LaHaye In Newsweek

Tim Lahaye, author of the Left Behind series was interviewed by Newsweek as part of the coverage of the Mideast Crisis. Couple of interesting things stand out. Questions are in bold

Why I am Against the Death Penalty: A Disturbing Look at the Process in Missouri

From the St. Louis Post-Dispatch:

From behind a screen in a Kansas City court June 5, the doctor who devised and supervised the state’s lethal injection procedure described it in terms so troubling to a federal judge that he ordered it halted.
The doctor testified anonymously that he is dyslexic. That he sometimes confused names of drugs. That he sometimes gave inconsistent testimony. That the injection protocol was not written down, and that he made changes on his “independent authority.”
And that turns out not to be all.

Western Carolina University Plans New Forensic Anthropology Research Facility

According to ABC News Western Carolina University is planning on creating a new forensic anthropology research facility to study how the environment in North Carolina affects the decomposition of human remains:

Soon, Williams will have a new place to conduct his research a well-hidden location near Western Carolina’s campus where he and students studying the science of the human skeleton and human remains can watch cadavers decompose in the mountainous environment of western North Carolina.

*snip*

“They’ll be involved with the daily observation process. Very early on, you are examining that body daily, because the changes initially go very quickly,” Williams said. “They’ll learn how to observe as scientists.”

Saturday Paleopathology Blogging: Preview

Jane had a problem. Her (his?) toe was sore. Jane never sought medical treatment for the condition, but 65 million years later medical help finally arrived:

Chistopher Vittore, MD (with Mike Henderson) examined the pathological pedal phalanx of Jane. He showed radiographs (as a radiologist, he pointed out that an image made with X-rays is a “radiograph”: NOBODY can “see X-rays”!!) and CT scans of the wound, and got a diagnosis of a Brodie abscess.

(This is actually another term for subacute osteomyelitis)

New Information on the Afar Depression

The Afar Depression is, of course, famous for being the area where Australopithecus afarensis was discovered. Geotimes has an article concerning recent seismic studies of the Afar area:

The Book Meme

Duane over at Abnormal Interests has tagged me with a book meme. So here it is…

The Plesiosaur and the Mainstream Media

ABC News has in interesting article on the finding of two new species of plesiosaur in Australia. Overall, the article isn’t bad, but there are a few problems with it.

Friday Know Your Primate: Indris

Infraorder Lemuriformes
Family Indriidae
Subfamily Indriinae
Genus Indris
Species Indri Indri

Babbling Bats

Below is a picture of Saccopteryx bilineata also known as the sac-winged bat:

According to and article on New Scientist the pups have a pretty unique ability.

Anthropology Rock Stars

Coturnix wants to know about scientist who have rock star status. Reminds me of when I was a young hominin taking method and theory of archaeology. My teacher used to use that analogy in reference to a couple of archaeologists.