So I just realised we don’t really have a thread for some of the cool stuff coming out in science (at least I couldn’t find something). Thought it’d be nice and positive to show the advancements occurring in the world.
The scrolls discovered in Herculaneum have now had their first passages decoded. The scrolls were found preserved in the ash, however they obviously can’t be opened for fear of destroying them. There’s currently $100,000 up for grabs for the first team that can non-destructively decode it. The first passages are from a philosopher that was widely dismissed in modern times as there haven’t been many of his works that survive.
The US is about to land its first moon mission in 50 years. The lander has been a joint effort between NASA and commercial companies for the first time ever. Currently a few miles above the moon’s surface.
They’ve decoded part of one of the Herculaneum scrolls to reveal the final resting place of Plato. They’ve known that he was buried in the Platonian Academy (destroyed by Sulla) but they didn’t know specifically where. On top of that, they’ve also uncovered his last day before death. Quite interesting insights into a whole load of ancient history there.
This one is an interesting one. The Roman dodecahedron, there’s been multiple found, but scientists/historians have no clue as to their actual usage. The largest one has just been put on display.
Interesting fact on that one, the technology to falsify the moon landing didn’t actually exist at the time that they were accused of falsifying it. TV hadn’t advanced to that stage yet
not really science, but history, but saves a new thread
They’ve been doing heaps of digging and renovation work around Rome and thanks to that, they’ve discovered a huge amount of various ancient sites. They now found old palaces, but the coolest was finding Caligula’s garden on the Tiber. They identified this through pipes with inscriptions on them.
