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HalfMooner
Dingaling
Philippines
15831 Posts |
 Posted - 07/13/2007 : 21:13:31
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The study of Egyptian mummies, particularly the pharaohs, has a long and deeply established tradition. But what happens when one of the pharonic mummies is revealed as being something other than what it was thought to be?
Do established scientists then just shrug, say, "shit happens," and try to minimize the effects and importance of the revelation, while trying to avoid having previous discoveries and decades of research put into question?
Not at all: NEW YORK (Reuters) -- All of Egypt's royal mummies will get identity checks after scientists found one was wrongly identified as a pharaoh, Egypt's chief archaeologist said.
Zahi Hawass, secretary-general of Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities, said on Thursday he would use computed tomography, or CT, scanning and DNA to test more than 40 royal mummies at the Egyptian Museum in Cairo. |
Contrary to the rants of woo-woos and Creationists, science really isn't a closed conspiracy based upon some kind of materialist "faith." It's a self-correcting process, that digs up and re-examines its mistakes, rather than burying them. Scientists may not always enjoy having their previous conclusions overturned, but they'll do it themselves in a flash.
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“Biology is just physics that has begun to smell bad.” —HalfMooner
Here's a link to Moonscape News, and one to its Archive. |
Edited by - HalfMooner on 07/20/2007 10:47:08
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JEROME DA GNOME
BANNED
2418 Posts |
 Posted - 07/13/2007 : 21:35:14 [Permalink]
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What are they comparing the DNA too.
Do they have known DNA from relatives?
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What a man believes upon grossly insufficient evidence is an index into his desires -- desires of which he himself is often unconscious. If a man is offered a fact which goes against his instincts, he will scrutinize it closely, and unless the evidence is overwhelming, he will refuse to believe it. If, on the other hand, he is offered something which affords a reason for acting in accordance to his instincts, he will accept it even on the slightest evidence. The origin of myths is explained in this way. - Bertrand Russell |
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HalfMooner
Dingaling
Philippines
15831 Posts |
Posted - 07/13/2007 : 21:41:15 [Permalink]
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Originally posted by JEROME DA GNOME
What are they comparing the DNA too.
Do they have known DNA from relatives?
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Yes, they do.
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“Biology is just physics that has begun to smell bad.” —HalfMooner
Here's a link to Moonscape News, and one to its Archive. |
| Edited by - HalfMooner on 07/13/2007 21:45:06 |
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JEROME DA GNOME
BANNED
2418 Posts |
Posted - 07/13/2007 : 21:49:25 [Permalink]
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Originally posted by HalfMooner
Originally posted by JEROME DA GNOME
What are they comparing the DNA too.
Do they have known DNA from relatives?
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Yes, they do.
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So, they are comparing the DNA of mummies to mummies?
This will tell them that they are related, just like most monarchies?
Were is the news?
This looks like a scam for more funding.
What new information will they find by doing more DNA testing?
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What a man believes upon grossly insufficient evidence is an index into his desires -- desires of which he himself is often unconscious. If a man is offered a fact which goes against his instincts, he will scrutinize it closely, and unless the evidence is overwhelming, he will refuse to believe it. If, on the other hand, he is offered something which affords a reason for acting in accordance to his instincts, he will accept it even on the slightest evidence. The origin of myths is explained in this way. - Bertrand Russell |
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HalfMooner
Dingaling
Philippines
15831 Posts |
Posted - 07/13/2007 : 22:05:37 [Permalink]
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Originally posted by JEROME DA GNOME
Originally posted by HalfMooner
Originally posted by JEROME DA GNOME
What are they comparing the DNA too.
Do they have known DNA from relatives?
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Yes, they do.
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So, they are comparing the DNA of mummies to mummies?
This will tell them that they are related, just like most monarchies?
Were is the news?
This looks like a scam for more funding.
What new information will they find by doing more DNA testing?
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Jesus, Jerome! Science isn't just a scam to get money! Your paranoid, delusional crap is getting tiresome, as is your refusal to learn how real science works.
The point is that when any doubts are raised, as with the young man whose mummy was misidentified as a pharoah, the scientists dig deeper to see if there's a broader problem, even when this has a potential to may make decades of their own previous work look bad and make themselves appear incompetent. This is the opposite of the kind of funding-driven science you imagine.
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“Biology is just physics that has begun to smell bad.” —HalfMooner
Here's a link to Moonscape News, and one to its Archive. |
| Edited by - HalfMooner on 07/13/2007 22:20:38 |
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JEROME DA GNOME
BANNED
2418 Posts |
Posted - 07/13/2007 : 22:34:15 [Permalink]
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Reexamining old irrelevant data is a money grab!
What are we getting as a society from the reconfiguring of the relationships of long dead monarchs?
Can you think of any better use of these funds in Egypt?
| Poverty and the need to support their families compel many Egyptian children to leave school and join the workforce. Fourteen-year old Ahmed is one such child. |
UNICEF
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What a man believes upon grossly insufficient evidence is an index into his desires -- desires of which he himself is often unconscious. If a man is offered a fact which goes against his instincts, he will scrutinize it closely, and unless the evidence is overwhelming, he will refuse to believe it. If, on the other hand, he is offered something which affords a reason for acting in accordance to his instincts, he will accept it even on the slightest evidence. The origin of myths is explained in this way. - Bertrand Russell |
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Dave W.
Info Junkie
USA
26020 Posts |
Posted - 07/13/2007 : 22:49:52 [Permalink]
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Jerome's business is a money grab!
What are we getting as a society from your store making more money than it costs you?
Can you think of any better use of those funds anywhere?
[Insert link to charity of your choice here] |
- Dave W. (Private Msg, EMail)
Evidently, I rock!
Why not question something for a change?
Visit Dave's Psoriasis Info, too. |
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JEROME DA GNOME
BANNED
2418 Posts |
 Posted - 07/13/2007 : 22:56:10 [Permalink]
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Originally posted by Dave W.
Jerome's business is a money grab!
What are we getting as a society from your store making more money than it costs you?
Can you think of any better use of those funds anywhere?
[Insert link to charity of your choice here]
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With this analogy you are agreeing that science is a business.
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What a man believes upon grossly insufficient evidence is an index into his desires -- desires of which he himself is often unconscious. If a man is offered a fact which goes against his instincts, he will scrutinize it closely, and unless the evidence is overwhelming, he will refuse to believe it. If, on the other hand, he is offered something which affords a reason for acting in accordance to his instincts, he will accept it even on the slightest evidence. The origin of myths is explained in this way. - Bertrand Russell |
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Dave W.
Info Junkie
USA
26020 Posts |
Posted - 07/13/2007 : 23:09:35 [Permalink]
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Originally posted by JEROME DA GNOME
With this analogy you are agreeing that science is a business. |
No, only that scientists do, indeed, need to make a living.
The real point to the analogy was, of course, that there are much better things to do with one's money in the world than line your pockets, Jerome. Because you feel the same about some scientists, but still demand a profit from your customers, makes you hypocritical. |
- Dave W. (Private Msg, EMail)
Evidently, I rock!
Why not question something for a change?
Visit Dave's Psoriasis Info, too. |
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JEROME DA GNOME
BANNED
2418 Posts |
Posted - 07/13/2007 : 23:15:28 [Permalink]
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Originally posted by Dave W.
Originally posted by JEROME DA GNOME
With this analogy you are agreeing that science is a business. |
No, only that scientists do, indeed, need to make a living.
The real point to the analogy was, of course, that there are much better things to do with one's money in the world than line your pockets, Jerome. Because you feel the same about some scientists, but still demand a profit from your customers, makes you hypocritical.
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I am not selling something irrelevant and unneeded.
In this instance these scientist are.
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What a man believes upon grossly insufficient evidence is an index into his desires -- desires of which he himself is often unconscious. If a man is offered a fact which goes against his instincts, he will scrutinize it closely, and unless the evidence is overwhelming, he will refuse to believe it. If, on the other hand, he is offered something which affords a reason for acting in accordance to his instincts, he will accept it even on the slightest evidence. The origin of myths is explained in this way. - Bertrand Russell |
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Dude
SFN Die Hard
USA
6891 Posts |
Posted - 07/14/2007 : 00:09:10 [Permalink]
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I am not selling something irrelevant and unneeded.
In this instance these scientist are.
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Only in your misguided and uninformed opinion troll.
It is not possible to know to much about history.
Besides, what if these guys stumble onto some technique that allows them to extract intact DNA from 5000 year old corpses?
You look only at the small picture, because your tiny mind isn't capable of looking outside the box you have chained to it.
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Ignorance is preferable to error; and he is less remote from the truth who believes nothing, than he who believes what is wrong.
-- Thomas Jefferson
"god :: the last refuge of a man with no answers and no argument." - G. Carlin
Hope, n.
The handmaiden of desperation; the opiate of despair; the illegible signpost on the road to perdition. ~~ da filth |
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Dave W.
Info Junkie
USA
26020 Posts |
Posted - 07/14/2007 : 00:12:24 [Permalink]
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Originally posted by JEROME DA GNOME
I am not selling something irrelevant and unneeded.
In this instance these scientist are. |
You admitted to selling organic products, which are irrelevant and unneeded. |
- Dave W. (Private Msg, EMail)
Evidently, I rock!
Why not question something for a change?
Visit Dave's Psoriasis Info, too. |
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HalfMooner
Dingaling
Philippines
15831 Posts |
Posted - 07/14/2007 : 02:01:00 [Permalink]
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Originally posted by JEROME DA GNOME
Reexamining old irrelevant data is a money grab!
What are we getting as a society from the reconfiguring of the relationships of long dead monarchs?
Can you think of any better use of these funds in Egypt?
| Poverty and the need to support their families compel many Egyptian children to leave school and join the workforce. Fourteen-year old Ahmed is one such child. |
UNICEF
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The little, presumably poor, Egyptian boy was quite charming, but adds nothing to your point. In fact, I shall now show you how little Achmet is probably better off due to the high standards of Egyptian archaeology fostered under Dr. Zahi Hawass.
If you asked Achmet what he's most proud of in Egypt, I can almost guarantee that "pyramids" and "museums" would be high on his Top Ten list. ("Dr. Hawass" might even be on the list.)
Egypt is an overpopulated country. But it is poor primarily because its population is too great for even its thriving economy. According to Wiki:| Among Arab countries, Egypt's GDP is second only to Saudi Arabia's. However, the Egyptian economy relies heavily on tourist revenues. The tourism sector suffered tremendously following a terrorist attack on tourists in Luxor in October 1997, and the September 11, 2001 attacks against the United States, affecting the economy as a whole. |
[My emphasis.]
Note that tourism in Egypt revolves mainly around the Pyramids and other monumental works, and Egypt's fine museums. The work of Hawass and others in transforming Egyptian archaeology to its world-class standards is central to Egyptian tourism. Tourists know they will see what they came to see, with good science behind it. The Jihadis understand this, and have attacked tourists in Egypt with a mind to making the plight of the people worse than it is, so they may one day be swept into power.
What would Egypt's important tourism industry be like today, if the old practice of selling off ancient mummies and artifacts to international collectors had continued? Most Egyptians must be very proud of how, using science, Dr. Hawass and his associates have reversed those old practices, and turned "Egyptology" into a science -- and into an economic engine for the country. I know I would be.
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“Biology is just physics that has begun to smell bad.” —HalfMooner
Here's a link to Moonscape News, and one to its Archive. |
| Edited by - HalfMooner on 07/14/2007 02:12:03 |
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pleco
SFN Addict
USA
2998 Posts |
Posted - 07/14/2007 : 04:36:05 [Permalink]
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Originally posted by HalfMooner
Contrary to the rants of woo-woos and Creationists, science really isn't a closed conspiracy based upon some kind of materialist "faith." It's a self-correcting process, that digs up and re-examines its mistakes, rather than burying them. Scientists may not always enjoy having their previous conclusions overturned, but they'll do it themselves in a flash. |
Thanks for the article! Very interesting and of course is yet another great example of the self correction of science.
You are also correct that this has major relevance to tourism. If it were widely known that the mummies and possibly other artifacts were not genuine, Egypt's economy would suffer. |
by Filthy
The neo-con methane machine will soon be running at full fart. |
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| Edited by - pleco on 07/14/2007 05:19:02 |
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HalfMooner
Dingaling
Philippines
15831 Posts |
Posted - 07/14/2007 : 04:49:46 [Permalink]
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Originally posted by pleco
Originally posted by HalfMooner
Contrary to the rants of woo-woos and Creationists, science really isn't a closed conspiracy based upon some kind of materialist "faith." It's a self-correcting process, that digs up and re-examines its mistakes, rather than burying them. Scientists may not always enjoy having their previous conclusions overturned, but they'll do it themselves in a flash. |
Thanks for the article! Very interesting and of course is yet another great example of the self correction of science.
You are also correct that this will has major relevance to tourism. If it were widely known that the mummies and possibly other artifacts were not genuine, Egypt's economy would suffer.
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You're welcome. And thanks for the encouraging words. The more I hear about Dr. Hawass, the more I like him as the real deal, both for science and for Egypt.
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“Biology is just physics that has begun to smell bad.” —HalfMooner
Here's a link to Moonscape News, and one to its Archive. |
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Valiant Dancer
Forum Goalie
USA
4826 Posts |
Posted - 07/19/2007 : 16:59:48 [Permalink]
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Originally posted by JEROME DA GNOME
Reexamining old irrelevant data is a money grab!
What are we getting as a society from the reconfiguring of the relationships of long dead monarchs?
Can you think of any better use of these funds in Egypt?
| Poverty and the need to support their families compel many Egyptian children to leave school and join the workforce. Fourteen-year old Ahmed is one such child. |
UNICEF
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Fallacious appeal to pity. |
Cthulhu/Asmodeus when you're tired of voting for the lesser of two evils
Brother Cutlass of Reasoned Discussion |
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What does science do when doubts are raised?
