New Research Tool Can Detect Autism At 9 Months Of Age

The ability to detect autism in children as young as nine months of age is on the horizon, according to researchers at McMaster University.

The Early Autism Study, led by Mel Rutherford, associate professor of psychology in the Faculty of Science, has been using eye tracker technology that measures eye direction while the babies look at faces, eyes, and bouncing balls on a computer screen.

"What's important about this study is that now we can distinguish between a group of siblings with autism from a group with no autism -- at nine months and 12 months," says Rutherford. "I can do this in 10 minutes, and it is objective, meaning that the only measure is eye direction; it's not influenced by a clinician's report or by intuition. Nobody's been able to distinguish between these groups at so early an age."

Currently, the earliest diagnostic test for autism is reliable around the age of two, and most children in Ontario are diagnosed around age three or four. The earlier the diagnosis the better the overall prognosis, says Rutherford.

"There is an urgent need for a quick, reliable and objective screening tool to aid in diagnosing autism much earlier than is presently possible," she says. "Developing a tool for the early detection of autism would have profound effects on people with autism, their parents, family members, and future generations of those at risk of developing autism."

Rutherford presented her peer-reviewed research at the 7th Annual International Meeting for Autism Research in London.

More information on the Early Autism Study can found at http://www.earlyautismstudy.com.


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Is Indy Chasing A Fake ? Two Well-known Crystal Skulls Did Not, After All, Come From Ancient Mexico

ScienceDaily (May 25, 2008) — As Indiana Jones races against time to find an ancient crystal skull in his new movie adventure, he should perhaps take a moment to check its authenticity.

New research suggests that two well-known crystal skulls, in the British Museum and the Smithsonian Institution, Washington DC, did not, after all, come from ancient Mexico. Academics now believe the British skull was made in 19th century Europe and the American one even more recently.

The British Museum bought its skull, a life-size carving from a single block of rock crystal from Tiffany and Company, New York in 1897. Its origins were unknown but there were suggestions it was of ancient Mexican origin. Human skulls worn as ornaments and displayed on racks were known to have featured in Aztec art. The skull attracted a lot of public attention and speculation it was once thought to have healing powers. Crystal skulls have since featured in many books, articles and films, most recently in the new Steven Spielberg movie Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.

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People With Joint Pain Can Really Forecast Thunderstorms

ScienceDaily (Jun. 3, 2008) — The summer brings many thunderstorms to the east coast of the United States, and one of the nation’s leading joint specialists, Javad Parvizi, M.D., Ph.D., of the Rothman Institute at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, says you should believe your grandmother, friend or co-worker when they tell you it’s going to rain—even if it’s simply because their aching knees, hips, hands or shoulders “say so.”

Dr. Parvizi, who is also director of clinical research at the Rothman Institute at Jefferson, and associate professor of Orthopaedic Surgery at Jefferson Medical College of Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia, explains that even though individuals can experience pain fluctuations with the slightest change in barometric pressure, most patients report significant increases in pain before and during severe changes in weather, like summer downpours and thunderstorms.

“The phenomenon of people being able to forecast precipitation, especially rain, due to the level of their joint pain is real,” says Dr. Parvizi. “It is not in the patient’s head. There is science to back it up.”

Weather-related joint pain is typically seen in patients with osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, and other arthritic conditions. It can affect any load-bearing joint, but is most common in hips, knees, elbows, shoulders and hands. The joints contain sensory nerves called baro-receptors which respond to changes in atmospheric pressure. These receptors especially react when there is low barometric pressure, meaning the atmosphere has gone from dry to moist, like when it is going to rain.

“When pressure in the environment changes, we know that the amount of fluid in the joint or the pressure inside the joint fluctuates with it,” says Dr. Parvizi. “Individuals with arthritic joints feel these changes much more because they have less cartilage to provide cushioning.”

Dr. Parvizi says that sometimes the pain is due to inflammatory mediators around the joint, like with rheumatoid arthritis conditions and can often be helped by keeping the joints warm or icing them (depending on preference), massage therapy, and applying pain killing creams and ointments. Other treatments may include non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), site-specific steroid injections, and long-term use of certain supplements like Omega-3 (which is used to reduce inflammation) and glucosamine and chondroitin, which have been shown, in combination, to significantly reduce arthritis pain and maintain healthy cartilage.

For patients who have suffered a long time and exhibit signs of end stage arthritis (no cartilage left to cushion the joint), Dr. Parvizi suggests that joint replacement should be considered.

“Our goal is to get that painful little weatherman out of the patient’s joints while treating the root cause of their condition.”

The Rothman Institute at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital in Philadelphia offers orthopaedic and sports medicine expertise in the medical care of the spine, hip, knee, shoulder, elbow, foot, ankle, wrist and hand. Ranked second in the U.S. for orthopaedic funding by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery at Jefferson comprises over 50 board certified physicians who develop, teach and practice groundbreaking therapies and technologies that shape patient care practices around the country.


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Adapted from materials provided by Thomas Jefferson University Hospital.

Resurrection Of A Biblical Tree

Date Palm Pit Found At Masada Germinates At 2,000 Years Old.

The palm some ancients called the “Tree of Life” has been revived from a 2,000-year sleep, genes and all. In what is now the germination of the oldest known seed, a date pit plucked from ancient rubble at Masada has sprouted, scientists report. The sapling’s genetic fingerprint suggests it is none other than the Judean date palm, a variety referred to in the Bible and long thought extinct.

Like the iceman found in the Alps, this Judean date palm opens a window into the past, comments Paul Gepts, a plant geneticist at the University of California, Davis. “A small window, but a window nonetheless.”

Excavations in the ’60s uncovered five date pits in the Dead Sea region of Israel at Masada — a mesa-top Herodian fortress and, in the first century A.D., the last stronghold of Jews who, as the story goes, chose to fall upon their own swords rather than be slaughtered by the Roman forces surrounding them. For decades the seeds sat on a shelf in the office of Mordechai Kislev, an archaeobotanist at Bar-Ilan University in Israel.

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http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/33201/title/Resurrection_of_a_biblical_tree

Tim Russert / 'Meet The Press' Pays Tribute To It's Longtime Host

By FRAZIER MOORE , Associated Press
Last update: June 15, 2008 - 1:26 PM

NEW YORK - Tim Russert's chair was empty on "Meet the Press" on Sunday, two days after his unexpected death.
But Russert was very much present on the full-hour tribute to this giant of political journalism who hosted NBC's public-affairs program for more than 16 years.

"His voice has been stilled," began Tom Brokaw, who led the conversation, "and our issue this sad Sunday morning is remembering and honoring our colleague and our friend ...."
Brokaw and a half-dozen others were seated in front of the "Meet the Press" set and its angular table, left vacant, where Russert had presided as recently as last week.
Brokaw noted that Russert had a large wooden sign in his office that read: "Thou Shalt Not Whine," which Brokaw then supplemented with "Thou shalt not weep or cry this morning. This is a celebration."

But a bit later he choked up, recalling Russert's words of awe at how far a working-class kid from Buffalo like himself could rise: "What a country!" he would marvel.
Among those gathered were presidential historian Doris Kearns Goodwin and political pundit Mary Matalin, with Maria Shriver — the former NBC News correspondent and currently California's first lady — on a remote hookup.

All agreed that Russert was tough but fair in his interviewing, and that he, as a former political operative himself, loved politics and politicians.
What he didn't like, said consultant-pundit James Carville, was an elected official or anybody else who wasn't prepared to face him.
"The biggest insult to him was someone who came on and ... didn't take the show seriously," Carville said.

It was a mistake they quickly regretted, because Russert took his stewardship of "Meet the Press" as a sacred trust.
"He would spend all week preparing," said executive producer Betsy Fischer.
PBS' Gwen Ifill, a former NBC correspondent, called the program "The Church of Tim."
"I would actually get a pass from my own pastor to not be in church on Sunday if I was gonna be on `Meet the Press,'" she said with a smile.

MSNBC commentator Mike Barnicle added that Russert's son, Luke, had told him the day before that the program was "Tim's second son."
However fitting Sunday's tribute, it was a cruel irony that Russert had become the big story, particularly in the midst of a like-no-other presidential race that he was covering with his customary gusto.

Guests he had planned to grill Sunday were senior officials from both campaigns.
All that changed with Russert's death from a heart attack Friday. He was stricken while preparing for the broadcast at his network's Washington bureau.
NBC aired a prime-time tribute Friday night, then devoted Saturday's "Today" show to his life and career. His passing dominated rival cable-news networks and news-talk shows.

Russert was the face of political news for NBC as well as cable sibling MSNBC, serving as chief political analyst, a frequent correspondent and an election-night fixture, besides his off-camera duties as NBC News' Washington bureau chief.
He had become almost synonymous with the top-rated "Meet the Press," the TV institution he reinvented while becoming an institution himself. He had been its host since 1991 when the show, the longest-running on television, already was in its 45th year.

Several tape montages on Sunday's tribute displayed Russert in action, pressing subjects from Ross Perot to Louis Farrakhan. Politicos including John Kerry and Hillary Rodham Clinton were seen telling Russert they had no interest in running for the White House.
The abrupt void Russert leaves is unprecedented in network TV news. Even the tragic death of ABC News anchor Peter Jennings in 2005 followed his much-publicized battle with lung cancer and his four-month absence from the airwaves.

There was no immediate word on who would host "Meet the Press" next week, or in the weeks after that.
Drawing the program to a close, Brokaw observed "this would not have been just another Sunday for Tim: This is Father's Day." Any regular viewer of "Meet the Press" knew Russert was a devoted son (of "Big Russ," about whom he wrote in a best-selling memoir) and father (to Luke).

But the final moments — eerily yet aptly — were of Russert signing off from his host's chair, proud and cheery, with Father's Day greetings to all. For an instant, viewers might have wondered: Who will Russert be grilling next week?

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http://www.startribune.com/politics/19955859.html?page=2&c=y

1780 British Warship Found In Lake Ontario

SYRACUSE, N.Y. — A 22-gun British warship that sank during the American Revolution and has long been regarded as one of the "Holy Grail" shipwrecks in the Great Lakes has been discovered at the bottom of Lake Ontario, astonishingly well-preserved in the cold, deep water, explorers announced Friday.

Shipwreck enthusiasts Jim Kennard and Dan Scoville used side-scanning sonar and an unmanned submersible to locate the HMS Ontario, which was lost with barely a trace and as many as 130 people aboard during a gale in 1780.
The 80-foot sloop of war is the oldest shipwreck and the only fully intact British warship ever found in the Great Lakes, Scoville and Kennard said.

"To have a Revolutionary War vessel that's practically intact is unbelievable. It's an archaeological miracle," said Canadian author Arthur Britton Smith, who chronicled the history of the HMS Ontario in a 1997 book, "The Legend of the Lake."
The finders of the wreck said they regard it as a war grave and have no plans to raise it or remove any of its artifacts. They said the ship is still considered the property of the British Admiralty.

the vessel sits in an area where the water is up to 500 feet deep and cannot be reached by anyone but the most experienced divers, Kennard and Scoville declined to give its exact location, saying only that it was found off the southern shore.

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http://http//www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25145600/

The Leaning Tower Of Pisa

The Leaning Tower of Pisa (Italian: Torre pendente di Pisa) or simply The Tower of Pisa (La Torre di Pisa) is the campanile, or freestanding bell tower, of the cathedral of the Italian city of Pisa. It is situated behind the Cathedral and it is the third structure by time in Pisa's Piazza del Duomo (Cathedral Square).

Although intended to stand vertically, the tower began leaning to the southeast soon after the onset of construction in 1173 due to a poorly laid foundation and loose substrate that has allowed the foundation to shift direction.

The height of the tower is 55.86 m (183.27 ft) from the ground on the lowest side and 56.70 m (186.02 ft) on the highest side. The width of the walls at the base is 4.09 m (13.42 ft) and at the top 2.48 m (8.14 ft). Its weight is estimated at 14,500 tonnes. The tower has 296 or 294 steps; the seventh floor has two fewer steps on the north-facing staircase. The tower leans at an angle of 3.97 degrees[1]. This means that the top of the tower is 3.9 meters from where it would stand if the tower were perfectly vertical.[2]

Construction

The Tower of Pisa was a work of art, performed in three stages over a period of about 177 years. Construction of the first floor of the white marble campanile began on August 9, 1173, a period of military success and prosperity. This first floor is surrounded by pillars with classical capitals, leaning against blind arches.
The tower began to sink after construction progressed to the third floor in 1178. This was due to a mere three-meter foundation, set in weak, unstable subsoil. This means the design was flawed from the beginning. Construction was subsequently halted for almost a century, because the Pisans were almost continually engaged in battles with Genoa, Lucca and Florence.

This allowed time for the underlying soil to settle. Otherwise, the tower would almost certainly have toppled. In 1198, clocks were temporarily installed on the third floor of the unfinished construction.
In 1272, construction resumed under Giovanni di Simone, architect of the Camposanto. In an effort to compensate for the tilt, the engineers built higher floors with one side taller than the other. This made the tower begin to lean in the other direction. Because of this, the tower is actually curved.[3] Construction was halted again in 1284, when the Pisans were defeated by the Genoans in the Battle of Meloria.

The seventh floor was completed in 1319. The bell-chamber was not finally added until 1372. It was built by Tommaso di Andrea Pisano, who succeeded in harmonizing the Gothic elements of the bell-chamber with the Romanesque style of the tower. There are seven bells, one for each note of the musical scale. The largest one was installed in 1655.
After a phase (1990-2001) of structural strengthening, the tower is currently undergoing gradual surface restoration, in order to repair visual damage, mostly corrosion and blackening. These are particularly strong due to the tower's age and to its particular conditions with respect to wind and rain.[4]

The Architect

There has been controversy about the real identity of the architect of the Leaning Tower of Pisa. For many years, the design was attributed to Guglielmo and Bonanno Pisano [5], a well-known 12th-century resident artist of Pisa, famous for his bronze casting, particularly in the Pisa Duomo. Bonanno Pisano left Pisa in 1185 for Monreale, Sicily, only to come back and die in his home town. His sarcophagus was discovered at the foot of the tower in 1820. However recent studies[6] seem to indicate Diotisalvi as the original architect due to the time of construction and affinity with other Diotisalvi works, notably the bell tower of San Nicola (Pisa) and the Baptistery in Pisa. However, he usually signed his works and there is no signature by him in the bell tower which leads to further speculation.

History

Galileo Galilei is said to have dropped two cannon balls of different masses from the tower to demonstrate that their descending speed was independent of their mass. This is considered an apocryphal tale, and the only source for it comes from Galileo's secretary.[7]
In 1934 Benito Mussolini ordered that the tower be returned to a vertical position, so concrete was poured into its foundation. However, the result was that the tower actually sank further into the soil.[8]

During World War II, the Allies discovered that the Nazis were using it as an observation post. A U.S. Army sergeant was briefly entrusted with the fate of the tower. His decision not to call in an artillery strike saved the edifice.[8]
On February 27, 1964, the government of Italy requested aid in preventing the tower from toppling. It was, however, considered important to retain the current tilt, due to the vital role that this element played in promoting the tourism industry of Pisa. [9] A multinational task force of engineers, mathematicians and historians was assigned and met on the Azores islands to discuss stabilization methods.

It was found that the tilt was increasing due to the stonework expanding and contracting each day due to the heat of sunlight[10]. This was working in combination with the softer foundations on the lower side. Many methods were proposed to stabilize the tower, including the addition of 800 metric tons of lead counterweights to the raised end of the base.[11]

On 7 January 1990, after over two decades of work on the subject, the tower was closed to the public. While the tower was closed, the bells were removed to relieve some weight, and cables were cinched around the third level and anchored several hundred meters away. Apartments and houses in the path of the tower were vacated for safety.

The final solution to prevent the collapse of the tower was to slightly straighten the tower to a safer angle, by removing 38 m3 of soil from underneath the raised end. The tower was straightened by 18 inches (45 centimetres), returning to the exact position that it occupied in 1838. After a decade of corrective reconstruction and stabilization efforts, the tower was reopened to the public on December 15, 2001, and has been declared stable for at least another 300 years.[11]

In 1987, the tower was declared as part of the Piazza dei Miracoli UNESCO World Heritage Site along with neighbouring cathedral, baptistery and cemetery.
In May 2008, after the removal of another 70 tonnes of earth, engineers announced that the Tower had been stabilized such that it had stopped moving for the first time in its history. They stated it would be stable for at least 200 years.[12]

Certain Information And Suppositions

The following data are helpful in establishing the credibility of the history line of the Leaning Tower of Pisa :

On 5 January 1172, Donna Berta di Bernardo, a widow and resident of the house of dell'Opera di Santa Maria, bequeathed sessanta soldi or "sixty coins" to the Opera Campanilis petrarum Sancte Marie. This money was to be used toward the purchase of a few stones which still form the base of the bell tower today.[13]

On 9 August 1173, the foundations of the Tower were laid.[14]
Nearly four centuries later Giorgio Vasari wrote : "Guglielmo, according to what is being said, in [this] year 1174 with Bonanno as sculptor, laid the foundations of the belltower of the cathedral in Pisa."

Another possible builder is Gerardo di Gerardo. His name appears as a witness to the above legacy of Berta di Bernardo as "Master Gerardo", and as a worker whose name was Gerardo.
A more probable builder is Diotisalvi, because of the construction period and the structure's affinities with other buildings in Pisa. But he usually signed his works, and there is no signature by him in the belltower.

Giovanni di Simone was heavily involved in the work of completing the tower, under the direction of Giovanni Pisano, who at the time was master builder of the Opera di Santa Maria Maggiore. He could be the same Giovanni Pisano who completed the belfry tower.
Giorgio Vasari indicates that Tommaso di Andrea Pisano was the designer of the belfry between 1360 and 1370.

On 27 December 1233 the worker Benenato, son of Gerardo Bottici, oversaw the continuation of the construction of the belltower.[15]

On 23 February 1260 Guido Speziale, son of Giovanni, a worker on the cathedral Santa Maria Maggiore, was elected to oversee the building of the Tower.[16]

On 12 April 1264 the master builder Giovanni di Simone and 23 workers went to the mountains close to Pisa to cut marble. The cut stones were given to Rainaldo Speziale, worker of St. Francesco.[17]

Technical Information

Elevation of Piazza dei Miracoli: about 2 metres (6 feet, DMS)

: 55.863 metres (183 ft 3 in), 8 stories

Outer diameter of base: 15.484 m

Inner diameter of base: 7.368 m

Angle of slant: 3.97 degrees[18] or 3.9 m from the vertical[19]

Weight: 14,700 tonnes

Thickness of walls at the base: 8 ft (2.4 m)

Total number of bells: 7, tuned to musical scale, clockwise

1st bell: L'assunta, cast in 1654 by Giovanni Pietro Orlandi, weight 3,620 kg (7,981 lb)

2nd bell: Il Crocifisso, cast in 1572 by Vincenzo Possenti, weight 2,462 kg (5,428 lb)

3rd bell: San Ranieri, cast in 1719-1721 by Giovanni Andrea Moreni, weight 1,448 kg (3,192 lb)

4th bell: La Terza (1st small one), cast in 1473, weight 300 kg (661 lb)

5th bell: La Pasquereccia or La Giustizia, cast in 1262 by Lotteringo, weight 1,014 kg (2,235 lb)

6th bell: Il Vespruccio (2nd small one), cast in the 14th century and again in 1501 by Nicola di Jacopo, weight 1,000 kg (2,205 lb)

7th bell: Dal Pozzo, cast in 1606 and again in 2004, weight 652 kg (1,437 lb) [20]
Steps to bell tower: 296[21]

A special note on the 5th bell: The name Pasquareccia comes from Easter, because it used to ring on Easter day. However, this bell is older than the bell-chamber itself, and comes from the tower Vergata in Palazzo Pretorio in Pisa, where it was called La Giustizia (The Justice). The bell was tolled to announce capital executions of criminals and traitors, including Count Ugolino in 1289 [22] A new bell was transferred on the belltower to replace the broken Pasquareccia bell at the end of the 18th century.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leaning_Tower_of_Pisa