Book excerpt: In This Issue . . . p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; line-height: 16.0px; font: 14.0px Arial; color: #4d4d4d} p.p2 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; line-height: 16.0px; font: 14.0px Arial; color: #4d4d4d; background-color: #ffffff} span.s1 {font-kerning: none; background-color: #ffffff} span.s2 {font-kerning: none} span.s3 {font: 12.0px Times; font-kerning: none; color: #000000} LIVING FOR CENTURIES? Should Ancient Tales of Extreme Longevity Be Taken Seriously? BY WILLIAM B. STOECKER THE SPHINX BREAKS ITS SILENCE Hieorglyphs Say She Was the Lioness Mehit Who Guarded an Ancient Archive BY ROBERT M. SCHOCH, Ph.D. THE TRIALS OF THE SHROUD Science vs. Faith--Why the Jury Is Still Out BY MICHAEL E. TYMN ANCIENT HIGH TECHNOLOGY Debunking the Myth of 'Primitive' Ancestors BY FRANK JOSEPH THE BIRTH OF A TEMPLAR NATION How the Knights Templar Created Europe's First Nation-State and a Refuge for the Grail BY FREDDY SILVA ALTERNATIVE NEWS NEANDERTHAL MULTIPLICATION AMERICA'S CHEROKEE ROOTS RETURN TO THE 'HALL OF RECORDS'? NEW SCIENTIFIC SCRUTINY FOR ANCIENT 'GIANTS' NANO HEALING FROM COSTA RICA TO BOSNIA, STONE SPHERES YET UNEXPLAINED CAREERS BECKON FOR ASPIRING PLANETARY PROTECTORS IAPETUS FINGERED AS 'DEATH STAR'? IS THE UNIVERSE CONSCIOUS? VINDICATION FOR EASTER ISLAND PEOPLE There Was No 'Ecocide' Here, but its History Still Baffles the Experts BY MARTIN RUGGLES REVISITING THE MAYAN CALENDAR 2012 Is History Now, but Carl Johan Calleman Is Still Looking for Secrets BY ROBERT MENDEL MASONIC SINGAPORE The Esoteric Beginnings of the World's Richest City BY STEPHEN V. O'ROURKE THE ASTRONOMERS OF SKARA BRAE How Much Do We Owe These Neolithic Geniuses? BY STEVEN SORA SPACE TRAVEL OF THE MIND The Case of Camile Flammarion--Ahead of His Time, and Then Some BY JOHN CHAMBERS MOROCCO HOMO SAPIENS--A SMALL STEP FORWARD? BY MICHAEL CREMO THE MYTHIC CODE Understanding the Signs and Symbols of Astrology BY JULIE LOAR PUBLISHER'S LETTER EYE-OPENING ANCIENT WISDOM BY J. DOUGLAS KENYON