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Replica of mythical ship sails again
A replica of Agro, the mythical ship that bore Jason and the Argonauts on their heroic quest for the Golden Fleece set sail again after six years of preparation.
Built with Bronze Age tools to the specifications of a 14 century BC vessel of the Mycenaean era, the 28.5 metre wooden ship sailed from the central Greek port of Volos. The 50-oar ship carried a crew from all 27 European Union member-states and would sail a total distance of 1, 200 nautical miles (2, 222 kilometers) from Volos to Venice, project member Vangelis Constantinou said.
The agro was originally scheduled to replicate the Argonauts’ legendary journey from the ancient port of Iolkos, near modern-day Volos, to the Black Sea kingdom of Colchis in today’s Georgia.
But organizers were unable to secure assurances for the ship’s safe passage through Turkey, Constantinou said.
Instead, the Argo will sail to the Adriatic and make port calls in Albania, Montenegro and Slovenia before reaching Venice on Aug 12.
“The ship can only sail a maximum distance of 20 nautical miles per day,” Constantinou said.
According to Greek legend, the expedition headed by Jason and featuring some fifty other heroes-- including Hercules and Peleus, father of Achilles-sailed to Colchis to retrieve the Golden Fleece, the skin of a divine ram.
Equipped with a ram of its own, the 14th century BC ship is of similar design to the vessels that later carried the Greek armies of the Trojan war described in Homer’s Iliad, the organizers have said.
Upon his return to Volos the Argo will become a permanent city exhibit.
The big chinese ‘fakeaway’
Many cities around the world have a Chinatown and now China has its own flavour of the world’s cities.
Tourist chief in Beijing have created a Disneyland-style attraction featuring replicas of the best known buildings on Earth.
Now, when the Olympics start in August, athletes and fans will be able to get a taste of home by exploring the World Park.
It boasts 100 attraction including London’s House of Parliament and Tower Bridge, the Eiffel Tower and Notre Dame cathedral from Paris, Sydney’s Opera House and Italy’s Leaning Tower of Pisa.
Stonehenge is represented, along with New York’s famous skyline, San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge, Egypt’s Sphinx and India’s Taj Mahal. But while some of the attractions look almost life size, such as the Eiffel Tower, others - the Houses of Parliament and Stonehenge, for example – are much smaller than the real thing.
The park, in Beijing’s Fengtai district, covers 115 acres and is divided into five areas – Asia, Africa, Europe, America and Latin America. Visitors can get around the attractions in an environmentally-friendly, battery-powered car or even by speedboat. A park worker said: “We have attractions from nearly 50 countries. Many of our visiting athletes and dignitaries will find something they recognize from their home country.
We hope it will make them feel at home – and it will give them a chance to find out a little bit about their rival countries too.”
The park, which opened in 1993, has been spring-cleaned and updated along with the rest of the city in time for the Games. Armies of cleaners, gardeners, and painters and decorators have been manning the streets for weeks in a huge operation to make the city shipshape for visitors.
One resident said: “Everywhere you go there are trees being planted, streets swept and railings painted. Beijing will be sparkling by the Games begin.
Scientists bringing dinosaurs back to life?
Deep inside the dusty university store room, three scientists struggle to lift a huge fossilized bone. It is from the leg of a dinosaur. For many years, this chunky specimen has languished cryptically on a shelf. Interesting but useless –-- a forgotten relic of a lost age.
Now with hammer and chisel poised, the academics from Montana State University in America gather round. They are about to shatter this rare vestige of the past.
Why would they do such a thing? The answer is that they believe that this single fragment of a beast which stalked the earth untold millions of years ago could hold the key which will unlock the secrets of the dinosaurs. Extraordinarily, they contend that it could lead to a real life Jurassic Park, where dinosaurs are once again unleashed on the world by scientists.
For just like in the hit Steven Spielberg movie, these men and women are intent on cracking the genetic code of the dinosaurs and opening the possibility of bringing them back to life.
Ice sculptures of London landmarks
show cool likeness
An artist is challenging global warming by exhibiting ice sculptures of London landmarks outdoors at the height of the British summer.
Percy Salazar has created ice sculptures of Big, The London Eye, The Post Office Tower, St Paul’s Cathedral and 30 St Mary Axe, better known as The Gherkin Building.
The ice cold models received a warm reception when they were put on show at the top of London’s Primrose Hill.
Ice sculptures are a celebrated tradition in the Chinese city of Harbin, where an International Ice and Snow Sculptures Festival has been held annually since 1963.
Now chimpanzees hit by Facebook bug
After humans, the bug of social networking online has hit chimpanzees, it appears.
Albert, a 20-year-old chimp, is the first of his kind to join the popular website ‘Facebook’
And his friends Jones, Sheena and Britney have followed the suit to provide a ‘wild’ company to the 40-million-old human users.
Scientists from the University of Northern Oregon have spent the last two years training Albert and his comrades, who all belong to ‘Pan troglodytes species’ to acquire language
Skills necessary for their online social networking.
With the help of specially designed software that recognizes sign language (ASL) and a chimp-proof adapted touch screen, the scientists recently announced that the four apes could communicate using over 1000 symbols, adapted to the most popular features of the online social network.
They can also chat online with their best friends from around the world, write text messages and even upload their favourite profile pictures.
‘Alberts gang’, as they are called, have become very popular among Facebook’s users.
Although sociologists and anthropologists have used social networks as empirical research tools, Facebook will now provide a new platform for biologists to observe the chimpanzees’ social skills, claims Chief Researcher Dr John F Marlowe.
