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Stonehenge 'older than believed'

Mon, 13 Oct 2008 23:25:25 GMT

clipped by: invictus
clipper's remarks: Say goodbye to "conventional" 2300 BCE date. Every evidence backs the "older" theories which suggested a construction date well before 3000 BCE.

Clip Source: news.bbc.co.uk

New findings at Stonehenge suggest its stones were erected much earlier than thought, challenging the site's conventional history.

A new excavation puts the stones' arrival at 3000 BC - almost 500 years earlier than originally thought - and suggests it was mainly a burial site.

The latest results are from a dig by the Stonehenge Riverside Project.

It is in conflict with recent research dating construction to 2300 BC and suggesting it was a healing centre.

The 2300 BC date was arrived at by carbon dating and was the major finding from an excavation inside the henge by professors Tim Darvill and Geoff Wainwright.

That dig was the subject of a BBC Timewatch documentary.

The team suggests the 2300 BC date relates to the time when the stones were moved from the outer pits to the centre of the site.

Professor Parker-Pearson said: "It's very exciting that we have evidence for stones right from its beginnings around 3000 BC.

Tags: archaeology, britain, stonehenge

The World's Oldest Temple - 12,000 year-old Gobekli Tepe

Mon, 13 Oct 2008 21:51:24 GMT

clipped by: invictus
clipper's remarks: From Archaeology Magazine's November/December 2008 issue...

The press here is fond of calling the site "the Turkish Stonehenge," but the comparison hardly does justice to this 25-acre arrangement of at least seven stone circles. The first structures at Göbekli Tepe were built as early as 10,000 B.C., predating their famous British counterpart by about 7,000 years.

Clip Source: www.archaeology.org

The oldest man-made place of worship yet discovered, Göbekli Tepe is "one of the most important monuments in the world," says Hassan Karabulut, associate curator of the nearby Urfa Museum. He and archaeologist Zerrin Ekdogan of the Turkish Ministry of Culture guide me around the site. Their enthusiasm for the ancient temple is palpable.

Before the discovery of Göbekli Tepe, archaeologists believed that societies in the early Neolithic were organized into small bands of hunter-gatherers and that the first complex religious practices were developed by groups that had already mastered agriculture. Scholars thought that the earliest monumental architecture was possible only after agriculture provided Neolithic people with food surpluses, freeing them from a constant focus on day-to-day survival. A site of unbelievable artistry and intricate detail, Göbekli Tepe has turned this theory on its head.

Tags: gobekli tepe, turkey, prehistory, neolithic, archaeology, science

Running on Empty (on Purpose)

Mon, 13 Oct 2008 17:01:25 GMT

clipped by: balthazarus
clipper's remarks: A green race.

Clip Source: www.nytimes.com

Running on Empty (on Purpose)

This past weekend, six teams completed the first leg of "Escape From Berkeley." They used alternative-fuel-burning vehicles, which had to be street legal. They were allowed to start with a single gallon of whatever fuel they used and had to reach Las Vegas without using petroleum.

Clip Source: www.nytimes.com

While not in the race, a giant fire-breathing snail — made of metal and wood — was in attendance.

Clip Source: www.nytimes.com

Shannon O'Hare made final adjustments to his vegetable-oil-fired, steam-powered vehicle, a highly modified horse cart. A catch of the race, from Berkeley to Las Vegas, is that participants have to find or scavenge their go-go juice.

Clip Source: www.nytimes.com

Geo Homsy wrote software for a wood-chip-powered Honda Accord. His team did not finish its preparations in time for the race.

Clip Source: www.nytimes.com

debris-powered Dodge truck, which runs on a gasification process. The vehicle burns wood, paper, manure, anything combustible

Clip Source: www.nytimes.com

The fuel tank for a vegetable-oil-powered entry

Clip Source: www.nytimes.com

could go 72 miles an hour

Clip Source: www.nytimes.com

15 miles an hour.

Tags: energy, green technology

A Loved One

Mon, 13 Oct 2008 12:45:53 GMT

clipped by: debbyski
clipper's remarks: "As the outrage over his gruesome death settled in, so did testimonials about the disheveled homeless man with a Buddha-like frame known in the neighborhood as "John," "Mr. John" or "Grimley." People spoke about his piercing blue eyes and his kind, quiet manner. The owners of the local convenience store spoke about how conscientious he was.

"He never paid a penny less," said Anjana Bhowmick, owner of Bengal Liquor store

"I feel that it has been a great comfort to myself and my brothers and sisters to know that he was not alone, unnoticed, untouched by other humans -- because that is what we had imagined," McGraham-Paisley said in an e-mail to The Times."

Clip Source: www.latimes.com

After he sank into depression in the early 1980s and lost his job at the old Ambassador Hotel, his sisters got him to see a therapist. But it didn't work. In desperation, they tried to get him committed, but he skipped out.

And so John Robert McGraham's sisters settled into a pattern: visiting their brother on the streets of Mid-Wilshire whenever they could. They brought him food, money and clothing. They brought their children to see their "Uncle Johnny." The sisters were pleasantly surprised to learn that the neighborhood -- with poor immigrants and merchants -- also looked out for him.

Then last week, someone threw gasoline from a red canister on the homeless man who seemed rooted to the corner of 3rd and Berendo streets, in a densely populated, diverse neighborhood west of downtown. Neighbors rushed to save him in the Thursday night darkness. But his body had been charred, and he died.

Ignite Your Brainpower with the 20 Smartest Foods on Earth

Tue, 14 Oct 2008 18:44:44 GMT

clipped by: wildcat

Clip Source: www.ecosalon.com

Simply put, your brain likes to eat. And it likes powerful fuel: quality fats, antioxidants, and small, steady amounts of the best carbs.

On a deadline? Need to rally? Avoid the soda, vending machine snacks and tempting Starbucks pastries and go for these powerful brain boosters instead. The path to a bigger, better brain is loaded with Omega-3 fats, antioxidants, and fiber. Give your brain a kick start: eat the following foods on a daily or weekly basis for results you will notice.

1. Avocado

2. Blueberries

3. Wild Salmon

4. Nuts

5. Seeds

6. Coffee

7. Oatmeal

8. Beans

9. Pomegranate

Brown Rice

11. Tea

12. Chocolate

13. Oysters

14. Olive Oil

15. Tuna

Garlic

Tags: brain, power, smart food

5 Great Science Books to Expand Your Mind

Tue, 14 Oct 2008 13:25:48 GMT

clipped by: Silkweaver
clipper's remarks: I have read all mentioned books. Highly recommended and serious reading list.

Clip Source: www.readwriteweb.com

One of the great discoveries of modern science was the realization of how interconnected the world is. The deterministic, Newtonian view of a clockwork Universe was replaced by the much more dynamic, uncertain and entangled world of Quantum Mechanics. The new world is the one where Godel forever cut hopes for completeness in mathematics and Turing showed that computation, like the future, is fundamentally unpredictable.

The recently discovered science of complex systems is about common patterns that span diverse disciplines from physics to biology, from ecology to economics.

we will discuss 5 different books that will get you fired up about modern science.

1. Godel, Escher, Bach, by Douglas Hofstadter

2. Complexity by Mitchell Waldrop

3. At Home in the Universe, by Stuart Kauffman

4. The User Illusion, by Tor Norretranders

5. Programming the Universe, by Seth Lloyd

Tags: complexity, modern science, patterns, books

Miners strike over NRA anti-Obama harassment

Tue, 14 Oct 2008 21:18:59 GMT

clipped by: masbury
clipper's remarks: After union votes to back Obama, company lets NRA on grounds to change their minds. Next door in VA, a flier circulates among coal miners: "Barack Obama Won't Take Away Your Gun, But John McCain Will Take Away Your Union."

Clip Source: gristmill.grist.org

Coal production at the Blacksville No. 2 Mine in Monongalia County, W.Va., came to a halt for one day last week when all the miners stayed home in protest after a National Rifle Association camera crew tried to get them to bad-mouth Barack Obama on film.

The UMWA has endorsed the Democratic presidential nominee.

a lot of the miners felt this was a direct slap in the face of the union because they were trying to coerce our people into saying things against Barack Obama

"Consol doesn't let anybody on their property -- never," said Safety Committee Member Mark Dorsey, "And for them to let the NRA come on the property and solicit our membership was totally uncalled for. We made our endorsement to our political process and we didn't bother them and they shouldn't be harassing our membership over this."

"Barack Obama Won't Take Away Your Gun," says one flier circulating among coal miners, "But John McCain Will Take Away Your Union."

Los Angeles Times piece on race and the election

Tags: union, labor, mccain, obama, nra

Its not just fiction - researchers are developing a neural implant that can think independently...

Tue, 14 Oct 2008 08:56:49 GMT

clipped by: einbar
clipper's remarks: "The questions and implications are endless, and while they are all likely far away possibilities, we now know its not just fiction. In reality, technological advancements often lead to real changes that are much stranger that fiction. The eventual melding of the human mind with advanced computer technology would revolutionize the world ways that we cannot even possibly imagine."

Clip Source: www.dailygalaxy.com

Will future humans have computers implanted in their brains? Researchers are developing a neural implant that can think independently—just like the human brain does. Creepy? Yeah. Cool? Definitely.

Scientists at the University of Florida aren’t just creating a neural implant that can translate human brain signals, but one that can act independently to increase its efficiency and synergy with the brain as it learns new things.

In the grand scheme of brain-machine interfaces, this is a complete paradigm change,"

"This idea opens up all kinds of possibilities for how we interact with devices. It's not just about giving instructions but about those devices assisting us in a common goal. You know the goal, the computer knows the goal and you work together to solve the task."

These “brain computers” are programmed with complex algorithms that can interpret thoughts. But the algorithms used in current brain-machine interfaces are incapable of adapting to change, Sanchez explains.

Hmmm, this pretty much sums up the mainstream media problem...

Mon, 13 Oct 2008 11:45:05 GMT

clipped by: tabsey
clipper's remarks: Not really humour, more satire.

Clip Source: mail.google.com

Tags: satire

Fear of Colours and the Colour of Fears

Mon, 13 Oct 2008 19:33:31 GMT

clipped by: JohnWaterman

Clip Source: www.colourlovers.com

Chromatophobia - The fear of colors.

Chromatophobia is an abnormal and persistent fear of colors

Specific Color Phobias:

Phodophobia
Fear of the Color Red

Chrysophobia
Fear of the Color Orange

Xanthophobia
Fear of the Color Yellow

Chlorophobia
Fear of the Color Green

Cyanophobia
Fear of the Color Blue

Porphyrophobia
Fear of the Color Purple

Leukoophobia
Fear of the Color White

Melanophobia
Fear of the Color Black

Common and Strange Phobia Color Association

Coulrophobia - The fear of clowns.

Ablutophobia - The fear of washing or bathing.

Trypanophobia - The fear of needles.

Arachnophobia - The fear of spiders.

Selachophobia - The fear of sharks.

Caligynephobia: The fear of beautiful women.

Somniphobia - The fear of sleeping.

Pediophobia - The Fear of dolls.

Synthetic telepathy- communicating by thought alone..

Tue, 14 Oct 2008 09:09:38 GMT

clipped by: einbar
clipper's remarks: "When I was a kid I occasionally said things that were inappropriate, and I learned not to do that," said D'Zmura. "I think that people would learn to think in a way the computer couldn't interpret. Or they can just switch it off."

Clip Source: dsc.discovery.com

The U.S. Army is developing a technology known as synthetic telepathy that would allow someone to create email or voice mail and send it by thought alone. The concept is based on reading electrical activity in the brain using an electroencephalograph, or EEG

| WATCH VIDEO: Imagine playing a video game only by using your brain...

Clip Source: dsc.discovery.com

Known as synthetic telepathy, the technology is based on reading electrical activity in the brain using an electroencephalograph, or EEG. Similar technology is being marketed as a way to control video games by thought.

The idea of communicating by thought alone is not a new one. In the 1960s, a researcher strapped an EEG to his head and, with some training, could stop and start his brain's alpha waves to compose Morse code messages.

Clip Source: dsc.discovery.com

"When I was a kid I occasionally said things that were inappropriate, and I learned not to do that," said D'Zmura. "I think that people would learn to think in a way the computer couldn't interpret. Or they can just switch it off."

A Green New Deal

Tue, 14 Oct 2008 08:29:26 GMT

clipped by: dulios

Clip Source: www.independent.co.uk

A 'Green New Deal' can save the world's economy, says UN

Top economists and United Nations leaders are working on a "Green New Deal" to create millions of jobs, revive the world economy, slash poverty and avert environmental disaster, as the financial markets plunge into their deepest crisis since the Great Depression.

The ambitious plan – the start of which will be formally launched in London next week - will call on world leaders, including the new US President, to promote a massive redirection of investment away from the speculation that has caused the bursting “financial and housing bubbles” and into job-creating programmes to restore the natural systems that underpin the world economy.

It aims to convince them that, far from restricting growth, healing the global environment will be a desperately -needed driving force behind it.

It, too, envisages basing recovery on providing work for the poor