19
POPSSwamp Gorillas Perform Hand Clapping Ritual more (at source): "The sound was always two rapidly consecutive beats and the sound does carry within the rainforest, much like a gorilla chest beat," added Kalan, a researcher in the Department of Anthropology and Geography at Oxford Brookes University.
16
POPSSacrificial virgins of the Mississippi
As archaeologist Timothy Pauketat's cautious but mesmerizing new book, "Cahokia: Ancient America's Great City on the Mississippi," makes clear, Cahokia -- the greatest Native American city north of Mexico -- definitely belongs to human history. (It is not "historical," in the strict sense, because the Cahokians left no written records.) At its peak in the 12th century, this settlement along the Mississippi River bottomland of western Illinois, a few miles east of modern-day St. Louis, was probably larger than London, and held economic, cultural and religious sway over a vast swath of the American heartland. Featuring a man-made central plaza covering 50 acres and the third-largest pyramid in the New World (the 100-foot-tall "Monks Mound"), Cahokia was home to at least 20,000 people. If that doesn't sound impressive from a 21st-century perspective, consider that the next city on United States territory to attain that size would be Philadelphia, some 600 years later.
14
POPSPrehistoric Map more (at source): Above recognisable depictions of reindeer, a stag and some ibex are what Utrilla's team believe is a representation of the landscape surrounding the cave. Several etched lines resemble the shapes of mountains that are visible from the cave. Long, meandering etches match the course of a river that runs at the foot of one of the mountains and splits into two tributaries. A series of strokes that cut across the river near the mountain could represent places where it was easily crossed, or even bridges, the researchers say.
12
POPSMicrosoft Millionaire: Why I Should Pay More Taxes He wants to rescind the tax breaks given to the wealthy to help the U.S.!? I’ll bet he’ll be banned from the country club and a place at the round table now. The Bush-era tax cuts gave $700 billion in breaks over eight years to those with annual incomes more than $200,000. The U. S. borrowed money to make these tax cuts possible, even as our schools, infrastructure, research institutions and social services were in need of new investments. “Taxes are the price we pay to live in a civilized and healthy society. Those of us who have disproportionately benefited from public investments have a responsibility to pay back our society so that others can have similar opportunities.” I like this guy. He says “it is just and fair that our generation make comparable investments in our future to ensure that America continues to offer our children and grandchildren the same kind of opportunities it offered me.”
10
POPSNew Craze Sweeps Nation: Killing Granny Most Americans hope to die at home; very few do. Our system only rewards continued treatment. If I have a terminal disease, why do I have to spend my last days vomiting from chemotherapy among strangers? Healthcare reformers propose giving us the option of paying for anti-pain (palliative) care at home, allowing us to die a more natural death, and the wingnuts come out of the woodwood insisting Obama wants to kill old people. Shame on those who would spread such manipulative slander!
4
Top Clips on August 7, 2009
Popular
Pops
Newest Clips
Latest Comments
Print
Save
Turn on live update