UCLA scientist discovers plate tectonics on Mars

For years, many scientists had thought that plate tectonics existed nowhere in our solar system but on Earth. Now, a UCLA scientist has discovered that the geological phenomenon, which involves the movement of huge crustal plates beneath a planet's surface, also exists on Mars.

"Mars is at a primitive stage of plate tectonics. It gives us a glimpse of how the early Earth may have looked and may help us understand how plate tectonics began on Earth," said An Yin, a UCLA professor of Earth and space sciences and the sole author of the new research.

Startups and the Singularity: Which Boston Innovators Are Believers?

Hollywood has Scientology. The tech world has the Singularity. I’m not conflating their beliefs or intellectual frameworks. I’m not calling them cults. I’m just saying, either you believe it or you don’t.

As it would happen, I was sitting around a table at a local startup shooting the breeze about what’s on entrepreneurs’ minds these days. The guys from Boundless, an ed-tech company that just opened its site to the masses this week, said there have been numerous lunchtime debates about something called the Singularity. My first reaction was that these guys have been working way too hard.

Zapotec Digs in Mexico Show Clues to Rise and Fall

When it comes to pre-Columbian civilizations, the Aztec and Maya—known for their spectacular pyramids and temples, hieroglyphic writing systems, and elaborate, violent rituals—often overshadow the Zapotec, their less familiar counterparts centered in southern Mexico.

But the Zapotec also played a vital role in ancient Mesoamerica, and archaeologists are seeking new clues to the rise and fall of their culture and civilization, which flourished and declined in the Valley of Oaxaca at roughly the same time as the ancient Maya.

Plutarh - Viețile paralele

Bunicul lui Antoniu a fost oratorul Antoniu, partizan al lui Sylla, pe care l-a ucis Marius. Tatăl sau, Antoniu, numit şi Cretanul , n-a fost om de frunte întreburile politice nici un nume faimos; a fost om de ispravă, însă, cinstit si tare filotim.cum se poate vedea din întâmplarea următoare: n-avea cine ştie ce bogăţii şi de aceea nevasta-l silea să fie mai strâns la mână. 

Veni odată un prieten şi-i ceru împrumut o sumă. El bani n-avea, dar îi porunci unui rob din casa să pună apă într-un pahar de argint şi să i-l aducă, îi aduse robul apa şi dânsul îşi săpuni barba ca şi cum ar fi vrut să se radă.îi făcu drum apoirobului din odaie după altă treabă şi-i dădu paharul prietenului zicându-i să facă ce-o vrea cu el. Văzu însă că se face multă zarvă în casă pentru paharul acela şică nevasta sa, mânioasă, e gata să pună la cazne robii, îi mărturisi fapta si-o rugă să-lierte.

‘Sacred’ Pre-Columbian Tree Discovered Near Tenochtitlan

Mexican archaeologists discovered a pre-Columbian grave containing human skeletal remains along with relics of a “sacred tree” near the archaeological site of the Great Temple of Tenochtitlan in the historical downtown area of Mexico City, the Mexican National Anthropology and History Institute, or INAH, said.

Found in the burial ground dating back more than 500 years were the complete skeleton of a woman and over a thousand human bones of children, young people and adults.

Thucydides in London: Would the Ancient Greeks Approve of Our Modern Olympics?

The precious heritage of ancient Greece: The recognition that a life without excitement is a life scarcely worth living and that a life of excitement must inevitably be a life full of risks.

As I was watching the London Olympics, a curious thought struck me: What would the ancient Greeks think about our modern revival of their games? Would they be impressed, scandalized, or just disappointed?

If you're feeling too important, take a peek at this

No, these aren't cellphones at a darkened stadium concert.

A little larger than that. This is Messier 107. It's just one cluster of stars in our Milky Way.

The Milky Way has more than 150 of these immense star clusters.

And each one of these clusters contains hundreds of thousands of stars.

Dinozaurul Cryolophosaurus – Soparla cu creasta descoperita in Antarctica

Dinozaurul Cryolophosaurus era un urias carnivor care impresiona prin creasta colorata de deasupra capului, aceasta se intindea de la varful botului pana la frunte. Ramasitele sale fosile au fost descoperite in Antarctica si constau in cateva fragmente care au ingreunat munca cercetatorilor in determinarea genului si speciei de reptila preistorica. In urma studiilor indelungate in anul 1994 paleontologii W. R. Hammer si W. J. Hickerson au clasat specia ca fiind unica, nefiind gasita in alta parte pe Glob si au numit-o Cryolophosaurus ellioti.

Socrate sau modestia premiată

„Mulţumesc lui Dumnezeu”, scria Platon, ,,că m-am născut grec, şi nu barbar; bărbat, şi nu femeie; liber, şi nu sclav. Dar, mai ales, îi mulţumesc lui Dumnezeu că m-am născut în veacul lui Socrate.” Socrate este, mai înainte de toate, unul din cazurile rarisime de modestie premiată. Premiată nu de către contemporani, care l-au mai condamnat şi la moarte, ci de generaţiile următoare ce i-au recunoscut nemurirea operelor pe care el nu le-a scris, dar pe care elevii săi şi-au luat sarcina s-o facă.

Foiau în jurul lui, de toate vârstele, de toate condiţiile sociale şi de toate opiniile; de la aristocraticul şi turbulentul Alcibiade, până la nobilul şi seriosul Platon; de la Critias, reacţionarul, la Antistene, socialistul, şi la Aristip, anarhistul. Fiecare din aceştia l-a văzut şi l-a descris pe Maestru în felul său. Şi Diogene Laerţiu povesteşte că, atunci când Socrate a citit descrierea pe care i-o făcuse Platon, a exclamat: ,,Dumnezeule, ce de minciuni a mai turnat şi tinerelul ăsta despre mine!”

Postcard From...Baalbek

The mighty Roman ruins of Baalbek jut dramatically out of the fertile plains of Lebanon's Bekaa valley. They have drawn visitors for centuries, as chronicled in the graffiti of ancient travellers scrawled into the vast limestone walls and columns.

But with the spiralling civil war in neighbouring Syria and numerous countries warning against travel to Lebanon, this tourist season has been a tough one. On a recent trip the touts selling Hezbollah T-shirts and guidebooks outnumbered the smattering of visitors.