5,000 Years of Religion in 90 Seconds

This is worth the 90 seconds it takes to watch.

I originally came across this here.

Renaissance and Baroque Imagery

Nice Renaissance and Baroque Imagery focusing on St. Jerome from what I believe is a Portuguese website. The images are small but you can see many works and read their relevant captions.

Use this site to translate the site into English if you want to read the text.
Original untranslated version here.

Another nice site (in English) with mnay large images of paintings and sculpture here. There is a lot of stuff to look at so take some time and explore.

Historic Figure – Lucullus

Lucullus

From infoplease.com:
Lucullus (Lucius Licinius Lucullus Ponticus) (lOOkŭl’us), c.110 B.C.–56 B.C., Roman general. He served in the Social War under Sulla, who made him his favorite. He fought in the East (87 B.C.–85 B.C.), always loyal to Sulla, who made him curule aedile (79 B.C.) and praetor (78 B.C.). Lucullus was made consul (74 B.C.) and obtained for his proconsulship the province of Cilicia. With his colleague, Caius Aurelius Cotta, he went to the East to attack Mithradates VI, who was advancing steadily through Asia Minor. Mithradates defeated Cotta, but Lucullus camped behind the Pontic king, drew him out, and annihilated his army. Mithradates withdrew into Pontus but the following year (72 B.C.) was forced by Lucullus into Armenia, where he took refuge with King Tigranes. Lucullus then applied himself to the establishment of order in Asia, provoking great unpopularity in Rome by reforming the provincial finances. Pompey had always been Lucullus’ enemy, and now his party joined with the capitalists in urging the recall of Lucullus. They also sent out emissaries to stir up discontent in Lucullus’ army, which had never been devoted to him. In 69 B.C., Lucullus invaded Armenia and took the capital, Tigranocerta. This was the climax of his career, for mutiny then became an almost daily occurrence in his army. In 66 B.C. he was recalled, and Pompey replaced him. Lucullus retired to Rome. He kept out of state affairs and spent huge sums sponsoring public shows and improving his estates. The term Lucullan derives from his extravagant standard of living.

Also see the wikipedia article here.

Unique Body Weight Exercise Videos, for Free

A few free videos of unique body weight exercises and routines that you can add to your workout.

See the exercises here.

The 50 key dates of world history

From the timesonline.co.uk article:

The eminent historian Richard Overy, editor of The Times Complete History of the World, chooses the dates that he believes have most influenced humanity.

The historian’s choice

1 c.3500 BC Invention of the wheel and plough in Mesopotamia (present-day Iraq); invention of the sail in Egypt: three fundamental inventions for trade, agriculture and exploration.

2 c.3200 BC Invention of writing in Mesopotamia: the means to record and understand human history.

3 c.3000 BC Founding of the first cities in Sumeria (present-day Iraq): origin of modern social and administrative structures.

4 c.1600 BC Modern alphabet invented: the essential means of communication of complex concepts and culture.

5 c.1600 BC Beginning of Greek civilisation: essential to Western heritage and the root of mathematics, philosophy, political thinking and medicine.

6 753 BC Foundation of Rome: the Roman Empire is a pillar of the modern age, producing ideas on justice, law, engineering and warfare.

7 c.670 BC Invention of ironworking: metallurgy is the key to further technical, economic and military developments.

8 c.551 BC Birth of Confucius, the founder of one of the world’s major philosophical systems.

9 490 BC Battle of Marathon: the Greeks repel a Persian invasion, securing the survival of Greek culture and science.

10 486 BC Birth of Buddha, founder of one of the world’s major religions.

11 327 BC Empire of Alexander the Great reaches into India: the first example of a long-term and often violent interrelationship between Europe and Asia.

12 202 BC Hannibal is defeated by Rome: the victory is essential to secure the survival and expansion of Roman civilisation.

13 27 BC Founding of the Roman Empire: this is the start of the classic period of Roman domination in Europe and the Mediterranean.

14 c.5 BC Birth of Jesus Christ, founder of the many branches of Christianity. The exact date is disputed.

15 AD 105 First use of modern paper: this replaced stone, slate, papyrus and vellum as a cheap and convenient medium.

Read the article and the rest of the 50 here.

NASA Extends Operations for Its Long-Lived Mars Rovers

Mars

From the nasa.gov article:
WASHINGTON – NASA is extending, for a fifth time, the activities of the Mars Exploration Rovers, Spirit and Opportunity. The decision keeps the trailblazing mobile robotic pioneers active on opposite sides of Mars, possibly through 2009. This extended mission and the associated science are dependent upon the continued productivity and operability of the rovers.

Read the article here.

There is also a lot of other cool stuff here.

Western Paradigm 10/15/07

Western Paradigm, October 15, 2007

* Seeking Columbus’s Origins, With a Swab
* Chimps choose more rationally than humans
* Pluto Probe’s Jupiter Flyby Found Moon, Planetary Surprises
* The Portrait – George Washington: A National Treasure
* Skies to be swept for alien life

Skies to be swept for alien life

From the bbc.co.uk article:
Skies to be swept for alien life

The switch has been thrown on a telescope specifically designed to seek out alien life.

Funded by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, the finished array will have 350 six-metre antennas and will be one of the world’s largest.

The Allen Telescope Array (ATA) will be able to sweep more than one million star systems for radio signals generated by intelligent beings.

Its creators hope it will help spot definite signs of alien life by 2025.

Read the article here.
Additional info and pictures here.

The Portrait – George Washington: A National Treasure

George Washington by Gilbert Stuart, oil on canvas, 1796

There is more to this portait then meets the eye. Be sure to check out the interactive portrait here. Also see a chronology of washingtons life here.

Pluto Probe’s Jupiter Flyby Found Moon, Planetary Surprises

Jupiter

From the wired.com article:
NASA’s New Horizons probe, on its way to a rendezvous with Pluto, spent several months earlier this year observing Jupiter while using the big planet’s gravitational field to sling itself into the outer solar system.

Some of the stunning views snapped by the probe were released earlier in the year, along with descriptions of powerful volcanic activity on the moon Io, tiny moons in the planet’s rings, and new information on the Little Red Spot, three powerful storms that have merged over the past 10 years, that now cover a territory about 70 percent as broad as the diameter of the earth.

Now this week, scientists are presenting detailed reports on their findings at an American Astronomical Society meeting in Florida, along with a special section on their work to be published in the Oct. 12 issue of Science.

Read the article here.