Baithak World May 27: The Space Archaeologists, Headlines, Cartoons and more

If it weren’t for the landmines, Lingapura would be a great place to dig. For part of the 10th century, this pocket of northwestern Cambodia was the capital of the famed Angkorian empire, a sprawling city studded with homes, irrigation channels, and more than 1,000 temples crowned with stone lingam, or phalluses. But ever since Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge dotted Cambodia with millions of landmines in the 1970s, Lingapura’s ruins have sat mostly untouched.

For Damian Evans and Bill Saturno, now surveying Lingapura from atop a crumbling 1,000-year-old tower, the mines don’t really matter. Evans and Saturno are among a growing group of archaeologists who use radar, satellite imagery and other advanced technologies to uncover the mysteries surrounding ancient civilizations. This young vanguard of scholars explores not only regions where violence rules out groundwork, but also sites previously invisible from the ground: the ocean floor, dense jungle, even buried cities. They are transforming archaeology from a gritty, hands-on profession into an office job—what NASA terms, in program-funding documents, “space archaeology.” In doing so, they’re unearthing whole civilizations and rewriting history books: reshaping, in a few short years, the study of our preindustrial past.

The Space Archaeologists

Headlines


Who is being reckless, Obama or McCain? - Eric Margolis
Jimmy Carter calls for US to make friends with Iran after 27 years
Israeli award goes to Palestinians
As Bush's Neoceonservative Approach Crumbles, Allies Step Into the Breach
When is it not under Emergency? Egypt extends 'state of emergency'
Crazy about Barack: Obamamania Infects Germany
MIDEAST: A Quick Guide to Some Stumbling Blocks
The Courage of Rachel Corrie
ANALYSIS: Price of quiet in Lebanon is Hezbollah in power
MIDEAST: Israel Targets Iran Through Syrian Friendship
MIDEAST: Lebanon Deal Confirms Qatar's Honest Broker Role
Jimmy Carter says Israel has 150 nuclear weapons
Oil Crisis? Blame It on Bush Wars
Diane Francis: Oil Shock: Mexico and China Not Exxon Stupid
Shahid Buttar: Bush v. Gore Rears Its Head: The Politicization of Voting Rights (Part I of III)
Canada's foreign minister resigns
Uri Avnery: Escaping Forwards
FOX Distorts Obama's Wesleyan Commencement Speech
No Context, No Balance: It's about TIME
Director Sydney Pollack dies of cancer at 73
Some of Sydney Pollack's films
Hay festival: Kureishi slams creative writing courses

'The Man Who Loved China' by Simon Winchester
Shashi Tharoor:This mini-league of nations would cause only division
Muslim TV channel to stage interfaith game show
A Night at the Opera

'Indiana Jones'-Like Archaeologist Says He's Found Cleopatra's Tomb

Getting the ball rolling and keeping it going
Writers and Money
The Colbertian Guide to Foreign Policy Coverage.

The Dirty Trickster: Campaign tips from the man who has done it all.
Medical tourism: Rs 8,000cr by ’12
Kishan Maharaj: 'Fearsomely talented' tabla player
Slide Show - Great Walls

Books of The Times: In Murderous Pursuit of Einstein’s Secrets

Emran Qureshi and Heba Raouf Ezzat - Are Sharia Laws and Human Rights Compatible?
Poetry: Low by Arda Collins
Poetry: Neck by Sarah Arvio
Poetry: Looking Back on the Muckleshoot Reservation from Galisteo Street, Santa Fe by Arthur Sze
Poetry: Rain by Don Paterson
Poetry: Young Orchard by Richard Wilbur
Poetry: A Primer by Bob Hicok
Poetry: Homeland by Adonis
Poetry: Chair (A Dream) by Adonis
Poetry: One Can Miss Mountains by Todd Boss
Poetry: The God of Loneliness by Philip Schultz

Doonesbury@SLATE

Paul Jay presents RealNews

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