​Hundreds of new petroglyphs discovered in the Nazca Valley ● Plastic rain, a phenomenon we are only beginning to understand ● Giants 470 million years ago appear in Morocco

Hundreds of new petroglyphs have been discovered in the Nazca Valley

Despite decades of research and hundreds of thousands of aerial photographs, Peru’s Nazca Valley is far from revealing its secrets. In fact, experts estimate that not even 5% of what the Nazca Valley and its petroglyphs mean has yet been discovered.

Evidence? More than 300 new petroglyphs have been identified since 2019, 168 this year alone. And of them, about 50 are humanoid figures. The rest depict birds, cats, snakes, killer whales or geometric shapes.

In 1994, when the Nazca Valley was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site, only about 30 petroglyphs were discovered. Currently, their number has grown to 358 and, according to experts, it will grow.

The famous Peruvian petroglyphs were created between 500 BC and 500 AD. but despite all the research and hypotheses that have been put forward, historians have not been able to give a generally accepted explanation as to why they were made. One of the most common hypotheses is the one that talks about the images of constellations and stars known to people of that time.

Let’s hope that no more than 6,000 images will be detected, about as many stars as are visible on a clear night. Of course, but the hypothesis needs to be changed again.

Plastic rain, a phenomenon we are only beginning to understand

If you’re wondering where the latest news is coming from that reports the detection of microplastic particles in the human or animal body, and even in breast milk, here’s what a team of researchers from the University of Auckland, New Zealand has to offer. reply.

In a study published in the journal Environmental Science & Technology, New Zealand scientists report that up to 5,000 microparticles of plastic are deposited per square meter every day in Auckland alone. This means 74 tons per year, which is equivalent to approximately 3 million plastic bottles.

Why was such data not provided earlier? Good, say the cited authors, because previous measurements took into account particles larger than 63 micrometers. Therefore, the results showed a much lower level in England or Germany, countries that had already conducted case studies.

In fact, the vast majority of plastic consists of particles 10-50 micrometers in size. New Zealanders have currently identified eight types of plastic, the most common of which are polyethylene (commonly used to make commercial bags), polycarbonate (used mainly in medical products) and polyethylene terephthalate (used in blankets and food packaging).

The worst thing about this whole equation is that no one knows yet how serious this pollution is and how it affects people’s health. But you inhale plastic every day, that’s for sure.

470 million year old giants appear in Morocco

That Morocco is a veritable El Dorado for paleontologists, especially those interested in the beginnings of complex life in the Cambrian and Ordovician, is a well-known fact. But the discovery of a monument, which shows a completely unknown fauna and flora of that time, is truly something extraordinary.

It refers to the location of Taichute in the Zagora region of Morocco. Even if only 80 kilometers away was another well-known site, the site of Fezuata, a site that provided many fossils of ancient life, the site of Taichute is quite different.

In fact, everything is different for him. And the form of deposition, as well as the flora and fauna present there. Not only have animals from 470 million years ago that still have internal organs, which is rare in this field, been discovered, but also giant species that no one knew existed.

This is how arthropods appeared, the ancestors of today’s shrimps and insects, which dominated the kingdoms from the beginning of the Ordovician and reached two meters in length. Also, despite the fact that more than 17,000 species of trilobites have been identified to date, those from Taichute are completely unknown to science. Well, it really means to hit.

Photo source: dreamstime.com