Marcos' mummy lives on (sundayherald.com)

"Want to see something really spooky? Then take yourself off to the town of Batac in the north of the Philippines – not because the country is in the grip of one of its interminable periods of political violence, but because it houses the remains of Ferdinand Marcos, who was kicked out of office 20 years ago this weekend. There he lies in his Sunday best outfit of black trousers, white shirt, sash and medals, the former dictator who was ousted after claiming an electoral victory that never was. His widow Imelda, a one-woman supporter of the shoe trade, refused to have him buried until he was awarded his rightful resting place in the national heroes’ cemetery in Manila, but that idea has never taken off, despite recent pressure. And so Marcos lives on in a kind of limbo, his body preserved in a refrigerated crypt, made of glass so that the curious can gape at his curiously translucent – but definitely dead – parchment-like skin...."

Forensic science exhibit includes preserved body parts and grisly crime stories (nytimes.com; free registration required)

"A white sheet shrouds an autopsy table, one of the first things you see as you enter the exhibit. Around the corner lie a heart preserved in formaldehyde with a small bullet hole through its center, a kidney sliced open to reveal a knife wound and a stomach whose rippled edges attest to arsenic poisoning. Further on, past color lithographs and early treatises on medical forensics, come specimens of the black blowfly, which lays eggs on fresh cadavers, producing early-stage maggots. These are some of the displays in "Visible Proofs," a new exhibit that details the rise of forensic science as an authoritative field, with specialized tools for pinpointing whodunit (and when and how). Situated at the National Library of Medicine, on the campus of the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Md., the show opened on Feb. 16 and will run for two years...."

Egyptian mummy, additional heads, foot, and hand go on display at Queensland Museum (abc.net.au)

"An ancient Egyptian mummy has reached Queensland. The 2,700-year-old mummy of Keku will go on display at the Queensland Museum from tomorrow. Exhibition curator Greg Czechura says there are 200 ancient artefacts including mummified heads, a foot and a hand...."

Auckland War Memorial to return Maori ancestral remains (nzherald.co.nz)

"The Auckland War Memorial Museum aims to return all the Maori ancestral remains that it houses to their tribes by the middle of next year. Paul Tapsell, head of the museum's Maori values team, said displaying or keeping ancestral remains was no longer appropriate and caused great pain. Remains are toi moko (preserved tattooed heads) and skeletal parts - some of them taken from burial caves and sold to the museum. They made Maori feel as though they were walking into a cemetery when they entered the museum doors, said Dr Tapsell...."

Mummified man discovered in trailer (sun-herald.com)

"The mummified remains of an unidentified man were discovered Thursday evening in a trailer in the southern part of the county. DeSoto County Sheriff's investigators estimate that the man had been dead for seven to eight weeks. An autopsy is being performed to determine the cause of death. The man is estimated to be in his late 40s or early 50s...."

Baby's body to be preserved as evidence in murder trial (palmbeachpost.com) 

"The baby is now evidence. The 4-month-old, allegedly shaken to death by his stepfather, must be preserved for the heartbreaking case ahead. The defense and prosecution agreed to that Wednesday at a brief court hearing. The memorial service will go on this morning as scheduled, but without Elijah Llanos' body. Just with pictures and grief. His heart and several other organs had already been donated when a defense attorney for the stepfather asked that the rest of the baby — including everything above his shoulders — be preserved. The defense attorney, Robert Gershman, wants his own expert to examine the child, to determine what caused his death. Police blame 20-year-old Pablo Cano, the boy's stepfather, and have charged him with first-degree murder...."

More on the discovery of a mummified woman in front of TV

No charges to be filed in case (wdtv.com)

"No crime was committed and no charges will be filed in the death of a woman whose mummified body was found in her home 2 1/2 years after she died, the county prosecutor said Wednesday. The county coroner already had ruled that Johannas Pope, 61, died of heart disease.... Her body was placed in a chair in front of a television and was slowly mummified by a running air conditioner, the coroner said. Pope had told her daughter and her caregiver that she expected to come back to life, and instructed that she not be buried. Some family members continued to live downstairs in the house after Pope's death in August 2003. Friends and relatives who visited were told that she was upstairs but ill...."

Madisonville woman found in front of TV died natural death, but was mummified intentionally by caretaker (enquirer.com) 

"A woman whose mummified body was dressed in a white gown and placed in front of a television for 2½ years died from heart disease. Hamilton County Coroner Dr. O'dell Owens said Tuesday he will rule that her death was the result of cardiovascular disease. Officials never suspected abuse or foul play after finding Johannas Pope, 61, in her Madisonville home Jan. 4. Pope told her caretaker, Kathy Painter, she didn't want to be buried because she believed she would come back to life. Investigators learned that Painter took care of Pope's body - trying to preserve it...."

More on the mummies discovered in Yemen

Yemeni officials debate whether to rebury newly-found mummie; details of mummification emerge (yementimes.com)

"Two newly discovered Yemeni mummies currently are confined to a dark corner inside a National Museum annex awaiting necessary arrangements expected via routine government procedures. Another mummy, unearthed sometime earlier, is displayed in a nearby glass case. “They came from Al-Jawf province,” museum officer Muhammad Al-Sayani said, pointing to the two mummies, “however, we don’t know from which part of Al-Jawf. The provincial culture office spotted them with some tribesmen and managed to buy them.” Tribesmen would not tell from which exact part they brought the mummies. A team examining the mummies has submitted reports to culture officials requesting specific equipment to preserve and prepare them for exhibition.... Yemeni mummification depended on using a special local tree called “ra,” as well as certain other substances. With its cotton-like yielding, the tree had the ability to absorb moisture, thus keeping the bodies dry...."

Three mummies discovered in Al-Jawf Governorate (yobserver.com) with photo

"Detailed scientific studies into three mummies discovered in Al-Jawf governorate have been ordered by the Minister of Culture and Tourism, Khalid Al-Rowaishan. Archeological specialists were appointed on January 30 to examine the ancient bodies to provide further clues as to their age and history. The minister, who ordered that the fragile relics should be stored safely in the National Museum in Sana’a while the research is carried out, expressed his gratitude to the citizens who handed them over. He praised the patriotic sense of the Yemeni citizens, and the care that they had taken to preserve the heritage, civilization and history of Yemen...."

Cold waters of Lake Tahoe preserve its dead (contracostatimes.com) 

"El Dorado County Sheriff's Sgt. Pete Van Arnum recalls hearing tales of Mafia members dumping bodies in Lake Tahoe back in the 1950s.... What, or whom, Lake Tahoe holds is a mystery, except for those who have lost family or friends in drownings, boating accidents or other fatal mishaps. The conditions within the lake, the nation's second-deepest at about 1,645 feet, keep the mystery unanswerable. The recent discovery of a woman's body in shallow waters near Glenbrook, on the Nevada side of the lake, perplexed some who know how the lake keeps its victims...."

More on the mummified Dallas woman who hadn't been seen for a year

Woman lived in fear of many things; house may have been burglarized (dallasnews.com) 

"Denise Eileen Day was afraid to live. She was afraid to go to the grocery store or the movies, a friend said. She was afraid to go outside at night for fear of being bitten by mosquitoes. She was afraid to date because she didn't think anyone would want her. Still, she told the friend she longed to live a happy, healthy life and have a family. "She wanted to experience life, but she was afraid of taking that leap, I guess," said Jackie Moore, a cashier at the Casa Linda Cafeteria, where Ms. Day was a regular for years. After not hearing from her for more than a year, Ms. Moore learned Wednesday that Ms. Day's life may have taken the most tragic of turns: Police found the mummified body of a woman inside Ms. Day's home...."

Mummified woman lay undisturbed in Dallas home for over a year (dallasnews.com) 

"Notices collected on the front door. Phone books lay neglected outside. Mail came seldom, if ever. The lawn was mowed every so often. But it wasn't until Wednesday that anyone went inside the home on Mercer Drive and found the mummified body of a woman lying on a bedroom floor. She had been dead about a year, police say, though they add it's difficult to tell when she died or how. Or who she is. It may take DNA for that. But residents in the upper-middle-class neighborhood near White Rock Lake speculate that the woman was either Vivian Day or her daughter Denise...." 

Torino's Egyptian Museum displays the mummies of architect Kha and his wife Merit, complete with monogrammed underwear (yahoo.com)

"The Museo Egizio claims one of the largest collections of Egyptian antiquities outside Cairo. Just in time for the Olympics, it opened a new pride-and-joy gallery set up by Dante Ferretti, Oscar-winning art director for 'The Aviator.' The massive collection was started by Bernardino Drovetti, a Turin-born French diplomat who amassed a hoard of artifacts during his time in Egypt. Later, pieces came from Italy's share in joint archaeological projects with Egyptian authorities, while the museum's latest acquisition — the rock-cut Temple of Ellesija — was donated by the African country.... One of the museum's centerpieces is the contents of the 3,500-year-old tomb of the architect Kha and his wife Merit. The skilled and wealthy builder worked for years to prepare his burial, but when his wife died unexpectedly he readily gave up his gilded death mask and his coffin. Later the architect was buried in the same tomb, together with his instruments, furniture and monogrammed underwear. And if stealing from the dead didn't warrant a deadly curse, you could almost take a bite from the well-preserved supplies for the afterlife that include bread wrapped in palm leaves, salt, wine, dried meat and vegetables.... "

33,000-year-old mummified mammoth has evolutionary kinship with contemporary elephants (innovations-report.de) 

"Approximately 10,000 years after the last mammoths used to roam across the North American and Eurasian spaces, they still remain an exciting subject of inquiry for researchers. Mammoths and elephants belong to the most ancient group of mammals, therefore, when studying mammoths the researchers reveal secrets of evolutionary origin of contemporary species. Discussions continue about genetic kinship of mammoths and contemporary elephants. Now, Russian researchers working at several institutes of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Russian Academy of Medical Sciences and Lomonosov Moscow State University, as well as at Universities of Massachusetts and California managed to obtain independent proof this kinship. The researchers managed to reconstruct the most ancient (as of today) complete DNA sequence of mitochondrial genome received from remains of a mammoth that died about 33,000 years ago...."

 

CRIME: WISCONSIN

Man convicted of freezing his dead mother's body is indicted on collecting her social security money (cnn.com) 

"A man convicted of keeping his dead mother in a freezer for years was indicted Wednesday on a federal charge accusing him of illegally collecting thousands of dollars of her Social Security benefits after she died. A federal grand jury also indicted Philip Schuth on charges of possessing a sawed-off shotgun and homemade cluster bombs, Assistant U.S. Attorney Dan Graber said. The indictment alleges Schuth defrauded the Social Security Administration of $35,690 meant for his mother and built 19 bombs by packing glass and plastic aspirin bottles with gunpowder, nails and staples that would act as flying shrapnel upon detonation. Schuth, 53, faces up to 25 years in federal prison if convicted on the three counts. He already is serving a seven-year sentence in state prison as the result of a standoff with police in April at his home on French Island, just outside La Crosse. It was during the standoff that officers found the frozen body...."

Egyptian authorities allege that St. Louis Art Museum mummy mask was stolen, ask for restitution (theartnewspaper.com) 

"The St Louis Art Museum is facing allegations that an ancient Egyptian mask in its collection was stolen from a warehouse in Saqqara, Egypt in the 1980s. Dr Zahi Hawass, head of Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA), told The Art Newspaper that he believes the so-called Mask of Ka-nefer-nefer was removed from Egypt illegally and that the SCA is now taking steps to launch an official restitution request. Questions about the mask’s provenance were first raised by Ton Cremers, the Dutch moderator of the on-line Museum Security Mailing List, who sent an open letter to St Louis Art Museum director Brent Benjamin requesting information about how the mask had made its way into the museum collection...."

Were Joan of Arc's remains preserved? Experts to test preserved rib bone and skin (theglobeandmail.com) 

"A team of experts plans a series of tests to determine whether Joan of Arc's supposed remains – a rib bone and some skin – may indeed have belonged to the 15th-century French heroine burned at the stake after a trial for heresy. It is thought that the ashes of Joan of Arc, now a saint and a legend, were thrown into the Seine. A few remains, however, were reportedly recovered from the pyre where the 19-year-old warrior was burned alive. The tests, which will take six months, will not be able to say with certainty that the remains are Joan's, because there is no known DNA sample from her to compare the bone and skin against, said Dr. Philippe Charlier of the Raymond-Poincare Hospital in Garches, west of Paris...." 

Display of two Guanche mummies brings record number of visitors (tenerifenews.com)

"Two Guanche (Canary aborigine) mummies have raised a lot of interest with various Tenerife organisations, which explains why they have been viewed by over 53.000 people since November 2004. These mummies form part of a collection of mummies the museum boasts at present.  It took various negotiations with the authorities of Nechochea (Argentina) in order to return these mummies to the island of Tenerife.  The Guanche exhibits had been on show at the Municipal Museum of Natural Science of Nechochea, forming part of a large exhibition of archeological artefacts, especially mummies and skeletons, which were taken from Tenerife in the 15th century..."

More information about Guanche mummies

Three mummies discovered in Al-Jawf Governorate (yobserver.com) with photo

"Detailed scientific studies into three mummies discovered in Al-Jawf governorate have been ordered by the Minister of Culture and Tourism, Khalid Al-Rowaishan. Archeological specialists were appointed on January 30 to examine the ancient bodies to provide further clues as to their age and history. The minister, who ordered that the fragile relics should be stored safely in the National Museum in Sana’a while the research is carried out, expressed his gratitude to the citizens who handed them over. He praised the patriotic sense of the Yemeni citizens, and the care that they had taken to preserve the heritage, civilization and history of Yemen...."

More on Otzi's possible infertility

The Discovery Channel's analysis (discovery.com)

"Ötzi the Iceman, the world's oldest and best-preserved mummy, came from Central Europe and was possibly infertile, concludes new genetic research on the 5,300-year-old mummy. Franco Rollo of the University of Camerino and colleagues analyzed mitochondrial DNA isolated from cells in the Iceman's intestines and found that he most likely originated in the Ötztal valley where his frozen body was found 15 years ago. Unlike nuclear DNA, which is a mixture of DNA from both parents, mitochondrial DNA, passed only down the mother's side, provides a better chance to recover genetic material after thousands of years of decay...."

Genetic mutations raise possibility (reuters.com) 

"A Stone Age man found frozen in the Alps some 5,300 years after he was murdered under mysterious circumstances may have been a childless social outcast, a new study showed. Italian anthropologist Franco Rollo studied fragments of the DNA belonging to Oetzi, as the mummy has come to be known, and found two typical mutations common among men with reduced sperm mobility, the museum that stores the "iceman" said. A high percentage of men with such a condition are sterile...." 

Could infertility have caused Ötzi's death? (bbc.co.uk) with photo

"Oetzi, the prehistoric man frozen in a glacier for 5,000 years, could have been infertile, new research on his genes suggests. The study, published in the American Journal of Physical Anthropology, also confirms that his roots probably lie in Central Europe.... The researchers speculate that Oetzi's possible infertility may have been a factor leading to his violent death...."