An international team of astronomers using a combination of ground and space based telescopes have reported more than 100 extrasolar planets (here after, exoplanets) in only three months. These planets are quite diverse and expected to play a large role in developing the research field of exoplanets and life in the Universe.
This is an artist's impression of the planets orbiting K2-187 [Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/
R. Hurt, T. Pyle...
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By developing a new method for measuring isotopic ratios of water and carbon dioxide remotely, scientists have found that the water in Saturn's rings and satellites is unexpectedly like water on the Earth, except on Saturn's moon Phoebe, where the water is more unusual than on any other object so far studied in the Solar System.
Above image lower left: Cassini VIMS infrared view of Saturn. Blue is infrared light where water ice...
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The research, led by the University of Plymouth, examined the uptake of nanoparticles by a commercially important mollusc, the great scallop (Pecten maximus). After six hours exposure in the laboratory, billions of particles measuring 250nm (around 0.00025mm) had accumulated within the scallop's intestines. However, considerably more even smaller particles measuring 20nm (0.00002mm) had become dispersed throughout the body including...
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Jellyfish undergo an amazing metamorphosis, from tiny polyps growing on the seafloor to swimming medusae with stinging tentacles. This shape-shifting has served them well, shepherding jellyfish through more than 500 million years of mass extinctions on Earth.
Jellyfish are an ancient and successful group of animals. An in-depth look at the genome of the moon jelly, Aurita
aurelia, shows that early jellyfish likely repurposed an...
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University of Nebraska-Lincoln researchers have found revolutionary evidence that an evolutionary phenomenon at work in complex organisms is at play in their single-celled counterparts, too.
The Grand Prismatic Spring of Yellowstone National Park houses heat- and acid-loving archaea
[Credit: Shutterstock]Species most often evolve through DNA mutations inherited by successive generations. A few decades ago, researchers began...
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Our prehistoric Earth, bombarded with asteroids and lightening, rife with bubbling geothermal pools, may not seem hospitable today. But somewhere in the chemical chaos of our early planet, life did form. How? For decades, scientists have attempted to create miniature replicas of infant Earth in the lab. There, they hunt for the primordial ingredients that created the essential building blocks for life.
Somewhere in the hostile...
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Argentine and Spanish researchers have used statistical techniques of automatic learning to analyze mobility patterns and technology of the hunter-gatherer groups that inhabited the Southern Cone of America, from the time they arrived about 12,000 years ago until the end of the 19th century. Big data from archaeological sites located in the extreme south of Patagonia have been used for this study.
Atlantic Coast of Isla Grande de...
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Shell middens are archaeological features consisting mainly of the remains of marine animals thrown away near settlements over hundreds or thousands of years. They are the debris of human activity. In Brazil, they are known by the Tupi word sambaqui.
Dental caries on the teeth of buried skeletons (oral pathology of individual MO59 (female, YA). (a) Left maxilla: A, dental
wear; B, ante-mortem tooth loss; C, occlusal-dentin caries and...
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The Charter for the Protection of the Byzantine Heritage Monuments was uninanimously ratified after a three-day debate held in Thessaloniki over the weekend. The officials agreed on a framework of commonly accepted principles for the protection of the Byzantine heritage monuments for all states which own and manage monuments of the former Byzantine Empire, which spanned 11 centuries and three continents and whose monuments are now...
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Rare gold coins and a golden earring have been discovered in the ancient Mediterranean port of Caesarea in northern Israel—possibly left and never recovered as Crusaders conquered the area 900 years ago.
The cache [Credit: Clara Amit, Israel Antiquities Authority]The Israel Antiquities Authority announced the find on Monday of a small bronze pot holding 24 gold coins and the earring.
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Angelos Chaniotis, Andrew Wilson et Renate Schlesier (dir.), La Nuit: imaginaire et réalités nocturnes dans le monde gréco-romain, Vandœuvres, 2018.
Éditeur : Fondation Hardt Collection : Entretiens sur l'Antiquité classique ix, 410 pages ISBN : 978-2-600-00764-1 55 francs suisses
Neuf chercheurs abordent le thème général « La nuit » sous l'angle de l'histoire, de l'histoire des religions, de la littérature, de l'histoire de l'art et de l'archéologie, du 7e siècle av. J.-C. au 5e siècle de notre ère. Ils s'appuient sur une large gamme de sources : textes littéraires, inscriptions, papyrus, archéologie, iconographie pour dresser une image des principales activités, expériences et perceptions de la nuit dans l'Antiquité gréco-romaine.
O come O come and write more advent hymns Their number and their quality are dim While focusing on Christmas is fine That needn’t mean that Advent decline Rejoice, rejoice, an advent song Shall come to thee, o church, before long The church’s calendar can seem obscure Episcopals alone seem to be sure The Methodists […]
Urban archaeology with the Origins of Doha Project
Over the weekend, hundreds of thousands of people protested in France, demanding that French President Emmanuel Macron resign over increased fuel taxes. These protests have become increasingly violent and draw from anarchist and extremist far right factions, all aligned in working class struggle. The banner that these disparate groups have used to signal their solidarity is the gilets jaunes, the “yellow vest,” a ubiquitous piece of clothing worn by those in construction and industrial labor. Also known as high-vis or hi-viz these vests are part of what is called “PPE,” personal protective equipment and is mandated in jobs that deal with heavy machinery and protect the user against hazardous working conditions. In France, it is mandated that drivers carry one in their vehicle.
Wikipedia states that Scottish railway workers in the 1960s were the first to wear “fluorescent orange jackets, known as ‘fire-flies’” to keep them safe. Since then, motorcyclists, cyclists, cops, hunters, even chickens wear the reflective vests to direct attention to their presence. Which is ironic, as I’ve often noticed an increased invisibility as a result of wearing hi-viz. (Though this invisibility can help, as previously mentioned, with a bit of productive urban exploration.)
That the protestors are wearing hi-viz is no accident. This uniform codes the wearer as working class, and hides and homogenizes identity. As Elaine Glaser notes, politicians often don hard hats and hi-viz while simultaneously eroding workers rights, but the contrast between the expensive wool jackets of Macron and his colleagues is stark when compared to the black and yellow worn by the protestors. As an archaeologist, I wear hi-viz while working on construction sites that have active, heavy machinery present. Yet this measure of safety while on construction sites can also contribute to a surprising invisibility while wearing hi-viz on the street. I have never felt so reviled as when walking through the City of London, amongst businessmen in suits, as when I was in hi-viz, carrying a hard hat and walking in steel-toed boots covered in Victorian excrement. Okay, being a punk in Texas might have occasionally come close.
The protests in France continue. The #giletsjaunes have published their list of demands and have been joined by students and ambulance drivers, amongst others. The list is a mixed bag with a bit of racism thrown in for good measure. The protests stay in France, but perhaps people in hi-viz will be a bit more visible in the future.
Update: I’ve been told that they’ve moved beyond France, so look for a hi-viz jacket in a locality near you.
Urban archaeology with the Origins of Doha Project
