purkinje neurons demonstrated degenerative changes, including mis-shapened nucleiAttenuated cerebellar granule cell layerMore Purkinje cells in bad shapeCerebellar dentate neurons also dengenerated, but not as extensively as… -
The International Society for Frontotemporal Dementias has been founded
20 Apr 2012 | 4:57 pmThe following is an email sent out this week from Bernardino Ghetti, MD, neuropathologist at Indiana University:Dear Friends,Bernardino Ghetti, MDIn October 2010, I had the distinct privilege to host the 7th International Conference on Frontotemporal Dementias in Indianapolis, Indiana. Hundreds of you from around the world participated in this exciting meeting. While the social relevance of frontotemporal dementia (FTD) is recognized, we have lacked a scientific international society devoted to the exchange of knowledge on FTD, facilitation of scientific cooperation, promotion of…
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New Scientist - The Human Brain
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Explosions cause brain damage through head movement
16 May 2012 | 11:00 amBrain trauma from explosions often experienced by soldiers are caused by sudden head movements rather than high-pressure shockwaves -
Brain-controlled arm could beat paralysis
16 May 2012 | 10:00 amA paralysed woman sipping a cup of coffee with a robotic arm becomes the first human to use their brain signals to manipulate a real-world object -
Sweat-sensing bracelet could detect fatal seizures
9 May 2012 | 9:26 amA device that measures skin conductance could monitor and perhaps even predict when life-threatening seizures are about to strike -
Kinect cameras watch for autism
8 May 2012 | 2:43 amAn automated system that keeps watch over children could spot the telltale signs of autism and lead to earlier diagnoses -
Bilingual brain boost: Two tongues, two minds
8 May 2012 | 12:00 amSpeaking a second language can change everything from problem-solving skills to personality – almost as if you are two people
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Health Care
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Poll: Americans Show Support For Compensation Of Organ Donors
16 May 2012 | 12:00 amFederal law bans payments for organs. But about 60 percent of Americans support health care credits as compensation for organ donors, the NPR-Thomson Reuters Health Poll finds.» E-Mail This » Add to Del.icio.us -
Cost Of Cancer Pills Can Be Hard For Medicare Patients To Swallow
15 May 2012 | 6:43 amHow some insurers pay for treatments means that cancer pills can wind up costing a patient more than an IV. Some states have passed laws to make sure that patients don't have to pay more to take pills. But those laws don't apply to Medicare.» E-Mail This » Add to Del.icio.us -
Sick From Fracking? Doctors, Patients Seek Answers
15 May 2012 | 12:03 amMysterious fumes wafting in from outside have repeatedly sickened several nurses at a rural Pennsylvania health clinic, forcing the clinic to temporarily relocate. Like many other people living near gas wells around the country, the clinic's staff wonder whether the industry in their backyard is making them sick.» E-Mail This » Add to Del.icio.us -
In Talent Hunt, Some Businesses Offer Health Benefits For Same-Sex Couples
14 May 2012 | 1:53 pmLast year, a little more than half of employers offered health benefits for domestic partner according to a nationally representative sample of about 3,000 employers surveyed by benefit consultant Mercer. That's up from a little less than one-third in 2010.» E-Mail This » Add to Del.icio.us -
FDA Gets Advice To Approve First Pill To Cut HIV Infections
11 May 2012 | 7:14 amA panel of experts said that Truvada, a daily pill, could help protect healthy people at high risk for HIV infection. The benefits, in their view, outweigh possible side effects, including kidney damage and a dangerous increase in acid in the blood.» E-Mail This » Add to Del.icio.us
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BBC News - World
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VIDEO: Assad: 'People support my reforms'
16 May 2012 | 11:54 amIn an address to Russian TV today, President Bashar Assad insisted the Syrian people supported his reforms and called his opponents "terrorists". -
VIDEO: Mexico mourns Carlos Fuentes
16 May 2012 | 11:36 amMexicans pay tribute to one of Latin America's greatest authors, Carlos Fuentes, who died on 15 May in Mexico City. -
VIDEO: Lift-off for private space travel?
16 May 2012 | 10:38 amA California-based private company hopes to usher in a new era in space travel with the successful launch of its rocket and unmanned capsule later this month. -
VIDEO: Christians in Egypt get ready to vote
16 May 2012 | 10:17 amAs Egypt prepares for the presidential elections at the end of May, the country's sizeable Coptic Christian minority is hoping for a moderate leader to protect their rights. -
VIDEO: Gaga refused permit for Jakarta gig
16 May 2012 | 8:57 amIndonesian police have refused to issue a permit for a Lady Gaga concert scheduled to take place in Jakarta next month.
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BBC News - Home
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Fed wary of any US spending cuts
16 May 2012 | 12:07 pmThe Federal Reserve is worried about the impact on the US economy if government spending is cut sharply, minutes of its April meeting show. -
Strauss not thinking of quitting
16 May 2012 | 11:59 amAndrew Strauss says he has not thought of giving up the England captaincy, ahead of the first Test against West Indies at Lord's. -
Activists storm Montreal classes
16 May 2012 | 11:49 amStudent protesters in Montreal storm the University of Quebec, disrupting classes as they were due to resume after a boycott protesting rising tuition fees. -
Syria is 'losing information war'
16 May 2012 | 11:38 amSyria is losing the information war against the West, President Bashar al-Assad has said, amid continuing violence across the country. -
Dalglish sacked as Liverpool boss
16 May 2012 | 11:29 amKenny Dalglish is sacked as Liverpool manager after finishing eighth in a disappointing Premier League campaign.
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Politics
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Latino Voters: Seen, But Will They Be Heard, In 2012?
16 May 2012 | 10:57 amNow the fastest growing voting group, Latinos have never been so heavily courted in a presidential race. They could play a key role in battleground states in the 2012 elections.» E-Mail This » Add to Del.icio.us -
Democrat 'Appalled' By Wisconsin Recall
16 May 2012 | 10:00 amWisconsin Democrats hope to unseat Republican Governor Scott Walker in a recall election. In the Los Angeles Times, Jonathan Zimmerman, a lifelong Democrat, says he is "appalled." The recall, he writes, "epitomizes the petty, loser-take-all vindictiveness of contemporary American politics."» E-Mail This » Add to Del.icio.us -
Hickenlooper And List On Pre-Election Atmosphere
16 May 2012 | 10:00 amThe push for civil unions recently failed in Colorado, and Governor John Hickenlooper has some ideas about why. Also, former Nevada Governor Bob List talks about the influence of Ron Paul on the Republican Party. And NPR's Political Junkie columnist Ken Rudin rounds up the news.» E-Mail This » Add to Del.icio.us -
Minority Rules: Who Gets To Claim Status As A Person Of Color?
16 May 2012 | 9:41 amU.S. Senate candidate Elizabeth Warren's claims of Native American heritage seem uneasy to swallow. But why? What does it take to be considered an ethnic minority, and what does the controversy say about the way we judge ethnic backgrounds?» E-Mail This » Add to Del.icio.us -
Candidates Gird For A 'Scorched Earth' Campaign
16 May 2012 | 9:26 amWith both the economy and his own poll numbers weaker than he'd want them to be, President Obama has launched attack ads against Mitt Romney that are unusually blunt for this early stage of a campaign. And Romney has responded with a few roundhouse rights of his own.» E-Mail This » Add to Del.icio.us
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CNN.com - Politics
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2012 bellwether emerges in central Virginia
16 May 2012 | 12:15 pmStrategists for Barack Obama and Mitt Romney don't see eye to eye on much, but they do agree on this: It's tough to envision a path to the White House that doesn't include Virginia. -
Biden: Romney doesn't get us
16 May 2012 | 12:12 pmVice President Joe Biden fires up the crowd in Youngstown, Ohio by declaring that Mitt Romney is out of touch. -
Romney, GOP shift focus to deficit
16 May 2012 | 12:03 pmMitt Romney continued his blitz against President Barack Obama over the federal deficit on Tuesday, signaling a GOP shift away from social issues and back to what Republicans consider the president's Achilles' heel: the economy. -
Defense rests in Edwards trial
16 May 2012 | 11:47 amThe defense team for John Edwards rested its case Wednesday without calling the former Democratic presidential candidate's ex-mistress to testify at his corruption trial. -
Gov. Christie channels Seinfeld in video
16 May 2012 | 10:08 amNew Jersey Gov. Chris Christie's office produces web video poking fun at Newark Mayor Cory Booker's 'hands on' approach.
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Advice to Writers
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In a Novel, No One Owns the Truth
15 May 2012 | 9:11 pmThe contract between the author and the reader is a game. And the game . . . is one of the greatest inventions of Western civilization: the game of telling stories, inventing characters, and creating the imaginary paradise of the individual, from whence no one can be expelled because, in a novel, no one owns the truth and everyone has the right to be heard and understood. CARLOS FUENTES -
The Important Thing in Writing is the Capacity to Astonish
14 May 2012 | 9:17 pmThe important thing in writing is the capacity to astonish. Not shock—shock is a worn-out word—but astonish. The world has no grounds whatever for complacency. The Titanic couldn’t sink, but it did. Where you find smugness, you find something worth blasting. I want to blast it. TERRY SOUTHERN -
To Write Is To Sit In Judgment On Oneself
13 May 2012 | 9:01 pmTo write is to practice, with particular intensity and attentiveness, the art of reading. You write in order to read what you've written and see if it's O.K. and, since of course it never is, to rewrite it once, twice, as many times as it takes to get it to be something you can bear to reread. You are your own first, maybe severest, reader. "To write is to sit in judgment on oneself," Ibsen inscribed on the flyleaf of one of his books. Hard to imagine writing without rereading. SUSAN SONTAG -
Writing Is An Act of Revolutionary Guerrilla Warfare
12 May 2012 | 9:02 pmI don't know how you perceive my mission as a writer, but for me it is not a responsibility to reaffirm your concretized myths and provincial prejudices. It is not my job to lull you with a false sense of the rightness of the universe. This wonderful and terrible occupation of recreating the world in a different way, each time fresh and strange, is an act of revolutionary guerrilla warfare. I stir the soup. I inconvenience you. I make your nose run and your eyeballs water. HARLAN ELLISON -
The Reader Has Certain Rights
11 May 2012 | 9:18 pmThe reader has certain rights. He bought your story. Think of this as an implicit contract. He’s entitled to be entertained, instructed, amused; maybe all three. If he quits in the middle, or puts the book down feeling his time has been wasted, you’re in violation. LARRY NIVEN
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WritersWeekly.com - Freelance Writing Ezine
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BookLocker - Your Book Deserves the Best
16 May 2012 | 10:00 amAccording to attorney Mark Levine, author of The Fine Print, BookLocker is one of the top-rated POD publishers in the industry. -
Paying Markets And Jobs For May 16th
16 May 2012 | 10:00 amNew markets and freelance writing jobs. -
Whispers And Warnings For May 16th
16 May 2012 | 10:00 amApple and publishers - Judge denies motion to dismiss ebook price fixing civil suit. John Wiley & Sons - Trying to get info. on Verizon consumers "accused of unlawfully sharing electronic copies of books in the popular 'Dummy' self-help series." Georgia State University - "Cleared of MOST copyright violation claims brought by academic publishers." -
"I'll Be There Anyway" - How One Simple Phrase Turned into Multiple Income Opportunities By Cheryl Pickett
16 May 2012 | 10:00 amSometimes people say part of success is the luck of being in the right place at the right time. While that may be true to a point, I think the other part of it is knowing what to do once you get there. -
Well, Are POD Books in Bookstores...or Aren't They?!
16 May 2012 | 10:00 amSome POD publishers imply their books are available in all bookstores but you don't make that claim. Why?
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Self-Publishing Review
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Review: The Shadows Touch by R. Scott VanKirk
15 May 2012 | 12:57 pmThe Shadows Touch, by R. Scott VanKirk, is the sequel to the fantasy novel, The Dryad’s Kiss. The opening pages of The Shadows Touch picks up right where the first novel left off. I had the privilege of reviewing the first novel and I enjoyed it immensely so with great anticipation I opened to the first page of the sequel. Ian Finn Mortgenstern’s, the hero in the first novel, life has not improved much since we last saw him in The Dryad’s Kiss. His father is residing in the mental institution, Shady Oaks, and so is his best friend’s sister, Jen. And Finn feels responsible for… -
Review: The Dryad’s Kiss by R. Scott VanKirk
10 May 2012 | 12:56 pmThey built the mound layer by layer, with each layer accepting more of the bones of the fallen. Finally, on top, facing the south and east, they interred the remains of Wahkoceethee the Eagle and Sheshepukwa the Cougar. They buried the fallen warriors with ceremonies of respect and thanks along with their totems. When Anakthepeuke the Rattlesnake died, he would be buried facing the west and the strongest of them all, Mactequeta Bear, in turn would be buried facing the terrible north. They would take their totems with them so their spirits could tap the power of their totems in death to… -
Review: Eyes Behind Belligerence by K.P. Kollenborn
3 May 2012 | 11:54 amEyes Behind Belligerence by K.P. Kollenborn is an ambitious book about complex subjects. The Yoshimura and Hamaguchi families of Bainbridge Island, off the coast of Washington, endure the bigotry of the 1940s and are forced into the Manzanar Internment Camp, but their stories transcend any location. Eyes Behind Belligerence is essentially a story of families and how they come to terms with loss — whether of people, life as they knew it, or the ability to make their own choices. Americans whose ancestry is not Japanese may look at Japanese-American families and see homogeneity. The… -
The God Within by Martine Racine
29 Apr 2012 | 10:52 amAuthor Martine Racine is a Jungian psychoanalyst and ordained minister. In The God Within, she describes how the divine lives in all of us. Racine posits that our center of power, creativity, and morality doesn’t come from extrinsic sources. Rather, they reside in our being and are tapped into when we feel from our hearts. All of the destruction in the world, according to Racine, comes from the unhealthy imbalance of putting too much emphasis on the mind. The mind is a tool that should be used only through the guidance of heart because our heart is what is connected to our inner god. Our… -
Review: Murder Takes Time by Giacomo Giammatteo
26 Apr 2012 | 1:40 pmWhat would you do if you thought one of your two best friends from childhood was wanted for murder and you were the cop in charge of the investigation? Would you be able to put your feelings aside and do your job? In Giacomo Giammatteo’s debut novel, Murder Takes Time, he explores the power of friendship and honor. Right from the start, the reader is thrown into the bloody world of mobsters. The opening pages depict a horrific killing. The murder scene is not for the faint-hearted. At first I was uncomfortable. But fear not, this is not a novel that centers primarily on acts of…
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Publishing Archaeology
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Social science quiz: sociology vs. political science
15 May 2012 | 1:01 pmToday's quiz: which discipline--sociology or political science--has a better understanding of ancient states?You would think political science would have better things to say about ancient state-level societies than sociology. After all, political science focuses on power, governments, and political phenomena. But no, sociology has a MUCH BETTER understanding of ancient states, except perhaps in the area of empires.I have been reading up in these two disciplines, trying to link up their concepts with those used by archaeologists and anthropologists on ancient states and cities. That was not… -
Archaeology as a social science
8 May 2012 | 6:49 pmWhen our paper, "Archaeology as a social science," was published online last week, I emailed copies to a bunch of people, including John Gerring. Gerring is a political scientist, and I have been reading his books on social science methodology. I like them a lot - he has a strong scientific epistemology, but a broad outlook that values qualitative research and case study research (which covers much archaeology; see my post on this). I also like his article on direct and indirect control, which fits my understanding of empires very well. I have written a number of posts on Gerring's works (try… -
Do archaeologists know anything useful about premodern states?
3 May 2012 | 4:42 pmMax WeberI've been reviewing what sociologists and political scientists have written about premodern states. In the past I have largely avoided this material, perhaps taking a quick look and then dropping it. Much of what they say is clueless and either wrong, or at least very incomplete (e.g., Greece and Rome and medieval Europe exhaust the variation in premodern states, perhaps occasionally considering dynastic China). It turns out that Max Weber was pretty smart about these things, although he did limit his writings to the Old World historical societies. But I found lots of value in Weber… -
Kicked off the Editorial Board!
29 Apr 2012 | 9:58 pmFirst I had a paper rejected from the journal Science. Now I've evidently been removed from the Editorial Board of the journal Reviews in Anthropology. Wow, is my career going down the tubes? What's next? Will my students leave me for another adviser? Will NSF ask for their money back? Will my artifacts in Mexico be put out on the street?I'm not too surprised to find that my tenure on the board of Reviews in Anthropology is over. They just changed editors, and I wondered if the editorial board would turn over too. Some journals have entrenched boards, people who serve for decades; others have… -
SAA reaffirms its regressive photo release polity
19 Apr 2012 | 9:15 pmSuppose you take a photo of your excavation, which happens to be within a modern town, and some bystanders end up in the photo. Later you want to publish the photo in a publication of the Society for American Archaeology (SAA). Guess what? They won't let you, unless you get a signed release form from every potentially identifiable person on the image. Well, since you took the photo several years ago, you won't be able to find those people, so you can't use the photo. Even if everyone in it is an adult, behaving legally in a public setting.Why the regressive policy by the SAA? Because perhaps…
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Yahoo! Finance: Publishing - Books Industry News
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Architectural Record Named to BtoB Magazine's Annual Media Power 50 List
16 May 2012 | 11:43 am[PR Newswire] - NEW YORK, May 16, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- McGraw-Hill Construction's Architectural Record ( http://www.ArchitecturalRecord.com ) was named as one of the Media Power 50 in BtoB Magazine's annual list of the ... -
Pearson buys certification provider Certiport
16 May 2012 | 9:12 am -
US crude oil supplies grow by 2.1 million barrels
16 May 2012 | 7:58 am -
Pearson VUE Acquires Certiport
16 May 2012 | 7:07 am -
Pearson VUE Acquires Certiport
16 May 2012 | 7:06 am[PR Newswire] - MINNEAPOLIS, May 16, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Pearson VUE, the computer-based testing arm of Pearson, today announced the acquisition of Certiport, a leading provider of performance-based certification exams ...
