Verdict surpriza in cazul probelor din lacul Vostok

In luna februarie 2011, oamenii de stiinta au forat in premiera pana la aproape patru kilometri in lacul Vostok, aflat sub gheata din Antarctica. Cercetatorii au analizat mostrele luate si au constatat ca acestea nu contin niciun fel de forma de viata, in afara bacteriilor provenite de la instalatiile de foraj.

Lacul este acoperit in totalitate de gheata, fiind complet izolat de restul lumii, potrivit Maxi Sciences.

STATE AND SOCIETY ATTEOTIHUACAN

Between 100 BCE and 200 CE, the city of Teotihuacan grew rapidly, most of the Basin of Mexico population was relocated in the city, immense civic-religious structures were built, and symbolic and material evidence shows theearly importance of war. Rulers were probably able and powerful. Subse-quently the city did not grow, and government may have become more collec-tive, with significant constraints on rulers’ powers. 

A state religion centeredon war and fertility deities presumably served elite interests, but civic con-sciousness may also have been encouraged. A female goddess was important but probably not as pervasive as has been suggested. Political control probably did not extend beyond central Mexico, except perhaps for some outposts, andthe scale and significance of commerce are unclear. Teotihuacan’s prestige,however, spread widely in Mesoamerica, manifested especially in symbols of sacred war, used for their own ends by local elites.

So Far, No Life Found In Buried Antarctic Lake

Earlier this year, a team of Russian scientists completed a technological first – they successfully drilled to the surface of Antarctica’s Lake Vostok. The lake is buried under ice that’s over 2 and a half miles thick – meaning that any life that might still exist in the lake hasn’t been seen on the surface for thousands of years.

In February, when the drill reached the lake’s surface, the pressure differential caused water to shoot up close to 40 meters up the borehole. At that point, the water froze, and the team waited a few months to collect it. Now they have collected it – and the results are so far a disappointment.

Cracking The Code: The Decipherment Of Linear B

A conference in Cambridge earlier this month marked the 60th anniversary of the decipherment by Michael Ventris of Linear B, a script used for an early form of ancient Greek. His stunning achievement pushed back the frontiers of knowledge about the ancient world.

When during the early 20th century archaeologists excavated some of the most famous sites of Ancient Greece – notably Knossos on the island of Crete and Mycenae and Pylos on the mainland – they found large numbers of clay tablets inscribed with a type of script that baffled them. It was significantly different to any other script known at the time. Moreover, it was immediately clear that there were at least two variants of this type of writing.

Chichen Itza - O incursiune in istoria Mayasa

Desi nu este USA, poate fi considerata inca "Aventura Americana", de data asta tot pe continent, dar in Mexic unde mi-am petrecut o parte din scurta vacanta. Voi incepe seria povestilor in ordine inversa, asadar e randul uneia din cele 7 noi minuni ale lumii, Piramida de la Chichen Itza.

Inca o zi in care trezitul de dimineata m-a facut sa cred ca nu ma aflu in concediu...trebuia sa prind feryboat-ul de la ora 7 spre Playa del Carmen. Ziua avea sa ma poarte in istoria Mexicului si mai ales in cea a peninsulei Yucatan. Dupa 30 de minute pe ocean cu soarele zambind de dupa insula Cozumel pe care o lasam in urma, am poposit in Playa del Carmen.

Scientists ponder black hole behaviour

SCIENTISTS are a step closer to understanding how supermassive black holes behave after taking a photo of the phenomena, showing that it blasts a jet of material similar to a fighter jet's afterburner exhaust.

Curtin University researcher Leith Godfrey said the jets of material needed to be understood if scientists were to understand how galaxies formed and grew.

Mayan prophecies investigated The Chilam Balam books

Though there is only the one known engraving of a prediction connected to the end of the 13th Bak’tun (monument 6 Tortuguero) it is often stated, wrongly, that there is only this one place for any possible year 2012 prophecy. There is in fact more prophetic material available from the Mayan sources known as the Chilam Balam books.

These books were made up of prophecies attached to the Short Count calendar, a count of Tun’s rather than Bak’tun’s. 

De la Big Bang în prezent: o precizie de 5 secunde! Detalii despre Premiul Nobel pentru fizică 2012

Premiul Nobel pentru anul 2012 in fizica a fost acordat pentru studiul interactiunii dintre fotoni si materie, cu posibilitatea manipularii unui atom individual, studii in care mecanica cuantica joaca un rol fundamental. Aceste studii ar putea avea aplicatii extrem de interesante in viitor, precum stabilirea unui nou standard in precizia masurarii timpului sau a unor noi tehnologii.

Serge Haroche, de la Ecole Normale Superieure si David Wineland, de la National Institute of Standard and Technology, ambii in varsta de 68 de ani, sunt doi magicienii in manipularea atomilor. Cei doi cercetatori au reusit "inghetarea", capturarea si observarea atomilor individuali, fara sa le distruga proprietatile cuantice.

Трагедия "Титаника" может повториться: арктический туризм - дело рискованное

Поскольку многие участки Арктики летом бывают свободны ото льда, туда все чаще наведываются круизные суда. Такие туры очень опасны, предостерегают эксперты.

Конечно, Гранд-Каньон в США, бассейн Амазонки, Большой барьерный риф у побережья Австралии или, скажем, водопады Игуасу на границе Аргентины и Бразилии, вне всякого сомнения, относятся к неповторимым чудесам природы и притягивают массы туристов. Однако не менее уникальные ландшафты и поражающие воображение картины может предложить любителям экзотики и Арктика.

The Return of a Great 19th-Century Meteor Shower

Each year as Earth journeys around the sun, it slams into streams of particles that comets have spewed into space. When these particles, known as meteoroids, smash into the atmosphere, they generate streaks of light called meteors. The most reliable meteor showers—the Perseids in August and the Geminids in December—sport about 60 meteors an hour and require nothing more than a dark, moonless sky in order to appreciate them.