Category: Dinosaurs

Human Teeth Reveal History of Catastrophes

Did you know that teeth are capable of storing records of our history, even to the point of keeping track of the radiation and environmental pollutants we have come across? Based on this, scientists are in the process of developing devices that will use teeth enamel and test the amount of radiation a given person has been exposed to during emergencies such as a dirty bomb explosion.

Barry Pass, Professor, College of Dentistry, Howard University, Washington DC says, “Dental enamel is quite a remarkable material. There is a world of information in the tooth.”
When you are exposed to radiation, that energy creates free radicals in your body which are atoms that contain an extra unpaired electron. This makes it unstable for healthy tissue as radiation could harm regular molecules in your body by nicking electrons and causing damage to DNA. However, free radicals are fairly useful indicators regarding the degree of radiation that an individual has been exposed to. To measure these levels in your teeth, scientists are currently working on a process called Electron Paramagnetic Resonance (EPR).

A technique such as EPR could be quite useful towards estimating the amount of harm done following a huge release of radiation from something like a dirty bomb. It is a very simple process. The scientist, with the use of a dental drill, will carve out a very tiny piece of a tooth, without causing any harm to it. The sample is then subjected to microwave energy to gauge the amount of energy left after passing through this fragment – which in turn tells you the number of free radicals contained in it.

As remarkable as the process sounds, like most others, it does have its disadvantages. One of them being that the sample must be extracted by a trained dentist using specific tools, and the other being that it does take a bit of time. All drawbacks which will not make it easy to carry out a fast assessment after an emergency. The other drawback is that the EPR process is only able to detect fairly high levels of radiation, which works in times of huge emergencies – but not to test other levels of radiation encountered during the course of life.

It’s definitive: An asteroid wiped out the dinosaurs (AFP)

AFP – Dinosaurs were wiped out by a huge asteroid that smashed into Earth 65 million years ago with the force of a billion atomic bombs, scientists said, hoping to lay an age-old debate to rest once and for all.

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It’s definitive: An asteroid wiped out the dinosaurs
(AFP)

It’s definitive: An asteroid wiped out the dinosaurs (AFP)

AFP – Dinosaurs were wiped out by a huge asteroid that smashed into Earth 65 million years ago with the force of a billion atomic bombs, scientists said, hoping to lay an age-old debate to rest once and for all.

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It’s definitive: An asteroid wiped out the dinosaurs
(AFP)

Large asteroid killed dinosaurs: study (AFP)

AFP – A huge asteroid that smashed into Earth with the force of a billion atomic bombs wiped out the dinosaur, scientists said Thursday, hoping to lay to rest a long-running debate over a mass extinction 65 million years ago.

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Large asteroid killed dinosaurs: study
(AFP)

It’s official: An asteroid wiped out the dinosaurs (Reuters)

Reuters – A giant asteroid smashing into Earth is the only plausible explanation for the extinction of the dinosaurs, a global scientific team said on Thursday, hoping to settle a row that has divided experts for decades.

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It’s official: An asteroid wiped out the dinosaurs
(Reuters)

Scientists find early dinosaur cousin (AFP)

AFP – Scientists have uncovered the bones of a dinosaur-like creature that roamed Earth at least 10 million years earlier than the oldest known dinosaur, according to a study published Thursday.

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Scientists find early dinosaur cousin
(AFP)

Dog-Sized Creature Was Almost a Dinosaur (LiveScience.com)

LiveScience.com – A four-legged animal about the size of a large dog with a long tail is now the oldest known relative of dinosaurs, dating back some 240 million years. Paleontologists recently examined the bones from at least 14 individuals of this proto-dinosaur that were discovered in southern Tanzania.

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Dog-Sized Creature Was Almost a Dinosaur
(LiveScience.com)

Fossils of snake eating dino eggs found in India (AP)

AP – The fossilized remains of a 67 million-year-old snake found coiled around a dinosaur egg offer rare insight into the ancient reptile’s dining habits and evolution, scientists said Tuesday.

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Fossils of snake eating dino eggs found in India
(AP)

Polar bears found to descend from brown bears (AP)

AP – When it comes to bears, the polar species seems to be the new kid on the block. A rare fossil jaw found in Norway’s Svalbard archipelago is helping researchers confirm that polar bears evolved from brown bears only about 150,000 years ago.

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Polar bears found to descend from brown bears
(AP)

Thousands of dinosaur footprints uncovered in China (AFP)

AFP – Archaeologists in China have uncovered more than 3,000 dinosaur footprints, state media reported, in an area said to be the world’s largest grouping of fossilised bones belonging to the ancient animals.

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Thousands of dinosaur footprints uncovered in China
(AFP)

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