(PHOTOS) World's Oldest Roman Temple Believed Uncovered In Italy.

It may only have been visible for a few days, but archaeologists have announced the discovery of what may be the oldest Roman temple ever found.

Located on the grounds of the Sant'Omobono church in central Rome, the ancient temple, which dates back to the early sixth century B.C., is believed to have been constructed near where the Tiber River once flowed. The location would have made the temple a sort of sanctuary and meeting place for merchants from as far away as Lebanon and Egypt.

“The religious dimension sort of sanctifies the trade,” archaeologist Albert Ammerman told the New Republic. “It’s like having money that says, ‘In God we trust.’”

The building's foundations are below the water line -- a factor that made excavation difficult for researchers from the city of Rome and the University of Michigan. Calling the ambitious project a "mission impossible," Ammerman told NPR how the teams worked tirelessly over the summer to counteract the difficult conditions.

"They're digging at the very bottom of this trench, at about 7 and a half feet below the water," Ammerman told the outlet. "You're in a very deep hole, and although you know in theory that the sheeting is going to hold everything up, there is a primal part of your brain that tells you to get out of there, if the walls come closing in there's not going to be any way out for you," he said.

In the end, the temple's foundations were only visible for three days this summer before the trench had to be filled back in, but the ongoing project is nonetheless proving to be a gold mine of information about this early period of Roman civilization. The Sant'Ombono Project website states:

The site thus offers both an important glimpse at the earliest phases of occupation at Rome in the latter half of the second millennium and an unparalleled opportunity to study the development of a major cult area in relation to the processes of urbanization and state formation from the eighth to the sixth centuries.

Although the site of the Sant'Omobono church was discovered during construction work in 1937, digging projects carried out in the '60s, '70s and '80s were limited in scope due to a variety of logistical issues, according to the project's website.

Undaunted by the challenges, the most recent team hopes to continue the excavation next summer.

Source: TWP

(VIDEO) The UFO Cover-Up in 10 Minutes.

Richard Dolan explains some of the high points of the on-going UFO cover-up, but it’s not your average lecture.

One planet, two stars: New research shows how circumbinary planets form.

Luke Skywalker's home planet Tatooine would have formed far from its current location in the Star Wars universe, a new University of Bristol study into its real world counterparts, observed by the Kepler space telescope, suggests.

Like the fictional Star Wars planet, Kepler-34(AB)b is a circumbinary planet, so-called because its orbit encompasses two stars. There are few environments more extreme than a binary star system in which planet formation can occur. Powerful gravitational perturbations from the two stars on the rocky building blocks of planets lead to destructive collisions that grind down the material. So, how can the presence of such planets be explained?

In research published this week in Astrophysical Journal Letters, Dr Zoe Leinhardt and colleagues from Bristol's School of Physics have completed computer simulations of the early stages of planet formation around the binary stars using a sophisticated model that calculates the effect of gravity and physical collisions on and between one million planetary building blocks.

They found that the majority of these planets must have formed much further away from the central binary stars and then migrated to their current location.

Dr Leinhardt said: "Our simulations show that the circumbinary disk is a hostile environment even for large, gravitationally strong objects. Taking into account data on collisions as well as the physical growth rate of planets, we found that Kepler 34(AB)b would have struggled to grow where we find it now."

Based on these conclusions for Kepler-34, it seems likely that all of the currently known circumbinary planets have also migrated significantly from their formation locations -- with the possible exception of Kepler-47 (AB)c which is further away from the binary stars than any of the other circumbinary planets.

Stefan Lines, lead author of the study, said: "Circumbinary planets have captured the imagination of many science-fiction writers and film-makers -- our research shows just how remarkable such planets are. Understanding more about where they form will assist future exoplanet discovery missions in the hunt for earth-like planets in binary star systems."

Source: SD

ISS astronauts to grow tomatoes and rice …. IN SPAAAAACE.

Plutonian peas and cosmic capsicum already proven safe for human consumption

Russian scientists have revealed that food grown aboard the space station is entirely safe to eat.

Astronauts have been growing vegetables on the International Space Station for some time in an effort to determine how viable it would be to do so on a long-haul manned mission to Mars or beyond.

According to Russian researcher Margarita Levinskikh, the crew have been successful in harvesting peas, dwarf wheat and other greens grown entirely in the weightless environment of space. Tests conducted on the crop have also indicated that all the vegetables are fit for human consumption.

The experiment is particularly important because the peas used seeds from previous generations of peas that had also been grown in space. Even five generations down the line, the newly grown peas were no different than they would have been had they been grown on the Earth.

Levinskikh has revealed that the next step will be to grow rice, bell peppers and tomatoes. 

Source: DN

UFO and Alien Sightings: How Real Will It Get.

Real alien sightings are important and deserve our attention. But what is real, what can we still believe?

Let's start with the very worst kind of alien phenomena. The crop circle that was discovered in a field South of San Francisco intrigued many, because it seemed to represent an image of alien technology. There was a lot of media attention. This crop circle has now turned out to be a publicity stunt by a computer chip manufacturer. Not only a company, but also a region where an alien phenomenon takes place can actually profit from the attention. Think of the Loch Ness monster for example. It is likely that this legend has attracted a lot of visitors and revenue to the region that otherwise would not have come. This prospect could tempt people to artificially create such phenomena.

UFO sightings that are real - but manmade

Flying objects in the sky that are labeled as UFO’s, could actually exist. That is they could be man made. It’s not unlikely that the US military as well as other countries’ military are secretly testing new equipment and deny everything when asked about it. Area 51, the famous mystery location, could actually be a place where this happens. Or think of the images of the UFO that seems to fly around and descend into a crater. In Northern Germany, a UFO sighting caused disruptions in air traffic for some time.

Alien phenomena that the human mind could create

Another category of sightings are the shapes and symbols people see in clouds and natural landscapes. These shapes, such as faces and flying objects, are often captured in a photo or on video. Google Earth is a great source for this, alien investigators love it. Many shapes are convincing, they are really amazing and waiting to be analyzed. But is also a known fact that the human mind likes to ‘see things’. Our brain is wired to recognize faces for example, and sees them even if they are not really there.

UFO sightings that are created for fun

Finally there are the 'for fun' manipulations of real UFO phenomena. Photos and videos that have been produced as hoaxes. If there is a general idea what a flying saucer looks like, these images will show it. Up until the 1990s, many of these productions were of low quality, easily recognizable as fake or at least doubtful. Nowadays computer techniques have made it so easy to make these images, that there is almost no telling what is real and what is not.

What to think of it all

Depressing? Maybe. But the subject is just too fascinating to ignore. UFO sightings are often hoaxes, but that doesn’t mean there are no aliens around. The events are real, and we cannot explain them. What if some of the UFO sightings are in fact real? We might even miss one because there is so much news and buzz around.

Alien sightings in ancient times

Depressing? Maybe. But the subject is just too fascinating to ignore. UFO sightings are often hoaxes, but that doesn’t mean there are no aliens around. The events are real, and we cannot explain them. What if some of the UFO sightings are in fact real? We might even miss one because there is so much news and buzz around.

Source: HP

[Video] Baltic Sea Is Like a Real Life Twilight Zone

While travelling through another dimension not one only of sight and sound, but of water and seaweed, a signpost up ahead reads “The Baltic Sea.” No, this is not the Twilight Zone although the mysterious happenings in this body of water over the past several years certainly make it seem like it is a real life version of one. With perhaps as much weirdness as the Bermuda Triangle itself, the Baltic Sea continues to produce some of the most unusual findings which have sparked both the scientific and paranormal community’s shared interests.

The most recent discovery which came from beneath the currents was the emergence of stone artifacts discarded from around 10,000 to 11,000 years ago off the coast of Sweden. However, these artifacts were not completely newly discovered. Swedish researchers had known about them for five years but it was only recently that they were carefully examined. Björn Nilsson, archaeology professor from Södertörn University led a team of researchers and a diver to explore the area where they unearthed organic items like implements carved from bone, antler and even wood. These remarkable findings are causing this discovery to be widely referred to as the “Swedish Atlantis,” although Nilsson dismisses the suggested name. The original Atlantis was of course, referred to originally by Plato and has been debated as to whether it was real or nothing more than a myth.

The Baltic Sea Anomaly

If this odd yet remarkable find was the only discovery that the Baltic Sea had washed up, it would simply not be just cause to refer to it as being anything like a real life Twilight Zone. However, back in 2011 an Swedish ocean research team called Ocean X, led by Peter Lindberg made a discovery that was so completely unconventional that it has hence been called “The Baltic Sea Anomaly.” The mysterious circular shaped object found at the bottom of the sea floor on the team’s sonar has been called a UFO, a Nazi secret weapon and also, nothing more than a glacial deposit. Whatever it is, it has been considered particularly unusual because of its perfectly circular shape.

As if finding the strange object wasn’t already odd enough on its own, when the Ocean X team’s submarine approached, divers reported that their equipment experienced malfunctions. Unfortunately, Lindberg and his team did not have the interest nor the resources to pursue anomaly and Hanumant Singh, a researcher from Woods Hole Oceangraphic Institute explained that the teams sonar scan was sadly, not very reliable. While the original discover lost a degree of public interest, things took an even more bizarre twist when Lindberg and his team discovered a second anomaly much like the first one a few months later. While there are plenty of theories as to what the anomalies are, better equipment and funding are both needed in order to get a more solid answer that can hold water.

Enter “The Baltic Zone”

Strange Circles at the bottom of the Baltic Sea

Of course, the Swedish Atlantis and Baltic Sea Anomaly aren’t quite enough to say that the body of water is like a real life Twilight Zone, which is why there is yet another case. For over five years, there have been reports and images of strange circles, some up to 15 meters wide created from green eelgrass on the sea floor which have once again had theories about what they are that range from the paranormal to the mundane. Marianne Holmer and Jens Borum from University of Copenhagen say that the circles are nothing quite so out of this world. Instead, they have been formed only the results of a mud that contains a substance which is toxic to eelgrass and is causing the patterns to take shape. While this mystery may have been put to rest on the sea bed, the question is; what other enigmas does the Baltic Zone contain beneath its murky depths that have yet to be discovered?

By Jonathan Holowka

Sources:
Huffington Post
Daily Mail
Huffington Post
Live Science
Yahoo! News

Babylonian tale of round ark draws ire from some Christian circles.

A recently deciphered 4,000-year-old clay tablet from ancient Mesopotamia is putting a new spin on the biblical tale of the flood and Noah's Ark — and that's causing consternation among some Christian fundamentalists.

The Book of Genesis includes detailed specifications for the giant boat on which all kinds of animals were placed, two by two, to shelter from 40 days and 40 nights of rain. The wooden ark was to measure about 450 feet long, 75 feet wide and 30 feet high (300 by 50 by 30 cubits, or 137 by 23 by 13 meters).

All well and good: But the specifications listed on the Babylonian "Ark Tablet," which is now on display at the British Museum, are totally different. The Babylonian boat was supposed to be made of braided rope, stiffened by wooden spars and sealed with bitumen. And it was supposed to have a round base, measuring 230 feet wide (70 meters wide).

"It was really a heart-stopping moment — the discovery that the boat was to be a round boat," Irving Finkel, a curator at the museum, told The Associated Press. "That was a real surprise."

A circular ark is in keeping with the look of a coracle, a type of river taxi that was widely used during ancient times in the region now known as Iraq. But the layout doesn't mesh with Genesis, which is taken as the word-for-word literal truth in fundamentalist Christian circles.

Which came first?Finkel said the account of the flood and the ark was probably passed along to the Jews during their Babylonian exile in the 6th century B.C. and served as the basis for the Genesis story. Biblical Archaeology Review's Noah Wiener said the cuneiform tablet was created "a full millennium before the Genesis narrative was written down."

But Ken Ham, who founded Answers in Genesis-U.S. and is trying to raise $73 million to build a full-scale replica of Noah's Ark in Kentucky, says it must have been the other way around: The true account must have come first in Genesis, and was corrupted by the time the Babylonians set down their details on the Ark Tablet.

"Because the Bible is God’s inspired Word, it gives us the true account," Ham wrote. "The other flood legends are man’s changed versions of the event called Noah’s Flood, which occurred close to 4,400 years ago!"

Fans of Ham's Facebook page took up the argument and rejected Finkel's claims. "This is just another clever attempt from Satan to try to disprove or distort the existence of the ark," one said. Another wrote, "A round ark would have sunk."

Would it? We may find out: The Telegraph reports that Britain's Channel 4 has begun filming a documentary about an effort to reconstruct the circular ark. The project is a spin-off of Finkel's newly published book, "The Ark Before Noah."

Source: NBC