7th February
The Medea Game is a really interesting idea which makes you
think, and is
very enjoyable to work through.
'Euripides likes to give a twist to an old myth. Jason was a real man, a great hero, who
had led the Greeks' greatest overseas adventure (this was long before the Trojan War). He'd
married a beautiful and clever princess. But they dont "live happily ever after". Euripides imagines
the couple years later, when Jason is beginning to show symptoms of the male menopause...'
'In this play Euripides boldy portrays normal masculinity in action, with the twist that the
"male" is a woman...'
'Euripides is asking his male audience to reconsider their male fixation with honour -
when pursued by Medea, a foreign woman with who they'd find it especially hard to empathise,
this pursuit apppears dangerous and destructive. With the Athenian democracy voting to go to
war almost every single year, it must be time for men to re-evaluate their traditional outlook...'
'Euripides highlights the way a just cause can lead to injustice. Medea's
grievance against Jason is totally justified. She is in the right. But her
actions in pursuance of that right are indefensible.'
Then check out
the Classics Pages: Women in Greece and Rome.
Medieval English Towns.
'The aim of this site is to provide historical information about cities and
towns in England during the Middle Ages, with particular emphasis on
medieval boroughs of East Anglia and on social, political and constitutional
history. ' Customs and capsule histories of particular towns; interesting
site.
China Shadow Play Institute.
'We are just a group of lovers of this almost extinct chinese
folklore art. We are connected with just the spirit of
"researching, promoting and exchanging" this performing art among
the people all over the world.'
The eSkeletons Project.
'The e-Skeletons Project website enables you to view the bones of a human,
gorilla, and baboon and gather information about them from our osteology
database.'
Amusement Park Physics.
'You've bought your ticket and boarded the roller coaster. Now you're
barreling down the track at 60 miles per hour, taking hairpin turns and
completing death-defying loops. Your heart is in your throat and your
stomach is somewhere near your shoes. The only thing separating you from
total disaster is a safety harness...but are you really in danger?' The
physics of roller coasters, carousels, bumper cars etc. A fun and
informative site.
What is a person? A poem. Via
wood s lot.
Tiananmen Square
Massacre June 4 1989. A photoessay.
'
The remains of a city thought to be the oldest in the Americas, buried
under Peruvian soil since the era of Egypt's pyramids, could be destroyed by
erosion and exposure to the elements if the world community does not rush to
the rescue, archeologists said on Wednesday.'
A piece on an
interesting BBC TV programme about Caral in Peru, possibly the
oldest city in the Americas.
'Caral in Peru hit the headlines in 2001. The site is a thousand years older
than the earliest known civilisation in the Americas and, at 2,627 BC, is as
old as the pyramids of Egypt. Many now believe it is the fabled missing link
of archaeology - a 'mother city'. If so, then these extraordinary findings
could finally answer one of the great questions of archaeology: why did
humans become civilised? '
World Monuments Fund:
Caral.
The
World Monuments Fund
'is a New York-based non-profit dedicated to preserving and protecting endangered
works of historic art and architecture around the world. '
The Fund produces a 'List of 100 Most Endangered Sites'
every year; the website is pretty fab, too.
'
A
horse has given birth to a donkey in a scientific experiment that could
point the way to saving rare breeds and endangered species. '
'Scientists in Denmark
discovered how birds navigate at night by taking them to a planetarium.'
Mobile phone
emissions increase worm fertility.
'The safety of mobile phones is under fresh scrutiny following the discovery
that their emissions have an unexpected effect on living creatures. The
finding throws out the strongest challenge yet to the widely held belief
that heating from mobile phone signals is their only potential threat to
brain cells. '
'
The dream of
teleporting atoms and molecules - and maybe even larger objects - has become
a real possibility for the first time. The advance is thanks to physicists
who have suggested a method that in theory could be used to "entangle"
absolutely any kind of particle. '
'
Biologists at the University of California, San Diego have uncovered the
first genetic evidence that explains how large-scale alterations to body
plans were accomplished during the early evolution of animals...'
'The achievement is a landmark in evolutionary biology, not only because it
shows how new animal body plans could arise from a simple genetic mutation,
but because it effectively answers a major criticism creationists had long
leveled against evolution-the absence of a genetic mechanism that could
permit animals to introduce radical new body designs.'
'
An astonishing development
is changing one of Africa's most remarkable land marks beyond recognition.
The ice cap on Mt Kilimanjaro, one of the few places in the world where ice
and snow can be seen on the Equator, is expected to disappear in the next 12
years. '
Are there other universes?
The Guardian has a
Country Diary. On Wenlock Edge in Shropshire :-
'Here, two small rivulets meet. This is a rarely visited place, with no
remembered name to claim it and only the faintest line of blue on a map. The
trunks of small-leaved lime are covered in polypody fern and moss. It is
dark and quiet except for the sound of migrating water. There is no ease in
loitering here, only a quickening itch to follow. '
Via
Wherever You Are.
Robert Hart's Forest Garden -
a tribute.
'This site is a small celebration of the Forest Garden at Wenlock Edge,
Shropshire on the Welsh Borders, created by Robert Hart, who passed away on
the 7th March, 2000.'
Cheese racing. Via
Pop Culture Junk Mail.
How to live in Seattle
on $800 a month.
Guardian journalist tries living in London on a cleaner's wage.
Via
Metafilter.
EU wrangle adding to the fridge
mountain.
Scientists plan tea ceremony in space.
Tainted
food clampdown call.
'Notable examples in food include a chocolate-covered mouse, a condom and
half a wasp. '
'
UK
exterminators have seen significantly more mice giving poison baits a wide
berth in the past decade, says Richard Strand, executive director of the
British Pest Control Association. '
China's mines blight rural lives.
'Every morning, Zhu Tianzu walks the short distance to the well behind her
house. It is a scene from any village in rural China. '
'Except that the water Mrs Zhu draws from her well is poison, dosed with
deadly heavy metals.'
'
Bitter after being
snubbed for membership in the "Axis of Evil," Libya, China, and Syria today
announced they had formed the "Axis of Just as Evil," which they said would
be way eviler than that stupid Iran-Iraq-North Korea axis President Bush
warned of his State of the Union address. '
6th February
The Epic of Gilgamesh, the online multimedia
version. Needs :- Netscape Communicator 4.08 or Microsoft Internet Explorer
4 SP1, Flash 4, RealAudio (if you want sound). It's very good.
The Epic of
Gilgamesh, the text version. 'The Epic of Gilgamesh is, perhaps, the oldest written story on Earth. It comes to us
from Ancient Sumeria, and was originally written on 12 clay tablets in
cunieform script. It is about the adventures of the historical King of Uruk
(somewhere between 2750 and 2500 BCE).'
The Shapwick Project.
Excavation of a medieval village uncovers evidence that the village
was planned; interesting, and well worth the quick read.
Myths of the Jicarilla
Apaches.
'The following myths were related by Laforia, a very old woman, whose
grandson Gunsi interpreted them to me. The Origin Myth differs from that
told to Mr. Mooney by "Edward," and also from the version furnished me by
Juan Quintana, a middle-aged Apache, who admitted that he did not know the
legends as his father had known them.'
Visible Earth. From NASA.
'A searchable directory of images, visualizations and animations of the
Earth.' Pretty huge.
Natural Hazards.
'Earth scientists around the world use NASA satellite imagery to better
understand the causes and effects of natural hazards. The goal in sharing
these images is to help people visualize where and when natural hazards
occur, and to help mitigate their effects. ' Useful, and good pictures too.
Via Metafilter.
Random
Zen koan generator. Via
Basic Buddhism, an interesting new web space from
Cloud Nine.
Old Rip, the Horned Toad. A Texas tale. Via
Reenhead.
Cats in Space.
The Cambodian Genocide Program.
'The Cambodian genocide, in which at least 1.7 million people (21% of the
entire population) lost their lives, stands as one of the worst human
tragedies of the modern era. In Cambodia, as in Nazi Germany, East Timor,
Guatemala, Yugoslavia, and Rwanda, extremist politics conspired with a
diabolic disregard for human life to produce repression, misery, and murder
on a massive scale. The Cambodian genocide is unique, in that for many
years, the crimes of the Khmer Rouge remained largely undocumented.'
'The Cambodian Genocide Program at Yale is studying these events to learn as
much as possible about the tragedy, and to help determine who was
responsible for the crimes of the Pol Pot regime.'
Astro pic of the day: Giant
storm systems battle on Jupiter. Great picture.
The Great Red
Spot.
Guardian
Unlimited has a new country-by-country world news guide.
A maze to navigate with
your arrow keys. One of lfs.nl's
presents.
Tales of bizarre science.
The Tolkien Crackpot Theories Page. There are a lot of them! Via
Camworld.
The Why Project.
'This website is the first dedicated international space for artwork about
the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001 in the United States that used
planes to attack the World Trade Center and the U.S. Pentagon.' Found on
this archive page from Mental Breadcrumbs.
The Loch Ness Monster cam.
'News Flash! UFO radiation suspected in Loch Ness...'
The Skeptic's Dictionary has an
interesting page on Nessie which sets out The Known Facts.
Marsupial robots.
Some nice
old maps of England and Wales.
This one is from the thirteenth century.
Erroneous predictions and negative
comments concerning scientific and technological developments
is interesting. See them scoff at aircraft, canals,
electricity etc.
'The following material was originally taken from a
Congressional Research Report on Erroneous Predictions and Negative Comments
Concerning Scientific and Technological Developments, CB 150, F-381, by
Nancy T. Gamarra, Research Assistant in National Security, Foreign Affairs
Division, May 29 1969 (revised). '
Tom Tomorrow's weblog.
Via several different places.
Hamster-powered car wows idea judges. Via
Honeyguide.
'
Archaeologists working in the Peruvian Andes have found
evidence that a trade route used by locals dates back more than 4,000
years.'
'
Scientists camping out in
the Mongolian snow at minus 30 oC have made the first recordings of an
elusive sound: the crackle and pop of a meteor shower. Their observations
defy all current explanations of what happens when debris burns up on entry
to the Earth's atmosphere.'
'
The eruption of Mount Nyiragongo came as no surprise to Dieudonne
Wafula.
Two years ago, Mr Wafula, a Congolese vulcanologist, noticed a big build-up
of lava in its crater. '
'He published an emergency warning three months ago, two weeks ago, and then
two days before the disaster. "Nobody took much notice," he said. '
'
A Canadian roadside zoo operator wants to donate a pair of young
lions to
Afghanistan to replace the legendary Marjan of the Kabul Zoo who died this
month amid wide publicity. '
'
A wildlife park on the outskirts of Beijing has
offered Kabul's decimated zoo a lion to replace Marjan, the long-suffering
big cat who died last month, the official Xinhua News Agency reported
Saturday.'
'
As a
young girl, her eyes spoke of the suffering of a nation. But no one has ever
known what happened to the child with the shocked, staring eyes whom
award-winning photographer Steve McCurry fleetingly met in a refugee camp in
Pakistan in 1983. Her picture has appeared countless times on the front of
magazines, on posters, even on carpets, yet no one has ever been able to
trace her. '
'But now the hunt is on again and it involves the CIA, journalists, some of
the most lawless lands on earth, Osama bin Laden and a sizeable dose of
South Asian mystery.'
(The famous photo is
here).
Via
Metafilter.
'
Manic Miner, one of the most famous computer games of the 1980s,
is due to return in a new format. '
Where
Berlin goes to forget: welcome to the robo pub.
'
From the
infant mouth of the year 2002, the first new words and phrases have begun to
croak out into the ears of dictionary editors - and they do not bode much
better than the last century's new words. ' Via
Blue Ruin.
Beijing has the world's best public toilets.
Survival International : '
The Botswana government has intensified its campaign to
drive the Gana and Gwi Bushmen off their ancestral homeland in the Central
Kalahari Game Reserve by cutting off all water supplies. Survival is calling
on them to reverse this decision - which could spell the destruction of
these tribes. '
'The Gana and the Gwi have lived for thousands of years on their ancestral
land, which was declared a reserve in the 1960s to provide a secure home for
them. But over the last 16 years, the Botswana government has conducted a
campaign of harassment to drive them out.'
The article goes on to give an address to write to to protest this.
'
Futuristic space "hotels" that would employ planetary gravity to
rocket between Earth and Mars are on the drawing board at Purdue University,
researchers at the school said on Tuesday. '
Today in pictures.
Don't miss the poetic policeman and the
man with the world's longest ear hair.
'
The key to helping
developing countries with hungry populations is not just providing more food
- it is eliminating war and providing stable, democratic governments.'
University study finds hunger more a political than a supply problem.
'
Slobodan Milosevic had cordial relations with Bill Clinton and
was apoplectic when the daily newspaper meant to be his mouthpiece savaged
the then-U.S. president in a bungled editorial, according to transcripts of
his phone calls. '
America
too patriotic, says Norman Mailer.
Global warming interpretation irks scientists.
'One study showed that while other continents are warming, major parts of
Antarctica are cooling. The other demonstrated that the glacial "ice
streams" that feed the Ross Ice Shelf in West Antarctica appear to be
growing, not shrinking. '
'To the scientists involved, the studies suggest that the effects of global
warming on Antarctica may prove harder to forecast than anticipated. But to
their dismay, some newspaper editorial writers interpreted the reports as
evidence that the global warming theory itself is in trouble -- even though
that was the furthest thing from the scientists' minds. '
Via
Ghost Rocket and
JP.
'Axis of evil' announces
single currency.
5th February
Norman Mailer - 'Machismo isn't that easy to wear.'
Via
Linkmachinego.
Forgotten NY.
'The past
is all around us in New York. It's on the buildings high above and in the
subways and tunnels deep below. It's even in the paths the streets take. This site
is your gateway to a New York City that existed long ago -- and still exists in a
hidden form today. We'll show you the past in lampposts, advertisements,
bridges, buildings, signs, and things you pass every day in the street that bear
silent witness to the NYC that once was. '
Cupid and Psyche. Beautifully illustrated myth.
A nice collection of
palindromes and palindromic poems.
100 Views of the Moon.
Prints by Yoshitoshi.
'The son of a merchant, Yoshitoshi grew up in Edo (Tokyo) where he studied art under the
ukiyo-e print master, Kuniyoshi (1798-1861). Yoshitoshi published his first print in 1853, the same
year the Tokogawa government opened trade negotiations with the west, initiating a period of
rapid social and political change in Japan. Yoshitoshi's erratic career and personal life, punctuated
by periods of mental instability and depression, mirrored the tumultous period during which he
lived. '
Gloucester Cathedral.
Virtual tour.
Woman briefly at helm of Kuwaiti parliament.
'A female Indian parliamentarian surprised her hosts and sat on the speaker's chair in
Kuwait's parliament -- an elected assembly opposed to granting political rights to women in the
Muslim conservative state. '
'
Environmentalists in Estonia, which will play host to the Eurovision Song Contest,
say they'll simultaneously stage a competition to pick Europe's most beautiful bird song.'
Britain's 'rainforests' need protection.
'Urgent measures are required to save what are left of the UK's ancient woodlands. '
Robot wars for real.
'Robots are being let loose in a colony of machines in an attempt to find out whether they
can learn from their experiences. '
Australia dumps on whaling.
'Australian scientists have found a novel way to study whales without killing them. '
'They say analysis of the whales' faeces lets them examine their stomach contents minutely. '
Lots of archaeology and ancient history news today - check out
Archaeology Magazine and
Anthropology in the News. Some of the most interesting news is
linked below :-
In Peru highlands, temple remains offer window on pre-Inca
civilization.
Faults suggest a high calling for Delphi priestesses.
'... evidence is growing that the priestesses, known as pythia, were ripped on
hydrocarbon gases, especially ethylene, a sometime anesthetic which, taken in modest doses, can
induce lively conversation of a somewhat incoherent nature.'
'
Olympic bribery is nothing new, a Penn archaeologist says. The original
contests even led to war between Greek city-states.'
Rare historic sites unearthed in Oman.
'Archaeologists at the Sultan Qaboos University (SQU) have uneathed some rare
histrorical sites dating back to 2000 BC in the remote Manal village in the Wialayat of Samail...'
Archaeologists say they unearth Ptolemaic temple and houses in Egypt.
World forum scientists: Grim future.
' "Extreme pessimism seems to me to be the only rational stance," said Sir Martin Rees, Britain's
Astronomer Royal, at a session devoted to the future threats and opportunities presented by
scientific advances. '
Red tide wipes out Kenyan fish.
Genetically-modified superweeds "not uncommon".
Scientific winds blow hot and cold in Antarctica.
Johns Hopkins scientists find brain's nose plug.
Cave men diets offer insights to today's health problems, study shows. Eat
meat to be healthy, but only the right kind.
How to live on 7,000 pounds a year in London.
A US$24,000 cellphone? How many minutes do I get?
Working longer, producing less?
'British employees work more than three hours longer per week than
workers in Europe, a new report by the Trades Union Congress (TUC)
showed on Monday. '
'Britons on average worked 43.6 hours a week, compared to the 40.3-hour
average in Europe, the report said. But government figures show they are
less productive than workers abroad despite the longer hours. '
The Quotable History of Industrial Action.
Afghanistan proceeds
to tear itself apart.
