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Sunday, March 7, 2010

Dinosaur Skulls uncovered with explosives

Scientists Use Explosives to Uncover Dinosaur Skulls | Before It's News

Image: Brigham Young University

The just of it:

"The skulls were found in 2005. Tantalized researchers, though, were stymied by rocks around the bones that were so hard that workers were unable to break through, even with use of a jackhammers and concrete saws [Los Angeles Times]."

So they turned to explosives to loosen the rock without damaging the fossils.

Read more here.

Image: Brigham Young University

Gold artwork

Ancient Gold Artwork

Mike and Corinna Blum / The Pre-Columbian Gold Museum / Hugo Pined
Feline-shaped pendant, Southern Pacific, 700-1550 AD

The Pre-Columbian Gold Museum, in the heart of the gritty capital city of San José, transports us back to that time.

Ancient Aztec temple found

Ancient Aztec temple found in colonial building

The just of it:

In Mexico a ancient Aztec temple has been found inside a building when remodelling was to be done.

It is believed to be from around 1486 to 1502AC, the Auge era of the Aztec empire. The temple was dedicated to the wind god Ehécatl-Quetzalcóatl.

Rest of it:

Tuesday, March 2, 2010

Ancient Human Ancestors Faced Fearsome Horned Crocodile - Ancient Human Ancestors Faced Fearsome Horned Crocodile

The just of it:

In African, bones of human lineage have been found, that have tooth marks from Crocodylus anthropophagus, meaning "man-eating crocodile."

It may have been the largest predator encountered by in Africa and it lived some 1.84 million years ago. It had a deep snout and prominent triangular horns.

"It was probably as large as a modern Nile crocodile, one of the largest living crocodilians at between 18 to 20 feet," Brochu said. "One thing to bear in mind was that while these crocodiles are not necessarily bigger than the ones today, hominids back then were smaller than we are today, so the crocodiles would have been relatively quite a bit larger."

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Ancient rocks suggest crust

The just of it:

"A new geological study which took place in the Pilbara region of Western Australia brings us one step closer to understanding more precisely the timing of when the primordial earth crust was formed and its composition."

"Dr Tessalina said the findings provide further evidence that the crust on Earth started to form between 4.3 and 4.5 billion years ago. This crust may represent a part of the early “skin” covering what is widely considered to have been a magma-ocean early Earth. The preservation of geochemical relics of this ancient period of Earth history may help unravel part of the early history of our planet."

Whole article here: Ancient rocks suggest crust (Science Alert)