Discovered

NASA confirms building blocks of life found on comets

18:40 August 19, 2009

Artist’s conception of Stardust flying through gas and dust from comet Wild 2 (Image...

Fresh evidence has been revealed to support the theory that life on Earth began in space. NASA’s Stardust probe, a specially-designed comet ‘chaser’, successfully collected particles shed from Comet Wild 2 in 2004, and NASA scientists have since confirmed for the first time that amino acids can indeed be found on these extraterrestrial bodies. Read More

SCIENCE AND EDUCATION

Nature can still surprise us: more than 350 new species found in Himalayas

By Michael Mulcahy

16:53 August 13, 2009

3 Pictures

Among more than 350 species found in the eastern Himalayas is the world's smallest deer, t...

You’d think there’d be nothing new in the world to discover, but Mother Nature still has a few surprises up her sleeve. According to a new report from the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), scientists have discovered 353 new species in the eastern Himalayas over the past decade. They include a ‘flying frog’ that glides using long webbed feet, fossil evidence of a 100 million-year-old gecko, and the world’s shortest deer which, when fully grown, stands just 20 inches tall. Read More