Did Ancient Bog Mummies Travel Through Supernatural Portals?

Tollund Man, who was hanged with a leather cord and cast into a Danish bog, is housed at Denmark's Silkeborg Museum. PHOTOGRAPH BY ROBERT CLARK, NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC
Tollund Man, who was hanged with a leather cord and cast into a Danish bog, is housed at Denmark’s Silkeborg Museum. PHOTOGRAPH BY ROBERT CLARK, NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC

For Europeans dating as far back as the Neolithic period 6,000 years ago, bogs were both resources and possibly ominous supernatural portals, according to Ulla Mannering, an expert in ancient textiles at the National Museum of Denmark.

Over 500 Iron Age bog bodies and skeletons dating to between 800 B.C. and A.D. 200 have been discovered in Denmark alone, with more unearthed in Germany, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, and Ireland.

Cancer Treatment Clears Two Australian Patients of HIV

The HIV virus (yellow particles), seen on a white blood cell in this scanning electron micrograph. Thomas Deernick, NCMIR/Science Photo Library
The HIV virus (yellow particles), seen on a white blood cell in this scanning electron micrograph. Thomas Deernick, NCMIR/Science Photo Library

Scientists have uncovered two new cases of HIV patients in whom the virus has become undetectable.

The two patients, both Australian men, became apparently HIV-free after receiving stem cells to treat cancer. They are still on antiretroviral therapy (ART) “as a precaution”, but those drugs alone could not be responsible for bringing the virus to such low levels, says David Cooper, director of the Kirby Institute at the University of New South Wales in Sydney, who led the discovery. A year ago, a different group of researchers had reported cases with a similar outcome.

The Top Ten Parasites That Could Be Lurking In Your Food

Hey! You got a friend in Taenia solium. Roberto J. Galindo, CC BY-NC-SA
Hey! You got a friend in Taenia solium. Roberto J. Galindo, CC BY-NC-SA

Most people are fascinated, and probably equally repulsed, by parasites. And it may be something you think you only need to worry about if you go on holiday somewhere exotic. However, increasing globalisation and transportation of food products across the globe means we are all increasingly at risk of catching something unwanted from our favourite foods.