WordHurdle

Ancient clay tablet may describe events that destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah

After over 150 years of befuddled analysis of a cuneiform clay tablet, called the "Planisphere" tablet, scientists now believe they have, through the use of computer technology, been able to determine the drawings on this tablet are meant to be an image of the events in the sky just before dawn on June 29, 3123 B.C.

Sounds crazy, but through the use of computers, the scientists have been able to model the stars and night sky and run it backwards in an attempt to match up the nighttime celestial objects with drawings on this tablet.  The tablet has clear drawings of constellations that correlate with known constellations names, as well as references to planetary positions, so they were able to piece together the night sky based on our knowledge of those constellations.  The result is the belief that this clay tablet is the night diary of a Sumerian astronomer regarding a cataclysmic asteroid event.

The scientists have correlated the asteroid event to an asteroid impact which hit Kofels, Austria in 3123 B.C., but they are also making suggestions that this asteroid impact might have created the conditions possible to have fire and brimstone falling down on Sodom and Gomorrah at the same time. 

Some sort of impact has always been suspected at Kofels due to a massive landslide there, although there is no impact crater.  The information gained from the tablet leads them to believe that this asteroid, more than a kilometer in diameter, came in at a very shallow trajectory around 6 degrees, and in so doing, clipped the top of a mountain called Gamskogel above the town of Längenfeld, 11 kilometres from Köfels, and exploded into a fireball.  The fireball then expanded to 5 kilometers in diameter, which happens to be the same size as the Kofels landslide, before it hit Kofels and caused the landslide, but due to its fireball nature didn't create a typical crater impact.

The scientists make the Sodom and Gomorrah connection by saying that due to the trajectory, the back plume of the fireball would have would have been directed over the Mediterranean Sea, entering the atmosphere over the Levant, Sinai, and Northern Egypt.  This "mushroom cloud" would have caused significant, although short, ground heating that would be hot enough to ignite anything flammable, including human hair and clothes.  The scientists project more people may have died in this ensuing fallout than from the actual landslide impact in the Alps.  It can also be noted that there are at least 20 different ancient myths that record devastation of the type that could have been created by this asteroid's impact.

All in all, this finding doesn't prove that Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed by the fallout from this large asteroid, especially if some scholars are correct in saying that Sodom and Gomorrah were not located where they are generally assumed to have been located, but it's always interesting when scientists are able to put together the pieces of a historical puzzle in such a way that cast light into Biblical events.

Car of the future?

Pictured above is the Aptera, a new car being released with a $27,000 price tag that is all-electric, very aerodynamic, and is generating alot of buzz on the Internet.  The Aptera will eventually offer 2 models: the 2008 all-electric model with an 120 hour range, and the 2009 hybrid electric/gas model that will offer 300 miles per gallon.  Safety is a key feature as well. Check out the YouTube video below from Popular Mechanics to see what appears to be one of the most commercially viable futuristic-style cars at present.

Via Metaefficient

Breaking the speed of light

Two German physicists claim to have broken the speed of light.  Wow -- I literally just told my 6 year old this past weekend that we don't yet have anything that can travel the speed of light.  I love the description of how exactly they achieved this result:

The pair say they have conducted an experiment in which microwave photons - energetic packets of light - travelled "instantaneously" between a pair of prisms that had been moved up to 3ft apart.

I will openly admit that I cannot even wrap my brain around the actual experiment itself, much less the science behind it.

Saturn cloud formation stays in hexagon shape

I just had to post this photo from Saturn because it's very cool.  Click on the image for a bigger version.  It's amazing what can naturally occur in nature, and even more when that nature is on another planet.  Astronomers identified this hexagon shape -- measuring about two Earths side by side -- at the north pole of Saturn over 20 years ago, but these are the first images of the entire hexagon in one image.  It sits atop the north pole cloud formations and stays there, retaining its shape, which is very odd when you realize that clouds are constantly swirling around it. Infrared images show that it goes down 60km into the clouds.  You can see a video image of it here, which shows there is some movement but it clearly retains all 6 sides of the hexagon.  This kind of stuff amazes me.

The Apollo hoax?

I'm not one for conspiracy theories, but recently I've heard more detail about the so-called Apollo hoax, which is the claim that US astronauts never actually landed on the moon, but that instead, the astronauts orbited Earth for 8 days while NASA played pre-recorded footage from a sound stage (possibly set up at Area 51).  Crazy stuff, I know.  And I'm still not on board.

I do have to give credit, though, to some of the arguments made in support of the hoax theory based on the photographic and video evidence from the moon landings.  One site I found is here:  Alien-UFOs.com.  The site shows lots of images and video and what you're supposed to be seeing and what the images actually show.  Interesting.

Photos from the animal womb

The British paper Daily Mail has published photos from a long-term study of animals in the womb.  A group tracked, using ultrasound images and cameras, an elephant, a dog, and a dolphin through their entire gestational period.  The photos are astounding.

Virgin Galactic releases a glimpse of the SpaceShipTwo experience

I am totally engaged by the idea of privately funded space travel.  When SpaceShipOne made its historic trips into space to win the X Prize, I was inspired and amazed at the ingenuity of Sir Richard Branson and the the guys who put that project together.

Now, Virgin Galactic has released a concept video showing the interior concepts and the experience of travelers on the upcoming SpaceShipTwo.  They plan to unveil the actual plane in 12 months and begin flight testing immediately thereafter, hoping to be fully operational and launching from New Mexico in 2009.  The ship will be 3 times the size of SpaceShipOne and will seat eight people -- two pilots and six passengers.  You can get on board for a ticket price of $200,000, or you can even trade in Virgin Atlantic frequent flyer miles for a ticket, and take a trip into orbit to experience several minutes of weightlessness.  You can learn more at Space.com's website -- they've written an excellent feature on this upcoming adventure.

Gore may not have all his facts together

If you need some ammo in response to the science behind Al Gore's alarmist statements and the new "Inconvenient Truth" movie's view of climate change, the Canadians have a whole horde of reasons why Gore's arguments may have some problems.

Global warming is so 1998

Just when we were all finally convinced that the Earth was somehow warming up and the only real point of debate was whether it was natural or man-made, the Brits are now telling us that "global warming" as we know it stopped back in 1998.  What are we to do now?

Scientist calls for forced extinction of 90% of humans

Drudge is running this story as his headliner today (above the impending Katie Couric CBS anchor story) because this is quite a wild story.  Dr. Eric Pianka, in scientific circles, is calling for the intentional extinction of 90% of the human race through the use of the airborne Ebola virus in order to save the planet and its resources.  Here is a link to the reporting of another scientist who was recently at a scholarly conference of scientists when Dr. Pianka made his speech and received a standing ovation for his thoughts, as well as later receiving the Texas Academy of Science's 2006 Distinguished Texas Scientist award at the same conference.  The writer, who just happened to be at the conference and realized what was happening and took notes, also notes that it was clear that the video staff at the conference were directed to turn off their cameras for the speech.

[4/4/2006 -- This is an update to this story since the uproar after Drudge's posting over the weekend.]

The man who says we can live to 1000

Honestly, I'm so busy these days that I barely read online articles as long as this one.  But the more I read, the more I was intrigued.  I've never heard of Aubrey de Grey, but the writer of this story paints him as a 42-year-old prophet of sorts who is engaging the scientific community in a multidisciplinary way to "beat" the human aging problem. 

de Grey believes that if the right technologies are developed, humans will incrementally live longer and longer, starting at a jump to the 150-200 mark, then up to 500, and then eventually to 1000.  Some scientists think he's crazy, and one scientific journal (in an attempt to get rid of him and his ideas) has actually offered to pay $10,000 to anyone who can prove de Grey's craziness to an independent review panel.  de Grey's response has been to match that $10,000 with another, raising the bounty to $20,000.

It sounds like de Grey has alot of great ideas and a solid depth of understanding of the issues, but that he admittedly has limited laboratory experience.  But his approach appears to be one of questioning all of the conventional wisdom in an attempt to jumpstart the laboratory scientists into pursuing the discoveries he says will revolutionize the human lifespan.