[Jawlist] Weekly Science Report 12-11-09

Tue Jan 12 16:07:18 PST 2010

Good Morning Everyone,

Below is this week's edition.

Steve Detwiler

Weekly Science Report 
December 11, 2009 

“Never believe that a few caring people can't change the world. For, indeed, that's all who ever have.” 
Margaret Mead 

News Articles 

Paleontology, Evolution and Prehistoric Studies 

T. Rex precursor suggests dinosaurs originated in S. America
http://www.usatoday.com/tech/science/discoveries/2009-12-10-dinosaurs-south-america_N.htm

Absence of evidence for a meteorite impact event 13,000 years ago
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2009-12/uoha-aoe120709.php

DNA study sheds new light on horse evolution
http://www.physorg.com/news179653662.html

Meat-eating dinosaur feeds migration theory 
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/12/11/MN9E1B0FN1.DTL&type=science

Evidence of Australia 's first human occupation found
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20091210/world-news/evidence-of-australias-first-human-occupation-found?

Ancient and General History 

A place haunted by Lennon's murder 
http://www.cnn.com/2009/OPINION/12/06/greene.lennon/index.html 

Pearl Harborveterans recall infamous attack 
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-vets6-2009dec06,0,6796046.story 

WWII veteran had Hitler's art book on bookshelf
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_hitler_s_album

Suspect in Nazi trial admits killings
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091208/ap_on_re_eu/eu_germany_nazi_hit_man;_ylt=Auf8agrA_QG8B9t9TVd6r5Ss0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTNybnVxcm9tBGFzc2V0A2FwLzIwMDkxMjA4L2V1X2dlcm1hbnlfbmF6aV9oaXRfbWFuBGNjb2RlA21vc3Rwb3B1bGFyBGNwb3MDNARwb3MDMQRwdANob21lX2Nva2UEc2VjA3luX2hlYWRsaW5lX2xpc3QEc2xrA3N1c3BlY3Rpbm5heg

Pearl Harbor Day 2009: three enduring mysteries
http://news.yahoo.com/s/csm/20091207/ts_csm/aunsolved

U.S.offers to pay Native Americans $1.4 billion for lost funds
http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/12/08/indian.land/index.html

Tuskegee Airman Dies At 89- Video
http://news.yahoo.com/video/local-15749667/17074840

Ancient Tablets Decoded; Shed Light on Assyrian Empire
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2009/12/091209-ancient-tablets-decoded.html

The legacy of an inhuman trade
http://women.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/women/the_way_we_live/article6950288.ece 
Official: KGB chief ordered Hitler's remains destroyed
http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/europe/12/11/russia.hitler.remains/index.html

Did Ancient Sicilians Build Temples to 'Fit In?'
http://news.yahoo.com/s/livescience/20091211/sc_livescience/didancientsiciliansbuildtemplestofitin

Body of Cyprus ex-president stolen from grave
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/34375910/ns/world_news-europe/

The real story of Invictus
http://www.newsweek.com/id/226323

Ancient Pacific islanders brought to light
http://www.alphagalileo.org/ViewItem.aspx?ItemId=64334&CultureCode=en

Heroes or rabble-rousers? The real story of the Maccabees
http://jta.org/news/article/2009/12/10/1009663/heroes-or-rabble-rousers-the-real-story-of-the-maccabees

Was Ancient Historian One Of The First Spin Doctors?
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=121359301

Sharing a sense of history
Ferriero is first librarian in charge at National Archives 
By Michael E. Ruane
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, December 7, 2009 

Deep inside the gray stone fortress of the National Archives building downtown, amid dimly lit stacks protected by locked doors, the new archivist of the United States takes down a box containing a document dating back almost 200 years. 

An erudite, gray-haired man with 40 years' experience in elite libraries, David S. Ferriero removes a manila envelope and takes out a precious shard of the nation's history: a carefully preserved record of . . . 

"I don't have my glasses," he says. There is an impish look on his face, but the new keeper of such sacred treasures as the U.S. Constitution, the Declaration of Independence and several billion other items has, indeed, left his spectacles in his office. 

"Could you tell me what this is?" he asks an aide. "What does this say?" 
It was a telling moment: Although Ferriero, 63, had not brought his glasses to the stacks late last month, he came armed with the dry wit and sense of humility friends say he brings to one of the nation's most hallowed government repositories. 

"It's an awesome responsibility," he said in the echoing rotunda of the building. "It's a stewardship kind of responsibility -- a long-term commitment by the U.S. government to ensure that these documents are available in perpetuity and available to the American public. 

"I have 10 billion things I have to worry about," he said, citing the archives' estimated holdings. 
A huge portrait of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, who signed the bill creating the archives, hangs in Ferriero's downtown office, which is just down the hall from the encasements holding the Constitution, the Declaration of Independence and the Bill of Rights. The document he couldn't read, by the way, was a War of 1812 pension record. 

"I walk in the building and it's like, 'What am doing here? Do I belong here?' " he said. "I have been extraordinarily lucky." 

Ferriero once helped run a recreation program for criminally insane men at a Connecticut mental hospital. He is a Vietnam veteran and served as a Navy corpsman during the war. 

He has raised orchids and run the Boston Marathon and is a renowned baker of birthday cakes for employees. He loves Mozart and Southern writers. And, although he is the 10th archivist of the United States , he is the first librarian to hold the post. 

A wide kingdom 
Ferriero, who looks as much like an amiable police detective as an academic, was nominated by President Obama on July 28 and confirmed by the Senate on Nov. 6. His name rhymes with "stereo." 

He had been director of the research libraries of the New York Public Library system since 2004 and university librarian and vice provost for library affairs at Duke University since 1996. He oversaw Duke's $55 million library expansion into two new buildings. Before that, he worked in the Massachusetts Institute of Technology library for 31 years. 

He succeeds Allen Weinstein, who resigned last December for health reasons. 
Ferriero oversees the National Archives and Records Administration, which includes the archives buildings downtown and in College Park as well as 13 presidential libraries and 14 regional archives nationwide. 

He is married to Gail Zimmermann, associate general manager of North Carolina 's UNC-TV. She stayed in North Carolina when he got the job in New York and will not immediately relocate to Washington . "I have a good job," she said. "I really love what I do. We're going to commute, at least for a while." 

Ferriero appears to have taken a substantial pay cut to come to Washington . The archivist's annual salary is $162,900, a spokeswoman said. Ferriero was reportedly earning twice that in New York . 

The archives were established by Congress in 1934, and the first archivist was a North Carolinian, historian Robert Digges Wimberly Connor, whom Time magazine described as "a shy, heavyset, golfing, poker-playing pedagogue." 

The road to D.C. 
Ferriero, one of four siblings, grew up in the maritime town of Beverly , Mass. , the descendant of Italian immigrants on his father's side and Irish immigrants on his mother's. 

His father, Anthony, was a mechanic and salesman at a Ford dealership, drove a cab and did construction work. His mother, Marie, cleaned hospitals to earn money for Ferriero's education. He was the only one of his siblings to attend college. 

Ferriero started college at Northeastern University in Boston . As part of the school's work-study program, he got the job running a recreation program for criminally insane men. "I was petrified," he said. "That first week I thought, 'What am I doing here?' But I fell in love with it." 

He got bored with school, though, dropped out and joined the Navy. He became a corpsman, specializing in psychiatric care, but wound up triaging the wounded on a hospital ship. He said the experience was an invaluable lesson in real-life priorities. 

He went back to school after Vietnam , took a job shelving books at MIT and found that the work in the library was much more than book shelving. He received two degrees in English literature from Northeastern and a master's from the Simmons Graduate School of Library and Information Science. 

One of the big issues Ferriero faces, he and others say, is the proliferation of electronic government records and how they should be preserved. 

As his successor at Duke, Deborah L. Jakubs, put it: "How do you develop policies for what you save? And how do you ensure that those things are going to be available? Because those things are the raw materials of history." 

Paul LeClerc, president of the New York Public Library, praised the selection of Ferriero. Obama "turned to one of the great research librarians in the United States to manage the collections," he said. "The hope that I see is they will be of increased access to the world of scholarship and scholars in America . . . . What you want is people using the collections. You don't want them hidden away and locked up." 

Ferriero, for his part, knows he has much to learn about his new job but said he has already learned one important lesson: "Never go into the stacks without my glasses!" 

Archaeology 

Four ceremonial fountains discovered at Machu Picchu
http://enperublog.com/2009/12/07/four-ceremonial-fountains-discovered-at-machu-picchu/

First century Spanish pottery found in Pattanam
http://indiatoday.intoday.in/site/Story/73920/India/First+century+Spanish+pottery+found+in+Pattanam.html

The impact of the diffusion of maize to the Southwestern United States
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2009-12/wuis-tio120809.php

Warren Wilson archaeologist unearths clues to past
http://www.citizen-times.com/article/20091209/BLACKMOUNTAINNEWS01/912090308/1119

Crofter finds a 'Viking' anchor on the Isle of Skye
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/8393952.stm

Historical Society, finder fighting over artifact
http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2009/12/07/LOW_TABLET.ART0_ART_12-07-09_B3_6FFTSFC.html?sid=101

Archaeological study of ostrich eggshell beads collected from SDG site
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2009-12/sicp-aso120609.php

Medieval tombstones rise from flames
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/wear/8400393.stm

Ancient artifacts found on UW grounds
http://blog.seattlepi.com/thebigblog/archives/187490.asp

Ancient site found in southern Iran
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=113105&sectionid=351020105

Excavations uncover four ossuaries at Georgian monastery
http://www.cyprus-mail.com/cyprus/excavations-uncover-four-ossuaries-georgian-monastery

John Switzer commentary: Early Ohioans tracked solstices
http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2009/12/06/john06.ART_ART_12-06-09_B3_89FTGVA.html?sid=101

Professor explores school's continuing excavation of Mochlos, Crete
http://media.www.carolinianonline.com/media/storage/paper301/news/2009/12/01/CampusNews/Professor.Explores.Schools.Continuing.Excavation.Of.Mochlos.Crete-3844570.shtml#5

Naylamp’s temple discovered in Lambayeque
http://enperublog.com/2009/12/05/naylamps-temple-discovered-in-lambayeque/

Ancient Amazon civilisation laid bare by felled forest
http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20427383.800-ancient-amazon-civilisation-laid-bare-by-felled-forest.html

Ancient Maya king shows his foreign roots
http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/50614/title/Ancient_Maya_king_shows_his_foreign_roots

Hasmonean rule reached the Negev , archeologists declare
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1260447411204&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

UCSB Archaeologist Disputes Common Belief About Collapse of Maya Civilization
http://www.ia.ucsb.edu/pa/display.aspx?pkey=2144

Archeological department unearths Hindu idol in Kurukshetra
http://www.thaindian.com/newsportal/india-news/archeological-department-unearths-hindu-idol-in-kurukshetra_100288404.html

Mystery of the Narara caves
http://www.fijitimes.com/story.aspx?id=135378

A rocky vacation she really dug
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/12/11/AR2009121102131.html

Archaeological evidence of Sri Ram and His birthplace
http://www.organiser.org/dynamic/modules.php?name=Content&pa=showpage&pid=322&page=17

Byzantine Era - Geometric mosaic unearthed in Syrian archaeological site
http://www.english.globalarabnetwork.com/200912134000/Culture/byzantine-era-geometric-mosaic-unearthed-in-syrian-archaeological-site.html

Great Wall ruins discovered in NE China's Jilin Province , archaeologists say 
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-12/13/content_12640738.htm

Excavated structures must be documented
http://www.kuwaittimes.net/read_news.php?newsid=NDY2MDkxMTU1

Was Largs a Roman holiday resort?
http://www.largsandmillportnews.com/news/localhistory/articles/2009/12/10/395001-was-largs-a-roman-holiday-resort/

Great Base of Cacaxtla Uncovered
http://dti.inah.gob.mx/index.php?option=com_content&task=blogsection&id=39&Itemid=150

Egyptology 

The Big Question: What is the Rosetta Stone, and should Britain return it to Egypt ?
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/this-britain/the-big-question-what-is-the-rosetta-stone-and-should-britain-return-it-to-egypt-1836610.html

The Temple as Canon of Egypt’s Religious Literature: A New Long-term research Project at the University of Tübingen
http://www.alphagalileo.org/ViewItem.aspx?ItemId=63740&CultureCode=en

Hungarians among the Pharaohs
http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2009/976/he1.htm

General Science 

USAir Force confirms 'Beast of Kandahar' drone
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20091208/pl_afp/usaviationmilitarydrones_20091208212912

Darpa's Cyborg Insect Spies, Now Nuclear-Powered
http://www.popsci.com/technology/article/2009-12/nuclear-power-cyborg-insect-spies

Physics, Earth and Space Sciences 

Anti-gravity treadmill: Therapy that's like a walk on the moon
http://www.mercurynews.com/bay-area-news/ci_13910978?source=rss

Hunt for new worlds goes into overdrive
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/34288724/ns/technology_and_science-space/

The dark side of space about to be illuminated
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-sci-wise10-2009dec10,0,5846611.story

UKto have dedicated space agency 
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8404213.stm

Hawaiiselected for solar telescope site
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/34371377/ns/technology_and_science-space/

Key to Mars channel mystery may be on Earth
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/34367609/ns/technology_and_science-space/

Earth's atmosphere came from outer space, find scientists
http://www.physorg.com/news179676765.html

Rare Scottish mineral may indicate life on Mars
http://www.physorg.com/news179652861.html

Cassini closes in on the centuries-old mystery of Saturn's moon Iapetus
http://www.physorg.com/news179677088.html

Suzaku catches retreat of a black hole's disk
http://www.physorg.com/news179665092.html

Jupiter collision packed a huge wallop
http://www.csmonitor.com/Science/2009/0725/p02s19-stss.html

Clever folds in a globe give new perspectives on Earth
http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn18264-clever-folds-in-a-globe-give-new-perspectives-on-earth.html

Saturn’s Hexagon May Be Solar System’s Coolest Mystery
http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2009/12/saturn-hexagon/

Dark Matter Discovered? Don't Bet on It
http://sciencenow.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/2009/1209/1

Antarctic nations consider new controls on ships
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap_travel/as_travel_brief_antarctica_tourism

Mystery Volcano May Have Triggered Mini Ice Age
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=121377379

Scientists discover a new star in Big Dipper constellation
http://www.usatoday.com/tech/science/space/2009-12-10-bigdipper10_ST_N.htm?loc=interstitialskip

NASA to get budget boost for exploration, says analyst
http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn18273-nasa-to-get-budget-boost-for-exploration-says-analyst.html

Ancient Mediterranean flood mystery solved 
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8404363.stm

Should Earth Scientists Take a ‘Hippocratic Oath’?
http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2009/12/earth-science-oath/

'Acidifying oceans' threaten food supply, UK warns 
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8411135.stm

Environment, Climate Change and Alternative Energy Sources 

Rainforests turned into smoldering ruins
http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/asiapcf/12/06/indonesia.burning.rainforest/index.html

UN: 2000-2009 likely warmest decade on record
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091208/ap_on_sc/climate

How to Make a Battery Out of Office Paper & Nanotubes
http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/80beats/2009/12/09/how-to-make-a-battery-out-of-office-paper-nanotubes/

Extra pores on plants could ease global warming: Japan study
http://www.physorg.com/news179653708.html

Clean energy to grow into 1.6 trillion euros industry: WWF
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20091211/bs_afp/unclimatewarmingwwftechnology_20091211001133

Batterylithium could come from geothermal waste water
http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20427385.700-battery-lithium-could-come-from-geothermal-waste-water.html

Green Fuel-Cell Makeover for Future Power Plants
http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2009/12/solid-oxide-fuel-cells/

Are Green Jobs For Real?: Special Report
http://www.popularmechanics.com/science/earth/4339164.html

Nine European Nations Vow to Create Supergrid for Sharing Offshore Wind Power
http://www.popsci.com/technology/article/2009-12/european-nations-vow-create-supergrid-sharing-offshore-wind-power

Study: Earth more sensitive to carbon dioxide than previously thought
http://www.physorg.com/news179328817.html

First fuel cell boat cruises Amsterdam 's canals
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20091209/sc_nm/us_dutch_fuelcell

Biological, Genetics and Medical Sciences 

Real-Life Killer Tomatoes? Carnivorous Plants May Be All Around Us
http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/80beats/2009/12/09/real-life-killer-tomatoes-carnivorous-plants-may-be-all-around-us/

Scientists find way to block fearful memories
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20091209/sc_nm/us_fear_memory

Genetic 'map' of Asia 's diversity
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8406506.stm

Bionic eye restores some sight- video
http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/health/2009/12/11/gupta.bionic.eye.cnn

Data deluge: Battering brain with 34 gigabytes/day
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/science/Data-deluge-Battering-brain-with-34-gigabytes/day/articleshow/5334312.cms

Device Mimics Human Muscle Size, Strength
http://news.discovery.com/tech/artificial-muscle-hydrogen-artificial.html

Other 

New Russian missile failure sparks UFO frenzy
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20091210/sc_afp/russianorwaymilitarymissile

Rudiments of Language Discovered in Monkeys
http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2009/12/monkey-talk/

New Da Vinci Instrument Unveiled- Video
http://news.discovery.com/videos/history-new-da-vinci-instrument-unveiled.html

Social scientists build case for 'survival of the kindest'
http://www.physorg.com/news179512429.html

Belief in Witchcraft Leads to Murders in Africa
http://www.livescience.com/strangenews/091209-bad-witchcraft.html

Practical Steps Toward a Quantum Propulsion Machine
http://www.popsci.com/technology/article/2009-12/quantum-propulsion-machine

Additional Informational 

Top Ten Archaeology Finds: Most Viewed of 2009 
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2009/12/091207-top-ten-archaeology-finds-2009.html 

The Cyber Sea : World's Largest Internet Undersea Science Station Boots Up (Photo Gallery) 
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=first-undersea-science-station 

The 15 Weirdest Science Stories of 2009 
http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/discoblog/2009/12/08/the-15-weirdest-science-stories-of-2009/ 

In Deep Water: Will Essential Ocean Currents Be Altered by Climate Change? (Slide Show) 
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=deep-water-ocean-currents-climate 

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