5/25/03

Newtcam is active, at the moment.



Astronomers have discovered a new red dwarf a little less than 8 light-years from Earth . . . making it the third-closest star to our own.

Why didn't we know about a star that close before now? Read the Space.com story.

Had lunch With Danny today, we rode up and down the strip, as I'm not really into a big walk quite yet... I need to remember to take my camera with me. We had a nice long talk about how we were raised, and what biases grew out of where we were and what we did. I'm planning on getting together with him again next weekend, to celebrate his Teacher of the year award (for all of Broward County! )

http://www.ekathimerini.com/4dcgi/_w_articles_politics_100008_24/05/2003_29992

KARDJALI, Bulgaria (AFP) - Bulgarian archeologists believe they may have found one of the most famous oracles of antiquity, a Thracian temple of Dionysus, in the mountains of southern Bulgaria.

“Since we began our research in 2000, archaeological evidence that we may have found Dionysus’ sanctuary has mounted,” said Nikolaï Ovtcharov, the head of the archeology team.

“But this hypothesis will only be proved if we find a document that supports it,” added the archaeologist, who has been combing through the site of the ancient village of Perperikon in the Rhodope mountain chain. The name Perperikon was taken from the Greek word for incendiary, which archaeologists see as a pointer to the sanctuary of Dionysus, the son of Zeus, and the legendary rituals of wine and fire that were performed there.

In ancient Greek history this sanctuary is as important as that of Apollo at Delphi, Ovtcharov stressed. It is where Alexander the Great heard before he embarked on his conquest of Asia that he would become master of the world.

Inside a building interpreted as a palace, archaeologists have found an oval hall that had no roof but a round altar carved out of the rock. This matches a description of the oracle by the Roman historian Suetonius.

Cool, eh?