07-02-2016, 06:35 AM
A thread titled "A glimpse into the past" might be a good place to post the discovery of a 6000 year old telescope-like structure in Portugal. Older than Stonehenge, older than the pyramids:
Astronomers are exploring ancient tombs in Portugal that they believe may have been used by prehistoric humans to enhance specific views of the night skies... “These structures could therefore have been the first astronomical tools to support the watching of the skies, millennia before telescopes were invented,” the Royal Astronomical Society wrote in an statement announcing the research on Wednesday.
Near the end of the article the author makes an observation about our perspective toward viewing the heavens today:
Telescopes have now become sacred structures in their own right. Today they’re built like temples—solitary monuments on towering mountaintops.
http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/ar...pe/489362/
“There are worse crimes than burning books. One of them is not reading them.”
-Joseph Brodsky
Astronomers are exploring ancient tombs in Portugal that they believe may have been used by prehistoric humans to enhance specific views of the night skies... “These structures could therefore have been the first astronomical tools to support the watching of the skies, millennia before telescopes were invented,” the Royal Astronomical Society wrote in an statement announcing the research on Wednesday.
Near the end of the article the author makes an observation about our perspective toward viewing the heavens today:
Telescopes have now become sacred structures in their own right. Today they’re built like temples—solitary monuments on towering mountaintops.
http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/ar...pe/489362/
“There are worse crimes than burning books. One of them is not reading them.”
-Joseph Brodsky
"I'm at that stage in life where I stay out of discussions. Even if you say 1+1=5, you're right - have fun." - Keanu Reeves