Current Events

 

Warmer Weather Supercharged 2017 Hurricanes, Study Finds
September 27, 2018 Hurricane Maria devastation
The historically disastrous 2017 hurricane season is a harbinger of things to come because of unusually warm ocean water, a new study asserts. The study, done by the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and Princeton University's Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory, found that in the last year formed six major hurricanes, twice the recent average, and that a large part of the reason for that increase was an unusually warm overall ocean temperature. Measurements during the six-month period known as "hurricane season" in the U.S. found that the average temperature of the Atlantic Ocean was 0.7 degrees Fahrenheit warmer than normal and, further, warmer than Earth's other oceans. That warm air rose into the sky above the Atlantic, creating conditions for storms that were more supercharged than normal. Overall, the hurricanes in 2017 killed more than 3,000 people and caused an estimated $282 billion in damages.

U.N. Chief to G-20: Fight Climate Change Now
September 26, 2018 Antonio Guterres
In a strongly worded speech, the Secretary-General of the United Nations took the world's largest countries to task for failing to show leadership in fighting climate change. Antonio Guterres, speaking at the 73rd General Assembly in New York, called out all world leaders, but particularly the members of the G-20, for not setting an example in cutting emissions. The world's 20 leading and emerging economies produce about 80 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions he said. A target set in the 2015 Paris Agreement was to keep global warming below an increase of 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit). That goal is not achievable unless hard choices are made, Guterres said.

Saudi Arabia Unveils High-speed Mecca-Medina Train
September 25, 2018
A high-speed rail link will soon connect Islam's two holiest cities. The 280-mile railway connecting Mecca and Medina is a part of Saudi Arabia's ongoing effort to move away from dependence on oil exports. King Salman's government expects that the Haramain railway will serve nearly 60 million passengers a year. Among the non-oil revenue strategies that the country has pursued is tourism. One prime group of people that the government is targeting with the opening of the new railway is pilgrims embarking on the Hajj.

New Zealand's 3-month-old 'First Baby' Attends U.N.
September 25, 2018 NZ First Baby and First Man
In attendance while her mother addressed the United Nations peace summit was Neve Te Aroha, the youngest every attendee at a U.N. event. Neve, who is 3 months old, had her own security badge and was accompanied by her mother, New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, and father, Clarke Gayford. Ardern, at 38 her country's youngest prime minister, addressed the peace summit, which was preceded by the unveiling of a statue of famed South African leader Nelson Mandela. Ardern paid tribute to Mandela and his struggle for equality and also reaffirmed New Zealand's commitment of fighting for the values that Mandela espoused. Both Gayford and Neve listened intently during the speech.

2nd Century B.C. Tomb Wall Painting Restored
September 25, 2018 Cumae tomb painting
Archaeologists in Italy have restored a ancient painted burial chamber enough for public viewing. The chamber, found in the remains of the famous Greek settlement Cumae, dates to the 2nd Century B.C. Most of the painting on the walls has deteriorated over time. Among the things still visible on the walls are landscape scenes and a servant holding a jug and vase. Also surviving are a wooden table and a wine amphora. Because of the presence of those things and of other traces of funerary furnishings, archaeologists have concluded that the tomb was built for a wealthy person in the 2nd Century B.C.

Huge Building, Roman Bath Found at Egypt's Ancient Memphis Site
September 25, 2018 Staircase found in Memphis
Archaeologists in Egypt have found a very large building and a connected Roman-era structure in what was once the capital, Memphis. Limestone blocks and red brick molds formed the foundation of the 55-foot-by-47-foot building. Discovered so far have been walls, two entrances, an inner staircase, and a room attached to an outer wall that contained a baking oven and was probably used by servants, archaeologists said. The ruins are near an open-air museum in the town of Mit Rahina, 12 miles south of Cairo. Connected to the building was a Roman bath and a chamber that appeared to have been used for religious rituals. Found in that chamber were a carved basin, wash basins and a limestone pot holder.

High School Replaces Homecoming Queen with Excellence Award
September 23, 2018 Excellence Award winner 2018
A Michigan high school had its annual homecoming celebration, without crowning a homecoming queen. Instead, the school named winners of an Excellence Award. Chelsea (Mich.) High School said that it had made the move to counter the stereotypes that it said accompanied the naming of a homecoming queen. In particular, school officials said that they were keen to address issues of bullying in the choosing of the homecoming queen. The change at Chelsea High School follows on from WhyYouMatter, a 2016 campaign started at the school in the wake of the deaths of three students in less than a year. That campaign, in its second year, challenges students and teachers to work together to photograph every student and every teacher in the school, turning the photos into posters that also include each person's saying why they matter.

Mandela Statue Unveiling Starts U.N. Peace Summit
September 24, 2018
Nelson Mandela is once again mentioned in conjunction with peace. The famous South African prisoner-turned-activist-turned-statesman-turned-author, who died in 2013, has his arms outstretched in a new life-size statue unveiled at the United Nations headquarters in New York. U.N. officials unveiled the statue in conjunction with a General Assembly peace summit. Mandela's widow, Graca Michel, and current South African President Cyril Ramaphosa spoke at the unveiling ceremony, as did Secretary General Antonio Guterres, who called on countries of the world to build on Mandela's legacy. The statue was a gift from South Africa to the U.N.

Glacier Melt? Build a Seafloor Wall, Scientists Say

September 21, 2018 Artificial still
A group of scientists from Finland and the U.S. has proposed building seafloor walls to prevent glaciers from melting. The idea is to lump together vertical collections of rock and sand at the base of glaciers. That strategy is in part a response to what a 2016 Jet Propulsion Laboratory study named the main reason for a faster than anticipated rate of melt in the West Antarctica ice shelf: circulation of warm water beneath the ice. The theory is that the newly placed rock-and-sand walls, termed artificial stills, would act as a sort of seafloor bulwark and be tall enough to keep the warm salty water from rising above the top of the walls.

OK Is Just Fine, New Scrabble Dictionary Says
September 24, 2018 Scrabble tiles
OK, then. The two-letter equivalent of "all right" is now officially a Scrabble word. Merriam-Webster, publisher of the dictionary of acceptable words for the popular board game, recently released its sixth edition, adding a number of words. Among the additions were these:

  • arancini
  • bestie
  • emoji
  • ew
  • facepalm
  • macaron
  • OK
  • zomboid.

Girl, 8, Throws First Pitch at All Major League Baseball Parks
September 19, 2018 Hailey Dawson
Hailey Dawson, at 8 years old, has done something that no one else has done: She has thrown out the first pitch at every Major League Baseball park. She did it using a prosthetic hand. She completed her journey on September 16 in Los Angeles, at the home of the Angels. It was stop number 30. Hailey was born in Nevada in 2010 with Poland syndrome, a genetic condition that stops development of muscles on one side of the body. Hailey was born without a right pectoral muscle and with only two fingers on her right hand: thumb and little finger. Hailey's mother, Yong Dawson, got in touch with engineers at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, who used a 3D printer to generate a robotic hand for Hailey.

North, South Korea to Submit Joint Bid to Host 2032 Olympics
September 19, 2018
As part of a wider agreement, North Korea and South Korea have agreed to submit a joint bid to host the 2032 Summer Olympics. No host sites have been announced. Kim Jong-Un of North Korea and Moon Jae-in of South Korea included that strategy as a result of an agreement by both to take new steps toward peace, including a pledge by North Korea to dismantle a nuclear test site and launch pad and allow international inspectors to verify that it had been done. Pyeongchang, in the South, was the host city for the 2018 Winter Olympics, at which both Korean countries sent athletes that formed a united team. The two countries agreed to a similar strategy for the 2020 Summer Olympics.

Smaller Frites? Could Happen, Belgian Potato Growers Warn
September 18, 2018 Pomme frites
Increasingly dry ground across Belgium has led the specter of smaller frites, which many consider the national dish. Frites–or, technically, pomme frites–are similar to what Americans call French fries. According to one leading Belgian agriculture official, a lower amount of rain has resulted in significant areas of dry ground, resulting in a drop in the amount of potatoes produced. And at the end of that chain of events is the possibility that pomme frites, made from potatoes, will be noticeably smaller than usual.

73,0000-year-old 'Hashtag' Found in South Africa
September 16, 2018 Oldest known drawing
Scientists in South Africa have found what they say is the world's oldest drawing. The red ochre sketch is 73,000 years old. The house key-sized sketch is a group of cross-hatch lines that resemble the modern hashtag. Specifically, three slightly curved lines cross six parallel lines. The lines end suddenly on the 1.5-inch-long rock flake because it is a fragment that the scientists found covered in mud. The tool used to make the lines, which study author Christopher Henshilwood said is the oldest abstract drawing, was a stick of ochre that resembled the modern crayon.

Sandstone Sphinx Found at Kom Ombo Temple
September 16, 2018 Sandstone sphinx
Another sphinx has emerged from antiquity. This one, found in the famed Kom Ombo temple, is made of sandstone. Archaeologists were draining water from the Kom Ombo temple when they found the sphinx, in an area that had already yielded a pair of sandstone reliefs from the reign of King Ptolemy V. The sphinx dates to the Ptolemaic era as well, the archaeologists said. An earlier sphinx find stopped construction along the Al-Kabbash Road.

Floating Schools Both Classroom and Bus
September 12, 2018 Students on the floating school
Students in one area of monsoon-prone Bangladesh go to school on a boat, which comes to them. One class of third-graders who live on the Atrai River numbers 29, and the boat is both classroom and school bus-equivalent, picking up and dropping off students, while in between giving them classroom instruction for the day. That instruction includes low-tech and high-tech presentations. A standard-issue blackboard features prominently in some lessons; other lessons involve a solar-powered computer that has Internet access. Students sitting on wooden chairs write with pens and pencils on pads of paper that rest on wooden benches.

Ocean Plastic Cleanup Machine Heads Out to Sea

September 8, 2018 Ocean Cleanup Machine
The first floating cleanup machine in a campaign to tackle the Great Pacific Garbage Patch has headed out to sea. A ship called the Maersk Launchertowed the 2,000-foot-long device, known as System 001, through San Francisco Bay, under the Golden Gate Bridge, and out to sea, for a final three-day test before deployment. Operation is expected to begin in a couple of weeks. The goal is to remove 50 tons of plastic from the giant mass of trash in the Pacific Ocean in the first year of operation. The machine is a combination of pipes and netting designed to remove trash from the ocean. A series of four-foot-diameter closed pipes floats on the ocean surface; below the pipes is a 9-foot-wide net. The idea is that the net captures the garbage but avoids trapping marine life by utilizing the flow of the water itself. An anchor keeps the machine moving slowly and allows the water flow to sort the garbage into the net.

Massive New Wind Farm Opens off U.K. Coast

September 8, 2018 Walney Extension wind farm
The world's largest offshore wind farm is operating off the coast of England—again. The new farm is known as the Walney Extension. It covers 56 square miles of water in the Irish Sea, off the coast of Walney Island, north of Blackpool, England, and features 87 massive turbines, each nearly 640 feet tall. In total, those turbines can generate 659 megawatts of power, enough to power 600,000 homes. The U.K. already had the largest offshore wind farm, the London Array, completed in 2013 off the coast of Kent. That wind farm has nearly twice the number of turbines, but those are smaller than those in the Walney Extension.

New Antarctica Map Is Highest Resolution Yet

September 8, 2018
A group of scientists from two American universities has released what is said to be the most accurate, complete map of Antarctica yet made. The Reference Elevation Model of Antarctica (REMA), created by a joint project between the Ohio State University and the University of Minnesota, shows the height of all mountains and quantifies 98 percent of the ice and other landmasses on the frozen southern continent. The scientists used hundreds of thousands of models pulled from high-tech satellite images to create their new high-resolution topographic map.

Mobile Phone Ban in Schools Takes Effect in France
September 7, 2018 French students and teacher
French students have survived their first week without use of their mobile phones during school hours. As part of a national education reform program, President Emmanuel macron's government enacted a prohibition on the use of mobile phones for schoolchildren under 15 while they are at school. The ban, which includes tablets and smartwatches, does not extend to high schools: Students ages 15–18 can face a ban, but it is up to their schools to enact one. The government, in enacting the ban, said that it was attempting to address what teachers had reported as a distraction to their students' ability to learn and, more worryingly, a rise in online bullying.

Brazil Museum Fire Vaporized 700-item Egyptian Collection
September 6, 2018 National Museum of Brazil fire
All 700 pieces of the National Museum of Brazil's Ancient Egyptian collection have been lost in the fire that ripped through the building recently. The fire engulfed the 200-year-old building and destroyed the vast majority of the more than 20 million artifacts stored inside. No one was killed or hurt in the blaze. Some reports said that researchers ran into the burning building and brought back some artifacts when they were forced out by the rising flames. Five mummies were in the Hall of Pharaonic Artifacts, which contained many items belonging to Pedro I, the founder and first ruler of the Empire of Brazil. One of those mummies was in a still unopened sarcophagus. Another, known as "Princess Kherima," had her fingers and toes individually wrapped.

28 States Report Teacher Shortages
September 6, 2018
More than half of U.S. states have a shortage of teachers, according to a survey done by the United Kingdom newspaper the Guardian. The newspaper reported that 28 states reported having too few teachers and that 15 of those 28 states reported an increase in shortages over the previous year. Among the areas in which schools were struggling to fill positions were mathematics, science, and special education.

11,000-year-old Skeleton Among Victims of Brazil Museum Fire
September 4, 2018 Luzia skull
A fire has destroyed millions of artifacts housed in the National Museum of Brazil, including America's oldest human remains. The fire in the Rio de Janeiro museum went unchecked for several hours and destroyed most of the building, which was already in disrepair. Among the more than 20 million artifacts lost was Luzia, the 11,000-year-old skeletal remains of a PaleoIndian woman. Also lost were many, many other priceless things from Ancient Egypt, Mesoamerica, Ancient Rome, and elsewhere. About 10 percent of the museum's collection survived the blaze, the cause of which was still unknown for sure. Compounding the problem, the building's smoke detectors were inoperative, the building had no fire-suppression system, and the fire hydrants closest to the museum had no water (so firefighters had to get water from a nearby pond).

Wizard of Oz Slippers Found 13 Years after Heist
September 4, 2018 Ruby red slippers
Judy Garland's famous red slippers are back, after 13 years in hiding. The iconic slippers, one of four pairs the actress wore in her role as Dorothy Gale in the iconic film The Wizard of Oz, were stolen in August 2005 from the Judy Garland Museum in Grand Rapids, Minn., Garland's hometown. The slippers were stored in a glass display case, which was shattered overnight in an apparent robbery. Grand Rapids police, along with the FBI and the U.S. Attorney's office, revealed the recovery of the shoes at a news conference. Federal officials had already verified the slippers' authenticity by comparing them with another of the four existing pairs, one stored at the Smithsonian's American History museum.

Women's Suffrage Helped Increase School Enrollment, Study Says
August 28, 2018
One flow-on effect of the 19th Amendment's granting women the right to vote in national elections was an increase in the number of children staying in school, a new study has found. The three economists who did the study analyzed the school enrollment and school spending figures in 1920 (the year that the 19th Amendment became law) for 500 cities of at least 10,000 population, with a focus on comparing teens of 15 or older with children who were just about to start school. After 1920, on average, the economists found, local education spending and school enrollment improved, especially in cities with large number of African-Americans.

Drought-lowered Water Levels Reveal 'Hunger Stones'
August 27, 2018 Hunger stone
The stories of the hot summer's unearthing historic are growing in number, with the latest the discovery of "hunger stones" in the Czech Republic. Scorching temperatures have lowered the level of the water in the Elbe River, and now visible are more than a dozen rocks used to record low water levels. Carved into the rocks are dates, the earliest of which is 1616. The inscription on one rock reads "When you see me, weep." The stones can be seen near the northern Czech town of Decin, near the Czech-German border.

Democrats Limit Influence of Superdelegates
August 25, 2018
The Democratic National Committee has made a major change to the way that its superdelegates influence the nomination of the party's presidential candidate. Beginning with the 2020 Democratic Party Nominating Convention, superdelegates will not vote on the first ballot unless the nominee is already assumed, based on the results of the party's primaries and caucuses. Rather, the superdelegates will hold their votes until at least the second ballot and then could help break a deadlock. In many cases, this will result in the superdelegates' having much less influence in selecting the eventual nominee because even if one candidate has not theoretically won enough primaries and caucuses to secure enough pledged votes to succeed on the first vote, that first vote has, in practice, resulted in the selection of a nominee.

Kroger to Phase Out Plastic Bags Nationwide
August 23, 2018 Kroger plastic bag
Kroger, America's largest grocery chain, has begun phasing out single-use plastic bags. Seattle-area QFC stores are the first to undergo the transition to reusable bags, which will have a price tag of $1 or $2. As a temporary measure, customers will be able to use brown paper bags. Kroger owns more than 2,700 stores, in two dozen different chains, across the U.S., in 35 states and the District of Columbia. Estimates of the total number of customers in those stores on a daily basis is nearly 9 million.

3,300-year-old Cheese Found in Egypt Oldest cheese
Archaeologists have found 3,300-year-old cheese in an Egyptian tomb. The tomb belonged to Ptahmes who lived in the 13th Century B.C. A high-ranking official under pharaohs Seti I and Rameses II, Ptahmes was buried near the Pyramid of Unas, in Saqqara, home to the resting places of many important people from ancient times in Egypt. Treasurer hunters discovered the tomb in 1885. Most of the tomb's treasures were taken away, and the tomb was forgotten. A 2010 rediscovery rekindled interest in the tomb. Also found were a handful of grave markers, one having an unfinished image of Ptahmes. Among a group of pottery shards found in a subsequent dig by Egyptian and Italian archaeologists was a lump of something white next to a canvas fabric. New high-tech chemical tests proved that the white mass was once a hunk of cheese, wrapped in the canvas fabric and stored in an earthenware jar. Further, the tests revealed traces of milk from cows, sheep, goats and African buffalo.

Kellogg's Snacks to Counter Visual Impairments
August 16, 2018 Rice Krispies Treats Braille stickers
Kellogg's has partnered with the National Federation of the Blind to create snacks that are friendly to consumers with visual impairments. Consumers of Rice Krispies Treats can now buy accompanying Braille stickers and a programmable audio box. The Braille stickers are preprinted. The sheet of eight includes heart-shaped messages such as "Love you lots" and "Good luck" and are designed to be affixed to the snack's wrapping. The audio box includes an option to record a 10-second message. Kellogg's said that the message could be rerecorded more than 1,000 times.

Ocean Plastic Cleanup Machine Soon to Deploy
August 7, 2018 Trash Collector
A giant machine will soon sail out to confront the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. The Ocean Cleanup Project is the name of the initiative and the machine, a 2,000-foot-long combination of pipes and netting designed to remove trash from the ocean. A series of four-foot-diameter closed pipes floats on the ocean surface; below the pipes is a 9-foot-wide net. The idea is that the net captures the garbage but avoids trapping marine life by utilizing the flow of the water itself. An anchor keeps the machine moving slowly and allows the water flow to sort the garbage into the net. The Garbage Patch is growing quickly, a new study says. That study, done in March 2018, concluded that the large concentration of largely plastic trash in the Pacific Ocean was 600,000 square miles in size–twice the size of Texas and weighs 88,000 tons. By the time the garbage-capture machine arrives, the Patch is expected to be even larger. The machine is expected to leave San Francisco on Sept. 8, 2018, accompanied by engineers who will monitor activity from a nearby ship. Deployment will follow initial testing.

Space Needle Unveils Revolving Glass Floor 500 Feet Up
August 5, 2018 Space Needle revolving floor
The Space Needle now features a revolving glass floor. Seattle's most famous skyline site is undergoing a $100 million renovation. The latest addition to the iconic tourist attraction is "The Loupe," which is a see-through floor that goes around in a circle, allowing 360-degree views to those brave enough to sit or stand 500 feet above street level on the new observation deck. A total of 10 layers of glass make up the floor, and the revolving happens as the result of 12 motors. Also set to get a glass floor is the already rotating SkyCity restaurant.

Chile Bans Plastic Bags Nationwide
August 4, 2018
Chile has passed a national law banning the use of plastic carrier bags by businesses, becoming the first country in South America to do so. The ban does not take immediate effect. Large businesses have six months to comply; small shops have two years to comply. Once the ban is officially in effect, businesses found violating the ban will face a $370 fine. In a ceremony to announce the ban, Chilean President Sebastián Piñera handed out reusable cloth bags.

China Bans Winnie-the-Pooh Movie
August 4, 2018
A few months ago, online chats were the target. Now, it's an American feature film about Winnie-the-Pooh that is banned in China. The Chinese government announced that the film Christopher Robin, about A.A. Milne, author of the Winnie-the-Pooh books, would be banned from showing in China. The film stars Ewan McGregor as the son of the famed writer, who struggles to relax until his characters give him advice on how to do so. The government has not issued an official reason for the ban of the film. Already government policy is a quota on the number of foreign-made films in China at any one time, and the country is currently showing a large handful. Some observers have speculated that it is because Chinese President Xi Jinping doesn't appreciate comparisons of him with Pooh.

Chile Limits Tourist Stay on Easter Island
August 1, 2018 Easter Island moai
Chile has set a limit on the number of days that Easter Island visitors can stay. The Santiago government has reduced the length of a stay allowed to tourists and non-locals from 90 days to 30 days. A Tourism Ministry spokeswoman said that the government was seeking to protect the island, which is well-known for its famous large stone heads, known as moai, in the wake of increased tourist traffic in recent years. Several hundred of the large statues, some 30 feet tall, dot the island and have long been a magnet for curious anthropologists. Tourist numbers have grown dramatically this century, from about 20,000 in the early 2000s to more than 70,000 in 2017. As well, the population has increased, from 1,936 in 1982 to 5,761 as of the last census, taken in 2012.

22 Years Later, Another Roman-era Mosaic Found in Same Spot
July 30, 2018 Lod mosaic found 2018
Archaeologists in Israel have found something to add to a planned mosaic museum–another mosaic. This latest find is a 1,700-year-old tiled floor collection of fish, winged creatures, marine scenes, and complex geometric designs, found during a dig at Lod, in what is now central Israel but then was Diospolis, territory owned by the Roman Empire. As long ago as 1996, workers found a mosaic floor on the Mount Zion slopes near Jerusalem that turned out to have been part of a fabulous Roman villa.

Disney Parks to Ban Plastic Straws, Stirrers, Bags
July 26, 2018
Nearly all Walt Disney parks will prohibit the use of plastic straws or stirrers, as early as the middle of 2019. Walt Disney Company officials estimate that the plastic ban will eliminate the annual consumption of 175 million straws and 13 million stirrers. The company operates parks and resorts around the world; Disney Tokyo is not among the parks participating in the ban. Disney also announced a ban on single-use plastic bags, saying that its parks and resorts would sell branded reusable bags for customers to use.

6th-Century Saxon Warrior's Grave Found on Salisbury Plain
July 25, 2018 Barrow Clump Saxon warrior skeleton
The latest trove unearthed at a dig on England's Salisbury Plain was a 6th-Century Saxon warrior. Fittingly, it was soldiers who found the grave. The skeleton was largely intact. Also in the grave were what are assumed to be the man's possessions: a sword, a spear, a knife, and an upscale belt buckle. The spear was found at the man's side, the sword in his grip. Attached to the intact sword were traces of the scabbard. Doing the digging were veterans of the Afghan war, part of Operation Nightingale, a program designed to aid in their recovery from recent wars, Afghanistan among them. The Wessex Archaeology-backed program has employed several veterans who have retrained as archaeologists.

2020 Olympics Organizers Planning Early for Potential Heatwave

July 25, 2018
2020 Olympics logo
As Japan suffers through a heatwave that the government has declared a natural disaster, organizers of the 2020 Olympics are already seeking out ways to help athletes and spectators, should such hot weather recur in that year. The 2018 summer has been especially hot in Japan, with temperatures reaching 41 degrees Celsius most recently, the highest ever recorded in the country. The extremely hot weather has resulted in 80 deaths and more than 22,000 people suffering from heat stroke. The 2020 Olympics, based in Tokyo, will run July 24 to August 9. Temperatures in Tokyo in July routinely top 30 degrees Celsius. Olympics organizers are investigating the possible widespread use of a mist, which could be sprayed on the roads that will be used for the marathon, the walking events, and other outdoor competitions.

1,800-year-old Grave of Greek Woman Found Intact
July 23, 2018
Archaeologists in Greece have unearthed a treasure-filled mausoleum that even has the name of the woman interred. The 1,800-year-old grave, on the island of Sikinos, is in the Roman-era Episkopi monument and carries the name Neko. Along with pieces of the woman's clothes in the box-shaped grave were a host of golden items, including wristbands, rings, and a necklace, along with vases of glass and metal. The grave was found intact because it was well hidden.

Possible Gold-laden Russian Shipwreck Found off S. Korea
July 19, 2018
Searchers have discovered a very large and potentially very gold-laden shipwreck off the coast of South Korea. The ship was the Dmitri Donskoii, a 5,800 ton armored cruiser that sailed the waters in that part of the world in the last two decades of the 19th Century. The ship fell victim to Russia's own scuttling exercise during what would become one of several defeats that led to a Japanese victory in the 1905 Russo-Japanese War. The ship is thought to have sunk with a large amount of gold onboard. One estimate put the possible value of the hoard at $130 billion. Russian historians, however, have cast doubt on the ship's identity as a "treasure ship," saying that the government would have much more likely put such a large amount of gold on a train. Shinil Group, which found the wreck off Ulleungdo Island, said that it had identified the ship by comparing still visible elements to historical blueprints. The big clue, though, was finding the word "DONSKOII" carved into the stern.

Papyrus Experts Solve 2,000-year-old Mirror Writing Mystery
July 16, 2018
Scientists have decoded a 2,000-year-old papyrus by pulling it apart. The document dates to Ancient Greece and could have ties to the famous physician Galen. The papyrus is one of a number in the hands of experts at the University of Basel. The Swiss collection has included the mysterious papyrus since the 16th Century. The mystery came from what appeared to be mirror writing, found on both sides. The both-sides presentation was just one way in which the mysterious document was different. Most intact papyri are mundane documents, such as contracts and receipts, or letters from one person to another. The newly decoded papyrus contains a literary text, the Swiss researchers said, probably written by Galen. Using infrared and ultraviolet technology, the University of Basel team discovered that the papyrus was, in fact, several layers glued together. The team employed a restoration specialist to separate the sheets. Once the sheets were separate, experts were able to read what was written on them.

14,000-year-old Bread Crumbs Found in Jordan
July 15, 2018
As it turns out, ancient people left their toast crumbs behind just like modern people do. Archaeologists have found charred bread crumbs in a couple of 14,000-year-old fireplaces in Jordan's Black Desert. They're tiny crumbs, but they're bread crumbs all the same, dated using radiocarbon dating. Digging at a site in the northeast part of the country between 2012 and 2015, the team of archaeologists, including Tobias Richter of the University of Copenhagen, found charred remains of 642 lumps of plants and legumes. A total of 24 of those lumps were found to be bread-like, and 15 contain bits from cereal plants, like barley or oats or wheat. Also present were several types of plant material, such as the wetland club-rush. Further analysis convinced the archaeologists that the ancient people who made the bread used sieved flour and that the bread would have been baked on a hot stone or in the ashes of a fire.

Mummification Workshop Discovered in Egypt
July 14, 2018
The discovery of a mummy from ancient times has been a familiar sight in Egypt, but finding a mummification workshop is something else again. A team of Egyptian and German archaeologists have done just that, near the Saqqara necropolis. In a newly discovered 100-foot burial shaft were a silver mask, a handful of mummies, some wooden coffins, and a number of sarcophagi. The people who built the shaft also carved a pair of burial chambers into the bedrock that lined the hallways. More importantly to the further understanding of embalming, the archaeologists found an embalming cachette full of stone statues, jars, and vessels, all of which, they say, will further the understanding of the kinds of oils that the Egyptians used in their embalming process. Estimates are that the artifacts found are more than 2,500 years old.

Winnie-the-Pooh Map Sets Record at Auction

July 14, 2018

It was no bother at all for the buyer who paid a record $570,000 for an original Winnie-the-Pooh map.

The map, of the Hundred Acre Wood, was done in 1926 by artist E.H. Shepard as part of publication of the original installment of the famous A.A. Milne series. The map had not been seen in public for 50 years. Shepard had sold it in the year he drew it, and it had remained in a private collection.

The map was on the inside cover of the very first book to feature the famous bear, Winnie-the-Pooh, published in October 1926. Familiar characters in that first book included Piglet, Eeyore the donkey, Owl, Rabbit, and kangaroos Kanga and Roo. Another famous Pooh associate, Tigger, appeared in the sequel, The House at Pooh Corner, published in 1928.

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Drought Leads to Discovery of Ancient Irish Henge

July 14, 2018

Archaeologists in Ireland are having a field day after the discovery of a previously unknown ancient henge.

The country is in the grip of a lengthy drought–it's the longest sustained dry spell since 1976–and crops are struggling up and down the Emerald Isle. The effects of the sustained heat and lack of water are apparent in the Boyne Valley, which contains Newgrange, a well-known prehistoric stone monument. A local photographer flying a drone over the area saw, emerging as if by magic, an otherwise unknown pair of concentric circles. The wider area is already a UNESCO World Heritage Site, home to other henges and other monuments. This particular henge had long been covered by the land, with many generations of farmers planting crops directly on top.

The henge dates to Neolithic times, about 4,500 years ago, archaeologists said. The henge would have been a circle of massive wooden posts, all of which have rotted away but have left an organic "footprint," which the photographer, Anthony Murphy, discovered on his recent drone flight. He had flown over the area many dozens of times and had never seen the henge before.

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David White