I was thinking of starting up “Science Fridays” here on SM. Let’s face it, there are a lot of science geeks and engineers that read SM on a daily basis who aren’t being catered to. I think our long term growth strategy should include reaching out to this key demographic. Why Friday? Two reasons. First, the two most prestigious peer-reviewed journals Science and Nature are reported on in the media on Fridays (though they usually come out on Thursday). More importantly however I usually have more time to blog on Fridays (the rest of the week I am busy doing science-geek things). This being SM I will of course look for the desi connection in science stories. So without further pomp here we go. This week’s theme will be Cryptozoology. The first story I bring you is a tip from SM reader Marvin Thomas who writes to us about something that washed up on a beach in Tamil Nadu recently because it was supposedly dislodged by the Tsunami from months ago. First watch the following clip [via Giantology]:
If you remember, Vinod blogged about ancient ruins that were uncovered as a result of the Tsunami. This creature was supposedly buried close by. But according to the “reporter” Rupa Sridharam in this “news clip” the bones of this creature just washed up/was unburied now. Luckily SM has a paleontologist on staff to definitively tell you that this is a hoax. Even if you can’t see the fake special effects it’s obvious that whoever filmed this doesn’t know the first thing about science. First off they sent in archeologists to do a paleontologist’s job. I HATE it when people mess stuff like this up. Remember Top Gun? Kelly McGillis’s character was described as a “civilian astrophysics instructor.” Why the hell would someone that specialized in stars and globular structures be sent in to teach test pilots? That’s just stupid.
Currently Snopes.com has this case (hoax or not) categorized as “undetermined.”
It’s probably safe to say that the clip itself is not a genuine news report, as no other news outlets have reported on this amazing find. We don’t yet know the source of the video — it could be something taken from a television or film drama, a viral promo for some type of upcoming entertainment offering (such as a video game), or just something created for the sake of perpetrating an amusing hoax.
Our next story is about the “hobbits” of Indonesia. This is the REAL deal folks. CBS’s 60 Minutes did a must-see-TV story about the “Hobbits” earlier this year:
New species of plants and animals are discovered every day. But unless you’re a specialist, you’ll never hear about it and never care.But a new species of a human? That’s rare. And we do care, particularly because we Homo sapiens have been the only guys on the block for such a long time. Or so we thought.
Last year, a team of Australian and Indonesian archaeologists announced in Nature magazine they had dug up the bones of a brand new, previously unknown humanoid species which they nicknamed “The Hobbit,” because it was rather small.
Now here’s the revolutionary part. Homo sapiens got here 200,000 years ago. And by 30,000 years ago, all the other guys — the Neanderthal man, with his bad posture, and Homo erectus, who was big but not very bright – had disappeared. There was just us.
But the Hobbit lived 18,000 years ago, and perhaps far more recently, which means that for quite some time on this planet, and not all that long ago, we were not alone.
Earlier this week more evidence was announced that these things are for real (although the evidence is still controversial). The best part is that they may still be ALIVE! Older generation witnesses tell a tale:
In the hamlets under the volcano, villagers talk in a matter-of-fact way about very little people their grandparents told them about. They wore no clothes, had long arms, and lived in caves high up on the volcano. The village chief told 60 Minutes that the volcano is called Abu Lobo, and the little people were called Abu Gogo, which, literally translated, means “grandma who eats everything.”
In other words, the Abu Lobo is very big and the Abu Gogo is very small…<
p>What do the Abu Gogo look like?
“They were very hairy and short, only about 3-feet high. The women have very long breasts, which they used to throw over their shoulders. They also had very wide mouths,” says one team member. “If we think about them, they are not nice people at all. Abu Gogo means ‘very greedy.’ They used to eat everything.”
Until now, we have never seen them.
Legend? Or memory? Hard to say. But archaeologists are by no means dismissing the stories. Right now, though, they’re dealing with other questions concerning the 18,000-year-old lady from Flores. Digging her up was not the end of her journey. It was just the beginning. [Link]
I hope you guys have enjoyed the first Science Friday 
sweet.. New England Journal of Medicine comes out on Thursdays, so I can contribute weird stuff from the medical world…
Beanie MD
Name-calling will get you everywhere, Abhi. 🙂
Nature has a small news piece about a seismologist trying to get into Pakistan to research the earthquake.
Almost every week, Science and Nature has something that pertains to South Asia – AIDS, earthquakes, health, hygiene, climate change, etc.
In January, Kerry Sieh from Caltech had a blog on his field work in Indonesia which became quite popular at that time.
I have thought of blogging on some of the topics myself on my blog as a serious outreach and all this has an intrinsic value. The only donwnside is the Science and Nature articles are shielded by circulation ($$) firewall so without circulation, one can never read them in full.
The outreach by scientific community as a whole is horrible.
“Nature has a small news piece about a seismologist trying to get into Pakistan to research the earthquake.”
That is Roger Bilham. I know him quite well. I talked about him on sepia mutiny a while ago. They have been quite a few other world-class seismologists too like Peter Molnar, etc. who have been crying wolf for a while.
Science Fridays, Woah.
Talk about a wonderful day. Stargate, Battlestar Gallactica (waiting for the new episodes), and now SEPIAMUTINY SCIENCE FRIDAYS. Awsome.
LIVE LONG AND PROSPER.
So is your second story also a hoax since it is arhaeologists who are again doing the work?
No. Archaeology is appropriate for the second study. From Wiki:
So, this hoax is beginning of somebody’s attempt to write about ‘science and/in India!? How ironic!
Seems to me like a whole lot of BS, just to get more media attention. Atleast the first piece.
DUUUUUDE! That “reporter” has my friend’s name. As I recall, she had auditioned for a videogame ad as a hindi reporter. Apparently they used her name but not her likeness. I can’t remember the specifics of the game, but it seemed kind of a dumb premise. Then again, it’s not like games are known for their scientific rigor. I’d say more, but I’m afraid Sony will do baaaad things to me. Like delay the PS3 from hitting the shelves.
Ha! I bet you just helped uncover the motivation behind this hoax. It is probably a viral marketing campaign for that video game.
Apparently, she is the orange blob in the background of the screencap.
I read that as someone who was an expert in stars and protein folding. If only she really existed.
heh heh. Yeah that should have read “globular clusters.” Still, I second your sentiments.
Here is a story that came out a couple of months ago. Dunno if it is another hoax, but it does sounds real…
Unidentified Sea Creature Found After Typhoon
Yes! I’m so all over this. I can finally send in tips to SM =). Kinda fun being a science geek huh? Although, I’m finding that being in a ph.d. program is also directly related to a total lack of a social life, thanks to nights and weekends in lab…
Talking of science and desis, here’s an interesting link on the benefits of desi food:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/krwashbureau/20051013/ts_krwashbureau/_med_turmeric.
I know many kids who are brought up in the usa detest indian food. With the result, these kids are more prone to diseases like alzheimers that is far less prevalent among desis in south asia. May be it’s not a good idea to order pizza for the kids while the older desis gobble up alzheimer-preventing, turmeric-rich curries.
Since this is Science Friday I have to ask if you have any data to substantiate this claim? I was born and raised here and I love Indian food(except for Indian sweets which have too much sugar anyways :).
… until they’re forced to eat cafeteria food in college.
nice story abhi. Indeed it’s a hoax. At the very end of the clip she says “for shreyas news….“. There is no shreyas news AFAIK and google didn’t help either.
“circulation ($$) firewall so without circulation”
i meant subscription instead of ciculation, sorry.
The video is pretty cool, even if it is a hoax.
Science is good. My favorite science blog, covering squids, and more interestingly, the creationist war on “Darwinism”: http://www.pharyngula.org
Others: http://www.corante.com/loom/
Weekly science blog fair: http://tangledbank.net/
Hey hey chick pea, you can do the serious medical stuff. WEIRD is my department. Like…(all taken from the latest issue of the World’s Greatest Medical Newspaper)
Natural mothering US websites are advising mothers to deliberately infect their offspring with chickenpox by making them interact with infected children, admidst fears that the vaccine is ineffective. The gatherings of children have been termed ‘pox parties’.
Pathological liars may have up to 26% more white matter than other people. Having more white matter in the prefrontal cortex may aid lying as it mediates quick and complex thinking, say the team from the University of Southern California.
Great idea Abhi.
MSNBC has an article about a “biplane” dinosaur. The paleontologist quoted in the article, is a desi,Sankar Chatterjee of Texas Tech University. Interesting article:
Biplane flying dinosaur
Maybe it was just my mom, but she made me get both chicken pox and measles from my grotty sister, so she could take care of use both at the same time and be done with it. Of course the fact that I was fifteen when my sister got chicken pox didn’t stop her …ughhh..
(she also got me immunized for smallpox in SL when I was about a year old. Apparently I broke out in the small pox blisters cuz the vaccine was just a tad strong. euughhhh)
-now-you-know-why-cicatrix
There was a Simpson’s episode about this two weeks ago in fact where Homer has a Chicken Pox party to infect the neighborhood kids with Maggie’s pox.
Abhi & Cicatrix, there was a
A mom in my neighborhood made her kids all lick the same popsicle to spread the chicken pox around in one fell swoop. Now that they have a chicken pox vaccine, maybe the mothers can stop now.
The beached “Giant” featured in the first story’s “news report” looks suspiciously like the first Colossus in Sony’s recent PS2 videogame Shadow of the Colossus.
Reminds me of the false histories used to promote the first Blair Witch film and Sega’s Seaman videogame for the Dreamcast.