Signal Detected in Human Brain

Scientists have identified a unique form of cell messaging occurring in the human brain, revealing just how much we still have to learn about its mysterious inner workings.

Excitingly, the discovery hints that our brains might be even more powerful units of computation than we realized.


Back in 2020, researchers from institutes in Germany and Greece reported a mechanism in the brain's outer cortical cells that produces a novel 'graded' signal all on its own, one that could provide individual neurons with another way to carry out their logical functions.


By measuring the electrical activity in sections of tissue removed during surgery on epileptic patients and analyzing their structure using fluorescent microscopy, the neurologists found individual cells in the cortex used not just the usual sodium ions to 'fire', but calcium as well.     READ MORE...

Traveling Sophia

Sophia, One of the world’s most advanced humanoid robots, whose name means ‘wisdom’ in Greek, is set to visit the Greece’s city of Nafpaktos to attend a panel titled artificial intelligence and ethics.

In October 2017, Sophia was granted Saudi Arabian citizenship, becoming the first robot to receive legal personhood in any country.

It has been reported that the ‘Meet Sophia Conference’ will be taking place on March 10 at the Nafpaktos International Conference Center, which is housed within the Monastery of the Transfiguration of Christ,
in Skala Nafpaktia.  READ MORE...

Ancient Greek Sanctuary

Samothrace, a small, rocky Greek island in the northern Aegean Sea, has a storied past that belies its diminutive size. One of the most rugged of all the Greek islands, its Mt. Saos rises to 1,611 meters (5,285 feet).

Known best for its Sanctuary of the Great Gods, or Hieron ton Megalon Theon, in Paleopolis, it was once the home of the stunningly beautiful 2.5-meter (8.2-foot) tall marble statue of Nike, created in 190 BC, now known as the “Winged Victory of Samothrace.”

Like so many other of Greece’s ancient treasures, it now is displayed in a European museum (in this case, the Louvre in Paris); but it was once part of the Sanctuary, whose remains still grace the island today.  READ MORE...

True Descendants of the Spartans

There is a Greek village in Mani, on the Peloponnesian peninsula, called Neochori where residents boast that they are true descendants of the Spartans.

While Maniots claim their ancestors were natives to the southeastern part of Peloponnese even before Sparta became a famed city-state, the ties between Sparta and Mani have been continuous since historical antiquity.

Ancient Maniots were both slaves and landowners who paid fifty percent of their agricultural products as a tithe, or tax, to Sparta. In the wealthier areas of outer and lower Mani, the landowners had helots (slaves), as well.

The close ties of ancient Maniots and Spartans are also demonstrated by the common worship of certain deities. The Spartans not only respected the traditional religious ceremonies of the Maniots but also adopted them.

Sparta descendants of Neochori
In a recent BBC report in the Neochori village of Mani, former coffee shop owner Giorgos Oikonomeas—who never left his birthplace—claimed that the villagers were true descendants of the brave Spartans.

“If you want to get a taste of what life would have been like in Ancient Sparta, look no further,” he told the reporter. “We are as Spartan as can be.”

To further drive the point home, the 86-year-old Maniot, whose physique still suggests that he could jump onto the battlefield at any moment, served the reporter a lalangi, a crispy strip of dough deep-fried in olive oil.      READ MORE...

ALL SOLAR for Five Hours

Greece ran entirely on renewable energy for five hours last Friday for the first time ever - using solar, wind and hydroelectric power.

It reached a record high of 3,106MWh (megawatt hours) of electricity at 9am local time (7am UK time), according to IPTO, the country's independent power transmission operator.

IPTO said: "For the first time in the history of the Greek electricity system, the demand was covered 100% from renewable energy sources."

Greece aims to more than double its green energy capacity as it hopes renewables will account for at least 70% of its energy mix by 2030.  READ MORE...

Plant Based Foam Kills Weeds

Plant-based hot foam kills weeds as effectively as chemical spray

A plant-based foam mixed with hot water has worked as well as glyphosate weedkiller at removing weeds from olive groves and has also been used successfully in urban areas.

WeedingtechA heated, plant-based foam has been shown to kill weeds as effectively as a commercial chemical spray and may be a safer, eco-friendlier alternative.“It’s really fascinating, it works very well regardless of the weed growth stage,” saysIlias Travlos

at the Agricultural University of Athens, who conducted an independent study of the hot foam at two small olive groves in Greece.Farmers remove weeds because they steal water and nutrients from food crops and can attract destructive insects and pathogens.  READ MORE...

Americans Relocating to Europe

With rising interest rates, the COVID-19 pandemic that gave many a new perspective on life and the sting of inflation, more Americans are now looking to Europe for a more relaxed lifestyle.

Countries such as Italy, Spain, Portugal and Greece are luring in overseas buyers seeking more of the calm, sun-filled beach days, according to a report by Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices.

The rising interest in moving to these countries can be contributed to many workers who are still working remotely since the onset of the pandemic.

“We don’t expect activity to be near the levels we saw in 2021 or the first part of 2022, but the Spanish market has been very resilient,” Ugo Bagration, head of business expansion at the agency’s office in Marbella, said in the report. “It’s proving to be a hub and destination for foreign investment within the real estate market.”

Spain has seen an influx of buyers from North America due its affordability, Bagration explained. That being said, because of the high property taxes in the country, others are opting for countries with less of a burden, such as Italy.

Rome in particular, is seeing more high-net-worth families investing in property, as many residences have been updated in recent years, according to Marcus Benussi, managing partner at Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices.  READ MORE...

Head of Hercules

An archaeologist assesses the possible Hercules head. (photo by Nikos Giannoulakis, 

courtesy the Return to Antikythera Project)

On Monday, marine archaeologists and researchers at the site of the famed Antikythera shipwreck announced the discovery of a number of ancient artifacts recovered from the seafloor. These included a colossal marble head of a statue, a marble plinth for a statue along with remaining portions of its lower legs, nails, a lead collar for an anchor, and two human teeth. The findings reveal that there are many archaeological treasures yet to be discovered off the coast of Greece — and at dozens of other underwater sites across the Mediterranean.

Especially noteworthy among the artifacts is the massive marble head, not the bust of just any mythological hero but likely that of the headless statue of Hercules housed at the National Archaeological Museum in Athens, also made of Parian marble.

The new excavations are part of a multi-year (2021–2025) project led by the Swiss School of Archaeology in Greece, the Ephorate of Antiquities of Euboea, and the Ephorate of Underwater Antiquities under the direction of Angeliki Simosi and Lorenz Baumer. The site of the Antikythera wreck is off the coast of the eponymous island, which sits between the Peloponnese of mainland Greece and the island of Crete and in antiquity was often referred to as Aigila.

Dating to around 60 BCE (roughly the same time Julius Caesar, Pompey, and Crassus created the First Triumvirate in Rome), the Antikythera wreck is perhaps the most famous Mediterranean shipwreck known today. This is due in large part to the discovery of a Hellenistic-era astronomical machine known as the Antikythera Mechanism, often referred to as the world’s first analog computer in terms of its use of numerous bronze gears to track the Sun, Moon, Zodiac, and many other astronomical and astrological features.  READ MORE...

Greece-Italy Passenger Ferry Fire

A ferry carrying tourists and truck drivers burst into flames on the Adriatic Sea early Friday morning, hours before it was expected to make landfall in southern Italy.

Local media reported that some undocumented passengers who may have been in vehicles on the car deck are still missing. 

The incident is reminiscent of a 2017 ferry disaster in the Adriatic in which 31 people who were hiding in cars on the Norman Atlantic ferry burned to death after rough seas caused friction between tall semi trucks and the car deck ceiling, sparking a similar fire.

Friday’s fire engulfed the Euroferry Olimpia, run by Grimaldi Lines, which was carrying 288 known passengers and crew members when a fire started in the lower car deck as it passed about 10 miles from the Greek island of Corfu.

Passengers onboard said the entire ship was engulfed in flames within minutes as semi trucks carrying fuel and flammable goods ignited one by one. 

“There were very high flames, there was panic on board,” a spokesperson for Italy’s Coast Guard, which responded to the disaster said.         READ MORE...

Most Important Archaelogical Discoveries in 2021

Every year, we delve back through our coverage to find the most fascinating archaeological discoveries of the year, whether by a complete amateur, or as the result of years of careful study by a team of experts.

As always, archaeology news takes us around the globe and throughout the ages, from the earliest days of human history through to the contemporary era. Here are our picks for the 2021 archaeological stories worth revisiting.

Stonehenge Revelations

Stonehenge at sunrise in 2015. Photo by Freesally, public domain.

The ancient circle of stone monoliths on the U.K.’s Salisbury Plain is one of history’s most enduring mysteries. But while we may never fully understand this ancient structure, experts are learning more and more about it each year.

Thanks in no small part to the late Robert Phillips, a diamond cutter who made repairs to a fallen stone at the site in 1958, we now know that the massive monoliths are made from a nearly indestructible matrix of interlocking quartz crystals—which is why the monument has stood for millennia. Phillips drilled a three-and-a-half foot core sample during his work, which he was allowed to keep as a souvenir. He returned it in 2019, allowing scientists to conduct valuable testing on the stones, which are now protected under English heritage law and cannot be sampled.

This year also saw archaeologists discover a former stone circle in Wales that closely matches the dimensions of Stonehenge’s inner ring. That suggests that the site’s inner stone circle was originally erected 175 miles away and moved to Salisbury Plain—and carbon dating shows it was built 400 years before Stonehenge proper. If this all seems too unbelievable to be true, just wait: it perfectly matches a Stonehenge legend that Merlin stole the monument and moved it to England.

Original Flavor Pompeii—and a New Version in Egypt

The lost city discovered by archaeologists near Luxor in Egypt. Photo by Zahi Hawass, courtesy 

of the Center for Egyptology.


Do the discoveries ever seem to stop in Pompeii? A newly excavated thermopolium, a kind of Roman fast food restaurant, began welcoming visitors this summer. Archaeologists were able to identify the space in part because it was decorated with frescoes featuring some popular ingredients in Pompeii cuisine, such as roosters.

Other Pompeii finds this year included an intact chariot, slaves’ quarters, and evidence of thriving Greek theater scene.

But Pompeii isn’t the only ancient city found nearly intact. In fact, a smaller “mini” Pompeii was found hidden beneath vines in Verona by construction workers. And in Egypt, another wellspring of ancient treasures, 2021 saw what’s being hailed as the nation’s most significant discovery since Howard Carter uncovered King Tut’s golden tomb nearly a century ago: the abandoned city of Luxor.

The city was a royal metropolis outside the city of Thebes built by Tutankhamun’s grandfather, King Amenhotep III. His son, Akhenaten, appears to have abandoned the city when he started a new religion worshipping only the sun god, Aten.  READ MORE...

Megafires New Norm

Image caption,The megafire on Evia led to thousands of residents fleeing their homes


World leaders at the COP26 summit in Glasgow are under pressure to respond to global warming, and intense heatwaves and frequent forest fires are becoming an increasing threat around the Mediterranean.

This summer alone Greece was hit by thousands of wildfires, fanned by its worst heatwave in decades. Turkey, Italy and Spain all witnessed dramatic fires in recent months and the fire on the Greek island of Evia was the biggest in Greece since records began.

What happened on Evia was a megafire, an intense conflagration, which took almost two weeks to bring under control.

With more heatwaves forecast for future summers, there are fears that megafires could become the new normal.

"We never expected this," says Nikos Dimitrakis, a farmer who was born and raised in northern Evia. "We thought a part might burn, as in previous fires. But now the entire area was burned."

Image caption, Greeks evacuated the island as the fires turned the sky orange

When the fire reached his land, he told me there was no-one there to help. Surrounded by flames, he grabbed tree branches in a desperate attempt to put out the blaze.  READ MORE...