

Scientists Think They Have Found the 'Sunstone' Vikings Used to Navigate - triplesec
http://www.businessinsider.com/viking-sunstone-discovered-2013-3

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johnohara
_How does the sunstone work?

If you put a dot on top of the crystal and look at it from below, two dots
appear, because the light is "depolarised" and fractured along different axes.

You then rotate the crystal until the two points have exactly the same
intensity or darkness._

I like stories about rediscovered ancient technologies but in this case, a
youtube video, an image or even an animation of the device would have been
helpful.

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kapnobatairza
I know it is crappy looking, but I made one for you :D

[http://i.imgur.com/gIryQlj.jpg](http://i.imgur.com/gIryQlj.jpg)

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johnohara
Pleasant surprise. Thank you for showing me how to navigate a professional
career path too.

~~~
kapnobatairza
Not quite sure how I helped you with the latter but I am glad to help!

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k2enemy
Previous discussion here:
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5342104](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5342104)

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gregwtmtno
Article dated almost a year ago.

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kristopolous
if you think that's old, you should check out the rock.

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Zenst
Article seems like a rehash of older news - for example
[http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-
europe-21693140](http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-21693140)

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cafard
I had always heard that crystal called "Iceland spar" was the one.

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triplesec
Oritinal title too long: "Scientists Think They Have Found The Mythical
‘Sunstone’ Vikings Used To Navigate Warships"

This is a proper ancient use for crystals. I think our science camp might have
to make some of these for this coming August.

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smacktoward
What a strange headline. If it's been found, how can it be mythical? Even the
article text itself only goes so far as to call it "near-mythical."

