Went to see a documentary at Alliance Française called "Les origines du langage", about how speech and language developed originally in homo sapiens. Apparently once it happened, it happened fast, because it was such an evolutionary advantage. They said the same parts of the brain which deal with gesture and patterns are the parts that deal with ( Read more... )

They really did find the body of Richard III.

Richard III dig: DNA confirms bones are king's.

I like the way it shows that history isn't a closed book, that we can learn more all the time - including things that happened in 1485.

Not unexpected, but bad news nonetheless.

Timbuktu mayor: Mali rebels torched library of historic manuscripts.

I hate it when this happens. It's so easy to destroy old things, so difficult to preserve and value them.

Nicholas would be furious.

One thousand six hundred and thirty-four years ago, Basil of Caesarea died in Cappadocia. He was one of the men who shaped Christianity the way it is today; establishing the Trinity and the Nicene Creed; being an example of a strong bishop, theologically and politically; setting up the monastic tradition; being an example of charity and kindness ( Read more... )

• There are two new trainers at the gym, both named Caitlyn. Huh.
  
  
• and Pim picked me up after I was through at the gym, and we went to breakfast at Kristy's. Over breakfast, Pim let us look at her shiny new Samsung Galaxy, which she got to replace her dead Blackberry yesterday. It's very pretty. Mostly we were looking at picture galleries of ( Read more... )

I found an interesting article online about unusual carvings in a medieval church: 'Forgotten' grotesques discovered in medieval church. But none of the articles on the subject talked about the approximate age of the carvings, or of the church ( Read more... )

They've found some medieval underwear. Not in such bad shape, either. You can really tell what it is. But then again, how many viable designs can you have for bra and panties ( Read more... )

An interesting story about art and life: The Highwaymen. Wikipedia article: The Highwaymen. Seems there are lots of websites about them.


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I came across a mystery I hadn't heard about before - The Dyatlov Pass Incident. I'd call it "The Dyatlov Pass Deaths", myself.

The Wikipedia account

Another site about it: The Dyatlov Pass Incident

The The Skeptoid explanation seems less plausible to me than the "official weapons testing" explanation, but who knows ( Read more... )

I'm very interested in the Picts, and this acheological site near Aberdeen fascinates me.

For elucidation, here's something on the Rhynie Man.