Inhaling bowls – shallow vessels with two adjacent spouts – are artifacts found on many Caribbean islands. Early Amerindians probably used them to snort hallucinogens, liquid or powdered, through the nose. Now ponder this. Three inhaling bowls unearthed on the island of Carriacou, near Grenada in the Antilles, were made around 400 B.C., according to an analysis of radioactive isotopes conducted by Scott M. Fitzpatrick of North Carolina State University in Raleigh and several colleagues. Yet Carriacou was first settled 800 years later, around A.D. 400. Moreover, one of the bowls was found among archaeological deposits dating from about A.D. 1000. And the mineral content of the bowls indicates that they probably weren’t manufactured on Carriacou. So the bowls must have come from another island – one possibility is Puerto Rico, 465 miles away, where other bowls of similar antiquity have been discovered. And they must have been kept around for at least eight, if not 14 centuries. What could account for such endurance? The bowls were not buried in the manner of ritual offerings. Fitzpatrick thinks they were probably passed on from generation to generation as useful or treasured heirlooms. The findings were detailed in […]
Modern humans left Africa over 60,000 years ago in a migration that many believe was responsible for nearly all of the human population that exist outside Africa today. Now, researchers have revealed that men and women weren’t equal partners in that exodus. By tracing variations in the X chromosome and in the non-sex chromosomes, the researchers found evidence that men probably outnumbered women in that migration. The scientists expect that their method of comparing X chromosomes with the other non-gender specific chromosomes will be a powerful tool for future historical and anthropological studies, since it can illuminate differences in female and male populations that were inaccessible to previous methods. While the researchers cannot say for sure why more men than women participated in the dispersion from Africa-or how natural selection might also contribute to these genetic patterns-the study’s lead author, Alon Keinan, notes that these findings are ‘in line with what anthropologists have taught us about hunter-gatherer populations, in which short distance migration is primarily by women and long distance migration primarily by men.
WASHINGTON — Scientists in the United Kingdom are reporting new evidence that humans can make their own salicylic acid (SA) - the material formed when aspirin breaks down in the body. SA, which is responsible for aspirin’s renowned effects in relieving pain and inflammation, may be the first in a new class of bioregulators, according to a study scheduled for the Dec. 24 issue of ACS’ biweekly Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry. In the report, Gwendoline Baxter, Ph.D. and colleagues discuss how their past research revealed that SA exists in the blood of people who have not recently taken aspirin. Vegetarians had much higher levels, almost matching those in patients taking low doses of aspirin. Based on those findings, the researchers previously concluded that this endogenous SA came from the diet, since SA is a natural substance found in fruits and vegetables. Now the group reports on studies of changes in SA levels in volunteers who took benzoic acid, a substance also found naturally in fruits and vegetables that the body could potentially use to make SA. Their goal was to determine whether the SA found in humans (and other animals) results solely from consumption of fruits […]
Toyota said today that a battery electric car concept that will debut at the 2009 North American International Auto show will be smaller than its Toyota Prius hybrid vehicle. ‘This is a pure electric vehicle, said Toyota spokeswoman Jana Hartline. ‘It’s a concept we are bringing to the show basically to confirm our interest in electric vehicles. But while Toyota is planning two press conferences at the auto show, Hartline said it does not plan on holding a press conference to discuss the battery electric vehicle. Instead, it will simply be on display on the show floor. Toyota plans to hold two press conferences during the Detroit auto show: One for Lexus on Jan. 11 and another for Toyota on Jan. 12 where it will unveil its redesigned Toyota Prius. The automaker has said that the all-new Prius will feature a substantially revised hybrid powertrain system that will deliver improved mileage, improved performance and a host of innovative new features. Toyota also confirmed that Toyota Motor Corp. President Katsuaki Watanabe no longer plans to attend the auto show in Detroit. Watanabe has attended the auto show in Detroit for the past several years. Watanabe […]
NEW YORK — Money market funds, an increasingly popular place to park cash, will need to raise fees or close to new money to remain profitable as yields hover at near-zero, according to industry managers. The funds, which manage $3,800bn and have seen big cash inflows, are reeling from frozen credit markets, subprime exposure and a crisis of confidence triggered by one fund ‘breaking the buck,’ or returning investors less than they paid in. The US Federal Reserve last week cut its target interest rate to between zero and 0.25 per cent, from one per cent. Jim McDonald, who runs taxable money market funds for T Rowe Price, said: ‘You can’t make money in this situation. If short-term interest rates stay where they are, it’s virtually impossible to run a government [bond] fund and make any money. You can close the fund, that’s one option.’ Vanguard last week closed two of its money market funds to institutional investors, while Credit Suisse said it would quit managing money market funds in the US and liquidate $8bn in assets across its three funds. David Glocke, a portfolio manager at Vanguard, said: ‘It just doesn’t make any sense […]
Remote Viewing the Year 2060
