Ancient Atmosphere Of Earth Thinner Than That On Mount Everest Today and other top stories.

• Ancient Atmosphere Of Earth Thinner Than That On Mount Everest Today

  Roger Buick | University of Washington Earth's ancient atmosphere was much thinner than what is found today at Mount Everest, a new research has suggested. Many believe that the Earth's atmosphere billions of years ago compensated for the weak sunlight by having a thicker atmosphere. However, researchers from the University of Washington (UW) who studied trapped bubbles inside old rocks found evidence that the Earth's atmosphere was actually thinner before. They also investigated the presence..

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• NASA releases dozens of patents into the public domain

  

  NASA NASA has released 56 of its previously patented technologies to the public domain for unrestricted commercial use. The released patents are completely free to use and don't require any licensing agreements with the US space agency."These technologies were developed to advance NASA missions but may have non-aerospace applications and be used by commercial space ventures and other companies free of charge, el..

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• Study Casts Doubt on Theory That Legal Hunting Reduces Poaching

  

  Photo A howling gray wolf. Authors of a study on wolves in Wisconsin and Michigan say they have quantitative evidence that government authorization of legal killing of wolves appears to also increase illegal killing. Credit Tim Fitzharris/Minden Pictures Government wildlife authorities and some conservation groups have for years argued that allowing some legal hunting can help reduce the illegal killing of threatened carnivores like wolves and grizzly bears.Their theory..

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• NASA Finds 1284 Alien Planets, Biggest Haul Yet, with Kepler Space Telescope

  

  The number of known alien planets has just gone up by more than 60 percent. NASA's Kepler space telescope has discovered 1,284 new exoplanets, including nine rocky worlds that might be capable of supporting life as we know it, astronomers announced today (May 10). This is by far the largest haul of alien planets ever unveiled at one time. The total exoplanet tally now stands at about 3,200, and Kepler has found 2,235 of them, NASA officials said. [1,284 Exoplanets Found: NASA's Keple..

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• Ancient axe find shows Australians have long been tech innovators

  

  Australians have long been early adopters of technology, and an important archeological find only confirms it. Archeologists have identified a tiny axe fragment dating back to between 45,000 to 49,000 years ago in the Kimberley region of Western Australia. Not only could it be the world's oldest known axe, it shows the first Australians were some serious technological innovators. The report was published Monday in the journal, Australian Archaeology. While the fragment was excavated and dated i..

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• Watch global warming spiral out of control in this new climate visualization

  

  A climate scientist in the UK has devised a new way of visualizing the progression of human-caused global warming, and it is one that you've likely never considered before.  Ed Hawkins, a climate scientist at the National Center for Atmospheric Science at the University of Reading, devised the spiral animation to show how global average surface temperatures are increasing relative to the average temperature during preindustrial times. "I wanted to try and visualise the changes we have seen in ..

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• Ancient trade routes written in camel genes

  

  Image copyright Mark Payne-Gill/NPL Image caption Ships of the desert: camels provide transport, milk and food in arid, hostile environments A study of one of the world's most important domesticated animals - the dromedary camel - has revealed how its genetic diversity has been shaped by ancient trade routes. Scientists examined DNA samples from more than 1,000 one-humped camels. Despite populations being hundreds of miles apart, they were genetically..

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• Artificial intelligence: Key to ​Kentucky Derby betting?

  

  You probably didn't consider basing your Kentucky Derby bets on artificial intelligence -- but maybe you should have. The artificial intelligence company Unanimous tested its new software platform, UNU, on last weekend's Kentucky Derby, as reported by TechRepublic. Twenty participants, convened by the company, first used the software to narrow the field of 20 horses down to four top picks. The participants then used UNU to predict the winning order -- and it turned out to be 100 percent correct..

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