Domestic Cats Are About 9,000 Years Old

Photo courtesy 123rf.com

The modern domestic cat descended from Sardinian, Central Asian, European, and Sub-Saharan African wild cats, and the Chinese desert cat.  Archaeologists and historians estimate that cats became domesticated about 8,000 or 9,000 years ago.  For more information click here and click here.  What did you learn today?

New Seven Wonders

Photo of Iguazu Falls courtesy New7Wonders.com

The New Seven Wonders Corporation began tallying popular votes on July 7, 2007 (07-07-07) for a list of  New Seven Wonders of Nature and New Seven Wonders of the World, which will be finalized and released in early 2012.  The New Seven Wonders series are based on the ancient Seven Wonders of the World lists by the ancient historians and scholars Herodotus and Antipator of Sidon.

Where is the Driest Desert on Earth?

Photo courtesy of FreeImageFinder.com

The Atacama Desert is a 600-mile (1,000 km) strip of land on the South American Pacific Coast, running through Chile and Peru.  Outlying less-dry areas of the desert run through Bolivia and Argentina.  The Atacama Desert is the driest desert in the world with no rainfall having been recorded since rainfall records began being kept.  It is also the highest desert on earth, and one of the coldest deserts on earth.  Since certain bacteria and sea-life fossils have been found in gypsum boulders (similar to rocks on the planet Mars), it is believed that the Atacama Desert was once underwater.

For more information in addition to the above links, see the websites of the Gypsum Association and the ALMA telescope, which is the Atacama Large Millimeter Array telescope erected in the Atacama Desert by the National Radio Astronomy Observatory.

Fully Intact Viking Boat Burial Site Discovered in Scotland

"The UK mainland's first fully intact Viking boat burial site has been uncovered in the west Highlands, archaeologists have said.  The site, at Ardnamurchan, is thought to be more than 1,000 years old.   Artefacts buried alongside the Viking in his boat suggest he was a high-ranking warrior.  Archaeologist Dr Hannah Cobb said the 'artefacts and preservation make this one of the most important Norse graves ever excavated in Britain'."  Read more and see pictures at BBC News Highlands and Islands.