Science baffled by frankenstein monster mummies

Yes, you just read that right, there are indeed mummies being discovered off the coast of Scotland that are made up of the body parts (or at least the bones) of multiple humans, making them the living embodiment of the classic Frankenstein monster. It’s not often that one finds a body buried with a jawbone that’s taken from a different body than the skull that its attached to, and the scientists that are working with the bodies that’ve been discovered this past month have certainly never come across cases as strange as these before.

It is along the West Coast of South Uist, an island in the Hebrides that has given up a couple of corpses with remains as old of 3,5000 years old. These mummified bodies suggest that the first residents of the island of South Uist were not without their strange activities in the body burial sector – strange by today’s standards, anyway.

It was researchers led by archaeologist Michael Parker-Pearson of the University of Sheffield that turned up this find, they digging near a more modern graveyard by the name of Cladh Hallan. The team was excavating a set of three roundhouses from a village which was occupied from approximately 2200 BC to 800 BC, each of the skeletons being recovered in a fetal position. These bodies appeared to have been preserved in peat bogs for what must have been a year or longer, then placed in the grave sites having been relatively well preserved by the high acidity and low oxygen of the area.

These skeletons were found, strangely enough, to be made up of several bodies, each of them giving up the correct bit to create one human skeleton. These single full bodies had such oddities, of course, as arthritis on the vertebrae of the neck but not on the rest of the spine, a skull with no teeth on the upper jaw while the bottom had none, and at least three different sets of bones having been used at different times in all. One body showed bones with parts showing several hundred years time between them.

Parker-Pearson spoke with LiveScience on the subject, speaking on the importance of the find:

“Altogether, these results have completely changed our ideas about treatment of the dead in prehistoric Britain. Other archaeologists are now identifying similar examples now that the breakthrough has been made — beforehand, it was just unthinkable.” – Parker-Pearson

Archaeologist Terry Brown of the University of Manchester has done DNA tests on analysis of one of the bodies dubbed female and has found that the lower jaw, thigh bone, and arm bone all came from different people, none of them maternally related.

Head down to our archeologically friendly timeline below for lots more bone-digging news bits from the past few weeks!


Science baffled by frankenstein monster mummies is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.


36.7 million FPS camera revolutionized cancer screening, next comes combat sports

367 Million FPS camera revolutionized cancer screening, hopefully combat sportsSTEAM serial timeencoded amplified microscopy

We’re quite familiar with the fun you can have when you’ve got a high speed camera in your possession. But, even Phantom’s pricey and impressive 2,800 FPS cameras have nothing on the latest project out of UCLA. Engineers at the school have rigged up a microscope cam that uses serial time-encoded amplified microscopy (STEAM) to capture clips of individual cells at 36.7 million FPS. Let that sink in for a moment — that’s a “shutter” speed of 27 picoseconds. The school actually pioneered the method years ago, which uses ultra-fast laser pulses to generate images of cells as they speed by. The camera is capable of processing 100,000 cells a second, allowing doctors to spot cancerous anomalies that might have otherwise gone undetected. Now we just hope they can supersize the tech and sell it to HBOboxing KOs can never be played back slow enough.

Continue reading 36.7 million FPS camera revolutionized cancer screening, next comes combat sports

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36.7 million FPS camera revolutionized cancer screening, next comes combat sports originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 11 Jul 2012 06:27:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink PopSci, Gizmodo  |  sourcePNAS  | Email this | Comments

Graphene heals itself, powers our dreams and nightmares

Graphene heals itself

Slowly, but surely graphene is pushing our technological hopes, dreams and, yes, nightmares towards reality. The stuff is capable of extending battery life, generating electricity, powering high-speed data connections and super computer-worthy CPUs. It’s water proof, stretchy, bendy and apparently self healing. (This space reserved for T-1000 reference.) Researchers at the University of Manchester discovered that, if you put a hole in a sheet of graphene, it simply stitches itself back together. This is thanks to carbon’s tendency to latch on to other atoms, including its own, which can make the futuristic material difficult to work with, but gives it this highly unique quality. Thankfully, we’re no where near self-healing robots. But, the discovery could lead to a simple method for molding it into almost any shape. Once pierced, the form of the mend is determined by the type of molecules introduced — pure carbon simply regrows the perfect honeycomb structure, while a few foreign atoms can lead to “defects.” Of course, if they’re intentional and predictable, defects merely become “features.” For more check out the source link.

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Graphene heals itself, powers our dreams and nightmares originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 10 Jul 2012 22:22:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourceMIT Technology Review  | Email this | Comments

DARPA Innovation House project wants teams to take imaging data, see the big picture

DARPA Innovation House project wants teams to concoct new ways to visualise an environment

Where are the bad guys? The military has eyes and ears everywhere these days, including drones large and tiny, satellites, radar imaging, LIDAR, infrared, thermal and even the enemy’s own cellphones. The problem is how to take all that imaging and create a single picture of the environment. To that end, DARPA and George Mason University in Arlington have created the first Innovation House Project, which will put eight teams together for eight weeks in a “crucible-style” living environment to try to invent new ways of crunching the diverse sensor info. The military’s research arm wants those units to think way off-piste “without fear of failure” to dream up solutions, and will have access to specialists and mentors from the military and academia. Unlike DARPA’s usual challenges which have a grand prize, all teams accepted to the project will receive $30,000 in funding, but groups who go on to survive a four week cut will get an additional $20K. Proposals will be accepted up to July 31 (with no academic credentials needed), and the competition will begin in earnest on September 17. DARPA will get a license of any software created, allowing teams to hold the rights — and hopes to continue the concept down the road, with new themes for team-based research on a tight deadline. So, if you’re a data, imaging or “geospatial” whiz — and don’t mind being locked in a house and put under the brainstorming gun by DARPA — check the PR for all the details.

Continue reading DARPA Innovation House project wants teams to take imaging data, see the big picture

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DARPA Innovation House project wants teams to take imaging data, see the big picture originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 10 Jul 2012 13:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourceDARPA, George Mason University  | Email this | Comments

Researchers from Finland record the sounds of Northern Lights

A group researchers from Finland reports that they were able to record the sounds made by the Northern lights for the first time. The researchers were from Finnish Aalto University and used three different microphones placed in different locations above the ground. The team discovered proof using the microphones that the Northern Lights actually make sounds for the first time.

The team discovered that sounds produced by the aurora borealis are audible to humans and are produced a height of about 70 m above the ground. What exactly causes the sounds to be created is unclear at this point. The researchers believe that there could be different mechanisms working together to create the sound.

Apparently, there have been folk tales claiming that people have heard sounds created by the aurora borealis before, but no proof had ever been discovered. You can check out the video below to hear the sounds. It sounds like a couple sticks whacking together to me. I expected more of my high-voltage electrical power line sound.

[via Universe Today]


Researchers from Finland record the sounds of Northern Lights is written by Shane McGlaun & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.


Researchers find space travel prolongs the life of worms

Worm research suggests space travel could prolong life

We’ve seen research that suggests prolonged space travel could have some adverse effects on the human body, but it looks like there could be some real benefits as well. As BBC News reports, a new study conducted on Caenorhabditis elegans worms sent to the International Space Station has revealed evidence that the trip to space actually slowed their aging process. Specifically, researchers from the University of Nottingham and others institutions part of the ICE-First project found that the time in space reduced activity in a group of genes that have been shown to prolong the worms’ lifespan when suppressed on earth. Of course, these are worms we’re talking about, but this particular species is often used for such research due to its biological similarities to humans, so the discovery could well lead to more insight into how we age in space as well. Those curious can find the full paper linked below.

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Researchers find space travel prolongs the life of worms originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 10 Jul 2012 01:48:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink SlashGear  |  sourceNature, BBC News  | Email this | Comments

Behold the Super-Efficient Microchip That Can Harvest Power from Heat, Light, and Vibration at the Same Time [Guts]

You’ve heard of electronics harvesting electricity from heat, light, and vibration sources individually, but this new chip from MIT is the first that can do all three at the same time. Listen carefully and you’ll hear the Energizer bunny quaking in its boots. More »

MIT researchers develop chip that can harvest energy from multiple sources

MIT researchers develop chip that can harvest energy from multiple sources

We’ve seen a number of different devices that can harvest energy from various sources, but none quite like this new chip developed by a team of MIT researchers. It’s able to harvest energy from three different sources simultaneously: light, heat and vibrations. The key to that is a sophisticated control system that’s able to rapidly switch between the three sources at all times to prevent any of that energy from going to waste (and not draw too much power itself), with energy from the secondary sources stored in capacitors to be picked up later — as opposed to existing systems that simply switch between sources based on what’s most plentiful. As doctoral student Saurav Bandyopadhyay explains, efficiently managing those disparate sources could be a “big advantage since many of these sources are intermittent and unpredictable,” and it could in turn lead to the chip being used in a range of different applications where batteries or existing energy harvesting methods just aren’t enough: everything from environmental sensors in remote locations to biomedical devices.

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MIT researchers develop chip that can harvest energy from multiple sources originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 09 Jul 2012 15:06:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink PhysOrg  |  sourceMIT  | Email this | Comments

Scientists create molecule to keep teeth cavityproof

Image via Gizmodo

Scientists have just discovered a new molecule that will change dental care forever. The molecule will make your teeth cavity proof and has been named Keep 32 after your set of all 32 teeth. The molecule can kill the bacteria(Streptococcus Mutans) which produces cavities in a mere 60 seconds.

The makers of the molecule, Jose Cordoba from Yale University and Erich Astudillo from la Universidad de Santiago,Chile, have also noted that it can be added to almost any dental product and even candy or chewing gum as well. As long as the product with the molecule stays in your mouth for 60 seconds, it will eliminate the cavity bacteria and prevent it from returning for a number of hours. (more…)

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Researchers develop system to block phone use while driving, New spray-on batteries could revolutionize energy storage,

China planning a nuclear-powered mobile deep-sea mining platform

This is going to sound like the set up for a deep-sea disaster movie, but it’s not. Wired reports that a Chinese company has proposed an underwater deep-sea mobile mining station powered by a nuclear reactor. The goal is to put the nuclear powered underwater platform at work in the Western Pacific according to reports coming out of China.

The company proposing the underwater platform is called China Ship Scientific Research Center. The underwater platform would apparently have gigantic propellers so that it could move around freely in the ocean depths and would have a crew of 33. That crew will be able to remain under the water for two months at a time. The main goal for the underwater platform would be mining on the ocean floor.

The platform hopes to look for copper, lead, zinc, silver, gold, and oil. Underwater mining endeavors have run afoul of environmentalists in the past, and I can only imagine environmentalists will have an even bigger problem with a nuclear powered submarine platform floating around in the ocean. The ship is expected to launch sometime around 2030. Before then a smaller craft with a 12-person crew that can stay underwater for 18 days at a time is expected to launch in 2015. It’s not clear if the smaller version of the ship would be powered by nuclear reactor, presumably it would. Another problem with the program for the West is that reports claim the project is being funded by the state 863 Program, which has ties to the military.

[via Wired]


China planning a nuclear-powered mobile deep-sea mining platform is written by Shane McGlaun & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.