* Astronomy

Nine tattooed Maori heads yesterday began their journey from a Scottish university museum back to the land of their ancestors in New Zealand.
The heads, which had been smoked to preserve them two centuries ago and revered as sacred objects by the Maoris, were returned to the care of the elders of the main Maori tribes and the Museum of New Zealand at an emotional ceremony at Aberdeen University's Marischal College Museum.
The ceremony began with a prayer for the dead in the Maori language and ended with a song of celebration by the Maori representatives.
The heads, known as toi moko in Maori culture, were among the earliest objects acquired by the museum, and had been in its care for almost 200 years. The first was acquired in 1821, when a former student, Lieutenant Reid of the Royal Navy, brought back the "head of a New Zealand warrior in good preservation".

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