A Geologist's Theology

In July 2007 the announcement was made of the "New Seven Wonders of the World". Considering that of the previous list, only the Pyramid of Giza remains intact, I suppose it was time for the update. The 2007 list includes plenty of sites that are readily recognizable, such as the Colosseum in Italy, the Machu Picchu in Peru, or the Taj Mahal in India. The Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, on the other hand, are less familiar as they existed. Instead, we are apt to recognize them in phrases, storybook references or even from being featured in video games.
One of the Ancient Wonders still refered to in popular culture is Colossus, as in Colossus of Rhodes - consider the adjective "colossal". The great statue was reportedly made of bronze and stood 107 feet (30 meters) tall. It's said that an earthquake in 226 BC toppled the statue, and it was not rebuilt because the oracle of Delphi told the Rhodians that they had offended Helios, a personification of the sun.

The oracle of Delphi, or Pythia, is possibly better known than many of the Ancient Wonders. Pythia was indeed a wonder of the ancient world in the sense that a priestess should preside over such a position of power in a male-dominated society. Nonetheless, the Delphic oracle existed for some 12 centuries, until about 393 AD.
However, in a piece by John Roach in National Geographic in August 2001, it was proposed that psychic powers of Pythia were in fact due to gas vapors, ethylene in particular, which rose up from the faults located below the temple. The hypothesis was considered and dismissed over time until experts gained a better understanding of geologic and volcanic activity. Now a study shows that this explanation is quite viable. Leave it to a geologist to say God lies not in the heavens, but right beneath our noses.
Read the National Geographic article HERE