The man who discovered a ‘lost’ wonder of the world

Among Cambridge University Library’s 200 miles of shelving and eight million books  are three soft leather folders and a scrap book volume sitting alongside countless other items in the manuscripts and archives of its Near Eastern collection.

Unremarkable to the casual observer, the  contents of the folders include  personal letters, sketches, bills of sale, letters of introduction and other papers.

Biblical-Type Floods Are Real, and They're Absolutely Enormous

After teaching geology at the University of Washington for a decade, I had become embarrassed that I hadn’t yet seen the deep canyons where tremendous Ice Age floods scoured down into solid rock to sculpt the scablands. So I decided to help lead a field trip for students to see the giant erosion scars on the local landforms.

We drove across the Columbia River and continued eastward, dropping into Moses Coulee, a canyon with vertical walls of layered basalt. We gathered the students on a small rise and asked them how the canyon had formed. They immediately ruled out wind and glaciers. The valley was not U-shaped like a typical glacial valley, and none of us could imagine how wind might gouge a canyon out of hard basalt. But neither were there rivers or streams. After a while I pointed out that we were standing on a pile of gravel. I asked how the rounded granite pebbles came to be there when the closest source of granite lay over the horizon. Silence.

Hubble Zooms in on the Center of M4

This new image from Hubble shows an up-close look at the center of M4 or Messier 4, a global cluster located in the constellation of Scorpius roughly 7,200 light-years away.

This sparkling picture taken by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope shows the center of globular cluster M4. The power of Hubble has resolved the cluster into a multitude of glowing orbs, each a colossal nuclear furnace.

M4 is relatively close to us, lying 7,200 light-years distant, making it a prime object for study. It contains several tens of thousands stars and is noteworthy in being home to many white dwarfs — the cores of ancient, dying stars whose outer layers have drifted away into space.

Diogenes Laërtius: The Life of Epicurus

EPICURUS was an Athenian, and the son of Neocles and Chærestrate, of the burgh of Gargettus, and of the family of the Philaidæ, as Metrodorus tells us in his treatise on Nobility of Birth. 

Some writers, and among them Heraclides, in his Abridgment of Sotion, say, that as theAthenians had Colonis and Samos, he was brought up there, and came to Athens in his eighteenthyear, while Xenocrates was president of the Academy, and Aristotle at Chalcis. But after the deathof Alexander, the Macedonian, when the Athenians were driven out of Samos by Perdiccas,Epicurus went to Colophon to his father.

And when he had spent some time there, and collected some disciples, he again returned toAthens, in the time of Anaxicrates, and for some time studied philosophy, mingling with the rest of the philosophers; but subsequently, he somehow or other established the school which wascalled after his name; and he used to say, that he began to study philosophy when he was fourteenyears of age.

Funding helps protect Angkor Wat Temple complex

The Cambodian Government and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) signed an agreement on September 6 to protect the Angkor Wat Temple complex.

The deal was agreed to by Cambodia’s Deputy Prime Minister Sok An and UNESCO Representative to Cambodia Anne Lemaistre.

After the signing ceremony, Sok An said that the project will cost $250,000, including $200,000 provided by the Italian government and $50,000 coming from the Cambodian government.

Planck Satellite Observations May Help Solve the Mystery of Dark Matter

The Planck Satellite has observed a very unique emission of radio radiation from the center of the Milky Way, moving scientists closer than ever to a solution to the origin of dark matter.

The universe is comprised of a large amount of invisible matter, dark matter. It fills the space between the galaxies and between the stars in the galaxies. Since the prediction of the existence of dark matter more than 70 years ago, all sorts of researchers – astronomers, cosmologists and particle physicists have been looking for answers to what it could be. With the latest observations from the Planck satellite, researchers from the Niels Bohr Institute, among others, may be closer than ever to a solution to the origin of the mysterious dark matter.

THE EPIC OF GILGAMESH

I WILL proclaim to the world the deeds of Gilgamesh. This was the man to whom all things were known; thiswas the king who knew the countries of the world. He was wise, he saw mysteries and knew secret things, he brought us a tale of the days before the flood. He went on a long journey, was weary, worn-out with labour,returning he rested, he engraved on a stone the whole story.

When the gods created Gilgamesh they gave him a perfect body. Shamash the glorious sun endowed him with beauty, Adad the god of the storm endowed him with courage, the great gods made his beauty perfect, surpassing allothers, terrifying like a great wild bull. Two thirds they made him god and one third man.

Ciocnirile găurilor negre şi spaţiu-timpul

Au atras uriaşele găuri negre primele galaxii împreună sau au acestea au apărut în interiorul acestor galaxii? E un mister ce durează de mult timp. O nouă analiză a undelor gravitaţionale generate de coliziunea găurilor negre ar putea dezvălui răspunsul.

Majoritatea marilor galaxii pe care le vedem au găuri negre supermasive în centrele lor. Atunci când aceste galaxii se ciocnesc, găurile negre fuzionează într-una singură mai mare şi mai masivă, conform teoriei. Cu toate acestea, observaţiile găurii negre finale nu au adus nici o informaţie despre găurile negre originale.

The return of folklore

Why are gnomes and trolls suddenly back in the limelight?

“History becomes legend, legend becomes myth,” said Galadriel in the film version of The Lord of the Rings from 2001.

And during that first decade in the new millennium, the interest in fantasy, legends and myths exploded in the western world. Harry Potter, The Lord of the Rings, True Blood, and most recently Game of Thrones, are all largely based on old folklore. Surprisingly much of it includes elements from our own Norse mythology and Scandinavian folklore.

Găurile negre şi „bosenova” axionilor

Nori de axioni, particule încă nedescoperite, dar care ar putea exista în număr copios în Univers, s-ar forma şi ar suferi un colaps gravitaţional, eveniment numit „bosenovă”, în apropierea găurilor negre, generând unde gravitaţionale intense.

Găurile negre ar putea concura cu succes cu acceleratoarele de particule în studiul compoziţiei Universului.