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Exxon Mobil Corp. has made one of the largest oil and gas finds in the Gulf of Mexico in a decade, the company announced today. The oil major said it made two oil discoveries and a natural gas discovery in its Keathley Canyon blocks, including an oil discovery in the company’s first exploration well since last year’s moratorium on deep-water drilling. Exxon expects the combined finds to yield more than 700 million barrels of oil equivalent. More than 85 percent would be oil, the company said. Drilling early in 2010 turned up oil and natural gas at the well 250...

Archaeologists and Expeditions Timeline of Significant Dates of Archaeological Expeditions and Discoveries 1879 - Rassam Excavates Many Tablets in Babylon Ruins with a Possible Location of the Hanging Gardens 1878 - Campaigns of Sennacherib, Annals of Ashurbanipal and Many Tablets are Excavated by Rassam 1877 - Archaeology of Ancient Sumer is Awakened by Louvre Treasures 1877 - Victory Stele of Eannatum is Discovered by Frenchman Ernest de Sarzec at Lagash Site 1873 - George Smith Identifies Wreckless Looting By Layard and Ruthless Quarrying By Mosul Bridge Builders 1873 - British Museum Sends George Smith to Further Excavate at Nimrud and...

There are many that believe bikinis are the world's greatest scientific breakthroughs. Many believe that Quaaludes should be brought back. Then there is the world wide favorite, beer, wine, and thermoses. Whoopie cushions, helmets that hold two beer cans, soda cans, (strangely) flying squirrels, the Spork, and reclining chairs. Then there's toilet paper, sunglasses, the fork, air conditioner, paper, the refrigerator, the printing press, and electricity. All are lifestyle accoutrements that make living easier and more enjoyable. But in actuality, the truly brilliant discoveries transcend culture, lifestyle, and Preparation H (no matter how highly recommended). Below are listed and described...

PHYSICS: Dorian Raymer and Douglas Smith for proving that heaps of string or hair will inevitably tangle. CHEMISTRY: Sheree Umpierre, Joseph Hill and Deborah Anderson for discovering that Coca-Cola is an effective spermicide, and C.Y. Hong, C.C. Shieh, P. Wu and B.N. Chiang for proving it is not. ARCHAEOLOGY: Astolfo Gomes de Mello Araujo and Jose Carlos Marcelino for showing armadillos can scramble the contents of an archaeological dig. BIOLOGY: Marie-Christine Cadiergues, Christel Joubert and Michel Franc for discovering that fleas that live on a dog can jump higher than fleas that live on a cat. MEDICINE: Dan Ariely for...

The new moon could be related to Methone and Pallene A new moon has been discovered orbiting Saturn - bringing the planet's latest moon tally up to 60.The body was spotted in a series of images taken by cameras onboard the Cassini spacecraft. Initial calculations suggest the moon is about 2km-wide (1.2 miles) and its orbit sits between those of two other Saturnian moons, Methone and Pallene. The Cassini Imaging Team, who found the object, said Saturn's moon count could rise further still. New family The moon appears as a dim speck in images taken by the Cassini probe's...

SNOWMASS VILLAGE, Colo., April 5, 2007 – U.S. Marine Staff Sgt. Nick Bennett said he’ll take away lifetime memories and new discoveries from the National Disabled Veterans Winter Sports Clinic. He's counting on his experience here to steel him through his upcoming—and 27th--surgery since he was wounded in Mamadiyah, Iraq. Marine Staff Sgt. Nick Bennett calls the National Disabled Veterans Winter Sports Clinic at Snowmass, Colo., his “last big adventure” before his 27th surgery for wounds suffered in Iraq. Defense Dept. photo by Donna Miles  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. The 37-year-old Marine Corps Reservist said he’ll always remember...

Top 10 Discoveries of 2006 Volume 60 Number 1, January/February 2007 How do you know it's been an extraordinary year in archaeology? When the discovery of the earliest Maya writing and a 2,500-year-old sarcophagus decorated with scenes from the Iliad don't crack ARCHAEOLOGY's Top 10 list: 1. Valley of the Kings Tomb KV63 was the first tomb to be excavated in the Valley of the Kings since Tutankhamun's in 1922. The chamber held seven 18th Dynasty coffins. 2. 3-Million-Year-Old Child After years of chiseling tiny bones out of sandstone blocks from Ethiopia's Rift Valley, paleontologists announced the discovery of a...

New discoveries point to 'cave of John the Baptist' as important site in the time of Isaiah The interior of Suba Cave New Discoveries Point to "Cave of John the Baptist" as Important Site in the Time of Isaiah Recently completed digging at Israel's Suba Cave, an archaeological site that is possibly connected with John the Baptist, or Jewish groups of his time has revealed features that deepen the mystery of the site's ancient origins, according to University of North Carolina at Charlotte archaeologist James D. Tabor, associate director of the excavation. The site was brought to international attention in...

Mysterious and seemingly monstrous beasts stalk the gloomy depths of the Atlantic Ocean, the so-called midnight zone where virtually no sunlight reaches. Temperatures are near freezing and the space between one creature and another can be vast. Scientists know very little about the species that inhabit this uninviting world more than a mile below the ocean's surface. For years it was believed that many of these fish nomadically wandered the ocean, munching on the organic debris that sinks from shallower waters. Now, a massive marine expedition has uncovered the secret sex lives of these fish, revealing that they may gather...

Lurestan's Sangtarashan New Discoveries Jan 8, 2006 Some delicate and beautiful bronze articles and two iron swords have been discovered during the archeological excavations in historical site of Sangtarashan in Lurestan province, without any evidence of a grave or an architectural structure nearby. The issue has puzzled archeologists about the usage of Sangtarashan area during the first millennium BC. Sangtarashan historical site in Lurestan province had been known to be a cemetery belonging to the third Iron Age (800 to 550 BC). However, no remains of human skeletons have been discovered so far during the archeological excavations. Furthermore, there are...

Ancient Marib Discoveries Marvel of the World By Zaid Al-Alaya’a Dec 17, 2005 - Vol. VIII Issue 49 SANA’A- An ancient inscription shedding light on battles over 2300 years ago has been unearthed by a German archeological expedition at the temple of Al-Maqa in Surwah, Marib Governorate. The important archeological discovery reveals new information on the era of the King of Sheba, Yas’a Imar Watar bin Yakreb, and the military expedition he undertook. The inscription shows that King Yas’a, who ruled Yemen in the 4th century BC, made several military expeditions, just as his predecessor King Kurb Ail Watur bin...

NOORDWIJK, Netherlands - Scientists said Friday they have discovered possible evidence of frozen seas and volcanic activity on Mars and called for a follow-up mission to find if there is life on the red planet. The recommendations came at the end of a weeklong meeting in the Netherlands held to analyze results from the European Space Agency's Mars probe. A straw poll conducted among 250 participants of the conference showed that 75 percent believe that life in the form of bacteria once existed on Mars. Twenty-five percent thought there might still be life on the planet. Scientists have long theorized...

OK. So I understand that you are ticked off at Israel, and in love with the Palestinians. That's fine with me, as long as you have truly weighed up all the facts. So, you want to boycott Israel? I'll be sorry to miss you, but if you are doing it - do it properly. Let me help you. Check all your medications. Make sure that you do not have tablets, drops, lotions, etc., made by Abic or Teva. It may mean that you will suffer from colds and flu this winter but, hey, that's a small price for you to...

The purpose of FreeRepublic.com's multiple message boards is to limit the topics for each board to particular topics. Posting the same message on all the boards defeats the purpose of multiple-boards for special topics. It is very annoying to see the same message on every bulletin board. PLEASE! DO THE READERS A FAVOR. STOP CROSS-POSTING YOUR MESSAGES!

Inner Mongolia Yields New Discoveries More than 80 leading archeological experts are participating in an international conference in Chifeng, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, to exchange the latest information on Hongshan, a prehistoric relics site. Relics excavated at the Hongshan ("Red Mountain") site originated around 5000 BC to 6500 BC. Now a part of Chifeng City, the site was discovered in 1935. Some of the relics found at Hongshan have led archeologists to conclude that the heads of Chinese dragons may have been inspired by boars in addition to horses and cattle. Primitive people who struggled to survive by fishing and...

Discoveries reveal a flourishing Dunhuang 1,000 years ago www.chinaview.cn 2004-03-21 15:20:33 LANZHOU, March 21 (Xinhuanet) -- Documents and other cultural objects unearthed from China's Mogao Grottoes, in northwest Gansu Province, provide evidence that Dunhuang was a flourishing international trade city over 1,000 years ago. Professor Zheng Binglin, also a research fellow with the Dunhuang Studies Institute of the Lanzhou University, made the conclusion based on his research on documents and other cultural objects of late Tang Dynasty (618-907) and Five Dynasties period (907-960). Dunhuang city, located in the western part of Gansu, is now a famous tourism city because it...

<p>Forget about ancient traces of water on Mars. There's a little white bunny up there.</p> <p>And stone tools.</p> <p>And dinosaur fossils.</p> <p>Plants, art, even letters of the alphabet.</p> <p>While NASA scientists pore over the latest Red Planet images for shreds of evidence that it might have supported algae or pond scum, thousands of earnest civilians are scanning the same pictures and pointing out all sorts of things the professionals missed or have not acknowledged.</p>

Buried relics uncovered at Angkor Wat. Japanese archaeologists have made a rare underground find of relics at the temples of the Angkor Wat complex in Cambodia. The archaeology team comes from from Sophia University, a Jesuit school in Tokyo. It dug up 103 pieces of Buddhist statues in mid-March, at Banteay Kdei temple, one of the dozens of temples built near the northern Cambodian town of Siem Reap between the 9th and 14th centuries. The pieces likely date back to the Angkorian period from the reign of Jayavarman VII, who ruled at the end of the 12th century. Cambodian...

Contact: Carrie Golus (773) 702-8359 cgolus@uchicago.edu New discoveries in Syria confirm theory on spread of early civilization Unique artifacts unearthed this season in Syria will force historians and archaeologists to rewrite the history books, because the traditional view of how civilization developed is looking increasingly wrong. A cooperative expedition between the University of Chicago and the Syrian Directorate of Antiquities has uncovered the hallmarks of urban life in Syria a little after 4,000 B.C., a time when civilization was thought to be restricted to Mesopotamia. Already during initial excavations in 1999, discoveries at Hamoukar in northeastern Syria began to suggest...

'Buried' treasures uncovered Beneath a layer of black soot, hidden from the outside world for decades, are valuable treasures waiting to again see the light of day. "It's amazing. You never know what you're going to find," said auctioneer Joe R. Pyle, who has been selling antiques and collectibles since age 14. Now 40, Pyle's latest venture may perhaps be his biggest and most memorable sale ever - the estate of the late John Florida of Washington. Florida, who died in January at 85, was well-known throughout the area, especially by auctiongoers and antique collectors. He also was known for...