Camerino, 22 ottobre, con inizio alle ore 16.00 Università di Camerino Polo museale. E’ un interessante workshop sulla mummia di Similaun dal titolo “Ötzi: l’uomo venuto dal ghiaccio”. All’incontro, promosso dal Polo Museale dell’Università di Camerino nell’ambito della mostra “Sulla rotta del Beagle, in viaggio con Darwin alla scoperta della teoria evolutiva”, parteciperanno come relatori il Prof. Franco Ugo Rollo, docente della Facoltà di Scienze e Tecnologie Unicam, il Prof. Albert Zink e il dott. Marco Samadelli di EURAC, il Museo Archeologico dell’Alto Adige di Bolzano.  La mummia del Similaun, nota anche come Ötzi, è un reperto antropologico scoperto il 19 settembre 1991 sulle Alpi Venoste (ghiacciaio di Similaun) al confine fra Italia e la Valle del Tirolo Austriaco Ötztal. Si tratta del corpo di un essere umano di sesso maschile conservatosi grazie alle particolari condizioni climatiche prodottesi all’interno del ghiacciaio.   La mummia è stata oggetto di approfondite ricerche da parte del Prof. Rollo, che ritiene che probabilmente Ötzi possa rappresentare il “capolinea” di un gruppo di esseri umani estinti. In seguito ad analisi sul DNA mitocondriale del corpo mummificato, è risultato, infatti, che il ceppo genetico dell’uomo di Similaun risulta non più presente a livello mondiale.  L’incontro è rivolto a studenti universitari e degli istituti superiori, nonché alla cittadinanza e a quanti sono interessati ad approfondire la conoscenza di questo particolarissimo argomento.

Nach dem Wahldebakel der SPÖ bei den Landtagswahlen in Oberösterreich ist der langjährige Landesparteichef, Erich Haider, zurückgetreten. “Mit den Beliebtheitswerten von Gebärmutterhalskrebs kann man einfach keine Wahl gewinnen”, erklärt ein Politologe. Sein Nachfolger ist Josef Ackerl, ein junger und dynamischer Poliker, der die Landespartei neu aufstellen soll. Experten sind jedoch skeptisch, ob der 196 – jährige Ackerl dieser Aufgabe tatsächlich gewachsen ist. “Die SPÖ versucht mit Leichengeruch frischen Wind in die Partei zu bringen. Ob das wirklich gelingt, wage ich zu bezweifeln”, meint etwa ein Meinungsforscher.

Josef Ackerl bei einer Pressekonferenz

Die eigene Partei ist jedoch durchaus überzeugt von Ackerl. “Klar, er hat schon mehrere Schlaganfälle hinter sich und kann ohne Windeln nicht mehr das Haus verlassen aber wir zählen trotzdem auf ihn”, meint ein Parteikollege aus OÖ. “Mit Ackerl können wir vor allem Dialyse-Patienten und Scheintote ansprechen, diese Wählergruppen darf man nicht unterschätzen”, so das Parteimitglied weiter. Ackerl selbst hat übrigens große Pläne: In zwanzig Jahren möchte er sich zur Wahl des Bundespräsidenten aufstellen lassen. “Eigentlich wollte ich ja schon nächstes Jahr kandidieren aber ich habe ja noch viel Zeit!”, zeigt sich Ackerl optimistisch.

A fascinating element of the culture, if little known outside of academic circles, the ayllu system is a primarily a kinship-based political organization that formed the basis of the Inca society before, during and after the Spanish colonial period of the 16th and 17th centuries AD.
Isbell believes that the ayllu system–at the moment of Spanish conquest–is best thought of as a group of people who shared a (not necessarily genetic) ancestor, and a resource or set of resources (land, buildings, water access, material goods, information), as a natural inheritance from the ancestor.
. Each ayllu existed as a social group, with a shared communal resource. Everybody in the group claimed descendancy from a common ancestor, and the closer related you were to the ancestor, the higher status you had in the ayllu.
What the whole ayllu system revolved around, says Isbell, was the ancestor–or to be precise, the ancestor’s Mummy, who was preserved and kept for various ceremonies, brought out and feted on a regular basis. Isbell’s primary argument concerns the dating of the creation of the ayllu; some researchers believe that the ayllu system is very ancient indeed, but Isbell uses material evidence for the ancestor worship–in the evolving form of open sepulchers–to suggest that the ayllu system developed rather late in the sequence. I think, speaking as a nonspecialist, that the interesting part of the book is not whether the ayllu system is ancient or not, so much as the development of the argument itself, and the ultimate realization that “respect for the dead” has about as many meanings and methods as there are people and cultures in the world.
Don’t be scared off from this highly informative book by the word “postprocessual” in the subtitle. The glimpse that Mummies and Mortuary Monuments provide into the Inca world of 15th and 16th century Peru is well worth it.

El Museo Arqueológico Regional -MAR- de la Comunidad celebrará los sábados del 5 de septiembre al 21 de noviembre, el taller infantil ‘La Patrulla de Investigadores de Ötzi’, destinado a niños con edades comprendidas entre los 5 y los 11 años, como complemento de la exposición temporal Ötzi, el hombre que vino del hielo, que estará en Alcalá de Henares hasta el próximo 22 de noviembre.

El taller consiste en una gymcana que ofrece la posibilidad de realizar un recorrido por la exposición guiado por un educador/monitor -que representa una especie de jefe de Policía que entrena a patrullas de jóvenes, interesados en reconocer y respetar los rastros de Edad del Cobre- que irá presentando y esclareciendo los diversos dilemas que aparecerán durante este recorrido por el pasado.

Los talleres se celebrarán en el Museo Arqueológico Regional (Plaza de las Bernardas, s/n -Alcalá de Henares) los sábados del 5 de septiembre al 21 de noviembre en horario de 12:00 a 13:00 horas. Están previstos para grupos de niños de entre 5-7 años y 8-11 años, alternando cada semana un grupo de edad. La inscripción es gratuita y mediante reserva en el teléfono 91 879 66 66, hasta completar el cupo de 20 participantes por taller y día.

Fuente: www.lacallemayor.net

Ice Man PhotoScan

This site offers the visitor a number of ways to get up-close and extremely personal with Otzi.

Otzi is the naturally mummified remains of a man from about 3300 BCE. The mummy was found in the Fall of 1991 on the border between Austria and Italy. The name Otzi comes from Ötztal (Ötz valley), the region in which he was discovered. He is Europe’s oldest natural human mummy.

The remains are very fragile and must be kept in very specific conditions. This allows only a few select people to explore the remains. Luckily we live in a technological age that allows us unprecedented access.

losung

woher des wegs
bist du einer von diesen
bist du einer von jenen
bist du was weiß ich wer
irgendwo gehörst du hin
wie es schien
so eine generation
das ist’s ja schon
heut’ wie einst
einst wie heut’
nichts ist wer
halt nur zur wehr
dreiunddreißig in bewegung
fünfundvierzig ach nein
ach ja es war die nazizeit
im nazideutschland
ganz entsetzlich
leben gegeben
für demokratie
kommt’s aus ötzis mund
marinerichter
der letzten und der ersten stund’
im widerstand
zum erschießen
mit name unbekannt

horst nägele

Se qualcuno là fuori se lo stesse chiedendo, esistono bolzanini cui della mummia del Similaun frega assai poco. Uno sta scrivendo questo post.

L’hanno scoperto che andavo in terza o quarta elementare. Corredato alla passione per “Balla coi lupi” e “Mato grosso” della mia maestra, l’ho incasellato nella categoria “elementi della natura di cui non potrebbe fregarmene di meno”.

Non mi pronuncio sulla supposta maledizione che perseguita chi ha a che fare con il corpo (non è di certo questo il motivo che mi ha portato ad evitare sistematicamente la visita), spezzo invece una lancia in favore della famiglia dello scopritore e il loro compenso. Magari un milione di euro era un po’ troppo, ma 150 mila ci stanno dai. Non si può dire non si sia guadagnato qualcosa. Poi magari si smette di parlarne.

Mummia del Similaun ricompensa agli scopritori – cronaca – Repubblica.it .

A short biography of Gordon Nordstromm:

Gordon, known to the æther realm as The Red Rat, is a practicing psychic adept, Hengemage and Eco-Alchemist. Rising to fame in 2005 with his experiment to turn butter into frogs, Gordon has been challenging conventional wisdom at every turn with his keen insight and knowledge of supernatural realms.

At present, Gordon acts as an unofficial psychic stabilizer for the University of Adelaide,  routing the institution’s massive psychic traffic through his own sizeable psyche, colander like in his attempt to rid the University of evil. For those young people interested in contacting Gordon for help, electro-mail him at; gordon@detrange.com.

Among his many claims to fame, Gordon was conceived at Stone Henge in 1984 and after his birth, quickly developed an expertise in Hengemagic. Immediately after being born, Gordon shocked and appalled his Russian midwife with ominous predictions of the fall of the Soviet Union. To his parents’ surprise, this came to pass, validating Gordon’s abilities.

Gordon’s true, latent abilities remained undiscovered until 1992 when he was attacked and pursued by a demonically possessed lawnmower. After a lengthy chase through the streets of Bexley, Gordon plunged into the Thames to escape. It was there that Gordon encountered his spirit-guide, the recently discovered ice-man Ötzi. Ötzi awakened Gordon to his psychic potential whilst underwater, and retains partial control of the left side of Gordon’s body.

Gordon Nordstromm is the satirical creation of Brendan Koldits and Daniel Carabellese. A semi-regular Psychic advice column authored by ‘Gordon’ has appeared twice in Adelaide Uni’s student magazine On Dit and more will hopefully be published in the future. You can help the authors (please!) by writing to Gordon with genuine life issues faced by young people, to be addressed with the care and diligence befitting a psychic master.

Five things humans no longer need – Vestigial organs are parts of the body that once had a function but are now more-or-less useless. Probably the most famous example is the appendix, though it is now an open question whether the appendix is really vestigial. The idea that we are carrying around useless relics of our evolutionary past has long fascinated scientists and laypeople alike. (New Scientist)

Dinosaur-Bird Link: Ancient Proteins Preserved In Soft Tissue From 80 Million-Year-Old Hadrosaur — Ancient protein dating back 80 million years to the Cretaceous geologic period has been preserved in bone fragments and soft tissues of a hadrosaur, or duck-billed dinosaur, according to a study in the May 1 issue of Science. (ScienceDaily)

Book review: Lamarck’s Evolution — Before Darwin, Jean-Baptiste de Lamarck created the first theory of evolution, an idea so powerful it promised to become the great unifying force of science. Instead, for two hundred years Lamarck’s grand idea polarised the scientific establishment and became a byword for discredited beliefs…until, on the eve of his bicentenary, science finally caught up and proved him right.

http://lamarcksevolution.com/

CSIRAC: Australia’s first computer

http://www.csiro.au/science/ps4f.html

http://flyingcolours.museum.vic.gov.au/csirac/

http://www.csse.unimelb.edu.au/dept/about/csirac/ (including a link to a CSIRAC Emulator)

Iceman photoscan website – Otzi, a Stone Age warrior frozen in an icy tomb for 5,300 years, can now be viewed in astonishing detail thanks to a new website. The Iceman photoscan project took 150,000 high definition images of the perfectly preserved mummy from 12 different angles, which the researchers loaded onto the new website. (Daily Mail)

http://www.icemanphotoscan.eu/

————————————————————–
Direct podcast download: podcast coming soon….

Online il nuovo sito Iceman photoscan su quale trovare tutte le foto raccolte dagli scienziati di Ötzi, l’essere umano morto intorno al 3300 A.C. il cui corpo mummificato è stato scoperto nel ghiacciaio alpino di Schnalstal al confine fra Italia e Austria nel 1991. Il sito si presenta come una mappa online che permette agli utenti di zoommare sulle foto per osservare la mummia da ogni angolo possibile e fino al dettaglio del millimetro

Så havde jeg tid til at blogge igen – fryder mig over at voldtrykke på de små uskyldige taster, selvom det dog er en anden computer jeg skriver fra! En lenovo ideapad S10e  – for dødelige ser den sådan her ud:

Fin lille sag, ikke? Nå, men bruger den nu, fordi jeg havde lyst; fantastisk begrundelse, ikke sandt?

Prøverne i dag og i går gik som forventet – nemt. Ikke for at virke arrogant. Og så huskede jeg hvad en tangent var – pavestolt. Læseprøven og diktat gik som det plejer, og jeg forstår virkelig ikke, hvad al den hurlumhej omkring sværhedsgraden går ud på – jeg kunne sagtens løse læseprøven på en halv time – desuden nytter det ikke noget at klage nu, for prøven er jo overstået! Det er dansk stil i morgen, og faktisk glæder jeg mig: nu er jeg parat til at vise mit værd overfor dansklærer og censor; 10 i årskarakter, tsk. Gud hvor jeg elsker mit arrogante jeg. Udover skole, så er jeg kommet i kontakt med Emil Waagensen fra trendmagazine  - har sendt mit første indlæg, så jeg håber virkelig på at få lov til at skrive, det ville være så stor en mulighed i min fremtidige karriere. *krydser fingre*

Time for a new blog series!

Let’s get this going right with Exhibit A:
CANNED WHOLE CHICKEN.

Wow, sounds like a real timesaver! And it looks pretty good on the label, hey? Let’s crank open that can and see.

Hey look, schmaltz! (Excuse me, did you say something? Oh you were just retching quietly with your mouth shut? Sorry, my bad.)
Let’s birth this bird from its tin canal.

Ooh, it comes with a nice clear gristle jelly, I didn’t see that little extra on the label. It’s sure to be flavourful.
I think it’s time to brown up this bird in a nice warm oven.

Note that this poor carcass has been cooked not once but twice and still can’t manage to get a decent colour on. Also, is it just me, or does this chicken bear an uncomfortable resemblance to Ötzi the Iceman?
(Too soon?)

If you want to know more about this chicken (and who wouldn’t, really) Tracy’s full story (and a link to lots more great photos) is here.

Also, unbelievably, a British man with terrible judgement ate a canned chicken that was 50 years old… and he lived!
Via Metafilter.

A new frozen delight was granted to the archaeological community a couple years ago. Its discovery resurfaced in the media two years later, due to speculation that the frozen discovery could yield the key to resurrecting Ice Age giants.

Attempts to clone prehistoric animals are not new. This is a mouse embryo that was implanted with Tasmanian tiger DNA. Proof that the clone did exhibit some of the tiger’s genetic information can be seen due to a colored dye that differentiates between the two kinds of DNA. 

The baby mammoth who was named Lyuba was dated to have died about 40,000 years ago due to suffocation and drowning after falling into a rushing river. The fact that the body was so well preserved provided scientists with several answers about how these Ice Age elephants used to live. Samples from her teeth and trunk indicated her age while those from her intestines and other organs indicated what her diet was mainly composed of. 

Baby Mammoth

This discovery reminded me of when Ötzi was discovered in 1991, and was dated to have lived around 5300 years ago. Not only did his body reveal clues to how and where he lived (through analysis of his skin, teeth, and organs) but the items he was carrying also allowed scientists to glimpse into the economic and cultural world Ötzi was a part of. 

Ötzi

“Unser” Ötzi schafft es immer wieder! Sogar einen eigenen Kongress für Mumienforscher organisierte man in den vergangenen Tagen, genauer gesagt vom 19. bis 22. März. 140 Mumienforscher waren in Bozen und genossen die vielen Mumien aus aller Welt, die zur Zeit im Archäologiemuseum in Bozen neben Ötzi ausgestellt werden. Sie diskutierten und informierten sich durch mehr als 80 Vorträge und Poster Präsentationen über den Stand der Dinge im Bereich der Mumienforschung. Laut EURAC sei dies der erste Mumienkongress weltweit gewesen.

Screenshot der Museumsseite

Im Archäologie-Museum in Bozen (Südtirol/Trentino) wird es gruselig. Ab sofort zeigt das Haus neben seinem Stammbewohner Ötzi 60 weitere Mumien sowie viele Grabbeigaben und Begleitfunde. Titel der Schau: “Mumien. Der Traum vom ewigen Leben”. Die Ausstellung war 2007 bereits (ohne Gletschermann Ötzi) unter diesem Titel in Mannheim zu sehen.

Sie soll “Einblicke in das weltweite Phänomen der Mumifizierung bei Menschen und Tieren” bieten. Forschungsergebnisse der Anthropologie, Biochemie, Genetik, Pathologie, Medizin und anderer Disziplinen sollen Aufschlüsse über Lebensumstände, Herkunft, Ernährungsgewohnheiten und Krankheiten der präparierten verstorbenen liefern.

Die Sonderausstellung ist bis zum 25. Oktober 2009 in Bozen zu sehen.

We all know and love Ötzi, don’t we? If you don’t, READ THIS FIRST.

Hey, it's just a mummy!

Good.

Now we’re all up-to date. Then we can all head off to this amazingly cool (no pun intended) website and have a closer look at Ötzi. Wow…

By some coincidence (did I mention they don’t exist?! Ah yeah I did. Good. Keep that in mind – always) we are going to visit the Body Worlds exhibition in London this upcoming weekend and this has a similar flavour to it. More on that later. Maybe. Given my lack of time to write on this blog, nothing is certain these days…

Nunca é tarde

08/03/2009 07h00 – Por: UOL Notícias

Anísio Rodrigues Alves, baiano de 116 anos, com 19 filhos e muita história para contar, procura uma nova namorada

Na falta de fotos do Seu Anísio, uma foto de Ötzi, passando por seu check up semestral, no qual os médicos constataram que ele continua morto.

Imagini de înaltă rezoluţie cu corpul congelat, vechi de aproximativ 5.300 de ani, al unui bărbat din epoca de piatră botezat Otzi de specialiştii germani care l-au descoperit, sunt disponibile online, informează dailymail.co.uk.

Corpul lui Otzi a fost scanat, specialiştii realizând, din 12 unghiuri, aproximativ 150.000 de imagini de înaltă definiţie ale mumiei perfect conservate. Fotografiile sunt disponibile pe adresa www.icemanphotoscan.eu.

Utilizatorii pot să mărească imaginile pentru a vedea mumia în cele mai mici detalii, de ordinul milimetrilor. Mumia poate fi, de asemenea, văzută în 3D, utilizatorii putând astfel admira şi tatuajele deosebite ale războinicului, despre care specialiştii spun că ar fi semnele unei forme de acupunctură.

Botezat Otzi, vânătorul preistoric a fost descoperit conservat în gheaţă de nişte turişti germani, în 1991, în munţii Alpi, la graniţa dintre Italia şi Austria. Corpul era îmbrăcat cu haine din blană, sandale din piele şi purta un arc, săgeţi şi un topor din cupru. Cercetătorii cred că vânătorul avea în jur de 45 de ani, o înălţime de 1,66 centimetri şi aproximativ 50 de kilograme. Se pare că vânătorul a murit din cauza epuizării fizice şi a unei răni vechi netratate.

Estos días he hablado en mis clases de “Introducción a la medicina” de Ötzi, conocido también como Iceman o el “Hombre de hielo”. Lo he utilizado como un ejemplo excelente de los datos que pueden obtenerse de los restos humanos de la Prehistoria. Me es de gran utilidad para el tema de la Paleopatología, así como para el de los Sistemas médicos de este periodo.

Precisamente ayer Ötzi regresaba a los medios de comunicación. Varios especialistas han trabajado muchas horas a 6º bajo cero (temperatura a la que se conserva) para ofrecernos un Photoscan elaborado con más de ochocientas imágenes. Se han tomado fotos macro con cámaras digitales de alta resolución. La iluminación procedía de flashes que apenas emiten calor. La imágenes se tomaron desde doce ángulos distintos que cubren cualquier zona.

Las imágenes resultantes pueden verse en el sitio web Iceman Photoscan, donde podemos recorrer el cuerpo de Ötzi milímetro a milímetro y con unas tonalidades de color muy reales. El sistema de navegación es el mismo que el que utiliza Google Maps, por lo que a casi nadie le resultará difícil utilizarlo.

Se dedica un apartado especial al tema de los tatuajes de Ötzi, que podemos contemplar como si delante lo tuviéramos. Por último, con unas gafas adecuadas, rojas y azules, vemos al Hombre de hielo en tres dimensiones.

Ayer recomendé a mis estudiantes que vieran el sitio web. Espero que, además, busquen información sobre su historia. La hay en abundancia. Fue hallado en 1991 y se conserva en el Museo de Arqueología del Tirol Sur (Italia).

Technorati Tags: Ötzi, Hombre de hielo, Photoscan, Historia de la medicina, Prehistoria