On Archaeology, Wikipedia, and Knuts
I found anews item about an intruiging archaelogical find which hasn't made it into British news yet and probably won't anyway. The first link that follows is in German, just as warning.
The Rhenish Landesmuseum have serendipitously discovered a Roman glue whilst heating a cavalier's helmet to extract samples.
The unknown glue consists of bitumen, tallow, pitch and they have so far been unable to reproduce it because any of these can be added at various consistancies (solid to boiling point) and possibly there are other ingredients such as ceramic dust, soot, and quartz sand.
Interestingly, the long-forgotten glue still sticks after centuries and was used in the 12th century to patch the Shrine of the Three Kings at Cologne Cathedral. I find it fascinating how many thing mankind knew once which have been lost. Make one ponder...??*!"?
Finally some good news for Wikipedia again.The German boulevard magazine Stern have taken up the cudgels for Wikipedia. That in itself is not the good news. There have comparisons between the online English editions of Wikipedia and Britannica before (done by Nature, in which Britannia won by a smidgen) but this study compared the online Brockhaus with Wikipedia.
The Wissenschaftlicher Informationsdienst WIND (no hot air jokes there) compared 50 article on correctness, completeness, currentness, and comprehensibility covering topics from history, sociology, science, religion, geography, medicine, etc and came to the conclusion that Wikipedia fared better in 43 articles and in everything apart from comprehensibility.
I guess they never looked at the disputed topics page of Kopernikus...
I find it amusing that the polar bear KNUT in the Berlin Zoo should be able to grab the attention of the British media again. The Guardian article shall stand here exemplary for all media.
The merchandise mentioned in the article is funny though. Knut windshield scrapers? I wonder what they look like? I also find the commemorative coin interesting. Finally, millions of fans know what a real knut looks like altough you could buy fakes at Amazon.
The Onion of the Day: (Extract from OUR DUMB WORLD)
Egypt Free Admission On Sundays
Located in the Smithsonian, the Louvre, the National Gallery in London, and countless other museums throughout the Western world, the nation of Egypt lies behind thick glass displays in climate-controlled rooms.
Comic of the Day:
(Hint:"Click to enlarge")
The Rhenish Landesmuseum have serendipitously discovered a Roman glue whilst heating a cavalier's helmet to extract samples.
The unknown glue consists of bitumen, tallow, pitch and they have so far been unable to reproduce it because any of these can be added at various consistancies (solid to boiling point) and possibly there are other ingredients such as ceramic dust, soot, and quartz sand.
Interestingly, the long-forgotten glue still sticks after centuries and was used in the 12th century to patch the Shrine of the Three Kings at Cologne Cathedral. I find it fascinating how many thing mankind knew once which have been lost. Make one ponder...??*!"?
Finally some good news for Wikipedia again.The German boulevard magazine Stern have taken up the cudgels for Wikipedia. That in itself is not the good news. There have comparisons between the online English editions of Wikipedia and Britannica before (done by Nature, in which Britannia won by a smidgen) but this study compared the online Brockhaus with Wikipedia.
The Wissenschaftlicher Informationsdienst WIND (no hot air jokes there) compared 50 article on correctness, completeness, currentness, and comprehensibility covering topics from history, sociology, science, religion, geography, medicine, etc and came to the conclusion that Wikipedia fared better in 43 articles and in everything apart from comprehensibility.
I guess they never looked at the disputed topics page of Kopernikus...
I find it amusing that the polar bear KNUT in the Berlin Zoo should be able to grab the attention of the British media again. The Guardian article shall stand here exemplary for all media.
The merchandise mentioned in the article is funny though. Knut windshield scrapers? I wonder what they look like? I also find the commemorative coin interesting. Finally, millions of fans know what a real knut looks like altough you could buy fakes at Amazon.
The Onion of the Day: (Extract from OUR DUMB WORLD)
Egypt Free Admission On Sundays
Located in the Smithsonian, the Louvre, the National Gallery in London, and countless other museums throughout the Western world, the nation of Egypt lies behind thick glass displays in climate-controlled rooms.
Comic of the Day:
(Hint:"Click to enlarge")