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8. February 2010

The Earliest Gunpowder Weapons in History

The earliest gunpowder weapons can be credited to China in the 10th century. Not guns, but fire arrows, gunpowder rockets, Greek Fire, bombs, mines and grenades had raised the bar on lethality on the battlefield. Let's take a journey back in time and raise our eyes to the skies, where the incendiary weapons of the Chinese ancients could be seen, blazing a trail in military history.

13. January 2010

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China’s Secret Fleet of Stealth Fighters

Long rumored, now almost entirely confirmed, China has stealth fighters and a stealth bomber in advanced stages of development. One stealth fighter prototype may have already had its maiden flight. This development makes PLAAF parity with the USAF a realistic goal, with profound implications for the balance of power between the two dominant nations on planet Earth. Read further to see the information leaked and made available to the West.

8. December 2009

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What Lies at the Center of the Milky Way?

NASA closes out the Year of Astronomy 2009 with stunning images of the galactic center. For the first time, we can 'see' who lives in the heart of the Milky Way, objects that emit almost no visible light by comparison to their powerful images in the infrared, gamma-ray and x-ray regions of the spectrum. Dazzling images of the center of our galaxy follow.

4. December 2009

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Gazing into the Center of the Milky Way

Not too many years ago, astronomers despaired over whether they would ever get a clear, sharp, informative picture of the galactic center. The giant clouds of dense gas that dominate the center of the Milky Way seemed to be an impenetrable barrier. Nonetheless, persistence paid off and a few years ago, three of the most extraordinary telescopes ever built began to acquire new data. Awe-inspiring pictures of the Universe accompany their story.

13. November 2009

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Is That a Smoke Pencil in Your Handbag, or… ?

Housewives the world over are going crazy for two new energy saving devices that look more like something teenagers might hide under their mattresses. The Smoke Pencil and the Chimney Balloon are two very useful tools to air-seal your home, but they look a little dubious at first. Intrigued? We were. Let's find out what the scoop is...

2. November 2009

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Gazing into the Limits of the Universe

Astronomers have seen farther back in time and identified the earliest and youngest galactic object that can be observed in our universe. It is a galactic cluster, 10.2 billion years distant. We observe these galaxies as they were when the universe was only a quarter of its present age. This awe-inspiring discovery lies at the limit of what we will ever be are able to 'see' in the universe. Incredible!

8. October 2009

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The Blueprint for Stonehenge

The ritual timber circle at Durington Walls known as the Southern Circle may be the model used by the priest-astronomer-architects who designed Stonehenge. Let's reconstruct this incredible archeological find. In so doing, we'll get a feel for what life was like in the only Neolithic village discovered in England - and possibly the largest of its time in all of northwest Europe. This settlement may even have been the resting and feasting place for the work crews who built Stonehenge.

1. October 2009

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What the Lascaux Cave Paintings Tell Us About How Our Ancestors Understood the Stars

The important discoveries of the astronomer-priests of Late Upper Paleolithic Europe included the first constellations, the ecliptic and the structure of the zodiac. Join us as we travel to Lascaux, a World Heritage Site and late Upper Paleolithic cave complex in southwestern France that belongs to the Magdalenian Culture. With Lascaux’s cave paintings having been made in c.15–18,000 BC, our journey there is a journey into the wonders of archeo-astronomy.

14. August 2009

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Rare Photo of 1840s American Steam Locomotive

Photographs of American steam locomotives taken before 1860 are rare. An early design for a passenger locomotive in the United States was the 4-2-0 wheel arrangement shown in this photograph and known as the 'Jervis'. This snapshot of the 1840s Jervis locomotive at a waterfront railroad station offers a fascinating glimpse of the past.

12. August 2009

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The British Man of War

An exceptionally scarce, detailed print of an 18th Century First Rate Ship of Line affords the opportunity to ruminate on these immense battleships of the past. Carrying over 90 cannons and roughly 800 men, such behemoths of the high seas stand for a time when the colonial tendrils of the British Empire gripped the world, largely through the military might of the British Navy.