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A biblical expert at the University of Chicago, Margaret M. Mitchell, together with experts in micro-chemical analysis and medieval bookmaking, has concluded that one of the University Library's most enigmatic possessions is a forgery. The book, a copy of the Gospel of Mark, will remain in the collection as a study document for scholars studying the authenticity of ancient books.

""A People's History of the United States" chronicled the nation's development through voices of women, minorities and the working class, telling the American story as series of episodes where the state and big business colluded to crush socialism. American Leftists celebrated the work at a time when conservatism as embodied by President Ronald Reagan was ascendant. More than one million copies have been sold. Zinn was born in Brooklyn, New York, in 1922 into a Jewish immigrant family. During the Second World War he enlisted in the US army and flew in planes that bombed targets in Germany, Czechoslovakia and Hungary. He wrote in the magazine "The Progressive" in 2006 that his military service had informed his anti-war views. "Once we decided, at the start, that our side was the good side and the other side was evil ... we did not have to think any more. Then we could commit unspeakable acts and it was all right," Zinn said. Zinn earned a bachelor's degree from New York University in 1951 and later a master's and a doctorate in history from Columbia University in New York. Weeks before his death Zinn wrote in "The Nation" magazine of his disappointment with President Barack Obama. "I think people are dazzled by Obama's rhetoric, and that people ought to begin to understand that Obama is going to be a mediocre president - which means, in our time, a dangerous president - unless there is some national movement to push him in a better direction." "

"Archaeologists excavate the Gesher Benot Ya'aqov site in Israel in an undated photo. Photograph courtesy Gonen Sharon, Hebrew University of Jerusalem Mati Milstein in Tel Aviv, Israel for National Geographic News January 12, 2009 It's long been thought that so-called modern human behavior first arose during the middle Stone Age, in "modern" humans-Homo sapiens. But a new study suggests modern living may have originated roughly 500,000 years earlier-courtesy of one of our hairy, heavy-browed ancestor species. At the prehistoric Gesher Benot Ya'aqov site in northern Israel, researchers have found the earliest known evidence of social organization, communication, and divided living and working spaces-all considered hallmarks of modern human behavior. The former hunter-gatherer encampment dates back as far as 750,000 years ago, and must have been built by Homo erectus or another ancestral human species, archaeologists say. Homo sapiens-our own species-emerged only about a couple hundred thousand years ago, fossil record suggest. At the site, researchers found artifacts including hand axes, chopping tools, scrapers, hammers and awls, animal bones, and botanical remains buried in distinct areas. "Different tasks"-from nut processing to seafood preparation-"were taking place in different locations in the site," said archaeologist Naama Goren-Inbar, who led the excavation. "The modification of basalt tools was done in proximity to the fireplace but, on the other hand, flint [sharpening] was done on the other end of the site in association with where we found a lot of fish teeth," said Goren-Inbar, of Hebrew University's Institute of Archaeology in Mount Scopus, Israel. Traditionally, the search for the earliest signs of modern human behavior has focused on Homo sapiens sites from the middle Stone Age (roughly 300,000 to 50,000 years ago), due to the preponderance of evidence found at them in the past. (Related: "Prehistoric Bones Point to F

"History is full of people who were just plain bigots. The disease of racism and bigotry is a universal one, affecting people of every race, religion, nation, etc. The following list is the top ten of these men who, through ignorance, are at the forefront of bigotry."

"Um professor de História Antiga e Clássica da University of Western Australia usou imagens de satélite do Google Earth para marcar 1.977 pontos arqueológicos em potencial no mapa da Arábia Saudita, incluindo 1.082 túmulos de pedra em formatado de gota."

"Young people who have experienced threats and violence feel more insecure than others in urban public spaces, especially when alone. This is one conclusion from researchers at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden."

SciELO - Scientific Electronic Library Online (Biblioteca Científica Eletrônica em Linha) é um modelo para a publicação eletrônica cooperativa de periódicos científicos na Internet. Especialmente desenvolvido para responder às necessidades da comunicação científica nos países em desenvolvimento e particularmente na América Latina e Caribe, o modelo proporciona uma solução eficiente para assegurar a visibilidade e o acesso universal a sua literatura científica, contribuindo para a superação do fenômeno conhecido como 'ciência perdida'. O Modelo SciELO contém ainda procedimentos integrados para medir o uso e o impacto dos periódicos científicos.

"This is the website of a major research project funded by the British Arts & Humanities Research Council dealing with concentration camps in Nazi Germany in the pre-war period. The website has a special section with primary sources: "The absence of accessible documentary material has contributed greatly to the widespread lack of knowledge about the pre-war Nazi concentration camps. Key documents are scattered across archives throughout the world, while most published survivors' memoirs have long been forgotten or gone out of print. This website brings together a selection of documents about the pre-war camps, drawn from various archives and libraries. These sources shed light on the SS camps between 1933 and 1939. Documents have been divided into six sections, each focusing on a different aspect of the SS camps, from their emergence (1) and later consolidation (2) under a professional corps of SS men (3), to the conditions inside the camps (4) for different inmate groups (5), as well as the public face of the camps (6). All the documents - as well as several hundred others - appear in: Christian Goeschel and Nikolaus Wachsmann (eds), Before the Holocaust: Documents from the Nazi Camps, 1933-1939 (Lincoln, NE: Nebraska University Press, forthcoming) All documents are translated into English (translation: Ewald Osers). In addition, some documents are available in the German original." "

"SAN DIEGO -- At a discussion of "Is Google Good for History?" here Thursday, there weren't really any firm "No" answers. Even the harshest critic here of Google's historic book digitization project confessed to using it for his research and making valuable finds with the tool. But that doesn't mean Google Books wasn't criticized. In a discussion at the annual meeting of the American Historical Association, scholars questioned the way Google has organized the books project and whether it was doing enough in quality control. At the same time, though, many comments suggested deep appreciation for the company's efforts. And some suggested that Google has become something of an unfair target for academics who pay little attention as other companies charge college and university libraries high fees for their materials. Over the course of the discussion, not only did Google take a few hits, but so did librarians and professors (although the Google representative left it to the academics to criticize themselves)."

"Of the films made during Japan's cinematic golden age, those of Yasujiro Ozu are seen as most typically Japanese. But as studies in character and domestic life, they are universal, argues Ian Buruma, and they reveal beauty where we don't usually look for it"

"When Vincent van Gogh had his last major showing in this country - at the Hayward Gallery in 1968 - he was merely one of the greatest artists the world had ever known. His influence on 20th-century art was widely understood, his tragic story universally known. The film Lust for Life, with its eye-rolling, paint-chomping performance from Kirk Douglas, had been consigned to history, while having had a decisive effect on the way we view the artist. Yet van Gogh was just one huge artistic figure among many. Since then, he has become something no other artist has ever quite been, "the world's favourite artist". Van Gogh, even more than the Impressionists, is seen as the artist who blew open the studio door, blasting away centuries of fusty academic painting, to let in the light of real experience. "

"Animation companies in India and France are to unite for the £7 million project to reproduce the entertainer's slapstick in computer-generated images. More than 100 six-minute episodes will be produced aimed at children aged six and above. They will not have any dialogue like his film originals and are expected to hit screens from early next year. Spokesman Aton Soumache said: "It won't be a realistic portrayal but more like a puppet in an offbeat universe. We'll put him in modern situations but at the same keeping his poetic, childlike view of the world with a retro feel." The episodes have been inspired by sketches and gags culled from 70 short films made by Chaplin, who was born in Walworth, London, and died in 1977. "

"Enquanto os haitianos lutam por sobrevivência após o devastador terremoto da semana passada, os Estados Unidos, a França e o Brasil estão "brigando pela predominância" no país, diz um artigo publicado no site da revista alemã Der Spiegel. O artigo, assinado pelo correspondente da revista em Londres, Carsten Volkery, diz que o governo haitiano acompanha esse desenrolar "desfalecido". Como exemplo da disputa pela predominância no país, a revista cita a decisão do presidente haitiano, René Préval, de passar o controle do aeroporto de Porto Príncipe para os americanos, que causou uma "chiadeira internacional" e que levou o ministro das Relações Exteriores da França, Bernard Kouchner, a dizer que os EUA praticamete "anexaram" o aeroporto. França e Brasil protestaram formalmente em Washington, "porque aviões americanos receberam prioridade para pousar em Porto Príncipe enquanto aviões de organizações de ajuda eram desviados para a República Dominicana", segundo a revista. O Spiegel diz que o Brasil, que lidera as forças da missão de paz no Haiti, "não pensa em abrir mão do controle sobre a ilha" e que, se depender da vontade do governo Lula, o projeto de reconstrução do Haiti "deve permanecer um projeto latino-americano". A disputa diplomática em andamento "lembra ao passado político da ilha", diz a revista, "quando constantemente os oito milhões de haitianos se tornavam em um joguete de interesses internacionais". Colônia Por causa da situação precária no país e da fragilidade do governo, vários analistas ouvidos pelo artigo preveem que o país mais pobre das Américas pode voltar a se tornar uma "espécie de colônia". "Desde 2004, a ilha é um protetorado da ONU", diz a revista, lembrando que as tropas de paz zelam pela ordem e segurança no país, treinam a polícia local e até organizam as eleições. Henry Carey, especialista em Haiti da Georgia State University, diz no artigo que o mandato da ONU deverá ser estendid

"BRASÍLIA - O alto Índice de Desenvolvimento Humano que o Brasil conquistou há dois anos não chegou à educação. O relatório Educação para Todos, divulgado hoje pela Organização das Nações Unidas para Educação, Ciência e Cultura (Unesco) mostra que a baixa qualidade do ensino nas escolas brasileiras ainda deixa milhares de crianças para trás e é diretamente responsável por manter o País na 88ª posição no Índice de Desenvolvimento Educacional (IDE), atrás de países mais pobres como Paraguai, Equador e Bolívia. Dos quatro dados que a Unesco usa para montar o IDE, em três o Brasil vai bem e tem resultados acima de 0,900 - o mínimo para ser considerado de alto desenvolvimento educacional. São bons os números de atendimento universal, analfabetismo e igualdade de acesso à escola entre meninos e meninas. Já quando se analisa o índice que calcula quantas das crianças que entraram na 1ª série do ensino fundamental conseguiram terminar a 5ª série, o País despenca para 0,756, um baixo IDE."

"By Daniel Willingham Should history teachers show popular movies of historical events? On the one hand, movies might get students interested in historical events in a way that books and other resources do not. On the other hand, screenwriters and directors are often willing to sacrifice historical accuracy for the sake of a good story. What if students learn from the movies, but what they learn is inaccurate? If teachers warned students about the accuracy problem, would that be enough, or would the movie be so vivid that students would still learn the inaccuracies? Andrew Butler and a research team at Washington University in St. Louis recently studied this problem. They had undergraduates read nine texts (which were always accurate). For six of the texts, there was an accompanying film clip; three were fully accurate, but three had an inaccuracy and thus contradicted the text. For example, in "The Last Samurai," an American military advisor is hired by the Emperor of Japan in the 1870s to help quash a rebellion. In truth, the emperor hired French advisors, not Americans. Some of the subjects got a general warning about potential inaccuracies in Hollywood movies. Some got the same warning but the inaccuracy in a particular film clip was specified, and the correct information was provided. Some of the subjects were not given any warning at all. A week later, all of the subjects returned to the laboratory and took a test of their knowledge for the information in the texts. (e.g., "From what country did Emperor Meiji hire military advisors to help the Imperial Japanese army put down the Satsuma Rebellion?") The first finding was that watching the 2003 film in addition to reading the text led to better memory than reading the text alone. That's not surprising, because subjects experienced the information twice, rather than once. The second finding was that students rated the texts as more interesting if they also saw an accompanying movie. Thus, the

"Ao fim de pouco mais de um ano na Casa Branca, o Presidente Barack Obama pode reclamar um extraordinário feito político que iludiu os seus antecessores nos últimos cem anos: a assinatura da mais profunda reforma do funcionamento do sistema de saúde norte-americano, que aproxima os Estados Unidos da cobertura universal em termos de cuidados médicos."

"Para não passar o Natal em branco, alguns ateus optam por celebrar o "Newtal" em alusão ao cientista Isaac Newton, que nasceu no dia 25 de dezembro segundo o calendário juliano. É o caso de Daniel Sottomaior, presidente da Atea (Associação Brasileira de Ateus e Agnósticos). Em sua árvore, por exemplo, os enfeites são bolinhas em forma de maçã, em referência à lenda que diz que a queda da fruta teria inspirado Newton no desenvolvimento da lei da gravitação universal. Apesar da contraposição ao feriado religioso, Sottomaior afirma que o Natal não incomoda os ateus --cerca de 2% da população brasileira. Segundo ele, muitos o celebram como uma data comercial. "

"A Devir Livraria acaba de lançar FH & Lula: A Caricatura da Esquerda no Poder, caixa que coleciona os três últimos livros de Chico Caruso, que contam 16 anos da história da esquerda no poder, de 1994 a 2010. A caixa traz os livros Era Uma Vez FH (lançado em 2002), Lula Lá - Parte 1: A Omissão (de 2006) e Lula Lá - Parte 2: A Sucessão (lançado em dezembro de 2010). Era Uma Vez FH traz, em 160 páginas, o resumo dos oito anos do governo Fernando Henrique, em sua forma mais atraente e divertida, as charges publicadas diariamente na primeira página do jornal O Globo. Das alianças que levaram FHC ao poder em 1994 às articulações que o mantiveram por lá por mais um mandato. Das brigas internas às defecções. Das copas do mundo de Ronaldão e Ronaldinho, de Luxemburgo a Felipão. Do onze de setembro à grande dança do ventre universal entre Bush e Bin. É o humor da História no Brasil de 1994 a 2002 pela mão de seu maior desenhista político, Chico Caruso."

"Veio de openCulture uma notícia fascinante para todos os amantes da historia e da cultura: a Universidade de Cambridge, junto com outras instituições, já digitalizou e publicou na Internet as melhores obras da biblioteca de Charles Darwin, com um completo sistema de navegação para facilitar o estudo destes trabalhos."