Free Republic

Multiplication table from 1,800 years ago found in Hunan Archeologists claimed that they had found a multiplication table at the Gurendi cultural relics ofthe Eastern Han Dynasty (25-220) in Zhangjiajie, central China's Hunan Province. Archeologists claimed that they had found a multiplication table at the Gurendi cultural relics ofthe Eastern Han Dynasty (25-220) in Zhangjiajie, central China's Hunan Province. The table was discovered on a 22cm-long wooden strip which was broken when it was discovered and the handwriting on it is quite illegible. "We can see that the multiplication table begins at nine times nine equals 81, in a sequence...

Chinese, Japanese started prehistoric exchanges 7,000 years ago: Archeologists www.chinaview.cn 2003-10-08 20:56:41 @@BEIJING, Oct. 11 (Xinhuanet) -- Archeologists say Chinese and Japanese began prehistoric exchanges about 7,000 years ago. @@More than 200 Chinese and Japanese scholars and archaeologists convened here Saturday for a symposium themed on prehistoric culture exchange between China and Japan. They compared archeological findings in China's Xinglonggou Relics Site in north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, also popularly known as "China's first primitive village", and findings in Japanese sites from the Neolithic age, about 10,000 to 4,000 years ago. @@The cultural exchanges occurred on a route from...

Years Were Longer 1.3bln Years ago: Chinese ScientistsPeople who complain that there aren't enough hours in the day might have preferred to live 1.3 billion years ago. At that time, according to the latest research by a group of Chinese scientists, there were 15 hours in one day, 42 days in a month, and 13 to 14 months, or more than 540 days, in a year. The finding was obtained through a five-year systematic study of stromatolite samples, known as "stone with memory", by several researchers with the Tianjin geology and minerals research institute under the China Geological Survey...

Translators unravel old scroll's secrets 2003-01-07 By Diane Clay The Oklahoman On a dry day 2,000 years ago, a worker charged with mummifying a body among the tombs of Egypt preserved what would become one of the largest ancient literary finds in history. Experts, including Cincinnati professor Kathryn Gutzwiller, said the worker cut and molded a piece of papyrus -- what to him was a scrap of paper -- into a chest cover that resembled papier-mache. The cover formed a hard layer on the mummy before intricate decorations were added. The mummy was entombed, along with the papyrus, until 1992,...

<p>SAN DIEGO (AP) Child killer David Westerfield told detectives interrogating him after the disappearance of 7-year-old Danielle van Dam, ''My life is over,'' and he asked the detectives to leave him alone with a gun.</p> <p>A newly released videotape of the interrogation, conducted three days after Danielle was reported missing, shows Westerfield sitting in a small room fielding questions from two detectives, who pleaded with him at one point to admit to the crime and tell them where to find the girl.</p>

Humans in Oregon 10,000 Years Ago? By JOSEPH B. FRAZIERAssociated Press Writer November 25, 2002, 9:31 AM EST PORTLAND, Ore. -- Researchers have found traces of a human presence on the Oregon coast dating to more than 10,000 years ago, raising the area's importance for those who study the peopling of the Americas. The findings at the Indian Sands site in Boardman State Park are more than 2,000 years older than previous discoveries along the Oregon coast. The site, about 12 miles north of Brookings, was excavated in August by a team of researchers from Oregon State University. The discovery,...

Quake-proof cement mixed '1 300 years ago' November 13 2002 at 04:36PM London - The Sixth Century builders of Hagia Sophia, the Byzantine cathedral still standing in Istanbul, discovered cement with earthquake-resistant properties 1 300 years before anyone else, a research team revealed on Wednesday. Hagia Sophia, built as a church and subsequently turned into a mosque, still stands only because its creators discovered the cement. Many of the surrounding buildings have long since succumbed to the ravages of time, including earthquakes, according to a report in the New Scientist. The structure has withstood quakes of up to 7,5 on...

Scientists find evidence of meteorite that struck Earth 3.5 billion years ago By Steve Connor Science Editor 23 August 2002 The oldest known meteorite crashed into the Earth some 3.47 billion years ago, leaving its mark in some of the world's most ancient rock formations, scientists have discovered. Although there is now no trace of the massive extraterrestrial object or its crater, geologists have identified its telltale fallout in rocks in South Africa and Australia. The researchers estimate the meteorite was 12 miles (19 kms) wide – roughly twice the size of the one that probably killed off the dinosaurs...