Cosmic Absurdities
The BBC today reported that archaeologists in China have found
the worlds oldest observatory. The semicircular platform (130
feet in diameter) surrounded by 13 pillars was unearthed near
the city of Linfen in the Shanxi province. The remains are
thought to be 4,100 years old. He Nu, a researcher at the
Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told the Xinhua news agency:
"The ancient people observed the direction of sunrise through
the gaps, and distinguished the different seasons of the year."
This theory was tested by archaeologists that spent 18 months
testing possible uses of the site. They found that the seasons
calculated were accurate within one or two days of the Chinese
calendar that is still in use today. Personally, I find it
somewhat humbling that these ancient Chinese dudes managed to
unlock the secrets of the seasons over 4,000 years ago. But it
leaves me wondering how these ancient thinkers would have
reacted to today's astronomical discoveries.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/4396012.stm
Today, Nature the scientific journal published an article in
which NASA scientists announced that they have detected left
over radiation from the first stars that formed in the universe.
These gigantic thermonuclear furnaces were formed less than 200
million years after the big bang. It baffles me how these
astro-boffins have discovered so much about the origins of the
universe through the use of telescopes. It leaves me feeling a
little sad, yet hopeful that one day I'll find out what's
supposed to have happened before the big bang.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/4400672.stm
Well that's it now! My humble troglodyte grey matter is feeling
the strain caused by pondering these cosmic matters, and I find
myself asking the classic questions that have plagued mankind
"How?" "Why?" and of course "How did they think of that?"
I haven't felt this bewildered since watching a documentary
about super string theory.
DWB