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POPSAppalachian Mountains Rock Ice Age, 460 Million Years Ago
By the time humans first walked their slopes, the Appalachian mountains had worn down from prehistoric peaks over 16,000 ft (5,000 m) high to 6,500 ft (2,000 m) today. Today, the plant and animal life of the Northern Appalachians is still recovering from the last glacial period, which ended 10,000 years ago. The Southern Appalachians were never buried beneath the great ice-sheets of that frigid time, providing refuge for native species. Often spreading a couple hundred miles wide, the chain's north-south alignment allowed easy migration of animals fleeing the glaciers. Had these mountains been aligned east-west, like the European Alps, they would have presented a barrier to migration, a trap that would have ensured mass extinctions. The Appalachian Mountains are a long system of mountains, stretching from Newfoundland in Canada all the way to Alabama in the southern United States. (the full trail in the United States is 2,174 miles long)
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POPSStudy backs theory Hobbit was distinct species While some scientists have argued the hobbit's head was unusually small because she suffered from a disease, Dr Jungers and Dr Baab found no resemblance between her brain shape and that of modern humans with abnormally small heads.
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POPSYou Are A Wimp (So Am I) "Any Neanderthal woman could have beaten former bodybuilder and current California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger in an arm wrestling match"
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POPSHiking Into History: England’s Ancient Ridgeway Trail More: The full 87 miles of the official Ridgeway National Trail can easily be divided into shorter segments, depending on time available. It can be cut more or less in half, by deciding to walk only the older, original western section, which passes all the great prehistoric sites. Day hikes, and half-days centered on the Uffington White Horse, or Wayland’s Smithy, or the Avebury Stone Circles, can easily be devised by studying the map. The trail’s excellent Web site (www.nationaltrail.co.uk/ridgeway) is full of advice, and possibilities for accommodations and meals.
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POPSUS Planning to Weaken Copenhagen Climate Deal The move reflects a "prehistoric" level of debate on climate change in the wider US, according to another high-ranking European official, and anxiety in the Obama administration about its ability to get a new global treaty ratified in the US Senate, where it would require a two-thirds majority vote. The US has not ratified a major international environment treaty since 1992 and President Clinton never submitted the Kyoto protocol for approval, after a unaminous Senate vote indicated it would be rejected on economic grounds. Stuart Eizenstat, who negotiated Kyoto for the US, said: "There has been a sea change in US attitudes and the new president is deeply committed on this issue. But the EU needs to understand the limitations in the US. The reality is that is it impossible for my successor to negotiate something in Copenhagen beyond that which Congress will give the administration in domestic cap-and-trade legislation."
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POPSTravel: 36 hours in Sacramento Too long to clip – click through for the rest, including shopping, dining, wine tasting, at least one bar that serves absinthe, farmers' markets, and bicycling.
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POPSNew Clovis-Age Comet Impact Theory "Highest concentrations of extraterrestrial impact materials occur in the Great Lakes area and spread out from there," Kennett said. "It would have had major effects on humans. Immediate effects would have been in the North and East, producing shockwaves, heat, flooding, wildfires, and a reduction and fragmentation of the human population."
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POPSChapel built on top of lava plug more: In prehistoric times, a dolmen was built on top of the rock, a single-chamber tomb made of three upright stones and a large, flat, horizontal one on top. The Romans dedicated the rock to Mercury, the messenger god with the winged shoes. When the area was Christianised, the rock needle was consecrated to the archangel Saint Michael (Saint Michel).
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POPSScientists are to turn chickens into dinosaurs. Now, a quote from the classic Jurassic Park movie: Dr. Ian Malcolm: God creates dinosaurs. God destroys dinosaurs. God creates man. Man destroys God. Man creates dinosaurs... Dr. Ellie Sattler: Dinosaurs eat man. Woman inherits the earth... Is this really a good idea?
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POPSAncient royal tomb found in Scotland
more (at source): But up until now nobody suspected that Forteviot's royal roots might be thousands of years older. The newly discovered prehistoric tomb is of particular importance because it lies at the very heart of Scotland's largest pre-historic ritual/religious ceremonial complex. The excavations are now revealing that back in around 2600 BC, local Neolithic people constructed a giant 250m diameter circle of 200 timber obelisks with a ceremonial processional way leading to its entrance and an inner timber circle at its centre. Each oak obelisk was up to a metre in diameter. Then, by 2400BC, a massive earthwork enclosure with a 10m wide, 3m deep moat was built inside that inner timber circle. At roughly the same time two other similar earthwork enclosures – "henges" – were built, north of the large timber circle. And finally in around 2000BC the tomb was built underground in what was probably the most prestigious location – immediately opposite the entrance to the henge at the
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