Grains of pollen found in the gut of Oetzi, the Tyrolean iceman who lived 5,300 years ago, have overturned the accepted view of when - and possibly how - he died on a remote alpine hillside. The discovery of the iceman's body in 1991 led to intense scrutiny and speculation among scientists. They originally thought he had died in an autumn snow storm but the most recent study of the contents of his large intestine suggests that he may have died in early summer.A microscopic analysis of the pollen grains has revealed that they still contain their cell contents, indicating that he had ingested the pollen when they were freshly shed from the hop hornbeam tree, which normally finishes flowering in June.Hop hornbeam pollen is known to be quickly degraded after dispersal so the presence of fresh grains in Oetzi's intestines can only mean that either his last meal was in summer or that he had eaten something that consisted of dried hop hornbeam flowers containing perfectly preserved pollen. The latter suggestion might be the correct one if hop hornbeam was a medicinal herb but it is not a known herbal remedy, said Professor James Dickson of Glasgow University, who led the study of Oetzi's intestinal contents.He said: "The interpretation I favour is that shortly before he died, Oetzi drank water containing the pollen in late spring or early summer when that small tree was in flower." If so, then Oetzi did not die in autumn, as originally proposed from the presence of sloe berries - the fruit of the blackthorn - next to his corpse.Klaus Oeggl, professor of botany at Innsbruck University, who worked with Professor Dickson in the study, will present the latest findings next Tuesday at Glasgow University.Oetzi, who is named afterthe Tyrolean valley on theAustrian-Italian border where he was found, died at the age of 46, which was old for that period. His freeze-dried corpse was found in 1991 at an altitude of 10,400ft (3,210 metres).The iceman's body, clothes and possessions have been subjected to intense scrutiny by scientists. He wore a cape of grass and his shoes were packed with grass to protect himself against the cold.
Even in mid-summer, walkers can be caught in snow storms at this altitude but Professor Dickson said there was still no unequivocal proof that he died of hypothermia.If he had died in autumn he was possibly a shepherd trying to recover his flock from the high grazing pastures before the onset of winter. But if he died in summer, the shepherd theory was less plausible, he said.An alternative explanation is that his dead body and possessions were carried up the mountain as part of some ceremony, Professor Dickson said.. Channel 4 has agreed to pay £10,000 in damages to a council worker who claims he is the unwitting victim of a comedy show. Keith Laird from Manchester complained to the broadcaster after the comedian Peter Kay presented a sketch of a character called Keith Lard. Channel 4 has agreed to pay £10,000 in damages to a council worker who claims he is the unwitting victim of a comedy show.
Keith Laird from Manchester complained to the broadcaster after the comedian Peter Kay presented a sketch of a character called Keith Lard. The two men have never knowingly met, but Mr Laird said the similarities in their characters were more than coincidental. Mr Laird, who is from Mr Kay's hometown of Bolton, Greater Manchester, works as a fire prevention officer at the local council.During an episode of Mr Kay's show, Phoenix Nights, Keith Lard was portrayed as a fire officer at Bolton bingo hall, sported a bushy moustache and luminous yellow jacket and was shown saying "It's not fire that kills, it's ignorance."Mr Laird said the character looked the same as him, shared the same mannerisms, the same facial expressions and even the same sayings."I've never met Peter Kay but he must have seen me somewhere because there's no doubt it's me," he said. "I've got 1,300 witnesses at the council because they've been taking the mickey out of me ever since."The situation became more serious when Mr Kay's fictional character was accused of sexually interfering with dogs. Mr Laird's colleagues started calling him "woof woof".The comedian, who once worked at Bolton's Top Rank bingo hall, denied the character was based on Mr Laird.Channel 4 said it had sought Mr Laird's permission to continue broadcasting the episodes, offering him £10,000 compensation, £5,000 of which was donated to the Fire Benevolent Fund and the Children's Fire Charity.. Cambridge University is dominated by a "tough macho culture" that makes lecturers who are female, disabled or from the ethnic minorities feel intimidated, a survey of staff attitudes discloses. Cambridge University is dominated by a "tough macho culture" that makes lecturers who are female, disabled or from the ethnic minorities feel intimidated, a survey of staff attitudes discloses. The report, thought to be the first "equality audit" at a British university, found a culture that was overwhelmingly white and male from which women, black people and those with disabilities felt excluded.
The exclusion was perpetuated because so many senior academics had only ever worked at the university and had little exper-ience outside.The university accepted the findings of yesterday's report but said it was taking action to turn around the culture. Its Vice-Chancellor, Sir Alec Broers, said: "We've done a lot of work on equality issues over the last decade or so, but we felt it was time to step back and take a fresh look at ourselves. We knew that an audit like this would be hard-hitting, but this was the only way to really find out what the staff here think about equality at Cambridge."Although the report from a firm of equal opportunities experts, Schneider-Ross, found that two-thirds of academics and support workers believed the university to be a good employer, it recommended improved training for senior academics to tackle feelings of exclusion.The report found that many academics at Cambridge had little formal training as managers and were seen as being uninterested in the career progression of their staff. More than one-fifth of those questioned said bullying by their managers had stopped them from advancing their careers.A questionnaire sent to staff showed that 81 per cent of disabled, 74 per cent of ethnic minority and 66 per cent of female lecturers said they felt left out some of the time. One of the people surveyed described a "tough macho culture where intimidation is by culture rather than by individual persons". Another said Cambridge was "insular and secretive".Three-quarters of those questioned thought equal opportunities at the university needed to improve More than half said that should be a priority.
More than two-thirds said they were not paid enough.Women particularly were concerned about their career opportunities. Only 6.25 of professors are female, putting Cambridge 69th in a league table of 81 universities. The university has drawn up an action plan and has organised a seminar for heads of department in May with the theme "Leadership style and nurturing potential". From October this year it is running new training programmes on recruitment, selection and induction for senior staff. Sir Alec promised resources would be found to implement the findings of the report.The survey questioned 7,000 people on the Cambridge payroll, everyone from cleaners to professors, and found that many staff felt their work was undervalued by the university.
