Noise monitoring in Monza (Italy) during COVID-19 pandemic by means of the smart network of sensors developed in the LIFE MONZA project

As a scientific consequence of the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, several initiatives have taken place in order to monitor noise levels trends before and after the lock down phase in several Italian and European cities. In Monza (Italy), since June 2017, a new smart noise monitoring system consisting of 10 sensors developed in the frame of the LIFE MONZA project is continuously measuring acoustic data every second and transmitting them hourly to a dedicated server. The sensors are located both along a main street of the Libertà district characterised by high traffic flows and along secondary streets of the district; they are positioned on (preferably sensitive) buildings facades and on streetlamps.In the present paper results of a study concerning changes occurred in noise levels trends before and during the lock down phase for the smart sensors are presented, together with a comparison with noise levels collected by the same sensors in the equivalent months of the previous year. Some preliminary considerations regarding the reliability of the sensors themselves are also provided.

Zimbabwe based on the British Association report

It is now 24 years since Dr Randall MacIver investigated the problems of the origin and age of the Southern Rhodesian ruins. Nothing of any scientific consequence has since been added to the evidence on the purely archaeological side, with the exception of the partial excavation of the so-called Western Temple of the Zimbabwe Acropolis.In physical anthropology, we had, in 1924, Sir Arthur Keith's report on four ancient skeletons found in gold mines, and one from Zimbabwe itself. They were of Bantu type, but do they represent the original miners, and how old are they?