An archaeological dig at a 17th Century site in Peru has uncovered a letter that contains words from a previously lost language. The language appears to be related to Quechua, an indigenous language of the Andes still spoken today. Jeffrey Quilter, a Harvard archaeologist, proposed a possible origin for the language:

He said it could also be the written version of a language colonial-era Spaniards referred to in historical writings as pescadora, for the fishermen on Peru's northern coast who spoke it.

So far no record of the pescadora language has been found.

The letter, buried in the ruins of the Magdalena de Cao Viejo church at the El Brujo Archaeological Complex in northern Peru, was discovered in 2008.[...]

"I think a lot of people don't realize how many languages were spoken in pre-contact times," Quilter said. "Linguistically, the relationship between the Spanish conquistadors and the indigenous was very complex."

Link | Photo (unrelated) via Flickr user quinet used under Creative Commons license

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In the past few years, astronomers have detected many planets orbiting other stars. This led some to wonder what our solar system would look like to alien astronomers on the same quest, using similar technology. They concluded that the key to finding planets around our sun at a distance would be Neptune. This planet's gravity has significant effects on the Kuiper Belt -- the region of gas and dust surrounding the outer limits of our solar system. Christopher Stark of the Carnegie Institution for Science explained:

Through gravitational effects called resonances, Neptune wrangles nearby particles into preferred orbits. This is what creates the clear zone near the planet as well as dust enhancements that precede and follow it around the Sun.

“One thing we’ve learned is that, even in the present-day solar system, collisions play an important role in the Kuiper Belt’s structure,” Stark explained. That’s because collisions tend to destroy large particles before they can drift too far from where they’re made.

Link via Geekosystem

Barry Lee built a drag racing car that is powered by six Makita circular saws. He entered it into an annual contest in Britain in which participants build racing vehicles from household tools:

DIY fans from around the world are strapping themselves into the speedy cars powered by the engines from everyday tools such as leaf blowers, disc cutters and chainsaws.

The mini dragsters can reach speeds of up to 112kph (70mph) on a 100m (320ft) strip because of their lightweight bodies.

Link via DVICE | Photo: SWNS

Designer Ed Swan made this table layered with different colors of paint. It was put on display at a recent exhibit in London. Visitors were given sandpaper and invited to sand away layers to create patterns and images that they liked.

Link via Make | Designer's Website | Photo: Core77

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"Layering" is a when a bartender mixes drinks (or components thereof) on top of each other in a container without mixing them. Here's a video of one skilled bartender layering and pouring nine cocktails.

via Geekologie

A bear attacked a dog in Frenchtown, Montana. The dog's owner fended off the bear using a zucchini:

When the woman, whom police did not name, tried to separate the animals, the bear bit her in the leg.

Maricelli says the woman reached for the nearest object at hand on the porch's railing — a large zucchini that she had harvested from her garden.

The woman flung the vegetable at the bear, striking it and forcing it to flee.

Link via Say Uncle | Photo (unrelated) via Flickr user Jagger used under Creative Commons license

Artist Daniel Croiser's medium is wood burning. He's particularly fond of depicting superheroes, such as the above Swamp Thing. Some of Crosier's works have been featured as comic book covers. At the link, you can view his deviantART gallery and at the Comics Alliance link, you can see a selection of his superhero-themed works.

Link via Comics Alliance

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Walter Breuning of Great Falls, Montana turned 114 years old today. He's the oldest man in the world. In this video, Breuning shares his memories of growing up in the 19th Century, experiencing hard economic times, and appreciating the technological wonders of our time.

Link via Geekosystem

More than 2,000 years ago, the Greek intellectual Aristotle suspected that the European brown hare could get pregnant while already pregnant. Now scientists in Germany have concluded that he was right:

The researchers used selective breeding and high-resolution ultrasonography to demonstrate that a male hare can fertilize a female during late pregnancy. The resulting embryos will develop around four days before delivery of the first pregnancy. The embryos don’t have any place to go at that time, however, since the uterus is occupied by the embryos’ older brothers and sisters. So the embryos hang out in the oviduct, rather like when you wait in your car for a parking space to open up. Once the uterus is free, the embryos move in.

The result is that a female hare can shorten the time between litters from 42 to 38 days and deliver up to 35.4 percent more offspring during a breeding season.

Link | Photo by Flickr user Biillyboy used under Creative Commons license

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Lorenzo, a parrot, was seized by Colombian police after he was trained to serve as a lookout for drug dealers. He was taught to call out if police approached:

According to environmental authorities, Lorenzo the parrot was trying to tip-off a local drug cartel when officers conducted an undercover raid early Wednesday.

"This parrot was sending out alerts," said police officer Hollman Oliveira. "You could say he was some sort of watch bird."

Authorities claim Lorenzo is one of nearly 1700 parrots seized by officials after being trained by drug traffickers to act as lookouts.

Lorenzo caused quite the stir on Wednesday as he was presented to journalists. The well trained creature even showed off his look out skills as he yelled out: "run, run you are going to get caught."

Link via Nerdcore

Artist Jeff Swenty stains and glues together square pieces of wood to create wall hangings that look like characters and scenes from classic video games. Pictured above is Swenty's homage to Pitfall. His other works include tributes to Contra, Super Mario Bros., and Space Invaders.

Link via Kotaku

Annalee Newitz of io9 asked six prestigious scientists to provide examples of realistic works of science fiction. Dave Goldberg, a physicist at Drexel, argued that the first Terminator movie provided the most reasonable presentation of time travel:

The entire thing is a completely self-consistent time loop, from John Conner's parentage and survivalist training, to the picture of Sarah Conner that finds its way to Kyle Reese. No grandfather paradoxes at all, but there are information paradoxes.

Other science fiction works that receive favorable reviews include 2001, Firefly, and The Handmaid's Tale.

Link | Image: Orion Pictures

Todd Reichert, a doctoral student in engineering at the University of Toronto built the world's first successful human-powered ornithopter. That's an aircraft that flaps its wings like a bird. This past summer, Reichert was able to bring his craft called "Snowbird" aloft for 19.3 seconds at 16 MPH.

Reichert, 28, lost 18 pounds over the summer in his quest to fly the Snowbird, which has a 105-foot wingspan (just six feet shorter than a Boeing 737) and weighs just 94 pounds. It is made of carbon fiber and balsa wood.

Video at the link.

http://www.popsci.com/technology/article/2010-09/video-canadian-student-flies-bird-first-time-using-record-setting-ornithopter | Photo: University of Toronto

Artist Yvonne Lee Schultz makes porcelain replicas of James Bond's Walther PPK handgun:

The fragile weapon, hand-painted in the style of classic tableware motifs, liesnext to your coffee and cake, asking to be picked up. Its coolness andcomfortable grip increase the qualms of the user, leaving him in a quandary between the pleasure of luxury and violence.

The pistols are available in a variety of patterns.

http://www.yvonneleeschultz.com/work/porcelain-pistol/ via Geekosystem

The Kosmoceratops dinosaur, which roamed Utah 76 million years ago, may have had more horns on its head than any other dinosaur discovered. The Guardian talked with Scott Sampson, a paleontologist:

The animal, named Kosmoceratops, had an enormous two metre-long skull, was five metres from snout to tail and weighed an estimated 2.5 tonnes.[...]

Kosmoceratops, a relative of the more familiar Triceratops, had one horn over its nose, one over each eye, one protruding from each cheek bone and a row of ten across the frill at the back of its head.

"As far as we know it's the most ornate-headed dinosaur ever found, with so many well-developed horns on its head," Sampson told the Guardian.

Link via io9 | Image: Lukas Panzarin/PLoS