Obi-Wan is clearly inferior in this instance, both in skill and stature.
There are links out there for a concise epub version. I know that people say it's frowned upon to use those links. But, like you said, it's been years. Don't think it's gonna happen. The full epub is great.
A new facial approximation offers insight into one of humankind's extinct relatives, Homo floresiensis.
See the face of the 'Hobbit,' an extinct human relative
By Jennifer Nalewicki
In 2003, archaeologists discovered human-like skeletal remains inside a cave in Indonesia. Upon closer inspection, they determined that the individual — most likely female — had an abnormally small head and was of short stature, standing only 3 feet, 6 inches (106 centimeters). Due to the individual's hobbit-like characteristics, which differed from those of known hominins, researchers classified the individual as Homo floresiensis, a smaller offshoot of Homo erectus, an extinct human ancestor.
Now, a new facial approximation offers a glimpse of what this individual, nicknamed "the hobbit," may have looked like when it lived on the Indonesian island of Flores approximately 18,000 years ago.
When creating facial approximations, forensic artists often rely on a blend of scans of the individual skull and data points collected from human donor skulls to conduct a process known as "positioning of soft tissue thickness markers," which involves placing a series of small pins that correspond to the topography of the skin on the skull. This provides an idea of a face's general structure, according to a study published online on June 6.
However, because the specimen is of H. floresiensis and not of a modern human (Homo sapiens), there are not many comparable skulls to choose from. So researchers compared computed tomography (CT) scans of the well-preserved hobbit skull with scans of a male H. sapiens skull and scans of a chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes) skull.
"We deformed [both] to adapt them to the structure of the skull of H. floresiensis and interpolated the data to get an idea of what [the hobbit's] face could look like," study co-researcher Cícero Moraes, a Brazilian graphics expert, told Live Science in an email. "The [hobbit] skull is almost complete, missing small parts in the region of the glabella (the part of the forehead directly between the eyebrows) and nasal bone, but fortunately it was possible to design them with the help of anatomical deformation."
Because the specimen's skull was virtually deformed and then was combined with another species — the chimps — the sex from the human database was no longer important, Moraes said.
The researchers created two final facial approximations. The first is a neutral black-and-white image of an ape-like individual with a broad nose, and the second is a more stylized version with facial hair.
"Roughly speaking, H. floresiensis probably had a less protruding nose than modern men, the mouth region was a little more projected than ours and the brain volume was significantly smaller," Moraes said. "The final appearance surprised us a lot, because when looking at the face, we can see a series of compatibility with modern men, but not enough to consider her as one of the group."
Gregory Forth, a retired professor of anthropology at the University of Alberta who was not involved in the new research, thinks the facial approximation is a good way to help the public better understand an ancient human relative.
"As described, techniques of anatomical deformation appear to offer benefits for ongoing studies of Homo floresiensis," Forth, author of "Between Ape and Human: An Anthropologist on the Trail of a Hidden Hominoid" (Pegasus Books, 2022), a book about H. floresiensis, told Live Science in an email. "Not only do they provide a method for creating more lifelike images of the morphologically primitive hominin to engage the general public; they potentially reveal new information about the species and its relationship to other hominids."
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Jennifer Nalewicki is a Salt Lake City-based journalist whose work has been featured in The New York Times, Smithsonian Magazine, Scientific American, Popular Mechanics and more. She covers several science topics from planet Earth to paleontology and archaeology to health and culture. Prior to freelancing, Jennifer held an Editor role at Time Inc. Jennifer has a bachelor's degree in Journalism from The University of Texas at Austin.
Iraq has successfully recovered over 23,000 archaeological pieces during the past three years, with many of them being distributed between the US and Britain, according to Ahmed Al-Alyawi, who heads the House of Manuscripts body. Al-Alyawi, who is also a spokesperson of Iraq’s Culture Ministry, also...
Iraq has successfully recovered over 23,000 archaeological pieces during the past three years, with many of them being distributed between the US and Britain, according to Ahmed Al-Alyawi, who heads the House of Manuscripts body.
Al-Alyawi, who is also a spokesperson of Iraq’s Culture Ministry, also revealed the presence of 25 archaeological missions currently operating in Iraq, in collaboration with Iraqi experts, spanning German and Italian institutes and universities.
Speaking to Asharq Al-Awsat, Al-Alyawi affirmed that the ministry continues its relentless efforts to recover Iraqi antiquities from abroad.
The ongoing efforts have resulted in the recovery of 17,338 archaeological pieces from the US and various other countries.
Additionally, Iraqi authorities have successfully retrieved the Kish tablet, which bears the inscription of the Epic of Gilgamesh, as well as the Sumerian ram artifact.
Al-Alyawi added that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has handed over all these pieces to the General Authority for Antiquities in the Ministry of Culture, where they have been stored in an Iraqi museum.
Meanwhile, the Kish tablet and the Sumerian ram artifact have been put on display.
Regarding the methods used for the theft and smuggling of this vast number of archaeological pieces, Al-Alyawi mentioned that “the looting has been occurring for many years, affecting artifacts from various Iraqi civilizations such as Sumerian, Babylonian, Assyrian, and others.”
Most of these artifacts were extracted through random digging by organized thieves, within the framework of what is known as the antiquities trade, which is both unfortunate and catastrophic.
“Excavated pieces were smuggled to a Gulf country and from there, further smuggled to the US,” revealed Al-Alyawi.
“However, through persistent efforts by Iraq, with the assistance of certain US entities, particularly the Department of Justice, we have managed to recover them,” he said.
Mysterious Island: THE CLEMENTE MONSTER
By Jim Watson - June 28, 2013
“Mystery of waters, never slumbering Sea!” — James Montgomery
Ask the average person on the street to name a few of the most legendary, elusive and mythical(?) beasts in the history of humanity and far and away the survey would say “Bigfoot” and “the Loch Ness Monster.”
“Mystery of waters, never slumbering Sea!”
— James Montgomery
Ask the average person on the street to name a few of the most legendary, elusive and mythical(?) beasts in the history of humanity and far and away the survey would say “Bigfoot” and “the Loch Ness Monster.”
No other criptids have captured the world’s imagination, at least in Western cultures, to a greater extent than these two big lugs and at one point in our history anyway, the waters around Catalina were the location of a number of sightings of our very own “Nessie.”
The sightings occurred many years ago and all of the principals involved have long since passed from this early plane. But the number of sightings and the distinction and prestige of those involved make for a fascinating bit of local lore.
Named not for the town of San Clemente, but for the Island of the same name, the Clemente Monster was first reported in the early 20th century. “It had a great columnar neck or body,” claimed author and attorney Ralph Bandini on a fateful fishing trip off Catalina in 1916. “Surmount this neck or body with a flat-topped, blunt reptilian head.”
Bandini went on to describe the eyes as “two huge, round, bulging” ones—features that would be common to subsequent sightings.
“Two things stood out above all others,” continued Bandini. “Those enormous eyes and its unbelievably huge bulk. I never want to look at such eyes again.”
In the June 1991 issue of National Fisherman magazine, Bandini elaborated on his sighting. “It was as big as a submarine, like something out of prehistoric times.” In this 1991 version, he also claims to have fired a number of shots at the beast with his 30-30 rifle; an act which had the desired effect of sending the critter scurrying into the depths.
Most of the sightings of the Clemente Monster occurred during the 1920s, including a close encounter in 1920 or 1921 by none other than George Farnsworth, after whom Farnsworth Bank off Catalina’s windward side is named. “Whatever it was,” said Farnsworth, “(it) stood 15 to 20 feet out of the water…I seized the glasses and had a perfect view because we were running towards it.”
“Its eyes were 12 inches in diameter, not set on the side like an ordinary fish, but more central. It had a big mange of hair, about two feet long,” he said. “I saw it afterwards several times,” he continued. “Lots of people said it was a sea elephant. Well, I know a sea elephant … This was no sea elephant.”
Was this Mr. Farnsworth’s sneaky way of keeping others out of his fishing grounds? If so, he apparently enlisted the help of several others over the years.
One of the Tuna Club’s most famous early members, George C. Thomas III, described as “not given to tall tales or exaggeration” reported a sighting in the mid-1920s; an encounter that appears in the book “History of the Tuna Club.”
“What the hell was that?,” asked Thomas of his fishing partner upon seeing “a big black form, like the sail of a Japanese albacore boat.” As they approached the creature, it submerged out of sight. The last recorded sighting of the Clemente Monster (that I could find anyway) took place in 1927 off the Orange County shore. Howard Wilson, the Orange County editor of the Los Angeles Times in those days, claimed to have seen our seafaring friend about 400 yards off Laguna Beach He claimed the “brownish” monster had a camel-like head and neck, along with “eyes like dinner plates and a neck that extended some ten feet above the surface of the sea.”
Now, in the 21st Century—whether from our waters or from our minds—the Clemente Monster has apparently moved on.
Jim Watson is the author of “Mysterious Island: Catalina,” available on Amazon, Kindle and in stores all over Avalon.
The giant sloth, or mylodon, was once thought to to have gone extinct long before humans arrived in South America. Some people now think that it may have been alive in the 1800s. You decide.
