Hole in Inca Skull Caused By Musket Ball

An Inca skull with a round hole was discovered among a pile of oddly-buried skeletons in Lima, Peru. Archaeologist Guillermo Cock says he immediately thought people may have been shooting guns at the site. But careful analysis of the hole showed that it was an old one and it had traces of metal which can only be attributed to a musket ball. The victim died along with others of his people in the 1500s, the time when Spanish conquistadors invaded their civilization and eventually, practically wiped their culture out.

Cock and fellow archaeologist Elena Goycochea have recovered 72 victims of apparent violence during that time. All were in shallow graves with no evidence of any ceremonies given the dead. They could have been buried by the Spanish soldiers themselves after an uprising against them which occurred in 1532.

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Lights Out for Edison's Bulb?

Clamors for the phase out of the ubiquitous lightbulb in ten years is underway in the United States and Europe. With the demand for energy increasing, dumping the electricity-hungry incandescent may be a good idea. Of the energy released by an incandescent bulb, only five percent goes to light. The other ninety five percent is in the form of heat. While this energy distribution is useful for incubating chicken eggs in a home, it eats up to ten percent of the electricity distributed in the US alone. This equates to $10 billion a year.

Bulb manufacturers like General Electric says that a total phase out is unnecessary since they expect to have incandescent bulbs twice as efficient as those of today by 2010. By 2012, they expect one that's four times as efficient.

Thomas Edison's light bulb is already 128 years old and much of the technology it uses cannot be improved to a great extent if new materials are not available. In experiments with the first light bulb, Edison used materials like sewing thread for the filament. The photo is from http://news.yahoo.com/photo/070131/photos_sc/2007_01_31t084847_282x450_us_energy_california_lightbulbs