[Unmuseum_newsletter] The UnMuseum Newsletter for August 2011

A Monthly Update on the World of Science unmuseum_newsletter at unmuseum.org
Sun Jul 31 21:10:25 EDT 2011



The UnMuseum Newsletter for August 2011

Science Over the Edge

A Roundup of Strange Science for the Month

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In the News:

*India Temple May Be Richest in the World - Court appointed examiners have found that the vaults of the Sree Padmanabhaswamy Temple in Thiruvananthapuram, India, hold at least $11 billion in gold, rubies, sapphires, emeralds, pearls and other precious metals. The discovery was made after a complaint over the trustworthiness in the temple administration was filed with the court. Some of the items cataloged included gold chains as long as 18 feet, and many solid-gold human figurines, idols and jewelry. Many of the items discovered were in vaults that had not been opened in 130 years. The find has led to questions of security for the temple as local police may not have the resources necessary to protect such a valuable collection. Though on the surface the treasure appears to belong to the temple, some have argued that ownership can be called into question. Some historians suspect that the treasure was actually public property hidden away by less than honest rulers. Because religion and politics have been so entwined in India's past, "Only the palace records can say whether all that was tax money or a combination of temple offerings and public money", notes Mohanan Pillai, a professor at the Center for Development Studies.

*Ancient Jewish City Found - Professor Yosef Garfinkel, of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, has located the ruins of a city at Khirbet Qeiyafa, in Elah Valley, 30 km from Jerusalem, which he thinks shows that the Kingdom of David really did exist. Though the Bible describes a powerful kingdom under the rule of King David in the 10th century B.C., little archeological evidence has been found causing many to call the story into question. According to Garfinkel at Qeiyafa , "The buildings and the city wall are abutting each other. This is a typical Judan urban concept." He also notes that as far as animal bones go, "We have sheep, cattle and goats. But we have no pigs at all. In Canaanite and Philistine cities you will find up to 20% pig bones." While the find does not prove a large, powerful kingdom did exist, Garfinkel thinks that the dig, which has only been 10% excavated, shows that the story of King David's kingdom is simply not a myth.

*Colorful Toad is Not Extinct - The once-thought-extinct spindly-legged Sambas Stream Toad (sometimes called the Bornean Rainbow Toad) has been located in Malaysia's Sarawak State and is alive and well. The animal, listed as one of the "World's Top 10 Most Wanted Lost Frogs," hadn't been seen since 1924. The brightly colored toad was found in the remote Gunung Penrissen mountains. Because of the demand among collectors for this rare animal the exact location of this population is being kept a secret for their safety. "Thrilling discoveries like this beautiful toad, and the critical importance of amphibians to healthy ecosystems, are what fuel s us to keep searching for lost species," said Dr. Indraneil Das of Universiti Malaysia Sarawak.

*Last Dinosaur Standing - A Triceratops found at the Hell's Creak formation in Montana is the last known non-avian dinosaur left alive when the famous meteorite stuck the Earth 65 million years ago. Most dino remains found have been at least ten feet below the "K-T boundary" laid down by the impact, making some scientists suspect that the dinosaurs had actually died off before the disaster due to disease or volcanic activity. However, this Triceratops, found by Tyle Lyson, a researcher in Yale University's Department of Geology and Geophysics and his team, is only 5 inches below the boundary. "The fact that this dinosaur is so close to the K-T boundary lends support to the idea that they went extinct as a result of a meteorite impact," said Lyson. The finding also buttresses the theory that dinosaurs did not gradually die out before 65 million years ago, but that they went suddenly extinct.

*Researchers Test "Time Cloak" - Scientists have discovered that like Harry's Potter's invisibility cloak that hides someone from sight, it is possible to also build a cloak that would hide an event in time. Moti Fridman and colleagues at Cornell University report that they have performed the first experimental demonstration of such "temporal cloaking." What they have done is to first slow down parts of a light beam, then speed it up creating a small "tear" in it. Anything that occurs during the tear will not be observed. The Cornell team manipulated light in a fiber-optic cable using "time lens" to change the speeds. While hole they created lasted only for 15 trillionths of a second, it was possible to hide some activity during the experiment. In theory larger tears could be created using longer cables. It seems unlikely, however, that a tear could be made large enough to conceal any human actions, but the process might be useful for signal processing.


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*Science Quote of the Month - "Men love to wonder, and that is the seed of science." ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson


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What's New at the Museum:

*The Great Lighthouse at Alexandria - Said to be the only ancient wonder with a practical application, the great Pharos lighthouse at Alexandria guided ships safely in to the city harbor for almost 1,500 years. > (http://www.unmuseum.org/pharos.htm)

*Connecting the Pacific and the Atlantic: The Panama Canal - It was a herculean effort requiring the conquest of mountain, jungle and tropical disease, but man finally managed to create a short cut for ships between theses two oceans. > (http://www.unmuseum.org/7wonders/panama_canal.htm)

*Mysterious Picture of the Month - What is this thing? > (http://www.unmuseum.org/bluebook.htm)


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Ask the Curator:

*Atlantis Found On Google Earth? - There is an underwater grid-like structure in the Atlantic Ocean northwest of Africa. This is clearly seen from Google Earth at coordinates 31 29'31.63"N 24 27'49.31"W. I have checked all the accompanying data and there is no logical explanation. - Victor N.

When folks first began noticing this strange looking structure in early 2009 some people thought that it might be evidence for the existence of the lost continent of Atlantis. The grid structure looks a lot like city streets though the size (about 90 miles square) seems a bit big for ancient city.

Dr Charles Orser, a curator of historical archaeology at New York State University and an expert on Atlantis, thought the anomaly was fascinating and warranted further inspection. "The site is one of the most prominent places for the proposed location of Atlantis, as described by Plato. Even if it turns out to be geographical, this definitely deserves a closer look," he added, speaking to the Sun newspaper.

However, a closer inspection of the data reveals that it is only an artifact in the way underwater topography for Google Earth has been put together. As you may guess getting the data needed to map terrain heights underwater is a lot more difficult that getting the same information on land. The data from Google Earth comes from several sources and the information is combined to get as accurate a picture of the ocean floor as is possible.

One set of information comes from satellites that use radar to measure the height of the ocean. Because a large underwater mountain has more mass than an underwater plain, the gravity over the underwater mountain is stronger. This means that over the mountain a "hump" of water forms. This is too small to be visible to the naked eye, but the radar of the satellite can sense it. Because the satellite sees the hump on the surface, we know there must be a mountain underneath it and it gets put on to the map.

This method is great for mapping large areas of the sea bed, but is limited to finding really big things like mountains, valleys and plains which may be miles in size.

Another method of mapping the sea bottom is to get a boat and use downward pointing sonar (bouncing a sound wave off the bottom) to get an exact measurement. This is very, very accurate, but can only give you the depth directly under path of your boat.

When these two sources of information are combined into one map you can get some strange results. For example, information from the boat sonar can tell you that the depth of the water is a little deeper than the satellite data says it is for the same area. This isn't totally unexpected as the satellite data is known to be less accurate. The map favors the boat's sonar (because it is known to be more accurate) so it uses it when it is available. However, since survey information by boat sonar is not available for most of the ocean, the area on either side of where boat sailed still depends on the satellite data. The result can be a straight line across the map following the path of the boat which looks like some kind of artificial structure, but really just an anomaly in the data.

Apparently in the case of this area in the North Atlantic there was a fairly intensive survey done using boat sonar with the boats following a grid pattern. I've found some evidence that this was related to a project to see if this region of the Atlantic Ocean would be a good place to dump radioactive waste. The data is still around, but apparently the project was cancelled.

Good thing too. I don't think those Atlantians would be very happy if we dumped a few hundred tons of atomic waste on their home…

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In History:

*Charles Fort - On August 9, 1874, Charles Hoy Fort was born in Albany, New York. Fort was a world traveler and journalist and the first person to systematically collect reports of unexplained physical phenomena. Because of two inheritances from 1917 forward, Fort was freed from the financial concern of making a living and could devote his entire life to his hobby of "searching for the unexplained." Fort created a massive archive of strange events which he published in the form of books like The Book of the Damned (1919), New Lands (1923) and Wild Talents (1932). Fort's activities coined a new adjective Fortean which means pertaining to extraordinary and strange phenomenon and happenings. In 1931 an admirer founded the Fortean Society, but Fort never joined before his death in 1932. The Society went out of business in 1959, but The International Fortean Organization still exists, however, along with the magazine Fortean Times which chronicles anomalies, so Charles Fort legacy is still with us even today.

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In the Sky:

*Look For Perseids Early - The Perseid meteor shower is usually the best show of the year. In 2011, however, the peak days of August 12 & 13 unfortunately coincide with the full moon which will hamper viewing. In fact, those wishing to observe the Perseids might do best to look for them during the first week of August. The shower will still be building to its peak, but the moon will be generating much less glare. The Perseids are best seen in the early morning hours.

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Observed:

*Did Lack of Vitamin D Kill Mozart? - According to a new theory the prodigy musician Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's mysterious death might be linked to not enough Vitamin D. William Grant, a retired NASA atmospheric physicist who has been studying vitamin D research, thinks that the pattern of illnesses the sickly Mozart had shows problems with his Vitamin D levels. While researching the historical record Grant noticed that Mozart tended to get sick during the winter months (He died in December of 1791). Grant believes the musician wasn't getting enough sunshine, which is needed for the body to make Vitamin D. People living in high-latitude places, like Mozart's Austria, are at risk of running low on the vitamin during the winter months because they might not get sufficient exposure to the sun for almost half a year. During Mozart's time doctors didn't know about the body's need for vitamins or that the substances could be boosted by the use of supplements. Some researchers are skeptical of Grant's assertions and the cause of Mozart's death is unlikely to ever be determined for sure as no autopsy was ever performed on his body.

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On the Tube:

Please check local listing for area outside of North America.

*NOVA: Hunting the Hidden Dimension- Mysteriously beautiful fractals are shaking up the world of mathematics and deepening our understanding of nature. On PBS: August 24 at 9 pm; ET/PT.

*Rogue Sharks - The existence of man eating 'rogue' sharks has been hotly debated since the 1950s. This film unravels the truth behind the theory by analyzing some of the most notorious attacks from the last century and consulting the leading experts on shark biology. On The Discovery Channel: Aug 01, 9:00 pm; Aug 01, 11:00 pm; Aug 06, 5:00 pm; ET/PT.

*Curiosity: Did God Create the Universe? - Are the earliest moments of existence a question for science? Or religion? The world's most famous living scientist takes on the ultimate question: Did god create the universe? On Discovery Channel: Aug 07, 8:00 pm; Aug 07, 11:00 pm; ET/PT.

*Jaws Comes Home - Great Whites are back in the very same waters JAWS was made. Shark expert Greg Skomal is high alert as a huge, 18 foot Great White is spotted off Chatham, MA's beaches. Why have they returned? Where are they going? Is it safe to go back in the water? On The Discovery Channel: Aug 01, 12:00 am; Aug 05, 10:00 pm; Aug 06, 12:00 am; Aug 06, 6:00 pm; ET/PT.

*Unearthing Ancient Secrets: The Sphinx Unmasked - Dr Vassil Dobrev sets out to discover the truth about the Sphinx. Does it really represent the pharaoh Khafre? Using scientific techniques, Vassil finds a different explanation. That the Sphinx was created by a by a pharaoh that history forgot: Djedefre. On The Science Channel: Aug 11, 10:00 pm; ET/PT.

*Ancient Aliens: Aliens and Sacred Places - Are sacred places the product of man's reverence for God--or the result of contact with ancient space travelers? Jerusalem's Temple Mount has been called a heavenly gateway. Islam's shrine at Mecca displays a Black Stone believed to have fallen from heaven. And the temple at Baalbek, Lebanon was built on a massive stone structure resembling a landing pad. Did man encounter divine beings at these holy places, or might they have met ancient extraterrestrials? On The History Channel: August 11, 10:00 PM; ET/PT.

*Journey to the Edge of the Universe - In one single, epic camera move we journey from earths surface to the outermost reaches of the universe on a grand tour of the cosmos, to explore newborn stars, distant planets, black holes and beyond.. On The National Geographic Channel: August 4 at 8:00pm & 11:00pm; ET/PT.

*How to Build a Volcano - Science partners with Hollywood special effects to build the world's largest model volcano. On The National Geographic Channel: August 7th 09:00 PM; August 11th 8:00 PM & 11:00 PM; ET/PT.

*Jurassic C.S.I.: Megasaurus - Phil Manning uses rocket science, ultrasound and Finite Element Analysis to ask if there are bigger dinosaurs out there waiting to be to be unearthed.On The National Geographic Channel: August 19th 8:00 PM & 11:00 PM; ET/PT.


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*LGM: Check out the antics of Meep and Zeep as they try to find their flying saucer! (http://www.unmuseum.org/soearch/over.htm#lgm)
Copyright Lee Krystek, 2011.
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