Earthquake experts at Tel Aviv University turn to history for guidance

Wed, 03 Oct 2007 00:00:00 EDT
The best seismologists in the world don't know when the next big earthquake will hit. But a Tel Aviv University geologist suggests that earthquake patterns recorded in historical documents of Middle Eastern countries indicate that the region's next significant quake is long overdue.

Jamestown awarded National Historic Chemical Landmark designation

Wed, 03 Oct 2007 00:00:00 EDT
The origins of the American chemical enterprise will be designated the 60th National Historic Chemical Landmark in a special ceremony on Oct. 10 in historic Jamestown, Va. The ceremony takes place during the celebration of the 400th anniversary of the founding of the Jamestown colony.

Even without math, ancients engineered sophisticated machines

Tue, 02 Oct 2007 00:00:00 EDT
Move over, Archimedes. A researcher at Harvard University is finding that ancient Greek craftsmen were able to engineer sophisticated machines without necessarily understanding the mathematical theory behind their construction.

Scientists uncover Inca children's countdown to sacrifice

Mon, 01 Oct 2007 00:00:00 EDT
Hair samples from naturally preserved child mummies discovered at the world's highest archaeological site in the Andes have provided a startling insight into the lives of the children chosen for sacrifice. Researchers funded by the Wellcome Trust used DNA and stable isotope analysis to show how children as young as 6-years old were "fattened up" and taken on a pilgrimage to their death.

Research team says extraterrestrial impact to blame for Ice Age extinctions

Mon, 24 Sep 2007 00:00:00 EDT
A team of international researchers, including two Northern Arizona University geologists, reports evidence that a comet or low-density object barreling toward Earth exploded in the upper atmosphere and triggered a devastating swath of destruction that wiped out most of the large animals, their habitat and humans of the Ice Age 13,000 years ago.

Human ancestors more primitive that once thought

Thu, 20 Sep 2007 00:00:00 EDT
A team of researchers, including Herman Pontzer, Ph.D., assistant professor of physical anthropology at Washington University in St. Louis, has determined through analysis of the earliest known hominid fossils outside of Africa, recently discovered in Dmanisi, Georgia, the former Soviet Republic, that the first human ancestors to inhabit Eurasia were more primitive than previously thought.

Climate -- no smoking gun for Neanderthals

Thu, 13 Sep 2007 00:00:00 EDT
Questions remain unresolved as to whether the Neanderthals died out because of competition with modern people or because of deteriorating climatic conditions.

New evidence on the role of climate in Neanderthal extinction

Wed, 12 Sep 2007 00:00:00 EDT
The mystery of what killed the Neanderthals has moved a step closer to resolution after an international study led by the University of Leeds has ruled out one of the competing theories -- catastrophic climate change -- as the most likely cause.

Widely held beliefs about early Cherokee settlement patterns likely incorrect

Tue, 04 Sep 2007 00:00:00 EDT
Two new studies from the University of Georgia show for the first time that long-held assumptions about Cherokee settlement patterns may have been incomplete at best.

Upgraded IMG 2.3 Data Management System released by DOE JGI to eager user community

Tue, 04 Sep 2007 00:00:00 EDT
A powerful set of computational tools established to ease the visualization and exploration of genomes flooding the public domain is now available in IMG Version 2.3 -- the Integrated Microbial Genomes data management system hosted by the US Department of Energy Joint Genome Institute. The content of IMG 2.3, upgraded with new microbial genomes from the Version 23 release of NCBI's™ RefSeq collection, now includes fungi, protists (eukaryotic unicellular organisms), and plant genomes.

Excavations reveal first beehives in ancient Near East

Mon, 03 Sep 2007 00:00:00 EDT
Amihai Mazar, Eleazar L. Sukenik Professor of Archaeology at the Hebrew University, revealed that the first apiary (beehive colony) dating from the Biblical period has been found in excavations he directed this summer at Tel Rehov in Israel's Beth Shean Valley. This is the earliest apiary to be revealed to date in an archaeological excavation anywhere in the ancient Near East, said Prof. Mazar.

Pig study sheds new light on the colonization of Europe by early farmers

Mon, 03 Sep 2007 00:00:00 EDT
The earliest domesticated pigs in Europe, which many archaeologists believed to be descended from European wild boar, were actually introduced from the Middle East by Stone Age farmers, new research suggests.

Oregon researcher to explore boyhood home of John Paul Jones

Thu, 30 Aug 2007 00:00:00 EDT
University of Oregon archaeologist Julie M. Schablitsky is off to Scotland to lead an exploratory excavation of the grounds on the boyhood home of John Paul Jones, while her husband continues his North Sea search for the lost ship of one of the fathers of the US Navy.

New research challenges previous knowledge about the origins of urbanization

Thu, 30 Aug 2007 00:00:00 EDT
A field survey of the ancient city of Tell Brak indicates that urbanization did not originate with a centralized political power, but as the result of individualized or small-group decisions.

Not all risk is created equal

Tue, 28 Aug 2007 00:00:00 EDT
A camper who chases a grizzly but won't risk unprotected sex. A sky diver afraid to stand up to the boss. New research shows that not all risk is created equal and people show a mixture of both risky and non-risky behaviors.

Ancient sandal print uncovered near Sea of Galilee

Sun, 26 Aug 2007 00:00:00 EDT
Archaeologists have discovered a footprint made by the sandal of a Roman soldier in a wall surrounding the Hellenistic-Roman city of Hippos (Sussita), east of the Sea of Galilee. The footprint was discovered during this eighth season of excavation, led by Prof. Arthur Segal from the Zinman Institute of Archaeology at the University of Haifa in conjunction with archaeologists from the Polish Academy of Sciences and Concordia University in St. Paul, Minnesota.

Are civil unions a 600-year-old tradition?

Thu, 23 Aug 2007 00:00:00 EDT
A compelling new study from the September issue of the Journal of Modern History reviews historical evidence, including documents and gravesites, suggesting that homosexual civil unions may have existed six centuries ago in France. The article is the latest from the ongoing "Contemporary Issues in Historical Perspective" series, which explores the intersection between historical knowledge and current affairs.

T. rex quicker than Becks, say scientists

Tue, 21 Aug 2007 00:00:00 EDT
T. rex may have struggled to chase down speeding vehicles as the movie Jurassic Park would have us believe but the world’s most fearsome carnivore was certainly no slouch, research out today suggests.

CU-Boulder team discovers first ancient manioc fields in Americas

Mon, 20 Aug 2007 00:00:00 EDT
A University of Colorado at Boulder team excavating an ancient Maya village in El Salvador buried by a volcanic eruption 1,400 years ago has discovered an ancient field of manioc, the first evidence for cultivation of the calorie-rich tuber in the New World.

University of Delaware scientists take underwater robot on Black Sea expedition

Wed, 15 Aug 2007 00:00:00 EDT
Using a novel underwater robot, University of Delaware marine scientists will help reveal the mysteries of the Black Sea's geology and maritime history, including ages-old shipwrecks, during an international expedition that is now underway.

Texas researchers and educators head for Antarctica

Wed, 15 Aug 2007 00:00:00 EDT
UTSA sea ice expert Stephen Ackley and Boerne High School Science teacher Sarah Anderson join a crew of researchers and educators on a two-month expedition of Antarctica's Amundsen Sea. Exploration this deep into this section during this time of year hasn't happened since 1899.

An early ape shows its hand

Wed, 08 Aug 2007 00:00:00 EDT
Dr. C. Owen Lovejoy, Kent State University professor of anthropology, comments on a study published in the latest journal issue of Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences that reports on the structure of the hand of Hispanopithecus, a critically important fossil from an ape that lived during the late Miocene of Spain.

Beyond Mesopotamia: A radical new view of human civilization reported in Science

Thu, 02 Aug 2007 00:00:00 EDT
A radically expanded view of the origin of civilization, extending far beyond Mesopotamia, is reported by journalist Andrew Lawler in the Aug. 3 issue of Science.

Science steps in to discover wonders of Toe-tankhamun

Fri, 27 Jul 2007 00:00:00 EDT
An artificial big toe attached to the foot of an ancient Egyptian mummy could prove to be the world's earliest functional prosthetic body part, say scientists.

August Geology and GSA Today media highlights

Mon, 23 Jul 2007 00:00:00 EDT
Topics include: first images of an active oceanic detachment fault; new theory of Transantarctic Mountains formation; why western Siberian rivers flow into the Arctic Ocean via estuaries rather than coastal deltas; and the cause of the large earthquake and tsunami that destroyed coastal cities of sixth-century Phoenicia (modern-day Lebanon). The GSA Today science article presents new evidence of an advanced civilization in Alexandria, Egypt, at least seven centuries prior to the arrival of Alexander the Great.

_{Copyright 2006 by the American Association for the Advancement of Science}