178-year-old mass murder mystery

"This is a mass grave," Bill Watson said as he led the way through the thick Pennsylvania woods in a suburb about 30 miles from Philadelphia.

"Duffy's Cut," as it's now called, is a short walk from a suburban cul-de-sac in Malvern, an affluent town off the fabled Main Line. Twin brothers Bill and Frank Watson believe 57 Irish immigrants met violent deaths there after a cholera epidemic struck in 1832.

They suspect foul play.

From CNN.

Earliest arrowheads

Researchers in South Africa have revealed the earliest direct evidence of human-made arrows.

The scientists unearthed 64,000 year-old "stone points", which they say were probably arrow heads.

Closer inspection of the ancient weapons revealed remnants of blood and bone that provided clues about how they were used.

The team reports its findings in the journal Antiquity. . .

The discovery pushes back the development of "bow and arrow technology" by at least 20,000 years.

Read more here.

Oetzi buried?

Oetzi, the 5,000 year old "Iceman" found in the Italian Alps, may have ceremonially buried, archaeologists claim.

An autopsy showed that Oetzi had been murdered, dying of an arrow wound.

While this is not disputed, a new study suggests that months after his death, Oetzi's corpse was carried to the high mountain pass where it was found.

The discovery site therefore may not be a murder scene after all, but a burial ground.

Read the rest here.

DNA from dolphin spit

Biologists have developed a new way of harmlessly collecting DNA from dolphins from their exhalations or "blow".

Understanding dolphin genetics is critical to the conservation of wild populations.

Current methods to collect dolphin DNA use a procedure which can be harmful.

Scientists hope the new technique, successfully used to extract DNA from aquarium dolphins, can also be used in the wild.

Full story here.

Wynne diaries to be published at last

A Bath historian is hoping to give an admiral's wife - who tended to a wounded Lord Nelson - "her rightful place in history".

Dr Elaine Chalus has won a major research grant of more than £100,000 to investigate diaries kept by Elizabeth Wynne.

Elizabeth married one of Nelson's famous 'band of brothers', Captain Thomas Francis Fremantle, during the Napoleonic Wars.

Dr Chalus will use her funding from the British Academy to bring to light more than 40 volumes of Elizabeth's diaries, most of which have never been published.

From the BBC.

Battle of Britain, fading from living memory

Seventy years ago the RAF was locked in a life and death struggle with the Luftwaffe in the skies over England. . .

The bravery of the RAF pilots was captured in Winston Churchill's speech on 20 August when he said "never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few".

Those left of The Few, as those pilots became known, are now in their 90s. Some of them fear they will soon not be around to remind people of the events that summer.

From the BBC.

Attack of the zombie ant fungus

The oldest evidence of a fungus that turns ants into zombies and makes them stagger to their death has been uncovered by scientists. . .

The finding shows that parasitic fungi evolved the ability to control the creatures they infect in the distant past, even before the rise of the Himalayas.

The fungus, which is alive and well in forests today, latches on to carpenter ants as they cross the forest floor before returning to their nests high in the canopy.

The fungus grows inside the ants and releases chemicals that affect their behaviour. . .

In their last hours, infected ants move towards the underside of the leaf they are on and lock their mandibles in a "death grip" around the central vein, immobilising themselves and locking the fungus in position.

From the Guardian.

Mallory on Everest: into the storm

An extreme storm may have contributed to the deaths of famed climbers George Mallory and Andrew Irvine as they tried to reach Everest's summit in 1924.

That is the conclusion of a new study using weather data recorded during their historic expedition. . .

The storm caused a pressure drop big enough to deprive the climbers of oxygen, the new study proposes.

The research, published in the journal Weather, focuses on meteorological measurements from the 1924 expedition, which the authors uncovered at the Royal Geographical Society library in London.

From the BBC.

Enormous canal found at Portus

Scholars discovered the 100-yard-wide (90-metre-wide) canal at Portus, the ancient maritime port through which goods from all over the Empire were shipped to Rome for more than 400 years.

The archaeologists, from the universities of Cambridge and Southampton and the British School at Rome, believe the canal connected Portus, on the coast at the mouth of the Tiber, with the nearby river port of Ostia, two miles away. . .

Until now, it was thought that goods took a more circuitous overland route along a Roman road known as the Via Flavia.

Sounds like a very promising site, one of the most worldly and cosmopolitan entrepots of its time.

Much less is known about Portus than neighbouring Ostia, and archaeologists hope that there are many discoveries waiting to be unearthed which could augment the understanding of ancient Rome's sophisticated trading network.

They expect Portus, which had to be abandoned after it began to silt up in the 6th century, to eventually rank alongside some of the world's best-known ancient cities. "Portus must be one of the most important archaeological sites in the world," said Prof Keay. "The great thing about Portus is that most of it has been preserved and there is much more to learn about the important role it played in Rome's success."

From the Telegraph.

Lost Audubon, found

In 1824, three years before he began to publish his famous "double elephant folio" The Birds of America, John James Audubon (1785-1851), the eminent artist of American birds and animals, created a drawing of a running grouse for use in the design for a New Jersey bank note. Although the artist mentions the drawing and the resulting engraved paper money in two separate diary entries, no one has ever been able to locate or identify such an illustration.

Now, after a decade-long search by an Audubon scholar from Philadelphia's Academy of Natural Sciences and a numismatic historian from St. Louis, Audubon's first published illustration of a bird has been discovered.

Full press release, with further links, here. One thing the article does not address is the rarity and value of the banknotes that incorporate Audubon's image.

The world's fair as relic

Twentieth-century expositions increasingly embodied fashionable ideas of social planning. They came to stand for a controlled and predictable version of progress: the dream of a civilization built from scratch, designed — or at least rearranged — according to an expert ideal of order. Or as the Century of Progress motto put it, "Science Finds, Industry Applies, Man Conforms."

Virginia Postrel discusses how and why world's fairs lost their appeal in the West, while China embraces the Shanghai fair wholeheartedly.

Churchill's teeth at auction

A partial set of false teeth made for Sir Winston Churchill has been sold for £15,200 at an auction in Norfolk.

The dentures, sold by Keys in Aylsham, had been expected to fetch a maximum of £5,000 at the sale on 29 July.

The teeth were owned by the son of dental technician Derek Cudlipp who made them, but he decided to sell.

They were specially constructed to preserve Churchill's natural lisp and were so important he carried two with him at all times. . .

Mr Cudlipp's son, Nigel, said his father's work was so important to Churchill the World War II prime minister would not let him join up to fight.

"When my father's call up papers came, Churchill personally tore them up," he said.

"Churchill said that he would be more important to the war effort if he stayed in London to repair his dentures."

From the BBC.

19th-century rescue ship found in Arctic

Canadian archaeologists have located a British ship abandoned in the Arctic while on a 19th Century rescue mission.

Parks Canada researchers found the HMS Investigator in Mercy Bay this week.

Canada's government says the discovery bolsters its claim to sovereignty over the Northwest Passage, which is feared threatened by increased shipping.

The Investigator was abandoned while searching for the Franklin expedition, itself lost with all its crew during a mission to discover the passage. . .

Archaeologists discovered the ship under about 25ft of pristine, icy arctic water this week using sonar and metal detectors.

"You could make out all the planking on the deck, the details on the hull, all of the detail of the timber," Mr Prentice said. "It's sitting perfectly upright on the floor of the ocean."

The Canadian researchers also found three graves of British sailors who died of scurvy on the 1853 expedition.

Full story here.

Marsupial origins

The characteristic koalas, kangaroos, possums and wombats of Australia share a common American ancestor, according to genetic research from Germany.

A University of Muenster team drew up a marsupial family tree based on DNA.

Writing in the Public Library of Science (PLoS) Biology journal, they suggest a single marsupial species moved from the Americas to Australia.

From the BBC.

Ansel Adams rediscovery?

Rick Norsigian's hobby of picking through piles of unwanted items at garage sales in search of antiques has paid off for the Fresno, California, painter.

Two small boxes he bought 10 years ago for $45 -- negotiated down from $70 -- are now estimated to be worth at least $200 million, according to a Beverly Hills art appraiser.

Those boxes contained 65 glass negatives created by famed nature photographer Ansel Adams in the early period of his career. Experts believed the negatives were destroyed in a 1937 darkroom fire that destroyed 5,000 plates.

Full story here. My question, however, is whether the "experts" cited in the article are in fact experts on Ansel Adams' work. A quick search on the names mentioned suggests that they may be prominent and successful as dealers and photographers, but there was a worrisome lack of specific expertise in the authentication of Adams photographs. Where are the endorsements by curators, by academics, and by Adams descendants and students?

In search of the Ming exploration fleets

Chinese archaeologists are due to begin searching for the remains of a Chinese ship believed to have sunk off the Kenyan coast 600 years ago.

The shipwreck could provide evidence of the first contact between China and east Africa.

The three-year project will search in northern Kenyan coastal waters off Lamu island and Malindi.

The joint initiative by China and Kenya comes after porcelain from China's Ming dynasty was found in the area.

Eleven experts will excavate key sites on land, ahead of the arrival of the maritime team in August.

From the BBC.

Another henge at Stonehenge

Archaeologists have discovered a second henge at Stonehenge, described as the most exciting find there in 50 years.

The circular ditch surrounding a smaller circle of deep pits about a metre (3ft) wide has been unearthed at the world-famous site in Wiltshire.

Archaeologists conducting a multi-million pound study believe timber posts were in the pits.

Project leader Professor Vince Gaffney, from the University of Birmingham, said the discovery was "exceptional".

The new "henge" - which means a circular monument dating to Neolithic and Bronze Ages - is situated about 900m (2,950ft) from the giant stones on Salisbury Plain.

Images show it has two entrances on the north-east and south-west sides and inside the circle is a burial mound on top which appeared much later, Professor Gaffney said.

From the BBC.

A bottle of stoat?

A beer served in bottles made from stuffed animals has been criticised as "perverse" and "pushing the boundaries of acceptability".

The End of History, made by BrewDog of Fraserburgh, Aberdeenshire, is 55% and £500 a bottle.

The bottles have been made using seven dead stoats, four squirrels and a hare, said to have died of natural causes.

From the BBC. The BrewDog website is here.

Book thievery

Nicknamed the Tome Raider, William Jacques had form in library crime - having already served a four-year sentence for stealing books worth £1m in the late 1990s.

Despite his prison term, it seems Jacques could not give up his habit of lifting notable works of literature.

The 41-year-old has been sentenced to another jail term, of three-and-a-half years, after targeting the the Royal Horticultural Society's Lindley library. Signing in under the false name of Santoro, he simply stuffed books under his jacket before marching out.

More on theft in the antiquarian book trade in the BBC News Magazine.

Civil War veteran's daughter dies in Ohio

An Ohio woman whose father fought in the Civil War has died at the age of 103.

Family members say Edna Marie Hetrick died Monday at a senior living center in Findlay.

Hetrick was a member of the Daughters of Union Veterans of the Civil War. The Illinois-based group says there are 16 other living daughters of Civil War veterans. . .

Hetrick was born when her father was 62, some 41 years after the Civil War ended.

She said she remembered her father talking about the war, but she wasn't very interested at the time.

From the Toledo Blade.

WW1 soldiers, reburied at last

The last of 250 British and Australian World War I troops recovered from mass graves has been reburied with full military honours in northern France.

Prince Charles and the relatives of identified soldiers attended a commemorative ceremony at the new Fromelles Military Cemetery.

It comes 94 years after the soldiers were killed in the Battle of Fromelles.

Work to excavate and identify the soldiers began two years ago, after the bodies were discovered.

Of the bodies recovered, 205 have now been identified as belonging to Australian soldiers, three served with the British army and 42 are still classified as unknown.

From the BBC -- in an article that fails to note what the Australian War Memorial site states right out:

The worst 24 hours in Australian history occurred 90 years ago at Fromelles. Not the worst in Australian military history, the worst 24 hours in Australia's entire history. The Australians suffered 5,533 casualties in one night. The Australian toll at Fromelles was equivalent to the total Australian casualties in the Boer War, Korean War and Vietnam War put together. It was a staggering disaster.

And this catastrophic attack at Fromelles - advocated and orchestrated by a British corps commander - had no redeeming tactical justification whatsoever. It was, in the words of a senior participant, Brigadier General H.E. "Pompey" Elliott, a "tactical abortion".

More background and links at Wikipedia.

DIY distillery

Against the backdrop of the recession and the current craze for artisan produce, illegal distilling clubs and "kitchen-sink" operations are popping up all over the US, from California to New York and Pennsylvania.

Making and selling moonshine is outlawed in every US state and the police treat distilling liquor without a license as a serious crime. . .

Though most prosecutions continue to be in the south, many of today's new moonshiners are hipster kids, foodie enthusiasts and hobbyists on America's coasts, making booze in their kitchens and bathrooms.

Full article here. I wonder if it might not be time to legalize small-scale home distilling -- perhaps under some sort of own-use licensing agreement.

World's oldest champagne

Divers have found 30 bottles of champagne thought to pre-date the French Revolution on the Baltic seabed.

When they opened one, they found the wine - believed to have been made by Clicquot (now Veuve Clicquot) between 1782 and 1788 - was still in good condition.

The bottle - whose shape indicates it was produced in the 18th Century - has now been sent to France for analysis.

If confirmed, it would be the oldest drinkable champagne in the world. . .

Wine experts estimate each bottle would fetch around 500,000 Swedish kronor (£45,000; $69,000) at auction.

From the BBC.

Sequencing the microbiome

Dr. Khoruts decided his patient needed a transplant. But he didn’t give her a piece of someone else’s intestines, or a stomach, or any other organ. Instead, he gave her some of her husband’s bacteria.

Dr. Khoruts mixed a small sample of her husband’s stool with saline solution and delivered it into her colon. Writing in the Journal of Clinical Gastroenterology last month, Dr. Khoruts and his colleagues reported that her diarrhea vanished in a day. Her Clostridium difficile infection disappeared as well and has not returned since.

Full story here. Yet another reminder of the extent to which we depend upon our bacterial companions:

Scientists are regularly blown away by the complexity, power, and sheer number of microbes that live in our bodies. “We have over 10 times more microbes than human cells in our bodies,” said George Weinstock of Washington University in St. Louis. But the microbiome, as it’s known, remains mostly a mystery. “It’s as if we have these other organs, and yet these are parts of our bodies we know nothing about". . .

European and Chinese researchers recently catalogued all the microbial genes in stool samples they collected from 124 individuals. In March, they published a list of 3.3 million genes.

Dust that laptop!

My ThinkPad was starting to run very hot, with the fan running almost continually. I could no longer use it on my lap, and I was worried about damaging wood surfaces it rested upon. Online research provided lots of answers, the simplest and most basic being: (1) small notebook computers often are pretty marginal when it comes to cooling; (2) a notebook's ability to get rid of excess heat is easily compromised by the inevitable accumulation of dust in the fan and radiator/heatsink.

Wanting to do this neatly, I did a very simple bit of partial disassembly (removed four screws, lifted off the keyboard), and used a can of compressed air to blow out all the dust -- and there was a lot, none of it visible from the outside. The fan now runs quietly, with minimal heat buildup, and I can use it on my lap once again.

Went and did the same for other family members' laptops as well, though theirs are all larger and better-cooled. Still, judging from the amount of dust that came flying out once I blasted the radiator/heatsink vents, their cooling must also have been significantly impaired too.