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Hand tool
Hand tool, any of the implements used by craftspersons in manual operations, such as chopping, chiseling, sawing, filing, or forging. Complementary tools, often needed as auxiliaries to shaping tools, include such implements as the hammer for nailing and the vise for holding. A craftsperson may also use instruments that facilitate accurate measurements: the rule, divider, square, and others. Power tools—usually handheld motor-powered implements such as an electric drill or electric saw—perform many of the old manual operations and as such may be considered hand tools.
A tool is an implement or device used directly upon a piece of material to shape it into a desired form. The earliest known tools, found in 2011 and 2012 in a dry riverbed near Kenya's Lake Turkana, have been dated to 3.3 million years ago. The present array of tools has as common ancestors the sharpened stones that were the keys to early human survival. Rudely fractured stones, first found and later "made" by hunters who needed a general-purpose tool, were a "knife" of sorts that could also be used to hack, to pound, and to grub. In the course of a vast interval of time, a variety of single-purpose tools came into being. With the twin developments of agriculture and animal domestication, roughly 10,000 years ago, the many demands of a settled way of life led to a higher degree of tool specialization; the identities of the ax, adz, chisel, and saw were clearly established more than 4,000 years ago.
The common denominator of these tools is removal of material from a workpiece, usually by some form of cutting. The presence of a cutting edge is therefore characteristic of most tools, and the principal concern of toolmakers has been the pursuit and creation of improved cutting edges. Tool effectiveness was enhanced enormously by hafting—the fitting of a handle to a piece of sharp stone, which endowed the tool with better control, more energy, or both.
Early history of hand tools
Geological and archaeological aspects
The oldest known tools date from 3.3 million years ago; geologically, this is the middle of the Pliocene Epoch (about 5.3 million to 2.6 million years ago). The Pliocene was succeeded by the Pleistocene Epoch (2.6 million to 11,700 years ago), which terminated with the recession of the last glaciers, when it was supplanted by the Holocene Epoch (11,700 years ago to the present). The Pleistocene and Stone Age are in rough correspondence, for, until the first use of metal, about 5,000 years ago, rock was the principal material of tools and implements.
At first, humans were casual tool users, employing convenient sticks or stones to achieve a purpose and then discarding them. Although humans may have shared this characteristic with some other animals, their differentiation from other animals may have begun with the deliberate making of tools to a plan and for a purpose. A cutting instrument was especially valuable, for, of all carnivorous animals, humans are the only ones not equipped with tearing claws or canine teeth long enough to pierce and rend skin: humans need sharp tools to get through the skin to the meat. Naturally fractured pieces of rock with sharp edges that could cut were the first tools; they were followed by intentionally chipped stones. For archaeologists, the finding of primitive, intentionally made cutting tools indicates and confirms the early presence of humans at a site. Once understood, fire helped shape wooden implements before adequate rock tools were available for the purpose.
Fire was also the basis of metallurgy. When in historic time the powers of water and wind were applied to the daily tasks of grinding grain and raising water, the way to industrialization was opened.
The idea of relating human history to the material from which tools were made dates from 1836 when Christian Jürgensen Thomsen, a Danish archaeologist, was faced with the task of exhibiting an undocumented collection of clearly ancient tools and implements. Thomsen used three categories of materials—stone, bronze, and iron—to represent what he felt had been the ordered succession of technological development. The idea has since been formalized in the designation of a Stone Age, Bronze Age, and Iron Age.
The three-age system does not apply to the Americas, many Pacific Islands, or Australia, places in which no Bronze Age existed before the native inhabitants were introduced to the products of the Iron Age by European explorers. The Stone Age is still quite real in some remote regions of Australia and South America, and it existed in the New World at the time of Columbus's first visit. Despite these qualifications, the Stone–Bronze–Iron sequence is of value as a concept in the early history of tools.
The Stone Age was of great duration, having occupied practically all of the Pleistocene Epoch. Copper and bronze appeared more than 5,000 years ago; iron followed in the next millennium or so and as an age includes the present.
The apparently abrupt transition from rock to bronze tends to mask the critical discovery of native metals and their utilitarian use and fails to indicate the significant discoveries of melting and casting. From bronze one can infer the crucial discovery of smelting, the process by which most of the common metals can be recovered from their ores. Smelted copper necessarily preceded bronze, a mixture of copper and tin, the first alloy. Iron came later, when technique, experience, and equipment were able to provide higher temperatures and cope with problems involved with its use.
Stone as a material
The Stone Age is divided into two contrasting periods: the Old Stone Age, a long era of stagnation; and the New Stone Age, a brief period of swift progress.
The Paleolithic Period, or Old Stone Age, endured until about 10,000 years ago and was characterized by tools of chipped stone, cutting tools with rough and pock-marked surfaces and generally serrated cutting edges. The later Paleolithic was also an era of wood, horn (antler), and bone. These three materials, all softer than rock but nevertheless intractable, could not be worked successfully without the aid of harder rock tools, such as serrated blades and gravers, or burins, small scrapers with either pointed or narrow, chisel-like ends. Bone was a particularly useful material, for its toughness made feasible barbed fishhooks, eyed needles, and small leatherworking awls.
The term Neolithic Period, or New Stone Age, defines the second period, at the beginning of which ground and usually polished rock tools, notably axes, came into widespread use after the adoption of a new technique of stoneworking. The beginning of the Neolithic, the retreat of the last glaciers, and the invention of food crops, involving agriculture and animal domestication, were more or less contemporary events. The period terminated with the discovery of metals.
The revolutionary art that created the definitive ground and polished tools of Neolithic man was essentially a finishing operation that slicked a chipped tool by rubbing it on or with an abrasive rock to remove the scars of the chipping process that had produced the rough tool. Not only was the edge keener than ever before, but the smooth sides of the edge also promoted deeper penetration and, hence, greater effectiveness, with the added advantage of easier tool extraction from a deep and wedging cut.
As a tool material, the term rock covers a wide variety of rocks, ranging from the dense and grainless flint and obsidian to coarse-grained granite and quartzite. Each kind of rock has certain unique properties that are further influenced by temperature and humidity. Stone of any kind is difficult to manipulate. It has been noted, for example, that the indigenous peoples of Australia reject as unsuitable a great many of the flints they have worked on, sometimes in the ratio of 300 rejects to one accepted tool. This high discard rate may help explain the thousands upon thousands of rock artifacts that have been found.
Flint, homogeneous and isotropic (having equal properties in all directions), is the rock of first choice for toolmaking. Reasonably well distributed over much of the world, it is an impure quartz, a form of silica, usually opaque and commonly of gray or smoky-brown colour. It is harder than most steels, having no cleavage planes, but displaying the conchoidal, or shell-like, fracture of a brittle material that leaves a sharp edge when flakes are detached. (Glass, which may be considered an artificial quartz, also exhibits the conchoidal fracture.) Obsidian, a volcanic glass of rather limited distribution, is usually black or very dark and, because of its conchoidal fracture, was used like flint. Most edged rock tools, however, were of flint. Flint was once an object of trade, and flint mines were in Neolithic time what iron mines became at a later age.
Types of stone tools
Three principal types of tools appeared in the long Paleolithic Period, with substantial variations occurring within each type. The types are distinguished principally by workmanship but also vary in size and appearance and are known as core, flake, and blade tools. The core tools are the largest; the earliest and most primitive were made by working on a fist-sized piece of rock (core) with a similar rock (hammerstone) and knocking off several large flakes on one side to produce a jagged but sharp crest. This was a general-purpose implement for the roughest work, such as hacking, pounding, or cutting. The angle of the cutting edge was rather large because of the sphericity of the stone. In time, thinner, sharper, and more versatile core tools were developed.
Although large flakes with sharp edges of small angle were a by-product of core tool manufacture and were well suited for slitting and scraping, they were not flake tools in the proper sense. True flake tools derived from an advanced technique practiced more than 2 million years later that sought the flake and discarded the core from which it had been detached; flake tools were made deliberately to serve a certain function and were not the casual spin-off of another operation. Finally, there were blade tools, longish slivers of rock with keen unserrated edges, directly useful as knives or as stock from which other pieces might be skillfully broken to serve numerous purposes. While flake and blade tools were developing, core tools were refined by overall chipping to create thinner and more efficient forms.
Techniques for making stone tools
Archaeologists have noted three different techniques for working rock to successive stages of refinement in the Paleolithic Period. The first and always basic method employed the hammerrock to fashion either a large and rude core tool such as the chopper, whose form persisted for perhaps 2 million years, or to rough out (block in) large tool blanks that would be brought to final form by removing small flakes. The hammerrock technique produced short and deep flake scars. A variation employed the anvil stone, a large stationary rock against which the workpiece was swung to batter off large flakes.
The second method was the soft-hammer, or baton, technique, based on a discovery of perhaps 500,000 years ago that hard rock (flint in particular) could be chipped by striking it with a softer material. The baton was a light "hammer," an almost foot-long piece of bone, antler, or even wood, whose gentler blows detached only quite small flakes that left smooth, shallow scars. Such small flakes, when removed from the large scars left by the hammerstone, reduced the coarse and jagged edge to many small serrations, giving a straighter and more uniform cutting edge whose angle was also more acute than formerly and, hence, sharper.
Pressure flaking was the third technique. In this, a short pointed instrument of bone, antler, or wood was used to pry, not strike, off tiny flakes in order to leave the smallest scars. As the least violent and most advanced of the methods of working stone, it gave the craftsperson the ultimate in control for the removal of materials in the shaping of an implement.
To judge from the few remaining hand-tool-making societies, it is likely that every early human was adept at making new tools quickly and easily and on the spot, as fast as the old ones were blunted or broken. The earliest simple tools, made by taking convenient hand-sized stones and giving them sharp crests by a few well-placed blows, were evidently discarded after use, for their widespread dispersal suggests that they were made at the place of use and abandoned after serving their purpose. Tens of thousands of prehistoric rock tools survive, compared with only very few bits and pieces of the skeletal remains of the makers. Stone, of course, is imperishable, whereas bone is not, and one individual might have made several hundred tools.
Limitations of stone tools
The possibilities in the design of rock tools were limited by the inflexibility and brittleness of the material. The design effort was constrained to the sizing of the tool to the intended task and the development of sharper, longer, and more usefully shaped cutting edges that always required backing to support them. In use, the bending and twisting of long knifelike tools had to be avoided lest the action destroy them; this would also have been true of chisels and gouges. Similarly, even the much later heavier tools, such as the ax and adz, required care in use.
The effectiveness of rock tools has been demonstrated from time to time by both archaeologists and modern workers unaccustomed to such tools. An experienced operator using a rock knife can skin a small animal about as quickly and deftly as he can using steel. When the rock tool is subjected to substantial forces, however, the worker must use caution, intelligence, and control. Care is required to avoid twisting or prying with a rock blade (knife or ax); a thin blade may snap, and a thick one may collect local nicks.
Paleolithic tools
Early tools are classified by their industry, or type of workmanship. Such tool traditions are identified by a name derived from the site at which the type first drew archaeological attention. For example, the primitive chopping tools that persisted for nearly 2 million years, first identified in Olduvai Gorge, east of Lake Victoria, Tanzania, constitute the so-called Oldowan industry, regardless of the part of the world in which implements of similar workmanship happen to be found.
The sequence of traditions shows growth and development; it does not imply abrupt transitions at certain times or the disappearance of an old industry with the advent of another. A new technique simply meant that something better or different could be accomplished, from the refinement of the cutting edge or the upgrading of old tool forms to the manufacture of a completely new tool. Innovation sometimes was possible only by drawing upon previously unworkable materials.
An overview of the products of the successive toolmaking industries shows that much effort went into cutting edges in the longitudinal direction of the pieces of flint. Knifelike instruments predominated and thus defined the nature of the fundamental need—namely, that of a cutting tool which could slit and sever.
With the passage of time and the acquisition of skills, the average size of the tool decreased; there was more cutting edge per pound of material, an important factor when flint had to be imported to a region. This trend was reversed in the Neolithic Period, when the heavy woodsman's ax and adz became essential elements for clearing forests for agriculture and timber. The world was then changing from an economy based on gathering and hunting food to a way of life founded on raising food.
Archaeologists have named the early tools by guessing at their presumed use, often in the light of other known facts about the culture in which the tradition appeared. As the tools move closer to the present, and specialized forms are seen in the creation of a wider variety of products, the descriptive name is on firmer ground.
The first act of the drama of tools is hazy. There are what have been called eoliths, "tools from the dawn of the Stone Age." Such stones with sharp fractures, found in great quantities in layers from the geological epochs before the Pleistocene, were once assumed to be tokens of human presence in the preceding Pliocene and even earlier Miocene epochs. These rocks, fractured by glacier pressure, wave action, or temperature change, are no longer taken as indexes of humans, although primitive peoples undoubtedly used them as ready-made objects before they deliberately started to fracture similar rocks in the late Pliocene. There are detailed criteria by which human-flaked and nature-flaked stones can be almost unerringly distinguished. Human origin is also evidenced by association with detached flakes and the stones that served as hammers.
The oldest known tools—consisting of primitive hammers, anvils, and cutting tools and dating to 3.3 million years ago—were discovered in 2011 and 2012 at the Lomekwi 3 site near Kenya's Lake Turkana (Lake Rudolf). Tools found in 1969 at the Koobi Fora site, near Lake Turkana, consisted of five choppers, a number of flakes, and a couple of battered stones. The tools lay on the surface; the flakes were found three feet below them in tuff (volcanic rock) datable to about 2.6 million years ago. Artifacts known from Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania, included tools, as well as the jaw and teeth of a human who may have been the toolmaker. These items were found in the 1950s under tuff having a potassium-argon date of about 1.8 million years, a Lower Pleistocene age.
All of these tools are of a single type, a general-purpose implement that changed little in form during the next 2 million years. It is variously known as a pebble tool, pebble chopper, chopping tool, or simply as a chopper. Waterworn and hence rounded, up to about the size of a fist, the pebble, preferably flattish rather than spherical, was given a few violent but skillfully applied blows by a hammerstone. Several large flakes or chips were knocked off the rock to create on it a sharp and roughly serrated crest, or ridge, yielding an implement that was edged at one end and could be gripped at the opposite end. Rudimentary yet versatile, the chopper could be used to hack, mash, cut, grub roots, scrape, and break bones for their marrow.
Although the large sharp-edged flakes struck from the pebble were themselves useful for light cutting and scraping, it was not until perhaps 40,000 years ago that there was a development of flake tool industries in which preshaped flakes were purposefully detached from a core that was then discarded. But the Oldowan chopper and the struck-off flakes—the earliest generalized primitive tools—between them solved the problems of how to get through the skin of a slain animal, dismember it, and divide the meat.
The Acheulean industry
As the Pleistocene Epoch progressed, humans slowly developed the primitive chopper into a better instrument. About half a million years ago a superior implement finally appeared after nearly 2 million years of effort. The industry, or style, is known as the Acheulean, and the typical implement was the flint hand ax (sometimes called a fist hatchet). Throughout the ages the plump chopper and its bluntly angled crest had been streamlined by starting with a longer piece of rock and flaking the entire surface to produce an almond-shaped (amygdaloid) implement 20–25 cm (8–10 inches) long. This stone, much thinner than the chopper, was also sharper and more effective because the cutting edges were formed from the intersection of two curved and flaked surfaces (bifacial working).
This Acheulean hand ax was the product of evolution; certain of the intermediate stages, clearly leading to the typical and standardized form, have been identified as Chellean and Abbevillian. Despite the term ax, the tool was not hafted but was simply held in the hand. One end was tapered, the other rounded. The tapered end might be rather pointed or have a small straight edge. The tool was sharp for most of its periphery and seems to have been primarily a hunter's knife but probably very useful, too, for other purposes, such as chopping, scraping, grubbing, and even piercing. Sharp, thin and symmetrical, light and elegant, it was quite different from the heavy chopper, with its rather blunt edge.
Another biface, the Acheulean cleaver, assumed prominence about 250,000 years later. A variant of the hand ax, it had a wide cutting edge across the end instead of a point and was better suited than the hand ax for hunting or hacking wood.
Neanderthals, excellent hunters and toolmakers, appeared on the scene at least 200,000 years ago, just ahead of the last glaciation but well within the Acheulean. Their tool kit was impressive for the wide variety of hand axes, borers, knives, and choppers it contained. The kit was novel for its scrapers and heavily serrated blades having a sawlike appearance, implements that were essential to the working of wood, bone, and horn into tools and weapons. The Neanderthals regularly used fire, and it is presumed that they could make it, although the direct evidence is missing. Fire was useful in tool manufacture, for charring the end of a stick not only helped shape the point by making it easier to scrape but also hardened it, as for a spear point. This fire hardening was probably the first human-manufactured modification of a natural property. Thoroughly wet wood, bent to shape and brought to dryness over the heat of a fire, would retain its bent form, a most useful property.
The Mousterian flake tools
The Mousterian and related flake industries followed the Acheulean. A refinement of the prepared-core technique, termed Levallois, was developed during the middle to upper Acheulean. In this method, a core was craftily trimmed in such a manner that a skillfully applied last blow would detach a large preshaped flake directly usable as an implement; the core was discarded. Such a flake tool, with one flat surface, is known as a unifacial tool because a single bevel forms the working edge. There are two principal kinds of flakes, points and scrapers. The former are roughly triangular, with two trimmed or sharp edges meeting in a point, the base or butt of the triangle being thick and blunt. The side scrapers have a sharp edge in the long direction of the flake, with an opposite, thicker butt section. The scraper could function as a knife, although it is speculated that it was used for working wood and skins, a supposition leading to the idea that skins were being used for clothing.
Late Paleolithic toolmaking
The fourth phase of Paleolithic toolmaking was introduced perhaps 40,000 years ago by the Aurignacian industry, a forerunner of the last and most brilliant achievements of the Old Stone Age. Extraordinary inventiveness was characteristic of the Aurignacian tradition and its several short-term successors. They can be lumped into a unit of development that spans the next 25,000 years.
Fully modern humans—whose first representative is the Cro-Magnon—emerged within this period, perhaps 35,000 years ago, during the time of the development and elaboration of rock technology, which, by providing a variety of specialized tools, mostly of the flake and blade types, at last brought materials other than rock into extensive use. It was also a time when the great plains in northern and eastern Europe carried such a heavy reindeer population, in addition to wild horses and mammoths, that it has been called the Reindeer Age. This produced a hunting economy providing food and great quantities of bone, horn, skin, sinews, and, while the mammoth lasted, ivory; with it grew new technologies exploiting the unique properties of materials hitherto unworkable because of their hardness. This technological diversification was made possible by new techniques and rock tools, whose specialization and complexity fit them to the fresh tasks. The most significant tool was the burin, or graver, a stout, narrow-bladed flint able to scrape narrow grooves in bone; two parallel grooves, for example, would allow a sliver of bone to be detached as stock for a needle, pin, awl, or other small object. Larger pieces of bone were worked into hooks with one or more barbs or points. Sections of antler were carved into splitting wedges to work out long pieces of bone to form the dartlike projectiles of the spear-thrower. Sandrock polishers were added to the tool kit to sharpen and shape tips, needles, and other articles.
A spectacular item that developed by the end of the Paleolithic was the spear-thrower, a hand-held stick, of wood or antler, notched at one end. Functioning as an extension of the arm, it added considerable kinetic energy, and therefore range, to a short spear tipped with flint or bone. The tipped projectile represented still another innovation, for it was the first hafted implement.
Hafting, or the fitting of a handle to a cutting edge, was a momentous and far-reaching invention of about 35,000 years ago. It was a critical step toward the creation of new tools and improved models of old ones. In its simplest form, the haft may have been no more than a grass or leaf bundle whose limited function was to protect the hand when a fractured rock was used as a knife. Mechanically, the handle became a force-transmitting intermediary between the source of the force and the toolhead. An extension of the arms, the handle provided an increased radius of swing. This moved the toolhead faster to give it more kinetic energy for a harder and more telling blow than the arms alone could provide. A man using a hand-held axhead could cut only small trees, whereas with a hafted ax he could fell a tree of almost any size.
The prepared-core technique that provided preshaped flakes was refined and extended to provide preshaped blades, long, slender pieces of flint of trapezoidal cross section, each corner having a straight cutting edge without the serrations of a chipped tool. This is known as the blade tool industry, a final complement to the core and flake tool technologies. Such blades made thin and splendid knives of great variety; many of these knives were backed; that is, the back of the blade was blunted for safer handling. Thin blades were further reduced to smaller pieces, often having a geometric form such as triangular, square, or trapezoidal, called microliths. These small bits of sharp flint were cemented (using resin) into a groove in a piece of wood to form a tool with a cutting edge longer than it was feasible to produce in a single piece of brittle flint; examples are a spear with a long cutting edge or the farmer's sickle of later date.
The second major mechanical invention of the Upper Paleolithic was the bow, a device even more effective than the spear-thrower for increasing the distance between the hunter and the hunted. It is difficult to date precisely, for the only evidence of its use is found in cave paintings. Mere finds of rock points without bows prove nothing because such tips were used on the projectiles of spear-throwers. The earliest representations of the bow come from North Africa from 30,000 to 15,000 bce. Once the bow had been devised, it spread with astonishing rapidity, its effectiveness making it the weapon par excellence. When the bow was pulled, it stored the gradually expended energy of the archer's muscles; this energy was suddenly released to give the projectile a "muzzle velocity" far higher than that possible from a spear-thrower and of superior accuracy. It was a principal weapon through the 15th century ce and was ousted then only by gunpowder.


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subset: commoncrawl


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U.S. Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Costa Mesa) referred to President Eisenhower's farewell address Thursday evening in his explanation for why he believes global warming is a "total fraud."
In the 1961 speech — famously known for its admonition of an emerging military-industrial complex — the former five-star general also warned of a similarly captive grip on U.S. public policy wielded by scientists and the government that funds them.
"There's so much money that has gone into science research projects," Rohrabacher said, "and they have used it to intimidate people who disagree with their attempt to frighten all of us into changing our lives and giving up our freedoms to make choices."
The "strategy in spades" at hand, he said, are the locally elected liberals who want the state government to "do the work and let them make the decisions, then at the state level they want the federal government to do it, and at the federal government they want to create global government to control all of our lives."
The 48th Congressional District congressman, who lives in Eastside Costa Mesa, spoke to a largely supportive crowd from the Newport Mesa Tea Party. About 130 packed the Halecrest Park Swim and Tennis Club to hear the 13-term politician speak for nearly an hour.
Costa Mesa Mayor Pro Tem Steve Mensinger and 45th Congressional District candidate Greg Raths, a retired Marine Corps colonel and Mission Viejo resident, were among those also recognized by the local tea party's founder, Tom Pollitt, who lead the discussion.
Rohrabacher, a senior member on the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, received his biggest applause when talking about the Sept. 11, 2012, attack on the American diplomatic mission in Benghazi, Libya.
Without discussing many specifics on his investigation, he said there was a "malicious effort" on the part of President Obama to "hide a wrongdoing" that could "well bring [him] down."
"I can tell you, it doesn't make this president look very good," Rohrabacher said.
He also expressed his opinion on Edward Snowden, the former intelligence agency contractor who leaked classified information on widespread American surveillance programs.
"I know it's going to be very controversial, but I find no fault for someone" who alerted the American people of "over-surveillance," Rohrabacher said.
"At least he tipped the American people off as to what was going on," Rohrabacher added, saying that, in his opinion, Snowden hasn't committed treason, but "the crime of breaking his contract."
He also called the U.S. government's record-keeping of phone calls "baloney."
"That's garbage, that's tyranny, that's totalitarianism," Rohrabacher said, later adding that "if you just become the candidate of efficient government, it can also be oppressively efficient, and we don't support that."
He said he feels the two major enemies of America are radical Islam "that wants to murder us right now" and an emerging China that is "out to destroy the United States and dominate the world, at least half the world."
"And they're doing it stealing all of our technology" and its research and development, Rohrabacher said.
"They are still the same hardcore Communist dictatorship that they ever were," he said.
The premise of being cordial with China, in a "hug-a-Nazi-make-a-liberal" fashion, has not worked, Rohrabacher warned.
"China is emerging as one of the great threats to national security and our children's future," he said.
Furthermore, some U.S. officials must move on from Cold War-era thinking, he said.
"We need to make Russia our friend," he said.
Rohrabacher also mentioned that he and U.S. Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Vista) got a chance to speak with Obama when he was visiting Camp Pendleton earlier this week. Rohrabacher thanked the president for visiting the Marines and mentioned that his Orange County district has "the best surfing beaches in the United States."
According to Rohrabacher, Obama mentioned his Hawaii upbringing — also commonly lauded for its surfing spots — and said he felt the Southern California waters are "so cold" in comparison.
"Mr. President, we have cold water," Rohrabacher replied to Obama, "but you have to worry about the sharks back in Washington."


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After five years of working with Google, NORAD has switched to Microsoft Bing to track Santa's sleigh ride this Christmas Eve.
That hasn't stopped Google from continuing to monitor Santa on its own.
NORAD, or the North American Aerospace Defense Command, thinks it has the most sophisticated system for watching the Big Guy. It uses "four high-tech systems to track Santa—radar, satellites, Santa Cams and fighter jets."
NORAD has been tracking Santa for 62 years, long before the introduction of Google Maps, Bing Maps, or the Internet, for that matter.
It's a pretty serious endeavor, too. 25 million people will use NORAD's Santa-tracking site this year, which will run on Microsoft's Windows Azure cloud-computing platform and Bing Maps, reports Sharon Gaudin on Computerworld.
NORAD is also offering Windows 8, Windows Phone 8, and Android Santa-tracking apps.
NORAD's Lt. Cmdr. Bill Lewis says it isn't leaving Google because of any problems.
"It was a mutually agreed-upon split," Gaudin reports.
Google isn't hopping off the Santa sleigh ride, according to a blog post by Brian McClendon, VP of Google Maps and Google Earth.
"While we've been tracking Santa since 2004 with Google Earth, this year a team of dedicated Google Maps engineers built a new route algorithm to chart Santa's journey around the world on Christmas Eve. On his sleigh, arguably the fastest airborne vehicle in the world, Santa whips from city to city delivering presents to millions of homes."
NORAD will begin tracking Santa at 2 a.m. Eastern Time on Dec. 24, via the new apps, its website, or email sent to email@example.com. (Outlook.com is another Microsoft product.) People can also call the official Santa tracking phone number, 1-877-Hi-NORAD (1-877-446-6723) for live updates.
Google will begin tracking Santa at 2:00 a.m. Pacific Time on Dec. 24, via its Santa Tracker website, a new Chrome extension or an Android app and its Google+, Facebook, and Twitter pages.
Don't miss: Guess When These 20 Sci-Fi Technologies Are Coming To Your Phone Or PC
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Peak Lists
Log In
Ascent of Mount Hancock-Middle Peak on 2012-07-01
Chris Harding
Sunday, July 1, 2012
Ascent Type:
Successful Summit Attained
Mount Hancock-Middle Peak
USA-New Hampshire
4280 ft / 1304 m
Ascent Trip Report
Beautiful weather....on the warm side, mostly sunny with with big puffy white clouds. Hiked from the hairpin turn to the Hancock Loop and hiked to the summit of South Hancock, then over to the summit of Mount Hancock. At the beginning and for about 2.5-3 miles, the trail was very easy with only a slight incline and a smooth dirt trail with few rocks and roots. It grows more challenging, as the incline gradually increases, the rocks and roots become more abundant and there are some pretty big rock and roots step-ups, as well as several stream crossings, none of which have very well-developed or planned crossings - just some random rocks or logs placed in a pretty haphazard manner - so it's best to be wearing waterproof boots. Once I got to the beginning of the loop, I opted for the shorter and steeper route to South Hancock. There were some pretty large and tiring step-ups, but it wasn't too long before I was standing on the rather non-descript peak of South Hancock, where the view is pretty obscured by trees, except for one small outlook down a short side path. It was a little hazy from the heat, so you could only see so far, but I still had some beautiful views. The trail from peak to peak was a little muddy in places, but it was an absolutely beautiful trail with everything covered green in moss except for one brown winding single-track trail. The peak of Mount Hancock is also pretty non-descript and tree-covered, but it has a bit larger outlook with a few large boulders that offer a good place for a break and something to eat while you just enjoy the view you have. The hike down Mount Hancock was a little dicey, with a lot of loose small rocks the were either round or flat and all-too-ready to go rolling or sliding underfoot - you NEED to watch your step on this part of the trail! I made it back to the junction of the loop without incident and before long made it back to the stretch where it was mostly flat and easygoing, which was a nice woodsy walk to end the hike.
Couple highlights:
* the ascent and descent were peaceful with very few people, though it did get a little more crowded at the peaks and in between
* I've never seen so many toads in my life - I probably saw at least a dozen and have nicknamed Mount Hancock 'Toad Mountain' in my head
* the networks of roots on this trail were really cool, at times being so dense and overlapping that they formed natural bridges overs rain washed gulleys and natural dips in the land, and they reminded me of scenes I've only seen in fantasy movies
* speaking of which, there was so much moss and everything was so green in parts that it felt like I was walking in Middle Earth at times.
(Adding the middle peak as an afterthought. I really didn't even notice it when I was hiking it, but if I might as well add it since it's listed.)
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Re: st: RE: RE: estimate precision in MATA
Stas Kolenikov <firstname.lastname@example.com>
Re: st: RE: RE: estimate precision in MATA
Wed, 22 Sep 2010 08:08:31 -0500
On Wed, Sep 22, 2010 at 2:25 AM, Marie-Claire Robitaille-Blanchet
<firstname.lastname@example.com> wrote:
> Let say I want to sum two variables. I can use format to increase the number of digits after the decimal point for the new variable = old_variable_1 + old_variable_2.
> I'm looking for the equivalent but when I sum matrixes in MATA. So I want to increase the number of digit after the decimal point for the new matrix I'm creating from already existing matrixes. And, if possible, I would prefer the entry in the new matrix to be in the data type: double.
Mata already operates in double precision. If you need even higher
precision for your computations, there are -quad*()- functions
available. For each individual number, you can -printf()- it in the
format you like:
. mata
: pi()
: printf("%20.18f",pi())
Here, of course, the trailing zeroes are wrong, but Stata may have no
way of figuring out that they are.
Stas Kolenikov, also found at http://stas.kolenikov.name
Small print: I use this email account for mailing lists only.
* For searches and help try:
* http://www.stata.com/help.cgi?search
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text:
Harvard University's international scandal unravels a global Hindu conspiracy
The Hindu international conspiracy which has hijacked the Harvard University's international scandal is unraveled in the following sections:
- Harvard University takes charge
- California State Board of Education threatened with international scandal
- The roots of Hindu conspiracy
- California mess with words
- American Journal of Human Genetics (December 2005)
- Human Empowerment Conference, Houston, presents genetic study findings (September 2005)
- Genetic evidence cited in Curriculum Commission hearings (December 2005)
- Genetic studies by University of Cambridge (November 2005)
- Global conspiracy against Harvard U., Michael Witzel and his 46 co-signatories (November 2005)
- BBC brands Aryan Invasion/Migration/Influx/Trickle-in Theory as a racist ploy and a dangerous theory (June 2005)
1. Harvard University takes charge
What started as a threatened international scandal from Harvard University, has turned into a global Hindu conspiracy attempting to show that Hindu civilization was nurtured and developed by the Hindu. This conspiracy was hatched to reject aryan supremacy postulated through Aryan Invasion/Migration/Influx/Trickle-in Theory (AIT). As of the writing of this report (20 December 2005), it is learnt from reliable sources that international press is keen on unraveling this conspiracy and is close on the heels of a Harvard University Professor.
Michael Witzel of Harvard University has been leading the charge of a valiant effort launched by Harvard University to teach Hindu children a lesson.
Early on, Witzel used the Harvard University letterhead (in the letter written on November 8, 2005) to impress upon the California State Board of Education the weight of the University behind the effort. In a complementary effort on an email list called Indo-Eurasian_Research, Witzel underscored the international scandal by demonstrating that the most sacred of the Hindu mantras or sacred chants was a goat's call:
"Many short mantras (the later biija mantras) like oM have humble origins the Veda. Him (hiM) is used in the Veda to call your goat .. and your wife." Vide message number 2133 at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Indo-Eurasian_research/ An account of the California Textbook mess is provided by Kalavai Venkat (Dec. 6, 2005) in the article, California Textbook Trial http://www.justindian.com/blogs/blogdisplay.aspx?contributor=Kalavai%20Venkat
Early hints of the Hindu conspiracy are found at the newsreports of Hindu Press International (December 4, 2005) CA Commission Accepts Most Hindu Changes to Textbook
2. California State Board of Education threatened with international scandal
Sensing a budding conspiracy, the strategist Witzel quickly co-opted his department Chair, Kuijp, (in an email circulated by Witzel November 26, 2005 and reported by Bahujan yahoogroup). Thus Witzel successfully prepared the groundwork for a full-blown international scandal launched under the aegis of Harvard University. He took care to co-opt 46 'internationally known researchers' as co-signatories (later expanded by the addition of 3 more plus Kuijp who were kept in the information loop). The Bahujan group's involvement was made possible by Lars Martin Fosse's letter to John Dayal (of Dalit fame) and Amarjit Singh (of Khalistan fame).
The November 8 letter which threatened an international scandal is at http://www.people.fas.harvard.edu/~witzel/witzelletter.pdf The subsequent mail exchanges were documented vide message number 8893 at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Bahujan/message/8893 Other quotable quotes: "[John Dayal] opens his mouth and wields his pen only to spew venom on the Hindu community." Benjamin, P.N.: When Intolerance Begets Loss Of Reason. Available at http://www.hvk.org/articles/0905/43.html According to the South Asia Terrorism Portal [SATP], Amarjit Singh is closely associated with the banned terror organization International Sikh Youth Federation [ISYF]. http://www.satp.org/satporgtp/kpsgill/security/04Feb21Pio.htm
California State Board of Education was duly warned by Witzel of an emerging international scandal while participating as a three-man Content Review Panel (CRP) together with Wolpert of University of California, Los Angeles and Heitzman of University of California, Davis. See the credentials of the CRP at http://www.india-forum.com/articles/55/1/Harvard-professor-launches-anti-Hindu-Crusade
3. The roots of Hindu conspiracy
It now turns out that the Hindu parents of Hindu children studying in US schools, have co-opted many universities and a large media moghul, the BBC, as part of an international conspiracy to counter an effective scandal so carefully engineered early in November 2005 and continued in December 2005.
The conspiracy becomes complicated because of the technical DNA/Genetic terms used. The conspiracy simply tries to demonstrate using scientific jargon that people of India were indigenous to India, that there were no groups of people called Aryans and that the 'Aryans' (read: Indo-Europeans or ancestors of present-day Europe) never entered from elsewhere into India. The mt DNA (mother's DNA markers) and Y-chromosome markers clearly demonstrate that the people of Bharat that is India are of indigenous, local origin from within India, thus negating the Aryan Invasion/Migration/Influx/Trickle-in Theory (AIT).
Unwittingly, even the church in England has become a part of this conspiracy. The Chapel of Oxford College took the lead, and presented William Jones wearing a skull-cap on a marble panel, showing Jones to be a missionary, though he had earlier been lauded as a Sanskrit-lover, as the Father of Indo-European Linguistics attesting to the supremacy of Europeans and their burden to civilize many colonies including the Indian colony. Hindus were shown on the marble panel cowering at the feet of William Jones. See photo at http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/kalyan97/detail?.dir=57ce&.dnm=e3ad.jpg
Complementing this cleverly contrived humiliation of the Hindu, the conspiracy gathered momentum in October 2005 when the BBC produced a report that Aryan Invasion/Migration/Influx/Trickle-in Theory was a racist ploy to subjugate India as a British Aryan colony.
4. California mess with words
In the wake of the review of a mere set of textbooks used in California state, the Hindu conspirators created a mess asking for about 200 words to be changed in the textbooks. Harvard University was quick to allege religious-political motivations behind this request and broadly suggested that there was no need for any editorial changes. In one emphatic reference, the Content Review Panel (CRP composed of Witzel, Wolpert and Heitzman) thundered that the children in California schools shouldn't really care if Ramayana – an epic in Hindu tradition -- was earlier than Mahabharata, another epic in Hindu tradition. The CRP also said that it was essential to use the recently-coined political word, dalit, apart from emphasizing the Aryan Migration Theory to show that Aryans influxed into India to civilize the tribes. Hindu groups tried to present evidence that the 'caste system' was a British colonial creation with the start of the 1871 census. (Caste itself is not a bharatiya word but a Portuguese word, casta, meaning 'race'). The words used in Hindu tradition to discuss social groups are varna and jaati. Jaati refers to birth, to species, to genus as seen from innumerable references in texts in the veda-bauddha-jaina continuum of Hindu tradition. Jaati in Telug means 'nation'. Varna is derived from dhaatu, root vr. 'to choose'; that is choice of skills and professions based on one's proclivities and preferences for social participation.
These recommendations of CRP were viewed by the Hindu parents as attempts at continued humiliation of Hindu children in the classrooms as people without a proud heritage but had to be civilized about 4,000 years ago, consistent with the date of creation of the universe (in 4004 BC) according to the Biblical tradition.
To the dismay of the Harvard University scandal panel, new co-conspirators have now emerged. One is Indian Statistical Institute, and the other is Stanford University. These two institutions have been further complemented by a few petitioners referring to genetic/DNA studies pointing to the indigenous origins and evolution of Hindu civilization.
This article documents the blow-by-blow account of this Hindu conspiracy.
5. American Journal of Human Genetics (December 2005)
The URL is: http://www.journals.uchicago.edu/AJHG/journal/preprints/AJHG42812.preprint.pdf
The American Journal of Human Genetics, Posted: Dec. 16, 2005 This finding complements the earlier genetic studies summarised by Dr. Chandrakant Panse (16 Sept. 2005).
Polarity and Temporality of High-Resolution Y-Chromosome Distributions in India Identify Both Indigenous and Exogenous Expansions and Reveal Minor Genetic Influence of Central Asian Pastoralists by Sanghamitra Sengupta,1 Lev A. Zhivotovsky,2 Roy King,3 S. Q. Mehdi,4 Christopher A. Edmonds, 3 Cheryl-Emiliane T. Chow,3 Alice A. Lin,3 Mitashree Mitra,5 Samir K. Sil,6 A. Ramesh,7 M. V. Usha Rani, 8 Chitra M. Thakur,9 L. Luca Cavalli-Sforza,3 Partha P. Majumder,1 and Peter A. Underhill3
1 Human Genetics Unit, Indian Statistical Institute, Kolkata, India; 2N. I. Vavilov Institute of General Genetics, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow; 3Department of Genetics, Stanford University, Stanford; 4Biomedical and Genetic Engineering Division, Dr. A. Q. Khan Research Laboratories, Islamabad; 5School of Studies in Anthropology, Pandit Ravishankar Shukla University, Raipur, India; 6University of Tripura, Tripura, India; 7Department of Genetics, University of Madras, Chennai, India; 8Department of Environmental Sciences, Bharathiar University, Coimbatore, India; and 9B. J. Wadia Hospital for Children, Mumbai, India
Received July 26, 2005; accepted for publication November 3, 2005; electronically published December 16, 2005.Although considerable cultural impact on social hierarchy and language in South Asia is attributable to the arrival of nomadic Central Asian pastoralists, genetic data (mitochondrial and Y chromosomal) have yielded dramatically conflicting inferences on the genetic origins of tribes and castes of South Asia. We sought to resolve this conflict, using high-resolution data on 69 informative Y-chromosome binary markers and 10 microsatellite markers from a large set of geographically, socially, and linguistically representative ethnic groups of South Asia. We found that the influence of Central Asia on the pre-existing gene pool was minor. The ages of accumulated microsatellite variation in the majority of Indian haplogroups exceed 10,000-15,000 years, which attests to the antiquity of regional differentiation. Therefore, our data do not support models that invoke a pronounced recent genetic input from Central Asia to explain the observed genetic variation in South Asia. R1a1 and R2 haplogroups indicate demographic complexity that is inconsistent with a recent single history. Associated microsatellite analyses of the high-frequency R1a1 haplogroup chromosomes indicate independent recent histories of the Indus Valley and the peninsular Indian region. Our data are also more consistent with a peninsular origin of Dravidian speakers than a source with proximity to the Indus and with significant genetic input resulting from demic diffusion associated with agriculture. Our results underscore the importance of marker ascertainment for distinguishing phylogenetic terminal branches from basal nodes when attributing ancestral composition and temporality to either indigenous or exogenous sources. Our reappraisal indicates that pre-Holocene and Holocene-era not Indo- Europeanexpansions have shaped the distinctive South Asian Y-chromosome landscape. http://dienekes.blogspot.com/2005/11/new-paper-on-indian-y-chromosome.html
6. Human Empowerment Conference, Houston, presents genetic study findings (September 2005)
Paper presented by Dr. Chandrakant Panse at the Human Empowerment Conference (HEC), Houston, Texas, USA; Sept 16 – 18, 2005:
Summary: The so-called Aryan invasion, an idea designed to divide the Hindus of Northern and Southern Bharat, was never supported by any concrete evidence and yet was elevated to the stature of a theory. It has been pushed in secondary school textbooks as a dogma. Science now conclusively rejects any notion of any Aryan invasion of the Indian subcontinent.
I. Background
Study of changes (mutations, insertions) in chromosomal DNA is very difficult due to its magnitude. In humans, the egg contains 22 chromosomes plus the X sex chromosome, and the sperm has similar 22 plus either the X or the Y sex chromosome. An XX combination in the embryo ensues a female, and an XY a male. There are some 3 billion DNA base pairs in the 46 chromosomes in a human cell. Studying changes as markers in only the Y chromosome can be simpler, but traces only the male ancestry.
Cells contain mitochondria, structures where oxygen is utilized. A mitochondrion has its own DNA, only 16,569 base pairs long, and entirely independent of the chromosomal DNA. Following mutations in the mtDNA is thus significantly easier, but traces only female ancestry as the mitochondria are descendants of the egg, with no contribution from the sperm.
Attempts at linking of populations through insertions of repeat sequences are underway (1), but call for abundant caution because sampling errors, numbers of markers employed, choices of markers, statistical models selected for analysis, etc., influence the results of such studies (2). More importantly, polymorphism (different alleles, or slightly different forms of the same gene) subjected to local positive selection can result in convergent evolution, the reverse also holds true, and these can lead to abnormal conclusions regarding histories of populations (2). Attempts to demonstrate similarities amongst Asian and European gene pools not only suffer from such drawbacks in spite of vigorous statistical analysis, but also can be explained by multiple mechanisms (3).
II. North & South Bharatiyas Share mtDNA, Which Is Distinct From That of Europeans
Extensive sequencing and statistical analysis of a part of mtDNA which has sustained mutations (the mitochondrial hypervariable region I, HVR I), from reasonable sample sizes, has shown that certain sequences dominant in Europe are uncommon in India, and when found, are almost equally divided amongst the North and South Indians. Conversely, there are sequences common to both the North and South Indians which are uncommon in Europe (4). These data have been used to estimate the time of diversion of the peoples of Europe and Asia in the Pleistocenic era (4), emphasizing that these are phylogenically different peoples (5).
III. North & South Bharatiyas Share Tissue Antigens, Distinct From Those of Europeans
All diploid human cells express a set of proteins on their surfaces, HLA-A, B and C, which can be unique to an individual. They are coded for in the major histocompatibility complex of genes (MHC class I) on chromosome 6. These are the proteins which are recognized as non-self by the immune system in transplant rejection, and are variously called transplant antigens, phynotypic markers, cell-surface markers, etc. All of these proteins in all persons have identical structures and functions, yet can be distinguished from others. Not all 6 class I antigens (3 each from paternal and maternal copies of chromosomes 6) may be unique to an individual; some are identical or similar. MHC class II proteins (DP, DQ, DR) are expressed by some immune system cells only, but may be even more polymorphic.
Analysis of the DNA sequences coding for the different forms of these proteins (alleles) demonstrate that while populations which are closely related, geographically or through known migrations, show similarities in their class I and II MHC antigens, the Asians and the Europeans are distinct, separate but equal, people (6).
Conclusion: The stark lack of similarities in the gene pools of the Indian subcontinent and Europe, vividly evident in the mtDNA and the MHC complex, destroys any ' Aryan invasion' notions, and confirms the genetic uniformity of peoples of the Indian subcontinent.
Chandrakant Pansé, Professor of Biotechnology
I gratefully acknowledge research support from my dharmapatnee Dr. Ujwala Pansé, professor of biochemistry, and our sukanya Kumaree Anjali Pansé.
1. Callinana PA, Hedgesa DJ, Salema A-H, Xinga J, Walkera JA, Garbera RK, Watkinsc WS, Bamshad MJ, et al. Comprehensive analysis of Alu-associated diversity on the human sex chromosomes. Gene 317, 103-110 (2003).
2. Bamshad M, Wooding S, Salisbury BA, Stephens JC. Deconstructing the Relationship Between Genetics and Race. Nature Rev. Gen. 5, 598-609 (2004).
3. Watkins WS, Rogers AR, Ostler CT, Wooding S, Bamshad MJ, Brassington AE, Carroll ML, Nguyen SV, Walker JA, Ravi Prasad BV, et al. Genetic Variation Among World Populations: Inferences From 100 Alu Insertion Polymorphisms. Genome Res. 13, 1607-1618 (2003).
4. Kivisild T, Bamshad MJ, Kaldma K, Metspalu M, Metspalu E, Reidla M, Laos S, Parik J, Watkins WS, Dixon ME, Papiha SS, Mastana SS, Mir MR, Ferak V, Villems R. Deep common ancestry of indian and western-Eurasian mitochondrial DNA lineages. Current Biol. 9, 1331-4 (1999).
5. Disotell TR. Human evolution: the southern route to Asia. Curr. Biol. 9, R925-8 (1999).
6. Arnaiz-Villena A, Karin M, Bendikuze N, Gomez-Casado E, Moscoso J, Silvera C, Oguz FS, Diler AS, de Pacho A, Allende L, Guillen J, Laso JM. HLA alleles and haplotypes in the Turkish population: relatedness to Kurds, Armenians and other Mediterraneans. Tissue Antigens 57, 308-317 (2001).
(a plea: please do not ever refer to the aryan invasion propaganda as a "theory".)
7. Genetic evidence cited in Curriculum Commission hearings (December 2005)
During the deliberations (December 2005) of Curriculum Commission of California Department of Education of a sixth grade textbook containing references to 'Aryan Invasion/Migraiton/Influx/Trickle-in Theories', "Commissioner Metzenberg, a biologist, objected on scientific grounds. He said, "I've read the DNA research and there was no Aryan migration. I believe the hard evidence of DNA more than I believe historians." http://www.Hinduismtoday.com/hpi/2005/12/4.shtml#1 See a paper presented by Arvind Kumar at the Curriculum Commission hearing: http://jitnasa.india-forum.com/Docs/ProAryanInvasionTheoryargumentspresentedbyaWitzelsupporter.htm
Efforts were also made to present the need for instilling a sense of pride in Hindu children on their Hindu heritage. See /columns/OL_051204.htm Scholarship of Equine Posteriors by Narayanan Komerath, Dec. 4, 2005
Dr. Metzenberg read he read to the committee, from a 1999 paper by Kivisild, et al. (Current Biology, vol 9 pp.1331-1334):
"A commonly held hypothesis, albeit not the only one, suggests a massive Indo-Aryan invasion to India some 4,000 years ago [1]. Recent limited analysis of maternally inherited mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) of Indian populations has been interpreted as supporting this concept [2 and 3]. Here, this interpretation is questioned. We found an extensive deep late Pleistocene genetic link between contemporary Europeans and Indians, provided by the mtDNA haplogroup U, which encompasses roughly a fifth of mtDNA lineages of both populations.Our estimate for this split is close to the suggested time for the peopling of Asia and the first expansion of anatomically modern humans in Eurasia [4, 5, 6, 7 and 8] and likely pre-dates their spread to Europe. Only a small fraction of the �Caucasoid-specific� mtDNA lineages found in Indian populations can be ascribed to a relatively recent admixture...Thus, we have shown that the overwhelming majority of the so-called western-Eurasian-specific mtDNA lineages in Indian populations, estimated here to be carried by more than a hundred million contemporary Indians, belong in fact to an Indian-specific variety of haplogroup U of a late Pleistocene origin. The latter exhibits a direct common phylogenetic origin with its sister groups found in western Eurasia (Figure 1), but it should not be interpreted in terms of a recent admixture of western Caucasoids with Indians caused by a putative Indo-Aryan invasion 3,000 �4,000 years BP. From the deep time depth of the split between the predominant Indian and European haplogroup U varieties, it could be speculated that haplogroup U arose in neither of the two regions. This split could have already happened in Africa, for example, in Ethiopia, where haplogroup U was recently described [21]."
The full paper of Kivisild et al (1999) is available at http://evolutsioon.ut.ee/publications/Kivisild1999a.pdf
Deep common ancestry of Indian and western-Eurasianmitochondrial DNA lineages by T. Kivisild*, M.J. Bamshad† , K. Kaldma*, M. Metspalu*, E. Metspalu*,M. Reidla*, S. Laos*, J. Parik*, W.S. Watkins†, M.E. Dixon† , S.S. Papiha‡,S.S. Mastana§, M.R. Mir¶ , V. Ferak¥ and R. Villems* (Current Biology, 199, 9:1331-1334).
See also: Deka, R. Papiha, SS Kluwer, eds., 1999, Genomic Diversity, Academic/Plenum Publishers, Toomas Kivisild et al, The place of the Indian mtDNA variants in the Global Network of Maternal lineages and the peopling of the old world, pp.133-152. http://evolutsioon.ut.ee/publications/Kivisild1999b.pdf
8. Genetic studies by University of Cambridge (November 2005)
Early Humans Settled India Before Europe, Study Suggests
Brian Vastag for National Geographic News
November 14, 2005
Modern humans migrated out of Africa and into India much earlier than once believed, driving older hominids in present-day India to extinction and creating some of the earliest art and architecture, a new study suggests.
The research places modern humans in India tens of thousands of years before their arrival in Europe.
University of Cambridge researchers Michael Petraglia and Hannah James developed the new theory after analyzing decades' worth of existing fieldwork in India. They outline their research in the journal Current Anthropology.
"He's putting all the pieces together, which no one has done before," Sheela Athreya, an anthropologist at Texas A&M University, said of Petraglia.
Modern humans arrived in Europe around 40,000 years ago, leaving behind cave paintings, jewelry, and evidence that they drove the Neandertals to extinction.
Petraglia and James argue that similar events took place in India when modern humans arrived there about 70,000 years ago.
The Indian subcontinent was once home to Homo heidelbergensis, a hominid species that left Africa about 800,000 years ago, Petraglia explained.
"I realized that, my god, modern humans might have wiped out Homo heidelbergensis in India," he said. "Modern humans may have been responsible for wiping out all sorts of ancestors around the world."
"Our model of India is talking about that entire wave of dispersal," he added. "[T]hat's a huge implication for paleoanthropology and human evolution."
A New Model
Petraglia and James reached their conclusions by pulling together fossils, artifacts, and genetic data.
The evidence points to an early human migration through the Middle East and into India, arriving in Australia by 45,000 to 60,000 years ago, they say...
The new theory posits that as much as 70,000 years ago, a group of these modern humans migrated east, arriving in India with technology comparable to that developed by Homo heidelbergensis.
"The tools were not so different," Petraglia says. "The technology that the moderns had wasn't of a great advantage over what [Homo heidelbergensis] were using."
But modern humans outcompeted the natives, slowly but inexorably driving them to extinction, Petraglia says. "It's just like the story in Western Europe, where [modern humans] drove Neandertals to extinction," he says.
The modern humans who colonized India may also have been responsible for the disappearance of the so-called Hobbits, whose fossilized bones were discovered recently on the Indonesian island of Flores. ..
Early Art
Petraglia and James's report presents evidence of creativity and culture in India starting about 45,000 years ago. Sophisticated stone blades arrive first, along with rudimentary stone architecture.
Beads, red ochre paint, ostrich shell jewelry, and perhaps even shrines to long-lost gods—the hallmarks of an early symbolic culture—appear by 28,500 years ago. This slow change is in contrast to what many scientists believe played out in Europe. Modern humans blew through the continent like a storm about 40,000 years ago, and Neandertals quickly disappeared.
The switch happened so rapidly—as evidenced by the sudden arrival of advanced stone tools and an explosion of cave painting and other art—that anthropologists call it the "human revolution."
"What we have is a much patchier, very slow and gradual accumulation of what we call modern human behavior in South Asia," Petraglia says.
"And that just simply means that culture developed in a slightly different way in South Asia than it did in Western Europe." A dearth of fossils and artifacts in India makes Petraglia and James's research even more valuable, writes Robin Dennell, professor of archeology at the University of Sheffield, in a comment accompanying the study.
The subcontinent has produced just one set of early Homo sapiens fossils, found in a cave in Sri Lanka and dated to about 36,000 years ago.
Despite this, Petraglia hopes his analysis throws new light onto early human history in India.
"We're trying to give a wake up call to anthropologists … saying that we have to be looking at all parts of the world," he says.
"If we really want to tell the story of human evolution we've got to bring all parts of the world into the story." http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2005/11/1114_051114_india_2.html
9. Global conspiracy against Harvard U., Michael Witzel and his 46 co-signatories (November 2005)
The conspirators have successfully confounded the issue by using difficult-to-comprehend, intimidating technical terms related to DNA and genetic studies, thus attempting to derail the 'scholarly' efforts of 'international academics' spearheaded by the Harvard University.
Indian Statistical Institute and Stanford University are now part of the conspiracy hatched by Hindus and faculty members at several universities around the world. American Journal of Human Genetics has also joined the conspiracy as reported briefly in earlier sections
New paper on Indian Y-chromosome variation
A new paper on Y-chromosome variation in India has become available as an unedited preprint in the AJHG site. This is a huge study which covered linguistic/caste groups from the entire country and used 69 binary markers and 10 microsatellites to create a very thorough sampling of Indian Y-chromosomal variation. It will take some time to digest all the new information, plus the supplemental materials of the paper that remain to be put online. I will blog more about this soon. In bullet form, some findings of the paper which caught my attention:
R1a1's molecular variance is highest in NW India and its age is substantial
R1a1's variance is high in tribals
The phylogeny of J2 has been refined and it is now split into two newly discovered clades, called J2a and J2b.
J2 is almost entirely absent from tribals and is represented at a higher frequency in upper castes than middle castes than lower castes.
The samples:
High-resolution assessment of Y-chromosome binary haplogroup composition was conducted on 728 Indian samples representing 36 populations, including 17 tribal populations, from six geographic regions and different social and linguistic categories. They comprise (Austro-Asiatic) Ho, Lodha, Santal, (Tibeto-Burman) Chakma, Jamatia, Mog, Mizo, Tripuri, (Dravidian) Irula, Koya Dora, Kamar, Kota, Konda Reddy, Kurumba, Muria, Toda (Indo-European) Halba. The 18 castes include (Dravidian) Iyer, Iyengar, Ambalakarar, Vanniyar, Vellalar, Pallan and (Indo-European) Koknasth Brahmin, Uttar Pradhesh Brahmin, West BengalBrahmin, Rajput, Agharia, Gaud, Mahishya, Maratha, Bagdi, Chamar, Nav Buddha, Tanti. With exception of the Koya Dora and Konda Reddy groups, these samples have been previously described (Basu et al. 2003)…
The widespread geographic distribution of haplogroup R1a1-M17 across Eurasia and the current absence of informative subdivisions defined by binary markers leave its geographic origin uncertain. However the contour map of R1a1-M17 variance shows the highest variance in the northwest region of India (Figure 3).
In haplogroups R1a1 and R2 the associated mean microsatellite variance is highest in tribes (Table 8), not castes. This is a clear contradiction to what would be expected from an explanation involving a model of recent occasional admixture.
Specifically, they could have actually arrived in southern India from southwest Asian source region multiple times with some episodes being considerably earlier than others.
Considerable archeological evidence exists regarding the presence of Mesolithic peoples in India (Kennedy 2000), some of whom could have entered the subcontinent from the northwest during the late Pleistocene period. The high variance of R1a1 in India (Table 8), the spatial frequency distribution of R1a1 microsatellite variance (Figure 3) clines and expansion time (Table 7) support this view.
Clustering of R1a1 haplotypes:
The ages of the Y-microsatellite variation (Table 7) for R1a1 and R2 in India suggest that the pre-historical context of these haplogroups will likely be complex. A PC plot of R1a1-M17 Y-microsatellite data (Figure 4) shows several interesting features: (a) one tight population cluster comprising S. Pakistan, Turkey, Greece, Oman and West Europe, (b) one loose cluster comprising all the Indian tribal and caste populations, with the tribal populations occupying an edge of this cluster, and (c) Central Asia and Turkey occupy intermediate positions. The upper and lower bounds of the divergence time between the two clusters is 12 kya and 8 kya, respectively. The pattern of clustering does not support the model that the primary source of the R1a1-M17 chromosomes in India was Central Asia or the Indus valley via Indo-European speakers.
The spread of J2a:
Figure 2 demonstrates the eastward expansion of J2a-M410 to Iraq, Iran and Central Asia coincident with painted pottery and ceramic figurines, well documented in the Neolithic archeological record (Cauvin 2000). Near the Indus valley, the Neolithic site of Mehrgarh beginning around 5000 BCE (Kenoyer 1998) displays the presence of these types of material culture correlated with the spread J2a-M410 in Pakistan. While the association of agriculture with J2a-M410 is recognized, it is not necessarily the only explanation for its history. Despite an apparent exogenous frequency spread pattern of hg J2a towards North and Central India from the west (Figure 2), it is premature to attribute it to a simplistic demic expansion of early agriculturalists and pastoralists from the Middle East. It reflects the overall net process of spread that may contain numerous as yet unrevealed movements embedded within the general pattern. It may also reflect a combination of elements of earlier prehistoric Holocene epi-paleolithic peoples from the Middle East, subsequent Bronze Age Harappans of uncertain provenance and succeeding Iron Age Indo-Aryans from Central Asia (Kennedy 2000). Further, the relative position of the Indian tribals (Fig. 4), the high microsatellite variance among them (Table 8), the estimated age (14 kya) of microsatellite variation within R1a1 (Table 7) and the variance peak in the west (Fig. 3) are entirely inconsistent with a model of recent gene flow from castes to tribes and a large genetic impact of the Indo-Europeans on the autochthonous gene pool of India. Instead, our overall inference is that an early Holocene expansion in NW India (including the Indus) contributed R1a1-M17 chromosomes both to the Central Asian and S Asian tribes prior to the arrival of the Indo-Europeans.
J2a in upper caste Indians:
The J2 clade is nearly absent among Indian tribals, except among Austro-Asiatic speaking tribals (11%). Among the Austro-Asiatic tribals, the predominant J2b2 hg occurs only in the Lodha.
Haplogroup J2a-M410 is confined to upper caste Dravidian and Indo-European speakers, with little occurrence in the middle and lower castes. This absence of even modest admixture of J2a in south Indian tribes and middle and lower castes is inconsistent with the L1 data. Overall, therefore, our data provide overwhelming support to an Indian origin of Dravidian speakers.
10. BBC brands Aryan Invasion/Migration/Influx/Trickle-in Theory as a racist ploy and a dangerous theory
The roots of this dangerous report by BBC internationalizing the conspiracy are to be found in articles such as the ones by Sankrant Sanu on Beliefnet.com: Sankrant Sanu, U.S. Hinduism Studies: A Question of Shoddy Scholarship http://www.beliefnet.com/story/146/story_14684_1.html
The Aryan Invasion Theory
One of the most controversial ideas about Hindu history is the Aryan invasion theory.
This theory, originally devised by F. Max Muller in 1848, traces the history of Hinduism to the invasion of India's indigenous people by lighter skinned Aryans around 1500 BCE.
The theory was reinforced by other research over the next 120 years, and became the accepted history of Hinduism, not only in the West but in India.
There is now ample evidence to show that Muller, and those who followed him, were wrong.
Why is the theory no longer accepted?
The Aryan invasion theory was based on archaeological, linguistic and ethnological evidence.
Later research has either discredited this evidence, or provided new evidence that combined with the earlier evidence makes other explanations more likely.
Modern historians of the area no longer believe that such invasions had such great influence on Indian history. It's now generally accepted that Indian history shows a continuity of progress from the earliest times to today.
The changes brought to India by other cultures are not denied by modern historians, but they are no longer thought to be a major ingredient in the development of Hinduism.
Dangers of the theory
The Aryan invasion theory denies the Indian origin of India's predominant culture, but gives the credit for Indian culture to invaders from elsewhere.
It even teaches that some of the most revered books of Hindu scripture are not actually Indian, and it devalues India's culture by portraying it as less ancient than it actually is.
The theory was not just wrong, it included unacceptably racist ideas:
- it suggested that Indian culture was not a culture in its own right, but a synthesis of elements from other cultures
- it implied that Hinduism was not an authentically Indian religion but the result of cultural imperialism
- it suggested that Indian culture was static, and only changed under outside influences
- it suggested that the dark-skinned Dravidian people of the South of India had got their faith from light-skinned Aryan invaders
- it implied that indigenous people were incapable of creatively developing their faith
- it suggested that indigenous peoples could only acquire new religious and cultural ideas from other races, by invasion or other processes
- it accepted that race was a biologically based concept (rather than, at least in part, a social construct) that provided a sensible way of ranking people in a hierarchy, which provided a partial basis for the caste system
- it provided a basis for racism in the Imperial context by suggesting that the peoples of Northern India were descended from invaders from Europe and so racially closer to the British Raj
- it gave a historical precedent to justify the role and status of the British Raj, who could argue that they were transforming India for the better in the same way that the Aryans had done thousands of years earlier
- it downgraded the intellectual status of India and its people by giving a falsely late date to elements of Indian science and culture
http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/Hinduism/history/history5.shtml See Vishal Agarwal's essay: What is Aryan Migration Theory (2001) http://www.omilosmeleton.gr/english/agarwal.html See Kalyanaraman and Kelkar, Proto-vedic Continuity Theory proposing that Indian languages are of indigenous origin since the Veda were documented orally on the banks of River Sarasvati, now discovered and being revived. http://www.Hindunet.org/saraswati See Proto-vedic Continuity Theory at http://protovedic.blogspot.comThe author is Director, Sarasvati Research Centre. Email: email@example.com
Dr. S. Kalyanaraman
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PAWNO wrote:Guybrush wrote:PAWNO wrote:Yeah Niners deserved that... it was disappointing to read the headline on espn that says Alex Smith leads Victory over Raiders' that clearly was not the case... the Matt Shaunaessy Interception wass just horrendous By Alex. I think Kaepernick is starting by week 6
That was the only mistake Alex made all night. WRs (and TEs) had 4 or more drops during the game, with those balls caught he would have looked really impressive. And I think it was a timing pass and he fired it when he should, just didn't see in time that Shaughnessy dropped back into coverage. You can't say he had a bad game, far from it.
yeah but the espn headline shouldnt have made it out he lead the victory over the raiders..
He didnt score any points on us.
I dont think he will be a improved quarterback... More that he has a better wide reciever in Edwards being a playmaker... That one handed catch he had was ssssiiiicccckkkk.
The offense looked the best while Alex was behind the center. He moved the chains, he was accurate, he willingly stayed and took some hits, because he was looking to make a good throw, knowing that he will get thrashed as soon as he slings the ball. The only reason he didn't score was a TD was that 49ers chose to run mostly. He did all that he could. Kaepernick looked a lot worse than Alex, not saying that he was bad, but he didn't move the chains nearly as well. Running game was crucial in the second half, much more than it was in the first.


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www.area53site.com is a website on the Internet in Grand Theft Auto IV. It is hosted by Marvin Trill, and was last updated on December 28, 1999, 11:38 pm. He believed in the Y2K catastrophe so he built an underground bunker and planned to live in it for ten years. The last update time of 11:38 pm is possibly a refrence to the movie THX 1138.
This website appears in ads on www.whattheydonotwantyoutoknow.com and www.liesdamnlies.net, and can be accessed through those sites.


text: All defenders — whether under court appointment or government contract or in a defender office — experience days in which they find themselves sunk to the farthest depths of despair and despondency. These feelings are brought on by the usual travails of a burdensome caseload, demanding and needy clients, unsympathetic judges, and predatory prosecutors. If a client's needs and desires oscillate like the gloomy, dark figures of a Goya painting, and a defense lawyer leaves the jail or court feeling like she stepped out of the carnage of Guernica, perhaps this article will provide some practical and inspirational assistance.1. Triage and manage cases.Learn to handle a large caseload. Delegate, triage, and live by the calendar, but avoid overload. A defender who finds himself weighed down should seek help from people above and below. It is important to know the ABA and state ethics opinions on defender caseloads,1 and to use these opinions when interacting with supervisors or


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About the Book
For nearly twenty years, Aaron David Miller has played a central role in U.S. efforts to broker Arab-Israeli peace. His position as an advisor to presidents, secretaries of state, and national security advisors has given him a unique perspective on a problem that American leaders have wrestled with for more than half a century. Read more >
About the Author
Entries from The Much Too Promised Land tagged with 'Shlomo Ben-Ami'
Inside the Book: The Author's Tour
Explore THE MUCH TOO PROMISED LAND with author Aaron David Miller in a rare look at the creation of this work. Listen to exclusive commentary by the author, enhanced with actual audio-excerpts from his interviews with the many men and... more


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Welcome to Arctic Circle Radio. A place where you able to hear what is inspiring the Arctic Circle in three semi-irregular shows.
The Hut (me and a bunch of mp3s)
The Circle (a guest artist from the AC world compiling an exclusive mix).
Daylight Music recorded at our weekly live events at the Union Chapel along with studio sessions and interviews from previous acts.


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Kilner wrote:The temperatures required for setting point are:
Jams and marmalades: between 104 degrees and 105.5 degrees
Jellies: between 104 degrees and 105 degrees
StokeySue wrote:The advantage of the maceration is that the boiling time is much less, so you get better colour and flavour
Pepper Pig wrote:Interesting that Sea's recipe has more sugar than fruit though.
Rock hard. Couldn't get a spoon through it.
karadekoolaid wrote:Must be that cane sugar is sweeter than beet sugar, I suppose.
karadekoolaid wrote:That`s because you cooked the jam for too long, and at a high temperature. The sugar became toffee!!
karadekoolaid wrote:Rock hard. Couldn't get a spoon through it.
That`s because you cooked the jam for too long, and at a high temperature. The sugar became toffee!!
Pepper Pig wrote:OK. So the strawberry jam is done. Much more scummy than the raspberry. Tastes fine and set fine but I tried to stir the scum in and it wouldn't.
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EBay launches site redesign, Pinterest-like feed
SAN FRANCISCO -- EBay is hurtling into the digital age with a new logo, major redesign and aggressive plans to wade deeper into daily deals, search and shipping.
The most striking change is the visual, Pinterest-like home page "Feed," which lists brands that users follow and makes suggestions based on their browsing history and past purchases.
Feed rolls out to U.S. customers over the next 100 days, with international launches beginning in early 2013.
EBay's decision to mothball its stodgy, stale old site in favor of larger photos and more white space is a reflection of the changing tastes of younger, mobile-savvy users. Some 105 million people actively use the site.
The moves underscore fundamental changes in eBay's business model. Today, more than 70% of 350 million items listed are new. "It's the evolution of our service and how customers use it," eBay President Devin Wenig said in a phone interview.
Industry watchers say the changes are necessary, as more consumers opt for smartphones and tablets instead of PCs. "We believe every online experience will become organized around individual users and their preferences," says Jon Ehrlich, co-founder of social-commerce company Copious.
The Feed announcement comes after eBay in August launched Lifestyle Deals, a Groupon-esque daily deals service in San Francisco, Chicago, New York and elsewhere.
On Wednesday, the company unveiled eBay Now, an app that offers "on-demand delivery service" of goods from local stores. The service is available only in San Francisco, but more cities are expected to be added soon.
Amazon offers "local express delivery" for some items in major cities.
EBay's search also underwent a makeover, with an autocomplete feature similar to Google's. Users can personalize their search results for particular items.
The news sent eBay shares up 1.2%, to $46.76, in trading Wednesday.
Wenig hinted that more is to come. "We will continue to make shopping more intuitive, more convenient and more relevant," he said. "This is just the beginning."


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Welcome to the New Mexico Tech
New Mexico Tech is proud to offer two different TRiO programs to serve Albuquerque High Schools:
Upward Bound Upward Bound Math & Science
Upward Bound and Upward Bound Math and Science are federal TRiO programs funded by the US Department of Education. All TRiO programs are vested in the notion that all committed students deserve an opportunity of higher education (without regard to race, gender, national origin, or ADA status) regardless of their family's economic resources and/or educational background. We are dedicated to helping first-generation college-bound and/or low income high school students prepare for college by providing them with the academic, personal, and professional skills they need to overcome their obstacles and succeed.
For more information about these programs, please follow the links above to visit their individual websites. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact a member of the UB or UBMS staff listed below.
|Upward Bound
|Upward Bound Math & Science
|Frances Ortega
|Berta Gutierrez
|Program Director
|Program Director
|(505) 366-2521
|(505) 366-2525


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Mirova raises €600 million and surpasses its initial target for its first brownfield Infrastructure fund, the Mirova Core Infrastructure Fund
Strong investor demand has resulted in the Mirova Core Infrastructure Fund surpassing its initial target of raising.
Mirova, Natixis Asset Management's subsidiary for responsible investment, has announced that it is nearing the final close for its first brownfield infrastructure fund, the Mirova Core Infrastructure Fund SCS SICAV-SIF ("the Fund" or "MCIF").
While the initial target was of €500 million, the first close of €600 million has been held in July 2015.The fund is now nearing its revised hard cap and the final close is expected to be held in October 2015. The capital for the fund was raised from a diverse group of prominent European investors including pension funds, insurance companies and funds of funds. It also has the support of a number of leading consultants. Threadmark acted as exclusive global placement agent in Europe, outside of France, alongside Natixis Global Asset Management who were responsible for distribution in France.
The Mirova Core Infrastructure Fund is the first brownfield PPP focused fund in Continental Europe and is substantially seeded.
To date it has made investments across 18 assets predominantly in European PPP and infrastructure concessions, including transportation, broadband networks and a diverse range of social infrastructure projects. It has a 25 year fund term, matching the long term nature of the investments it will hold.