Archaeoastronomy: Göbekli Tepe

At first glance Göbekli Tepe (located about nine miles from Şanlıurfa) is vaguely reminiscent of Wiltshire’s Stonehenge, dozens of stone pillars arranged into rings. However, the difference is that Göbekli Tepe is much older than Stonehenge; 9000 years older than the Stonehenge we know and 2000 years older than it’s oldest incarnation.

Built some 11,600 years ago Göbekli Tepe contains the world’s oldest known temple and is the first human structure found that was more complex than a simple hut. When it was built it was almost certainly one of the earliest displays of teamwork, as in 10,000BC humans lived in small nomadic groups.

1% de Sahara va asigura lumea cu energie solară

Revista germană "Der Spiegel", a publicat o imagine a zonei din deșertul Sahara, necesară pentru a satisface nevoile omenirii de energie electrică, furnizată de heliocentralele termoelectrice.

Pătratele roșii de pe a doua imagine, demonstrează în mod concret zona în care vor fi instalate centralele electrice solare, care vor produce energie suficientă pentru toate nevoile lumii de astăzi (de la stînga la dreapta): pentru întreaga planetă, pentru Europa și pentru Germania.

Singularity U Launches 2012 Class: Bring On The Future!

Last Friday evening, I had the pleasure of attending the Closing Ceremony of the Graduate Studies Program at Singularity University (SU). This event is the pinnacle of a marathon-like 10-week program, in which 80 of the most promising and talented individuals from 36 countries have been challenged to change the world. And the students did not disappoint. Innovations in global health, emerging technologies, infrastructure, education, employment, and poverty were presented to the distinguished crowd, and no doubt many of these ideas will translate into real companies and movements in the coming years.

Aristotle's Metaphysics

The first major work in the history of philosophy to bear the title ―Metaphysics‖ was the treatise by Aristotle that we have come to know by that name. But Aristotle himself did not use that title or even describe his field of study as metaphysics‘; the name was evidently coined by the firstcentury C.E. editor who assembled the treatise we know as Aristotle's Metaphysics out of various smaller selections of Aristotle's works. 

The title metaphysics‘—literally, after the Physics‘— very likely indicated the place the topics discussed therein were intended to occupy in thephilosophical curriculum. They were to be studied after the treatises dealing with nature (ta phusika). In this entry, we discuss the ideas that are developed in Aristotle's treatise.