Archive for July, 2008
Workings of Ancient ‘Computer’ Deciphered
Hot off the presses: After a closer examination of the Antikythera Mechanism, a surviving marvel of ancient Greek technology, scientists have found that the device not only predicted solar eclipses but also organized the calendar in the four-year cycles of the Olympiad, forerunner of the modern Olympic Games. The new findings, reported Wednesday in the […]
Pompeii: When Ruins Face Ruin
This just in the New York Times: Citing threats to public security and to the site itself, the Italian government has for the first time declared a yearlong state of emergency for the ancient city of Pompeii. Nearly 2,000 years after Mount Vesuvius buried Pompeii under pumice and steaming volcanic ash, some 2.6 million tourists […]
The Labors of Barack Obama
Proving that classical mythology never goes out of style and that you can never take an analogy too far, Maureen Dowd compares Barack Obama’s upcoming political trials to the Labors of Hercules. Barack Obama is about to embark on his own Feats of Strength…In the next six weeks, he will have to successfully complete a […]