Why 2 Birds in the Hand May Be Better Than a "Hobbit" Skull (in a Cave Deposit, at Least)

Labeled bags of bones

The light flickers, and then goes out. The humming of the air conditioning stops. The sounds of Jakarta?s hustle-bustle and infamous traffic gridlock slowly seep into the room, softly lit by the glow of my laptop screen. It?s a late October afternoon, the rainy season started a few days ago, and I?m at the National Research and Development Centre for Archaeology in Jakarta, Indonesia. On the table in front of me, now only dimly lit from my laptop screen, lies a cast of a famous human skeleton. Carefully arranged on a fine layer of black velvet, these pieces represent Homo floresiensis, the enigmatic hominin species from Liang Bua cave on the Indonesian island of Flores.

Excavation in progress

The discovery in 2003 of Homo floresiensis, affectionately referred to as a ?hobbit?, took scientists worldwide by surprise, and challenged many things thought to be understood about human evolution. Intense scientific debates followed about the validity of Homo floresiensis and its status as a separate species, and many of these debates continue to this day. Behind the black velvet covered table, however, stacked up high against the walls, are hundreds of boxes and plastic containers, each of which contains evidence of the other animals that lived and died among Homo floresiensis. I can?t help but think that these boxes and containers, not the skeleton on the table, will help us to better understand the rise and fall of Homo floresiensis.

Liang Bua interior

Liang Bua is a limestone cave in western Flores, located on the southern slope of a lush green valley that over time has been cut down by the Wae Racang river. Its sediments have yielded an enormous number of animal bones, and despite its star status, ?hobbit? remains are hugely outnumbered by the remains of other animals, such as rats, pygmy elephants, Komodo dragons, bats, and most importantly in my case, birds. My first encounter with the ancient birds of Liang Bua was in 2006, when I made my first trip to Jakarta. Coping as best as I could with the heat (I?m northern European after all), I spent my days carefully unwrapping tissue paper only to find bird bones, some very large, most of them small, tucked inside. I couldn?t help but feeling a bit overwhelmed when I left Jakarta.

Now, several years and many trips to Jakarta later, the birds from Liang Bua are speaking, figuratively at least (technically, parrots may talk but they and others make sounds). And their story is fascinating! Although bird remains probably make up only about 1% of the total number of animal bones excavated from Liang Bua (which is a lot more than the hominin bones by the way), they are consistently present from the top layers of sediment all the way down to the bottom of the cave. On top of that, the birds are incredibly diverse, which means that the ?hobbits? lived in a world full of birds. The nearby forests were home to pigeons, parrots, small owls, and goshawks. A barn owl probably roosted at the eastern cave wall next to the entrance.

Further back in the cave, swiftlets nested high up against the wall in the dark crevices. When I visited Liang Bua in 2011, I was so excited to see living swiftlets darting in and out of the cave like acrobats. I had been looking at the bones of these birds for months, but I fell in love with them as they gathered above the forest canopy in the late afternoon to feed on insects. Fossil swiftlet bones, which are found as deep as 9.5 m, show that these tiny birds have been doing this for tens of thousands of years. They own this place.

River valley in the Liang Bua area

Throughout prehistory, occasional overflowing of the nearby Wae Racang river likely created marshy and muddy areas that were excellent feeding grounds for all kinds of water birds, including snipes, plovers and sandpipers, probing and prodding the mud with their long bills in search of food (invertebrates mostly). Brahminy Kites patrolled the river for fish or hung out near the mouth of the cave, waiting for a fly-by bat or swiftlet snack. Kingfishers and small rails could be found in the woodlands close to the river, while little buttonquails scurried around in the drier grasslands higher up.

Despite this seemingly peaceful setting, life at Liang Bua wasn?t all peachy. The remains of multiple individuals of giant marabou storks and vultures illustrate a darker side of Liang Bua. Carcasses of pygmy Stegodon (an extinct relative of elephants), probably brought into the cave by Homo floresiensis (Morwood et al., 2004, 2005; van den Bergh et al., 2009), must have attracted the attention of these fierce scavenging birds.

Their modern-day counterparts, the African marabou storks and vultures, have a love-hate relationship. Marabou storks signal that it is safe for vultures to approach a carcass, helping them in their quest for food. But, as their massive straight bill is poorly equipped for tearing off chunks of meat, they then often resort to intimidating vultures to drop their chunk, or even steal the meat directly from them. We can only imagine what the scene at Liang Bua must have looked like. If these videos of modern marabou storks and vultures are any indication, I?m not placing bets on who got the last scraps of Stegodon meat, but it may not have been a hobbit or even a komodo dragon:

The bird remains from Liang Bua paint a lively and colorful background for Homo floresiensis, but their implications extend far beyond a soundtrack to the hobbit story. Birds are closely associated to vegetation, and their presence throughout the stratigraphic sequence serves as a paleoecological signal, much more so than mammals. Changes in local climate affect vegetation, which in turn affects the bird community. The diverse assortment of birds in the Pleistocene sediments indicates that Liang Bua?s surroundings hosted a range of different habitats, including mature and floristically diverse forests that would have provided plenty of food and other resources for Homo floresiensis. In the Holocene sediments, bird diversity appears to drop. This may well be biased due to smaller sample sizes in the Holocene, but we cannot rule out changes in the local ecology. The absence of water birds (abundant in Pleistocene deposits) during the Holocene might reflect a shift to a drier climate, which is on par with isotope data from the region (Westaway et al., 2009).

Swiftlets over forest near Liang Bua

However, as the Wae Racang river changed its course, snipes and plovers may no longer have been attracted to the cave surroundings. Forest birds, such as swiftlets, parrots, and pigeons made it unscathed into the Holocene, indicating that despite a shift to a drier climate during the terminal Pleistocene, enough forest remained nearby to sustain populations of these birds. Interestingly, a majority of the bird species observed in the Pleistocene sediments are still found on the island today. While pygmy elephants, hobbits, giant marabou storks, and vultures disappeared toward the end of the Pleistocene, most birds seem unaffected by this extinction event, or were able to cope with changing environmental conditions. What made them different?

As more material is excavated and studied, the Liang Bua avifauna continues to grow and the resolution of its paleoecological and paleoenvironmental signal will increase. It might show us what happened to the wetlands and forests over time, tell us who was eating whom, and when each character arrived on the scene. Moreover, it allows us to test hypotheses about climate change, extinction patterns, and yes, human evolution.

I hear a clanking sound as the air condition comes back to life. Delicious cold air hits my face. Back to the birds it is.

References:

van den Bergh, G. D., H. J. M. Meijer, R. A. Due, K. Szabo ?? , L. W. van den Hoek Ostende, T. Sutikna, E. W. Saptomo, P. Piper, K. M. Dobney, and M. J. Morwood. 2009. The Liang Bua faunal remains: a 95 k.yr. sequence from Flores, East Indonesia. Journal of Human Evolution 57:527?537.

Meijer, H.J.M., Sutikna, T., Saptomo, W.E., Due, R. A., Wasisto, S., James, H.F., Morwood, M.J., & Tocheri, M.W. Late Pleistocene-Holocene non-Passerine Avifauna of Liang Bua (Flores, Indonesia). The Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 33(4).

Morwood, M. J., P. Brown, Jatmiko, T. Sutikna, E. W. Saptomo, K. E. Westaway, R. A. Due, R. G. Roberts, T. Maeda, S. Wasisto, and T. Djubiantono. 2005. Further evidence for small- bodied hominins from the late Pleistocene of Flores, Indonesia. Nature 437:1012?1017.

Morwood, M. J., R. P. Soejono, R. G. Roberts, T. Sutikna, C. S. M. Turney, K. E. Westaway, W. J. Rink, J.-X. Zhao, G. D. van den- Bergh, R. A. Due, D. R. Hobbs, M. W. Moore, M. I. Bird, and L. K. Fifield. 2004. Archaeology and age of a new hominin from Flores in eastern Indonesia. Nature 431:1087?1091.

Westaway, K. E., R. G. Roberts, T. Sutikna, M. J. Morwood, R. Drysdale, R., J.-X. Zhao, and A. R. Chivas. 2009a. The evolving landscape and climate of western Flores: an environmental context for the archae- ological site of Liang Bua. Journal of Human Evolution 57:450?464.

Images: by author.

Source: http://www.scientificamerican.com/blog/post.cfm?id=why-two-birds-in-the-hand-may-be-better-than-a-hobbit-skull-in-a-cave-deposit-at-least

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Vodafone launches bid for Kabel Deutschland

FILE- This is a Tuesday, Nov. 10, 2009 file photo of pedestrians as they walk past a Vodafone outlet in Oxford Street, London. Britain's Vodafone PLC has launched a takeover bid Monday June 24, 2013 for Germany's biggest cable operator, Kabel Deutschland, as part of its push to dominate media services in its biggest market. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)

FILE- This is a Tuesday, Nov. 10, 2009 file photo of pedestrians as they walk past a Vodafone outlet in Oxford Street, London. Britain's Vodafone PLC has launched a takeover bid Monday June 24, 2013 for Germany's biggest cable operator, Kabel Deutschland, as part of its push to dominate media services in its biggest market. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)

LONDON (AP) ? Britain's Vodafone PLC has launched a takeover bid for Germany's biggest cable operator, Kabel Deutschland, as part of its push to dominate media services in its biggest market.

Vodafone, a British cellphone company with wide international interests, confirmed Monday it will offer 87 euros per share for Kabel Deutschland. The deal values the German company at 7.7 billion euros ($10.2 billion), but when including 3 billion euros in net debt, the total value is 10.7 billion euros.

Vodafone Group Chief Executive Vittorio Colao said the combination comes amid growth in German demand for fast broadband and data services.

"The combination of Vodafone Germany and Kabel Deutschland will greatly enhance our offerings in response to those needs and is consistent with Vodafone's broader strategy of providing unified communications services."

Kabel Deutschland Holding AG, which has more than 8 million customers, said that its management and supervisory boards "welcome this announcement."

Kabel Deutschland shares were up 1.7 percent in midday Frankfurt trading at 85.52 euros.

Vodafone made a preliminary approach to Kabel Deutschland earlier this month. That was followed by a preliminary takeover proposal from U.S. rival Liberty Global.

Though the reaction of the markets appeared to suggest the price was in line with expectations, analysts like Keith Bowman offered a note of caution, wary of Vodafone's track record on mergers. In 2000, the company took over Mannesmann AG in a stock-swap deal valued at $180 billion ? at the time, the largest corporate merger ever ? a price many analysts believed overvauled the German company.

"Vodafone's European acquisition track record is not great, still marred somewhat by its previous over payment for Germany's Mannesmann, whilst rival cable group Liberty Global could still look to bid for Kabel," Bowman said in a statement that followed the announcement.

Bowman also noted that another element of uncertainty comes from Vodafone's tussle with Verizon Communications Inc., the New York-based company. Vodafone and Verizon together own Verizon Wireless, the largest cellphone carrier in the U.S. and a very profitable operation.

Verizon Wireless once had a policy of using its cash to pay down debt ? a policy that ended only in January. Analysts saw that debt reduction strategy as a way to squeeze Vodafone and persuade it to sell its 45 percent stake.

New York-based Verizon Communications owns the other 55 percent of Verizon Wireless and controls its operations.

"The deal comes at a time when the exact future of its US Verizon business is still up in the air," Bowman said, adding that economic "prospects for Europe continue to remain challenging."

Ronald Klingebiel, a Warwick University professor who has consulted for the telecoms industry, said mobile companies like Vodafone increasingly pursue "multi-play strategies," to give customers broadband, fixed and mobile telephone lines and television.

But he said that Vodafone may have approached Kabel Deutschland because its present systems, which rely on Deutsche Telekom's fixed-line system are running at capacity.

"Deutsche Telekom is struggling to upgrade its network with vectoring technology, something that will increase its control over competitive data traffic," he said.

"This may have convinced the Vodafone leadership to buy into Kabel Deutschland, a high-capacity cable-network provider, whom they had already approached at other times without concluding a deal."

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2013-06-24-Germany-Kabel%20Deutschland-Vodafone/id-e6c62569a0bd4bc182111eedd2fd4ff6

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Uncertainty over the benefits of feeding birds in winter

June 24, 2013 ? Wild bird populations are generally thought to benefit from being given additional food in winter but our understanding of the effects of such food provision is incomplete.

The results of a new study, carried out by researchers at the University of Exeter and the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO), has found that feeding wild blue tits in winter resulted in less successful breeding during the following spring.

The research, published in Scientific Reports, revealed that woodland blue tits that were provided with fat balls as a supplementary food during the winter months went on to produce chicks that were smaller, of lower body weight and which had lower survival than the chicks of birds that did not receive any additional food.

Dr Jon Blount from Biosciences at the University of Exeter who led the research said: "Our research questions the benefits of feeding wild birds over winter. Although the precise reasons why fed populations subsequently have reduced reproductive success are unclear, it would be valuable to assess whether birds would benefit from being fed all year round rather than only in winter. More research is needed to determine exactly what level of additional food provisioning, and at what times of year, would truly benefit wild bird populations."

Dr Kate Plummer, lead author of the paper, said: "There could be a number of different explanations for our results. One possibility is that winter feeding may help birds in relatively poor condition to survive and breed. Because these individuals are only capable of raising a small number of chicks, they will reduce our estimation of breeding success within the population. But more research is needed to understand whether winter feeding is contributing to an overall change in the size of bird populations."

It is estimated that around half of UK householders feed birds in their gardens. This equates to around 50-60 thousand tonnes of bird food provisioned each year and contributes to a thriving bird food industry.

Jane Lawler, Marketing Director at Gardman, commented: "As the wider scientific evidence shows, feeding wild birds with appropriate foods delivers a range of positive benefits. A number of unanswered questions remain, however, and this is why we have been supporting this and other research, using the information gained to inform our products and the advice that we provide to our customers."

The three year study was conducted across nine woodland sites in Cornwall. During winter, populations of blue tits were left unfed, given plain fat balls or given fat balls enriched with vitamin E -- a vitamin commonly present in bird food such as nuts and seeds. Nest boxes and bird feeders were distributed around the woodland study sites and reproductive success was investigated by checking the nest boxes in the spring to determine the number of eggs laid and the growth and survival of chicks.

Studies elsewhere have shown that feeding wild birds in winter can have almost immediate benefits for survival and can enhance future breeding success, so the latest results provide important new information and inform the debate around the role that feeding wild birds may play in their population processes. Whether providing food is detrimental or beneficial to wild bird populations, it is clear that more research is needed to better understand its effects.

The study was funded by the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC), the Royal Society, Gardman Ltd and the BTO.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/most_popular/~3/wcdq5VhRpT8/130624111011.htm

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Mystery of the gigantic storm on Saturn

June 24, 2013 ? We now understand the nature of the giant storms on Saturn. Through the analysis of images sent from the Cassini space probe belonging to the North American and European space agencies (NASA and ESA respectively), as well as the computer models of the storms and the examination of the clouds therein, the Planetary Sciences Group of the University of the Basque Country has managed to explain the behaviour of these storms for the very first time. The article explaining the discovery, the lead author being Enrique Garc?a Melendo, researcher at the Fundaci? Observatori Esteve Duran -- Institut de Ci?ncies de l'Espai, of Catalonia, was published in Nature Geosciences.

Approximately once every Saturnian year -- equivalent to 30 Earth years -- an enormous storm is produced on the ringed planet and which affects the aspect of its atmosphere on a global scale. These gigantic storms are known as Great White Spots, due to the appearance they have on the atmosphere of the planet. The first observation of one of these was made in 1876; the Great White Spot of 2010 was the sixth one to be observed. On this occasion the Cassini space vehicle was able to obtain very high resolution images of this great meteorological structure. The storm initiated as a small brilliant white cloud in the middle latitudes of the northern hemisphere of the planet, and grew rapidly and remained active for more than seven months. Over this time an amalgam of white clouds was generated which expanded to form a cloudy and turbulent ring with a surface area of thousands of millions of square kilometres. Two year age the Planetary Sciences Group presented a first study of the storm and which was published on the front cover of Nature on the 7th of July, 2011. Now, with this new research, the hidden secrets of the phenomenon have been revealed, studying in detail the "head" and the "focus" of the Great White Spot.

The team of astronomers analysed the images taken from the Cassini probe in order to measure the winds in the "head" of the storm, the focus where the activity originated. In this region the storm interacts with the circulating atmosphere, forming very intense sustained winds, typically of 500 kilometres an hour. "We did not expect to find such violent circulation in the region of the development of the storm, which is a symptom of the particularly violent interaction between the storm and the planet's atmosphere," commented Enrique Garc?a. They were also able to determine that these storm clouds are at 40 km above the planet's own clouds.

Information about the mechanisms causing meteorological phenomena

The research revealed the mechanism that produces this phenomenology. The team of scientists designed mathematical models capable of reproducing the storm on a computer, providing a physical explanation for the behaviour of this giant storm and for its lengthy duration. The calculations show that the focus of the storm is deeply embedded, some 300 km above the visible clouds. The storm transports enormous quantities of moist gas in water vapour to the highest levels of the planet, forming visible clouds and liberating enormous quantities of energy. This injection of energy interacts violently with the dominant wind of Saturn to produce wind storms of 500 km/h. The research also showed that, despite the enormous activity of the storm, this was not able to substantially modify the prevailing winds which blow permanently in the same direction as Earth's parallels, but they did interact violently with them. An important part of the computer's calculations were made thanks to the Centre de Serveis Cient?fics i Acad?mics de Catalunya (CESCA), and the computer services at the Institut de Ci?ncies de l'Espai (ICE), also based in the Catalan capital of Barcelona.

Apart from the curiosity of knowing the physical processes underlying the formation of these giant storms on Saturn, the study of these phenomena enable us to enhance our knowledge of the models employed in research into meteorology and the behaviour of Earth's atmosphere, in a very different environment and impossible to simulate in a laboratory. "The storms on Saturn are, in a way, a test bank of the physical mechanisms underlying the generation of similar meteorological phenomena on Earth," commented Agust?n S?nchez Lavega, Director of the Planetary Sciences Group at the UPV/EHU.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/most_popular/~3/0vE3bz4zmR0/130624075753.htm

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Benefits of Owning a Pool in Your Backyard - Bruzzese Home ...

Owning a swimming pool has become a popular addition for many people.? During the summer, you?ll find families flocking to their backyard swimming pools (or those of their neighbors).? A pool can offer you numerous benefits that you will get nowhere else. Below are some of the reasons as to why owning a pool could be a great idea for you and your family:

General health benefits

Apart from the entertainment benefit, a swimming pool provides you with many health benefits. Spending a few minutes a day in the pool helps to exercise your body with no risk of injury as those caused by high impact exercise.? Swimming is also a great aerobic activity! ?If you?re trying to keep fit without the hassles of going to a public place like a gym, then owning a pool is a great option for you.? Personal pools are hygienic, easy to maintain and accessible at whatever time you choose to exercise.?

Helps save money spent on recreational activities

Someone who loves swimming or engaging in other recreational activities will find owning a pool to be beneficial especially when it comes to saving time and money. ?You?ll no longer need to pack up the kids and head out to a public pool thus saving money in gas and time.? Your backyard will become the center of your families recreational activities.? There?s no end to the amount of fun you can have in your own private backyard oasis!

A pool can also help add value to your home

Having an in ground swimming pool in your backyard can easily add value to your home and even attract ?buyers in the event that you plan to sell your home. Many prospective buyers will opt for a home equipped with a pool over one that does not have one. This is especially the case if the pool is properly designed, landscaped and built by a professional pool construction company.

A pool can add an aesthetic touch to your backyard giving it an alluring appeal. Just the look of the sparkling clean water in the neighborhood will transform your home into a charming place where everyone wants to visit and spend some time.? Always be sure to keep your pool maintained and the patio area safe and tidy!

Author About:

Jacqueline Mya is a passionate writer who loves to write Home Improvement related tips. By the way, you can find out more about Pool Maintenance Raleigh ?as well as much more information on all types of services at Pool Repair Raleigh

What are your thoughts on installing a swimming pool in your backyard? ~Gary B.

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Source: http://www.bruzzesehomeimprovements.com/benefits-of-owning-a-pool-in-your-backyard/

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Carrey kicks his 'Kick-Ass 2' for being too violent

Movies

Randee Dawn NBC News contributor

6 hours ago

Universal

Jim Carrey in "Kick-Ass 2."

"Kick-Ass 2" won't be in theaters until August, but it already has a major detractor slamming the film on Twitter: Jim Carrey, one of its stars.

Carrey took to Twitter on Sunday to denounce the film, a satirical look at the superhero genre that's a follow up to 2010's "Kick-Ass," saying that he could no longer support the film in the wake of the shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, Conn. last December.

The 51-year old actor, who plays Col. Stars and Stripes and pairs up with the titular superhero, later added:

The film began shooting in July 2012 and wrapped production around Thanksgiving of last year.

The creator of the comic book series "Kick-Ass" is based on, Mark Millar, shot back at the Twitter comments on his website's comments forum.

After praising Carrey's talents and his performance in the film, Millar says he was "baffled by this sudden announcement" and Carrey's timing of his thoughts. "Nothing seen in this picture wasn't in the screenplay eighteen months ago," he added.

"Like Jim, I'm horrified by real-life violence," wrote Millar, "but 'Kick-Ass 2' isn't a documentary. ... ('K)ick-Ass' avoids the usual bloodless body-count of most big summer pictures and focuses instead on the CONSEQUENCES of violence. ... Ironically, Jim's character in 'Kick-Ass 2' is a Born-Again Christian and the big deal we made of the fact that he refuses to fire a gun is something he told us attracted him to the role in the first place."

Millar also said that "our audience is smart enough to know they're all pretending and we should instead just sit back and enjoy the serotonin release of seeing bad guys meet bad ends as much as we enjoyed seeing the Death Star (in "Star Wars") exploding."

Carrey has been a proponent of gun control for some time, and recently made headlines by mocking gun enthusiasts in a short video reminiscent of "Hee Haw." He also wrote an op-ed for the Huffington Post in April, looking for some form of moderation.

"(Gun control) thugs, though menacing, are a minority but they will have their way if good people don't step forward now and make a difference," he said. "Every American has the right to speak their mind. Every American has the right to bear arms. But it is up to every American to draw the line when it comes to the type of guns that are considered a reasonable means of self-defense."

(Warning: Video has some vulgar language.)

Source: http://www.nbcnews.com/entertainment/jim-carrey-slams-his-kick-ass-2-film-being-too-6C10424009

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Actor Paul Giamatti joins 'Downton Abbey' as playboy brother

LONDON (Reuters) - American actor Paul Giamatti is joining the cast of the British award-winning stately home drama "Downton Abbey", starting with the Christmas episode, the show's producers said on Monday.

Carnival Films, a division of Comcast's NBCUniversal, and British television channel ITV said Giamatti would play Cora Crawley's maverick, playboy brother Harold in the Christmas episode.

Giamatti, known for films including "Sideways" and "Cinderella Man", will be star alongside Shirley MacLaine and the regular cast members in the drama that won a Golden Globe for Best Miniseries or Television Film in 2011.

He is just one of a list of new cast members to star in an eight-part fourth series that includes New Zealand opera singer Kiri Te Kanawa and follows the lives of the aristocratic Crawley family and their staff.

"We're excited that Paul Giamatti will be joining us on Downton to play Cora's brother Harold, the rather free-spirited uncle to Mary and Edith," Carnival Films' Managing Director Gareth Neame said in a statement.

"We can't wait to see him work alongside Shirley MacLaine, who are both sure to upset the Grantham's apple cart in this year's Christmas Day episode."

The new series will see the return of MacLaine as Martha Levinson alongside series regulars Hugh Bonneville, Maggie Smith, Michelle Dockery and Jim Carter.

In Britain, series three of "Downton Abbey" that was created by British screenwriter Julian Fellowes was the most watched drama of 2012, averaging 11.9 million viewers.

In the United States, shown on PBS, "Downton Abbey" was the highest-ranked non-U.S. series.

(Reporting by Belinda Goldsmith, editing by Paul Casciato)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/actor-paul-giamatti-joins-downton-abbey-playboy-brother-180418708.html

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