​Secrets of a 300,000-year-old artifact ● China will send the first human crew to the moon with two rockets at once ● How we will get water on the moon with the help of giant mirrors

Secrets of an artifact that is 300,000 years old

The Palaeolithic site of Schöningen, Germany, became famous in 1994 when the world’s oldest wooden spears were discovered there. Originally dated at nearly 400,000 years old, they have been dated back to around 300,000 years old, which doesn’t make them any less scientifically impressive.

Spears were made from spruce trunks. They range from 1.84 to 2.53 meters in length, are pointed at both ends, and were apparently used to kill large animals, whose fossil remains have been found at the same site. This once again shows us, first of all, that Neanderthals, or pre-Neanderthals, to use a term closer to scientific truth, used spears that could be thrown at game.

Why is this a big deal? Because in the specialized literature, light spears, capable of throwing over a long distance, were considered an exclusive creation of Homo sapiens, even an innovation by which they surpassed their Neanderthal evolutionary relatives. The latter are said to have used spears, but massive ones, used only at close range in hand-to-hand combat. Well, it wasn’t like that!

What interests us today, then, is another artifact discovered at the same site, which is only now appearing in a study published in the journal Plos ONE. It is an object, also pointed at both ends, similar to a spear, but only 77 centimeters long. Too small to throw effectively as a spear at an animal. And here also the question marks of specialists appear.

Given that the object was made from a spruce branch rather than a trunk, the branches, which have a certain curvature, suggest that it could have been a different type of hunting weapon. More precisely, say the authors of the study, it could be used as a primitive boomerang, in the case of small game.

Another option, given the fact that preserved traces of children were found there, would be to suggest that it was a training spear, with which the children learned hunting techniques. In fact, children would make up about 50% of such a community. In addition, traces of prolonged use, present especially in the middle part of the artifact, indicate that the object was used by those who were there for a long time.

The study doesn’t say anything, but we can infer from a relatively similar find in Italy that the mini-spear may have had a different purpose. In Italy, as I said, in 2017, 48 wooden objects, pointed at only one end, about one meter long, were discovered. In this case, it was assumed that they were used for digging up roots or digging for some other purpose. And in this case, although they are “only” 171,000 years old, the artifacts are the creation of a Neanderthal.

Now we will probably never know how the object discovered in Germany was used. However, there is no doubt that this is an exceptional discovery, which testifies not only to the creativity of those times, but also allows us to create an image of an extremely ancient human community. As much as possible.

China will send the first human crew to the moon on two rockets at the same time

Just a day after we announced that the authorities in Beijing will put into operation a new generation of space rockets capable of carrying up to seven astronauts, officials have come out with new information related to the satellite launch they propose in 2030.

China says it plans to send two next-generation rockets at the same time: one to carry China’s first human crew to the moon, and the other to carry a lunar module to be used by astronauts.

This means that taikonauts will have to perform docking maneuvers in lunar orbit, land at a certain point, spend a few days there to conduct additional science experiments, and then use the mode to return to the rocket that will take them home. At the moment, according to Chinese officials, the lunar module will be equipped with a laboratory, as well as two modules, all equipped with solar cells for power.

NASA, which aims to send the first female astronaut and the first black astronaut to the moon in 2025, is considering a relatively similar project. They plan to launch both the Orion shuttle and the Lunar Module (Human Landing System/HLS), which will be carried by the Space X Starship rocket. In this case, the astronauts will perform a docking mission in lunar orbit before it goes to the moon.

How we will get water on the moon with the help of giant mirrors

A very interesting project to obtain the necessary water for a permanent base on the moon was recently proposed by CSM (Colorado School of Mines) Professor George Sowers in his name. And, no matter how simple the technology he proposed, no matter how cheap it seemed, the fact attracted the attention of even NASA employees.

If you’ve ever played with a magnifying glass to direct the sun’s rays onto an object, you know what I’m talking about. Because that’s what George Sowers also suggests. Placing a mirror (there will be more if all goes well) to direct the sun’s rays to a specific point on the moon.

When the ice melts and the water turns into steam, a device is needed to collect the steam and condense it into liquid water. Last on the list, another device to transport water to a tank where people can use it as they see fit.

This space will still be housed in the South Pole Probe, which has no sunlight and average temperatures of -167 to -253 degrees Celsius. Why there? Because it is estimated that there are about 600 billion liters of water (apparently in the form of ice) at the poles of the Sun.

The most interesting thing, at least for those who want to build something like this, is that the entire project will cost somewhere around 1.413 billion dollars. A piece of pie. And annual operating costs will amount to about 80 million dollars. Much cheaper than transporting millions of liters of water from Earth to support a permanent base on the surface of the Moon, as well as a base to be built in orbit.

It is not yet known whether NASA will stop at the mentioned version, but it is clear that the project is patented. Like I said, this is a project because it’s only on paper so far. We’ll see if he passes this stage.

Follow our Facebook page, HotNews Science, to be able to receive live information and curiosities from the world of science in real time!

Photo source: profimediaimages.ro