Curating the Internet: Science and technology micro-summaries for August 8, 2019

Accused "vampire" bones under study in Poland and the United States; Why so few girls with ADHD; FedNow, a continuous bank to bank payments network, set for 2023-2024 launch; and a Steem essay on the history of computing

Straight from my RSS feed:

Links and micro-summaries from my 1000+ daily headlines. I filter them so you don't have to.

1. A ‘vampire’s’ remains were found about 30 years ago. Now DNA is giving him new life. - A coffin with the inscription, JB 55, was discovered in a quarry in Griswold, CT, back in 1990. After the discovery, researchers determined that the body had been exhumed after burial in the early 1800s, and subjected to standard treatment of the day for remediating vampire stalkings. Apparently, the custom was to burn the deceased subject's heart, and to arrange the limbs on top of the ribs, in the shape of a skull and cross-bones. In the case of JB, however, the heart would have already been decomposed by the time the body was exhumed. The inscription bearing his initials and age was added to the coffin when he was reburied. After 30 years studying the remains of JB, researchers have now used DNA to ascertain his identity. According to a July 23 report at the National Museum of Health and Medicine, it is believed that JB stood for John Barber. Some indications of the generalized hardship of life at the time are that he was missing his front teeth, had an arthritic knee that probably made him limp, and his scarred ribs indicate that he probably died a horrible death, from tuberculosis. The remains are almost certainly the most studied "vampire" remains in America. h/t archaeology.org


2. Scientists Are Creating a 3D Model of an 18th-Century ‘Vampire Witch’ Who Was Tortured to Death - Two vampire stories in one day. What are the odds? This one is in Kamień Pomorski, Poland, and the subject was apparently put to death. Until now, it was believed that the remains belonged to a man, but genetic analysis has determined that it was a 5' 6" woman who was about 65 years old, with blue eyes and blond hair. Scientists at the Pomeranian Medical University in Szczecin, Poland are now creating a computer model of her skull, and they hope to be able to use it to visualize what her face might have looked like. It is believed that the woman was killed as a witch, and given an anti-vampiric burial in order to prevent her from rising again after death.


3. Where Are All the Women with ADHD? - Traditionally, ADHD has been thought of as "a boy thing", but evidence suggests that boys and girls should be equally likely to experience the condition. That mind-set is starting to change, but the diagnoses of ADHD are still far more common in boys, then girls. It seems that girls with related symptoms are usually diagnosed with anxiety or mood disorders. A reason for this disparity may have to do with the nature of the symptoms. An ADHD diagnoses can be given for attention-related behaviors, or from hyperactivity-related behaviors, and many studies suggest that boys are more likely to exhibit the hyperactive behaviors, whereas girls are more likely to exhibit attention-related symptoms. Theories to explain those differences include testosterone and other hormones, differing brain structures, or societal pressures and other social issues. h/t RealClear Science


4. The Fed is going to revamp how Americans pay for things. Big banks aren’t happy. - The Federal Reserve has announced plans for FedNow, a continuously available payments network for bank to bank payments. This will replace the current system that closes on week-ends and takes several days to settle payments. This is controversial because the big banks have already spent $1 billion on their own ClearningHouse, under the assumption that the fed would not be taking this step. There is a great deal of demand for real time payments, with services already available from Alibaba and Tencent, and plans for Facebook's Libra on the horizon, but the fed says its service won't be ready until 2023 or 2024.


5. STEEM COMPUTERS: WHO-WHEN-HOW? - PART 1: HISTORY - From the tally stick through the transistor, @fral discusses the long history of computers and computing. Among other things, the article tells us about The Antikythera Mechanism, a device that was invented by the ancient Greeks to tell time, measure lunar phases, the movement of the planets, and more. It also covers Babbage's famous Difference Engine and Analytic Engine, Turing's theoretical Turing Machine, the German Enigma encryption device from WWII, and the ENIAC machine that was built just a half hour away from me at the University of Pennsylvania. (A beneficiary setting of 10% has been assigned to @fral.)

My other open posts

@remlaps

@remlaps-lite

• Curating the Internet: Science and technology micro-summaries for August 7, 2019
  
• Curating the Internet: Science and technology micro-summaries for August 6, 2019
  
• Curating the Internet: Science and technology micro-summaries for August 5, 2019
  
• Curating the Internet: Science and technology micro-summaries for August 4, 2019
  
• Curating the Internet: Science and technology micro-summaries for August 3, 2019
  
• Curating the Internet: Science and technology micro-summaries for August 2, 2019
  

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