Egypt’s first ever DNA lab exclusively dedicated to the study of ancient mummies which is located in the Egyptian Museum and helped with the quest of identifying Hatshepsut’s mummy will get a ‘sister’ lab at the Faculty of Medicine, Cairo University. One of the main purposes of the new lab is to independently reproduce the results obtained in the first lab, as a crucial element of DNA testing is independent replication of the results. DNA of mummies is different from that of people alive: “It is very old and fragile, so we have to extract and multiply it before tests.”…
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When in 79 ADthe Vesuvius errupted full force, it destroyed Herculaneum and Pompeii, covering them with tons of ash, rock and debris.At the same time, it left scientists with an ‘instant capture of time’, capturing daily life in those Roman towns.Now professor Brent Seales and his EDUCE – ‘Enhanced Digital Unwrapping for Conservation and Exploration‘ – team will have a crack at deciphering some of the items ‘preserved’ due to being in the air-tight vault of ashes: two 2,000-year-old papyrus scrolls found in a villa that is thought to have belonged to Julius Caesar‘s father in law Lucius Calpurnius Piso…
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When reading books, and especially when browsing ‘the interwebz’, one comes across the most hilarious, flabbergasting and ‘OMG, the pills you are taking, are those legal?!‘ pyramid theories. Sadly enough, the thrill is soon gone, as all those ‘pyramidiot’1 stories fall back on the same basic protagonists aliens and the inhabitants of Atlantis and the same story lines ‘way older’, special vibrations, immortality with an occasional twist freemasonry, numerology and Supreme Council of Egyptian Antiquities conspiracy theories. Composing a Pyramidiot Theory Hence the challenge, write up your very best Pyramidiot Theory without using any of the stereotypes mentioned below. As…
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For 150 years, scientists have debated the course of our evolutionary journey from tree-dwelling primate to modern Homo sapiens. Today, Google joins the debate.The search engine is focussing on evolution’s ‘missing link’, showcasing ‘Ida’ in today’s Google logo. ‘Ida’ is also known as Darwinius masillae, a 47-million-year-old fossil from the Eocene era. Scientists found Ida in Messel Pit, Germany and soon found out that she is about twenty times older than most fossils related to human evolution. What makes Ida so special is that despite her classification as an early prosimian (lemurs), she has certain undeniable human characteristics such as…
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Most likely it was not (just) supreme architectural skills and good fortune that made the Trajan Forum last for almost 20 centuries, but volcanic ashes in the mortar used by the ancient Roman builders. X-ray analysis of a wall sample from the Trajan’s Market ruins in Rome showed that the mortars used by ancient Romans contained stratlingite, a mineral known to strengthen modern cements. The cement used by Apollodorus of Damuscus’ builders to construct the huge ancient roman complex contained sandy ash of a volcano that erupted 456,000 years ago. To find the ash they turned to the material erupted…
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Google Maps do not display latitude and longitude values, but there is an easy & quick trick to get these numbers. This technique will provide the latitude and longitude coordinates of the center of the map displayed by Google Maps. Looking up an address in Google Maps will center the map on that address if it was found. If you wish to navigate your Google Map later, refocus the center of your map on the exact point you want the geolocation information for, by double clicking that area of the map. When the location you want is in the center…
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I’ve always been a fan of Bert and Ernie, but – wrongfully – assumed I’m a bit to old to enjoy them now.But apparently we still share the same interest: Bert and Ernie visit Egypt and explore an ancient pyramid.Which pyramid isn’t mentioned – I’m sure it’s one they did not discover yet – but it surely holds some interesting artefacts, replicas, of course.The best?Two Egyptian statues, very much alike to Bert and Ernie, with talking and dancing skills.Enjoy! ‘Rubber Ducky, you’re the one. You make bath time lots of fun Rubber Ducky, I’m awfully fond of you. Rubber Ducky,…
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The whole world agrees to the fact that ‘Rome wasn’t built in a day‘, yet there’s little consensus on how long it exactly took our ancient romans to construct their home town, let alone when they exactly got their shovels out.A date is easy,all historic sources do agree on April 21st, but which year? 753BCis an often used year, and a recent discovery of fortification walls on the north slope of the Palatinus – Palatine Hill, one of the Seven Hills of Rome – dated to the middle of the 8th century BC confirms this.Anyway, enough with the boring facts.…
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Do certainly take along a large amount of recording equipment. Especially when you’re a large troop – or a very enthusiast couple – visiting Stonehenge, nothing is stopping you from taking along as many different recording devices as the total amount of arms can carry. Where as device Xmight be perfectly fitted for occasion Y, you could prefer device Z for situation N. An example: The Sony HDVcamera (carried by Jon) – Excellent tool if you stumble over pagans & druids with interesting stories. Canon ‘Rebel’ 300D (weapon of choice for Ann) – Nothing wrong with using ancient tools! When…
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As part of National Science and Engineering Week, the British Museum organised a family event, allowing young and old to meet scientists and conservationists to discover how science unlocks secrets behind some of the Museums most iconic objects. Those attending on Saturday the 7th of March were allowed to handle raw materials and to see the latest behind-the-scenes technology in action. ‘Zoom In: a closer look at science’ took place in the Great Court of the British Museum, and although it was no ‘CSI Mummy’ or live version of ‘Bones’ – one should not let it’s expectations be guided by…