Gizmorama - November 14, 2012

Good Morning,

Today is all about discoveries. Learn about the volcanic eruption in Indonesia 74,000 years ago has been linked with changes in global climate, find mysterious whales in New Zealand, and uncover a Statue of Pharaoh Ramses II.

All interesting stories from the scientific community right here in today's issue.

Until Next Time,
Erin

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*-- Study: Ancient eruption hit world climate --*
COPENHAGEN, Denmark - A huge volcanic eruption in Indonesia 74,000 years ago has been linked with changes in global climate and subsequent effects on early humans, researchers say. The massive eruption of the volcano Toba on the island of Sumatra, the largest volcanic eruption on Earth in the past 2 million years, left a crater about 30 miles wide and was 5,000 times larger than the Mount St. Helens eruption in 1980 in the United States, scientists at the University of Copenhagen in Denmark reported Monday. The eruption threw huge clouds of ash and sulphuric acid into the atmosphere and up into the stratosphere, changing the climate in both the northern and southern hemispheres, they said. The eruption occurred at a significant time in human history, they said, around the time when there was a mass exodus of our ancestors Homo sapiens from Africa to Asia. Researchers said they believe early people living as far as 1,200 miles away in eastern India could have been affected by the eruption, which raged for weeks. The eruption may have had major consequences for nature, the environment and humans in large areas of Asia, where a clear layer of ash from the eruption has been found, the researchers said.


*-- Mysterious whales seen in New Zealand --*
AUCKLAND, New Zealand - A whale almost unknown to science was seen for the first time after a mother and a male calf were stranded and died on a New Zealand beach, scientists said. They were spade-toothed beaked whales, Mesoplodon traversii, a species previously known only from a few bones, researchers at the University of Auckland said. "This is the first time this species -- a whale over 5 meters (16 feet) in length -- has ever been seen as a complete specimen and we were lucky enough to find two of them," Rochelle Constantine of the University of Auckland. "Up until now, all we have known about the spade-toothed beaked whale was from three partial skulls collected from New Zealand and Chile over a 140-year period. It is remarkable that we know almost nothing about such a large mammal." The whales were initially identified as much more common and almost identical Gray's beaked whales until a DNA analysis was done. The researchers say they are unsure why the whales have remained so elusive. "It may be that they are simply an offshore species that lives and dies in the deep ocean waters and only rarely wash ashore," Constantine said. "New Zealand is surrounded by massive oceans. There is a lot of marine life that remains unknown to us." The finding was reported in the journal Current Biology.


*-- Statue of Pharaoh Ramses II uncovered --*
TAL BASTA, Egypt - German archaeologists working in Egypt say they have uncovered a stature of King Ramses II, one of the most significant rulers in Egyptian history. The 8-foot granite statue, discovered at Tal Basta in Sharqiya, shows Ramses II sitting between the goddess Bastit and the god Atum, the Egypt Independent reported Monday. Bastit was represented in the form of a cat and was worshiped at Tal Basta, while Atum, a pharaonic word for "perfect," was believed by ancient Egyptians to have created himself. Adel Hussein, director of the Antiquities Ministry's Lower Egypt sector, said deep inscriptions with the king's name were found on the statue's back. Ramses II ruled Egypt between 1304 and 1237 B.C.

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