While Guinness World Records officially lists the Djoser Step pyramid in Egypt as the world’s oldest pyramid (around 2,630 BC), one paper published in October claimed a layer of the Gunung Padang pyramid in Indonesia was constructed as far back as 25,000 BC – though there has since been doubts as to whether the structure was ever man-made at all.
In research led by Danny Hilman Natawidjaja of the Indonesian Institute of Sciences, and published in the journal Archaeological Prospection, the academics write that “the pyramid’s core consists
of meticulously sculpted massive andesite lava” and that the “oldest construction” element of the pyramid “likely originated as a natural lava hill before being sculpted and then architecturally enveloped”.
They write: “This study sheds light on advanced masonry skills dating back to the last glacial period. This finding challenges the conventional belief that human civilization and the development of advanced construction techniques emerged only … with the advent of agriculture approximately 11,000 years ago. READ MORE...
Last month, a study published in Archaeological Prospection garnered a lot of media attention (including from IFLScience) for its extraordinary claim that a mountain in Indonesia is actually the world's oldest pyramid built by ancient humans. But reactions from archaeologists since have raised skepticism about its bold conclusions.
According to the paper, the Gunung Padang – which translates to “Mountain of Enlightenment” – was not formed naturally but "meticulously sculpted" into its current shape between 25,000 and 14,000 years ago. If this were true, it would be considerably older than the world's oldest pyramids, with the team writing that it “suggests that advanced construction practices were already present when agriculture had, perhaps, not yet been invented.”
Among other bold claims was that there are "hidden cavities or chambers" at the site, and that the site itself appeared to have been buried several times “possibly to conceal its true identity for preservation purposes”.
Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence, and other archaeologists are far from convinced that the team has provided this, especially given how it would rewrite the history of human development. Lutfi Yondri, an archaeologist at BRIN in Bandung, Indonesia, told Nature that his work showed people in the area lived in caves between 12,000 and 6,000 years ago, and left no evidence of having the “remarkable masonry capabilities” supposedly employed by people of the area thousands of years before them to build the "pyramid". READ MORE...
Indonesia is a nation of more than 10,000 islands, so supplying the whole country with electricity is a huge challenge. More than a million people are not connected to the electricity grid at all.
"Those people who don't have electricity are living on remote islands, so in this situation it's hard to connect a cable to them and it's hard to install other expensive solutions such as wind turbines," says Luofeng Huang, a lecturer in mechanical engineering at Cranfield University.
Solar power is one option to provide those islands with energy. It has become much cheaper in recent decades - the International Energy Agency (IEA) says that it is becoming the cheapest option for new electricity power plants.
But solar farms take up lots of space - space that might be better used for housing, farming and business. So scientists and engineers are working on ways to install solar panels on the ocean surface, providing power to those living onshore nearby.
"Floating solar is very convenient because it can just be put on top of the water, and if you need more electricity you can put on more solar panels," says Mr Huang. Floating solar is already in use at a number of sites around the world, but on lakes, rather than the sea. READ MORE...
Medan, Indonesia – For civil servant Silas Sihombing, the reasons for eating dog meat could not be much simpler.
“Today I’m eating dog because I’m hungry,” Sihombing told Al Jazeera in between mouthfuls of grilled dog meat at Lau Dimbo Simalem restaurant in Medan, North Sumatra.
“And look, it’s making me sweat. Dog will do that, the meat makes you feel hot.”
Dog meat restaurants are found all over Medan, where the Indigenous Batak people are known for their taste for the protein.
About 7 percent of Indonesians are estimated to eat dog meat, according to Dog Meat Free Indonesia, a group that campaigns against the dog meat trade.
Although 87 percent of Indonesia’s 270 million people are Muslim and view dog products as haram, or forbidden, in the same way as pork, about 9 percent of the population is Christian. READ MORE...
