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February 2010

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February 28, 2010

Seeing Eye Chess

The pupil is an opening located in the center of the iris of the eye that allows light to enter the retina.[1] It appears black because most of the light entering the pupil is absorbed by the tissues inside the eye.

... the pupillary light reflex, ... is an important test of brainstem function. Furthermore, the pupil will dilate if a person sees an object of interest.

Images are powerful – “worth a thousand words” -- as the proverb goes, because they can convey large amounts of information very quickly, are easily memorised and recalled, and are capable of eliciting an emotional response. Images are far more powerful than text. Much of what people know about the world beyond their immediate experience, they absorb through visual media.

Seeng is learning - Teachers T.V. - Video resources for teachers.

Find out more about Computer Labs for Kids (Video) and what we are doing to help children around the world. See also CLFK photo gallery

The university professor who stood up against dumbing down of degrees By Julie Henry Published: 7:00AM GMT 28 Feb 2010 Paul Buckland refused to pass students who didn't understand the basics of archaeology - and he's just one of many academics under pressure to raise the marks of undeserving students. So will Buckland's legal victory halt the destruction of standards in some universities, asks Julie Henry

Forget Video Games, Why Aren't Politicians Complaining About Chess? From the sedentary-occupations dept -

President Obama is the latest in a rather long line of politicians to start calling out video games as being something that is bad for kids and should be taken away from them, as encouragement to go outside and play:

Algebra Part of the series Jonny Heeley's Masterclass Maths teacher Jonny Heeley inspires a group of Year 10 students from several London schools with an active lesson about algebra. Filmed in a TV studio, this programme observes Heeley as he uses a variety of games and challenges to excite and entertain pupils. In the process, he also provides maths teachers with a number of concrete and accessible ways to teach algebra

To enter the Saatchi Gallery – Sunday Telegraph Art Prize for Schools...

Photo Description: 18 x 24" oil on canvas
Author - Jessica Warmerdam - 17 yrs
School year - 12

THE SAATCHI GALLERY DUKE OF YORK'S HQ, KING'S ROAD
CHELSEA, LONDON, SW3 4SQ, U.K

Explorer finds evidence of ancient waterway linking Atlantic to Pacific London, Feb 13 : An explorer claims to have found evidence of an ancient water route between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, which existed hundreds of years before the Panama Canal was conceived.

Scientists turn migration theory on its head By Randy BoswellL, CANWEST News Service - Feb. 26, 2010 Two U.S. scientists have published a radical new theory about when, where and how humans migrated to the New World, arguing that the peopling of the Americas may have begun via Canada's High Arctic islands and the Northwest Passage -- much farther north and at least 10,000 years earlier than generally believed.

The Spice Routes “He who controls the spice, controls the universe.” Such were the words uttered by the main character of the movie Dune based on the Frank Herbert science fiction epic of the same name.

In the story, the spice was the lifeblood of a vast empire. For the leaders of this empire, it was essential that at all times ‘the spice must flow.’

Bronze Age shipwreck found off Devon coast One of the world's oldest shipwrecks has been discovered off the coast of Devon after lying on the seabed for almost 3,000 years. In total, 295 artefacts have so far been recovered, weighing a total of more than 84kg The trading vessel was carrying an extremely valuable cargo of tin and hundreds of copper ingots from the Continent when it sank.

Ghana dig reveals ancient society The statues were found in a tightly packed area with hundreds of mounds.

Archaeologists have unearthed dozens of clay figures in Ghana, shedding light on a sophisticated society which existed before the arrival of Islam

Roman remains in York are 'elite' African woman This reconstruction shows how the Ivory Bangle Lady may have looked.

Archaeologists have revealed the remains of what they say was a "high status" woman of African origin who lived in York during Roman times. Academics say the discovery goes against the common assumption that all Africans in Roman Britain were low status male slaves. see also Revealed -The African queen called York home.

China, Kenya to search for ancient Chinese wrecks The Associated Press Friday, February 26, 2010; 5:34 AM BEIJING -- China and Kenya plan to search for ancient Chinese ships wrecked almost 600 years ago off Africa's east coast. An agreement was signed for a three-year project funded by China's Commerce Ministry to explore waters near the popular tourist towns of Malindi and Lamu, the official Xinhua News Agency reported Friday.

Pitt-led study debunks millennia-old claims of systematic infant sacrifice in ancient Carthage PITTSBURGH—A study led by University of Pittsburgh researchers could finally lay to rest the millennia-old conjecture that the ancient empire of Carthage regularly sacrificed its youngest citizens..

Archaeologist: Royal Palace of Ebla, Living Archive of Syria's History By H.Zain/ Ghossoun Sunday, 14 February 2010 21:32 The importance of the Royal Palace of Ebla, in north Syria, lies in that it includes a room for cuneiform manuscripts, known as 'Ebla Archive' which stressed its importance as a political and economic metropolis in Bilad al-Cham besides that the Palace dates back to the Early Bronze Age 2400 BC.

History in the Remaking A temple complex in Turkey that predates even the pyramids is rewriting the story of human evolution.

They call it potbelly hill, after the soft, round contour of this final lookout in southeastern Turkey. To the north are forested mountains. East of the hill lies the biblical plain of Harran, and to the south is the Syrian border, visible 20 miles away, pointing toward the ancient lands of Mesopotamia and the Fertile Crescent, the region that gave rise to human civilization. And under our feet, according to archeologist Klaus Schmidt, are the stones that mark the spot—the exact spot—where humans began that ascent.

China Discovers Old Bricks Made 7,000 Years Ago 2010-02-20 22:19:42 Xinhua Web Editor: Zhang - Bricks dating back 5,000 to 7,000 years have been unearthed in northwest China's Shaanxi Province, adding between 1,000 to 2,000 years onto Chinese brick-making history, archaeologists claimed Saturday.

Being on the level about Prehistoric Masons. I am going to tell you a secret. It is older, deeper, and infinitely more real than anything dreamt up by Dan Brown.

Granted, it involves masons, pyramids, and ancient secrets, all the usual suspects. But don’t be alarmed, I am a field archaeologist, and we dig through the brown stuff all the time, and dark forces tend to cross the street to avoid us.

Unearthing the splendour of Ur in Iraq By Mehdi Lebouachera, in Tell al-Muqayyar for AFP: 19 Feb 2010 The buried antiquities of Ur could one day outshine those of ancient Egypt, archaeologists at a large-scale excavation in Iraq believe. "When the (large-scale) excavations restart, tons of antiquities will see the light of day, filling entire museum wings," enthused Dhaif Moussin, who is in charge of protecting a site that has been prone to looting.

Red Gold of Alchem Monday, February 01, 2010 According to the Chinese historical text Shiji, the 2nd century BCE wizard Li Shaojun advised the Qin Emperor to make food vessels of cinnabar turned into gold to help prolong life.

Ring fort may have held Bronze Age sports arena By Michael Parsons -The Irish Times - Thursday, February 25, 2010 - A mysterious ring fort in Co Tipperary holds “massive potential for discoveries” according to archaeologists who have carried out the first survey of the site. Their initial findings suggest that the site may have been used for Bronze Age sporting contests in an arena that is the ancient equivalent of Semple Stadium.

Small dogs originate in Middle East, says gene study Small dogs may have evolved from the Middle Eastern grey wolf... Small dogs may all originate from the Middle East, according to research from the University of California. A study published in the journal BioMed Central found a gene found in small dogs, IGF1, is closely related to one found in Middle Eastern wolves.

The Dog as Deity, Ancestor and Royal Animal The Dog Story:

"When old dogs bark, it's time to watch out."

Although maligned in some cultures as "unclean," a thorough historical review will reveal that few if any animals have been as revered as the dog. This is even more true when one considers the dog along with its wild ancestor the wolf. Since many biologists now classify the two as the same species -- Canis lupus -- it is valid to examine the history of the two together.

Newly Discovered Archaeological Sites In India Reveals Ancient Life London, Feb 23 (Bernama) -- Newly discovered archaeological sites in southern and northern India have revealed how people lived before and after the colossal Toba volcanic eruption 74,000 years ago, according to Press Trust of India (PTI) on Tuesday.

February 26, 2010 The season’s almost over - Community: bloggers@brooklynmuseum - An informative photographic look at some of the archaeological activities that have involved the Brooklyn Museum over the past season of excavation.

Egypt Today Archives Three Decades of Discovery - Modern technology and innovation bring new insight to Egypt’s past By May Kaddah February 2010 - Over the last three decades, technological advancement has allowed archeologists to answer longstanding questions and refute misconceptions about missing details of Egypt’s history. From the remains of ancient rulers to Napoleon’s flagship, et takes you through some of archeology’s most significant discoveries in the last 30 years.

Poker is a Stress-Buster? Saturday, February 27, 2010 Playing poker might indeed be beneficial for your health after a study by Canadian researchers reveal that the popular card game could be an effective stress buster. Researchers from a Canadian University monitored the levels of stress hormone known as cortisol among a number of online poker players. They found that as the user became more engaged in the game, his levels of cortisol dropped by as much as 17 percent.

February 21, 2010

02212010

Mediterranean Chess Turtles
(Scaccarium Tempestas Mycros)

Primitive Humans Conquered Sea, Surprising Finds Suggest Prehistoric axes found on a Greek island suggest that seafaring existed in the Mediterranean more than a hundred thousand years earlier than thought

"These early people were intentional seafarers," he emphasized, "not individuals lost at sea."

At present, the earliest widely accepted evidence of ancient seafaring comes from Australia.

Other pieces of evidence, however, suggest that seafaring could go back much deeper in time.

Long story of Kokonotsu ... And while sudoku is a relatively new puzzle Kokonotsu’s origin can be traced back more than 6,000 years to the Chinese Magic Square symbolizing perfect harmony and connectivity. With this simple nine-field square the ancient Chinese were able to explain the function of our Universe and everything in it.

A Checkerboard-Patterned Stud and Gold Serpents SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2010 Part of the magnificent and unprecented find called the Staffordshire Hoard. "I have found references in several articles to five "mysterious" small gold serpents that archaeologists cannot figure out - what they mean, what they may have been a part of . . ."

BabelStone - The Lost Game of Liubo Part 1 : Funerary Statuettes - The ancient Chinese game of Liùbó ?? or ?? (Old Chinese *l???uk *p?k — but see Amritas for more modern reconstructions of these characters), meaning 'six sticks', was immensely popular during the latter part of the Warring States period (476-221 B.C.) and throughout the Han dynasty (206 B.C. - 220 A.D.), but later faded into oblivion.

Ceramic Liubo players From China Eastern Han dynasty, 1st-2nd century AD - It is an ancient Chinese belief that the world one passed into after death was similar to the living world. Therefore, to maintain one's status in the next world, a tomb should be provided with all the things one had used in this life.

Above Figure: Tibetan design - The Lo Shu square on the back of a small turtle (in the center), surrounded by the signs of the Chinese Zodiac and the Eight trigrams, all carried by a large turtle (which, presumably, stands for the Dragon horse that had earlier revealed the trigrams to Fu Xi).

.

Lo Shu Square Lo Shu Square (simplified Chinese: ??; traditional Chinese: ??; pinyin: luò sh?; also written ??; literally: Luo (River) Book/Scroll) or the Nine Halls Diagram (simplified Chinese: ???; traditional Chinese: ???; pinyin: ji? g?ng tú), is the unique normal magic square of order three.

The Mock Turtle is a fictional character devised by Lewis Carroll from his popular book Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.

The Mock Turtle is a very melancholy character, it is thought because he used to be a real turtle.

Turtle Soup Video - Gene Wilder sings and plays the lyre in "Turtle Soup" in Alice in Wonderland

The lyre is a stringed instrument like a small harp. It was supposedly created from the shell of a tortoise or turtle by Hermes as a gift for Apollo, his half-brother. Stars in Lyra - Alpha Lyrae is a very well-known star called Vega, the first star ever to be photographed, on the night of 16 July, 1850, by JA Whipple.

It is also known by other names: Dilgan 'Messenger of Light' (Babylonian), Tir-anna 'Life of Heaven' (Akkadian), Wega and 'the Harp Star'.

Vega was the North Celestial Pole Star (pole position is cyclical) some 12,000 years ago and will be again in another 10,000 years. The temples at Abydos and Luxor in Egypt were aligned with this star.

Ptolemy knew the constellation’s brightest star simply as Lyra. The name we use for this star today, Vega, comes from the Arabic words al-nasr al-waqi’ that can mean either ‘the swooping eagle’ or ‘vulture’, for the Arabs saw an eagle or vulture here. The constellation was often depicted on star maps as a bird positioned behind a lyre, as on the illustration above.

It seems that the Arabs visualized Vega and its two nearby stars Epsilon and Zeta Lyrae as an eagle with folded wings, swooping down in its prey, whereas in the nearby constellation Aquila the star Altair and its two attendant stars gave the impression of a flying eagle with wings outstretched.

The "Genbu" (Black Tortoise) of the North (Winter)
Above Drawing Based on Genbu Found at Takamatsu Zuka Kofun

The Black Tortoise is one of the Four Symbols of the Chinese constellations. The word for "tortoise" was taboo; and the entire entity is not just the tortoise itself, but both the tortoise and the snake. It is sometimes called the Black Warrior of the North (????, B?i F?ng Xuán W?), and is known as Genbu in Japan and Hyeonmu in Korea. It represents the north and the winter season. Although its name in Chinese, Xuánw?, is often translated as Black Tortoise in English, it is usually depicted as both a tortoise and a snake, specifically with the snake coiling around the tortoise.

The Four Symbols (Chinese: ??; pinyin: Sì Xiàng) are four mythological creatures in the Chinese constellations. They are:

• Azure Dragon of the East (??)
• Vermillion Bird of the South (??)
• White Tiger of the West (??)
• Black Tortoise of the North (??)

Each one of them represents a direction and a season of the year, and each has its own individual characteristics and origins. They have been portrayed in many historical Chinese and Korean myths and fiction, and also appear in many modern Japanese comic books and animation.

Each of these mythological creatures has also been synthesized into the 5 element system:

• Azure Dragon of the East (??): Wood
• Vermilion Bird of the South (??): Fire
• White Tiger of the West (??): Metal
• Black Tortoise of the North (??): Water
• Additionally, there is a fifth legendary beast, Huáng-lóng (??), or the Yellow Dragon of the Center. The cardinal direction associated with this animal is "centre," and its element is Earth.

Above figure Han-dynasty pottery tile emblematically representing the 5 cardinal directions A pottery tile of the Han Dynasty, depicting hunting and battle scenes containing emblematic figures of the "five cardinal directions" (more precisely, the "five squares", ??, i.e. the four cardinal directions - N S E W -, plus the center). The five sacred mountains of China were also associated with these "5 cardinal directions". Cernuschi Museum, Paris, France. A description of this item can be found e.g. in Chinese Mythology by Anthony Christie.

Turtle Island. The Circle of Life on the Medicine Wheel. We live on the Turtle's Back.

Turtle Island Music is proud and pleased to present some of the premiere, award-winning Native American artists and groups in North America.

Traditional Story of Onondaga - The Earth on Turtle's Back Long time ago, before the Earth was here, all was water. Many creatures lived in the water, swimming about. Far above the clouds, there was, however, a land where lived a powerful chief. His wife was going to have a baby. In that Sky land was a great tree with four large roots, stretching out to each of the four sacred directions, and bearing many kinds of fruits and flowers.

Turtle Island Tourism Company's mission, simply put, is to provide authentic Aboriginal experiences to visitors to Canada's capital region. Canadian and American Aboriginal culture is a source of much fascination to many world-wide, yet to many, it is as mysterious as it is fascinating.

'Flowery Turtle,' chess set

February 14, 2010

Hearts and Flowers

A nice gallery of images dedicated to the history of astronomy begins with a Tibetan talisman...

Stonehenge may have been surrounded by a "Stonehedge" that blocked onlookers from seeing secret rituals ...

James Owen for National Geographic News February 11, 2010 Evidence for two encircling hedges—possibly thorn bushes—planted some 3,600 years ago was uncovered during a survey of the site by English Heritage, the government agency responsible for maintaining the monument in southern England.

The magnificent aspect of the Avenue of Sphinxes that once connected the temples of Luxor and Karnak, where priests, royalty and the pious walked in procession to celebrate the Opet festival, is being rekindled. Many of the 1,350 human-headed sphinxes with the bodies of lions that once lined the avenue have been restored.

Ancient Tree Carving points to Stars By Talal Al-Khatib | Wed Feb 10, 2010

On the trunk of a gnarled, centuries-old oak tree, about 90 miles southwest of Phoenix, Ariz., are odd carvings of six-legged, lizard-like beings. The tree is located at Painted Rock, an archaeological site peppered with hundreds of ancient petroglyphs, images created upon rock surfaces.

Known as the "scorpion tree," locals had long believed that cowboys were behind the tree carving (the technical term is "arborglyph"). But paleontologist Rex Saint Onge knew it dated to long before then. MORE here:

Rush for iron spurred Inuit ancestors to sprint across Arctic, book contends By Randy Boswell, CanWest News - Feb. 8, 2010 - One of Canada's top archeologists argues in a new book that the prehistoric ancestors of this country's 55,000 Inuit probably migrated rapidly from Alaska clear across the Canadian North in just a few years — not gradually over centuries as traditionally assumed — after they learned about a rich supply of iron from a massive meteorite strike on Greenland's west coast.

700-km-long Great Wall found in NW China By Ma Lie (China Daily Shaanxi Bureau) Updated: 2010-02-09 18:55 XI'AN – More than 700 km of ancient Great Wall has been discovered in Gansu and Shaanxi provinces, as a result of the third national survey on cultural relics started in April, 2007 and will end in December, 2011.

Mythological love unearthed - Experts dig up chamber used by King Bana to hide his daughter... A secret chamber probably built by an Assam king to hide his lovelorn daughter from Krishna’s grandson has been dug up by archaeologists near Tezpur. The find, experts are saying, could be a confirmation of the legendary love story of Aniruddha, Krishna’s grandson, and princess Usha, daughter of King Bana.

Pre-historic findings in Rajasthan district ... include ostrich eggshells estimated to be 25,000 years old and earthen dice of Kushan period

Rare find: Amateur archaeologist Om Prakash Sharma showing ancient earthen dice, discovered in Bundi district, at Albert Hall Museum in Jaipur.

Discovery could lead to more difficult Sudoku puzzles

February 13, 2010 by Lisa Zyga - A standard 9x9 Sudoku matrix. Image credit: Héctor Rodríguez. (PhysOrg.com) -- A new analysis of number randomness in Sudoku matrices could lead to the development of more difficult and multi-dimensional Sudoku puzzles.

10 Ways to a Geeky Girl’s Heart • By Jenny Williams February 8, 2010

1. Plan a board game night. Consider the girl’s interests, and round up a few board gamesthat are compatible. Then let her choose which ones to play. Make sure you find ones that work well with two players.

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!

The Queen of Hearts - a traditional English rhyme Read by Ruth Golding for Librivox. Published by Project Gutenberg from copyright elapsed work now in the public domain. There are many variations...

The Red Queen's Game You can play a chess game against the Red Queen! You will play the white pieces, and you will move first. You must know how chess pieces move in order to play, because the computer will not let you place a piece where it shouldn't go. (You will simply be unable to move the piece to the invalid square.)

Believe it or not, I found the Queen’s secret recipe for her delicious strawberry tarts—try it, and you’ll see why the Knave stole them!

Those used to the valentine-related heart of Western Culture may be suprised at the Egyptian concept of the heart.

Theirs looks more like a vase with handles, and indeed many vases and jars were shaped like the hieroglyph in question. The heart of Egyptian iconography is a fairly faithful representation of a section of the heart of a sheep. The "handles" correspond with the connection of the veins and arteries to the organ.

The Ancient Egyptians believed that a human soul was made up of five parts: the Ren, the Ba, the Ka, the Sheut, and the Ib. In addition to these components of the soul there was the human body (called the ha, occasionally a plural haw, meaning approximately sum of bodily parts). The other souls were aakhu, khaibut, and khat.

Nice photographic and text tour... "The most prominent temple at Deir el-Medina is the Ptolemaic temple. It was dedicated to goddesses Hathor and Maat. The building itself is small but belongs to one of the best preserved examples of a temple from that period that is still standing today.

scarab heart pectoral

Blue Hearts and Lapis One widely repeated 'fact' about lapis is that Egyptian judges wore carved lapis versions of Ma'at, whose likeness is first seen as a jewelry motif during the reign of Thutmose III (reign 1504-1450 BC). As the goddess of truth, balance and order -- a concept fundamental to Egyptian life and the rule of the Pharaohs who portrayed themselves constantly as "Beloved of Ma'at" and "upholders of the universal order" - Lapis has one of the longest histories of any decorative rock or gem and Afghanistan sits on the world's richest lode.

"...Hair true lapis lazuli; - "

First Stanza, Beginning of the sayings of the great happiness,
from Papyrus Chester Beatty I

Ancient Egyptian Love Poems By Page - February 10, 2010 There was a time when nearly any antiquity could be bought for a price. In the early 20th century there lived a man named Alfred Chester Beatty who was a great collector of all things Oriental.

February 7, 2010

Solitude

"I came to a point where I needed solitude and to just stop the machine of thinking"
- Jack Kerouac, Lonesome Traveler

Solitaire is a fictional character in the James Bond novel and film Live and Let Die. In the film, she was portrayed by Jane Seymour. At the age of 22, Jane Seymour became the youngest actress ever to play a Bond girl.

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 2010 Last Speaker of Ancient Bo Language Has Died This is a very sad story (in more ways than one) from a few days ago - here are two reports (many more reports online).

Tycho Brahe to be exhumed THURSDAY, 04 FEBRUARY 2010 09:14 RC CULTURE Body of Denmark’s most famous astronomer will be dug up in Prague to determine true cause of death. The riddle of the Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe's death in 1601 may now have a good chance of being solved. Prague's cultural department has finally given researchers permission to open the tomb of Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe, which lies in the city’s Tyn Cathedral.

John Dee was a friend of Tycho Brahe and was familiar with the work of Copernicus.[9] Many of his astronomical calculations were based on Copernican assumptions, but he never openly espoused the heliocentric theory. Dee applied Copernican theory to the problem of calendar reform. His sound recommendations were not accepted, however, for political reasons.[13]

The John Dee Society Our primary purpose is to produce a standard edition of the published and unpublished works of Elizabethan England's great polymath, antiquarian and magus Dr. John Dee, to make available to students of Renaissance philosophy and of Dee's Enochian magical system a coherent data base of primary source material for their researches.

The History of Solitaire The origins of solitaire are unknown. Some have speculated that the fanciful layouts in solitaire originated with the layouts of tarot cards, long used for divination and fortune-telling.

Lady Cadogan's Illustrated Games of Solitaire or Patience by Adelaide Cadogan A downloadable file from Project Gutenberg

Solitaire, also called Patience, often refers to single-player card games involving a layout of cards with a goal of sorting them in some manner. However it is possible to play the same games competitively (often a head to head race) and cooperatively. The term solitaire is also used for single-player games of concentration and skill using a set layout of tiles, pegs or stones rather than cards. These games include Peg solitaire and Shanghai solitaire.

Mahjong solitaire is a solitaire matching game that uses a set of Mahjong tiles rather than cards. It is also known as Shanghai solitaire, electronic or computerized mahjong, MahJong solitaire, solitaire Mahjong and, erroneously, as Mahjong.

This is a list of solitaire or patience card games. Some varieties that are played by more than one player are marked with a plus sign. This list is marked incomplete because this list below does not list all solitaire games available. Some games may be even variants of existing games.

Solitaire terminology:There are a number of common features in many solitaire (patience) games, such as 'building down' and the 'foundations' and 'tableau', used to simplify the description of new games. Here is a partial list.

Video Description: 1999 Karel Deleeuw Memorial Lecture in Mathematics by Persi Diaconis — a magician, MacArthur Fellow and an expert on the mathematics of card shuffling. Speaker - Persi Diaconis, faculty in mathematics and statistics, Stanford University

Solitaire Chess - For those who don't know what Solitaire Chess is (I assume this applies to most of the readers), it is simply a method of training where you play over an instructional game, and guess the moves of the winning player. So if Bobby Fischer was White in a game where he won, you try to guess only the White moves.

Book on solitaire chess: From world-renowned chess teacher Bruce Pandolfini comes a collection of the 50 best games from his popular “Solitaire Chess” Column in Chess Life magazine.

Ancient Board Games and Solitaire Games From Around the World Copyright © 2008,2009 by Robert Wayne Atkins, P.E. All Rights Reserved. "During hard times it is very easy to become depressed and melancholy. If you allow yourself to fall into this type of mood then it will quickly spread to the other members of your household. During hard times you and your family will need to have some form of entertainment to help take your minds off the depressing situations that exist all around you.:

Two relaxing musical selections

Tranquility - Time Solitaire. Music United with Nature.

Universal Mother - Ancient Chants, Blissful Grooves

What is Obscura Day? An international celebration of wondrous, curious, and esoteric places. WHEN AND WHERE? We are celebrating Obscura Day in cities and towns all over the world! Saturday, March 20th 2010. Mark your calendar. Who's Organizing This? The folks behind Atlas Obscura, a compendium of the world's wonders, curiosities, and esoterica.

World War II computer Colossus that cracked Nazi code Retired British spy catcher Tony Sale rebuilt Colossus, the world's first recognisably programmable computer. Colossus was instrumental in the work of code cracking operations at Bletchley Park in Buckinghamshire during World War II. It deciphered messages sent by German over the Lorenz Cipher. Colossus was kept as a state secret until the end of the 1990s.

Stonehenge's secret: archaeologist uncovers evidence of encircling hedges... Survey of landscape suggests prehistoric monument was surrounded by two circular hedges. Inevitably dubbed Stonehedge, the evidence from a new survey of the Stonehenge landscape suggests that 4,000 years ago the world's most famous prehistoric monument was surrounded by two circular hedges, planted on low concentric banks.

Funerary art is any work of art forming or placed in a repository for the remains of the dead. Tomb is a general term for the repository, while grave goods are objects—other than the primary human remains—which have been placed inside.[1] Such objects may include the personal possessions of the deceased, or objects specially created for the burial, or miniature versions of things needed in an afterlife. Our knowledge of several cultures is drawn largely from these sources.

Ancient tomb belongs to top general: scholars Global Times January 29 2010] By An Baijie Chinese scholars reported Wednesday that a large ancient tomb they unearthed earlier in Northwest Shaanxi Province belongs to a high-ranking general that was guarded by hundreds of nude pottery figurines.

Tomb Raider: Charles Fellows in Lycia Robbing graves is a crime almost as old as the practice that unwittingly encouraged it, but taking the tombs themselves is an entirely different matter. In the 1840s, Charles Fellows shipped back to London’s British Museum 105 crates of blocks and sculptures taken from tombs scattered in Turkey…

Getting By On Her Looks "Priestess of Amun" by Eti Bonn-Muller Using crystal-clear 3-D images from Meresamun's historic scans, two forensic artists reconstruct the face of a 2,800-year-old Egyptian priestess

Digital Karnak - Reconstructing the Karnak Temple Complex in 3D The ancient Egyptian religious site Karnak, one of the largest temple complexes ever constructed... Digital Karnak (Archive) is a three-dimensional virtual-reality model that runs in real time and allows users to navigate 2,000 years of history.