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| Gods, Graves, Glyphs Weekly Digest #417 Saturday, July 14, 2012 |
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| Catastrophism & Astronomy | |
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| Solar System Ice: Source of Earth's Water |
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· 07/14/2012 6:12:51 AM PDT · · Posted by SunkenCiv · · 18 replies · · Carnegie Institution · · Thursday, July 12, 2012 · · unattributed · |
Scientists have long believed that comets and, or a type of very primitive meteorite called carbonaceous chondrites were the sources of early Earth's volatile elements -- which include hydrogen, nitrogen, and carbon -- and possibly organic material, too. Understanding where these volatiles came from is crucial for determining the origins of both water and life on the planet. New research led by Carnegie's Conel Alexander focuses on frozen water that was distributed throughout much of the early Solar System, but probably not in the materials that aggregated to initially form Earth... It has been suggested that both comets and carbonaceous... |
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| Climate | |
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| Climate was HOTTER in Roman, medieval times than now: Study |
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· 07/10/2012 2:53:04 PM PDT · · Posted by Ernest_at_the_Beach · · 25 replies · · The Register · · 10th July 2012 11:44 GMT · · Lewis Page · |
Americans sweltering in the recent record-breaking heatwave may not believe it - but it seems that our ancestors suffered through much hotter summers in times gone by, several of them within the last 2,000 years. Phew, what a scorcher, Marcus. Let's get in the frigidarium A new study measuring temperatures over the past two millennia has concluded that in fact the temperatures seen in the last decade are far from being the hottest in history. A large team of scientists making a comprehensive study of data from tree rings say that in fact global temperatures have been on a... |
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| The Roman Empire | |
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| An Army Sacrificed in a Bog [ Alken, Denmark, 2K ago ] |
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· 07/11/2012 4:45:07 PM PDT · · Posted by SunkenCiv · · 12 replies · · Past Horizons Archaeology · · July 2012 · · Aarhus University · |
The unique discovery at the east end of Lake Mossø of a slaughtered army dating to around two thousand years ago, was revealed by Danish archaeologists in 2009. They had found skeletal material from up to 200 warriors, who may have all come from the same battle. Cuts and slashes on the skeletons showed they had died violently but nothing is as yet known about the identity of the killers, or their victims. In February this year it was announced that the Carlsberg Foundation has granted 1.5 million DKK for further research and excavations in Alken Wetlands. Archaeologists and other... |
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| Age of Sail | |
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| De Soto discovery could change history books |
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· 07/09/2012 7:05:53 PM PDT · · Posted by Engraved-on-His-hands · · 38 replies · · Ocala [FL] Star Banner · · July 8, 2012 · · Fred Hiers · |
Hernando De Soto's route through Florida is as elusive to modern archaeologists as the gold the famed Spanish explorer sought throughout the southeastern United States. Ever since De Soto's 600 men set foot on the shores of Tampa Bay, arriving from Cuba almost 500 years ago, historians have debated the exact direction of his failed treasure-hunting expeditions as far north as Tennessee and North Carolina. But in north Marion County, an archaeologist has found what his contemporaries deem rarer than the gold De Soto was seeking -- physical evidence of the explorer's precise journey through Marion County and enough information... |
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| Religion of Pieces | |
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| Islamists destroy 2 more tombs in Mali's Timbuktu |
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· 07/10/2012 5:20:20 PM PDT · · Posted by EBH · · 7 replies · · ap · · 7/10/12 · · Baba Ahmed · |
Islamic extremists destroyed another two mausoleums in the northern Malian city of Timbuktu on Tuesday, attacking a graveyard attached to the city's most picturesque mosque, according to a historian specializing in the area's heritage. Salem Ould Elhadj, a researcher at the Ahmed Baba Institute in Timbuktu, said the members of the radical sect set out with picks and shovels to raze the tombs of two of Timbuktu's scholars, Baba Babadje and Mahamane Foulane, both of whom are considered saints. Their mausoleums are in a cemetery attached to the nearly 700-year-old Djingareyber mosque, built in 1325. It's made of mud and... |
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| Egypt | |
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| Calls to Destroy Egypt's Great Pyramids Begin |
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· 07/10/2012 4:42:17 AM PDT · · Posted by SJackson · · 97 replies · · FrontPage Magazine · · July 10, 2012 · · Raymond Ibrahim · |
According to several reports in the Arabic media, prominent Muslim clerics have begun to call for the demolition of Egypt's Great Pyramids -- or, in the words of Saudi Sheikh Ali bin Said al-Rabi'i, those 'symbols of paganism,' which Egypt's Salafi party has long planned to cover with wax. Most recently, Bahrain's 'Sheikh of Sunni Sheikhs' and President of National Unity, Abd al-Latif al-Mahmoud, called on Egypt's new president, Muhammad Morsi, to 'destroy the Pyramids... |
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| Calls to Destroy Egypt's Great Pyramids Begin |
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· 07/10/2012 9:22:57 AM PDT · · Posted by nickcarraway · · 114 replies · · AINA/Front Page Magazine · · 7-10-2012 · · Raymond Ibrahim · |
According to several reports in the Arabic media, prominent Muslim clerics have begun to call for the demolition of Egypt's Great Pyramids--or, in the words of Saudi Sheikh Ali bin Said al-Rabi'i, those "symbols of paganism," which Egypt's Salafi party has long planned to cover with wax. Most recently, Bahrain's "Sheikh of Sunni Sheikhs" and President of National Unity, Abd al-Latif al-Mahmoud, called on Egypt's new president, Muhammad Morsi, to "destroy the Pyramids and accomplish what the Sahabi Amr bin al-As could not." This is a reference to the Muslim Prophet Muhammad's companion, Amr bin al-As and his Arabian tribesmen,... |
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| Calls to Destroy Egypt's Great Pyramids Begin |
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· 07/10/2012 2:54:42 PM PDT · · Posted by Dallas59 · · 50 replies · · AINA · · 7/10/2012 · · AINA · |
According to several reports in the Arabic media, prominent Muslim clerics have begun to call for the demolition of Egypt's Great Pyramids--or, in the words of Saudi Sheikh Ali bin Said al-Rabi'i, those "symbols of paganism," which Egypt's Salafi party has long planned to cover with wax. Most recently, Bahrain's "Sheikh of Sunni Sheikhs" and President of National Unity, Abd al-Latif al-Mahmoud, called on Egypt's new president, Muhammad Morsi, to "destroy the Pyramids and accomplish what the Sahabi Amr bin al-As could not." This is a reference to the Muslim Prophet Muhammad's companion, Amr bin al-As and his Arabian tribesmen,... |
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| Egypt's Government Planning to Destroy the Great Pyramids? |
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· 07/10/2012 5:39:49 PM PDT · · Posted by dewawi · · 51 replies · · Christian Post · · · |
An online magazine has offered translations to Arabic news sources that purportedly indicate that Egypt's Salafi party has come forth with plans to demolish Egypt's Great Pyramids in an effort to bring down what it calls "symbols of paganism." Bahrain's "Sheikh of Sunni Sheikhs" and President of National Unity, Abd al-Latif al-Mahmoud, has reportedly urged Egypt's new president, Muhammad Morsi, to "destroy the Pyramids and accomplish what Amr bin al-As could not," according to conservative political publication FrontPage Magazine. Al-Mahmoud's comments relate to Amr bin al-As, a companion of the Islam's founder Muhammad, who invaded Egypt in 641 and began... |
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| Calls to Destroy Egypt's Great Pyramids Begin |
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· 07/11/2012 5:47:24 PM PDT · · Posted by Paleo Conservative · · 79 replies · · FrontPageMagazine.com · · July 10, 2012 · · Raymond Ibrahim · |
According to several reports in the Arabic media, prominent Muslim clerics have begun to call for the demolition of Egypt's Great Pyramids -- or, in the words of Saudi Sheikh Ali bin Said al-Rabi'i, those "symbols of paganism," which Egypt's Salafi party has long planned to cover with wax. Most recently, Bahrain's "Sheikh of Sunni Sheikhs" and President of National Unity, Abd al-Latif al-Mahmoud, called on Egypt's new president, Muhammad Morsi, to "destroy the Pyramids and accomplish what Amr bin al-As could not." Has the sun finally set for Egypt's Great Pyramids? This is a reference to the Muslim Prophet Muhammad's companion,... |
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| The Crusades | |
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| The Crusaders' last stand: Pot of gold worth £300,000 found in fortress |
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· 07/11/2012 6:56:15 AM PDT · · Posted by afraidfortherepublic · · 20 replies · · The Daily Mail · · 7-11-12 · · Rob Waugh · |
A pot of gold from the Crusades worth up to $500,000 has been found buried in an ancient Roman fortress in Israel. The coins were buried by Christian soldiers of the order of the Knights Hospitalier as the Crusaders faced an unstoppable attack by a huge Muslim army. The knights were annihilated in April 1265. The coins - worth a fortune even in 1265 when they were thought to have been buried - were deliberately hidden inside a broken jug to prevent them being discovered. The fortress was destroyed in April 1265 by forces of Mamluks who overwhelmed the Crusaders... |
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| Hoard of gold coins found at Israel Crusades site |
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· 07/11/2012 2:33:03 PM PDT · · Posted by shove_it · · 18 replies · · Yahoo/Reuters · · 11 Jul 2012 · |
HERZLIYA, Israel (Reuters) - A 1,000-year-old hoard of gold coins has been unearthed at a famous Crusader battleground where Christian and Muslim forces once fought for control of the Holy Land, Israeli archaeologists said on Wednesday. [Related: Ancient road discovered in Greece] The treasure was dug up from the ruins of a castle in Arsuf, a strategic stronghold during the religious conflict waged in the 12th and 13th centuries. The 108 coins - one of the biggest collections of ancient coins discovered in Israel - were found hidden in a ceramic jug beneath a tile floor at the cliff-top... |
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| Hoard of Gold Coins Found at Israel Crusades Site |
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· 07/12/2012 6:41:20 AM PDT · · Posted by marshmallow · · 6 replies · · Reuters · · 7/11/12 · |
(Reuters) - A 1,000-year-old hoard of gold coins has been unearthed at a famous Crusader battleground where Christian and Muslim forces once fought for control of the Holy Land, Israeli archaeologists said on Wednesday. The treasure was dug up from the ruins of a castle in Arsuf, a strategic stronghold during the religious conflict waged in the 12th and 13th centuries. The 108 coins - one of the biggest collections of ancient coins discovered in Israel - were found hidden in a ceramic jug beneath a tile floor at the cliff-top coastal ruins, 15 km (9 miles) from Tel Aviv.... |
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| Elam, Persia, Parthia, Iran | |
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| Astronomy Picture of the Day -- Teimareh Petroglyphs and Star Trails |
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· 07/12/2012 3:09:43 AM PDT · · Posted by SunkenCiv · · 18 replies · · NASA · · July 12, 2012 · · (see photo credit) · |
Explanation: Engraved in rock, these ancient petroglyphs are abundant in the Teimareh valley, located in the Zagros Mountains of central Iran. They likely tell a tale of hunters and animals found in the middle eastern valley 6,000 years ago or more, etched by artists in a prehistoric age. In the night sky above are star trails etched by the rotation of planet Earth during the long composite exposure made with a modern digital camera. On the left, the center of the star trail arcs is the North Celestial Pole (NCP), the extension of Earth's axis into space, with Polaris, the... |
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| Dinosaurs | |
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| Scientists place 500-million-year-old gene in modern organism (Ruh-Roh!) |
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· 07/11/2012 1:21:48 PM PDT · · Posted by Red Badger · · 92 replies · · Phys.org · · 11 July 2012 · · Georgia Inst of Tech · |
It's a project 500 million years in the making. Only this time, instead of playing on a movie screen in Jurassic Park, it's happening in a lab at the Georgia Institute of Technology. Using a process called paleo-experimental evolution, Georgia Tech researchers have resurrected a 500-million-year-old gene from bacteria and inserted it into modern-day Escherichia coli(E. coli) bacteria. This bacterium has now been growing for more than 1,000 generations, giving the scientists a front row seat to observe evolution in action. "This is as close as we can get to rewinding and replaying the molecular tape of life," said scientist... |
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| Paleontology | |
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| Very round ancient turtle warmed readily in Sun |
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· 07/13/2012 7:11:29 PM PDT · · Posted by SunkenCiv · · 18 replies · · New Scientist · · Thursday, July 12, 2012 · · Will Ferguson · |
Why be really, really round? It turns out that the precisely circular carapace of a newly discovered species of fossil turtle may have made the ancient creature too wide to be swallowed by predators - and helped it warm up in the sun. Edwin Cadena at North Carolina State University in Raleigh, and colleagues, uncovered the 1.5 metre long fossil buried at the Cerrejón Coal Mine in north-western Colombia. Puentemys mushaisaensis is thought to have lived 60 million years ago, shortly after the extinction of the dinosaurs. It is the most recent discovery in a string of super large reptiles... |
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| Prehistory & Origins | |
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| Most complete skeleton of ancient relative of man found |
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· 07/13/2012 5:18:56 PM PDT · · Posted by SunkenCiv · · 41 replies · · Telegraph UK · · Thursday, July 13, 2012 · · AFP · |
The remains of a juvenile hominid skeleton, of the newly identified Australopithecus (southern ape) sediba species, are the "most complete early human ancestor skeleton ever discovered," according to Lee Berger, a paleontologist from the University of Witwatersrand. "We have discovered parts of a jaw and critical aspects of the body including what appear to be a complete femur (thigh bone), ribs, vertebrae and other important limb elements, some never before seen in such completeness in the human fossil record," said Prof Berger. The latest discovery was made in a one-metre-wide rock that lay unnoticed for years in a laboratory until... |
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| Australia & the Pacific | |
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| Bush tucker feeds an ancient mystery |
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· 07/13/2012 7:38:52 PM PDT · · Posted by SunkenCiv · · 22 replies · · HeritageDaily · · Tuesday, July 10, 2012 · · Contributing Source: UNSW · |
As sabre tooth tigers and woolly mammoths were wandering around Europe, unique, giant prehistoric animals were living in Australia -- three metre tall kangaroos and wombat-like creatures, the size of a four-wheel drive, were just some of the curious creatures Down Under. Yet mysteriously, sometime during the last 100,000 years, they disappeared forever. The extinction of these giant animals, known as megafauna, has generated great debate. One group advocates "human blitzkrieg" -- those asserting the first Australians hunted these beasts to extinction. Others, myself included, find there is too little evidence to confidently attribute responsibility to any particular factor. Nonetheless,... |
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| Helix, Make Mine a Double | |
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| Native Americans descended from three Asian groups: study |
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· 07/11/2012 11:22:20 AM PDT · · Posted by Theoria · · 57 replies · · AFP · · 11 July 2012 · · AFP · |
Native Americans spread out today from Canada to the tip of Chile descended not from one but at least three migrant waves from Siberia between 5,000 and 15,000 years ago, a study said Wednesday. The finding is controversial among geneticists, archaeologists and linguists -- many of whom have maintained that a single Asian ancestral group populated the Americas. But the new study, claiming to be the most comprehensive analysis yet of Native American genetics, claims to have found incontrovertible proof that there were three immigration waves -- a theory first put forward in 1986. Most Native Americans, said the study,... |
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| PreColumbian, Clovis, & PreClovis | |
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| Fossilized human feces hints at long-lost, 13,500-year-old West Coast culture |
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· 07/12/2012 2:19:04 PM PDT · · Posted by Sopater · · 40 replies · · Fox News · · July 12, 2012 · · Gene J. Koprowski · |
Maybe the 1992 movie Brendan Fraser film Encino Man wasn't too far from the mark? Fossilized human feces and other evidence from a West Coast cave demonstrates the existence of a long-lost, 13,500-year-old American culture, scientists said Thursday. The fossilized feces, known to researchers as a coprolite, from the Paisley Caves in Oregon has turned assumptions about the history of the Americas on its ear. |
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| Oregon cave discovery suggests lost ancient American culture (Pre-Clovis) |
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· 07/13/2012 5:29:43 AM PDT · · Posted by Renfield · · 13 replies · · Christian Science Monitor · · 7-12-2012 · · Wynne Parry · |
Ancient stone projectile points and fossilized feces suggest a previously unknown culture that existed on the West Coast some 13,000 years ago. Ancient stone projectile points discovered in a Central Oregon cave complex have cast new light on the identity of the first Americans. ~~~snip~~~ These stone points, a type known as Western temmed points, are narrower and lack the distinctive flute, or shallow groove, found on Clovis points. Researchers believe the two types of points represent different technologies, produced by different cultures.... |
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| Native Americans arrived to find natives already there, fossil poo shows |
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· 07/14/2012 9:58:45 AM PDT · · Posted by Ernest_at_the_Beach · · 46 replies · · The Register · · 13th July 2012 11:23 GMT · · Lewis Page · |
Ancient darts also found in possible prehistoric pub The ancient people who have long been thought to be the first humans to colonise North America were actually johnny-come-latelies, according to scientists who have comprehesively analysed the ancient fossilised poo of their predecessor Americans. The new revelations come to us courtesy of Copenhagen university, where some of the investigating boffins are based. The scientists say that their results demonstrate conclusively their somewhat controversial thesis: that the "Clovis" culture dating from around 13,000 years ago - which has long been thought to be the earliest human society in the Americas - was... |
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| Peru & the Andes | |
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| Ancient pre-Inca tomb found in northern Peru |
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· 07/13/2012 4:24:58 PM PDT · · Posted by csvset · · 18 replies · · France24 · · 14 July 2012 · |
Archeologists said Friday they have discovered a tomb about 1,200 years old, from the pre-Inca Sican era, in northern Peru. Human remains and jewelry were found July 4 along with the tomb, likely that of a member of the aristocracy of the Sican or Lambayeque elite, head researcher Carlos Wester La Torre told AFP. A gold earflap, a silver-plated crown, and some 120 silver and copper ornaments that served as emblems of power, along with 116 pieces of pottery and seashells were found in the tomb. The tomb was located in a burial chamber some six meters (20 feet) deep... |
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| The Revolution | |
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| The "Best Earthly Inheritance" Our Founders Bequeathed |
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· 07/04/2012 1:52:00 PM PDT · · Posted by Twotone · · 1 replies · · Oregon Catalyst · · July 4, 2012 · · Kathryn Hickok · |
Every July much is said by eloquent historians, civic and religious leaders, and -- thanks to blogs and social media -- Americans everywhere, about the Declaration of Independence, the meaning of the American Experiment, and the price of freedom. Independence Day is a moment to be grateful for the blessings of liberty and to remember the gifts many sacrificed so much to leave us. But this year we also mark the 180th anniversary of the death in 1832 of the last surviving signer of the Declaration. Charles Carroll's life spanned nearly a century. By the fiftieth anniversary of July 4, 1776, Carroll had outlived... |
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| The Civil War | |
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| Secret Message in Lincoln's Pocketwatch, 1861 |
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· 07/10/2012 7:18:19 PM PDT · · Posted by DogByte6RER · · 45 replies · · Retronaut · · Retronaut · |
Secret Message in Lincoln's Pocketwatch, 1861 "In 2009 the Smithsonian found a "secret" message engraved in Abraham Lincoln's watch by a watchmaker who was repairing it in 1861 when news of the attack on Fort Sumter reached Washington, D.C. "In an interview with The New York Times April 30, 1906, 84-year-old Jonathan Dillon recalled he was working for M.W. Galt and Co. on Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, where he was repairing Lincoln's watch. The owner of the shop announced that the first shot of the Civil War had been fired. Dillon reported that he unscrewed the dial of the watch,... |
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| Thoroughly Modern Miscellany | |
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| Romanovs' Fate Revealed |
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· 07/11/2012 7:01:18 AM PDT · · Posted by C19fan · · 32 replies · · Wall Street Journal · · July 10, 2012 · · Jonathan Earle · |
Nicholas Romanov, the deposed czar of Russia, and his family were awakened in the middle of the night on July 16-17, 1918, and told to get dressed. They were being moved to a safe location, their Bolshevik captors said, away from the White army that was closing in on Yekaterinburg, in the southern Ural Mountains. The soldiers shepherded the family and four servants -- a cook, valet, doctor and maid -- into the basement of the house where they were being held. Nicholas carried his ailing son, Alexei, in his arms. Once all were assembled, a death sentence was read aloud, twice, and the... |
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| Epigraphy & Language | |
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| Long-Lost Language |
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· 07/08/2012 1:17:48 PM PDT · · Posted by djone · · 46 replies · · Field & Stream! · · David E. Petzal and Philip Bourjaily · |
"One of the small things I like about hunting is that it takes you into the countryside where people say things you thought no one actually says anymore. Bits of old-fashioned speech hang on outside of town. Hearing them opens a little window into the past.--"Just remembered what the old folks would say if they hadn't seen you in awhile :Man I thought you fell in....'He's so tight, he squeaks when he walks.'..."He couldn't cut his way out of a wet paper bag with two butcher knives".....remembered another I always liked: my old landlord, a German farmer, used "young" for... |
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| end of digest #417 20120714 | |
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| Gods, Graves, Glyphs Weekly Digest #417 · v 9 · n 1 Saturday, July 14, 2012 |
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Welcome to the first issue of the ninth year of the Gods, Graves, Glyphs digest. I'd planned to do something really special, such as changing the format as I did a year ago, or maybe that has been two years. What I decided on was to post this a day late, IOW a whole day earlier than last week's issue. Pretty special. |
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| Gods, Graves, Glyphs Weekly Digest #417 · v 9 · n 1 Saturday, July 14, 2012 |
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Welcome to the first issue of the ninth year of the Gods, Graves, Glyphs digest. I'd planned to do something really special, such as changing the format as I did a year ago, or maybe that has been two years. What I decided on was to post this a day late, IOW a whole day earlier than last week's issue. Pretty special. |
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| Gods, Graves, Glyphs Weekly Digest #418 Saturday, July 21, 2012 |
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| Neandertal / Neanderthal | |
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| Neanderthal Arm Morphology Caused by Scraping, Not Spear Thrusting |
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· 07/21/2012 6:55:13 AM PDT · · Posted by SunkenCiv · · 15 replies · · Popular Archaeology · · Wednesday, July 18, 2012 · · PLoS ONE · |
It was scraping hide, not thrusting spears, that caused dominant strength on their right sides. Unique arm morphology in Neandertals was likely caused by scraping activities such as hide preparation, not spear thrusting as previously theorized, according to research published July 18 in the open access journal PLoS ONE*. The researchers, led by Colin Shaw of the University of Cambridge, took muscle measurements of modern men performing three different spear thrusting tasks and four different scraping tasks. They found that muscle activity was significantly higher on the left side of the body for spear thrusting tasks relative to the right... |
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| PreHistory, & Origins | |
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| 300 000 year old flint tools found in Northern France |
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· 07/17/2012 8:15:24 PM PDT · · Posted by SunkenCiv · · 24 replies · · Past Horizons · · Monday, July 16, 2012 · · Source: INRAP · |
The deposits at Etricourt Manancourt in the Picardie region of France documents the history of early European settlements, revealing at least five prehistoric levels, ranging between 300,000 and 80,000 years old... Archaeologists from Inrap looked at 17 hectares in 2010, which revealed a Palaeolithic level and more evidence was found in 2012, when 3,200 square metres were excavated over 4 month period. The most recent occupation comes from the Middle Paleolithic (80,000 years old) and belongs to the Neanderthals. Twenty sites of this period are already known in northern France. The next two levels are also Neanderthal and belong to... |
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| Agriculture & Animal Husbandry | |
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| Neanderthals Had Knowledge Of Plant Healing Qualities |
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· 07/19/2012 9:56:13 PM PDT · · Posted by SunkenCiv · · 20 replies · · redOrbit Staff & Wire Reports · · Thursday, July 19, 2012 · · Naturwissenschaften · |
A team of researchers has provided the first molecular evidence that Neanderthals not only ate a range of cooked plant foods, but also understood their nutritional and medicinal qualities... The researchers, led by the Universitat Autónoma de Barcelona and the University of York, combined pyrolysis gas-chromatography-mass spectrometry with morphological analysis of plant microfossils to identify material trapped in dental calculus (calcified dental plaque) from five Neanderthals from the north Spanish site of El Sidrón. Their results provide another twist to the story -- the first molecular evidence for medicinal plants being used by a Neanderthal individual. According to a prepared... |
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| Diet & Cuisine | |
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| An olive stone from 150BC links pre-Roman Britain to today's pizzeria |
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· 07/21/2012 7:25:39 AM PDT · · Posted by SunkenCiv · · 36 replies · · guardian.co.uk · · Thursday 19 July 2012 · · Maev Kennedy · |
Iron Age Britons were importing olives from the Mediterranean a century before the Romans arrived with their exotic tastes in food, say archaeologists who have discovered a single olive stone from an excavation of an Iron Age well at at Silchester in Hampshire. The stone came from a layer securely dated to the first century BC, making it the earliest ever found in Britain -- but since nobody ever went to the trouble of importing one olive, there must be more, rotted beyond recognition or still buried. The stone, combined with earlier finds of seasoning herbs such as coriander, dill... |
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| Climate | |
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| Little Ice Age (Solar Influence) |
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· 12/20/2002 3:38:20 PM PST · · Posted by PeaceBeWithYou · · 41 replies · · 744+ views · · CO2 Science Magazine · · December 18, 2002 · · Staff Summary · |
How much of an influence the sun has exerted on earth's climate during the 20th Century is a topic of heated discussion in the area of global climate change. The primary reason for differing opinions on the subject derives from the fact that although numerous studies have demonstrated significant correlations between certain measures of solar activity and various climatic phenomena (Reid, 1991, 1997, 1999, 2000), the magnitude of the variable solar radiative forcing reported in these studies is generally so small it is difficult to see how it could possibly produce climatic effects of the magnitude observed (Broecker, 1999). Supporters... |
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| Central Asia | |
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| Wet climate may have fueled Mongol invasion |
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· 07/20/2012 6:55:45 PM PDT · · Posted by rjbemsha · · 38 replies · · NBC News · · July 20, 2012 · · Stephanie Pappas · |
Consistent rain and warm temperatures may have given the Mongols the energy source they needed to conquer Eurasia: grass for their horses (huge amount of grass needed to feed the 10 horses for each Mongol warrior). |
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| Megaliths & Archaeoastronomy | |
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| How Big is the Entire Universe? |
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· 07/21/2012 12:57:15 AM PDT · · Posted by LibWhacker · · 43 replies · · Starts with a Bang · · 7/18/12 · · Ethan Siegel · |
(25) Millenium simulation from Volker Springel et al., from the Max Planck Institute for Astrophysics. "The greatest enemy of knowledge is not ignorance, it is the illusion of knowledge." --Stephen Hawking. The Universe is a vast, seemingly unending marvel of existence. Over the past century, we've learned that the Universe stretches out beyond the billions of stars in our Milky Way, out across billions of light years, containing close to a trillion galaxies all told.Image credit: NASA, ESA, S. Beckwith (STScI) and the HUDF Team. And yet, that's just the observable Universe! There are good reasons to believe that the... |
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| Age of Sail | |
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| Ships' logs give clues to Earth's magnetic decline |
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· 05/13/2006 9:51:41 AM PDT · · Posted by Crazieman · · 59 replies · · 1,699+ views · · New Scientist · · May 11, 2006 · · Patrick Berry · |
The voyages of Captain Cook have just yielded a new discovery: the gradual weakening of Earth's magnetic field is a relatively recent phenomenon. The discovery has led experts to question whether the Earth is on track towards a polarity reversal. By sifting through ships' logs recorded by Cook and other mariners dating back to 1590, researchers have greatly extended the period over which the behaviour of the magnetic field can be studied. The data show that the current decline in Earth's magnetism was... |
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| Religion of Pieces | |
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| Ancient Map Shows Egg-Shaped England |
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· 06/06/2004 5:45:19 PM PDT · · Posted by blam · · 54 replies · · 281+ views · · The Guardian (UK) · · 6-6-2004 · · Vanessa Thorpe · |
It is known as a catalogue of 'marvel for the eyes' and tomorrow the public will be able to judge for themselves at last. A previously unknown medieval Arabic map with the earliest representation of an identified 'England' -- a tiny, egg-shaped lump -- is to go on public display in Oxford. The unique and, until now, unseen map is part of a manuscript called the Book of Curiosities of the Sciences and Marvels, which was originally put together, probably in the Nile... |
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| Let's Have Jerusalem | |
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| Gold coins from the Crusades found in Israel |
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· 07/17/2012 5:13:53 AM PDT · · Posted by NYer · · 14 replies · · cna · · July 16, 2012 · |
Tel Aviv, Israel, Jul 16, 2012 / 04:08 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Israeli archeologists have found more than one hundred gold coins from the time of the Crusades, when conflict arose between Muslims and Christians over control of the Holy Land. "It is an unusual find. We don't have much gold from the time of the Crusades," said Oren Tal, a professor at the University of Tel Aviv who led the investigation. The treasure was found in the ruins of a castle in Arsuf, a strategic bastion during the Crusades of the 12th and 13th centuries. The 108 coins... |
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| No, No, Rudolph, the *Schmidt* House! | |
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| How Ancient Greeks Named Their Puppies |
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· 07/16/2012 10:00:55 PM PDT · · Posted by afraidfortherepublic · · 45 replies · · The Smithsonian · · 7-9-12 · |
Dogs played a special role in ancient Greek society and mythology; Cerberus guarded the gates of Hades, the goddess Artemis used dogs in her hunt, and Greek citizens employed dogs for hunting and protection. To the ancient Greeks, picking your new pup was an important decision, just as it is today. But, according to Stanford University researcher Adrienne Mayor, writing for Wonders & Marvels, the process could have been just a little bit different. Like moderns, the ancients looked for an adventurous and friendly nature, but one test for selecting the pick of the litter seems rather heartless today. Let... |
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| Biology & Cryptobiology | |
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| Younger Dryas --The Rest of the Story! |
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· 06/21/2012 2:16:17 PM PDT · · Posted by Ernest_at_the_Beach · · 8 replies · · watts Up With That? · · June 16, 2012 · · Anthony Watts · · Rodney Chilton · |
WUWT readers may recall this recent story: New evidence of Younger Dryas extraterrestrial impact. The story below provides much more detail about the Younger Dryas event and the split that has developed in the scientific community over the cause. I've added this graph below from NCDC to give readers a sense of time and magnitude of the event. |
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| Catastrophism & Astronomy | |
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| Impact melt products as evidence for cosmic airbursts/impacts 12,900 years ago |
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· 07/14/2012 6:00:04 AM PDT · · Posted by rjbemsha · · 11 replies · · PNAS · · 10 July 2012 · · Ted Bunch et al. · |
This paper supports the proposal that fragments of an asteroid or comet impacted Earth, deposited silica-and iron-rich microspherules and other proxies across several continents, and triggered the Younger Dryas cooling episode 12,900 years ago. |
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| Comet May Have Collided With Earth 13,000 Years Ago(MEXICO) |
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· 07/15/2012 5:03:34 PM PDT · · Posted by ForGod'sSake · · 49 replies · · Spacedotcom · · March 6, 2012 · · Clara Moskowitz · |
Central Mexico's Lake Cuitzeo contains melted rock formations and nanodiamonds that suggest a comet impacted Earth around 12,900 years ago, scientists say. CREDIT: Israde et al. (2012) New evidence supports the idea that a huge space rock collided with our planet about 13,000 years ago and broke up in Earth's atmosphere, a new study suggests. This impact would have been powerful enough to melt the ground, and could have killed off many large mammals and humans. It may even have set off a period of unusual cold called the Younger Dryas that began at that time, researchers say. The... |
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| PreColumbian, Clovis, & PreClovis | |
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| Small Dig, Big Discovery: Chumash Jaw Bone Found Under Vets Center |
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· 07/21/2012 6:13:02 AM PDT · · Posted by SunkenCiv · · 11 replies · · Santa Barbara Independent · · Thursday, July 19, 2012 · · Nick Welsh · |
The past and future recently collided in the dirt five feet beneath Santa Barbara's Veterans Memorial Building on Cabrillo Boulevard ...could well knock out of consideration long-simmering plans to erect a three-story museum in the courtyard behind the vets building honoring Santa Barbara's servicemen and women who fought in all foreign wars since World War I. The archeological work took place this June... along the waterfront was once the site of Syuxtun, a major Chumash community for about 1,000 years with about 500 people in its prime, so UCSB archeologist and anthropology professor Lynn Gamble... overseeing a team of UCSB... |
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| Mayans | |
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| Mayans used reservoir, sand-filtered water to support urban population at Tikal |
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· 07/16/2012 5:47:59 PM PDT · · Posted by rjbemsha · · 10 replies · · Science Daily · · 16 July 2012 · · Vernon Scarborough et al. · |
Around 700 AD, Tikal had the largest dam built by the ancient Maya of Central America, used sand filtration to cleanse water entering reservoirs, a "switching station" that accommodated seasonal filling and release of water, and the deepest, rock-cut canal segment in the Maya lowlands. All this to support a population at Tikal of perhaps 60,000 to 80,000 inhabitants and an estimated population of five million in the overall Maya lowlands. |
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| Paleontology | |
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| Where Have the Hawk-Sized Insects Gone? |
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· 07/17/2012 2:44:00 PM PDT · · Posted by SunkenCiv · · 60 replies · · ScienceNOW · · June 4, 2012 · · Sid Perkins · |
Around 300 million years ago, dragonflies with the wingspans of hawks flitted above coal-producing swamps. Such giants don't exist today, partly because oxygen levels in the atmosphere are much lower. But another reason is that the evolution of birds and their increasing agility in the air forced flying insects to shrink, according to a new study. Like all multicellular animals, insects fuel their metabolism by taking in oxygen. Unlike creatures with lungs, however, insects draw in air through holes in their shell-like exoskeletons. The oxygen diffuses from those holes to the creatures' tissues through a dense network of tubes. Because... |
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| Beat Rick's Nuts -- Wait, What? | |
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| (Vavavooom!) 600-year-old bra and underwear discovered in an Austrian castle |
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· 07/20/2012 10:24:09 PM PDT · · Posted by DogByte6RER · · 52 replies · · IO9 · · Jul 18, 2012 · · Annalee Newitz · |
600-year-old bra and underwear discovered in an Austrian castle Contemporary bras are more comfortable, modified versions of corsets -- or so it was believed, until a 2007 discovery changed the way we see women's underwear. Working with a team of her colleagues, archaeologist Beatrix Nutz recently publicized her discovery of several linen bras and some underwear in a medieval castle. Nutz has presented academic papers about her discovery, and even analyzed the underwear for DNA (see picture). But the public didn't hear about the medieval bras until a BBC history program showed pictures of them. Nutz and colleagues also found... |
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| Middle Ages & Renaissance | |
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| Cash-strapped Berlin stalked by 450-year-old trillion-Euro debt |
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· 07/19/2012 8:41:06 PM PDT · · Posted by JerseyanExile · · 7 replies · · Reuters · · July 19, 2012 · · Reuters · |
The sleepy hamlet of Mittenwalde in eastern Germany could become one of the richest towns in the world if Berlin were to repay it an outstanding debt that dates back to 1562. A certificate of debt, found in a regional archive, attests that Mittenwalde lent Berlin 400 guilders on May 28 1562, to be repaid with six percent interest per year. According to Radio Berlin Brandenburg RBB.L, the debt would amount to 11,200 guilders today, which is roughly equivalent to 112 million euros. Adjusting for compound interest and inflation, the total debt now lies in the trillions, by RBB's estimates.... |
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| Longer Perspectives | |
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| History Repeating Itself: The Vendee Genocide |
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· 07/20/2012 1:11:30 AM PDT · · Posted by Perseverando · · 7 replies · · Barnhardt · · July 18, AD 2012 10:20 AM MST · · Ann Barnhardt · |
Here's my latest video recorded by the good folks at FreedomTalkNetcast.com down in Pueblo, Colorado. This presentation covers the almost unknown war and genocide against the people of the Vendee region of France during the proto-Marxist French Revolution. This genocide by the atheist, godless, totalitarian French Revolutionaries against the Church killed 450,000 people, and has served as a the tactical template for Marxist governments who have fomented statist schisms and then entered into open war against the Church over the last century, including the Soviets and Mexicans in the early 20th century, and the Red Chinese and Vietnamese, and Marxist... |
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| 6 Factors in the Decline of the Roman Empire (and perhaps America) |
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· 06/25/2009 11:16:21 PM PDT · · Posted by Osnome · · 84 replies · · 4,150+ views · · Osnome · · 6-25-09 · · Osnome · |
Six Most Important Factors that destroyed Roman Civilization: 1)Overtaxation 2)Opression of the Provences by the Central Government 3)Government topheavy with bureaucracy 4)Military power overextended across the world(their world at the time) 5)The Populace diverted by degenerate mass entertainment 6) The Borders poorly defended against increasing foreign migration(in their case, Barbarians) |
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| World War Eleven | |
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| Search for Earhart's Wrecked Plane Continues |
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· 07/19/2012 3:18:06 PM PDT · · Posted by P.O.E. · · 9 replies · · Discovery News · · 07-16-2012 · · Rossella Lorenzi · |
After some technical problems, the search for the wreckage of Amelia Earhart's Lockheed Electra has begun near the reef slope off the west end of Nikumaroro, a tiny uninhabited island between Hawaii and Australia where the legendary aviator may have landed and died as a castaway 75 years ago. The International Group for Historic Aircraft Recovery (TIGHAR) is carrying on the the hunt, which relies on a torpedo-shaped Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV) called Bluefin-21 and a Remote Operated Vehicle (ROV). |
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| Common Criminals | |
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| Did Yugoslav dictator Tito poison Stalin? |
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· 07/18/2012 7:09:07 AM PDT · · Posted by C19fan · · 20 replies · · UK Daily Mail · · July 18, 2012 · · Staff · |
When Russian leader Josef Stalin died, on March 5 in 1953, a letter was found in his office that had been written by Yugoslavian leader Josip Broz Tito. The two leaders were bitter enemies, after Tito had used World War II as an opportunity to spark a revolution and lead Yugoslavia to independence from Soviet influence. A combination of pride, fear and jealousy had spurred Stalin to attempt to have Tito killed -- and no less than 22 assassination attempts had been made in the years after the war. |
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| Thoroughly Modern Miscellany | |
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| 5 men withstand 1.7 kiloton nuclear explosion |
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· 07/19/2012 7:42:23 PM PDT · · Posted by moonshot925 · · 37 replies · · Youtube · · 3 November 2011 · · atomcentral · |
On July 19, 1957, five men stood at Ground Zero of an atomic test that was being conducted at the Nevada Test Site. This was the test of a 2KT (kiloton) MB-1 nuclear air-to-air rocket launched from an F-89 Scorpion interceptor. The nuclear missile detonated 10,000 ft above their heads. A reel-to-reel tape recorder was present to record their experience. You can see and hear the men react to the shock wave moments after the detonation. The placard reading "Ground Zero; Population Five" was made by Colonel Arthur B. "Barney" Oldfield, the Public Information Officer for the Continental Air Defense Command in Colorado Spring who arranged for the volunteers to participate. The five volunteers were: Colonel Sidney Bruce, Lt. Colonel Frank P. Ball (technical advisor to the Steve Canyon tv show), Major Norman "Bodie" Bodinger, Major John Hughes, Don Lutrel, and George Yoshitake, the cameraman (who wasn't a volunteer). See George discuss his work photographing atomic and nuclear explosions in "Atomic Filmmakers." |
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| end of digest #418 20120721 | |
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