Tutankhamun’s New Mummy

Tutankhamun's Death Mask

A new genetic and radiological study of the mummified remains of Tutankhamun and a number of related and associated mummies has been published in the Journal of the American Medical Association while extensive testing continues.

As reported in this article in Scientific American and more extensively here in Science Daily, the scientists were able to identify several previously anonymous mummies, including Tutankhamun’s grandmother Tiye and father Akhenaten, as well as to confirm that Tutankhamun’s mother was most likely the mummy previously identified only as KV35YL – a sister of Tutankhamun’s father — not Nefertiti, as some have speculated. Their findings also appear to indicate that bone abnormalities, a fractured thigh bone, and a particularly destructive strain of malaria probably all contributed to the death of the 19 year old pharaoh.

Bon Voyage

Voyager Golden Record

Thirty-three years ago, near the end of summer, the two Voyager spacecraft were launched on a path which, after rich discoveries in the exploration of the outer planets and their moons, would take them outward beyond the bounds of the solar system.

Today, the Voyagers are two of the most distant manmade objects from earth, Voyager 1 approaching 17 billion kilometers (more than twice the distance of Pluto), Voyager 2 more than 13 billion kilometers from earth. And each of the Voyagers bears a special golden record intended to last a billion years. But there’s more. National Public Radio tells the story.

For more information about the golden records themselves, see this page at the Voyager Mission website.

For yet further information, see our earlier post The Voyagers: Interstellar Discovery, or visit the NASA/JPL website on the Voyagers’ continuing mission.

The Voyages Continue

Tomorrow at HCL: Haysville’s LEARN Education Fair