Men's Health: The Bodyweight 300 Challenge. http://google.com/newsstand/s/CBIw-LvM4x8

Huge stone circles in the Middle East have been imaged from above, revealing details of structures that have been shrouded in mystery for decades. Archaeologists in Jordan have taken high-resolution aerial images of 11 ancient "Big Circles," all but one of which are around 400 meters (1,312 feet) in diameter. Why they are so similar is unknown but the similarity seems "too close to be a coincidence" said researcher David Kennedy. The Big Circles (as archaeologists call them) were built with low stone walls that are no more than a few feet high. The circles originally contained no openings, and people would have had to hop over the walls in order to get inside. [See Aerial Images of the Mysterious Big Circles in the Mideast] Labyrinth Lies Within Mysterious Desert Drawing Their purpose is unknown, and archaeologists are unsure when these structures were built. Analysis of the photographs, as well as artifacts found on the ground, suggest the circles date back at least 2,000 years, but they may be much older. They could even have been constructed in prehistoric times, before writing was invented, scientists say. Though the Big Circles were first spotted by aircraft in the 1920s, little research has focused on these structures, and many scientists are not even aware of their existence, something these archaeologists hope the new aerial images will help to change. The "most important contribution is simply to collect and make known a large group of rather remarkable sites," writes Kennedy, a professor at the University of Western Australia, in an article published recently in the journal Zeitschrift für Orient Archäologie. Top 10 Animal Myths and Mysteries Explained In addition to the 11 photographed circles, researchers have identified another similar circle in Jordan, which appears to have been only partially completed, Kennedy noted. Old satellite imagery also reveals two circles, one in Jordan and another in Syria, which have both been destroyed. The circle in Syria was destroyed within the last decade and the one in Jordan a few decades ago. A separate research team, from Durham University, investigated the Syria circle before it was completely gone. While there are many smaller stone circles in the Middle East, what makes these 11 Big Circles stand out is their large size and ancient age, Kennedy said. Kennedy has been leading the Aerial Archaeology in Jordan Project (AAJ) since 1997 and also co-directs the Aerial Photographic Archive for Archaeology in the Middle East (APAAME). http://news.discovery.com/history/archaeology/ancient-stone-circles-in-mideast-baffle-archaeologists-141031.htm#mkcpgn=rssnws1

A fragment of Amelia Earhart's lost aircraft has been identified to a high degree of certainty for the first time ever since her plane vanished over the Pacific Ocean on July 2, 1937, in a record attempt to fly around the world at the equator. New research strongly suggests that a piece of aluminum aircraft debris recovered in 1991 from Nikumaroro, an uninhabited atoll in the southwestern Pacific republic of Kiribati, does belong to Earhart’s twin-engined Lockheed Electra. According to researchers at The International Group for Historic Aircraft Recovery (TIGHAR), which has long been investigating the last, fateful flight taken by Earhart 77 years ago, the aluminum sheet is a patch of metal installed on the Electra during the aviator’s eight-day stay in Miami, which was the fourth stop on her attempt to circumnavigate the globe. PHOTOS: Sonar Possibly Reveals Earhart's Plane The patch replaced a navigational window: A Miami Herald photo shows the Electra departing for San Juan, Puerto Rico on the morning of Tuesday, June 1, 1937 with a shiny patch of metal where the window had been. “The Miami Patch was an expedient field repair," Ric Gillespie, executive director of TIGHAR, told Discovery News. "Its complex fingerprint of dimensions, proportions, materials and rivet patterns was as unique to Earhart’s Electra as a fingerprint is to an individual." TIGHAR researchers went to Wichita Air Services in Newton, Kans., and compared the dimensions and features of the Artifact 2-2-V-1, as the metal sheet found on Nikumaroro was called, with the structural components of a Lockheed Electra being restored to airworthy condition. The rivet pattern and other features on the 19-inch-wide by 23-inch-long Nikumaroro artifact matched the patch and lined up with the structural components of the Lockheed Electra. TIGHAR detailed the finding in a report on its website. BLOG: Amelia Earhart's Disappearance: The Answer in Photos? “This is the first time an artifact found on Nikumaroro has been shown to have a direct link to Amelia Earhart,” Gillespie said. The breakthrough would prove that, contrary to what was generally believed, Earhart and her navigator, Fred Noonan, did not crash in the Pacific Ocean, running out of fuel somewhere near their target destination of Howland Island. Instead, they made a forced landing on Nikumaroro' smooth, flat coral reef. The two became castaways and eventually died on the atoll, which is some 350 miles southeast of Howland Island. http://news.discovery.com/history/us-history/aluminum-fragment-appears-to-belong-to-earharts-plane-141028.htm#mkcpgn=rssnws1

Hidden in ice for more than 100 years, the photography notebook of a British explorer on Captain Robert Falcon Scott's ill-fated expedition to Antarctica has been found. The book belonged to George Murray Levick, a surgeon, zoologist and photographer on Scott's 1910-1913 voyage. Levick might be best remembered for his observations of Cape Adare's Adélie penguins (and his scandalized descriptions of the birds' "depraved" sex lives). The newly discovered book also shows he kept fastidious notes, scrawled in pencil, about the photographs he took at Cape Adare. Levick's "Wellcome Photographic Exposure Record and Dairy 1910" had been left behind at Captain Scott's last expedition base at Cape Evans. Conservationists discovered the notebook outside the hut during last year's summer melt. [See Photos of the Lost Antarctic Notebook] PHOTOS: 100-Year-Old Negatives Recovered From Antarctica "It's an exciting find," Nigel Watson, executive director of the New Zealand-based Antarctic Heritage Trust, said in a statement. "The notebook is a missing part of the official expedition record. After spending seven years conserving Scott's last expedition building and collection, we are delighted to still be finding new artifacts." The book has notes detailing the date, subjects and exposure details from his photographs. In his notes, Levick refers to a self-portrait he took while shaving in a hut at Cape Adare and shots he took of his fellow crewmembers as they set up theodolites (instruments for surveying) and fish traps and sat in kayaks. PHOTOS: Forgotten Discoveries of Scott's Antarctica Levick was one of six men in Scott's Northern Party, who summered (1911-1912) at Cape Adare and survived the winter of 1912 in a snow cave when their ship was unable to reach them. Levick was not part of the team that accompanied Scott on his doomed quest to be the first to reach the South Pole. After an arduous two-and-a-half month trek, Scott and his crew did make it to the South Pole on Jan. 17, 1912. But they discovered that the Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen had beat them to it. Scott and his team died on the way back to their base, faced with a blizzard and dwindling supplies. One hundred years of damage from ice and water dissolved the notebook's binding. The pages were separated and digitized before the book was put back together again with new binding and sent back to Antarctica, where the Antarctic Heritage Trust maintains 11,000 artifacts at Cape Evans. Earlier this year, conservationists with the group developed century-old photo negatives left in Scott's base by members of Ernest Shackleton's last Antarctic Expedition. More From LiveScience: Race to the South Pole in Images Image Gallery: Sex Habits of PenguinsScott's Last Expedition: Images From His Doomed South Pole Trek Original article on Live Science. Copyright 2014 LiveScience, a TechMediaNetwork company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. http://news.discovery.com/history/century-old-notebook-from-antarctic-expedition-found-141024.htm#mkcpgn=rssnws1

Tutankhamun’s beautiful golden mask, the embodiment of a man secure in his power, has been flattering the pharaoh for many centuries, according to the most detailed image yet of the teenage king’s face and body. In the flesh, King Tut had a club foot, a pronounced overbite and girlish hips, says a “virtual autopsy” built using more than 2,000 computerized tomography (CT) scans of the pharaoh’s body. Built for the BBC documentary, “Tutankhamun: the Truth Uncovered,” the shocking 3-D computer model could shed new light on the death of the boy pharaoh at the age of 19. King Tut Felled by Malaria, Bone Disease Previous theories suggested King Tut may have died as a result of a chariot accident, but the virtual reconstruction showed a different scenario. “It was important to look at his ability to ride on a chariot and we concluded it would not be possible for him, especially with his partially clubbed foot, as he was unable to stand unaided,” Albert Zink, head of the Institute for Mummies and Icemen in Italy, told the U.K. daily The Independent. According to Ashraf Selim, an Egyptian radiologist, King Tut “also developed Kohler’s disease or death of the bones, during adolescence, which would have been incredibly painful.” King Tut Wore Orthopedic Sandals Indeed, about 130 walking sticks found in King Tut’s treasure-packed tomb would support the theory that the boy pharaoh had to rely on canes to get around. Zink believes the pharaoh’s early death was most likely caused from his weakened state — a result of genetic impairments inherited from his parents, who were siblings. Indeed, in 2010 an international genetic study produced a five-generation pedigree of Tutankhamun’s immediate lineage. In the study, the mummy known as KV55 — most likely the “heretic” Akhenaten — and KV35YL, also known as the Younger Lady, were identified as siblings, as well as King Tut’s parents. King Tut Death by Chariot? Not So Fast The study confirmed the frail king was afflicted by malaria and suffered a badly broken leg, above his knee, just before he died. “It is difficult to say whether malaria may have been a serious factor in the cause of death,” Zink said. The boy pharaoh has been puzzling scientists ever since his mummy and treasure-packed tomb were discovered on Nov. 22, 1922, in the Valley of the Kings by British archaeologist Howard Carter. Weird Facts About King Tut and His Mummy Only a few facts about his life are known. Tut.ankh.Amun, “the living image of Amun,” ascended the throne in 1332 B.C., at the age of 9, and reigned until his death at 19. As the last male in the family, his death ended the 18th dynasty — probably the greatest of the Egyptian royal families — and gave way to military rulers. http://news.discovery.com/history/archaeology/king-tut-re-creation-presents-a-shocking-image-141020.htm#mkcpgn=rssnws1

A 6,000-year-old temple holding human-like figurines and sacrificed animal remains has been discovered within a massive prehistoric settlement in Ukraine. Built before writing was invented, the temple is about 60 by 20 meters (197 by 66 feet) in size. It was a "two-story building made of wood and clay surrounded by a galleried courtyard," the upper floor divided into five rooms, write archaeologists Nataliya Burdo and Mykhailo Videiko in a copy of a presentation they gave recently at the European Association of Archaeologists' annual meeting in Istanbul, Turkey. Photos: The Hunt for Lost Cities Inside the temple, archaeologists found the remains of eight clay platforms, which may have been used as altars, the finds suggested. A platform on the upper floor contains "numerous burnt bones of lamb, associated with sacrifice," write Burdo and Videiko, of the Institute of Archaeology of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine. The floors and walls of all five rooms on the upper floor were "decorated by red paint, which created ceremonial atmosphere." [See Photos of the Prehistoric Temple & Animal Remains] The ground floor contains seven additional platforms and a courtyard riddled with animal bones and pottery fragments, the researchers found. Massive settlement The temple, which was first detected in 2009, is located in a prehistoric settlement near modern-day Nebelivka. Recent research using geophysical survey indicates the prehistoric settlement is 238 hectares (588 acres), almost twice the size of the modern-day National Mall in Washington, D.C. It contained more than 1,200 buildings and nearly 50 streets. Skulls From Sacrificial Rituals Found in Temple A number of other prehistoric sites, of similar size, have been found in Ukraine and other parts of Eastern Europe. These sites are sometimes referred to as belonging to the "Trypillian" culture, a modern-day name. The name is derived from the village of Trypillia in Ukraine, where artifacts of this ancient culture were first discovered. Archaeologists found that when this prehistoric settlement was abandoned, its structures, including the newly discovered temple, were burnt down, something that commonly occurred at other Trypillian culture sites. http://news.discovery.com/history/archaeology/6000-year-old-temple-with-possible-sacrificial-altars-found-141021.htm#mkcpgn=rssnws1

The Milky Way may be home to some 3,000 extraterrestrial civilizations

The Milky Way may be home to some 3,000 extraterrestrial civilizations but the vast distances between our galactic cousins will make contact extremely rare, a new study concludes. Data collected by NASA’s Kepler space telescope and other observatories scouting for planets beyond the solar system indicate Earth is one of some 40 billion potentially habitable worlds in the galaxy, with about one new life-friendly planet forming every year, astronomer Michael Garrett, head of the Dutch astronomy research foundation ASTRON, said at the International Astronomical Congress in Toronto. 13 Ways to Hunt Intelligent Aliens Sounds promising, until you consider the sheer size of the Milky Way, which spans more than 100,000 light-years in diameter. Light travels at about 186,000 miles per second, but a signal will still take more than 4 years to reach neighboring system Alpha Centauri and 100,000 years to travel from one end of the galaxy to the other. “On average, you’d expect the civilizations to be separated by at least 1,000 light-years in the Milky Way. That’s a large distance, and for communication purposes you need to allow for twice the travel distance, so you’re talking about civilizations that have to be around for at least a few thousand years in order to have the opportunity to talk to each other,” Garrett said. “We don’t really know the time scales in which civilizations persist,” he added. PHOTOS: How Aliens Can Find Us (and Vice Versa) The one example available -- Earth -- indicates that life essentially developed as soon as the conditions were right, but intelligent life arose comparatively late. “It’s really just essentially in the last few minutes of the overall evolution of life on the planet," Garrett said. "I don’t want to be too negative about this, but ... my basic conclusion is that SETI signals will be rare in the Milky Way." That doesn’t mean astronomers shouldn’t look, he added. Quite the contrary, given the huge technological leaps in radio astronomy and in data processing techniques compared to what was available for Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence, or SETI, programs 60 years ago. NEWS: Alien Life Discovery Could Happen Within 20 Years SETI also is benefitting from sister radio astronomy projects, such as the ongoing quest to find the source of mysterious transient radio bursts. “SETI is not easy, but it’s a pursuit that is well worth doing. The question is so important,” Garrett said. “Everyone is interested, not just scientists and space enthusiasts. People in the street are interested to know what else is out there.” http://news.discovery.com/space/alien-life-exoplanets/aliens-may-be-out-there-but-too-distant-for-contact-141002.htm#mkcpgn=rssnws1

http://news.discovery.com/space/epic-aurora-photos-from-the-international-space-station-140905.htm

What do you do when you're fishing and bring up a creature that looks like a Greek mythology nightmare or a giant clump of onion wrings writhing indepently of each other? This being the Internet age, you make a video. VIDEO: Real Life Sea Monsters That's what Ong Han Boon, fishing in Singapore off the island of Sentosa, did. (Not to fear, mystery-creature lovers; he released it back into the water.) The fisherman posted the footage on social media, hoping someone would know what he'd caught. Over time, its identity emerged. Sad to say, it was not a new species or something left here by aliens centuries ago. Instead, it turned out to be a basket star -- a group of brittle relatives of the starfish. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), basket stars are multi-armed invertebrates that can grow up to 3 feet long. Their favorite meal is a helping of zooplankton, and they know how to regenerate limbs that have broken off or been sacrificed in a fight with a predator. NOAA features another up close and personal of this twisty, gnarly creature here. Hat tip New York Post, NOAA, USA Today http://news.discovery.com/animals/mystery-mini-kraken-hauled-in-from-the-deep-141016.htm#mkcpgn=rssnws1

Scientific American Reader: Anchors Aweigh! How Does Pressure Propel Sailboats?

Scientific American Reader: Anchors Aweigh! How Does Pressure Propel Sailboats? http://google.com/newsstand/s/CBIwiq2huR8

NPR: Indonesian Cave Paintings As Old As Europe's Ancient Art. http://google.com/newsstand/s/CBIw7sbt1Ro

Shipwreck Probably Not Santa Maria.

Smithsonian.com: Shipwreck Probably Not Santa Maria. http://google.com/newsstand/s/CBIw4Lbx1Ro

The Greatest Space Hack Ever.

Popular Science: The Greatest Space Hack Ever. http://google.com/newsstand/s/CBIwiOGt3h8

6-most-creative-abuses-loopholes

http://www.cracked.com/article_18753_the-6-most-creative-abuses-loopholes.html

Ron Swanson quotes make for damn fine motivational posters (27 HQ Photos) : theCHIVE

Ron Swanson quotes make for damn fine motivational posters (27 HQ Photos) : theCHIVE

The Aral Sea Flotilla--The Warships of a Lost Sea.

Neatorama: The Aral Sea Flotilla--The Warships of a Lost Sea.