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Decorated with scarlet paint and a tattoo, a well –preserved mummy, 1000-year old, was discovered in Peru. The anthropologists removed the layers of ancient textiles on the thirty- year -old male at a lab in Lima. Other things found were a slingshots, figurine in similar dress and corn.

The artefacts, excavation site and the mummy indicate that the Chancay civilization had a tight grip on the fertile areas of the north-central Pacific coast of Peru between 1000A.D. and 1500 A.D. It fell to the Inca empire.

The discovery of the mummy in corn-cob lined tomb in Chancay civilization  Rontoy farming village is quite a breakthrough.  Scientistsists have nicknamed the mummy as “ Kiko Rontoy”. It holds a loop of yarn and empty bag in its right hand. Kernels and corncobs were found in the layers.

Corn was used to make a type of beer known as chichi and used for food according to Guiellermo Cock, Peruvian archaeologist as well as an Andean expert culture. Since the corn in the burial was in abundance, it indicates that the mummy belonged to social status of high order. Of course, some amount of corn is found in burials.

The mummy was found dressed in loin cloth and two tunics. A foot long wooden figurine, dressed similar to mummy, was found near the head of the mummy. Further study is essential to understand the significance of the artefacts.

A black tattoo was found on the right knee. Tattoos indicate high social status. The mummy’s face was covered with gauzy, loosely woven material. In each layer, little offerings could be seen, such as, a piece of silver. He also had a sliver bead necklace adorned on a cotton string around his neck.

The well- preserved face of the mummy was covered with  red paint  prepared with mercury sulfide, an adornment which is indicative of a high ranking individual’s burial. Pieces of silver and copper metal cover the eyes. Another such piece is placed between the teeth.

The mummy’s bowels seems to have been removed from the anus, which indicates they may have been enlarged. Disembowelment, which is practiced by the Egyptians, helps in the preservation of the body. The tight wrapping of the mummy in textiles also helped in its preservation.

Other prehistoric mummies were not found in the specially built Kiko Rontoy’s tomb. A burial from the 1800s was discovered at the top of the site that was dug.

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In a crucial judgment late Friday federal judge listed gray wolves (Canis lupus) in Northern Rockies as endangered species again. Restoring the endangered species protection for gray wolves the decision was against the public wolf hunt supposedly to be conducted by 3 states this fall.

In Missoula, U.S. District Judge, Donald Molloy, decided a preliminary order for restoring endangered protection act for gray wolves in Wyoming, Montana and Idaho states. Whether the order should be implemented permanently will be decided by Molloy later.

It is estimated that there are around 2,000 gray wolves in the region. In the month of March after 10years of long restoration efforts, gray wolves were removed from endangered species list. Environmentalists took legal action in order to overturn the decision of public wolf hunts scheduled this fall. In the hope to stop the public hunt and to allow the wolf population to expand, environmentalists sought the injunction.

Attorney Doug Honnold in association with Earthjustice argued on behalf of 12 environmental groups before District Judge Molloy. After the argument Attorney Honnold said: “There were fall hunts scheduled that would call for perhaps as many as 500 wolves to be killed. We’re delighted those wolves will be saved.”

In the 40 page decision Molloy said that the federal government was unable to meet its wolf recovery standards which also included interbreeding of wolves between the 3 states to ensure healthy genetics. In the decision Molloy also wrote that “Genetic exchange has not taken place.”

Further adding to his decision Molloy said for the purpose of livestock attack state laws allowing hunting of wolves will further reduce the possibility of genetic exchanges to occur. Defending the decision to delist wolves from endangered species, Ed Bangs, Federal Biologist who also led “The Wolf Restoration Program” said it as “a very biologically sound package.”

Bangs further said: “The kind of hunting proposed by the states wouldn’t threaten the wolf population. We felt the science was rock solid and that the delisting was warranted.” As per Bangs government attorneys are evaluating Molloy’s decision and by next week will decide whether to appeal to 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

As per the federal and state officials argument hunting few wolves will not endanger the whole population until and unless the number decreases below 300 wolves. They also said that with the increased conflicts between livestock and wolves it is important to check the population of wolves. Hence public hunt or killing of wolves is totally justified.

Early Mars was warm and wet for millions years, a perfect place of life development, according to a new study. Scientists made use of Mars Reconnaissance orbiter belonging to NASA to observe closely the clays on the surface of the planet, which is associated with water. The study appears in this week’s issue ( July 2008) of Nature.

The clays, known as phyllosilicates, were scattered across the surface of the planet in craters, delta formations, valleys and dunes. This implies that water existed in the terrain, according to the scientists.

Planetary geologist Jack Mustard of Brown University claims that Mars was not as hot as it is now. It was rich with water for considerable period of time. One would think of lakes and ocean, but it was in the crust that tons of water was found percolating. The watery era on Mars came to end very abruptly.

The study held the view that the watery period came to an end at the close of the Noachian epoch, which was the earliest geologic age of the planet. This would imply that Mars was wet about 4.6 billion to 3.8 billion years ago.

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Penguin rescuers and experts have reported that more than 400 hundred baby penguins have been washed ashore from the icy Patagonia and Antarctica shores to the Rio de Janeiro shores in the past two months.

Experts opine that though it is quiet common to witness both dead and alive penguins on the sea coasts of Rio de Janeiro owing to the harsh ocean currents coming from the Strait of Magellan, this year the numbers have certainly increased.

Rescuers are being efficiently divided to manage the sudden flock of dead penguins at the sea coast of Rio. Veterinarians like Thiago Muniz are of the opinion that due to the increased fishing, penguins are reaching further into the sea to catch fish, thereby becoming vulnerable to the strong ocean currents.

Muniz says that, Niteroi, the largest zoo has received as many as 100 penguins to be treated this year already. In addition, penguins are getting affected by the petroleum because of the Campos Oil field which lies on the coasts and supplies most of the oil to Brazil.

Muniz claims that no other pollutants are affecting the penguins except these two and yet the numbers to be treated are flocking at the zoo. Biologists who work with Muniz say that not just the oil from the Campos basin but the pollution is also leaving the penguins lungs vulnerable to infection and/pr bacterial invasion.

Some biologists though hold contradicting opinions like Erli Costa, who says that pollution may not be the case for penguins’ deaths. Instead, “global warming” could be a potential reason which often gave birth to strong cyclones and hence rough ocean currents which may have hit he young penguins in a large way.

Costa also explained that most of the penguins reported to be dead were one’s that just came out of their nest and were out in search for food. Hence, rough currents may have made it difficult for them to swim back to the shore.

It is also revealed that dozens of penguins attended to are airlifted back to the icy shore of Antarctica and Patagonia from the Brazil coasts.

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Water has been found on the Moon, which counters the belief that the Earth’s satellite is absolutely dry. Geologists made use of latest technology to coax molecules of water, which was brought from the moon by two Apollo missions decades back.

The researchers claim that water  was released containing magma through the eruptions of “fire mountains” about three million years ago from the moon’s surface.

The findings question the accepted “giant impact theory”, which is of the view that the moon was formed over billion years before a body of Mars size slammed into Earth. This sent debris into the orbit.

Researchers are of the view that the impact proved to be hot to vaporize the volatile elements. This includes the building of blocks of water.

The new study limits the scope of how hot this planet was and how quickly the volatile elements got condensed into the solid, according to lead author of the study, Alberto Saal, geologist, Brown University. The study appears in the July 10 issue of the journal Nature.

Astronomers claim that collision took place between a rogue planet and Earth around 4.5 billion years ago. This impact made molten debris enter the  orbit surrounding the Earth. Under such circumstances, the heat caused due to the impact should contain light vaporized elements, including hydrogen necessary for the formation of water.

Previous studies indicated the presence of light elements   below the surface of the moon such as sulfur, fluorine, chlorine and carbon. Evidence of water has been very elusive. On account of this the co-authors were denied funding of research for three years.

The study authors claim that during the eruptive phase   only 95 per cent of the water vapor was lost into space . Evidence of the remaining 5 per cent was from the lunar volcanic glasses, which are pebble type of beads. These were collected and brought to Earth by two of NASA’s Apollo Mission.

By using a technique that was highly sensitive to ascertain the chemical composition of the samples. By measuring the charged particles, the team authors were in a position to ascertain minute quantity of water in the matter from the Moon.

The researchers noticed that the moon magna may have contained water up to 750 parts per million prior to the “fire fountain eruptions.”

The study will also provide us with further insight into the duration of the presence of water on Earth.

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Arabian genes found in an Ancient Dane indicate that Scandinavians living 2,000 years ago were diverse genetically. This was observed in a DNA study.

The findings were published in the November (2008) issue of the American Journal of Physical Anthropology, which happens to be a part of a wider study meant to show that Denmark’s  ancient population was quite diverse genetically as compared to present day.

Researchers hold the view that that the Iron Age cold have been a soldier serving on the northern frontier of the Roman Empire. He could have been a descendent of female women slaves who were brought in from Middle East. The Roman Empire extended up to the Middle East. Roman legions were located as far as north extending to the River Elbe in northern Germany.

The study studied 18 bodies that were well- preserved located in two burial sites dating from 0 to A.D.400 in eastern Denmark. These burial sites were excavated originally about 20 years ago.

Mitochondrial DNA provides the genetic details of the maternal ancestry of the individual. The information sought by the study was taken from the teeth. The study was led by Linea Melchoir of the Institute of Forensic Medicine at the University of Cophenhagen.

One of the skeleton had a DNA signature known as haplogroup, which is closely linked to the Arabian Peninsula. Researcher Melchoir claims that the haplogroup was found among certain Bedouin tribes. It was also found in certain parts of Southern Europe. The skeleton is from Bogebjerggard, which is a  site belonging to the Iron Age. The bodies were perhaps that of poor farmers.

The other burial site at Skovgraade had bodies, which were of genetic signature, which was common to modern Scandinavians, the study stated. They were the Nordic types and had lower diversity. This group comprised of women mainly of women. They  could be identified by their fine rings, ornate hairpins and rings. It is quite evident that they were dressed up with attractive jewelry before burial. The Skovgraade burial represented the elite of the society.