Clipmarks | amgumen's clips

Russian Digging

Thu, 04 Sep 2008 03:18:44 GMT

clipped by: amgumen

Just taking a step to any village outskirts and digging a few feet deep inside the soil would reveal tons of the things laying there since World War II. Almost all the territory of Western Russia was a battlefield so if you ever go to Russia you don’t need to pay a visit to an antique store, you can start digging at any place and get your part of loot.

The Round Ice

Thu, 04 Sep 2008 03:34:42 GMT

clipped by: amgumen

Clip Source: englishrussia.com

Recently a lot of strange round-ice formations have been met in Russia. People don’t know what causes ice to form first big ice circles and then ones of smaller size appear around the mother-formation.

LZ's Houses of the Holy and Giant's Causeway

Wed, 03 Sep 2008 00:20:51 GMT

clipped by: amgumen

Clip Source: slorker.com

Led Zeppelin’s Houses of the Holy album cover

featured the Giant’s Causeway, a UNESCO World Heritage site located in the northeast coast of Northern Ireland. It’s area is made up of 40,000 interlocking basalt columns… the steps you see are the result of an ancient volcanic eruption. Discovered in 1692 and announced to the world, it became a popular tourist attraction ever since the 19th century.

Basalt columns are actually a common volcanic feature and you can see it in many other places like Armenia, New Zealand, Russia and California. I’ve seen a few of them but the Giant’s causeway seems to be most impressive. Here are some pictures of them. Definitely a place to visit in Ireland.

The question is extremely simple

Tue, 02 Sep 2008 03:20:13 GMT

clipped by: amgumen

Clip Source: www.iceagenow.com

“So my question is extremely simple, we know temperature goes up and down. We know there is tremendous amount of natural variations, but for how many years must the planet cool before we begin to understand -- we politicians and scientists-- that the planet is not warming? For how many years must cooling go on?" the scientist asked to applause from the audience.

Gee was perhaps one of the most prominent and accomplished scientists attending the conference in Oslo. Gee, currently a professor at Dept. for Geosciences of Uppsala University in Sweden, was awarded the European Geosciences Union award for his scientific leadership of EUROPROBE, a multidisciplinary research project that brought hundreds of senior scientists, postdocs and doctoral students together to study tectonic structures within Europe.

Russia may cut off oil flow to the West

Fri, 29 Aug 2008 21:19:06 GMT

clipped by: amgumen

Clip Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

Fears are mounting that Russia may restrict oil deliveries to Western Europe over coming days, in response to the threat of EU sanctions and Nato naval actions in the Black Sea.

Reports have begun to circulate in Moscow that Russian oil companies are under orders from the Kremlin to prepare for a supply cut to Germany and Poland through the Druzhba (Friendship) pipeline. It is believed that executives from lead-producer LUKoil have been put on weekend alert.

Any evidence that the Kremlin is planning to use the oil weapon to intimidate the West could inflame global energy markets. US crude prices jumped to $119 a barrel yesterday on reports of hurricane warnings in the Gulf of Mexico, before falling back slightly.

Armed with $580bn of foreign reserves (the world's third largest), Russia appears willing to risk its reputation as a reliable actor on the international stage in order to pursue geo-strategic ambitions.

We are not afraid of anything, including the prospect of a Cold War," said

Obsidian

Sat, 30 Aug 2008 04:19:52 GMT

clipped by: amgumen

Clip Source: flickr.com

Clip Source: www.finescience.com

For applications where an extremely fine cutting action is required or for studies where trace metals from ordinary scalpel blades cannot be tolerated, these very special obsidian scalpels may provide the answer. They are so fine that they are used in human surgical procedures where objectionable scar tissue might result from the use of a coarser scalpel. The blade is made from obsidian a type of volcanic glass which allows a much finer blade than is possible with the conventional steel blade. In some cases this makes the relatively inexpensive obsidian scalpel a suitable substitute for an expensive diamond knife. Patterned after "stone-age" knives which first made their appearance about 18,000 years ago, these modern versions utilize hard maple wood dowelling for handles and a special epoxy coating. This seals the joint between the blade and the handle, and enables the knife to be autoclaved.

See how their models are doing

Fri, 29 Aug 2008 04:13:16 GMT

clipped by: amgumen

Clip Source: www.pdfdownload.org

'Lost towns' discovered in Amazon

Fri, 29 Aug 2008 14:54:50 GMT

clipped by: amgumen

Clip Source: news.bbc.co.uk

A remote area of the Amazon river basin was once home to densely populated towns, Science journal reports.

Researchers found evidence of a grid-like pattern of settlements connected by road networks and arranged around large central plaza

There are signs of farming, wetland management, and possibly fish farms.

Like medieval European and ancient Greek towns, those forming the Amazonian urban landscape were surrounded by large walls. These were composed of earthworks, the remains of which have survived.

Each community had an identical road, always pointing north-east to south-west, which are connected to a central plaza

Evidence was found of dams and artificial ponds

The people who once lived in the settlements are thought to have been wiped out by European colonists and the diseases they brought with them.

Motherly Love

Thu, 28 Aug 2008 04:35:46 GMT

clipped by: amgumen

Clip Source: www.darkroastedblend.com

Clip Source: flickr.com

Pre-Incan female Wari mummy unearthed in Peru

Wed, 27 Aug 2008 05:54:09 GMT

clipped by: amgumen

Clip Source: news.yahoo.com

Besides the female mummy, the tomb contained the remains of two other adults and a child. It is the first intact Wari burial site discovered at Huaca Pucllana in the capital Lima, and researchers believe it dates from about 700 AD.

The Wari people lived and ruled in what is now Peru for some 500 years, between 600 AD and 1100 AD. Their capital was near modern-day Ayacucho, in the Andes, but they traveled widely and are known for their extensive network of roads.

When in good condition, Wari tombs can be identified by the ceramic and textile offerings placed around the dead.

Small children were often sacrificed and it is common to find their bodies alongside adult ones. The child discovered with the adult mummies at Huaca Pucllana was likely sacrificed.

The discovery at Huaca Pucllana confirms the Wari people buried their dead in what is now Lima and offers a more complete picture of how burials were done

Siberian Wooden Houses

Tue, 26 Aug 2008 03:57:13 GMT

clipped by: amgumen
clipper's remarks: Visit this site

Clip Source: www.vladstudio.com

NY nuclear plant likely a quake risk

Sat, 23 Aug 2008 04:55:09 GMT

clipped by: amgumen

Clip Source: news.yahoo.com

The Indian Point nuclear reactor is within a mile or two

of both a seismic zone running from Stamford, Connecticut, to Peekskill, New York, and the Ramapo seismic line

Indian Point, which is owned by Entergy Corp, lies about 40 miles north of New York City in the town of Buchanan, which sits on the banks of the Hudson River.

The problem here comes from many subtle faults. We now see there is earthquake activity on them. Each one is small, but when you add them up, they are probably more dangerous than we thought,

Jim Steets, a spokesman for the plant, said the study added nothing new to what was known before the plant was built and that Indian Point was made to withstand a magnitude 7 quake on the Mercalli scale, equal to about 6.1 on the Richter scale.

The study said Richter magnitude 5 quakes, which are strong enough to cause damage, occurred around New York in 1737, 1783 and 1884 and that stronger quakes in the area are possible.

This year appears set to be the coolest globally this century

Fri, 22 Aug 2008 03:12:38 GMT

clipped by: amgumen

Clip Source: news.bbc.co.uk

Data from the UK Met Office shows that temperatures in the first half of the year have been more than 0.1 Celsius cooler than any year since 2000.

The principal reason is La Nina, part of the natural cycle that also includes El Nino, which cools the globe.

Earlier this year, one group of researchers suggested that another natural cycle, the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation, was likely to hold temperatures steady for about the next decade

Large Earthquake Could Strike New York City

Fri, 22 Aug 2008 04:10:43 GMT

clipped by: amgumen

Clip Source: www.livescience.com

The New York City area is at "substantially greater" risk of earthquakes than previously thought

A pattern of subtle but active faults is known to exist in the region, and now new faults have been found. The scientists say that among other things, the Indian Point nuclear power plants, 24 miles north of the city, sit astride the previously unidentified intersection of two active seismic zones.

strong quakes do occur in the Eastern United States

A 5.0 temblor in 1737, for example, knocked down chimneys in New York City and was felt from Boston to Philadelphia. A magnitude-5.5 quake in 1884 did similar damage in a wider region around New York. Another quake in this range struck in 1783.

Based on history, the researchers say quakes at least 5.0 in magnitude should be expected, on average, about every 100 years.

Clip Source: www.livescience.com

Even more serious quakes are possible

the fault lengths and stresses suggest magnitude-6 quakes, or even 7 — which would be 10 and 100 times bigger than magnitude 5 — are "quite possible

The Burj Dubai skyscraper is almost finished

Tue, 19 Aug 2008 03:01:29 GMT

clipped by: amgumen

Clip Source: www.burjdubaiskyscraper.com