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SCIENTISTS OUTRAGED OVER DAMAGE TO "HOBBIT" REMAINS SCIENTISTS OUTRAGED OVER The team charges the remains were DAMAGE TO "HOBBIT" REMAINS severely damaged by rubber moulds made n what is being called a true case of at Jacob's lab: "The return of the bones to [sent skullduggery, the remains of a _ the Jakarta center is cloaked in mystery", newly discovered human species have says discovery team member Richard suffered irreparable damage since entering Roberts of Australia's University of the care of palaeontologists. Wollongong. The damage to the bones of this diminu- The team believes the government inter- tive being—named Homo floresiensis vened. Palaeoanthropologist Harry nicknamed "hobbit" by scientists Widianto of the Yogyakarta Archaeology extensive that it will limit scholarly Agency was sent to get the bones. oo research on the species, say members of the (Source: Sci-Tech Today; March 22, 2005; Indonesian Center for Archaeology-based http://www.sci-tech- discovery team. today.com/story.xhtml ?story_id=31628) Considered the most important discovery in human origins in five decades, the remains are marred by broken jaws and smashed bones. "The equivalent in the world of art would "The return of the bones be somebody slashing the Mona Lisa and then trying to fix it with chewing gum," to the Jakarta center is says palaeontologist Tim White of the cloaked in mystery” University of California-Berkeley. Reported in October's Nature magazine y a team of Australian and Indonesian researchers, the discovery of Homo flore- shocked paleontologists. The eings lived on Flores from at least 94,000 . to 13,000 years ago, making them the only i ECRETS IN ONCIENT PAPYNIC human species besides Neanderthals that ived alongside modern man, Homo sapi- A vast array of previously ens, in ancient times. unintelligible manuscripts from Despite having chimp-sized brains and ancient Greece and Rome are being standing about three feet tall, they hunted _ read for the first time thanks to infra-red ygmy elephants and Komodo dragons _ light, in a breakthrough hailed as the using complex stone blades and axes like classical equivalent of finding the Holy those wielded by modern humans. Grail. In November, the research took a bizarre The technique turn into the politics of palaeontology. could see the number Py Teuku Jacob of Gadjah Mada University, of accounted-for i an Indonesian scientist unaffiliated with the ancient manuscripts | discovery team, took the partly fossilised increase by one-fifth ie bones to his lab in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, and may even lead to fi 3 275 miles away from their repository in _ the unveiling of some ir Jakarta. lost Christian gospels. What followed was a standoff that set an A team at Oxford older generation of Indonesian and University is using Australian palaeontologists against younger the technology to scientists. Jacob, 75, is considered _ bring back into view Indonesia's most prominent palaeontolo- faded ink on gist, a role with added status ina country thousands of papyrus that reveres age and seniority. scrolls salvaged from On the other side is the team of scientists an ancient rubbish based at the Indonesian Center for dump in the 19th Archaeology but whose work is funded by _ century. . the Australian Research Council. The "multi-spectral Letest dis fas] Aside from four leg bones that remain in imaging process", da Vines "s Jacob's custody, the fossils were returned — which is also used in EASY+To «| on 23 Februrary. producing images The team charges the remains were __ from satellites, uses infra-red light to reveal severely damaged by rubber moulds made __ ink invisible to the eye. at Jacob's lab: "The return of the bones to The collection, taken from the now-dis- the Jakarta center is cloaked in mystery", appeared town of Oxyrhynchus in Egypt, says discovery team member Richard _ has been stored in the Sackler library in Roberts of Australia's University of Oxford, where it is the largest of its kind in Wollongong. the world. The team believes the government inter- Material ranges from the third to the sev- vened. Palaeoanthropologist Harry enth centuries BC and includes work by Widianto of the Yogyakarta Archaeology classical writers such as Sophocles, Agency was sent to get the bones. co Euripides and Hesiod. Those uncovered so (Source: Sci-Tech Today; March 22, 2005; _ far include parts of the Epigonoi (Progeny), http://www.sci-tech- a long-lost tragedy by Sophocles, the fiftl today.com/story.xhtml ?story_id=31628) century BC Greek playwright, and part of a lost novel by Lucian, a second century Greek writer. There is also an epic poem by Archilochos, a 7th century successor of Homer, which describes events leading uj "The return of the bones § © the Trojan War. . "The Oxyrhynchus collection is of to the Jakarta center is unparalleled importance—especially now cloaked in mystery” that it can be read fully and relatively quickly", said Dr Dirk Obbink, who is lead- ing the imaging work. "The material will shed light on virtually every aspect of life in Hellenistic and Roman Egypt, and, by extension, the classical world as a whole". . Christopher Pelling, regius professor of i ECRETS IN ONCIENT PAPYNIC Greek at Oxford University, said the works were "central texts which scholars have A vast array of previously been speculating about for centuries". unintelligible manuscripts from (Source: Sci-Tech Today; April 19, 2005; ancient Greece and Rome are being Attp://www.sci-tech- read for the first time thanks to infra-red _ today.com/story.xhtml?story_title=Infra-Red- light, in a breakthrough hailed asthe Brings-Ancient-Papyri-to- ical equivalent of finding the Holy — Light&story_id=33131 &category=disc) INFRA-RED REVEALS AMAZING SECRETS IN ANCIENT PAPYRI vast array of previously Aes manuscripts from ancient Greece and Rome are being read for the first time thanks to infra-red light, in a breakthrough hailed as the classical equivalent of finding the Holy Grail. The technique could see the number / of accounted-for f ancient manuscripts Is increase by one-fifth ze and may even lead to ta the unveiling of some i= lost Christian gospels. ix A team at Oxford 4 University is using the technology to bring back into view faded ink on thousands of papyrus scrolls salvaged from an ancient rubbish dump in the 19th century. " The "multi-spectral Ledest discs imaging process", da Vine i's which is also used in EASY To «| producing images of Lecest discover ~e Leenovdo dm Vinci's sketdbook : THE EASY*TO-OPEN MILE CARTON, on JUNE — JULY 2005 NEXUS = 63 to the Jakarta center is cloaked in mystery" www.nexusmagazine.com