17th century shipwreck to be freeze-dried, rebuilt
(unbeknownst to these archeologists we’ve replaced their regular ancient ship wreckage with new freeze-dried Folgers ship wreck, let’s see if they notice.)
By MICHAEL GRACZYK, APBRYAN, Texas — More than three centuries ago, a French explorer's ship sank in the Gulf of Mexico, taking with it France's hopes of colonizing a vast piece of the New World — modern-day Texas.
Like La Salle in 1685, researchers at Texas A&M University are in uncharted waters as they try to reconstruct his vessel with a gigantic freeze-dryer, the first undertaking of its size.
By placing the ship — La Belle — in a constant environment of up to 60 degrees below zero, more than 300 years of moisture will be safely removed from hundreds of European oak and pine timbers and planks. The freeze-dryer, located at the old Bryan Air Force base several miles northwest of College Station, is 40 feet long and 8 feet wide — the biggest such machine on the continent devoted to archaeology.
Researchers will then rebuild the 54 1/2-foot vessel, which will become the centerpiece of the Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum in Austin.
From a historical perspective, it's "an icon of a small event that dramatically changed the course of Texas history," said Jim Bruseth, who led the Texas Historical Commission effort to recover the remains.
The supply ship was built in 1684 and sank two years later in a storm on Matagorda Bay, about midway between Galveston and Corpus Christi.
"When La Belle sank, that doomed La Salle's colony and opened up the door for Spain to come in and occupy Texas," Bruseth said. "People can see firsthand how history can turn on a dime."
"It's an important piece in ship architecture," said Peter Fix, conservator at the school's Center for Maritime Archaeology and Conservation. Researchers have determined that unlike earlier vessels, the frames on La Belle were marked specifically by the French craftsmen so the wood comprising the hull could follow the complex curve of the ship.
"This was the age of Enlightenment when math was coming into more play," Fix said.
After a more than decade-long hunt, Texas Historical Commission archaeologists found it in 1995 in 12 feet of murky water. Then began the tedious recovery that involved constructing a dam around the site.
After the water was pumped out, teams dug through up to 6 feet of mud in the Gulf of Mexico seabed to retrieve the nearly intact ship and some 700,000 items, from swords, cannons and ammunition to beads and mirrors intended for trade. Archaeologists also found one skeleton, believed to be a crew member or settler among the some 40 people aboard.
The ship was then transferred to the Texas A&M lab, where the water-logged wood has been immersed in a chemical solution to keep it solid.
Initially, the ship was being reassembled in a two-stage chemical process, but as oil prices rose, so did the cost of the key chemical, polyethylene glycol. They decided the freeze-dry process was more economical and would shorten the preservation timeframe. So, the hull was disassembled and the wood was categorized and digitally scanned so that they could make molds of its original shape.
A New York-based firm that specializes in scientific equipment built the submarine-like freeze dryer.
"If we were to take any piece of wood, say it's been in the water for 300 years, and pull it out, it would shrink, crack, warp within a couple of days," Fix said. "The physical stress on wood would essentially cause it to fall apart and crumble and powder into pieces."
But scientists know that at the right temperature and pressure, water can go from being solid to gas and skip the liquid phase.
"It's a slow, controlled process and depending on the thickness of material, over four to six or seven months, we know that timber has lost most of its bound water and it's safe to bring out," Fix said, noting that they're experimenting with smaller pieces to "make sure nothing goes wrong."
A similar preservation using freeze-dryer technology is planned for a medieval ship discovered in 2002 in Newport, South Wales. That vessel is about twice the length of La Belle.
The La Belle rebuilding will start late next year at the Bullock Museum.
"I can't wait," said Bruseth, who is serving as guest curator for the exhibit. "It's just fantastic to see this project reach the point where we'll actually be reassembling the ship as a permanent installation."
Rene-Robert Cavelier Sieur de La Salle was the first European to travel the Mississippi River south to the Gulf, claiming all the land along the Mississippi and its tributaries for France in 1682. In 1685, he sailed from France with more than 300 colonists aboard four ships, La Belle among them, to establish a settlement at the mouth of the Mississippi.
Maps of the time show he believed the river was closer to Mexico, and his expedition missed the Mississippi by hundreds of miles.
"They were guessing," Bruseth said.
His team established a colony near Matagorda Bay, but it was ravaged by disease, rattlesnakes and Indians. Three years later, La Salle led a handful of survivors inland in search of the Mississippi. The explorer didn't make it out of Texas; he was murdered by his own men.
Drew Peterson withdraws request for mistrial
(and it only took four wives for anyone to catch on something was going on? How often does someone drown in a bathroom? No evidence collected? Hearsay admitted in court? This whole damn thing is a travesty.)
By MICHAEL TARM, APJOLIET, Ill. — Drew Peterson told a judge Wednesday that he wanted to withdraw a request for a mistrial, and his lawyers explained that former suburban Chicago police officer wants the current jury to decide if he killed his third wife.
Defense attorneys also asked Judge Edward Burmila to declare all hearsay evidence in the trial inadmissible — a motion the judge again denied. Testimony resumed soon after.
Prosecutors are trying to prove that Peterson, 58, killed his third wife, Kathleen Savio, in 2004. He was charged after his fourth wife, Stacy Peterson, disappeared in 2007.
Before the judge agreed to take the mistrial motion off the table, he asked Peterson to confirm that was his wish.
"Yes, your honor," Peterson said, standing at the defense table.
Defense attorneys asked for a mistrial Tuesday after Burmila admonished prosecutors for violating his order not to mention whether Savio asked for an order of protection against Peterson. The prosecutor who mentioned the order apologized to the judge, but Peterson's attorneys called the prosecution's actions unfair.
But on Wednesday, as a hushed courtroom waited to hear the judge's decision on the mistrial motion, defense attorney Joe Lopez said his team was withdrawing the request.
"We are not giving the state a practice run," Lopez said, referring to how the state could seek to adjust their strategy at any retrial. "This is a real race and Mr. Peterson wants the world to know that he's not afraid. He wants to keep this jury in its place."
Some of the jurors looked exasperated Wednesday, grimacing as they were taken in and out of court half a dozen times in the morning while attorneys argued over evidence.
The case has been beset by problems since Savio was found dead in her bathroom at her suburban home. Investigators collected no physical evidence, and authorities initially ruled that Savio accidentally drowned. After Stacy Peterson vanished three years later, Savio's body was re-examined and her death was reclassified as a homicide.
Peterson is also a suspect in Stacy Peterson's disappearance, although he has never been charged in her case. Authorities presume she is dead, though a body has never been found.
The prosecution's blunder Tuesday was the third in as many weeks to prompt Burmila to give serious consideration to declaring a mistrial. However, the judge in recent days had made several rulings in prosecutors' favor, granting them permission to present hearsay evidence central to their case.
Hearsay, or statements not based on the direct knowledge of a witness, is usually not admissible in court, but Illinois passed a law in the wake of the Peterson case that allows it in certain circumstances.
Prosecutor Kathleen Patton was questioning one of the state's most compelling witnesses Tuesday when she made her mistake.
Former police officer Teresa Kernc had just told jurors about interviewing Savio in 2002 after Peterson allegedly broke into Savio's home in a SWAT uniform and repeatedly pushed her to the ground.
At one point, Savio allegedly told Peterson, "Go ahead and do what you came to do: Kill me," Kernc testified.
"He said, `Where do you want it?' And she said, `In the head.'" Kernc testified.
Peterson then allegedly told Savio to turn her head, which Savio did, Kernc said, based on what Savio told her.
"And then he said, `I can't kill you,'" she told jurors. Peterson then threw a garage opener to the ground and left.
Shortly after Kernc finished telling that story, Patton turned and asked, "Did she tell you she wanted to get an order of protection?"
When jurors arrived Wednesday, Burmila told them Patton had "violated an order of the court" by mentioning an order of protection and that they shouldn't disregard it. He also told jurors that both sides agree Savio did not seek an order of protection in July 2002.
"You are not to consider, infer or ponder for any purpose an order of protection," he told the jury.
Associated Press writer Don Babwin contributed to this report.
Ark. man pleads guilty in teenage girl's death
( blue plastic barrels the body disposal of choice for killers on the go. I’m not sure what’s worse, that she was 16? He met her online and she went unescorted to her untimely death?or that he was worried what his girlfriend would think. If you’re picking up underage girls online to rape and kill them and whether or not taking her home would upset your “girlfriend” is your biggest worry something is horribly and irreparably wrong. Seriously though those blue plastic barrels show up in more murder investigations then make any sense although to the barrels credit they do make good cheap armor )
FORT SMITH, Ark. — A convicted rapist was sentenced to 60 years in prison Wednesday after admitting he killed a 16-year-old girl he met online whose body was found stuffed into a blue plastic barrel in western Arkansas.
Lloyd Jones, 36, pleaded guilty Wednesday to first-degree murder in Angela Allen's death. Had he been convicted at trial, Jones could have been sentenced to life in prison.
"He will not be eligible for parole until he's 96 years old so we look at this as a life sentence," prosecutor Alison Houston said.
Jones also pleaded guilty to abuse of a corpse and other charges during the hearing in Sebastian County Circuit Court.
His defense attorney, Rita Watkins, didn't immediately return a phone message seeking comment.
Allen's body was discovered in February on land owned by Jones' brother near Lavaca, about 15 miles east of Fort Smith. Jones was charged in her death soon after.
Authorities said Jones told investigators he picked up the teenager Feb. 10 at a hospital parking lot in Van Buren after she told a relative she was going for a walk. Jones took the girl to the Arkansas River, opting not to take her to his home because "his girlfriends might become upset with him," according to court documents. He acknowledged making out with the girl at the river's edge, but "violently pushed her into the water and left her there" after she told him she was 20 years his junior.
Deputies searching for the girl found her body in a barrel Feb. 17 and medical examiners identified her through dental records. A preliminary autopsy showed she died of strangulation.
Sheriff's investigators say they found several text messages from Jones on the teen's cellphone.
Jones told authorities he used a website, Mbuzzy.com, to communicate with Allen, who also had an account with that site, sheriff's investigator Anthony Sacco wrote in a report. Court documents allege that Jones also told investigators that when he and Allen were at the river, he hit her in the chest and knocked her into the water.
"He thought that (Angela) might have been unable to swim, because her arms might have been injured when she was struck," Sacco wrote.
One of Jones' girlfriends told authorities that his clothes and shoes were covered in mud when he returned home that night.
Prosecutors said that while Jones was in jail, he implicated himself by asking his father during a visit: "Did they find her?"
Court records filed in 2001 show a jury found Jones guilty of rape after a prosecutor said he held a box cutter to a woman's throat, duct-taped her mouth and sexually assaulted her. A judge sentenced him to 10 years in prison. He was paroled in 2008 and discharged in 2010, according to a prison spokeswoman.
Man accidentally shoots self in Nevada theater
(this is terrible on so many levels, not only was this poor unfortunate soul subjected to “the Bourne Legacy “which is a crime in and of itself which frankly under the circumstances makes shooting yourself in the backside makes sense. Why folks keep taking guns to the movies is a bit baffling phenomena to me  and no doubt the paranoid backlash that will come of this will discomfort movie goers for years to come. As may the Bourne franchise, unless, if the gods are kind it will transcend to the realms of straight to video  )
SPARKS, Nev. — Police say a man accidentally shot himself in the buttocks at a Nevada movie theater during a showing of "The Bourne Legacy."
Police in Sparks, Nev., say the 56-year-old man's injuries are not life-threatening and no others were hurt.
Authorities say the man had a permit to carry a concealed firearm. The man told officers the gun fell from his pocket Tuesday night as he was adjusting himself in the seat and that it discharged when it dropped to the floor.
Authorities say the case will be sent to the city attorney for possible charges.
The incident comes less than a month after a shooting at a suburban Denver theater that left 12 dead and 58 injured.
From Bill Gates, a toilet challenge spills forth
(we live in an age where holographic musicians entertain us and children still die from dirty water, what most intrigues me is the final line of this article "If we do it right, there's every possibility that some of these designs would also be solutions for rich and middle-income countries," rich and middle income countries don’t need solutions for their water problems, they already have enough water and don’t generally worry about where their crap goes. None the less good to acknowledge there is a problem and with a little luck maybe even address some of it.)
By DONNA GORDON BLANKINSHIP, APSEATTLE — These aren't your typical loos. One uses microwave energy to transform human waste into electricity. Another captures urine and uses it for flushing. And still another turns excrement into charcoal.
They are part of a Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation competition to reinvent the toilet for the 2.5 billion people around the world who don't have access to modern sanitation.
Scientists from around the world have taken up the challenge, and the foundation announced some projects Tuesday that will be getting more money to take their ideas from the lab to cities.
There, local entrepreneurs will use the new technology to turn pollution into cash.
"We couldn't be happier with the response that we've gotten," Bill Gates said.
To pass the foundation's threshold for the world's next toilet, it must operate without running water, electricity or a septic system, not discharge pollutants, preferably capture energy or other resources, and operate at a cost of 5 cents a day.
The United Nations estimates disease caused by unsafe sanitation results in about half the hospitalizations in the developing world. About 1.5 million children die each year from diarrheal disease.
Scientists believe most of these deaths could be prevented with proper sanitation, along with safe drinking water and improved hygiene.
The foundation expects to field test its first prototypes within the next three years.
Most of the prototypes on display this week in the open courtyard of the foundation's Seattle headquarters turn solid waste into energy. This is both a practical and pragmatic solution to the solid waste puzzle, said Carl Hensman, program officer for the foundation's water, sanitation and hygiene team.
Many recycle waste into other usable substances such as animal feed, water for irrigation, or even just energy and water to run their own systems.
Some, like the winning project from Caltech, use chemistry and engineering to completely transform the waste.
Clement Cid, a Caltech grad student from Trouillas, France, said it has been intellectually rewarding to work with scientists from a variety of specialties.
"You can come up with great ideas," he said, adding that the toilet fair offered more opportunities for idea sharing.
Other projects on display were not so high-tech, including one from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine that sends black soldier fly larvae inside latrines and even home toilets to process waste, resulting in high quality, environmentally friendly animal feed at a cost of a penny a day.
The fly larvae project is already being field tested in Cape Town, South Africa, and the inventors are working on a kit to sell to entrepreneurs. They have had inquiries from Haiti, Sudan, Kenya and Ghana about adopting the approach.
"At the end of the day it will look very low-tech, but there's a lot of science behind it," said Walter Gibson, a medical biochemist who is part of the development team.
The Gates toilet focus started just about a year ago, and including grants announced Tuesday, $370 million in foundation dollars have been committed to reinventing the toilet. Hensman said the foundation decided to hold a toilet fair this week to show how far the scientists have gotten in that time, and to give them an opportunity to learn from each other and potentially collaborate.
Among those scheduled to attend the toilet fair were government ministers from African nations, utility workers and potential financial partners like UNICEF and Oxfam.
Reinventing the toilet has the potential to improve lives as well as the environment.
Flush toilets waste tons of potable drinking water each year, fail to recapture reusable resources like the potential energy in solid waste and are simply impractical in so many places.
Gates predicted the result of this project would reach beyond the developing world.
"If we do it right, there's every possibility that some of these designs would also be solutions for rich and middle-income countries," Gates said.