World's oldest wood – so far

Both fossils date from the early Devonian period, by which time simple plants had long colonised the land and begun diversifying. One was found in France and dates from 407 million years ago, while the other, from Canada, is 397 million years old.

According to lead researcher Philippe Gerrienne of the University of Liège, Belgium, they predate the previous record-holders by at least 10 million years.

Source: New Scientist

The Pyramid of the Sun at Teotihuacan. near Mexico City

Researchers found a tunnel under the Temple of the Snake in the pre-Hispanic city of Teotihuacan, about 28 miles northeast of Mexico City.

The tunnel had apparently been sealed off around 1,800 years ago.

Archaeologists work inside a tunnel found under the ruins of the Feathered Serpent Temple

Researchers of Mexico’s National University made the finding with a radar device. Closer study revealed a “representation of the underworld,” in the words of archaeologist Sergio Gomez Chavez, of Mexico’s National Institute of Anthropology and History.

Researchers have only advanced 7 metres along the tunnel but the radar has revealed it to be 120 metres long and covered in symbols. It is thought that the passage leads to three chambers and may help explain the beliefs of the civilisation.

The tunnel, which is 13 metres below the ground, was originally discovered by chance in 2003 after heavy rains seeped into a tiny hole in the ground. No monarch’s tomb has ever been found at the site near Mexico City.

Sergio Gomez Chavez, an archaeologist at Mexico’s National Institute of Anthropology and History, said: ‘At the end, there are several chambers which could hold the remains of the rulers of that Mesoamerican civilization.

The Pyramid of the Sun and the Avenue of the Dead in Teotihuacan

Source and full story:
Tunnel found under temple in Mexico
Tunnel leading to ‘funeral chambers’ found under Temple in Teotihuacan, Mexico

Giant Ant lived about 50 million years ago and is one of the largest ant species ever found

Unless they are giants themselves, the ant was not as big as I had first imagined. Saying that, I still wouldn’t have wanted to have been attacked by them!

Giant Ant?

A giant ant growing over 5cm (2in) long crossed the Arctic during hot periods in the Earth’s history, scientists say, using land bridges between continents.

The ant, named Titanomyrma lubei, lived about 50 million years ago and is one of the largest ant species ever found.

Fossils were unearthed in ancient lake sediments in Wyoming, US.

Little is known about how these ants lived or what they ate – but wings are present on the fossils.

They are found, in Europe and now in Wyoming, close to plants known to thrive only in temperatures around 20C (70F).

Source: Giant ants spread in warm climes (BBC)

Ice Age Skull Cup

Bones excavated from caves in southwest England include the oldest known examples of drinking cups or containers made out of human skulls, says a team led by paleontologist Silvia Bello of the Natural History Museum in London.

Measurements of a naturally occurring form of carbon in the skulls places them at about 14,700 years old. Prehistoric cave denizens cleaned the skulls before using stone tools to shape the upper parts of the brain cases into containers, the researchers say.

Read the full story on Discover News: Skull Caps Used As Ice Age Cups.

Tutankhamun harpooning. (Photo: Griffith Institute)

1. Gilded wood statue of Tutankhamun being carried by a goddess
2. Gilded wood statue of Tutankhamun harpooning. Only the torso and upper limbs of the king are missing
3. Limestone statue of Akhena holding an offering table
4. Statue of Nefertiti making offerings
5. Sandstone head of an Amarna princess
6. Stone statuette of a scribe from Amarna
7. Wooden shabti statuettes from Yuya (11 pieces)
8. Heart Scarab of Yuya

An investigation has begun to search for the people who have taken these objects, and the police and army plan to follow up with the criminals already in custody.

In another terrible turn of events, last night a magazine in Dahshur was broken into; it is called De Morgan’s. This magazine contains large blocks and small artifacts.

Source: DrHawass.com Sad News
Related: Looters break into Cairo’s Egyptian Museum

Dr. Zahi Hawass and Egyptian special forces

The looters appear to have entered from the glass dome on the roof of the museum with ropes with the intention to loot antiquities. Civilian and army soldiers surrounded the museum and detained several looters.

Unidentified mummies damaged by looters

In the above photo, taken early Saturday, January 29th, and made available Monday, January 31st, parts of unidentified mummies are seen damaged on the floor of the Egyptian Museum in Cairo, Egypt.

Dr. Zahi Hawass, Director for the Supreme Council of Antiquities in Egypt, said the vandals did not manage to steal any of the museum’s antiquities, and that the prized collection was now safe and under military guard.

Egyptian army soldiers in front of the Giza pyramids in Cairo

Egyptian army soldiers have also taken up position in front of the Giza pyramids.

In times of unrest (good or bad), there is always great concern for a countries antiquities. Hopefully nothing serious will happen to the monuments and treasures of Egypt.

UFOs over London

Orange balls of light seem over South London
Crowds of people gathered in Balham and Tooting (South London) to watch two sets of orange lights fly in formation across the night sky.

4 new Thylacine sightings in 3 months!
Tasmanian Tiger sightings from 2006, amazing how popular this story has been.

Very Weird Unknown life form found in Sewers!
Weird video of a remote controlled sewer-cam finding something odd — is it an alien life-form?

Top 100 Endangered Species
Recent studies indicate that almost 75 per cent of the world’s most extraordinary threatened mammals are receiving little or no conservation attention.

Windermere Lake-Monster Sighting
A university lecturer and his wife have told of their surprise and subsequent horror at seeing what he can only describe as a Loch Ness type lake-monster in Lake Windermere.

Archaeological discovery enormous foot-shaped enclosures in Jordan
Researchers from the University of Haifa reveal an exceptional and exciting archaeological discovery.

Mermaid spotted in Israel
Israel was in the grips of mermaid fever after numerous sightings of the mythical sea creature.

Strange Lights everywhere, Lanterns, Military or UFOs?
More and more people are seeing strange lights (orange balls of fire) all over Britain, they have even been seen in parts of Europe, but what are they?

Top 10 Endangered Species
List of the most endangered mammals on this planet, some are so rare that they have already been classed as extinct.

Scary! Ants form Global Mega-Colony
A single mega-colony of ants has colonised much of the world, scientists have discovered.

El Sidron Cave in Asturias

Their end appears to have been a bloody one, with markings on the bones showing the unmistakeable signs of cannibal activity.

The remains were found in a cave in the Asturias region of Northern Spain. Details of the find appear in proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Although the highly fragmented bones of six adults and six children were found in a cave, it is thought they probably lived and died on the surface before the ground collapsed beneath them naturally after their death.

Source: Neanderthal family found cannibalised in cave in Spain [BBC].

Artist’s impression of Giant Stork next to a Homo floresiensis hobbit

A giant marabou stork has been discovered on an island once home to human-like ‘hobbits’.

Fossils of the bird were discovered on the Indonesian island of Flores, a place previously famed for the discovery of Homo floresiensis, a small hominin species closely related to modern humans.

The stork may have been capable of hunting and eating juvenile members of this hominin species, say researchers who made the discovery, though there is no direct evidence the birds did so.

The finding, reported in the Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, also helps explain how prehistoric wildlife adapted to living on islands.

Source: Giant fossil bird found on ‘hobbit’ island of Flores [BBC].

Gigantic Scorpion

A cast is being made of tracks left by a two-metre long ancient animal in north east Fife.

The tracks were made by a giant six-legged “sea scorpion” called Hibbertopterus as it crawled over damp sand about 330 million years ago.

It is the largest known walking trackway of a eurypterid or any invertebrate animal.

The tracks were discovered by Dr Martin Whyte from the University of Sheffield while he was out walking.

Scottish Natural Heritage, which is funding the project, described the find as unique and internationally important because the creature was gigantic.

The trackway, which is preserved in sandstone, consists of three rows of crescent shaped footprints on each side of a central groove.

The groove was made by the tail of the animal as it dragged over the sand.

This contrasts previous fossil evidence which suggested that the creatures lived in the water for most, if not all of the time.

Source: BBC [link].