Moth eyes for solar cells

"Photovoltaics, which convert sunlight into electricity, have long been touted as one of the most promising solutions to our energy needs. Unfortunately, today's devices reflect a lot of solar energy as heat, which means that solar power is currently not as cheap as other forms of energy. Now, however, researchers in the Netherlands have developed an anti-reflective coating based on the nanostructure of a moth’s eyes, which could reduce the reflection from photovoltaic cells and thereby make them more efficient"

Moth eyes inspire more efficient solar cell - physicsworld.com

The trash vortex

"The trash vortex is an area the size of Texas in the North Pacific in which an estimated six kilos of plastic for every kilo of natural plankton, along with other slow degrading garbage, swirls slowly around like a clock, choked with dead fish, marine mammals, and birds who get snared. Some plastics in the gyre will not break down in the lifetimes of the grandchildren of the people who threw them away."
The trash vortex | Greenpeace International
"Il Pacific Trash Vortex, noto anche come Grande chiazza di immondizia del Pacifico (Great Pacific Garbage Patch), è un enorme accumulo di spazzatura galleggiante (composto soprattutto da plastica) situato nell'Oceano Pacifico, approssimativamente fra il 135º e il 155º meridiano Ovest e fra il 35º e il 42º parallelo Nord. La sua estensione non è nota con precisione: le stime vanno da 700.000 km² fino a più di 10 milioni di km² ... ovvero tra lo 0,41% e il 5,6% dell'Oceano Pacifico. ... L'accumulo si è formato a partire dagli anni cinquanta, a causa dell'azione della corrente oceanica chiamata Vortice subtropicale del Nord Pacifico (North Pacific Subtropical Gyre), dotata di un particolare movimento a spirale in senso orario, che permette ai rifiuti galleggianti di aggregarsi fra di loro.
http://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pacific_Trash_Vortex

Cotton on World Wide Words

Interessante la discussion sul "cotton on".

World Wide Words E-magazine: 16 Apr 2011

Il termine "cotonato" lo usamo per i capelli, mentre in Inglese si parla di "big hair"

Dharmacakra

"The Dharmacakra symbol is represented as a chariot wheel (Sanskrit cakram) with eight or more spokes. It is one of the oldest known Buddhist symbols found in Indian art, appearing with the first surviving post-Harappan Indian iconography in the time of the Buddhist king Aśoka. The Dharmacakra has been used by all Buddhist nations as a symbol ever since. In its simplest form, the Dharmacakra is recognized globally as a symbol for Buddhism." According Wiki http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dharmacakra

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

SNEWS

When a red giant star collaps on itself a burst of neutrinos is produced. This occurs before that light is emitted in the explosion, The SuperNova Early Warning System (SNEWS) is a network of neutrino detectors designed to give an early warning to astronomers of a supernova event in the Milky Way. The neutrino pulse from supernova 1987A was detected 3 hours before the photons.
The current members of SNEWS are Borexino, Super-Kamiokande, LVD, SNO and IceCube.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supernova_Early_Warning_System