Swiss urge hikers to look for artefacts

SWISS scientists are urging mountain climbers and hikers to keep an eye out for lost items in melting ice patches lost hundreds or even thousands of years ago.

A PROJECT run by a Swiss cultural institute in the canton of Graubuenden aims to gather artefacts trapped long ago in glaciers that are now turning up with more frequency due to a warming planet.

The project encourages people to turn over things like wood or clothing they might run across in eastern Switzerland where the Swiss National Park is located.In recent years mountaineers have found everything from goat skin leggings in the Swiss Alps to a corpse in the melting ice of South Tyrol, each about 5000 years old.

23.48 | 0 komentar | Read More

Sales of US existing homes up 4.9 percent

SALES of previously owned US homes in May posted the best monthly gain in nearly three years, providing hope that housing is beginning to regain momentum lost over the past year.

THE National Association of Realtors said on Monday sales of existing homes increased 4.9 per cent last month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.89 million homes.

The monthly gain was the fastest since August 2011 but even with the increase sales are still 5 per cent below the pace in May 2013.Sales have been dampened by last year's rise in mortgage rates from historic lows and various other factors including tight supplies and tougher lending standards.The median price of a home sold in May was $US213,400 ($A230,890), up 5.1 per cent from a year ago.

23.48 | 0 komentar | Read More