Showing posts with label Japan. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Japan. Show all posts

Wednesday, August 17, 2011

Underwater pyramids in Japan

Underwater pyramids in Japan
A structure thought to be the world's oldest building, nearly twice the age of the great pyramids of Egypt, has been discovered. The rectangular stone ziggurat under the sea off the coast of Japan could be the first evidence of a previously unknown Stone Age civilization, say archeologists.
The monument is 600ft wide and 90ft high and has been dated to at least 8000BC. The oldest pyramid in Egypt, the Step Pyramid at Saqqara, was constructed more than 5,000 years later..

Yonaguni Island is located in western Japan. Yonaguni became famous in the mid 80-x, when divers discovered the mysterious underwater rock terraces and pyramids with sharp corners. Until now, there is debate, but nobody knows what secrets are fraught with the island. Scientists are inclined to believe that these pyramids were created artificially many years ago an unknown civilization that vanished from the face of the earth.
Mysterious Underwater Pyramids of Yonaguni Island off the coast of Japan is still controversial - a natural phenomenon that, or the creation of man? If the monument of Yonaguni is created by man - it will radically change the history of mankind. The history of these underwater pyramids begins in 1986 when divers found an unusual rock formation at a depth of 25 meters under water. It was a rock in the form of stepped terraces, flat, pyramids and platforms. One of the highest pyramid was 600 feet wide and 90 feet in height.
On stone blocks were traces of handling and cutting, which confirms the theory of scientists that the Yonaguni Monument is not a natural formation, was created artificially.Masaki Kimura - marine geologist at the University of exploring the underwater pyramids in Japan for over 15 years. The scientist believes that this place more than five thousand years, but it was flooded 2000 years ago during an earthquake.
  Other scientists believe that this structure is much older, including Teruaki Ishii, a professor of geology at the University of Tokyo. He determined that dive under the water terraces occurred at the end of the last ice age - about 10 thousand years ago. In this case, the age pyramid of Yonaguni twice as much as the Egyptian pyramids. Interestingly, the number of artifacts found was about the same on land and under water. Not far from the pyramids was discovered carved stone human head, on which was engraved set of unknown characters. It is hard to imagine that this is a natural formation.
 Japan Times edition has added intrigue by printing the legend of the island of Yonaguni:
 "There is a land of gods, called the Ner-Kahn, the ancient gods live there - it's an unknown faraway place is a source of happiness to the world"


The opposite view is taken by Robert Shoch - Professor of Mathematics at Boston University. He believed that the Yonaguni pyramid formed naturally - so tried to nature.According to him - it is a natural tectonic activity, as exemplified by the picture below, where a similar formation on land, created by nature. It is also possible that the monument was formed naturally, but then was processed by people. Shoch such thinking before they met with Kimura. Kimura arguments more familiar with the peculiarities of the monument, have strongly influenced the opinion Shocha. Especially because the arguments were supported by photographs of details that Shoch at their dives just not seen as sinking a few times.

For all the similarities of rocks Yonaguni, between them have very strong differences. In a limited area of ​​the Monument right next to each other are the elements of a completely different type. For example, a face with sharp-edged, round holes, stepped descent, perfectly straight narrow trench. If the reason was only natural erosion, it was logical to expect similar forms throughout the piece of rock. The fact is that side by side are very different elements, is a strong argument in favor of their artificial origin. Here is an example of one of such entities under the Product Name turtle.



The next argument: blocks, separated from the rock, does not lie there where they should fall under the influence of gravity. Instead, they are either collected in one place, or non-existent. If the object has been created by erosion, then at the bottom next to him would be a lot of debris, as the modern coast. And here it is not.
 Moreover, very close, literally a few dozen meters on the same rock of the same breed - totally different landscape. The fact that it was created by nature, bessomnenno. But even with the naked eye can see its sharp contrast to the treated part of the cliff
The meeting of two professional geologists had to Yonaguni Monument literally epoch-making significance. If you have previously held Shoch version of the Nature object, Kimura insisted on completely artificial its origin. As a result, taking into account all available evidence, both expert agreed on a kind of "compromise," rejecting two of the extreme points of view. They concluded that the monument belongs to the so-called "terra-forming", that is - the original natural "blank" was later changed and refined by man.These formations are not uncommon, they were very common in the ancient world ... 


"After meeting with Professor Kimura - later wrote Shoch - I can not completely exclude the possibility that the Yonaguni Monument, at least partially processed and altered by human hands. Professor Kimura pointed out a number of important elements that I have not seen during my first brief visit to .... "

However, Yonaguni monument was not recognized by the Japanese government the object of cultural heritage, which must be defended and protected, although the existence of stone processing fishery on the island proved. confirmation of this are the ancient catacombs of indeterminate age



Friday, March 11, 2011

Zombie ants fall victim to mind-control fungus

Zombie ants may sound like the title of an Ed Wood movie, but, according to National Geographic, they are quite real.
Oddly, there's nothing very zombie-like about the actual ants. It's only when a particular fungus takes over the ant's brain that things get weird.
Once the "stalk of the newfound fungus species Ophiocordyceps camponoti-balzani infects an ant, the ant gives up control over its own body. After the fungus is in control, it forces the ant to scamper toward "a location ideal for the fungi to grow and spread their spores." Then, it's lights out for the ant. Who knew a fungus could be so diabolical.


Lodged in a zombie ant's brain, the fungi species 'direct' the dying ants to anchor themselves to leaves or other stable places, as pictured above—providing a stable 'nursery' for the fungus. For instance, as the Ophiocordyceps camponoti-balzani fungus is about to kill the ant, the insect bites down hard into whatever substance it's standing on. This attachment is so strong that a dead zombie ant can remain stationary even when hanging upside down, the scientists say.

White fungus stalk begins to poke
A white fungus stalk (left) of the Ophiocordyceps camponoti-rufipedis species begins to poke through the head of a zombie ant two days after death. Also noticeable are faint, white, slightly fuzzy fungal growths on the ant's joints. Once the insect dies, the fungus rapidly spreads through the body. During the first couple days, though, very little evidence of the fungus is visible from the outside.


Later stages of Ophiocordyceps camponoti-rufipedis ...

During later stages of Ophiocordyceps camponoti-rufipedis infection, the fungus rapidly consumes the nutrients inside a zombie ant and begins to colonize the outside of the ant's body, as pictured. The fungus stalk growing from the back of the head (upper right) also becomes longer and more noticeable.
Mature fungus stalk, shown, differs

Final stalk: The mature fungus stalk, shown growing from a zombie ant's head during the final stage of infection, differs among fungi species.

These wild discoveries were made by a group in Brazil headed by entomologist David Hughes. National Geographic published a series of pictures of ants that have "lost their minds" to the fungus. You can check out a sample of them below. Not for the squeamish.

Sunday, January 9, 2011

Japanese Nail Art

 From the land of the rising sun, exquisite, unique and quirky pieces of art can travel with ladies wherever they go—in the form of nail art, where great detail, colour and imagination goes into every nail. The Japanese are known for their creativity and precision, so that is exactly what goes into the following nail trends for 2010.