What's New
The Biggest of the Little Guys
Submitted:
September 2006
|
Pluto is Renamed a Dwarf Planet Scientists have known almost since it was discovered in 1930 that Pluto was different from the other 8 planets in our solar system. It's smaller than our own moon, and has a unique orbit unlike that of the 8 planets. But it was given the status of a planet by the scientific community and somehow worked its way into the affections of millions of humans who never set eyes on it. But in september 2006, the official number of planets in our solar system was reduced from 9 to8 and Pluto was given a new status - a Dwarf or Minor Planet. This may feel like a demotion to Pluto-lovers, but Pluto is expected to be the leader of quite a large crowd of other Dwarf Planets. We already know about Ceres and Xena, and there are probably dozens and possibly hundreds more. |
Learn more about
The Snake and the Cave
Submitted:
March 2007
|
70,000 Years Ago A recently discovered rock shaped into an enormous python's head in what is today the country of Botswana, Africa, is evidence of the oldest known human ritual archaeologists have found so far. It dates back 70,000 years. Snake worship is much older than anyone had thought. The python itself has a mouth and eyes, and scales that glinted in the firelight, making it appear to move. Behind it was a cave, where a shaman could speak without being seen, adding voice to the python's movement. In front of the python, archaeologists found thousands of human artifacts, apparently destroyed as offerings to the snake. This kind of ritual shows humans using abstract and highly organized thought as much as 30,000 years earlier than many scientists had expected.
|
Learn more about
Purchase The Big Bang to Now: A Time Line
 |
|
© Copyright T. H. Sissons "All of Time Online" 2004-2006 all rights reserved
Home| Time and Space Begin| Earth Before Life| Life Appears on Earth| Multi-cellular Life| Middle Life| Recent Life| Hominins| Homo Sapiens| Since the Last Freeze| Roots of the Modern World| Since the Renaissance| Modern Life| What's New|