Otzi — the new hobbit?
- Otzi, the prehistoric ‘iceman’, probably has no modern descendants. (Warning: rather graphic photo of corpse.)
- DNA shows Otzi the Iceman has very, very close kin.
- Scientists use DNA to re-trace migrations of ancient Phoenicians.
- At a dig of early Jurassic flora fossils in Utah, 150 specimens collected over the past few days have all been previously unknown to science.
- During the time it takes you to read this article, something will happen high overhead that until recently many scientists didn’t think possible: A magnetic portal will open, linking Earth to the sun.
- ‘Ghost of Mirach’ materializes in space telescope image.
- Hubble back to taking spectacular images.
- On Mars, Phoenix lander’s end appears to be near.
- NASA’s own engineers warn that new moon rocket could shake astronauts to death.
- Climate change at the poles IS man-made.
- Arctic melt prompts historic methane rise.
- Meteorologists baffled by very rapid tidal changes along Maine’s coast.
- Leading geologists from around the world decide that a mud volcano disaster in Indonesia was triggered by oil and gas exploration.
- Jane Goodall, set to receive the Leakey Prize, says chimps in Africa can’t be protected unless people’s living conditions are improved.
- Deadly bat disease linked to cold-loving fungus known to be associated with Arctic permafrost soils. No telling what other ancient microbes are now thawing.
- Biologists discover motor proteins that rewind sections of DNA.
- Two-way transfer molecule allows the immune system to tell ‘self’ from ‘non-self’.
- Bacteria can directly cause human blood and plasma to clot — a process previously thought to have been lost during vertebrate evolution.
- Evidence mounts that melamine from China has leached into animal feed supplies, posing health risks worldwide.
- Read all about it: Simpler fonts make for easier tasks.
- Psychologist’s research suggests the better you are at resisting temptation, the more likely you are to have a happy and successful life.
- Rock stars and their alien encounters.
- Bigfoot sighted on CA Highway 101. Bigfoot’s been spotted in Vermont too. (With video.) Whadaya know — two newspapers manage to report Bigfoot sightings without resorting to jokes and snide remarks. The Bartholomew brothers have a new book: Bigfoot Encounters in New York & New England. I emailed Amazon about a gross error on the book’s order-page, so hopefully they will fix it soon.
- In-depth interview with George Carlin, given nine days before his death.
- Inca roots run deep in high-altitude Cuzco. Peru Rocks: 25 really BIG photos.
Quote of the Day:
Love, according to the unanimous opinion of the wise men who discourse of him, and as by experience we see continually, is that which brings together and unites the lover with the beloved; wherefore Pythagoras says, ‘In friendship many become one.’
Dante Alighieri, in The Banquet.
