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Humans wore shoes almost 10,000 years earlier then what was previously thought of according to a study conducted at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri.

The evidence has been gathered from a human fossil that is 40,000-year-old having delicate toe bones, which indicates habitual shoe-wearing, according to experts.

An earlier study conducted on anatomical changes in toe bone structure dated the shoes as being used about 30,000 years ago. Now this delicate toed fossil suggests that some humans were using protective footwear 10,000 years further back. This was at a time when both Neanderthals and modern humans occupied parts of Asia and Europe.

Study author Erik Trinkaus, paleoanthropologist, Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri said that due to scarcity of toe bone fossils makes it hard to determine the exact period when habitual shoe-wearing had become widespread. He claims, however, that even Neanderthals may have been using sandals.

Earlier humans, which includes Neanderthals indicates occasional use of shoes. Regular shoe may have become common by 40,000 years ago. The study by Trinkaus as well as Chinese co-author Hong Shang appears in the July issue of the Journal of Archaeological Science.

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A new study claims that global warming will soon mark the entry of ceaseless rain which is going to be both strong and frequent. Scientists say that under such conditions people, crops and property could be under a lot of danger and destruction. Infact, floods will become more common, diseases like malaria, dengue, etc will become more rampant and of course the crops are going to fail.

Experts state that the rainfall patterns around the globe are already shifting; the reason being the warming up of the Earth on account of the release of greenhouse gases. Richard P. Allan, an atmospheric scientist from the University of Berkshire, declares that the dry regions are getting drier and that wet places are getting wetter.

Researchers have constantly been observing satellite images for rainfall over tropical oceans for nearly two decades now. It was found that during the El Nino years, the Earth experienced heavy showers when the climate is supposed to be quiet warm during that period.

El Nino years is when the global weather pattern change due to the rare warmer surface Pacific waters. Allan and other scientists are sure that the changes in rainfall patterns due to global warming are going to be worse in the future.

Studies suggest that with just 1 degree of rise in temperature can make heavy rains more frequent and hard, crossing the intense category by almost 60 percent.

Changes in rainfall patterns seem to be the hardest impact of global warming till date. Studies suggest that in the 20th century, temperatures rose to about 1.2 degrees Fahrenheit which is about 0.7 degrees Celsius. Scientists explain that the warmer the atmosphere, the more capable it is to retain moisture and when there is more moisture in the air, there is bound to be heavy and continuous rains.

Man has to realize that it is time we stop damning nature because when it hits back, it’s going to be real hard with oceans already warming up, temperatures still rising, water bodies expanding and land disappearing by the minute!

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The prehistoric men consumed milk about 8,500 years ago-almost 2,00 years earlier than thought of. This was revealed in the discovery of the earliest known milk containers.

The findings indicate that the usage of animal milk was initially developed in northwest Turkey by the cow herds residing there. The initial milk users did not consume milk per se, but ate cheese, butter and yogurt.

Richard Evershed, professor of biogeochemistry, University of Bristol, United Kingdom and his team analyzed over 2,200 ceramic vessels taken from  late Stone Age sites all over Turkey, Middle East and southeastern Europe.

Milk fats as against meat fats showed up quite clearly on the unglazed pots, which dated back to around 6500 B.C. taken from the Sea of Marmara region. Ancient bones of animals indicated that the use of dairy livestock were that of cattle, rather than sheep or goats.

These findings will be highlighted in the journal Nature (August 2008 issue).

Northwest Turkey provided the suitable environment for cattle rearing due greener grazing and “higher rainfall”. Pots became a convenient medium of the processing of milk into butter, cheese and yogurt.

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Researchers have revealed that an astronomical clock was able to detect dates and events or more precisely the ancient Olympic Games. Experts from the United States, Greece and Britain have found “Olympia” written on a bronze dial. In addition, names of several Greek games were found on a device called the Antikythera Mechanism.

The Antikythera Mechanism is assumed to be almost 2100 years old and was recovered from a shipwreck way back in 1901 near an island called Antikythera. The island lies on the southern coast of Greece.

The inside of this mechanism represents a clock. About 30 bronze gears had to be turned and rotated to arrive at the dates related to a specific event like – different phases of the moon, eclipses and other celestial information.

Researchers opine that this was quiet some discovery because it did not relate to an astronomical cycle but an Olympian cycle and thereby marked the significance of social events in ancient times.

Later researchers were also prompt in finding names on the Antikythera Mechanism. These names also seem to relate those used in the Corinthians colonies in Sicily. These results thereby also date back to Archimedes (Greek mathematician) who died there even before the device was built.

3D scanners built by the British X-Tek Systems, have enabled scientists to cut though the device and fragments to read the Greek inscriptions. The US-based Hewitt and Packard also made use of a special technique where the remnant of the device or the celestial clock was studied under different lighting conditions.

Mike Edmunds, an astrophysics professor at the Cardiff University, Britain is leading the study and further research on the Antikythera Mechanism device.

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Hundreds of Crustacean-type animals’ fossils of the size of a pinhead have been discovered in Antarctica, according to scientists. These fossils known as ostracods, which are 14 million-year –old, were found in an ancient lake bed located in the Dry Valley region in the interior of the continent. These findings were highlighted in a new research study, which have been published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B.

The fossils, which are well preserved are probably the last remembrances of a warm Antarctica, prior to the setting in intense and massive climate cooling that set in. They are in the shape of footballs.

Lead author of the study, Mark Williams, geologist, University of Leicester is of the view that this discovery was a key factor in understanding the impact of  global warming.

These creatures were probably relics that survived after the continent broke away from South America about 30 million years ago according to study co-author Allan Ashworth, professor of paleontology, North Dakato State University.

Ostracods do not exist in Antarctica as of now. The nearest place they are found is around 620 miles (1,000 kilometres) in the subantarctica islands, claims Ashworth. These ostrocod shells were in different stages of growth cycle.

Pollen and mosses belonging to the tundra vegetation that existed during the same period were also found at the same site. This indicates that it was a warm period, warmer than the present Antarctica. A warm temperature is required for the survival of ostracods.

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