Archaeologists in Wales have made significant strides in understanding the transportation methods of smaller megaliths surrounding Stonehenge, revealing that Neolithic humans were responsible for their movement. At the same time, revolutionary studies spearheaded by neuroscientist Dr. Di Fu revealed key findings on the role of gaze direction in visual attention allocation. Tom White and his group at the University of Nevada, Reno, have done pioneering experiments in physics. Their work disproves long-held theories on thermal dynamics and creates new exciting questions surrounding the properties of gold at extreme temperatures.
Archaeological Insights into Stonehenge
Archaeologists in Wales just uncovered dozens of these amazing finds. Among their findings, they found that the smaller megaliths that many a Stonehenge scholar has overlooked in debate weren’t accidentally left to fate—they were purposely put there. Rather, it was Neolithic humans who ultimately carted these massive stones into position. Whether a product of aesthetics, mathematics, or engineering, this discovery opens our eyes to the complexity and sophistication of prehistoric societies and their capabilities to manipulate enormous structures.
At least for nearly a decade, some researchers floated alternative theories that would involve glaciers as a mechanism for moving these megaliths. This new evidence, along with other recent archaeological findings, points to the idea that early humans were purposefully moving heavy stones great distances. This shows a stunning understanding of logistics and engineering on their part.
This discovery deepens the awe-inspiring history behind the legend of Stonehenge. It encourages us to consider the cultural history behind these lesser megaliths. Human agency is a pivotal aspect of building monumental sites. As a scientific community, we need to acknowledge the positive impacts of ancient cultures on our cultural heritage.
Advancements in Understanding Gaze and Attention
Dr. Di Fu is an eminent neuroscientist, celebrated for his pioneering scholarship. First, he tracks how gaze direction affects the literal focus of people’s attention. His work shows that averted gazes from naturalistic faces are critical for guiding visual orienting. This simple realization has profound consequences for how we perceive and understand human social interaction and communication.
Dr. Fu’s research goes even further than just faces on real people to faces on objects that are perceived. Intriguingly, he found that averted gaze from real and imaginary faces triggered unique neurological pathways. This difference creates exciting new opportunities to examine the ways that humans navigate the greater environment around them and process social stimuli.
Dr. Fu’s findings could extend beyond emotion detection to have real-world applications in fields like psychology, education, and artificial intelligence. By understanding how gaze direction affects focus, developers can create more effective communication tools and interfaces that harness these cognitive mechanisms.
Breakthroughs in Physics and Extreme Conditions
In a stunning breakthrough for equipment physics, Tom White and his group at the University of Nevada, Reno, carried out such an experiment. What if you were trying to measure the temperature at the same time, in extreme conditions? To do this, they employed a number of lasers to superheat the gold, reaching a blistering temperature of 19,000 Kelvin. That’s about 3,000 degrees Fahrenheit and 14 times higher than the melting point of gold!
Scientists at SLAC’s Matter in Extreme Conditions (MEC) instrument used an innovative approach to perform this pioneering research. To do this, they used the Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS) to blast pulses of ultrabright X-rays through a rapidly superheated gold sample. We wanted to quantify the speed at which the atoms were vibrating throughout the sample. This gave us unique data on the material’s performance at temperatures not previously studied.
Of course, White’s team met an incredible amount of skepticism and pushback on their findings, especially in relation to the second law of thermodynamics. Yet, they certainly proved that their experiments were not breaking this key tenet. Rather, their findings upend established expectations about entropy and temperature limits in materials science.