CSI: Ancient Egypt? Investigating the 'Gospel of Judas'

Scientists reveal how they verified that the text known as the 'Gospel of Judas,' which paints Judas and Jesus as collaborators, dates to about 280 A.D.

By Stephanie Pappas,?Live Science / April 8, 2013

The Gospel of Judas, a text dated to about A.D. 280, tells the story of Judas as a collaborator with Jesus instead of a betrayer. Scientists recently revealed how they authenticated the age of the text.

Joseph Barabe / McCrone / LiveScience.com

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A long-lost gospel that casts Judas as a co-conspirator of Jesus, rather than a betrayer, was ruled most likely authentic in 2006. Now, scientists reveal they couldn't have made the call without a series of far more mundane documents, including Ancient Egyptian marriage licenses and property contracts.

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The Gospel of Judas is a fragmented Coptic (Egyptian)-language text that portrays Judas in a far more sympathetic light than did the gospels that made it into the Bible. In this version of the story, Judas turns Jesus over to the authorities for execution upon Jesus' request, as part of a plan to release his spirit from his body. In the accepted biblical version of the tale, Judas betrays Jesus for 30 pieces of silver.

As part of a 2006 National Geographic Society (the Society) investigation of the document, microscopist Joseph Barabe of McCrone Associates in Illinois and a team of researchers analyzed the ink on the tattered gospel to find out if it was real or forged. Some of the chemicals in the ink raised red flags ? until Barabe and his colleagues found, at the Louvre Museum, a study of Egyptian documents from the third century A.D., the same time period of the Gospal of Judas.

"What the French study told us is that ink technology was undergoing a transition," Barabe told LiveScience. The Gospel of Judas' odd ink suddenly fit into place.?

CSI: Ancient Egypt

Barabe and his colleagues specialize in thorough investigations of old ? or supposedly old ? documents and artwork. The chemical composition of inks used can reveal the difference between something authentically ancient and a forgery. In 2009, Barabe helped expose a gospel called the "Archaic Mark," which some claimed was a 14th-century manuscript, as a modern forgery. He's also worked with the Federal Bureau of Investigation to detect forged paintings.

A call from National Geographic, however, was a "big deal," Barabe said. "It was both thrilling and an honor," he added.

The Society wanted to find out if the Gospel of Judas, discovered in the 1970s, really dated back to early days of Christianity or whether it was, like Archaic Mark, a fake. Barabe brought together a team of scientists with a variety of specialties, and they ran the Gospel through an intensive analysis of microscopy and spectroscopy. [See Images of the Ancient 'Gospel' Documents]

At first, their findings offered little hope that the Gospel of Judas was real. The document was written in two inks ? black and brown ? mixed together. The black was an ink called "lamp black," which was consistent with the inks used in Egyptian writings from ancient times and into the third century, Barabe said.

But the brown ink was more mysterious. It was an iron-rich ink called iron gall, but it lacked the sulfur usually found in inks of this sort. The pressure was on to explain the difference.

"One thing that made this a little bit more dramatic than we would have liked is, we did the sampling in the third week of January of 2006, and the press conference was already scheduled for the third week in April of that same year," Barabe said. "So we had three months to turn this critter around with a conclusion, and it really put an enormous amount of pressure on us, because we were faced with what was essentially a three-month rush project."

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/3DOPKcroTKQ/CSI-Ancient-Egypt-Investigating-the-Gospel-of-Judas

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Major depression: Great success with pacemaker electrodes, small study suggests

Apr. 9, 2013 ? Researchers from the Bonn University Hospital implanted pacemaker electrodes into the medial forebrain bundle in the brains of patients suffering from major depression with amazing results: In six out of seven patients, symptoms improved both considerably and rapidly. The method of Deep Brain Stimulation had already been tested on various structures within the brain, but with clearly lesser effect.

The results of this new study have now been published in the international journal Biological Psychiatry.

After months of deep sadness, a first smile appears on a patient's face. For many years, she had suffered from major depression and tried to end her life several times. She had spent the past years mostly in a passive state on her couch; even watching TV was too much effort for her. Now this young woman has found her joie de vivre again, enjoys laughing and travelling. She and an additional six patients with treatment resistant depression participated in a study involving a novel method for addressing major depression at the Bonn University Hospital.

Considerable amelioration of depression within days

Prof. Dr. Volker Arnd Coenen, neurosurgeon at the Department of Neurosurgery (Klinik und Poliklinik f?r Neurochirurgie), implanted electrodes into the medial forebrain bundles in the brains of subjects suffering from major depression with the electrodes being connected to a brain pacemaker. The nerve cells were then stimulated by means of a weak electrical current, a method called Deep Brain Stimulation. In a matter of days, in six out of seven patients, symptoms such as anxiety, despondence, listlessness and joylessness had improved considerably. "Such sensational success both in terms of the strength of the effects, as well as the speed of the response has so far not been achieved with any other method," says Prof. Dr. Thomas E. Schl?pfer from the Bonn University Hospital Department of Psychiatry und Psychotherapy (Bonner Uniklinik f?r Psychiatrie und Psychotherapie).

Central part of the reward circuit

The medial forebrain bundle is a bundle of nerve fibers running from the deep-seated limbic system to the prefrontal cortex. In a certain place, the bundle is particularly narrow because the individual nerve fibers lie close together. "This is exactly the location in which we can have maximum effect using a minimum of current," explains Prof. Coenen, who is now the new head of the Freiburg University Hospital's Department of Stereotactic and Functional Neurosurgery (Abteilung Stereotaktische und Funktionelle Neurochirurgie am Universit?tsklinikum Freiburg). The medial forebrain bundle is a central part of a euphoria circuit belonging to the brain's reward system. What kind of effect stimulation exactly has on nerve cells is not yet known. But it obviously changes metabolic activity in the different brain centers.

Success clearly increased over that of earlier studies

The researchers have already shown in several studies that deep brain stimulation shows an amazing and-given the severity of the symptoms- unexpected degree of amelioration of symptoms in major depression. In those studies, however, the physicians had not implanted the electrodes into the medial forebrain bundle but instead into the nucleus accumbens, another part of the brain's reward system. This had resulted in clear and sustainable improvements in about 50 percent of subjects. "But in this new study, our results were even much better," says Prof. Schl?pfer. A clear improvement in complaints was found in 85 percent of patients, instead of the earlier 50 percent. In addition, stimulation was performed with lower current levels, and the effects showed within a few days, instead of after weeks.

Method's long-term success

"Obviously, we have now come closer to a critical structure within the brain that is responsible for major depression," says the psychiatrist from the Bonn University Hospital. Another cause for optimism among the group of physicians is that, since the study's completion, an eighth patient has also been treated successfully. The patients have been observed for a period of up to 18 month after the intervention. Prof. Schl?pfer reports, "The anti-depressive effect of deep brain stimulation within the medial forebrain bundle has not decreased during this period." This clearly indicates that the effects are not temporary. This method gives those who suffer from major depression reason to hope. However, it will take quite a bit of time for the new procedure to become part of standard therapy.

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Universit?t Bonn.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.

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Journal Reference:

1. Thomas E. Schlaepfer, Bettina H. Bewernick, Sarah Kayser, Burkhard M?dler, Volker A. Coenen. Rapid Effects of Deep Brain Stimulation for Treatment-Resistant Major Depression. Biological Psychiatry, 2013; DOI: 10.1016/j.biopsych.2013.01.034

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/mind_brain/mental_health/~3/xoNO4EMk4fg/130409105913.htm

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Public Land Battle Over Drakes Bay Oyster Draws Unlikely Allies

[unable to retrieve full-text content]The fate of a family-run business north of San Francisco has drawn the attention of a Louisiana senator, Tea Party supporters and Alice Waters, the owner of Chez Panisse.

Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/10/us/public-land-battle-over-drakes-bay-oyster-draws-unlikely-allies.html?partner=rss&emc=rss

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APNewsBreak: Obama to nominate labor board members

WASHINGTON (AP) ? President Barack Obama is nominating three candidates for full terms on the National Labor Relations Board, which has been in limbo since a federal appeals court invalidated his recess appointments to the agency.

Obama on Tuesday urged the Senate to move swiftly in confirming the members ? two Republicans and one Democrat ? along with two other Democrats he nominated in February. That would fill all five seats on the board.

"By enforcing workplace protections, upholding the rights of workers and providing a stable workplace environment for businesses, the NLRB plays a vital role in our efforts to grow the economy and strengthen the middle class," Obama said in a statement.

The move comes as House Republicans prepare to vote this week on a measure that would effectively shut down the board until it has permanent members confirmed by the Senate.

A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit ruled in January that Obama violated the Constitution when he bypassed the Senate to fill vacancies on the board. Since then, Republicans have claimed the board lacks any legitimacy to act.

The White House has insisted the appeals court decision is wrong and plans to appeal it to the Supreme Court. But the ruling has prompted more than 100 businesses to claim the board lacks authority to take action against them because two of its members are not there legitimately. It also has frustrated labor unions who worry the board can't crack down on unfair labor practices.

Obama is renominating board Chairman Mark Pearce, a Democrat, and nominating two Republicans ? management-side lawyers Harry I. Johnson, III and Philip A. Miscimarra.

The president nominated Democrats Sharon Block and Richard Griffin to full terms in February. They have been sitting on the board since January 2012, when Obama made the recess appoints after Senate Republicans vowed to block Obama's NLRB nominees. Republicans complained the board was issuing too many pro-union decisions.

The White House hopes that Senate Republicans will favor the five-member package nomination of two Republicans and three Democrats. Both Republican nominees have passed muster with GOP leadership.

The president claimed that he made the recess appointments while the Senate was on a break. But the appeals court panel ruled that a recess occurs only during the breaks between formal yearlong sessions of Congress, not just any informal break. It also ruled that a vacancy must come into being during a recess in order to be valid.

The White House says the first-of-its-kind ruling runs contrary to more than 150 years of practice.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2013-04-09-Obama-Labor%20Board/id-cacd026121a5435d854aadf29c508e8c

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Bernanke notes 'stress tests' show stronger banks

WASHINGTON (AP) ? The Federal Reserve's annual "stress tests" of major U.S. banks have become better able to detect risks, Chairman Ben Bernanke said Monday night. He said the tests show that the banking industry has grown much healthier since the financial crisis.

Speaking in Atlanta, Bernanke noted that this year's tests showed that 18 of the biggest banks had collectively doubled the cushions they hold against losses since the first tests were run in 2009. He says the tests are providing vital information to regulators.

The latest test results were released last month. They showed that all but one of the 18 banks were better prepared to withstand a severe U.S. recession and an upheaval in financial markets. The tests are used to determine whether the banks can increase dividends or repurchase shares.

Bernanke's comments came in a speech to a financial markets conference sponsored by the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta. He said he viewed the first stress test conducted in 2009, months after the financial crisis struck, as "one of the critical turning points in the crisis."

"It provided anxious investors with something they craved: credible information about prospective losses at banks," he said.

Bernanke said that in the ensuing years, the Fed has worked to improve the stress tests so they could serve as a resource for banking regulators to monitor and detect threats to the financial system.

During a question period after the speech, Bernanke was asked what kept him up at night.

"Let me assure you, there are no major problems you haven't heard about," he said in response. He said his list of concerns include whether the recovery will gain momentum and when the country will get back to full employment.

He said the economic situation in Europe also remains complex, as that region struggles to deal with its debt crisis. He said in the United States, a major issue remains how to deal with high budget deficits without compromising the economic recovery.

Bernanke made no comments during his appearance that suggested he was ready to modify the low-interest rate policies the Fed is pursuing in an effort to boost economic growth and lower unemployment.

The stress tests have been criticized by some banks because the central bank has kept secret the full details of the computer models it is using to evaluate each bank. The Fed has defended this practice. It has argued that it is similar to teachers not giving students specific questions that will appear on a test to guard against students memorizing the answers.

"We hear criticism from bankers that our models are a 'black box' which frustrates their efforts to anticipate our supervisory findings," Bernanke said. He said that over time, the banks should better understand the standards the tests are measuring.

In this year's test, the Fed approved dividend payment plans and stock repurchase plans for 14 of the 18 banks outright.

Two of the banks, JPMorgan Chase and Goldman Sachs, were told by the Fed that they could proceed with their plans but would need to submit new capital plans. Two other banks, Ally Financial and BB&T, were forbidden by the Fed to go through with their dividend increases and share buybacks.

Ally Financial, the former financing arm of General Motors, fared the worst on the stress test. The Fed's data showed that Ally's projected capital level was below the minimum the Fed thinks a bank would need to survive a severe recession. Ally officials said they believed the Fed's testing models were unreasonable.

BB&T, based in Winston-Salem, N.C., said it would resubmit its capital plan and that it believes that it will be able to address the factors which had led to the Fed's objections.

___

Associated Press reporter Ray Henry in Atlanta contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2013-04-08-Bernanke-Banks/id-4dd694fa9cd9422a996fb4a7694d6e26

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Egypt: Clashes outside Copt cathedral leave 1 dead

Egyptian Christian women pray during a funeral service at the Saint Mark Coptic cathedral in Cairo, Egypt, Sunday, April 7, 2013. Several Egyptians including 4 Christians and a Muslim were killed in sectarian clashes before dawn in Qalubiya, just outside of Cairo on Saturday, April 6, 2013. (AP Photo/Amr Nabil)

Egyptian Christian women pray during a funeral service at the Saint Mark Coptic cathedral in Cairo, Egypt, Sunday, April 7, 2013. Several Egyptians including 4 Christians and a Muslim were killed in sectarian clashes before dawn in Qalubiya, just outside of Cairo on Saturday, April 6, 2013. (AP Photo/Amr Nabil)

An Egyptian Christian holds a cross during a funeral service at the Saint Mark Coptic cathedral in Cairo, Egypt, Sunday, April 7, 2013. Several Egyptians including 4 Christians and a Muslim were killed in sectarian clashes before dawn in Qalubiya, just outside of Cairo on Saturday, April 6, 2013. (AP Photo/Amr Nabil)

A tear gas canister is fired by Egyptian riot police into the compound of the Coptic Orthodox Cathedral after the funeral of four Christians killed in sectarian clashes near Cairo over the weekend in Cairo, Egypt, Sunday, April 7, 2013. Attacks against Christians, who make up about 10 percent of Egypt?s estimated 90 million people, have increased since President Morsi?s Muslim Brotherhood came to power last year. (AP Photo/Mostafa El Shemy)

Egyptian Christians grieve during a funeral service at the Saint Mark Coptic cathedral in Cairo, Egypt, Sunday, April 7, 2013. Several Egyptians including 4 Christians and a Muslim were killed in sectarian clashes before dawn in Qalubiya, just outside of Cairo on Saturday, April 6, 2013. (AP Photo/Amr Nabil)

Egyptian Christians chant anti-Muslim Brotherhood slogans following a funeral service at the Saint Mark Coptic cathedral in Cairo, Egypt, Sunday, April 7, 2013. Several Egyptians including 4 Christians and a Muslim were killed in sectarian clashes before dawn in Qalubiya, just outside of Cairo on Saturday, April 6, 2013. (AP Photo/Amr Nabil)

CAIRO (AP) ? Christians angered by the killing of four Christians in weekend sectarian violence clashed Sunday with a mob throwing rocks and firebombs, killing one and turning Cairo's main Coptic cathedral into a battleground.

The clashes raised tempers in an already tense political atmosphere, as workers shut down the country's trains in a strike over wages and a dispute over the nation's chief prosecutor entered a new phase ? all signs of two years of unending turmoil.

Reacting to Sunday's violence, the Muslim Brotherhood's political party blamed "dubious" attempts by unnamed parties to broaden instability in Egypt by igniting sectarian violence and spreading chaos.

A liberal opposition group, the Popular Current, said the clashes were symptomatic of the failure of the state to protect its citizens, calling on Islamist President Mohammed Morsi and his government to resign.

Morsi said in a statement late Sunday that he spoke to Pope Tawadros II by phone. He gave orders to authorities to guard the cathedral and citizens in the area, adding that protecting the lives of Muslims and Christians was a state responsibility.

"I consider any attack on the cathedral as an attack on me, personally," he said, according to the statement from his office.

The clashes at the St. Mark Coptic Orthodox Cathedral began just after hundreds of angry Christians left the complex to stage an anti-government march following the funeral for the four Christians killed in sectarian clashes Saturday.

A mob, described by witnesses as residents of the area, pelted them with rocks and firebombs and fired birdshot, forcing them back inside the complex. Few police were present.

By the time police arrived in larger numbers, the church was the scene of clashes between those locked inside and the mob outside, as the two sides exchanged rocks and firebombs. Police fired tear gas, and gas canisters landing inside church grounds caused a panic among women and children. People outside the church cheered.

Tawadros was not in the cathedral, his headquarters, during the funeral and the violence that followed. In a statement carried by the state news agency, said he was "regretful" of the violence and called for calm.

"There was no security outside the church for such a large funeral," said Emad Thabet, a Coptic Christian who was among those locked up in the church for hours. "There is no such thing as Egyptians in Egypt. There are only Muslims and Christians," he said. Copts have complained for decades that the Christian minority suffers from discrimination.

Coptic Christians make up about 10 percent of Egypt's estimated 90 million people. Attacks against Christians have increased since the ouster two years ago of autocrat Hosni Mubarak.

The clashes took place alongside a development in another of Egypt's many crises ? questions surrounding the legitimacy of the country's top prosecutor. On Sunday, Egypt's highest judicial body urged him to step down less than five months after Morsi appointed him. A few days earlier, a court ruling declared his appointment void.

The statement from the Supreme Judiciary Council urged the chief prosecutor, Talaat Abdullah, "to express a wish" to return to his previous job as a judge for the sake of the unity of the judiciary.

There was no immediate comment from Abdullah. Officials in his office and in the government indicated before that he will appeal the court decision.

Abdullah's appointment in December set off demonstrations and protests by judges and fellow prosecutors. The protests forced him to tender his resignation, but then he withdrew it and stayed in office.

Removing Abdullah has been a key demand of the mostly liberal and secular opposition. Sunday's call by the council of the judiciary appeared aimed at offering him an honorable exit, a step toward ending the long-running crisis within the judiciary over the appointment.

During the past two weeks, Abdullah has issued summons against several media celebrities critical of Morsi, Egypt's first freely elected president. They included popular TV satirist Bassem Youssef, who was accused of insulting Morsi and Islam. The satirist was released on bail.

Alongside the sectarian and legal issues, the overriding economic crisis flared as Egypt's railway services came to a halt Sunday because of a strike by train drivers and conductors demanding better pay. The strike snarled inter-city transit, and thousands of angry passengers crowded train stations.

The most immediate issue was the specter of sectarian violence increasing and spreading to the rest of the country.

Sunday's clashes grew out of Khossous, a town north of Cairo, where five people, including a Muslim, were killed a day earlier. Renewed clashes erupted there later Sunday outside the local church, leaving 12 residents and one police officer injured.

At the cathedral on Sunday, witness Ibrahim Elsherif said the clashes began when angry Coptic protesters tried to stop traffic for an anti-government march. A street brawl turned quickly into an attack by local residents, who pelted the protesters with rocks from the roofs of nearby buildings, throwing firebombs and firing birdshot, he said. Some protesters smashed parked cars.

One Coptic Christian was killed in the violence, and at least 66 people were wounded, the Health Ministry said. Two local journalists were among those injured, one seriously, according to their newspapers.

Video aired live on the private ONTV network showed young men on the roof of a building next to the cathedral firing handguns toward the compound.

Inside the cathedral, several thousand mourners chanted slogans against Morsi, calling on the Egyptian leader to step down. They shouted "Leave!" and "This is our country, we will not leave."

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2013-04-07-ML-Egypt/id-6fd907e8f02b408989b4e3f8b73a5c64

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How Hollywood Is Making Texting Look Dramatic

We all increasingly rely on non-verbal forms of communication—email, IM, texting—to let people know what's going on in our lives. That's great for us, but it's causing headaches in Hollywood when it comes to creating drama. More »

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/hQ6rWhNKCZE/how-hollywood-is-making-texting-look-dramatic

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