Something cool thread

[China]

Great white sharks lurked near swimmers, surfers 97% of the time in drone study. What does this mean for Cape Cod?

 

As great white sharks make their way back north to Cape Cod for the summer and fall, shark researchers have released “shocking” results from a 2-year drone study — showing that apex predators came very close to people, but simply moved around them or ignored them completely.

 

The study along southern California beaches looked at how close juvenile white sharks get to humans, such as waders, swimmers, surfers, and stand-up paddle boarders.

 

The researchers from Cal State Long Beach Shark Lab revealed that at juvenile white shark aggregation sites, people were near sharks on 97% of the days surveyed. And during the two-year drone study, there were no reported shark bites in any of the surveyed locations.

 

“Frankly, we were shocked,” Christopher Lowe, professor of marine biology and director of CSULB Shark Lab, told the Herald on Monday. “Sharks would interact with people every single day, multiple times a day, and they would just swim by.

 

“It was shocking that these occurrences were happening so often,” Lowe added. “And the fact that no one was being bitten smacks in the face of the misconception that if there’s a white shark nearby, you’ll be attacked. This shows that’s not the case.”

 

More than 1,500 drone surveys were conducted from 2019 through 2021 across 26 different southern California beaches to measure human-juvenile white shark habitat overlap.

 

The juvenile white sharks were often spotted within 50 yards of where the waves break, putting surfers and stand-up paddle boarders in the closest proximity to sharks. Some sharks were seen as close as 2 yards from the wave break.

 

Click on the link for the full article

[BleedBNG]

 

[China]

WELL-PRESERVED 3,000-YEAR-OLD SWORD FOUND IN GERMANY

 

ARCHAEOLOGISTS FROM THE BAVARIAN STATE OFFICE FOR THE PRESERVATION OF MONUMENTS HAVE ANNOUNCED THE DISCOVERY OF A WELL-PRESERVED BRONZE AGE SWORD IN THE TOWN OF NÖRDLINGEN, BAVARIA, GERMANY.

Most Bronze Age remains around Nördlingen belong to the Urnfield Culture (often divided into several local cultures within a broader Urnfield tradition) which emerged around 1300 BC. The Urnfield Culture grew from the preceding Tumulus Culture and developed advanced metal working skills in Bronze weaponry and armour.

 

The sword was found among a deposit of grave goods and weaponry, alongside the remains of a man, woman and child. 

 

 

Click on the link for the full article

[EmirOfShmo]

 

[BleedBNG]

 

[skinsmarydu]

As an aside, if anyone gets a chance to see the Van Gogh exhibit, GO.  I did years ago and it's phenomenal.  

[skinny21]

44 minutes ago, skinsmarydu said:

As an aside, if anyone gets a chance to see the Van Gogh exhibit, GO.  I did years ago and it's phenomenal.  

Fantastic.  

[Larry]

 

[The Evil Genius]

 

[Captain Wiggles]

[The Evil Genius]

If you read to the end, she basically came up with what would later be used for WiFi. 

[The Evil Genius]

Quote

One notable model, known as the Martha Washington (as depicted in the accompanying images), was sold for $3,028 (equivalent to $45,538 today) in 1921. In 2016, the same Martha Washington model was purchased for $1.06 million in Washington D.C. Remarkably, almost 70% of these Sears DIY houses are still standing today.

 

Edited June 27, 2023 by The Evil Genius

[gbear]

for fun:  Which dog is different in this picture? Is it the only solid color dog or the three legged one or the one with the mushed nose?  I think about this and all the infinite ways we divide ourselves into "us" and "them."  There are legit differences in our experiences, and they change us and how to deal with us.  However, for the dogs they are all "us" in their play.  I'm jealous. Sorry, that is my random thought for today as I looked at a picture I took last night.

[China]

The northern lights are coming to several states this week. Here's how to see them

 

The northern lights are expected to be visible across several U.S. states this week, according to the University of Alaska Fairbanks.

 

On Wednesday and Thursday, the Kp-index, or planetary index, will be at five and six, respectively. The scale goes all the way up to nine, and any occurrence above five is considered a geomagnetic storm.

 

The aurora borealis could be seen across parts of Washington, Idaho, Vermont, Wyoming, New Hampshire, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota, Nebraska, Massachusetts, Maryland, Ohio, Wisconsin, Michigan, New York, Maine, according to the university.

 

Click on the link for the full article

[TheGreatBuzz]

Amd of course I'll be on Florida those days.

[China]

Long-lost Ship Found in the Desert Laden with Gold

 

The discovery of a ship that disappeared five hundred years ago and was found in a desert in southwest Africa with gold coins aboard has been one of the most exciting archaeological finds of recent years.

 

The Bom Jesus (The Good Jesus) was a Portuguese vessel that set sail from Lisbon, Portugal, on Friday, March 7, 1533. Its fate was unknown until 2008 when its remains were discovered in the desert of Namibia during diamond mining operations near the coast of the African nation.

 

When it sank in a fierce storm, it was on its way to India laden with treasures like gold and copper ingots. Two-thousand pure gold coins and tens of thousands of pounds of copper ingots were discovered on the Bom Jesus, almost all intact.

 

It is speculated that the Bom Jesus sank when it was pulled too close to shore in a storm off the coast of Namibia, causing the ship’s hull to collide with a rock and lean over, capsizing the vessel. As the coastline waters receded, the Bom Jesus reemerged in the desert.

 

The condition that the ship was found in suggests that the storm that caused the shipwreck was especially violent, although an absence of human remains (besides a few scattered bone fragments) in the site suggests that most of the crew on board survived the wreck or died at sea.

 

 

Click on the link for the full article

[skinny21]

^ Fascinating subject to me, but holy cow, that video felt like it was AI all the way.  I couldn’t make it through.

[BleedBNG]

 

[China]

 

[Califan007 The Constipated]

I never knew this story...

 

 

 

[EmirOfShmo]

 

[gbear]

My something cool post isn't on a level with those.  My some thing cool was just deciding to apply for Survivor. 

 

Do you ever buy a lottery ticket and think you don't have a chance?  Well, that is probably about the same chance I have of getting on Survivor.  I mean I am a 47 year old with a 17 year history of MS.  I have 4 medically fragile kids, and I just don't want them to think they have no chance of pursuing their dreams.  Heck, my blind 11 year old wants to drive...and maybe some day she will.  The point is, it was fun to take the chance, make the video, and show the kids it's OK to take a probably silly chance to live a dream.  So when I told a friend I wish I was on the show, she asked why I haven't applied.

 

I think I'd make a heck of a back story for them with a long MS history, still athletic, still working as a project manager, having written for more than a decade what it is like living with MS and raising medically fragile children.  I listened to the podcast about the making of the show, and I have a lot of the traits they are looking for, but it is still likely a 1 in a million shot to even get a call back.  I just want my kids to know it's worth it to make the effort on the long shots if it is what you really want.  I'm also one for leading/parenting by example when possible.

 

Like I said, I will probably never get a call back, but if I do I will have a heck of a follow-up post...in the mean time I have a fun fantasy dream and memories of making a video with my kids giving me input and laughs.

 

 

[Bang]

Well that WOULD be cool.

Good luck!
 

~Bang

[The Evil Genius]

 

[China]

Miracle Plant Used in Ancient Greece Rediscovered After 2,000 Years

 

The “miracle” plant Silphium consumed by Ancient Greeks, Romans, and Egyptians, which was thought to have become extinct two thousand years ago, has recently been rediscovered in Turkey by a professor, who thinks he’s found a botanical survivor.

 

The plant, which the Ancient Greeks called silphion (silphium), was a golden-flowered plant. It was once the most sought-after product in the Mediterranean even before the rise of Athens and the Roman Empire.

 

It is believed that the plant with yellow flowers attached to a thick stalk was crushed, roasted, sauteed, and boiled for medicinal purposes, food, and even contraception. During the reign of Julius Caesar, more than a thousand pounds of the plant were stockpiled alongside gold in Rome’s imperial treasures, and silphion saplings were valued at the same price as silver.

 

However, just seven centuries after the adored plant was first documented growing along the coast of Cyrenaica in what is now modern day Libya, silphion disappeared from the ancient Mediterranean world.

 

Roman chronicler Pliny the Elder in his Natural History claims that “just one stalk has been found” of the plant in the first century A.D., “and it has been given to Emperor Nero.” This was the last documented account of the silphion.

 

Inspired by ancient accounts, botanical explorers throughout the Middle Ages perpetually sought the plant across three continents although in vain. Consequently, historians believed the disappearance of silphion to be the first recorded extinction of any species, plant, or animal.

 

Despite the plant having been perceived to be extinct for centuries and having completely disappeared from the history books, a researcher at Istanbul University, Mahmut Miski, suspects he has re-discovered the ancient plant. He believes the Ferula Drudeana that grows on Mount Hasan is the elusive ancient plant—nearly a thousand miles from where it once grew.

 

 

According to a report by National Geographic, the researcher found it has similarities with the silphion plant which line up with old botanical texts and images of the plant on Ancient Greek coins.

 

The researcher has noticed that both plants have the same thick branching root and yellow flowers. In addition, both have powerful medicinal purposes. Ferula Drudeana has anticancer compounds and anti-inflammatory properties much like those known to be found in silphium.

 

Click on the link for the full article