Egypt: New find shows slaves didn’t build pyramids, “aliens” not even on the list of possibilities.

Egypt displayed on Monday newly discovered tombs more than 4,000 years old and said they belonged to people who worked on the Great Pyramids of Giza, presenting the discovery as more evidence that slaves did not build the ancient monuments.

The series of modest nine-foot-deep shafts held a dozen skeletons of pyramid builders, perfectly preserved by dry desert sand along with jars that once contained beer and bread meant for the workers’ afterlife.

The mud-brick tombs were uncovered last week in the backyard of the Giza pyramids, stretching beyond a burial site first discovered in the 1990s and dating to the 4th Dynasty (2575 B.C. to 2467 B.C.), when the great pyramids were built on the fringes of present-day Cairo.

The ancient Greek historian Herodotus once described the pyramid builders as slaves, creating what Egyptologists say is a myth later propagated by Hollywood films.

Graves of the pyramid builders were first discovered in the area in 1990 when a tourist on horseback stumbled over a wall that later proved to be a tomb. Egypt’s archaeology chief Zahi Hawass said that discovery and the latest finds last week show that the workers were paid laborers, rather than the slaves of popular imagination.

Hawass told reporters at the site that the find, first announced on Sunday, sheds more light on the lifestyle and origins of the pyramid builders. Most importantly, he said the workers were not recruited from slaves commonly found across Egypt during pharaonic times.

One popular myth that Egyptologists say was perpetrated in part by Hollywood movies held that ancient Israelite slaves — ancestors of the Jewish people — built the pyramids.

Amihai Mazar, professor at the Institute of Archaeology at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, says that myth stemmed from an erroneous claim by former Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin, on a visit to Egypt in 1977, that Jews built the pyramids.

“No Jews built the pyramids because Jews didn’t exist at the period when the pyramids were built,” Mazar said.

Dorothy Resig, an editor of Biblical Archaeology Review in Washington D.C., said the idea probably arose from the Old Testament Book of Exodus, which says: “So the Egyptians enslaved the children of Israel with backbreaking labor” and the Pharaoh put them to work to build buildings.

“If the Hebrews built anything, then it was the city of Ramses as mentioned in Exodus,” said Mazar.

Dieter Wildung, a former director of Berlin’s Egyptian Museum, said it is “common knowledge in serious Egyptology” that the pyramid builders were not slaves and that the construction of the pyramids and the story of the Israelites in Egypt were separated by hundreds of years.

“The myth of the slaves building pyramids is only the stuff of tabloids and Hollywood,” Wildung told The Associated Press by telephone. “The world simply could not believe the pyramids were build without oppression and forced labor, but out of loyalty to the pharaohs.”

Hawass said the builders came from poor Egyptian families from the north and the south, and were respected for their work — so much so that those who died during construction were bestowed the honor of being buried in the tombs near the sacred pyramids of their pharaohs.

Their proximity to the pyramids and the manner of burial in preparation for the afterlife backs this theory, Hawass said.

“No way would they have been buried so honorably if they were slaves,” he said. …

“Their bones tell us the story of how hard they worked,” Okasha said.

Wildung said the find reinforces the notion that the pyramid builders were free men, ordinary citizens

“But let’s not exaggerate here, they lived a short life and tomography skeletal studies show they suffered from bad health, very much likely because of how hard their work was.”

via Egypt: New find shows slaves didn’t build pyramids – Yahoo! News.

Patrick Stewart featured guest at film festival

From Shakespearean theatre to Star Trek’s Jean Luc Picard to the X-Men, Patrick Stewart is now doing his part on the green screen as the narrator for the new environmental adventure film, Nature Propelled, which will premiere at the Wild & Scenic film festival.

Patrick Stewart will be the featured guest at SYRCL’s 8th annual Wild & Scenic Environmental Film Festival, which runs from Jan. 15 to Jan. 17 in Nevada City.

From Shakespearean theatre to Star Trek’s Jean Luc Picard to the X-Men, Stewart is now doing his part on the green screen as the narrator for the new environmental adventure film, Nature Propelled, which will premiere at the Wild & Scenic film festival this year. Nature Propelled was filmed by Seth Warren who received a People’s Choice Award for his film Oil & Water at Wild & Scenic in 2008.

SYRCL’s annual film festival is known for an artful blend of film, activism, truth and community. The year of 2010 is shaping up to be no different and this year’s theme will focus on what nourishes our bodies ever day – Food and Water.

Food and Water and its cultivation, procurement, and consumption has seen an extensive revolution, most of which is considered “underground”- that is until you see this year’s selection of films. Our 20 feature films will provide savvy consumers of today with critical information on the history of food, organic farming practices, overfishing, community supported agriculture (CSA), organic cuisine, soil, colony collapse disorder, and the national food industry’s evolution over the last 50 years.

Kathy Dotson, Wild & Scenic Film Festival Director, and her festival team has had the exciting and challenging role of sifting through hundreds of films to uncover the one’s that are considered must see for anyone who has a vested interest in their food source.

Films such as Food Inc., What’s Organic about Organic?, Big River (a follow up to King Corn), and Nourish, starring Cameron Diaz will bring to light the variety of issues to debate and consider as individuals and ultimately communities figure out how to collectively make fundamental choices about the kind of world to live in.

All advance ticket buyers will be entered into a drawing for a pass to the 2011 festival and other prizes including a CSA package. Advance tickets sales and the film schedule will be available online beginning Dec. 1 at www.wildandscenicfilmfestival.org.

Tickets can also be purchased at Nevada City’s Victorian Christmas sponsored by the NC Chamber of Commerce. Tickets will be sold on December 9, 13, 16, and 20 at Festival Headquarters, which is located at 221 Broad St. (formerly the Broad Street Furnishings building).

via Nevada City Advocate – A free news & entertainment Newspaper Serving Nevada City & Greater Nevada County – SYRCL announces its featured guest for January’s film festival.

Says Seth: “Wild & Scenic was the natural place to premiere my new film, Nature Propelled. As a People’s Choice Award-winner for Oil + Water at the 2008 festival, I know W&S has the ideal audience for my style of film, especially with its focus on conservation. Nevada City is one of my mountain towns with the perfect atmosphere for an environmental film festival.” – wildandscenic

There are actually 130 different films at 8 different venues. The Nevada Theatre only holds 350 so there is a queue system where the first 350 people will get numbers. You will have to be in line at 5:15 PM on Saturday night. Doors open at 6:30 PM. If you aren’t there when your number is called, you will be skipped. People will be ushered in in numerical order. So far (subject to change) Sir Patrick (who is the narrator of Nature Propelled) will be coming from SF on Friday, there for the Sat evening session and may be around the festival watching various films. If you can’t get in to see that particular film, you will get to see another film, as they have 8 venues with different films running. Nature Propelled starts at 8:24 PM.

Coral reefs are evolution hotspot

Coral reefs give rise to many more new species than other tropical marine habitats, according to a new study.

Scientists used fossil records stretching back 540 million years to work out the evolution rate at reefs.

They report in the journal Science that new species originate 50% faster in coral reefs than in other habitats.

The team says its findings show that the loss of these evolution hotspots could mean “losing an opportunity to create new species” in the future.

Coral reefs harbour a huge number of marine species – they are often likened to rainforests in terms of their biodiversity.

But they also provide a “pump of new marine species”, according to Wolfgang Kiessling the scientist from Humboldt University in Berlin, Germany, who led this study.

He and his colleagues examined the fossil record to find the earliest evidence of benthic creatures – animals that live on the seafloor.

These creatures provide a good record of evolution. They remain on the seafloor once they die, and are often fossilised along with some of the remains of their original habitats.

This team of scientists looked for the earliest fossils from each benthic genus, or group of species, in the fossil record.

“We checked when and where each genus first occurred, explained Dr Kiessling. “So for example, if the earliest fossils were 300 million years, we asked: ‘Did it occur in a reef or outside’.”

He and his colleagues had access to a record stretching back to the Cambrian explosion – when the vast majority of complex organisms are believed to have emerged more than 540 million years ago….

via BBC News – Coral reefs are evolution hotspot.

Cell Phone Use May Fight Alzheimer’s, Mouse Study Says

After years of speculation that cell phones may harm your brain, new research suggests they may actually fight Alzheimer’s disease.

Yes, you heard right.

Microwave radiation from cell phones may protect against and even reverse Alzheimer’s-like symptoms, according to a new study involving genetically tweaked mice.

The results were so surprising that study co-author Juan Sanchez-Ramos didn’t believe them at first.

“It’s such a dramatic and counterintuitive effect,” said Sanchez-Ramos, a University of South Florida neuroscientist.

“I joked that the animals must have been mislabeled or that the power wasn’t switched on.”

Cell Phones Provide Protective Radiation?

The primary culprits in Alzheimer’s disease—which is marked by dementia and cognitive decline—appear to be sticky brain deposits known as beta amyloid plaques, which can build up between nerve cells.

In the experiment, scientists examined the effects of cell phone radiation on 96 mice that were genetically engineered to develop beta amyloid plaques and thus Alzheimer’s-like symptoms. The mice normally developed the first signs of the disease around 6 months. By 8 months they were already experiencing cognitive declines.

Both the Alzheimer’s-prone mice and normal mice were then exposed to cell phone-level microwave radiation for two one-hour periods daily for seven to nine months.

The study found that if cell phone exposure began before the genetically engineered mice started showing signs of Alzheimer’s, they were less likely to develop symptoms later on in life.

These mice performed as well on memory and thinking-skills tests as normal mice without Alzheimer’s. For instance, the mice were given a cognitive interference task that tested their ability to remember something after an interruption. The team also put the mice through a three-armed Y maze, which measures basic memory function.

via Cell Phone Use May Fight Alzheimer’s, Mouse Study Says.

Protective radiation? Yeah, see, if we microwave your head long enough,  the amount of time you spend worrying will be dramatically deceased! Ah, the science an industry with billions of dollars at stake can buy.  The study that showed cell phones burn holes in the brains of rats was not “speculation”.

On the other hand, if there are billions at stake, and the danger was real, it seems some lawyer somewhere would have tried to cash in… Wait, doesn’t this sound like exactly what happened with the big tobacco?

… there’s this incredibly popular product that has widespread consumer use and a massive marketing presence. Nearly everyone uses it, and it has very high social acceptance, even though some people find it annoying when it’s used in public. It’s highly habit-forming; people who use the product on a regular basis find it almost impossible to live without.

Unfortunately, studies start to appear showing that the product might be harmful to its users–even cancer-causing. The product’s manufacturers deny the presence of any danger and even spend millions of dollars trying to discredit the research that points to problems. Then, an insider emerges, seemingly with proof that the product could be dangerous.

The industry agrees to publish warning data about the product, but continues to maintain that the product itself is safe for use. Lawsuits against the product’s manufacturers are filed, but all are dismissed. Industry analysts know that any case that does succeed could start a domino effect of future lawsuits, which keeps the industry determined to maintain that the product is harmless, despite increasing evidence to the contrary.

Ghost galaxies may haunt the Milky Way

Though telescopes are capable of detecting galaxies billions of light years distant, they may be missing many in our own cosmic backyard. Hundreds of our nearest neighbours could have eluded detection due to their feeble light output, new calculations suggest.

Telescopic surveys have detected a handful of very faint nearby galaxies, the dimmest of which is just a few hundred times as bright as the sun.

But even dimmer galaxies are likely hiding out there, say James Bullock of the University of California in Irvine and his colleagues (arxiv.org/abs/0912.1873).

Galaxies with less dark matter than those found to date would have a weaker gravitational hold on their stars, allowing them to spread out more. These more diffuse galaxies would be especially hard to spot amidst the clutter of foreground stars in our own galaxy.

“There absolutely could be a population of extremely low-surface-brightness dwarfs that have evaded detection,” says Beth Willman of Haverford College in Pennsylvania, who was not involved in the study.

Future observatories, such as the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope could find them, she says.

via Ghost galaxies may haunt the Milky Way – space – 07 January 2010 – New Scientist.

McCain: Blow up your crotch on a jet and you give up all of your civilian rights

The Nigerian man who attempted to blow up a commercial jet outside Detroit on Christmas Day should be tried as an enemy combatant in a military court, a leading Republican Senator said on Sunday.

Senator John McCain, the Republican nominee for president in the 2008 election, said it would be a mistake to try Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, 23, in a civilian court where he would “get lawyered up” and be afforded the right to withhold damaging information.

“To have a person be able to get lawyered up when we need that information very badly, I think betrays or contradicts the president’s view that we are at war,” McCain told CNN’s State of the Union with John King.

“That person should be tried as an enemy combatant,” McCain said. “He’s a terrorist.”

The U.S. civilian justice system affords some protections not afforded by some military courts.

Abdulmutallab is accused of attempting to ignite explosives in his underwear on a December 25 flight from Amsterdam to Detroit. He was subdued by other passengers after trying to ignite it.

via Wrong to give bomb suspect civilian rights: McCain | Reuters.

Why does McCain hate the U.S. justice system so much?

Our system has checks and balances, something would-be tyrants hate. Our justice system has evolved over many years out of necessity. It keeps us from rushing to a hasty and sometimes flawed judgment.

Perhaps Abdulmutallab is an oddly expressionless (insane, blackmailed, brainwashed?) man who, while oddly expressionless, tried to blow up his own crotch on a jet as a terrorist act ( which coincidentally happened to benefit one particular airport scanner making company with US military ties).

But, all wild conspiracy theories aside, doesn’t the military (and military courts on high profile cases) do what politicians say they should do? And how many living trustworthy politicians can I name? Only a few, and they are marginal players. The U.S. civilian justice system seems the best way we (the civilians who ride these jets!) can get the facts that will prevent this from happening again and again.

What’s the deal with military courts anyway?

While the primary purpose of the United States justice system is to dispense “justice,” that is not the primary reason for the creation of a separation justice system for America’s Armed Forces. The primary purpose of the Military’s system is to provide the military commander with necessary tools to enforce good order and discipline. – usmilitary.about.com

Is there some undiscovered fact about this case that could cause disorder in the US military? If not, a military court makes no sense.

Food industry ‘too secretive’ over nanotechnology

The food industry has been criticised for being secretive about its use of nanotechnology by the UK’s House of Lords Science and Technology Committee. Lord Krebs, chairman of the inquiry, said the industry “wants to keep a low profile” to avoid controversy. While there were no clear dangers, he said, there were “gaps in knowledge”.

In its report Nanotechnologies and Food, the committee suggests a public register of foods or packaging that make use of nanotechnology.

Nanotechnology is the use of very small particles – measured in the billionths of a metre. At these sizes, particles have novel properties and there is active investigation into how those properties arise.

While nanotechnology is already widely employed – in applications ranging from odour-free socks to novel cancer therapeutic methods – they have long been regarded as a subject requiring further study to ensure their safety.

In the food sector, nanotechnology can be employed to enhance flavour and even to make processed foods healthier by reducing the amount of fat and salt needed in production. …

Peers said in the report that they found it “regrettable that the food industry was refusing to talk about its work in the area”. …

via BBC News – Food industry ‘too secretive’ over nanotechnology.

Neanderthal ‘make-up’ containers discovered

Scientists claim to have the first persuasive evidence that Neanderthals wore “body paint” 50,000 years ago.

The team report in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) that shells containing pigment residues were Neanderthal make-up containers. Scientists unearthed the shells at two archaeological sites in the Murcia province of southern Spain.

The team says its find buries “the view of Neanderthals as half-wits” and shows they were capable of symbolic thinking.

Professor Joao Zilhao, the archaeologist from Bristol University in the UK, who led the study, said that he and his team had examined shells that were used as containers to mix and store pigments.

Black sticks of the pigment manganese, which may have been used as body paint by Neanderthals, have previously been discovered in Africa.

“[But] this is the first secure evidence for their use of cosmetics,” he told BBC News. “The use of these complex recipes is new. It’s more than body painting.”

The scientists found lumps of a yellow pigment, that they say was possibly used as a foundation. They also found red powder mixed up with flecks of a reflective brilliant black mineral. Some of the sculpted, brightly coloured shells may also have been worn by Neanderthals as jewellery. Until now it had been thought by many researchers that only modern humans wore make-up for decoration and ritual purposes.

There was a time in the Upper Palaeolithic period when Neanderthals and humans may have co-existed. But Professor Zilhao explained that the findings were dated at 10,000 years before this “contact”.

“To me, it’s the smoking gun that kills the argument once and for all,” he told BBC News.

“The association of these findings with Neanderthals is rock-solid and people have to draw the associations and bury this view of Neanderthals as half-wits.”

via BBC News – Neanderthal ‘make-up’ containers discovered.

If you prefer a happy lie to the ugly truth, stop reading now… what I’m about to say will only trigger a deep denial…  Okay, for the rest of you…. Here’s the secret history: The Neanderthal people were 2 to 3 times stronger and smarter, but they were not as deceptive as we are. We won the planet because our ancestors tricked and then ate the Neaderthals. We should really be called Homo Decepticus.

Sword swallower trapped in trance for hours after accidentally hypnotising HIMSELF in a mirror

A circus performer stood locked in a trance for hours after he accidentally hypnotised himself while practising his routine in a mirror.

Sword swallower Hannibal Helmurto, 38, whose real name is Helmut Kichmeier, stood transfixed in front of the mirror for five hours until his wife Joanna found him.

Unable to rouse him, she was forced to phone her husband’s mentor, hypnotherapist Dr Ray Roberts, who trained him on an intensive course recently.

Dr Roberts spoke to Helmut over the phone and he slowly came out of the trance. Helmut said a person under hypnosis only responds to a voice of authority.

Joanna, 22, said: ‘I was really shocked when I found him, he was just like a zombie starring at himself in the mirror.

‘His pupils had gone really small, which is a sign of someone under hypnosis.’

Helmut, who has performed in the Circus of Horrors for four years, had recently learned how to put himself into a somnambulistic trance – a way of hypnotising yourself – to enable him to swallow multiple swords in the infamous circus.

The performer, who is originally from Germany but now lives in London, said: ‘I underestimated the techniques and how powerful they were. I put myself in a very deep state and lost all sense of time around me.’

He said he could not remember anything when he came out of the trance, other than getting up at 10am and starting to practise his hypnosis.

He said he had no idea where the missing five hours had gone.

‘It is a very pleasant feeling, sometimes it is so pleasant that you literally forget the things around you and that is what happened to me,’ he said.

‘Your body is absolutely relaxed. You don’t feel a thing. On the one hand your body is relaxed and floating and on the other hand your mind is extremely focused on something.’

The self-taught hypnotherapist has been practising the art for nine years. He added: ‘I have always been interested in hypnosis because I had seen it on TV and thought it was a right big spoof.

‘I started reading and learning about it and it turns out it is not a big spoof at all. I got into it being a total disbeliever.’ …

via Sword swallower trapped in trance for hours after accidentally hypnotising HIMSELF in a mirror | Mail Online.

I call shenanigans. I suspect this is a publicity stunt because you can’t get “stuck” in hypnosis, or in self-hypnosis any more than you could get stuck awake or stuck asleep. Could happen if you have some kind of brain disorder, I guess.

There is no evidence that anybody can become stuck in hypnosis. The worst that might happen could be that you fall asleep – and wake up unhypnotised! Orne & Evans (1966) conducted a famous study where participants were hypnotised, and the experimenter leaves the room under the pretense that there is a problem he has to attend to, the participant is then observed (without his knowledge) to see what happens. The result was that participants spontaneously woke up, the high hypnotisables taking slightly longer to do so. – http://www.hypnosisandsuggestion.org/faq.html

… If there were any emergency the subconscious would take over and bring you out of hypnosis. Any person who chooses to remain in trance will drift off to sleep and wake up normally, maybe after minutes or even an hour or two, depending on their state of tiredness prior to being hypnotised. http://www.hypnotherapy-services.com/faq/getting-stuck

You can no more get “stuck” in hypnosis than you can get “stuck” awake or “stuck” asleep. It’s a natural state which naturally gives way to other states after a while. For practical reasons, most hypnotherapists do explicitly end their clients’ trances, but if they didn’t the clients would naturally either return to full alertness or fall asleep.

http://hypno.co.nz/common-hypnosis-myths.html

Myth 4 – Getting Stuck In Self Hypnosis -Some people worry that if they learn self hypnosis they’d get themselves stuck in some hypnotic trance or limbo state. This fear is baseless. Even if you fail to come out of your self hypnosis session after your appointed time, you can simply fall into a sleep and awake typically, feeling refreshed and rested. The human mind however has the amazing capability to keep control of time internally, so you can decide on the length of session you wish to conduct. Most people will come out of the trance state within minutes ( or maybe seconds ) of their determined time.
http://www.hypnotictreatment.com/learning-hypnotism/

3D TV is being billed as possible industry saviour

3D TV is being billed as a possible saviour for recession hit manufacturers looking to boost sales.

On the opening day of the Consumer Electronics Show, CES, in Las Vegas, all the big names unveiled 3D TV’s.

Industry experts said the picture looks promising with a survey showing around 3.4m 3D TV sets will be sold in the US this year.

“It’s a challenging market. We need something to kick us out of this,” said Panasonic’s Elsuke Tsuyuzaki.

“To me, the thing that’s going to get us there is 3D,” added the firm’s chief technology officer.

“2009 is a year none of us want to repeat,” said Gary Shapiro the president of the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) which hosts the annual tech gathering.

The association has predicted that for the coming year the whole consumer electronics industry should eke out a slight revenue increase of 0.3%. The rise of $440m (£280m) will take expected revenues to $165.3bn (£105bn)

However Mr Shapiro noted that lower average selling prices for TVs will be a drag. CEA expects TV revenues to decline 2% in this sector to $22.1bn (£14bn) even though unit sales will go up 5% to 37.7m (£24m)

…

“It usually takes from five to ten years to transition from one platform to a newer one. To go from analogue to digital has taken about ten years so that is why I say to you this is the year in which 3D is going to enter the home in a really meaningful way.”

Mr Katzenberg, who is known as a 3D evangelist, said he is so confident about the future of that vision that he has committed his studio to make 3D versions of all its future movies.

During CES, he announced Dreamworks would release Monsters vs. Aliens as a 3D Blu-ray disc in an exclusive promotion with Samsung and Technicolour.

In 2010 around 20 out of 170 movies will be made in 3D, double the number from last year.  …

along with the other top names such as Sony, LG and Panasonic, put on ritzy displays at CES to show the hundred thousand plus attendees what the future holds.

There were also announcements galore.

The Discovery Channel said that it is forming a joint venture company with Sony and IMAX to deliver 3D TV channels.

UK satellite operator BSkyB said it is also planning to launch a 3D service later this year and ESPN said it will show at least 85 sports events this year on its new ESPN 3D channel.

Panasonic revealed a tie-up with top US satellite provider DirecTV to launch three high-definition 3D TV channels by June to try and jump-start demand for 3D TVs and content.

“Once you see it you get it,” said Panasonic’s Mr Tsuyuzaki during a CES session on the issue called “3D Hope or Hype.” …

One important factor the industry has to get right is pricing.

“The TV industry is desperate and they are latching onto 3D as hard as they can” Gartner research’s principal analyst Van Baker told BBC News.

“[people] have done the flat panel upgrade. It will be a hard sell to get people to spend big bucks again on 3D TV so soon after paying out for an HDTV.”

via BBC News – 3D TV is being billed as possible industry saviour.

Just sell me some glasses that make my normal TV look 3D. Oh wait, I can just turn OFF the TV and walk outside and see a real world in 3D. Amazing.