The Shortest Day

If you happen to have insomnia, at 3:30am Eastern Time tomorrow (December 21st), you can catch a live webcast from Newgrange, in County Meath, Ireland. What is Newgrange, you ask? A 5,000-year-old megalithic part-burial chamber, part-astronomical device, older than the pyramids and older than Stonehenge but with equally accurate solar measurements that align directly with the Winter Solstice each year, which happens to occur tomorrow (hence the webcast). Like many such ancient sites, it has its share of mythical tales, especially since we know so little about its creators and what the carvings of zigzagging, swirling symbols on the boulder stones mean. However, I know one thing it can tell us—It just goes to show what can be accomplished by folks without TV...