Masters of Math, From Old Babylon
If the cost of digging a trench is 9 gin, and the trench has a length of 5 ninda and is one-half ninda deep, and if a worker’s daily load of earth costs 10 gin to move, and his daily wages are 6 se of silver, then how wide is the canal?

Or, a better question: if you were a tutor of Babylonian scribes some 4,000 years ago, holding a clay tablet on which this problem was incised with cuneiform indentations — the very tablet that can now be seen with 12 others from that Middle Eastern civilization at the Institute for the Study of the Ancient World — what could you take for granted, and what would you need to explain to your students? In what way did you think about measures of time and space? How did you calculate? Did you believe numbers had an abstract existence, each with its own properties? Read full story from nytimes.com

How the Internet Changed Paganism
The Internet is a wonderful tool used by numerous people worldwide. Although some might not admit it, most people rely on the Internet for most things that they do. Now, how does this relate to Paganism, one might ask? Well it seems that the Internet has made information on Paganism and the various traditions that it encompasses (i.e. Druidism, Wicca, etc) more accessible to people now a days. There are many articles on Paganism available to read on the Internet (not all are good but there are many informative pieces out there) .

If it weren’t for the wonder that is the world wide Internet, I probably would not be on the spiritual path that I am today- I cannot say that for sure but it is improbable. To be honest, I can’t quite remember exactly how I ended up typing “Wicca” into the Google search engine on my laptop computer. However, what I do know is that for some reason I did and it led me to reading various articles on the religion, that I now call my own. It led me to discover that there is a spiritual path that seems to encompass basically everything that I believe- in terms of what the divine is. It felt to me like I finally had found the spiritual path that I was meant to be on. Many people will understand what I am saying by this; that something which had been missing was finally filled. In fact, Wicca helped me become a better person and Paganism in general, is something that I find myself feeling extremely passionate about. Read full story from witchvox.com

Istanbul Treats Its Famous and Beautiful Bosphorus Strait Like a Trash Can, Turkish NGO Says
From the deck of a boat bobbing on its surface, Istanbul’s Bosphorus Strait seems to flow fresh and strong, breathing air and energy into the city it divides into two continents. When anchored in a secluded cove near the Black Sea end of the strait, it even feels clean enough to swim in. But what lies underneath the waves is apparently another matter altogether.

“Everywhere there are people, there is pollution,” Hakan Tiryaki, the head of the Underwater Cleaning Movement (STH), which works to raise awareness about aquatic pollution, told the Turkish newspaper Hürriyet. Members of the group have dived down to the seabed 250 times since 2005 and say the strait is full of garbage — from old furniture to boat parts, cleaning supplies to restaurant trash. And, of course, plenty of plastic bags. STH divers have removed more than 16,000 pieces of solid waste from just one part of the waterway. Read full story from treehugger.com

Wicken Traditions in Salem During Halloween
Halloween in Salem—the phrase generally conjures up images of reveling party-goers dressed as scantily as possible, roaming the streets for a night of fun and excess. Halloween is taken to the extreme here in Salem, as anyone who ventures downtown can confess. College students are especially revved up for Halloween, since their celebrating typically includes partying in costumes, stuffing their faces with candy, and generally having a good time.

For some of us, however, there is more to Halloween than ghosts and ghouls and sexy French maid costumes. To the Wiccan and Pagan community, Halloween is a sacred holiday which stems from the ancient Celtic New Year known as “Samhain” (pronounced “Sow-ain”). Samhain is traditionally celebrated as the end of the harvest season, and also as a time when the veil between the living and the dead was at its thinnest. Read full story from salemstatelog.com

In Salem, Life After Halloween
It’s no surprise to Salem residents and to SSU students alike that the city of Salem is a madhouse in the days leading up to and on Halloween. However, now that the season has come and gone with Thanksgiving and Christmas on the horizon, what happens to all the businesses that thrive off their long-gone cash-cow month?

Since Salem’s 300th anniversary in 1992 of the Witch Hysteria, the city has seen a regular increase in the number of revelers out to enjoy the month-long Haunted Happenings celebrations.

According to Destination Salem, Salem’s tourist office, there has been a 12 percent increase in the number of visitors since last year, and it is estimated that the October season pumps approximately $9 million into the local economy. So what happens now to all our local tourist traps after Halloween? Read full story from salemstatelog.com

One scientist’s hobby: recreating the ice age
CHERSKY, Russia – Wild horses have returned to northern Siberia. So have musk oxen, hairy beasts that once shared this icy land with woolly mammoths and saber-toothed cats. Moose and reindeer are here, and may one day be joined by Canadian bison and deer.

Later, the predators will come — Siberian tigers, wolves and maybe leopards.

Russian scientist Sergey Zimov is reintroducing these animals to the land where they once roamed in millions to demonstrate his theory that filling the vast emptiness of Siberia with grass-eating animals can slow global warming. Read full story from yahoo.com

Spanish woman claims ownership of the Sun
MADRID (AFP) – After billions of years the Sun finally has an owner — a woman from Spain’s soggy region of Galicia said Friday she had registered the star at a local notary public as being her property.

Angeles Duran, 49, told the online edition of daily El Mundo she took the step in September after reading about an American man who had registered himself as the owner of the moon and most planets in our Solar System. Read full story from yahoo.com

Leaking Siberian ice raises a tricky climate issue (source USA Today)

The Sahara Solar Breeder Project (source DigInfo)

Psychic Healers: Shamanic Healing Teacher Answers Essential Questions (source rillara.com)