The original manuscript of Albert Einstein’s groundbreaking theory of relativity, which helps explain everything from black holes to the Big Bang, went on display Sunday in its entirety for the first time. Einstein’s 46-page handwritten explanation of his general theory of relativity, in which he demonstrates an expanding universe and shows how gravity can bend space and time, is being shown at the Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities in Jerusalem as part the scholarly association’s 50th anniversary celebration. First published in 1916, the general theory of relativity remains a pivotal breakthrough in modern physics.
“A temple complex in Turkey that predates even the pyramids is rewriting the story of human evolution.”
Schmidt has uncovered a vast and beautiful temple complex, a structure so ancient that it may be the very first thing human beings ever built. The site isn’t just old, it redefines old: the temple was built 11,500 years ago—a staggering 7,000 years before the Great Pyramid, and more than 6,000 years before Stonehenge first took shape. The ruins are so early that they predate villages, pottery, domesticated animals, and even agriculture—the first embers of civilization. In fact, Schmidt thinks the temple itself, built after the end of the last Ice Age by hunter-gatherers, became that ember—the spark that launched mankind toward farming, urban life, and all that followed.
Scientists have unearthed an almost perfectly preserved spider fossil in China dating back to the middle Jurassic era, 165 million years ago. The fossilized spiders, Eoplectreurys gertschi, are older than the only two other specimens known by around 120 million years.
“Columns of the Universe” - from The Dresden Codex, the oldest book of the Americas.
Egypt will soon reveal the results of DNA tests made on the world’s most famous ancient king, the young Pharaoh Tutankhamun, to answer lingering mysteries over his lineage, the antiquities department said this past Sunday. Speaking at a conference, archaeology chief Zahi Hawass said he would announce the results of the DNA tests and the CAT scans on Feb. 17. The results will be compared to those made of King Amenhotep III, who may have been Tutankamun’s grandfather.
From Art Knowledge News:
The legend of Leonardo da Vinci is shrouded in mystery: How did he die? Are the remains buried in a French chateau really those of the Renaissance master? Was the “Mona Lisa” a self-portrait in disguise? A group of Italian scientists believes the key to solving those puzzles lies with the remains — and they say they are seeking permission from French authorities to dig up the body to conduct carbon and DNA testing. “We don’t know what we’ll find if the tomb is opened, we could even just find grains and dust,” says Giorgio Gruppioni, an anthropologist who is participating in the project. “But if the remains are well kept, they are a biological archive that registers events in a person’s life, and sometimes in their death.”
If the skull is intact, the scientists can go to the heart of a question that has fascinated scholars and the public for centuries: the identity of the “Mona Lisa.” Recreating a virtual and then physical reconstruction of Leonardo’s face, they can compare it with the smiling face in the painting, experts involved in the project told The Associated Press.
Thomas Jefferson and the Clock of the Long Now
A little while ago Clock designer and Long Now founder Danny Hillis came across this podcasted radio show by former president Thomas Jefferson. We were all surprised to find him giving radio broadcasts given he passed away in 01826 (on the 4th of July I might add). But what was most surprising was to find that one of his episodes discussed the Clock of the Long Now (Listen to the MP3). Danny listened with great interest as Jefferson discussed our project, clocks and time in general, and decided to send in a letter. And just the other day Jefferson discussed the letter at length on the show (Listen to that MP3). As you would expect, Jefferson has an encyclopedic knowledge of new and old world technology, clocks and mechanica. It makes for fun listening, happy holidays.
A Timeline of Timelines →
From Cabinet Magazine (so glad I still have the printed version of this timeline at home):
The problems presented by 20th-century versions of the timeline arise from different sources. In most important respects, the conceptual issues were already on the table in the 18th century. But the 20th century brought developments in time reckoning that gave timelines new poignancy. In 1945, it became relevant for the first time to tell world history in terms of milliseconds, and, very soon, it also became necessary to start thinking in practical terms about the transmission of information over the course of the very long term. There is something more than a little sobering about the recurrence of the cyclical form in the US government glyph for the declining radioactivity of nuclear waste stored in Yucca Mountain. In it, there may be an echo of Joseph Mede’s indecision about the appropriateness of applying the linear form to an apocalyptic narrative.
Even if America is exhausted, worn out and a shadow of her former self, from having spent her way from world dominance into a chasm of debt, the U.S. does have something to show for it the last six decades. A world saved. A majority of human beings lifted out of poverty. That task, far more prodigious than defeating fascism and communism or going to the moon, ought to be viewed with a little respect. And I suspect it will be, by future generations.
— David Brin, on how America might be remembered in the future.
Scanning Mummies
From WIRED Science:
An examination of mummified bodies has revealed that ancient Egyptians suffered from hardening of the arteries in surprising frequency, suggesting that blame for heart disease extends beyond the modern culprits of smoking, fast food and the remote control.
Who Should Own the Rosetta Stone? →
Should the British Museum return the Rosetta Stone to Egypt? Should the export of a nation’s “cultural property” be banned? Should there be laws giving national governments ownership of any antiquity unearthed today within their borders?
Interesting ethical quandary here… I want to say yes to some of these questions, but NYT blogger John Tierney has some strong counterpoints that make this a bit trickier than it appears…
I AM BECOME DEATH, DESTROYER OF WORLDS →
The Economist:
The story of how the dinosaurs disappeared is getting more and more complicated
From Cosmic Log:
Murals found on a buried Mexican pyramid reveal how the average Maya lived about 1,350 years ago - shedding light on aspects of Maya society that are “virtually unknown,” researchers say.
This is an image of the Waldseemüller map, or “Universalis Cosmographia,” drawn by Martin Waldseemüller in 1507. It was one of the first maps to chart latitude and longitude precisely and was the first map to use the name “America”. There is only one known extant version of this map, which was purchased by the US Library of Congress from Prince Johannes zu Waldburg-Wolfegg for 10 Million Dollars. It now hangs permanently at the US Library of Congress.
The map was the subject of a recent program of NPR’s OnPoint in which host Tom Ashbrook interviewed Toby Lester, contributing editor at The Atlantic and author of “The Fourth Part of the World: The Race to the Ends of the Earth, and the Epic Story of the Map That Gave America Its Name.”
