Abusir - from Pliny the Elder to Google Maps

Abusir: from Pliny the Elder to Google Maps

Amelia Carolina Sparavigna, Dipartimento di Fisica, Politecnico di Torino, Torino, Italy

"Abusir, the House of Osiris, is the name given to an Egyptian necropolis of the Old Kingdom period. This site is a part of a huge area, from Giza to Dahshur, rich of archaeological remains and covered by many pyramids. The paper is reporting concisely some archaeological studies on Abusir. We start from the description given by Pliny the Elder and end proposing the use of Google Maps."

Read more

http://www.archaeogate.org/egittologia/article/1424/1/abusir-from-pliny-the-elder-to-google-maps-by-amelia-ca.html

https://sites.google.com/site/abusirsatelliteimagery/

 

Map of Abusir

In the upper part of the figure, we see an image from Google Maps, obtained after a suitable image processing, showing the Abusir site. In the lower part, a map from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abusir, for comparison. 

An acoustic superlens from a few cans of cola

""Acoustic metamaterial" may sound exotic, but researchers in France have managed to assemble one from a few multipacks of cola cans. Arranged in a grid, the drinks cans act as a superlens for sound, focusing acoustic waves into much smaller regions than their metre-long wavelengths typically allow. The cans act as resonators, directing the volume of the sound to peak in a space just a few centimetres wide, and this heightened precision could improve acoustic-actuator systems."

How to make a superlens from a few cans of cola - physicsworld.com

Wearable Sensors for Remote Healthcare

Using Wearable Sensors for Remote Healthcare Monitoring System

A. P. Abidoye, N. A. Azeez, A. O Adesina, K. K Agbele, H. O. Nyongesa

KEYWORDS: Wireless Sensor Networks, Wireless Body Area Networks, ZigBee/IEEE 802.15.4, PDA, 3G, Medical Server

Recent technological advances in wireless communications and wireless sensor networks have enabled the design of low-cost, intelligent, tiny, and lightweight medical sensor nodes that can be strategically placed on human body, create a wireless body area network (WBAN) to monitor various physiological vital signs for a long period of time and providing real-time feedback to the user and medical staff. WBANs promise to revolutionize health monitoring. In this paper, medical sensors were used to collect physiological data from patients and transmit it to Intelligent Personal digital Assistant (IPDA) using ZigBee/IEEE802.15.4 standard and to medical server using 3G communications. We introduced priority scheduling and data compression into the system to increase transmission rate of physiological critical signals which improve the bandwidth utilization. It also extends the life time of hand-held personal server by reducing power consumption during transmission. On the journal Journal of Sensor Technology

ISSN Print: 2161-122X
ISSN Online: 2161-1238
Website: http://www.scirp.org/journal/jst

South Sudan, the newest country

"South Sudan, officially known as The Republic of South Sudan, is a country in East Africa. Its capital and largest city is Juba, located in the southern state of Central Equatoria. The landlocked country is bordered by Ethiopia to the east; Kenya to the southeast; Uganda to the south; the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the southwest; the Central African Republic to the west; and the Sudan to the north. South Sudan includes the vast swamp region of the Sudd formed by the White Nile, locally called the Bahr al Jabal."
 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Sudan
Newest country and football team  too...
http://edition.cnn.com/2011/SPORT/football/07/14/football.sudan.nation.south/

Caligae

A massive statue believed to be that of  Emperor Caligula, sitting on a throne, coming from an illegal dig south of Rome, was unveiled. The statue, broken in several large pieces, was found last January when Finance Police stopped it from being smuggled out of the country. The  "tomb raiders" tried to sell this archaeological treasure on the black market. The statue has feet wearing "caligae": this is why the person shown by the statue is identified as the emperor Caligula. 

More http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/07/13/us-italy-caligula-idUSTRE76C3VG20110713

The Emperor Caligula. Statue in the Museo Nazionale, Naples.

1911, Source G. Ferrero, The Women of the Caesars, New York, 1911.

Caligula's statue will come back home

"La statua dell’imperatore Caligola torna a Nemi. A recuperarla il comando provinciale della Guardia di Finanza di Roma, guidato dal generale Ignazio Gibilaro, nel corso di una più vasta operazione di tutela del patrimonio artistico nazionale. «E' stato recuperato un pezzo di straordinaria bellezza e rinvenuto un sito archeologico finora sconosciuto alla stessa sovrintendenza – ha spiegato Giuseppina Ghini, direttrice del Museo delle Navi dove sarà collocata la statua dopo il suo restauro - Abbiamo sottoposto la statua ad una prima ripulitura, presto inizieremo il restauro ma per ora si sta ancora studiando, analizzando»."
http://www.newnotizie.it/2011/07/13/ritrovata-la-statua-di-caligola-in-trono/
Emperor Caligula's statue is coming back home to Nemi. It was the provincial team of the Guardia di Finanza in Rome, led by General Ignacio Gibilaro, to retrieve it, during an police action to protect the national artistic heritage. According to Giuseppina Ghini, head of the Museum at Nemi,  this staue is a piece of extraordinary beauty, discovered in a previously unknown archaeological site. The statue, after restoration, will be soon bach home in the Museum of Nemi. 

Locations of archaeological sites

A collection of Placemarks of archaeologically interesting locations of the ancient world.
http://www.ancientlocations.net/
For instance, the egyptian pyramids
http://www.ancientlocations.net/index.php?sp=-1&in=0&rep=0&sort=0&f=22#section_22_Pyramids

Earliest Roman basilica found outside Alexandria - Ahram Online

" At Al-Baron area in Semouha district, south of Alexandria, an Egyptian archaeological mission has discovered several significant monuments and artefacts that will help in the writing of the history of the area.

 During excavations, archaeologists uncovered the earliest Roman civil basilica yet found on top of a Ptolemaic temple dedicated to the three Alexandria deities (Isis, Serapis, Harpocrates) along with a collection of terracotta statues."
Earliest ever civil Roman basilica found outside Alexandria - Greco-Roman - Heritage - Ahram Online

DNA transistor

"Passivated nanopores withstand extreme voltages.
Solid-state nanopores are a core element of next-generation single molecule tools in the field of nanobiotechnology, most prominently in the area of DNA-sequencing technology. Researchers at the IBM T. J. Watson Research Center have recently introduced a nanopore-based DNA sequencing platform, which they call a DNA transistor. Thin-film electrodes are integrated into the nanopore device for electrically interacting with translocating DNA. They have now shown that TiN electrodes inside a nanopore can be passivated and completely shielded against electrochemical deterioration even when extreme voltages are applied."

http://nanotechweb.org/cws/article/lab/46476

electrochemical impedance spectroscopy

"Functionalized electrochemical impedance spectroscopy device targets personalized medicine.
Rapid, sensitive, accurate, miniaturized and inexpensive biosensors are highly desirable for assisting clinical medical diagnosis. Researchers based at National Chiao Tung University, Taiwan, have developed such a portable bio-sensing platform to detect intermolecular interactions using nanogold-enhanced electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS)."

http://nanotechweb.org/cws/article/lab/46448