Pop Science Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Pop Science - Essay Example Another mystery scientists are trying to explain is how the Egyptians managed to hoist the heavy pieces of granite upward without the technological advances of this age. Khufu’s pyramid alone which is the biggest of the three is made up of about 2,500,000 blocks and covers 13 acres. If each block weighs about 2 tons, then moving it up one step on a staircase is already taxing. One frequently visited theory is of another species more highly developed cognitively than the ancient men. There are many stories that pop scientists claim to be the reason behind the Great Pyramids of Giza. One common tale is that the pyramids are signals to another world in the sky. They are supposedly a beacon made by extra-terrestrials who had helped construct the buildings. Basically, popular scientists are saying that a higher being more intellectually advanced than ancient men were responsible for the pyramids because stone- age men were just not that smart. Some pop scientists find it curious ho w the pyramids seem to be lined up in the desert since their positioning closely resembles the placement of the stars in Orion’s belt. Robert Bauval, a Belgian engineer, proposed that the pyramids may have been built this certain way since the Egyptians believed in the god Osiris. Another feature that piqued Bauval’s interest was how the southern airshaft in the pyramid would be pointed to Orion in 2500 BC, leading to the theory that this might have been a way to send the Pharaoh Khufu’s soul to Orion. Using an astronomical program to find out how the stars appeared in the sky through history, writers Graham Hancock and Bauval claim that the only time the stars in Orion’s belt could reflect the alignment of the pyramids of Giza would be in 10500 BC. This is also when the Sphinx, following its gaze to the horizon, would be looking at the constellation Leo. Since this was even before the recorded and supposed dates of archaeologists studying the pyramids, B auval and Hancock suggest that a lost civilization more ancient than the one in Egypt during the time the pyramids were built should be credited for the structures. Aliens have been one of the most common and popular reasons for the construction of a number of enormous wonders around the world such as the pyramids and Stonehenge, a group of large and tall stones arranged in a circular manner surrounding other stones found in England. Popular scientists suppose that our ancestors from thousands of years ago lacked the mental ability to design or build wonders like Stonehenge and the Giza pyramids. During the time these wonders were built, popular scientists maintain that men on Earth were primitive and did not have the necessary physical or mental ability to execute such feats. With these said, popular scientists propose another culture altogether had come to Earth and had constructed these great structures. Professionals in the field of construction and building say that in construc ting buildings of today the acceptable settling rate is 6 inches in 100 years. The Great Pyramid of Giza surprises them since it has only settled less than half an inch in 5,000 years even when it weighs 13 billion pounds. Another amazing feature is how the sides of the pyramids align north-south, east-west. At an aerial view, the biggest pyramid manifests an angle of exactly 45 degrees. Mainstream scientists explain that the pyramids are indeed tombs for the pharaohs and that there are two theories