Salisbury Plain

by samsurikamal

Team Badger did it again. Barrow Clump is the only surviving mound of a group of 20 that got plowed into oblivion. The Bronze Age site, sitting on military grounds in Salisbury Plain, shares its surroundings with a bunch of active badgers. 

With a furry population 70 dens strong, it soon became apparent that the creatures were doing their own damaging version of an excavation, digging up artifacts and leaving them strewn about.A rehabilitation program for soldiers brought in a team of military men injured in Afghanistan to salvage what they could. What they discovered was not only a great find for history but also for themselves. 

The troops belonging to The Rifles found their own ancient version in the form of 27 warriors. The burials contained the remains of Anglo-Saxon males buried with personal items and weapons dating to the sixth century

Stonehenge

by samsurikamal

On occasion, a badger in a digging mood can be the animal equivalent of an amateur archaeologist hitting the big nugget. One badger clawed up (and possibly broke) a cremation urn near Stonehenge, and when the pottery shards were noticed, it triggered a full excavation.

The dig didn’t disappoint. The urn belonged to an early Bronze Age grave that also contained cremated human remains, a bronze saw, and a copper chisel with an ornate bone handle. Archery-related artifacts such as a wrist guard and shaft straighteners indicate the person could have been an archer or a tradesman who crafted archery equipment. 

The artifacts are all in quality condition despite the fact that they are around 4,000 years old.

Machu Picchu

by samsurikamal

An ever popular tourist destination, Machu Picchu and its trails are studied by thousands of eyes each year. Yet something still managed to elude visitors and researchers until recently. Fifteen minutes walking distance from the Inca citadel are new cave paintings.

They show the figures of a man and a camelid-type animal, most likely a llama. Above them sits a geometric glyph. Staff from Cuzco’s Cultural Department discovered the ancient art when they were on one of the roads that lead to Machu Picchu.In the same area, that of Pachamama, four graves were located in 1912 when Hiram Bingham, the man who found the Inca city, returned during a second expedition. 

His records never mentioned the black rock paintings, so it’s assumed that he never saw them. Researchers still need to agree about the age, but there’s an exciting possibility that the artist was pre-Inca

Taj Mahal

by samsurikamal

The gardens surrounding this Indian icon align with each summer and winter solstice. On the said summer’s day, usually June 21, dawn breaks over a pavilion to the northeast and the Sun sets behind another to the northwest. The two pavilions guard between them the Taj Mahal’s mausoleum and minarets.Around December 21, 

the winter solstice Sun repeats the journey from one pavilion to the next—only this time starting with one to the southeast and finishing the day behind another to the southwest.The solstice Sun could have been a tool architects used to assure accuracy during the monument’s construction. In fact, the mammoth Taj Mahal is perfectly positioned along a north-south line.Other solstice gardens exist, but not all have mastered solar orientations with such precision. The bigger the area, the harder it is to create a solstice complex. The vast grounds of the Taj Mahal have perfect Sun alignments

25 great white sharks spotted off Southern California coast

by samsurikamal

"You are paddleboarding next to approximately 15 great white sharks," is not something you want to hear when you're enjoying a day at the beach.

But that's exactly what beachgoers in California heard broadcast from a helicopter loudspeaker as they paddleboarded in the waters off Capistrano Beach in Orange County on Wednesday.

Lifeguards "are advising that you exit the water in a calm manner. The sharks are as close as the surfline," Orange County Sheriff Deputy Brian Stockbridge is heard saying on a video shot from a helicopter overlooking the beach.

The school of sharks was spotted by Orange County Sheriff's Duke 1 helicopter around 1:30 p.m. Jason Young, Orange County's lifeguards chief, said they received two reports of shark sightings in the Capistrano Beach area, the OC Register reported.

Later in the evening another group of great white sharks were spotted more than 50 miles north of Orange County, off the coast of Long Beach. The Long Beach Fire Department issued a shark advisory, for the area warning all beach patrons to enter the beach "at their own risk."

STONEFISH

by samsurikamal

These fish are dangerous not only because they are the most venomous fish on the planet, but also because they are incredibly fast and also very hard to see. They are camouflaged naturally to blend in with the ocean floor. While they are only aggressive toward their prey, it is easy to make the mistake of stepping on one. The venom from the spines can cost you a limb or even kill you.

HYENA

by samsurikamal
The hyena is generally a scavenger, but it can also hunt prey if it wants to. During times of high human death toll (war, for example), it can develop a taste for human flesh. If corpses are not plentiful enough, it has been known to take to hunting, and will deliberately pursue human quarry to satisfy its hunger