17 February 2008

national geographic update

One of my favorite sites to check out is the National Geographic. They always have the most amazing pics. In fact, they have a ton of wallpaper downloads available for free. (I have a snowy owl as my background at work right now, courtesy of NG.)

So I wanted to share with you some interesting articles that I read today as I recouped from my weekend today.

Rare Egyptian "Warrior Tomb" Found

I love all things Egyptian. It is a dream of mine to visit Egypt. When I was in middle school, I was convinced that I had been Cleopatra in a past life or at least one of her ladies in waiting. The Egyptian exhibit at the Cleveland Art Museum is pretty great if you've never been.

Anyhow, a new tomb from the 11th dynasty was recently discovered of a warrior. Very important for multiple reasons as outlined in the article. He was a warrior at the time of my most favorite Egyptian ruler, Queen Hatshepsut.

No Pristine Oceans Left, New Map Shows

This story was interesting, but I was kind of dumbfounded. I mean it isn't like I am privy to info that the rest of the world isn't, but the guy that did the study seemed to be slightly surprised by his discovery. I was kind of like, "Dude, I could have totally told you that one!"



Gorillas Photographed Mating Face-to-Face, a First

Another thing that I love is the primate world. I think they are just the coolest. Seriously! The animal planet shows about the gorillas and the chimpanzees are my fav! So interesting and completely incredible how alike we are. Anyhow, this article discusses the first known photo of gorillas mating face to face like (some ;) ) humans. This pic here is of the two greeting with a hug, which is also uncommon. The lucky lady involved with this strapping silverback is named Leah. She seems to be special in other ways as well. She was recently photographed using a stick to test the depth of a lake before wading across. Pretty clever chick if you ask me!

New Hazard Maps Show Most At-Risk US Communities

This article was interesting. Maps were created showing the US cities most at risk for unpreparedness for natural disasters based on social factors. It also discusses the trends over the past 40 years and how things have shifted.

Time Capsule from 1791 Found in Mexican Cathedral

Seriously, how cool is that!? The time capsule was created to protect the cathedral and was inserted in a stone ball in the center of the cross atop the cathedral to commemorate the completion of the building. I bet no one involved with this capsule ever thought it would be discovered hundreds of years later!

Go check out these stories and more at National Geographic online! There are always pretty amazing images and stories. Enjoy! :)

3 comments:

triguyjt said...

fascinating stuff ms z.

went to turkey, greece etc couple years ago.. would also love to go to egypt. brides dads last stop with his corporate life was cairo...

Josh Middleton said...

Oh, I love National Geography, Discovery Channel and all those entertainment/learning resources. I wish I took more time to read up on them. Thanks for the updates! I particularly loved the article about the Egyptian Warrior - fascinating!

Josh

Patricio said...

OMG Tracie, I completely 100% agree with you, gorillas (and chimps and orangutans as well) gotta be the coolest and smartest animals ever.
I'm sure you've heard of Koko the gorilla, she learned to communicate in sign language!
Great post!
P