Ancient Cities, Lost Tombs and Particle Physics
It's long been a mystery what type of government ruled Teotihuacan, a massive, ancient city in what is now Mexico. The name means City of the Gods and was bestowed on it by the Aztecs, who discovered it long after its fall. Now scientists figure they can peer back into that distant past and find an answer by counting muons. Muons are elementary particles about 209 times bigger than an electron. They're created when cosmic protons hit the atmosphere. Then they rain down and are absorbed by matter. By counting muons in the Pyramid of the Sun, scientists hope to determine whether there's a tomb or tombs in it. If there are more than one, it could lend credence to a co-rulership hypothesis.
On a much less scientific note, Kristen and I climbed the Pyramid of the Sun a few years back. There's a little metal disk in the middle of the top, and tourists were charging their crystals and jewelry on it. They said it was an ancient ley line marker. It looked like a modern survey marker to me. But what do I know? Our guide had just spent the last half hour hustling me around gift shops where they'd pumped me full of free tequila. Yum ... tequila ... Maybe they were feeling the muons...
It's long been a mystery what type of government ruled Teotihuacan, a massive, ancient city in what is now Mexico. The name means City of the Gods and was bestowed on it by the Aztecs, who discovered it long after its fall. Now scientists figure they can peer back into that distant past and find an answer by counting muons. Muons are elementary particles about 209 times bigger than an electron. They're created when cosmic protons hit the atmosphere. Then they rain down and are absorbed by matter. By counting muons in the Pyramid of the Sun, scientists hope to determine whether there's a tomb or tombs in it. If there are more than one, it could lend credence to a co-rulership hypothesis.
On a much less scientific note, Kristen and I climbed the Pyramid of the Sun a few years back. There's a little metal disk in the middle of the top, and tourists were charging their crystals and jewelry on it. They said it was an ancient ley line marker. It looked like a modern survey marker to me. But what do I know? Our guide had just spent the last half hour hustling me around gift shops where they'd pumped me full of free tequila. Yum ... tequila ... Maybe they were feeling the muons...
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