Mexico: Mayan Ball Court Was Celestial 'Marker'
Mexican archaeologists say they have determined that the ancient Mayas built watchtower-style structures atop the ceremonial ball court at the temples of Chichen Itza to observe the equinoxes and solstices, and they said Friday that the discovery adds to understanding of the many layers of ritual significance that the ball game had for the culture.
The structures sit atop the low walls of the court, where the Mayas played a game that consisted, as far as experts can tell, of knocking a heavy, latex ball with their elbows, knees or hips, through a stone ring set in the walls.
[Follow article link...]
)
Speedy Star Found Near Black Hole May Test Einstein Theory
A star has been discovered speeding closely around the massive black hole at the center of the Milky Way, a new study says. The finding offers the tantalizing possibility of testing Einstein's general theory of relativity on the grandest of scales.
The faint star, called S0-102, orbits the black hole in 11.2 years, making it the closest large object known in the vicinity of our galaxy's superdense center. The star travels at speeds of up to 6,600 miles (10,600 kilometers) per second and is in a stable, if changeable, orbit.
S0-102 is only the second star identified as being in short orbit around the Milky Way's black hole—the other, S0-2, takes about 16 years.
[Follow article link...]
)
Found: Largest amount of skulls at most sacred temple of the Aztec empire
MEXICO CITY (AP).- Mexican archaeologists said Friday they uncovered the largest number of skulls ever found in one offering at the most sacred temple of the Aztec empire dating back more than 500 years.
The finding reveals new ways the pre-Colombian civilization used skulls in rituals at Mexico City's Templo Mayor, experts said. That's where the most important Aztec ceremonies took place between 1325 until the Spanish conquest in 1521.
The 50 skulls were found at one sacrificial stone. Five were buried under the stone, and each had holes on both sides — signaling they were hung on a skull rack.
[Follow article link...]
Humanity has been in space for a while, but we really haven't managed to go very far. Carl Sagan once said that "the surface of the Earth is the shore of the cosmic ocean, and recently we've waded a little way out, maybe ankle deep"—that was in 1980, and we haven't risked testing the water any deeper since then.
One of the main reasons for that, though, is that space is so frustratingly massive. Voyager 1 is the fastest man-made thing ever, but 17 kilometers per second is a tiny fraction of the speed of light. Even getting to one of our nearest neighbors, Mars, would take six to eight months using conventional spaceship engines. Ideas like warp drives are still theoretical, and unlikely to be seen within our lifetimes. However, it might be possible to cut that trip to Mars down to as few as three months using a form of fusion fuel—"dilithium crystals." Yep, just like Star Trek.
[Follow article link...]
Declassified at Last: Air Force’s Supersonic Flying Saucer Schematics
An artistic impression of what the finished USAF Project 1794 flying saucer might have looked like.
Officially, aliens have never existed but flying saucers very nearly did. The National Archives has recently published never-before-seen schematics and details of a 1950s military venture, called Project 1794, which aimed to build a supersonic flying saucer.
The newly declassified materials show the U.S. Air Force had a contract with a now-defunct Canadian company to build an aircraft unlike anything seen before. Project 1794 got as far as the initial rounds of product development and into prototype design. In a memo dating from 1956 the results from pre-prototype testing are summarized and reveal exactly what the developers had hoped to create.
[Follow article link...]
Derrick Pitts, Astronomer, Wants UFOs Studied With Science
Nothing kills a career faster than being branded a kook, and in many circles, that's what you are when you admit you've seen a UFO. The stakes are raised, of course, if we're talking about academic communities, and even more so among astronomers -- people who study the skies. Many astronomers say there's nothing of any scientific merit that could result in the study of UFOs.
With the career suicide stakes for astronomers so high, some UFO researchers believe many of them are hesitant to step forward. Certainly, the Air Force's Project Bluebook -- the last officially announced government study of unidentified flying objects -- concluded that five percent of the cases investigated could not be immediately explained away.
[Follow article link...]
How Supersonic Skydiver Will Freefall Through Earth's Atmosphere
Veteran skydiver Felix Baumgartner plans to take a supersonic tour of Earth's atmospheric layers on Monday (Oct 8). The Austrian daredevil will attempt the world's highest skydive, a daring leap from 23 miles up that will send him plummeting earthward faster than the speed of sound.
On the way down, Baumgartner, 43, will pass through the stratosphere and troposphere, two of the four gaseous layers that enshroud and protect our planet. Each of these layers has unique properties.
[Follow article link...]
Ketamine for Depression: The Most Important Advance in Field in 50 Years?
In any given year, 7% of adults suffer from major depression, and at least 1 in 10 youth will reckon with the disorder at some point during their teenage years. But about 20% of these cases will not respond to current treatments; for those that do, relief may take weeks to months to come.
There is one treatment, however, that works much faster: the anesthetic and “club drug” ketamine. It takes effect within hours. A single dose of ketamine produces relief of depression that has been shown in studies to last for up to 10 days; it also appears to reduce symptoms of bipolar disorder and suicidal thoughts. Now, a new research review published in Science calls the discovery of these effects of ketamine, “”arguably the most important discovery in half a century” of depression research.
[Follow article link...]
Human Carbon Pollution Traced to Roman Times
By burning wood, humans have been significant contributors to greenhouse gas emissions as far back as the Roman Empire, researchers say.
The finding may lead scientists to rethink some aspects of climate change models, which assume humans weren't responsible for much greenhouse gas before the Industrial Revolution.
"It was believed that emissions started in 1850. We showed that humans already started to impact greenhouse effects much before," study co-author Célia Sapart of Utretcht University in the Netherlands said.
[Follow article link...]
Sea-level study shows signs of things to come
Our greenhouse gas emissions up to now have triggered an irreversible warming of the Earth that will cause sea-levels to rise for thousands of years to come, new research has shown.
The results come from a study, published today in the journal Environmental Research Letters, which sought to model sea-level changes over millennial timescales, taking into account all of the Earth's land ice and the warming of the oceans—something which has not been done before.
[Follow article link...]
Archaeologists Explore Two Mysterious Caves Near the Dead Sea
Hidden within desert desolation near the Dead Sea region of Ein Gedi, Israel, are two caves that at least one archaeologist suggests may possibly contain what remains of the lost archive of the Jewish Second Temple. The famous temple became one of King Herod's greatest architectural achievements and was destroyed by the Romans in 70 A.D. at the time of the First Jewish Revolt against the Roman Empire.
[Follow article link...]
La Bastida unearths 4,200-year-old fortification, unique in continental Europe
Similar characteristics have not been observed in other constructions of the Bronze Age, with three-metre thick walls, square towers originally measuring up to seven metres, a monumental entrance and an ogival arched postern gate; a fully conserved architectural element unique in Europe in that period.
The wall protected a city measuring 4 hectares located on top of a hill. With architectural elements reminiscent of people with Eastern styled military skills, its model is typical of ancient civilisations of the Mediterranean, such as the second city of Troy.
[Follow article link...]
A Neanderthal trove in Madrid
The Lozoya River Valley, in the Madrid mountain range of Guadarrama, could easily be called "Neanderthal Valley," says the paleontologist Juan Luis Arsuaga.
"It is protected by two strings of mountains, it is rich in fauna, it is a privileged spot from an environmental viewpoint, and it is ideal for the Neanderthal, given that it provided the with good hunting grounds."
This is not just a hypothesis: scientists working on site in Pinilla del Valle, near the reservoir, have already found nine Neanderthal teeth, remains of bonfires and thousands of animal fossils, including some from enormous aurochs (the ancestor of cattle, each the length of two bulls), rhinoceros and fallow deer.
[Follow article link...]
Ancient Egyptian mummy saved by engineering and LEGO
Thanks to an ambitious conservation project and some tiny pieces of plastic, the ancient Egyptian mummy case of Hor is now on display in the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge.
The conservation of the cartonnage mummy case was undertaken with the assistance of the Department of Engineering, who helped construct clever frames to support the delicate case during conservation and a new display case with internal supports using LEGO.
[Follow article link...]
Electromagnetic cloaking possible with ordinary plastic, study finds
A metal object can be made invisible with the help of ordinary plastic, Pekka Alitalo and Constantinos Valagiannopoulos, researchers from the School of Electrical Engineering, have shown in their study.
The object, however, does not become invisible to the human eye – only to electromagnetic radiation at microwave frequencies. In practical terms, this means that electromagnetic waves travelling, for example, between two antennas, do not detect an object located in their path, allowing the waves to travel the distance between them despite the obstacle, without any disruption to communications.
[Follow article link...]
UK stays cautious over thorium as nuclear fuel
The claim is dramatic: An alternative nuclear fuel that could offer a safer and more abundant alternative to the uranium that powers conventional reactors. That is what supporters have to say about thorium, a mildly radioactive element that occurs naturally, with reserves in Australia, the United States, Turkey, India, Brazil and Venezuela. Scientists promoting thorium as an alternative nuclear fuel believe it is a safer, more economical way of generating nuclear power than uranium. A new report out in the UK, however, begs to differ.
[Follow article link...]
Abortion rates plummet with free birth control
Providing birth control to women at no cost substantially reduced unplanned pregnancies and cut abortion rates by 62 percent to 78 percent over the national rate, a new study shows.
The research, by investigators at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, appears online Oct. 4 in Obstetrics & Gynecology.
[Follow article link...]
Snake Venom Contains Potent Painkiller
The black mamba is one of the world's most venomous snakes—its bite can kill a human in just half an hour. But along with deadly neurotoxins, the black mamba's venom has a special ingredient: a painkiller as potent as morphine. So says a study in the journal Nature.
Researchers isolated proteins from mamba venom called mambalgins, and injected them into mice. Then they tested how long it took those mice to yank their paws out of water heated to a painful—but not damaging—115 degrees Fahrenheit. Turns out mice treated with mambalgins could take the heat for just as long as mice dosed with morphine, indicating the two drugs had similar pain-relieving effects.
[Follow article link...]
BPA's real threat may be after it has metabolized
Bisphenol A or BPA is a synthetic chemical widely used in the making of plastic products ranging from bottles and food can linings to toys and water supply lines. When these plastics degrade, BPA is released into the environment and routinely ingested.
New research, however, from the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine suggests it is the metabolic changes that take place once BPA is broken down inside the body that pose the greater health threat.
More than 90 percent of all Americans are believed to carry varying levels of BPA exposure.
[Follow article link...]
Mexico: Mayan Ball Court Was Celestial 'Marker'
Mexican archaeologists say they have determined that the ancient Mayas built watchtower-style structures atop the ceremonial ball court at the temples of Chichen Itza to observe the equinoxes and solstices, and they said Friday that the discovery adds to understanding of the many layers of ritual significance that the ball game had for the culture.
The structures sit atop the low walls of the court, where the Mayas played a game that consisted, as far as experts can tell, of knocking a heavy, latex ball with their elbows, knees or hips, through a stone ring set in the walls. | |
)
Speedy Star Found Near Black Hole May Test Einstein Theory
A star has been discovered speeding closely around the massive black hole at the center of the Milky Way, a new study says. The finding offers the tantalizing possibility of testing Einstein's general theory of relativity on the grandest of scales.
The faint star, called S0-102, orbits the black hole in 11.2 years, making it the closest large object known in the vicinity of our galaxy's superdense center. The star travels at speeds of up to 6,600 miles (10,600 kilometers) per second and is in a stable, if changeable, orbit. S0-102 is only the second star identified as being in short orbit around the Milky Way's black hole—the other, S0-2, takes about 16 years. | |
)
Found: Largest amount of skulls at most sacred temple of the Aztec empire
MEXICO CITY (AP).- Mexican archaeologists said Friday they uncovered the largest number of skulls ever found in one offering at the most sacred temple of the Aztec empire dating back more than 500 years.
The finding reveals new ways the pre-Colombian civilization used skulls in rituals at Mexico City's Templo Mayor, experts said. That's where the most important Aztec ceremonies took place between 1325 until the Spanish conquest in 1521. The 50 skulls were found at one sacrificial stone. Five were buried under the stone, and each had holes on both sides — signaling they were hung on a skull rack. | |
Humanity has been in space for a while, but we really haven't managed to go very far. Carl Sagan once said that "the surface of the Earth is the shore of the cosmic ocean, and recently we've waded a little way out, maybe ankle deep"—that was in 1980, and we haven't risked testing the water any deeper since then.
One of the main reasons for that, though, is that space is so frustratingly massive. Voyager 1 is the fastest man-made thing ever, but 17 kilometers per second is a tiny fraction of the speed of light. Even getting to one of our nearest neighbors, Mars, would take six to eight months using conventional spaceship engines. Ideas like warp drives are still theoretical, and unlikely to be seen within our lifetimes. However, it might be possible to cut that trip to Mars down to as few as three months using a form of fusion fuel—"dilithium crystals." Yep, just like Star Trek. | |
Declassified at Last: Air Force’s Supersonic Flying Saucer Schematics
An artistic impression of what the finished USAF Project 1794 flying saucer might have looked like.
Officially, aliens have never existed but flying saucers very nearly did. The National Archives has recently published never-before-seen schematics and details of a 1950s military venture, called Project 1794, which aimed to build a supersonic flying saucer.
The newly declassified materials show the U.S. Air Force had a contract with a now-defunct Canadian company to build an aircraft unlike anything seen before. Project 1794 got as far as the initial rounds of product development and into prototype design. In a memo dating from 1956 the results from pre-prototype testing are summarized and reveal exactly what the developers had hoped to create.
Officially, aliens have never existed but flying saucers very nearly did. The National Archives has recently published never-before-seen schematics and details of a 1950s military venture, called Project 1794, which aimed to build a supersonic flying saucer.
The newly declassified materials show the U.S. Air Force had a contract with a now-defunct Canadian company to build an aircraft unlike anything seen before. Project 1794 got as far as the initial rounds of product development and into prototype design. In a memo dating from 1956 the results from pre-prototype testing are summarized and reveal exactly what the developers had hoped to create.
Derrick Pitts, Astronomer, Wants UFOs Studied With Science
Nothing kills a career faster than being branded a kook, and in many circles, that's what you are when you admit you've seen a UFO. The stakes are raised, of course, if we're talking about academic communities, and even more so among astronomers -- people who study the skies. Many astronomers say there's nothing of any scientific merit that could result in the study of UFOs.
With the career suicide stakes for astronomers so high, some UFO researchers believe many of them are hesitant to step forward. Certainly, the Air Force's Project Bluebook -- the last officially announced government study of unidentified flying objects -- concluded that five percent of the cases investigated could not be immediately explained away. | |
How Supersonic Skydiver Will Freefall Through Earth's Atmosphere
Veteran skydiver Felix Baumgartner plans to take a supersonic tour of Earth's atmospheric layers on Monday (Oct 8). The Austrian daredevil will attempt the world's highest skydive, a daring leap from 23 miles up that will send him plummeting earthward faster than the speed of sound.
On the way down, Baumgartner, 43, will pass through the stratosphere and troposphere, two of the four gaseous layers that enshroud and protect our planet. Each of these layers has unique properties. | |
Ketamine for Depression: The Most Important Advance in Field in 50 Years?
In any given year, 7% of adults suffer from major depression, and at least 1 in 10 youth will reckon with the disorder at some point during their teenage years. But about 20% of these cases will not respond to current treatments; for those that do, relief may take weeks to months to come.
There is one treatment, however, that works much faster: the anesthetic and “club drug” ketamine. It takes effect within hours. A single dose of ketamine produces relief of depression that has been shown in studies to last for up to 10 days; it also appears to reduce symptoms of bipolar disorder and suicidal thoughts. Now, a new research review published in Science calls the discovery of these effects of ketamine, “”arguably the most important discovery in half a century” of depression research.
There is one treatment, however, that works much faster: the anesthetic and “club drug” ketamine. It takes effect within hours. A single dose of ketamine produces relief of depression that has been shown in studies to last for up to 10 days; it also appears to reduce symptoms of bipolar disorder and suicidal thoughts. Now, a new research review published in Science calls the discovery of these effects of ketamine, “”arguably the most important discovery in half a century” of depression research.
Human Carbon Pollution Traced to Roman Times
By burning wood, humans have been significant contributors to greenhouse gas emissions as far back as the Roman Empire, researchers say.
The finding may lead scientists to rethink some aspects of climate change models, which assume humans weren't responsible for much greenhouse gas before the Industrial Revolution. "It was believed that emissions started in 1850. We showed that humans already started to impact greenhouse effects much before," study co-author Célia Sapart of Utretcht University in the Netherlands said. | |
Sea-level study shows signs of things to come
Our greenhouse gas emissions up to now have triggered an irreversible warming of the Earth that will cause sea-levels to rise for thousands of years to come, new research has shown.
The results come from a study, published today in the journal Environmental Research Letters, which sought to model sea-level changes over millennial timescales, taking into account all of the Earth's land ice and the warming of the oceans—something which has not been done before.
The results come from a study, published today in the journal Environmental Research Letters, which sought to model sea-level changes over millennial timescales, taking into account all of the Earth's land ice and the warming of the oceans—something which has not been done before.
Archaeologists Explore Two Mysterious Caves Near the Dead Sea
Hidden within desert desolation near the Dead Sea region of Ein Gedi, Israel, are two caves that at least one archaeologist suggests may possibly contain what remains of the lost archive of the Jewish Second Temple. The famous temple became one of King Herod's greatest architectural achievements and was destroyed by the Romans in 70 A.D. at the time of the First Jewish Revolt against the Roman Empire.
| |
La Bastida unearths 4,200-year-old fortification, unique in continental Europe
Similar characteristics have not been observed in other constructions of the Bronze Age, with three-metre thick walls, square towers originally measuring up to seven metres, a monumental entrance and an ogival arched postern gate; a fully conserved architectural element unique in Europe in that period.
The wall protected a city measuring 4 hectares located on top of a hill. With architectural elements reminiscent of people with Eastern styled military skills, its model is typical of ancient civilisations of the Mediterranean, such as the second city of Troy.
The wall protected a city measuring 4 hectares located on top of a hill. With architectural elements reminiscent of people with Eastern styled military skills, its model is typical of ancient civilisations of the Mediterranean, such as the second city of Troy.
A Neanderthal trove in Madrid
The Lozoya River Valley, in the Madrid mountain range of Guadarrama, could easily be called "Neanderthal Valley," says the paleontologist Juan Luis Arsuaga.
"It is protected by two strings of mountains, it is rich in fauna, it is a privileged spot from an environmental viewpoint, and it is ideal for the Neanderthal, given that it provided the with good hunting grounds." This is not just a hypothesis: scientists working on site in Pinilla del Valle, near the reservoir, have already found nine Neanderthal teeth, remains of bonfires and thousands of animal fossils, including some from enormous aurochs (the ancestor of cattle, each the length of two bulls), rhinoceros and fallow deer. | |
Ancient Egyptian mummy saved by engineering and LEGO
Thanks to an ambitious conservation project and some tiny pieces of plastic, the ancient Egyptian mummy case of Hor is now on display in the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge.
The conservation of the cartonnage mummy case was undertaken with the assistance of the Department of Engineering, who helped construct clever frames to support the delicate case during conservation and a new display case with internal supports using LEGO. | |
Electromagnetic cloaking possible with ordinary plastic, study finds
A metal object can be made invisible with the help of ordinary plastic, Pekka Alitalo and Constantinos Valagiannopoulos, researchers from the School of Electrical Engineering, have shown in their study.
The object, however, does not become invisible to the human eye – only to electromagnetic radiation at microwave frequencies. In practical terms, this means that electromagnetic waves travelling, for example, between two antennas, do not detect an object located in their path, allowing the waves to travel the distance between them despite the obstacle, without any disruption to communications. | |
UK stays cautious over thorium as nuclear fuel
The claim is dramatic: An alternative nuclear fuel that could offer a safer and more abundant alternative to the uranium that powers conventional reactors. That is what supporters have to say about thorium, a mildly radioactive element that occurs naturally, with reserves in Australia, the United States, Turkey, India, Brazil and Venezuela. Scientists promoting thorium as an alternative nuclear fuel believe it is a safer, more economical way of generating nuclear power than uranium. A new report out in the UK, however, begs to differ.
| |
Abortion rates plummet with free birth control
Providing birth control to women at no cost substantially reduced unplanned pregnancies and cut abortion rates by 62 percent to 78 percent over the national rate, a new study shows.
The research, by investigators at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, appears online Oct. 4 in Obstetrics & Gynecology.
The research, by investigators at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, appears online Oct. 4 in Obstetrics & Gynecology.
Snake Venom Contains Potent Painkiller
The black mamba is one of the world's most venomous snakes—its bite can kill a human in just half an hour. But along with deadly neurotoxins, the black mamba's venom has a special ingredient: a painkiller as potent as morphine. So says a study in the journal Nature.
Researchers isolated proteins from mamba venom called mambalgins, and injected them into mice. Then they tested how long it took those mice to yank their paws out of water heated to a painful—but not damaging—115 degrees Fahrenheit. Turns out mice treated with mambalgins could take the heat for just as long as mice dosed with morphine, indicating the two drugs had similar pain-relieving effects.
Researchers isolated proteins from mamba venom called mambalgins, and injected them into mice. Then they tested how long it took those mice to yank their paws out of water heated to a painful—but not damaging—115 degrees Fahrenheit. Turns out mice treated with mambalgins could take the heat for just as long as mice dosed with morphine, indicating the two drugs had similar pain-relieving effects.
BPA's real threat may be after it has metabolized
Bisphenol A or BPA is a synthetic chemical widely used in the making of plastic products ranging from bottles and food can linings to toys and water supply lines. When these plastics degrade, BPA is released into the environment and routinely ingested.
New research, however, from the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine suggests it is the metabolic changes that take place once BPA is broken down inside the body that pose the greater health threat. More than 90 percent of all Americans are believed to carry varying levels of BPA exposure. | |
The 20 Most Significant Inventions in the History of Food and Drink
The Royal Society, the UK's national academy of science, had a question: What are the most meaningful innovations in humanity's culinary history? What mattered more to the development of civilization's cultivation of food: the oven? The fridge? The plough? The spork?
To answer that question, the Society convened a group of its Fellows -- including, yup, a Nobel Prize Winner -- and asked them to whittle down a list of 100 culinarily innovative tools down to 20. That list was then voted on by the Fellows and by a group of "experts in the food and drink industry," its tools ranked according to four criteria: accessibility, productivity, aesthetics, and health. |  |
Anthropologist finds evidence of hominin meat eating 1.5 million years ago
A skull fragment unearthed by anthropologists in Tanzania shows that our ancient ancestors were eating meat at least 1.5 million years ago, shedding new light into the evolution of human physiology and brain development.
“Meat eating has always been considered one of the things that made us human, with the protein contributing to the growth of our brains,” said Charles Musiba, Ph.D., associate professor of anthropology at the University of Colorado Denver, who helped make the discovery. “Our work shows that 1.5 million years ago we were not opportunistic meat eaters, we were actively hunting and eating meat.” The study was published Wednesday in the peer-reviewed journal PLOS ONE. |  |
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