Egyptian pyramids found by infra-red satellite images

 

Two new finds are at Saqqara, an older but lesser known pyramid site than Giza

Seventeen lost pyramids are among the buildings identified in a new satellite survey of Egypt.

More than 1,000 tombs and 3,000 ancient settlements were also revealed by looking at infra-red images which show up underground buildings.
Initial excavations have already confirmed some of the findings, including two suspected pyramids.
The work has been pioneered at the University of Alabama in Birmingham by US Egyptologist Dr Sarah Parcak.

 

An infra-red satellite image shows a buried pyramid, located in the centre of the highlight box.

She says she was amazed at how much she and her team has found.
"We were very intensely doing this research for over a year. I could see the data as it was emerging, but for me the "Aha!" moment was when I could step back and look at everything that we'd found and I couldn't believe we could locate so many sites all over Egypt.
"To excavate a pyramid is the dream of every archaeologist," she said.
The team analysed images from satellites orbiting 700km above the earth, equipped with cameras so powerful they can pin-point objects less than 1m in diameter on the earth's surface.
Infra-red imaging was used to highlight different materials under the surface.
Test excavations Ancient Egyptians built their houses and structures out of mud brick, which is much denser than the soil that surrounds it, so the shapes of houses, temples and tombs can be seen.
"It just shows us how easy it is to underestimate both the size and scale of past human settlements," says Dr Parcak.
And she believes there are more antiquities to be discovered:
"These are just the sites [close to] the surface. There are many thousands of additional sites that the Nile has covered over with silt. This is just the beginning of this kind of work."
BBC cameras followed Dr Parcak on her "nervous" journey when she travelled to Egypt to see if excavations could back up what her technology could see under the surface.
In the BBC documentary Egypt's Lost Cities, they visit an area of Saqqara (Sakkara) where the authorities were not initially interested in her findings.
But after being told by Dr Parcak that she had seen two potential pyramids, they made test excavations, and they now believe it is one of the most important archaeological sites in Egypt.

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An infra-red satellite image reveals the city of Tanis

But Dr Parcak said the most exciting moment was visiting the excavations at Tanis.
"They'd excavated a 3,000-year-old house that the satellite imagery had shown and the outline of the structure matched the satellite imagery almost perfectly. That was real validation of the technology."
The Egyptian authorities plan to use the technology to help - among other things - protect the country's antiquities in the future.
During the recent revolution, looters accessed some well-known archaeological sites.

Dr Sarah Parcak Space Archaeologist

"We can tell from the imagery a tomb was looted from a particular period of time and we can alert Interpol to watch out for antiquities from that time that may be offered for sale."

She also hopes the new technology will help engage young people in science and will be a major help for archaeologists around the world.
"It allows us to be more focused and selective in the work we do. Faced with a massive site, you don't know where to start.
"It's an important tool to focus where we're excavating. It gives us a much bigger perspective on archaeological sites. We have to think bigger and that's what the satellites allow us to do."
"Indiana Jones is old school, we've moved on from Indy, sorry Harrison Ford."
Source: bbc.co.uk

Sat nav-style technology used to track UK seabirds

Tiny trackers are being fitted to the backs of seabirds in the UK as part of a Europe-wide effort to better understand their behaviour.

Scientists are tagging birds on the Fair Isle, Orkney and Colonsay in the Hebrides.
The project called Future of the Atlantic Marine Environment (Fame) also includes species on Bardsey Island in Wales and the Isles of Scilly.

Dr Ellie Owen has been fitting trackers to birds on Colonsay

The RSPB said Fame used technology similar to car sat nav systems.
Trackers are also being fitted to birds in Ireland, France, Spain and Portugal.
Dr Ellie Owen, a scientist working on a European Union-funded project, said very little was known about the movements of birds as they hunted at sea.
She said: "We know more about the journeys of albatrosses in the Southern Ocean than we do about some of the seabirds around our own shores.
"For example, we know how many kittiwakes there are in the UK, and we know they've declined by 30% between 2000 and 2010.
"But we don't know where these ocean travellers are going to fish for their chicks' suppers. But now, just when these birds need our help, we're on the cusp of filling this information void with vitally-important data."
'Dwindling food' The tracking devices take a reading every 100 seconds, allowing the scientists to accurately pinpoint birds' movements between nesting colonies and the areas of sea the birds use to find food.
The RSPB said the technology was accurate to within a few metres.
In the UK, the Fame project has been tagging fulmar, shag, kittiwake, guillemot and razorbill.
Elsewhere, scientists are involved with other seabirds such as gannet, European storm petrel, Madeiran storm petrel and Balearic and Cory's shearwaters.
Dr Owen, who has fitted trackers to birds on Colonsay, said: "European seabirds face a variety of threats from dwindling food supplies, climate change, entanglement with fishing gear and pollution.
"By recording these birds' movements we are building a greater understanding of their requirements so we can begin to give these species the protection they need."
Source:bbc.co.uk

New human fossils found by satellite imagery‎

South Africa: An anthropology professor from South Africa has used Google Earth (satellite imagery) to find a new human ancestor. He found two partial skeletons, dating between 1.78 and 1.95 million years ago, that belong to the species now known as Australopithecus sediba.


"Professor Lee Berger from Witswatersrand University in Johannesburg started to use Google Earth to map various known caves and fossil deposits identified by him and his colleagues over the past several decades," according to the Official Google Blog.

Berger developed a correlation between the appearance of caves in satellite images and the presence of fossil deposits. He developed a correlation between the appearance of caves in satellite images and the presence of fossil deposits. He started with 130 cave sites in the region around the Cradle of Humankind area northwest of Johannesburg and about 20 fossil deposits. Using Google Earth's high-resolution satellite imagery, he was able to identify 500 previously unidentified caves and fossil sites. It was at one of those sites he found the new hominid.


At the beginning of this project, there were approximately 130 known cave sites in the region and around 20 fossil deposits. With the help of the navigation facility and high-resolution satellite imagery in Google Earth, Professor Berger went on to find almost 500 previously unidentified caves and fossil sites, even though the area is one of the most explored in Africa. One of these fossil sites yielded the remarkable discovery of a new species, Australopithecus sediba. This species was an upright walker that shared many physical traits with the earliest known species of the genus homo — and its introduction into the fossil record might answer some key questions about our earliest ancestry in Africa.

The discovery is one of the most significant palaeoanthropological discoveries in recent times, revealing at least two partial hominid skeletons in remarkable condition, dating to between 1.78 and 1.95 million years. We are especially excited because Google Earth played a role in its discovery.
Source: Official Google Blog

Mapping the deadly mosquito

The Vecmap initiative is testing the accurate mapping of mosquitoes in Europe, in particular, mosquitoes carrying diseases, for public health agencies and regional mosquito controllers. Testing began in 2009 in the Netherlands, the UK, Belgium, France, Switzerland and Italy. Transmitters of disease such as mosquitoes are known as vectors. With this information, the insects can be kept below the level where they become a nuisance or able to spread disease.
“Diseases such as Dengue or West Nile fever that are carried by mosquito vectors are an increasing public health concern in many European countries, yet very little is known about the distribution of either the diseases or the vectors that transmit them to humans,” says Michiel Kruijff, ESA’s technical officer.
“There is a clear need for maps showing where mosquitoes have been detected, where they could be and when the population will peak.”
Vecmap is now being refined and is planned to be tested further by users in several European countries during the next two summer seasons before it is marketed commercially.  


Predicting mosquito presence, abundance and risks is difficult. The conditions, location and timing of hatching vary widely between species. Highly detailed and frequent information on the local environment and weather conditions are required.
ESA has enabled three companies to join forces in developing Vecmap, who are now working closely with future users. Users are being coordinated by The Dutch National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM).
Vecmap addresses the problem by integrating the entire process of producing risk maps into a single package that can be used by a wide range of practitioners.
“It literally is a one-stop-shop for vector mapping,” says Dr Marieta Braks, a medical entomologist at RIVM.
 
Vecmap combines inputs from field work and Earth observation satellites such as vegetation, land temperature, moisture and water bodies. The field measurements are entered into a palm-to-web terminal or smart phone, which pinpoints them using satnav. Then they are transferred to a central database. In this way, the field work can be done effectively and independently. The consortium is led by Avia-GIS (BE), a company specialising in spatial risk management, and includes ERGO (GB), MEDES (FR) as developing partners; VITO (BE) and EARS (NL) which provide remote sensing imagery; and RIVM which represents the user community.
Source: European Space Agency