Ephraimite Forum-38
Date: 28/January/08 21 Shebet 5768
Contents:
1. Fewer trees, less rain: study uncovers deforestation equation
2. TREES BRING RAIN in DESERTS
3. Archaeology: Brit-Am Version of Explorator 10.40

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1. Fewer trees, less rain: study uncovers deforestation equation
http://www.smh.com.au/news/Environment/Fewer-trees-less-rain-the-deforestation-equation/2005/03/03/1109700611592.html
By Richard Macey
March 4, 2005
Australian scientists say they have found proof that cutting down forests reduces rainfall.

The finding, independent of previous anecdotal evidence and computer modelling, uses physics and chemistry to show how the climate changes when forests are lost.

Ann Henderson-Sellers, director of environment at the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation, at Lucas Heights, and Dr Kendal McGuffie, from the University of Technology, Sydney, made the discovery by analysing variations in the molecular structure of rain along the Amazon River.

Not all water, Professor Henderson-Sellers said, was made from the recipe of two atoms of "common" hydrogen and one of "regular" oxygen.

About one in every 500 water molecules had its second hydrogen atom replaced by a heavier version called deuterium. And one in every 6500 molecules included a heavy version of the oxygen atom.

Knowing the ratio allowed scientists to trace the Amazon's water as it flowed into the Atlantic, evaporated, blew back inland with the trade winds to fall again as rain, and finally returned to the river.
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"It's as if the water was tagged," she said.

While the heavier water molecules were slower to evaporate from rivers and groundwater, they were readily given off by the leaves of plants and trees, through transpiration.

"Transpiration pumps these heavy guys back into the atmosphere."

But the study showed that since the 1970s the ratio of the heavy molecules found in rain over the Amazon and the Andes had declined significantly.

The only possible explanation was that they were no longer being returned to the atmosphere to fall again as rain because the vegetation was disappearing. "With many trees now gone and the forest degraded, the moisture that reaches the Andes has clearly lost the heavy isotopes that used to be recycled so effectively," Professor Henderson-Sellers said.

Tom Lyons, professor of environmental sciences at Perth's Murdoch University, said there was now "certainly very strong evidence that changes in surface conditions have an impact on the climate. In some parts of the world the impact is very marked". The Amazon research "helps us understand the mechanism".

Professor Henderson-Sellers said the average water molecule fell as rain and re-evaporated fives times during its journey from the tropical Atlantic to the river's starting point in the Andes mountains. Forests played a vital role in keeping the heavy molecules, and their far more common relatives, moving through the water cycle.

"People will tell you that when you remove the forests it rains less," she said, adding, however, such anecdotal evidence, and even computer modelling, did not convince everyone.

"This is the first demonstration that deforestation has an observable impact on rainfall."

---

2. TREES BRING RAIN in DESERTS
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/68916/trees_bring_rain_in_deserts.html
Extract:
Massachusetts Institute of Technology scientists have found that trees in a dense forest of Oman have an unusual way to water themselves by extracting moisture from low-lying clouds. Professor Elfatih A.B. Eltahir of civil and environmental engineering have found that the trees have preserved an ecological niche in an area characterized mostly by desert. The plants exploit a wispy thin source of water that occurs seasonally. The forest could be driven to extinction if camel continue to graze frequently. As the forest disappears, the trees will lose the ability to pull water from the mist and recharge underground reservoirs.

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3. Archaeology: Brit-Am Version of Explorator 10.40
From: david meadows <rogueclassicist@gmail.com>

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Excerpts from explorator 10.40 January 27, 2008
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ANCIENT NEAR EAST AND EGYPT
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On the "brutal" lives of ancient Egyptians:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7209472.stm

A 3rd century cemetery from Syria:

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5gcqC6lHr-qFgEzzwzjtgGiLWKl8AD8UBS1R02
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080124/ap_on_sc/syria_archaeology_4
http://www.sanluisobispo.com/health/story/255038.html

Fallout from the media coverage/Simcha's press release on the
Talpiot tomb:

http://worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=59910
http://dukereligion.blogspot.com/2008/01/talpiot-tomb-controversy-revisited.html
http://www.christianpost.com/article/20080123/30957.htm
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1201070788587&pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull

Followup to that Herod's quarry story:

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1201070776425&pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull

Trying to transform Irbil into a tourist spot:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22831033/

More coverage of that 'queen's tomb' in Yemen:

http://www.newkerala.com/one.php?action=fullnews&id=15350

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ANCIENT GREECE AND ROME (AND CLASSICS)
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Another piece on Rome-India trade ... I don't think there's
anything here we haven't seen already:

http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/mp/2008/01/21/stories/2008012150370500.htm

Some coins of Carausius have been found:

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article3241299.ece

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EUROPE AND THE UK (+ Ireland)
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A metal detectorist has come across a pile of Bronze Age axeheads:

http://tinyurl.com/2s5yfx (Daily Mail)
http://tinyurl.com/3d8byf (Times)
http://www.zeenews.com/articles.asp?aid=420571&sid=FTP

Archaeology in Europe Blog:

http://www.archaeology.eu.com/weblog/index.html
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ASIA AND THE SOUTH PACIFIC
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Rethinking the origins of the Polynesians:

http://tinyurl.com/38zgkz (Canada.com)
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/01/080118093728.htm

Khmer civilization is older than previously thought:

http://www.thejapannews.net/story/320484

New Zealand Archaeology eNews:

http://www.nzarchaeology.org/netsubnews.htm
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NORTH AMERICA
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The latest from the Jamestown Rediscovery people:

http://www.dailypress.com/features/family/dp-secrets_072605,0,1778701.story

Low tides reveal (again) a shipwreck near Florence, Oregon:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22769456/

On restoring assorted sites of interest in Flat Rock, Georgia:

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=18233281

Latest video at the Archaeology Channel provides a stark
contrast with what went on with Kennewick Man:

http://www.archaeologychannel.org/

More coverage of colonialists' river diversion efforts:

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=18228525

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CENTRAL AND SOUTH AMERICA
================================================================
Plenty of coverage suggesting the ancient Maya sacrificed boys,
not girls (not sure why it needs to be an either/or?):

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080123/sc_nm/mexico_sacrifice_dc_3
http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/story/0,22049,23095592-5001028,00.html

They've figured out why Mayan temples "dazzle":

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/01/080123085308.htm
http://tinyurl.com/2u9ftu (UPI)
http://www.physorg.com/news120313101.html
http://www.newkerala.com/one.php?action=fullnews&id=16597
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080123/sc_nm/mexico_sacrifice_dc
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,,23093081-12332,00.html

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OTHER ITEMS OF INTEREST
================================================================

Brief item on using lasers to find sites:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/hereford/worcs/7202361.stm

Latest in the Odyssey Marine saga:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22826040/
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080124/ap_on_re_us/shipwreck_treasure

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TOURISTY THINGS
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Rhodes:

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/travel/article728879.ece

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NUMISMATICA
================================================================
Family death medals:

http://www.thecoppercorner.com/history/bw_photos1.htm

Ancient Coin Collecting:

http://ancientcoincollecting.blogspot.com/

Ancient Coins:

http://classicalcoins.blogspot.com/
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EXHIBITIONS, AUCTIONS, AND MUSEUM-RELATED
================================================================
Sounds of Ancient Music:

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=945833
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1200572505470&pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull

Afghan Gold:

http://blogs.discovery.com/news_archaeorama/2008/01/hidden-afghanis.html
(nice photos)


Interviewish thing with the director of the National Museum of
the American Indian:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/21/arts/design/21smit.html

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