More than 30 coils of rope were found carefully stored in a hand-hewn cave on the Red Sea coast of Egypt at Marsa Gawasis. These ropes proved to be nearly 4,000 years old, the oldest actual examples known so far, and have given Egyptologists and maritime researchers a lot to think about.
They were originally discovered in 2005. Excited researchers described the ropes as well preserved and undisturbed. Surprisingly, they were coiled and tightened in the same way that today’s sailors handle their ropes. They were stored in piles and researchers believe there are actually more than 60 coils. Most were found at the back of the cave
.
Egyptian rope is believed to be one of the strongest ropes ever made in the ancient world, and researchers hope to learn the secrets of Egyptian rope-making by studying the physical composition and method of manufacturing used by their ancient makers
.The coils are described as about 98 feet (30 meters) long and very thick. Experts believe they were used to produce structural stability on the ship. They would have been secured at the bow and stern of the ship to prevent the vessel from weakening and collapsing at either end. Ancient Egyptian portrayals of ships distinctly show the use of these rope trusses, and Thor Heyerdahl’s experiments with ancient replicas clearly showed the need for these stabilizers, especially on papyrus boats.
The ropes are made of a single type of unidentified vegetable fiber. Scientists have so far ruled out materials such as halfa grass, papyrus and palm as the source of the fibers and have begun looking at reed.
While there is evidence that cords and ropes were being made many thousands of years earlier, these Egyptian ropes are now believed to be the oldest actual examples of ancient ropemaking.
For more information about these ancient ropes and other discoveries made in caves at Marsa Gawasis, visit this site
Friday, March 15, 2013
Friday, March 8, 2013
The World’s Oldest Living Tree
The spruce tree has long been thought to be a relative newcomer in Sweden’s mountain region. So it came as no small surprise to discover that the world’s oldest living tree is a Swedish spruce found in the Dalarna province.
In fact, the ancient spruce is the oldest of a four-generation cluster of spruce found under the crown of a spruce tree in Fulu Mountain. These trees range in age from 375 to 9,550 years old and are genetically identical to the trees above them. Spruce trees can multiply by producing identical copies of themselves.
These ancient trees eclipse the previous record holders. Ancient bristlecone pines found in the southwest United States were dated to 4,000 to 5,000 years of age and were considered to be the world’s oldest living trees until the discovery of the Swedish spruce trees.
Future studies of these trees may shed light on weather conditions over the past 10,000 years, and may even add to our knowledge of climate change in northern Europe. They may also be able to provide information on whether they came from the east, or whether their ancestors lived west or southwest of Norway and spread to the north as the last Ice Age ended.
If you’d like more information on these elderly trees, visit here
In fact, the ancient spruce is the oldest of a four-generation cluster of spruce found under the crown of a spruce tree in Fulu Mountain. These trees range in age from 375 to 9,550 years old and are genetically identical to the trees above them. Spruce trees can multiply by producing identical copies of themselves.
These ancient trees eclipse the previous record holders. Ancient bristlecone pines found in the southwest United States were dated to 4,000 to 5,000 years of age and were considered to be the world’s oldest living trees until the discovery of the Swedish spruce trees.
Future studies of these trees may shed light on weather conditions over the past 10,000 years, and may even add to our knowledge of climate change in northern Europe. They may also be able to provide information on whether they came from the east, or whether their ancestors lived west or southwest of Norway and spread to the north as the last Ice Age ended.
If you’d like more information on these elderly trees, visit here
Saturday, March 2, 2013
Lake Baikal: The World’s Oldest Lake
One-fifth of the world’s fresh water is located in Lake Baikal in southeastern Siberia. It is not only the world’s oldest lake, but at more than 5,000 feet (1637 m) deep, it is also the deepest. Lake Baikal is estimated to have formed about 20 to 25 million years ago. It also appears that it’s on its way to becoming an ocean as a cleft in the tectonic plate beneath it splits Asia apart.
Lake Baikal is located in one of the most beautiful areas in the region. The mountains surrounding it provide food and shelter for wild animals. There are several small, self-reliant villages nearby which often play host to tourists and researchers.
This giant lake is nearly 400 miles (640 km) long and 49 miles (79k) wide. It is so large that it creates its own micro-climate. And while more than 300 rivers and streams flow into the lake, only one, the Angara River, flows out.
The giant lake’s oxygen-rich waters and surrounding forest support about 1,200 different animal species, both land-based and aquatic, and over 600 types of plants. About 75 percent are found only in this environment. For example, the world’s only freshwater seals live in Lake Baikal and their favorite food is a pink, scaleless, partly transparent fish that bears live young.
Lake Baikal’s seals may have migrated southward from the Arctic and adapted to their new home by producing more blood, making it possible for them to swim underwater for more than an hour. They are also deep divers, able to reach depths of more than 800 feet (300 meters) below the surface.
Some of the lake’s fish survive more than a mile beneath the surface where water pressures are dramatically high. Like their deep sea counterparts, they literally explode when brought to the surface.
If you’re interested in learning more about the world’s oldest lake, go here
Lake Baikal is located in one of the most beautiful areas in the region. The mountains surrounding it provide food and shelter for wild animals. There are several small, self-reliant villages nearby which often play host to tourists and researchers.
This giant lake is nearly 400 miles (640 km) long and 49 miles (79k) wide. It is so large that it creates its own micro-climate. And while more than 300 rivers and streams flow into the lake, only one, the Angara River, flows out.
The giant lake’s oxygen-rich waters and surrounding forest support about 1,200 different animal species, both land-based and aquatic, and over 600 types of plants. About 75 percent are found only in this environment. For example, the world’s only freshwater seals live in Lake Baikal and their favorite food is a pink, scaleless, partly transparent fish that bears live young.
Lake Baikal’s seals may have migrated southward from the Arctic and adapted to their new home by producing more blood, making it possible for them to swim underwater for more than an hour. They are also deep divers, able to reach depths of more than 800 feet (300 meters) below the surface.
Some of the lake’s fish survive more than a mile beneath the surface where water pressures are dramatically high. Like their deep sea counterparts, they literally explode when brought to the surface.
If you’re interested in learning more about the world’s oldest lake, go here
Friday, February 22, 2013
The World’s Oldest McDonald’s Restaurant
If you happen to be in Downey, California, you can take a step back into fast food history.. This city boasts the oldest McDonald’s restaurant in existence.
The restaurant opened in 1953 and though it has been renovated, the franchise carefully retained it in its original condition. Its iconic red and white striped exterior remains, along with a 60-foot tall neon sign featuring "Speedee the Chef." It still has walk-up windows and outdoor seating.
Employees at this restaurant proudly wear the same uniforms they would have worn in the 1950s. These include white shirts and bolo ties, and paper hats. The store retained the original menu featuring hamburgers, cheeseburgers and fries. You can even order an old-fashioned milkshake. They also decided to update their menu with Big Macs, Happy Meals, and other more modern items.
The old building also boasts an addition housing a museum and gift shop, which were added during its restoration.
The Speedee McDonald’s is eligible for inclusion on the National Register of Historic Places, which would ensure its survival.
If you would like to stop by this piece of history, Spedee McDonald’s is located on Lakewood Avenue at the intersection with Florence Avenue. You can also visit its website here
The restaurant opened in 1953 and though it has been renovated, the franchise carefully retained it in its original condition. Its iconic red and white striped exterior remains, along with a 60-foot tall neon sign featuring "Speedee the Chef." It still has walk-up windows and outdoor seating.
Employees at this restaurant proudly wear the same uniforms they would have worn in the 1950s. These include white shirts and bolo ties, and paper hats. The store retained the original menu featuring hamburgers, cheeseburgers and fries. You can even order an old-fashioned milkshake. They also decided to update their menu with Big Macs, Happy Meals, and other more modern items.
The old building also boasts an addition housing a museum and gift shop, which were added during its restoration.
The Speedee McDonald’s is eligible for inclusion on the National Register of Historic Places, which would ensure its survival.
If you would like to stop by this piece of history, Spedee McDonald’s is located on Lakewood Avenue at the intersection with Florence Avenue. You can also visit its website here
Friday, February 15, 2013
The World’s Oldest Working Computer
It may be old and slow, but it has been brought back to life, and that’s no small accomplishment. The world’s oldest working computer is 64 years old. And it has reclaimed its place in the Guinness Book of World Records. Its first entry as the world’s oldest working computer in the Guinness Book of World Records ended in 1973 when it was decommissioned.
The computer is Britain’s Harwell Dekatron, also known as the WITCH computer. The 2.5-ton monster was built in 1951 at Britain’s Atomic Energy Research Establishment in Harwell, Oxfordshire. It was built to be reliable rather than fast, and it certainly lived up to expectations over its long life. It needs 10 seconds to divide a number, for example.
Volunteers spent three years restoring the giant machine and it was rebooted in 2012. The monster stands 6-1/2 feet (2 m) tall, nearly 20 feet (6 m) wide, and 39 inches deep. It contained 828 vacuum tubes with 480 relays and 7073 relay switches. One hundred ninety-nine lamps are used to interact with the machine.
The WITCH computer is now on display at the National Museum of Computing in Bletchley Park, where it serves as a teaching tool.
If nothing else, the Harwell Dekatron computer shows us how far technology has come in a few short years. You can find more information about this venerable giant here
The computer is Britain’s Harwell Dekatron, also known as the WITCH computer. The 2.5-ton monster was built in 1951 at Britain’s Atomic Energy Research Establishment in Harwell, Oxfordshire. It was built to be reliable rather than fast, and it certainly lived up to expectations over its long life. It needs 10 seconds to divide a number, for example.
Volunteers spent three years restoring the giant machine and it was rebooted in 2012. The monster stands 6-1/2 feet (2 m) tall, nearly 20 feet (6 m) wide, and 39 inches deep. It contained 828 vacuum tubes with 480 relays and 7073 relay switches. One hundred ninety-nine lamps are used to interact with the machine.
The WITCH computer is now on display at the National Museum of Computing in Bletchley Park, where it serves as a teaching tool.
If nothing else, the Harwell Dekatron computer shows us how far technology has come in a few short years. You can find more information about this venerable giant here
Friday, February 8, 2013
The World’s Oldest Running Car
A steam-powered car built in France is the oldest running car in the world at the age of 128 years. Though it is one of six of its kind still in existence of the twenty that were built, it is the only one that still runs.
The car, a De Dion-Bouton et Trepardoux, was originally built in 1884 especially for French Count De Dion, one of the three founders of the company that built it. It reportedly remained in one family for 81 years before being sold.
The design features three wheels, two in front and one in the rear. It is powered by coal, wood and paper, and takes about half an hour to build up enough steam to move. When it does, though, it can achieve a top speed of about 38 miles an hour, which was remarkable in its day. It can go about 20 miles on a tankful of water.
"Le Marquise," as it was nicknamed, is said to have been the only car to show up for the world’s first automobile race in 1887, averaging 16 miles per hour over the 20-mile long course.
The car was sold to an unidentified buyer for $4.6 million at an auction held in Hershey, Pennsylvania in October 2011. It literally came onto the stage under its own steam, to the delight of the audience.
If you are interested in seeing pictures of this remarkable old vehicle, go here
The car, a De Dion-Bouton et Trepardoux, was originally built in 1884 especially for French Count De Dion, one of the three founders of the company that built it. It reportedly remained in one family for 81 years before being sold.
The design features three wheels, two in front and one in the rear. It is powered by coal, wood and paper, and takes about half an hour to build up enough steam to move. When it does, though, it can achieve a top speed of about 38 miles an hour, which was remarkable in its day. It can go about 20 miles on a tankful of water.
"Le Marquise," as it was nicknamed, is said to have been the only car to show up for the world’s first automobile race in 1887, averaging 16 miles per hour over the 20-mile long course.
The car was sold to an unidentified buyer for $4.6 million at an auction held in Hershey, Pennsylvania in October 2011. It literally came onto the stage under its own steam, to the delight of the audience.
If you are interested in seeing pictures of this remarkable old vehicle, go here
Friday, February 1, 2013
The World’s Oldest Known Flag
This record is going to prove to be hard to beat. The metal flag, known as the Shahdad Flag, is about 5,000 years old. It was found in 1971 by a team of archaeologists working at Dasht-e Lut in the Khabis region of eastern Iran.
Mounted on a 1.09 meter (40 inches) long metal pole, the flag itself measures approximately 22 centimeters by 24 centimeters (about 9" x 9"). A perching eagle adorns one end of the pole.
The engraving on the flag feature a woman standing behind sitting goddess. Other figures include three women, two lions with a long-horned cow standing between them. There is a garden featuring two palm trees, and another palm tree was placed beneath the feet of the three women. A flower-shaped motif located between the goddess and the three women is believed to represent the sun while twisted patterns have been interpreted as flowing water. Taken all together, the designs carved into the flag seem to represent an idyllic landscape
.
The flag is surrounded by a thick metal frame with two moving metal hooks.
The flag is currently thought to be under repair. It is reported that once it is restored it will be placed on display, although there is currently no information on when or where it will be housed.
Two other brass plates were also found at the site. These plates were decorated with depictions of fish and deer. Experts point out that the techniques used in creating the flag and the brass plates were highly advanced and are fine examples of the metalwork produced in the Khabis region.
Mounted on a 1.09 meter (40 inches) long metal pole, the flag itself measures approximately 22 centimeters by 24 centimeters (about 9" x 9"). A perching eagle adorns one end of the pole.
The engraving on the flag feature a woman standing behind sitting goddess. Other figures include three women, two lions with a long-horned cow standing between them. There is a garden featuring two palm trees, and another palm tree was placed beneath the feet of the three women. A flower-shaped motif located between the goddess and the three women is believed to represent the sun while twisted patterns have been interpreted as flowing water. Taken all together, the designs carved into the flag seem to represent an idyllic landscape
.
The flag is surrounded by a thick metal frame with two moving metal hooks.
The flag is currently thought to be under repair. It is reported that once it is restored it will be placed on display, although there is currently no information on when or where it will be housed.
Two other brass plates were also found at the site. These plates were decorated with depictions of fish and deer. Experts point out that the techniques used in creating the flag and the brass plates were highly advanced and are fine examples of the metalwork produced in the Khabis region.
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