A cosmic impact two millennia ago may have sent tsunamis deluging what is now the Big Apple, scientists suggest.
Many of the giant sea waves known as tsunamis are caused by underwater earthquakes and volcanoes - for example, the devastating 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami was triggered by a quake off the northwestern coast of Sumatra. Still, the causes of nearly 10 percent of all tsunamis nowadays remain uncertain.
Cosmic impacts have been known to cause tsunamis in the past. For instance, scientists have found evidence that the Chicxulub impact in Mexico, which may have ended the age of dinosaurs, triggered gigantic waves.
Science & Technology
An asteroid splashdown in one of Earth's oceans could trigger a destructive chemical cycle that would wipe out half the ozone layer, according to a new study. The massive loss of protection against the sun's ultraviolet (UV) radiation would likely force humans into a vampire-style existence of staying indoors during daylight hours.
The worst scenario based on an asteroid 0.6 miles (1 kilometer) wide would re-create the hole in the ozone layer, which appeared over Antarctica during the 1990s, except this would be worldwide. UV levels in the study's simulation soared beyond anything measured so far on Earth by the UV Index's daily forecasts of overexposure to UV radiation, and remained that way for as long as two years.
The worst scenario based on an asteroid 0.6 miles (1 kilometer) wide would re-create the hole in the ozone layer, which appeared over Antarctica during the 1990s, except this would be worldwide. UV levels in the study's simulation soared beyond anything measured so far on Earth by the UV Index's daily forecasts of overexposure to UV radiation, and remained that way for as long as two years.
© Unknown
Trinkaus
Trinkaus
The research, based at the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology in Beijing, was published Oct. 25 in the online early edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Thermos-sized weapon ideal for CIA assassin droids
US weaponry megacorp Raytheon says it has successfully tested a new, pocket-sized smartbomb specifically designed for use by killer robots.
The weapon has been rather prosaically dubbedd Small Tactical Munition (STM). STM is a 13-pound guided bomb that is approximately 2 feet long, according to Raytheon. Two of the little smartbombs have now been successfully trialled at the US Army's Yuma Proving Ground in Arizona. According to a company statement, both used GPS-INS combo satnav'n' inertial guidance to get themselves to where they could see their targets: then homed in on a laser pointer dot for the final part of their descent.
According to Raytheon, this dual-mode guidance enables the STM minibombs to "enable the weapon to engage both fixed and moving targets around-the-clock, regardless of weather conditions".
US weaponry megacorp Raytheon says it has successfully tested a new, pocket-sized smartbomb specifically designed for use by killer robots.
The weapon has been rather prosaically dubbedd Small Tactical Munition (STM). STM is a 13-pound guided bomb that is approximately 2 feet long, according to Raytheon. Two of the little smartbombs have now been successfully trialled at the US Army's Yuma Proving Ground in Arizona. According to a company statement, both used GPS-INS combo satnav'n' inertial guidance to get themselves to where they could see their targets: then homed in on a laser pointer dot for the final part of their descent.
According to Raytheon, this dual-mode guidance enables the STM minibombs to "enable the weapon to engage both fixed and moving targets around-the-clock, regardless of weather conditions".
© CXC/M. Weiss
An artist's rendering of SGR 0418+5729, a slowly rotating neutron star with a very weak magnetic field at its surface. Observations from several telescopes, including NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory, have revealed that the star is giving off bursts of X-rays and gamma rays. This discovery may indicate the presence of an internal magnetic field much more intense than the surface magnetic field, with implications for how the most powerful magnets in the cosmos evolve.
An artist's rendering of SGR 0418+5729, a slowly rotating neutron star with a very weak magnetic field at its surface. Observations from several telescopes, including NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory, have revealed that the star is giving off bursts of X-rays and gamma rays. This discovery may indicate the presence of an internal magnetic field much more intense than the surface magnetic field, with implications for how the most powerful magnets in the cosmos evolve.
The neutron star, SGR 0418+5729, was discovered on June 5, 2009, when the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope detected bursts of gamma-rays from this object. Follow-up observations four days later with the Rossi X-Ray Timing Explorer (RXTE) showed that, in addition to sporadic X-ray bursts, the neutron star exhibits persistent X-ray emission with regular pulsations that indicate that the star has a rotational period of 9.1 seconds. RXTE was able to monitor this activity for about 100 days. This behavior is similar to a class of neutron stars called magnetars, which have strong to extreme magnetic fields 20 to 1000 times above the average of the galactic radio pulsars.
© Carles Lalueza-Fox
The gourd, originally used to store gunpowder, was extensively decorated on the outside with a flame tool. Burned into its surface is the text: "Maximilien Bourdaloue on January 21st, dipped his handkerchief in the blood of Louis XVI after his beheading."
The gourd, originally used to store gunpowder, was extensively decorated on the outside with a flame tool. Burned into its surface is the text: "Maximilien Bourdaloue on January 21st, dipped his handkerchief in the blood of Louis XVI after his beheading."
The research, accepted for publication in the journal Forensic Science International: Genetics, shows how genetic analysis can provide new historical evidence independent of other traditional sources of information.
The gourd, originally used to store gunpowder, was extensively decorated on the outside with a flame tool. Burned into its surface is the text: "Maximilien Bourdaloue on January 21st, dipped his handkerchief in the blood of Louis XVI after his beheading."
© AP Photo/Martin Meissner
Two reconstructions of Neanderthals are shown in at the Neanderthal museum in Mettmann, Germany. A newly found fossil suggests modern humans and Neanderthals mixed sexually in Asia.
Two reconstructions of Neanderthals are shown in at the Neanderthal museum in Mettmann, Germany. A newly found fossil suggests modern humans and Neanderthals mixed sexually in Asia.
The remains are the oldest modern human fossils in East Asia and predate, by over 60,000 years, the oldest previously known modern human remains in the region.
The fossils - a chin and related teeth - belonged to a modern human that also featured more robust Neanderthal-type characteristics, indicates the study, published in the latest Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Co-author Erik Trinkaus, who is one of the world's leading experts on Neanderthals, told Discovery News that the new findings mean "there was mating between these 'archaic' and 'modern' groups across Asia, and not just in Europe and the remainder of Africa."
Blaster-biggun in Nork shot splash cockup
The United States' enormous jumbo-jet-mounted raygun, the Airborne Laser Testbed (ALTB), has suffered another embarrassing test failure. During an attempt to beam down a target missile off the Californian coast last week, a technical hitch saw the 747's blaster cannon fail to fire up.
The United States' enormous jumbo-jet-mounted raygun, the Airborne Laser Testbed (ALTB), has suffered another embarrassing test failure. During an attempt to beam down a target missile off the Californian coast last week, a technical hitch saw the 747's blaster cannon fail to fire up.
© The Register
It was all going to be so cool ...
It was all going to be so cool ...
© ALAMY
Falling in love produces a similar high to taking cocaine
Falling in love produces a similar high to taking cocaine
The first flush of love stimulates 12 different parts of the brain to start releasing "feel-good" chemicals such as dopamine, oxytocin, adrenaline and vasopression, a study at Syracuse University in New York found.
The same chemicals are triggered by a dose of cocaine - meaning that the feeling of falling in love is similar to that induced by taking the Class-A drug.
Comment: What if - just as a speculative guess - the humans emerged from both Africa and Asia? Is this necessarily an outlandish proposition?