Museum Of Life: Collection For The Future

Museum of Life gives viewers an inside look at the Natural History Museum and some of the 300 or more scientists who work here. Cameras follow them on collecting expeditions around the world, as they hunt for dinosaur fossils and study the biodiversity of remote areas. But there are also plenty of discoveries to be made at the Museum itself, including hidden store rooms full of specimens, and high tech science facilities, such as the DNA labs. Find out about the huge variety of plants and animals that scientists study here, and why they are important for conservation efforts today.
About the presenters: As a young man, Jimmy Doherty (Jimmy's Farm, Jimmy Doherty in Darwin's Garden, Jimmy's Global Harvest) worked as a volunteer at the Natural History Museum in South Kensington. Now he returns to join the Museum scientists and find out how much has changed. He is joined by engineer Kate Bellingham (Tomorrow's World), doctor of tropical medicine Chris van Tulleken (Medicine Men), conservationist Liz Bonnin (Bang Goes the Theory) and zoologist Mark Carwardine (Last Chance to See).
LINK: Youtube

Pictures: Mysterious Viking-era Graves Found With Treasure

Who Was the Young Warrior? Photograph courtesy S. Gronek Sword at his side, the so-called Young Warrior (left) is among the thousand-year-old discoveries in a newfound cemetery in Poland, a new study says. The burial ground holds not only a hoard of precious objects but also hints of human sacrifice—and several dozen graves of a mysterious people with links to both the Vikings and the rulers of the founding states of eastern Europe. (Related: "'Thor's Hammer' Found in Viking Grave.") Researchers are especially intrigued by the Young Warrior, who died a violent death in his 20s. The man's jaw is fractured, his skull laced with cut marks. The sword provides further evidence of a martial life. Objects in the warrior's grave suggest he had ties to one of the region's earliest Slavic monarchs, said the project leader Andrzej Buko, head of the Institute of Archaeology and Ethnology at the Polish Academy of Sciences. But the north-south orientation of the man's body is a Scandinavian custom. Slavic graves were oriented east-west, Buko says. Buried just below the Young Warrior—probably at the same time, Buko said—is a woman in her early 20s who may have met a similarly violent end. Though evidence is scanty, Buko guesses she was killed to be buried with the man, "because it's very hard to suppose she died at the same moment as the warrior." Alongside the warrior is a second woman (right), also in her early 20s. The timing of her death is unclear. Archaeologists stumbled upon the cemetery, which dates to the late 10th and early 11th centuries, after surveying a highway-construction site near the village of Bodzia, roughly 90 miles (150 kilometers) northwest of Warsaw. The find is reported in this month's issue of the journal Antiquity. "The best discoveries are not planned, and so it was in this case," Buko said. "Among many other things, we discovered this marvelous cemetery." LINK —Traci Watson

Rare Dragon_Shark Found In Japan

Rare Dragon_Shark Found In Japan. LINK: Youtube

Time-Lapse Video of Asteroid Discoveries for the Past 30 Years

(Video Link)
This time-lapse video by YouTube user szyzyg shows asteroids in our solar system as they have been discovered since 1980:

Notice now the pattern of discovery follows the Earth around its orbit, most discoveries are made in the region directly opposite the Sun. You’ll also notice some clusters of discoveries on the line between Earth and Jupiter, these are the result of surveys looking for Jovian moons. Similar clusters of discoveries can be tied to the other outer planets, but those are not visible in this video.

As the video moves into the mid 1990’s we see much higher discovery rates as automated sky scanning systems come online. Most of the surveys are imaging the sky directly opposite the sun and you’ll see a region of high discovery rates aligned in this manner.

At the beginning of 2010 a new discovery pattern becomes evident, with discovery zones in a line perpendicular to the Sun-Earth vector. These new observations are the result of the WISE (Widefield Infrared Survey Explorer) which is a space mission that’s tasked with imaging the entire sky in infrared wavelengths.

Astronomers have so far found about half a million minor planets in our solar system.

Via: Popular Science, Via: Neatorama

BBC Team discovers 40 new species in 'Lost World'

Rats as big as cats, fanged frogs and grunting fish - they sound like something from a horror movie.

But, incredibly, there is a 'lost world' on a distant island where these nightmarish creatures really exist.

A team of scientists discovered the bizarre animals - and dozens of others - at a remote volcano in Papua New Guinea.

In the kilometre-deep crater of Mount Bosavi, they found a habitat teeming with life which has evolved in isolation since the volcano last erupted 200,000 years ago.

Among the new species was the the Bosavi Woolly Rat.

One of the biggest rats in the world, it measures just over 32 inches from nose to tail and weighs 3lb.

The silvery grey mammal has dense fur and its teeth suggest it has a largely vegetarian diet and probably builds nests in tree hollows or underground.

The Bosavi Woolly was discovered by a team from the BBC's natural history unit as they searched for new wildlife while filming the series Lost Land Of The Volcano.

More on the discoveries at this LINK