Kongo Rikishi come Ercole

"Kongōrikishi are an interesting case of the possible transmission of the image of the Greek hero Heracles to East Asia along the Silk Road. Heracles was used in Greco-Buddhist art to represent Vajrapani, the protector of the Buddha, and his representation was then used in China and Japan to depict the protector gods of Buddhist temples. This transmission is part of the wider Greco-Buddhist syncretic phenomenon, where Buddhism interacted with the Hellenistic culture of Central Asia from the 4th century BC to the 4th century AD.*"
According to Wiki http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shukongoshin

* "The origin of the image of Vajrapani should be explained. This deity is the protector and guide of the Buddha Sakyamuni. His image was modeled after that of Hercules. (...) The Gandharan Vajrapani was transformed in Central Asia and China and afterwards transmitted to Japan, where it exerted stylistic influences on the wrestler-like statues of the Guardian Deities (Nio)." (Katsumi Tanabe, "Alexander the Great, East-West cultural contacts from Greece to Japan", p23)

Hokusai manga - cat

Un gatto di Hokusai

Museo Arte Orientale, Torino

Kongo Rikishi

Kongo Rikishi stante su base rocciosa
legno di cipresso giapponese dipinto, altezza cm 230,5
Giappone, periodo Kamakura, seconda metà XIII secolo

Imponente statua realizzata con pezzi assemblati (yosegi-zukuri). Rappresenta uno dei due guardiani del tempio e della dottrina buddhista posti in coppia ai lati della porta dei monasteri. Ha la bocca chiusa e contratta per esprimere l’esplosivo hum, il terribile mantra delle divinità furiose.

Museo Arte Orientale, Torino

Raised fields and qochas

The "raised fields" are an ancient agricultural technique, based on the used of earthworks and a system of canals and ponds for water. This technique was used in South America, long before Columbus. Near the Titicaca Lake, it is possible to see using the Google Maps, a huge area marked by the remains of this agricultural system. In fact, some local farmers are still using old raised fields.

Are the following structures I found by means of Google Maps, modern or ancient?

Have they a symbolic meaning?

The "sun wheel"

Comparison 2011-2010

Another "sun wheel"

Two circular and radial structures.

The location of these images is the Chicchapampa, Lake Titicaca. 

To see other geoglyphs of Titicaca, use please the label "Geoglyphs".

Moray Inca ruin

Moray, after processing of a Google Maps image

Moray is an archaeological site in Peru approximately 50 km northwest of Cuzco. The site contains unusual Inca ruins, mostly consisting of several enormous terraced circular depressions, the largest of which is about 30 m deep. Wiki reports a very interesting information: the depth and orientation with respect to wind and sun of the depression creates a temperature difference of as much as 15 °C between the top and bottom. According to Wiki "this large temperature difference was possibly used by the Inca to study the effects of different climatic conditions on crops. In other words, Moray was perhaps an Inca agricultural experiment station. As with many other Inca sites, it also has a sophisticated irrigation system."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moray_(Inca_ruin)

Andenes as level curves

Andenes as level curves, near Ayacucho, Peru

After processing a Google Maps image.

"Andenes are terraces dug into the slopes of mountains for agricultural purposes. They were constructed and much used in the Andes mountain range to provide cultivable hillsides. The majority of these terraces were constructed and used by the pre-Hispanic cultures, and many can still be observed throughout the region."

More http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anden

Another wheel

A geoglyph near Chicchapampa, Lake Tititcaca, Peru, 

Sun wheel

A geoglyph at Chicchapampa,  Lake Titicaca 

Image adapted from Google Maps.

see also

http://stretchingtheboundaries.blogspot.com/2011/04/around-world-in-ancient-agriculture.html

Stellar vibrations

"Scientists have long known that the atmosphere of the Sun oscillates. In the same way seismologists use earthquakes to model the interior of the Earth, helioseismologists use vibrations observed on the Sun to probe deeper into our star. Oscillations of about 25 other stars have also been studied in the emerging field of asteroseismology. Now, thanks to the Kepler space telescope, a team led by Bill Chaplin, at the University of Birmingham, UK, has increased this figure significantly."

Kepler picks up stellar vibrations - physicsworld.com

Elusive WIMPS

On the XENON collaboration to find WIMPS

WIMP no-show casts a shadow over dark matter - physicsworld.com