Giovanni Galeazzi

[Archaeo - Histories @archeohistories]

A girl standing next to the full scale model reconstruction of a rear leg of an Argentinosaurus...

When it was discovered in Argentina in 1987, Argentinosaurus, shook the world of paleontology to its foundations. Ever since its discovery, paleontologists have argued about length and weight of Argentinosaurus. Some reconstructions put this dinosaur at 75-85ft from head to tail and up to 75 tons, while others are less restrained, positing a total length of 100ft and weight of a whopping 100 tons. If latter estimates hold, that would make Argentinosarus biggest dinosaur on record based on well-attested fossil evidence.

Given its gigantic size, it's appropriate that Argentinosaurus is classified as a titanosaur, family of lightly-armored sauropods which spread to every continent on Earth later in Cretaceous period. This dinosaur's closest titanosaur relative appears to have been much smaller Saltasaurus, clocking in at a mere 10 tons and living a few million years later.

Scattered remains of Argentinosaurus are associated with those of 10-ton carnivore Giganotosaurus, meaning these two dinosaurs shared the same territory in middle Cretaceous South America. While there's no way even desperately hungry Giganotosaurus could have taken down full-grown Argentinosaurus all by itself, it's possible that these large theropods hunted in packs, thus leveling odds.

Given its enormous size, it would be surprising if Argentinosaurus could move much faster than a slowly taxiing 747 jet airplane.  According to one analysis, this dinosaur ambled along at a top speed of 5 miles per hour, presumably inflicting plenty of collateral damage along the way. If Argentinosaurus congregated in herds, as seems likely, even a slow-moving stampede triggered by hungry Giganotosaurus could have wiped average watering hole completely off Mesozoic map.

When most people think of giant dinosaurs, they picture behemoths like Apatosaurus, Brachiosaurus, and Diplodocus, which lived in late Jurassic North America. What makes Argentinosaurus slightly unusual is that it lived at least 50 million years after these more familiar sauropods, in a place (South America) breadth of whose dinosaur diversity is still unappreciated by the general public. As a result of physical and biological constraints, there's an upper limit to how large any given dinosaur egg can be. Considering its huge size, Argentinosaurus probably brushed up against that limit. Based on comparisons with eggs of other titanosaurs, it seems likely that Argentinosaurus eggs measured about a foot in diameter, and that females laid up to 10 or 15 eggs at a time, increasing the odds that at least one hatchling would evade predators and survive into adulthood.

There's still a lot we don't know about growth rates of plant-eating dinosaurs like sauropods and titanosaurs; most likely, juveniles reached maturity at a much slower pace than that of warm-blooded tyrannosaurs and raptors. Given ultimate heft of Argentinosaurus, it's not inconceivable that a newborn hatchling took 3-4 decades to reach its full adult size; that would represent about a 25,000% increase in bulk from hatchling to herd alpha.

One of frustrating things about titanosaurs, in general, is fragmentary nature of their fossil remains. It's extremely rare to find a complete, articulated skeleton, and even then skull is usually missing since skulls of titanosaurs were easily detached from their necks after death. However, Argentinosaurus is better-attested than most members of its breed. This dinosaur was "diagnosed" based on a dozen or so vertebrae, few ribs and a 5ft long femur thigh bone with circumference of whopping 4ft.

Depending on who is doing reconstructions and how they evaluate fossil evidence, there are plenty of pretenders out there for Argentinosaurus' "World's Biggest Dinosaur" title; not surprisingly, all of them are titanosaurs.

#archaeohistories

[Mattias Malmer @3Dmattias]

De-warped the fisheye lens and aimed the camera at starship:

[Dan Romero @dwr]

SpaceX added ~1% to global internet bandwidth with today's Starship launch.

[Starlink @Starlink]

Views from of one of the first 26 Starlink V3 satellites successfully deployed to orbit by Starship

Thanks for the ride, @SpaceX!

[D Wise @dwisecinema]

The occasional clouds allowed the shockwaves of Booster 21 to be visible at times throughout reentry. Incredible to think of the scale and just how fast the booster is moving!
@NASASpaceflight

[NSF - NASASpaceflight.com @NASASpaceflight]

Starship Flight 14: GO for orbit.

[vittorio @IterIntellectus]

holy shit
i asked claude to make a video on western civiization

[Archaeo - Histories @archeohistories]

Cassandra was one of the most tragic figures in Greek Mythology. She was daughter of Priam of Troy (therfore sister of Hector and Paris). She was so beautiful that Apollo offer her the gift of prophecy. However she died the God's love, so Apollo transformed her gift to tell the future but without anyone believing her.

She tried to warn Priam, Hector and Trojans several times :

Cassandra predicted destruction of Troy when Paris was born to Hecabe. Cassandra’s first commonly told prediction again involves Paris, but from years later, when her brother returns to Troy with Helena. Hector would chastise his brother for his actions, but Cassandra told how she now saw the future ruin of Troy, but of course, as per the curse of Apollo, Cassandra was ignored.

The abduction of Helen would of course lead to Trojan War and during war Cassandra would witness many of her brothers die in defence of Troy. Eventually, Achaeans came up with a plan to finally take the city of Troy, and a Wooden Horse was constructed, and then seemingly abandoned outside the city walls. Cassandra immediately saw what would happen if Trojans were to take possession of horse and whilst Cassandra tried to convince her kinsmen of risk, she was of course ignored. Thus, Wooden Horse, with its belly full of Achaean heroes, was taken into Troy, leading, that night, to Sacking of Troy.

During the sack of the city, Cassandra was found by Ajax the Lesser hiding in Athena's temple, he dragged Cassandra from the altar of Athena and raped her. Athena, furious, killed Ajax with a blow. The rape of Cassandra by Ajax was a favourite scene in Greek art. However, the fate of Cassandra got worse, as Achaeans disputed who would take her as trophy with Agamemnon eventually got her as concubine. In the end, in the palace of Mycenes, Cassandra was violently murdered by Agamemnon's jealous wife, Clytemnestra.

📷 : Timeless Tale of Tragedy and Triumph - "Ajax and Cassandra" by Solomon Joseph Solomon (1886) -

Whoever saw Solomon Joseph Solomon's masterpiece, "Ajax and Cassandra" (1886), immediately struck by the sheer intensity and emotion that radiated from the canvas. This monumental work of art, measuring an impressive 7ft by 10ft, captures a pivotal moment in Greek mythology, where the Trojan princess Cassandra is forcibly taken from sanctuary of Athena by Greek hero Ajax the Lesser.

Solomon's masterful use of color and light breathes life into this tragic scene. The rich, deep hues of the temple's interior contrast with the golden glow of the setting sun, casting an ethereal light upon the figures. This juxtaposition of darkness and light serves to heighten the drama and tension of the moment, as the viewer is drawn into the struggle between the two central characters.

The artist's attention to detail is nothing short of extraordinary. The intricate patterns on the temple's columns and the delicate folds of the characters' garments showcase Solomon's skill and dedication to his craft. The expressions on the faces of the onlookers, ranging from horror to disbelief, further emphasize the gravity of the situation.

At the heart of the painting, we find the ill-fated Cassandra, her eyes filled with terror and despair as she clings to the statue of Athena. Her vulnerability is palpable, and one cannot help but feel a deep sense of empathy for her plight. Ajax, on the other hand, is depicted as a powerful and imposing figure, his muscular form and determined expression embodying the ruthless nature of war.

What truly sets "Ajax and Cassandra" apart, however, is way in which Solomon manages to convey timeless themes of tragedy and triumph. The painting serves as a poignant reminder of human cost of war and devastating consequences of unchecked ambition. At same time, it celebrates the resilience of the human spirit, as Cassandra's defiance in the face of adversity continues to inspire viewers more than a century after painting's creation.

#archaeohistories

[🌻Music 🎶🎻🎷 @khalythai]

The way everyone in the crowd sat down, fell silent, and simply listened to her. She had the kind of presence that could hold an entire room spellbound. ✨🌹

[Giovanni Galeazzi @galeazzi2012]

@signorina37H Niente prima dell'1?

[Guido Crosetto @GuidoCrosetto]

Concordo totalmente con ciò che oggi ha detto l’Amministratore Delegato dell’ENI, Claudio De Scalzi: l’Europa non può condannarsi al suicidio industriale e conseguentemente sociale e politico, per ostinarsi ideologicamente su scelte sbagliate, in questa fase economica-politica, come l’ETS.
Consentitemi di dire, da Ministro della Difesa, che la difesa delle conquiste sociali e delle democrazie europee é più garantita dalla tenuta tecnologia ed industriale delle nazioni o dalla conservazione della capacità di costruire e redistribuire ricchezza che non dalla crescita delle spese e degli investimenti nella Difesa.
Le Forze Armate difendono il benessere delle nazioni da aggressioni ostili esterne ma tocca alla Politica ed a scelte lungimiranti creare le condizione perché esista un benessere diffuso ed equamente distribuito. Una tassa come ETS oggi é ingiusta, assurda, insostenibile nella competizione internazionale e crea disuguaglianze perché cade indistintamente ed in egual misura su tutti i consumatori finali europei.
Ci saranno tempi migliori nei quali si potrà reintrodurre un nuovo meccanismo (magari universale perché abbia senso) per preservare l’ambiente ma oggi, con le tensioni in corso nel mondo, i blocchi dei chokepoint, l’inverno alle porte, la crisi inarrestabile e l’impietosa concorrenza asiatica, va eliminata. A meno che non si abbia l’obiettivo di distruggere l’Europa minandone la possibilità di costruire ricchezza competendo in condizioni di parità con il resto del mondo.

[Andrew McCarthy @AJamesMcCarthy]

After capturing over 100 hours worth of exposures, I'm pleased to share my latest "Deep Field" image, containing THOUSANDS of galaxies and a brand-new supernova that just kicked off ~2 weeks ago!

Timelapse showing the supernova, prints, and more details in the thread 👇

[NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day @apod]

There was something behind the clouds. Upon close inspection, it was the Moon, which was hard to see yesterday around noon above the small village of Cessy, France. But soon, it was not only the Moon. As expected, a bright dot suddenly appeared from behind the Moon -- the planet Venus far in the distance. Captured in the single featured exposure, both appeared to show a crescent phase. The Moon's crescent was quite slight -- with only about 10 percent of its face illuminated by the Sun. In contrast, Venus's crescent was more full -- showing about 25 percent illumination. Venus appeared brighter because it is nearer the Sun and because its clouds are more reflective than the dark lunar surface. An occultation of Venus by the Moon is visible to only about 10 percent of the Earth, but in yesterday's event even most of that was experiencing daytime.

Image Credit & Copyright: Arnaud Mariat

[Ricardo Sánchez @desde_el_sur]

¡Hace 41 años, un astronauta se convirtió en héroe del espacio!
En septiembre de 1985, a bordo del transbordador Discovery (misión STS-51-I), James “Ox” van Hoften y William Fisher protagonizaron una de las proezas más épicas de la era del Shuttle.
El satélite Leasat-3 estaba 👇

[Denis Yurchak @denisyurchak]

I met a guy who makes €50,000 from a train restaurant in Poland 🇵🇱

Long-distance Polish trains have a restaurant car called WARS. Rankings often put it at the top of the world's train food services – unlike other companies that just warm food up, WARS cooks national Polish dishes like pierogi, schabowy kotlet, and pancakes fresh

I traveled on one of those trains last week and was amazed at how tasty the food is – I ordered two portions of pancakes in a row, and had to turn off my calorie counter 😅

I said to the guy at the bar that I really liked the food, we talked a bit, and he turned out to be the owner of that restaurant car

I was surprised to find out that WARS trains operate like Polish Żabka or 7/11 – it's a huge franchise network where business owners rent 1 or 2 wagons and operate them like their own business

The parent company still controls the menu and the look of the restaurant, but they get an owner attitude and A LOT of motivation to make money from the franchisees

This business is also quite profitable – in the summer season you can get up to €10,000 in profits after taxes from just 2 cars

In the X bubble, it's easy to forget how many ways there are to make money outside of tech, and stories like this keep my belief in capitalism and human creativity high!

[Neil deGrasse Tyson @neiltyson]

In Case You Missed It: This morning's launch of @NASA's Nancy Grace Roman Telescope.
[7:26am ET, August 30, 2026].

Will arrive at Sun-Earth L2 in Early December, to discover Exoplanets and observe the effects of Dark Matter & Dark Energy on the Universe.

[NSF - NASASpaceflight.com @NASASpaceflight]

S/C Sep for Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope.

[SpaceX @SpaceX]

Falcon Heavy launches @NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope from pad 39A in Florida, beginning its more than three-month journey to its destination where it will generate never-before-seen photos of the universe

[NSF - NASASpaceflight.com @NASASpaceflight]

Both side booters RTLS landings.

[Giovanni Galeazzi @galeazzi2012]

@tymboyszn 1111