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Military
Executive Summary
csc 1986 - Subject Area History
The Soviet Army Offensive: Manchuria, 1945www.globalsecurity.org/military/library/report/1986/RMF.
The Soviet Army Offensive: Manchuria, 1945
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1. Purpose:
To create interest among students of modern warfare to study a relatively unknown Soviet campaign in Manchuria, 1945.
2. Thesis:
The Soviet offensive in Manchuria during August 1945 provides an excellent model of current Soviet Army tactics for students of modern warfare.
3. Data:
Modern Soviet Army tactics began their evolution in Manchuria, 1938-1939. Major border confrontations with the Japanese Kwangtung Army reaffirmed developing offensive tactics emphasizing the use of fire and maneuver with armor and massive artillery support. In his effort to ensure Soviet supremacy in the Northern Pacific and North Asian continent, Stalin agreed to enter the war against Japan soon after Hitler's defeat. The Soviet Army began an impressive redeployment from Europe to the Far East under strict security measures. Meanwhile, Japan's strength in Manchuria was slowly bled away by her war in the Pacific and concerns for homeland defense. Achieving tactical and strategic surprise, the Soviets launched a classic double envelopment along the Manchurian border on 9 August 1945. Advancing under the cover of darkness and pouring rain, the Soviets advanced along three axes covering a frontage of more than 3000 miles. Using armor-heavy forward detachments and displaying flexibility, audacity and initiative at all levels, the Soviets crushed what opposition the Japanese afforded and achieved impressive advances along what the Japanese considered to be untrafficable terrain. The Japanese Kwangtung Army faced severe shortages in all areas and was in the middle of the redeployment of her defensive forces when the Soviets attacked. Japan's lack of armor and anti-tank weapons, failure to correctly estimate the size of the Soviet force build-up and predict the Russian avenues of approach were all reminiscent of her defeat at Nomonhan in 1939. The Soviet Army took excellent advantage of the confusion surrounding the Kwangtung Army's surrender by rapidly advancing and seizing key terrain before (and after) the war's official termination.
4. Conclusion:
The Soviet Army's development of a combined-arms concept has its beginning on the battlefields of Manchuria. Faced with conventional and unconventional military might in the NATO arena, military planners and tacticians need to fully appreciate the full scale of the Soviet Army's offensive ability. The best model and classic example of modern Soviet tactics (less nuclear weapons and long range missiles) is available in the study of the Manchurian invasion of August, 1945.
The Soviet Army Offensive: Manchuria, 1945- Outline
Thesis Statement: The Soviet offensive in Manchuria during August 1945, provides an excellent model of current Soviet Army tactics for students of modern warfare.
A. The Modern Soviet War Machine
1. Soviet Army Tactics
2. Relevance of the Manchurian offensive in today's battlefield
B. The Nomonhan Incident
1. Soviet-Japanese relations after 1931
2. Japanese forces
3. Soviet military tactics and deception
4. Lessons learned
C. Manchuria January - July 1945
1. Soviet strategic objectives
2. Soviet redeployment
3. Japanese reorganization and deployment
4. Japanese prediction of invasion
D. Soviet offensive, 9 August 1945
1. Double envelopment
2. Discussion of Soviet force structure and tactics along axes of advance
3. Reasons for Japanese failure
E. War termination
1. Japanese Emperor's surrender decree
2. Confusion concerning surrender
3. Losses at termination
4. Lessons learned
The Soviet Army Offensive: Manchuria, 1945
Facing the NATO Forces in Europe is an awesome array of weaponry, firepower and an overwhelming number of combat divisions. While few western observers have witnessed this massive war-machine in action, much has been written concerning the Soviet Army's swift offensive capability on today's modern battlefield.
Many agree that the Soviet offensive will be characterized by rapid movement into the enemy rear which will be interrupted by relatively brief, violent meeting engagements. The current Soviet tactical concept calls for a powerful, deep-striking attack in depth with rates of advance approximately 50 kilometers per day under nuclear or nonnuclear battlefield conditions. [2:4-4]
Although planning on a high rate of advance, Soviet planners realize they will have to slow down when moving through enemy defensive positions. When engaging enemy defensive positions, the Soviets will try to penetrate weak areas along the flanks or rear or bypass the strong point.
As a general rule, the Soviets will attack in two echelons with the first echelon made of combined arms armies and the second echelon formed by a tank Army. When the terrain permits the mobility, the Soviets will put their tank army in the first echelon.
The first echelon is tasked to penetrate the enemy defenses while the second echelon exploits success, penetrates deep into the enemy's rear areas, reduces bypassed enemy forces or simply commences a new attack in a different direction. [2:2-7]As a student of modern military warfare and Soviet Army tactics, the Soviet offensive in Manchuria, August 1945, provides the most recent model of modern Soviet tactics. As John Erickson states,
"....the Soviet Manchurian campaign in 1945 most closely approaches in style and scope what the Soviet command presently envisages in the way of high-speed ground operations--the speed of the advance, high speed movement along several axes without undue attention being paid to open flanks, the logistics problems of maintaining strong armoured columns and the employment of airborne forces in the full 'depth' of the theatre....As an example of the Soviet blitzkreig....the Far Eastern campaign is a much more realistic 'model' than the majority of the operations in the European theatre during the period 1941-45." [5:73]
Twenty-seven years after the Russian defeat in the Sino-Soviet War of 1904, the Japanese faced the Soviet Union once again after the Japanese conquest of Manchuria in 1931. Both armies confronted one another along the 3000 mile Manchurian border. After the Soviets signed a mutual assistance treaty with Outer Mongolia in 1936, the Russians commenced a force build-up and by January 1938, had moved a rifle corps into Outer Mongolia [14-1].
That summer both forces clashed in the Chang kufeng/Lake Khasan Incident where the Japanese 19th Infantry Division fought two Soviet Infantry Divisions in a territorial border dispute on the east Manchurian border. This violent border clash resulted in more than 2500 casualties on both sides in a Period of two weeks [14-3]. After the ceasefire on 11 August 1938, both sides maintained a wary presence on the border until 11 May 1939, when another territorial boundary dispute arose near Nomonhan, along the Khalkhin Gol River.
With each succeeding engagement both sides continued to bolster their respective forces and the skirmish blossomed into a major confrontation. With a sizeable force already in Mongolia, the Soviet Union assigned command of the Soviet forces to General Georgi K. Zhukov on 2 June 1939. [15-156] While the escalating border clashes continued, General Zhukov began a stealthful force build-up along the Khalkin-Gol River.
In the 1904 Sino-Soviet War, Russia learned a bitter lesson over its inability to maintain superior forces at the end of a 4000 mile long logistics trail. [15-154] With the Trans-Siberian railroad incomplete, Russia was unable to reinforce and resupply Czarist troops by land or sea. [15-154] Zhukovwas determined to launch a crushing offensive against the Japanese, but not before achieving a sizeable force ratio inhis distinct favor. Facing 30,000 Japanese soldiers. Zhukov built his forces up to 35 infantry battalions and over 57,000 men under rigorous security and deception measures. [4-9]. He achieved a force ratio of 4:1 in tanks and 2:1 in aircraft. [15-156] Although the front was located 400 miles from the nearest railroad, he ensured everything was trucked in during darkness. By late June, the Soviets established air superiority in air battles involving 200 to 300 aircraft. [15-157]
When he attacked the Japanese on 20 August 1939, he achieved complete tactical surprise and by 3l August, had driven back the Japanese with classic double envelopment tactics using armor and heavy concentrations of artillery. When the cease-fire took effect on l6 September 1939, the Japanese had suffered a phenomenal 75% casualties with over 17,000 men killed or wounded. (13-15] The Soviets reported 9,284 killed or wounded at the battle's end. It is important to briefly examine the Japanese military mind and their failure in underestimating the Soviet Army.
Alvin D. Coox stated in The Anatomy of a Small War, "....the Japanese Army ordinarily preferred surprise assaults without supporting guns because fire power was considered of secondary importance in close combat...."[1- 130] Japanese army tactical doctrine emphasized swift victory by decisive infantry action. This doctrine was based on some of the intangibles of combat: morale, fighting spirit and leadership. (4-71] The centuries old, Samurai warrior tradition was of prime importance to Japanese army tacticians. They favored close-in combat in which courage and relentless hand-to-hand fighting favored the spirited Japanese soldier.
The Soviet army's doctrine was believed to be inflexible and rigid to the point of being unable to adapt to the Japanese tactics of surprise and maneuver. Due to the long logistics train required to support the Soviet army in the Far East, Japanese planners underestimated the Soviets' ability to mass forces on the border. The Japanese firmly believed they could easily stop any Soviet offensive and then effectively and decisively crush them with aggressive counterattacks. They were dead wrong in both assumptions.
On the battlefield at Changkufeng and Nomonhan, the Japanese faced an enemy far superior than previously estimated. In both incidents the Soviets used larger numbers of combat forces, superior firepower and maneuver.The Soviets' doctrine emphasized a combined-arms concept and a protracted war in which the Japanese were doomed to defeat in any war of attrition. [14-90] The devastating effectiveness of Russian armor at Nomonhan swayed Japanese sentiment to build up their tank forces to ten divisions.
However, at the start of the Pacific War, they had yet to activate a single tank division. As evidenced by the vicious defense of the Japanese Army in the Pacific Islands during World War II, the border clashes only reinforced the value of the indomitable Samurai fighting spirit--fight to the death. War-fighting concerns in other theaters of the world and these rapidly escalating combat actions between the Soviets and the Japanese in Manchuria lead to the signing of the Neutrality Pact of 1941.
The Russians learned the power of tank oriented offensive operations, and "confirmed Soviet views about the need for rapid exploitation of the implicitly transient advantages accruing to the side which attacks first." [14- 65]Despite the relative security of the Neutrality Pact with Japan and the war raging on her European doorstep, the Soviet Union held forty divisions on it's Manchurian border to counter the offensive threat posed by the Kwangtung Army. [10-25]
Stalin was determined to eventually enter the war against Japan to achieve several strategic objectives in the Far East. He wished to reestablish Russian influence, rail and base rights in Manchuria, consolidate the Soviets' position in Mongolia and ensure Soviet presence and influence in the Northern Pacific. By the eviction of the Japanese, Stalin would pre-empt any western presence in the North Asian contineent and seize the entire Sakhalin peninsula and Kurile Islands from Japan [8-174]. In April 1945, the Soviets abrogated the Neutrality Pact and commenced a massive redeployment effort which doubled the Soviet forces in the Far East to 80 divisions.
During the months of May-July 1945, more than 40 infantry, tank and mechanized divisions plus artillery and combat support units were transferred from the European theater to the Far East. [12-37] This monumental effort required maximum utilization of the Trans-Siberian railroad and 136,000 railroad car loads to move these assault units to the Far Eastern border areas. [12-37] During the peak troop re-deployments in June and July, an average of 22-30 trains per day moved Russian units under strict secrecy. [15-159] Surprise was the essential element in the Soviet offensive plan. [12-37] The Russians successfully deployed 30 divisions to western Manchuria without Japanese awareness. [10-1]
Deception and surprise was achieved by heavy reliance upon night movement, utilization of assembly areas far removed from the border and simple but strict measures such as instructing senior Soviet officers to not wear rank insignia and to use assumed names.[10-1] The 6th Guards Tank Army left all tanks, self-propelled artillery and vehicles behind in Czechoslovakia and picked up new equipment manufactured in Soviet Ural factories. [7-52]
This extraordinary effort resulted in the Soviet Union's ability to field a force in the Far East comprised of 11 combined-arms armies, one tank army and three air armies. Thus, without discovery by the Japanese at the start of war with Japan, the Russian Army fielded 1,577,725 men, 26,137 guns and mortars, and 5,556 tanks and self-propelled artillery pieces. [9-62] The Air Force possessed 3,800 aircraft while the Soviet Navy (Pacific Fleet and Amur River flotilla) had distinct superiority on the seas (600 fighting ships as touted by Gorelov) and an additional 1500 A/C. [l2- 38]
This vast array of men and arms gave the Russians a 2.2:1 ratio advantage in men, 4.8:1 in artillery and tanks and a 2:1 advantage in aircraft. [10-29] The threat which kept 40 Soviet divisions, including two tank divisions, from the European front was the Kwangtung Army. In existence since 1919, the Kwangtung Army was more than 1 million men strong in early 1941. [10-25] Manchuria represented the breadbasket and military warehouse for the Japanese armed forces.
However, as the Alliedeffort in the Pacific war intensified, the Japanese ImperialGeneral Headquarters began to withdraw elite divisions from the Kwantury Army to counter the Allied threat elsewhere. By early 1943, the Japanese had approximately 600,000 troops protecting Manchuria against an estimated 750,000 Soviet troops deployed on its borders. [18-11] Approaching the end of 1944, this former vanguard of Japanese military prowess found its strength reduced half again from its number in December 1942. [18-118] The Japanese Army was short in more than manpower.
They were severely deficient in aircraft, engineer support, communications and armor. What few tanks the Japanese did possess were armed with 57mm guns and were grossly overmatched by the Soviet T-34's. The day of 7 March 1945, saw the complete annihilation of Japanese forces on Iwo Jima and brought the Allies closerto the Japanese homeland. Japanese Imperial GeneralHeadquarters (IGHQ) issued orders on 15 March 1945, which withdrew all remaining elite divisions from Manchuria to the homeland and included two divisions on the border. This also removed the Kwantung Army's 1st Tank Division, the last armor division in Manchuria. [18-125) The result left theKwantung Army a mere shadow of its former self (its mostseasoned division was formed only as late as the spring of 1944). [9-63]
This drain on the strength of the Kwangtung Army required a drastic change in the defense plan against the Soviet Union. The Japanese formerly planned to defend along the northern and eastern Manchurian border areas, the expected Russian avenue of approach. They believed the western approaches to be untrafficable to any sizeable Soviet formation due to the vast Mongolian desert and the natural barrier of the Grand Khinghan Mountains. Accordingly, the Japanese had 17 fortified areas covering the assumed approaches into Manchuria over a 1,000 kilometer stretch in the northern and eastern border regions. [12-37] Due to the extreme reduction in strength and armaments, the Kwangtung Army adopted a new operations plan in May 1945.
It called for a delaying action along the border, withdrawal to subsequent prepared defensive lines and finally to a stronghold area in southeastern Manchuria for a final defensive action approximately 650 kilometers from the northern and western borders. [10-34] The Kwangtung Army believed that the terrain, long distances involved and determined Japanese resistance would weaken the attacking Soviet forces by the time they reached the final defensive positions and their advance would be stopped and possibly subjected to a decisive counterattack.
In this plan only one-third of the Japanese Army would be positioned on the border and the remainder deployed in depth. [10-34] In order to prevent the Russians from discovering their alarming weakness in Manchuria, the Kwangtung Army mobilized reservists and new recruits to form new divisions and brigades to maintain the appearance of a formidable fighting force. In early July 1945, the Kwangtung Army was expanded from 11 infantry divisions to more than 24 divisions. Unfortunately for the Kwangtung Army, more than one-fourth of its entire combat force was mobilized only ten days prior to the Soviet offensive (8 of 24 divisions and 7 of 9 brigades). [4-63] One of two very weak tank brigades was not formed until July 1945, and both brigades were far removed in south central Manchuria. [9-63] The Japanese IGHQ and Kwangtung Army had not heeded the lessons learned at Nomonhan.
In the Summer of 1945, their army had no artillery larger than 75 mm, few tanks, no rockets, nor any modern anti-tank weapons. The newly formed 149th Infantry Division did not have a single piece of artillery in its possession when war commenced! [9-63] Ammunition and weapons were in such short supply the Japanese resorted to arming soldiers with bamboo spears. [18-154] Of the 24 divisions in the Kwangtung Army, the Japanese themselves rated only seven or eight to be combat effective. [9-63]
In fact, eight of their infantry divisions were rated at being only 15% combat effective while all nine independent mixed brigades were rated at 15% combat effectiveness or less. [18-161] By August 1945, the Kwantury Army had pieced together a combat force of 1,155 tanks, 5,360 guns and 1,800 aircraft, most obsolete. Discounting Japanese forces in South Sakhalin, Korea and the Kuriles, the Soviets faced an inexperienced army totalling little more than 710,000 men. [10-29]In May 1945, the Japanese commenced their unit redeployments and construction of fortifications and barriers to conform with the new defense plan. [18-134]
The Japanese problem and "Achilles heel" was simply that their troop redeployments and military construction projects were underway and incomplete when the Russians attacked on 9 August 1945. Although the Soviet movement of troops and material by rail was readily apparent to the Japanese after February 1945, they grossly underestimated the rapidity of the Soviet force buildup. [18-138] The Kwangtung Army's intelligence noted absolutely no concentrations on the western border of Manchuria (where more than 650,000 men were massing) and expected only 8 infantry and 2 tank divisions with 1,000 supporting aircraft on the eastern Manchurian border (the Russians launched the attack with 31 infantry divisions and 12 tank brigades). [20-100] With significantly increasedRussian actrivity in July 1945, the IGHQ'S last estimate on 31 July 1945 still fell short of the mark:
"....Russian attitude toward Japan will reach a crisis in this early autumn. Recent Russian war preparations against Japan have made unexpected progress. The Soviet Union will be ready to launch hostile action by the end of August. Because of military considerations, it is highly probable that she will enter war against Japan in early autumn." [18-162]
The Soviet's offensive plan in the Far East was bold and skillfully planned. A three axes attack was planned along a border more than 4,400 kilometers long. The entire Soviet force was task organized down to the battalion level to suit precise missions, terrain and anticipated enemy defenses to ensure rapid movement through Japanese defenses. Those forces required to move through the most difficult terrain received more engineer support. Forces expected to encounter heavy defensive fortifications received more artillery and all forward detachments were allotted tanks and self-propelled artillery to provide mobility and firepower to affect a high rate of advance.
A double envelopment to quickly penetrate deep into Manchuria, encircle the Japanese Kwantung Army and defeat it in detail was the Soviet Army's mission. This plan and tactical tailoring of force structure reflected the Soviet Army's maturation process over four years of intense combat in Europe. [10-43]
On 9 August 1945, the main attack took place on the western Manchurian border with the Trans-Balkal Front (group of armies). Here the Soviets planned to defeat border troops, bypass fortified regions and advance quickly across a wide desert and the Grand Khinghan Mountains to secure positions on the central Manchurian plain... all within ten to fifteen days.
Entire tank units were in the first echelon of each formation to enhance speed and striking power. This represented the first time the Soviets used a tank army as the spearhead in a major offensive. [7-53] Planned for an advance rate of 70 kilometers/day for its tanks and 23 kilometers/day for its combined arms units, the Russians faced two risky propositions as Glantz points out in August Storm: The Soviet 1945 Strategic Offensive in Manchuria. The Soviet's thrust in western Manchuria would be significantly hindered if the Japanese defenders occupied the key passes in the Grand Khinghan Mountains or if the long supply train failed to keep pace with the rapid pace of the tank and mechanized columns.
This front represented 41.4% of the total forces fielded by the Soviets: 654,040 men formed one tank army, four combined-arms armies, one Soviet-Mongolian Cavalry- Mechanized Group, and an air army. More than 49,000 vehicles and 2,400 tanks/SP guns were assigned to move the Russians along a front covering 2,300 kilometers. [10-44] This front advanced in two echelons of armies with the first echelon heavily-weighted with one tank army and four combined-arms armies. The Trans-Baikal Front crossed the Manchurian border at 0010 on 9 August 1945 without artillery nor air preparation. Finding little resistance from Japanese who believed that large armor formations could not operate in this rugged terrain, the 6th Guards Tank Army advanced in two columns 70-80 kilometers apart as the spearhead of the front's offensive. (Note that each tank corps advanced in 4-6 columns presenting a wall of armor 15-20 kilometers wide.) [10-83]
By nightfall on 9 August, forward elements of the tank army reached the foothills of the Grand Khingham Mountains, 150 kilometers from the border. [10-83] By 2300 on the 10th of August, the 5th Tank Corps reached the highest point in the mountains and proceeded down toward the central Manchurian plain. (On a single mountain road, this tank corps traveled over 40 kilometers of mountain pass in a mere seven hours.) [10-97] In three days, more than 350 kilometers had been covered over extremely demanding terrain.
Due to the rapid Soviet advance and Japanese defensive redeployments, two Japanese divisions in the area never engaged the Soviets. The bold and daring strike by the Russians enabled them to obtain their objectives in the central Manchurian plain on the fourth day of the offensive--one full day ahead of schedule. However, at this point their supply line was extended over 700 kilometers to the rear and all units were severely low in fuel. This required the Trans-Baikal Front to halt its momentum on the 12th and 13th of August to resupply fuel by airlift with only 400 aircraft. [10-103]
On the 13th, the Soviets resumed offensive operations being hindered only by weather and desperate Japanese suicide attacks. On the Front's left flank the Japanese put up a fierce and determined effort in the vicinity of Hailar. By passed and isolated by the Soviet's first echelon, it fought a valiant but losing battle. Although only rated 15% combat effective [18-161], the Japanese 80th Independent Mixed Brigade required the might of two Soviet divisions and an imposing arsenal of artillery to pound it into submission. [11-176] On 18 August the surviving 3,827 defenders surrendered at Hailar and signified the end of organized resistance by the Japanese in Manchuria.
The second pincer of the double envelopment was formed by the 1st Far Eastern Front. Its mission was to penetrate the border area, bypass fortified areas, rout the enemy and link-up with the Trans-Baikal Front deep in central Manchuria. [10-73] As this force faced the most heavily fortified region of the Manchurian border, the "concrete belt" [12-33], as well as extremely marshy terrain, this front was heavy in artillery and engineers while lighter in vehicular support. Its composition consisted of 586,589 men divided into four combined-arms armies, a mechanized corps, an operational group, and one air army. [10-39] Covering a frontage of only 700 kilometers, it advanced in one echelon to affect maximum confusion among the Japanese field commanders while applying pressure along the entire zone of action. [10-171]
Commencing the attack without an artillery barrage at 0030, 9 August, under darkness and a torrential downpour from severe thunderstorms, the Soviets launched their forces along multiple axes over terrain the Kwangtung Army had thought to be impassible by large forces. Before the surprised Japanese defenders could react, the Russians had advanced 15-20 kilometers very quickly. The Soviets overcame all obstacles, even building roads through dense forests as their army advanced. [10-113] After breaking through enemy resistance by the end of 14 August, the 1st Far Eastern Front had advanced 120-150 kilometers over taiga and mountainous terrain.
Although not as impressive an advance as had by the Trans-Baikal Front, the 1st Far Eastern Front succeeded in tying down the Kwangtung Army in Eastern Manchuria and distracting their attention from the attack occurring in the west. By 16 August the four combined arms armies had secured key cities in the region which ensured the collapse of the Japanese defenses in east Manchuria. [11-3] The Soviets continued to use tank-heavy forward detachments to quickly penetrate through and bypass Japanese defensive positions.
Encircled and cut off from any possible reinforcements, follow-on forces methodically overwhelmed the defenders with massive air and artillery support in close coordination with the Russian infantry. Along the northern border of Manchuria, the Soviets planned to advance on a wide front across the Amur and Ussuri Rivers with the 2nd Far Eastern Front. In addition to the two major river crossings, 150 kilometers of spurs descending from the Lesser Khinghan Mountains and vast stretches of marshland on both sides of the rivers were significant obstacles. [10-151]
The mission of this supporting attack was to destroy Japanese forces in Northern Manchuria and prevent their withdrawal to reinforce the Southern defensive positions under assault by the Russian main attacks. [10-78] As the supporting attack the 2nd Far Eastern Front comprised only 21% of the Soviet forces in Manchuria. Nevertheless, it was a formidable assembly consisting of 3 combined arms armies, 1 rifle corps, 1 operational group (assigned to the Kurile Islands), 1 air army and 337,096 men. [10-42]The Soviets tailored this front appropriately, assigning only 1,280 tanks and SP's and less than 6,000 guns and mortars. [1-42]
The "Amur Red Banner Flotilla," an amphibious force of 200 craft including monitors with 130mm guns, provided landing support in crossing both rivers and fire support during these major amphibious operations. [6- 61]The 2nd Far Eastern Front faced determined resistance along one of its three axes of advance. Combined with delays encountered at the rivers crossings, the Soviet advance was considerably hampered. However, this Front successfully accomplished its mission of destruction and prevented the Japanese from withdrawal.
The Kwangtung Army suffered a quick defeat as a result of the Soviets' use of strategic and tactical surprise. The Japanese predicted a Soviet offensive in September and from the more easily supported Soviet borders along north and east Manchuria. Under the worst weather conditions possible, the Russians initiated an offensive under the cover of darkness approaching from areas thought impassable by large troop formations. Using tank units in the leading edge of their first echelons and assault groups, the speed of the Russian advance took full advantage of the incomplete Japanese redeployment and generally weak defensive posture. Poor communications prevailed throughout the Kwangtung Army.
The Kwangtung Army Headquarters possessed no means of military communication. Heavy reliance upon public telephone lines proved to be detrimental when the phone lines were disrupted at the beginning of the soviet invasion. [20-12] As a result, the Japanese headquarters had little command and control available over the Kwangtung Army. A unilateral decision by the Japanese General in command of western Manchuria to change the Kwangtung Army's defensive plan in his sector added to the confusion. [20-5] While the Soviet air force served primarily in a transport and reconnaissance role, the Japanese air force struggled to participate in the defense of Manchuria. With most of their fighters deployed south to help counter U. S. B-29 raids, the Japanese commenced reconnaissance flights and very few attack missions on 9 August.
For unknown reasons, war plans to interdict enemy rear areas in Mongolia were never implemented. The maximum effort displayed occurred on 12 August with 184 sorties flown that day (only 27 guns, 42 trucks and 500 men were reported destroyed). While severe weather affected both sides equally, the Japanese air force never became a factor. Under orders from a confused Kwangtung Army headquarters the air force ceased operations on 15 August. [16-40] Although the vast majority of the Japanese units did not engage the Russians in combat, those that did demonstrated a high state of morale and effectiveness despite inferior firepower. For example, the Kwangtung Army's combat guide stated that for defense against tanks, the policy was suicide attack, "The essence of anti-tank combat lies in the suicide assault by the entire force; each man must destroy at least one tank." [18-ii]
As mentioned earlier, this "special" attack hindered the Soviet advance in some areas. That most Kwangtung Army units did not become engaged is credited to the strategic and tactical surprise achieved by the Soviet Union. Most significant in this analysis of Japanese defeat is the sobering failure of the Japanese to remember the lessons learned at Nomonhan. To have once again severely underestimated the Soviet Army and be subjected to another devastating attack is the fault of Japanese IGHQ.
The absence of armor and modern anti-tank weapons in Manchuria was a result of Japanese IGHQ's prewar decision to weight the production of aircraft over the procurement of tanks. [4-90] In January 1945, the Kwangtung Army was further handicapped when IGHQ ordered home approximately one-third of the Army's war materiel and large numbers of staff officers for homeland defense.[17-71] The Japanese Emperor's decree to surrender was issued over the radio on 14 August 1945 after the Japanese notified Allied powers that Japan would accept the Potsdam offer for surrender. However Japanese IGHQ did not issue a formal cease-fire order to the Kwangtung Army until August 17th. [12-39] The result was continued fighting in some areas, surrender in other areas and confusion everywhere. The continued combat impaired already poor communications between Japanese headquarters and field units. This delayed tramsmissions of cease-fire orders on 17 August 1945, during which time the Kwangtung Army was in preparation for a counter attack in the southeast. [13-175]
This atmosphere of confusion and anxiety by the Japanese was intensified by the Japanese warrior code of Bushido (fight to the death). Existing Army/Navy regulations expressly prohibited servicemen from surrendering. Surrender was considered shameful and dishonorable, subject to court- martial and execution. To absolve the traditional stigma of surrender and remove legal liabilities, IGHQ published an order which stated that the nation and government of Japan would not regard servicemen "delivered" to the enemy as a result of the cease-fire order as having surrendered under the old law. This had a tremendous psychological effect on the Japanese soldiers...with no dishonor there was no reason to commit suicide.
On 19 August, the Kwangtung Army transmitted this order to its field commands and the Japanese capitulated everywhere. [16-115]. The Soviets claimed the Kwangtung Army did not agree to surrender until 19 August. They used this claim as a pretense to acquire more territory and ensure their hold and future in the Northern Pacific region. During the confusion of the partially effected cease-fire, the Soviets took full advantage of the motionless Kwangtung Army. They dispatched forward mobile detachments and landed airborne units in key cities. [10-106] On 18 August the Soviets made an amphibious landing on the Kurile Islands.
The 25th of August witnessed the surrender of more than 18,000 Japanese in South Sakhalin and on 5 September the Soviets captured all of the Kurile Islands and took 63,840 POW's. [6-51] The official surrender to the Allied Powers occurred on 2 September 1945. As a result of the Russians' meticulous planning and bold offensive plan, they took 594,000 Japanese prisoners including 143 generals and 20,000 wounded.
The Kwangtung Army suffered over 80,000 men and officers killed in combat which lasted less than two weeks. In contrast, the well- prepared Soviet Army had 8,219 killed and 22,264 wounded. [13-175]The lessons to be learned from this closing chapter to World War II are many indeed. Foremost in one's mind must be the adaptability and boldness demonstrated by the Soviets as well as the high degree of initiative shown by commanders at all levels during the campaign. The Soviet war machine had matured. It developed a combined-arms army concept which relied on armored units at every unit level as the spearhead of the offensive thrust and heavy concentrations of artillery.
Tactical surprise, a key element to their rapid success, was achieved despite the enormous volume of supplies, equipment and men moved forward to the border regions. The Soviet planners were aucacious and imaginative in their utilization of multiple axes of advance through the worst terrain to maneuver hundreds of thousands of men and machines. They task-organized their forces to accomplish their assigned missions in different terrain against varying degrees of enemy opposition.
The Manchurian campaign was characterized by its gigantic scale, use of large formations and extensive employment of amphibious and airborne troops.[7-7] As Raymond Garthoff stated, "to mount such a campaign after being bled for four years in Europe represented a major achievement." [7-61] This achievement should be studied closely by present day war-planners and tacticians to avoid the danger of underestimating Soviet military capability.
The deception techniques and offensive combined-arms tactics begun by General Zhukov at Nomonhan and refined by Marshal Vasilevsky in the Far East offer a case study in which modern Soviet Army tactics can be studied. With the exception of new weapons, notably long range missiles and nuclear weapons, today's Soviet tactics are very similar to those used in Manchuria.
Indeed, the predecessor of the Soviet Operational Maneuver Group (OMG) was the Front army and mobile detachments of this very campaign. Today's OMG is designed to penetrate deep into rear areas, destroy command, control and logistic centers, encircle and destroy enemy forces and capture or destroy vital areas. With the absence of any peace-time Soviet or Warsaw Bloc exercise on such a gigantic scale, "The 1945 attack on the Kwangtung Army with its ten-day capitulation provides a classic of contemporary Soviet military thinking." [15-160]
BIBLIOGRAPHY
1. Coox, Alvin D. The Anatomy of a Small War. TheSoviet-Japanese Struggle For Changkufeng/Khasan,1938. Connecticut: Greenwood Press, 1977.
2. Department of the Army. The Soviet Army Operations andTactics, FM 100-2-1. Washington D.C.: 16 July1984.
3. Detwiler, Donald S. and Burdick, Charles B., ed. Warin Asia and the Pacific 1937-1948. Volume 8;China, Manchuria and Korea (Part I) New York:Garland Publishing, 1980.
4. Drea, Edward J. Nomonhan: Japanese-Soviet TacticalCombat, l939. Fort Leavenworth: Combat StudiesInstitute, January 1981.
5. Erickson, John. Soviet Military Power. London: RoyalUnited Services Institute, 1971.
6. Garthoff, Raymond L. "Soviet Operations in the WarWith Japan; August, 1945." United States NavalInstitute Proceedings, 92 (May 1966), pp. 50-63.
7. Garthoff, Raymond L. "Marshal Malinovsky's ManchurianCampaign." Military Review. 46 (October 1966),pp. 50-61.
8. Garthoff, Raymond L. Soviet Military Policy; AHistorical Analysis. New York: Frederick A.Praeger Publishers, 1966.
9. Garthoff, Raymond L. Sino-Soviet Military RelationsNew York: Frederick A. Praeger Publishers, 1966.
10. Glantz, David M., LTC, USA. August Storm: The Soviet1945 Strategic Offensive in Manchuria. FortLeavenworth: Combat Studies Institute, February1983.
11. Glantz, David M., LTC, USA. August Storm: SovietTactical and Operational Combat in Manchuria,1945. Fort Leavenworth: Combat StudiesInstitute, February 1983.
12. Gorelov G., Col., USSR. "Rout of the Kwangtung Army"Soviet Military Review. 8 (August 1970), pp. 36-39
13. Hayashi, Saburo and Coox, Alvin D. Kogun, The JapaneseArmy in the Pacific War. Virginia: Marine CorpsAssociation, 1959.
14. Myers, Albert C. "Khalkin Gol: Stalin's Battle toStabilize the Soviet Far East." Military Review.63 (April 1983), pp. 60-65.
15. Salisbury, Harrison E. War Between Russia and China.New York: W. W. Norton and Company, 1969.16. U. S. Forces Far East, Military History Section,Japanese Monograph #151. Air Operations AgainstSoviet Russia. Tokyo, 1952.
17. U. S. Forces Far East, Military History Section,Japanese Monograph #21. Homeland OperationsRecord Volume IV, Fifth Area Army. Tokyo, 1952.
18. U. S. Forces Far East, Military History Section,Japanese Monograph #138. Japanese Preparationsfor Operations in Manchuria; Jan 43-Aug 45.Tokyo, 1953.
19. U. S. Forces Far East, Military History Section,Japanese Monograph #119. Outline of OperationsPrior to Termination of War and ActivitiesConnecected With the Cessation of Hostilities.Tokyo, 1952.
20. U. S. Forces Far East, Military History Section,Japanese Monograph #155. Record of OperationsAgainst Soviet Russia. Tokyo, 1954.
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The Mitchell-Hedges Crystal Skull
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The most widely celebrated and mysterious crystal skull is the Mitchell-Hedges Skull, for at least two reasons. First, it is very similar in form to an actual human skull, even featuring a fitted removable jawbone. Most known crystal skulls are of a more stylized structure, often with unrealistic features and teeth that are simply etched onto a single skull piece.
Second, it is impossible to say how the Mitchell-Hedges skull was constructed. From a technical standpoint, it appears to be an impossible object which today's most talented sculptors and engineers would be unable to duplicate. The discovery of the Mitchell-Hedges crystal skull, sometimes referred to as the "Skull of Doom", is a controversial matter, and reads like a sci-fi action adventure film.
The skull was made from a single, unusually large block of clear quartz crystal, and measured 5 inches high, 7 inches long, and 5 inches wide, weighing 11 pounds, 7 ounces. It closely corresponds in size to a small human cranium, with near perfect detail, even to rendering the skull without the globular prominence or superciliary ridges, which are characteristics of a female.
As the story goes ... One day in 1927, English adventurer, traveler, and writer, F.A. "Mike" Mitchell-Hedges, who had a talent for telling colorful stories, was clearing debris from atop a ruined temple at the ancient Mayan city of Lubaantum, located in British Honduras, now Belize. His seventeen-year old daughter Anna, who had accompanied him, suddenly saw something shimmering in the dust below. Anna found an exquisitely carved and polished skull made of rock crystal, with the jaw piece missing. Three months later, she located the jaw in an excavation about 25 feet from the first site.
In 1970, art conservator and restorer Frank Dorland was given permission by the Mitchell-Hedges estate to submit the quartz skull to tests conducted at the Hewlett-Packard Laboratories at Santa Clara, California. From these tests, and from careful studies done by Dorland himself, the skull revealed a whole array of anomalies.
When submersed in a benzyl alcohol bath, with a beam of light passing through, it was noted that both the skull and jaw piece had come from the same quartz block. What was astounding to the testers, however, is they found that the skull and jaw had been carved with total disregard to the natural crystal axis in the quartz. In modern crystallography, the first procedure is always to determine the axis, to prevent fracturing and breakage during the subsequent shaping process. Yet, the skull's maker appears to have employed methods by which such concerns were not necessary.
The unknown artist also used no metal tools. Dorland was unable to find signs of any tell-tale scratch marks on the crystal, under high-powered microscopic analysis. Indeed, most metals would have been ineffectual, for the crystal has a specific gravity of 2.65, and a Mohs hardness factor of 7. In other words, even a modern penknife cannot make a mark on it.
From tiny patterns in the quartz near the carved surfaces, Dorland determined the skull was first meticulously chiseled into a rough form, probably using diamonds. The finer shaping, grinding and polishing, Dorland believes, was done by applying innumerable applications of solutions of water and silicon-crystal sand. The big problem is, if these were the processes used, then, as Dorland calculated, it would mean that a total of 300 man-years of continuous labor was spent in making the skull. We must accept this almost unimaginable feat, or admit to the use of some form of lost technology in the skull's creation the likes of which we have no equivalent today.
The enigma of the skull, however, does not end with just its making. The zygomatic arches (the bone arch extending along the sides and front of the cranium) are accurately separated from the skull piece, and act as light pipes, using principles similar to modern optics, to channel light from the base of the skull to the eye sockets.
The eye sockets in turn are miniature concave lenses that also transfer light from a source below, into the upper cranium. Finally, in the interior of the skull is a ribbon prism and tiny light tunnels, by which objects held beneath the skull are magnified and brightened.
Richard Garvin, who authored a book about the crystal skull, believes the skull was designed to be placed over an upward shining beam. The result, with the various light transfers and prismatic effects, would illuminate the entire skull and cause the sockets to become glowing eyes. Dorland performed experiments using this technique, and reported the skull 'lights up like it was on fire.'
Still another finding about the crystal skull reveals knowledge of weights and fulcrum points. The jaw piece fits precisely onto the skull by two polished sockets, which allow the jaw to move up and down. The skull itself can be balanced exactly where two tiny holes are drilled on each side of its base, which probably once held suspending supports.
So perfect is the balance at these points that the slightest breeze causes the skull to nod back and forth, the jaw opening and closing as counter-weight. The visual effect is that of a living skull, talking and articulating. The question, of course, is what purpose did this serve?
Was the skull only designed by its artist as a clever toy or conversation piece, or, as Dorland believes, was the talking skull meant to be used as an oracular device, through strange phenomena associated with the crystal skull, that defy logical explanation. Observers have reported that, for unknown reasons, the skull will change color.
Sometimes the frontal cranium clouds up, looking like white cotton, while at other times it turns perfectly clear, as if the space within disappears into an empty void. Over a period from 5 to 6 minutes, a dark spot often begins forming on the right side and slowly blackens the entire skull, then recedes and disappears as mysteriously as it came.
Other observers have seen strange scenes reflected in the eye sockets, scenes of buildings and other objects, even though the skull is resting against a black background. Still others have heard ringing noises emanating from within, and at least on one occasion, a distinct glow from no known light source surrounded the skull like an aura for up to six minutes.
The sum total of the skull appears to take in all five physical senses of the brain. It changes color and light, it emits odors, it creates sound, it gives off sensations of heat and cold to those who touch it, even though the crystal has always remained at a physical temperature of 70 degrees F under all conditions, and has even produced sensations of thirst and sometimes of taste in a few cases. Dorland is of the opinion that what is happening in all this phenomena is that the 'crystal stimulates an unknown part of the brain, opening a psychic door to the absolute.'
He observes - crystals continuously put out electric-like radio waves. Since the brain does the same thing, they naturally interact. He has found, too, that periodic happenings in the crystal skull are due to the positions of the sun, moon and planets in the sky. Researcher Marianne Zezelic agrees that the skull was primarily used to stimulate and amplify the psychic abilities in its handlers. She wrote, Crystal serves as an accumulator of terrestrial magnetism.
By gazing at the crystal, the eyes set up a harmonic relation stimulating the magnetism collected in that portion of the brain known as the cerebellum. The cerebellum therefore becomes a reservoir of magnetism which influences the quality of the magnetic outflow through the eyes, thus setting up a continuous flow of magnetism between gazer and crystal.
The amount of energy entering the brain eventually increases to such a proportion as to affect the poles of the brain, a region extending just above the eyes, contributing to psychic phenomena.
Going a step further, Tom Bearden, an expert in the field of psychotronic studies, believes that, in the hands of a skilled mediator and mental focalize, the crystal skull also served not only as a vehicle to transform life field energy into electromagnetic energy and other physical effects, but also aided in healing, by the altering of its crystalline resonance to match that of a patient's mind and body frequencies, and affecting curing energies on the skull that would manifest in the patient's auric field.
The skull should thus be used as an amplifier and a transmitter of psychic and earth energy forces. When looking at the sum total of skill and knowledge incorporated in the Mitchell-Hedges skull, modern science is stumped as to how to explain it.
Author Garvin summarized the findings in these words, "It is virtually impossible today, in the time when men have climbed mountains on the moon, to duplicate this achievement." The lenses, light pipes, and prisms alone display a technical competence that the human race only achieved recently. In fact, there is no one today who could attempt to duplicate the carving.
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http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20070623211139AAl1buF
Enumerate and Explain the Two Theories Regarding the Origin of Man?
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Best Answer - Chosen by Voters
Origin of man... I assume that you are NOT reffering to the dispersal of Homo sapiens but are questioning what hypothesis there are regarding the evolutionary beginnings of hominids. In as such, there are truly NO theories to explain our orgin, just hypothesis, and there are more then two.
One will not become a theory of origin until it stands the test of being empiricaly tested over time and standing up to criticism. None so far has achieved this enough to be given the status of theory. The earliest hypothesis put forth to explain this was the savanna hypothesis, which became discredited when the archaeological record of hominids showed sites previous to the time of savannas being the primary landscape feature in Africa, namely sites that preceded 3 mya (million years ago).
Archaeology at this point has even unearthed a few hominid sites that are proposing that early hominids were present even as far back as 6 mya, and if this is the case then the savanna is truly an impossible environment to have allowed our evolution. It was Raymond Dart who first proposed the savanna hypothesis and he did so because he had discovered a significan number of hominids that had lived in South Africa.
The archaeological evidence for his site proposed a savanna environment. Being one of the first hominid sites to be found, he was free to conjecture whatever ideas he saw fit from his evidence and hence the birth of the savanna hypothesis. Over the last 25 years, as the savanna hypothesis has been increasingly discredited because of the discovery of sites that date back to earlier times that did not have a savanna environment.
With this fact, contemporary anthropology has more and more began to describing our evolutionionary environment as being that of a mixed hypothesis, which is a primarily arboreal environment with savanna patches between forests. As some Chimpanzee groups live in this "mixed" environment, whereas Bonobos live in a swampy/arboreal environment and display much more incidences of bipedalism, it is my humble opinion that the mixed hypothesis is also flawed in its reasoning, yet that is where anthropology stands on the subject. Other contending hypothesis for the origins of man are:
The ice age hypothesis, which states that Northern Hemisphere ice ages made the African environment drier suddenly, thus forcing the rapic evolution of our species.
The arboreal hypothesis, which states that our constant tree climbing allowed for the adoption of a more upright posture. There are a lot of arboreal monkeys/apes however which are by no means showing the same tendancy so I don't buy this one.
The hypothesis of neotony, which simply states that some undefined rapid environmental change pushed our ancestor towards more generalized neonatal characteristics (baby characteristics) in order to expand our biological toolkit for adaptation.
And my personal favourite, the aquatic hypothesis, which does NOT propose that our hominid ancestors swam in the open ocean as many of it's opponents will have you believe. In fact their is a lot of geological evidence that shows that the great rift valley flooded around 10-8 million years ago and that this would have resulted in an island remaining in Eretria.
The aquatic ape hypothesis postulates that the monkeys that were in this area were forced together onto this Island as the water rose during this period of flooding and as the population became too dense for the remaining terrestrial resources to support this population of monkeys, they began to experiment with new food sources.
Over the years one food source that became more and more abundant were the shellfish in the adjacent tidal areas and it was these resources which these monkeys began to exploit (like the crab eating macaques do in South East Asia).
As this environment was exploited more and more as a food source, the most successful monkeys were the ones that had advantages (ever so slightly) towards holding their bodies erect as they searched for crabs or oysters (excellent protein source for brain development) in the tidal regions and over many generations (about 1 million years of isolation) bipedalism, a reduced size of our hair, the ability to control our breath, increased fatty tissue, a diving reflex and a whole host of other characteristics came about in these now early hominids. Similiar adaptations took place in a whole bunch of other fully aquatic mammal species like seals, dolphins and whales.
The difference with hominids, however, was that the waters receeded after we had only made a partial adaptation towards aquaticism, and as of such they were suddenly left with a new set of characteristics that could be applied within the terrestrial environment where these hominids now found themselves.
If these characteristics were not beneficcial then hominids would have gone extinct then and there, but as history has proven, this little, naked hominid stood the test of time and was able to apply his new biological toolkit to adapting to new environments throughout the globe.
The Aquatic hypothesis is the only opposing hypothesis that has gone to great lengths at giving details concerning our biological adaptations and I find that it successfully competes and is even superior to the ideas currently being put fourth by the mixed hypothesis. I do not deny that both the ice-age and neotony hypothesis, respectively, could have contributed within the scope of either the mixed or aquatic hypothesis as mechanisms that may have assisted, or hastened our evolution. It is the aquatic hypothesis hypothesis, however, that I believe will eventually be given "theory" status once enough empiracle proof is discovered.
So these are the proposed hypothesis regarding the origins of man, and part of the proof that these are indeed hypothesis and not theories is all the bickering that has surrounded their use in anthropology.
I can't wait until more archaeology is done in the danakil hills of Eritria, and hopefully somewhere there were the conditions appropriate towards preservation so that just a few of our earliest hominid relatives can be unearthed thus allowing this hypothesis to spread throughout the archaeological/anthropological community and dethrowning the old-boys-club of archaeology who are ardently holding onto this ridiculous "mixed" hypothesis simply because their life's work has been put towards ideas that depend on it and they don't want to feel like they wasted away their careers.
(interestingly enough the old-boys-club which preceeded the current one fought intensely against the "out of Africa" hypothesis being proposed by Raymond Dart and even created the Piltdown hoax to slow the truth from emerging until after Dart's death) Move on and stop creating barriers towards the other hypothesis and the expansion of academic thought in this area.
I say this because in the vast majority of undergraduate courses the ONLY perspective which is addressed is the savanna come mixed hypothesis and none of the other hypothesis are even mentioned. Teach these kids how to think! If the theories are wrong then the evidence will prove it and the hypothesis will fade and one true theory will eventually emerge that stands up empiricaly. These are all the hypothesis of our bipedal roots which were key to our origins and becoming "man". To elaborate on the use of "theory" in a scientific sense...
See Wikipedia theory:
In science, a theory is a mathematical or logical explanation, or a testable model of the manner of interaction of a set of natural phenomena, capable of predicting future occurrences or observations of the same kind, and capable of being tested through experiment or otherwise falsified through empirical observation. It follows from this that for scientists "theory" and "fact" do not necessarily stand in opposition.
For example, it is a fact that an apple dropped on earth has been observed to fall towards the center of the planet, and the theories commonly used to describe and explain this behaviour are Newton's theory of universal gravitation (see also gravitation), and General relativity. and you can see that in the realm of science that these above hypothesis and creationism do not constitute being "theory" in this regard. Especially the savana hypothesis which, at this point, has not only not been empiricaly proven but has infact been empiricaly disproven.
The common use of theory, again see wikipedia:
In common usage, people often use the word theory to signify a conjecture, an opinion, or a speculation. In this usage, a theory is not necessarily based on facts; in other words, it is not required to be consistent with true descriptions of reality. True descriptions of reality are more reflectively understood as statements that would be true independently of what people think about them.
In this usage, the word is synonymous with hypothesis. This is why I use the word "hypothesis" to explain these multiple descriptions of our origins, including Creationism. The problem with creationism is that if you take the bible literaly and compare it to the archaeological record then it also has been disproven empiricaly. So in the scientific sense creationism and the savana hypothesis have already been scratched off the blackboard when in a discussion of this subject and I only included the savana hypothesis in my discussion for it's historical perspective and as a good example of hypothesis vs theory.
There is only one scientific theory and that is evolution by means of natural selection. All current life on Earth evolved from lower lifeforms and ALL life shares a common ancestor. It goes much farther than to say we evolved from apes, we evolved from bacteria. Just so I don't get corrected by those who misunderstand, I didn't say humans evolved from modern apes. Creation and intelligent design are religious ideas even if some of their proponents are scientists. Most of those scientists just sell their ideas to a large market so I don't really want to give them legitimacy.
The two theories regarding the origin of MODERN humans are the Complete Replacement Theory and Regional Continuity/Multiregional evolution. The Complete Replacement Theory says Neandertals were a different species;humans evolved out of Africa and replaced all other hominids. Regional Continuity/Multiregional evolution suggusts there was gene flow between these two groups. I assume you did not mean creationism, since it is in no way a theory, or even a logical explanation.
I assume that you refer to evolution and creationism. Evolution holds that at some point about 8 million years ago, a separate line of an ape-like species broke off from the "mainline" from which current apes developed. From this separate line, many species developed and went extinct, while the species developed were more "human-like" than their ancestors, developing social skills and tool skills and cooperative actions to defend themselves against predators.
Homo sapiens is the most recent species considered as man, which developed less than 100,000 years ago and supplanted Neanderthal Man. Creationism, on the other hand, holds that man was created in the image of God, and this happened on the sixth day of Creation as related in Genesis I. Extrapolations from know history consider this time as about 6000 years ago, assuming that the "day" as we know it was the "day" described in Genesis. Earlier types of man are rules out, although the prologue to Noah's Ark hints at some type of mankind who were totally unacceptable.
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http://nz.answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=AnqbeCrDrKymuvn2Rs009pPIZwx.;_ylv=3?qid=20080117051236AAax6Hf&show=7#profile-info-pUNTK2yHaa
Why is it at high mountain, which is nearer to the sun, the temperature there is cooler than on ground?
Instead, the ground which is further away from the sun has a higher temperature. There is a scientific explanation. Please somebody enlighten us. Thank you
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Best Answer - Chosen by Voters
The simple answer is as you increase elevation the temperature & Pressure will decrease. The more scientific answer it starts with the Troposphere The troposphere begins at the Earth's surface and extends up to 4-12 miles (6-20 km) high. This is where we live. As the gases in this layer decrease with height, the air become thinner.
Therefore, the temperature in the troposphere also decreases with height. As you climb higher, the temperature drops from about 62°F (17°C) to -60°F (-51°C). Almost all weather occurs in this region. The height of the troposphere varies from the equator to the poles.
At the equator it is around 11-12 miles (18-20 km) high, at 50°N and 50°S, 5½ miles and at the poles just under four miles high. The transition boundary between the troposphere and the layer above is called the tropopause. Both the tropopause and the troposphere are known as the lower atmosphere.And Continues with Air Pressure at this link http://www.srh.noaa.gov/srh/jetstream/at...Hope this answer helps
The simple answer answer is that the air closer to the ground is warmer because that is where most of the heat is added. You should look at the athmosphere (the bottom portion closest to the ground) as a functional mechanism for the maintenance and transfer of heat and other thermal activities (see adiabatic processes in source mentioned below.) Convection is also important in how the earth and atmosphere 'add' more heat to the surface of the earth at the atmosphere-earth boundary.
The distance from the sun does not determine the heat, but... Heat rises because it is less dense, therefore it should technically be hotter at the summit, but as heat rises, it uses some of the heat energy to get up there, and by the time it gets to the summit, it was used all of it's energy and is no longer as hot.
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The atmosphere is what holds our warmth in and keeps us all cozy, correct? well, what happens when the air is 1/2 as thick as it normally would be? it would hold less heat in than it normally does, correct? well this is why it's colder up in the mountains than down on the ground. the air up in the mountains is very very thin and it retains very little heat from the sun. hence the snow on mountaintops. check riffster's answer 2 posts above mine. i'd hafta say it's more correct than mine is.
Sunlight passes through the clear atmosphere without heating it but when it strikes the ground the ground warms. This heats a layer of air near the ground that starts to rise (like a hot air balloon) because it is less dense than cold air and more buoyant. But as the warm air rises the air pressure is less and less (because there is less and less air above) and the warm air expands because of the reduced pressure. Expansion of a gas (air) cools the gas (because there is less thermal energy per cubic foot of gas). All the air at the elevation of a mountain top has risen and expanded and cooled to arrive at that height.As the air rises even further it continues to expand and cool until it is so cool that moisture condenses to form clouds (or fog at mountain tops) and rain or snow may fall from the clouds.
The atmosphere is transparent to the incident solar radiation. This means that the short-wave solar radiation is not absorbed by the atmosphere and it reaches the earth's surface without heating the atmosphere.But the reflcted long-wave radiation from the earth's surface heats the atmosphere by conduction from below.So the atmosphere is heated from bottom and not from the top.So the temperature decreases as you go up and that is why the mountain top is usually colder.
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http://www.livescience.com/history/070518_bts_barsoum_pyramids.html
The Surprising Truth Behind the Construction of the Great Pyramids
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"This is not my day job." So begins Michel Barsoum as he recounts his foray into the mysteries of the Great Pyramids of Egypt. As a well respected researcher in the field of ceramics, Barsoum never expected his career to take him down a path of history, archaeology, and "political" science, with materials research mixed in.
As a distinguished professor in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at Drexel University, his daily routine consists mainly of teaching students about ceramics, or performing research on a new class of materials, the so-called MAX Phases, that he and his colleagues discovered in the 1990s. These modern ceramics are machinable, thermal-shock resistant, and are better conductors of heat and electricity than many metals—making them potential candidates for use in nuclear power plants, the automotive industry, jet engines, and a range of other high-demand systems.
Then Barsoum received an unexpected phone call from Michael Carrell, a friend of a retired colleague of Barsoum, who called to chat with the Egyptian-born Barsoum about how much he knew of the mysteries surrounding the building of the Great Pyramids of Giza, the only remaining of the seven wonders of the ancient world. The widely accepted theory—that the pyramids were crafted of carved-out giant limestone blocks that workers carried up ramps—had not only not been embraced by everyone, but as important had quite a number of holes.
Burst Out Laughing
According to the caller, the mysteries had actually been solved by Joseph Davidovits, Director of the Geopolymer Institute in St. Quentin, France, more than two decades ago. Davidovits claimed that the stones of the pyramids were actually made of a very early form of concrete created using a mixture of limestone, clay, lime, and water.
"It was at this point in the conversation that I burst out laughing," says Barsoum. If the pyramids were indeed cast, he says, someone should have proven it beyond a doubt by now, in this day and age, with just a few hours of electron microscopy. It turned out that nobody had completely proven the theory...yet.
"What started as a two-hour project turned into a five-year odyssey that I undertook with one of my graduate students, Adrish Ganguly, and a colleague in France, Gilles Hug," Barsoum says. A year and a half later, after extensive scanning electron microscope (SEM) observations and other testing, Barsoum and his research group finally began to draw some conclusions about the pyramids. They found that the tiniest structures within the inner and outer casing stones were indeed consistent with a reconstituted limestone.
The cement binding the limestone aggregate was either silicon dioxide (the building block of quartz) or a calcium and magnesium-rich silicate mineral. The stones also had a high water content—unusual for the normally dry, natural limestone found on the Giza plateau—and the cementing phases, in both the inner and outer casing stones, were amorphous, in other words, their atoms were not arranged in a regular and periodic array.
Sedimentary rocks such as limestone are seldom, if ever, amorphous. The sample chemistries the researchers found do not exist anywhere in nature. "Therefore," says Barsoum, "it’s very improbable that the outer and inner casing stones that we examined were chiseled from a natural limestone block." More startlingly, Barsoum and another of his graduate students, Aaron Sakulich, recently discovered the presence of silicon dioxide nanoscale spheres (with diameters only billionths of a meter across) in one of the samples. This discovery further confirms that these blocks are not natural limestone.
Generations Misled
At the end of their most recent paper reporting these findings, the researchers reflect that it is "ironic, sublime and truly humbling" that this 4,500-year-old limestone is so true to the original that it has misled generations of Egyptologists and geologists and, "because the ancient Egyptians were the original—albeit unknowing—nanotechnologists."
As if the scientific evidence isn’t enough, Barsoum has pointed out a number of common sense reasons why the pyramids were not likely constructed entirely of chiseled limestone blocks. Egyptologists are consistently confronted by unanswered questions: How is it possible that some of the blocks are so perfectly matched that not even a human hair can be inserted between them?
Why, despite the existence of millions of tons of stone, carved presumably with copper chisels, has not one copper chisel ever been found on the Giza Plateau? Although Barsoum’s research has not answered all of these questions, his work provides insight into some of the key questions.
For example, it is now more likely than not that the tops of the pyramids are cast, as it would have been increasingly difficult to drag the stones to the summit. Also, casting would explain why some of the stones fit so closely together. Still, as with all great mysteries, not every aspect of the pyramids can be explained. How the Egyptians hoisted 70-ton granite slabs halfway up the great pyramid remains as mysterious as ever.
Why do the results of Barsoum’s research matter most today? Two words: earth cements. "How energy intensive and/or complicated can a 4,500 year old technology really be? The answer to both questions is not very," Barsoum explains. "The basic raw materials used for this early form of concrete—limestone, lime, and diatomaceous earth—can be found virtually anywhere in the world," he adds.
"Replicating this method of construction would be cost effective, long lasting, and much more environmentally friendly than the current building material of choice: Portland cement that alone pumps roughly 6 billion tons of CO2 annually into the atmosphere when it’s manufactured." "Ironically," says Barsoum, "this study of 4,500 year old rocks is not about the past, but about the future."
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http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080307223453AAlxcuS
Four Famous Johann Sebastian Bach Songs?
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Best Answer - Chosen by Voters
Here is a full list ; choose some yourself:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_com...
Goldberg Variations
Brandenburg Concertos
Orchestral Suit number 3
Coffee CantataMass in B minor
Concerto for Two Violins in D minor (the double violin concerto )
The Well-Tempered Clavier
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johann_Seba...
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'Jesu, Joy Of Man's Desiring, 'Air On A G String', 'Toccata And Fugue In D Minor, and Air
The most famous SONG written by Bach is "Jesu bleibet meine Freude", the last choir form the cantata no. 147 "Herz und Mund un That und Leben". It's a beautiful song. For the other three, choose from the links brian777 provided. As for the other respondents: "Air on the G string" DOES NOT EXIST. The piece you are referring is "Air" from the third Suite in D major. IT'S NOT PLAYED ON THE G STRING. This name came from the romantic period, because a violin player transposed this beautiful piece in G major, and rewrite it for violin-piano duo. Anyway, it's not a SONG. "Toccata und Fuge in d moll" it's not a SONG either.I think the question is about four SONGS, spelled that way especially.You could try to find arias in the Passions (Mathaeus Passion, Johannes Passion), in "Weihnachtsoratorium" ("Christmas Oratorio") and in "Messe in b moll" ("Mass in b minor").
Canon, Joy, Toccata and Fugue
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http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=Aq6GTXc6pRTjfVqF1J4Qxivty6IX;_ylv=3?qid=20081118065746AA410Bo
Does liquid mercury evaporate into the air when it's spilled?
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Yes, it does eventually evaporate and mercury fumes are very harmful even though this metal doesn't actually reach its boiling temperature until 356.7 Celsius (674.1 Fahrenheit).
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That depends on the air temperature. If it is below 30 degrees C, there will not be any noticeable mercury vapour. However, mercury is a volatile element and at higher temperature some vapour may form. And mercury vapour is one of the most hazardous substances - so don't inhale it, if you happen to come in contact with mercury.
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Mercury certainly does evaporate into the air if spilled but at a very slow rate. If spilled mercury (which is toxic) is allowed to remain between the cracks of a wooden floor in a lab the workers may build up a dangerous level of mercury from the vapors over a period of time. Also beware that spilled mercury can amalgamate (an em-brittle) gold and silver rings, etc. Elemental sulfur has been used to police up mercury spills and all should be eliminated for safety.
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No, when liquid mercury is exposed to air it turns in little pellets that are impossible to pick up and also very dangerous you have to able gloves and use something like duct tape to get them to stick to it. If you have ever broken a mercury thermometer this is what happens.
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Not hardly. At room temperature, the vapor pressure of mercury is very low. A standard atmosphere saturated with mercury will contain approximately 18 mg Hg/m³ of air, or about 0.0015%. Even a few drops of mercury will take many years to evaporate.
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http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=AlSgiH8MSP01IEGaRH189azty6IX;_ylv=3?qid=20081115055621AAd21w6
How did people brush their teeth during the medieval period?
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Best Answer - Chosen by Asker
In those days, nothing was known about dental hygiene, and they didn't know anything about bacteria. However, highly processed foods weren't yet in existence, so the refined sugars that do so much damage to teeth didn't yet exist. Bathing was considered dangerous, and people smelled very bad in those days, and I can imagine that their breath was also bad, but that was normal then.
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During this time, people who could afford it used a hog hair tooth brush. Most others either didn't brush their teeth or used a finger. Later in the period, the royalty used urine to whiten their teeth not realizing it would eventually eat the enamel off their teeth causing terrible pain
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Most people being peasants did not. Of course decay and infection became the norm. Some would just yank out the problem tooth. Some issues were more complicated like impaction. In the days before dentistry and anti biotics people died from simple infections that would not even be a consideration today.
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I don't think oral hygiene was that much of an concern to people in those times. May be only to the rich. They may be able to afford miniature brushes that are large compared to moderns ones. Otherwise, probably just a rinse of the mouth with herbs. They were deeply religiously and not very scientific.
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A fresh twig/small branch. The cut end is frayed and spread out.
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http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=AgJgqJT0Z6Ihw7Z8XHa4UR_sy6IX;_ylv=3?qid=20081119054749AATP7WD
What is the most delicious insect you have ever eaten?
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Spider. Juicy! Technically a spider is an arachnid, but for the purpose of this answer, let's allow it.
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Chocolate crickets with marshmellow creme....mmmmm
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Stick insect ... tasted like a twiglet oo and a chocolate scorpian, was immensly delicious
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a fruit fly.
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Having devoured all the insects who opposed me, I would have to say your mother was the most delicious.
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**Caramel coated Cockroach! Extra rabies!!! (n_n)
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ew wtf
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http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=Am6mpxkXIGL6Yv3Ws_W06eLty6IX;_ylv=3?qid=20081109051852AAJStO0
Is it possible for hell to exist right here on earth?
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Best Answer - Chosen by Asker
It is interesting you should add the part about the quad to your question. In fact there are far more healthy people living hell on earth than people with health issues. Many times people with health issues seek God and they come to know him. Come into a relationship with him. He comforts them and gives them his love and the greatest hope of all. There are so many healthy people that never allow God this chance and somehow get caught in the confusion hurts and pains of this world, leaving them to live hell on earth. Great Question. God Bless.
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Bottom of Form 2
Where is the hell situated? -
Deu 32:22 For a fire is kindled in mine anger, and shall burn unto the lowest hell, and shall consume the earth with her increase, and set on fire the foundations of the mountains.
Job 11:8 It is as high as heaven; what canst thou do? deeper than hell; what canst thou know?
Psa 55:15 Let death seize upon them, and let them go down quick into hell: for wickedness is in their dwellings, and among them.
Psa 86:13 For great is thy mercy toward me: and thou hast delivered my soul from the lowest hell.
Pro 5:5 Her feet go down to death; her steps take hold on hell.
Pro 7:27 Her house is the way to hell, going down to the chambers of death.
Pro 9:18 But he knoweth not that the dead are there; and that her guests are in the depths of hell.
Pro 15 :24 The way of life is above to the wise, that he may depart from hell beneath.
Isa 5:14 Therefore hell hath enlarged herself, and opened her mouth without measure: and their glory, and their multitude, and their pomp, and he that rejoiceth, shall descend into it.
Isa 14:9 Hell from beneath is moved for thee to meet thee at thy coming: it stirreth up the dead for thee, even all the chief ones of the earth; it hath raised up from their thrones all the kings of the nations.
Isa 14:15 Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit. (This means that hell is beside the realm of the dead?)
Eze 31:16 I made the nations to shake at the sound of his fall, when I cast him down to hell with them that descend into the pit: and all the trees of Eden, the choice and best of Lebanon, all that drink water, shall be comforted in the nether parts of the earth. (Realm of the dead?)
Eze 31:17 They also went down into hell with him unto them that be slain with the sword; and they that were his arm, that dwelt under his shadow in the midst of the heathen.
Eze 32:21 The strong among the mighty shall speak to him out of the midst of hell with them that help him: they are gone down, they lie uncircumcised, slain by the sword.
Amo 9:2 Though they dig into hell, thence shall mine hand take them; though they climb up to heaven, thence will I bring them down:
Mat 11:23 And thou, Capernaum, which art exalted unto heaven, shalt be brought down to hell: for if the mighty works, which have been done in thee, had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day.
Luk 10:15 And thou, Capernaum, which art exalted to heaven, shalt be thrust down to hell.
Act 2:31 He seeing this before spake of the resurrection of Christ, that his soul was not left in hell, neither his flesh did see corruption.
2 Pet 2:4 For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment;
Rev 20 :14 And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.
Source(s): http://thehiddenverses.blogspot.com. Go to older post at the end of each page
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People who believe in reincarnation and karma think so. Although we don't call it "hell", because we don't believe in "hell". But the effect is the same. We pay for our sins through Karma here, on this plane of existence. Either in this life of the next.
Source(s): Eclectic Pagan
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Yes, it is possible. Whenever you are facing something that bring you down completely, you are considered as being in hell.
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For religions like buddhism and hinduism, this could be akin to hell. Since they are striving to leave here, and will keep coming back here until they've risen above this life. All depends on how you look at it.
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http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=pX6OJWWTI0...
This will give you an understanding of hell its in 8 parts.
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Finite suffering on this planet <>
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Hell is the afterlife, it is in the center of the earth.
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not hell but evil of it. but here are also some heavenly things on earth. the way i look at it people bring on their own suffering
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Yes. "Hell" is just a state of mind which is sadly achievable here.
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Heaven and Hell are both states of mind!
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no but I think you're close as far as the location of it
after judgment comes the lake of fire
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I've always thought that!
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http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=AstmQ6qxQZ7p9pgHiMKIRZnty6IX;_ylv=3?qid=20081107053109AAdXYvB
Do Tibetian monks live longer than normal people?
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Best Answer - Chosen by Asker
I think tibetians have the shortest life amongst all 5 races in china, Han, Manch, Mongol, Islam, and tibetian, based on the consensus in china some years ago. I believe it is because of their hygene and the food they eat. They take the bath only twice in their life time, when they were born and when they get marriied. Also, they mainly eat meat and less vegetable that make them have shorter life. Many vegetarians are not monks, and tibetian monks are not the only monks who dont eat meat.
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A combination of a vegetarian diet, physical exercise and spiritual exploration and growth can slow the aging process. Also by the way they are normal people. It is those of us who are in rapid decay who are not normal.
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No they live longer because they are less stressed than most people
Source(s): LuvThosePurpleShoes !!!
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http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=ArFVdmPkpVr3BuhT_piYrFvty6IX;_ylv=3?qid=20081107051720AAbaUQp
Can a person out-swim a bear in the water?
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Best Answer - Chosen by Asker
I don't think an angry bear would bother to swim after you, even if you had its cub tied to your back. If we swam like dogs, bears would definitely outswim us (superior leg power and they're used to mobilizing using all fours), but considering that we have developed techniques for maximum speed, i think we could easily outswim bears.
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I'm thinking that you will probably develop hypothermia before you out-swim a bear. Or if you survive that, pretty sure you WON'T survive a bear coming towards you. I have never seen a bear swim before, but pretty sure they can swim damn fast when they want too!
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If you're fast you can probably stay ahead of it for a few yards or so. Bears aren't super fast swimmers but they aren't slow either and have much more stamina, meaning that they'd catch up to you in short order.
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Did the gingerbread man make it across the river? No.
Source(s): Common sense, bear has buoyancy fat, just plain fact
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Well, at least this is an original question.
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I doubt it especially not a polar bear
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Micheal Phelps can
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What kind of bear?
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How hungry is the bear?
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HELL NO!!! bears can run 40mph, and they swim extra fast. Just copy and paste ur question on google and answer urself
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http://answers.yahoo.com/my/my;_ylt=Ar8CEgeMALGEE9z.VjH2GXvpy6IX;_ylv=3
Is there any contemporary source beside the bible that mentioned Jesus Christ?
Jesus performed many miracles during his life time, but is there any ancient text in existence that supports the bible's version about him?
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Best Answer - Chosen by Asker
The only direct references to Jesus himself are by Josephus (37-100AD), who mentions him twice in his Antiquities of the Jews (c.93AD). Pliny the Younger wrote to Emperor Trajan in 112 AD while governor of Pontus, about the problem of dealing with Christians. Tacitus (56-117AD) wrote about Nero blaming the Christians for the great fire of Rome in 64AD as follows: Nero fastened the guilt of starting the blaze and inflicted the most exquisite tortures on a class hated for their abominations, called Christians by the populace. Christus, from whom the name had its origin, suffered the extreme penalty during the reign of Tiberius 14-37 at the hands of one of our procurators, Pontius Pilatus, and a most mischievous superstition, thus checked for the moment, again broke out not only in Judaea, the first source of the evil, but even in Rome, where all things hideous and shameful from every part of the world find their centre and become popular. Wikipedia covers this quite well, although it is worth following up the sources rather than taking it at face value.
Source(s): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Historicity...
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There are many other documents from the time, some are available some not and don't trust all of them because some are fakes but some are real. The problem with the Da Vinci code was that people wrote off everything in the book just because some was fake. The true facts are that many books were cut from the bible for various reasons during the council of nicea. Some of these cooberate the bible and some directly contradict it I guess it is just up to you to decide. Google them yourself though because I don't want to be responsible for pushing your opinion in either direction.
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You have to remember that the Bilble is a collection of books that were pulled together into one book. So it wasn't some guy sat down and wrote it. So yes lots of books were written and the best/ most consistant were kept. Jesus is held as a historical figure even to those who see him as nothing more than just a person. Jesus' existance is rarely debated and it widely accepted that he as a person is real. Things were a little different 2000 years ago, not everyone could read or write, and if something was written down it was of great importance. This is why after Jesus' death, people realized that the information of Jesus' life should be written down.
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The Bible scriptures have been preserved better than any other writtings in the history of man. There are no other writings around today that would have documented him because they did not last over the centuries. If you doubt the validity of his existence, then you should seriously doubt the existence of Julius caesar since there are only 5 known written references to him, and the most reliable is the bible.
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Well why would their be , He lived in Israel , only went over to samaria and that is it . So anything that was wrote about Him would have originated from that area and that area only . Not unless they had TV or radio or word of mouth , but that also would have traveled from only one source . And as far as Jesus being real , I have seen Him in a vision once . And when praying to Him was healed instantly of sever exhaustion with a headache to match the exhaustion . The only way He could have done that , was by moving atoms around in my body . And he did that in one second. Just like in the bible . So fixing a sever exhaustion or raising the dead , it all involves moving atom around , since he can do one He can do the other just as easy. Or he can move a few atoms around from the dust of the ground and make a man or a animal or what ever . It's all the same .
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Yes! "Prophecy of Emmanuel" is the best source! His miraculas birth was predicted earlier. People of that time were expecting him as Messiah. Jesus is a foretold prophet of God. Unfortunatly his followers treated him badly! They changed every thing even his name was changed from Essua to jesus? In fact the unfair changes have made him a complete stranger. He will come again and give you a complete introduction !! Holy Quran confirmed his miraculas birth and his righteousness after 600 years and eliminated all sorts of doubts.
Source(s): www.IslamReligion.com www.MuslimBridges.com
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The Qu'ran mention Jesus, but is about 500 years later. Josephus Flavius mentions him in his Antiquities, which were written about the same time as the gospels, ie at least 40 years after the alleged date of the crucifixions. There are no (surviving) sources contemporary with the life of Jesus, including the bible.
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Nay, virtually nothing mentions the existance of Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, Jesus, Nazareth, etc.
Liane
You know why that is, right? During the Dark Ages, over two centuries of Christian-inspired civil murder and genocidal conquest, they sought to destroy all material documenting our history. A bit strange, isn't it? Though these are the parts of our history your faith doesn't want you to know about. The line of Caesars are also documented in stone.
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The writings of Jewish historian Titus Flavius Josephus in The Antiquities of The Jews wrote: "Now there was about this time Jesus, a wise man, if it be lawful to call him a man; for he was a doer of wonderful works, a teacher of such men as receive the truth with pleasure. He drew over to him both many of the Jews and many of the Gentiles. He was [the] Christ. And when Pilate, at the suggestion of the principal men amongst us, had condemned him to the cross, those that loved him at the first did not forsake him; for he appeared to them alive again the third day; as the divine prophets had foretold these and ten thousand other wonderful things concerning him. And the tribe of Christians, so named from him, are not extinct at this day.
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Josephus
http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_7615...
The Jewish War
Jewish Antiquities
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Josephus_on...
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Have you read Jesus and the puppy or counting with Jesus, my favourite has to be colour along with Jesus, btw it was mere speculation about Jesus and his miracles
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Quran explains almost every detail about Jesus. How he was born. That he was the prophet of the Allah. And also that JESUS WILL COME BACK.
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I'm pretty sure there's other texts that mention him but not necessarily in accordance with the Bible. And if I'm not mistaken Jesus was only written about after his death.
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Ok! I will google it..
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And for the people who tell you Josephus, they don't know their history. The Josephus texts where he mentions Jesus were debunked long ago as fakes.
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No. Not even the Bible is contemporary - the earliest writings were at least 3 decades later (Paul's letters).
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Well the Quran....But Bible is the main one.
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http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=AlJa60aoPSSupGspRJmw3VDsy6IX;_ylv=3?qid=20081110224544AAoVHhu
Is there any other animal that could live inside the sewage pipe beside the rat?
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Best Answer - Chosen by Asker
I spent years working in sewer design and construction which meant a lot of 'hands on' experience if you get my meaning! Foul sewers tend to have a lot of noxious gases that see off a lot of visitors and the lack of light gets rid of the rest with the exception of rats and mice. The effluent is toxic to fish. Storm drains on the other hand have rain water which is ok for wildlife but the lack of light in pipes means nothing will grow there except some algae. Near the outfalls, where light can get in, you can find all the normal wildlife you would associate with any watercourse, from fish to swans! Light and the kind of water/effluent are the two main factors. The tales of alligators are just urban myths.
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If there is, we don't want to know about it! Rumors of alligators in sewer systems have been rife for years, but I don't think there's any real evidence of it based on fact. But yes, If you expand "animals" to include everything living that isn't a plant, I'm sure roaches and a whole host of other things we also don't want to know about live with our sewage, too. :)
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Goldfish. I flushed my goldfish who was alive down the toilet... I had to... because the tank broke, and I immediately picked him up and took him to the toilet... cause I had no where else to put him, if I waited to long he would die. But, maybe they would die on their journey there cause of the pipes and stuff? I don't know. But, lots of bugs, creepy crawlers and such live there.
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These are urban myths...for the most part, all animals will die in sewage pipes due to methane gas contained in sewage. In really large sewers where plenty of air gets mixed, rats and other animals can make it, but not the sewers we have for the most part.
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Snakes often live in sewer drains & have been known to pop out of toilets at inconvenient times.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story...
http://www.blufftontoday.com/taxonomy/te...
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TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES....TURTLE POWER!!!
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The koala bear
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Yup, I'm thinkin' SNAKES !! Hope you're not scared!! GULP
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By Amy Ellis Nut
From the Star-Legger
Reader's Digest- November 2003
The End of Aging-Breakthrough Science May Keep Us All From Growing Old
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We human beings are the only animals capable of contemplating our own demise. We mourn, we memorialize, we philosophize and we pray. And when it happens on rare occasions that we "cheat" death, we believe, just for a moment, in immortality. Today scientists are tempting fate in ways never before imagined as they demystify the secrets of longevity. Biochemist Bruce Ames believes that nutrients can repair damaged cells and make them "young again". Molecular biologist Judith Campisi is studying how to keep cells from aging.
Both believe that while there may be no actual Fountain of Youth or scientific Dorian Gray in a bottle, reversal of aging and an extended life span are now on the horizon. At 74, Bruce Ames looks every bit the part of an elderly gent, with his white hair, bifocals and quaint bow tie. Ames is a big idea man. Genes. Cancer. Nutrition. And now aging. He has published more than 450 articles and is becoming one of the frequently cited scientists on the planet. "
I told a colleague recently that I was doing the best work in my career," says Ames, who is a professor of biochemistry at the University of California at Berkeley," and he looked at me and said, "Bruce, you've been telling me that for 30 years." I guess that means my enthusiasm genes are undamaged." Ames would know if they were. Damage genes have been his business for half a century. In the 1950s, Ames was a researcher at the NIH. His research ultimatically proved that genes damaged by certain chemicals often give rise to cancer. By the 1970s, the "Ames test" was the world's most widely used method for identifying potential carcinogents in everything from clothing to hair dye to pharmaceuticals.
Ames has a penchant for mixing plaids; at the same time, his mind is relentlessly mixing and matching ideas. "It's just problem-solving," he said of his methodology. "If you have two odd facts in your head and suddenly they fit together, you see a new way of explaining something." Two odd events kept jangling about in Ames's head: the rise in cancer and the increase in free radicals with age. Free radicals are molecular miscreants that create havoc inside cells by stripping other molecules of vitals electrons. Was there a direct link between free radicals and aging? he wondered. Ames began by looking at mitochondria, where free radicals are produced.
Mitochondria are spectacularly efficient. Of the oxygen consumed by an average cell, the mitochondria convert 95 percent to help turn food into fuel. Every time we breath, we're giving a boost to our cells. During that process, however, mitochondria sometimes "misplace" electrons. Like money flying out the back of a Brink's truck careening around a corner, these electrons-now called free radicals-scatter around inside cells, bonding indiscriminatelly with other molecules. This mischief is called oxidation, and it allows free radicals to become chromosomal rototillers, mangling DNA at will.
Too many free radicals create a kind of cellular pollution that shoot down our energy levels. Too much damaged DNA causes cell mutation (which can cause cancer) and cell death. Both are signs of aging. In 1990 Ames and his colleges at the University of California at Berkeley announced that they'd discovered twice as much free redical damage in tissues of two-year-old rats as in two- month-old rats. Ames's team had found a crucial link between oxidation, DNA mutation and age: Free radical oxidation doesn't just rise with aging- it causes it.
The more that mitochondria "leak" free radicals, the more those radicals end up damaging the mitochondria, which in turn leak even more free radicals. This vicious cycle gets worse as we get older. It is the ultimate biological irony: The thing we most need to live-oxygen-is the very thing killing us. Regarding his own biological clock, Ames, suprisingly, has been something of a slacker. He likes to joke that he gets his exercise by "running" experiments, "skipping" the controls and "jumping" to conclusions.
His wife of 40 years, biochemist Giovanna Ferroluzzi, heard the joke for the 50th time recently and exacted her revenge: "She got me a personal trainer." Ames says he has time for only about an hour a week with the trainer, but Giovanna insists they walk the two miles to their favorite Italian restaurant, Oliveto, for lunch at least three times a week.
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Visiting his wife's native country in the mid-1990s, Ames saw that a dietary supplement known as acetyl-L-carnitine, or ALCAR, was sweeping Italy. It was being marketed as a pick-me-up, and Ames understood why: ALCAR is a natural biochemical that helps cells produce energy. He suspected ALCAR might slow, or even reverse aging, and began feeding it to his old rats. They loved the stuff. Within weeks, they appeared re-energized.
There was a problem, however. The ALCAR did not lower the level of free radicals. Ames decided to add another supplement to his rats' diets, the anti-oxident alpha lipoic acid. "With the two supplements, these old rats got up and did the Macarena," said Ames. " The brain looked better; they were full of energy." It was the equivalent of making an 80-year-old person look and act middle-aged. In 1999, Ames and a colleage, Tory Hagen, founded the Juvenon company in order to sell the energy formula.
The pill, available over the Internet, includes 200 milligrams of alpha lipoic acid and 500 milligrams of acetyl-L-caritine, but the two nutrients can be purchased at any health food store. "I don't want to over-hype it, ", cautions Ames, who has no financial stake in the company. "We have to wait for the results of the human trials." Right now, Ames and his researchers are studying whether the pill can improve circulation in cardiovascular patients by relaxing blood vessels, thereby possibly reducing the risk of heart attack or stroke.
Ames takes a dose of his own supplement twice a day. "I'm very optimistic." In her basement office in Berkeley, Judith Campisi sits on the edge of a chair and speaks with a wide-eyed enthusiasm usually reserved for first year graduate students. Piles of papers rise from the floor like unsteady chimneys, some nearly as tall as the four-foot-ten scientist. Campisi is a senior molecular biologist at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.
An expert in the genetics of aging, she believes that altering genes to extend life span may not be far off. Campisi, 54, is a proponent of aging: the same cellular process that keeps us healthy in our youth also causes our bodies to age in later years. Her research focuses on the tellomere, a structure containing a repeated DNA sequence that is found on both ends of every chromosome in the human body. In 1990, Calvin Harley, now the chief scientist at Geron, a biopharmaceutical company, discovered that as cells divide, the telomeres also got shorter with age.
When telomeres become too short, they send a signal to the cell to stop dividing, and a natural stage called senescene ensues. Campisi believes the primary function of senescene is to fight off cancer. "Senescent cells are not dead," she says. "They're perfectly alive, but what they can never, ever do again is divide. And if you can't divide, you can't form a tumor." Campisi's research has shown that the longer we live, the more senescent cells our bodies accumulate, and it's those cells, she says, that may play a leading role in making us look and feel old- causing wrinkles, failing eye-sight, and chronic inflamation.
If she can prove this hypothesis, Campisi will have identified one of the main contributors to aging: We age not because our cells die, but because they stop dividing and start to malfunction. "One thing we've learned," she says, "is that you don't want cells to not 'senesce' at all, because then you have cancer. What would be great would be to have some of the senescent cells die, so they don't accumulate with age.
That's what we're working on." Research, says Campisi, is alot like one of her favorite pastimes, cooking. A little of this, a little of that- the best meals are unplanned, the result of intuition and experimentation. "I consider recipes advisory only," she says. Likewise in her research, Campisi enjoys creating her own path, pursuing solutions not with a sprinter's speed but at an ambler's pace, taking the time to search familiar territory for missed clues.
"I just start doing this random walk," she says, "and eventually I wind up where I need to go." Some scientists, such as Jay Olshansky, a professor in the school of public health at the University of Illinois at Chicago, express caution. The co-author of The Quest for Immortality, Olshansky says: "When we survive into old age, just as with automobiles and race cars, thing can start to go wrong." Robert Lanza, medical director of Advanced Cell Technology in Worcester, Mass., shares this view.
"You can achieve immortality at the cellular level, but I don't see how it could be practical in extending life span," he says. "human hit a wall at 120 years." "There's no question that in two or three decades we'll be able to replace every part of the human body," Lanza continues. "But we're like tires. There are just so many times you can be patched up." Ames and Campisi remain optimistic. Both share the belief that a delay of aging is within our grasp. Someday, they say, we may all enjoy a very long and healthy extended middle age.
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Watch Bruce Ames Lecture on Aging part A in How to Videos View More Free Videos Online at Veoh.com
Watch Bruce Ames Lecture on Aging, Part B in How to Videos View More Free Videos Online at Veoh.com
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http://altmedicine.about.com/od/alphalipoicacid/a/alphalipoicacid.htm
What is Alpha Lipoic Acid?
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Other names: lipoic acid, thioctic acid, ALA.- Alpha lipoic acid is a fatty acid found naturally inside every cell in the body. It's needed by the body to produce the energy for our body's normal functions. Alpha lipoic acid converts glucose (blood sugar) into energy.
Alpha lipoic acid is also an antioxidant, a substance that neutralizes potentially harmful chemicals called free radicals. What makes alpha lipoic acid unique is that it functions in water and fat, unlike the more common antioxidants vitamins C and E, and it appears to be able to recycle antioxidants such as vitamin C and glutathione after they have been used up.
Glutathione is an important antioxidant that helps the body eliminate potentially harmful substances. Alpha lipoic acid increases the formation of glutathione. Alpha lipoic acid is made by the body and can be found in very small amounts in foods such as spinach, broccoli, peas, Brewer's yeast, brussel sprouts, rice bran, and organ meats. Alpha lipoic acid supplements are available in capsule form at health food stores, some drugstores, and online. For maximum absorption, the supplements should be taken on an empty stomach.
Why People Use Alpha Lipoic Acid
Peripheral Neuropathy: Peripheral neuropathy can be caused by injury, nutritional deficiencies, chemotherapy or by conditions such as diabetes, Lyme disease, alcoholism, shingles, thyroid disease, and kidney failure. Symptoms can include pain, burning, numbness, tingling, weakness, and itching. Alpha lipoic acid is thought to work as an antioxidant in both water and fatty tissue, enabling it to enter all parts of the nerve cell and protect it from damage.
Preliminary studies suggest that alpha lipoic acid may help. In one of the largest studies on the use of alpha lipoic acid, 181 people took 600 mg, 1200 mg or 1800 mg of alpha lipoic acid a day or a placebo. After 5 weeks, alpha lipoic acid improved symptoms. The dose that was best tolerated while still providing benefit was 600 mg once daily.
Brain Function: Alpha lipoic acid can cross the blood-brain barrier, a wall of tiny vessels and structural cells, and pass easily into the brain. It is thought to protect brain and nerve tissue by preventing free radical damage.
Age-Related Conditions: As an antioxidant, alpha lipoic acid can neutralize free radicals which can damage cells. Free radical damage is thought to contribute to aging and chronic illness.
Other Conditions: Alpha lipoic acid has also been suggested for cataracts, glaucoma, multiple sclerosis, burning mouth syndrome, Alzheimer's disease and stroke, but large, well-designed studies are needed to see if it's effective for these conditions.
Side Effects
Side effects of alpha lipoic acid may include headache, tingling or a "pins and needles" sensation, skin rash, or muscle cramps. There have been a few reports in Japan of a rare condition called insulin autoimmune syndrome in people using alpha lipoic acid. The condition causes hypoglycemia and antibodies directed against the body's own insulin without previous insulin therapy. The safety of alpha lipoic acid in pregnant or nursing women, children, or people with kidney or liver disease is unknown.
Possible Drug Interactions
Alpha lipoic acid may improve blood sugar control, so people with diabetes who are taking medication to lower blood sugar, such as metformin (Glucophage), glyburide (DiaBeta, Glynase), should only take alpha lipoic acid under the supervision of a qualified health professional and have their blood sugar levels carefully monitored. Animal studies indicate that alpha lipoic acid may alter thyroid hormone levels, so it could theoretically have the same effect in humans. People taking thyroid medications such as levothyroxine should be monitored by their healthcare provider.
Sources:
Holmquist L, Stuchbury G, Berbaum K, Muscat S, Young S, Hager K, Engel J, Münch G. Lipoic acid as a novel treatment for Alzheimer's disease and related dementias. Pharmacology & Therapeutics. 113.1 (2007): 154-164.
Takeuchi Y, Miyamoto T, Kakizawa T, Shigematsu S, Hashizume K. Insulin Autoimmune Syndrome possibly caused by alpha lipoic acid. Intern Med. 46.5 (2007): 237-239.
Ziegler D, Ametov A, Barinov A, Dyck PJ, Gurieva I, Low PA, Munzel U, Yakhno N, Raz I, Novosadova M, Maus J, Samigullin R. Oral treatment with alpha-lipoic acid improves symptomatic diabetic polyneuropathy: the SYDNEY 2 trial. Diabetes Care. 19.11 (2006): 2365-2370.
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http://www.wellnessletter.com/html/ds/dsAlphaLipoicAcid.php
Alpha-Lipoic Acid
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Scientists discovered the importance of alpha-lipoic acid in the 1950s, and recognized it as an antioxidant in 1988. The body needs alpha-lipoic acid to produce energy. It plays a crucial role in the energy-producing structures in cells. The body actually makes enough alpha-lipoic acid for this basic function.
Alpha-lipoic acid acts as an antioxidant, however, only when there is an excess of it and it is in the "free" state in the cells. There is little free alpha-lipoic acid circulating in your body, unless you consume supplements or get it injected. Alpha-lipoic acid is a versatile antioxidant—it helps deactivate an unusually wide array of cell-damaging free radicals in many bodily systems.
Claims, purported benefits: Alpha-lipoic acid is said to prevent or treat many age-related diseases, from heart disease, and stroke to diabetes and Parkinson’s disease and Alzheimer’s disease, as well as declines in energy, muscle strength, brain function, and immunity.
Alpha-lipoic acid is also being studied for HIV disease and multiple sclerosis. Bottom line: Though evidence has been accumulating, research on alpha-lipoic acid is still in its early stages. This potent antioxidant may some day be seen as an important supplement.
Not enough is known now to recommend alpha-lipoic acid. No one knows what dose should be used for what ailment. If you have diabetes, heart disease, Parkinson’s, or Alzheimer’s and decide to take it, tell your doctor. Though alpha-lipoic acid appears to be safe, the long-term effects of large doses are unknown. If alpha-lipoic acid is as powerful as it seems, there may be a danger in too much of a good thing.
1 comment:
Carl Sagan reminded us we are all made from the stuff of stars. I will miss his exciting and informative explanations of the universe in which we all live.
http://www.carlsagan.com/
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