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Ancient worldsAncient computer calculated Olympic GamesThursday, 31 July 2008
A clockwork machine hailed as the supercomputer of the ancient world may have provided a calendar for the Olympic Games and has even been linked to early mathematician, Archimedes. Nano-tools pick out traces of ancient lifeTuesday, 29 July 2008
Nanoscale views of ancient rocks might help detect traces of Earth's earliest life, say geologists. They looked in great detail at rocks thought to hold Earth's oldest fossils, and found tiny trails likely made by ancient microbes. Neanderthal genome well underwayFriday, 25 July 2008
Another six months should yield the DNA key to the full Neanderthal genome, says Svante Pääbo and his team at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Germany. Dino diversity had a long pedigreeWednesday, 23 July 2008
The belief that dinosaurs underwent explosive species diversification shortly before they were wiped out is an illusion, for the beasts' main evolutionary shifts took place millions of years before. Undersea volcanoes triggered mass extinctionMonday, 21 July 2008
Ninety-three million years ago, Earth was a hothouse where the average temperature was nearly twice that today. Then spectacular volcanism led to a massive extinction event and cooled the atmosphere. Mummy with a tummy acheWednesday, 16 July 2008
The DNA of a bacterium that causes ulcers has been discovered in the stomach of a Mexican mummy, showing that ancient Americans were afflicted with the painful condition nearly 700 years ago. Ancient diamonds push back age of lifeFriday, 11 July 2008
Some intriguing diamonds discovered in Western Australia suggest that life on Earth could be 700 million years older than thought. If proved correct, the find would raise new questions about the basic conditions required for the genesis of life. Fossil reveals colour of ancient feathersWednesday, 9 July 2008
Microscopic details in fossilised plumage could reveal the colour of extinct birds, or even feathered dinosaurs, according to a new report. Fossils of early Earth life may be on the MoonWednesday, 2 July 2008
Evidence of the earliest forms of life on Earth may actually be scattered across the lunar landscape as meteorites, British scientists believe. Giant impact explains Martian mysteryThursday, 26 June 2008
For nearly 30 years, space scientists have wrestled with one of the greatest enigmas in the Solar System: why does Mars have two faces? Volcanic eruptions reshape Arctic ocean floorThursday, 26 June 2008
Recent massive volcanoes have risen from the ocean floor deep under the Arctic ice cap, spewing plumes of fragmented magma into the sea, scientists who filmed the aftermath have reported. Sea level flux drove mass extinctionsWednesday, 18 June 2008
Mass extinctions that wiped out up to 90 per cent of Earth's flora and fauna were driven in large part by shifting ocean levels, a new study suggests. Dino bone betrays southern linksThursday, 12 June 2008
A fossilised bone originally found 20 years ago may hold the key to the enigmatic origins of Australia’s dinosaurs, a new project has found. Sex secrets of a prehistoric marsupialWednesday, 11 June 2008
A long-standing mystery concerning the number of species of the largest known marsupial, the ancient Diprotodon, has been resolved, say experts, and sheds light on its mating practices. Attention deficit disorder aided early humansTuesday, 10 June 2008
A genetic propensity for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder may actually help people thrive in nomadic environments, says a study of Kenyan tribesmen. |
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