Pompeii update
Pompeii: The Pompeia at Saratoga Springs is a restored version of the House of Pansa, which was destroyed by the eruption of Vesuvius in AD 79. This photo is from 1889!
Courtesy Cornell University Library My wife often relates to friends that the Pompeii exhibit at the Science Museum Of Minnesota was her favorite. Buried in A.D. 79 by a volcano's eruption, the secrets of Pompeii remained under 20 ft of ash until discovered in 1748. Since then about two-thirds of the city has been exposed.
What many people think about when you ask them about Pompeii, is a city frozen in time when it was suddenly buried.
Cambridge University's Mary Beard, author of The Fires of Vesuvius: Pompeii Lost and Found says that,
"The ground trembled for weeks beforehand. Only the infirm, the stupid and the optimists stayed."
Rather than a city frozen in time, as scholars have described Pompeii, it was an emptied disaster scene, goods removed and doors locked, when Vesuvius covered the town with ash.
Pompeii preserved the best of the best
What impressed me about the the Pompeii exhibit was the architecture, the interior designs, and the art objects. Pompeii was where the richest, most powerful Roman elite set up summer homes which became like stage creations, re-creating Greek art and Macedonian palaces to show off their status among their peers.
What remains to be uncovered?
What might be found under the remaining yet uncovered ruins. According to architectural historian Thomas Howe of Southwestern University in Georgetown, Texas:
Still buried under Vesuvius' cooled lava are parts of both Pompeii and Herculaneum; Oplontis, a villa that might have belonged to the emperor Nero's wife; and Stabiae, a site that Howe says is "the largest concentration of excellently preserved enormous Roman villas in the entire Mediterranean world."
We are lucky that some artifacts are still buried
I think it fortunate that maybe some of the best might be uncovered last. Once exposed, the "ruins quickly become ruined". Weather, weeds, tourists, and looters take a drastic tole upon the beautiful artifacts. The Italian government last year declared a state of emergency to speed preservation efforts at the 109-acre ruin. Rather than starting new excavations at Pompeii and nearby sites, Pompeii superintendent, Pietro Giovanni Guzzo, has concentrated on conservation.
Read "Blogging Pompeii"
Thanks to Google translate, you can keep up with what is going on. The web site Blogging Pompeii is:
... for all those who work on Pompeii and the other archaeological sites of the Bay of Naples. Here we share news and information about Pompeii and the other sites, and we discuss current research. Here we share news and information about Pompeii and the other sites, and we discuss current research.
Learn more about Pompeii
- Digging deeper: Archaeologists race to show Pompeii daily life USA Today
- Pompeii exhibit at the Getty Museum
- Pompeii and the Roman Villa Los Angeles County Museum of Art
Tags : More Fun than Screwing in a Light Bulb
Tired of being told over and over again to recycle or to buy compact fluorescent bulbs? Conserving energy and reducing waste is important, but it's not always the most exciting way to help the planet. Or is it...?
This Earth Day you can combat your boredom and reduce your carbon footprint with one of these cool Do-It-Yourself projects from the website Instructables. Some are harder than others, but all of them are possible with a little time and elbow grease.
-Recycle old computer parts and keep them out of the landfill
-Turn an ordinary exercise bike into an energy bike
-Plant a garden...no green space required!
-Make a water retaining and filtering 'Rain Garden'
-Collect and reuse water with a rain barrel
-Build a double decker drum composter
-Make a five dollar solar thermal water heater
-Build this quick and easy bike trailer
-Make a boat out of recyclables and trash
-Use heat from your television or computer monitor to dry food
-Recycle water bottles into an algae bioreactor
Got other Earth Day project ideas? Share them here! Or better yet, upload your own instructions to the Instructables website and help other people have a fun and functional Earth Day everyday!
White-Tails in the CIty
Courtesy mickipicki For wildlife biologists, most concerns about animal populations revolve around unnatural declines. Due to things like human development, habitat loss, climate change, pollutants and diseases that make animals sick, many wildlife populations are disappearing at an alarming rate.
Some species, however, are undergoing steep increases in population, causing headaches for humans. The recent crash of US Airways flight 1549 due to a bird strike is one extreme example.
Not surprisingly, most of the perceived problems resulting from animal population growth are coming from urban and suburban areas. Scientists are looking for ways to control the booming populations of deer, geese, pigeons and other species that have adapted to the changes humans have made to the environment. Since hunting or trapping is offensive to so many people, biologists are looking for new solutions and think that they may have found one in wildlife birth control.
At the National Wildlife Research Center in Fort Collins, Colorado, biologists have developed a one-a-day contraceptive pill for geese and pigeons, and are working on a one-time injectable contraceptive for white-tailed deer. These wildlife birth control methods work on the same principal as human birth control, disrupting the animal's reproductive cycle or preventing fertilization from occurring.
The whole issue of wildlife population control brings up an interesting paradox. People love animals and nature, or at least, they love the idea of animals and nature as portrayed by the folks at Disney. People also love their yards and gardens, their pets and cars and airplanes, all of which provide ample opportunity for conflict with our furry and feathered friends.
It's worth remembering that many of the animals we consider pests today were once hunted to near extinction, and that it was the efforts of conservation biologists, along with hunters and fisherpeople, that helped to bring back many of these iconic species.
So, is birth control for Bambi really the answer? I'm not sure, though I do have lots of questions, including whether this kind of animal birth control will contribute to the already harmful effects that hormones found in human birth control are having on the environment.
Source: Popular Science
Seafood watch
Courtesy Monterey Bay AquariumI ran into some folks from the Monterey Bay Aquarium today and learned about their Seafood Watch program - its impressive, and helpful.
Their website contains the most current information on sustainable seafood choices available in different regions of the U.S. The guides can both be viewed on line and also can be downloaded in a pocket-size version.
The site contains a lot of other useful information on how you can be an advocate for ocean conservation, as well as background on what the conservation issues are that face our oceans.
Check out the website and the seafood watch guides - its interesting and a useful way to stay informed on how to make educated choices.
Crazed wolf man looses mooses
in Scientific Enterprise, Interdependence of Life, and Biological Populations Change Over Time
Just a crazed wolf man: Looking a little more crazed than usual, it should be said. He had a long night.
Courtesy Miguel Ariel Contreras Drake-McLaughlinI’m trying a little bit of a new format out here for Buzz posts, so bear with me. If it’s successful, my soft fingers will be saved much harmful typing, and science news can be enjoyed like a blockbuster preview, or maybe a musical montage. And so…
“Scotland…”
“Multi-millionaire Paul Lister…the son of the founder of a UK furniture retailer…”
“‘I am not just some crazed wolf man.’”
“Hulda and Hercules…a $31,630 pair of moose…now roam alongside newly released wild boar.”
“‘It’s not about conservation…it’s about restoration.’”
“If bears and wolves were introduced, business…would increase tenfold.”
“‘I am not just some crazed wolf man.’”
“Farmers, ramblers and neighboring landowners remain skeptical…of wolves.”
“‘It’s almost like a scientific experiment.’”
“Control the deer population…expensive culling…trampling of saplings.”
“A historical character called the Wolf of Badenoch…a highland clan chieftain…a raider…a rampager.”
“‘I am not just some crazed wolf man.’”
“Proposed reintroduction of the beaver.”
“‘It would probably run away if you came upon it.’”
“Wolves…complicated and costly…killed livestock…wolf population can multiply and spread rapidly.”
(If scientists don’t blow it up first.)
Farmers in Brazil have traditionally cut down large swaths of rain forest to plant cacao trees – the source of chocolate. But these high-yield plantations ravaged the rain forest, depleted the land, and suffered numerous outbreaks of disease. A new method of planting, called cabruca, plants cacao trees right inside the rain forest itself. Only a few rain forest tress are cut down – the forest itself remains intact. The forest nourishes the cacao trees and protects them from plantation diseases. And while the amount of chocolate grown in this manner is smaller than can be grown on a plantation, the farmers can make up the difference by charging a higher price for “environmentally friendly chocolate.”
Rather than trying to evict people from India’s Nagarjuna Sagar national park, rangers are working with villagers, farmers and herders to get them to help protect the forest’s vanishing tigers. By showing the people the importance of the forest to their livelihoods, they take steps to protect is from poachers and wood cutters.
Happy Birthday, Rachel Carson
in Chemical Reactions, Interdependence of Life, Historic Perspectives, and Flow of Matter and Energy
Rachel Carson, inspiration for the modern environmental movement: Photo from US Fish & Wildlife Service
Today is the 100th anniversary of the birth of Rachel Carson, whom many credit as the inspiration for the modern environmental movement. Her 1962 book Silent Spring warned the world of the dangers of environmental degradation, especially due to the overuse of chemical pesticides. The book stirred millions of people worldwide to take action. In the United States, we saw the passage of the Clean Air Act, the Endangered Species Act, and the establishment of the Environmental Protection Agency – all the result of the movement Carson inspired.
Today, our air and water are cleaner thanks to these actions, and dangerous chemicals are more closely regulated. But some people are re-evaluating Carson’s legacy, especially with regards to the pesticide DDT. Carson explained how insects absorbed the poisonous chemical. Birds which ate enough insects often died themselves, or would have trouble hatching eggs. Carson promoted restricting the use of DDT.
However, some of her followers went further, pushing for a total ban of DDT in many countries. Unfortunately, DDT is extremely effective at killing mosquitoes that spread malaria – a disease that kills some one million people each year. Responsible, limited use of DDT could save millions of lives.
(Science Buzz has discussed malaria here and here,and the possible effects of preventative measures such as mosquito nets, drugs, and genetic engineering.)
Carson’s legacy reminds us not only of the importance of protecting our environment, but also that one person can have a tremendous impact. It also reminds us that even the best ideas can have unintended consequences, and any major changes need to be undertaken in a balanced, rational and flexible manner.
Photo from US Fish & Wildlife Service
Please contact us if you have questions about the rights on this image.
Awwww, cuuuute!: Photogenic species get more attention from conservation groups than ugly ones do. Photo NSF.
Giant pandas. Bald eagles. Sea turtles. Certain animals elicit a strong emotional response from people. Conservation efforts focused on these “charismatic megafauna” often meet with success.
But there are other endangered species as well. The red rat snake. The white wartyback mussel. The dromedary jumping slug. These creatures all perform important ecological services. But it’s a lot harder to get people excited about saving a slug.
David Stokes, a biologist at the University of Washington, studied popular penguin books and found that species with a little bit of color in their plumage get a disproportionate amount of attention, even though the plain black-and-white ones may be more endangered.
Stokes feels conservation groups need to figure out what features of an animal catch our attention, and then use that to help the less-photogenic animals. Emphasizing beautiful color might help some of the “ugly” species I listed above.
For a slide show on Stokes’ work, go here.
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