What's the deal with Stonehenge?

Here is something we were talking about in 2nd period today. Anyone is free to post your comments.

Stonehenge has mystified visitors for thousands of years. Somehow, about 4,600 years ago, people managed to haul humongous stones across southern England to a site on the Salisbury Plain. There, they erected a large circular structure. Some of the stones are more than 13 feet tall and weigh at least 25 tons.

Scientists and historians have long wondered not only how people built Stonehenge, but also why. Now, recent discoveries offer some answers. Scientists from the University of Sheffield in England and their coworkers propose that the structure was part of a religious complex dedicated to the dead.

So why do you think Stonehenge was built?

Read more at these sites:

http://kids.nationalgeographic.com/Stories/History/Stonehengevillage
http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/server/show/nav.16465/chosenImageId/1
http://www.sciencenewsforkids.org/articles/20070207/Note2.asp

New Tiny-T-Rex Discovered By Scientists

Tyrannosaurus rex -- the most fearsome predator ever to have trod the Earth -- had a pint-sized precursor, remarkably similar in appearance but no heavier than a human being, according to a new report from a team of scientists.

See more pictures here

First rocky planet found outside solar system

(CNN) -- Scientists have discovered the first confirmed Earthlike planet outside our solar system, they announced Wednesday.

Story Headlines:

• The planet, known as CoRoT-7b, was detected early last year


• It took months to determine that it had a composition roughly similar to Earth's


• The planet is about five times more massive than Earth


• Astronomer: It is so close to the star it orbits that it may "look like Dante's Inferno"

Read more here

Periodic Table of the Elements

In class today we talked about the periodic table. If you find this stuff interesting:

Here is an interactive periodic table you can check out at home.

http://www.ptable.com/

Here is a periotic table with pictures of elements (above, click to enlarge)

New Giant Rat Species Discovered

LONDON, England (CNN) -- Scientists have discovered a new species of giant rat in a remote rainforest in Papua New Guinea.

Measuring 82 centimeters (32.2 inches) from nose to tail and weighing around 1.5 kilograms (3.3 pounds), the species is thought to be one of the largest rats ever to be found.

The discovery was made by a team from the BBC Natural History Unit inside the crater of Mount Bosavi -- an extinct volcano in the Southern Highlands province of Papua New Guinea.


Read more here