The incredible 'alien' skull discovered in a Mexican cemetery
It is an astonishing image that could have come straight from the plot of a Ridley Scott movie.
Archaeologists in Mexico today revealed the astonishing skull of a person suffering from a cranial disfiguration. Believed to be 1,000 years old, the find was made near the small Mexican village of Onavas. The find is believed to be the first in the region showing the practice of binding a skull to change its shape. |  |
The Bloody Truth About Serbia's Vampire
Garlic sales are up. Wooden crosses are a hot commodity. That can only mean one thing: Vampire on the loose!
But this isn't part of a movie script or book. It's a real-life event in the Serbian town of Zarozje (map), where last month the local council issued a public health warning that the resident vampire, Sava Savanovic, may be on the prowl.
The vampire scare was sparked by reports that an old mill where the vampire allegedly lived has collapsed. According to ABC News, the town's mayor, Miodrag Vujetic, said: "People are worried, everybody knows the legend of this vampire and the thought that he is now homeless and looking for somewhere else [to live] and possibly other victims is terrifying..."
But this isn't part of a movie script or book. It's a real-life event in the Serbian town of Zarozje (map), where last month the local council issued a public health warning that the resident vampire, Sava Savanovic, may be on the prowl.
The vampire scare was sparked by reports that an old mill where the vampire allegedly lived has collapsed. According to ABC News, the town's mayor, Miodrag Vujetic, said: "People are worried, everybody knows the legend of this vampire and the thought that he is now homeless and looking for somewhere else [to live] and possibly other victims is terrifying..."
Can Birds Make Us Happy?
As millions of us post our Christmas cards -- many of which star a robin red breast -- ecologists are investigating whether birds make us happy. Speaking at this week's British Ecological Society Annual Meeting, researchers will reveal how they are investigating the links between birds and our well-being, and explain how their results -- due out next year -- could have a major impact on UK bird conservation.
There has been an increasing amount of research on the health benefits of green spaces such as parks and nature reserves, but we know far less about how the wildlife within these habitats contributes towards well-being benefits.
There has been an increasing amount of research on the health benefits of green spaces such as parks and nature reserves, but we know far less about how the wildlife within these habitats contributes towards well-being benefits.
Found: Whale Thought Extinct for 2 Million Years
The pygmy right whale, a mysterious and elusive creature that rarely comes to shore, is the last living relative of an ancient group of whales long believed to be extinct, a new study suggests.
The findings, published today (Dec. 18) in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B, may help to explain why the enigmatic marine mammals look so different from any other living whale.
"The living pygmy right whale is, if you like, a remnant, almost like a living fossil," said Felix Marx, a paleontologist at the University of Otago in New Zealand. "It's the last survivor of quite an ancient lineage that until now no one thought was around.".
The findings, published today (Dec. 18) in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B, may help to explain why the enigmatic marine mammals look so different from any other living whale.
"The living pygmy right whale is, if you like, a remnant, almost like a living fossil," said Felix Marx, a paleontologist at the University of Otago in New Zealand. "It's the last survivor of quite an ancient lineage that until now no one thought was around.".
Lake Ellsworth: Drilling effort runs into trouble
A British attempt to search for life in an ancient lake beneath the Antarctic ice-sheet has run into trouble.
The team has reported "a serious problem" with the main boiler used to heat the water that powers a drill. Work was halted on Saturday in what could prove to be a major blow to the project to investigate sub-glacial Lake Ellsworth. The aim is to use 90C water to blast a hole through the two-mile-thick ice-sheet to reach the lake waters below. |  |
Another Earth Just 12 Light-Years Away?
Astronomers have discovered what may be five planets orbiting Tau Ceti, the closest single star beyond our solar system whose temperature and luminosity nearly match the sun's. If the planets are there, one of them is about the right distance from the star to sport mild temperatures, oceans of liquid water, and even life. Don't pack your bags just yet, though: The discovery still needs to be confirmed.
Tau Ceti is only 12 light-years from Earth, just three times as far as our sun's nearest stellar neighbor, Alpha Centauri. |  |
Scientists 'Surprised' to Discover Very Early Ancestors Survived On Tropical Plants
Researchers involved in a new study led by Oxford University have found that between three million and 3.5 million years ago, the diet of our very early ancestors in central Africa is likely to have consisted mainly of tropical grasses and sedges. The findings are published in the early online edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
An international research team extracted information from the fossilised teeth of three Australopithecus bahrelghazali individuals -- the first early hominins excavated at two sites in Chad. Professor Julia Lee-Thorp from Oxford University with researchers from Chad, France and the US analysed the carbon isotope ratios in the teeth and found the signature of a diet rich in foods derived from C4 plants. |  |
Maori stones hold magnetic clues
Scientists are studying the Earth's magnetic field using the stones that line Maori steam ovens.
The cooking process generates so much heat that the magnetic minerals in these stones will realign themselves with the current field direction. An archaeological search is under way in New Zealand to find sites containing old ovens, or hangi as they are known. Abandoned stones at these locations could shed light on Earth's magnetic behaviour going back hundreds of years. |  |
Study revisits mystery of Egyptian King Ramesses III's killing
Forget old conspiracy theories about snake bites and fatal poisons. Egyptian King Ramesses III died after a brutal throat slashing, a new study says.
The study provides the latest twist in a mystery that has long perplexed researchers. Did a venomous viper take him out? Poison? An assassination plot in a reign tainted by war? And if it were the latter, who did it? Researches say he died at the hands of a killer in a plot planned by one of his wives and a son who wanted to succeed him. |  |
Paranormal presence haunts home of Iowa baseball players
Every night when he got ready to go to bed, Hawkeye baseball player Trevor Kenyon usually left his TV on the Big Ten Network. One night, he decided to fall asleep to FX.
When he returned to his room after brushing his teeth, he discovered his TV had been changed to BTN. Kenyon turned the TV off and put the remote on the floor next to his bed. When he rolled over, he discovered the remote next to him on the pillow. After that, Kenyon turned the TV back on to BTN and let “Tim” watch sports as he fell asleep. |  |
Sasquatch in New Jersey?
It was a crisp November morning in 1980 when Richard Biggins came face-to-face with what he believes was a Sasquatch. He was deer hunting with his father by the Walpack Inn in Sussex County.
“It had snowed pretty good the past few days, so there were six to 10 inches on the ground,” Biggins recalled. “My father dropped me off and told me to walk into the woods almost to the base of the hill, wait 15 minutes, and then start walking to him to help push any deer toward him to shoot.” The hill being steep, Biggins slid down it. Five minutes into his wait, he could hardly believe his eyes. |  |
UNLV Researchers Find First Evidence of Ice Age Wolves in Nevada
A UNLV research team recently unearthed fossil remains from an extinct wolf species in a wash northwest of Las Vegas, revealing the first evidence that the ice age mammal once lived in Nevada.
The metapodial, or foot bone, was uncovered late last year by UNLV geologist Josh Bonde during a survey of the Upper Las Vegas Wash. They have now confirmed that the bone comes from a dire wolf. |  |
National Geographic Unveils New Phase of Genographic Project
The National Geographic Society has announced the next phase of its Genographic Project -- the multiyear global research initiative that uses DNA to map the history of human migration. Building on seven years of global data collection, Genographic shines new light on humanity's collective past, yielding tantalizing clues about humankind's journey across the planet over the past 60,000 years.
"Our first phase drew participation from more than 500,000 participants from over 130 countries," said Project Director Spencer Wells, a population geneticist and National Geographic Explorer-in-Residence. "The second phase creates an even greater citizen science opportunity -- and the more people who participate, the more our scientific knowledge will grow.".
"Our first phase drew participation from more than 500,000 participants from over 130 countries," said Project Director Spencer Wells, a population geneticist and National Geographic Explorer-in-Residence. "The second phase creates an even greater citizen science opportunity -- and the more people who participate, the more our scientific knowledge will grow.".
Manhattan Project Sites Part Of Proposed Park
Congress is considering whether to turn three top-secret sites involved with creating the atomic bomb into one of the country's most unusual national parks.
The Manhattan Project — the U.S. program to design and build the first atomic bomb during World War II — largely took place at three sites: Los Alamos, N.M.; Oak Ridge, Tenn.; and Hanford, Wash. On July 16, 1945, the first test of an atomic bomb took place at a site in the southern New Mexico desert. Hiroshima and then Nagasaki, Japan, were bombed less than a month after the test. |  |
Grave Obstacle to Chinese Construction Boom
A grave teetering above a construction project is one family’s symbol of defiance against China’s relentless tide of development. The family refused payment to move a relative’s grave.
China's construction boom waits for no one, dead or alive. In the city of Taiyuan that means a multistory residential complex is taking shape around a lone grave, which now sits atop a tower of mud about 30 feet (10 meters) above the building's excavated foundations
China's construction boom waits for no one, dead or alive. In the city of Taiyuan that means a multistory residential complex is taking shape around a lone grave, which now sits atop a tower of mud about 30 feet (10 meters) above the building's excavated foundations
Scientists turn to genetics to help protect pygmy elephants
To help protect a diminutive elephant, researchers are taking an innovative look at the pachyderm's genome.
The goal is to understand the genetic diversity of pygmy elephants on the island of Borneo. Numbering about 2,000, these babyish-looking elephants are the most endangered subspecies of Asian elephant. They live primarily in the Malaysian state of Sabah on Borneo, where they are threatened by the loss and fragmentation of their forest, often by development associated with palm oil, a widely used, edible plant oil. |  |
Guess what dolphins and crickets have in common
Dolphins and crickets might have more in common than you think.
A large group of insects that includes crickets and katydids is believed to share a hearing feature with toothed whales like dolphins, according to a new study. "We don't know why animals who are so far apart in evolutionary terms have this similarity, but it opens up the possibility that others may use the same system component," Windmill added. |  |
Spider That Builds Its Own Arachnid Decoys Discovered
A spider that builds elaborate, fake spiders and hangs them in its web has been discovered in the Peruvian Amazon.
Believed to be a new species in the genus Cyclosa, the arachnid crafts the larger spider from leaves, debris and dead insects. Though Cyclosa includes other sculpting arachnids, this is the first one observed to build a replica with multiple, spidery legs. Scientists suspect the fake spiders serve as decoys, part of a defense mechanism meant to confuse or distract predators. “It seems like a really well evolved and very specialized behavior,” said Phil Torres, who described the find in a blog entry written for Rainforest Expeditions. Torres, a biologist and science educator, divides his time between Southern California and Peru, where he’s involved in research and education projects. |  |
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