170-million-year-old Flower Discovered by Chinese Paleontologists

Chinese paleontologists found the remains of an old plant that lived about 170 million years ago.

The earliest known angiosperm was found in Northwest China, according to a recent announcement by the Chinese Academy of Sciences Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology.

The Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou University, the Ningxia Geological Museum, and Northwest University all collaborated on the project. An international magazine of biology, Life, has published the study's findings.

The oval, 17 millimeter-long, 9 millimeter-wide fossil flower buds are mounted on a 15 millimeter-long stalk. According to the researchers, there is a larch-like structure at the bottom that is covered in flower petals.

According to the study's principal investigator, angiosperms are a group that includes both fruits and flowers. The group of plants that is currently the most advanced, diverse, widespread, and adaptable is the angiosperms. The number of living angiosperm species in the globe is 300,000.

The research team reexamined a Jurassic plant fossil that was found in northwest China approximately 170 million years ago. Prior to this discovery, the plant was known as Drepanolepis formosa Zhang, 1998, and was believed to be a gymnosperm. In the most recent study, the scientists scanned the fossil using micro-CT technology and discovered that the interior had inverted ovules, which is a crucial characteristic for classifying angiosperms.

According to the most recent study, each carpel or fruit contains an inverted ovule with two integuments, which is a crucial characteristic for classifying angiosperms. For this reason, the ancient plant was given the name Qingganninginfructus formosa.

In Northwest China, the fossil plant represents the earliest indication of angiosperms. Its discovery suggests that angiosperms first emerged, expanded far, and attained a certain level of prosperity as early as 170 million years ago, during the Middle Jurassic.

New Study Reveals That Horses Transformed Native American Life Far Earlier Than We Thought

An innovative study that coupled archaeological and genetic studies with Indigenous oral traditions found that Native Americans adopted horses into their communities considerably earlier than European colonial records indicate.

According to the researchers, the study is the first to be published in the esteemed Science magazine using both Western science and conventional knowledge.

Historians have long argued that Native Americans in the American West did not engage substantially with horses until the late 1600s, based on European documents from colonial times.

The Pueblo Revolt of 1680, when Native Americans rose up against Spanish conquerors in what is now New Mexico, is frequently cited by academics as the turning point. This insurrection resulted in the release of several European horses.

The new study, which follows the migration of horses from the American Southwest to the Great Plains and Rocky Mountains, debunks this generally held belief.

The scientists used radiocarbon dating, DNA sequencing, and other methods to examine hundreds of horse skeletons and found evidence that the animals had spread widely over the American West by the early 1600s.

Also, they demonstrated how Indigenous people during that period nurtured the horses, provided for their medical needs, and utilized them for transportation.

Before any known European presence in the Rockies or the Central Plains, horses were a part of Native American social and ceremonial practices, the study concluded.

Historic

The results are in line with numerous Indigenous oral narratives that have long contested the European account.

According to Yvette Running Horse Collin, an Oglala Lakota Nation member and co-author of the report, "Indigenous peoples in the Americas, or the horses we lived beside and protected, literally had no place in this conversation before this study."

She stated at a press conference in Toulouse, a city in southern France, "This is because of the mechanisms set in place by colonialism."

The findings revealed that "science may be used to heal and to unify rather than divide" as opposed to "one scientific system dominating another," she noted.

The study's lead author, archaeologist William Taylor of the University of Colorado, lamented that "a myopic, narrow concentration on European perspectives has tragically hampered our knowledge of the integration of horses into Indigenous society as a whole."

The research, according to Ludovic Orlando, a paleogeneticist and co-author of the study from France's CNRS, is "historic."

He claimed at the press conference that "We've brought traditional science to the cover" of Science.

Mutual Language

Although horses are known to have lived in the Americas more than 12,000 years ago, Orlando claimed that from that period and the 1600s there is a "lack of fossils," the cause of which is unknown.

Genetic testing revealed that the 1600s fossils studied in the study were of Spanish or Portuguese descent.

The discovery of further fossils could refute Orlando's assertion that this "fits nicely with acquisition from the conquistadors."

In 2018, Lakota researchers got in touch with Orlando, who had previously used DNA analysis to refute well-established views about the history of horses.

After that, Running Horse Collin spent two years working at the Toulouse Center for Anthropobiology and Genomics in the south of France.

She claimed that as an Oglala Lakota scientist, she had not been requested to alter her research methods, approach, or findings.

Orlando claimed that various theoretical perspectives occasionally caused him to consider his communication style, which "was really not easy at numerous instances."

Yet he said that they managed to "find a mutual language" and that they plan to carry on their scientific cooperation.

Co-author of the study Carlton Shield The Pawnee Nation's Chief Gover stated in a statement that respect for horses transcends national boundaries.

We can communicate with one another since we both adore animals, he remarked.

DNA from a Woolly Mammoth was Used to Make an Enormous Meatball

The vanished woolly mammoth has, in a way, come back—but this time as a meatball. An Australian company that specializes in cultured meat unveiled a sphere of lab-grown flesh in March 2023 that was made using the elephant-like mammal's Genome sequence.

But, you won't find this item in a grocery store because it isn't currently intended to be consumed. The "mammoth meatball" instead seeks to draw attention to the negative effects conventional farming methods have on the environment and to advocate the use of cultured meat as a future source of food.

According to Tim Noakesmith, a co-founder of Vow, the business that created the meatball, "We wanted to get people excited about the future of food being different from perhaps what we had previously" (AP). "We believed the mammoth would spark conversation. We aimed to produce something that may serve as a representation of an exciting future that is better for the earth as well as for ourselves.

Currently, agriculture consumes billions of acres of land, and the greenhouse gases produced during food production account for nearly 30% of all emissions in the world. Growing meat from animal cells, or cultured meat, requires less land and water than rearing livestock does. According to a statement from Vow, cultured meat may be tailored to satisfy taste and nutritional demands because it is produced in a lab.

The mammoth meatball, according to Seren Kell, science and technology manager at the nonprofit Good Food Institute, which promotes alternatives to animal products, "will open up new conversations about cultivated meat's extraordinary potential to produce more sustainable food," Damian Carrington of the Guardian reports.

Between 700,000 and 4,000 years ago, woolly mammoths roamed Eurasia and North America, according to Riley Black's 2021 article for Smithsonian magazine. The species was eradicated after the last Ice Age, possibly as a result of both human hunting and climatic changes. The entire animal's DNA was sequenced by scientists in 2015. The gigantic meatball was made possible thanks to this information.

The spherical object is between a softball and a volleyball in size. It was created by combining genetic information from African elephants, the mammoth's nearest living relative, with the DNA sequence for mammoth myoglobin, a protein that gives meat its color and flavor. The final meatball was created by coaxing 20 billion cells to proliferate after the sequence was introduced into sheep cell lines.

At the Dutch science museum Nemo, Vow debuted its take on mammoth meat. Audience members reportedly compared the product's aroma to that of crocodile meat as the start-up slowly baked the meatball before blowtorching its exterior.

Despite the fact that this might make the enormous meat sound enticing, Vow's meatball cannot be eaten. The reaction of contemporary human immune systems to the product is unclear to scientists.

James Ryall, chief scientific officer for Vow, tells CNN's Katie Hunt, "We're talking about a protein that hasn't existed for 5,000 years." "I don't know what this specific protein's potential allergenicity might be."

The culinary experts at Vow are upbeat about the prospects for cell-based meat substitutes in the future. Only Singapore now offers cultured meat, but businesses like Upward Foods and GOOD Meat have received approval from the US Food and Drug Administration for their lab-grown goods.

Unsolvable Megalithic Mystery of ancient Greek “Dragon Houses”

One of the unsolved historical mysteries is the Dragon Houses of Euboea, which most likely originates from the Preclassical period of ancient Greece.

There are 23 prehistoric megalithic buildings known as "Dragon Houses" in the highlands of Euboea, the second-largest Greek island after Crete. These buildings are predominantly located in the Ochi Mountain and Styra regions.

These buildings, known as "drakospita" or dragon houses, had nothing to do with dragons but are nevertheless admired today for their architecture, simplicity, and tenacity.

These megalithic homes are mortar-free structures that mimic the pre-Columbian Teotihuacan temple complexes and the stepped Djoser pyramid in pre-dynastic Egypt. They are made of predominantly square or rectangular stones.

Large monolithic stones are used the majority of the time. Their lack of foundations is another notable quality. Its roofs are expertly constructed using massive plates that are pyramidally stacked one on top of the other.

Although nothing is known about these dragon dwellings, there are more structures than was predicted. There are roughly 23 of these megalithic dwellings on the island of Euboea, the majority of which are found between Mounts Ochi and Styra. In fact, researchers are frequently astounded by the single megalith's size and weight, which is sitting atop two similarly large post stones to form a gateway. Both the reason for their construction and the method used to hoist and position this megalith on the poles are a mystery.

It should be noted that the dragon homes' location is also amazing, and that scientists have long questioned their purpose in existence. These stone buildings appear to be placed in strategic locations that provide far observation of the surroundings. At a height of almost 1,400m, the Dragon House of Ochi (or Oche) is located in particular.

Given that these dragon dwellings are located at extremely high elevations, the weight and grandeur of the megaliths are even more remarkable. The architects and builders had to devise a method to transport such big stones from a much lower elevation in order to construct the homes at this height. Also, each structure has a roof opening that resembles a Pantheon and is likely intended to allow moonlight or natural sunlight to illuminate the inside of the buildings.

The English explorer and geologist John Hawkins (1758–1841) was the first to discover the drakospito on Mount Oche and mistook it for an ancient temple.

Afterwards, local researchers took measurements of the drakospita' (or dragon houses) and determined the orientation of the structure using the azimuths of sunset and moonrise.

Researchers believe that the building performed a religious or astronomical function because of a Sirius-rise orientation that dates to around 1100 B.C. This orientation is consistent with earlier archaeological dating based on objects found inside the structure. It might be argued that the renowned drakospito atop Mount Oche operated as both a historic astronomical observatory and a place of prayer.

The locals speculate that they were military installations, farmhouses, or shelters. Historically, the term "dragon" was used to describe anybody having superhuman abilities as well as the fabled beast. Due to this, many people now think that the dwellings' origins can be traced back to the ancient Greek gods.

Archaeological digs have also been made, however they haven't yielded many solutions to the questions surrounding the dragon dwellings. Professor Nikolaos K. Moutsopoulos researched the Mount Oche drakospito and eleven other structures in 1959. In 1960 and 1978–1980, he explored the area around the structures. He found many pots inside the Mount Oche structure, as well as an apothetes, a subterranean building where he also found some utensils, animal bones, pottery fragments, and inscriptions from the Preclassical to the Hellenistic periods. One of the pottery fragments had inscriptions on it in an unidentified type of writing.

Archaeologists Discovered Graffiti That Revealed The Startling Truth About Pompeii

It took nearly 2,000 years, but long-lost graffiti scrawled on a wall has helped to clear the air about one of the world's most devastating natural disasters.

Historians have long claimed that Mount Vesuvius erupted on August 24, AD79, burying Pompeii under a layer of burning ash. On the other hand, the graffiti discovered in a recently excavated house is dated to mid-October, nearly two months after the Roman city and many of its inhabitants were destroyed, lending credence to the theory that the eruption occurred on October 24.

In short, the graffitis discovered changes history! So, let’s dive into the video to learn more, but before we begin, here is a quick knowledge test for you! What did archaeologists discover when they excavated Pompeii nearly 2,000 years later?

Archaeologists In Pompeii Broke Into a forbidden room and Discovered Shocking Things

Archeologists broke into a forbidden room and were shocked to the core by what they saw. But, wait, This isn’t a movie script but a real story. Archeologists discovered something dark and disturbing in the forbidden room of Pompeii. What is it? What disturbed the entire world, reminding the dark truths of ancient Europe?

Archaeologists Explored A Ruined Aztec Temple, Where they opened A Gateway To A Lost World

The Aztec Empire has long gone but left some mysterious things to be discovered. One such thing is an unearthed gateway to a lost world. As mysterious as it sounds, archaeologists were surprised to see such a secret gateway. But the question is where it leads us to? And the most surprising fact is the gateway was discovered near Templo Mayor, yet another mysterious ruin from the Aztec Empire. So, let’s dive into the video to know about the gateway and a bit of the history of Templo Mayor.

Archaeologists Examining A Medieval Skeletons Discovered a Rare Pigment That Rewrites History

Archaeology can be described as the study of the past of human beings based on material remains. And Archaeologists never fail to amaze or surprise us with their discoveries of the past that change everything we've always known. One such discovery that has shocked everyone has been made recently while examining a medieval skeleton, and it questions everything that we know about history.

We're talking about the discovery of this very rare pigment that dates back thousands of years and its real meaning. This finding is deemed the most straightforward indication of the contribution of a female community in society centuries ago.

The Underwater Tomb Of A Powerful Pharaoh Founded By Divers Exploring 2,300 Year Old Pyramid

Have you ever heard of having to use scuba gear to explore an ancient pyramid? We didn't either until we heard about archaeologist Pearce Paul Creasman's story. His story involves investigating an ancient race as advanced as the Egyptians, who shared the same continent with history and culture as rich and mysterious. So prepare to go underwater to explore the tomb of a pharaoh who ruled the Kingdom of Kush once.

Top 30 Biggest and Most Expensive Gold Nuggets Ever Discovered

Can you imagine the excitement of finding a shiny gold nugget? Read on to learn the stories behind the world’s 30 largest gold discoveries of all time, most of which were unearthed in Australia!

  • Lady Loch Nugget: 617oz. Found in August 1887 at Sulky Gully, in Ballarat, Victoria by the Midas Mining Company, and named in honour of the then-Governor of Victoria's wife.

  • Canaã 5 Nugget: 646oz. The fifth biggest nugget found during Brazil's Serra Pelada Gold Rush in the early 1980s, is on display at the Banco Central Museum in Brazil.

  • Dogtown Nugget: 711oz. America's third largest true gold nugget found at Magalia, California in 1859, and is variously known as the Dogtown, Willard or Magalia nugget. It was melted down soon after.

  • Kum Tow Nugget: 796oz. Found by Chinese prospector Loo Ching in April 1871 at Catto’s Paddock, Berlin (now Rheola), in Victoria. It was melted down but a replica forms part of the Mineralogy Collections at Museums Victoria.

  • McEvoy Nuggets: 782-810oz. Found in either 1857 or 1858 by Nicholas McAvoy and Walter Palmer, in the Rheola locality in Victoria. The three nuggets weighed 810oz, 805oz and 782oz respectively, however they no longer exist.

  • Normandy Nugget: 899oz. Found in a dry creek bed in Kalgoorlie, Western Australia in 1995. This sparkling hunk of gold is currently on display at The Perth Mint.

  • Poseidon Nugget: 953oz. Found in Tarnagulla, Victoria in December 1906, inspiring a festive gold rush.

  • Hand of Faith Nugget: 960oz. Found by Kevin Hillier near Kingower in Victoria, in September 1980. It is the largest gold nugget found using a metal detector and is on display at the Golden Nugget Casino Hotel in Lake Charles, Louisiana, USA.

  • Viscountess Canterbury Nugget: 970oz. Found at John's Paddock, Berlin in the Rheola locality in Victoria, in October 1870, and named after the then-Governor of Victoria’s wife.

  • Canadian 3 Nugget: 1,099oz. One of the largest nuggets discovered during the Victorian Gold Rush, it was found in January 1863 at Canadian Gully, Ballarat.

  • Heron Nugget: 1,106oz. Named after a popular gold commissioner and found near Old Golden Point in Fryer's Creek on the Mount Alexander goldfield in Victoria, in March 1855.

  • Viscount Canterbury Nugget: 1,114oz. Like the Viscountess Canterbury Nugget, its partner was found in May 1870 at John's Paddock, Berlin in the gold-laden Rheola locality in Victoria.

  • Sarah Sands Nugget: 1,117oz. Named after the famous ship and found at Canadian Gully, Ballarat during the Victorian Gold Rush. It was unearthed by a French sailor in January 1853.

  • Golden Eagle Nugget: 1,135oz. Discovered by 17-year-old Jim Larcombe at Larkinsville, Western Australia in January 1931 and named due to its resemblance to the majestic bird. It was a headline-grabbing national sensation, before being sold to the Western Australian Government.

  • Canaã 4 Nugget: 1,185oz. The fourth-largest nugget found during Brazil's Serra Pelada Gold Rush of the early 1980s and resides at the Banco Central Museum in Brazil.

  • Canadian 2 Nugget: 1,224oz. Discovered at Canadian Gully in Ballarat, Victoria, in January 1863.

  • Canaã 3 Nugget: 1,230oz. Notable for its distinctive ferrous red hue, it is the third largest nugget unearthed during the Brazilian Serra Pelada Gold Rush of the early 1980s.

  • Great Triangle Nugget: 1,277oz. The largest ever discovered in Russia, it was found in 1842 by prospector Nikofor Syutkin at Miass in the Ural Mountains. It is on display at the Kremlin Armoury in Moscow.

  • Canaã 2 Nugget: 1,430oz. The second biggest nugget found during Brazil's Serra Pelada Gold Rush of the early 1980s and is on display at the Banco Central Museum in Brazil.

  • Lady Hotham Nugget: 1,576oz. Named in honour of the then-Governor of Victoria’s wife, it was found by nine miners at the Canadian Gully in Ballarat Victoria, in September 1854.

  • Monumental Nugget: 1,648-1,696oz. The largest gold nugget discovered in America weighed in at between 1,648oz and 1,696oz. Discovered by five prospectors in August 1869 in the Monumental Claim in Sierra County, California.

  • Precious Nugget: 1,717oz. Found at Catto’s Paddock, Berlin (now Rheola) in Victoria by a Chinese prospector in January 1871. It was named after landowner Precious C. Williams.

  • Blanche Barkly Nugget: 1,743oz. Found in August 1857 by a team led by Scottish prospector Sam Napier at Kingower, Victoria. Named in honour of the then-colonial Governor’s daughter, it was displayed at London’s Crystal Palace before being sold to the Bank of England and melted down to make sovereign coins.

  • Leg of Mutton/Canadian Nugget: 2,144oz. The largest gold nugget discovered at Canadian Gully, in Ballarat Victoria, it was found on New Year's Day 1853.

  • Canaã Nugget: 2,145oz. The largest surviving true gold nugget on Earth, the Canaã is the biggest lump of gold extracted during Brazil's Serra Pelada Gold Rush in the early 1980s. It is on display at the Banco Central Museum in Brasília.

  • RNC Minerals' 2 'Nugget': 2,222oz. Not a true nugget due to its impure content, this enormous gold-encrusted rock was found in September 2018 at RNC Minerals' Beta Hunt mine near Kambalda, Western Australia, and reportedly contains 1,600oz of pure gold.

  • Welcome Nugget: 2,433oz. The biggest nugget found in gold-rich Ballarat, Victoria, it was discovered by miners from Cornwall, England in June 1858. It was exhibited at London's Crystal Palace before being bought by the Royal Mint and melted down into sovereign coins.

  • RNC Minerals' 1 'Nugget': 3,351oz. RNC Minerals found the gold-encrusted rock at the Beta Hunt mine in Western Australia in September 2018. This eye-opener is said to contain around 2,400oz of pure gold.

  • Welcome Stranger Nugget: 3,524oz. This magnificent granddaddy of all true gold nuggets was found by English prospectors John Deason and Richard Oates in February 1869 at Moliagul in Victoria. The monster-sized specimen was broken into three pieces and melted down.

  • Holtermann 'Nugget': 10,229oz. While the Welcome Stranger is the largest gold nugget ever discovered, the single biggest gold specimen ever found is the Holtermann. Dug up in October 1872 by German miner Bernhardt Holtermann at Hill End in New South Wales, it was crushed, and the gold extracted.

Source: https://www.goldindustrygroup.com.au/news/...

Cosmic rays reveal 'hidden' 30-foot-long corridor in Egypt's Great Pyramid

For years, scientists have known there was something hidden above the entrance to the Great Pyramid. Now, they've finally revealed it.

Cosmic rays and photos from an endoscope have revealed a "hidden" corridor inside the Great Pyramid of Giza's north face, above the pyramid's ancient entrance, new research finds.

The Great Pyramid was built on orders of the pharaoh Khufu (ruled circa 2551 B.C. to 2528 B.C.) on the Giza plateau and today is about 456 feet (139 meters) high. It is the only surviving wonder of the ancient world and was the tallest building on Earth until 1311, when England's Lincoln Cathedral's 525-foot-tall (160 m) central tower was completed.

A new study reveals that, just above the ancient entrance to the pyramid, there is likely a horizontal chamber that runs for 30 feet (9 m) in length and is 6.6 feet by 6.6 feet (2 by 2 m) in width and height. It is located behind a chevron-shaped structure that is visible outside the pyramid, according to the study, published Thursday (March 2) in the journal Nature Communications.

To learn more about the void, the scientists inserted an endoscope into the corridor to peer inside on Feb. 24 , they announced in a statement. But so far, the team has not found any artifacts inside the corridor, they told Live Science.

"The first pictures taken with the endoscope seem to show there is nothing, but we cannot see all the room precisely yet," study first author Sébastien Procureur, a physicist with the French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission (CEA), told Live Science in an email.

Procureur also refuted media reports that the team was close to a hidden burial chamber of Khufu, saying that the team hasn't found any evidence of a secret tomb.

Scientists discovered this corridor while analyzing so-called muon scans of the 4,500-year-old Great Pyramid. Muons are negatively charged elementary particles that form when cosmic rays collide with atoms in Earth's atmosphere. These high-energy particles constantly rain down on Earth but interact differently with stone than with air. For the past decade, scientists have been using muon detectors to search for hidden chambers in the Great Pyramid.

"To our knowledge, this study is the first characterization of the position and dimensions of a void detected by cosmic-ray muons with a sensitivity of a few centimeters only," the researchers wrote in the study.

In their statement, the scientists added that ground-penetrating radar was also used to gather information on the corridor.

For several years, scientists have known that there was something hidden behind the north face of the pyramid. They announced the discovery of a "void" behind the north face of the Great Pyramid in 2016, but it wasn't until now that they were able to reveal this 30-foot-long corridor.

In 2017, scientists announced the discovery of a larger void, about 98 feet (30 m) long, located above the pyramid's "grand gallery," but a more precise analysis of this void has not yet been completed.

Zahi Hawass, Egypt's former antiquities minister, said during a news conference Thursday (March 2) that the 30-foot-long corridor was likely created to help relieve stress from the weight of the building material on the Great Pyramid. He noted that it is located behind a chevron-shaped structure that distributes weight, the Egyptian newspaper Ahram Online reported.

Procureur agreed that the corridor may be related to the construction of the chevron. "If I had to make a guess, I'd say it could have been a first test of the chevron structure" that was later used higher up in the pyramid, Procureur said.

Reg Clark, an Egyptologist at Swansea University in the United Kingdom who is not affiliated with the study, told Live Science in an email that "I am of the opinion that the small gabled roofed corridor was probably intended to act as a relieving chamber over the pyramid's original descending entrance passage." It's unlikely that the discovery of the corridor will lead to a major find inside, he noted.

"I doubt whether the passage will lead to anything of any other significance. As with many of these structural innovations in the pyramids, which were developed for pragmatic reasons by the Egyptian tomb builders," Clark said. "They are often the victim of 'wishful thinking' by those looking for 'pyramid mysteries' and thus, sadly, frequently the subject of wild speculation in the press and media."

There is a plan to use more sensitive muon detectors that may be able to detect artifacts in this corridor and in the larger void above the grand gallery. A multinational scientific team has gotten approval from the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities and is currently trying to secure funding.

Source: https://www.livescience.com/cosmic-rays-re...

Most Amazing Recent Discoveries

In the following video we will be exploring the most amazing recent discoveries. Watch the video to find out more!

This Ancient Enchanted Grove in California Has Unique Candelabra-Shaped Redwoods

The breathtaking Lost Coast of California is probably one of the most pristine natural coastlines you can find in the US. In this part of the California North Coast that covers Humboldt and Mendocino counties, including the King Range, there are hardly any traces of human intervention on the landscape.

In the 1930s, the area experienced depopulation as it would have been too costly to build a state highway or even county roads there due to the steepness and related geotechnical challenges of the coastal mountains – hence the name “Lost Coast”. Today, it is the most undeveloped and remote portion of the California coast that is home to some amazing natural sceneries.

Impressively reiterated old-growth redwoods that are shaped like candelabras

In the heart of this untouched wilderness, in Shady Dell forest in Sinkyone Wilderness State Park, there is a small but rather bizarre-looking hillside grove of some impressively reiterated old-growth redwoods that are shaped like candelabras. Just a few feet off the ground, the trees seem to have been split into a dozen trunks, each reaching to the sky like huge candleholders.

Whereas redwoods typically grow straight up, the unique shape of these trees is due to stressors – strong winds and salty air above all – causing them to have sprouted branches near the ground. Then when conditions improved, the branches grew straight up, becoming secondary (reiterated) trunks.

The grove also has some smaller redwoods, but all the big redwoods are extensively reiterated, and there aren’t any signs of logging. In fact, it’s likely that the twisted trees survive today because they wouldn’t make very good lumber.

The medieval “Enchanted Forest” as it’s known by locals, is important for forest science. “We know that these gnarly branches and these strangely shaped trees create needed habitat for wildlife,” said Emily Burns, PhD, the League’s Director of Science. “We have a lot to learn from these trees. Their development offers clues into how the environment shapes redwood forests.”

Source: https://themindcircle.com/unique-candelabr...

A massive ancient Greek city was discovered submerged in the Aegean Sea

BY THE ARCHAEOLOGIST EDITOR GROUP

The Aegean Sea has been home to the remains of a sizable Bronze Age city, according to the Greek Ministry of Culture, Education, and Religious Affairs. The settlement, which is 4,500 years old, spans 12 acres and is made up of towers, ceramics, tools, and other artifacts in addition to stone defense constructions, paved surfaces, walkways, and towers.

A group of researchers from the University of Geneva, the Swiss School of Archaeology, and the Ephorate of Underwater Antiquities made the discovery while looking for signs of the oldest community in Europe near Kiladha Bay on the Peloponnese Peninsula, south of Athens. The discovery of the old city is no less noteworthy even though they were hoping to find remnants that go back at least 8,000 years.

historical fortifications

According to Spero News, archaeologists discovered several enormous foundations in the form of a horseshoe near a wall line. These foundations are thought to have been towers used to protect the city. The ruins date back to the Bronze Age, although the construction is distinctive and was unheard of at the time. The foundations, according to Professor Julien Beck of the University of Geneva, are of "huge nature, unseen in Greece till now."

"Our discovery is significant in part because of its size. Over a stone base, there must have been a brick superstructure. The likelihood of discovering such walls underwater is really slim. The facility's exact size is unknown at this time. It is encircled by fortifications, but we don't know why "Beck threw in.

Countless Artifacts

Because of the number and caliber of the objects found, including pottery, red ceramics, stone tools, and obsidian blades from the Helladic Period, Beck indicated that the finding of the ancient city is significant (3200–2050 BC). In fact, they had been practicing at the neighboring Lambayanna beach when they saw pottery fragments, and it was by following the trail of relics that they eventually found the city.

The remains, which Beck has referred to as an "archaeologist's paradise," have yielded a total of more than 6,000 objects. The Cyclades archipelago's island of Milos, which has been inhabited since the third millennium, is thought to have provided the obsidian blades with their volcanic rock source.

According to the International Business Times, the study team is hoping to learn more about trade, seafaring, and daily life during the era thanks to the relics.

The walls that the researchers discovered are contemporaneous with the Giza pyramids, which were constructed between 2600 and 2500 B.C., with the Cycladic civilization (3200 to 2000 B.C.), and with the first Minoans on the island of Crete (2700–1200 B.C.), according to Spero News. They did, however, exist 1,000 years before the Mycenaean culture, which was the first significant Greek civilization (1650–1100 BC).

The team is hoping that additional research at and near Lambayanna will shed light on a complex web of coastal villages spanning the Aegean Sea.

Bronze Age craftspeople tempered steel more than 1,000 years before the Romans did it

Archaeologists have analyzed 2,900-year-old stone carvings and a long-ignored chisel from the Iberian Peninsula, revealing that local craftspeople produced steel long before previously thought.

Intricate 2,900-year-old engravings on stone monuments from what is now Portugal in the Iberian Peninsula could only have been made using steel instruments, archaeologists have found. The discovery hints at small-scale steel production during the Final Bronze Age, a century before the practice became widespread in ancient Rome.

The 5-foot-tall (1.5 meters) rock pillars, or stelae, are made of silicate quartz sandstone and feature carvings of human and animal figures, weapons, ornaments and chariots.

"This is an extremely hard rock that cannot be worked with bronze or stone tools," Ralph Araque Gonzalez, an archaeologist at the University of Freiburg in Germany and lead author of a new study describing the findings, said in a statement. "The people of the Final Bronze Age in Iberia were capable of tempering steel. Otherwise they would not have been able to work the pillars." Tempering is the process of heat-treating steel to make it harder and more resistant to fracturing.

The team also analyzed an "astoundingly well preserved" iron chisel that dates to around 900 B.C. and was unearthed in the early 2000s from a site called Rocha do Vigio in Portugal, the researchers wrote in the study, published online Feb. 10 in the Journal of Archaeological Science. Not only did the chisel contain enough carbon to be considered steel (more than 0.30%), but the researchers also found iron mineralization within the settlement site, suggesting that craftspeople may have sourced the material locally.

"The chisel from Rocha do Vigio and the context where it was found show that iron metallurgy, including the production and tempering of steel, were probably indigenous developments of decentralized small communities in Iberia, and not due to the influence of later colonization processes," Araque Gonzalez said.

The researchers worked with a professional stonemason to imitate the ancient engravings with tools made from different materials, including bronze, stone and a tempered steel replica of the 2,900-year-old chisel. The steel instrument was the only one able to carve the rock, according to the study. A blacksmith had to sharpen it every five minutes, however, which suggests craftspeople from the Final Bronze Age knew how to make carbon-rich, hardened steel.

The team also noted that the experimental carvings were remarkably similar to the original ones if they accounted for rock weathering.

Up until now, the earliest record of hardened steel in Iberia was from the Early Iron Age (800 to 600 B.C.). Widespread steel production for weapons and tools probably only began during Roman times, around the second century A.D., although the low carbon content of excavated objects points to their mediocre quality. It wasn't until the late medieval period that blacksmiths across Europe learned how to achieve high enough temperatures to make good quality steel.

Source: https://www.livescience.com/bronze-age-cra...

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