There are intriguing new clues in the mystery of how the woolly mammoth met its demise in North America more than 10,000 years ago.
For decades, scientists have debated whether the giant, elephant-like beasts were driven to extinction by the arrival of overzealous human hunters or by global warming at the end of the Pleistocene era, the last great Ice Age. Some say it was a combination of the two.
Recently, a group of more than two dozen scientists offered a new explanation. They have found signs that a comet -- or multiple fragments of one -- exploded over Canada about 12,900 years ago with the force equivalent to millions of nuclear weapons. That unleashed, they said, a tremendous shock wave that destroyed much of what was in its path and ignited wildfires across North America.
Science & Technology
The populations of 20 common American birds - from the fence-sitting meadowlark to the whippoorwill with its haunting call - are half what they were 40 years ago, according to an analysis released Thursday.
Astronomers have announced yet more bad news for the much-lamented former planet Pluto. Kicked out of the club of planets last year into a new category of dwarf planet, it is not even the biggest of those, scientists have found.
HOUSTON - NASA said on Thursday that a new power feed could be the source of potentially catastrophic computer glitches aboard the $100 billion International Space Station but it hoped the problem would be resolved.
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| ©AP Photo/Current Anthropology, Bohuslav Klima |
| A triple burial site in Dolni Vestonice, in the Moravian region of Czech Republic, thought to be approximately 27,000 years old. |
NEW YORK - Investigations of prehistoric burial sites in Europe indicate that the region's population may have practiced ritual human sacrifice, according to a new study.
Almost 300 million people worldwide are now accessing the internet using fast broadband connections, fuelling the growth of social networking services such as MySpace and generating thousands of hours of video through websites such as YouTube.
There are more than 1.1 billion of the world's estimated 6.6 billion people online and almost a third of them are now accessing the internet on high-speed lines. According to the internet consultancy Point Topic, 298 million people had broadband at the end of March and that is already estimated to have shot over 300 million. The statistics, however, paint a picture of a divided digital world.
There are more than 1.1 billion of the world's estimated 6.6 billion people online and almost a third of them are now accessing the internet on high-speed lines. According to the internet consultancy Point Topic, 298 million people had broadband at the end of March and that is already estimated to have shot over 300 million. The statistics, however, paint a picture of a divided digital world.
Koch Media has announced that it will port recently released PC adventure game Secret Files: Tunguska to both the Nintendo DS and Wii. 10TACLE Studios will handle development of the DS version, while Keen Games will handle development of the Wii version.
The archaeological expedition Strandzha discovered a labyrinth, similar to the famous labyrinth on the island of Crete.
The discovery was made near the village of Golyam Derven, close to the Bulgarian-Turkish border.
Archaeologists also found a skeleton of a ruler in the labyrinth, BGNES news agency reported.
The discovery was made near the village of Golyam Derven, close to the Bulgarian-Turkish border.
Archaeologists also found a skeleton of a ruler in the labyrinth, BGNES news agency reported.
Though some would have you believe that games are nothing but a breeding ground for murderers, one of the current console contenders is hoping that some of the industry's up-and-comers can convince us that games can change the world. In association with Games for Change - a movement that strives to use games as a means for social change - Microsoft is hosting a competition called the "Xbox 360 Games for Change Challenge" that will seek out new talent for the purposes of creating a game based on the current socio-political climate of the world today.
Scientists now say that an ocean several miles deep once covered a third of the surface of the planet, enough water to support the origin and evolution of life. The red planet, they said, had once been a deep blue, just like Earth.
