Madame Butterfly

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  6. Posted

    Ancient Thermal City to Be Flooded in Turkey

    23/06/2005

     

    Archeologists, environmentalists and international NGOs are joining together to try to find a way to save an 1,800-year-old archeological site, due to be flooded this November by the waters from a new dam.

    By Allan Cove for Southeast European Times – 23/06/05

     

     

     

     

    The world's oldest known ancient thermal city, Allianoi, stands to be flooded when the Yortanli Dam begins operation this November. Located in the very centre of the planned dam lake, it will be submerged under some 17 metres of water. If no solution is found, Turkey may lose a significant historical site.

     

    To help save the 1,800-year-old city, environmentalists and other volunteers have formed the Allianoi Initiative Group, with the slogan "Don't Let Allianoi Be Flooded".

     

    "A 2,000-year history is being sacrificed for a 50 to 60-year-old project. We don't say that the dam should not be constructed, but the project should be modified in a way that will prevent Allianoi from being ruined," says the group's spokesman, Arif Ali Cangi.

     

    It has received support from the EU, which recently decided to financially support preservation efforts at Allianoi under its "Culture 2000" programme. The Pan-European Federation for Heritage -- a non-profit umbrella organisation consisting of more than 200 NGOs -- joined with the European Council and UNESCO in writing a letter to Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul, seeking help in rescuing Allianoi and its Roman baths.

     

    Since the Turkish government, however, has stated its firm intention to open the dam on schedule, archaeologists have launched a massive effort to salvage artefacts discovered at the site before it is submerged. Since 1994, numerous parts of sculptures, ceramic pieces, metallic findings and glass artifacts have been recovered, spanning the Roman to Byzantine periods. The State Water Affairs (DSI) agency has put forth a plan for the site, proposing that it the ancient buildings be coated with clay so that they won't be damaged under water. Archeologists say this would simply inflict further damage. Another approach under consideration is to move the thermal spring buildings to another location.

     

    Villagers in the area, many of whom earn their living from agriculture, have mixed feelings. The dam will provide water needed for irrigation. But the flooding of Allianoi will also destroy a part of Turkey's cultural heritage, and the potential to attract tourists.

     

    Throughout history, Allianoi was known as the "native land of the health god Asklepion". Established in the Hellenistic Age, it achieved prominence in the 2nd century under the rule of the Roman Emperor Hadrianus. For over 15 centuries, it enjoyed the reputation of an excellent healing centre, with spring waters in the therapeutic 45 to 55 centigrade range.

     

    Recent excavations have revealed two ornate gates, streets with amazingly clean marble stones, shops, houses with perfectly protected mosaics, large squares, public fountains and insulas -- places to rest after a bath. The latest findings were some of the most perfectly protected ever seen in an archaeological site, because they were covered by alluvial soil.

  7. Posted

    Archaeologists figure out mystery of Stonehenge bluestones Jun 24 2005

     

     

     

     

    Staff Reporter, Western Mail

     

     

    ARCHAEOLOGISTS have solved one of the greatest mysteries of Stonehenge - the exact spot from where its huge stones were quarried.

     

    A team has pinpointed the precise place in Wales from where the bluestones were removed in about 2500 BC.

     

    It found the small crag-edged enclosure at one of the highest points of the 1,008ft high Carn Menyn mountain in Pembrokeshire's Preseli Hills.

     

    The enclosure is just over one acre in size but, according to team leader Professor Tim Darvill, it provides a veritable "Aladdin's Cave" of made-to-measure pillars for aspiring circle builders. Within and outside the enclosure are numerous prone pillar stones with clear signs of working. Some are fairly recent and a handful of drill holes attest to the technology used. Other blocks may have been wrenched from the ground or the crags in ancient times.

     

    They were then moved 240 miles to the famous site at Salisbury Plain, Wiltshire.

     

    The discovery comes a year after scientists proved that the remains of a "band of brothers" found near Stonehenge were Welshmen who transported the stones. The skeletons were found by workmen laying a pipe on Boscombe Down and chemical analysis of their teeth revealed they were brought up in South West Wales.

     

    Experts believed the family accompanied the stones on their epic journey from the Preseli Hills to Salisbury Plain.

     

    Now Prof Darvill, colleague Geoff Wainwright, a retired English Heritage archaeologist, and six researchers and students from Bournemouth University have confirmed where exactly they uncovered the stones.

     

    The team have spent the past three years on the project.

     

    They scoured a 3km-square area in the highest points of Carn Menyn where they made the amazing discovery.

     

    Prof Darvill said, "When we came across the enclosure we couldn't believe it. You dream about finding things like this but don't really think they exist. We have done geological and chemical tests which are still ongoing but show the quarry is the exact place.

     

    "Geographically, the bluestones are very distinctive and could have only come from a very certain area. We already knew it was in the Preseli Hills but the geological tests combined with the chemical test results make us sure we have found it.

     

    "Nobody can be sure why the stones were taken from there to Salisbury but I believe it is because they were regarded as holy or to do with a deity of some kind.

     

    "This is a great discovery and opens up the door for many more.

     

    "Hopefully in the future we will be able to trace the exact holes where the stones were extracted from. It isn't going to be a massive hole in the ground as we understand a quarry to be these days.

     

    "In 2500 BC things were a lot more primitive so the builders would have looked for rocks which were naturally displaced.

     

    "They then would have put them on a river and taken them to Stonehenge that way.

     

    The "band of brothers" found last year, were a family unit of three adults, one teenager and three children buried in the same grave 4,300 years ago, at the start of the metal age.

     

    The family were found on Boscombe Down and were soon christened the "Boscombe bowmen."

     

    The burials were found near to the site where the famously wealthy "Amesbury archer" was uncovered three years ago.

     

    Prof Darvill's discovery will be published in the July-August edition of British Archaeology.

     

    He has been researching Stonehenge for the last 10 years.

  8. Posted

    Yah, alright. But still, im not hating people with opinions whose differ from mine, but rather stating the fact that i hate people who don't like certain episodes because their favorite writer isn't working on it. Trekkies are supposed to love star trek for being star trek, and not care about the writing. (even though the writing is important)

    334093[/snapback]

     

    Writing is everything to a good show.

     

    Well this is boiling down to a lot of different things than stated in your original post.

     

    I still think you don't hate them, rather they frustrate you in some way.

  9. Posted

    But Wally, you really don't hate those whose opinions differ from you, do you?

     

    Hates a very strong word.

     

    Perhaps you don't understand their standards, but instead of ranting, try to understand what makes them feel that way.

     

    Writers are hired by the producers, [i think :hug: ], and if they aren't approving the scripts than they'd be fired.

     

    I don't think it's the writers, it's those that hire them.

     

    I don't like every Trek, but I give each Trek a try. If I can't connect with the series, I typically don't watch it anymore.

     

    Doesn't mean I'm not a true Trek fan, just means my tastes differ from the next, and that's okay.

  14. Posted · Edited by Madame Butterfly

    The Silverdome

    I love it there

    The palace makes the dome like real sick.

     

    Click For Spoiler

    The silverdome is do to be demolished this year

    333391[/snapback]

     

     

     

     

    Never been to the Palace, just driven by, though I remember when it was dedicated and how they named they streets around it.

     

    My sister lives possibly 10 minutes from there, via the I-75.

  19. Posted

    We've got threads for what music you're listening to, and even dedicating a song to someone.

     

    I thought perhaps a thread with the lyrics of songs we love, for what ever reason, you don't have to even say, just post the lyric and artist.

     

    I'll start.

     

    I just think this is an excellent song, and one that reminds me a bit of those of us who hang out on the net, especially a few friends of mine.

     

     

    Iris

    Goo Goo Dolls

     

     

     

    And I'd give up forever to touch you

    Cuz I know that you feel me somehow

    You're the closest to heaven that I'll ever be

    And I don't want to go home right now

     

    And all I can taste is this moment

    And all I can breathe is your life

    Cuz sooner or later it's over

    I just don't want to miss you tonight

     

    And I don't want the world to see me

    Cuz I don't think that they'd understand

    When everything's made to be broken

    I just want you to know who I am

     

    And you can't fight the tears that ain't coming

    Or the moment of truth in your lies

    When everything feels like the movies

    Yeah, you'd bleed just to know you're alive

     

    And I don't want the world to see me

    Cuz I don't think that they'd understand

    When everything's made to be broken

    I just want you to know who I am

     

    And I don't want the world to see me

    Cuz I don't think that they'd understand

    When everything's made to be broken

    I just want you to know who I am

     

    And I don't want the world to see me

    Cuz I don't think that they'd understand

    When everything's made to be broken

    I just want you to know who I am

     

    I just want you to know who I am

    I just want you to know who I am

    I just want you to know who I am

  21. Posted · Edited by Madame Butterfly

    the photo you are showing, reminds me of one of the "arms" of smoke, etc that happen

     

    I'm always very doubtful about photographic evidence because my father used to study such things for the Navy.

     

    There is typically a very good answer for this that all of us are not trained to spot.

     

    Possibly these theories have touched on some of them

     

     

    columbia.jpg

  22. Posted

    Billy the Kid: Case closed

    Sheriffs end effort to have

    outlaw’s remains exhumed

    for genetic analysis

     

    By Alan Boyle

    Science editor

    MSNBC

    Updated: 11:39 a.m. ET Sept. 27, 2004Three New Mexico law-enforcement officials on Friday dropped their yearlong legal effort to have the remains of Billy the Kid exhumed for genetic testing, a court official told MSNBC. The officials had hoped to confirm scientifically whether the remains were truly those of the Old West outlaw, but they ran into fierce opposition from officials in the town where the Kid is thought to be buried.

     

     

     

    Friday's filing in New Mexico's 10th District Court in Fort Sumner, N.M., marks a surprising end to a case that had been due for its first full-blown hearing on Monday, after months of preliminary wrangling. The case touched on Old West legends as well as the economics of New West tourism.

     

    Billy the Kid, a.k.a. William Bonney, ranked as one of the most notorious figures of the Western frontier, and most historians accept the traditional view that he was shot to death by Lincoln County Sheriff Pat Garrett in 1881.

     

    However, through the decades, several people have claimed to be Billy the Kid, saying that the wrong man was killed and buried in Fort Sumner. Last year, De Baca County Sheriff Gary Graves, Lincoln County Sheriff Tom Sullivan and Capitan Mayor Steve Sederwall (who was deputized by Sullivan) announced that they were reopening the 123-year-old case. They petitioned for the exhumation of the remains beneath the Kid's gravestone as well as those of his mother in Silver City, N.M., and planned to have DNA tests conducted to confirm the Kid's identity.

     

    Resistance in court

    That idea didn't sit well with the mayors of Fort Sumner and Silver City, who contested the officials' petition. The mayors argued that digging up the graves would ruin the historic atmosphere of their towns' cemeteries, with no benefit other than publicity for the sheriffs. Historians noted that the remains buried in the cemeteries may have been moved through the years, due to construction and flooding — meaning there would be no way to confirm the precise location of the Kid's purported remains or his mother's.

     

    Last November, New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson appointed a lawyer to represent the Kid's interests, and that attorney, Bill Robins, joined with the sheriffs in seeking the disinterment of his client. At the time, Robins argued that the genetic findings could affect the Kid's chances of getting a posthumous pardon. But last month, Robins and fellow counsel David Sandoval had themselves dismissed from the case, arguing that their time would be better spent tracking down the historical facts.

     

    On Friday, attorneys for the sheriffs and Fort Sumner filed a document stipulating that they were dropping the case "with prejudice," meaning that the petition cannot be filed again, said Janean Grissom, deputy clerk for the 10th District Court.

     

    "The sheriffs were the only ones left, so now this ends the case," Grissom told MSNBC.com. A hearing on the matter had been scheduled for Monday before District Judge Ted Hartley, but that court date has been canceled, she said.

     

    Is it really over?

    The court documents do not specify why the three officials sought dismissal of the case.

     

    When contacted by MSNBC.com, Sheriff Graves declined to comment on the development, other than to confirm that Monday's hearing would not take place. Efforts to contact Sullivan and Sederwall, as well as their attorney in the case, were unsuccessful Friday.

     

    The attorney for Fort Sumner, Adam Baker, said the sheriffs agreed to drop the case in the course of pre-hearing negotiations. Baker's motion to dismiss the case outright would have been taken up on Monday.

     

     

    He noted that Henry Lee, a forensic expert who is working with the sheriffs, had recovered some samples from a bench in Fort Sumner said to be stained with Billy the Kid's blood. Baker speculated that legal action focusing on the Kid's mother might be renewed, depending on what those samples reveal.

     

    "I have a sinking feeling that we haven't heard the last from these sheriffs," Baker told MSNBC.com.

     

    But Trish Saunders, who opposed the exhumation as a co-founder of the Billy the Kid Historic Preservation Society, said the sheriffs may have decided the effort was no longer worth pursuing.

     

    "I think all this has just proved an acute embarrassment for them, and they finally realized it," she said.

     

    Graves was hit with a recall petition drive this summer, fueled in part by sharp local criticism of his role in the case. Sullivan is due to leave office at the end of this year. And questions had been raised about Sederwall's standing as a plaintiff in the Billy the Kid petition, Saunders said.

     

    In a news release, Saunders hailed Friday's development as "a victory for common sense."

     

    "This is a great day for anyone who cherishes the wonderful history of the American West," she said. "We were just not going to sit by and let a cherished old landmark be torn apart just for a brief spark of publicity."

     

    © 2005 MSNBC Interactive

  23. Posted

    Revolutionary War mystery still unsettled

    DNA results fail to resolve question about hero’s fate

     

     

     

    The Associated Press

    Updated: 10:35 p.m. ET June 21, 2005SAVANNAH, Ga. - DNA tests on bones exhumed from a monument to Brig. Gen. Casimir Pulaski failed to prove the remains are those of the Revolutionary War hero killed in a 1779 battle to retake Savannah from the British.

     

     

    But a draft report on the investigation into Pulaski’s disputed burial says historical records and skeletal injuries make a case that the remains are those of the Polish nobleman.

     

    “While the strong circumstantial evidence does suggest that the remains are Casimir Pulaski, the inability to obtain a DNA match leads to no viable conclusion,” says the report obtained by The Associated Press.

     

    Dr. James C. Metts Jr., the Chatham County coroner, hoped DNA testing of the remains exhumed in 1996 would settle the question of whether Pulaski was buried at sea or placed in an unmarked grave.

     

    Debate divides historians

    The debate has divided historians since the bones were removed from the grave at a ruined plantation and moved in 1854 to Savannah’s Monterey Square, where the 54-foot Pulaski monument was erected a year later.

     

    “To our great frustration, we were unable to solve the mystery,” said Chuck Powell, administrator of the investigative committee led by Metts. “The final report, other than giving more complete information, will probably not change in its conclusions.”

     

    Metts submitted the draft to Savannah officials in November. The city released the findings after the AP requested a copy last week.

     

    Father of the American cavalry

    Known as the father of the American cavalry, Pulaski came to America in 1777. He was mortally wounded during the October 1779 siege of Savannah.

     

    Examinations of the skull and bones seemed to match what’s known of Pulaski’s age, height and facial features. A healed fracture to the right hand fits an injury Pulaski once described in a letter. A bone tumor on the forehead fits a wound he suffered fighting the Russians in Poland.

     

     

     

    DNA identification techniques have shed new light on crimes and controversies that go back as far as 200 years. Laboratory analysis can match victims with potential assailants, identify unknown remains or even determine the relationships between historical figures.

     

     

     

    But without more solid proof, it’s difficult to debunk Pulaski’s burial at sea. Two officers who served under Pulaski wrote accounts of his watery grave. One of them, his aide-de-camp, said he witnessed the burial.

     

    Investigators had hoped to match DNA from the bones to two of Pulaski’s deceased relatives in Poland. In one case, the test was inconclusive. In the other, the woman’s remains failed to yield enough DNA to examine.

     

    © 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

  24. Posted

    USGS Tiny geologic shifts

    confirm quake risk

    in heart of America

    Scientists see 10 percent chance

    of 8.0 earthquake in central U.S.

    sometime in the next 50 years

     

     

    By Robert Roy Britt

    Senior writer

     

    Updated: 2:17 p.m. ET June 22, 2005A colossal earthquake that caused damage from South Carolina to Washington, D.C., and temporarily reversed the course of the Mississippi River nearly two centuries ago could be repeated within the next 50 years, scientists say.

     

     

    Strain is building on a fault near Memphis, Tenn., that was the site of a magnitude-8.1 earthquake in 1812, according to new observations that settle a debate on the risk of another huge quake.

     

    The odds of another 8.0 event within 50 years are between 7 and 10 percent, geologists said Wednesday. The assessment, based on new data from a recently installed array of sensors, puts to rest a 1990s claim that strain was not increasing.

     

    Such a strong earthquake would rock the entire eastern half of the country and prove devastating to the local region. A lesser but still damaging quake of magnitude 6 or greater has a 90 percent chance of striking in the next five decades.

     

    The new study, detailed in Thursday's issue of the journal Nature, reveals a vexing characteristic of the fault that traverses the region. The ground moves more near the fault, creeping a few millimeters every year, than it does farther from it.

     

    "I can't explain how the movement is driven," said study team member Michael Ellis, a geologist at the University of Memphis.

     

    That lack of understanding makes the task of pinpointing when the next quake might hit even more challenging.

     

    Repeating history

    In a three-month period in 1811-12, three major earthquakes rattled a broad expanse of the United States, causing damage as far away as Charleston, S.C., and even rattling nerves in Boston. The quakes triggered landslides into the Mississippi River and, according to some boaters who were not drowned, sent part of the river running the other direction for a time.

     

     

     

    The earthquakes were centered around New Madrid, Mo. They measured 8.1, 8.0 and 7.8 and represent three of the four strongest earthquakes ever recorded in the lower 48 states.

     

    Over the past 12 years, geologists have found evidence for other prehistoric calamities along the New Madrid fault. Sandy soil in some areas became liquefied in past events, leaving telltale "sandblows" when the material was squished to the surface. This tendency for soil east of the Rockies to liquefy, along with other differences in geology, means earthquakes there pack more potential for damage and are felt over a much wider region than Western temblors.

     

    The sandblows indicate that three or possibly four earthquakes of magnitude 7.6 or better struck the region in the past 2,000 years, in addition to the incredible series of three in the early 1800s.

     

    Strange movement

    The new data show the ground indeed moves a few millimeters each year near the fault, as most geologists had expected. But away from the fault, the movement was discovered to be less. Ellis and his colleagues, including study leader Bob Smalley, speculate that well below the surface, the fault was displaced by the 1811-12 events, and that shift is still slowly propagating upward.

     

     

     

    Ellis cautioned, however, that more data is needed to figure out what's going on.

     

    Unlike California, the slow shift around New Madrid is not driven by the collision between major plates of Earth's crust.

     

    "Ultimately the movement is driven by plate tectonics, with the North American plate moving generally westward," says Martitia Tuttle, a geologist at M. Tuttle & Associates who was not involved in the new research.

     

    Most scientists think the New Madrid fault is part of an ancient system of rifts embedded in the plate.

     

    "The old rift system is a zone of weakness and therefore is more prone to failure, resulting in earthquakes, than surrounding regions," Tuttle told LiveScience.

     

    The new study provides "scientific justification for the adoption of stricter earthquake provisions in the building codes for Memphis and other cities in the central United States," Tuttle said.

    Sooner or later ...

    The findings contradict a study in the 1990s, based on less data, that concluded the ground was not shifting and that strain buildup was therefore minimal. Since that controversial work, scientists have debated the prevailing view that more major earthquakes are likely.

     

    "Our results confirm the current status of seismic hazard ... that says that the likelihood of another 1811-12 earthquake in the next 50 years is between 7 and 10 percent," Ellis said in an e-mail interview.

     

    The chances of a smaller but still devastating temblor are higher.

     

    "Strong earthquakes in the New Madrid seismic zone are certain to occur in the future," states a fact sheet from the U.S. Geological Survey. "There is a 9-in-10 chance of a magnitude 6 to 7 temblor occurring in the New Madrid Seismic Zone within the next 50 years."

     

    tips Earthquakes: what to do

     

    • Preparing for an earthquake

    • What to do during an earthquake

    • After an earthquake

    • Checking your home

     

     

    Fasten shelves securely to walls.

    Place large or heavy objects on lower shelves.

    Store breakable items such as bottled foods, glass, and china in low, closed cabinets with latches.

    Hang heavy items such as pictures and mirrors away from beds, couches, and anywhere people sit.

    Brace overhead light fixtures.

    Repair defective electrical wiring and leaky gas connections. These are potential fire risks.

    Secure a water heater by strapping it to the wall studs and bolting it to the floor.

    Repair any deep cracks in ceilings or foundations. Get expert advice if there are signs of structural defects.

    Store weed killers, pesticides, and flammable products securely in closed cabinets with latches and on bottom shelves.

     

     

     

    The new monitoring system around the New Madrid fault should eventually allow geologists to refine their predictions.

     

    "Folks out west, California in particular, are much further ahead than are we," Ellis said. "They have more data, more instrumentation and a simpler tectonic environment. Our results though will begin to constrain the set of reasonable theoretical models for the generation of midplate earthquakes, and that's the beginning of making better forecasts."

     

    © 2005 Space.com. All rights reserved. More from Space.com.

  25. Posted

    Deep Impact Sees Heart of Target Comet

    By SPACE.com Staff

     

    posted: 21 June 2005

    02:18 pm ET

     

     

    NASA scientists want to learn all they can about comet Tempel 1 before they drive a stake into its heart. Today they improved their view with the first image of the comet’s nucleus.

     

    When Deep Impact releases a probe to slam into Tempel 1 on July 3-4, scientists will photograph the event in an effort to pin down the comet’s structure and composition. The more they can learn in advance, the more they’ll glean from the explosive event, which may be visible to the naked eye from Earth.

     

    The heart of a comet is made of ice and rock. Around that, gas and dust that boil off create a dense halo that obscures the solid surface, called the nucleus.

     

    Images taken in May by Deep Impact have been processed to reveal the nucleus, according to a NASA statement released today. The atmosphere has been subtracted from the image to reveal the core.

     

    The nucleus is not a sphere. Rather, its about 9 miles (14 kilometers) long and 3 miles (4.8 kilometers) wide. The latest image was taken when the spacecraft was about 20 million miles (32 million kilometers) from Tempel 1.

     

    “Being able to distinguish the nucleus in these images helps us to better understand the rotational axis of the comet's nucleus, which is helpful for targeting this elongated body,” said University of Maryland astronomer Michael A'Hearn, who leads the mission.

     

    “We detected the nucleus a lot sooner than expected, but now we'll be watching the nucleus all the way to impact,” said Carey Lisse, a member of the Deep Impact team and leader of the effort to extract views, of the nucleus from the spacecraft images.

     

    The brightness of the nucleus as determined from these images was close to that predicted from earlier observations with the Hubble and Spitzer space telescopes and observations from large telescopes on the ground, the scientists said.

     

    "The early detection of the nucleus in these images helps us to set the final exposure times for our encounter observations," said Michael Belton, deputy principal investigator for the Deep Impact Mission. "Next we need to determine, using additional nucleus detections, how the comet is rotating in space, so we can figure out what part we will hit on July 4th."

     

    Deep Impact consists of a flyby mothership the size of a subcompact car and a five-sided impactor spacecraft about the size of a washing machine.

     

    The spacecraft will approach the comet and collect images and spectra of it. Then, some 24 hours before the 2 a.m. (EDT) July 4th impact, the flyby spacecraft will launch the impactor into the path of the onrushing comet. Like a copper penny pitched up into the air just in front of a speeding tractor-trailer truck, the 820-pound impactor will be run down by the comet, colliding with the nucleus at an impact speed of some 23,000 miles per hour.

     

    Scientists expect the image to create a crater several hundred feet in size, ejecting ice, dust and gas from the crater and revealing pristine material beneath. The event will be imaged and analyzed by the mothership and several other ground- and space-based observatories.