http://news.softpedia.com Softpedia News - History Softpedia News en-us 2001 - 2012 Softpedia. All rights reserved. Tue, 29 May 2012 00:56:51 GMT Tue, 29 May 2012 00:56:51 GMT News http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss 10 http://news.softpedia.com/base_img/softpedia_logo.gif http://news.softpedia.com http://news.softpedia.com/news/Life-Needed-10-Million-Years-to-Recover-After-Largest-Extinction-272039.shtml In a paper published in the May 27 issue of the top journal Nature Geoscience, researchers at the University of Bristol, in the United Kingdom, argue that life required around 10 million years to recover following the largest mass extinction in history, the Permian-Triassic (P-Tr) event.

Known as The Great Dying amon... (read more)]]> Mon, 28 May 2012 09:04:00 GMT Softpedia News - History http://news.softpedia.com/news/Life-Needed-10-Million-Years-to-Recover-After-Largest-Extinction-272039.shtml History http://news.softpedia.com/news/Life-Needed-10-Million-Years-to-Recover-After-Largest-Extinction-272039.shtml#review_zone Softpedia News (Tudor Vieru) http://news.softpedia.com/news/Massive-Turtle-Species-Discovered-in-Colombia-270737.shtml Experts from the University of Florida (UF) Florida Museum of Natural History (FMNH) announce the discovery of a giant turtle species that was previously unknown to science. The creature was discovered in the same mine that revealed the famous Titanoboa.

The latter was the world's largest known snake, reaching lengths of between 12 to ... (read more)]]> Mon, 21 May 2012 09:44:00 GMT Softpedia News - History http://news.softpedia.com/news/Massive-Turtle-Species-Discovered-in-Colombia-270737.shtml History http://news.softpedia.com/news/Massive-Turtle-Species-Discovered-in-Colombia-270737.shtml#review_zone Softpedia News (Tudor Vieru) http://news.softpedia.com/news/200-Year-Old-Shipwreck-Found-in-Gulf-of-Mexico-270108.shtml Scientists conducting an investigation in the Gulf of Mexico have recently come across the wreck of a wooden-hulled ship that apparently sank around 200 years ago. The researchers were able to investigate the vessel using a Robotic Underwater Vehicle (ROV).

The scientific expedition, conducted by experts with the US National Oceanic an... (read more)]]> Thu, 17 May 2012 09:18:00 GMT Softpedia News - History http://news.softpedia.com/news/200-Year-Old-Shipwreck-Found-in-Gulf-of-Mexico-270108.shtml History http://news.softpedia.com/news/200-Year-Old-Shipwreck-Found-in-Gulf-of-Mexico-270108.shtml#review_zone Softpedia News (Tudor Vieru) http://news.softpedia.com/news/Seven-Species-of-Killer-Dinosaurs-Found-in-Australia-270070.shtml A team of investigators and volunteers from the Monash University and Museum Victoria announce the discovery of important fossils in southeastern Australia. The bone fragments indicate that at least seven different species of meat-eating, theropod dinosaurs lived in the area millions of years ago.

Theropods is the general designa... (read more)]]> Thu, 17 May 2012 07:57:00 GMT Softpedia News - History http://news.softpedia.com/news/Seven-Species-of-Killer-Dinosaurs-Found-in-Australia-270070.shtml History http://news.softpedia.com/news/Seven-Species-of-Killer-Dinosaurs-Found-in-Australia-270070.shtml#review_zone Softpedia News (Tudor Vieru) http://news.softpedia.com/news/Lost-Ancient-Language-Rediscovered-268741.shtml An archaeological dig site in southeastern Turkey has recently revealed signs of an ancient language that has since been forgotten. The Ziyaret Tepe site, in the Diyarbakir Province, was once occupied by the ancient Assyrian city of Tušhan, in the upper portion of the Tigris River valley.

Scientists at the University of Cambridge, in the U... (read more)]]> Thu, 10 May 2012 10:02:00 GMT Softpedia News - History http://news.softpedia.com/news/Lost-Ancient-Language-Rediscovered-268741.shtml History http://news.softpedia.com/news/Lost-Ancient-Language-Rediscovered-268741.shtml#review_zone Softpedia News (Tudor Vieru) http://news.softpedia.com/news/Domestic-Horses-Appeared-in-the-Ukraine-268224.shtml Scientists from the University of Cambridge have recently managed to solve a long-standing mystery related to the evolution of domestic horses. The team was able to determine that the animals appeared on the steppes of the Ukraine and Russia, as well as in western Kazakhstan.

The origins of domestic horses have been under scientific debate fo... (read more)]]> Tue, 8 May 2012 09:01:00 GMT Softpedia News - History http://news.softpedia.com/news/Domestic-Horses-Appeared-in-the-Ukraine-268224.shtml History http://news.softpedia.com/news/Domestic-Horses-Appeared-in-the-Ukraine-268224.shtml#review_zone Softpedia News (Tudor Vieru) http://news.softpedia.com/news/Fossil-Reveals-Why-the-Human-Brain-Is-Growing-Larger-268218.shtml Dean Falk, an evolutionary anthropologist at the Florida State University (FSU), led a team of experts that now believes it has an explanation for why the brains of hominins grow larger and increasingly complex. The results come from studying one of the most famous fossils in the world.

The team analyzed anthropological features ... (read more)]]> Tue, 8 May 2012 08:48:00 GMT Softpedia News - History http://news.softpedia.com/news/Fossil-Reveals-Why-the-Human-Brain-Is-Growing-Larger-268218.shtml History http://news.softpedia.com/news/Fossil-Reveals-Why-the-Human-Brain-Is-Growing-Larger-268218.shtml#review_zone Softpedia News (Tudor Vieru) http://news.softpedia.com/news/8-Meter-Extinct-Crocodile-Discovered-268092.shtml Investigators from the University of Iowa announce the discovery of a massive crocodile species that lived in what is now Kenya, East Africa, between 2 and 4 million years ago. The reptile may have grown to around 8.2 meters (27 feet) in length, exceeding the size of the largest known Nile crocodile.

The latter was about 6.4 meters (21 feet) in ... (read more)]]> Mon, 7 May 2012 13:48:00 GMT Softpedia News - History http://news.softpedia.com/news/8-Meter-Extinct-Crocodile-Discovered-268092.shtml History http://news.softpedia.com/news/8-Meter-Extinct-Crocodile-Discovered-268092.shtml#review_zone Softpedia News (Tudor Vieru) http://news.softpedia.com/news/Yellowstone-More-Volcanically-Active-than-First-Thought-267545.shtml An analysis of the 2-million-year-old Huckleberry Ridge deposit, produced by the Yellowstone volcano, revealed that the landscape features were created not by one, but two separate eruptions.

The events were spread around 6,000 years apart. What this suggests is that Yellowstone may not be as dangerous as its classification as... (read more)]]> Thu, 3 May 2012 10:00:00 GMT Softpedia News - History http://news.softpedia.com/news/Yellowstone-More-Volcanically-Active-than-First-Thought-267545.shtml History http://news.softpedia.com/news/Yellowstone-More-Volcanically-Active-than-First-Thought-267545.shtml#review_zone Softpedia News (Tudor Vieru) http://news.softpedia.com/news/Dinosaur-Decline-Unavoidable-Even-Before-Extinction-267345.shtml A new investigation demonstrates that large, herbivore dinosaurs were declining even before the Cretaceous-Paleogene (K-T) extinction event, some 65.5 million years ago. The same research indicates that mid-sized herbivore and carnivore dinosaurs were doing just fine before they died off.

Scientists have been trying to figure out ... (read more)]]> Wed, 2 May 2012 09:27:00 GMT Softpedia News - History http://news.softpedia.com/news/Dinosaur-Decline-Unavoidable-Even-Before-Extinction-267345.shtml History http://news.softpedia.com/news/Dinosaur-Decline-Unavoidable-Even-Before-Extinction-267345.shtml#review_zone Softpedia News (Tudor Vieru) http://news.softpedia.com/news/How-Tetrapods-Avoided-Acid-Intoxication-266418.shtml Scientists suggest that acid buildup within the body may have been a real problem for the first creatures to walk out of Earth's oceans, tetrapods. These animals are the ancestors of all mammals, amphibians, snakes and so on, but their bodies were not well equipped for living on land at first.

These creatures evolved from lobe-finned fish th... (read more)]]> Wed, 25 Apr 2012 14:09:00 GMT Softpedia News - History http://news.softpedia.com/news/How-Tetrapods-Avoided-Acid-Intoxication-266418.shtml History http://news.softpedia.com/news/How-Tetrapods-Avoided-Acid-Intoxication-266418.shtml#review_zone Softpedia News (Tudor Vieru) http://news.softpedia.com/news/Why-Ammonoids-Were-Lost-During-the-Last-Extinction-266379.shtml A class of marine cephalopods called Ammonoids, or ammonites, was destroyed during the last mass extinction event, after previously surviving three other events of even greater magnitude. Experts recently set out to discover what actually killed off these animals.

Ammonoids died out alongside dinosaurs about 65.5 million years ago... (read more)]]> Wed, 25 Apr 2012 12:47:00 GMT Softpedia News - History http://news.softpedia.com/news/Why-Ammonoids-Were-Lost-During-the-Last-Extinction-266379.shtml History http://news.softpedia.com/news/Why-Ammonoids-Were-Lost-During-the-Last-Extinction-266379.shtml#review_zone Softpedia News (Tudor Vieru) http://news.softpedia.com/news/Explanation-for-the-Cambrian-Explosion-Proposed-265836.shtml A new study, funded by the US National Science Foundation (NSF), provides new data on the Great Unconformity, a geological curiosity that may help explain a phenomenon called the Cambrian Explosion. During this event, life on Earth became extremely diverse.

This increase in diversity occurred somewhat unexpectedly, and the reasons it... (read more)]]> Mon, 23 Apr 2012 07:49:00 GMT Softpedia News - History http://news.softpedia.com/news/Explanation-for-the-Cambrian-Explosion-Proposed-265836.shtml History http://news.softpedia.com/news/Explanation-for-the-Cambrian-Explosion-Proposed-265836.shtml#review_zone Softpedia News (Tudor Vieru) http://news.softpedia.com/news/Why-the-Ordovician-Silurian-Extinction-Event-Occurred-263678.shtml A new study reveals some of the most important missing details about how the Ordovician–Silurian extinction event (known simply as the Ordovician extinction) occurred, about 450 million years ago.

One of the most interesting aspects of this event was that it occurred in two stages. This is partially why it was so devastati... (read more)]]> Tue, 10 Apr 2012 08:32:00 GMT Softpedia News - History http://news.softpedia.com/news/Why-the-Ordovician-Silurian-Extinction-Event-Occurred-263678.shtml History http://news.softpedia.com/news/Why-the-Ordovician-Silurian-Extinction-Event-Occurred-263678.shtml#review_zone Softpedia News (Tudor Vieru) http://news.softpedia.com/news/Cretaceous-Dinosaurs-Needed-to-Avoid-Widespread-Fires-263453.shtml Between 145-65 million years ago, during the Cretaceous Period, dinosaurs needed to steer clear of widespread fires, new research indicates. Scientists were recently able to demonstrate that naturally-occurring fires were commonplace during those days.

The new investigation was carried out by experts at the Royal Holloway Univer... (read more)]]> Mon, 9 Apr 2012 07:53:00 GMT Softpedia News - History http://news.softpedia.com/news/Cretaceous-Dinosaurs-Needed-to-Avoid-Widespread-Fires-263453.shtml History http://news.softpedia.com/news/Cretaceous-Dinosaurs-Needed-to-Avoid-Widespread-Fires-263453.shtml#review_zone Softpedia News (Tudor Vieru) http://news.softpedia.com/news/Huge-Predator-Dinosaur-Fossils-Found-New-Species-263048.shtml Tyrannosaurus Rex's family may have just been expanded by a new member, researchers with the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH), in New York City, say. They were part of a time that discovered a new species of large dinosaur in northeastern China.

The area is known for the high amount of fossils it contains, covering numerous ... (read more)]]> Thu, 5 Apr 2012 13:23:00 GMT Softpedia News - History http://news.softpedia.com/news/Huge-Predator-Dinosaur-Fossils-Found-New-Species-263048.shtml History http://news.softpedia.com/news/Huge-Predator-Dinosaur-Fossils-Found-New-Species-263048.shtml#review_zone Softpedia News (Tudor Vieru) http://news.softpedia.com/news/Evolution-of-Domesticated-Crops-Revealed-by-Ancient-Cotton-262560.shtml University of Warwick investigators recently conducted an important investigation into the history of domesticated plants, when they analyzed 1,600-year-old Egyptian cotton samples, harvested from the very banks of the Nile River.

Plant domestication has a relatively brief history on our planet, since our ancestors only se... (read more)]]> Tue, 3 Apr 2012 12:46:00 GMT Softpedia News - History http://news.softpedia.com/news/Evolution-of-Domesticated-Crops-Revealed-by-Ancient-Cotton-262560.shtml History http://news.softpedia.com/news/Evolution-of-Domesticated-Crops-Revealed-by-Ancient-Cotton-262560.shtml#review_zone Softpedia News (Tudor Vieru) http://news.softpedia.com/news/Fossilized-Raindrops-Reveal-Past-Global-Warming-Period-262218.shtml Back when the planet was still very young, rivers and oceans were crisscrossing its surface at a time when they shouldn't have existed, according to theory. The Sun was significantly dimmer then, meaning that Earth should have been covered in ice. Experts now discovered why that didn't happen.

Studies of the Sun revealed that i... (read more)]]> Mon, 2 Apr 2012 09:00:00 GMT Softpedia News - History http://news.softpedia.com/news/Fossilized-Raindrops-Reveal-Past-Global-Warming-Period-262218.shtml History http://news.softpedia.com/news/Fossilized-Raindrops-Reveal-Past-Global-Warming-Period-262218.shtml#review_zone Softpedia News (Tudor Vieru) http://news.softpedia.com/news/Dinosaur-Carcasses-Did-Not-Explode-262210.shtml For many years, paleontologists believed that the carcasses of pregnant ichthyosaur females were prone to exploding after death, due to the accumulation of putrefaction gases within their bodies. Now, new data appear to indicate that this was not the case.

The idea was first proposed so that scientists could explain why numerous, well-preserved i... (read more)]]> Mon, 2 Apr 2012 08:47:00 GMT Softpedia News - History http://news.softpedia.com/news/Dinosaur-Carcasses-Did-Not-Explode-262210.shtml History http://news.softpedia.com/news/Dinosaur-Carcasses-Did-Not-Explode-262210.shtml#review_zone Softpedia News (Tudor Vieru) http://news.softpedia.com/news/New-Hominin-Species-Potentially-Discovered-261566.shtml For a long time, anthropologists believed that Australopithecus afarensis, an ancient hominin that lived in the Afar region of Ethiopia some 3.4 million years ago, was the only ancestor species at the time. Now, new evidence appears to indicate that it had some company.

Scientists recently discovered the Burtele foot, a fossil recovered fr... (read more)]]> Thu, 29 Mar 2012 07:42:00 GMT Softpedia News - History http://news.softpedia.com/news/New-Hominin-Species-Potentially-Discovered-261566.shtml History http://news.softpedia.com/news/New-Hominin-Species-Potentially-Discovered-261566.shtml#review_zone Softpedia News (Tudor Vieru) http://news.softpedia.com/news/Single-Herd-Spawned-All-Cows-in-the-World-261424.shtml All domesticated bovines that live today are the descendants of members of a single herd of wild ox. The conclusion belongs to a new genetic analysis of DNA from a large sample of animals, which was conducted by an international team of researchers.

The wild ox from which all modern cattle originated lived around 10,500 years ago, investig... (read more)]]> Wed, 28 Mar 2012 12:19:00 GMT Softpedia News - History http://news.softpedia.com/news/Single-Herd-Spawned-All-Cows-in-the-World-261424.shtml History http://news.softpedia.com/news/Single-Herd-Spawned-All-Cows-in-the-World-261424.shtml#review_zone Softpedia News (Tudor Vieru) http://news.softpedia.com/news/Old-Telescopes-Made-of-Bones-Rediscovered-261091.shtml Investigators have recently discovered five unusual telescopes in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. The instruments, 3 to 5 inches long (80 to 140 millimeters), were fashioned out of cattle metatarsal bones, and were once thought to be a luxury item.

Five such instruments were discovered, and all were determined to date back to the 18th Century, ... (read more)]]> Tue, 27 Mar 2012 09:23:00 GMT Softpedia News - History http://news.softpedia.com/news/Old-Telescopes-Made-of-Bones-Rediscovered-261091.shtml History http://news.softpedia.com/news/Old-Telescopes-Made-of-Bones-Rediscovered-261091.shtml#review_zone Softpedia News (Tudor Vieru) http://news.softpedia.com/news/Ancient-Monolith-Marks-the-Path-of-the-Midsummer-Sun-261083.shtml Located on a ridge called Gardom's Edge, in the Peak District National Park near Manchester, England, an ancient monolith is believed to be one of the oldest astronomical markers in the world. The purpose of the huge rock was unknown until new archaeological evidence pointing to its use was found.

According to the conclusions of... (read more)]]> Tue, 27 Mar 2012 09:04:00 GMT Softpedia News - History http://news.softpedia.com/news/Ancient-Monolith-Marks-the-Path-of-the-Midsummer-Sun-261083.shtml History http://news.softpedia.com/news/Ancient-Monolith-Marks-the-Path-of-the-Midsummer-Sun-261083.shtml#review_zone Softpedia News (Tudor Vieru) http://news.softpedia.com/news/Ancient-Lessons-on-How-to-Care-for-Fisheries-260674.shtml As climate change is beginning to stack up its pressure on fisheries worldwide, conservation experts are turning to all possible sources of inspiration, in hopes of figuring out how to handle this delicate situation. Apparently, ancient history has a lot to teach us in that regard.

In a paper published in the March 23 issue of the journ... (read more)]]> Sat, 24 Mar 2012 09:25:00 GMT Softpedia News - History http://news.softpedia.com/news/Ancient-Lessons-on-How-to-Care-for-Fisheries-260674.shtml History http://news.softpedia.com/news/Ancient-Lessons-on-How-to-Care-for-Fisheries-260674.shtml#review_zone Softpedia News (Tudor Vieru) http://news.softpedia.com/news/Why-Humans-Walk-on-Just-Two-Limbs-260033.shtml A group of experts from the University of Cambridge believes that the earliest humans may have started walking on two feet in order to be able to monopolize resources in their environment. This was achieved by being able to carry a lot more food than other species.

Freeing two of the limbs for transporting cargo is believed to have marked a critic... (read more)]]> Wed, 21 Mar 2012 13:48:00 GMT Softpedia News - History http://news.softpedia.com/news/Why-Humans-Walk-on-Just-Two-Limbs-260033.shtml History http://news.softpedia.com/news/Why-Humans-Walk-on-Just-Two-Limbs-260033.shtml#review_zone Softpedia News (Tudor Vieru) http://news.softpedia.com/news/Experts-Find-Oldest-Vertebrate-in-the-World-256909.shtml Researchers in the United Kingdom and Canada announce the discovery of the oldest known vertebrate, a creature that lived about 505 million years ago. This finding makes the animal the ancestor of all known vertebrates that ever lived, including humans.

The fossil was discovered in the Yoho National Park, Canada, in a formation called th... (read more)]]> Tue, 6 Mar 2012 12:50:00 GMT Softpedia News - History http://news.softpedia.com/news/Experts-Find-Oldest-Vertebrate-in-the-World-256909.shtml History http://news.softpedia.com/news/Experts-Find-Oldest-Vertebrate-in-the-World-256909.shtml#review_zone Softpedia News (Tudor Vieru) http://news.softpedia.com/news/Iceman-tzi-Had-Lyme-Disease-256063.shtml A new investigation conducted on DNA samples collected from Ötzi, a Neolithic Tyrolean iceman, reveals that he was the first known human to carry Lyme disease. A team of experts managed to sequence man's DNA, and made a host of interesting discoveries.

This particular fossil is one of the best-studied in the world. It was discovered 21 years ago in... (read more)]]> Thu, 1 Mar 2012 14:53:00 GMT Softpedia News - History http://news.softpedia.com/news/Iceman-tzi-Had-Lyme-Disease-256063.shtml History http://news.softpedia.com/news/Iceman-tzi-Had-Lyme-Disease-256063.shtml#review_zone Softpedia News (Tudor Vieru) http://news.softpedia.com/news/Mysterious-Pterosaur-Found-in-China-255978.shtml While conducting excavation work at a dig site in northeast China, investigators at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro and the Chinese Academy of Sciences discovered the skull of what appears to be a previously-unknown species of pterosaur.

Its name means “ghost dragon hunter” in Chinese and Latin. Guidraco venator was most lik... (read more)]]> Thu, 1 Mar 2012 11:57:00 GMT Softpedia News - History http://news.softpedia.com/news/Mysterious-Pterosaur-Found-in-China-255978.shtml History http://news.softpedia.com/news/Mysterious-Pterosaur-Found-in-China-255978.shtml#review_zone Softpedia News (Tudor Vieru) http://news.softpedia.com/news/Neanderthals-Were-Going-Extinct-Before-Homo-sapiens-Occupied-Europe-255174.shtml A new study of ancient DNA samples taken from Neanderthal fossils indicates that the hominids were going extinct even before our Homo sapiens ancestors began to occupy Europe. Previously, it was thought that the Neanderthalian populations were stable at that time.

Investigators from the University of Uppsala, in Sw... (read more)]]> Mon, 27 Feb 2012 09:26:00 GMT Softpedia News - History http://news.softpedia.com/news/Neanderthals-Were-Going-Extinct-Before-Homo-sapiens-Occupied-Europe-255174.shtml History http://news.softpedia.com/news/Neanderthals-Were-Going-Extinct-Before-Homo-sapiens-Occupied-Europe-255174.shtml#review_zone Softpedia News (Tudor Vieru) http://news.softpedia.com/news/Stonehenge-Tried-to-Mimic-a-Sound-Based-Illusion-253442.shtml A group of archaeologists studying the renowned Stonehenge megalithic monument suggest that the entire structure was erected as an attempt to replicate a sound-based illusion. This is by far one of the most daring proposals on why one of the world's most mysterious monuments was built.

Many have suggested that the structure is actua... (read more)]]> Fri, 17 Feb 2012 09:48:00 GMT Softpedia News - History http://news.softpedia.com/news/Stonehenge-Tried-to-Mimic-a-Sound-Based-Illusion-253442.shtml History http://news.softpedia.com/news/Stonehenge-Tried-to-Mimic-a-Sound-Based-Illusion-253442.shtml#review_zone Softpedia News (Tudor Vieru)