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The ancient Mayans may have had enough engineering know-how to master running water, creating fountains and even toilets by controlling water pressure, scientists now suggest... Scientists investigated the Mayan center at Palenque in Chiapas, Mexico. At its height, this major site, inhabited from roughly 100 to 800 AD, had some 1,500 structures -- residences, palaces, and temples -- holding some 6,000 inhabitants under a series of powerful rulers. The center at Palenque also had what was arguably the most unique and intricate system of water management known anywhere in the Maya lowlands. These involved elaborate subterranean aqueducts to deal with...

ROME, July 6, 2006 (Zenit.org).- As Rome temperatures soar, and the sun reflects off the travertine in the Forum and St. Peter's Square, turning the city into a giant kiln, tourists start to view an old attraction with new eyes: the fountains of Rome. While the Trevi and the Four Rivers fountains are always high on people's must-see list, it takes the scorching heat of Roman summer to see these works not only as photo opportunities, but also as examples of the generosity of Papal Rome. The seventy-odd elegant sculpted fountains, as well as hundreds of simple water spigots, ensure...

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Visitors to Highland Park's Reservoir Drive entrance next spring will be treated to a sight not seen there in 60 years. Water will spring forth from a fountain that has been dormant for decades beneath a blanket of weeds and dirt. It will be accompanied by a garden with tens of thousands of tulips, peonies, narcissus, hydrangeas and other blooms. The project is expected to cost $700,000, covered mostly by Regional Asset District sales tax money.

The fountains of lightning that rise in the sky By Roger Highfield, Science Editor (Filed: 26/06/2003) Huge discharges of lightning that flash from the tops of thunderclouds for distances of 40 miles or more, have been observed for the first time on Earth. The dramatic discovery of a new class of lightning adds to a collection of strange atmospheric electrics, with evocative names such as blue jets, sprites and elves, that have been documented by scientists in the past few years. Though there have been anecdotal reports by pilots of blobs, jets and other unusual effects for decades, scientists have...