Huge underground city discovered in Turkey--by accident

A view of a village in Nevsehir province, Turkey; that's the province where the new city is located. (AP Photo/Burhan Ozbilici)

It's a stunning find uncovered by accident: Construction workers demolishing homes in Turkey's Nevsehir province in 2013 ended up discovering entrances to what could be the largest ancient underground city ever found in the region.

The country's Hurriyet Daily News reported on its existence just days before the end of 2014, calling it "potentially the year’s biggest" such discovery. "Tunnel passages of seven kilometers are being discussed," said a construction official at the time.

And while the precise size isn't yet know, an estimate from geophysicists now puts it at about 5 million square feet and extending as far as 371 feet below ground.

National Geographic reports that would make it roughly 30% larger than Derinkuyu, the largest excavated underground city found in the historical Cappadocia region so far; Derinkuyu's capacity is thought to be 20,000 people.

The retreat, carved from soft ash rock as many as 5,000 years ago, would have been used in case of invaders; artifacts found at the site suggest its occupation stretched through the Ottoman conquest, says National Geographic.

The multi-level complex was a developed one, complete with staircases, kitchens, wineries, chapels, grindstones, air shafts, water channels, corridors, and even lamp-oil presses. (Derinkuyu was 18 stories, notes the Washington Post, and also included stores and escape routes.) The city's current mayor wants to build walking trails and a museum showcasing the underground spectacle and even "re-open the underground churches," he says—though, for now, even further exploration is risky.

As such, the Daily News reports a geo-radar machine is being used to gather information that's then handed to the excavators. (Also recently found underground: a secret Nazi factory.)

This article originally appeared on Newser: Found in Turkey: Huge Underground City

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World's oldest erotic 'graffiti' discovered on Greek island

Tourists admire the Aegean, which is home to the island of Astypalaia.AP Photo/Dimitri Messinis

Think phallic graffiti art exclusively belongs to the baseless present? Think again. An archaeologist has uncovered what the Guardian touts as the earliest erotic graffiti on the planet, found in Greece—and predating, in one case, even Athens' Acropolis.

Since 2011, Dr. Andreas Vlachopoulos has been directing fieldwork on the Aegean island of Astypalaia, and the professor may have given the students working with him a little more insight than he'd at first intended when he happened upon extremely explicit erotica chiseled into the limestone rocks that line the cape.

In one instance, dating back to 5th century BC, two gigantic penises are etched next to the name Dion; in another, dating to 6th century BC, one man boasted: "Nikasitimos was here mounting Timiona." "We know that in ancient Greece sexual desire between men was not a taboo," Vlachopoulos tells the Guardian.

"But this graffiti … is not just among the earliest ever discovered. By using the verb in the past continuous [tense], it clearly says that these two men were making love over a long period of time, emphasizing the sexual act in a way that is highly unusual in erotic artwork." One theory is that soldiers were once stationed at this outpost overlooking the bay; other carvings include that of ships, daggers, and wave-symbolizing spirals.

Either way Astypalaia, best known for what Archaeology International called "the largest ancient children’s cemetery in the world," with at least 2,700 infant burials identified in one place, can now add ancient porn among its claims to fame.

(Meanwhile, in Italy, art restorers have been accused of scrubbing away the erotic...)

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Asteroid Near Earth Discovered by Amateur Astronomers (SPACE.com)

A team of amateur astronomers has discovered a previously unknown asteroid in orbit that brings it near the Earth, highlighting the contributions regular folks can make to planetary defense, scientists announced Wednesday (Oct. 12).

The skywatchers spotted the asteroid, which is known as 2011 SF108, in September using a telescope in the Canary Islands. While 2011 SF108's orbit appears to bring it no closer to Earth than about 18 million miles (30 million kilometers), it still qualifies as a near-Earth object — the class of space rocks that could pose a danger to our planet.

The team took advantage of an observation slot sponsored by the European Space Agency's Space Situational Awareness (SSA) program to make the find, according to an ESA announcement.

"As volunteer work, it is very rewarding," said Detlef Koschny, head of near-Earth object activity for SSA, in a statement. "When you do spot something, you contribute to Europe's efforts in defending against asteroid hazards." [Photo of newfound asteroid 2011 SF108]

Amateurs make a find

Asteroid 2011 SF108 was discovered by the Teide Observatory Tenerife Asteroid Survey (TOTAS) team, a group of 20 skywatching volunteers. They used the 1-meter telescope at the European Space Agency's Optical Ground Station on Tenerife in the Canary Islands.

Specifics on the asteroid's estimated size were not detailed in the ESA announcement.

The telescope observed for four nights, running automated asteroid surveys using software developed by amateur astronomer and computer scientist Matthias Busch from the Starkenburg Amateur Observatory in Heppenheim, Germany.

Busch's software flags potential space rocks, but the finds must be confirmed by human eyes. The software scored a hit during the observing session of Sept. 28 and 29, researchers said.

"Images are distributed to the entire team for review, and any one of them could be the discoverer of a new asteroid," Koschny said. "This time, the luck of the draw fell to Rainer Kracht."

Kracht, a retired schoolteacher who lives in Elmshorn, Germany, is therefore 2011 SF108's official discoverer. He now has found 46 asteroids, researchers said.

To date, about 8,000 near-Earth objects have been discovered worldwide, but many thousands more are suspected to exist. Astronomers are keen to find as many of them as possible, so they can better assess the chance that a big, dangerous space rock will slam into Earth sometime soon.

Since starting their SSA-sponsored survey work in January 2010, the TOTAS amateur astronomers have identified nearly 400 candidate asteroids, 20 of which have been confirmed and named, researchers said.

Determing the orbit

After examing telescope images from three separate nights, the TOTAS team was able to determine 2011 SF108's orbit well enough to declare it a near-Earth object.

The team sent news of its find to the Minor Planet Center in Cambridge, Mass., the worldwide clearinghouse of information about comets and asteroids.

While 2011 SF108 appears not to pose much risk to Earth for the foreseeable future, further observations could help refine its orbit and our assessment of just how dangerous it might be, researchers said. But for now, the team can bask in the glow of discovery for a spell.

"It was really an exciting moment when I saw 'our' asteroid appearing on my computer screen," Koschny said. "It confirms the excellent quality of work done by the entire TOTAS team."

Follow SPACE.com for the latest in space science and exploration news on Twitter @Spacedotcom and on Facebook.

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'Bio Station Alpha' Discovered on Mars by David Martines (ContributorNetwork)

David Martines has accomplished quite a feat. Not only has he discovered what he claims to be an alien space station on Mars, but he also has a Youtube video that is about to go viral, documenting his rare find. The video can be seen here. David Martines' commentary to the video posted speculates that this could be an alien base of some sort, that is either currently inhabited, or was inhabited at one point in time. Martines' estimates that this "Bio Station Alpha" - as he calls it - is over 700 feet long by 150 feet wide, and appearing to be cylindrical shaped.

Since posting his video on YouTube, David Martines has received well over 750,000 views, and is headed to top 1 million, easily garnering "viral" status.

David Martines made this epic discovery of Bio Station Alpha after downloading a flyby of Mars from Google Earth's Mars explorer. David also thinks that Bio Station Alpha could easily be a "biological containment" or even a "glorified garage." He maintains that this structure must have been placed on Mars by intelligent life forms.

Many skeptics are immediately saying that this is just a glitch in the imaging software, and must be further scrutinized at a higher resolution.

In the meantime, NASA's Jet Propulsion Lab will be investigating David Martines' claim that Bio Station Alpha is really an alien base on Mars.

Sources:

Martines, David. Bio Station Alpha on Mars. Youtube.

FoxNews.com. Armchair Astronomer Finds 'Evidence' of Life on Mars. FoxNews.

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