Centuries old shipwreck found at the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico

Here's a few great shots of an old copper-hulled ship that sank more than 200 years ago in the Gulf of Mexico. Among the artifacts are a canon, some plates and bottles, and several muskets.

From MSNBC:

A newly discovered 200-year-old shipwreck was found 200 miles off the Gulf Coast in more than 4,000 feet of water by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The wooden hull of the ship has nearly disintegrated, but a greenish copper shell that once protected the ship's wood remains behind.

Not many details are available at the moment, but just imagine the story behind this incredible find!


Photos: NOAA Okeanos Explorer Program via AP
Check out the full story at MSNBC

Weirdest underwater lifeforms

Gizmodo's got a great video line-up of strange sealife they just posted. Here are two of my "favorites" (I guess?) for all-out weirdness. They'd make great aliens in some sci-fi story, no?

I agree with Gizmodo's assessemtnt that this Pacific Barrel-eyed Fish
looks like it has a tiny pilot inside.




This Predatory Tunicate looks like a giant cellophane Muppet.



Head on over for the full list. Fair warning: there's a definite lack of cuteness to some of these critters.

The Diversity of "Jellyfish"

I'm dusting off some old draft posts that I'd meant to put up earlier. This video "There's no such thing as a jellyfish" is a great primer on the critters. Plus its food for thought on a whole mess of topics, like life sciences, marine biology, and even astrobiology.

Also, it's breathtakingly gorgeous video!

Shapeshifting Animals: The Mimic Octopus

This is pretty mindblowing--an octopus that can changed it's shape, texture, and shading to mimic up to 15 other aquatic creatures. Truly fascinating! It gets REALLY wicked around 1:20, but you'll want to watch the whole video anyway.

• Wikipedia article
• Props to Scuttlefish!

Best Archeological Finds of 09

National Geographic has listed their Top 10 Archeology Finds for the past year, which includes some really great discoveries. My personal favorites:

Blackbeard Pirate Relics!

Who wouldn't want to get their hands on some genuine pirate booty? (Okay, let me rephrase). Who wouldn't want to get their hands on a real-life pirate chest? (Oh, nevermind!) Read the article you scallywags:

Some of the newfound relics add to evidence that the ship belonged to the pirate. ""We feel pretty comfortable that that's what this is," said Marke Wilde-Ramsing, director of the Queen Anne's Revenge project for the North Carolina Office of State Archaeology.

...and...

Navigational instruments were favorite targets of looting pirates, because the tools could easily be sold or traded, said archaeologist David Moore of the North Carolina Maritime Museum, who is working on the wreck site.

World War II Samurai Subs

These WWII era submarines discovered off the coast of Hawaii were at the peak of naval stealth technology for the age and even carried folding-wing planes for sneak attacks. Maybe they should be called Ninja Subs? From the article:

Specifically designed for a stealth attack on the U.S. East Coast--perhaps targeting Washington D.C., and New York City--the "samurai subs" were fast, far-ranging, and in some cases carried folding-wing aircraft, according to Dik Daso, curator of modern military aircraft at the Smithsonian's Air and Space Museum, speaking in the new National Geographic documentary Hunt for the Samurai Subs.

No word on whether the Samurai Sub commanders understood that DC and NYC are clear on the other side of North America....

Pre-Stonehenge Structure Found....Surrounded by Crop Circles!

Cue the sci-fi music, this one is just plain eerie. Archeologists found this site spanning nearly 500 acres when they examined aerial photos of crop circles. What they found were the remains of an undiscovered 6,000 year-old temple complex complete with tombs and burial mounds. From the article:

During the late Stone Age, it's believed, people in the region left their dead in the open to be picked clean by birds and other animals.

Skulls and other bones of people who were for some reason deemed significant were later placed inside the burial mounds, Wickstead explained.

"These are bone houses, in a way," she said. "Instead of whole bodies, [the tombs contain] parts of ancestors."

This one is among my favorites because there are so many unanswered questions. Were the crop circles just coincidence? Or do they exist to draw attention to the site? Be sure to check out both pages of this article on Nat Geo's site.

Read the complete list--it's chock full of fodder for pulp adventure, including the largest Anglo-Saxon treasure every discovered (pictured up top). Wait, let's try that again. I also take no small pride in that I covered one of the discoveries about the "Vampire crypt" on this blog, back in August. Score!

So there's like, 10 new ideas for you--now go have fun!

All photos: National Geographic