Plimoth Plantation is an exceptional reconstruction and reenactment of life in the original village taken up by the settlers when they first came to America. I went to visit about fifteen years ago and was immensely impressed by the realism without any sense of Hollywood glitz. I shot quite a few pictures up there and some of those are presented on my primary Web site. (My Duck Soup: Visit Plimoth Plantation in Plymouth, Massachusetts)
Note: that site is suitable even for young children
These reconstructed Plimoth Plantation houses are as accurate as possible to the known history of the period and they show why current research into the Plantation is difficult. Because everything was built out of wood, the houses have no foundations and researchers could not be sure where they were.
But then they found Constance the Calf. You will need to read the article to discover why Constance is important since I don't want to steal their telling.
The article is timed for Thanksgiving but the science is real and it shows the dedicate of scientists to research even when it may seem to anyone else a topic has been flogged into the ground. The researchers were relatively young and it wouldn't be right to take too much of their story; 'fair use' only goes so far in reporting. Take a look at their report and you may find it captivating. (Science Daily: Early America: Evidence of original 1620 Plymouth settlement discovered)
There hasn't been much interesting science of late and here's an example. (Science Daily: Bringing silicon to life)
Since the position of Silicon relative to Carbon in the Periodic Table is analogous, scientists have long reasoned it should be possible to find silicon-based lifeforms as well as the carbon-based lifeforms we know now. That sort of thing is of interest to high-end chemists but has little potential for practical application but the absence of a practical application never stopped pure research yet (or it wasn't pure research).
There was some more Thanksgiving research which discovered turkeys were domesticated about fifteen hundred years ago in Oaxaca, Mexico. (Science Daily: Archaeological excavation unearths evidence of turkey domestication 1,500 years ago)
"Heather Lapham is an archaeologist who studies animal bones, and she knew immediately that we had found five intact or unhatched eggs that were left as an offering alongside seven newly hatched baby turkeys, of which only their tiny bones survived," says Feinman. Scanning electron microscope analysis of the eggshells confirmed that they were indeed laid by turkeys.
"The fact that we see a full clutch of unhatched turkey eggs, along with other juvenile and adult turkey bones nearby, tells us that these birds were domesticated," says Feinman. "It helps to confirm historical information about the use of turkeys in the area."
Note: that site is suitable even for young children
These reconstructed Plimoth Plantation houses are as accurate as possible to the known history of the period and they show why current research into the Plantation is difficult. Because everything was built out of wood, the houses have no foundations and researchers could not be sure where they were.
But then they found Constance the Calf. You will need to read the article to discover why Constance is important since I don't want to steal their telling.
The article is timed for Thanksgiving but the science is real and it shows the dedicate of scientists to research even when it may seem to anyone else a topic has been flogged into the ground. The researchers were relatively young and it wouldn't be right to take too much of their story; 'fair use' only goes so far in reporting. Take a look at their report and you may find it captivating. (Science Daily: Early America: Evidence of original 1620 Plymouth settlement discovered)
There hasn't been much interesting science of late and here's an example. (Science Daily: Bringing silicon to life)
Since the position of Silicon relative to Carbon in the Periodic Table is analogous, scientists have long reasoned it should be possible to find silicon-based lifeforms as well as the carbon-based lifeforms we know now. That sort of thing is of interest to high-end chemists but has little potential for practical application but the absence of a practical application never stopped pure research yet (or it wasn't pure research).
There was some more Thanksgiving research which discovered turkeys were domesticated about fifteen hundred years ago in Oaxaca, Mexico. (Science Daily: Archaeological excavation unearths evidence of turkey domestication 1,500 years ago)
"Heather Lapham is an archaeologist who studies animal bones, and she knew immediately that we had found five intact or unhatched eggs that were left as an offering alongside seven newly hatched baby turkeys, of which only their tiny bones survived," says Feinman. Scanning electron microscope analysis of the eggshells confirmed that they were indeed laid by turkeys.
"The fact that we see a full clutch of unhatched turkey eggs, along with other juvenile and adult turkey bones nearby, tells us that these birds were domesticated," says Feinman. "It helps to confirm historical information about the use of turkeys in the area."
- Science Daily
At first that sounds like one of those horrible forensics TV shows but keep in mind these bones are fifteen hundred years old. Figure out that situation, Quincy.
Ed: did you ever watch that show?
Hell no! Why should I watch someone cutting up human bodies. Do you think I'm Jeffrey fucking Dahmer?? In fact, this is right about the period when I stopped watching television even infrequently.
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