True Stories and Fascinating Asides, Review: 'Three Stones Make A Wall: The Story of Archaeology,' by Eric Cline

This book begins with an "archaeological axiom": "One stone is a stone./ Two stones is a feature./ Three stones is a wall./ Four stones is a building./ Five stones is a palace./ (Six stones is a palace built by aliens.)"

The word "aliens" takes a jab at Erich von Däniken, whose 1968 book, Chariots of the Gods, theorizes that the Nazca Lines in Peru were made solely for the benefit of "ancient astronauts." "What is wrong," Cline quotes von Däniken as writing, "with the idea that the lines were laid out to say to the 'gods': 'Land here! Everything has been prepared as you ordered!'" So very scientific!

In fact the Nazcas and others made the lines by simply picking rocks up "to reveal the lighter-colored sand underneath" and no one knows for sure why. Various theories point to mapping constellations, tracking water sources, or carrying out religious rites on ceremonial paths. And most of these geoglyphs loom on hillsides where their makers could plainly see them. Ancient humankind was not as helpless as conspiracy-minded moderns would have them be.

Cline also punctures the legend of the Mummy's Curse and the romance of the Indiana Jones movies. He instead presents true stories of archaeological digs and fascinating asides about the lives of a few famous archaeologists, the histories of the regions in which the digs took place, and the technical side of archaeology. Cline covers this latter topic with "interludes," wherein he answers his most often asked questions: "How Do You Know Where to Dig?"; "How Do You Know How to Dig?"; "How Old Is This and Why Is It Preserved?"; and "Do You Get to Keep What You Find?"

He includes classic stories such as that of Howard Carter and the Earl of Carnarvon finding King Tut's tomb - when Carnarvon asked him what he saw, Carter famously answered, "I see wonderful things" - and also how Heinrich Schliemann, "discovered" the ruins of Troy - in quotes because Schliemann was a scientific scoundrel. He did not "discover" Troy until Frank Calvert, U.S. vice consul to Turkey, showed him where it was.

But Cline also covers lesser-known but interesting digs, including the excavation of the H. L. Hunley, a Confederate submarine found off the coast of Charleston, South Carolina. The Hunley's eight crew members all drowned at their posts but only two have been identified, one being the commander, Lieutenant George E. Dixon. Dixon had carried in his pocket a gold coin that had saved his life in the Battle of Shiloh. An engraved gold coin was found at the site of the submarine and a nearby skeleton "had a healed bullet wound in the left upper thigh, with pieces of lead and flecks of gold still embedded in his femur."

Excavations, then, can reveal personal stories, but they can also become political. ISIS has been destroying archaeological sites of tremendous importance while also selling artifacts on the black market. Cline also examines the story of Masada, Herod's fortress where Josephus says 960 Jewish zealots committed suicide rather than submit to the Romans. Serious questions remain, Cline says, about the accuracy of Josephus's account and of Israeli archaeologist Yigael Yadin's conclusions corroborating the ancient historian. Yadin's critics say he was building up a nationalist narrative - he would not be the only archaeologist to have done this - and interpreted the evidence accordingly. Cline thinks it is more likely the Romans massacred the zealots, but he credits Yadin nevertheless with being a great archaeologist in the field.

Enough about politics; what about religion? Chesterton had some choice barbs for archaeologists who would all-knowingly reconstruct a culture from a few fragments of bone and stone. Cline is not as presumptuous. He refers the reader to David Macaulay's Motel of the Mysteries, an illustrated book about archaeologists, in 4022 CE, who find ancient ruins that seem mysterious to them but which the reader knows is a motel room:

Thus, in the so-called "Outer Chamber," Macaulay's Howard Carson finds everything facing "the Great Altar," including the body that is still lying on top of the "Ceremonial Platform," and is still holding in his hand, "the Sacred Communicator." Of course, we recognize these; the "Great Altar" is none other than a television set; the "Ceremonial Platform" is just a bed; and the "Sacred Communicator" is the remote control for the television set.

Cline's sense of humor, at times, falls a little flat for me, and I wish that instead of Glynnis Fawkes's excellent line drawings photographs had sometimes been used. But Three Stones Makes A Wall, is a fun, informative, and scholarly read, an updated, less romantic and breathless version of C. W. Ceram's Gods, Graves & Scholars.

Encuentran una bacteria de origen desconocido en la Estación Espacial Internacional

El microorganismo resulta muy interesante a los científicos por la manera en que se ha adaptado a su entorno para sobrevivir.

Se ha detectado la presencia de una bacteria desconocida en la Estación Espacial Internacional (ISS), concretamente en un filtro del sistema de limpieza del laboratorio de la plataforma orbital. Al parecer,el microorganismo habría permanecido a bordo de la ISS durante 40 meses, entre enero de 2008 y mayo de 2011.

La bacteria ha recibido  el nombre de 'Solibacillus kalamii', en honor al astrofísico Abdul Kalam, que llegó a ser presidente de India y falleció en 2007.

¿Vida extraterrestre?

Los técnicos del Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) de la NASA sospechan que la bacteria viajó accidentalmente desde la Tierra a la estación, probablemente con una de las cargas logísticas que se envían, y una vez en el espacio sufrió mutaciones hasta volverse desconocida, así que consideranmuy improbable que su origen sea extraterrestre.

En cualquier caso, la bacteria resulta muy interesanteen si misma, porque su supervivencia no se ha visto afectada por las radiaciones ultravioletas ni por las gélidas temperaturas de entre -20 y -40 ºC en el espacio, y sobre todo  porque se las ha arreglado para vivir a 400 kms de distancia de la tierra, que fue su entorno original.

Un informe realizado por la propia JPL en 2015, ya indicaba que la Estación Internacional Espacial era hasta cierto punto un hábitat idóneo para numerosas bacterias. Durante el estudio se constató que algunos de los microorganismos encontrados eran fácilmente reconocibles para los científicos, pero había otras bacterias que también habían mutado, volviéndose desconocidas. Además, en otra ocasión también se descubrieron restos (ya sin vida) de plancton y esporas de hongos en el exterior de  la estación.

El caso Roswell Británico

Después de las próximas elecciones generales a celebrarse en el Reino Unido se conocerá el contenido de varios documentos clasificados, que detallarían el avistamiento de un ovni ocurrido en 1980.

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Los Archivos Nacionales del Reino Unido desclasificarán una serie de documentos secretos del Gobierno británico después de las elecciones generales, a celebrarse en ese país el próximo 8 de junio, informa 'Daily Mail'.

Entre los documentos a ser publicados, se considera que se encuentran archivos que detallan el supuestoavistamiento de un ovni registrado a finales de 1980 en el bosque de Rendlesham, en el condado británico de Suffolk.

"El fenómeno ovni es real": Los astronautas de la NASA que creían que los alienígenas nos visitan

Originalmente esos documentos debían haber sido desclasificados en el 2013, pero su salida a la luz ha sido postergada más de una vez, la última en marzo pasado, provocando numerosas teorías de la conspiración y especulaciones para encubrir la vida extraterrestre. "Debido a las próximas elecciones y las normativas relativas a los departamentos gubernamentales durante el período preelectoral, los archivos no serán publicados sino hasta después de las elecciones", indicaron portavoces de los Archivos Nacionales.

Los aficionados a las teorías conspiratorias esperan que esos archivos ayuden a esclarecer el incidente ocurrido en diciembre de 1980 en el bosque de Rendlesham, donde un grupo de militares afirmó haber visto extrañas luces y finalmente una nave espacial extraterrestre. El Ministerio de Defensa británico desestimó que se tratara de un ovni y supuso que las luces probablemente provenían de un faro que se encuentra no muy lejos del lugar.

Ese incidente llegó a ser conocido como el 'Roswell del Reino Unido', en referencia al mítico caso Roswellsobre la supuesta caída en 1947 de una nave extraterrestre en la localidad homónima en Nuevo México (EE.UU.), hecho que habría sido ocultado por el Gobierno estadounidense.

Stephen Hawking: "Tenemos 100 años para mudarnos de la Tierra o afrontaremos una extinción"

Actualidad

Publicado: 20 May 2017 | 10:32 GMTReuters

El renombrado astrofísico británico asegura que la raza humana debe enfocar sus esfuerzos en colonizar otros planetas para garantizar su supervivencia.

El físico teorético, astrofísico y cosmólogo Stephen Hawking, en una rueda de prensa de cara al Festival Starmus en Noruega, reiteró su deseo de que la humanidad se una con el objetivo de convertirse en una especie multiplanetaria.

Hawking afirmó que cree firmemente que "debemos comenzar a observar planetas alternativos para habitarlos". Y añadió: "Nos estamos quedando sin espacio en la Tierra y necesitamos romper con las limitaciones tecnológicas que nos impiden vivir en otro lugar del universo".

Días atrás, Hawking había manifestado la necesidad de que la especie humana habite otros planetas el próximo siglo, afirmación que se contrapone a una declaración previa, en la que pronosticaba que a la especie humana le quedaban unos 1.000 años en este planeta. "Tenemos 100 años para mudarnos de la Tierra o afrontaremos una extinción", señaló en esta oportunidad el científico a la BBC. 

Hawking había aseverado también que "una de las principales amenazas a la vida inteligente en nuestro universo es la altaprobabilidad de que un asteroide colisione con los planetas" y que los seres humanos deben "escapar de la frágil" Tierra.

NASA's Mars Rover Beams Back Spectacular Image of Ancient Martian Valley, Once Carved by Fluid Water

NASA's Mars Rover, also called MER-B (Mars Exploration Rover - B) or MER-1 has added a new feather to its cap by discovering the spectacular ancient Martian Valley, which is expected to be carved by running water long years ago.

The Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity of NASA has successfully arrived at the primary objective of its on-going two-year lengthened mission - an ancient and mysterious fluid-carved Martian valley, chiselled on the innermost slope of a massive crater's edge.

The Opportunity Mars Rover of NASA, which has been exploring the Red Planet since 2004 has successfully beamed back a stunning image of a prehistoric gorge, located on the innermost slope of a massive crater's edge. After detailing the model, scientists at NASA expect the valley to be carved by flows of liquid water once upon a time - an estimation which may shed lights on the hypothesis about extraterrestrial life on Mars.

As the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity of NASA reached at the brink of the upper point of "Perseverance Valley", back in early May this year, the fundamental purpose of its lengthened mission - clicking images and documenting views of Mars through its cameras - started revealing various parts of the area in higher resolution than what can be witnessed in the pictures, captured from the upper orbit of the Red Planet.

The Perseverance Valley has created another layer of mystery in front of scientists, and Mars experts as the process that engraved Perseverance Valley into the edge of Endeavour Crater has not yet been acknowledged. As scientists are estimating, the craving has created some billions of years ago and the valley, in those days, was engraved by streams of liquefied water.

"The ancient valley may have been imprinted by the high flows of fluid water, or by a stream of powerful debris in which a small quantity of water greases a disorderly jumble of mud and boulders. Moreover, even a drier procedure, like the erosion of may also have caused such carvings possible", said Matt Golombek, Opportunity Project Scientist atNASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in the US.

As shown in the picture, the higher end of the vale has a massive mark in the top of the crater border. Now the team of 'Opportunity' is planning to conduct experiments and further studies in the area and the procedure to further examination will be starting by rover, clicking sets of images of the valley from two extensively isolated points at that plunge in the crater's edge.

This long-baseline stereo imaging helps scientists in collecting more information to conduct an exceptionally-detailed 3D analysis of the territory.

FOTOS: Nubes "brillantes y plumosas" se deslizan sobre Titán, la luna más grande de Saturno

NASA

En septiembre de 2017, la sonda Cassini entrará en la atmósfera de Saturno para poner fin a su misión.

La NASA ha publicado nuevas imágenes de la luna más grande de Saturno, Titán, que muestran nubes de metano dando vueltas sobre los lagos y mares del objeto cósmico.

Tras 20 años estudiando los secretos de Saturno, la sonda espacial Cassini ha iniciado la última de sus órbitas alrededor del planeta y de su luna Titán. 

NASA

Un día en esa luna equivale a 16 días terrestres. Las últimas imágenes enviadas a la Tierra por la Cassiniproporcionan una visión de la atmósfera turbulenta y gaseosa de Titán. Con dos cámaras instaladas a bordo, la Cassini captó "las nubes de metano brillantes y plumosas que se deslizan sobre Titán".

Las fotografías fueron tomadas el 7 de mayo a 508.500 kilómetros de la superficie de la luna de Saturno. Las regiones oscuras de las imágenes corresponden al mar de hidrocarburos de Titán y a pozos más pequeños de metano líquido.

Titán ha sido descrito como una "fábrica gigante de productos químicos orgánicos". En 2008, científicos declararon que el gigante gaseoso puede tener "más hidrocarburos líquidos que todas las reservas conocidas de petróleo y gas natural en la Tierra". 

El 15 de septiembre de 2017, la Cassini se sumergirá en la atmósfera de Saturno, marcando el final de su increíble viaje de 3.500 millones de kilómetros hasta el gigante de gas. 

Estos son los cinco peligros más mortales que Marte encierra para los humanos

20th Century Fox / Misión Rescate

Los humanos no podríamos vivir sin protección en el planeta rojo. La radiación nos mataría, pero esta no es la más peligrosa ni la más rápida de las amenazas mortales de Marte, según un científico de la NASA.

La exposición a la radiación es uno de los principales riesgos para la salud de los astronautas que algún día viajen a Marte, pero el planeta rojo plantea muchos otros peligros para el ser humano, según Pascal Lee, científico planetario del Centro de Investigación Ames de la NASA y del SETI (Instituto de Búsqueda de Inteligencia Extraterrestre).

La amenaza más inmediata para la salud humana en Marte sería la baja presión existente en el planeta debida a la poca densidad de su atmósfera, cien veces más fina que la de la Tierra.

"Si estuviera sin protección en Marte, su sangre empezaría a hervir, incluso a temperatura ambiente", explicó el científico en la conferencia Humans to Mars Summit que se celebra esta semana en Washington, informa el portalSpace.com.

La baja presión atmosférica mataría a un explorador de Marte no protegido más rápidamente que cualquier otro peligro. Según Lee, los otros cuatro motivos que provocarían inevitablemente la muerte de los humanos en el planeta rojo son, por orden de importancia, los siguientes:

La atmósfera de dióxido de carbono

La atmósfera de la Tierra está compuesta de un 78% de nitrógeno y un 21% de oxígeno, con trazas de vapor de agua, dióxido de carbono y otros gases. En cambio, la de Marte contiene un 95% de dióxido de carbono.

"No se puede respirar ese gas. Moriríamos de hipoxia en cuestión de minutos", señaló Lee.

Las bajas temperaturas

Durante un día de verano en Marte, la temperatura en su ecuador puede llegar hasta los 21 grados, pero las temperaturas nocturnas son gélidamente mortales: menos de 62 grados bajo cero.

El polvo

Marte está cubierto de un polvo tóxico compuesto de un grano fino y abrasivo muy nocivo para los pulmones, explicó Lee: "Si se expusiera al polvo de Marte, podría morir en el transcurso de pocas semanas".
La radiación

La falta de un campo magnético global en Marte, junto con su delgada atmósfera, permite la llegada a la superficie del planeta de tal cantidad de rayos cósmicos de alta energía y de partículas solares que provocarían la muerte en pocos meses.

Ancient Stone Tablet Found: Reveals Comet Impact Sparking The Rise Of Civilization

Take A Peek at NASA’s Massive James Webb Space Telescope

Mediterranean Archaeology and Archaeometry & NASA

Stone carvings show comet hitting Earth, wiping out the Woolly Mammoths and sparking a rise in civilization.

Scientists have translated an ancient stone tablet found at a temple in Turkey. The tablet confirms that a comet struck Earth around 11,000BC, leading to global destruction including the extinction of the woolly mammoth and the rise of new civilizations.

The carvings were found in Gobekli Tepe in southern Turkey, the world's oldest known temple and a site for ancient observatory and worship. In fact, the temple dates back to 9,000BC, approximately 6,000 years older than Stonehenge.

The carvings at the center of the recent scientific publication were found on a pillar known as the Vulture Stone. The carvings depict various animals corresponding to astronomical constellations. The stone also shows a swarm of comet fragments as they hit Earth and a headless man symbolizing human disaster and death.

Constellations depicted on the Vulture Stone around 11,000BC

Mediterranean Archaeology and Archaeometry

Constellations depicted on the Vulture Stone around 11,000BC

The symbols found point to a large comet impact around 13,000 years ago. This was then cross-checked against simulations of what the Solar System would look like during that time and scientists were able to identify the comet strike was around 10,950BC. Likely not coincidentally, this is the start of the global cooling event called the Younger Dryas.

The Younger Dryas was a pivotal moment in human civilization. Previously, humans were largely nomadic hunters that harvested wild grains without establishing permanent locations. The onset of the global cooling led groups of people to begin cultivating crops to endure a harder climate. This gave rise to farming and livestock breeding that we still employ today.

The Younger Dryas took place as Earth was transitioning from the Last Glacial Maximum ice age to an interglacial warm period. The event was unusual in that there was a small short lived reversal in the overall warming trend causing the Earth to cool for approximately 1,200 years.

Stone pillars at Gobekli Tepe, the location of the world's oldest temple

National Geographic

Stone pillars at Gobekli Tepe, the location of the world's oldest temple

Some hypotheses link the cooling to a large influx of fresh water from melted glaciers on North America into the northern Atlantic Ocean. This, in theory, caused a fresh water cap over the North Atlantic and slowed down the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation which in part distributes heat from the equators to the poles. However, another potential cause of the cooling was the aforementioned comet strike around the start of the Younger Dryas. This could have initiated a global cooling period and extinction caused from upthrown debris and dust into the atmosphere.

The comet hypothesis must be tempered by the fact that no physical impact site has been found, the smoking gun evidence needed to confirm the onset of the Younger Dryas was due to a comet impact. Unlocking the events that led to the Younger Dryas could lead to clues as to why this period was the onset of an agricultural boom and the first Neolithic civilizations gave rise.

Exclusive: Australia's Secret UFO Files Released Today

It is probably the closest Australia has come to scrambling fighter jets to intercept a UFO. Documents that have just become available under the 30-year rule at the National Archives of Australia reveal how two RAAF Mirage jets were placed on the second highest level of alert to determine the cause of unidentified radar contacts seen on screens at Mascot.

The "X Files" viewed in Canberra also give details of other unexplained sightings, some of which are supported by witness statements to police.

In the Sydney alert, the papers stamped "restricted" tell how operation "Close Encounter" was launched by No.3 Control and Reporting Unit at RAAF Base Williamtown near Newcastle on June 30, 1983, after the phenomenon was first noticed earlier in the month.

AUTRALIA'S X-FILES RELEASED

Senior air controllers at Mascot said the contacts were mostly located between 70 and 150 nautical miles north of Sydney at "alleged speeds of 1100-6500 km/h that suggested high altitude".

The papers state that no scramble was to occur in the round-the-clock operation unless confirmation of any reported tracks was made on the radar screens at RAAF Williamtown or any radar other than Sydney.

At the same time, three senior air defence controllers were dispatched to Sydney to investigate and plot every contact and "control interceptors against these contacts if a reasonable chance of interception presented itself". But then one of the defence controllers, a squadron leader, asked whether a comparison had been made of the contacts on the screens of Mascot's Area Approach Radar Centre and those in a "workshop across the corridor". Soon after, tests showed that the "unidentified objects reported by Sydney were generated entirely by radar interference known colloquially as 'running rabbits' ".

Squadron leader K. Keenan, in his six-page report, said operation Close Encounter cost 66½ days of overtime, 1000 kilometres was travelled by a staff car and a C130 Hercules transport aircraft "may have been diverted to Sydney airport" to deliver one of the defence controllers.

He wrote: "The lines of communication, extending as they did across the width of an entire corridor, seem to have been insufficient for the purpose."

He added rather dryly: "Fortunately there was no temptation to launch aircraft and add to the fuel bill occasioned by use of the RAAF Datsun." A cautiously worded statement was released as a result "in a manner that would not embarrass departmental personnel" which blamed "random atmospheric conditions". Other reports in the X Files give details of an "unidentified physical feature" of circles on Milo Station at Adavale, Queensland, in 1982. The file refers to photographs that apparently were taken, but they were not among the papers.

Constable Geoffrey Russell, from the local police station, visited the site and wrote a report for RAAF Base Amberley near Ipswich. The officer saw depressions in the ground and thought they were caused by a motorcyclist doing donuts but then dismissed the idea.

He wrote: "I strongly feel this [is] no hoax even though I do not know the cause of this 'feature'."

He described a large circle of 2330mm in diameter with one inner circle of 2010mm which were 160mm in width and about 15-20 mm deep. The soil around the outer circle appeared to have been "blown away", he said.

Elsewhere in Queensland, dairy farmer Robin Priebe phoned Imbil police at 5.30am in July 1983 to report seeing a strange object in the sky to the north of the town. The papers state that a Sergeant Waterson then went to his back verandah and saw "a large white light with several flashing lights around it" which did not appear to be a normal aircraft.

A similar sighting was made by Constable R. Keys from a separate position. He was also of the opinion that it wasn't a normal aircraft.

Mr Priebe said both he and his wife saw a bright red glow gradually change to a white light which then started to move slowly east. Through binoculars, "the light was disc shaped with a very bright light around the perimeter of the disc with two flashing lights in the front and one to the side", he said.

AUTRALIA UFO FILES

The only photographs in the X Files were of unusual lights over Bendigo, witnessed by hundreds in May 1983. An interim report by the RAAF stated that Mike Evans, a 17-year-old disc jockey with the Bendigo radio station 3BO, received calls from listeners, then saw the lights himself and took photos.

One anonymous caller to the RAAF said the lights were caused by a rock group experimenting with laser lighting. The report said they were probably caused by train headlights or lasers or from planets or stars. There had been unusual weather atmospherics on the night.

Zoe¨ D'Arcy, director of digital and online access at the National Archives, said: "Where you and I might think UFO - a spaceship - the RAAF and other agencies were probably wondering if there was a security threat. "Most of the files you read and you think that most probably was a meteorite, but there are ones that you read and you think - well, what could that have been?

"I can't explain that from my knowledge ( via smh.com.au ). "So what was it that these people have experienced? It has that open-ended question to it that I find really intriguing."

Un científico cree que una antigua raza tecnológica habitó la Tierra: ¿Por qué la habría abandonado?

Una especie muy avanzada podría haber vivido antiguamente en nuestro planeta y todavía sería posible encontrar rastros de su civilización, asegura un científico estadounidense.

Imagen ilustrativa

Una "especie tecnológica indígena antigua" podría haber habitado la Tierra, Venus "antes del efecto invernadero" o "un Marte húmedo", asegura en un artículo Jason Wright, profesor de astrología y astrofísica de la Universidad Estatal de Pensilvania (EE.UU.). En cualquier caso, el científico recalca que nuestro planeta es "el origen más obvio para una especie antigua de cualquier tipo".

El profesor estadounidense enumera las probables causas de la supuesta extinción de estos tipos de vida. "La respuesta más obvia sería un cataclismo, algo natural —por ejemplo un impacto de un asteroide a escala de extinción— o algo autoinflingido: por ejemplo una catástrofe climática global", opina. No obstante, tampoco descarta otras posibilidades, como la de que "sencillamente se extinguieron", que se volvieran "permanentemente no tecnológicos" o que abandonaran el Sistema Solar "por alguna razón".

Además, Wright afirma que si existió una especie avanzada, probablemente haya dejado algún tipo de "marcas tecnológicas" que podrían ser halladas. Sin embargo, el científico apunta que el movimiento de las placas tectónicas en la Tierra y los cambios que han ocurrido en Venus habrían destruido estos rastros.

En este sentido, subraya que aún podría encontrase algún tipo de evidencia en otros planetas bajo la superficie, dado que "las estructuras enterradas bajo la superficie pueden sobrevivir y ser halladas mientras no hayan sufrido una colisión tan grave que deje destruida su naturaleza artificial". Entre los lugares más posibles de su preservación, según Wright, figuran el planeta rojo y la Luna.