Where did I leave my stash?

Testing 2,700-year-old pot for THC concentration. Credit: Fox News.

Archaeologists in China have unearthed the oldest ever stash of marijuana. 2,700 years old and weighing an impressive 789 grams it was described as still being green "though it had lost its distinctive odour". It was found at the burial site of a Caucasian male, along with other items indicating high social status, in the Turpan region of northwestern China.

Thought to be a shaman by the grave goods, he was likely to have been a member of the Gushi culture.

Sadly, after 10 months wrangling to import an 11g sample into the UK for analysis,

The marijuana was found to have a relatively high content of THC, the main active ingredient in cannabis, but the sample was too old to determine a precise percentage.

It should read 'might have had a relatively high content' because the estimate of THC is based on measurements of remaining precursors and breakdown products. The recorded level of THC was 0.007% by weight.

So be careful where you stash your stash 'coz it will go off eventually.
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Refs: Stonepages, check out their archaeology podcast with this news.
The Canadian Press.
Phytochemical and genetic analyses of ancient cannabis from Central Asia, Ethan B. Russo et al, Journal of Experimental Botany 2008 59(15):4171-4182; doi:10.1093/jxb/ern260 Grow into these trousers... >>

A thought for a Sunday

Had I the heavens' embroidered cloths,
Enwrought with golden and silver light,
The blue and the dim and the dark cloths
Of night and light and the half-light,
I would spread the cloths under your feet:
But I, being poor, have only my dreams;
I have spread my dreams under your feet;
Tread softly because you tread on my dreams.

W.B. Yeats (1865 – 1939) Grow into these trousers... >>

A quick game before bedtime

Similar to Loops of Zen but not so complicated. Think of it as Loops for beginners.

Rotate²

From Games for the Brain. Grow into these trousers... >>

Dave Allen discusses Genesis

Dave Allen - Adam & Eve

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Via The Mutt's Nuts. Grow into these trousers... >>

Freaking brilliant

The Pianist- freaking brothers

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Via GrrlScientist. Grow into these trousers... >>

An insight into the religious mind

So this is what passes for learned discussion in the minds of Yemeni clerics.

Citing a 1995 Time magazine article (possibly this one) and waving a brain scan photo, Abd Al-Majid Al-Zindani demonstrates the cutting edge of evidence for the claim in the Koran that it takes two women to equal one man as legal witnesses.

[2:282] "so that if one of them errs, the other can remind her"

KafirGirl of course has a view on this.

Muslim Cleric Presents "Scientific" Proof that Women Cannot Talk and Remember Simultaneously


What a cnut.
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Via Atheist Media Blog. Grow into these trousers... >>

What a surprising creature

Watch this fearless little beastie. Why run away or fight when you can scare your enemies away?

The Indonesian Mimic Octopus

There's more footage below the belt.

Mimic Octopus

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Via GrrlScientist. Grow into these trousers... >>

What Flower Are You?

I am a Canna

What Flower
Are You?

"You stand up for what you believe in, even if it gets in the way of what other people think. You are proud of yourself and your accomplishments and you enjoy letting people know that."

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Thanks to Wonder What's Next for the link. Grow into these trousers... >>

Tiktaalik revisited

A while back I mentioned the fascinating find of an early tetrapod fossil by Neil Shubin and his team. Intermediate between the lobe finned fish (think coelacanths) and the first land living vertebrates, Tiktaalik displays the characteristics of common ancestry which all amphibians, reptiles, birds, monotremes, marsupials and mammals have inherited. Though we may be distant cousins rather than share direct lineage, Tiktaalik and ourselves are a part of the same family.

Shubin's previous talk, interesting though it was, was for his book promotion. Here's a talk which is much more polished. Sit back for an hour and watch good paleontology at work.

Year of Darwin - Neil Shubin, Ph.D.


PS - there is a long intro, so skip to ~0:03:45 for the real start.

Via PZ Myers. Grow into these trousers... >>

4-Elements

Not what it seems at the start. Persist with the (short) intro and it turns into a compulsive tetris-like, block shifting, shoveling, bomb setting tunneling game. Tinkerbell will give you the lowdown.

Note: you can't 'save' so plan for a long session or you'll have to start over. It's a demo of the full version. Grow into these trousers... >>