Saturday 8 September 2012

Artificial reef planned in style of Stonehenge

A South Florida entrepreneur is working on an artificial reef that will be a smaller-scale replica of England’s Stonehenge and placed 3 miles off Key Biscayne.

A Miami-Dade County’s collection of artificial reefs includes sunken ships, Army tanks, pieces of a passenger jet, radio towers and a cemetery modeled after the mythical Lost City of Atlantis. In the next year or so, Stonehenge may be added.

 A scale replica of England’s mystical stone monument is slated to be deployed in waters 40 to 60 feet deep about three miles off Key Biscayne in a special management zone that already harbors several other artificial reefs. Built of carved limestone from a Homestead quarry and reinforced with fiberglass composite rods, the concentric stone circles are expected to be a haven for marine creatures and scuba divers.
“Stonehenge will be the largest artistically-inspired, manmade reef ever created,” declared project mastermind Gary Levine of Hollywood, president of Reefbuilders International. “It will be beneficial to the ocean and to divers.”
Levine says Stonehenge, taking up about a half-acre of the ocean floor, will be larger than the neighboring Neptune Reef, the Atlantis-like graveyard Levine created in 2007 that was taken over by the Neptune Society, a cremation services company. Levine says Stonehenge will have more than 15,000 cubic feet of stone weighing 1.2 million pounds. The tallest of the stone structures will rise 24 feet from the bottom, he said.
“We’re going to build it in its completed form — not in its current form where half of it is missing,” he said.
Levine and his Reefbuilders colleagues have recently begun carving limestone blocks into Stonehenge configurations. They plan to transport the structures in 200-ton barge loads out to the deployment site, with the first phase placed in early spring 2013. Levine said the columns will be oriented just like the real things standing in the English countryside — lining up with the summer and winter solstices.
The original Stonehenge was constructed by unknown architects beginning about 5,000 years ago and believed to be a burial ground and celestial observatory.
The new artificial reef has the tentative blessing of Miami-Dade’s Department of Regulatory and Economic Resources/Environmental Resources Management section, according to Steve Blair, chief of the restoration and enhancement section.
“As far as we’re looking at it, the materials are appropriate. It can be enhanced to increase habitat benefits from it,” Blair said.
Blair said he would like to see smaller enclosed spaces added to the collection of stone columns to create hiding places for smaller creatures such as lobsters and reef fish. Once that issue is resolved and a specific site selected, the county will look at final approval.
Meanwhile, Levine — an entrepreneur with ventures including selling aircraft, running a weight-loss clinic and raising live rock for aquariums — is looking for help to fund the project, which he estimates will cost $400,000 to $500,000.
He said he’ll offer 65 “naming opportunities” for individuals or groups who support Stonehenge.
“We want to talk to people who use the ocean and love the ocean to support the project,” Levine said.
The last major artificial reef deployed in Miami-Dade coastal waters was the 210-foot freighter Ophelia Brian in December 2009.
Link source:
scocking@miamiherald.com

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Saturday 1 September 2012

Could Stonehenge feature in Hollywood blockbuster ?


Could Stonehenge be about to feature in a Hollywood Blockbuster?

Film crews have been at the famous site and it's thought they're working on Thor: The Dark World.

English Heritage have confirmed cameras have been at the historic monument in the early hours of August 29th although  aren't able to reveal which production company is involved.

The sequel to the 2011 film Thor is directed by Kenneth Branagh and stars Australian heartthrob Chris Hemsworth, Oscar winning actress Natalie Portman as well as Anthony Hopkins and Christopher Ecclestone.

It is due to be released in Autumn 2013.
Source: http://www.spirefm.co.uk

Stonehenge Tour Guide

Friday 31 August 2012

Blue Moon Expected over Stonehenge - Friday, August 31st: A Can't-Miss Astrological Phenomenon


If you have ever heard the phrase "once in a blue moon," you might have wondered if there is an actual blue lunar body in our wonderous world somewhere. In fact, there is, but it isn't really blue. The term refers to the occurrence of two full moons within one calendar month, and Friday, August 31st, you'll be able to catch it twice.

Anthony Cook, an astronomer at the Griffin Observatory, explained how and when to catch the moon. First, you'll be able to see it Friday morning between 6:30 a.m. and 7:00 a.m. on the West Coast, and then again when it comes into view at around 7:13 p.m. Although the phenomenon may not be noteworthy enough to change your schedule to see it, most will be able to take a look at one time or another if they look at the sky.

Although the moon isn't actually blue, there is a chance that it might be rather orange tomorrow when it shows itself, but Cook said that it would most likely simply be a very bright shade of white. He said that there was "nothing unusual really" about the blue lunar body, adding, "It will look like the usual moon."

Oddly, there are some atmospheric conditions that could make the blue seem to be blue, but they have nothing to do with the actual blue moon phenomenon. The occurrence is fairly rare. The last time one was present was December of 2009. "The next time will be on July 31, 2015," Cook said.

It is likely that if the moon does turn orange, or blue or any other color, that someone will announce that it's the end of the world. However, don't be alarmed. The end isn't here...yet.
by Gabriel Legend - http://news.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474981599506

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