OWEN JARUS, - Live Science
Stephan: This report gives us yet another example of the astronomical sophistication of ancient cultures.
An ancient astronomical alignment in southern Peru has been discovered by researchers between a pyramid, two stone lines and the setting sun during the winter solstice. During the solstice, hundreds of years ago, the three would have lined up to frame the pyramid in light.
The two stone lines, called geoglyphs, are located about 1.2 miles (2 kilometers) east-southeast from the pyramid. They run for about 1,640 feet (500 meters), and researchers say the lines were ‘positioned in such a way as to frame the pyramid as one descended down the valley from the highlands.’
Using astronomical software and 3D modeling, the researchers determined that a remarkable event would have occurred during the time of the winter solstice. [See Images of the Pyramid and Solstice Alignment]
‘When viewed in 3D models, these lines appear to converge at a point beyond the horizon and frame not only the site of Cerro del Gentil [where the pyramid is], but also the setting sun during the time of the winter solstice,’ the research team wrote in a poster presentation given recently at the Society for American Archaeology annual meeting in Honolulu.
The flat-topped pyramid at Cerro del Gentil stands 16 feet (5 meters) tall and is made […]
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KATHERINE STEWART , - The Guardian (U.K.)
Stephan: Anyone who reads SR regularly knows my views on religious fundamentalism in general, and the threat posed to America by the Christian version particularly. Here is the latest. Notice the universals of fundamentalism of whatever faith: Deeply distorted views on sexuality, the suppression and subordination of women, the emphasis on guilt, and the commitment to willful ignorance.
Several decades ago, political activists on the religious right began to put together an ‘ideology machine’. Home schooling was a big part of the plan. The idea was to breed and ‘train up’ an army of culture warriors. We now are faced with the consequences of their actions, some of which are quite disturbing.
According to the Department of Education, the home schooling student population doubled in between 1999 and 2007, to 1.5 million students, and there is reason to think the growth has continued. Though families opt to home school for many different reasons, a large part of the growth has come from Christian fundamentalist sects. Children in that first wave are now old enough to talk about their experiences. In many cases, what they have to say is quite alarming.
When he was growing up in California, Ryan Lee Stollar was a stellar home schooling student. His oratory skills at got him invited to home schooling conferences around the country, where he debated public policy and spread the word about the ‘virtues’ of an authentically Christian home school education.
Now 28, looking back on his childhood, it all seems like a delusion. As Stollar explains:
‘The Christian home […]
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SIMON MURPHY and RUSSELL MYERS, - The Mail (U.K.)
Stephan: It is amazing how an inexpensive technological development can render irrelevant billions of dollars of investment. In this case the security apparatus of Homeland Security.
When I did the original 3-D printing story about three years ago the printers cost $50,000. Just a few weeks ago, when these printers hit the news big time the printers were $8,000. In this story the printer used was $2,600. I predict, within a year 3-D printers that can print guns will be less than $1000.
Clearly dealing with terrorism requires new strategies, a different approach than asking people to surrender their civil liberties, and billions spent on building a huge intrusive security apparat.
Click through to see the many pictures which will add to your understanding of what this issue involves.
The Mail On Sunday today exposes the massive international security risk posed by a gun that can be easily made with new 3D printers.
We built the weapon, which is capable of firing a live round, from blueprints available on the internet – then smuggled it on to a packed Eurostar train.
Two reporters passed completely unchallenged through strict airport-style security to carry the gun on to a London to Paris service in the weekend rush-hour, alongside hundreds of unsuspecting travellers.
The pistol, capable of firing a deadly 0.38-calibre bullet, was produced in under 36 hours using a revolutionary £1,700 machine to ‘print’ its components. And because all the parts are plastic, they did not trigger the metal detectors all Euro-star passengers must pass through.
Last night, the train operator began an urgent investigation into the security breach as experts called for airports and public buildings to review their procedures in light of our revelations.
The Mail on Sunday pieced together the 16-part pistol – called The Liberator by its creators – after downloading the designs. They were originally published by an American university student, who proved the design works by successfully firing a bullet on a shooting range.
The blueprints have since been downloaded more […]
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JOHN MCCARTHY, - Scientific American/Salon
Stephan: The Legend of NIMH becomes reality. The ethical issue being debated by ethicists: How many humans cells does it take to be considered human.
Into brains of newborn mice, researchers implanted human ‘progenitor cells.
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Stephan: Here is the bad news about the bees. It comes at the same time as the Obama Administration has rejected a ban on the neonicotinoids. As the downward slope of the bee trend has accelerated it has become clear that neonicotinoids are only part of the problem. But why wouldn't the government solve part of the problem? I think that is a question that remains unanswered.
There are also issues like the professional beekeepers stealing too much of the bees' honey and feeding them GMO High Fructose Corn Syrup.
The real problem though, in my view, is that this is a collection of examples of an entirely wrong-headed view of the world. One that is materialist and exploitive, and fragmented, and does not see the unity of life. One thats place profit above all other considerations. The whole package is being done to make profit, not to create wellness from individual to planetary. It is not problem of technology it is a lack of vision.
Read through to the end. The final paragraphs contain an update with the very latest research findings.
Nearly one in three commercial honeybee colonies in the United States died or disappeared last winter, an unsustainable decline that threatens the nation’s food supply.
Multiple factors – pesticides, fungicides, parasites, viruses and malnutrition – are believed to cause the losses, which were officially announced today by a consortium of academic researchers, beekeepers and Department of Agriculture scientists.
‘We’re getting closer and closer to the point where we don’t have enough bees in this country to meet pollination demands,
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