Archaeologists find suspected Trojan war-era couple

“If the remains are confirmed to be from 1,200 B.C. it would coincide with the Trojan war period. These people were buried near a mote. We are conducting radiocarbon testing, but the finding is electrifying,” Pernicka told Reuters in a telephone interview.

K.G.

Several readers noticed this one. We corrected: GBU Editor

An undated handout picture shows the remains of a man and a woman believed to have died in 1,200 B.C. in the ancient city of Troy in northwestern Turkey. REUTERS/Project Troy/Handout

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Doctors baffled by Indian village of over 200 sets of twins

In fact with about 35-45 twins per live birth, this village in North Kerala, India, has four times more twins than normal. Not surprisingly, the village has been dubbed “the twin village.”

There seems to be a statistical error in this article. It says that in this one village there are “35-45 twins per live birth” but that seems way out of line (how can you even have more than two twins per live birth). Perhaps it’s per 1,000 live births or something else?

J.T.D.

That makes it sound like for every live birth, 70-90 babies are popping out of a single women.

Keri

This is a real corker garnered from this morning’s Yahoo News.  Makes me glad I’m post-menopausal. Phew!

Liz

Yes, we did mean per 1,000 live births. Many readers reacted to this one. We corrected it: GBU Editor.

Seven-year-old Fathima Lubna (L) and her twin sister Fathima Lubaba (R) carry their five-month-old sisters, who are also twins, at their residence in Kodinji village in the southern Indian city of Kerala July 28, 2009. REUTERS/Arko Datta

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All U.S. children should get seasonal flu shot: CDC

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - All U.S. children aged 6 months to 18 years should get a seasonal influenza vaccine every year, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Friday.

The headline of your article is misleading. The CDC did not say that all children should get the flu shot, it said that all children should get the flu vaccine. That is an important distinction, especially where there are other ways to administer the vaccine, such as intranasal.

G.D.

Several readers pointed this one out to us. The error was introduced during the editing process: GBU Editor

A handout file photo shows a technician holding a master H1N1 virus sample, for the pre-production of a vaccine against pandemic influenza A (H1N1) virus at a laboratory of GlaxoSmithKline in Dresden, June 16, 2009.  REUTERS/GlaxoSmithKline/Handout

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Carbon market in “rude health,” awaits U.S.

“It’s difficult to say things are heating up again right now as everyone is waiting with baited breath for the U.S. to pull the trigger for the next spurt of investment to take the market to the next level.”

Not to quibble, but the correct phrase is “bated breath” (not “baited”).

Several readers noticed this one: GBU Editor

A worker walks at a coking factory in Changzhi, Shanxi province May 14, 2009. REUTERS/Stringer 

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wanted to know why the Environment tab is no longer available.

I am very interested in the Reuters environment issues and would like to see it come back.

Marcelle

I have been using the environmental section of your website to keep up on issues that are important to me. I can’t seem to find it any more. Have you relocated the section or eliminated it?

I liked coming to the Reuters.com home page scanning the news and then linking to the environment page by clicking on news in the left hand column and then clicking on environment. This allowed me to scan the headlines of the the day and then go on to my topic of interest.

I understand that you have to make business decisions when reviewing the content on your site. I am a business person that understands if you are not getting enough impressions you are not serving you advertisers. But as a news organization it is also your responsibility to publish on the important topics in our society. I contend that in the long run environmental/green issues will be the news that will be of the highest priority. We are faced with global warming and scarcity of resources issues that are only going to expand.

I suggest that if you are going to make any decisions about moving the environment link that you give it more prominence. It was buried before and now it seems to be non existent. I would also suggest that the title of environment is too narrow. Green living and sustainable could be added to environment to attract an audience.

In the end, this topic deserves more coverage not less. It is the socially responsible thing to do. It also is a wise business decision because we are all going to feel the impact of these issues. We need credible resources for news on these topics. I am going to publish this letter in my blog today at http://learnshareact.com/learnshareact/2009/05/09/letter-to-reuterscom/. If you give any response and I have your permission I would also be glad to publish your response.

DeDe

A number of readers have asked about this.

Environmental news has not gone away. We have just relaunched it as Green Business .

You may read more about the new version here. You’ll still find all the news that was on the old page, but we’ve added more financial content and news from partners with complementary coverage. Please check it out: GBU Editor

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New York City-sized ice collapses off Antarctica

TROMSOE, Norway (Reuters) - An area of an Antarctic ice shelf almost the size of New York City has broken into icebergs this month after the collapse of an ice bridge widely blamed on global warming, a scientist said Tuesday.

“The northern ice front of the Wilkins Ice Shelf has become unstable and the first icebergs have been released,” Angelika Humbert, glaciologist at the University of Muenster in Germany, said of European Space Agency satellite images of the shelf.

Humbert told Reuters about 700 sq km (270.3 sq mile) of ice — bigger than Singapore or Bahrain and almost the size of New York City — has broken off the Wilkins this month and shattered into a mass of icebergs.

Where did this ice shelf collapse? Was it in Antarctica, as stated several times in the story as well as the headline? Was it somewhere close to Tromsoe, Norway, evidently where your environmental correspondent was reporting from?

These two places are at pretty much opposite ends of the planet. This fact seems to have escaped your reporter and also his editor. Confusion, such as is found in this report, throws doubt on all of the reporting coming from your organisation.

John W.

Sorry, I don’t see where the confusion comes in. As you yourself noticed, the story says it happened in Antarctica, which is correct. While it might have been more sexy to have used an “Aboard the Wilkins Ice Shelf” dateline, that would not have been ethical. Our correspondent was reporting from Norway. His location and sourcing were clear: GBU Editor

A handout satellite image taken April 27, 2009 of the Wilkins Ice Shelf in Antarctica shows icebergs covering an area of 700 sq kms (270 sq miles) — almost the size of New York City — that have broken off this month after the collapse of an ancient ice bridge between Charcot Island and the shelf. REUTERS/DLR - German Aerospace Center/Handout

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U.S. officials track new flu strain

The virus is usually fairly mild but it still kills between 250,000 and 500,000 people in an average year. And every few decades, a completely new strain pops up and it can cause a pandemic, a global epidemic that kills many more than usual.

This was in your article, and I was wondering if it is a typo or mistake? Could you please let me know.

Kathy

The numbers are accurate, although I admit it is jarring to see the phrase “fairly mild” attached to a death toll like that: GBU Editor

The H1N1 influenza strain in a microscopic image courtesy of the CDC. REUTERS/Handout
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Archaeologists hunt for Cleopatra’s tomb

Researchers have found by radar what may be three chambers as deep as 20 meters under the rock. Historians believe, based on the Roman writer Plutarch, that Antony and Cleopatra were buried together.

Plutarch was not a Roman historian. He was Greek.

Y.T.

Most sources I find say Plutarch was born in Greece but later became a Roman citizen: GBU Editor

The head of Egypt’s Council of Antiquities, Dr. Zahi Hawas, holds an alabaster statue of Queen Cleopatra as he poses for photographers in the Temple of Taposiris Magna some 50 km west of Alexandria April 19, 2009. REUTERS/Goran Tomasevic

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45 tonnes is not 40 million kg.

Scott

No. We removed the faulty conversion: GBU Editor

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London show to examine Aztec ruler Moctezuma

Reigning from 1502 to 1520, Moctezuma was the final ruler of present-day Mexico’s last native civilization.

Moctezuma was not the final ruler of the Aztecs.

There were 2 more after he was killed by stones thrown by his own people: Cuitlahuac, who died of smallpox, and Cuauhtemoc, who was captured after the fall of Tenochtitlan, tortured and executed.

F.M.

We corrected: GBU Editor

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