Mohammed Homman is in no hurry to defend his dissertation. It’s not because the Karolinska Institute doctoral candidate needs more time to write or perform a few more experiments. Nor is it because he needs to be home most days by 5 p.m. to help his wife, Maria Homman, who heads her own research and development lab at Akzo Nobel, care for their two daughters. Homman is taking his time to finish his degree because he’s busy wooing investors, hiring researchers–some of them with their own doctorates–and establishing business partnerships. Finishing his degree just isn’t his highest priority right now.
All posts by LL
Pass the Salt
Since ancient times, people have been salting meat for storage. Now Iranian archaeologists are using the same trick to preserve the body of a man who mined some of that salt millennia ago.
The body is the sixth found since modern mining operations resumed in the Chehr Abad mine in Zanjan province in 1992. The other five are on display in museums in Tehran and Zanjan, but Iran’s Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts, and Tourism Organization says the museum specimens are degrading. So when the most recent body was unearthed this year, archaeologists decided to reinter it. Iranian, German, and British experts will meet in Iran this autumn to plan long-term preservation.
University of Oxford archaeologist Mark Pollard, who has studied samples from the remains, says the six bodies most likely belonged to miners who died in cave-ins. Pollard hopes to find out where the miners came from by comparing strontium isotopes in their bones with the isotopes in nearby areas, which the miners would have absorbed from their food and drinking water. Field surveys show no sign of habitation within 30 kilometers of the mine during the Achaemenid (550-330 B.C.E.) and Sassanid (224-651 C.E.) dynasties, when the miners lived.
Originally appeared in Science Magazine as a Random Sample: [html] [pdf]
Barcelona Walking Tour Podcast
Bienvenido a Barcelona! This Let’s Go audio walking tour should help you find the gaudiest and finest Barcelona has to offer. You could do it all in one long day, or pick and choose, since each track covers a separate sight or neighborhood.
Download the audio files [mp3] or read the story behind the story here…
This and the Paris walking tour were my first stab at writing the script for an audio format. It took a little over a year for me to get around to visiting Barcelona myself, but when I did I was able to share parts of this tour with some other travelers–fun!
Unlike Paris, Barcelona’s public bicycle system is not geared towards short-stay visitors.
Paris Walking Tour Podcast
Bienvenue a Paris! This Let’s Go audio walking tour should help you find the crème de la crème in the City of Lights. You could do it all in one long day, or pick and choose, since each track covers a separate sight or neighborhood.
Download the audio files [.zip] or read the story behind the story here…
This and the Barcelona walking tour were my first stab at writing the script for an audio format. I’ve since walked most of this tour, but today I’d advise using the Velib bicycles to speed it up!