It is claimed that 13 ancient crystal skulls have been found with mysterious properties.
The Mitchell-Hedges family loaned the skull to Hewlett-Packard Laboratories for extensive study in 1970. Art restorer Frank Dorland oversaw the testing at the Santa Clara, California, computer equipment manufacturer, a leading facility for crystal research. The HP examinations yielded some startling results.
Researchers found that the skull had been carved against the natural axis of the crystal. Modern crystal sculptors always take into account the axis, or orientation of the crystal's molecular symmetry, because if they carve "against the grain," the piece is bound to shatter -- even with the use of lasers and other high-tech cutting methods.
To compound the strangeness, HP could find no microscopic scratches on the crystal which would indicate it had been carved with metal instruments. Dorland's best hypothesis for the skull's construction is that it was roughly hewn out with diamonds, and then the detail work was meticulously done with a gentle solution of silicon sand and water. The exhausting job -- assuming it could possibly be done in this way -- would have required man-hours adding up to 300 years to complete.
Note: 5/08, crystal skulls find themselves in the lates Indiana Jones movie!
Can't see the morons for the trees Illinois State University has cleared away the trees in front of Stevenson Hall so they can begin construction of the sculptured centerpiece of its Fell
Arboretum, an area set aside for the preservation and study of trees.
The Washington Monument changes color about 150 feet up because construction stopped for over 20 years, and builders later used stone from a different quarry.
Emily Warren Roebling oversaw much of the Brooklyn Bridge's construction after her husband, the chief engineer, fell ill, and she was the first to cross it.