Italians find traces of dark matter - Satellite picks up 'first real evidence' of invisible stuff

(ANSA) - Rome, April 2 - An Italian-led space mission may have collected the first concrete evidence of dark matter, according to scientists.

A highly sensitive detector launched in 2006 to study cosmic rays has recorded an unexpected abundance of positrons, the antimatter counterpart of the electron, which may be left behind when dark matter is destroyed. ''This is a fantastic result,'' said research coordinator Piergiorgio Picozza of the National Institute of Nuclear Physics of the breakthrough to be published in Nature. ''It's the first real evidence of the possibility of dark matter, although it's still necessary to collect further data''.

Further research will need to exclude other possible sources of the positrons, such as spinning stars called pulsars that emit electromagnetic radiation, or cosmic rays impacting with atoms.But Picozza said he was ''hopeful'' that other sources would be ruled out.

Dark matter is the hypothetical, invisible matter believed by astrophysicists to account for around 23% of the universe, and whose presence is inferred from gravitational effects on visible matter.

Visible matter, which makes up the stars and planets, comprises just 4-5% of the universe, while the remaining 72% is dark energy, a hypothetical energy form that some cosmologists say is behind the accelerating rate of the expansion of the universe.Picozza and his team used data from the Pamela (Payload for Antimatter Matter Exploration and Light-nuclei Astrophysics) satellite, which is a joint initiative between Italy, Germany, Sweden and Russia.

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Pretentious Venice - Venezia Italy Ttravel

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Pretentious Venice - Venezia Italy Ttravel

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Will Venice Create Electricity from Algae on Cruise Ship?

The city of Venice has announced a plan to produce 50 percent of its electricity needs from an algae-based power plant instead of fossil fuels. This is the exact kind of local thinking, innovation, and planning that the G20 meeting on April Fool's Day cannot create.

The water-filled city is turning what has become a nuisance into a renewable energy resource. The city will be producing electricity from two types of algae that are brought in clinging to ships and regularly grow over the seaport; Sargassum muticum and Undaria pinnafitida. The algae will be cultivated and treated in laboratories to turn it into fuel. The fuel will then be used to power turbines in a new 40 MW power plant in the center of the city.

In order to make the new power plant truly carbon neutral, any CO2 produced by the process will be fed back to the algae.

The algae plant project will cost the city $264 million and should be operating in two years. WebVisionItaly.com will follow the story - sounds so good let's hope it's not an April fools!

Getty Museum and Florence Museo Archeologico Nazionale Partner

The J. Paul Getty Museum has announced that it has established a partnership with the Museo Archeologico Nazionale in Florence to exhibit works from that museum. The first work to be shown at the Getty under this arrangement will be “The Chimaera of Arezzo,” an Etruscan bronze sculpture dating to the early 4th century B.C. depicting the mythological beast made from parts of a lion, a serpent, and a fire breathing goat. The exhibition will also include antiquities from the Getty’s collection as well as works on loan from museums in Rome, Naples, Basel, New York, Boston, and Atlanta; it is scheduled to run from July 16 through Feb. 8, 2010. The Getty said it hoped to collaborate with the Museo Archeologico’s sister institutions throughout Italy in the months ahead.

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Vespasian Achievements in New Exhibit in Rome

Rome is gearing up to celebrate 2000 years since the birth of the Emperor Vespasian, founder of the Flavian dynasty and father of the city's most famous landmark, the Colosseum.

Divus Vespasianus, which opened in Rome March 27, spotlights the life and achievements of Vespasian (9-79 AD) and his sons Titus and Domitian, who ruled for two and 15 years respectively after his death. Preceded by the high antics of Nero's reign and taking power after a year of political manouvering that resulted in four different emperors, Vespasian's tranquil stint at the helm is often overlooked.

Before becoming emperor he was a very successful military commander but little information survives of his time in power, and his reign is today best known for the institutional and economic change he introduced. As an individual, Vespasian is remembered for his relatively humble beginnings, his love of the simple life and his sense of humor.

Born in the provinces on November 17 in the year 9 AD of a father in the lower aristocratic equestrian order, Vespasian was something of a self-made man. He worked his way up the ranks slowly, performing particularly well in the army, and was 60 by the time he became emperor in 69 AD.

''He was a cultured and very able individual, who considered himself a man of the provinces,'' explained the exhibition's curator Filippo Coarelli. ''He brought moderation and sobriety to a city laid low by the corruption of the Julio-Claudian emperors, emphasizing the values of parsimony and attention to administration that would change the face of the entire empire''.

The Senate's approval of the Lex de Imperio Vespasiani when Vespasian came to power ''launched a process of constitutionalization within the Roman Empire,'' said Italian Culture Undersecretary Francesco Giro, who attended the exhibit's presentation. However, Vespasian's best-known legacy today is probably the Colosseum, one of several ambitious building projects he embarked upon.

Work on the structure, which was originally known as the Flavian Amphitheatre, got under way between 70 and 72 AD and was completed in 80 AD, under Titus. Considered one of the greatest works of Roman architecture and engineering, it was the largest amphitheatre ever built in the Roman Empire. According to Coarelli, Vespasian also played a key role in reconstructing the city in the wake of the Great Fire of Rome, which took place five years previously. ''The reconstruction attributed to Nero was actually the work of the Flavians,'' he said. ''Vespasian found the city still in ruins after the fire''.

The exhibition aims to explain some of the extraordinary architectural innovations introduced under Vespasian. There are also a host of recent archaeological finds, architectural artifacts and busts of the Flavian emperors. Although centered in the Colosseum itself, the exhibition will extend to two other locations. The first of these is the Curia building where the Senate met, which has been reopened to the public for this occasion. The second is the Cryptoporticus of Nero on the Palatine Hill.

En route, visitors are guided to a series of Flavian monuments, including the Arch of Titus, the Flavian Palace, the Temple of Vespasian and the Temple of Peace. Divus Vespasianus. Il Bimillenari dei flavi runs until January 10, 2010.

Greece returns looted frescoes - Medieval works stolen in 1982, recovered on Greek island

Last week Greece returned to Italy two medieval frescoes looted from a tomb near Naples in 1982.

The frescoes of two saints were recovered by Greek antiquities police in a raid on Greek art traffickers on the Aegean island of Schinoussa in 2006.

They originally adorned the walls of one of the famous tufa chambers called Fornelle at Calvi south of Monte Cassino, site of the Ancient Roman city of Calves.

The particularly ornate chamber - many of whose frescoes are still missing - is believed to have been the tomb of 11th-century Count Pandolfo and his wife Countess Gualferada.

Handing over the frescoes, Greek Culture Minister Antoni Samaras said the event marked ''another important stage in collaboration with our Italian friends and partners in the fight against art theft''.

Italy and Greece launched a joint battle some years ago to crack down on trafficking and reclaim smuggled works from museums around the world.

Italy recently signed landmark deals with New York's Metropolitan Museum and the John Paul Getty Museum in California, among others, hailed as possibly paving the way for a wider-scale return of looted antiquities.

By setting a precedent that could be used by other countries, notably Greece, the accords sent alarm bells around the art world.

The 1970 United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization convention bans the import, export and transfer of ownership of cultural property.