Video: Scientists Make Easter Island Statue Walk

by Kraig Becker on

Easter Island is a remote and mysterious place best known for the iconic and other worldly stone faces that dot its landscape. More than 880 of those statues, known as moai, are spread out across the island, some of which weigh in excess of 80 tons and stand more than 10 meters in height. One of the enduring mysteries of the moai is just how they were carved and then moved miles away from the stone quarry. Now two archaeologists believe that they have come up with the answer, which you can see demonstrated in the video below.

Terry Hunt and Carl Lipo believe that the inhabitants of Easter Island used ropes to rock the statues back and forth. This built forward momentum could then be used to “walk” the stone figures to their permanent sites. The duo put their theory to the test with a moai replica last year and was able to maneuver the large statue with as few as 18 people. As you can see from the video, which comes to us from National Geographic, this seems to be an efficient and quick way to move heavy objects.

So what do you think? Is this how the moai were moved about the island? Have Hunt and Lipo solved one of the great archaeological mysteries of all time?


Lonesome George, The World’s Last Remaining Pinta Island Tortoise, Has Died

by Jessica Festa on

The world’s only Pinta Island Tortoise died on Sunday, leaving the planet one species poorer. Lonesome George, the iconic tortoise of the Galapagos Islands, was believed to be over 100 years old.

When Lonesome George was discovered on Pinta Island in 1972, Galapagos National Park officials had already believed the specifies to be extinct. The tortoise was then taken to Puerto Ayora on Santa Cruz Island to be cared for under the park service’s tortoise program.

On a happier note, it looks like Lonesome George didn’t have to be all that lonesome during his passing. Two females from the Espanola tortoise population, the species most genetically similar to Pinta tortoises, stayed by George until his last breath.

Staff members of the Galapagos National Park Service are still unsure as to what the cause of death was. To honor the beloved animal, however, the park is holding an international workshop in July on effective strategies for restoring tortoise populations over the next 10 years.

[photo via putneymark]

Swedish Woman Forced To Sit Near Dead Man On Plane

by Jessica Festa on

And you thought having to sit next to the screaming child was bad. On a Kenya Airways flight from Amsterdam to Tanzania, a Swedish woman named Lena Pettersson was forced to sit near a corpse.

When she sat in her seat, Pettersson noticed a man on the other side of the aisle having seizures and sweating. Moments after the flight took off, he was dead. The cabin crew laid the body over three seats and covered the deceased with a blanket, although his legs were left sticking out. The woman was then forced to sit next to the corpse for the remainder of the flight.

Ms. Pettersson commented, “Of course it was unpleasant, but I am not a person who makes a fuss.”

After issuing a complaint, the airline refunded her half the price of her ticket, $500.

Do you think this is fair compensation?

[photo via Rebecca-Lee]

Turn Travel Sounds Into Jewelry: Sound Wave Necklaces

by Elizabeth Seward on


Rusty Blazenhoff recently wrote about sound wave necklaces on Laughing Squid. Created by Berlin-based designer David Bizer, these necklaces are custom made and based off of the sizes of sound waves in a recording. Bizer offers these necklaces in acrylic, wood and silver and they can be strung on leather, PVC or elastic. But Bizer also has a detailed tutorial available on Instructables for those who want to make these necklaces on their own. So how does this tie into travel?As a musician, I think a lot about what I’m hearing when I travel anywhere. As I write this, I’m in my van in a parking lot where I spent the night outside of DC. The sound of the birds in the park beside this parking lot this morning was like a choir. Had I been interested in capturing that travel moment, I could have pressed record on GarageBand (or any other recording software). Were I inclined to translate the sounds of those birds this morning into a fashionable necklace with a personal memory behind it, I could have followed Bizer’s tutorial and done just that. Moving forward, I’ll be listening even more attentively to that which is around me while traveling. Whether it’s an interesting person I have just met, a street performer, water falling, birds singing, city construction or traffic or any other sound that captures the essence of a moment in travel, I now know I can record these moments and recreate them with jewelry. That’s pretty cool.

What South America Has To Do With Microbes and Marijuana

by Kyle Ellison on

It’s no secret that many of us here at Gadling love South America. I mean, with the hallucinogenic netherworld of the Salar de Uyuni, the stunning scenery of Patagonia and the culture and history of Peru, what’s not to like?

Now, some recent news out of South America is adding to its mystery and intrigue.

First off, according to the Santiago Times a team of American researchers has found living microbes in the Atacama Desert, which may provide clues into the possibility of life on Mars.

Whoa.

Already one of the world’s most inhospitable climates, you’ll never guess where the researchers happened to stumble across these previously undiscovered microbes – at the top of two volcanoes.

Not just any volcanoes, but volcanoes that top out at over 20,000 feet. If there has ever been an entry for the adventure travel category then I think that hunting for undiscovered microbes 20,000 feet up on a remote Chilean volcano fits the bill quite nicely.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the continent in Uruguay, The Financial Times reports that the leftist-leaning government has put forward plans to legalize marijuana. Regardless of personal beliefs or opinions on the matter, there is an economic twist, which makes the story that much more scintillating and controversial.

Not only does Uruguay plan to legalize marijuana, but the cannabis will actually be controlled as a state-run commodity in the same boat with oil, gas, telecom and electricity. The reasoning for the move stems from the desire to decrease the peripheral violence and detriments regarding the drug’s illegal nature, with problems such as dealers slinging harder drugs and violence around the marijuana trade becoming a growing concern in the otherwise peaceful nation.

Granted, the country says the legalized cannabis will only be available to Uruguay citizens and it harbors no hope of becoming a center of illicit international drug tourism.