“Translated, the inscription reads, ‘May this tusk root out the lice of the hair
and the beard.’ … This purpose was confirmed when the authors searched for
evidence of head lice on the comb under a microscope and found some remains on
the second tooth, still in the nymph stage of development.”
(See also the discussion at Language
Hat .)
posted 11/23/2022 8:00pm ∞
“Over the next 1,500 years, during especially hot summers, the remains and
artifacts were partially exposed, which explains the deterioration of the most
exposed parts of the body and additional damage to the artifacts. Eventually,
around 3,800 years ago, snow and ice finally sealed off the gully until the
discovery of the mummified remains in 1991.”
(Ötzi was a recurring interest of my old @sben_links account on Twitter, the
predecessor to this microblog. If I had completed my long walk in
2017 , I would have passed through the next valley east
from where he was found, and would have certainly stopped by his
museum when the trail passed through Bolzano.)
posted 11/22/2022 8:00pm ∞
“[P]eople who were homozygous (had two copies) of this protective gene variant
involved in antigen presentation were 40 percent more likely to survive the
plague than those with two copies of a deleterious variant, which encodes a
broken protein.”
posted 11/3/2022 8:00pm ∞
“The original silphion was said to have appeared suddenly, after a great
downpour. Miski observed that, when rains came to Cappadocia in April, Ferula
drudeana would spring from the ground, growing up to six feet in just over a
month.”
Taras Grescoe, Alice Zoo, and Nirupa Rao ,
This miracle plant was eaten into extinction 2,000 years ago — or was it?
(National Geographic September 23, 2022 )
posted 10/19/2022 8:00pm ∞
“The 21st-dynasty priests made extensive repairs to Amenhotep I’s mummy. For
instance, they reattached the severed head with a resin-treated linen band,
reattached limbs and fingers, tightened loose bandages, and placed two new
amulets into the mummy.”