17 | March | 2020 | Dear Kitty. Some blog

This 2015 video is called Oldest Petroglyphs In North America – Nevada.

Ancient mantis-man petroglyph discovered in Iran

March 16, 2020

A unique rock carving found in the Teymareh rock art site (Khomein county) in Central Iran with six limbs has been described as part man, part mantis. Rock carvings, or petroglyphs, of invertebrate animals are rare, so entomologists teamed up with archaeologists to try and identify the motif. They compared the carving with others around the world and with the local six-legged creatures which its prehistoric artists could have encountered.

Entomologists Mahmood Kolnegari, Islamic Azad University of Arak, Iran; Mandana Hazrati, Avaye Dornaye Khakestari Institute, Iran; and Matan Shelomi, National Taiwan University teamed up with freelance archaeologist and rock art expert Mohammad Naserifard and describe the petroglyph in a new paper published in the open-access Journal of Orthoptera Research.

The 14-centimetre carving was first spotted during surveys between 2017 and 2018, but could not be identified due to its unusual shape. The six limbs suggest an insect, while the triangular head with big eyes and the grasping forearms are unmistakably those of a praying mantid, a predatory insect that hunts and captures prey like flies, bees and even small birds. An extension on its head even helps narrow the identification to a particular genus of mantids in this region: Empusa.

Even more mysterious are the middle limbs, which end in loops or circles. The closest parallel to this in archaeology is the ‘Squatter Man‘, a petroglyph figure found around the world depicting a person flanked by circles. While they could represent a person holding circular objects, an alternative hypothesis is that the circles represent auroras caused by atmospheric plasma discharges.

It is presently impossible to tell exactly how old the petroglyphs are, because sanctions on Iran prohibit the use of radioactive materials needed for radiocarbon dating. However, experts Jan Brouwer and Gus van Veen examined the Teymareh site and estimated the carvings were made 40,000-4,000 years ago.

One can only guess why prehistoric people felt the need to carve a mantis-man into rock, but the petroglyph suggests humans have linked mantids to the supernatural since ancient times. As stated by the authors, the carving bears witness, “that in prehistory, almost as today, praying mantids were animals of mysticism and appreciation.”

This 15 March 2020 video says about itself:

The number of cases in Canada of COVID-19 continue to rise as of Saturday night, with Prince Edward Island reporting its first positive case and Quebec’s own total rising to 24 after seven new cases.

As Abigail Bimman reports, provinces are rolling out their own travel warnings, with each taking different measures in an effort to contain and combat the spread of the virus.

While some people are self-isolating or not attending public events, those most at risk – the homeless population – don’t have a place to protect themselves. Mike Armstrong reports on how this community could be impacted.

As Europe becomes the new epicenter of pandemic. Trump administration official admits coronavirus could kill millions in US: here.

US capitalism’s response to the pandemic: Nothing for health care, unlimited cash for Wall Street: here.

The decision by US auto companies to keep their factories running at normal capacity during the coronavirus pandemic is a criminally reckless decision, which threatens the health of hundreds of thousands of autoworkers, their family members and the wider communities in which they work and live. On Sunday, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommended that no gatherings of 50 people or more be held in the US for the next eight weeks to slow the spread of the coronavirus. State governments throughout the country, including the major auto-producing states of Indiana and Ohio, had already announced bans on gatherings of more than 250 people. But the federal and state measures exempt the auto plants, which employ as many as 8,000 people, and other workplaces: here.

“They don’t care if you die. All they want is output”. Autoworkers denounce official coronavirus response, call for plant shutdowns: here.

The number of U.S. cases of coronavirus is doubling every four days. But Republican Senate leader Mitch McConnell says he might not get around to a Senate vote until the end of this week–pushing final passage into the last week of March: here.

After an unconscionable delay, Democratic New York Governor Andrew Cuomo announced on Sunday evening that New York City, the largest city in the United States, would close its public schools this week. According the United Federation of Teachers (UFT), students will not report to school on Monday and will remain out until April 20. Staff, however, will go into work on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday to prepare distance learning lessons. Public health experts and epidemiologists have advised federal, state and local governments for weeks now that the most significant action they could take to mitigate sickness and death from the coronavirus was to encourage social distancing by limiting large gatherings and closing down large public institutions such as schools: here.

UK Johnson government denounced for COVID-19 “herd immunity” policy: here.

UK government uses coronavirus pandemic to ready military in “public order” role: here.

The coronavirus (SARS CoV2) is spreading rapidly in Germany. The Robert Koch Institute (RKI) reported on Sunday evening that 4,838 people have been infected, an increase of over 1,040 from Saturday and almost a tripling from the approximately 1,600 total cases recorded by Wednesday. Thus far, the deaths of nine people have been linked to the virus: here.

Coronavirus outbreak: The German government was warned of the dangers of a looming pandemic and did nothing: here.

Coronavirus spreads to Turkey, risking a rapid outbreak: here.

Bangladesh government downplays COVID-19 threat as job losses mount: here.

Australian university managements, like other major employers, are seizing on the COVID-19 pandemic to accelerate plans to eliminate jobs and courses, slash costs and further cut workers’ conditions: here.

Cruise ship industry announces worldwide shutdown in response to coronavirus pandemic, leaving ship workers in the lurch: here.