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POPSWhen is a shrew not a shrew? "Elephant shrews are only found in Africa. They were originally described as shrews because they superficially resembled shrews in Europe and in America."
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POPSThe 'Anthropocene Age' ?
To some, it may seem obvious that humans are massively changing the environment, but what Zalasiewicz had to do was show that 10, 100, 500 million years down the line, if you were to slice through a chunk of sediment you would be able to identify a distinct layer that corresponds to our reign on Earth. The group says there is enough evidence around to suggest this will be the case. Ocean acidification, if it continues, could bring an end to corals which will change the nature of ocean rocks. Humans activities have triggered huge amounts of erosion, generating a new layer of sediment. Widespread agriculture is replacing natural vegetation with large expanses of single crops. Cutting down forests, draining marshlands and peat bogs, transforming the prairies have pushed out the animal and plant species that live there and caused them to go extinct. All of the above will mean that one day, the fossil record of our time will look very different to the pre-Anthropocene record.
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POPSPostcard from South Carolina Mike Huckabee is not the only one pandering to them. Bob Jones III himself has endorsed Mitt Romney, while Fred Thompson - remember him? - has been pandering away here for most of the past fortnight. He has justified ignoring New Hampshire and Michigan by pointing out how he has kept his limbs warms in the South while "they're up there fighting blizzards", adding: "Now, who's the most qualified to be president, with judgment like that?" Thompson thinks he is going to pull off a little miracle by winning here, not least because it is his turn after Huckabee in Iowa, John McCain in New Hampshire and Romney in Michigan. I was pondering the nature of mircales in a post Bob Jones visit sort-of-way over a large drink when the barman pointed out that it was snowing here, for the first time in five years (or "ten years", as he said later). Maybe Thompson should have kept his mouth shut about the blizzards. South Carolina's miracle quota may just have been used up. (Times Online)
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POPSMadagascan Giant Palm Puzzle It is possible that the palm, which now numbers less than 100 examples, has quietly gone through a remarkable evolution since Madagascar split with India some 80m years ago.
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POPSFirst Bioartificial Heart Because a new heart created by decellularization could be filled with the recipient's own stem cells the researchers believe it's much less likely to be rejected by the body
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POPSPatterns in Nature: Animals Photos by: Tim Laman (2), Michael Nichols, George Grall, Steve Winter, Mattias Klum, Sam Abell, Chris Johns, Bobby Model, Rich Reid.
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