New Evidence Links Stonehenge To Ancient Sun Worship

New Evidence Links Stonehenge To Ancient Sun Worship

Researchers have reportedly uncovered new evidence that supports the theory that Stonehenge had been used to worship the sun before the legendary stones were erected at the location.

According to a report published online at the MyFoxHouston.com website Monday, representatives from the University of Birmingham and the Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for Archaeological Prospection have confirmed that a team of experts representing both institutions had discovered a pair of large pits that were “positioned on celestial alignment.”

Pigeons are more living helicopters than flying rats

Pigeons are more living helicopters than flying rats

Video: How pigeons turn in flight

The humble pigeon could provide the unlikely inspiration for a flock of small military drones that can navigate enclosed spaces. It turns out the common birds can redirect their flight path with the agility of a helicopter. Ivo Ros of Harvard University and colleagues let three pigeons loose in a corridor that incorporated a sharp 90-degree turn. They placed 16 markers on each pigeon's body and set up nine synchronised high-speed cameras along the corridor to track the birds' position as they flew around the bend.

Bacterial genes tell the tale of an outbreak’s evolution

Bacterial genes tell the tale of an outbreak’s evolution

Researchers at Harvard Medical School (HMS) and Children’s Hospital Boston have retraced the evolution of an unusual bacterial infection as it spread among cystic fibrosis (CF) patients by sequencing scores of samples collected during the outbreak, since contained. A significant achievement in genetic pathology, the work also suggests a new way to recognize adaptive mutations — to see evolution as it happens — and sheds light on how our bodies resist infection.

Banishing consciousness: the mystery of anaesthesia

Banishing consciousness: the mystery of anaesthesia

I WALK into the operating theatre feeling vulnerable in a draughty gown and surgical stockings. Two anaesthetists in green scrubs tell me to stash my belongings under the trolley and lie down. "Can we get you something to drink from the bar?" they joke, as one deftly slides a needle into my left hand.

I smile weakly and ask for a gin and tonic. None appears, of course, but I begin to feel light-headed, as if I really had just knocked back a stiff drink. I glance at the clock, which reads 10.10 am, and notice my hand is feeling cold. Then, nothing.

Biology’s big bang had a long fuse: Animals started evolving long before showing up as fossils

Biology’s big bang had a long fuse: Animals started evolving long before showing up as fossils

A new effort to date the early history of modern animals finds a lot of evolutionary dawdling.

The last common ancestor of all living animals probably arose nearly 800 million years ago, a multidisciplinary research team reports in the Nov. 25Science. From that common ancestry, various animal lineages diverged and evolved on their own paths. Yet the major animal groups living today didn’t arise until roughly 200 million years later, in an exuberant burst of forms preserved in fossils during what’s called the Cambrian explosion.

Indian Ocean cocktail party leaves trail of party hats behind

Indian Ocean cocktail party leaves trail of party hats behind

 Scientists have unexpectedly found traces of the supercontinent Gondwana in the Indian Ocean - in the process solving a mystery behind a large group of ocean 'mountains' known as seamounts, including Christmas Island.

St Andrews scientists ask if whales have 'dialects'

St Andrews scientists ask if whales have 'dialects'

Members of the public are being asked by scientists at the University of St Andrews to help them investigate the way whales communicate.