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2010-11-22T02:53:00.000-08:00

'MOUNTAIN OF GOD'

Impressive Inselberg Formations

An inselberg, commonly called monadnock in the United States, is a prominent hill or rocky mass rising out of a plain. Inselbergs are one of the top rock formation tourist destinations. They are also favorite sites for hiking and climbing.

Pilot Mountain (USA)
One of the most distinguished natural features in the state of North Carolina, USA is a 738 m (2,421 ft) high quartzite inselberg called Pilot Mountain. The name came from its original Native American name Jomeoke, meaning “great guide” or “pilot” as the distinctive structure served as a guide to the earliest inhabitants of the region. The Mountain has two distinctive knobs, named Big and Little Pinnacle. The vegetation covered rounded top of the Big Pinnacle, also called “The Knob” (shown here) rises 430 m (1,400 ft) high above the surrounding terrain.
Mount Mulanje (Malawi)
Rising sharply from the surrounding terrain of Chiradzulu Malawi, Mulanje Massif also called Mount Mulanje is a massive inselberg with a maximum summit elevation of 3,002 m. Just like Stone Mountain, Mulanje was formed as a result of the upwelling of magma from the earth’s crust millions of years ago. Its existence was first revealed to the world in 1859 by David Livingstone although archeological exploration reveals evidence of human visits as early as the Stone Age. The rock formation is part of the protected Mulanje Mountain Forest Reserve.
Stone Mountain (USA)
Stone Mountain is a 251 m (825 ft) high granite dome inselberg in Georgia, USA. The structure was formed as a result of the gush of magma from within the Earth’s crust. The magma hardened to form granite within the crust 8-16 km (5-10 miles) below the surface. The mountain is also defined as a quartz monzonite rock and is famous not only as a rock formation but also for its north face sculptured artwork, the largest bas-relief in the world, where three figures of the Confederate States of America are carved on the huge rock. Stone Mountain has a base circumference of more than 8 km (5 miles).
Suilven (Scotland)
One of the most distinctive mountain in Scotland is Suilven, a rock formation which is made up of Torridonian sandstone. The structure rises from a wilderness landscape of moorland, bogs and lochans known as Inverpolly. Suilven forms a steep-sided ridge about 2 km high. The dome-shaped western summit of the ridge is the 731m (2399 ft) high Caisteal Liath (Grey Castle). The 723 m high central point is called Meall Meadhonach (Round Middle Hill), and at the eastern end sits Meall Beag (Round Little Hill). The mountain is a favorite site for hiking and climbing.
Mount Monadnock (USA)
Mount Monadnock or Grand Monadnock is known as one of the most frequently climbed mountains in the world. Rising at 965 m (3,165 ft) high, the inselberg is the highest point in Cheshire County, New Hampshire, USA. It’s bare and isolated peak provides expansive views of the surrounding landscape. The mountain’s name is where the American term monadnock originated.
Mount Cheminis (Canada)
Mount Cheminis is a dome shaped inselberg sitting on the Ontario-Quebec border of Canada. When traveling east on the Trans-Canada highway 66, it can be seen rising 500 m (1,640 ft) above sea level looking like a mirage in the distance. The rock was discovered in the 1600’s by French explorers. Legend has it that the inselberg was used as a place of sacrifice by the earliest settlers of the area. Mount Cheminis is sometimes called Mont Chaudron or Sugar-loaf Mountain; it is a remnant of the last ice age.
Enchanted Rock (Texas, USA)
About 15 miles (24 km) north of Fredericksburg, Texas, USA sits Enchanted Rock, a huge pink granite pluton rock formation. The inselberg covers approximately 2.6 sq km (640 acres) and rises 130 m (425 ft) above the surrounding landscape. The structure was formed as the surrounding sedimentary rock was exposed to erosion. It got its name from the early Native American settlers who believe the rock has magical and spiritual powers. Enchanted Rock is a favorite site for hiking and camping in central Texas.
Uluru (Australia)
Uluru or Ayers Rock is not only one of the most renowned inselberg, but is one of the most famous rock formations in the world. The 348 m (1,142 ft) high sandstone sitting in the Northern Territory of Australia is a sacred site to the Aboriginal people of the area. It has many springs, waterholes, rock caves and ancient paintings. It is also famous for appearing to change color as different light strikes at different times of the day and year, with sunset a particularly stunning sight as it briefly glows red. Uluru is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Sugarloaf Mountain (Brazil)
Sugarloaf Mountain in Rio de Janiero, Brazil is another world renowned rock formation and favorite tourist destination. The name of the 396 m (1,299 ft) high peak is said to refer to the rock’s resemblance to the traditional shape of concentrated refined loaf sugar. Some people believed that the name was derived from the word Pau-nh-acuaqua (high hill) in the Tupi-Guarani dialect. The prominent inselberg is one of the several granite and quartz monoliths that rise straight from the water’s edge of the Brazilian capital. Sugarloaf looks so familiar, the mere sight of it in a movie is enough to tell that the setting is in Rio.
Jugurtha’s Table (Tunisia)
Jugurtha’s Table lies 60 km (37 mi) southwest of El Kef, a small city northwest of Tunisia. The stunning rock formation was named after the Libyan King of Numidia (present day Algeria) who fought a mighty battle against the occupying Romans, using the massive flat topped rock as a fortress. The mountain can be seen as far as 50 km (31 mi) away, rising 1200 m (3,937 ft) out of the Tunisia-Algerian border plains. It looks almost perfectly flat as if it was somehow been flattened by man. The inselberg appears barren but when you climb the top you can see Roman ruins, arches and walls, huge Roman cisterns dug deep into the stone to catch rain water and tiny beehive-like house dating from prehistoric times. In spring, its 800,000 sq m surface is covered with wild flowers.
C

2010-11-22T02:51:00.000-08:00

One Of The World’s Most Polluted Places Pictures

BY CIMRANMALIK

One Of The World’s Most Polluted Places Pictures

If there is something that seriously affects everyone is, Water pollution. Over 40% of the rivers and 46% of the lakes in America are too polluted to fish in, swim in, or maintain marine life. There are many causes of water pollution. Water pollution come from two different types of sources.
1) Pollutants being emitted directly into a water body results in a “point source”, such as a pipe from an industrial facility leaking toxics directly into the water.
2) Pollutants being indirectly transported to the water such as run off from fertilizers flowing in to a larger body of water by rain results in a type of polution called “nonpoint source”.
Pesticides are one of the most common causes of water pollution. Pesticides from farms and individual home owners run off into streams and rivers. Then on it gets absorbed into the ground water polluting the water that people drink and causing trouble with the fish in the rivers where the pesticides run off.
One more cause of water pollution are fertilizers and nutrient pollution. Some of the pollutants that are most prevalent in the manure, sewage and chemical fertilizers are Nitrates and phosphates. These pollutants run into the streams and rivers causing excessive growth in aquatic plants and algae leading to clogged waterways and dead zones.
Another cause of water pollution happens when oil, gasoline and additives gets spilled due to a leak in a major oil tanker. This usually gets a lot of coverage and press due to it’s effects on marine animals, local fisherman and coastal businesses. Oils can also seep into the waterways through the groundwater as a result of a leak or small spill.
Mining as a result of an industry, is an other one of the causes of water pollution. Mining exposes heavy metals and sulfur compounds that get leached and absorbed into the ground water and make their way into the nearby water sources. Mines can continue to drain toxic elements into the water supply long after the mining has come to a close.
A few additional causes of water pollution are:
• Chemical and industrial processes that produce waste that is injected into deep groundwater sources
• Sediment build up as a result of clear cutting
• Pharmaceuticals such as growth hormones used in farming
• Personal care products and household cleaning products such as bleach, fabric softener, lotion, perfume and hair dye
• Air pollution due to power plants and emissions from vehicles
• Sewage
• Heat from power plants that causes water pollution by killing fish and marine organisms.
• Carbon Dioxide which causes acidification in oceans
There are many other causes of water pollution in addition to these that will need to be dealt with and addressed in order to reduce the strain on the water supply.

BAGDAD BATTERY

2010-11-22T02:39:00.000-08:00

Battery

History

In 1936, while excavating ruins of a 2000-year-old village near Baghdad, workers discovered mysterious small vase. A 6-inch-high pot of bright yellow clay dating back two millennia contained a cylinder of sheet-copper 5 inches by 1.5 inches. The edge of the copper cylinder was soldered with a 60-40 lead-tin alloy comparable to today’s solder. The bottom of the cylinder was capped with a crimped-in copper disk and sealed with bitumen or asphalt. Another insulating layer of asphalt sealed the top and also held in place an iron rod suspended into the center of the copper cylinder. The rod showed evidence of having been corroded with an acidic agent.

An Ancient Battery

German archaeologist , Wilhelm Konig, examined the object and came to a surprising conclusion that the clay pot was nothing less than an ancient electric battery.

The ancient battery in the Baghdad Museum, as well as those others which were unearthed in Iraq, are all dated from the Parthian occupation between 248 BCE and 226 CE. However, Dr. Konig also found copper vases plated with silver in the Baghdad Museum, excavated from Sumerian sites in southern Iraq, dating back to at least 2500 BCE. When the vases were lightly tapped, a blue patina or film separated from the surface, which is characteristic of silver electroplated onto copper base. It would appear then that the Parthians inherited their batteries from one of the earliest known civilizations.

In 1940, Willard F.M. Gray, an engineer at the General Electric High Volatage Laboratory in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, read of Konig’s theory. Using drawings and details supplied by German rocket scientist Willy Ley, Gray made a replica of the battery. Using copper sulfate solution, it generated about half a volt of electricity.

In 1970s, German Egyptologist, Arne Eggebrecht built a replica of the Baghdad battery and filled it with freshly pressed grape juice, as he speculated the
ancients might have done. The replica generated 0.87V. He used current from the battery to electroplate a silver statuette with gold.
This experiment proved that electric batteries were used some 1,800 years before their modern invention by Alessandro Volta in 1799.

It also seems that the use of similar batteries can be safely placed into ancient Egypt, where several objects with traces of electroplated precious metals have been found at different locations. There are several anomalous finds from other regions, which suggests use of electricity on a grander scale.

The Riddle of “Baghdad’s batteries”

Arran Frood investigates what could have been the very first batteries and how these important archaeological and technological artefacts are now at risk from the impending war in Iraq.

I don’t think anyone can say for sure what they were used for, but they may have been batteries because they do work Dr Marjorie Senechal
War can destroy more than a people, an army or a leader. Culture, tradition and history also lie in the firing line.
Iraq has a rich national heritage. The Garden of Eden and the Tower of Babel are said to have been sited in this ancient land.
In any war, there is a chance that priceless treasures will be lost forever, articles such as the “ancient battery” that resides defenceless in the museum of Baghdad.

For this object suggests that the region, whose civilizations gave us writing and the wheel, may also have invented electric cells – two thousand years before such devices were well known.

Biblical clues

It was in 1938, while working in Khujut Rabu, just outside Baghdad in modern day Iraq, that German archaeologist Wilhelm Konig unearthed a five-inch-long (13 cm) clay jar containing a copper cylinder that encased an iron rod.

THE KEY COMPONENTS
Batteries dated to around 200 BC Could have been used in gilding
The vessel showed signs of corrosion, and early tests revealed that an acidic agent, such as vinegar or wine had been present.
In the early 1900s, many European archaeologists were excavating ancient Mesopotamian sites, looking for evidence of Biblical tales like the Tree of Knowledge and Noah’s flood.
Konig did not waste his time finding alternative explanations for his discovery. To him, it had to have been a battery.

Though this was hard to explain, and did not sit comfortably with the religious ideology of the time, he published his conclusions. But soon the world was at war, and his discovery was forgotten.

Scientific awareness

More than 60 years after their discovery, the batteries of Baghdad – as there are perhaps a dozen of them – are shrouded in myth.

“The batteries have always attracted interest as curios,” says Dr Paul Craddock, a metallurgy expert of the ancient Near East from the British Museum.
“They are a one-off. As far as we know, nobody else has found anything like these. They are odd things; they are one of life’s enigmas.”
No two accounts of them are the same. Some say the batteries were excavated, others that Konig found them in the basement of the Baghdad Museum when he took over as director. There is no definite figure on how many have been found, and their age is disputed.
Most sources date the batteries to around 200 BC – in the Parthian era, circa 250 BC to AD 225. Skilled warriors, the Parthians were not noted for their scientific achievements.
“Although this collection of objects is usually dated as Parthian, the grounds for this are unclear,” says Dr St John Simpson, also from the department of the ancient Near East at the British Museum.

“The pot itself is Sassanian. This discrepancy presumably lies either in a misidentification of the age of the ceramic vessel, or the site at which they were found.”

Underlying principles

Though most archaeologists agree the devices were batteries, there is much conjecture as to how they could have been discovered, and what they were used for.
How could ancient Persian science have grasped the principles of electricity and arrived at this knowledge?
Perhaps they did not. Many inventions are conceived before the underlying principles are properly understood.
The Chinese invented gunpowder long before the principles of combustion were deduced, and the rediscovery of old herbal medicines is now a common occurrence.

You do not always have to understand why something works – just that it does.

Enough zap

It is certain the Baghdad batteries could conduct an electric current because many replicas have been made, including by students of ancient history under the direction of Dr Marjorie Senechal, professor of the history of science and technology, Smith College, US.

“I don’t think anyone can say for sure what they were used for, but they may have been batteries because they do work,” she says. Replicas can produce voltages from 0.8 to nearly two volts.
Making an electric current requires two metals with different electro potentials and an ion carrying solution, known as an electrolyte, to ferry the electrons between them.
Connected in series, a set of batteries could theoretically produce a much higher voltage, though no wires have ever been found that would prove this had been the case.
“It’s a pity we have not found any wires,” says Dr Craddock. “It means our interpretation of them could be completely wrong.”
But he is sure the objects are batteries and that there could be more of them to discover. “Other examples may exist that lie in museums elsewhere unrecognised”.

He says this is especially possible if any items are missing, as the objects only look like batteries when all the pieces are in place.

Possible uses

Some have suggested the batteries may have been used medicinally.

The ancient Greeks wrote of the pain killing effect of electric fish when applied to the soles of the feet.
The Chinese had developed acupuncture by this time, and still use acupuncture combined with an electric current. This may explain the presence of needle-like objects found with some of the batteries.
But this tiny voltage would surely have been ineffective against real pain, considering the well-recorded use of other painkillers in the ancient world like cannabis, opium and wine.
Other scientists believe the batteries were used for electroplating – transferring a thin layer of metal on to another metal surface – a technique still used today and a common classroom experiment.
This idea is appealing because at its core lies the mother of many inventions: money.

In the making of jewellery, for example, a layer of gold or silver is often applied to enhance its beauty in a process called gilding.

Grape electrolyte

Two main techniques of gilding were used at the time and are still in use today: hammering the precious metal into thin strips using brute force, or mixing it with a mercury base which is then pasted over the article.

These techniques are effective, but wasteful compared with the addition of a small but consistent layer of metal by electro-deposition. The ability to mysteriously electroplate gold or silver on to such objects would not only save precious resources and money, but could also win you important friends at court.
Let’s hope the world manages to resolve its present problems so people can go and see them. Dr Paul Craddock
A palace, kingdom, or even the sultan’s daughter may have been the reward for such knowledge – and motivation to keep it secret.
Testing this idea in the late seventies, Dr Arne Eggebrecht, then director of Roemer and Pelizaeus Museum in Hildesheim, connected many replica Baghdad batteries together using grape juice as an electrolyte, and claimed to have deposited a thin layer of silver on to another surface, just one ten thousandth of a millimetre thick.
Other researchers though, have disputed these results and have been unable to replicate them.
“There does not exist any written documentation of the experiments which took place here in 1978,” says Dr Bettina Schmitz, currently a researcher based at the same Roemer and Pelizaeus Museum.

“The experiments weren’t even documented by photos, which really is a pity,” she says. “I have searched through the archives of this museum and I talked to everyone involved in 1978 with no results.”

Tingling idols

Although a larger voltage can be obtained by connecting more than one battery together, it is the ampage which is the real limiting factor, and many doubt whether a high enough power could ever have been obtained, even from tens of Baghdad batteries.

One serious flaw with the electroplating hypothesis is the lack of items from this place and time that have been treated in this way.
“The examples we see from this region and era are conventional gild plating and mercury gilding,” says Dr Craddock. “There’s never been any untouchable evidence to support the electroplating theory.”
He suggests a cluster of the batteries, connected in parallel, may have been hidden inside a metal statue or idol.
He thinks that anyone touching this statue may have received a tiny but noticeable electric shock, something akin to the static discharge that can infect offices, equipment and children’s parties.
“I have always suspected you would get tricks done in the temple,” says Dr Craddock. “The statue of a god could be wired up and then the priest would ask you questions.

“If you gave the wrong answer, you’d touch the statue and would get a minor shock along with perhaps a small mysterious blue flash of light. Get the answer right, and the trickster or priest could disconnect the batteries and no shock would arrive – the person would then be convinced of the power of the statue, priest and the religion.”

Magical rituals

It is said that to the uninitiated, science cannot be distinguished from magic. “In Egypt we know this sort of thing happened with Hero’s engine,” Dr Craddock says.

Hero’s engine was a primitive steam-driven machine, and like the battery of Baghdad, no one is quite sure what it was used for, but are convinced it could work.
If this idol could be found, it would be strong evidence to support the new theory. With the batteries inside, was this object once revered, like the Oracle of Delphi in Greece, and “charged” with godly powers?
Even if the current were insufficient to provide a genuine shock, it may have felt warm, a bizarre tingle to the touch of the unsuspecting finger.
At the very least, it could have just been the container of these articles, to keep their secret safe.
Perhaps it is too early to say the battery has been convincingly demonstrated to be part of a magical ritual. Further examination, including accurate dating, of the batteries’ components are needed to really answer this mystery.
No one knows if such an idol or statue that could have hidden the batteries really exists, but perhaps the opportunity to look is not too far away – if the items survive the looming war in the Middle East.

“These objects belong to the successors of the people who made them,” says Dr Craddock. “Let’s hope the world manages to resolve its present problems so people can go and see them.”

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'MOUNTAIN OF GOD'

Impressive Inselberg Formations

GORGEOUS BEAUTY OF GOD

BEST SNAP SHOTS

One Of The World’s Most Polluted Places Pictures

What Causes Water Pollution?

BAGDAD BATTERY