Viking Sunstone?

[rognvald]

The fabled Viking sunstone may have been discovered in a 16th Century shipwreck off the coast of England. Although none has ever been found in a Viking ship burial site or among Viking graves, archeologists believe this may be the first proof that the Dark Age technology used by the fabled seafarers to locate the sun on cloudy/overcast days may have been passed down to mariners over the centuries. "Oh, Lord . . . deliver us from the fury of the Northmen."


Evidence of Fabled Viking Navigational Tool Found - History Channel




www.history.com/.../evidence-of-fabled-viking-navigational-tool-fou...

[S/V Alchemy]

Wow, I just posted on this topic at my blog yesterday:

The world encompassed: What's old Norse for "and a star to steer her by"?

[rognvald]

Originally Posted by S/V Alchemy

Wow, I just posted on this topic at my blog yesterday:

The world encompassed: What's old Norse for "and a star to steer her by"?

Birds of a feather flock together!

[S/V Alchemy]

Especially if they navigate with a chunk of Icelandic spar, I suppose!

[senormechanico]

This reminds me of my flaky sister.
She sleeps with a hunk of quartz under her pillow because she thinks it will make her smart.
Her reasoning goes,
"Computers do very smart things, therefore they are smart.
Computers have quartz crystals in their microprocessor brain circuitry, therefore I should keep a quartz crystal close by to make me smart."

<sigh>

Steve

[rognvald]

Originally Posted by senormechanico

This reminds me of my flaky sister.
She sleeps with a hunk of quartz under her pillow because she thinks it will make her smart.
Her reasoning goes,
"Computers do very smart things, therefore they are smart.
Computers have quartz crystals in their microprocessor brain circuitry, therefore I should keep a quartz crystal close by to make me smart."

<sigh>

Steve

Do you also believe the earth is flat and that it is the center of our universe? Hmmm . . . .let's see . . . it sure looks flat to me!

[xeon_tsd]

New light on sunstone - The Hindu

Just read this version of the article. It mentions how the researchers where able to track the sun even for a short while after sunset. Kinda cool

[S/V Alchemy]

Thanks, I threw that fairly self-explanatory photo of the stone crystal they found into my blog post.

I find all this stuff very cool, clearly!

[xeon_tsd]

Well with an S/V name of Alchemy you better!!!! hahahaha

[Cormorant]

If you ever want to prospect for your very own Sunstone, go to 41°27'23"N 72°31'40"W, and bring a rock hammer. The Beaver Meadow Road exit off of Route 9 in Connecticut. There are nice cordierites in the roadcut there.