Poisoning swallowing pigeons in the park

What does it tell you (if anything at all) that for a couple of days running the BBC's "most emailed" story was this: "Pelican swallows pigeon in park"?

Blogging for bucks: student scholarships available

I'm afraid I can't apply, but for those of you who can, take a look: full-time students, undergraduate or graduate, at US institutions are eligible, and the stipend is $5000 per year.

Be forewarned, however: the scholarship is new, and is being offered by a financial aid info portal. I have no knowledge of how long it has been around (their site has a beginning copyright date of 1999), or how solid its finances are. Application is free, though.

A hoard of stolen art revealed, postmortem

For every rule, an exception.
We've often commented skeptically when detectives and journalists speculate about secretive collectors having artworks stolen to order for their private galleries -- and normally, those thefts turn out to be something far less organized, and far more mundane.

And then there are cases such as Melvyn Kohn -- aka William M. V. Kingsland. There was a NY Times article on him the other day, but online it's pay-per-view (but interestingly enough, I've just discovered that the corrected version is available gratis here). The man died suddenly this spring, mourned and lionized (obituary here) but also, it turns out, little known and intestate. His property, including much in the way of art and antiques, eventually went to auction, leading to the discovery that some, then more, then yet more, pieces were stolen. Some items scheduled to be sold have been withdrawn, while one whole auction is in the process of being reversed.

In addition to the NY Times article, there's been coverage in the Harvard Crimson (two of the paintings were stolen from Harvard) and the Boston Globe. Interesting that the Copley went so cheap at auction, but one just doesn't expect to find a genuine Copley turn up out of nowhere nowadays. The New York Sun also has an article that clarifies how the material was dispersed, with the City of New York selling the Kingsland material outright to Christie's and Stair Galleries, who then resold it on their own accounts.

As one might expect, some of those who knew Kingsland have been quoted as saying one can't be sure he knew what he had was stolen. Everything considered, however, that has it exactly backwards. What I would like to know: was anything of significance in the collection not stolen; did the man steal the stuff himself, and if not, what kind of relationship might he have established with those who would steal for him?

Historic cannons stolen

Five bronze cannons have been stolen from the grounds of a museum in Kent.

Three 4ft (1.2m) French field guns cast in 1732, and two small yacht cannons, were taken from the Powell-Cotton museum near Canterbury on Monday.

Malcolm Harman, curator, said the cannons - which were chained to the ground - were "irreplaceable" and fears they were stolen for scrap metal.

Recall the recent theft of major bronze sculptures in the UK, including a Henry Moore.

"They are highly ornate with dolphin handles and crests," Mr Harman said. . .

The three large guns were taken from the French during the battle of Quebec in the 1700s.

From the BBC.

Iraq looting: off the front page, but worse than ever

THE cultural treasures of Iraq — the birthplace of writing, codified law, mathematics, medicine and astronomy — are being obliterated as looters take advantage of the country’s bloody chaos.

Fourteen of the world’s leading archaeologists have written to the President and Prime Minister of the country, demanding immediate action to stem the vandalism after seeing photographs of sites left pockmarked by enormous craters.

Among examples in the letter, seen yesterday by The Times, was a Babylonian sculpture of a lion dating from about 1700BC that lost its head because the terracotta shattered as looters tried to remove it.

Another was the destruction of the Ana Minaret on the Euphrates about 190 miles (310km) west of Baghdad, revered for 1,000 years as a unique construction. It was blown up by Islamic extremists apparently for fear that it would be used as an American observation post.

Full article here.

Dendrochronology: chests are next

A number of ancient wooden church chests are to be analysed for the first time by a tree-ring dating team.

The Oxford Dendrochronology Laboratory team aim to date the medieval chests at Mendlesham, Chevington and Earl Stonham churches in Suffolk. . .

The team previously discovered that a Saxon door at Westminster Abbey is the oldest door in Britain.

From the BBC. Dendrochronology has also been used to date panel paintings, musical instruments, and American colonial-era houses.

From hidden secret to headline attraction

A LUXURIOUS brothel that once entertained wealthy clients in Pompeii has been opened as a visitor attraction after painstaking restoration.

The two-storey structure, which features erotic frescoes that leave little to the imagination, is expected to become one of the ancient city’s top draws. . .

Erotic objects found during the 18th and 19th-century excavations were considered so salacious they were kept in a “secret cabinet” at the National Archeological Museum in Naples, to which only those deemed to be of “mature age and respected morals” were admitted.

From the Times of London.

Dentists to the pharaohs

The arrest of tomb robbers led archaeologists to the graves of three royal dentists, protected by a curse and hidden in the desert sands for thousands of years in the shadow of Egypt's most ancient pyramid, officials announced Sunday.

The thieves launched their own dig one summer night two months ago but were apprehended, Zahi Hawass, chief of Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities, told reporters.

That led archaeologists to the three tombs, one of which included an inscription warning that anyone who violated the sanctity of the grave would be eaten by a crocodile and a snake, Hawass said.

From Discovery News. Spotted several days ago, but I've been so busy that it took several readers' emailed links (thanks to all of you) to get me to post it.

Ancient footprints found in Mexico

A trail of 13 fossilized footprints running through a valley in a desert in northern Mexico could be among the oldest in the Americas, Mexican archeologists said.

The footprints were made by hunter gatherers who are believed to have lived thousands of years ago in the Coahuila valley of Cuatro Cienegas, 190 miles (306 km) south of Eagle Pass, Texas, said archaeologist Yuri de la Rosa Gutierrez of Mexico's National Institute of Anthropology and History.

"We believe (the footprints) are between 10,000 and 15,000 years old," De la Rosa said in a news release Wednesday. "We have evidence of the presence of hunter gatherers in the Coahuila desert more than 10,000 years ago."

From Discovery News. Past posts on other ancient footprint finds here, here, and here.

Those deafening New York City subways

This article, referenced by FuturePundit, is hardly news -- though it may provide more detail than previous surveys of the sort:

In a new survey of noise levels of the New York City transit system, researchers at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health found that exposure to noise levels in subways have the potential to exceed recommended guidelines of the World Health Organization (WHO) and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

According to the research, as little as 30 minutes of exposure to decibel levels measured in the New York City transit system per day has the potential to result in hearing loss. . .

"At the highest level obtained on the platform (106 decibels), the allowable limit under WHO and EPA is only 30 seconds. More than 1 in 10 of the platform measurements exceeded 100 decibels -- which translates into an allowable limit of only 1.5 minutes". . .

Further, Dr. Gershon notes that "maximum levels inside of subway cars were even greater". . .

As noted in the FuturePundit post's commments, there isn't much to be done, in that noise-deadening insulation would add weight to the cars and increase energy consumption, while sound-absorbing materials in the stations would require much more maintenance than the present concrete and tile surfaces. Some of the loudest stations are so because they are built where the track curves sharply -- again, not something that is remediable at this late date.

Although there is something amiss when an essential public facility cannot be utilized safely without hearing protection -- would a private employer be allowed to get away with this? -- at least earplugs are cheap. Foam disposables can be bought in quantity for pennies apiece, and will do a much better job than clamping your hands to your head as the 6 screeches its way into Union Square.

My personal NYC noise anecdote goes back to when I was a new grad student riding bus and train daily to school. For a few days I tried listening to a Walkman during the trip, only to give it up for good after stepping off the bus and realizing how far up the volume had had to be just to be audible during the ride. Nowadays one can make use of noise-cancelling headphones, which are another story entirely and indeed the only kind of headphones I'd consider using under such circumstances.

WW2 bombs still deadly

More than six decades after the end of World War II, Germans still routinely come across unexploded bombs beneath farmers’ fields or city streets. Lately, there has been a skein of such dangerous discoveries, one with deadly consequences.

On Monday morning, a highway worker was killed when his cutting machine struck a World War II bomb beneath a busy autobahn southeast of Frankfurt. The explosion ripped apart the vehicle and damaged several passing cars, wounding four other workers and a motorist.

Also on Monday, a weapons-removal squad defused a 500-pound bomb found next to a highway near Hanover, in the north. The police said it was a British aerial bomb, one of tens of thousands dropped on German roads, factories and cities during Allied bombing raids.

On Saturday, 1,000 people were evacuated from a town east of Berlin after a bomb was discovered. And last week, 22,000 people were evacuated from a district in Hanover after three bombs were discovered near a house. It was the second largest evacuation for a disposal operation since the end of the war. . .

The last fatalities from a World War II bomb here were in 1994, when three construction workers were killed and 17 injured after a bomb exploded at a building site in Berlin.

From the NY Times.

Vegemite ban hoax?

First spotted over at Marginal Revolution: US bans importation of Vegemite because it contains added folate.

Rather strange. You can buy folate supplements over the counter everywhere, after all. Nor does anyone seem to have found any FDA statement about Vegemite, and the original story is sourced at urban legend level -- though some reports now quote a Kraft spokeswoman apparently confirming an FDA import ban. Yet websites catering to Aussie expats still list Vegemite for sale, with no mention of their doors being broken down by FDA stormtroopers.

Until we get the straight scoop on all this, one of the more amusing takes on the story as it currently stands is here. Excerpt:

And in bad news for British expats who enjoy smearing unpleasant poo-coloured yeast extract over their morning toast, Marmite also contains the offending folic acid – although it's not known if the levels of folate would be sufficient to fall foul of the War on Yeast.

Some sceptics, however, cast a measure of doubt on the Herald Sun story, noting that it seemed impossible to track down any FDA regulation specifically banning Vegemite, and suggesting that you'd think somebody would have noticed before now if an extremely popular ghastly food had been banned.

Either way, Australians planning on bringing jars of the terrible brown nonsense into the US would also do well to remember that they probably can't bring it on in hand luggage any way, as it will also be confiscated as part of the War on Liquids.

UPDATE: The story can now be found at Snopes.com under "Vegemite Ban". The canard is also discussed in the Wikipedia entry for Vegemite.

Redating the domesticated horse

Soil from a Copper Age site in northern Kazakhstan has yielded new evidence for domesticated horses up to 5,600 years ago. The discovery, consisting of phosphorus-enriched soils inside what appear to be the remains of horse corrals beside pit houses, matches what would be expected from Earth once enriched by horse manure. The Krasnyi Yar site was inhabited by people of the Botai culture of the Eurasian Steppe, who relied heavily on horses for food, tools, and transport.

"There's very little direct evidence of horse domestication," says Sandra Olsen, an archaeologist and horse domestication researcher at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History in Pittsburgh, PA. That's because 5,600 years ago there were no saddles or metal bits to leave behind. Equipment like bridles, leads, and hobbles would have been made from thongs of horse hide, and would have rotted away long ago. Likewise horses themselves have not changed much physically as a result of domestication, unlike dogs or cattle. So ancient horse bones don't easily reveal the secrets of domestication. . .

Early as the Botai were, they were probably not the first to domesticate horses, says Olsen. "The very first horse domestication was probably a bit earlier in Ukraine or western Russia," she said. "Then some horse-herders migrated east to Kazakhstan."

Full press release here.

Headstones in the basement

Just in time for Halloween:

At least half a dozen Suffield, Conn., families have discovered old tombstones in their homes and gardens, The Hartford (Conn.) Courant reported.

State archeologist Nick Bellantoni told the Courant in the people in rural farming towns often buried their dead in the backyard rather than the town cemetery.

Carol and Thomas Kaput of Suffield found two tombstones lying side-by-side on the basement floor of their 18th-century home. Another headstone was shoved into the home's wood-burning stove.

Full article here.

Deaccessioning at the Academy of Natural Sciences

As Philadelphia welcomes 6,000 geologists for their annual convention today, here's an ironic coincidence: The city's natural-history museum is abandoning the rocks-and-minerals business.

Trustees of the cash-strapped Academy of Natural Sciences voted Tuesday to sell more than 15,000 minerals and gems that hadn't been cleaned or displayed for decades. Workers then began boxing up specimens for an unnamed private dealer, acting academy president Ian Davison said.

From the Philadelphia Inquirer. It's not clear if the Academy is entirely abandoning minerology, though from what the article says the abandonment may have taken place decades ago and is only now being formally ratified. An unsuccessful attempt was apparently made to keep the collection intact at another public institution. We'll see how much opposition this sale stirs up; as is, however, it is already grossly disproportionate compared to the silence about what is happening in Germany (especially at the NY Times, which is so strident in denying any benefit of the doubt when it comes to deaccessioning at American institutions).