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The ancient daggers. (Caricola et al., Scientific Reports, 2022) *************************************************************************** Prehistoric daggers long thought to be non-functional ceremonial objects interred in warriors' graves were actually used to slaughter and butcher animals during the early fourth millennium BCE, a new study suggests. Numerous copper-alloy daggers have been unearthed in Bronze Age warriors' graves across Europe, along with other weapons, and archaeologists previously speculated that the daggers may have served as status symbols. But scientists used a new analysis method on a set of 10 daggers, found in Pragatto, Italy in 2017, to reveal evidence that the tools had a more practical...

Analysis of Bronze Age daggers has shown that they were used for processing animal carcasses and not as non-functional symbols of identity and status, as previously thought...As daggers are often found in weapon-rich male burials, or ‘warrior graves’, many researchers speculated that they were primarily ceremonial objects used in prehistoric funerals to mark out the identity and status of the deceased. Others suggested that they may have been used as weapons or tools for crafts.However, the lack of a targeted method of analysis for copper-alloy metals, like those available for ceramic, stone, and shell artefacts, left this problem unresolved.A revolutionary...

Have you seen the Xbox game called Assassin Creed? The main character uses a fully functional arm mounted grapple hook. We all think these gadgets and hidden blade is something as fiction but Youtuber ColinFurze have managed to bring them to life and its awesome.Here's how it works? Insert CO2 cannister, point to destination, and fire! Once the grapple-hook is secure, attach the harness tether to the rope launcher. This has also got the switch on it that controls the motor. Now winch yourself up. See the action here.

A traditional Jordanian art may die out when the Abu Mohaisen family close down their shop in downtown Amman next week. For over one-hundred years, the family has produced daggers, or shibriyas, decorative knives in traditional bedouin and Hashemite styles, a longstanding Jordanian symbol of power, grace and resilience. “Back in the day, you weren’t a man if you weren’t wearing one. It is a symbol for all of Jordan,” said Abed Abu Mohaisen, who along with his five brothers spent their entire lives making the blades. The 44-year-old said the trade is more than a family business, rather a...

The Canadian Supreme Court rendered a decision that will allow orthodox Sikh students to carry traditional daggers to school. In its decision, the court noted that Sikh religion requires the wearing of the daggers. "Religious tolerance is a very important value of Canadian society," Justice Louise Charron wrote in reasons for the decision after a court case that involved 12-year-old Gurbaj Singh Multani, who was prevented from carrying his dagger at a Montreal school. The Canadian Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-CAN) praised the court's ruling, but said it didn't go far enough. "The court's respect for religious beliefs is a...