Re -Train Your Brain To Happiness: March 2014

March 24, 2014

Colossal Pharaoh Statues of Amenhotep III Found in Egypt’s Temple City Luxor

ARCHAEOLOGISTS have unveiled two colossal statues of Pharaoh Amenhotep III in Egypt's famed temple city of Luxor, adding to an existing pair of world-renowned tourist attractions.

The two monoliths in red quartzite were raised at what European and Egyptian archaeologists said were their original sites in the funerary temple of the king, on the west bank of the Nile.

The temple is already famous for its existing 3400-year-old Memnon colossi — twin statues of Amenhotep III whose reign archaeologists say marked the political and cultural zenith of ancient Egyptian civilisation.

“The world until now knew two Memnon colossi, but from today it will know four colossi of Amenhotep III,” said German-Armenian archaeologist Hourig Sourouzian, who heads the project to conserve the Amenhotep III temple.

The existing two statues, both showing the pharaoh seated, are known across the globe.

The two restored additions have weathered severe damage for centuries, Ms Sourouzian said.

“The statues had lain in pieces for centuries in the fields, damaged by destructive forces of nature like earthquake, and later by irrigation water, salt, encroachment and vandalism,” she said, as behind her excavators and local villagers washed pieces of artefacts and statues unearthed over the past months.

“This beautiful temple still has enough for us to study and conserve.”

One of the “new” statues — its body weighing 250 tonnes — again depicts the pharaoh seated, hands resting on his knees.

It is 11.5 metres tall, with a base 1.5 metres high and 3.6 metres wide.

Archaeologists said with its now missing double crown, the original statue would have reached a height of 13.5 metres and weighed 450 tonnes.

The king is depicted wearing a royal pleated kilt held at the waist by a large belt decorated with zigzag lines.

Amenhotep III statue in Egypt's temple city of Luxor. Source: AFP

With many thanks to The Australian

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March 23, 2014

"Chicken From Hell’ Dinosaur Gets A Proper Name

IT’S called the chicken from hell: a birdlike dinosaur some 2.1 metres tall that weighed around 225kg when it roamed western North America on its long, slender hind legs.

The beast got its nickname long ago at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History in Pittsburgh, where a replica of its skeleton has been on display for a decade.

But the species has had no scientific name. Until now.

The creature was formally introduced to the scientific community as scientists published a description and analysis of its anatomy, and finally bestowed a name: Anzu wyliei. The moniker comes from a mythological feathered demon plus the name of a Carnegie museum trustee's grandson.

The analysis, in the journal PLoS One, concludes that Anzu belongs to a group of dinosaurs that scientists knew little about, because they had recovered only fragmentary remains from its members. In contrast, the three specimens of Anzu from North and South Dakota that were included in the analysis collectively supply a nearly complete skeleton, said Matthew Lamanna of the Carnegie museum.

Anzu “reveals the anatomy of these creatures almost from head to toe,” said Lamanna, lead author of the new paper.

The dinosaur lived some 66 million to 68 million years ago in a hot and humid landscape, rather like the Louisiana bayou, he said. It ate plants and maybe small animals when it wasn't fleeing from a hungry and much bigger T. rex, he said.

When it came to naming the creature, why not go with a spiffed-up version of “chicken from hell?”

That was actually the first choice, Mr Lamanna said. But it turns out the phrase isn't nearly as catchy in Latin or Greek.

“All the names we came up with were just ridiculously unpronounceable,” he said.

So “I thought that if I couldn't come up with a name that literally meant 'chicken from hell,' I could at least name it 'feathered demon.' ”

An Illustration showing the dinosaur Anzu wyliei, nicknamed the “chicken from hell”. Source: AP

Picture and Story with thank to The Australian (Pay Wall)

From You Tube:

Scientists in the US have announced the discovery of a new species of dinosaur. The fossils offer further clues to how the dinosaurs became extinct 66 million years ago.

Anzu wyliei is a strange bird-like creature that has a bony crest on top of a beaky head and a long tail like a lizard. It was identified from the partial remains of three skeletons collected in North and South Dakota.

Join the BBC's Jane O'Brien as she speaks with Hans Sues, the Curator of the National Museum of Natural History.

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March 19, 2014

Rock-hewn Tombs From Ancient Egypt Discovered In Aswan

East Aswan inhabitants have accidentally discovered rock-hewn tombs which exhibit a range of monuments dating from the prehistoric period on Elephantine, an island in the Nile River in northern Nubia.

Artifacts found at the site appear to date as far back as the prehistoric period and also contain remnants from the Greco-Roman era, Al Ahram reported Tuesday.

Minister of Antiquities Mohammad Ibrahim said Monday that early studies of the paintings found within the rock-hewn tombs, or tombs made from a single block of stone, dated back to the New Kingdom era between 16th and 11th century BC.

In Ancient Egypt, Elephantine Island was known as Abu or Yebu and stood at the border between Egypt and Nubia. Today, the modern city of Aswan sits in southern Egypt.
Ali El-Asfar, head of the Ancient Egyptian Antiquities section, explains that the first tomb belongs to a top official in Elephantine named User who was a prince of the island during the New Kingdom.

User’s tomb is well decorated with scenes depicting him in different positions with his family and deities. Among the distinguished wall paintings is a scene featuring the deceased wearing leopard fur along with five priests before an offering table, El-Asfar said.

Head of Aswan monuments Nasr Salama said that the second tomb belongs to Ba-Nefer, supervisor of the gods' priests of Elephantine. His tomb is also engraved with scenes depicting him in different positions with his family and deities.

The third tomb belongs to the holder of the stamps of Upper Egypt and Elephantine ruler Amenhotep, while the fourth one belongs to Elephantine ruler User Wadjat.

Salama told Ahram Online that the tomb of Amenhotep has a distinguished façade decorated with hieroglyphic texts without any scenes. Its inner walls are decorated with scenes depicting the deceased with his wife, the purification priest and the field scribe.

Ibrahim said that these tombs are under restoration in order to open them to tourists.
With thanks to Al Arabiya News

March 17, 2014

Google’s Armchair Ride Through The Grand Canyon

If you ever get a chance to visit the Grand Canyon - do it! It's a magical experience!

GOOGLE has taken its all-seeing eyes on a trip that few experience: the Colorado River through America’s Grand Canyon.

The search giant partnered with the advocacy group American Rivers to showcase views of nearly 500km of whitewater rapids, towering red canyon walls, and rich geological history.

The 360-degree views that went live in Google’s Street View map option once were reserved largely for rafters who were lucky enough to board a private trip through the remote canyon, or those willing to pay big bucks to navigate its whitewater rapids.

Google project lead Karin Tuxen-Bettman hopes the images educate the public about the US waterway that American Rivers listed as the most endangered in 2013 due to drought and overuse.

"We hope this inspires viewers to take an active interest in preserving it,’’ she said.

Federal officials and environmentalists have been raising alarms recently about demand outstripping supply on the river serving some 40 million people in seven Western states.

The imagery Google captured from Lees Ferry south of Page to Pearce Ferry shows signs of drought in a bathtub ring around Lake Mead, and the impacts of damming the river.

“It’s just a valuable snapshot in time of what the river is like right now,’’ said Amy Kober of American Rivers.

Google used two rosettes of cameras mounted on two rafts to capture the imagery in August and then stitched it together. The crew of nearly 20 people, including guides, spent eight mostly sunny days on the river, but got drenched by rain two of those days.

The company said the river views are the first it has published on Street View from the United States. In 2011, Google mounted its Street View trike on a boat and went up the Rio Negro, a tributary of the Amazon, Tuxen-Bettman said.

The company also has used push carts and snowmobiles to map places where vehicles cannot travel. In late 2012, Google mapped the most popular hiking trails at the Grand Canyon using cameras mounted for the first time on a backpack. Those panoramic views were released in early 2013.

For rafters on the Colorado River, trips can cost anywhere from several hundred dollars to thousands of dollars a person, depending on the length and whether they are private or commercial trips. Grand Canyon National Park limits the number of people who can go on self-guided trips through a highly competitive lottery system and has an annual cap on the number of commercial, motorised trips.

One of the first things virtual visitors might notice is the remoteness of the canyon where rafters spend a few days or nearly a month navigating whitewater rapids, hiking side canyons, snapping photos of waterfalls and endangered species, and savouring the solitude. It’s a place where cellphones don’t work and rafters pack only what they need.

Rich Harter went on his first commercial trip in 1997 and has returned for rafting trips six times since. He generally directs new visitors to the internet to check out videos of rafts flipping over on the river and the commotion that goes along with it. He said he’ll now use Google’s Street View of the Colorado River as another introduction to something that often is indescribable.

“The scale is so immense and the geology is so varied, and the time frame over which the canyon formed is just so long,’’ he said. “How do you describe these things to people that haven’t seen them? You can’t.’’

Top Picture: A frame from Google’s moving time-lapse sequence of images of rafters on the Colorado River in America’s Grand Canyon National Park. Source: AP

Second picture: A frame from Google’s moving time-lapse sequence of images in the Grand Canyon. Source: AP

Bottom Picture: Google’s moving time-lapse sequence of images of rafters on the Colorado River in the Grand Canyon National Park offers a view relatively few get to experience. Source: AP

With many thanks to The Australian (pay wall)

Video: National Geographic

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