We're learning so much from this.
Read More
There are some crucial caveats.
The aristocrats buried here were incredibly rich.
Experts warned us about this for months.
Los investigadores llevan muchos años buscando esas partículas que, sin embargo, no aparecen. La generación final de detectores no debería dejar rincones donde se escondan.
The elaborate bag was made in Mosul, Iraq, around 1300 AD Made of brass, inlaid with gold and silver, it has been identified as one of the earliest surviving examples of a women's handbag.
There is older evidence of wallets, like parts of a 4,200-year-old portfolio found in Germany. But this bag, however, remains relatively well preserved and intact.
Fabric and leather degrade quickly
The bag is a brass vessel inlaid with intricate scenes of court life in gold and silver, and probably belonged to a high-ranking member of the Court.
It was part of the 'Court and Craft: A Masterpiece from Northern Iraq' exhibition held at the Courtauld Gallery in London which focuses on art and craft made in the area around Mosul during the government of the Ilkhanids: Mongol forces under the leadership of Hulagu Khan who conquered much of the Middle East in the mid-13th century.
Wallets made from other materials such as cloth and leather are rare in the archaeological record, not because they were not popular, but because leather and cloth tend to degrade much more quickly than metal, stone or other materials. Preserving wallets after digging can also be tricky.
It is easier to find coins like this one Sutton Hoo, a place located in Suffolk, United Kingdom where remains of a 7th century funerary ship as well as various utensils were found in 1939.
Sutton Hoo has been of vital importance to historians of the Middle Ages as it provided information about that period in England; period that until the discovery was very little documented:
In Europe, in ancient times, the goldsmith's work, the embroidery, the quality of the bag or purse signaled the “social status” of the person who was the carrier.
–
The news
This brass purse has been identified as one of the earliest surviving examples of a women's purse.
was originally published in
Xataka Science
by
Sergio Parra
.
Tool use is considered an indicator of cognitive sophistication and has been observed primarily in primates and some bird species. We knew that some ant species can use tools, particularly to collect liquid food; however, These new data allow us to be surprised by the remarkable use of tools displayed by black fire ants..
The black fire ants, Solenopsis richteri, are native to South America, but are now an invasive species in the southern United States after being introduced.
To survive
These findings suggest that ants and other social insects may have considerable cognitive abilities for unique foraging strategies. In particular, andThis species of ants uses sand to extract liquid food from containers when they are at risk of drowning..
In it laboratory experiment, when provided with small containers of sugar water, black fire ants were able to float and feed on the surface, but when the researchers reduced the surface tension, the ants began depositing grains of sand inside the container as they came out of it. .
As explained Aiming Zhou, associate professor at Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, China, and lead author of the research:
We discovered that the ants used sand to build a structure that could extract sugar water from the container and then collect it. This exceptional tool-making ability not only reduced the ants' risk of drowning, but also provided a larger space for them to collect sugar water.
These structures were never observed when ants were feeding in containers of pure sugar water, indicating an adaptable approach to the use of this new tool.
–
The news
To avoid drowning, this species of ants is capable of using tools
was originally published in
Xataka Science
by
Sergio Parra
.
Although we are increasingly more efficient, we do not stop reproducing and in the world there are more and more people polluting, so emissions can hardly be stopped if we simply bet everything on consuming less: either we stop having children, or we develop new technologies. . There's not much more.
Proof of this is the pet food industry. There are so many people with pets, there is so much demand for dry food for them, that their carbon footprint is already equivalent to that of entire countries, as detailed a new analysis carried out by researchers from the University of Edinburgh: the first to assess the global environmental impact of pet food production.
280 types of foods
Around 49 million hectares of agricultural land, about twice the size of the United Kingdom, are used annually to make dry cat and dog food, which represents 95% of pet food sales.
The team analyzed data on the main ingredients in more than 280 types of dry pet foods available in the United States and Europe, regions that account for two-thirds of global sales.
The researchers combined the findings with data on the environmental impacts of producing the ingredients.
Annual greenhouse gas emissions were 106 million tons of carbon dioxide. A country producing the same levels would be the sixtieth largest emitter in the world. The industry's total environmental impact will be greater as the new study only looked at dry pet food production
–
The news
The carbon footprint of pet food production already exceeds countries like Mozambique and the Philippines
was originally published in
Xataka Science
by
Sergio Parra
.