Giant of dino world

Argentine and Brazilian paleontologists claim to have found a giant plant-eating dinosaur, Futalognkosaurus dukei, that roamed the earth some 80 million years ago. The dinosaur measured at least 32 m (105 ft), making it one of the tallest dinosaurs ever found, said Jorge Calvo, director of the paleontology centre at the National University of Comahue, Argentina.

“This is one of the biggest (dinosaurs) in the world and one of the most complete of these that exist,” he said.

Its name (pronounced foo-ta-long-koh-sohr-us) is derived from the Mapuche Indian words for “giant chief of the lizards” and from Duke Energy Argentina, a company which helped fund the excavation.

Scientists believe the skeleton discovered in Patagonia represents a previously unknown species because of the unique structure of its neck.

Calvo said the dinosaur’s remains possibly washed into river, creating a barrier that collected remains of other nowfossillised animals, fish and even leaves found at the site.

Since the first bones were found on the banks of Lake Barreales in Neuquen, Argentina in 2000, paleontologists have dug up the dinosaur’s neck, back, hips and the first vertebra of its tail.

Calvo said the skeleton also showed signs of its owner having being eaten by predators.

Alexander Kellner, a researcher with the National Museum in Rio de Janeiro, said the fossilized ecosystem pointed to a warm and humid climate in Patagonia, which had forests during the late Cretaceous period. The area is steppe-like now and almost bare of vegetation.

“It’s among the biggest dinosaur finds and the most complete for a giant dinosaur finds and the most complete for a giant dinosaur. The accumulation of fish and leaf fossils, as well as other dinosaurs around the find, is just something fantastic. Leaves and dinosaurs together is a great rarity. Its like a whole lost world for us,” said Kellner.

The study appears in the journal Annals of the Brazilian Academy of Sciences, reports the BBC.

Human race will split into two different species: report

IN 1900, experts made predictions for the 20th century. They got much of it wrong, but a lot right - housework never became fun, but we did get the Internet and the nuclear bomb.
If the accuracy of 1900 is a guide, researchers in Britain may be right this time. They have predicted that the human race may be split into two different species in 100,000 years' time - an attractive, intelligent ruling elite and an underclass of dim-witted, ugly goblin-like creatures.
"The human race would reach its physical peak by the year 3000. People would become choosier about their sexual partners, causing humanity to divide into sub-species. The descendants of the genetic upper class will be tall, slim, healthy and attractive from the underclass humans.
"But in the near future, humans will evolve in 1,000 years into giants between 6ft and 7ft tall while life-spans will have extended t0 120 years. "Men will have symmetrical facial features, deeper voices and bigger penises. Women will all have glossy hairs, smooth hairless skin, large eyes and pert breasts." according to lead researcher Oliver Curry of London School of Economics.
Curry has also said that 10,000 years later reliance on technology will have begun to dramatically change the appearance of the human race.
"while science and technology have the potential to create an ideal habitat for humanity over the next millennium, there is a possibility of a monumental genetic hangover over the subsequent millennia due to an over-reliance of technology reducing our natural capacity to resist disease."he said.

Driving You Up The Wall

English researchers has developed a super sticky tape that mimics the mechanism used by lizards to climb nearly any surface.
One square centimeter of the new adhesive contains millions of plastic fibres, similar to those clingy hairs that cover the soles of gecko's feet. In addition to potentially allowing folks to scale walls spider-man-style, this new technology scientists say, will have many applications, providing the necessary residue-free stickum for everything from computer chips in vacuum environments to tissues in need of rejoining during surgery.

The Law-Makers

Can you imagine working for a company that has a little more than 500 employees and has the following statistics... 29 have been accused of spousal abuse. Seven has been arrested for fraud. 19 have been accused of writing bad checks. 117 directly or indirectly bankrupted at least two businesses. 3 have done time for assault. 71 cannot get credit card due to bad credit. 14 have been arrested on drug related charges. 8 have been arrested for shop lifting. 21 are currently defendants in lawsuits. 84 have been arrested for drunk driving in the last few years.

Can you guess which organisation this is? Give up? it's the 535-member strong United States Congress. The same group that cranks out hundreds of new laws each year designed to keep the rest of us in line.

Twins are not a rarity

People with twins in their extended families may wonder whether a crib for two is in their future, too. According to conventional wisdom twins not only run in families, but they also-for some strange reasons - skip at least one generation. It is acclaimed that it is widely repeated, but only partly true. Scientists have known for sometimes that there is a gene that can predispose woman to hyper ovulation, or releasing two or more eggs in a single menstrual cycle. When both eggs are fertilised, the resulting siblings are fraternal twins. Because this gene can be passed on, the tendency to have fraternal twins can in fact run in families. Identical twins, on the other hand, result from one fertilised egg randomly splitting in two, creating two siblings with identical DNA. The notion that twins always skip a generation is also a myth.