December 27, 2010

There were 3 posts published on December 27, 2010 (this is page 1 of 1).

Parks and Recreation chases away cabin fever

This morning as we were waking again to a yard filled with snow, I watched admiringly as Kelly and the kids paged through the latest edition of the Leisure Ledger, Raleigh Parks and Recreation’s guide to its activities and courses. Making plans for springtime courses seemed an ideal way to chase away the onset of cabin fever.

Raleigh is so very fortunate to have such a high quality parks and rec department as the Raleigh Parks and Recreation department. Its activities are a wonderful way to chase the winter blues away.

Snowfall totals

The National Weather Service’s Raleigh office collected unofficial spotter reports for snowfall totals after yesterday’s snowstorm. I wanted to post this before it disappeared from the net (the report for Raleigh is mine, by the way).

000
NOUS42 KRAH 262059
PNSRAH
NCZ007>011-021>028-038>043-073>078-083>086-088-089-270859-

PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT
SPOTTER REPORTS
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH NC
359 PM EST SUN DEC 26 2010

THE FOLLOWING ARE UNOFFICIAL OBSERVATIONS TAKEN DURING THE PAST 8 HOURS FOR THE STORM THAT HAS BEEN AFFECTING OUR REGION. APPRECIATION IS EXTENDED TO HIGHWAY DEPARTMENTS…COOPERATIVE OBSERVERS…SKYWARN SPOTTERS AND MEDIA FOR THESE REPORTS. THIS SUMMARY IS ALSO AVAILABLE ON OUR HOME PAGE AT WEATHER.GOV/RALEIGH.

********************STORM TOTAL SNOWFALL********************
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Fossil DNA points to new branch of humanity

Truly fascinating.

A finger bone from Siberia now reveals that a previously unknown group of ancient humans once existed there, one neither like us nor Neanderthals.

Bizarrely, the DNA from these extinct Siberians seems unusually similar to that of Pacific Islanders from tropical Melanesia.

The 30,000-year-old fossil was found in Denisova Cave in southern Siberia in 2008, a bone fragment that likely came from a fingertip of a young girl. It was discovered along with microblades (small stone blades used as tools), body ornaments of polished stone, and a molar shaped very differently from those of Neanderthals and modern humans, resembling that of much older human species, such as Homo habilis and Homo erectus. (The tooth and the finger bone apparently came from different members of the same population.)

via Fossil DNA points to new branch of humanity – Technology & science – Science – msnbc.com.