Latest news with #NationalAcademyofSciencesofUkraine
Yahoo
25-06-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Archaeologists Found a Mysterious Secret Chamber Beneath a 12th-Century Castle
Here's what you'll learn when you read this story: Researchers discovered a secret sealed room in Ukraine's historic Galician Castle. After accessing the sealed room, the researchers found that it was once a fortified space for storing weapons and testing artillery. The research team may have also discovered the beginning of a network of tunnels—known only through legend—beneath the castle. For 300 years, nobody knew that a secret sealed room existed in Ukraine's historic Galician Castle, let alone entered it. But researchers recently discovered the room and broke that seal, discovering that it was likely a fortified space for storing weapons and (possibly) even firing artillery. The castle—prominent in the 12th through 17th centuries in the western Ukrainian city of Halych—has long been an attraction. When archaeologists from the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine noticed a ventilation shaft among a tower's ruins, it led to an unknown room that hasn't been used for 300 years, according to a report from Heritage Daily. Most likely, it had been cut off from the rest of the castle since the Turkish-Polish War of 1676. As the shaft was too narrow to access—Vladimir Oleynik, director general of the Ancient Galich National Reserve, told Heritage Daily—crews dug through over 5,200 cubic feet of debris by hand to access the room. Oleynik said that the manual labor was key in ensuring artifacts weren't damaged and the integrity of the structure wasn't compromised while accessing the chamber. Once inside, archaeologists discovered that the room was likely a casemate—a fortified space for storing and testing weapons. Evidence for this included the walls (which featured dark soot stains, a common result of firing artillery from the time), and the presence of a ventilation shaft (they were popular in casemates to allow smoke to escape). The Galician Castle—sometimes known as Starasta Castle—was originally a wooden fortress from the 12th century, and was built along the Dniester River. In the 14th century, Casimir III the Great led major renovations, after which the castle was used as a residence. In the early 17th century, architect Francisco Corazzini designed a remodel, but not even a century later, the Turks' army sieged the castle with cannons during the Turkish-Polish War of 1676. Experts believe that the bombing of the castle buried the ventilation shaft, covering the recently rediscovered room. 'This part of the castle has been completely cut off since the explosion,' Oleynik said. 'No heavy machinery could be used, so it was all done manually to preserve the archaeological integrity.' Isolated from the main fortress, use of the chamber as a casemate makes sense, but crews will continue to analyze finds within the room to better understand how it fit into the site's patchwork ruins. Crews may soon have some more pieces of that puzzle to explore, as the team located a small gap in the chamber's walls that could lead to further exploration. With a legend circulating throughout the city that the castle site features secret underground passages—one such story tells of how the love-struck daughter of a high-ranking official escaped with her chosen man, all thanks to her maid bribing castle guards—any little clue about the existence of such tunnels would add a fresh level of intrigue to the site. You Might Also Like The Do's and Don'ts of Using Painter's Tape The Best Portable BBQ Grills for Cooking Anywhere Can a Smart Watch Prolong Your Life?
Yahoo
05-06-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Polish scientists name new tardigrade species after Hero of Ukraine Bizhan Sharopov
Polish researchers working in Ecuador have discovered a new species of tardigrade and named it after Bizhan Sharopov, a Ukrainian biologist and soldier who was killed in action in 2022. Source: Bogomoletz Institute of Physiology at the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine Details: Tardigrades (Tardigrada) are microscopic invertebrates known for their ability to survive in extreme conditions – from outer space to boiling temperatures, radiation and complete dehydration. These organisms can enter a state of cryptobiosis, in which their metabolism nearly stops, allowing them to survive for decades. A team of scientists from the universities of Poznań and Gdańsk recently described several new tardigrade species discovered in Ecuador in the journal One of them – Macrobiotus sharopovi – was named in honour of Hero of Ukraine Bizhan Sharopov. "The authors dedicated the species name to Ukrainian scientist Dr Bizhan Sharopov, neurophysiologist, activist and soldier who tragically died in action defending Ukraine during the Russia–Ukraine War," the article reads. A new species of tardigrade named after Bizhan Sharopov. Photo: journal Sharopov graduated from the biology programme at the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy. He was an active participant in the Revolution of Dignity and served in the Aidar battalion in 2014-2015. After being demobilised, he defended his PhD thesis and continued his scientific work. From 2019 to 2021, Sharopov chaired the Council of Young Scientists at the Bogomoletz Institute of Physiology and was a researcher at the Department of Neuromuscular Physiology at the same institute, as well as the chief biologist at Ukrainian Genetic Technologies. At the start of Russia's full-scale invasion, Sharopov returned to the front as part of the 112th Territorial Defence Brigade. He went missing in action in April 2022. "You were a brilliant scientist. One of the best science communicators in the country. And you were a true warrior. Heroes die, sadly. It's hard to fathom the abyss of ideas and plans that perished with you," wrote his friend and physicist Anton Senenko. In 2023, his death was officially confirmed and he was posthumously awarded the title Hero of Ukraine. In 2024, a final paper he had been working on was published posthumously in the prestigious Journal of Physiology (London). Background: Ukrainian researchers have previously named a newly discovered insect species after the Heavenly Hundred, the group of protesters killed during the Revolution of Dignity. Support Ukrainska Pravda on Patreon!
