Elon Musk Sues OpenAI for ‘Betraying’ Non-profit Mission

Elon Musk OpenAI
Elon Musk. Credit: dmoberhaus. CC BY 2.0/flickr

Elon Musk has sued ChatGPT-maker OpenAI saying they had abandoned the company’s original mission to develop artificial intelligence for the benefit of humanity rather than profit.

Musk, a co-founder and early backer of OpenAI, claims its co-founders Sam Altman and Greg Brockman convinced him to help found and bankroll the startup in 2015 with promises it would be a non-profit focused on countering the competitive threat from Google.

In a recent interview, Musk said he is “the reason that Open AI exists,” citing his past investment in the entity with his contribution of around $50 million.

“I came up with the name,” Musk told CNBC. He also said he was instrumental in recruiting key scientists and engineers at the company.

Musk says OpenAI has shifted to a for-profit model

The lawsuit, filed in a court in San Francisco late Thursday, says that OpenAI, the world’s most valuable AI startup, has shifted to a for-profit model focused on commercializing its AGI research after partnering with Microsoft, the world’s most valuable company that has invested about $13 billion into the startup.

“In reality, however, OpenAI, Inc. has been transformed into a closed-source de facto subsidiary of the largest technology company in the world: Microsoft. Under its new board, it is not just developing but is actually refining an AGI to maximize profits for Microsoft, rather than for the benefit of humanity,” the lawsuit adds. “This was a stark betrayal of the Founding Agreement.”

The lawsuit follows Musk airing concerns about OpenAI’s shift in priorities in the past year. According to the legal complaint, Musk donated over $44 million to the non-profit between 2016 to September 2020.

For the first several years, he was the largest contributor to OpenAI, the lawsuit adds. Musk, who left OpenAI’s board in 2018, has been offered a stake in the for-profit arm of the startup but has refused to accept it over a principled stand, he said earlier.

Through the lawsuit, Musk is seeking to compel OpenAI to adhere to its original mission and bar from monetizing technologies developed under its non-profit for the benefit of OpenAI executives or partners like Microsoft.

The suit also requests the court rule AI systems like GPT-4 and other advanced models in development constitute artificial general intelligence that reaches beyond licensing agreements.

In addition to injunctions forcing OpenAI’s hand, Musk asks for accounting and potential restitution of donations meant to fund its public-minded research should the court find it now operates for private gain.

X, the social network owned by Musk, last year launched Grok, a rival to ChatGPT.

Related: OpenAI’s Text-to-Video Tool Sora Sets Internet Alight

Will Mamma Mia 3 Return to Greece?

Mama Mia
The first Mama Mia movie was shot in Greece. Credit: Universal Pictures

Fifteen years after the release of the original, the producer of the original Mamma Mia! movie confirmed recently that despite delays, a third installment is well on the way.

The first movie, which was shot in Greece on Skopelos, Skiathos, and in Pelion, was directed by Phyllida Lloyd.

The second film of 2018, Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again,  was shot in Croatia and directed by Ol Parker.  It did not return to film on the Greek islands because of complications related to Greek bureaucracy.

The producers moved the filming location to a remote Croatian island although the story was still based in Greece. The bad press for Greece at least prompted the Greek Film Commission to streamline the process of filming in Greece and on the Greek islands.

In a recent interview with Variety, producer Judy Craymer revealed that Mamma Mia! 3 is in the works, but some people may need a little more convincing.

“I’m sure [the third movie] will happen,” said Craymer, adding that past Mamma Mia! movies also took time to come to fruition. “I’m in the privileged position that I have Universal Studios wanting to do it, who I love working with, and I have a storyline.”

“Bjorn and Benny [ABBA] always take a certain amount of convincing,” she revealed. “I don’t know how much more convincing they’re gonna have because everybody wants another film.”

Will Mamma Mia! 3 return to Greece?

The original Mamma Mia! movie, starring Meryl Streep and Amanda Seyfried as Donna and Sophie—the unconventional mother-daughter duo living on Skopelos, Greece—is a fun and vibrant romantic-comedy slash jukebox musical adapted from the theater production of the same name created in 1999.

Way back in 2008, Craymer convinced the Swedish pop supergroup ABBA to allow her musical to utilize their back catalog, sampling songs such as “Take A Chance On Me,” “Knowing Me Knowing You,” and “Dancing Queen.”

The band also agreed to have their tracks played in the 2018 sequel Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again, starring Baby Driver’s Lily James as a young Donna.

Craymer later said that the team took a break in creating Mamma Mia! 3, as she had a Mamma Mia-themed singing competition show to produce, and the band also had their hands full with their latest virtual reality residential in London, ABBA Voyage.

But despite delays, the producer attests the third act will happen, stating: “We’ve done the television show and now maybe I’ll focus on the movie.”

For now, it is uncertain when the new movie will hit screens, but if Craymer can convince ABBA to share their musical talents once more, the sequel will be here before we know it.

The Ancient Greek Philosopher Who Said That Aliens Exist

The ancient Greeks had a variety of theories about aliens and extraterrestrial life. The ancient Greek philosopher Anaxagoras even believed that aliens lived on the moon.
The ancient Greeks had a variety of theories about aliens and extraterrestrial life. The ancient Greek philosopher Anaxagoras even believed that aliens lived on the moon. Credit: Georgios Liakopoulos / Wikimedia Commons CC BY-SA 3.0

Did the ancient Greeks look up at the night sky and ask “are we alone?” As it turns out, ancient Greek philosophers also asked this existential question. One such philosopher, Anaxagoras, proposed that alien life might exist on the moon.

Most people in ancient Greece turned to religion to explain the stars, planets, and the other elements of the cosmos. For example, most Greeks in antiquity believed that the sun’s position in the sky was determined by the solar god Helios and his path across the sky in his horse-drawn chariot.

However, some ancient Greek philosophers like Anaxagoras stopped to ponder the workings of the universe in more scientific terms.

Anaxagoras’ theory about the moon and aliens

Anaxagoras, an ancient Greek philosopher who lived between 500 BC and 428 BC, attracted both fame and notoriety during his lifetime for his astronomical theories.

The philosopher, who was born in the ancient Greek polis (city) of Klazomenai in Asia Minor, theorized that the Moon is a great rock and the Sun a fiery mass of red-hot metal. He also suggested that the other stars, like the sun, are burning hot rocks.

Although Anaxagoras incorrectly believed that the Earth was flat, he was the first to correctly explain the phenomenon of eclipses.

The Greek philosopher also had some thoughts about aliens. Anaxagoras proposed the theory that extraterrestrial life existed on the Moon, possibly on its mountains.

Exile

Anaxagoras’ views on celestial objects and extraterrestrial life proved highly controversial. They contradicted the dominant religious beliefs and views espoused by other philosophers.

According to many versions of Greek mythology, the Moon was personified as the goddess Selene, who visited the Earth according to the lunar cycle. This religious view was contradicted by Anaxagoras’ theory; that the Moon was a rocky physical body possibly inhabited by aliens.

By modern standards, Anaxagoras is recognized as a brilliant scientist and philosopher, but back then his theories earned him the ire of the Athenian state, where he lived. In fact, he was charged with impiety and forced into exile. Even though his close friend, the infamous Greek politician and general Pericles, testified in his defense at the trial, it was not enough to save him from exile.

Ancient Greek theories about the cosmos

Anaxagoras was not the only ancient Greek philosopher who attempted to understand astronomy, despite the dominant religious views of the time.

Democritus, a philosopher from Abdera who lived between 460 BC and 370 BC, proposed that the universe contained an infinite number of worlds. This contradicted the later views of Plato and Aristotle that Earth was the only planet and the universe was much smaller than envisioned by Democritus.

Democritus’ theory caught on with later philosophers who followed in his footsteps. Epicurus, who was born in Samos in 341 BC, once wrote a letter to the historian Herodotus outlining his belief that “there is an unlimited number of cosmoi, and some are similar to this one and some are dissimilar.”

The Greek Peanut Vendor of the White House

Greek Peanut Vendor White House
“Steve” Vasilakes’ business address was “1732 Pennsylvania Avenue”. Credit: Library of Congress

A Greek peanut vendor who set shop outside the White House became famous in the US in the first half of the 20th century.

Nicholas Stefanos “Steve” Vasilakes emigrated from Ligerea, Laconia, Greece, to the United States in 1910 and soon thereafter set up his hot peanuts and fresh popped popcorn cart on what actually was White House property.

He listed his business address as “1732 Pennsylvania Avenue” and reporters observed he came to represent the “little man” in America.

Greek peanut vendor at the White House gave to charity

He was described as a “burly, fierce mustached Greek” and during World War I he boldly advertised on a hand-painted sign on his cart that on specified weeks he donated all of his proceeds to the Red Cross.

Vasilakes became one of the most generous individual givers to that charity and gained widespread publicity for his patriotism.

Vasilakes sold peanuts to Presidents William Howard Taft, Woodrow Wilson and Warren Harding, but his best customer was President Coolidge who came to buy peanuts, munch, and talk to the vendor on the street almost every day.

President Coolidge referred to the vendor as his “contact man” with the American people.

When the District of Columbia Metropolitan police attempted to remove the peanut and popcorn cart from East Executive Avenue as a traffic menace, the president allowed the vendor to move his cart onto the sidewalk.

When asked about his friendship with Coolidge after his death in 1933, Vasilakes noted in halting English: “He talk about everything. Politics, I think no. About everything good. Good business, good prices. Everything get better. Good man.”

In 1934, a national wire story reported that the Park Police wanted Vasilakes to remove his cart from the East Executive Avenue sidewalk to ease traffic congestion, but interceded to allow him to stay.

The press reported that he became a United States citizen in 1938 and due to his accent and celebrity had a formal written statement available as a handout for the press.

And on the afternoon of Sunday 7 December the “little man” was livid. When the reporter from Washington’s Evening Star newspaper arrived outside the White House en route to a press conference, hastily called after news broke of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, he found an agitated Vasilakes.

“Steve was too excited to talk clearly,” wrote the reporter. “And about all he could say was: ‘Just three months, we finish them.’”

Vasilakes sold $50,000 in war bonds

Vasilakes had become a White House fixture and during World War II his ability to sell an astounding $50,000 in war bonds from his cart was legendary.

Vasilakes capitalized on the national publicity he had received and started selling bonds by mail order. He began his war bond drive on October 28, 1942—the second anniversary of Italy’s invasion of his native Greece—with the slogan “Make a monkey out of Mussolini.”

His first customer was the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Sam Rayburn. Each out-of town purchaser also received a bag of peanuts.

Among the flowers banked by his grave at Cedar Hill Cemetery in Washington, D.C. were sprays of red carnations sent by President and Mrs. Roosevelt.

After Vasilakes’s death in 1943 no other peanut concession was granted on White House grounds.

Source: The White House Historical Association

Petition to Lift Immunity of Politicians in Greece Gets More than 1.2 Million Signatures

Petition Tempe Disaster
Relatives and friends of the 57 victims hold a vigil in Thessaloniki. Credit: AMNA

A petition launched in Greece to lift the immunity of politicians from prosecution following last year’s Tempe rail disaster has gathered more than 1.2 million signatures.

The petition was initiated by Maria Karystianou, the mother of Marthi, a 20-year-old girl who was among the 57 victims of the train collision, which shocked and angered Greeks, on February 28, 2023.

Maria Karystianou, who is also the president of the Accident Victims Association, launched the petition on the first anniversary of the accident saying that many questions remain unanswered in relation to the circumstances, the cover-up of vital evidence, and the fact that no Greek politician has been brought to justice, as ministers responsible have the constitutional right of immunity.

The Constitution of Greece states that any inquiry into political wrongdoing must go through Parliament and, as a result, the majority does not allow investigation. Ultimately, the crimes are written off because they fall under the extremely short statute of limitations.

Petition on lifting politicians’ immunity in Greece gathers pace

The petition signed by more than 1.2 million on Friday morning says:

“Greek citizens demand from the parliament an initiation of proceedings for the revision of the Constitution and the enactment of the law on the liability of ministers, as well as the abolition of parliamentary immunity when criminal liability arises.”

It adds that “the impunity of politicians is not consistent with morality or democracy, virtues of which we are proud.”

Karystianou notes that “justice continues to move at a slow pace,” and “now it does not inspire us with any confidence.”

Having become the voice of the 57 victims, the 180 injured, and a society that lived in a delusion about what was really happening in terms of Hellenic Railways, she has made it her life’s goal “to put those responsible in prison and be punished for all the indifference and their recklessness.”

The investigation into the accident is ongoing amidst bitterness and suspicion on the part of the families affected. The tears of those who lost their loved ones have dried, but the anger remains, still palpable. It has been one year and not one official has taken responsibility for the accident.

A Greek Parliament investigating committee has not produced any valuable results on why so many people were killed and who is responsible. Opposition party representatives have walked out of the committee, blaming the government for the “Tempe crime.” So far, 32 people have been charged while several more might follow.

Opponents of any change on the liability of politicians in the constitution argue that a minister may avoid making lawful but courageous decisions under the threat of a lawsuit.

In other words, a change of the law on accountability without careful prior study may create the opposite problem. Impunity of ministers may give way to endlessly prosecuted ministers.

Related: Relatives of Rail Tragedy Victims Mourn Their Dead at Tempe

Craco: The Greek Ghost Town in Italy’s Magna Graecia

Craco The Greek Ghost Town
The area was called “Montedoro” and inhabited by Greeks who moved inland from the coastal town of Metaponto. Credit: Maurizio Moro5153, CC BY-SA 4.0

Craco, a ghost town in Italy, located in the province of Matera about twenty-five miles inland from the Gulf of Taranto, was once inhabited by Greeks.

The medieval village of Craco in Magna Graecia is typical of the hill towns of the region with mildly undulating shapes and the lands surrounding it sown with wheat.

Around 540 AD, the area was called “Montedoro” and was inhabited by Greeks who moved inland from the coastal town of Metaponto. Tombs have been found dating from the eighth century, suggesting the original settlement dates back to at least that time.

Today, earthquakes, landslides, and a lack of fertile farming land have contributed to the abandonment of Craco.

Craco The Greek Ghost Town
The ghost town pictured from a drone. Credit: Maurizio Moro5153, CC BY-SA 4.0

History of the ghost town of Craco

The inhabitants of the town grew from 450 in 1277 to 2,590 in 1561 and averaged around 1,500 in succeeding centuries. A plague struck in 1656, killing hundreds and significantly reducing the population.

By 1799, there was enough impetus to change the feudal system, and an independent municipality was established. In 1815, it was decided that the town was large enough to divide into two separate districts.

From 1892 to 1922, over 1,300 Crachesi left to settle in North America because poor agricultural conditions created desperate times, as the land was not producing enough for the people.

During the mid-twentieth century, recurring earthquakes began to take a toll on the town. Between 1959 and 1972, portions of the village were severely damaged and rendered uninhabitable by a series of landslides.

Craco Ghost Town
Its advanced state of decay is obvious. Credit: Lutz Maertens, CC BY-SA 4.0

The geological threat to the town was known to scientists since 1910 due to Craco’s location on a hill of Pliocene sands overhanging the clays with ravines causing progressive incisions.

Now, Craco is uninhabited. Guided tours allow participants to explore the ruins wearing hard hats. From afar, Craco resembles a painting with stairways and houses stacked on top of each other.

Up close, its advanced state of decay is obvious. There are towers where no bells chime, and rusted balconies where families once hung their washing. Weeds sprout at the altar of San Nicola church, whose nave is open to the sky.

In more recent times, Craco has found fame as a film set—scenes from the Italian movie adaptation of Christ Stopped at Eboli were shot here. Christ did finally make it as far as Craco for the filming of Mel Gibson’s Passion of the Christ.

As beautiful as Craco is, the land and location have proven unsuitable for sustaining habitation.

Related: Why Was Italy Called Great Greece (Magna Graecia)?

Former Leper Colony of Spinalonga, Crete Gets a Makeover

Spinalonga Crete
The islet of Spinalonga will get a makeover. Credit: Greek Ministry of Culture

The former leper colony of Spinalonga just off the coast of Crete is being restored to create exhibition spaces, the Greek Culture Ministry announced recently.

The restoration of the buildings of the Leprosy Hospital is part of the ministry’s promotion and protection of the Venetian fortress.

“Spinalonga was an extremely important fortress complex of the Venetian period, but also a place charged with sad memories from the period when the island served as a leprosarium,” said Culture Ministry Lina Mendoni.

She noted how the Venetians transformed a barren rock into a strong fortress, and the Muslims transformed it into a significant commercial hub, while the patients of the Leprosy Hospital created a supportive community.

Spinalonga is also connected to Crete’s power grid which would allow constant electricity supply. The work is expected to be finalized later in March.

The tiny islet of Spinalonga, or Kalydon, as it is officially known, is located in the famous Gulf of Elounda off northeastern Crete in the region of Lasithi, next to the town of Plaka.

Originally connected to the mainland of Crete, Spinalonga was separated from the rest of Crete by the Venetians, probably in the 15th or 16th century. The entire island was then turned into a fort, as stout walls were built all around the islet.

Crete’s Spinalonga used as a leper colony

The most famous and tragic aspect of its history, however, began in the year 1903, when Spinalonga was used as a leper colony because of its isolation from the mainland.

There were two entrances to Spinalonga, one being the lepers’ entrance, a tunnel known as “Dante’s Gate.” This was so named because the patients did not know what was going to happen to them once they arrived.

However, once on the island, they received food, water, medical attention, and social security payments. Previously, such amenities had been unavailable to Crete’s leprosy patients, as they mostly lived in the area’s caves away from civilization.

One of Europe’s last leper colonies, it ceased operation only in 1957. The last inhabitant, a priest, did not leave the island until 1962, to maintain the Greek Orthodox tradition of commemorating a buried person forty days, six months, one year, three years, and five years after their death.

Spinalonga became famous worldwide following the publication of the novel “The Island” by British writer Victoria Hislop which won several awards including Newcomer of the Year at the 2007 British Book Awards. Mega Channel Greece produced a 26-episode television series called To Nisi (The Island), based on the book; the series premiered on 11 October 2010.

Today, the uninhabited islet, which has docking facilities and beaches, is one of Crete’s most popular tourist attractions. In addition to the abandoned leper colony and the fortress, Spinalonga is known for its small pebble beaches and shallow waters.

US Senate Approves F-16 Sale to Turkey

Senate F-16 Turkey
In October 2021, Turkey asked to purchase $20 billion of Lockheed Martin F-16 fighters and nearly 80 modernization kits for its existing warplanes. Public Domain

The Senate on Thursday overwhelmingly voted 13-79 against a resolution that would have blocked a $23 billion F-16 sale to Turkey that the Biden administration approved last month.

Turkey has sought to lock down the sale, which includes 40 new F-16s made by Lockheed Martin as well as modernization kits for 79 fighter jets in its current fleet, for several years.

The State Department finally approved the sale when Turkey ratified Sweden’s NATO membership after stalling for more than a year.

Last month President Biden sent a letter to four senior members of Congress on Wednesday urging them to quickly approve a $20 billion sale of F-16 fighter jets to Turkey, following the vote by Turkey’s Parliament to allow Sweden to join NATO.

“A deal’s a deal,” said Idaho’s Jim Risch, the ranking Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

Kentucky Republican Rand Paul, who introduced the resolution to try to block the sale, told fellow senators: “Call it quid pro quo. That sounds better than extortion.”

Paul cited “significant human rights issues, arbitrary killings, suspicious deaths of person in custody, torture, arbitrary arrests and continued detention of tens of thousands of persons.”

“I also remain deeply concerned about the negative strategic implications of this proposed sale, given Turkey’s reckless military actions in recent years,” Paul said on the Senate floor ahead of the vote.

Paul noted that a U.S. F-16 shot down a Turkish drone in October in northeast Syria, where American troops back Kurdish-majority forces Ankara considers a terrorist organization. He also pointed to Turkey’s deployment of F-16s to Azerbaijan in 2020 during its war with Armenia over the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region.

Senate support for F-16 sale to Turkey

Senate Foreign Relations Chairman Ben Cardin, D-Md., defended the sale on the floor after greenlighting it last month.

“I consulted closely with the highest levels of the Biden administration about this transaction over several months,” said Cardin. “I believe they share my concerns, and I believe we are making progress.”

Cardin argued Russia’s invasion of Ukraine presented a strategic imperative for Sweden’s NATO accession as well as the need to modernize Turkey’s capabilities within the alliance. He said the sale would upgrade Turkey’s “aging F-16 fleet to a more capable model, a model that is compatible with the United States.”

“Turkey is key to the defense of the southern flank of NATO,” said Cardin. “It is host to a major U.S. military presence, and Turkey’s F-16 fleet contributes to NATO, including in the Black Sea, which is critical to our national security.”

The State Department also approved an $8.6 billion sale of F-35 stealth fighter jets to Greece last month at the same time it greenlit Turkey’s F-16 purchase.

The U.S. expelled Turkey from the F-35 co-production program in 2019 over Ankara’s purchase of the S-400 missile defense system due to fears Moscow could use its advanced radar system to spy on the stealth fighter jets.

Amber Road: The Ancient Trade Route of the ‘Northern Gold’

Amber Ancient Trade Route
The Amber Room was a chamber decorated in amber panels backed with gold leaf and mirrors, located in the Catherine Palace near Saint Petersburg. Public Domain

The Amber Road was an ancient route linking northern Europe to the Mediterranean through which amber often referred to as “northern gold” was traded from around 1500 BC to 300 BC.

Amber deposits are still present under the Baltic Sea, where they formed millions of years ago; and in Samland, in the southeast of the Baltic region, this gem washes up on the beach in huge quantities.

Harvested from these shores in the time of the Amber Road, it was traded to areas where it was in short supply, valued for its use in manufacturing adornments, implements, utensils, and even incense.

Amber is fossilized tree resin that has been appreciated for its color and natural beauty since Neolithic times. Much valued from antiquity to the present as a gemstone, amber is made into a variety of decorative objects.

Amber exported through the ancient trade route found in Greece

It has long been used in folk medicine for its purported healing properties. Amber and extracts were used from the time of Hippocrates in ancient Greece for a wide variety of treatments through the Middle Ages and up until the early twentieth century.

The oldest trade in amber started from Sicily. The Sicilian amber trade was directed to Greece, North Africa and Spain. Sicilian amber was also discovered in Mycenae by the archaeologist Heinrich Schliemann, and it appeared in sites in southern Spain and Portugal.

After a decline in the consumption and trade of amber at the beginning of the Bronze Age, around 2000 BC, the influence of Baltic amber gradually took the place of the Sicilian one

The gemstone was transported overland from the Baltic by way of the Vistula and Dnieper rivers to Italy, Greece, and the Black Sea. Other courses included a sea route spanning across the Baltic and North Seas towards Britain, then to the Mediterranean and several other areas, including Egypt and Syria.

It adorned the breast ornament of the Egyptian pharaoh Tutankhamun (c. 1333-1324 BC), was sent to the temple of Apollo at Delphi as an offering, and has been found at Mycenae in Greece and in the Royal Tomb of Qatna in Syria.

In Roman times, the Amber Road took the form that’s most known today. A main route ran vertically south from the Baltic coast in modern-day Lithuania, through modern-day Poland, Czech Republic and Slovakia, to the head of the Adriatic Sea (Aquileia by the modern-day Gulf of Venice) and to Rome.

Other paths branched out from this main route, transporting amber all across Europe and into Asia.

In addition to amber, other valuable goods such as salt, metals, textiles, and exotic items were also traded along the Amber Road.

The trade routes were not limited to just one path; instead, they encompassed a series of interconnected routes, allowing for flexibility depending on political and geographic conditions.

The Amber Road played a significant role in cultural and economic exchanges between different regions of Europe and beyond. It facilitated the spread of ideas, technologies, and cultures, and it contributed to the development of various ancient civilizations

Is Indonesia’s Gunung Padang Pyramid the Oldest in the World?

Indonesia's Gunung Padang pyramid site.
Indonesia’s Gunung Padang pyramid site. Credit: Ikhlasul Amal. CC BY 2.0/flickr

A sensational science story which gripped the world last year claimed that the Gunung Padang site in West Java, Indonesia is the world’s oldest pyramid and could be more than 25,000 years old, but is there any truth in the claim?

Stonehenge and the oldest major pyramids are just a few thousand years old, while the previous record holder, Turkey’s Gobekli Tepe stone monuments, are believed to be around 11,000 years old.

Stonehenge, Salisbury, UK.
Stonehenge, Salisbury, UK. Credit: Loco Steve. CC BY-2.0/flickr

However, researchers in a paper published in Archaeological Prospection late last year claim that the Gunung Padang pyramid could be more than twice the age of these ancient structures. They wrote: “Evidence from Gunung Padang suggests advanced construction practices were already present when agriculture had, perhaps, not yet been invented.”

The claim caught the attention of news outlets all around the world, but it has since led to ferocious backlash from many experts, who argue that none of the evidence presented by the research team justifies their conclusions about the unprecedented age of Gunung Padang. They say the settlement at the site was likely built around 6,000 to 7,000 years ago.

“The data that is presented in this paper provides no support for its final conclusion—that the settlement is extraordinarily old,” Flint Dibble, an archaeologist at Cardiff University told The Guardian. “Yet that is what has driven the headline. I am very surprised this paper was published as it is.”

The academic pushback has forced the editors of Archaeological Prospection, published by Wiley, to carry out an investigation.

“The investigation addresses concerns raised by third parties regarding the scientific content of our paper. We are actively engaged in addressing these concerns,” the paper’s main author, geologist Professor Danny Hillman Natawidjaja of Indonesia’s national research and innovation agency, admitted in December last year.

The controversy around the age of Indonesia’s Gunung Padang pyramid was stoked by the fact that the paper was proofread by the pseudoscientific British writer Graham Hancock, who claims that a once advanced ancient culture, subsequently ended by a ‘cosmic incident,’ brought science, technology, agriculture, and monumental architecture to the primitive people who populated the world after the last ice age.

He has suggested in his Netflix series Ancient Apocalypse that Gunung Padang may be an example of such events.

The majority of scientists think these ideas are laughable. “He invokes myths, fanciful and often incorrect interpretations of archaeological sites,” said geologist Marc Defant in one review of his program. As Bill Farley, an archaeologist at Southern Connecticut State University in New Haven, put it, it is “a theory that says a group of ancient sages taught us everything we know [and it] simplifies history to a crude level and also robs Indigenous people of the claim that they developed their own ancient culture and sophisticated crafts.”

Natawidjaja told The Observer in December last year that he thinks Hancock’s ideas present a reasonable working hypothesis.

The ‘evidence’ for the unprecedented antiquity of Indonesia’s Gunung Padang pyramid

Sitting among tea plantations and banana palms nearly three thousand feet above sea level and seventy-five miles south of Jakarta, Gunung Padang comprises a series of stone terraces that rest on top of a non-active volcano. Pottery shards suggest the site is around a few thousand years old.

However, Natawidjaja and his colleagues argue their use of ground-penetrating radar conveys that, beneath the main structure, there are many deeper man-made layers with the lowest, a hardened lava core, showing signs of having been “meticulously sculpted,” as reported by The Guardian.

Gunung Padang.
Gunung Padang. Credit: zuki12. CC BY-2.0/flickr

The research team claims soil samples taken from material drilled out of the mound deep beneath the site were dated between 27,000 and 16,000 years old. Later accretions are believed to be around 8,000 years old.

Natawidjaja’s team came to the conclusions that Gunung Padang displays clear evidence that its construction could be traced back to 25,000 years or more, when the planet was still in the last ice age.

However, the claims have been denounced by archaeologists, who point out that the research team provides no evidence that the buried material was made by humans. They argue it might be more than 20,000 years old but was likely of natural origin, as there is no proof of any human presence, such as bone fragments or artifacts, in the soil.