Weekly Round-up: Discoveries

Hello there.



Ancient casket 'that could contain Buddha's remains' discovered in China

Archaeologists have reportedly uncovered a 1,000-year-old box that could potentially hold the remains of the Buddha in China.

Remains of Prince Siddhartha Gautama, known as the Buddha or the “awakened one", who founded Buddhism and is believed to have lived around 566-486 BCE, may have been found in a temple in Nanjing.

A skull bone of the Buddha may have been discovered inside a model of a stupa – a Buddhist shrine containing relics that is used for meditation – hidden inside a stone casket in the crypt of a Buddhist temple.

According to inscriptions found on the box - made of sandalwood, silver and gold, - the skull bone found within the remains belonged to the Buddha.

The article says it is all speculation for now, but if indeed genuine, would be quite the discovery I think. This is almost like finding the Holy Grail. They also found more than 260 Buddha statues buried with the remains. Fascinating stuff.



280-Million-Year-Old Fossil Forest Discovered in … Antarctica

Last year, while fossil-hunting in Antarctica, Gulbranson and his team found the oldest polar forest on record from the southern polar region. They haven't dated that forest precisely yet, but it probably flourished about 280 million years ago before being rapidly buried in volcanic ash, which preserved it down to the cellular level, the researchers said.

The plants are so well-preserved in rock that some of the amino acid building blocks that made up the trees' proteins can still be extracted, said Gulbranson, who specializes in geochemistry techniques. Studying these chemical building blocks may help clarify how the trees handled the southern latitudes' weird sunlight conditions, as well as the factors that allowed those plants to thrive but drove Glossopteris to its death, he said.

Finding anything from 280 million years ago is pretty cool, but to find it in this condition is pretty amazing. I am no Geologist, but I'm pretty sure finding the oldest known polar forest is quite significant. Putting couple hundred million years into perspective is truly mind-boggling and makes me feel really insignificant.. and humbled.



'World's oldest wine' found in 8,000-year-old jars in Georgia

Scientists say 8,000-year-old pottery fragments have revealed the earliest evidence of grape wine-making.

The earthenware jars containing residual wine compounds were found in two sites south of the Georgian capital, Tbilisi, researchers said.

"We believe this is the oldest example of the domestication of a wild-growing Eurasian grapevine solely for the production of wine," said co-author Stephen Batiuk, a senior researcher at the University of Toronto.

"Wine is central to civilisation as we know it in the West. As a medicine, social lubricant, mind-altering substance and highly valued commodity, wine became the focus of religious cults, pharmacopoeias, cuisines, economies and society in the ancient Near East."

They say the older the wine, the better. Would you drink 8000 year old wine? I am a wine drinker myself, but admittedly I have absolutely no knowledge of its origins or history, so to find out it's been around for at least 8000 years? Mind-blown. I think I'll raise a glass of Merlot tonight in celebration of this new revelation.. or at least that's what I'll tell myself.



In Earth's Backyard: Newfound Alien Planet May Be Good Bet for Life

Astronomers have spotted a roughly Earth-mass world circling the small, dim star Ross 128, which lies just 11 light-years from the sun. The planet, known as Ross 128b, may have surface temperatures amenable to life as we know it, the researchers announced in a new study that will appear in the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics.

"This is the closest Earth-mass planet potentially in the habitable zone that orbits a quiet star," Bonfils told Space.com via email, referring to the range of orbital distances where liquid water could exist on a world's surface.

It seems like everyday we are finding new planets that could potential harbor some form of life, so pretty cool to find one in our own backyard. I think I'm going to start saving up a billion dollars so I can afford the trip there in the near future - because Earth sucks (Well at least the inhabitants of it), and at the rate we're going, will only continue to suck even more.

a reply to: knowledgehunter0986

They say the older the wine, the better

From what I understand each batch is different. They will have a curve so to speak where the taste will peek at a certain time and then it starts going bad. The way they figure it out is by trial and error and basically a community of wine drinkers talking to one another. They'll have a lot of each kind and try it at different time intervals to find the best time to drink it.

I just know this from listening to Maynard James Keenan of Tool talk about it. On top of being a bad ass musician, he also makes wine.

I just drink the cheap shat. The most expensive bottle I ever had was about 150 bucks and that was a gift. It was one of his wines my mother in law got me for Christmas. It was delicious. Had it for about 3 years before I drank it.

a reply to: FauxMulder

Well you definitely know more than I do, that's for sure. I only started drinking wine not too long ago, maybe 5-6 years? But I'm like you and only buy the cheap(est) stuff. I like to experiment with different types of wine every time I go to the store. I've found I'm more of a dry merlot guy.

I am actually drinking a glass as we speak

a reply to: knowledgehunter0986

I hated wine until my wife dragged me to a winery at the finger lakes in upstate New York. It was us and another couple. The guy giving us the tasting was giving everyone just a splash but he was filling my cup up 1/2 to 3/4 each time. We must have tried 20-30 wines. Needless to say I was hammered when we left. Ever since then I've loved red wine. Im not big on white, its too sweet for me.

The cool thing about wine is there is so many types and brands you could spend a lifetime drinking it and never have the same one twice. Just stay away from the box crap!

I thought this thread was going to be about weed killer or killer weed.

a reply to: knowledgehunter0986

Nice summary; I hadn't read about the wine or the forest before. Fascinating stuff. The planet, so much speculation, so not excited about that just yet. The bones, who knows?

a reply to: FauxMulder

Just curious, which winery? Upstate ny...my stomping grounds...

a reply to: theatreboy

It was Damiani wine cellars. We also went to an awesome distillery but I cannot remember the name of that one.