These "chemical signals" at a specific depth in the Earth's upper crust are unique to the modern era, he said.
Altering official categories of Earth history is no small matter. Debates are still raging in geological circles over when, precisely, the Holocene began and the Pleistocene (popularly known as the Stone Age) ended. Another battle is being waged over when, exactly, the Tertiary gave way to the Quaternary about 1.9 million years ago.
Science & Technology
Genes have the ability to recognise similarities in each other from a distance, without any proteins or other biological molecules aiding the process, according to new research published this week in the Journal of Physical Chemistry B. This discovery could explain how similar genes find each other and group together in order to perform key processes involved in the evolution of species.
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| ©Unknown |
Astronauts and NASA flight surgeons overwhelmingly dismissed reports of a crewmember flying drunk, although they did confirm a single incident of an astronaut seemingly inebriated a few days before liftoff, an employee survey released on Wednesday showed.
Virgin Galactic has unveiled a new private spaceship design for human flight this week.
The White Knight Two (WK2) aircraft carrier, in Mojave, Calif., is about 60% complete and is on track for flight tests this summer, the company said.
The White Knight Two (WK2) aircraft carrier, in Mojave, Calif., is about 60% complete and is on track for flight tests this summer, the company said.
Ancient pottery found at an altar used by ancient Greeks to worship Zeus was actually in use at least a millennium earlier, new archeological data suggest.
The pottery shards were discovered during an excavation last summer near the top of Mt. Lykaion in southern Greece.
The pottery shards were discovered during an excavation last summer near the top of Mt. Lykaion in southern Greece.
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| ©University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology |
| Altar of Zeus at Mt. Lykaion. Left to right: Dan Diffendale, University of Pennsylvania, Dr. Arthur Rhon, Wichita State University, and Arvey Basa, University of Arizona. |
Quick: What's the order of the planets in the solar system? Need a little help? Maybe the following mnemonic rings a bell: "My Very Educated Mother Just Served Up Nine Pizzas." It's useful for remembering the order of the planets today, but it wouldn't have been as useful in the past, and not just because the International Astronomical Union demoted Pluto to "dwarf planet" last year.
The reason this mnemonic wouldn't have worked is because the planets weren't always in the order they are today. Four billion years ago, early in the solar system's evolution, Uranus and Neptune switched places.
The reason this mnemonic wouldn't have worked is because the planets weren't always in the order they are today. Four billion years ago, early in the solar system's evolution, Uranus and Neptune switched places.
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| ©Unknown |
| "This reminds us that the solar system is a dynamic place," Steve Desch says. "For the first 650 million years of the solar system, Neptune was closer to the sun than Uranus - that's 15 percent of the history of the solar system. It looked completely different than we see it today." |
A Japanese astronaut plans to throw a boomerang inside a space station to test how it can fly in zero gravity, an official said Wednesday.
Astronaut Takao Doi, 53, is set to travel on a US shuttle in March to the International Space Station, where he will be in charge of construction of a Japanese scientific testing room.
It is believed gravity is needed for a boomerang to fly back to the throwing spot, but no one has tried in zero gravity.
Astronaut Takao Doi, 53, is set to travel on a US shuttle in March to the International Space Station, where he will be in charge of construction of a Japanese scientific testing room.
It is believed gravity is needed for a boomerang to fly back to the throwing spot, but no one has tried in zero gravity.
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| ©Unknown |
| Astronaut Takao Doi |
Is this the picture that proves that there is life on Mars? And the existence of Bigfoot?
It certainly is - if you believe the current crop of rumours whizzing around cyberspace after the image was captured on the surface of the Red Planet.
The photograph, taken in 2004 by the Mars explorer Spirit, appears to show a human shaped object that looks startingly like previous photographs purporting to have captured Bigfoot.
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| ©Unknown |
| The picture was taken in 2004 when enlarged reveals a mysterious figure |
It certainly is - if you believe the current crop of rumours whizzing around cyberspace after the image was captured on the surface of the Red Planet.
The photograph, taken in 2004 by the Mars explorer Spirit, appears to show a human shaped object that looks startingly like previous photographs purporting to have captured Bigfoot.
It must be difficult for young people today to comprehend the wonder with which humankind once regarded space exploration. Most kids have spent their lives soaking up CGI special effects in Hi-Def and surround sound, so a routine Space Shuttle launch in the real world can't seem too impressive. Even worse, Sci-Fi movies with cosmic themes have been almost universally poor since at least the mid-1980's. "Incidental" filmmaking nuances like character development, dialog and psychological truth are eschewed in favor of hyper-kinetic special effects and ultra-violence. Whereas filmmakers Kubrick, Lucas, and Spielberg once made us ponder what it means to be human, Michael Bay makes us wonder WHY human beings exist.
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