Earth Is Not Round

The Earth Is Not Round

From the time that we are in grade school, we are taught that our planet is round. However, this is not exactly true. Planet Earth is not, in fact, perfectly round. Rather, mass is distributed unevenly within the planet. This makes Earth look bit like a bumpy, deflated ball.

Mountains and valleys dot the surface of the planet due to plate tectonics. Occasionally, meteors crater the surface with gaping holes. The changing weight of the oceans and atmosphere cause deformations in the crust. And the gravitational pull of the moon and sun cause earth tides.

We haven't Explored 95% of the ocean

The ocean is an amazing place. It helps drive Earth's weather, is home to a vast assortment of species, and it covers over 70% of the planet. However, despite its central positioning on Earth-for all of our reliance on the ocean-95 percent of this realm remains unexplored, unseen by human eyes. In face, the number of experts

deployed to study the ocean is not even 2% of the people deployed on land. Scientists estimate that we have explored about 5 to 7 percent of the ocean floor and about a half a percent of the ocean itself.

The Largest Planet Has The Fastest Rotation

Jupiter has the most mass of any planet in the Solar System. In fact, Jupiter's mass 318 times the mass of the Earth. It is also two and a half times the mass of All the planets in the Entire Solar System. And this planet is big. Over 1,300 Earth's could fit inside Jupiter. Since it is so massive and huge, you might expect it to be a bit slow-but you'd be wrong. Jupiter has the fastest rotation of all the planets in the Solar System, completing one rotation on its axis every 9.9 hours (at 24 hours, Earth takes more than twice as long).

Neptune's winds Reach 2,100 kmh

It takes Neptune 165 years to complete a single orbit. Since its discobery in 1846, Neptune has only completed one full orbit around the sun, a feat it accomplished in 2011. Of the eight planets, Neptune is the only one you cannot observe with the naked eye. And its storms are out of this world (literally). The winds on Neptune reach at least 2,100 km per hour (1,300 mph ) and are capable destroying any structure on earth. The strongest hurricanes on our planet have winds of about 250 km/h (155mph), meaning that Neptune's winds could whip all our creations from the surface of the Earth.

Gliese 436 b is coated in Hot Ice

The Neptune-sized planet orbits a red-dwarf star, Gliese 436, and completes one full orbit in just 2 days and 15.5 hours. This short orbital period indicates that the planet in question is located very close to Gliese 436, perhaps orbiting its star from a distance that is roughly 13 times closer than Mercury (the innermost planet of our solar system ) is from the Sun. Amazingly, astronomers believe the planet may host a large concentration of an exotic from of hot water-ice (now dubbed "Ice-x"). The water substance can remain solid despite the blisteringly hot temperatures exceeding 400C / 700F.

FIRST SCIENTISTS IN THE WORLD

Siddhas discovered Alchemy, which was the best ever scientific and chemical research. Metals, salts, arsenic,roots,leaves, seeds,bark of the trees, flowers, coral and other marine products, and the things which lay in the bodies of animals such as musk-deer , civet, urine and dung were identified by the siddhas.

They had even established the healing capacities of those materials. They found the combinations of materials for a specific medicine and also indexed the medicines for respective diseases. They categorized the intake of medicines in various forms such as inhaling, drinking, coating and so on.

Those days there was no scientific laboratory. It was quite surprise that siddhas who had lived in forests, mountains and caves had done many researches and found medicine qualities of each material. Siddhas also did research on astronomy, astrology, medicine and concluded their results.

Though siddhas lived thousand of years ago, their practical solutions applicable event to the current era. They had dedicated their researches to the welfare of the Humankind. Hence we could call siddhas as the world's first scientists and foregoer of science.

ART FROM WASTE FOR KIDS

Stamps Boxes Or Jars

Need

Small wooden or cardboard box with lid OR a baby food (or other small) jar

Canceled postage stamps (make sure no on is saving them!)

Glue ( or Modge Podge )

Paint brushes (older ones for spreading glue)

Liquid Tempera or acrylic paint (optional)

Paint brushes for paint 

Clear water-based sealer OR a mixture of 80 % glue 20% water

How To Do 

Glue a few handful of canceled stamps all over the jar or box (don't forget the lid)

Apply the glue with an old paintbrush, making sure to brush a layer on top of the 

stamps to prevent them from peeling away.

If you wish - paint the remaining area of the box or jar with whichever colors of 

paint you choose.

Finally, when your work is dry, add a light coating of water-based sealer or hair 

spray to protect your work.

Bottle bank

Need

Empty bottle

Scissors

Double-sided tape

Hot-glue gun

Pipe cleaner

How to do

Rinse an empty bottle with hot soapy water; let dry. Cut features such as eyes, 

ears, and nostrils from construction paper (ears should have tabs).

Attach with  double-sided tape, as shown. Tape patterned paper around body. 

Hot- glue empty thread spools on for legs. Cut a slot at the top for coins, and a 

hole in back to insert a pipe-cleaner tail.

Amazing Facts About Your Babies

With a new one born every few seconds, babies keep the world going round. However, they have more to teach us than originally thought.

On birth, babies do not have kneecaps. Rather they have a structure of cartilage that resembles kneecaps. They usually don't develop them fully until after six months. Most seen on babies who "army crawl" instead of doing it on all fours.

One would think that January sees the heaviest babies given all the holiday eating but this is untrue.May is actually the month that sees the heaviest babies born. Usually about an average of 200 grams heavier than any other month.

They can scream and holler for what they want or need, but newborn can't technically cry. Tears can't actually be created or released until about three weeks in some cases, it isn't unusual for babies to shed their first tears until four or five months.

When babies are born, they have 300 bones. Adults have 206. Bones fuse together during growth to come up with the new number.

If your newborn has a birthmark or other abnormality, this is actually normal. Around 80 % of all babies are born with some form. The most common includes stork bites and port wine stains.

While adults and babies can do both, only at a certain age can you do both at the same time. At around six months is when babies can both take a breath and a bite at the very same time.

At six months in, babies have usually doubled their birth weight. A near impossibility at any other age.

Pound for pound, your baby is stronger than many animals. An oxen is the best example of compatible strength. Their strongest muscles?  The legs.

While Caucasian babies are born with blue eyes, around now they will change color. If both parents have blue eyes, the baby definitely will. If not, now is the time that they change,if they will.

Although they can't speak, babies can still communicate physically.  Waving bye-bye, clapping, pointing, and others are ways that they communicate. Studies show that the more physically they communicate, the better they will verbally communicate.

With a population that is ten percent left-handed, now is about the time you will begin noticing your child's preference. However, if your baby is a twin, they are 22 % likely to be left handed.

At the end of the first year, your baby's weight will have tripled. That means if they were born at ten pounds, at their first year they will weight around 30, give or take.

Stem Cell Therapies Bringing New Hope To Patients And Their Families

What are stem cell

Stem cells are a class of undifferentiated cells that are able to differentiate into specialized cell types.

Commonly, stem cells come from two main sources

Embryos formed during the blastocyst phase of embryological development (embryonic stem cells) and

Adult tissue(adult stem cells).

Both types are generally characterized by their potency, or potential to differentiate into different cell types(such as skin, muscle, bone, etc.).

Benefits Of Stem Cells

It provides medical benefits in the fields of therapeutic cloning and regenerative medicine.

It provides great potential for discovering treatments and cures to a plethora of diseases including.

Parkinson's disease, schizophrenia, Alzheimer's disease, cancer, spinal cord injuries, and diabetes.

Limbs and organs could be grown in a lab from stem cells and then used in transplants or to help treat illness.

It will help scientists to learn about human growth and cell development.

Scientists and doctors will be able to test millions of potential drug and medicine, without the use of animals or human testers. This necessitates a process of simulating the effect the drug has on a specific population of cells. This would tell if drug is useful, or has any problems.

Stem cells research also benefits the study of development stages that cannot be studied directly in a human embryo, which sometimes are linked with major clinical consequences such as birth defects, pregnancy - loss, and infertility.

A more comprehensive understanding of normal development will ultimately allow the prevention or treatment of abnormal human development.

It holds the key to reversing the effects of aging and prolonging our lives. It has already found many treatments that help in slowing the aging process, and a bonus of further research is a possible "cure" for aging , altogether.

An advantage of the usage of adult stem cells to treat disease is that a patient's own cells could be used to treat a patient, Risks would be quite reduced because patients' bodies would not reject their own cells.

Embryonic stem cells can develop into any cell types of the body, and may then be more versatile than adult stem cells.

Why Parents Save Their Baby's Stem Cells

Every person's stem cells are unique. A child is always a perfect match to his or her stem cells and may be a match for a sibling or other family member.

Requirements for treatments vary. In some cases, a child may use their own stem cells. In others, a matched sibling's stem cells would be the first choice. 

Ultimate use of newborn stem cells will be determined by the treating physician who consider if they are applicable for the condition. To be best prepared for the unexpected, save cord blood for every child.

Cord blood stem cells have advantages over bone marrow in transplants and have been used in more than 30,000 transplants to regenerate healthy blood and immune systems. 

Nowadays, an estimated 90% to 95% of cord blood is discarded after birth. Cryo-Save is convinced that cord blood storage is essential and cord tissue should be saved, either with a family private cord blood bank or made available for public use or research. We firmly believe that these important cells should be discarded.

Barbie Doll

Barbie doll was invented in 1959 by Ruth Handler(co-founder of Mattel). Barbie was introduced to the world at the American Toy Fair in New York City. Barbies's job was teenage fashion doll.

Barbie's real name is Barbara Millicent Roberts. The first Barbie doll was available as either a blonde or a brunette. In 1959, the first Barbie doll sold for $3.00 (that would be the equivalent of $23.97 today).

 The first Barbie dolls were manufactured in japan and their clothes were hand - stitched by Japanese workers. Barbie is not from Malibu, she is actually from (fictional) Willows, Wisconsin. Barbie was originally a 17- year- old "Teen Age Fashion Model." Over the years, Barbie had seven siblings. 

Barbie has close to 150 inspirational careers ; they have included being an elementary school teacher, a business executive, a McDonald's cashier , a doctor , an astronaut , and yes, even a rapper.

The military series of Barbie, Army, Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps went through approvals by the pentagon to ensure the most realistic costumes. 

Ken is two years and two days younger than Barbie ( he was introduced in 1961). Also, his full name is Ken Carson. Ken has never put a ring on it ( he and Barbie have never officially been married). The very first Barbie car was a 1962 Austin Healy roadster. 

Barbie's first pet was a horse named Dancer. Since then, she had more than 50 other pets, including 21 dogs , 6 cats, a chimpanzee, a panda, a parrot, a lion cub, a giraffe, and a zebra. Brown is the color most frequently used for Barbie's eye shadow. In 1985, Andy Warhol created a silkscreen painting of Barbie. Totally Hair Barbie (1992) is the best-selling Barbie doll ever. 

In 2004, after breaking up with Blaine, an Australian surfer . Barbie has never been pregnant (only her best friend Midge has).Barbie has collaborated with more than 75 different fashion designers and has served as creative inspiration to more than 150 famous designers. Every second, two Barbie are sold somewhere in the wold. Barbie is currently marketed in more than 152 nations around the world.

Secret Of Concentration

Concentration is the essential for our knowledge, nothing can be done without it. Above ninety percent of thought force is wasted by the ordinary human being and therefore he is constantly committing blunders, the trained man or mind never makes a mistake.

• Take up one idea, make that one idea your life, think of it, dream of it, live on that idea. Let the brain, muscles, nerves,every part of your body, be full of that idea and just leave every other idea alone. This is the way to success and this is the way great spiritual giants are produced. Other are mere talking machines.
• This is the difference between man and the animals - man has the greater power of concentration. The difference in their power of concentration also constitutes the difference between man and man. Compare the lowest with the highest man. The difference is in the degree of Concentration.
• Simply by the observance of strict Bramacharya all learning can be mastered in a very short time- one has an unfailing memory of what on hears or knows but once. It is owing to this want of continence that everything is on the brink of ruin in our country.
• The very essence of education is concentration of mind, not the collecting of facts.We should develop the power of concentration and detachment, and then with a perfect instrument we can collect facts at will.
• The knowledge in the world is gained by concentration of the power of mind. The strength and force of the blow come through concentration. There is no limit to the power of the human mind. The more concentrated he is, the more power is brought to bear on one point,that is the secret.

Highest Peaks In The World

Mount Everest

Everest is the first highest mountain in the world. It was named after George Everest, a geographer who studied India in  the 19th century. The mountain is located on the border between Nepal and Tibet, and its height is 29,035.44 feet (8,850 meters) which is like 17 Taipei Towers. Everest is the sacred dream of all the mountain climbers. Every year despite all the dangers and high costs, hundreds of people try conquering the mountain.

K2 Mountain

K2 is the highest mountain peak of Pakistan and is the second highest peak on the earth. Its height is round about 8,611 meter and is located in vast mountain range of Karakoram, northern areas of pakistan. K2 is very difficult to climb up that many people lost their lives in trying, it is the most dangerous mountain of the world because of the massiveness in its size and in ruff climate. That's why it is well known as the savage mountain. K2 is also known as "Chogo Ri ", which means "The Great Mountain".

Kanchenjunga Mountain

Kanchenjunga, also spelled kangchenjunga or kinchinjunga, Nepali Kumbhkaran Lungur, world's third highest mountain, with an elevation of 28,169 feet (8,586 meters). It is situated in the eastern Himalayas on the border between Sikkim state, northeastern India, and eastern Nepal, 46 miles(74 km) north-northwest of Darjiling, Sikkim. The mountain is part of the Great Himalaya Range. The Kanchenjunga massif is in the form of a gigantic cross, the arms of which extend north,south,east and west.

Kanchejunga is composed of rocks of Neoproterozoic(late Precambrian) to Ordovician age(i.e., about 445 million to 1 billion years old). The mountain and its glaciers receive heavy snow during the summer monsoon season and lighter snowfall during the winter. The individual summits connect to neighboring peaks by four main ridges, from which four glaciers flow-the Zemu (northeast), the Talung (southeast), the yalung(southwest), and the Kanchenjunga (northwest)

Lhotse Mountain

Lhotse Mountain is the fourth highest mountain.The most rarely climbed 8,000 meter peak in Nepal,Lhotse adjoins Mount Everest and it is impossible to climb its peak solo.

In 1990, a mountaineer named Tomo Cesan claimed to have reached Lhotse's summit alone, but after a Russian expedition climbed the summit and declared that it would be impossible for anyone to reach it alone, Cesan recanted and said that he had actually only reached the summit's ridge.

Makalu Mountain

Makalu is the fifth highest mountain in the world. It is an isolated peak, located just 14 miles east of Mount Everest. Its size alone is impressive, but its structure, that of a perfect pyramid with four sharp ridges, makes this mountain all the more spectacular. It has proved to be a challenging climb, as only five of its first sixteen attempts were successful. Makalu, rising just north of the higher summit, separated by a narrow saddle.

Cho Oye Mountain

Cho Oye mountain is the sixth highest mountain, is easier to climb and its summit can be reached in roughly three weeks. The mountain's friendly terrain and snow conditions have made it an increasingly popular destination for ski mountaineers and  snowboarders.

Dhaulagiri Mountain

Dhaulagiri mountain is the seventh highest mountain.Dhaulagiri, located in north central Nepal, has a topography consisting of ridges,glaciers and ice falls. It boasts technically challenging routes and massive drops and is therefore mostly attempted only by seasoned mountaineers. This was the first Himalayan climb supported by an aircraft, but after the plane crashed, it was abandoned and left in a valley north of the mountain and the mountaineers continued their trek.

Manaslu mountain

Manaslu mountain is the eighth mountain.It is located in the Mansiri Himal part of the Nepalese Himalayas, Manaslu translates to "Mountain of the spirit" and is known for its beautiful valley glaciers and steep, snowy peaks. Prone to avalanches, glacier falls, monsoon rainfall and landslides, Manaslu's various scenic trekking routes are also treacherous.

Nanga Parbat Mountain

Nanga Parbat is the ninth highest mountain of world, and is the second highest mountain peak of pakistan. It is located in hamalay mountain range. Its height is 8126 meters. Nanga Parbat means "Naked Mountain" in Urudu and is also known by the name Diamir, or the "Dwelling Place of the Fairies." Its dangerous ice-covered terrain has also earned in the nickname "deadly mountain", as more than 60 mountain climbers have lost their lives attempting to scale the mountain, according to NASA.

Nanga Parbat is the only peaks which have the longest list of human death and tragedies.The notable feature of Nanga Parbat is : Nanga Parbat has tremendous vertical relief over local terrain in all directions. To the south, Nanga Parbat boasts what is often referred to as the highest mountain face in the world. Its climate, which is Daunting act wild, being the onslaught of gnawing wind and torrential rain during the mansoons, makes it the most dangerous peak to climb up.

It was first discovered by in 19th century by the Sclangintweit brothers from Europe. In 1857 when one of them is killed in Kashgar this when curse of Nanga Parbat begin to show its miracles.

Annapurna Mountain

The tenth highest mountain in the world,Annapurna I is located in western Nepal, while its smaller sister mountain Annapurna II is in the east. The name Annapurna translates to Goddess of the Harvests in Sanskrit, and is the name of a goddess of fertility and agriculture in Hinduism.

Single Touch Makes Harm Or Heal The Human Body, Secret Of Varmam

The Varma Kalai is a martial art coming from southeast India, more exactly from Tamil Nadu. Literally, "varma kalai" means "the art of vital points". This art is composed of hand- to - hand fighting, fighting with weapons, and also martial gymnastics. The study of this art goes beyond learning fighting techniques. Its aim is to produce healthy and stable individuals.

 Varmam are vital points in the body that act as energy transformers or batteries. Today scientific evidence is growing on the presence of sub microscopic, energy channels in the body, in tamil it known as nadi's ,as described by the Siddhars, yet science is too young to comprehend the intricate nadi system that governs the non-physical system of energy flow, the foundation of vital pranic forces.

  The Siddhars long, ago had discoveres the presence of 72,000 nadis in the body and has described in detail the action and location of each of them.They have also described the location of 108 varmam or vital points that could heal or harm the human body when properly manipulates, through touch,pressure or striking, by an expert.

The catches in varma kalai are different than other martial arts. They deeply modify the internal structure. These modifications could become permanent. It is also a dangerous martial art, self-control is the first stage the trainee must achieve.

There are few experts in south Indian states of Tamilnadu and kerala who are doing excellent varma therapy but not on a commercial scale. The knowledge is vast and the true disciples few.As a matter of fact,the Siddha wisdom was made for the human race and some remain immaterial as long as humanity needs it.

Coelacanth

The strange-looking coelacanth is one of the oldest species of fish in the world. It is considered by many to be an actual living fossil Known scientifically as Latimeria chalumnae, this fish was thought to have been extinct since the end of the cretaceous period over 65 million years ago.

Fossils of the coelacanth have been found that date back over 350 million years. But,against all odds, in 1938, a fisherman actually caught a live coelacanth off the coast of South Africa. A second specimen was captured in 1952 off the coast of the comoros Island off the eastern coast of Africa near Madagascar. Needless to say, this caused a sensation throughout the scientific community. Since then, live coelacanths have been sighted and photographed many times in the wild.

There are only two known species of coelacanths : one that lives near the Comoros Islands off the east coast of Africa, and one found in the waters off Sulawesi, Indonesia. Many scientists believe that the unique characteristics of the coelacanth represent an early step in the evolution of fish to terrestrial four-legged animals like amphibians.

The most striking feature of this "living fossil" is its paired lobe fins that extend away from its body like legs and move in an alternating pattern, like a trotting horse. Other unique characteristics include a hinged joint in the skull which allows the fish to widen its mouth for large prey; an oil-filled tube, called a notochord, which serves as s backbone;thick scales common only to extinct fish; and an electrosensory rostral organ in its snout likely used to detect prey.

Coelacanths are elusive, deep - sea creatures, living in depths up to 2,300 feet(700 meters) below the surface. They can be huge, reaching 6.5 feet (2 meters)or more and weighing 198 pounds(90 kilograms). Scientists estimate they can live up to 60 years or more.

Their population numbers are, predictably,not well known, but studies in the Comoros suggest only about 1,000 remain there. They are considered an endangered species.

Amazing Facts About Brain

Brain is considered to be the most essential part of human existence which is responsible for the ability to think,express,feel,etc. or in simple words it controls our voluntary as well as involuntary actions such as to breath etc.Which is the most important thing to survive. It is made up of 75 % of water and the brain is the one which helps to develop our own self and increase our personality. Since the pattern of the brain changes with time, the functioning of the brain also changes with the person. There are few facts which are known to the people but many people are unaware of the unknown facts of the brain.

Can Predict Future

According to the researchers, there is a Mid-brain Dopamine System(MDS) that provides signals to the rest of the brain about the non-occurred events which brings out the prediction events. This was known through the help of using Functional MRI. This predicting ability of the brain helps to maintain the mentality level which keeps on updating with the changing environment. It can be said that the predictions made by the brain is a part of smooth consciousness that sometimes comes out to be right due to the conclusions drawn from the recent patterns or the past experiences. Thus , every time brains sees an event it tries to predict its future from that point of time.

Brain Is More Active While Sleeping

It is always said that a good night sleep is important for a human being. But nobody knows the main reason behind it. During the day brain does lots of activities which needs to be remembered so, night sleep is the best way to remember all those work done throughout the day as it also helps to stabilize our memories.Many scientists believe it is way to enhance the emotions and interactions of our daily life or processing up the information and events occurred that is why dreams appear.

The brain consists of two forms of movements : REM -Rapid Eye Movement where sleep is heavy and during which dreams occur in mind making the brain more active. Thus , people experience several events in one night sleep.

Other is NREM -Non Rapid Eye Movement where people do net get much sleep and there is no or little eye movement. It is often considered as s deeper stage of sleep where people can dream occasionally but since it's not as conscious as REM sleep people tend to forget their dreams. Research has shown that people having more IQ's get more REM sleep whereas people suffering from physical stress get NREM sleep.

Men Use 10 % More Of Their Brain Than Women

Women brains are considered to be smaller than men, but the nerve cells and the cortex of brain is larger and organized which makes them smarter than men allowing them to work more efficiently. The ability of thinking, identifying and controlling emotionally and using language skills is more in women but the ability to think logically is a part of man's brain. Men have more ability of performing spatial activities than women.

It means that the men use only their left side of the brain often called rational or logical side of the brain to perform their task whereas women use both the sides of their brain which means they transfer the vibes to both left and right sides at a faster speed.

Thus according to researches being conducted it has been said that most of the men and women have some skills in common and some still find the differences between brains of men and women.

Brain Is The Most Energy Consuming Part

Since the body weight of a human is 2%, the brain consumes energy of about 20% produced by the body. This is so because brain is responsible for memorizing, sensing etc. so energy is required for all these purposes along with a little amount of oxygen that is required both during sleeping and while being awake.If the required amount of energy is not supplied to the brain or the central nervous system then it may lead to disorders like stroke.

In a research it has been shown that a large amount of energy is correlated with the active signal processing and more of the energy is consumed while doing a mental work.

100 Billions Of Neurons In Brain

Neurons are the cells within the nervous system that pass on information to other nerve cells or muscles through electrical and chemical signals. Whenever we think,laugh,move,talk etc. It is because of these signals are running between these neurons along billions of other tiny neurons which create and send large number of messages.

Thus,if a single neuron generates a single amount of electricity, all the other neurons together generates so much amount of electricity that it can power up a light bulb. They send information to brain at more than 150 miles per hour.

Researches have found out that special cells called Glia in the brain transport nutrients to neurons and hold the neurons at their place.

New Brain Wrinkles Develop While Learning Something

Has anybody thought what is the reason behind being smart? It is because of the wrinkles present in the brain. The top of the brain is convoluted by deep fissures, smaller grooves called Sulci and ridges called Gyru whose surface is the cerebral Cortex where neurons are located. Because of this we are able to store so much of information which creates more wrinkles making us think intelligently.

Since humans have a bigger size brain than animals,humans have more capacity to produce neurons which creates wrinkles indicating the limit how much human can learn.

But the wrinkles with which we are born stays throughout our life keeping our brain healthy.

Final Confirmation : An Asteroid wiped out the dinosaurs

A team of American and European researchers have confirmed that the Cretaceous - Paleogene extinction - the event that wiped out roughly 75 % of the planet's species,including almost every dinosaur - was caused by an asteroid impact in Mexico 66 million years ago. The Cretaceous-Paleogene extinction was the last great extinction event to occur on Earth, and is most notable for causing the diversification of mammals that eventually resulted in Homo sapiens.

66 million years ago an asteroid roughly 15 kilometers(9 miles) wide hurtled into Chicxulub , Mexico. The collision, which left behind a 180-kilometer(110-mile) crater,released 420 zettajoules of energy - 100 teratonnes of TNT, or roughly two million times stronger than the largest thermonuclear device ever used(The Russian Tsar Bomb). The impact created a huge dust cloud that blocked out the Sun, starting the extinction ball rolling by killing off much of the world's plants, and thus the herbivores soon after. Due to high level of oxygen in the Cretaceous atmosphere, the impact may also have caused intense, global firestorms that killed off many other species. Because the asteroid landed in the ocean, mega tsunami would have swept the world's coasts,too.

Until now, though, there has not been enough evidence that the Chicxulub impact actually caused the Cretaceous- Paleogene extinction. There was certainly a massive asteroid impact,but previous evidence showed that the asteroid impact occurred up to 300,000 years before the extinction of the dinosaurs. Biologists and geologists have argued that there may have been another cause - an impact at the Shiva crater off the coast of India, global volcanic eruptions, or perhaps something more gradual.

Now, however, European and American scientists have re-tested debris from Chicxulub using state-of-the-art equipment and narrowed the asteroid impact down to a period of 11,000 years, between 66.03 and 66.04 million years ago - almost simultaneous with the cretaceous - Paleogene extinction. When dealing with geological timescales, a range of 11,000 years is about as accurate as you can get. As the research paper puts it, though, "the Chicxulub impact likely triggered a state shift of ecosystems already under near-critical stress." In other words, prior to the extinction event, Earth was already teetering on the edge of self - annihilation. The asteroid was simply the zettajoule stick that broke T-Rex's back.

Amazing Things You Didn't Know About Animals

A few recent findings,common misconceptions and amazing adaptations.

Parrot Talk More Than Just Squawking

Parrot speech is commonly regarded as the brainless squawking of a feathered voice recorder. But studies over the past 30 years continually show that parrots engage in much more than mere mimicry. Our avian friends can solve certain linguistic processing tasks as deftly as 4 to 6 years old children. Parrots appear to grasp concepts like "same" and "different", "bigger" and "smaller","none" and "number". Perhaps mostly interestingly, they can combine labels and phrases in novel ways. A January 2007 study in Language Sciences suggests using patterns of parrot speech learning to develop artificial speech skills in robots.

Elephants Do Forget,But They Are Not Dumb

Elephants have the largest brain - nearly 11 pounds on average of any mammal that ever walked the earth. Do they use that gray matter to the fullest? Intelligence is hard to quantify in humans or animals, but the EQ , a ratio  of an animal's observed brain size to the expected brain size given the animal's mass, correlates well with an ability to navigate novel challenges and obstacles. The average elephant EQ is 1.88. (Humans range from 7.33 to 7.69, chimpanzees average 2.45, pigs 0.27.) Intelligence and memory are thought to go hand in hand, suggesting that elephant memories, while not infallible,are quite good.

Crocodiles Swallow Stones For Swimming  

The stomach of a crocodile is a rocky place to be, for more than one reason. To begin with, a crocodile's digestive system encounters everything from turtles, fish and birds to giraffes, buffalo,lions and even (when defending territory) other crocodiles. In addition to that bellyful-o'-ecosystem,rocks show up too. The reptiles swallow large stones that stay permanently in their belies.It's been suggested these are used for ballast in diving.

Birds Use Landmarks to Navigate Long Journey

Can you imagine a road trip vacation without missed exists, stubborn drivers, loss of GPS signal or map-folding disasters? Of course not,You are not a bird. Pigeons can fly thousands of miles to find the same roosting spot with ho navigational difficulties. Some species of birds, like the Arctic tern, make a 25,000 mile round- trip journey every year. Many species use built-in ferromagnetic to detect their orientation with respect to the Earth's magnetic field. A November 2006 study published in Animal Behavior suggests that pigeons also use use the familiar landmarks on the ground below to help find their way home.

Baby Chicks And Brotherhood

It's a mistake to think of evolution as  producing selfish animals concerned only with  their own survival.Altruism abounds in cases where helping hand will encourage the survival of genetic material similar to one's own. Baby chicks practice this "Kin selection" by making a special chirp while feeding. This call announces the food find to nearby chicks, who are probably close relations and so share many of the chick's genes. The key to natural selection isn't survival of the fittest animal. It's survival of the fittest genetic material, and so brotherly behavior that favors close relations will thrive.