The Martian Southern Polar Cap

From Bad Astronomy Blog

This is a composite image of the south polar cap of Mars by Riding with Robots creator Bill Dunford using images taken by the European Space Agency's Mars Express Orbiter. Most of the white mass is frozen water permafrost covered in a few metres of frozen carbon dioxide, which melts and refreezes during the long martian seasons. The melting of this few metres of carbon dioxide during the summer is enough to noticeably thicken the atmosphere of that hemisphere.

Worlds Largest Volcano Discovered Under the Pacific Ocean

Confirming the old saying that we know more about other planets than what is happening on the ocean floor, geologists announced this week that Earth's largest volcano is under the Pacific, to the east of Japan.
Don't get me wrong, these guys didn't just stumble upon a huge active volcano while on an underwater stroll. The area known as Tamu Massif was previously thought to have been a series of volcanoes, just like Hawaii and Iceland,  instead of what has turned out to be one significantly large volcano. Oh and don't worry about activity. The area was formed 145 million years ago and went extinct quite soon after. So while plesiosaurs would have been freaked out by it, there is no need for you to be.

William Sager of the University of Houston headed this 15 year study which composed of a large series of sonar mapping and drill cores concluded that all flows in the area originated from one source and not several as a series of volcanoes would present. Sager states: "Before this we weren't sure that we had single volcanoes that could grow to this size. Now we do."

The world’s biggest active shield volcano, Mauna Loa on Hawaii, has an areal footprint just 15% of Tamu’s — but Mauna Loa is taller, rising 9 kilometres from sea floor to summit.

The knowledge that volcanoes this large can and have formed on Earth previously has led researchers to rethink and reassess whether other presumed series of extinct volcanoes may actually be large singular volcanoes as well.  Sager believes another candidate may be the Ontong Java plateau east of the Solomon Islands, which has similar features to the Tamu Massif. "It's being investigated by Japanese researchers," he says, "so the Tamu Massif might not be the last word."

Book Review: 'Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea' by Barbara Demick

 I have read very little directly related to North Korea over the years, picking up tidbits here and there referenced in broader works, where I have got the gist of the general history of the nation. But a recent article in New Scientist by an environmental scientist invited to a conference in the country astounded and intrigued me all once. The author described a landscape that has been scavenged bare by generations of a poverty stricken population. I guess the state of the country described by an environmental scientist was something new and appealed to a fellow scientist.

I saw this book on iBooks, and decided to give the preview a try (previewing, one of the reasons why I am an eBook convert of sorts), and after reading I was hooked and purchased the book (instant purchase of books, another reason of conversion).

Barbara tells the story of six North Korean refugees reconstructed from interviews she conducted. The stories are centred upon everyday life, but they are closely interwoven with the larger history of the country. Each story is personal and different, and you feel yourself empathising with this people, no matter how naive, brainwashed or anti-establishment they were. The imagery of the stories is strong; Barbara paints wonderful, yet ugly scenes. You can see the desolated countryside, the decaying silent factories and the gaudy statues.

The narrative takes the reader through the beginnings of the nation, under the rule of Kim Jon Il-Sung, through the rule of his son, Kim Jong-Il and onto Kim Jong-un. You experience the draconian laws effecting the lives of the citizens such as factory workers and a doctor. A highlight is the tales centred around the death of Kim Jong-Il and the fanfare that surrounded it.

A beautiful yet saddening non-fiction book recommended to both those who know little of the history of North Korea and those who may know the history but wonder about the people and their lives. An eye opening account of people living in a  totalitarian state.

Climate Change Reveals Ancient Norwegian Artifacts

Original article from Antquity

Rapid climate change has been a boon for archaeologists in cold climates. Each year more and more ice is melting and revealing artifacts Bronze Age artifacts. The most famous case of this being the revealing of Otzi, a preserved Bronze Age man found in the Swiss/Italian Alps approximately twenty years ago.

Recent finds from record snow melts in Norway have revealed other interesting artifacts. This tunic was found exposed on the Lendbreen glacier, bleached by sunlight and wind exposure. It is made from lamb's and sheep wool with signs of patchwork and repair. It has been dated to 230-290 AD.

A set of arrowheads were found in a snowbank nearby that are dated to 6000 years old. The author of the paper writes:

"The number and antiquity of some of these artefacts is unprecedented in the almost century-long history of snow patch surveying in the region. At the same time, as the climate continues to heat up and the snows melt away, one wonders what long-term price there will be to pay for these glimpses of the frozen past."

DNA From The Elephant Man

From the BBC

From his death in 1890 and for most of the 20th century Joseph Merrick, otherwise known as the Elephant Man, was thought to have suffered from neurofibromatosis type 1, a disease upon which his case typified. However, research in the 1980s proposed that Merrick suffered from Proteus Syndrome instead and later research has questioned whether he was afflicted with both. It looked as if the syndrome Merrick defined was not the syndrome he may have had.

The early 2000s saw DNA testing on hair samples and bones samples that proved inconclusive due to the influence of preservation techniques. Professor Richard Trembath, vice-principal for health at Queen Mary University of London, and the custodian of Merrick's body explains the problem.

"The skeleton, which is well over a hundred years old now, is actually very clean. This represents a significant problem. On a number of occasions over the years the skeleton has been bleached during the preservation process. Bleach is not a good chemical to expose DNA to. It gives us an added problem in trying to extract sufficient quantities of DNA in order to undertake sequencing."

Currently, Dr Michael Simpson from King's College London is tackling the problem of extracting useful DNA from Merrick's bones.He is working on new techniques of DNA extraction from sample bones of the same age that have been bleached.

The hope is that new techniques can verify exactly what syndrome/s Merrick had and possibly discover a well documented case where the patient suffered from two in dependant syndromes.

'Ask a Slave' Comedy Series

Azie Mira Dungey has created a web series based upon the questions she was asked playing George Washington's slave housemaid at a popular U.S. historical recreation site. The videos are hilarious on many levels. Of course you get stupid questions from the public, but Azie is quite hilarious and cutting in her responses.

Ask a Slave Website

"When the Saints Go Marching In" Danny Kaye and Louis Armstrong

A little Friday evening cheer for everyone.