http://phys.org/ en-us Phys.org internet news portal provides the latest news on science including: Physics, Nanotechnology, Life Sciences, Space Science, Earth Science, Environment, Health and Medicine. European cooperation is based on our ability to understand each other. Given that there are presently 23 official EU languages, the availability of online tools to facilitate accurate translation is fundamentally important. http://phys.org/news290327438.html Technology Thu, 13 Jun 2013 07:30:45 EST news290327438 A new method of sourcing the origins of artefacts in high definition is set to improve our understanding of the past. http://phys.org/news288377391.html Other Sciences Wed, 22 May 2013 04:00:02 EST news288377391 The IXA Group of the UPV/EHU-University of the Basque Country has helped to improve the use of the colossal digital library Europeana. The Library currently has 15 million content items in the field of culture in a range of formats (images, texts, audio and video sequences). The IXA Group has enriched all this content by means of language technologies in order to facilitate users' searches and offer more comprehensive information. This work is part of the European project known as PATHS (Personal Access To cultural Heritage Spaces). During the next academic year these technologies, as well as others, will be covered at the UPV/EHU in the Master's Degree Course on Language Analysis and Processing. http://phys.org/news287741195.html Technology Tue, 14 May 2013 09:06:46 EST news287741195 Australian researchers are using a novel mobile laser 3D mapping system called Zebedee to preserve some of the country's oldest and most culturally significant heritage sites. http://phys.org/news285931167.html Technology Tue, 23 Apr 2013 10:19:33 EST news285931167 Australian researchers are using a novel mobile laser 3D mapping system called Zebedee to preserve some of the country's oldest and most culturally significant heritage sites. http://phys.org/news285229981.html Technology Mon, 15 Apr 2013 08:00:01 EST news285229981 Last month, a team of CAS archaeology faculty and students tested out their latest research tool: a remote-controlled hexacopter. The small six-rotor flying tool, equipped with a camera, will be used in Turkey this summer to survey dig sites. http://phys.org/news283758163.html Other Sciences Fri, 29 Mar 2013 06:43:19 EST news283758163 A joint team of the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology (IVPP), Chinese Academy of Sciences, and the Preservation Center of Cultural Heritage in Tianjin found a new paleolithic site at the Sungezhuang village, Jixian County, Tianjin City, China in April 2005, and a total of 58 stone artifacts were unearthed. Researchers reported their findings in the latest issue of Acta Anthropologica Sinica 2013 (1). http://phys.org/news282384938.html Other Sciences Wed, 13 Mar 2013 09:17:10 EST news282384938 When you hear the term "cultural heritage," what springs to mind? The dramas of Tennessee Williams, the paintings of Georgia O'Keeffe? Software from the early 1980s? The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and Stanford University Libraries (SUL) hope their new project to catalog the data contained in about 15,000 software releases from the early days of microcomputing, many of which are game titles, will help give software its place in culture. http://phys.org/news281782061.html Technology Wed, 06 Mar 2013 08:47:47 EST news281782061 Researchers at Umeå University conclude that public opposition to dam removal is not based on knowledge deficiency, as is sometimes argued in dam removal science. It is instead a case of different understandings and valuation of the environment and the functions it provides. The findings are now published in the journal Ecology and Society. http://phys.org/news280740747.html Space & Earth Fri, 22 Feb 2013 07:34:10 EST news280740747 (AP)—A Syrian government official warned Wednesday of rampant trafficking in antiquities from his country and appealed for U.N. help in halting the illicit trade that has flourished during the nearly 23-month-long civil war. http://phys.org/news279972768.html Other Sciences Wed, 13 Feb 2013 10:20:04 EST news279972768 "Oh yes it is, oh no it isn't!" The pantomime is a staple of Christmas, as seasonal as turkey and minced pies. This thigh slapping form of theatre is part of England's cultural heritage, and in Victorian England it was the most popular show.  http://phys.org/news275132319.html Other Sciences Wed, 19 Dec 2012 09:39:10 EST news275132319 Buildings and statues constructed of limestone can be protected from pollution by applying a thin, single layer of a water-resistant coating. http://phys.org/news273854619.html Chemistry Tue, 04 Dec 2012 14:44:09 EST news273854619 (AP)—Lacking the necessary cash and manpower, Pakistan is struggling to stem the flow of millions of dollars in ancient Buddhist artifacts that looters dig up in the country's northwest and smuggle to collectors around the world. http://phys.org/news268544939.html Other Sciences Thu, 04 Oct 2012 04:49:08 EST news268544939 Understanding and evaluating art has widely been considered as a task meant for humans, until now. Computer scientists Lior Shamir and Jane Tarakhovsky of Lawrence Technological University in Michigan tackled the question "can machines understand art?" The results were very surprising. In fact, an algorithm has been developed that demonstrates computers are able to "understand" art in a fashion very similar to how art historians perform their analysis, mimicking the perception of expert art critiques. http://phys.org/news267874015.html Technology Wed, 26 Sep 2012 10:40:01 EST news267874015 Scientists from The University of Manchester were part of a European team of researchers who concluded that digital assistance for 21 of the 30 languages investigated is 'non-existent' or 'weak' at best. http://phys.org/news267807574.html Other Sciences Tue, 25 Sep 2012 19:00:01 EST news267807574 (Phys.org)—Ancient sites and cultural heritage are under threat in Syria due to the current conflict. An interdisciplinary research team hopes this new discovery, which has major implications for understanding the world's first empire, will help to highlight the importance of protecting Syria's heritage. http://phys.org/news265962248.html Other Sciences Tue, 04 Sep 2012 07:50:01 EST news265962248 Searching and finding in audio archives can be improved if we take a different look at the underlying technology and allow for how the results are used. This provides a better picture of the problems and the points for improvement. Laurens van der Werff demonstrated this in his PhD thesis 'Evaluation of Noisy Transcripts for Spoken Document Retrieval', which he will defend on 5 July at the University of Twente. http://phys.org/news260622054.html Technology Wed, 04 Jul 2012 12:01:07 EST news260622054 The mothers of Britain's 'mixed families' are ensuring their children learn about their heritage and culture, according to a development project funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC). So, even if the child's father hails from a minority background, it will still be the mother who is responsible for teaching them about the father's culture. http://phys.org/news256295184.html Other Sciences Tue, 15 May 2012 10:07:54 EST news256295184 Wild orangutans that have come into contact with eco-tourists over a period of years show an immediate stress response but no signs of chronic stress, unlike other species in which permanent alterations in stress responses have been documented, new research from an Indiana University anthropologist has found. http://phys.org/news251051983.html Biology Thu, 15 Mar 2012 17:39:56 EST news251051983 (PhysOrg.com) -- Evidence uncovered during research conducted in Florence's Palazzo Vecchio late last year appears to support the theory that a lost Leonardo da Vinci painting existed on the east wall of the Hall of the 500, behind Giorgio Vasari's mural "The Battle of Marciano." The data supporting the theoretical location of the da Vinci painting "The Battle of Anghiari" was obtained through the use of an endoscopic probe that was inserted through the wall on which the Vasari fresco was painted. The probe was fitted with a camera and allowed a team of researchers, led by scientist Maurizio Seracini, to see what was behind the Vasari and gather samples for further testing. http://phys.org/news250855231.html Other Sciences Tue, 13 Mar 2012 11:10:01 EST news250855231 Digital technology is coming to the rescue of some of the world's most endangered languages. Linguists from National Geographic's Enduring Voices project who are racing to document and revitalize struggling languages are unveiling an effective new tool: talking dictionaries. http://phys.org/news248700264.html Other Sciences Fri, 17 Feb 2012 11:24:35 EST news248700264 A "cowboy frog" and a "crayola katydid" are among 46 new species that have been discovered in the dense forests of the tiny South American nation of Suriname, scientists said Wednesday. http://phys.org/news246708996.html Biology Wed, 25 Jan 2012 10:16:45 EST news246708996 Europe's leading scientists have pledged to embrace and expand the role of technology in the Humanities. In a Science Policy Briefing released today by the European Science Foundation (ESF), they argue that without Research Infrastructures (RIs) such as archives, libraries, academies, museums and galleries, significant strands of Humanities research would not be possible. By drawing on a number of case studies, the report demonstrates that digital RIs offer Humanities scholars new and productive ways to explore old questions and develop new ones. http://phys.org/news239449823.html Other Sciences Wed, 02 Nov 2011 10:50:30 EST news239449823 Australia's much-loved koala is under increasing threat and should be considered a vulnerable species, an official report found Thursday, with habitat loss seeing their numbers plunge. http://phys.org/news235914111.html Biology Thu, 22 Sep 2011 12:42:46 EST news235914111 A new University of Missouri study shows that Mexican-American students who identify and practice speaking their native language have higher grades than those who are put in English-only environments in their schools. http://phys.org/news235841172.html Other Sciences Wed, 21 Sep 2011 16:26:58 EST news235841172 Archaeology is no longer just about digging holes. New research by a team led from the University of Leeds promises to improve the investigation of our heritage from the air. http://phys.org/news235134253.html Other Sciences Tue, 13 Sep 2011 12:04:26 EST news235134253 Eighty years after it sank in the Canadian Arctic, explorer Roald Amundsen's three-mast ship Maud may once again sail across the Atlantic to become the centerpiece of a new museum in Norway. http://phys.org/news233205144.html Other Sciences Mon, 22 Aug 2011 04:12:40 EST news233205144 (PhysOrg.com) -- What do Winslow Homer's For to Be a Farmer's Boy (1887) and Vincent van Gogh's The Bedroom (1889) have in common? http://phys.org/news221229500.html Chemistry Tue, 05 Apr 2011 13:39:52 EST news221229500 (PhysOrg.com) -- Though magazines often create lists of the 'best places to live,' a new study suggests that no community is more or less likely than another to foster a sense of community attachment. http://phys.org/news214159147.html Other Sciences Thu, 13 Jan 2011 17:00:01 EST news214159147 A group of Renaissance Tomb-Monuments in Suffolk is being analysed with tools developed in Space Science, to unlock their mysterious past and offer new insights into the Tudor Reformation. http://phys.org/news210340272.html Other Sciences Tue, 30 Nov 2010 11:51:36 EST news210340272