The Evening Standard (London, England) articles from July 2008

The Evening Standard (London, England) archives from July 2008

This month in Odyssey.
July 1, 2008... Ahoy, Mateys! This issue is filled with fascinating stories of scallywags and their scuttled ships. But you won't find our cover pirate, Captain Jack Sparrow, inside. That's because nautical science deals with real pirates and their wrecked...

What do the whales think?(Science Scoops)
July 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] We know that whales sing and dolphins play, but are they smarter than humans? The sperm whale wins the prize for the biggest brain on Earth, and dolphins are second only to humans (and tree shrews, which just happen...

Electric snot.(SCIENCE SCOOPS)
July 1, 2008... Sharks don't smell blood, they sense it in their snot! This process is known as electroreception, and is made possible by a mass of gel in sharks' heads. "The gel contains various proteins and salts, so it's similar to mucus, only with a...

Brand new giant elephant shrew!(SCIENCE SCOOPS)
July 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] This newly-classified mammal is about the size of a house cat, with a nose like an anteater, a gray face, red fur, a black rump, and spindly, antelope-like legs. Its scientific name is Rhynochocyon udzungwensis, but...

What a grip! It's Gryposaurus!(SCIENCE SCOOPS)
July 1, 2008... Plants of all shapes and sizes beware! Gryposaurus monumentensis has a duck-like bill and a huge jaw with 800 teeth that could tear through more vegetation than your lawn mower. "With its robust jaws, no plant stood a chance against G....

Watch out for hot ice.(SCIENCE SCOOPS)(ciguatera poisoning)
July 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] An unsuspecting 45-year-old man from England sat down to a meal of seemingly scrumptious grouper fish while on vacation in Antigua. He soon regretted the meal. At first, the bad fish made him horribly sick to his...

The Whydah's Odyssey.
July 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Some 200 years ago, "Black Sam" Bellamy's flagship, the Whydah, sailed straight into a storm and crashed onto a sandbar off Cape Cod, Massachusetts. All was soon buried under 10 to 30 feet of sand, including the...

What in the world is it?(concretions from the Whydah Museum)
July 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Despite its appearance, that's not a typical chunk of rock on the Whydah's bell. It's a concretion, a concrete like material created when a metal object is immersed in seawater for many years. This hard, brittle...

"Eye-eye," Matey: ever wonder why pirates wore eye patches? Maybe science has the answer.
July 1, 2008... When we think of a pirate, almost immediately, we imagine a rough-and-tumble man with a parrot perched on his shoulder, a peg leg, a gold hoop earring, and an eye patch. Theories have been advanced by experts, from naval historians to...

X marks the spot!(William Kidd and his ship Quedagh Merchant)
July 1, 2008... He is the most famous figure from the Golden Age of Pirates, and the r every movie buccaneer from Long John Silver to Captain Jack Sparrow. Now, after over three centuries, undersea archaeologists finally may have caught up with the real...

Pirates vs. privateers: which would you rather be?
July 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] A privateer is a pirate who as been given permission by a government to do what pirates do best: attack ships and steal their cargo. The only difference between a pirate and a privateer is that the privateer has been...

Ask Charles Beeker: guilty, or keel-hauled? The re-trial of Captain Kidd.(William Kidd)(Interview)
July 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] May it please the court: In 1701, Captain Kidd was hanged for piracy and other crimes, his body left dangling over London's Thames River as a grisly reminder to seamen about violating British law. Surely, Kidd was a...

Taking care of shipwreck treasure.
July 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATIONS OMITTED] It was the late 1950s, when an ordinary beachcomber, Kip Wagner, began finding gold coins during his routine walks along the beach near Sebastian Inlet, Florida. Soon, his provisional research revealed that these...

It's a find! What should I do next?
July 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] LET'S BE RESPONSIBLE WITH OUR HERITAGE. Here's what to do if you are fortunate enough to discover a potential artifact: * Seek assistance from the appropriate agencies, institutes, and universities. * Take...

An archaeologist's work.
July 1, 2008... Even when archaeologists find or are led to an intact shipwreck, storage and conservation of its artifacts is difficult work, requiring professional expertise. Waterlogged wooden artifacts must stay wet at all times. They retain their shapes...

Polished pennies are "treasure".(Activity to Discover)
July 1, 2008... Gather some old, brown pennies from around the house--the older, the better (but make SURE they are not part of a collection or being saved especially tot some other reason). Pour enough vinegar into a ceramic bowl to cover the pennies, and...

What's for lunch?(pirates' food)
July 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Pirate ships were as different as their motley crews. While crew members came from merchant and navy ships in search of fortune, food, and drink, they all had one need in common--a great ship's cook! It was up to...

The palace of Poseidon.(BRAIN STRAIN)
July 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] According to ancient Greek mythology, Poseidon is lord of the sea. Let's pretend you are exploring his underwater palace looking for treasure. It s a race place to visit... if Poseidon himself isn't around. He's a...

The pirate police: if you think piracy on the high seas occurs only in history books or the movies, think again. Ships reported 269 pirate attacks to the International Maritime Bureau (IMB) in 2007, and maritime authorities are doing something about it.
July 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The Golden Nori's nightmare began as it neared the Horn of Africa. On October 28, 2007, pirates boarded the Japanese ship on its way to Israel. Gunmen took 23 crew members hostage. "There is nothing romantic...

Fanny Campbell: a seafaring tale.
July 1, 2008... Young Fanny Campbell was different. Living in Massachusetts during the mid-1700s, she enjoyed traditionally male pursuits--she was a sharpshooter, an excellent horsewoman, and a remarkable sailor--at a time when young women were expected to...

Balloons up! Try this project to see how experts sometimes bring up artifacts from the bottom of the ocean.(Activity to Discover)
July 1, 2008... Once an artifact has been uncovered at an underwater archaeological site, divers must decide how they will bring it to the surface. Small items, especially fragile ones, are usually placed in ajar or plastic bag and hand-carried to the work...

The science of piratical sailing.
July 1, 2008... A PIRATE SHIP bears down on its prey--a merchant vessel laden with goods. The pirate ship and the merchant share the same source of power--the wind. So why is the smaller pirate ship gaining on the larger merchant vessel? Pirate ships had...

Navigation: finding a ship to plunder ... and your way back home.
July 1, 2008... SCRAPE. Crrrunch! [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Those sounds were a nightmare for pirates. They meant the ship had strayed off course and struck land. How did pirates find their way across the Atlantic and around the Caribbean anyway? They...

Bird pirates strike again!
July 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] LOCATION: Masked Booby Roosting Site Pitcairn Islands, South Pacific A great frigate bird hovers high above the beach. Its razor-thin, sharp-angled wings cut a black zig-zag against the blue sky, Far below,...

Ask Dr. David Shealer: biologist in the field.(Interview)
July 1, 2008... How did you become interested in studying kleptoparasitism? I didn't set out to study it--it kind of just fell in my lap. One of my study females suspiciously fed her chicks at an extremely high rate, sometimes as many as three to four fish...

Pixel pirates: when movie pirates plunder the multiplex, it's technology to the rescue!
July 1, 2008... HERE'S THE PROBLEM. According to the Motion Picture Association of America, Hollywood loses billions of dollars each year from illegally sold copies of movies. Films like Pirates of the Caribbean are being pirated themselves, then...

Start chart.
July 1, 2008... To use the All-Sky Charts, first use a compass to find the direction you are facing--north, south, east, or west. Turn the chart so that the direction you are facing appears at the bottom of the chart. The chart will match the stars you see in...

An arrow aimed at the heart of our galaxy.(STARGAZING)(Cartoon)
July 1, 2008... NAMED FOR A MYTHICAL CREATURE HALF MAN AND HALF HORSE, SAGITTARIUS FOLLOWS THE SCORPION ACROSS THE SKY. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] HE IS AN ARCHER... AND A SHARPSHOOTER WITH A BOW AND ARROW. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] AND THE TIP OF...

You've got mail.(Letter to the editor)
July 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] In the December 2007 "Colorworks" issue, we reported the discovery of a new species of frog that just happens to be a beautiful shade of purple. When we called on you to give this noble amphibian a name, you...

Redheaded cave dwellers?(Ask Dr. Cy Borg)(Column)
July 1, 2008... Dear Dr. B, Where and when did redheaded humans originate? Traditionally, this has been a difficult question for scientists to answer, and we remain far from knowing all the facts. Paleontologists, scientists who study prehistoric life...

Oh, the woes of popularity.(ANIMAL ANGLES)(illegal fishing of toothfish)
July 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] In the Golden Age of Piracy, a prized booty was usually gold and gems. Today, however, some pirates are happy to settle for fish. Yes, fish--especially the very valuable Patagonian toothfish (Dissosticbus...

Catch a culprit.(BOOMERANG!)(catching illegal fishers)
July 1, 2008... Catching a ship at sea that is fishing illegally isn't easy. Authorities must follow specific guidelines called "rules of engagement." One of those rules says that if an apprehending ship (in this case, the authorities) is fired upon, it can...

Fifteen men on a dead man's chest.(Poem)
July 1, 2008... Fifteen men on a dead man's chest- Yo-ho-ho, and a bottle of rum! Drink and the devil had done for the rest- Go-ho-ho, and a bottle of rum! Robert Louis Stevenson Treasure Island