Thee Stranger News (February 4th, 2021)

A Liberated Zone on the FM, to enhance alternative culture and cognitive freedom!
Broadcast Thursdays at 89.5 FM KZCT in Vallejo, California, to a worldwide audience. Tune-in online [http://tunein.com/popout/player/s130679].
Convened by Dr.G., a Renegade Illuminati, convening Thee Temple [link], for knowledge, whimsy, and inspiration. Everything is true, nothing is forbidden!
Introductory track: Covenant - Ritual Noise [youtube.com/watch?v=dnlGEQ1NUsk]

===*===*===



Futurism & Strange Science

* "Chinese researchers develop 3D-printed soft robot for pipe inspection" (2021-01-28, xinhuanet.com/english/2021-01/28/c_139704062.htm) [archive.is/yfKXP]

---

* "Genome-editing tool TALEN outperforms CRISPR-Cas9 in tightly packed DNA: study" (2021-01-27, xinhuanet.com/english/2021-01/28/c_139702423.htm) [archive.is/DkwJ1]

---

* "New Technology to Boost Strength of Metals for Mechanical Engineering" (2021-01-28, sputniknews.com/science/202101281081896989-new-technology-to-boost-strength-of-metals-for-mechanical-engineering/) [archive.is/kBhg6]

---

* "Never went to college but Kiambu duo have built a robotic coronavirus decontaminator" (2021-01-11, jamhuri-news.com/never-went-to-college-but-kiambu-duo-have-built-a-robotic-coronavirus-decontaminator/) [archive.is/Y5K32]

* "Blaze Be Your Own Boss to Host Second Digital Summit" (2021-01-28, newstrends.co.ke/blaze-be-your-own-boss-to-host-second-digital-summit/) [archive.is/xWNiU]

* (2017-07-20, kumatoo.com/david-gathu---moses-kiuna---duncan-ngugi.php) [archive.is/gEKY6], video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kiaky6KUV-Q)

===*===*===



Space News: NEO Watch
B612 Foundation [b612foundation.org] to protect Earth from asteroid impacts.

* "Big Ben-sized space rock among FIVE headed this way, as scientist proposes humans COLONIZE asteroid belt itself" (2021-01-26, rt.com/news/513624-big-ben-asteroid-threat-colonize-belt/) [archive.is/jabLg]

===*===*===



Ancient News

* "Chaco talk: Archaeologists find the chocolate connection" (2021-01-22, santafenewmexican.com/pasatiempo/chaco-talk-archaeologists-find-the-chocolate-connection/article_2bd4065e-55ae-11eb-8a8e-37cfaad86462.html) [archive.is/v6U35]

* "Uto-aztecan Indian Origins: Ute, Tubatulabal, Tongva, Tataviam, Shoshone, Serrano, Paiute, Luiseno, Kawaiisu, Comanche, Cahuilla, Others" (book, 2012, by Oreste Lombardi), author's abstract:

In my tribal calling as genealogist for the Paiute Indian Tribe of Utah I amassed Native American family histories covering Arizona, California, Idaho, Nevada, and Utah, totaling 50,000 names. From this, their stories, language, and what they had to say I elucidated migrations and origins. The information I had access to became the basis for this book. My findings differ from archaeological accounts because of differences in information sources. I do not assert that they are wrong or that i am right. I do not know enough to say that. Cahuilla, Chemehuevi, Kawaiisu, Luiseno, Mono Paiute, Northern Paiute Southern Paiute, Serrano, Shoshone, Tataviam (Fernandeno), Timbisha (Death Valley), Tongva (Gabrielino), Tubatulabals, and Aztecs of Aztlan included. Come see the workings of the Indian slave trade along with Indian escape stories. Indian origin stories presented. One strange escape story is about the Garfias (San Pasqual) Ranch in Pasadena, California. Another escape story tells of escape from Navajo servitude. A Tataviam (Fernandino) story teller from the first century B.C. tells an epic sea voyage from the seething cauldron of MesoAmerican violence to Santa Clarita, California by way of a white knuckle misadventure in Northern California. Then he takes you on a thrilling adventure of discovery in the magic desert of California where mountains move and rocks race on a race tract. All this preparatory to expanding the realm. Come see Death Valley generate the Shoshone and Comanche. Come see a great drought grip Southern California sending thousands on a 700 mile walk to Utah to establish the Utes. Revealed: Carefully laid plans to establish Los Angeles as a seaport for proposed Spanish colonies in Utah and how it opened the Great Basin to slaving. Come see how the Los Angeles Basin became the mother colony for many Indian tribes. Come see how a navigational error brought the Uto-Aztecans to Southern California instead of the Central Valley of Arizona. Come see who filled the vacancy left by the Anasazi collapse on the Colorado Plateau (not the Navajo). Come see why Native Americans did not have even one nasty germ to throw back at the Europeans waging biological warfare.

---

* "Scientists Unearth Human-Size Ancient Mayan Mask Then Rebury It - Photo" (2021-01-27, sputniknews.com/science/202101271081896612-scientists-unearth-human-size-ancient-mayan-mask-then-rebury-it---photo/) [archive.is/penGa]

---

* "Archaeological treasures from Jabal al-Arab adorn Damascus National Museum" (2021-01-23, sana.sy/en/?p=218857) [archive.is/AxzX0]

---

Ancient KMT (Egypt).

Schist lobed disc from the 1st dynasty, not for mechanical use. Note the carving style, very fine tools.

* "The Schist Disc: A Sceptic Speaks" (2013-07-06, strangehistory.net/2013/07/06/the-schist-disc-a-sceptic-speaks/) [archive.is/6I6AV]

* "Mechanical Engineering in Ancient Egypt, Part XIII: Stone Vessels (Predynastic to Old Kingdom Periods)" (2016-04-22, by Galal Ali Hassaan, Emeritus Professor, Department of Mechanical Design & Production, Faculty of Engineering, Cairo University, Giza, Egypt; International Journal of Recent Engineering Science (IJRES), ISSN: 2349-7157, volume 22; https://scholar.cu.edu.eg/?q=galal%2Ffiles%2Fme_part_xiii_ijres.pdf) [is.gd/oeCnj1] [begin excerpt]: 

ABSTRACT: The objective of this paper is to investigate the development of mechanical engineering in ancient Egypt through its stone vessels industry. This study covers the time period from the Predynastic Period to the Old Kingdom Period. The features and innovation of the available stone vessels in those periods are investigated. The material, dimensions, location and shape are stated wherever possible. [...]

Hassaan (2016) studied the techniques used by ancient Egyptians to cut stones for artifacts production including vessels. He presented the use of stone sawing, drilling and turning in the cutting process.

He also presented other tools used in stone cutting by the ancient Egyptians and led to very accurate cuts and dimensions (G. A. Hassaan, Mechanical engineering in ancient Egypt, Part XII: Stone cutting, International Journal of Advanced Research in Management, Archeticture, Technology and Engineering, vol.2, issue 4, 2016, Accepted for Publication).

[...]

One more wonderful model reflecting the high technology used in ancient Egypt to produce stone vessels is displayed in the Egyptian Museum of Cairo and shown in Fig.15 (The Global Education Project, Lathe turned stonehousewares, www.theglobaleducationproject.org/egypt/articles/hidfacts.php). They produced this amazing unit from schist which is a hard stone (Flexible Learning, Schist, http://flexiblelearning.auckland.ac.nz/rocks_minerals/rocks/schist.html).

It has wide mouth, concave body and small flat base. They could carve the body either manual of mechanically using lathe turning to get perfectly a homogeneous concave surface with thickness decreasing to a thickness of a piece of paper at the tip. 

Fig.15 Schist tall vase from I-II dynasties.

 [...]

A last model from the I-III dynasties is a miniature granite Kohl pot which is a collection of the Czech diplomat Stanislav Kovar and shown in Fig.17 (Live Auctioneers, An Egyptian early dynastic granitekohl vessel, www.liveauctioneers.com/item/42633426_egyptian-earlydynastic-granite-kohl-vessel). It has a 60 mm height, small mouth, semispherical body, round flanged rim, short neck and medium flat base. The question is that how can they control their available machines to produce such small objects using the hard granite ?.

Fig.17 Miniature granite kohl pot.

 [...]

A third strange and amazing tri-lobed disc manufactured from a very fragile and delicate schist stone located in the Egyptian Museum is shown in Fig.11.

This strange unit has a 610 mm diameter and 106mm height. It has three lobes bent vertically and had a curved triangular shape. It has a tube shaft in the center and a rind at the circumference.

If it is a metallic unit we would say how they could manufacture it 5000 years ago. But how they do this using a fragile and delicate stone ?. It is a mysterious work from the old Egyptians.

Egyptologists have paid good effort to know the application of this unit. Some of their opinions: It is a car steering wheel, it is a flamed oil lamp, it is for a religious purpose (The mysterious Egyptian tri-lobed disc, 58int.com/phile/page52.htm/). As a mechanical engineer,

I add to the suggestions of the Egyptologists that this unit may be a rotor for a certain type of centrifugal pumps. The tube in the center is to connect the driving shaft. Extensive analysis and/or experiments are required to prove this conclusion. 

Fig.11 Schist lobed disc from the 1st dynasty.

[...]

Another wonderful model from the 3rd dynasty is a metasiltstone bowl having 380 mm diameter and displayed in the Egyptian Museum and shown in Fig.20 (S. Politin, Slate dish 1 Metasiltstone ornamental bowl, wwww.pinterest.com/pin/364580532311784071/).The rim is corrugated forming five lobes and five spouts. The rim is round, the base is flat and marked internally by a neat engraved circle. This design is very difficult to produce using rock raw material, but they have done it.

Fig.20 Metasiltstone bowl from the 3rd dynasty.

 [...]

Another wonderful model from the 4th dynasty is a 200 mm diameter geneiss bowl of the design presented in Fig.20 of the 3rd dynasty displayed in Phoebe Apperson Hearst Museum of Anthropology, University of California at Berkeley and shown in Fig.23 (Almendron, Bowl with turned-in section of rim, www.almendron.com/artehistoria/arte/culturas/egyptian-art-inage-of-the-pyramids/catalogue-fourth-dynasty/8/). The technique of bending the rim to take the five lobe shapes producing 5 uniform spouts is mysterious. This nowadays can be done to this accuracy only by CNC machine (if available for stone manufacturing). But, the old Egyptians could produce the very accurate uniform and difficult surfaces shown in Fig.23 using a stone material!

Fig.23 Geneiss bowl from the 4th dynasty 

 [...]

Conclusion: [...]

In this period they had the mechanical technology to produce a schist vase of a parabolic body with a very small thickness at the mouth (paper thickness ) [end excerpt]

---

* "Rare 20 million-year-old fossilized tree found on island of Lesbos" (2021-01-27, newsus.cgtn.com/news/2021-01-27/Rare-20-million-year-old-fossilized-tree-found-on-island-of-Lesbos--XnM5bnxya4/index.html) [archive.is/ws3rm]

- photoset [archive.is/qOxvU] [archive.is/rRcwB] [archive.is/sTRxi] [archive.is/iawl0] [archive.is/HNQLm] [archive.is/livn5] [archive.is/30s4h] [archive.is/SesSi]

===*===*===



Miscellany & Errata

* "Airline pilots capture video of ‘extremely bright UFO’ during flight in Pakistan" (2021-01-27, rt.com/news/513822-pilots-ufo-pakistan-video/) [archive.is/KWBIL]

===*===*===



Curiata

* "Neil Gaiman: Why our future depends on libraries, reading and daydreaming; A lecture explaining why using our imaginations, and providing for others to use theirs, is an obligation for all citizens" (2013-10-15, theguardian.com/books/2013/oct/15/neil-gaiman-future-libraries-reading-daydreaming) [archive.is/jh2iG]

===*===*=== * ===*===*===  * ===*===*===
===*===*=== * ===*===*===  * ===*===*===
===*===*=== * ===*===*===  * ===*===*===