Paving the way: Rome Colosseum renovation reveals structures hidden for centuries
Paving the way: Rome Colosseum renovation reveals structures hidden for centuries Source link
All posts tagged: centuries
Today’s obsession with authenticity isn’t new – being true to yourself has troubled philosophers for centuries
(The Conversation) — Today’s youth cherish “authenticity,” but is it a virtue? According to a report from Ernst & Young, more than 9 in 10 Gen Z respondents indicated that being authentic and true to yourself is extremely or very important. In fact, most of them claimed authenticity is more important than any other personal value. This finding is not all that surprising: All of us live in an age where we’re bombarded by social media and artificial intelligence – when striving to be your authentic self becomes an increasingly difficult task. Yet, even if it has somehow become a common goal, it is unclear how many of us can truly define the “authenticity” that we say we are pursuing. I think it’s also worth asking whether sincerity and authenticity are perennial human virtues or just obsessions of this technological age. As a scholar in the history of political thought and American political development, I think two philosophers can help us understand this problem and how to deal with it: Jean-Jacques Rousseau and Martin Heidegger. …
The apocrypha, Christianity’s ‘hidden’ texts, may not be in the Bible – but they have shaped tradition for centuries
(The Conversation) — Of Jesus’ 12 disciples, Saint Peter is one of the most important. In the Book of Matthew, Jesus declares that Peter is the “rock” on which “I will build my church,” and Catholic tradition considers him the first pope. Martyred in Rome in the first century, Peter asked to be crucified upside down so that he would not die in the same way as Christ. However, that famous story is not in the Bible. It appears in a text called “Acts of Peter,” an “apocryphal” writing. In ancient Greek, “apocrypha” means “hidden.” The word is used for texts that are not part of an approved set of religious books, especially Christian texts outside the official biblical canon. Yet these books are not so hidden. Some of them, like Acts of Peter, have shaped Christian tradition for centuries and are read by many people today. These stories are not only fun to read, but also provide valuable information about ideas that interested early Christians. In my research as a scholar of early Christianity, …
Chemists have chased the perfect red for centuries, but one might be closing in
TIMOTHY A. CLARY/AFP via Getty Images Mas Subramanian accompanies his wife, Rajeevi, to art museums all over the world. But, until fairly recently, he rarely lingered over the paintings. While she could spend hours with Monets and Picassos, he was content to pass the time with a book instead. “You go and see everything,” he would tell her. “I’ll sit around and read.” Both chemists by trade, the two nevertheless took different paths. Rajeevi Subramanian was an art lover and creator, producing exquisite sketches and watercolours. Mas Subramanian, meanwhile, built a steady career in materials science at the DuPont chemical company, amassing publications and patents. Paintings just weren’t his thing. That changed in 2008, when art and chemistry collided in his own laboratory. While producing new materials for computers, Subramanian chanced upon an exotic blue pigment – an accidental discovery that would alter the course of his entire career and quietly reshape how he saw paintings. Suddenly captivated by the hidden chemistry of colour, he began to appreciate a longstanding artistic frustration: throughout history, bright, …
Harry Brook completes one of England’s finest centuries after McCullum masterstroke
Good afternoon and welcome to live coverage of the 2026 T20 World Cup Super Eights Group Two match between England and Pakistan in Pallekele. Kandy must be among England’s favourite homes from home, not just for its beauty – they have won four games on the bounce there this year in bilaterals against the hosts and then again versus Sri Lanka in their first match at this stage on Sunday. At times during that victory, in comments sections, social media, on TMS and on the ICC’s world feed used by Sky, there was something more than disquiet about England’s performance with the bat. Rage at slipshod batting during the Ashes and a general impatience with Brendon McCullum has not been diluted by the switch in formats. If anything it seems to have redoubled. And yet England won comfortably, once again proving Sir Geoffrey Boycott’s old adage about it being foolish to judge a pitch until you have seen both sides batting on it to be as perceptive as ever. England have triumphed in a couple …
Did a tsunami hit the Bristol Channel four centuries ago? Revisiting the great flood of 1607
People living on the low-lying shores of the Bristol Channel and Severn estuary began their day like any other on January 30 1607. The weather was calm. The sky was bright. Then, suddenly, the sea rose without warning. Water came racing inland, tearing across fields and villages, sweeping away the homes, livestock and people in its path. By the end of the day, thousands of acres were underwater. As many as 2,000 people may have died. It was, quite possibly, the deadliest sudden natural disaster to hit Britain in 500 years. More than four centuries later, the flood of 1607 still raises a troubling question. What, exactly, caused it? Most early explanations blamed an exceptional storm. But when my colleague and I began examining the historical evidence more closely in 2002, we became less certain that this was the full picture. For one, eyewitness accounts tell a more unsettling story. The flood struck on January 30 1607 – or January 20 1606, according to the old Julian calendar, which was still in use at that …
Sri Lanka vs England: Harry Brook and Joe Root hit sparkling centuries as tourists seal ODI series win
His blistering innings was a good way to go about it. Brook launched nine sixes in a sublime display of timing and power, moving from reaching fifty to his 136 in just 26 balls, hitting 22 from the penultimate over and leading the way as England blasted 130 from the final 10 overs. Source link
Two centuries of US interference in Latin America
In the long history of direct and indirect US interventions in Latin America – historians have counted at least 70 – the current president Donald Trump has accomplished something unprecedented. For the first time, the United States launched a military attack against a South American state, Venezuela. In the past, invasions had targeted the US’s immediate neighborhood: Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean; the most recent of which was in Panama in 1989, marked by the abduction of the ruling general, Manuel Noriega. A few troops had also been sent in the 19th century to more distant countries, mainly to protect US citizens. This time, with the January 3 abduction of Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, “a threshold has been crossed, and the consequences are unpredictable,” said Jorge Heine, former Chilean minister and diplomat, in Responsible Statecraft, a publication of the Quincy Institute, a think tank based in Washington. According to him, the official justification for the operation – that Venezuela was exporting large quantities of fentanyl to the US – …
The Jackson synagogue fire began centuries ago
(RNS) — You probably know that song by Billy Joel: “We didn’t start the fire It was always burning since the world’s been turning We didn’t start the fire No, we didn’t light it But we tried to fight it … “ We Jews didn’t light it, but our history has been a long chronicle of trying to fight it. Last Shabbat morning (Jan. 10), an arsonist set fire to the historic Beth Israel Congregation in Jackson, Mississippi. By the time the flames were extinguished, much of the building was damaged. The fire tore through the synagogue library and administrative spaces, according to The Associated Press, burning two Torah scrolls as well as other sacred objects. A scroll rescued from the Holocaust remained unharmed. The synagogue — first built in 1867, and one of the oldest Jewish congregations in the state — will not be able to function as a house of worship for the foreseeable future. Those who know American Jewish history experienced a flashback. On Sept. 18, 1967, white supremacists bombed that same …
Greenland sharks survive for centuries with diseased hearts
Despite their longevity, Greenland sharks can have poor heart health Doug Perrine/naturepl.com Greenland sharks are thought to live between 250 and 500 years – but their hearts show signs of severe age-related disease even when the sharks are just 150 years old. Some parts of the shark’s body, such as the eyes, seem impervious to ageing and to cancer, which might have suggested the marine predator’s heart is also protected from age-related decline. But an analysis has revealed that Greenland sharks (Somniosus microcephalus) actually show signs of serious heart disease – and yet there is no apparent loss of function or reduction in the species’ lifespan. Alessandro Cellerino, at Scuola Normale Superiore in Pisa, Italy, a member of the team that conducted the research, says he found the results of the analysis of six Greenland sharks – four females and two males, all over 3 metres long – “truly astonishing”. Based on their length, the team estimates that all six specimens were between 100 and 150 years of age. The team ran a range of …