Oil Is Mastery

George Sarton: What Did Homer Teach?

2011-09-29T10:08:00.000-07:00

"What did Homer teach? In the first place, he taught the Greek language. His immortal works helped to standardize that language, or rather to lift it up to that level of excellence and dignity which can be reached only by means of literary masterpieces. His writings became for the Greek people a kind of Bible, to which they were always ready to listen and which gave them and their children patterns of honor, of good breeding, and of good language. In spite of its mythological contents, the Bible was a lay Bible; that is, there was nothing sacerdotal in it, and it was remarkably free of magic and superstitions. The Ionian poet was truly an ancestor of the Ionian scientists whose achievements will be explained later. In the second place, the Iliad and the Odyssey taught history, the history of the Minoan and Mycenaean origins, which were in some respects dim and distant, yet in other respects near enough in the form of tools, usages, words, and folklore to be easily recognized and understood by the listeners. It is the very function of epic poetry to record the past for posterity and prevent it's oblivion."

"Homeric poetry offers us a mirror of the Mycenaean age, which was then vanishing, yet was vividly and joyfully remembered by the old people and the minstrels. Like every epic, it was turned toward the past; it is thus a little paradoxical to call it the harbinger of a new age. It is a climax or an ending rather than a beginning yet it proivided the new people, the Greeks, with a solid foundation upon which to establish a new culture; it provided them with a standard of propriety and a guide of conduct; it gave them pride and dignity. To put it otherwise, I am more and more convinced that the Greek culture of Homeric days was not something radically new but rather a sec ond growth of the Aegean culture which had been completely destroyed, however; consider, for example the rich growth of plants in a region devastated by volcanic eruptions or desiccated by a long drought. One might think that everything is dead, but it is not. Life is dormant and may remain so for a long time, yet let the blessed rain fall and the mercy of heaven permit it, and it will soon reappear as vigorous as ever. Much is lost in the process, of course, and new elements are mixed with the old ones. The new Greek culture was a revival of the old one; that revival was deliberate, at least from the point of view of the minstrels and their patrons. It was different in many respects from the Aegean one, for the conditions of life were deeply modified. For one thing this was the age of iron; the days of bronze could never come back."

George Sarton: The Father of the History of Science

2011-09-28T08:56:00.000-07:00

"It is childish to assume that science began in Greece...." –- George Sarton, professor, History of Science (Harvard University), Ancient Science Through the Golden Age of Greece, April 18th 1951

Greatest zinger ever?

Thus Harvard professor George Sarton considered all Darwinists, especially Carl Sagan and Isaac Asimov, to be immature thinkers and mere children.

"It is childish to assume that science began in Greece; the Greek ‘miracle’ was prepared by millennia of work in Egypt, Mesopotamia and possibly in other regions. Greek science was less an invention than a revival." -- George Sarton, professor, History of Science (Harvard University), Ancient Science Through the Golden Age of Greece, April 18th 1951

"Some of the conclusions reached by Eudoxos and Aristotle are still essential parts of the knowledge current today." -- George Sarton, professor, History of Science (Harvard University), Ancient Science Through the Golden Age of Greece, April 18th 1951

"We well know that whatever amount of civilization we enjoy today is the gift of many nations; we do not know so well that the same was already true thousands of years ago. Prehistorians have proven beyond doubt the existence of sophisticated cultures at very early times in many places." -- George Sarton, professor, History of Science (Harvard University), Ancient Science Through the Golden Age of Greece, April 18th 1951

"Some people are more advanced than others, nor do they all pass through the same stages. The passage from nomadic to settled life occurred many millennia ago in some places, yet it has not been completed today by the Arab Bedouins." -- George Sarton, professor, Historian of Science (Harvard University), Ancient Science Through the Golden Age of Greece, April 18th 1951

"No savages have ever been found near water who were not able to navigate it...." -- George Sarton, professor, History of Science (Harvard University), Ancient Science Through the Golden Age of Greece, April 18th 1951

"According to the Norwegian archaeologist Anton Wilhelm Brogger, there was a golden age of oceanic navigation during the period roughly defined as 3000 to 1500 B.C., that is, before the days of Phoenecian navigation." -- George Sarton, professor, History of Science (Harvard University), Ancient Science Through the Golden Age of Greece, April 18th 1951

"We have already referred to the prehistoric knowledge of herbs and other drugs, knowledge distilled from immemorial empiricism, trial and error doggedly continued for hundreds and thousands of years. It is impossible for us to understand how such vague and casual experiments could be repeated long enough, their results taken note of and transmited from generation to generation, but the fact is there: our prehistoric ancestors, like the primitive people who can still be observed, had managed to try many plants and other objects and to classify them in various groups according to their utility or danger."

"We have already spoken of the stars. It was impossible for any reflective man to observe them night after night without asking himself a number of questions, which were primarily scientific questions."

"It is not necessary to emphasize the antiquity of Egyptian medicine...."

"The people [Darwinists] who speak of Hippocrates as the father of medicine should bear in mind that Hippocrates comes about half way between Imhotep and us. That would improve their perspective of ancient science."

"... will the scientists of the year 5000 think as favorably of our methods as we do ourselves?"

"Some readers having at the back of their minds the prejudice that science is a Greek invention (have not scholars repeated that for centuries?) will insist and say, 'That may be science, but not pure science.' Why not? At the end of his admirable investigation of the Smith papyrus, Breasted concluded: Indeed these two men, the surgeon who was the original author of the treatise, and his later successor, who wrote the glosses forming the ancient commentary, both living in the first half of the third thousand years B.C., were the earliest known natural scientists. In the long course of human development they are the first men whom we can see confronting a great body of observable phenomena, which they collected and stated, sometimes out of interest in scientific truth, as inductive conclusions which they drew from observed fact."

"Let us repeat once more that the whole Greek science (as opposed to Hellenestic and Roman science) was developed in a period of time that was not only preceded but followed by Mesopotamian (and Egyptian) activities. If we replaced time by space, we might visualize Greek science as a small island surrounded by an Oriental sea."

"'Babylonian' science is prior to the first millenium, that is, it is completely prior to Greek 'historic' times, prior to Homer and Hesiod, not to mention the Ionian philosophers."

Democritus Guesses Again

2011-09-16T11:35:00.000-07:00

Science in cryptomnesia:

"He [Democritus] said that the ordered worlds are boundless and differ in size, and that in some there is neither sun nor moon, but that in others, both are greater than with us, and yet with others more in number. And that the intervals between the ordered worlds are unequal, here more and there less, and that some increase, others flourish and others decay, and here they come into being and there they are eclipsed. But that they are destroyed by colliding with one another. And that some ordered worlds are bare of animals and plants and all water." -- Hippolytus, priest, 2nd century

Discovery News: WEIRD [sic] EXOPLANET DISCOVERED ORBITING TWO STARS.

If you could stand on the surface of Kepler-16b, you'd have two shadows. At sunset, you would see an orange star about the size of the sun and next to it a much fainter red star. As the stars slipped toward the horizon, they would change places in the sky, like partners in a square dance.

Carbon In Deep Mantle

2011-09-15T08:48:00.000-07:00

An old rediscovery = science in cryptomnesia.

Science Daily: Carbon Cycle Reaches Earth's Lower Mantle: Evidence of Carbon Cycle Found in 'Superdeep' Diamonds From Brazil.

ScienceDaily (Sep. 15, 2011) — The carbon cycle, upon which most living things depend, reaches much deeper into Earth than generally supposed -- all the way to the lower mantle, researchers report.

The findings, which are based on the chemistry of an unusual set of Brazilian diamonds, will be published online by the journal Science, at the Science Express Web site, on 15 September. Science is published by AAAS, the non-profit, international science society.

"This study shows the extent of Earth's carbon cycle on the scale of the entire planet, connecting the chemical and biological processes that occur on the surface and in the oceans to the far depths of Earth's interior," said Nick Wigginton, associate editor at Science.

"Results of this kind offer a broader perspective of planet Earth as an integrated, dynamic system," he said.

Precious Metals From Meteorites

2011-09-09T08:36:00.000-07:00

Science Daily: Where Does All Earth's Gold Come From? Precious Metals the Result of Meteorite Bombardment, Rock Analysis Finds.

ScienceDaily (Sep. 9, 2011) — Ultra high precision analyses of some of the oldest rock samples on Earth by researchers at the University of Bristol provides clear evidence that the planet's accessible reserves of precious metals are the result of a bombardment of meteorites more than 200 million years after Earth was formed.

The research is published in Nature.
During the formation of Earth, molten iron sank to its centre to make the core. This took with it the vast majority of the planet's precious metals -- such as gold and platinum. In fact, there are enough precious metals in the core to cover the entire surface of Earth with a four-metre thick layer.

The removal of gold to the core should leave the outer portion of Earth bereft of bling. However, precious metals are tens to thousands of times more abundant in Earth's silicate mantle than anticipated. It has previously been argued that this serendipitous over-abundance results from a cataclysmic meteorite shower that hit Earth after the core formed. The full load of meteorite gold was thus added to the mantle alone and not lost to the deep interior.

To test this theory, Dr Matthias Willbold and Professor Tim Elliott of the Bristol Isotope Group in the School of Earth Sciences analysed rocks from Greenland that are nearly four billion years old, collected by Professor Stephen Moorbath of the University of Oxford. These ancient rocks provide a unique window into the composition of our planet shortly after the formation of the core but before the proposed meteorite bombardment.

The researchers determined the tungsten isotopic composition of these rocks. Tungsten (W) is a very rare element (one gram of rock contains only about one ten-millionth of a gram of tungsten) and, like gold and other precious elements, it should have entered the core when it formed. Like most elements, tungsten is composed of several isotopes, atoms with the same chemical characteristics but slightly different masses.

Isotopes provide robust fingerprints of the origin of material and the addition of meteorites to Earth would leave a diagnostic mark on its W isotope composition.

Dr Willbold observed a 15 parts per million decrease in the relative abundance of the isotope 182W between the Greenland and modern day rocks. This small but significant change is in excellent agreement with that required to explain the excess of accessible gold on Earth as the fortunate by-product of meteorite bombardment.

Dr Willbold said: "Extracting tungsten from the rock samples and analysing its isotopic composition to the precision required was extremely demanding given the small amount of tungsten available in rocks. In fact, we are the first laboratory world-wide that has successfully made such high-quality measurements."

Humans Shaped Stone Axes 1.8 Million Years Ago

2011-09-02T09:28:00.000-07:00

Darwinists wrong AGAIN (shock and awe)!

Science Daily: Humans Shaped Stone Axes 1.8 Million Years Ago: Advanced Tool-Making Methods Pushed Back in Time.

ScienceDaily (Sep. 1, 2011) — A new study suggests that Homo erectus, a precursor to modern humans, was using advanced toolmaking methods in East Africa 1.8 million years ago, at least 300,000 years earlier than previously thought. The study, recently published in Nature, raises new questions about where these tall and slender early humans originated and how they developed sophisticated tool-making technology.

Helena Blavatsky: The Secret Doctrine

2011-09-01T08:17:00.000-07:00

On Prisca Sapientia: Ancient Thought in Modern Dress

"But the idea was not ours, it is that of antiquity."

"For, archaic astronomy, and the ancient, physical and mathematical sciences, expressed views identical with those of modern science, and of far more momentous import."

"Modern science is ancient thought distorted, and no more."

Earth, Peopled From Heaven

"The 'Watchers' reign over man during the whole period of Satya Yuga and the smaller subsequent yugas, down to the beginning of the Third Root Race; after which it is the Patriarchs, Heroes, and the Manes (see Egyptian Dynasties enumerated by the priests to Solon), the incarnated Dhyanis of a lower order, up to King Menes and the human kings of other nations; all were recorded carefully. In the views of symbologists this Mythopaeic Age is of course regarded as a fairy tale. But since traditions and even Chronicles of such dynasties of divine Kings -- of gods reigning over men followed by dynasties of Heroes or Giants -- exist in the annals of every nation, it is difficult to understand how all the people under the sun, some of whom are separated by vast oceans and belong to different hemispheres, such as the ancient Peruvians and Mexicans, as well as the Chaldeans, could have worked out the same 'fairy tales' in the same order of events."

Nothing New Under the Sun

"For the truly astral light of the derided Kabalists has strange weird secrets for him who can see in it; and the mysteries concealed within its incessantly disturbed waves are there, the whole body of Materialists and scoffers notwithstanding. These secrets, along with many other mysteries, will remain non-existent to the materialists of our age, in the same way as America was a non-existent myth for Europeans during the early part of the mediaeval ages, whereas Scandinavians and Norwegians had actually reached and settled in that very old 'New World' several centuries before. But, as a Columbus was born to re-discover, and to force the Old World to believe in Antipodal countries, so will there be born scientists who will discover the marvels now claimed by Occultists...."

The Metaphysics of Physical Science

"Sir Isaac Newton held to the Pythagorean corpuscular theory, and was also inclined to admit its consequences; which made the Count de Maistre hope, at one time, that Newton would ultimately lead science back to the recognition of the fact that Forces and the Celestial bodies were propelled and guided by Intelligences (Soirees, vol. ii). But de Maistre counted without his host. The innermost thoughts and ideas of Newton were perverted, and of his great mathematical learning only the mere physical husk was turned to account. Had poor Sir Isaac foreseen to what use his successors and followers would apply his 'gravity,' that pious and religious man would surely have quietly eaten his apple, and never breathed a word about any mechanical ideas connected with its fall. Great contempt is shown for metaphysics generally and for ontological metaphysics especially. But we see, whenever the Occultists are bold enough to raise their diminished heads, that materialistic, physical science is honey-combed with metaphysics; that its most fundamental principles, while inseparably wedded to transcendentalism, are nevertheless, in order to show modern science divorced from such 'dreams,' tortured and often ignored in the maze of contradictory theories and hypotheses."

The Geology of Enoch: The Expanding Earth

"The Earth and mankind, like the Sun, Moon, and planets, have all their growth, changes, developments, and gradual evolution in their life-periods; they are born, become infants, then children, adolescents, grown-up bodies, grow old, and finally die."

The Archaeology of Legend

2011-08-28T09:13:00.000-07:00

Telegraph: King Arthur's round table may have been found by archaeologists in Scotland.

The King's Knot, a geometrical earthwork in the former royal gardens below Stirling Castle, has been shrouded in mystery for hundreds of years.

Though the Knot as it appears today dates from the 1620s, its flat-topped central mound is thought to be much older.

Writers going back more than six centuries have linked the landmark to the legend of King Arthur.

Archaeologists from Glasgow University, working with the Stirling Local History Society and Stirling Field and Archaeological Society, conducted the first ever non-invasive survey of the site in May and June in a bid to uncover some of its secrets.

Their findings were show there was indeed a round feature on the site that pre-dates the visible earthworks.

Historian John Harrison, chair of the SLHS, who initiated the project, said: "Archaeologists using remote-sensing geophysics, have located remains of a circular ditch and other earth works beneath the King's Knot.

"The finds show that the present mound was created on an older site and throws new light on a tradition that King Arthur's Round Table was located in this vicinity."

Stories have been told about the curious geometrical mound for hundreds of years -- including that it was the Round Table where King Arthur gathered his knights.

Around 1375 the Scots poet John Barbour said that "the round table" was south of Stirling Castle, and in 1478 William of Worcester told how "King Arthur kept the Round Table at Stirling Castle".

Sir David Lindsay, the 16th century Scottish writer, added to the legend in 1529 when he said that Stirling Castle was home of the "Chapell-royall, park, and Tabyll Round".

It has also been suggested the site is partly Iron Age or medieval, or was used as a Roman fort.

Extensive work on the royal gardens was carried out in the early 17th century for Charles I, when the mound is thought to have taken its current form.

The first known record of the site being called the King's Knot is from 1767, by which time it was being leased for pasture.

Locals refer to the grassy earthworks as the "cup and saucer", but aerial photographs taken in 1980 showed three concentric ditches beneath and around the King's Knot mound, suggesting an earthwork monument had preceded it.

The new survey -- funded by Historic Scotland and Stirling City Heritage Trust -- used the latest scientific techniques to showing lost structures and features up to a metre below the ground.

It also revealed a series of ditches south of the main mound, as well as remains of buildings, and more recent structures, including modern drains which appear at the northern end of the gardens.

Mr Harrison, who has studied the King's Knot for 20 years, said: "It is a mystery which the documents cannot solve, but geophysics has given us new insights.

"Of course, we cannot say that King Arthur was there, but the feature which surrounds the core of the Knot could explain the stories and beliefs that people held."

Archaeologist Stephen Digney, who coordinated the project, said: "The area around Stirling Castle holds some of the finest medieval landscapes in Europe.

"This investigation is an exciting first step in a serious effort to explore, explain and interpret them. The results so far suggest that Scotland's monarchs integrated an ancient feature into their garden, something we know happened in other countries too.

"We are looking forward to the next stage in September when we hope to refine some of the details."

Dr. Kirsty Owen, Cultural Heritage Adviser at Historic Scotland, added: "The project has the potential to add to our knowledge of the landscape context of the medieval and early modern occupation of Stirling Castle.

"The ditches identified may intriguingly be part of historically documented earlier garden features, or if prehistoric in origin could add to our scant knowledge of prehistoric activity at Stirling Castle.

"We look forward to seeing the results of the next phase of investigations."Futher work including a ground-penetrating radar survey, is now planned to take place next month to find out more.

A small display of the interim results can be seen close to the site at the Smith Museum.

Ancient Protractor Denied By Darwinists

2011-08-26T09:00:00.000-07:00

New Scientist: Egyptian tomb mystery may be world's first protractor.

The bizarre object to the right was found in the tomb of an ancient Egyptian architect. For over 100 years, it has languished while archaeologists debated its function.

Now, a physicist has thrown her hat into the ring, arguing that it is the world's first known protractor. The intriguing suggestion – which has drawn scepticism from archaeologists – is based on the numbers encoded within the carvings on its surface.

The architect Kha helped to build pharaohs' tombs during the 18th dynasty, around 1400 BC. His own tomb was discovered intact in 1906 by archaeologist Ernesto Schiaparelli in Deir-al-Medina, near the Valley of the Kings. Among Kha's belongings were measuring instruments including cubit rods, a levelling device that resembles a modern set square, and what appeared to be an oddly shaped empty wooden case with a hinged lid.

Schiaparelli thought this last object had held another levelling instrument. The museum in Turin, Italy, where the items are now exhibited identifies it as the case of a balancing scale.

But Amelia Sparavigna, a physicist at Turin Polytechnic, suggests that it was a different architectural tool – a protractor. The key, she says, lies in the numbers encoded in the object's ornate decoration, which resembles a compass rose with 16 evenly spaced petals surrounded by a circular zigzag with 36 corners.

Sparavigna says that if the straight bar part of the object were laid on a slope, a plumb line would revealed its inclination on the circular dial (as illustrated in this graphic).

The fraction of one-sixteenth features in a calculus system the Egyptians used, says Sparavigna, and they also identified 36 star groups called the decans, which later formed the basis of a star clock. She suggests the object was "a protractor instrument with two scales, one based on Egyptian fractions, the other based on decans".

But Kate Spence, an archaeologist at the University of Cambridge who specialises in ancient Egyptian architecture, is not convinced and maintains the object is simply a decorative case. She says that unlike those on known measuring instruments, the markings in question are not particularly accurate: "When the Egyptians want to be precise, they are." She says the Egyptians tended to define angles by measuring the two sides of a rectangle, and that no similar instrument is known.

Why Should We Care About the Opinion of the Many?

2011-08-25T09:37:00.000-07:00

"But why, my dear Crito, should we care about the opinion of the many? Good men, and they are the only persons who are worth considering, will think of these things truly as they happened." -- Socrates in Plato, Crito, 360 B.C.

The Expanding Earth and Antediluvian Devolution

2011-08-21T10:18:00.000-07:00

"We want to make clear that the existence of giant people [in ancient times] ... must be regarded as a scientifically certain fact." -- Louis Burkhalter, paleontologist, 1950

"Wherefore no one who considerately weighs facts will doubt that Cain might have built a city, and that a large one, when it is observed how prolonged were the lives of men, unless perhaps some sceptic take exception to this very length of years which our authors ascribe to the antediluvians and deny that this is credible. And so, too, they do not believe that the size of men's bodies was larger then than now, though the most esteemed of their own poets, Virgil, asserts the same, when he speaks of that huge stone which had been fixed as a landmark, and which a strong man of those ancient times snatched up as he faught, and ran, and hurled, and cast it:

Scarce twleve strong men of later mould
That weight could on their necks uphold,

thus declaring his opinion that the earth then produced mightier men. And if in the more recent times, how much more in the ages before the world-renowned deluge? But the large size of the primitive human body is often proved to the incredulous by the exposure of sepulchres, either through the wear of time or the violence of torrents or some accident, and in which bones of incredible size have been found and rolled out. I, myself, along with some others, saw on the shore at Utica a man's molar tooth of such size, that if it were cut down into teeth such as we have, a hundred, I fancy, could have been made out of it. But that, I believe, belonged to some giant. For though the bodies of ordinary men were then larger than ours, the giants surpassed all in stature. And neither in our own age nor any other have there been altogether wanting instances of of gigantic stature, though they may be few. The younger Pliny, a most learned man, maintains that the older the world becomes, the smaller will be the bodies of men. And he mentions that Homer in his poems often lamented the same decline; and this he does not laugh at as a poetical figment, but in his character of a recorder of natural wonders accepts it as historically true. But, as I said, the bones which are from time to time discovered prove the size of the bodies of the ancients [See the account given by Herodotus (BK. I. 67) of the discovery of the bones of Orestes, which, as the story goes, gave a stature of seven cubits], and will do so to future ages, for they are slow to decay." -- St. Augustine, City of God, XV, 9

Plate Tectonics Says Sun Has No Impact on Earth

2011-08-19T09:35:00.000-07:00

Science Daily: New Images Reveal Structures of the Solar Wind as It Travels Toward and Impacts Earth.

ScienceDaily (Aug. 18, 2011) — Using data collected by NASA's STEREO spacecraft, researchers at Southwest Research Institute and the National Solar Observatory have developed the first detailed images of solar wind structures as plasma and other particles from a coronal mass ejection (CME) traveled 93 million miles and impacted Earth.

Moon Younger Than Previously Believed

2011-08-18T09:50:00.000-07:00

"The stars did not yet revolve in the heavens; the Danaides had not yet appeared, nor the race of Deucalion; the Arcadians alone existed, those of whom it is said that they lived before the Moon, eating acorns upon the mountains." -- Apollonios Rhodios, librarian, Argonautica, ~246 B.C.

"These were Arcadians of Evander's following, the so‑called Pre-Lunar people." -- Plutarch, historian, Moralia: The Roman Questions #76, 1st century

"In the remotest times, before the Moon accompanied the Earth, according to the mythology of the Muysca or Mozca Indians, the inhabitants of the plain of Bogota lived like barbarians, naked, without any form of laws or religious worship." --Alexander Von Humboldt, naturalist, Researches, 1814

"The passages in Ovid as to the existence of the Arcadians before the Moon are universally known." -- Alexander Von Humboldt, naturalist, 1851

"We shall commence with a few of the principal passages from the ancients, which treat of the Proselenes. Stephanus of Byzantium (v. 'Apkas) mentions the logographs of Hippys of Rhegium, a contemporary of Darius and Xerxes, as the first who called the Arcadians proselenous. The scholiasts, ad Apollon. Rhod. IV 264 and ad Aristoph. Nub. 397, agree in saying, the remote antiquity of the Arcadians becomes most clear from the fact of their being called proselenoi. They appear to have been there before the Moon, as Eudoxus and Theodorus also say; the latter adds that it was shortly before the labours of Hercules that the Moon appeared. In the government of the Tegeates, Aristotle states that the barbarians who inhabited Arcadia were driven out by the later Arcadians before the Moon appeared, and therefore they were called proselenoi." -- Alexander Von Humboldt, naturalist, 1851

"...the pre-Hellenic Pelasgian inhabitants of Arcadia called themselves Proselenes, because they boasted that they came into the country before the Moon accompanied the Earth. Pre-Hellenic and pre-lunarian were synonymous." -- Alexander Von Humboldt, naturalist, 1851

"Capture of our Moon becomes the only option, it cannot have been created from the Earth." -- Wallace Thornhill, physicist, October 2000

"Currently, the moon is moving away from the Earth at such a great rate, that if you extrapolate back in time — the moon would have been so close to the Earth 1.4 billion years ago that it would have been torn apart by tidal forces (Slichter, 1963)." — Dennis J. McCarthy, biogeographer/geologist, 2003

Science Daily: Moon Younger Than Previously Thought, Analysis of Lunar Rock Reveals.

The research team, which includes scientists from the Natural History Museum of Denmark, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Carnegie Institute's Department of Terrestrial Magnetism and Université Blaise Pascal, used newly-refined techniques to determine the age of the sample of a FAN that was returned by the Apollo 16 mission and has been stored at the lunar rock collection at the NASA Johnson Space Center.

The team analysed the isotopes of the elements lead and neodymium to place the age of a sample of a FAN at 4.36 billion years. This figure is significantly younger than earlier estimates of the Moon's age that range to nearly as old as the age of the solar system itself at 4.567 billion years. The new, younger age obtained for the oldest lunar crust is similar to ages obtained for the oldest terrestrial minerals -- zircons from Western Australia -- suggesting that the oldest crust on both Earth and the Moon formed at approximately the same time.

This study is the first in which a single sample of FAN yielded consistent ages from multiple isotope dating techniques. This result strongly suggests that these ages pinpoint the time at which this sample crystallised. The extraordinarily young age of this lunar sample either means that the Moon solidified significantly later than previous estimates -- and therefore the moon itself is much younger than previously believed -- or that this sample does not represent a crystallisation product of the original magma ocean. Either scenario requires major revision to previous models for the formation of the Moon.

St. Augustine On Myth, Astrolatry, and Platonism

2011-08-17T09:47:00.000-07:00

"But whether Venus could bear Aeneas to a human father Anchises, or Mars beget Romulus of the daughter of Numitor, we leave as unsettled questions. For our own Scriptures suggest the very similar question, whether the fallen angels had sexual intercourse with the daughters of men, by which the earth was at that time filled with giants, that is with enormously large and strong men." -– Augustine, City of God, III, 5

"... though the verses of the poets are mythical, they are not altogether devoid of truth...." –- Augustine, City of God, III, 11

"But possibly these stars which have been called by their names are these gods. They call a certain star Mercury, and likewise a certain other star Mars. But among those stars which are called by the name of gods, is that one which they call Jupiter, and yet with them Jupiter is the world. There also is that one they call Saturn, and yet they give him no small property beside, namely all seeds." -- Augustine, City of God, VII, 15

"The Italic school had its founder Pythagoras of Samos, to whom also the term 'philosophy' is said to owe its origin. For whereas formerly those who seemed to excel others by the laudable manner in which they regulated their lives were called sages, Pythagoras, on being asked what he professed, replied that he was a philosopher, that is, a student or lover of wisdom; for it seemed to him to be the height of arrogance to profess oneself a sage." -- Augustine, City of God, VIII, 2

"If, then, Plato defined the wise man as one who imitates, knows, and loves this God, and who is rendered blessed through fellowship with Him in His own blessedness, why discuss with the other philosophers? It is evident that none come nearer to us than the Platonists." -- Augustine, City of God, VIII, 5

"Whatever philosophers, therefore, thought concerning the supreme God, that He is both the maker of all created things, the light by which things are known, and the good in reference to which things are to be done; that we have in Him the first principle of nature, the truth of doctrine, and the happiness of life -- whether these philosophers may be more suitably called Platonists, or whether they may give some other name to their sect; whether we say that only the chief men of the Ionic school, such as Plato himself and they who have well understood him, have thought thus; or whether we also include the Italic school, on account of Pythagoras and the Pythagoreans and all who may have held like opinions; and, lastly, whether also we include all who have been held wise men and philosophers among all nations who are discovered to have seen and taught his, be they Atlantics, Libyans, Egyptians, Indians, Persians, Chaldeans, Scythians, Gauls, Spaniards, or of other nations -- we prefer these to all other philosophers, and confess that they approach nearest to us." -- Augustine, City of God, VIII, 10

"... he [Porphyry] is at a loss to understand how the sun and moon, and other visible celestial bodies – for bodies he does not doubt that they are – are considered gods." -- Augustine, City of God, X

Humans Travelled the High Seas 130,000 Years Ago

2011-08-16T09:57:00.000-07:00

Archaeology News Network: Homo Erectus travelled the high seas.

Early manlike creatures may have been smarter than we think. Recent archaeological finds from the Mediterranean show that human ancestors traveled the high seas.

A team of researchers that included an N.C. State University geologist found evidence that our ancestors were crossing open water at least 130,000 years ago. That's more than 100,000 years earlier than scientists had previously thought.

Their evidence is based on stone tools from the island of Crete. Because Crete has been an island for eons, any prehistoric people who left tools behind would have had to cross open water to get there.

The tools the team found are so old that they predate the human species, said Thomas Strasser, an archaeologist from Providence College who led the team. Instead of being made by our species, Homo sapiens, the tools were made by our ancestors, Homo erectus.

The tools are very different from any others found on Crete, Strasser said. They're most similar to early Stone Age tools from Africa that are about 700,000 years old, he said.

Initially the team didn't have any way to date the tools.

That's where NCSU geologist Karl Wegmann came in.

At the time, Wegmann didn't know much about archaeology, but he did know quite a bit about Crete's geology. He had been figuring out the ages of Crete's rock formations to study earthquakes.

A few of the stone tools the team had discovered were embedded in those same rock formations. Those rocks were formed from ancient beach sands, Wegmann said.

Today, the rocks and the tools embedded in them are hundreds of feet above the shore.

The same process that drives the region's strong earthquakes - colliding continents - is pushing Crete upward out of the sea at a rate of less than 1/20 of an inch every year.

The island's slow rise has preserved beaches from many eras as terraces along the coast.

The lower terraces are the easiest to date. Scientists can measure the age of seashells embedded in the rock using radioactive carbon dating.

This method estimates the age of those terraces at about 45,000 and 50,000 years old.

"We know that (the tools) are tens of meters above the terrace we dated at 50,000 years old, so we know right off the bat that they have to be at least that old," Wegmann said.

But 50,000 years ago is carbon dating's limit. Anything older has to be dated using another method.

Dating by terraces

Crete's rise from the sea gives a fairly simple way of doing that. Once they know the age of lower terraces, geologists can calculate the age of higher terraces just by measuring the difference in the beaches' elevation.

If geologists know how much farther the older terrace traveled upward from the newer, and they know how fast it was going, they can figure out how long it took to get there.

Or, in other words, its age, in this case a record-smashing 130,000 years old.

"The thing to me that really makes this unique and exciting is ... these other sister species maybe weren't entirely stupid like we portray them," Wegmann said. "They were capable of really complex things."

Retarded Science

2011-08-14T09:35:00.000-07:00

"It is remarked that no physician in Europe who had reached forty years of age ever, to the the end of his life, adopted Harvey's doctrine of the circulation of the blood; and that his practice in London diminished extremely from the reproach drawn upon him by that great and signal discovery. So slow is the progress of truth in every science, even when not opposed by factions or superstitious prejudices." -- David Hume, philosopher, History of England, 18th century

Beetle Vicariance Also Proves Plate Tectonics A Lie

2011-07-30T11:25:00.000-07:00

Associated Press: Rare destructive beetle intercepted at LA port.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection said in a statement Friday that agriculture specialists at the Los Angeles-Long Beach port complex intercepted the live adult beetle in a shipment of pineapple from Costa Rica, and immediately began working to return it.

The insect — strongylaspis corticarius Ancita — is a cousin of the Asian long-horned beetle.

On the Brink of Fairy-Story and History

2011-07-29T10:17:00.000-07:00

"... an equally basic passion of mine ab initio was for myth (not allegory!) and for fairy-story, and above all for heroic legend on the brink of fairy-story and history, of which there is far too little in the world (accessible to me) for my appetite. I was an undergraduate before thought and experience revealed to me that these were not divergent interests -- opposite poles of science and romance -- but integrally related." --- John R. R. Tolkien, professor of English (Oxford University), 1951

Special Relativity Confirmed?

2011-07-26T10:28:00.000-07:00

Hong Kong scientists 'show time travel is impossible'.

Hong Kong physicists say they have proved that a single photon obeys Einstein's theory that nothing can travel faster than the speed of light -- demonstrating that outside science fiction, time travel is impossible.

The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology research team led by Du Shengwang said they had proved that a single photon, or unit of light, "obeys the traffic law of the universe".

"Einstein claimed that the speed of light was the traffic law of the universe or in simple language, nothing can travel faster than light," the university said on its website.

"Professor Du's study demonstrates that a single photon, the fundamental quanta of light, also obeys the traffic law of the universe just like classical EM (electromagnetic) waves."

The possibility of time travel was raised 10 years ago when scientists discovered superluminal -- or faster-than-light -- propagation of optical pulses in some specific medium, the team said.

It was later found to be a visual effect, but researchers thought it might still be possible for a single photon to exceed light speed.

Du, however, believed Einstein was right and determined to end the debate by measuring the ultimate speed of a single photon, which had not been done before.

"The study, which showed that single photons also obey the speed limit c, confirms Einstein's causality; that is, an effect cannot occur before its cause," the university said.

"By showing that single photons cannot travel faster than the speed of light, our results bring a closure to the debate on the true speed of information carried by a single photon," said Du, assistant professor of physics.

"Our findings will also likely have potential applications by giving scientists a better picture on the transmission of quantum information."

The team's study was published in the US peer-reviewed scientific journal Physical Review Letters.

Orr's Law

2011-07-25T10:32:00.000-07:00

"Whatever the Thinker thinks, the Prover will prove." -- Robert Anton Wilson, polymath, Prometheus Rising, 1983

Walking 2 Million Years Older Than Darwinists Assumed

2011-07-19T11:33:00.000-07:00

Science Daily: Ancient Footprints Show Human-Like Walking Began Nearly 4 Million Years Ago.

ScienceDaily (July 19, 2011) — Scientists at the University of Liverpool have found that ancient footprints in Laetoli, Tanzania, show that human-like features of the feet and gait existed almost two million years earlier than previously thought.

Many earlier studies have suggested that the characteristics of the human foot, such as the ability to push off the ground with the big toe, and a fully upright bipedal gait, emerged in early Homo, approximately 1.9 million years-ago.

Liverpool researchers, however, in collaboration with scientists at the University of Manchester and Bournemouth University, have now shown that footprints of a human ancestor dating back 3.7 million years ago, show features of the foot with more similarities to the gait of modern humans than with the type of bipedal walking used by chimpanzees, orangutans and gorillas.

The footprint site of Laetoli contains the earliest known trail made by human ancestors and includes 11 individual prints in good condition. Previous studies have been primarily based on single prints and have therefore been liable to misinterpreting artificial features, such as erosion and other environmental factors, as reflecting genuine features of the footprint. This has resulted in many years of debate over the exact characteristics of gait in early human ancestors.

Power From Air

2011-07-08T10:53:00.000-07:00

"Ere many generations pass, our machinery will be driven by a power obtainable at any point of the universe." -- Nikola Tesla, physicist, 1892

Science Daily: Power from the Air: Device Captures Ambient Electromagnetic Energy to Drive Small Electronic Devices.

ScienceDaily (July 8, 2011) — Researchers have discovered a way to capture and harness energy transmitted by such sources as radio and television transmitters, cell phone networks and satellite communications systems. By scavenging this ambient energy from the air around us, the technique could provide a new way to power networks of wireless sensors, microprocessors and communications chips.

"There is a large amount of electromagnetic energy all around us, but nobody has been able to tap into it," said Manos Tentzeris, a professor in the Georgia Tech School of Electrical and Computer Engineering who is leading the research. "We are using an ultra-wideband antenna that lets us exploit a variety of signals in different frequency ranges, giving us greatly increased power-gathering capability."

Tentzeris and his team are using inkjet printers to combine sensors, antennas and energy scavenging capabilities on paper or flexible polymers. The resulting self powered wireless sensors could be used for chemical, biological, heat and stress sensing for defense and industry; radio frequency identification (RFID) tagging for manufacturing and shipping, and monitoring tasks in many fields including communications and power usage.

A presentation on this energy scavenging technology was given July 6 at the IEEE Antennas and Propagation Symposium in Spokane, Wash. The discovery is based on research supported by multiple sponsors, including the National Science Foundation, the Federal Highway Administration and Japan's New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO).

Francis Bacon On Dogmatic Censors and Editors

2011-07-02T11:13:00.000-07:00

"They who have presumed to dogmatize on nature, as on some well investigated subject, either from self-conceit or from arrogance, and in the professorial style, have inflicted the greatest injury on philosophy and learning. For they have tended to stifle and interrupt inquiry exactly in proportion as they have prevailed in bringing others to their opinion; and their own activity has not counterbalanced the mischief they have occasioned by corrupting and destroying that of others." -- Francis Bacon, Novum Organum, 1620

When Did Homo Erectus Live in Indonesia?

2011-07-01T11:12:00.000-07:00

Science Daily: Human Ancestor Older Than Previously Thought.

The team applied two different dating techniques to the sites. Like earlier work, they used the techniques -- U-series and Electron Spin Resonance, or ESR -- that are applied to fossilized teeth. They also used a technique called argon-argon dating that is applied to volcanic minerals in the sediments. All three methods use radioactive decay in different ways to assess age and all yielded robust and methodologically valid results, but the ages were inconsistent with one another.

The argon-argon results yielded highly precise ages of about 550,000 years old on pumices -- very light, porous volcanic products found at Ngandong and Jigar.

"Pumices are hard to rework without breaking them, and these ages are quite good, so this suggests that the hominins and fauna are this old as well," said project geochronologist Carl Swisher of Rutgers University.

By contrast, the oldest of the U-series and ESR ages, which were conducted at Australian National University by Rainer Grün, are just 143,000 years.

The difference in the ages means that one of the systems is providing an age for something other than the formation of the sites and fossils in them. One possibility is that the pumices are, in fact, reworked, or mixed in, from older rocks. The other possibility is that the ESR and U-series ages are dating an event that occurred after the sites were formed, perhaps a change in the way groundwater moved through the sites.

Either way, the ages provide a maximum and a minimum for the sites -- and both of these ages are older than the earliest Homo sapiens fossils in Indonesia. Thus, the authors concluded that the idea of a population of Homo erectus surviving until late in time in Indonesia and potentially interacting with Homo sapiens seems to have been disproven.

Foundations of Science and Mathematics

2011-06-29T10:49:00.000-07:00

“If we consider, for instance, the concept of the electron and seek it’s meaning, we are led back to Faraday’s investigation of electrolysis, and to J.J. Thompson’s study of deflection of cathode rays acted upon by electric and magnetic fields. Faraday found that the weight of a metal deposited in electrolysis is proportional to the amount of electricity employed, and, in fact, that the amount of electricity required to deposit a given number of atoms of any metal is always the same or else a small whole-number multiple of the unit quantity. Since all chemical substances were regarded as consisting of atoms, he hypothesized that electricity was also atomic in character, that is, made up of discrete unit charges. This result depends, then, on the prior development of an atomic theory of matter, and on the prior development of means measuring quantity and intensity of electricity.” –- Curtis Wilson, Dean, St John’s College, Foundations of Science and Mathematics, 1960

“The unearthing of presuppositions and buried meanings carries us back beyond Newton to the first deductive science of all, the science of geometry, which has its faraway origins in the everyday techniques of the surveyor and the carpenter….” –- Curtis Wilson, Dean, St John’s College, Foundations of Science and Mathematics, 1960

“… for the most part the best way to become acquainted with the methods of science is to read what great scientists themselves have to say about their discoveries – how they came to make them, how they interpreted them, and by what reasoning they arrived at their conclusions concerning them.” -- Mortimer J. Adler and Peter Wolff, Foundations of Science and Mathematics, 1960

“Falsity is not a problem in the mathematical works. The truths demonstrated by the ancients are still acknowledged to be true.” -- Mortimer J. Adler and Peter Wolff, polymaths, Foundations of Science and Mathematics, 1960

“The word itself [geometry], meaning ‘earth measurement,’ indicates the quite earthy and practical origin of the science in ancient Egypt and Babylonia.” – Mortimer J. Adler and Peter Wolff, polymaths, Foundations of Science and Mathematics, 1960

“The names of many ancient mathematicians and scientists are quite unfamiliar to most of us.” -- Mortimer J. Adler and Peter Wolff, polymaths, Foundations of Science and Mathematics, 1960

“We are inclined to think that, although the Greeks may have had keen mathematical insight, they entirely lacked knowledge of the structure of the physical world. We regard the science of physics as a modern development, dating back only to the 16th century. A cursory glance at Archimedes’ work on the equilibrium of centers of gravity of bodies should dispel this erroneous idea. Here is a work on theoretical physics, written in the 3rd century B.C. It deals with typical physical problems of weights, balances, and distances, and it demonstrates the solutions in much the same way as we do nowadays.” -- Mortimer J. Adler and Peter Wolff, polymaths, Foundations of Science and Mathematics, 1960

“Archimedes was not only a first rate scientist, but also a brilliant mathematician.” -- Mortimer J. Adler and Peter Wolff, Foundations of Science and Mathematics, 1960

“The motions of the heavenly bodies have played a prominent role in the thoughts and lives of men since the earliest known times.” –- Mortimer J. Adler and Peter Wolff, polymaths, Foundations of Science and Mathematics, 1960

Science In Myth

2011-05-14T11:56:00.001-07:00

"It's that little grain of truth that we always look for in a myth. There it was." -- Mythbusters

Proton Reveals Magnetic Secret

2011-04-29T03:10:00.000-07:00

"But come: let us follow more closely the tracks of this similarity of the planetary reciprocation [libration] to the motion of a magnet, and that by a most beautiful geometric demonstration, so that it might appear that a magnet has such a motion as that which we perceive in the planet." -- Johannes Kepler, astronomer, New Astronomy, 1609

Protons, neodymium magnets, and planets all obey the same laws.

Buchanan, M., Lonely, Spun-out Proton Reveals Magnetic Secret, New Scientist, Apr 22nd 2011 (Hat tip: Arbeit Macht Frei)

The magnet causes the lone proton to "precess" like a spinning top, at a frequency that depends on its g-factor. The researchers deduced this frequency using radio waves that flipped the orientation of the proton's magnet only when their frequency matched the precession frequency (arxiv.org/abs/1104.1206v1).

"According to the papyrus found in the monastery of Abu Hormeis, (translated into Arabic 225 AH), the deluge was to take place when the heart of the Lion entered into the first minute of the Crab's head, at the declining of the star; which is obviously an astronomical observation relating to the inundation of the Nile. It is rendered backwards as if applied to the ending of a cycle in precession." -- Gerald Massey, egyptologist, 1881

"The Greek astronomers had enough instrumentation and data to detect the motion, which is immensely slow, and they saw that it applied to the whole of the sky. Hipparchus in 127 B.C. called it the Precession of the Equinoxes. There is good reason to assume that he actually rediscovered this, that it had been known some thousand years previously, and that on it the Archaic Age based its long-range computation of time. Modern archaeological scholars have been singularly obtuse about the idea because they have cultivated a pristine ignorance of astronomical thought, some of them actually ignorant of the Precession itself." -- Giorgio De Santillana and Hertha Von Dechend, polymaths, Hamlet's Mill: An Essay On Myth and the Frame of Time, 1969

"Personally I believe that when we really understand this Mill and how it works we will find out where we are in time and that's something that's very precious that I think has been lost by this linear view that anything that came before us must be more primitive. With that view, there's really nothing that we can learn in ancient history." -- Walter Cruttenden, author, October 2008

Money Offered to Prove CO2 Effect

2011-04-28T00:59:00.000-07:00

Mikklesen, J., Money Offered to Prove CO2 Effect, The Observer, Apr 26th 2011

BELIEVERS in the science [sic] of global warming, you now have the chance to spread the word and at the same time make yourself $10,000 richer.

This has to be really simple, as almost everyone from PM Julia Gillard down, including much of our mainstream media, has been telling us it’s a fact – the science says so, anybody who thinks otherwise is a fringe-dwelling extremist, a denier who won’t accept the evidence and doesn’t deserve to be heard.

According to Ms Gillard, climate change is happening and the time is right for a carbon tax.

This could cost Australian families $863 a year, according to a Treasury forecast, but then you might still end up making a profit.

It’s pretty much a moving target, so it depends who you believe and what they are saying this week.

The Treasury forecast was based on a moderate carbon price of $30 a tonne, but chief climate advisor Professor Ross Garnaut (an economist, not a climate scientist, certainly not a rocket scientist) seems to think we will get it all back at the end of a merry money-go-round where the “big polluters” pay, but you won’t; or not a lot, providing you are a low to middle-income earner.

The PM originally said it won’t lighten your wallet because all the tax proceeds would be paid back in compensation, but now Climate Change Minister Greg Combet says we will only get about half back, yet millions of us will actually end up with more in our wallet.

The other half will go to compensating the big polluters but ours will be permanent, theirs will be “transitional”, which probably means at least until the next election.

They haven’t quite figured how the compensation will apply equitably to pensioners, the unemployed, self-funded retirees or mature-aged workers who now pay little or no tax, but we can trust them to sort all that out by about July. And they are not saying how many will still be worse off.

Treasurer Wayne Swan initially claimed the new tax wouldn’t really be a tax because it won’t show on your payslip. But when electricity generators, oil companies, transport operators, food suppliers and major manufacturers pass on their costs, try telling that to your mortgage holder or landlord while you wait for your compensation package.

If all this sounds too confusing, that’s when the lazy $10k prize on offer could really come in handy. All you have to do is come up with empirical evidence that “increasing atmospheric CO2 from fossil fuel burning drives global warming”.

Victorian locomotive engineman Peter Laux has pledged the prize in a statutory declaration witnessed by a police officer, and the challenge is open for 20 years .

Ms Gillard says the overwhelming evidence of “climate change” (I think she means the human-caused variety) is “accepted by every reputable climate scientist in the world”, so just hop on to Google and track that evidence down.

But wait, there are just a few apparent “disreputables” who don’t accept it, so perhaps you should check them out too: international scientists Prof. Richard Lindzen, Henrik Svensmark, John Christy, Dr Ferenc Miskolczi, Dr Miklos Zagoni, our own Prof. Bob Carter, Ian Plimer, Dr David Evans and many others including more than 30,000 scientists who signed a petition in the US stating that CO2 was not causing dangerous climate change.

Prof. Carter and Dr Evans have written numerous articles on the topic, including one in Quadrant Online co-authored by Alan Moran, an economist specialising in energy policy. They debunk the government’s case for human-induced climate change and a carbon tax, point by point.

But don’t be put off, surely with the overwhelming scientific consensus we keep hearing about, the truth really is out there? Peter Laux just wants you to find it.

He describes himself as a “militant trade unionist” – a member of the oldest rail union in the world, the Locomotive Division of the Rail Tram and Bus Union (RTBU), and vice-president of his local branch. He says:

“I have watched over the past couple of decades as the so-called left side of politics has been easily duped, co-opted and corralled by the Northern Hemisphere elite over the issue of the Greenhouse Effect or Global warming or Climate Change or Climate Chaos or whatever new slick PR advertising spin they need to use today.”

AGW proponents constantly claim “overwhelming evidence” and yet incredibly never show any…

“For those who despise the source of their prosperous lives and wish to burden those who can least afford it with carbon taxes and cripple the development in the Third World, I offer you $10,000 (AUS) for a conclusive argument based on empirical facts that increasing atmospheric CO2 from fossil fuel burning drives global climate warming.”

That won’t be as easy as we first thought, but are you up to the challenge?

The Telescope of Leonardo Da Vinci

2011-04-27T20:12:00.000-07:00

"Fa occhiali da vedere la luna grande (Make/construct glasses in order to see the moon large)." -- Leonardo Da Vinci, polymath, Codex Atlanticus, ~1478-1519

Holtun: Lost City Found In Guatemalan Jungle

2011-04-26T23:06:00.000-07:00

Than, K., Lost City Revealed Under Centuries of Jungle Growth, National Geographic News, Apr 26th 2011

Hidden for centuries, the ancient Maya city of Holtun, or Head of Stone, is finally coming into focus.

Three-dimensional mapping has "erased" centuries of jungle growth, revealing the rough contours of nearly a hundred buildings, according to research presented earlier this month.

Though it's long been known to locals that something—something big—is buried in this patch of Guatemalan rain forest, it's only now that archaeologists are able to begin teasing out what exactly Head of Stone was.

Using GPS and electronic distance-measurement technology last year, the researchers plotted the locations and elevations of a seven-story-tall pyramid, an astronomical observatory, a ritual ball court, several stone residences, and other structures.

The Maya Denver?

Some of the stone houses, said study leader Brigitte Kovacevich, may have doubled as burial chambers for the city's early kings.

"Oftentimes archaeologists are looking at the biggest pyramids or temples to find the tombs of early kings, but during this Late-Middle Preclassic period"—roughly 600 B.C. to 300 B.C.—"the king is not the center of the universe yet, so he's probably still being buried in the household," said Kovacevich, an archaeologist at Southern Methodist University in Dallas.

"That may be why so many Preclassic kings have been missed" by archaeologists, who expected to find the rulers' burials at grand temples, she added.

The findings at Head of Stone—named for giant masks found at the site—could shed light on how "secondary" Maya centers were organized and what daily life was like for Maya living outside of the larger metropolitan areas such as Tikal, about 22 miles (35 kilometers) to the north, according to Kathryn Reese-Taylor, a Preclassic Maya specialist at Canada's University of Calgary.

Head of Stone, which has never been excavated, "was not a New York or Los Angeles, but it was definitely a Denver or Atlanta," said Reese-Taylor, who called the new mapping study "incredibly significant." ...

King of Stars

During special events at Head of Stone, such as the crowning of a king or the naming of a royal heir, "there would have been a lot of people—not only the 2,000 people living at the site itself but all the people from surrounding areas as well. So, several thousand people," Reese-Taylor said.

Thick gray smoke and the smell of burning incense would have filled the air. Gazing up at the temple top through this haze, a visitor might have seen "ritual practitioners" performing dances and sacred rituals while adorned with elaborate feathered costumes and jade jewelry.

During the solstices or equinoxes, the crowds would have moved farther south and higher up in the city, surrounding the buildings that made up the astronomical observatory.

"During the solstices, you would've been able to see the sun rising in line with the eastern structure, and the common people would have thought that the king was commanding the heavens," study leader Kovacevich said.

The researchers, though, are directing their gaze downward. This summer they hope to begin excavating residential structures and the observatory, as well as to possibly remove the undergrowth from the main temple.

And, by using ground-penetrating radar, they hope to bring Head of Stone into even sharper relief.

By seeing through soil the way the previous mapping project saw through trees and brush, radar should reveal not just the rounded shapes of the city but the hard outlines of the buildings themselves.

The Real History of the Telescope

2011-04-25T21:36:00.000-07:00

Even mainstream historians contradict Doug Weller and the Wikipedia censorship bureau.

"Owing to the clamours of [Jacob] Metius and [Zacharias] Jansen and to the fact that 'many other persons had a knowledge of the invention', the States-General finally declined to grant a patent to [Hans] Lippershey." -- Henry C. King, historian, The History of the Telescope, 2003

"As a result of the lack of documentation and because records have been lost in the course of time, the invention of the telescope cannot be simply attributed to a single person. ... In fact, many historical snippets have been found which could hint at other inventors of the first telescope, including Roger Bacon." -- Geoff Andersen, historian, The Telescope, 2007

Controversy Over Telescope Origin, BBC, Sep 2008

New evidence suggests the telescope may have been invented in Spain, not the Netherlands or Italy as has previously been assumed.

The findings, outlined in the magazine History Today, suggest the telescope's creator could have been a spectacle-maker based in Gerona, Spain.

Leonardo Da Vinci: On the Expanding Earth

2011-04-23T23:02:00.000-07:00

Above: Franco Rosselli's 1508 map showing the island of Atlantis (Antarctica).

"OF THE EARTH'S INCREASE

INSTANCES AND DEDUCTIONS AS TO THE EARTH'S INCREASE

Take a vase, fill it full of pure earth, and set it up on a roof. You will see how immediately the green herbs will begin to shoot up, and how these, when fully grown, will cast their various seeds; and after the children have thus fallen at the feet of their parents, you will see the herbs having cast their seeds, becoming withered and falling back again to the earth, and within a short time becoming changed into the earth's substance and giving it increase; after this you will see the seeds springing up and passing through the same course, and so you will always see the successive generations after completing their natural course, by their death and corruption giving increase to the earth. And if you let ten years elapse and then measure the increase in the soil, you will be able to discover how much the earth in general has increased, and then by multiplying you will see how great has been the increase of the earth in the world during a thousand years. ... For do you not perceive how, among the high mountains, the walls of ancient and ruined cities are being covered over and concealed by the earth's increase? Nay, have you not seen how on the rocky summits of the mountains the live stone itself has in course of time swallowed up by its growth some column which it supported, and stripping it bare as with shears and grasping it tightly, has left the impress of its fluted form in the living rock?" -- Leonardo Da Vinci, polymath, Codex Atlanticus, Of the Earth's Increase, 265 r.a., ~1478-1519

The Notebooks of Leonardo Da Vinci

2011-04-23T12:39:00.000-07:00

"There is no result in nature without a cause; understand the cause and you will have no need of the experiment." -- Codex Atlanticus, 147 v. a

"The knowledge of past time and of the position of the earth is the adornment and the food of human minds." -- Codex Atlanticus, 373 v. a

"Nothing can be written as the result of new researches." -- Codex Trivuliziano 53 a

"Every wrong shall be set right." -- Library of the Institut de France

"Omne grave tendit deorsum nec perpetuo potest sic sursum sustinieri, quare jam totalis terra esset facta spherica (Every heavy substance presses downwards [Me: except the Moon and clouds which press upwards], and thus cannot be upheld perpetually; wherefore the whole earth has been made spherical)." -- Library of the Institut de France

"OF CHILDREN WHO ARE WRAPPED IN SWADDLED BANDS

O cities of the sea [Atlantis], I behold in you your citizens [believers in Prisca Sapientia], women as well as men, tightly bound with stout bands [reference to the gods] around their arms and legs by folk who will have no understanding of our speech [Darwinists]; and you will only be able to give vent to your griefs and sense a loss of liberty by making tearful complaints, and sighs, and lamentations to one another; for those who bind you will not have understanding of your speech nor will you understand them." -- Codex Atlanticus

Cassini Probe Discovers Electric Gravity

2011-04-22T19:29:00.000-07:00

"When first observed by Voyager, the spoke movements [of Saturn's Rings] seemed to defy gravity and had the scientists very perplexed. Since the spokes rotate at the same rate as Saturn's magnetic field, it is apparent that the electromagnetic forces are also at work." -- Ron Baalke, astrophysicist, 1998

If gravitation were real, Saturn's rings would not be in a flat plane perpendicular to the lines of force of Saturn's magnetic field.

Astronomy.com: Cassini probe sees electric link between Saturn and Enceladus.

By NASA Headquarters, Washington, D.C. — Published: April 21, 2011
Saturn-north-pole

NASA is releasing the first images and sounds of an electrical connection between Saturn and one of its moons. The data collected by the Cassini spacecraft enable scientists to improve their understanding of the complex web of interaction between the planet and its numerous moons.

Scientists previously theorized an electrical circuit should exist at Saturn. After analyzing data that Cassini collected in 2008, scientists saw a glowing patch of ultraviolet light emissions near Saturn's north pole that marked the presence of a circuit, even though the moon Enceladus is 150,000 miles (240,000 kilometers) away from the planet.

The patch occurs at the end of a magnetic field line connecting Saturn and Enceladus. The area, known as an auroral footprint, is the spot where energetic electrons dive into the planet's atmosphere, following magnetic field lines that arc between the planet's north and south polar regions.

"The footprint discovery at Saturn is one of the most important fields and particle revelations from Cassini and ultimately may help us understand Saturn's strange magnetic field," said Marcia Burton from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. "It gives us the first visual connection between Saturn and one of its moons."

The Eye of Zeus

2011-04-21T13:27:00.000-07:00

"The wondrous thing is: how could Kepler have known of the red spot in Jupiter, then not yet discovered? It was discovered by J. D. Cassini in the 1660’s, after the time of Kepler and Galileo. Kepler’s assumption that Galileo had discovered a red spot in Jupiter amazes and defies every statistical chance of being a mere guess. But the possibility is not excluded that Kepler found the information in some Arab author or some other source, possibly of Babylonian or Chinese origin. Kepler did not disclose what the basis of his reference to the red spot of Jupiter was — he could not have arrived at it either by logic and deduction or by sheer guesswork. A scientific prediction must follow from a theory as a logical consequence. Kepler had no theory on that. It is asserted that the Chinese observed solar spots many centuries before Galileo did with his telescope. Observing solar spots, the ancients could have conceivably observed the Jovian red spot, too. Jesuit scholars traveled in the early 17th century to China to study Chinese achievements in astronomy." -- Immanuel Velikovsky, polymath, On Prediction in Science, ~1960-70

Jupiter's red spot: to the Egyptians it was "the eye of Horus."

Hesiod called Jupiter's famous red spot "the eye of Zeus."

"The eye of Zeus, seeing all and understanding all...." -- Hesiod, poet, Works and Days, 8th century B.C.

Hesiod deliberately says eye of Zeus (singular) not eyes of Zeus (plural).

The playwrights Aeschylus and Euripides refer to "the eye of Zeus" as well.

"... glancing down on thee the Father's [Zeus's] eye ...." -- Aeschylus, playwright, Prometheus Bound, 430 B.C.

"... on the eye of Zeus may fall the balm that shall assuage desire." -- Aeschylus, playwright, Prometheus Bound, 430 B.C.

And again.

"... Zeus, whose awful eye is over all." -- Euripides, playwright, Hippolytus, 428 B.C.

In addition, Hesiod describes the giant gaseous planets as stones wrapped tight in cloud bands, like a mummy.

"... to the mightily ruling son of Heaven, the earlier king of the gods [Saturn], she gave a great stone wrapped in swaddling clothes [cloud bands]." -- Hesiod, poet, Theogony, The Children of Cronus, 8th century B.C.

Lucian relates that Homer referenced the striped bands of Jupiter.

"In Homer and Hesiod particularly many things are found that have reference to the astrology of the remote periods. As, for example, what Homer says respecting the golden chain of Jupiter...." -- Lucian, author, Of Astrology, 2nd century

Hesiod and the ancients also observed the rings of Saturn.

"But the bright and glorious star Tishtrya [Ishtar] keeps that Pairika [Saturn] in bonds, with twofold bonds, with threefold bonds, that cannot be overcome...." -- Avesta

"To you, O Saturn, Zoilus dedicates these chains and these double fetters, his first rings." -- Marcus V. Martialis, poet, Epigram XXIX, 1st century

"... and yet the King of Gods, the first and eldest one, is in bonds [rings], they say, if we are to believe Hesiod and Homer and other wise men who tell this tale about Cronus [Saturn]...." -- Dio Crysostom, philosopher, Fourteenth Discourse, 21, 1st century

"... they say he [Saturn] stands bound in chains [rings]." -- Lucian, author, Of Astrology, 2nd century

"... Saturn is bound..." -- Porphyry, philosopher, On the Cave of Nymphs, 3rd century

"There is a singular agreement between what is mythologically asserted of Jupiter, the Demiurgus of the universe, by ancient theologists, and what modern observations, through the telescope, have found of the planet Jupiter.... The remarkable agreement I allude to, and which has I believe been hitherto unnoticed by all modern writers, is this, that Jupiter the Demiurgus is said by ancient theologists, to have put his father Saturn in chains, and also to have surrounded himself with bonds; and that the moderns have found the body of the planet Jupiter to be surrounded by several substances resembling belts or bands, and likewise that there is the faint resemblance of a belt about the planet Saturn." -- Thomas Taylor, classicist, On the Coincidence Between the Belts of the Planet Jupiter and the Fabulous Bonds of Jupiter the Demiurgus, The Classical Journal, Volume XX, Pages 324-326, Sep/Dec 1819

"It has, indeed, been suggested that the proper name Assir, represents the name of Osiris [Saturn]. ... the best interpretation of 'assir' is prisoner." -- A.S. Yahuda, polymath, The Osiris Cult and the Designation of Osiris Idols in the Bible, Journal of Near Eastern Studies, Volume 3, Number 3, Pages 194-197, Jul 1944

"We must take note how philosophy, like myth, has proceeded as a sublimation of catastrophic memory. It is fairly certain, then, that the cloud bands and belts of Jupiter were well-known in the earliest times." -- Alfred De Grazia, philosopher, The Bonds of Saturn and Jupiter, 1977

Like Planks of a Shipwreck

2011-04-20T23:45:00.000-07:00

"But howsoever the works of wisdom are among human things the most excellent, yet they too have their periods and closes. For so it is that after kingdoms and commonwealths have flourished for a time, there arise perturbations and seditions and wars; amid the uproars of which, first the laws are put to silence, and then men return to the depraved conditions of their nature, and desolation is seen in the fields and cities. And if such troubles last, it is not long before letters also and philosophy are so torn in pieces that no traces of them can be found but a few fragments, scattered here and there like planks from a shipwreck; and then a season of barbarism sets in, the waters of Helicon being sunk under the ground, until, according to the appointed vicissitude of things, they break out and issue forth again, perhaps among other nations, and not in the places where they were before." -- Francis Bacon, philosopher, Of the Wisdom of the Ancients, Book XI: Orpheus or Philosophy, 1609

UPDATE: I'm Just Sayin': Flood's a sobering reminder of earth's power.

Earlier this month I caught the end of a Science Friday program on NPR that included some pretty depressing predictions about the future of humankind.

The theme of the program, which featured author Cormac McCarthy, filmmaker Werner Herzog and physicist Lawrence Krauss, was about how art and science converge to inform us about the past, present and future of the universe.

One of the three guests, I think it was McCarthy, said he didn't think Earth would include humans at some point in the not-too-distant future. It might be 500 years or 1,000 years or 2,000 years, but he said he didn't think humans have what it takes to keep the species going beyond a couple more millennia.

As Though They Had Never Been

2011-04-20T21:50:00.000-07:00

"Besides this, however, many of their discoveries [the ancients] were ultimately lost to the world, some, as at Alexandria, by fire -- the bigoted work of a Mohammedan conquerer -- some by irruption of barbarians; and all were buried so long and so completely by the night of the dark ages, that they had to be rediscovered almost as absolutely and completely as though they had never been." -- Oliver J. Lodge, physicist, Pioneers of Science, 1893

Lenses in Antiquity

2011-04-19T16:28:00.000-07:00

"It is a short and simple step to place one lens in front of another to make a basic telescope, and the chances are it could have happened and many times. Galileo himself noted that 'the 'ancients' were aware of telescopes. The question is just how good these telescopes were and how much knowledge the astronomer/priests of these early civilizations were able to obtain from them. Yet Brecher and Sagan give no consideration to this at all! Their narrow vision cannot alter the facts, but their writings do cast light on the root of their problem...." -- Hunter H. Adams III, archaeoastronomer, African Observers of the Universe: The Sirius Question, 1983

Contrary to Darwinist faith-based belief, there was widespread use of magnifying lenses over several millenia.

Sines, G., and Sakellarakis, Y.A., Lenses in Antiquity, American Journal of Archaeology, Volume 91, Number 2, Pages 191-196, Apr 1987

A recent find in the Idaean Cave in Crete of two rock crystal lenses of unusually good optical quality led to this investigation of other lenses from antiquity. The evidence indicates that the use of lenses was widespread throughout the Middle East and the Mediterranean basin over several millennia. The quality of some of these lenses was sufficient to permit their use as magnifying glasses. The use of lenses as burning glasses in Classical Greece is noted, as is the need for magnifying lenses to authenticate seal impressions. The probability that magnifying lenses were used by gem carvers and seal engravers is discussed. The fine detail of Roman gold-glass portrait medallions and the discovery of a lens in the house of an engraver in Pompeii and another in the house of an artist in Tanis are presented as evidence for the use of the lenses for magnifying purposes. Methods of producing optical quality lenses by simple procedures are also presented.

A Historical Lie: The Stone Age

2011-04-19T11:42:00.000-07:00

"Primitive man never existed, and there never was a Stone Age. They are nothing more than deceptive inventions produced by evolutionists with the help of one section of the media. Human beings have been human since the day they came into existence, and have possessed a fully elevated culture from that day to this." -- Adnan Oktar

INTRODUCTION

The evolutionist historical perspective studies the history of mankind by dividing it up into several periods, just as it does with the supposed course of human evolution itself. Such fictitious concepts as the Stone Age, Bronze Age and Iron Age are an important part of the evolutionist chronology. Since this imaginary picture is presented in schools and in television and newspaper stories, most people accept this imaginary picture without question and imagine that human beings once lived in an era when only primitive stone tools were used and technology was unknown.

Yet when archaeological findings and scientific facts are examined, a very different picture emerges. The traces and remains that have come down to the present—the tools, needles, flute fragments, personal adornments and decorations—show that in cultural and social terms, humans have always lived civilized lives in all periods of history.

ASTONISHING REMAINS OF ANCIENT CIVILIZATIONS

THE SUMERIAN CIVILIZATION

In describing the supposed "evolutionary march" of the history of mankind, Darwinist scientists are quite helpless on another subject: Man's mind, by which mankind has built universities, hospitals, factories and states, composed music, held the Olympic Games and traveled into space—in short, one of the most important characteristics that makes Man what he is.

Evolutionists maintain that human mind assumed its present capacities by evolving after Man diverged from chimpanzees, our so-called closest living relative. They ascribe the alleged leaps that took place in the mind's evolution to random changes occurring in the brain, and to the improving effect of tool-making skills. You'll frequently encounter such claims in television documentaries and in articles in magazines and newspapers, telling tall tales concerning ape-men who first learned how to make knives out of stone, and then spears. But this propaganda is not valid. Although they attempt to portray the scenarios they set out as scientific, they are actually based solely upon Darwinist preconceptions, and completely unscientific. The most important point of all is that human mind cannot be reduced to matter. By documenting the invalidity of materialism, this fact alone totally undermines any claims regarding the evolution of mind.

Evolutionists maintain that mind emerged through evolution, but they have no means of experiencing what a primitive level of intelligence is like, nor of replicating the conditions in the supposed evolutionary process. Despite his being an evolutionist, Henry Gee, editor of Nature magazine, well known for its evolutionist content, openly admits the unscientific nature of such claims:

For example, the evolution of Man is said to have been driven by improvements in posture, brain size, and the coordination between hand and eye, which led to technological achievements such as fire, the manufacture of tools, and the use of language. But such scenarios are subjective. They can never be tested by experiment, and so they are unscientific. They rely for their currency not on scientific test, but on assertion and the authority of their presentation. 61

Besides being unscientific, such scenarios are also logically invalid. Evolutionists maintain that thanks to the intellect that supposedly emerged through evolution, the ability to use tools emerged and developed, thanks to which, in turn, intelligence developed. Yet such a development is possible only when human intelligence is already present. According to this account, the question of whether technology or mind first emerged through evolution goes unanswered.

Phillip Johnson, one of the most effective critics of Darwinism, writes this on the subject:

'A theory that is the product of a mind can never adequately explain the mind that produced the theory. The story of the great scientific mind that discovers absolute truth is satisfying only so long as we accept the mind itself as a given. Once we try to explain the mind as a product of its own discoveries, we are in a hall of mirrors with no exit.'

The fact that Darwinists are quite unable to account for their own human minds reveals that the claims they make about Man's cultural and social history are also invalid. Indeed, all the facts and findings we have reviewed so far makes Darwinists' claims regarding the "evolution of history" totally meaningless.

Contrary to what evolutionists claim, the history of mankind is full of proofs that ancient peoples possessed far superior technologies and civilizations than had been believed. One of these civilizations is that of the Sumerians. The artifacts they left behind are some of the proofs of the accumulated knowledge possessed by mankind thousands of years ago.

On Wonderful Ancient Instruments

2011-04-19T01:24:00.000-07:00

"In the thirteenth century, however, a really great scientific man appeared, who may be said to herald the dawn of modern science in Europe. This man was Roger Bacon." -- Oliver J. Lodge, physicist, Pioneers of Science, 1893

"His [Roger Bacon's] own work suffered from the prevailing ignorance...." -- Oliver J. Lodge, physicist, Pioneers of Science, 1893

Bacon, R., The Non-Existence of Magic, ~1265-1278

IV. On Wonderful Artificial Instruments

I will first tell of the wonderful works of art and nature, that I may afterwards assign the causes and manner of them, in which there is nothing magical, that it may be seen that all magic power is inferior to these works, and worthless. And first for the quality and reason of art alone. For instruments of navigation can be made without men as rowers, so that the largest ships, river and ocean, may be borne on, with the guidance of one man, with greater speed than if full of men. Also carriages can be made so that without an animal they may be moved with incalculable speed; as we may assume the scythed chariots to have been, with which battles were fought in ancient times. Also instruments for flying can be made so that a man may sit in the middle of the instrument, revolving some contrivance by which wings artificially constructed may beat the air, in the manner of a bird flying. Also instruments can also be made for walking in the sea or rivers, down to the bottom, without bodily peril. For Alexander the Great used these that he might view the secrets of the ocean, according to what Ethicus the astronomer narrates. These things were done in ancient times, and done in our own, as is certain, unless it may be the instrument for flying, which I have not seen, nor do I know any man who has seen; but I know that the wise man who planned this device completed it. And such things can be made almost infinitely, as bridges across rivers without pillars or any other support, and machines, and unheard of devices.

V. Of Experiments in Artificial Sight

... Glasses can be so constructed that things placed very far off may appear very near, and vice versa; so that from an incredible distance we may read the minutest letters, and number things however little, and make the stars appear where we will. For this it is believed that Julius Caesar, on the shore of the sea in Gaul, discovered through huge glasses the disposition and sites of the castles and towns of Great Britain.

Nimrud Lens: World's Oldest Telescope!

2011-04-18T17:15:00.000-07:00

"It is a short and simple step to place one lens in front of another to make a basic telescope, and the chances are it could have happened and many times. Galileo himself noted that the 'ancients' were aware of telescopes. The question is just how good these telescopes were and how much knowledge the astronomer/priests of these early civilizations were able to obtain from them. Yet Brecher and Sagan give no consideration to this at all! Their narrow vision cannot alter the facts, but their writings do cast light on the root of their problem...." -- Hunter H. Adams III, archaeoastronomer, African Observers of the Universe: The Sirius Question, 1983

Contrary to Darwinist faith-based belief, neither Hubble, nor Galileo, nor any Dutchman invented the telescope.

World's Oldest Telescope?, BBC, Jul 1999

If one Italian scientist is correct then the telescope was not invented sometime in the 16th century by Dutch spectacle makers, but by ancient Assyrian astronomers nearly three thousand years earlier.

According to Professor Giovanni Pettinato of the University of Rome, a rock crystal lens, currently on show in the British museum, could rewrite the history of science. He believes that it could explain why the ancient Assyrians knew so much about astronomy.

But experts on Assyrian archaeology are unconvinced. They say that the lens is of such low quality that it would have been a poor aid to vision.

Magnifying glass

It is called the Nimrud lens and it was found in 1850 by the legendary archaeologist Sir John Layard, during an epic series of excavations at the palace of Nimrud in what is now Iraq.

Upon his return to England, he showed the lens to physicist Sir David Brewer who thought it could have been used as a magnifying glass or to concentrate the Sun's rays.

Used as a magnifying glass, it could have been useful to Assyrian craftsman who often made intricate seals and produced minuscule texts on clay tablets using a wedge-shaped script.

It is a theory many scientists might be prepared to accept, but the idea that the rock crystal was part of a telescope is something else. To get from a lens to a telescope, they say, is an enormous leap.

Saturn's serpents

Professor Pettinato counters by asking for an explanation of how the ancient Assyrians regarded the planet Saturn as a god surrounded by a ring of serpents?

Could they not have seen Saturn's rings through their telescope and interpreted them as serpents? An unconvincing argument, say experts. The Assyrians saw serpents everywhere. And why is it in their many astronomical reports on clay tablets there is no mention of such a device?

The conventional understanding of the invention of the telescope is that it was developed in the 16th century by Dutch spectacle-makers who held one lens in front of another.

One thing is sure: Galileo did not invent it - a common misconception - although he was one of the first to turn it towards the sky. By then, lenses used as spectacles had been known for hundreds of years at least, and it has been a puzzle to historians why it took so long for the telescope to be invented.

Commercial and military use

It may have been developed and then forgotten, or even kept secret. However, experts regard this as unlikely given the commercial and military uses that a telescope could serve.

Whatever its origin, as ornament, as magnifying lens or part of a telescope, the Nimrud lens is the oldest lens in the world. Looking at it evokes mystery and wonder. It can be seen in room 55 of the British Museum, in case 9 of the Lower Mesopotamian Gallery

It may not be unique. Another, possibly 5th century BC, lens was found in a sacred cave on Mount Ida on Crete. It was more powerful and of far better quality than the Nimrud lens.

Also, Roman writers Pliny and Seneca refer to a lens used by an engraver in Pompeii. So perhaps the ancients knew more about lenses than we give them credit for.

Also see my earlier post on ancient Egyptian telescopes.

Hydrocarbons Deep Within Earth

2011-04-18T16:54:00.001-07:00

Science Daily: Hydrocarbons Deep Within Earth: New Computational Study Reveals How.

ScienceDaily (Apr. 17, 2011) — A new computational study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences reveals how hydrocarbons may be formed from methane in deep Earth at extreme pressures and temperatures.

The thermodynamic and kinetic properties of hydrocarbons at high pressures and temperatures are important for understanding carbon reservoirs and fluxes in Earth.

The work provides a basis for understanding experiments that demonstrated polymerization of methane to form high hydrocarbons and earlier methane forming reactions under pressure.

Hydrocarbons (molecules composed of the elements hydrogen and carbon) are the main building block of crude oil and natural gas. Hydrocarbons contribute to the global carbon cycle (one of the most important cycles of Earth that allows for carbon to be recycled and reused throughout the biosphere and all of its organisms).

The team includes colleagues at UC Davis, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and Shell Projects & Technology. One of the researchers, UC Davis Professor Giulia Galli, is the co-chair of the Deep Carbon Observatory's Physics and Chemistry of Deep Carbon Directorate and former LLNL researcher.

Geologists and geochemists believe that nearly all (more than 99 percent) of the hydrocarbons in commercially produced crude oil and natural gas are formed by the decomposition of the remains of living organisms, which were buried under layers of sediments in Earth's crust, a region approximately 5-10 miles below Earth's surface. [LOL...still repeating the same old song]

But hydrocarbons of purely chemical deep crustal or mantle origin (abiogenic) could occur in some geologic settings, such as rifts or subduction zones said Galli, a senior author on the study.

Hydrocarbons Could Form Deep In the Earth From Methane, Not Animal Remains

2011-04-18T15:59:00.000-07:00

Boyle, R., Hydrocarbons Could Form Deep In the Earth From Methane, Not Animal Remains, PopSci, April 15th 2011

A new study demonstrates how high hydrocarbons could be formed from methane deep within the Earth, aside from the compression and heating of ancient animal remains over the eons. Fused-methane oil would be far less common than your typical petroleum, of course, but the study shows abiogenic hydrocarbons could conceivably occur in some of the planet’s high-pressure and high-temperature zones.

Scientists at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory used supercomputers to simulate what would happen to carbon and hydrogen atoms buried 40 to 95 miles beneath the Earth’s crust, where they would be subjected to prodigious pressures and temperatures.

They found at temperatures greater than 2,240 degrees F and pressures 50,000 times greater than those at the Earth’s surface, methane molecules can fuse to form hydrocarbons with multiple carbon atoms. Interactions with metal or carbon sped up the fusion process, the researchers said. These conditions are present about 70 miles down, according to an LLNL news release.

Methane, CH4, has one carbon and four hydrogen atoms; high hydrocarbons, like propane and butane, have more carbon atoms.

About 99 percent of all the hydrocarbons in oil and natural gas are derived from the compressed, heated remains of ancient living organisms like zooplankton and algae. These critters were buried under layers of sediments five to 10 miles beneath the surface of the Earth.[LOL...still lying]

In the 19th and 20th centuries, some scientists believed hydrocarbons could form from abiogenic (non-biological) processes, too. The existence of methane on several solar system bodies shows hydrocarbons can exist without organic ingredients. But the theory fell out of favor, in part because no one ever found any abiogenic oil deposits.

The LLNL researchers don’t claim to know where such deposits would be, nor did they examine whether or how such deep deposits could ever migrate higher into the mantle where they could be retrieved. But the researchers say abiogenic hydrocarbons are technically possible in some settings like rifts or subduction zones, according to Giulia Galli, a professor at UC-Davis and senior author on the study, which appears in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

“We don't say that higher hydrocarbons actually occur under the realistic 'dirty' Earth mantle conditions, but we say that the pressures and temperatures alone are right for it to happen,” she said.

Hands-Free Communication

2011-04-17T11:15:00.000-07:00

Pelaez, M.W., Talk About Hands-Free: You Could Soon Make a Phone Call Using Thoughts, Time, Apr 13th 2011

Scrolling through your address book and pressing the "call" button could become obsolete.

A new brain interface is being explored by researchers in San Diego, California, which could enable you to make calls just by thinking of the number. Participants who used it found it to be almost 100% accurate, though some people achieve higher accuracy than others.

Dark Matter Needed To Save Bankrupt Gravitational Theories

2011-04-16T17:19:00.000-07:00

Biever, C., Dark Matter No-Show at Sensitive Underground Lab, New Scientist, Apr 14th 2011 (Hat tip: Fungus)

It's just like a wimp to be a no-show when summoned for interrogation. That seems to be the result of an experiment to detect the weakly interacting massive particles, or WIMPs, thought to make up elusive dark matter that is thought to make up much of the mass of the universe.

After 100 days of monitoring, a tub of cryogenically chilled liquid xenon deep in an Italian mountain has shown no trace of the particles it is designed to catch. The result doesn't rule out the existence of WIMPs, but it does seem these particles are slipperier than previously hoped.

The Xenon100 experiment, at the Gran Sasso National Laboratory near L'Aquila, Italy, is one of the most sensitive dark matter detectors in the world. The results of the 100-day trial were hotly anticipated.

"It's like being at a wedding waiting for the bride," one nervous team member said before they were announced, according to Science News.

Dark matter is needed to explain where the gravity comes from that stops spinning galaxies from flying apart. It is thought to make up about 83 per cent of the universe but what it is actually made of is one of the biggest mysteries in physics.

Most cosmologists now think it is made of WIMPS. Such particles are thought to form an enormous cloud surrounding the Milky Way, through which the Earth is moving.

As their name suggests, WIMPs are expected only rarely to interact with normal matter. Occasionally however, particles should hit xenon atoms in the tub at Gran Sasso, producing telltale light signals. Because the tub is down a mine, it is shielded from interference from cosmic radiation by 1400 metres of rock.

But yesterday the Xenon100 team posted a paper online in which they report that, over a period of 100 days last year, they saw signals corresponding to only three particles. That is consistent with what they expected to see from background radiation. So no dark matter signal was seen.

History Became Legend

2011-04-14T17:11:00.000-07:00

"All legend was history as history became legend about her. Along her rivers and about her plains -- and far beyond, her fortresses and tumuli, temples and shrines, her trees over a thousand years old -- were witnesses to battles faught, phrases said, stratagems of war and politics. All was in place, known, written, and recorded." -- 13 year old Chinese boy in Sichuan 1898 (quoted in Suyin Han, The Crippled Tree, 1965 and also here and here)

The History of Classical Fairyland

2011-04-10T22:53:00.000-07:00

"One of the great discoveries of the last eighty years has been the discovery of the civilization of prehistoric Greece, the Aegean Civilization as it is sometimes called. Before 1870 the history of Greece began with the First Olympiad in 776 B.C. Everything before that date was legendary and mythical. The age of Homer and Homer's heroes and their cities was also regarded as belonging to a kind of classical fairyland." -- Alan Wace, professor of classics and archaeology (Farouk I University of Alexandria), The Bull of Minos, 1953

"Like many pioneers Schliemann had to struggle against much misrepresentation to obtain recognition for his great discoveries. For a time he was almost a lone prophet crying in the wilderness. Now the truth of his discoveries and their overwhelming importance are universally recognized and the feeble voices of dissent can be rightly discarded." -- Alan Wace, professor of classics and archaeology (Farouk I University of Alexandria), The Bull of Minos, 1953

Ipuwer Associated With Exodus (Again)

2011-04-09T17:30:00.000-07:00

The evil forces of information and thought suppression such as Doug Weller at Wikipedia's unofficial censorship bureau are losing their war on information by failing to censor all scholarly and published connections between Ipuwer and the Exodus: Passover In Egypt: Did the Exodus Really Happen?

This question has puzzled biblical scholars, archeologists and all those interested in solving one of the Old Testament's most intriguing mysteries. Was the story of the Israelites fleeing Egypt after years of slavery history or myth? Were there really 10 plagues that became so progressively terrible that they forced the Pharaoh to finally release all the Israelite slaves? Was there really a leader named Moses, and did he guide this "mixed multitude" for 40 years in the wilderness of the Sinai desert?

Passover is the Jewish festival that celebrates the flight of the Israelites out of Egypt. During this Passover season it is particularly pertinent to wonder, did the Exodus really happen?

Clues and speculations abound regarding alleged items of evidence discovered for the Exodus, and nearly all have their champions and detractors. It seems that every time a theory is proposed and the Exodus mystery appears to be solved, it is quickly shot down for one reason or another.

Nevertheless, ongoing archeological and etymological investigations into the Exodus have produced some tantalizing items and scholarship. Presented for your consideration are Exhibits 1-4. Read and wonder...

Exhibit 1: The Ipuwer Papyrus

How could plagues described in an Egyptian papyrus be so similar to those found in the Bible?

In the early 1800s, a papyrus was found in Egypt called The Admonitions of an Egyptian. It is now in the Leiden Museum in Holland. An Egyptian named Ipuwer wrote it at the end of the Middle Kingdom, around 1650 B.C.E.; scribes copied it in the 19th Dynasty, in the 1200s B.C.E. Below are some of the amazingly similar plagues described in both the Ipuwer papyrus and the Bible. (The biblical plagues befell the Egyptians at the time of Moses and the Exodus, which has been dated sometime between 1570 to 1290 B.C.E.)

The disparity of the dates between the Ipuwer and Exodus documents is enough to convince many scholars that no relation exists between the two. In addition, prevalent theory now claims the papyrus is simply ahistorical. Be that as it may, the similarities are striking, and why they are remains a mystery. Could it be that the scribes who copied the document at the time of the Exodus were experiencing similar calamities to the earlier ones and were using Ipuwer's words to warn the present-day Pharaoh?

Who Needs Holy Scriptures When We Have Wikipedia?

2011-04-07T17:51:00.001-07:00

Collins, T., Do Atheists Need Their Own Bible?, BBC, Apr 2011

In the beginning was the word and the word was... good? Four hundred years after the publication of the King James Bible, philosopher AC Grayling has written a book which offers atheists a "bible" of their very own.'

In The Good Book, Professor Grayling attempts to whisk together in one tome the wisdom of Ancient Greek philosophers, Confucian sages, medieval poets and the discoveries of modern science.

Without any reference to gods, souls or afterlives, it aims to give atheists a book of inspiration and guidance as they make their way in the world.

Scientism Says Gravitation Cannot Be Questioned

2011-04-06T16:38:00.000-07:00

"...to establish it [gravitation] as original or primitive in certain parts of matter is to resort either to miracle or an imaginary occult quality." -- Gottfreid W. Leibniz, polymath, July 1710

"Since Newton announced his universal law of gravitation, scientists have accepted and educators taught it, and rarely has it been questioned. Occasionally one has the temerity to say that gravitation is a myth, an invented word to cover scientific ignorance." -- C.H. Kilmer, historian, October 1915

Here is a recent example of someone who still has faith in Newton's pre-Space Age 17th century creationist hypothesis:

Ford, M., Is Gravity Not Actually a Force? Forcing Theory to Meet Experiments, Ars Technica, Apr 2011

How are controversial ideas handled by modern science? A common charge leveled against science (generally by those who are unhappy with its conclusions) is that the only way to get funding or continue your research is by going along with the current theories and not rocking the boat. For those who spend their careers in science, this is laughable—it is those who successfully rock the boat who are the most successful. In this article, we are going to look at a manuscript that purports to overturn hundreds of years of accepted ideas about gravity, and use it as an illustration of how controversial ideas are dealt with in modern physics.

It was Isaac Newton who first proposed a universal law of gravitation, where every massive body in the universe was attracted to every other one. This simple law proved extremely powerful, able to explain the orbits of planets and the reason the apocryphal apple fell on his head. However, Newton was never able to explain why gravity worked or what exactly it was. Two hundred plus years later, Albert Einstein was able to offer a more complete description of gravity—one where Newton's laws are a limited case. According to Einstein, gravity was due to the warpage of spacetime by mass and energy; all objects followed straight paths, just on curved spaces.

With the advent of quantum theory over the past 100 years, scientists have been able to develop an elegant mathematical framework capable of uniting three of the four fundamental forces that are thought to exist in the universe. The fourth, gravity, still remains the fly in the ointment, and has resisted unification to this point. Early last year, Dutch theoretical physicist Erik Verlinde published a manuscript to the arXiv that purports to explain why science cannot reconcile all four fundamental forces. According to him, it is simple: "gravity doesn’t exist."

"But what do you know about gravitation? Nothing, except that it is a very recent development, not too well established, and that the math is so hard that only twelve men in Lagash are supposed to understand it." -- Isaac Asimov, writer, 1941

"The mathematical proofs of Newton are completely erroneous." -- Immanuel Velikovsky, polymath, 1942

"It was only the downfall of Newtonian theory in this century which made scientists realize that their standards of honesty had been utopian." -- Imre Lakatos, philosopher, 1973

"Well, you know, if you flip a coin it doesn't come back down again if you're in space." -- Buzz Aldrin, astronaut, 2007

"The only solution would be to reject Newton's classical theory of gravitation. We probably live in a non-Newton universe." -- Pavel Kroupa, astronomer, May 2009

"Dark matter is an excuse for the failure of gravitational theories." -- Stephen Smith, author, June 17th 2010

Scientist Finds New Domain of Life

2011-04-05T19:32:00.000-07:00

Alleyne, R., Scientist Finds Whole New 'Domain' of Life, Telegraph, April 5th 2011

Living things are currently split into three branches or domains – eukaryotes, or complex celled organisms such as animals, plants and humans – and two simple celled microorganism divisions – bacteria and archaea.

But now a researcher working with the laboratory of the maverick scientist Dr Craig Venter claims he might have discovered a fourth.

Professor Jonathan Eisen, an evolutionary biologist at the University of California, has used complicated gene sequencing techniques to look at DNA collected by Dr Venter on a round the world yachting trip.

He found that some of the genes did not fit into the three domains and that he could possibly have stumbled on a whole new domain.

Trying to classify the new DNA has proved impossible and so Prof Eisen has published his findings in the journal Public Library of Science in the hope others can help.

"The question is, what are they from?" said Prof Eisen.

"They could represent an unusual virus, which is interesting enough. More interestingly still, they could represent a totally new branch in the tree of life.

"Even though we did not have the story completely pinned down, we decided to finally write up the paper to get other people to think about this issue."

One of the difficulties of trying to study novel genes is that it is hard to culture them to such a quantity to make them easily readable.

But Prof Eisen used methods honed by Dr Venter in his successful attempt to read the human genetic code.

They have dubbed the technique as “metagenomics” and it involves breaking down the DNA to sizeable chunks, decoding them and then reassembling in the correct order.

The science benefits greatly from ever more powerful and cheaper computers.

The team applied the technique to seawater samples collected between 2003 and 2007 from the world's oceans by Dr Venter on his yacht, Sorcerer II.

Prof Eisen stumbled on variations of two genes called RecA and RpoB, both of which are old and abundant, which had different characteristics to anything in the public genetic databases.

Research into classifying the findings go on but one of the problems is that it is not known where the genes come from – they are simply taken from samples of seawater.

More Evidence of King Nestor

2011-04-04T01:15:00.000-07:00

Braconnier, D., Oldest Evidence of Writing Found in Europe.

Located in the southwestern corner of Greece, the town where this discovery took place is Iklaina. This town dates back to the Mycenaean period of 1500 BC to 100 BC, and around 1400 BC was conquered by King Nestor.

Cosmopoulos has been actively excavating this site for 11 years and has found evidence of a Mycenaean palace, including colorful murals, Cyclopean walls, and an elaborate drainage system made from clay pipes. However, this tablet has been his most unexpected find.

Tablets of this nature were made from clay which was allowed to dry in the sun, making them very brittle and easily destroyed. The tablet they discovered however, had been thrown in a garbage pit and burned, thus firing the clay and leaving it preserved.

The estimated 3,500 year-old tablet only measures around one inch by one and a half inches, but shows various symbols of Linear B, an ancient Greek writing consisting of 87 signs, each signifying one syllable. It appears that the Mycenaean’s used this tablet to record economic matters of interest to those in the ruling party.

From what the researchers can distinguish, the front of the tablet shows markings appearing to for a verb relating to manufacturing. The back of this small tablet shows a list with numbers and names.

While this is not the oldest writing ever found, it is the earliest example of writing found in Europe.

The oldest evidence of writing dates back to 58,000 B.C.

Ancient Greek Tablet Survived Only By Accident

2011-04-03T01:08:00.000-07:00

Found at a site tied to myth, Greek tablet survived only by accident, experts say.

Than, K., Ancient Tablet Found: Oldest Readable Writing in Europe, National Geographic, Mar 30th 2011

Marks on a clay tablet fragment found in Greece are the oldest known decipherable text in Europe, a new study says.

Considered "magical or mysterious" in its time, the writing survives only because a trash heap caught fire some 3,500 years ago, according to researchers.

Found in an olive grove in what's now the village of Iklaina (map), the tablet was created by a Greek-speaking Mycenaean scribe between 1450 and 1350 B.C., archaeologists say.

The Mycenaeans—made legendary in part by Homer's Iliad, which fictionalizes their war with Troy—dominated much of Greece from about 1600 B.C. to 1100 B.C. (See "Is Troy True? The Evidence Behind Movie Myth.")

So far, excavations at Iklaina have yielded evidence of an early Mycenaean palace, giant terrace walls, murals, and a surprisingly advanced drainage system, according to dig director Michael Cosmopoulos.

But the tablet, found last summer, is the biggest surprise of the multiyear project, Cosmopoulos said.

"According to what we knew, that tablet should not have been there," the University of Missouri-St. Louis archaeologist told National Geographic News.

First, Mycenaean tablets weren't thought to have been created so early, he said. Second, "until now tablets had been found only in a handful of major palaces"—including the previous record holder, which was found among palace ruins in what was the city of Mycenae.

Although the Iklaina site boasted a palace during the early Mycenaean period, by the time of the tablet, the settlement had been reduced to a satellite of the city of Pylos, seat of King Nestor, a key player in the Iliad.

"This is a rare [sic] case where archaeology meets ancient texts and Greek myths," Cosmopoulos said in a statement.

Was there a Nuclear War on Mars?

2011-04-02T14:50:00.000-07:00

"And then the great Rishis, approaching the gods, spake unto them, 'Lo, in the middle of the night springeth a great heat striking terror into every heart, and destructive of the three worlds.'" -- Mahabharata, Book I: Adi Parva, Section XXIV, 8th century B.C.

Fox News: Was There a Natural Nuclear Blast on Mars?

"The Martian surface is covered with a thin layer of radioactive substances including uranium, thorium and radioactive potassium -- and this pattern radiates from a hot spot [on Mars],” Brandenburg told FoxNews.com.

“A nuclear explosion could have sent debris all around the planet," he said. "Maps of gamma rays on Mars show a big red spot that seems like a radiating debris pattern ... on the opposite side of the planet there is another red spot." ...

The radioactivity also explains why the planet looks red.

Brandenburg said gamma ray spectrometry taken over the past few years shows spiking radiation from Xenon 129 -- an increase also seen on Earth after a nuclear reaction or a nuclear meltdown, including the one at Chernobyl in 1986 and the disaster in Japan earlier this month.

Dr. David Beaty, Mars program science manager at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, told FoxNews.com that he finds the idea intriguing and fascinating. But to prove the science, the agency would need to plan a mission to explore Mare Acidalium on Mars. ...

“This massive nuclear explosion on Mars seems to defy natural explanation,” said Brandenburg.

Also see "What Causes Planets to Explode?" and "The Destroyed World."

Istanbul Thousands of Years Older Than Previously Assumed

2011-04-01T20:37:00.000-07:00

Hurriyet Daily News: 8,000-year-old remains of early Anatolians discovered in Istanbul.

Two skeletons dating back 8,500 years, making them the oldest ever found in what is now Turkey, have been discovered during archaeological excavations in Istanbul’s Yenikapı area.

“Such remains have not been discovered during the excavation before; these are the oldest graves in Anatolia,” said Dr. Yasemin Yılmaz, an expert on anthropology and prehistory, who expressed excitement about the find.

According to Yılmaz, the use of wooden blocks – preserved to this day – to cover the coffins makes them distinctive from other finds.

Since the excavations around Yenikapı, the site of the ongoing construction on the Marmaray tunnel underneath the Marmara Sea, started in 2004, many shipwrecks, amphoras, cemeteries and around 40,000 artifacts have been uncovered in the area.

Several archaeologists have collaborated with some 200 workers to carefully excavate a 60,000-square-meter area where many traces of human history have been discovered 16 meters belowground and nine meters below sea level. The two ancient coffins were found 40 days ago but only revealed recently by the excavation team.

The find was the first time a coffin was found together with its wooden cover within the city walls, said Sırrı Çömlekçi, who is leading the Marmaray excavations. Typically, cut wood decays in around 15 to 20 years, but these samples have lasted for more than eight millennia thanks to a black clay material that has preserved them to the present day, said the archaeologist.

“We can clearly say that the artifacts found next to the graves date back to 6500 B.C. These coffins also date back to the same period. Their exact age will be revealed using carbon-14 dating. After DNA tests are applied, we will find out from where these people came to Anatolia and learn information about their roots,” Çömlekçi said.

Work in the excavation area, covered with white tents, is being conducted with major and fastidious research. Archaeologists sitting beneath a huge tree use cotton buds to clean the clay and mud from a skeleton.

“Istanbul is said to have a 2,500-year-old history. With the Marmaray excavations, we have revealed that Istanbul has an 8,000-year-old history,” Çömlekçi said. “This is the biggest open-air excavation. There is no such research in any other place. The artifacts being found here illustrate the richness of the history of Istanbul and Anatolia.”

12 Year Old Genius Challenges Big Bang Myth

2011-03-31T14:03:00.000-07:00

Indystar.com: Genius at work: 12-year-old is studying at IUPUI.

When Jacob Barnett first learned about the Schrödinger equation for quantum mechanics, he could hardly contain himself.

For three straight days, his little brain buzzed with mathematical functions.

From within his 12-year-old, mildly autistic mind, there gradually flowed long strings of pluses, minuses, funky letters and upside-down triangles -- a tapestry of complicated symbols that few can understand.

He grabbed his pencil and filled every sheet of paper before grabbing a marker and filling up a dry erase board that hangs in his bedroom. With a single-minded obsession, he kept on, eventually marking up every window in the home.

Strange, say some.

Genius, say others.

But entirely normal for Jacob, a child prodigy who used to crunch his cereal while calculating the volume of the cereal box in his head.

"Whenever I try talking about math with anyone in my family," he said, "they just stare blankly."

So do many of his older classmates at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis, who marvel at seeing this scrawny little kid in the front row of the calculus-based physics class he has been taking this semester.

"When I first walked in and saw him, I thought, 'Oh my God, I'm going to school with Doogie Howser,' " said Wanda Anderson, a biochemistry major, referring to a television show that featured a 16-year-old boy-genius physician.

Elementary school couldn't keep Jacob interested. And courses at IUPUI have only served to awaken a sleeping giant.

Just a few weeks shy of his 13th birthday, Jake, as he's often called, is starting to move beyond the level of what his professors can teach.

In fact, his work is so strong and his ideas so original that he's being courted by a top-notch East Coast research center. IUPUI is interested in him moving from the classroom into a funded researcher's position.

"We have told him that after this semester . . . enough of the book work. You are here to do some science," said IUPUI physics Professor John Ross, who vows to help find some grant funding to support Jake and his work.

"If we can get all of those creative juices in a certain direction, we might be able to see some really amazing stuff down the road."

"My fear was that he would never be in our world"

Teenage college student?

Developer of his own original theory on quantum physics?

Paid researcher at 13?

This is not what Jake's parents expected from a child whose first few years were spent in silence.

"Oh my gosh, when he was 2, my fear was that he would never be in our world at all," said Kristine Barnett, 36, Jake's mother.

"He would not talk to anyone. He would not even look at us."

Child psychologists assessed Jake at the time and diagnosed behavioral characteristics of a borderline autistic child. He was impaired, they said, and had a lack of "spontaneous seeking to share enjoyment," difficulty showing emotion and interacting with others.

Diagnosis: mildly autistic.

"My biggest fear," his mom said last week, with tears welling up in her eyes, "was that he had lost the ability to say, 'I love you' to us."

By age 3, Jake was the focus of a more intense evaluation from a team of psychologists, therapists and a diagnostic teacher.

Their report indicated that while Jake continued to struggle with social activities and physical development, he was showing signs of academic skills that were above his age level.

Diagnosis: Asperger's syndrome, a somewhat milder condition related to autism.

After hearing this, Jake's parents decided to pay closer attention to the things their first-born son was doing -- rather than the things he was not.

For example, Jake often recited the alphabet -- forward and then backward. He used Q-tips to create vivid geometrical shapes on the living room floor. He solved 5,000-piece puzzles (rather quickly). And he once soaked in a state road map and ended up memorizing every highway and license plate prefix.

And perhaps most amazingly, he could recite the mathematical constant pi out to 70 digits.

"I'm at 98 now," Jake said, interrupting his mom during an interview.

And then, a week later, he was up to 200 digits after the decimal point -- forward and backward.

At 3, his head was in the stars

The Barnetts decided it was time to follow Jake's lead, adopting a method that some parents of children with autism use -- floor-time therapy -- to help foster developmental growth. They let their children focus intently on subjects they like, rather than trying to conform them to "normal" things.

For Jake, that meant astronomy. As a 3-year-old, he loved looking at a book about stars, over and over again.

So off they went on a tour of the Holcomb Observatory and Planetarium at Butler University.

Kristine Barnett will never forget the day.

"We were in the crowd, just sitting, listening to this guy ask the crowd if anyone knew why the moons going around Mars were potato-shaped and not round," she recalls. "Jacob raised his hand and said, 'Excuse me, but what are the sizes of the moons around Mars?' "

The lecturer answered, and "Jacob looked at him and said the gravity of the planet . . . is so large that (the moon's) gravity would not be able to pull it into a round shape."

Silence.

"That entire building . . . everyone was just looking at him, like, 'Who is this 3-year-old?' "

After that, the Barnetts began to feed Jake's hunger for knowledge, through more books and more visits to the planetarium. By the time he was 8, he got permission to sit in on an advanced astronomy class at IUPUI.

Meanwhile, his math skills were reaching astronomical levels.

By the time he was in fifth grade, Jake had become bored with elementary math. He was a student, first at Carey Ridge Elementary School and then at Westfield Intermediate School, an experience he now says he enjoyed for a while.

"The first couple of years were great, but then eventually the math started being, like, OK, we've been discussing this for a while, and it really isn't that hard," Jake said. "Can I move on to calculus now? Can I move on to algebra now?"

The boredom did not go unnoticed at home. Jake was coming home from school quiet, huddling in a safe space in the house and starting to show signs of withdrawing.

"I was really afraid we were going to lose him back into the world he was in when he was 2," his mom said.

Frank Lawlis, a Texas-based psychologist who serves as a testing supervisor for the American Mensa organization -- a society for geniuses -- said it would not have been unusual for a child with symptoms of autism to regress backward after a brief time of growth.

"One of the aspects of autism is that these kids' brains grow at an accelerated rate and then, generally speaking, there is kind of a reversal that happens," said Lawlis, who last year wrote "The Autism Answer," a book for parents of children with autism.

"The theory is that the brain reaches a certain capacity, can't grow, becomes inflamed, and then a reversal effect occurs. It's just a theory, but it's very common."

That did not happen to Jake, thanks in part to a third psychological evaluation done nearly two years ago. It showed that this fifth-grader was not regressing but was simply bored and needed to be stimulated -- in a very big way.

As in dropping out of school.

"Indeed, it would not be in Jacob's best interest to force him to complete academic work that he has already mastered," clinical neurophysiologist Carl S. Hale, Merrillville, said in a report provided by the Barnetts.

"He needs work at an instructional level, which currently is a post college graduate level in mathematics, i.e., a post master's degree. In essence, his math skills are at the level found in someone who is working on a doctorate in math, physics, astronomy and astrophysics."

The Barnetts were blown away. They knew Jake was smart, but doctorate-level smart?

"I flunked math," Kristine said with a laugh. "I know this did not come from me."
Off to college, where he tutors classmates

Encouraged by this new assessment, the Barnetts made the tough decision to pull Jake out of Westfield Washington Schools and enroll him in IUPUI's early college entrance program that caters to gifted and talented kids -- although typically they are advanced high school students, not 12-year-old whiz kids.

As he prepared for the more rigorous work of a college class, Jake decided he ought to make sure he could master all high school-level math that would be required in college.

"In one two-week period, he sat on our front porch and learned all of his high school math," Kristine said. "He tested out of algebra 1 and 2, geometry, trigonometry and calculus."

At this point, Jake's math IQ -- which has been measured at 170 (top of the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children) -- could not get any higher.

"You could tell right off the bat, his performance has been outstanding," said Ross, who, at age 46 with a Ph.D. from Boston University, has never seen a kid as smart as Jake.

"When he asks a question, he is always two steps ahead of the lecture," Ross said. "Everyone in the class gets quiet. Poor kid. . . . He sits right in the front row, and they all just look at him.

"He will come to see me during office hours and ask even more detailed questions. And you can tell he's been thinking these things through."

Jake is driven by Mom or Dad from his home in Hamilton County to IUPUI's campus, where he attends classes a few days each week. In between classes, he spends time at the Honors College lounge, where he has become a go-to guy for much older classmates needing tutoring.

"A lot of people come to him for help when they don't understand a physics problem," said Anderson, his class partner. "People come up to him all the time and say, 'Hey Jake, can you help me?' "

"A lot of people think a genius is hard to talk to, but Jake explains things that would still be over their head."

His professor has noticed.

"Is he a genius? Well, yeah," Ross said. "Kids his age would normally have problems adding fractions, and he is helping out some of his fellow students."

If Jake stays on track, Ross could see him working someday at a government lab or an observatory. Maybe he'll be a professor or a highly respected researcher.

"He can do anything he wants."

A normal boy, except for the numbers

Despite this new experience, his parents insist that Jake remain close with his friends in Westfield. Social activity is important, they know.

For Jake, life is not all centered on math and astrophysics.

He also likes playing video games. ("Guitar Hero" and "Halo: Reach" are his current favorites.) He plays basketball with friends, has a girlfriend and recently attended his first dance.

He likes music -- classical, which he plays by memory on a piano, but he also plays some contemporary songs he hears on the radio. He loves sci-fi movies and the Disney Channel. He watches documentaries on the History Channel.

A normal kid.

But then, late at night, when the TV is off, the homework is done and everyone in the house is sleeping, the numbers start to percolate again.

They percolate so much that he has trouble sleeping. His parents got so worried a few years ago that they took him for medical tests, but no malady was diagnosed. He just can't fall asleep easily.

"A lot keeps me awake," Jake said. "I scare people."

The numbers that keep him from snoozing are the same that led him to develop his own theory of physics -- an original work that proposed a "new expanded theory of relativity" and takes what Einstein developed even further.

His mom, still not sure whether her son was truly a genius at work or a kid at play, decided to send a video of Jake explaining his theory to the prestigious Institute for Advanced Study near Princeton University, one of the world's leading centers for theoretical research and intellectual inquiry.

That's where astrophysics Professor Scott Tremaine does his work. Tremaine is one of the world's leading scientists and is an expert in the evolution of planetary systems, comets, black holes, galaxies -- all the stuff Jake really likes.

In a letter to the Barnetts, Tremaine confirmed the brilliance.

"I'm impressed by his interest in physics and the amount that he has learned so far," Tremaine wrote in an email, provided by the family. "The theory that he's working on involves several of the toughest problems in astrophysics and theoretical physics.

"Anyone who solves these will be in line for a Nobel Prize."

He then encouraged Jake to spend as much time as possible to learn more and to further develop his theory.

Contacted by The Indianapolis Star, Tremaine confirmed the exchange of notes.

"I have seen a YouTube video in which Jake describes his theory, and I have spoken with his mother and corresponded with both her and Jake by email," Tremaine said. "I hope that Jake continues his interest in physics and mathematics."

Thinking big is what he does

Meanwhile, Jake is moving on to his next challenge: proving that the big-bang theory, the event some think led to the formation of the universe, is, well, wrong.

Wrong?

He explains.

"There are two different types of when stars end. When the little stars die, it's just like a small poof. They just turn into a planetary nebula. But the big ones, above 1.4 solar masses, blow up in one giant explosion, a supernova," Jake said. "What it does, is, in larger stars there is a larger mass, and it can fuse higher elements because it's more dense."

OK . . . trying to follow you.

"So you get all the elements, all the different materials, from those bigger stars. The little stars, they just make hydrogen and helium, and when they blow up, all the carbon that remains in them is just in the white dwarf; it never really comes off.

"So, um, in the big-bang theory, what they do is, there is this big explosion and there is all this temperature going off and the temperature decreases really rapidly because it's really big. The other day I calculated, they have this period where they suppose the hydrogen and helium were created, and, um, I don't care about the hydrogen and helium, but I thought, wouldn't there have to be some sort of carbon?"

He could go on and on.

And he did.

"Otherwise, the carbon would have to be coming out of the stars and hence the Earth, made mostly of carbon, we wouldn't be here. So I calculated, the time it would take to create 2 percent of the carbon in the universe, it would actually have to be several micro-seconds. Or a couple of nano-seconds, or something like that. An extremely small period of time. Like faster than a snap. That isn't gonna happen."

"Because of that," he continued, "that means that the world would have never been created because none of the carbon would have been given 7 billion years to fuse together. We'd have to be 21 billion years old . . . and that would just screw everything up."

So, we had to ask.

If not the big bang, then how did the universe come about?

"I'm still working on that," he said. "I have an idea, but . . . I'm still working out the details."

Yahoo News: For 12-year old astrophysics prodigy, the sky’s the limit.

In some ways, Jacob Barnett is just like any other 12-year-old kid. He plays Guitar Hero, shoots hoops with his friends, and has a platonic girlfriend.

But in other ways, he's a little different. Jake, who has an IQ of 170, began solving 5,000-piece jigsaw puzzles at the age of 3, not long after he'd been diagnosed with Asperger's syndrome, a mild form of autism. A few years later, he taught himself calculus, algebra, and geometry in two weeks. By 8, he had left high school, and is currently taking college-level advanced astrophysics classes—while tutoring his older classmates. And he's being recruited for a paid researcher job by Indiana University.

Now, he's at work on a theory that challenges the Big Bang—the prevailing explanation among scientists for how the universe came about. It's not clear how developed it is, but experts say he's asking the right questions.

"The theory that he's working on involves several of the toughest problems in astrophysics and theoretical physics," Scott Tremaine of Princeton University's Institute for Advanced Studies—where Einstein (pictured) himself worked—wrote in an email to Jake's family. "Anyone who solves these will be in line for a Nobel Prize."

Atheism to be Forced on 4 Year Olds

2011-03-30T17:46:00.000-07:00

Darwinists reject separation of atheism and state.

Daily Mail: Children as Young as Four to be Educated in Atheism.

Reverend Kevin Logan, a local journalist, author and religious community leader, said: 'It is quite a change but it is completely right to recognise atheism and humanism.

'They are religions like any others. It is just that people worship man instead of a god.

'I am certainly not worried about Christianity. It can stand against any belief and come out in a good light.'

Jordan Battles to Regain "Priceless" Christian Relics

2011-03-29T23:03:00.000-07:00

Pigott, R., Jordan Battles to Regain Priceless Christian Relics, BBC, Mar 29th

They could be the earliest Christian writing in existence, surviving almost 2,000 years in a Jordanian cave. They could, just possibly, change our understanding of how Jesus was crucified and resurrected, and how Christianity was born.

A group of 70 or so "books", each with between five and 15 lead leaves bound by lead rings, was apparently discovered in a remote arid valley in northern Jordan somewhere between 2005 and 2007.

A flash flood had exposed two niches inside the cave, one of them marked with a menorah or candlestick, the ancient Jewish religious symbol.

A Jordanian Bedouin opened these plugs, and what he found inside might constitute extremely rare relics of early Christianity.

That is certainly the view of the Jordanian government, which claims they were smuggled into Israel by another Bedouin.

The Israeli Bedouin who currently holds the books has denied smuggling them out of Jordan, and claims they have been in his family for 100 years.

Jordan says it will "exert all efforts at every level" to get the relics repatriated.

The director of the Jordan's Department of Antiquities, Ziad al-Saad, says the books might have been made by followers of Jesus in the few decades immediately following his crucifixion.

"They will really match, and perhaps be more significant than, the Dead Sea Scrolls," says Mr Saad.

"Maybe it will lead to further interpretation and authenticity checks of the material, but the initial information is very encouraging, and it seems that we are looking at a very important and significant discovery, maybe the most important discovery in the history of archaeology."

They seem almost incredible claims - so what is the evidence?

The books, or "codices", were apparently cast in lead, before being bound by lead rings.

Their leaves - which are mostly about the size of a credit card - contain text in Ancient Hebrew, most of which is in code.

Aposematism Associated With Athleticism

2011-03-29T18:26:00.000-07:00

Science Daily: Treadmill Tests for Poison Frogs Show Toxic Species Are More Physically Fit.

ScienceDaily (Mar. 29, 2011) — The most toxic, brightly colored members of the poison frog family may also be the best athletes, says a new study.

So-named because some native peoples use their skin secretions to poison their darts, the poison dart frogs of the Amazon jungle are well known for their bitter taste and beautiful colors. The spectacular hues of these forest frogs serve to broadcast their built-in chemical weapons: skin secretions containing nasty toxins called alkaloids. Like the red, yellow and black bands on a coral snake or the yellow stripes on a wasp, their contrasting color patterns warn would-be predators to stay away, said lead author Juan Santos of the National Evolutionary Synthesis Center in Durham, NC.

As it turns out, the most boldly-colored and bad-tasting species are also the most physically fit, the authors report this week in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

In forests in Colombia, Ecuador, Venezuela, and Panamá, Santos subjected nearly 500 poison frogs -- representing more than 50 species -- to a frog fitness test. He measured their oxygen uptake during exercise using a rotating plastic tube, turning the tube like a hamster wheel to make the frogs walk.

Santos estimated the frogs' metabolic rates while at rest, and again after four minutes of exercise. The result? The most dazzling and deadly species had higher aerobic capacity than their drab, nontoxic cousins.

"They're better able to extract oxygen from each breath and transport it to their muscles, just like well-trained athletes," Santos said.

Poisonous species owe their athletic prowess to their unusual foraging habits, explained co-author David Cannatella of the University of Texas at Austin. Unlike snakes and other poisonous animals which make their own venom, poison frogs get their toxins from their food.

"They acquire their alkaloid chemicals by eating ants and mites," Cannatella said.

Because of their picky diet, poisonous frogs have to forage far and wide for food. "Nontoxic species basically stay in one place and don't move very much and eat any insect that comes close to them," Santos said. "But the bright, poisonous frogs are very picky about what they eat."

"It's not like a buffet where they can get everything they need to eat in one place," Cannatella added. "Ants and mites are patchy, so the frogs have to move around more to find enough food."

This combination of toxic skin and bold colors -- a syndrome known as aposematism

Scientists to Drill to Earth's Mantle

2011-03-23T18:00:00.000-07:00

"The interior of the Earth is a problem at once fascinating and baffling, as one may easily judge by the vast literature and the few established facts concerning it." -- A. Francis Birch, geophysicist, 1952

National Geographic: Scientists to Drill Earth's Mantle, Retrieve First Sample?

It may not be a journey to the center of the Earth, but it could be the closest thing yet.

Scientists are planning to drill all the way through the planet's miles-thick crust to Earth's deep, hot mantle and retrieve samples for the first time. The samples, they say, would rival moon rocks for sheer scientific import—and be nearly as hard to get.

"That has been a long-term ambition of earth scientists," geologist Damon Teagle told National Geographic News.

But a lack of suitable technology and insufficient understanding of the crust have long tempered that ambition. (Get an overview of Earth's magma and other layers).

Now, better knowledge of the Earth's shell and technological advances—for example, a Japanese drill ship equipped with six miles (ten kilometers) of drilling pipe—have put the goal within reach, according to a commentary in this week's issue of the journal Nature, co-written by Teagle, a geologist at the U.K.'s University of Southampton.

Even so, drilling into the mantle would be "very expensive" and would require new drillbit and lubricant designs, among other things, according to the paper.

But if all goes as planned, drilling could begin by 2020, Teagle said. As soon as next month, the team will begin exploratory missions in the Pacific, where crews will "bore further into the oceanic crust than ever before," the paper says.

Texas Considers Protecting Those Who Question Darwin

2011-03-19T23:14:00.001-07:00

Texas is considering legal protection for creationists who face academic discrimination from Darwinist bigots.

Unruh, B., Texas Considers Protecting Those Who Question Darwin, World Net Daily, March 19th 2011

A Texas lawmaker has proposed a legal protection for those in academia who question Charles Darwin's beliefs that man evolved from sludge and today's world is a result of the survival of the fittest.

State Rep. Bill Zedler told WND today that his House Bill 2454 is a pre-emptive effort to make sure problems don't arise in Texas with established scientific communities discriminating against someone who challenges their beliefs.

His plan is short and to the point:

An institution of higher education may not discriminate against or penalize in any manner, especially with regard to employment or academic support, a faculty member or student based on the faculty member's or student's conduct of research relating to the theory of intelligent design or other alternate theories of the origination and development of organisms.

"Isn't it amazing in the halls of academia you can almost believe anything and espouse everything and they go right along with you. But lo and behold if someone talks about intelligent design, all of a sudden, we need to get rid of you," Zedler told WND.

Such actions already have been documented, and have produced court cases.

But is man really just a product of cosmic accidents and processes? Get Ray Comfort's "Nothing Created Everything" to expose the inconsistencies of evolution theory.

In Texas, it was several years ago that Baylor University Professor Bob Marks, whose research indicated a challenge to Darwin's theory of evolution, was ordered taken off the Internet by his employer.

Walt Ruloff, the executive producer of Premise Media, who worked with actor Ben Stein on the project called "Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed," about the monopoly Darwinian beliefs hold in academia, wrote in the Baylor student newspaper about his concerns at the time.

"As many of you have heard, Marks, a distinguished professor of electrical and computer engineering, has been conducting research that ultimately may challenge the foundation of Darwinian theory. In layman's terms, Marks is using highly sophisticated mathematical and computational techniques to determine if there are limits to what natural selection can do," he wrote. "At Baylor, a Christian institution, this should be pretty unremarkable stuff. I'm assuming most of the faculty, students and alumni believe in God, so wouldn't it also be safe to assume you have no problem with a professor trying to scientifically quantify the limits of a blind, undirected cause of the origin and subsequent history of life?

"But the dirty little secret is university administrators are much more fearful of the Darwinian Machine than they are of you," he said.

Zedler said the flow of research and information in academia sometimes is stifled because of the entrenched censorship of intelligent design questions by established scientists.

WND has reported on several other cases in which the intense criticism of anything related to intelligence design has created controversy. In one case, a NASA lab was accused of cracking down on one person's opinion.

David Coppedge, an information-technology specialist and systems administrator on the NASA Jet Propulsion Lab's Cassini mission to Saturn, contended he was discriminated against by managers and demoted because he shared intelligent design videos with co-workers.

"For the offense of offering videos to colleagues, Coppedge faced harassment, an investigation cloaked in secrecy and a virtual gag order on his discussion of intelligent design," said attorney Casey Luskin of Discovery Institute's Center for Science and Culture.

Luskin was consultant to the Coppedge lawsuit, which was being handled by Los Angeles First Amendment attorney William J. Becker Jr. of the Becker Law Firm and included allegations of free-speech violations and wrongful demotion.

"Coppedge was punished even though supervisors admitted never receiving a single complaint regarding his conversations about intelligent design prior to their investigation, and even though other employees were allowed to express diverse ideological opinions, including attacking intelligent design," Luskin said.

Zedler's proposal has been referred to committee and he couldn't provide to WND an estimate for when, or if, it could reach the House floor for debate and vote. He said sometimes the politics are more important than the issue.

But he said the issue is something that needs to be raised as the dominance of the opinion supporting evolution in colleges and universities leaves those who disagree, or even just have questions, as targets.

"There are people that want to say something but [are] afraid to because there are people around the country that have been discriminated against," Zedler said.

It was just weeks ago when the University of Texas paid a settlement of $125,000 to astronomy professor Martin Gaskell, who alleged he was denied a position at least partly because he expressed questions about evolution.

He told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, "I think that it is important that the state of Texas stands firmly behind academic freedom."

Also, WND reported when Iowa State University regents, who had ruled against accepting evidence or hearing testimony from a professor in a dispute over the school's denial of his tenure, turned down his appeal.

The case involved Guillermo Gonzalez, an honored assistant professor of astronomy who had been actively working on theories of intelligent design, an effort that ultimately cost him his job, supporters say. Tenure is roughly the equivalent of a lifetime appointment.

The school has continued to deny the handling of Gonzalez' case was related to his support of ID, even though the Des Moines Register documented emails that confirmed Gonzalez' colleagues wanted him flushed out of the system for that reason.

"I think Gonzalez should know that some of the faculty in his department are not going to count his ID work as a plus for tenure," said one note, from astronomy teacher Bruce Harmon, before the department voted against tenure for Gonzalez. "Quite the opposite."

The newspaper reported what was revealed in emails was "contrary" to what ISU officials said when they rejected Gonzalez' request for tenure.

WND also reported recently on biochemist Christian de Duve, who suggested the forces of natural selection in evolution instilled mankind with an innate "original sin" that if not overcome could lead to humanity's extinction.

De Duve, a professor emeritus at New York City's Rockefeller University and 1974 winner of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, said in an interview with NewScientist that the essential problem … is selfishness.

"Natural selection has resulted in traits such as group selfishness being coded in our genes," de Duve explains. "These were useful to our ancestors under the conditions in which they lived, but have become noxious to us today."

Unfortunately, de Duve says, that while evolution favored the survival of early tribes with a me-first nature, there are dire consequences to the success of a selfish race.

Put more simply, he says, natural selection "doesn't care about your grandchildren."

"The cost of our success is the exhaustion of natural resources, leading to energy crises, climate change, pollution and the destruction of our habitat," he continues. "If we continue in the same direction, humankind is headed for some frightful ordeals, if not extinction."

De Duve has written a book, "Genetics of Original Sin," in which he explains how he sees the intersection of his theories with the Bible.

With Timbuktu Myth Is Reality

2011-03-18T02:10:00.000-07:00

BBC: Search on for Timbuktu's twin, Oct 2006

'Mythical place'

Mr Redler, who comes from Taunton in Somerset, said many Britons are a unaware of the existence of Timbuktu, let alone its culture, history and achievements.

A survey of 150 young people undertaken ahead of the exhibition found 34% did not think Timbuktu existed, and the remaining 66% considered it to be "a mythical place."

Prometheus the Neaderthal

2011-03-15T17:21:00.000-07:00

Science Daily: Neanderthals Were Nifty at Controlling Fire.

ScienceDaily (Mar. 15, 2011) — A new study involving the University of Colorado Boulder shows clear evidence of the continuous control of fire by Neanderthals in Europe dating back roughly 400,000 years, yet another indication that they weren't dimwitted brutes as often portrayed.

The conclusion comes from the study of scores of ancient archaeological research sites in Europe that show convincing evidence of long-term fire control by Neanderthals, said Paola Villa, a curator at the University of Colorado Museum of Natural History. Villa co-authored a paper on the new study with Professor Wil Roebroeks of Leiden University in the Netherlands.

"Until now, many scientists have thought Neanderthals had some fires but did not have continuous use of fire," said Villa. "We were not expecting to find a record of so many Neanderthal sites exhibiting such good evidence of the sustained use of fire over time."

A paper on the subject was published in the March 14 issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Shrew Mole Vicariance Proves Plate Tectonics A Lie

2011-03-14T18:17:00.000-07:00

"The mole genus Urotrichus [Urotrichini] is confined to Japan and California." -- S. Warren Carey, geologist, Earth, Universe, Cosmos, 1996

EncyclopaediaBritannica.com -- Urotrichus

Asian, Japanese, and American shrew moles (genera Uropsilus, Urotrichus, and Neurotrichus, respectively) differ from typical moles in that they resemble shrews and are much less specialized for burrowing. Their tails are nearly as long as the body.

"... 3) the Urotrichini, containing Neurotrichus." -- Terry L. Yates and Ira F. Greenbaum, zoologists, Biochemical Systematics of North American Moles (Insectivora: Talpidae), Journal of Mammology, Volume 63, Number 3, Pages 368-374, Aug 1982

Yates, T.L., and Moore, D.W., Speciation and Evolution in the Family Talpidae (Mammalia: Insectivora), Progress in Clinical and Biological Research, Volume 335, Pages 1-22, 1990

"Yates and Greenbaum (1982) suggested that the morphological similarity between Neurotrichus and Urotrichus, found on the opposite side of the Pacific, in Japan, may be the result of convergence. Subsequently, however, Yates and Moore (1990) indicated that the chromosomal data support an earlier view that the two are more closely related to one another than either is to any other living genus." -- Robert M. Nowak, zoologist, Walker's Mammals of the World, Volume 2, Insectivora: Talipidae, 1999

"The Urotrichini (Urotrichus, Dymecodon and Neurotrichus)...." -- Masaharu Motokawa, zoologist, Phylogenetic Relationships Within the Family Talpidae (Mammalia: Insectivora), Journal of Zoology, Volume 263, Pages 147-157, May 2004

"Chinese (Scaptonyx), Japanese (Urotrichus and Dymecodon) and North American (Neurotrichus) shrew moles closely resemble each other in external appearance and habits (Allen, 1938; Reed, 1951). These diminutive animals commonly excavate shallow tunnel systems in the leaf mold of soft loamy soils and appear to occupy an ecological niche between those of the shrew-like and fossorial talpids." -- Akio Shinihara, zoologist, et al., Evolution and Biogeography of Talpid Moles from Continental East Asia and the Japanese Islands Inferred from Mitochondrial and Nuclear Gene Sequences, Zoological Science, Volume 21, Number 12, Pages 1177-1185, Dec 2004

"... the Urotrichini, including the Asian Urotrichus, Dymecodon, and the North American Neurotrichus (van Valen, '67; Hutchison, '68; Yates and Moore, '90)" -- F. David Carmona, zoologist, et al., The Evolution of Female Mole Ovotestes Evidences High Plasticity of Mammalian Gonad Development, Journal of Experimental Zoology Part B: Molecular and Developmental Evolution, Volume 310B, Issue 3, Pages 259–266, May 2008

Citations

Van Valen, L.M., New Paleocene Insectivores and Insectivore Classification, 1967

Hutchison, J.H., Fossil Talpidae (Insectivora, Mammalia) From the Later Tertiary of Oregon, 1968

Hutchison, J.H., Notes on Type Specimens of European Miocene Talpidae and a Tentative Classification of Old World Tertiary Talpidae (Insectivora: Mammalia), Geobios, Volume 7, Issue 3, Pages 211-256, 1974

CNN Earth Expansion Coverup

2011-03-12T14:33:00.000-08:00

CNN: Quake Moved Japan Coast 8 Feet, Shifted Earth's Axis.

(CNN) -- The powerful earthquake that unleashed a devastating tsunami Friday appears to have moved the main island of Japan by 8 feet (2.4 meters) and shifted the Earth on its axis.

"At this point, we know that one GPS station moved (8 feet), and we have seen a map from GSI (Geospatial Information Authority) in Japan showing the pattern of shift over a large area is consistent with about that much shift of the land mass," said Kenneth Hudnut, a geophysicist with the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS).

Reports from the National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology in Italy estimated the 8.9-magnitude quake shifted the planet on its axis by nearly 4 inches (10 centimeters). ...

The quake occurred as the Earth's crust ruptured along an area about 250 miles (400 kilometers) long by 100 miles (160 kilometers) wide, as tectonic plates slipped more than 18 meters, said Shengzao Chen, a USGS geophysicist.

CNN deliberately doesn't tell you what direction Japan moved because if they did it would falsify Plate Tectonics.

Early Humans Migrated From Antarctica to South Africa

2011-03-11T17:36:00.000-08:00

Kinver, M., Early Humans Began in Southern Africa, Study Suggests, BBC, Mar 2011

Modern humans may have originated from southern Africa, an extensive genetic study has suggested.

Data showed that hunter-gatherer populations in the region had the greatest degree of genetic diversity, which is an indicator of longevity.

It says that the region was probably the best location for the origin of modern humans, challenging the view that we came from eastern Africa.

The study appears in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Alien Robots

2011-03-10T23:00:00.000-08:00

Hadhazy, A., Scientists: If Aliens Arrive, Expect Robots, CBS News, Mar 10 2011 (Hat tip: irrationaltheorist)

"If an extraterrestrial spaceship ever lands on Earth, I bet you that it is 99.9999999 percent likely that what exits that ship will be synthetic in nature," said Michael Dyer, a professor of computer science at the University of California, Los Angeles (appropriately enough).

In civilizations advanced enough to travel between the stars, it is quite likely that machines have supplanted their biological creators, some scientists argue. Automatons -- unlike animals -- could withstand the hazards to living tissue and the strain on social fabrics posed by a long interstellar voyage.

Furthermore, nonliving beings would not have to worry all that much about the environmental conditions at their destination -- if the planet is hot or cold, bacteria-ridden or sterile, has oxygen in the air or is airless, machines would not care.

In short, don't expect cuddly, squishy E.T.s to come calling someday; instead, picture robots descending from the sky.

Ancient Chemical Warfare

2011-03-09T21:14:00.000-08:00

"And then the Aryans -- if we may believe that good man Bramachari Bawa -- knew a branch of science (Viman Vidya) about which the West is now speculating much, but has learnt next to nothing. They could navigate the air, and not only navigate but fight battles in it, like so many war eagles combating for the dominion of the clouds. To be perfect in aeronautics, as he [Bramachari Bawa] justly says, they must have known all the arts and sciences related to that science, including the strata and currents of the atmosphere, their relative temperature, humidity and density, and the specific gravity of the various gases. At the Mayasabha, described in the Bharata, he tells us, were microscopes, telescopes, clocks, watches, mechanical singing birds, and articulating and speaking animals. The Ashta Vidya -- a science of which our modern professors have not even an inkling -- enabled it's proficients completely to destroy an invading army by enveloping it in an atmosphere of poisonous gases...." -- Henry S. Olcott, theosophist, India Past Present and Future, 1880

LiveScience: Buried Soldiers May Be Victims of Ancient Chemical Weapon.

Almost 2,000 years ago, 19 Roman soldiers rushed into a cramped underground tunnel, prepared to defend the Roman-held Syrian city of Dura-Europos from an army of Persians digging to undermine the city's mudbrick walls. But instead of Persian soldiers, the Romans met with a wall of noxious black smoke that turned to acid in their lungs. Their crystal-pommeled swords were no match for this weapon; the Romans choked and died in moments, many with their last pay of coins still slung in purses on their belts.

Nearby, a Persian soldier — perhaps the one who started the toxic underground fire — suffered his own death throes, grasping desperately at his chain mail shirt as he choked.

These 20 men, who died in A.D. 256, may be the first victims of chemical warfare to leave any archeological evidence of their passing, according to a new investigation. The case is a cold one, with little physical evidence left behind beyond drawings and archaeological excavation notes from the 1930s. But a new analysis of those materials published in January in the American Journal of Archaeology finds that the soldiers likely did not die by the sword as the original excavator believed. Instead, they were gassed.

As Long As It's Not in the Bible

2011-03-08T21:09:00.000-08:00

"Man will believe anything, as long as it's not in the Bible." -- Napoleon Bonaparte, emperor, 19th century

Quoted in:

Comfort, R., Scientific Facts in the Bible, 2001

Comfort, R., God Doesn't Believe in Atheists, 2002

Two Planets Sharing Same Orbit?

2011-03-07T23:21:00.000-08:00

Chown, M., Two Planets Found Sharing One Orbit, New Scientist, Issue 2801, March 6th 2011

Buried in the flood of data from the Kepler telescope is a planetary system unlike any seen before. Two of its apparent planets share the same orbit around their star. ...

The two planets are part of a four-planet system dubbed KOI-730. They circle their sun-like parent star every 9.8 days at exactly the same orbital distance.

Sharuhen: Another Exodus Clue

2011-03-06T23:30:00.000-08:00

Sharuhen is mentioned in the Book of Joshua: Joshua 19:6

And Bethlebaoth, and Sharuhen; thirteen cities and their villages:

Sharuhen of the Hyksos was destroyed by Pharaoh Ahmose I whose reign (the beginning of the New Kingdom) has been radiocarbon dated to 1570 and 1544 B.C.

Ramsey, et al., Radiocarbon-Based Chronology for Dynastic Egypt, Science, Volume 328, Number 5985, Pages 1554-1557, Jul 2010

Our radiocarbon data indicate that the New Kingdom started between 1570 and 1544 B.C.E.

Therefore the Exodus must have preceded the reign of Ahmose I, and therefore also preceded the traditional Exodus date of 1450 B.C.

The Pharaoh preceding the Exodus was Pepi II Neferkare and the Exodus occurred circa 2200 B.C.

Exactly 430 years before Pepi II Neferkare and the Exodus lived Vizier Joseph (aka Imhotep) and his Pharaoh Djoser.

"Now the sojourning of the children of Israel, who dwelt in Egypt, was four hundred and thirty years." -- Exodus 12:40

Cyanobacteria Found In Carbonaceous Meteorites

2011-03-05T13:16:00.000-08:00

Hoover, R.B., Fossils of Cyanobacteria in CI1 Carbonaceous Meteorites, Journal of Cosmology, Vol 13, 2011

Dr. Hoover has discovered evidence of microfossils similar to Cyanobacteria, in freshly fractured slices of the interior surfaces of the Alais, Ivuna, and Orgueil CI1 carbonaceous meteorites. Based on Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy (FESEM) and other measures, Dr. Hoover has concluded they are indigenous to these meteors and are similar to trichomic cyanobacteria and other trichomic prokaryotes such as filamentous sulfur bacteria. He concludes these fossilized bacteria are not Earthly contaminants but are the fossilized remains of living organisms which lived in the parent bodies of these meteors, e.g. comets, moons, and other astral bodies. The implications are that life is everywhere, and that life on Earth may have come from other planets.

Members of the Scientific community were invited to analyze the results and to write critical commentaries or to speculate about the implications. These commentaries will be published on March 7 through March 10, 2011.
Official Statement from Dr. Rudy Schild,
Center for Astrophysics, Harvard-Smithsonian,
Editor-in-Chief, Journal of Cosmology.

Dr. Richard Hoover is a highly respected scientist and astrobiologist with a prestigious record of accomplishment at NASA. Given the controversial nature of his discovery, we have invited 100 experts and have issued a general invitation to over 5000 scientists from the scientific community to review the paper and to offer their critical analysis. Our intention is to publish the commentaries, both pro and con, alongside Dr. Hoover's paper. In this way, the paper will have received a thorough vetting, and all points of view can be presented. No other paper in the history of science has undergone such a thorough analysis, and no other scientific journal in the history of science has made such a profoundly important paper available to the scientific community, for comment, before it is published. We believe the best way to advance science, is to promote debate and discussion.

FoxNews: Exclusive: NASA Scientist Claims Evidence of Alien Life on Meteorite.

“I interpret it as indicating that life is more broadly distributed than restricted strictly to the planet earth,” Hoover told FoxNews.com. “This field of study has just barely been touched -- because quite frankly, a great many scientist would say that this is impossible.”

In what he calls “a very simple process,” Dr. Hoover fractured the meteorite stones under a sterile environment before examining the freshly broken surface with the standard tools of the scientist: a scanning-electron microscope and a field emission electron-scanning microscope, which allowed him to search the stone’s surface for evidence of fossilized remains.

He found the fossilized remains of micro-organisms not so different from ordinary ones found underfoot -- here on earth, that is

“The exciting thing is that they are in many cases recognizable and can be associated very closely with the generic species here on earth,” Hoover told FoxNews.com. But not all of them. “There are some that are just very strange and don’t look like anything that I’ve been able to identify, and I’ve shown them to many other experts that have also come up stumped.”

Other scientists tell FoxNews.com the implications of this research are shocking, describing the findings variously as profound, very important and extraordinary. But Dr. David Marais, an astrobiologist with NASA’s AMES Research Center, says he’s very cautious about jumping onto the bandwagon.

These kinds of claims have been made before, he noted -- and found to be false.

“It’s an extraordinary claim, and thus I’ll need extraordinary evidence,” Marais said.

Knowing that the study will be controversial, the journal invited members of the scientific community to analyze the results and to write critical commentaries ahead of time. Though none are online yet, those comments will be posted alongside the article, said Dr. Rudy Schild, a scientist with the Harvard-Smithsonian's Center for Astrophysics and the editor-in-chief of the Journal of Cosmology.

"Given the controversial nature of his discovery, we have invited 100 experts and have issued a general invitation to over 5,000 scientists from the scientific community to review the paper and to offer their critical analysis," Schild wrote in an editor's note along with the article. "No other paper in the history of science has undergone such a thorough vetting, and never before in the history of science has the scientific community been given the opportunity to critically analyze an important research paper before it is published, he wrote."

Dr. Seth Shostak, senior astronomer at the SETI Institute, said there is a lot of hesitancy to believe such proclamations.

When I Heard the Learned Astronomer

2011-03-04T22:43:00.000-08:00

WHEN I HEARD THE LEARNED ASTRONOMER

When I heard the learn'd astronomer,
When the proofs, the figures, were ranged in columns before me,
When I was shown the charts and diagrams, to add, divide,
and measure them,
When I sitting heard the astronomer where he lectured with
much applause in the lecture-room,
How soon unaccountable I became tired and sick,
Till rising and gliding out I wander'd off by myself,
In the mystical moist night-air, and from time to time,
Look'd up in perfect silence at the stars.

Walt Whitman, Leaves of Grass, 1892

The Habiru

2011-03-03T00:18:00.000-08:00

"I [Idrimi] took with me my horse, my chariot, and my groom, went away and crossed over the desert country and even entered into the region of the Sutian [Sutu in Syria] warriors. I stayed with them overnight in my covered chariot, but the next day I moved on and went to the land of Canaan [Lebanon]. Ammia [hills of Byblos] is situated in the land of Canaan; in Ammia there lived natives of Aleppo, of the country of Mugisse, of the country of Niyi, and also warriors of the country of Amae. When they discovered that I was the son of their overlord, then they gathered around me. Thus I said, 'I have become chief!' I stayed for a long time; for seven years I lived among the hapiru." -- Idrimi, hapiru warrior, The Autobiography of Idrimi, 15th century B.C. (quoted in Pomegranites and Golden Bells)

"All of my towns that are in the hills and on the sea coast have gone over to the hapiru. Byblos with two other towns remain under my control." -- Rib-Haddi to Pharaoh Amenhotep III, The Amarna Letters, 14th century B.C. (quoted in Pomegranites and Golden Bells)

"Should we do like Labayu when he gave the land of Shechem [Nablus] to the hapiru?" -- Abdi-Kheba of Jerusalem to Pharaoh Amenhotep IV, The Amarna Letters, 14th century B.C. (quoted in Pomegranites and Golden Bells)

"Some Egyptian monuments mention an enigmatic people: the 'Apiru'. In one of these was carved on the stone walls a scene depicting men working at a wine press. Beneath the picture was a title which ran: 'Straining out wine by the Apiru'. The date of the monument is believed to be during the reign of queen Hatshepshut and Tutmose III, about the year 2290 (1470 b.c.e.). Scholars immediately recognized the similarity of the word 'Apiru' to 'Hebrew', with a scene depicting manual labour, as described in Exodus for Hebrew people under bondage in Egypt. From the Papyrus Leiden, dated to the reign of Ramose II, about the year 2510 (1250 b.c.e.), the following statement is made in a letter: 'Issue grain to the men of the army and to the Apiru who draw stone for the great pylon of Ramses II'. Again we see Apiru in bondage in Egypt down to the time of Ramose II. They were being used as quarrymen and manual labourers. These references to the Apiru in Egyptian documents and on monuments show their presence in Egypt, and their social importance, for more than three centuries. The same people are called elsewhere 'Habiru' or 'Habiri'." -- The Mysterious 'Habiru' and the Hebrews

"By 2000 B.C.E., if not considerably before, these people were widespread, and already an established part of different societies and different kingdoms." -- Israel A History, The Akkadians and the Habiru

Are the Habiru the Hebrews?

Many say No

"The king of Jerusalem pointed to the roving tribes penetrating from the wastes of Trans-Jordan, and called them 'Habiru'. 'Habiru' is derived from the Hebrew root 'haber', 'a member of a band', and 'habiru' means 'bandits,' and is used for 'companions of thieves' in Isaiah 1:23, 'troops of robbers' in Hosea 6:9, and 'companion of a destroyer' in Proverbs 28:24. This meaning of the word 'Habiru' should have been suggested by the fact that 'sa-gaz', which is translated as 'bandits,' 'cutthroats,' is interchanged with the term 'Habiru.' The various theories about Habiru ('Khabiru') of the el-Amarna letters -- that it signifies 'Ivri' ('Hebrew'), or 'apiru' (miners), or 'Afiru' (from the Babylonian region of Afiru) -- are thus found to be without foundation." -- Immanuel Velikovsky, polymath, Ages in Chaos, Volume I, 1952

"It is time to clarify for BAR readers the widely discussed relationship between the habiru, who are well documented in Egyptian and Near Eastern inscriptions, and the Hebrews of the Bible. There is absolutely no relationship!" -- Anson F. Rainey, professor, Shasu or Habiru: Who Were the Early Israelites?, Biblical Archaeology Review, Volume 34, Number 6, Nov/Dec 2008

I say Yes

"The Tell-el-Amarna letters carry on the general picture of Palestinian and Syrian life almost to the entrance of the Jews into the valley of the Nile. It is probable, though not certain, that the 'Habiru' spoken of in this correspondence were the Hebrews." -- Will Durant, historian, The Story of Civilization, Volume I, Our Oriental Heritage, 1935

"The equation Habiru-Hebrews is still accepted by a large number of scholars...." -- Immanuel Velikovsky, polymath, Ages in Chaos, Volume I, 1952

"Julius Lewy, in an article entitled 'Origin and signification of the biblical term Hebrew', demonstrated most convincingly that the term 'ibrim is to be taken as signifying the Habiru." -- J. Weingreen, Saul and the Habiru, Volume 4, Number 1, Pages 63-66, 1967

"To the amazement and delight of scholars, the so-called Amarna Letters included correspondence from the warlords and chieftains of the land of Canaan that, intriguingly, contained intelligence reports about the threat of a newly arrived band of marauders called the Habiru (or Apiru, as the term is sometimes rendered in English) who were waging a war of conquest throughout Canaan. 'The Apiru plunder all the lands of the king,' complained a Canaanite chieftain named Abdu-Heba, who ruled the city-state of Jerusalem as a vassal of Pharaoh and who begged the Egyptian king to send an expeditionary force to protect him from the plunderers. 'If there are archers here in this year, the lands of the king, my lord, will remain intact; but if there are no archers here, the lands of the king my lord will be lost.' Suddenly and dramatically, the archaeological record seemed to corroborate some of the crucial events described in the Bible. The existence of the Habiru in Egypt had already been reported in a few non-provocative pieces of evidence -- two papyri from the reign of Ramses II, for example, depict a work-gang of Habiru 'dragging up stone for temples built by [the pharaoh]' -- and now the Amarna Letters placed the Habiru in Canaan at a date that was consistent with the chronology of the Exodus as reported in the biblical text. Some scholars began to argue that the Habiru of the Amarna Letters and the Hebrews of the Bible were one and the same. When the Canaanite ruler of Jerusalem complained to Pharaoh about the threat of Habiru invaders, as T. Eric Peet wrote in 1922 in Egypt and the Old Testament, 'we are to see the Hebrews under Joshua entering Palestine.'" -- Jonathan Kirsch, historian, Moses: A Life, 1999

Also see Eric Levy's Habiru Links.

And Idrimi: The Movie.

Canaanites = Phoenicians

2011-03-02T03:49:00.000-08:00

"In the same day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates: The Kenites, and the Kenizzites, and the Kadmonites, And the Hittites, and the Perizzites, and the Rephaims, And the Amorites [in Alalakh], and the Canaanites [Phoenicians], and the Girgashites, and the Jebusites [Hurrians/Mitanni in Jebus/Jerusalem]." -- Genesis 15:18-21

"And I am come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land unto a good land and a large, unto a land flowing with milk and honey; unto the place of the Canaanite [Phoenicians], and the Hittite, and the Amorite, and the Perizzite, and the Hivite, and the Jebusite." -- Exodus 3:8

"The people shall hear, and be afraid: sorrow shall take hold on the inhabitants of Palestina. Then the dukes of Edom shall be amazed; the mighty men of Moab, trembling shall take hold upon them; all the inhabitants of Canaan [Phoenicia] shall melt away." -- Exodus 15:41-15

"And I will send hornets before thee, which shall drive out the Hivite, the Canaanite [Phoenicians], and the Hittite, from before thee. I will not drive them out from before thee in one year; lest the land become desolate, and the beast of the field multiply against thee. By little and little I will drive them out from before thee, until thou be increased, and inherit the land. And I will set thy bounds from the Red sea even unto the sea of the Philistines, and from the desert unto the river: for I will deliver the inhabitants of the land into your hand; and thou shalt drive them out before thee." -- Exodus 23:28-31

"According to the Persians best informed in history, the Phoenicians began to quarrel. This people, who had formerly dwelt on the shores of the Erythraean Sea, having migrated to the Mediterranean and settled in the parts which they now inhabit, began at once, they say, to adventure on long voyages, freighting their vessels with the wares of Egypt and Assyria. They landed at many places on the coast, and among the rest at Argos, which was then preeminent above all the states included now under the common name of Hellas. Here they exposed their merchandise, and traded with the natives...." -- Herodotus, historian, The History, Book I, 440 B.C.

"Interrogati rustici nostri quid sint, Punice respondent, Chanani." -- Augustine, bishop, Opera 3,932, 4th century

"All these stories Thabion, who was the very first hierophant of all the Phoenicians from the beginning, allegorized and mixed up with the physical and cosmical phenomena, and delivered to the prophets who celebrated the orgies and inaugurated the mysteries: and they, purposing to increase their vain pretensions from every source, handed them on to their successors and to their foreign visitors: one of these was Eisirius the inventor of the three letters, brother of Chna the first who had his name changed to Phoenix." -- Philo of Byblos, philosopher, 1st century, quoted in Eusebius of Caesaria, bishop, Preparation For the Gospel, Book I, 4th century

"The Phoenicians appear to have known their country by no other name than that of Canaan. According to Hecataeus and Stephanus Byzantinus, Chna, an evident contraction of the oriental form, was the previous name of Phoenicia; and Sanchoniatho says that the name of Chna was changed to Phoenix. The Septuagint frequently renders Canaan and Canaanite in the Hebrew by Phoenicia and Phoenician, and even the Carthaginians in their African settlements called themselves Canaanites." -- John Kenrick, historian, Phoenicia, 1855

"Historically and biblically, Phoenicia and Canaan are identical. The first Phoenician cities arose before 3000 BC ...." -- Life Magazine, The Phoenicians: Rovers of the Sea, Mar 1957

"The Phoenicians actually called themselves Canaanites and their land Canaan, at least until the 1st century AD as documented in the New Testament where it is written that Jesus reached the borders of Tyre and Sidon and cured there a Canaanite woman." -- Asher Kaufman, historian, Reviving Phoenicia, 2004

Imhotep = Joseph

2011-02-28T04:52:00.000-08:00

Interpreter of Dreams

"And Joseph dreamed a dream, and he told it his brethren: and they hated him yet the more." -- Genesis 37:5

"And his brethren said to him, Shalt thou indeed reign over us? or shalt thou indeed have dominion over us? And they hated him yet the more for his dreams, and for his words." -- Genesis 37:8

"And he dreamed yet another dream, and told it his brethren, and said, Behold, I have dreamed a dream more; and, behold, the sun and the moon and the eleven stars made obeisance to me." -- Genesis 37:9

"Come now therefore, and let us slay him, and cast him into some pit, and we will say, Some evil beast hath devoured him: and we shall see what will become of his dreams." -- Genesis 37:20

"And it came to pass in the morning that his [Pharaoh Djoser's] spirit was troubled; and he sent and called for all the magicians of Egypt, and all the wise men thereof: and Pharaoh told them his dream; but there was none that could interpret them unto Pharaoh." -- Genesis 41:8

"And there was there with us a young man, an Hebrew, servant to the captain of the guard; and we told him, and he interpreted to us our dreams; to each man according to his dream he did interpret." -- Genesis 41:12

"And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, I have dreamed a dream, and there is none that can interpret it: and I have heard say of thee, that thou canst understand a dream to interpret it." -- Genesis 41:15

"And Joseph answered Pharaoh, saying, It is not in me: God shall give Pharaoh an answer of peace." -- Genesis 41:16

7 Year Famine/Djoser Famine Stela

"And Joseph said unto Pharaoh, The dream of Pharaoh is one: God hath shewed Pharaoh what he is about to do. The seven good kine are seven years; and the seven good ears are seven years: the dream is one. And the seven thin and ill favoured kine that came up after them are seven years; and the seven empty ears blasted with the east wind shall be seven years of famine. This is the thing which I have spoken unto Pharaoh: What God is about to do he sheweth unto Pharaoh. Behold, there come seven years of great plenty throughout all the land of Egypt: And there shall arise after them seven years of famine; and all the plenty shall be forgotten in the land of Egypt; and the famine shall consume the land; And the plenty shall not be known in the land by reason of that famine following; for it shall be very grievous. And for that the dream was doubled unto Pharaoh twice; it is because the thing is established by God, and God will shortly bring it to pass. Now therefore let Pharaoh look out a man discreet and wise, and set him over the land of Egypt. Let Pharaoh do this, and let him appoint officers over the land, and take up the fifth part of the land of Egypt in the seven plenteous years. And let them gather all the food of those good years that come, and lay up corn under the hand of Pharaoh, and let them keep food in the cities. And that food shall be for store to the land against the seven years of famine, which shall be in the land of Egypt; that the land perish not through the famine." -- Genesis 41:25-36

Wisdom

"And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, Forasmuch as God hath shewed thee all this, there is none so discreet and wise as thou art:" -- Genesis 41:39

Vizier

"Thou shalt be over my house, and according unto thy word shall all my people be ruled: only in the throne will I be greater than thou. And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, See, I have set thee over all the land of Egypt. And Pharaoh took off his ring from his hand, and put it upon Joseph's hand, and arrayed him in vestures of fine linen, and put a gold chain about his neck; And he made him to ride in the second chariot which he had; and they cried before him, Bow the knee: and he made him ruler over all the land of Egypt. And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, I am Pharaoh, and without thee shall no man lift up his hand or foot in all the land of Egypt. And Pharaoh called Joseph's name Zaphnathpaaneah; and he gave him to wife Asenath the daughter of Potipherah priest of On. And Joseph went out over all the land of Egypt." -- Genesis 41:40-45

"And Joseph was the governor over the land, and he it was that sold to all the people of the land: and Joseph's brethren came, and bowed down themselves before him with their faces to the earth." -- Genesis 42:6

"Then Judah came near unto him, and said: 'Oh my lord, let thy servant, I pray thee, speak a word in my lord's ears, and let not thine anger burn against thy servant; for thou art even as Pharaoh." -- Genesis 44:18

20% Taxation

"And Joseph made it a law over the land of Egypt unto this day, that Pharaoh should have the fifth part, except the land of the priests only, which became not Pharaoh's." -- Genesis 47:26

Physician

"And Joseph commanded his servants the physicians to embalm his father: and the physicians embalmed Israel." -- Genesis 50:2

Lived to Be 110

"So Joseph died, being an hundred and ten years old: and they embalmed him, and he was put in a coffin in Egypt." -- Genesis 50:26

I m hotep i.e. the voice of I am

"And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you." -- Exodus 3:14

"Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am." -- John 8:58

430 Years Between Djoser and Pepi II Neferkare

"Now the sojourning of the children of Israel, who dwelt in Egypt, was four hundred and thirty years." -- Exodus 12:40

"And it came to pass at the end of the four hundred and thirty years, even the selfsame day it came to pass, that all the hosts of the LORD went out from the land of Egypt." -- Exodus 12:41

Missing Mummy

"And Moses took the bones of Joseph with him: for he had straitly sworn the children of Israel, saying, God will surely visit you; and ye shall carry up my bones away hence with you." -- Exodus 13:19

Lord of his House

"He sent a man before them, even Joseph, who was sold for a servant:
Whose feet they hurt with fetters: he was laid in iron:
Until the time that his word came: the word of the LORD tried him.
The king sent and loosed him; even the ruler of the people, and let him go free.
He made him lord of his house, and ruler of all his substance:
To bind his princes at his pleasure; and teach his senators wisdom." -- Psalm 105:17-22

"... the Joseph story originated about the seventeenth [sic] century BC...." -- Solomon A. Birnbaum, historian, The Leviticus Fragments From the Cave, Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research, Number 118, Pages 20-27, Apr 1950

Fielding J.W., The Status of Arthrodesis of the Cervical Spine, The Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery of America, Number 70, Pages 1571-1574, 1988

Probably the first reference to a surgical procedure performed on the cervical spine is found in the Edwin Smith Papyrus, which dates to the reign of Pharaoh Djoser (2686 to 2613 B.C.), the second Pharaoh of the Third Dynasty. This amazing document, more than 4,000 years old, currently the property of the New York Academy of Medicine, is attributed to Imhotep Vizer. With incredible accuracy, considering the time when the document was written. The author identified cervical sprains, vertebral displacements and dislocations, and even levels of damage to the spinal cord.

Ramsey, C.B., et al., Radiocarbon-Based Chronology for Dynastic Egypt, Science, Volume 328, Number 5985, Pages 1554-1557, Jun 2010

Our radiocarbon data indicate that the New Kingdom started between 1570 and 1544 B.C.E., and the reign of Djoser in the Old Kingdom started between 2691 and 2625 B.C.E.; both cases are earlier than some previous historical estimates.

Will Durant: On the Origin of Egyptian Science

2011-02-28T01:43:00.001-08:00

"The scholars of Egypt were mostly priests.... According to their own legends the sciences had been invented some 18,000 B.C. by Thoth, the Egyptian god of wisdom, during his thousand-year-long reign on earth; and the most ancient books on each science were among the twenty thousand volumes composed by this learned deity. So we are assured by Iamblichus (ca. 300 A.D.). Manetho, the Egyptian historian (ca. 300 B.C.), would have considered this estimate unjust to the god; the proper number of Thoth's works, in his reckoning was 36,000. The Greeks celebrated Thoth under the name of Hermes Trismegistus -- Hermes (Mercury) the Thrice-Great. Our knowledge does not permit us to improve substantially upon the theory of the origins of science in Egypt." -- Will Durant, historian, The Story of Civilization, Volume I, Our Oriental Heritage, 1935

"At the very outset of recorded Egyptian history we find mathematics highly developed; the design and construction of the Pyramids involved a precision measurement impossible without considerable mathematical lore." -- Will Durant, historian, The Story of Civilization, Volume I, Our Oriental Heritage, 1935

"Nearly all the ancients agreed in ascribing the invention of this science [geometry] to the Egyptians." -- Will Durant, historian, The Story of Civilization, Volume I, Our Oriental Heritage, 1935

"The oldest mathematical treatise known is the Ahmes Papyrus, dating back to 2000-1700 B.C.; but this in turn refers to mathematical writings five hundred years more ancient than itself." -- Will Durant, historian, The Story of Civilization, Volume I, Our Oriental Heritage, 1935

"Of Egyptian physics and chemistry we know nothing, and almost as little of Egyptian astronomy. ... Perhaps they knew more than they cared to publish ... the priests regarded their astronomical studies as esoteric and mysterious science, which they were reluctant to disclose to the common world. For century after century they kept track of the position and movements of the planets, until their record stretched back for thousands of years." -- Will Durant, historian, The Story of Civilization, Volume I, Our Oriental Heritage, 1935

"We cannot understand the Egyptian -- or man -- until we study his gods." -- Will Durant, historian, The Story of Civilization, Volume I, Our Oriental Heritage, 1935

The Admonitions of Khekheperre-Sonbu

2011-02-27T23:47:00.000-08:00

Khekheperre-Sonbu, priest of Heliopolis: The Admonitions of Khekheperre-Sonbu.

Would that I had unknown utterances, sayings that are unfamiliar, even new speech that has not occurred (before), free from repetitions, not the utterance of what has [long?] passed, which the ancestors spake.

Khekheperre-Sonbu lived during the reign of Pharaoh Sunusret II, the fourth Pharaoh of the Twelfth Dynasty (Middle Kingdom) therefore his dates are unknown. Wikipedia places him in the 19th century B.C. however Will Durant places him in the 22nd century B.C. Thus as Plutarch says, chronology in general is uncertain.

Geomythologists Confirm Truth of Homer

2011-02-27T23:30:00.000-08:00

"... while Meriones gave Odysseus a bow and a quiver
and a sword; and he too put over his head a helmet
fashioned of leather; on the inside the cap was cross-strung firmly
with thongs of leather, and on the outer side the white teeth
of a tusk-shining boar were close sewn one after another
with craftsmanship and skill; and a felt was set in the centre."
-- Homer, poet, Iliad, Book X, 260-255, 8th century B.C.

Geologists Investigate Trojan Battlefield, BBC, Feb 2003

Homer's description of the Trojan battlefield in his classic poem the Iliad is accurate, say scientists. ...

The researchers drilled sediments in northwest Turkey to map how the coastline would have looked around the city more than 2,000 years ago when Homer constructed his epic account of the war.

When they compared their findings with his descriptions of the Trojan plain, they found a match.

Speaking to BBC World Service programme Science In Action, John Luce from Trinity College Dublin, explained the study's significance.

"It has to be taken seriously that the Homeric picture of the fighting at Troy is in close accord with the geological findings," he said. ...

Reinterpreting the written material led Dr Luce to "swing the axis of fighting round to a different viewpoint west of Troy".

In so doing, Dr Luce and colleagues have shown that Schliemann's location for Troy does agree with Homer's accounts of the battle.

This research is described in the journal Geology.

Also see: Early Helmets, Middle Helmets, and Late Helmets.

The Danaans

2011-02-26T15:02:00.000-08:00

"... let your arrows make the Danaans pay for my tears shed." -- Homer, poet, Iliad, Book I, 42, 8th century B.C.

"Gilead abode beyond Jordan: and why did Dan remain in ships? Asher continued on the sea shore, and abode in his breaches." -- Judges 5:17

"... Cadmus, was about sixteen hundred years before my time" -- Herodotus, historian, The History, Book II, 145, 440 B.C.

"Now the Gephyraean clan, of which the slayers of Hipparchus were members, claim to have come at first from Eretria, but my own enquiry shows that they were among the Phoenicians who came with Cadmus to the country now called Boeotia. In that country the lands of Tanagra were allotted to them, and this is where they settled. The Cadmeans had first been expelled from there by the Argives, and these Gephyraeans were forced to go to Athens after being expelled in turn by the Boeotians. The Athenians received them as citizens of their own on set terms, debarring them from many practices not deserving of mention here." -- Herodotus, historian, The History, Book V, 57, 440 B.C.

"These Phoenicians who came with Cadmus and of whom the Gephyraeans were a part brought with them to Hellas, among many other kinds of learning, the alphabet, which had been unknown before this, I think, to the Greeks. As time went on the sound and the form of the letters were changed. At this time the Greeks who were settled around them were for the most part Ionians, and after being taught the letters by the Phoenicians, they used them with a few changes of form. In so doing, they gave to these characters the name of Phoenician, as was quite fair seeing that the Phoenicians had brought them into Greece." -- Herodotus, historian, The History, Book V, 58, 440 B.C.

"It is found in writing, that the Lacedemonians and Jews are brethren, and that they are of the stock of Abraham:" -- 1 Maccabees 12:21

"... Cadmus brought letters out of Phoenicia, and was the first who taught the Grecians to pronounce them, and gave them their several names, and formed their distinct characters: hence these letters are all generally called Phoenician letters, because they were brought over out of Phoenicia into Greece: but afterwards they were called Pelasgian characters, because the Pelasgians were the first that understood them after they were brought over." -- Diodorus Siculus, historian, Library of History, 1st century B.C.

"... Danaus likewise took from thence another colony, and planted them in Argos, the most antient city almost of all Greece. And that the people of Colchos, in Pontus, and the Jews lying between Arabia and Syria, were colonies out of Egypt; and that therefore it is an antient custom among these nations to circumcise all their male children after the rites and customs received from the Egyptians." -- Diodorus Siculus, historian, Library of History, 1st century B.C.

"... it had an inscription upon it in Phoenecian letters, which were therefore called Phoenician, because, they say, they were first brought out of Phoenicia into Greece." -- Diodorus Siculus, historian, Library of History, 1st century B.C.

"But there are some who attribute the invention of letters to the Syrians [Jews], from whom the Phoenicians learned them, and communicated them to the Grecians when they came with Cadmus into Europe: whence the Grecians called them Phoenician letters." -- Diodorus Siculus, historian, Library of History, 1st century B.C.

"The Greek letters Mercury is said to have brought to Egypt, and from Egypt Cadmus took them to Greece." -- Gaius J. Hyginus, librarian, Fable 277, 1st century B.C.

"Minerva [Athena] first built a two-prowed ship for Danaus in which he fled from Aegyptus his brother." -- Gaius J. Hyginus, librarian, Fable 277, 1st century B.C.

"And Euripides too, in his Archelaus, says: 'Danaus, the father of fifty daughters, on coming into Argos, took up his abode in the city of Inachus, and throughout Greece he laid down a law that all people hitherto named Pelasgians were to be called Danaans.'" -- Strabo, geographer, The Geography, Book V, Chapter 2, 7

"This myth [of Danaus] records the arrival in Greece of Helladic colonists from Palestine, by way of Rhodes, and their introduction of agriculture to the Peloponnese" -- Robert Graves, poet, The Greek Myths, Volume 1, 1955

"Corinthian mythology has many close affinities with Palestinian." -- Robert Graves, poet, The Greek Myths, Volume 2, 1955

"In this instance, Herodotus seems correct in his general attribution." -- John W. humphrey, historian, Ancient Technology, 2006

"The Thebans honored him [Kadmos] as their founder, called the citadel the Kadmea, and were referred to as Kadmeans (Document 40). Thus it was that Kadmos and his Phoenician comrades introduced the Greeks of Thebes to their alphabetic script, while his brothers and the followers who accompanied them on the quest for Europa would found other eponymous places: Cilix established Cilicia, and Phoenix Phoenicia." -- John W. Humphrey, historian, Ancient Technology, 2006

"Some of the Phoenecian traders and settlers who brought the alphabet to Greece must have been from the tribe of Dan." -- Emmet J. Sweeney, historian, The Pyramid Age, 2007

"I would suggest therefore that the Cadmus mythus relates to a Phoenician settlement in Greece in one of the great population movements which followed the Israelite Exodus." -- Emmet J. Sweeney, historian, Gods, Heroes, and Tyrants: Greek Chronology In Chaos, 2009

Spartan Hebrew Relations

2011-02-25T02:24:00.000-08:00

Menelaus of Sparta travelled to Phoenicia after the Trojan War.

"I [Menelaus] wandered to Cyprus and Phoenicia, and to the Egyptians,
and reached the Ethiopians, Sidonians, and Erembi [Arabs],
and Libya, where rams become horned suddenly,
for the sheep give birth three times in the course of a year.
There neither lord nor shepherd lacks any
cheese and meat, or sweet milk either,
but the sheep always produce ample milk for suckling."
-- Homer, poet, Odyssey, Book IV, 83-89, 8th century B.C.

"Hiram gave his daughter to Solomon about the time of the arrival of Menelaus in Phoenicia, after the capture of Troy, as is said by Menander of Pergamus, and Laetus in The Phoenicia. ... Solomon, in whose days occurred the arrival of Menelaus in Phoenicia, as was said above." -- Clement of Alexandria, theologian, Stromata, Book I, 2nd century

1 Maccabees 12:

1: Now when Jonathan saw that time served him, he chose certain men, and sent them to Rome, for to confirm and renew the friendship that they had with them.
2: He sent letters also to the Lacedemonians, and to other places, for the same purpose.
3: So they went unto Rome, and entered into the senate, and said, Jonathan the high priest, and the people of the Jews, sent us unto you, to the end ye should renew the friendship, which ye had with them, and league, as in former time.
4: Upon this the Romans gave them letters unto the governors of every place that they should bring them into the land of Judea peaceably.
5: And this is the copy of the letters which Jonathan wrote to the Lacedemonians:
6: Jonathan the high priest, and the elders of the nation, and the priests, and the other of the Jews, unto the Lacedemonians their brethren send greeting:
7: There were letters sent in times past unto Onias the high priest from Darius, who reigned then among you, to signify that ye are our brethren, as the copy here underwritten doth specify.
8: At which time Onias entreated the ambassador that was sent honourably, and received the letters, wherein declaration was made of the league and friendship.
9: Therefore we also, albeit we need none of these things, that we have the holy books of scripture in our hands to comfort us,
10: Have nevertheless attempted to send unto you for the renewing of brotherhood and friendship, lest we should become strangers unto you altogether: for there is a long time passed since ye sent unto us.
11: We therefore at all times without ceasing, both in our feasts, and other convenient days, do remember you in the sacrifices which we offer, and in our prayers, as reason is, and as it becometh us to think upon our brethren:
12: And we are right glad of your honour.
13: As for ourselves, we have had great troubles and wars on every side, forsomuch as the kings that are round about us have fought against us.
14: Howbeit we would not be troublesome unto you, nor to others of our confederates and friends, in these wars:
15: For we have help from heaven that succoureth us, so as we are delivered from our enemies, and our enemies are brought under foot.
16: For this cause we chose Numenius the son of Antiochus, and Antipater he son of Jason, and sent them unto the Romans, to renew the amity that we had with them, and the former league.
17: We commanded them also to go unto you, and to salute and to deliver you our letters concerning the renewing of our brotherhood.
18: Wherefore now ye shall do well to give us an answer thereto.
19: And this is the copy of the letters which Oniares sent.
20: Areus king of the Lacedemonians to Onias the high priest, greeting:
21: It is found in writing, that the Lacedemonians and Jews are brethren, and that they are of the stock of Abraham:
22: Now therefore, since this is come to our knowledge, ye shall do well to write unto us of your prosperity.
23: We do write back again to you, that your cattle and goods are our's, and our's are your's We do command therefore our ambassadors to make report unto you on this wise.

"And to all the countries and to Sampsames, and the Lacedemonians, and to Delus, and Myndus, and Sicyon, and Caria, and Samos, and Pamphylia, and Lycia, and Halicarnassus, and Rhodus, and Aradus, and Cos, and Side, and Aradus, and Gortyna, and Cnidus, and Cyprus, and Cyrene." -- 1 Maccabees 15:23

"Thus he [Jason] that had driven many out of their country perished in a strange land, retiring to the Lacedemonians, and thinking there to find succour by reason of his kindred:" -- 2 Maccabees 5:9

Ginsburg, M.S., Sparta and Judaea, Classical Philology, Volume 29, Number 2, Pages 117-122, Apr 1934

Will Durant: On Atlantis

2011-02-24T13:21:00.000-08:00

"We cannot entirely ignore the legends, current throughout history, of civilizations once great and cultured, destroyed by some catastrophe of nature or war, and leaving not a wrack behind...." -- Will Durant, historian, The Story of Civilization, Volume I, Our Oriental Heritage, 1935

"[Heinnrich] Schliemann, the resurrector of Troy, believed that Atlantis had served as a mediating link between the cultures of Europe and Yucatan, and that Egyptian civilization had been brought from Atlantis." -- Will Durant, historian, The Story of Civilization, Volume I, Our Oriental Heritage, 1935

"Possibly every discovery is a rediscovery." -- Will Durant, historian, The Story of Civilization, Volume I, Our Oriental Heritage, 1935

"Certainly it is probable, as Aristotle thought, that many civilizations came, made great inventions and luxuries, were destroyed, and lapsed from human memory. History, said Bacon, is the planks of a shipwreck; more of the past is lost than has been saved. We console ourselves with the thought that as the individual memory must forget the greater part of experience in order to be sane, so the race has preserved in its heritage only the most vivid and impressive -- or is it only the best-recorded?" -- Will Durant, historian, The Story of Civilization, Volume I, Our Oriental Heritage, 1935

De Montaigne On Laertius

2011-02-24T01:10:00.000-08:00

"Now those that write lives, by reason they insist more upon counsels than events, more upon what sallies from within, than upon what happens without, are the most proper for my reading; and, therefore, above all others, Plutarch is the man for me. I am very sorry we have not a dozen Laertii, or that he was not further extended; for I am equally curious to know the lives and fortunes of these great instructors of the world, as to know the diversities of their doctrines and opinions." -- Michel De Montaigne, author, Essays, Book II, Chapter X, Of Books, 1580

Ancient Flamethrowers

2011-02-23T12:00:00.000-08:00

"The Boeotians presently sent for darters and slingers from [the towns on] the Melian gulf; and with these, and with two thousand men of arms of Corinth, and with the Peloponnesian garrison that was put out of Nisaea, and with the Megareans, all which arrived after the battle, they marched forthwith to Delium and assaulted the wall. And when they had attempted the same many other ways, at length they brought to it an engine, wherewith they also took it, made in this manner: Having slit in two a great mast, they made hollow both the sides, and curiously set them together again in the form of a pipe. At the end of it in chains they hung a cauldron; and into the cauldron from the end of the mast they conveyed a snout of iron, having with iron also armed a great part of the rest of the wood. They carried it to the wall, being far off, in carts, to that part where it was most made up with the matter of the vineyard and with wood. And when it was to, they applied a pair of great bellows to the end next themselves, and blew. The blast, passing narrowly through into the cauldron, in which were coals of fire, brimstone, and pitch, raised an exceeding great flame, and set the wall on fire, so that no man being able to stand any longer on it, but abandoning the same and betaking themselves to flight, the wall was by that means taken." -- Thucydides, historian, History of the Peloponnesian War, Book IV, Chapter 100, 431 B.C.

Hebrew Influence on Greek Philosophy

2011-02-22T00:12:00.000-08:00

"And Aristobulus, in his first book addressed to Philometor, writes in these words: 'And Plato followed the [Mosaic] laws given to us, and had manifestly studied all that is said in them.' And before Demetrius there had been translated by another, previous to the dominion of Alexander and of the Persians, the account of the departure of our countrymen the Hebrews from Egypt, and the fame of all that happened to them, and their taking possession of the land, and the account of the whole code of laws; so that it is perfectly clear that the above-mentioned philosopher derived a great deal from this source, for he was very learned, as also Pythagoras, who transferred many things from our books to his own system of doctrines. And Numenius, the Pythagorean philosopher, expressly writes: 'For what is Plato, but Moses speaking in Attic Greek?' This Moses was a theologian and prophet, and as some say, an interpreter of sacred laws. His family, his deeds, and life, are related by the Scriptures themselves, which are worthy of all credit...." -- Clement of Alexandria, theologian, Stromata, Book I, Chapter XXII, 2nd century

"Thales was a Phoenician by birth, and was said to have consorted with the prophets of the Egyptians; as also Pythagoras did with the same persons, by whom he was circumcised...." -- Clement of Alexandria, theologian, Stromata, Book I, Chapter XV, 2nd century

"Clearchus the Peripatetic says that he knew a Jew who associated with Aristotle." -- Clement of Alexandria, theologian, Stromata, Book I, Chapter XV, 2nd century

"Of all these, by far the oldest is the Jewish race; and that their philosophy committed to writing has the precedence of philosophy among the Greeks, the Pythagorean Philo shows at large; and, besides him, Aristobulus the Peripatetic, and several others, not to waste time, in going over them by name. Very clearly the author Megasthenes, the contemporary of Seleucus Nicanor, writes as follows in the third of his books, On Indian Affairs: 'All that was said about nature by the ancients is said also by those who philosophise beyond Greece: some things by the Brahmins among the Indians, and others by those called Jews in Syria.'" -- Clement of Alexandria, theologian, Stromata, Book I, Chapter XV, 2nd century

"... he [Pythagoras] sailed to Sidon, which he knew to be his native country, and because it was on his way to Egypt. In Phoenicia he conversed with the prophets who were the descendants of Moschus [Moses] the physiologist [natural philosopher], and with many others, as well as with the local hierephants. He was also initiated into all the mysteries of Byblus and Tyre, and in the sacred functions performed in many parts of Syria. He was led to all this not from any hankering after superstition as might easily be supposed, but rather from a desire of and love for contemplation, and from an anxiety to miss nothing of the mysteries of the divinities which deserved to be learned. After gaining all he could from the Phoenician mysteries, he found that they had originated from the sacred rites of Egypt, forming as it were an Egyptian colony. This led him to hope that in Egypt itself he might find monuments of erudition still more genuine, beautiful, and divine. Therefore following the advice of his teacher Thales, he left, as soon as possible, through the agency of some Egyptian sailors, who very opportunely happened to land on the Phoenician coast under Mount Carmel, in the temple on the peak of which Pythagoras for the most part dwelt in solitude." -- Iamblichus, philosopher, Life of Pythagoras, 3rd century

"Then Pythagoras visited the Egyptians, the Arabians, the Chaldeans and the Hebrews, from whom he acquired expertery in the interpretation of dreams, and he was the first to use frankincense in the worship of divinities." -- Porphyry, philosopher, Life of Pythagoras, 3rd century

Eusebius of Caesaria, theologian, Preparation for the Gospel, Book IX, Chapters V-VIII, 313:

CHAPTER V

[JOSEPHUS] 'BUT Clearchus the Peripatetic philosopher, in his first book Concerning Sleep, attributes to Aristotle the philosopher a statement such as follows concerning the Jews, writing word for word thus:

'But though it would be too long to tell the greater part, it will not be amiss to go through those of his statements which are alike marvellous and philosophical. Now, said he, understand clearly, Hyperochides, I shall seem to you to relate what is as marvellous as dreams. Then Hyperochides modestly replied, Yes, that is the very reason why we all desire to hear it.

'Well then, said Aristotle, according to the rule of the rhetoricians, let us first describe the man's origin, that we may not disobey the teachers of the narrative style.

'Tell it so, if you please, said Hyperochides.

'Well then, the man was by origin a Jew, from Coele-Syria. Now these are descendants of the philosophers of India; and philosophers, it is said, are called among the Indians Calani, but among the Syrians they are called Judaeans, having taken their name from the place. For the place which they inhabit is called Judaea: and the name of their city is very awkward, for they call it Hierusalem.

'This man then, who was hospitably entertained by many on his way down from the inland districts to the sea-coasts, was Greek not only in language but also in spirit. And as at that time we were dwelling in Asia, the man having landed in the same neighbourhood fell into conversation with us and some others of the studious sort, to make trial of their wisdom. And as he had lived in intimacy with many of the learned, he imparted somewhat more than he received.'

Such is the story of Clearchus.

CHAPTER VI

THIS man is mentioned also by our Clement in his first Miscellany, in what he says as follows:

[CLEMENT] 'Clearchus the Peripatetic says that he knew a Jew who associated with Aristotle.'

And afterwards he adds:

'But Numa the king of the Romans, though he was a Pythagorean, received benefit from the teaching of Moses, and forbade the Romans to make an image of God in the shape of man or any animal. So in the first hundred and seventy years, though they built themselves temples, they made no image, neither in sculpture nor yet in painting.

'For Numa used to teach them in secret, that it was not possible for the Perfect Good to be reached by language, but only by the mind.'

Further than this, in what follows below, he speaks thus:

'But most plainly does Megasthenes, the historian who lived with Seleucus Nicator, write as follows in his third book On Indian Affairs.

'All that has been said about nature among the ancients is said also among the philosophers outside Greece, partly among the Indians by the Brachmans, and partly in Syria by those who are called Jews.'

Besides this Clement also mentions Aristobulus the Peripatetic and Numenius the Pythagorean, saying:

'Aristobulus, in his first book addressed to Philometor, writes in these words: Plato too has followed our legislation, and has evidently studied carefully the several precepts contained in it.

'And others before Demetrius, and prior to the supremacy of Alexander and of the Persians, have translated both the narrative of the Exodus of our fellow countrymen the Hebrews from Egypt, and the fame of all that happened to them, and their conquest of the land, and the exposition of the whole Law.

'So it is perfectly clear that the philosopher before-mentioned has borrowed much, for he is very learned; as also was Pythagoras, who transferred many of our precepts into his own system of doctrines.

'And Numenius, the Pythagorean philosopher, writes expressly: "For what is Plato, but Moses speaking in Attic Greek?" '

So far Clement.

CHAPTER VII

ALSO from the Pythagorean philosopher himself, I mean Numenius, I will quote as follows from his first book On the Good:

[NUMENIUS] 8 'But when one has spoken upon this point, and sealed it by the testimonies of Plato, it will be necessary to go back and connect it with the precepts of Pythagoras, and to appeal to the nations of good repute, bringing forward their rites and doctrines, and their institutions which are formed in agreement with those of Plato, all that the Brachmans, and Jews, and Magi, and Egyptians arranged.'

So much then on these points.

CHAPTER VIII

ALSO in his third book the same author makes mention of Moses, speaking as follows:

'And next in order came Jannes and Jambres, Egyptian sacred scribes, men judged to have no superiors in the practice of magic, at the time when the Jews were being driven out of Egypt.

'So then these were the men chosen by the people of Egypt as fit to stand beside Musaeus, who led forth the Jews, a man who was most powerful in prayer to God; and of the plagues which Musaeus brought upon Egypt, these men showed themselves able to disperse the most violent.'

Now by these words Numenius bears witness both to the marvellous wonders performed by Moses, and to Moses himself as having been beloved of God.

Pankration: The Devolution of Ultimate Fighting

2011-02-21T14:10:00.000-08:00

McAllister, P., Manthropology, 2010

In 648 BCE a no-holds-barred combat sport event called Pankration "All Powerful" or "Anything Goes," was introduced to the Greek Olympic Games, eventually becoming so popular that it was turned into the games' finale. The Pankration was a brutal striking and grappling fight with no time limits, no weight divisions, and just two rules: no eye gouging and no biting (the Spartans, true to form, permitted even these). Everything else was allowed -- breaking limbs, strangulation, fish-hooking (inserting fingers into orifices and ripping), and the wrenching and breaking of fingers and toes. (A Greek vase dated to 520 BCE, for example, clearly shows one pankratiast kicking another in the testicles.) A careful reading of Greek literature shows that, as far as the Pankration was concerned, the "ultimate" tag was, in this case, completely justified: ancient pankratiasts really did often pay the ultimate price for entering the arena.

A volume of Olympian Odes by the sixth-century BCE Greek poet Pindar, for example, records that "very many [pankratiasts] died in the contests." A more specific reference is found in the later works of Philostratus, who records a letter from a trainer to his pankratiast pupil's mother, telling her that "many times [wrestlers and pankratiasts] endured to the death." Philo even cites the amazing tale of two pankratiasts who attacked each other so ferociously that both died simultaneously. This is possibly exaggeration, since Philo doesn't claim to have witnessed the fight himself, yet there is one undeniably genuine instance of a pankratiast dying just as he secured victory: the case of Arrichion, a three-time victor of the Olympic Pankration, who won his third crown by surviving strangulation just long enough to dislocate or break his opponents ankle (the sources here are unclear) but then died. Judges crowned his corpse the winner. Given that all these references were to deaths that took place at the actual Olympics (which, though famous, were just one of a multitude of Greek games at which the Pankration was fought), it seems likely that the mortality rate in ancient Greek ultimate fighting was very high indeed.

Perhaps the final proof of its lethality, though, is the feared pankriatist Dioxippus, who in 336 BCE won by default since nobody dared even to get in the arena with him. Clearly, would-be competitors understood that losing to this champion meant not just defeat but probably death.

Incredibly, however, Pankration was not even the most lethal ancient Greek Olympic combat sport. That honor, as in modern times, goes to boxing. One competitor in both the Pankration and the boxing, Kleitomachos of Thebes, for example, asked Olympic officials to hold the boxing after the Pankration, since he had a greater chance of being wounded or killed in the former than in the latter. Once again, the ancient Greek literature confirms the concerns were only too well founded. Four definite references to deaths in Greek athletic boxing have come down to us (the true number was certainly many more), some of them stunningly gruesome. One work by Greek writer and geographer Pausanias, for instance, describes the victory (but then disqualification) in the 496 or 492 BCE Olympic Games of the boxer Cleomedes, who killed his opponent, Iccus, by driving his hand into his stomach and disemboweling him.

... But perhaps the final proof of Cleomedes' gory feat is the fact that the very same thing happened again a century later (this time at the Nemean Games) when a boxer called Damoxenus killed his opponent, Creugas, in a penalty punchoff after a grueling, day-long struggle, with another disemboweling spearhand to the gut.

Aristotle's Law of Inertia?

2011-02-20T02:39:00.000-08:00

"... a thing will either be at rest or must be moved ad infinitum, unless something more powerful get in its way." -- Aristotle, philosopher, Physics, Book IV, 350 B.C.

Despite the actual historical record, the Neo-Darwinist Carl E. Sagan believed that Sir Isaac Newton "discovered" the law of inertia in 1663.

"Newton discovered the law of inertia, the tendency of a moving object to continue moving in a straight line unless something influences it and moves it out of it's path." -- Carl E. Sagan, professor, Cosmos, 1980

However Isaac Newton himself knew this was false.

"All those ancients knew the first law [of motion] who attributed to atoms in an infinite vacuum a motion which was rectilinear, extremely swift and perpetual because of the lack of resistance... Aristotle was of the same mind, since he expresses his opinion thus...[in Physics 4.8.215a19-22], speaking of motion in the void [in which bodies have no gravity and] where there is no impediment he writes: 'Why a body once moved should come to rest anywhere no one can say. For why should it rest here rather than there ? Hence either it will not be moved, or it must be moved indefinitely, unless something stronger impedes it.'" -- Isaac Newton, alchemist/mathematician, Unpublished Scientific Papers of Isaac Newton, 1962

"Democritus' atomism in principle is built only on quantities, namely the number and size of the atoms and their velocities. Here Democritus was far ahead of his time in that he took, preceding Galileo in assuming something like a law of inertia, each atom's velocity to be constant, unless a collision with another atom prevents it's free motion. For Democritus, the cosmos is a world of quantities uniquely given which continue their motion according to their own inertia until they are perturbed by other particles of the same nature." -- Hans-Jürgen Treder, physicist, October 1987

Magnetic Jellyfish

2011-02-19T23:00:00.000-08:00

NASA IBEx: Catching Space Weather in the Act.

Close to the globe, Earth's magnetic field wraps around the planet like a gigantic spherical web, curving in to touch Earth at the poles. But this isn't true as you get further from the planet. As you move to the high altitudes where satellites fly, nothing about that field is so simple. Instead, the large region enclosed by Earth's magnetic field, known as the magnetosphere, looks like a long, sideways jellyfish with its round bulb facing the sun and a long tail extending away from the sun.

In the center of that magnetic tail lies the plasma sheet. Here, strange things can happen. Magnetic field lines pull apart and come back together, creating explosions when they release energy. Disconnected bits of the tail called "plasmoids" get ejected into space at two million miles per hour. And legions of charged particles flow back toward Earth.

Such space weather events cause auroras and, when very strong, can produce radiation events that could cause our satellites to fail. But until now no one has been able to take pictures of these fascinating processes in the plasma sheet.

"Earth’s magnetic tail and its charged particles are invisible to conventional cameras that detect light,” says Jim Slavin, a magnetotail researcher who is the Director of the Heliophysics Division at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. "Events going on there have only been inferred based on other kinds of measurements."

Now, special cameras aboard the Interstellar Boundary Explorer, or IBEX, spacecraft have snapped the first shots of this complex space environment. Instead of recording light, these two large single-pixel cameras detect energetic neutral atoms. Such fast-moving atoms are formed whenever atoms in the furthest reaches of Earth's atmosphere collide with charged particles and get sent speeding off in a new direction. Called Energetic Neutral Atom or ENA imaging, the technique captured unprecedented images of the plasma sheet.

"The image alone is remarkable and would have made a great paper in and of itself because it's the first time we've imaged these important regions of the magnetosphere," says Dr. David McComas, principal investigator of the IBEX mission and assistant vice president of the Space Science and Engineering Division at Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio, Texas. The results appeared online in the Journal of Geophysical Research on Feb. 16, 2011.

But when they looked closely, the group realized they didn't only have a picture of a quiescent plasma sheet. The various images appear to show a piece of the plasma sheet being bitten off and ejected down the tail. They think they've caught a plasmoid in the moment it was being formed. If they're correct, this would be the first time such an event was directly seen.

"Imagine the magnetosphere as one of those balloons that people make animals out of. If you take your hands and squeeze the balloon, the pressure forces the air into another segment of the balloon," says McComas. "Similarly, the solar wind at times increases the pressure around the magnetosphere, resulting in a portion of the plasma sheet being pinched away from a larger mass and forced down the magnetotail."

Because researchers believe this phenomenon generally occurs deeper in the magnetotail, the IBEX team is considering other explanations for the event, as well. One possibility is that the plasma sheet is being squeezed by the solar wind.

While not specifically designed to observe the magnetosphere, IBEX's vantage point in space provides twice-yearly (spring and fall) seasons for viewing from outside the magnetosphere. Since its October 2008 launch, the IBEX science mission has flourished into multiple other research studies as well. In addition to supporting magnetospheric science, the spacecraft has also directly collected hydrogen and oxygen from the interstellar medium for the first time and produced the first ENA images of the outer edges of the bubble surrounding the Sun, called the heliosphere.

"Based upon the IBEX mission and its revolutionary ENA camera technology," says Slavin, "future NASA science missions may be able to make high definition videos of the development of space weather systems around the Earth to advance our scientific understanding of these phenomena and, eventually, enable space weather prediction like Earth weather prediction."

Yet Another Idiotic Sentence By Carl Sagan

2011-02-18T14:31:00.000-08:00

I realize it's childsplay and beating a dead horse to pick on late professor Carl Sagan, especially since most of his idiotic statements were catalogued by historian Charles Ginenthal in his book Carl Sagan and Immanuel Velikovsky. However this one is pretty funny:

"Science fiction was a new idea at the time of the Thirty Years War...." -- Carl E. Sagan, pseudoscientist, Cosmos, 1980

Let us analyze this Darwinist claim that has absolutely no basis in historical reality.

The Thirty Years War began in 1618 with the Defenestration of Prague and ended in 1648 with the Peace of Westphalia.

So according to Carl Sagan, the Greco-Roman author Lucian who wrote science fiction in ancient times was actually writing science nonfiction?

"Once upon a time I gathered together the poorest people in my kingdom and undertook to plant a colony on the Morning Star [Venus], which was empty and uninhabited. Phaethon out of jealousy thwarted the colonisation, meeting us half-way at the head of his Ant Dragoons. At that time we were beaten, for we were not a match for them in strength, and we retreated: now, however, I desire to make war again and plant the colony." -- Lucian, author, True History, 2nd century

And again, if science fiction evolved in the 17th century, does that mean the Mahabharata is science fact?

The Miraculous Spontaneous Evolution of Science

2011-02-17T15:06:00.000-08:00

"As it turned out, Ionia was the place where science was born. Between 600 and 400 B.C., this great revolution in human thought began. The key to the revolution was the hand." -- Carl E. Sagan, pseudoscientist, Cosmos, 1980

Prior to 600 B.C. no human being had a hand?

After all, Carl Sagan should know since he was there.

Asimov's Alternate History

2011-02-16T16:30:00.000-08:00

"... partly because his [Democritus's] views were unpopular, the books were not copied many times." -- Isaac Asimov, author, Atom, 1992

But in fact, Democritus's views were popular and the books copied so many times that it was the cause of complaint.

"And Aristoxenus, in his Historic Commentaries, says that Plato wished to burn all the writings of Democritus that he was able to collect; but that Amyclas and Cleinias, the Pythagoreans, prevented him, as it would do no good; for that copies of his books were already in many hands. And it is plain that that was the case; for Plato, who mentions nearly all the ancient philosophers, nowhere speaks of Democritus; not even in those passages where he has occasion to contradict his theories, evidently, because he said that if he did, he would be showing his disagreement with the best of all philosophers...." -- Diogenes Laertius, historian, Lives and Opinions of the Preeminent Philosophers, Life of Democritus, 3rd century

Research Suggests No Evolution

2011-02-15T00:39:00.000-08:00

"It is somewhat disquieting to speculate on the fact that even 50,000 years ago, in the early Stone Age, the human family contained individuals with innate capacities for reasoning and self-expression approaching those of a Shakespeare, a Beethoven or an Einstein." -- Frederick Seitz, physicist, President of the National Academy of Sciences, The Scientist, 1962

"For the past 150 years, early humans have been regarded as inferior to us, unable to create art, think abstractly, or even to speak. In these two papers (Part I being The Graphics of Bilzingsleben), I demonstrate that this picture is not at all accurate and that early peoples such as Homo erectus, Homo ergaster, Neaderthals, and Homo heidelbergensis were just as intelligent as we are in today's modern world. The evidence provided in the two papers shows beyond any reasonable doubt that early people had highly-developed language and even mathematical ability 400,000 years ago." -- John Felix, archaeologist, 2006

Science Daily: Earliest Humans Not So Different from Us, Research Suggests.

ScienceDaily (Feb. 15, 2011) — That human evolution follows a progressive trajectory is one of the most deeply-entrenched assumptions about our species. This assumption is often expressed in popular media by showing cavemen speaking in grunts and monosyllables (the Geico Cavemen being a notable exception). But is this assumption correct? Were the earliest humans significantly different from us?

In a paper published in the latest issue of Current Anthropology, archaeologist John Shea (Stony Brook University) shows they were not.

Undiscovered Planet Lurking in Our Own Solar System?

2011-02-13T00:32:00.000-08:00

The Independent: Up Telescope! Search Begins for Giant New Planet.

If you grew up thinking there were nine planets and were shocked when Pluto was demoted five years ago, get ready for another surprise. There may be nine after all, and Jupiter may not be the largest.

The hunt is on for a gas giant up to four times the mass of Jupiter thought to be lurking in the outer Oort Cloud, the most remote region of the solar system. The orbit of Tyche (pronounced ty-kee), would be 15,000 times farther from the Sun than the Earth's, and 375 times farther than Pluto's, which is why it hasn't been seen so far.

But scientists now believe the proof of its existence has already been gathered by a Nasa space telescope, Wise, and is just waiting to be analysed.

The first tranche of data is to be released in April, and astrophysicists John Matese and Daniel Whitmire from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette think it will reveal Tyche within two years. "If it does, John and I will be doing cartwheels," Professor Whitmire said. "And that's not easy at our age."

Once Tyche has been located, other telescopes could be pointed at it to confirm the discovery.

Whether it would become the new ninth planet would be decided by the International Astronomical Union (IAU). The main argument against is that Tyche probably formed around another star and was later captured by the Sun's gravitational field. The IAU may choose to create a whole new category for Tyche, Professor Matese said.

The IAU would also have the final say about the gas giant's name. To the Greeks, Tyche was the goddess responsible for the destiny of cities. Her name was provisionally chosen in reference to an earlier hypothesis, now largely abandoned, that the Sun might be part of a binary star system with a dim companion, tentatively called Nemesis, that was thought responsible for mass extinctions on Earth. In myth, Tyche was the good sister of Nemesis.

Tyche will almost certainly be made up mostly of hydrogen and helium and will probably have an atmosphere much like Jupiter's, with colourful spots and bands and clouds, Professor Whitmire said. "You'd also expect it to have moons. All the outer planets have them," he added.

What will make it stand out in the Wise data is its temperature, predicted to be around -73C, four or five times warmer than Pluto. "The heat is left over from its formation," Professor Whitmire said. "It takes an object this size a long time to cool off."

What Democritus Saw and You Can Too

2011-02-10T04:11:00.000-08:00

Democritean pedesis (from Greek: πήδησις "leaping") is the assumably random movement of particles suspended in a fluid (i.e. a liquid such as water or a gas such as air) or the mathematical model used to describe such random movements, often called a particle theory.

"... his [Democritus's] ... atoms are infinite in number ... and [he] compares them to the motes of air which we see in shafts of light coming through windows ...." -- Aristotle, philosopher, On the Soul, Book I, 350 B.C.

Lucretius described Democritean pedesis in his scientific poem On the Nature of Things written in 50 B.C.

"And of this fact (as I record it here)
An image, a type goes on before our eyes
Present each moment; for behold whenever
The sun's light and the rays, let in, pour down
Across dark halls of houses: thou wilt see
The many mites in many a manner mixed
Amid a void in the very light of the rays,
And battling on, as in eternal strife,
And in battalions contending without halt,
In meetings, partings, harried up and down.
From this thou mayest conjecture of what sort
The ceaseless tossing of primordial seeds
Amid the mightier void- at least so far
As small affair can for a vaster serve,
And by example put thee on the spoor
Of knowledge. For this reason too 'tis fit
Thou turn thy mind the more unto these bodies
Which here are witnessed tumbling in the light:
Namely, because such tumblings are a sign
That motions also of the primal stuff
Secret and viewless lurk beneath, behind.
For thou wilt mark here many a speck, impelled
By viewless blows, to change its little course,
And beaten backwards to return again,
Hither and thither in all directions round."
-- T. Lucretius Carus, philosopher poet, On The Nature of Things, Book II, 50 B.C.

In Democritus's lost botanical work titled Causes Affecting Seeds, and Plants, and Fruits, Democritus described pedesis observed under the microscope.

"It would surely be absurd to imagine that the men who could make these observations had not the curiosity or the ability to make many others of which the memory is lost. Indeed, the idea that the Greeks were not observers is ludicrously wrong, as is proved by the anatomical accuracy of their sculpture, which bears witness to trained habits of observation, while the Hippokratean corpus contains models of scientific observation at its best. We know, then, that the Greeks could observe well, and we know that they were curious about the world. Is it conceivable that they did not use their powers of observation to gratify that curiosity? It is true that they had not our instruments of precision; but a great deal can be discovered by the help of very simple apparatus." -- John Burnet, classicist, Early Greek Philosophy, 1892

"Democritus probably deduced the large size of the saline atom from observing that when saline water is filtered the salt is left behind on the surface." -- J.B. McDiarmid, philologist, Theophrastus De Sensibus 66: Democritus' Explanation of Salinity, The American Journal of Philology, Volume 80, Number 1, Pages 56-66, 1959

Ford, B.J., Brownian Movement in Clarkia Pollen: A Reprise of the First [sic] Observations, The Microscope, Volume 40, Number 4, Pages 235-241, 1992

Pearle, P., et al., What Brown Saw and You Can Too, American Journal of Physics, Volume 78, Issue 12, Page 1278, Dec 2010

Does Atom Mean Uncut or Uncuttable?

2011-02-09T23:52:00.000-08:00

Uncut and uncuttable have different meanings.

I say atom means not cut or uncut.

"At least those atoms whence derives their power
To throw forth fire and send out light from under
To shoot the sparks and scatter embers wide."
-- T. Lucretius Carus, philosopher poet, On the Nature of Things, Book II, 50 B.C.

To Democritus, the polymath, all magnitudes were infinitely divisible.

"... it is highly unscientific to believe that there is an indivisible magnitude. Epicurus would surely never have held that view had he chosen to learn geometry from his friend Polyaenus rather than make Polyaenus himself unlearn it. Democritus thought the sun was of great size, as befits a man of education, well-trained in geometry. Epicurus thought that it was maybe a foot across. He took the view that it was more or less as big as it looked. Thus when he changes Democritus he makes things worse; when he follows Democritus there is nothing original, as is the case with atoms ...." -- Marcus T. Cicero, philosopher, On Moral Ends, Book I, 1st century B.C.

"... divisibility comes about because of the void in compound bodies...." -- Simplicius, philosopher, On the Heavens, 6th century

"The difference between the two men, Democritus and Epicurus, was that Democritus was still modestly aware that he knew nothing, while Epicurus was very sure that he knew very little short of everything." -- Erwin Schrödinger, physicist, Nature and the Greeks, 1954

"Democritus was intensely interested in geometry, not as a mere enthusiast like Plato; he was a geometer of distinction." -- Erwin Schrodinger, physicist, Nature and the Greeks, 1954

"[Thomas] Heath esteems him [Democritus] highly as a mathematician." -- Bertrand Russell, philosopher, A History of Western Philosophy, 1972

"Their [Leucippus and Democritus's] point of view was remarkably like that of modern science, and avoided most of the faults to which Greek speculation was prone. They believed that everything is composed of atoms, which are physically, but not geometrically, indivisible; that between the atoms there is empty space;" -- Bertrand Russell, philosopher, A History of Western Philosophy, 1972

"Democritus invented the word atom...." -- Carl Sagan, professor, Cosmos, 1980

"He [Democritus] was knocking at the door of differential and integral calculus, that fundamental tool for understanding the world that was not, so far as we know from written records, in fact discovered until the time of Isaac Newton. Perhaps if Democritus' work had not been almost completely destroyed, there would have been calculus by the time of Christ." -- Carl Sagan, professor, Cosmos, 1980

"Suppose the following question is put: in what sense did Democritus hold the atom to be indivisible?" -- Stephen Makin, philosopher, How Can We Find Out What Ancient Philosophers Said?, Phronesis, Volume 33, Number 2, Pages 121-132, 1988

"... Democritus seems to have been fully involved in the mathematics of his day and to have been aware of the discussion of infinite divisibility and points with no magnitude, found, for example, in the paradoxes of Zeno. It seems unlikely that such a man would cheerfully hold that his atoms could have shape without having parts and without having magnitude. The different shapes of atoms was a major part of his physical theory, which makes it difficult to see how he could have held that they were partless and thus mathematically indivisible." -- Raymond Godfrey, philosopher, Democritus and the Impossibility of Collision, Philosophy, Volume 65, Number 252, Pages 212-217, 1990

"It is interesting that this contradiction has been exactly predicted by Kant's (1781, 1783) antinomy, namely, Democritus' atom is both indivisible and divisible. Therefore, the atom is a Kantian idea." -- Uri Fidelman, cognitive neuropsychologist, Cognitive and Neuropsychological Basis for Quantum Mechanics: Part II. Quantum-Mechanical Behaviour of Macroscopic Object, Kybernetes, Volume 33, Issue 9/10, Pages 1463-1471, 2004

The Electromagnetic Gravity of Lucretius

2011-02-08T23:50:00.001-08:00

"Athwart the rain thou seest the lightning fly;
Now here, now there, bursting from out the clouds,
The fires dash zig-zag- and that flaming power
Falls likewise down to earth.
In these affairs
We wish thee also well aware of this:
The atoms, as their own weight bears them down
Plumb through the void...."
-- T. Lucretius Carus, philosopher poet, On the Nature of Things, Book II, 50 B.C.

Lucretius connected electricity and gravity in 50 B.C.

"One copy of this poem survived, and when printing was invented [sic] in the fifteenth century, it was one of the first ancient classics to be printed." -- Isaac Asimov, author, Understanding Physics, 1966

"Even so, one copy (only one!) survived through the Middle Ages and was discovered in 1417. It was recopied and then, half a century later, when printing came into use, Lucretius's poem was one of the first to be printed." -- Isaac Asimov, author, Atom, 1992

"When Lucretius, two hundred years later, turned the philosophy of Epicurus into poetry, he added, so far as can be judged, nothing theoretical to the master's teaching." -- Bertrand Russell, philosopher, A History of Western Philosophy, 1972

Since Epicurus got his science from Democritus the polymath, it follows that likewise Democritus made this connection between electricity and gravity.

"Epicurus too, I consider, in physics at least, a mere pupil of Democritus. He makes a few changes, or many if you wish. But on the majority of points, and certainly on the most important ones, he does not innovate. The same goes for the Stoics, who fail to acknowledge the extent of their debt to the real pioneers." -- Marcus T. Cicero, philosopher, On Moral Ends, Book IV, 1st century B.C.

The Cosmology of Leucippus

2011-02-07T05:36:00.000-08:00

Some notes on Leucippus.

1) Leucippus said we are born star dust and we return to star dust.

"He also says that the elements, and the worlds which are derived from them, are infinite, and are dissolved again into them...." -- Diogenes Laertius, historian, Life of Leucippus, 3rd century

2) Leucippus said that galaxies are vortices.

"...that the worlds are produced in this manner: That many bodies, of various kinds and shapes, are borne by amputation from the infinite, into a vast vacuum; and then, they being collected together, produce one vortex; according to which they, dashing against one another, and whirling about in every direction, are separated in such a way that like attaches itself to like." -- Diogenes Laertius, historian, Life of Leucippus, 3rd century

3) Leucippus was aware of accretion by gravity.

"On the other side, there is produced another enveloping membrane, which increases incessantly by the accretion of exterior bodies; and which, as it is itself animated by a circular movement, drags with it, and adds to itself, everything it meets with; some of these bodies thus enveloped re-unite again and form compounds, which are at first moist and clayey, but soon becoming dry, and being drawn on in the universal movement of the circular vortex, they catch fire, and constitute the substance of the stars." -- Diogenes Laertius, historian, Life of Leucippus, 3rd century

4) Leucippus had a stellar theory that sounds identical to our modern Electric Universe Theory in the 21st century.

"[Leucippus said] All the stars are set on fire by the rapidity of their own motion; and the sun is set on fire by the stars...." -- Diogenes Laertius, historian, Life of Leucippus, 3rd century

5) Leucippus was an Expanding Earth Theorist. Does this mean Leucippus had also read the Zend-Avesta prior to Democritus's instruction by Ostanes?

"Leucippus admits also, that the production of worlds, their increase, and their diminution, depends on a certain necessity, the character of which he does not precisely explain." -- Diogenes Laertius, historian, Life of Leucippus, 3rd century

Atomism: Ancient & Modern

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"Matter is constituted of particles, separated by comparatively large distances; it is embedded in empty space. This notion goes back to Leucippus and Democritus, who lived in Abdera in the fifth century B.C. This conception of particles and empty space is retained today ... and not only that, there is complete historical continuity." -- Erwin Schrödinger, physicist, Science and Humanism, 1951

"Is the ancient atomic theory, which is attached to the names of Leucippus and Democritus (born around 460 B.C.), the true forerunner of the modern one? This question has often been asked and very different opinions about it are on record. Gomperz, Cournot, Bertrand Russell, J. Burnet say: Yes." -- Erwin Schrödinger, physicist, Nature and the Greeks, 1954

"The difference between the two men, Democritus and Epicurus, was that Democritus was still modestly aware that he knew nothing, while Epicurus was very sure that he knew very little short of everything." -- Erwin Schrödinger, physicist, Nature and the Greeks, 1954

"... after Democritus the colours of physics were flown by philosophers who had no real interest in science ...." -- Erwin Schrödinger, physicist, Nature and the Greeks, 1954

"The question as to the origin of ancient atomism and to its connexion with modern theory is of much more than purely historical interest." -- Erwin Schrödinger, physicist, Nature and the Greeks, 1954

"We are facing here one of the most fascinating cases in the history of ideas. The astonishing point is this. From the lives and writings of Gassendi and Descartes, who introduced atomism into modern science, we know as an actual historical fact that, in doing so, they were fully aware of taking up the theory of the ancient philosophers whose scripts they had diligently studied. Furthermore, and more importantly, all the basic features of the ancient theory have survived in the modern one up to this day, greatly enhanced and widely elaborated but unchanged....." -- Erwin Schrödinger, physicist, Nature and the Greeks, 1954

"The connexions between Democritus and Newton are evident; and it would be absurd to deny the link between ancient and modern atomism; conceptually, there are narrow ties; historically, an unbroken (if curiously circuitous) line reaches from Leucippus to Rutherford." -- Jonathan Barnes, philosopher, The Presocratic Philosophers, 1982

"The revival of Democritus was what gave a thinker like Gassendi (who, unlike Galileo or Descartes, was no scientific inventor) such an important place in the theoretical grounding of modern science." -- José G. Merquior, philosopher, Foucault, 1987

"Concerning Schrödinger's question: is Democritus or Planck the founder of quantum theory?" -- Hans-Jürgen Treder, physicist, October 1987

"Democritus' atomism in principle is built only on quantities, namely the number and size of the atoms and their velocities. Here Democritus was far ahead of his time in that he took, preceding Galileo in assuming something like a law of inertia, each atom's velocity to be constant, unless a collision with another atom prevents it's free motion. For Democritus, the cosmos is a world of quantities uniquely given which continue their motion according to their own inertia until they are perturbed by other particles of the same nature." -- Hans-Jürgen Treder, physicist, October 1987

"Democritus's notion is compatible with our present belief." -- Leon M. Lederman, physicist, The God Particle, 2006

"... Democritus, held that matter was inherently grainy and that everything was made up of large numbers of various different kinds of atoms. (The word atom means 'indivisible' in Greek.) We now know that this is true -- at least in our environment, and in the present state of our universe." -- Stephen W. Hawking, mathematician, A Briefer History of Time, 2008