Some historical events for your enlightenments. Did you know that

<br /> 1. The River Niger Bridge at Onitsha was constructed between 1964 and 1965 by Dumez- a French construction company and cost £5 million<br /> 2. Patience Jonathan is one of Nigeria’s most-educated First Ladies, with an NCE, a B.Ed, and a PhD from University of Port-Harcourt<br /> 3. The highest peak in Nigeria is located in Taraba and is called Chappal Waddi which means “The Mountain of Death”<br /> 4. There are 196 countries in the world and at least one Igbo person from Nigeria lives in every one of them<br /> 5. The Pidgin word ‘Sabi’ came from ‘Saber’, Portuguese and Spanish for ‘to know’. Both country’s ships traded slaves from the Bight of Benin<br /> 6. Katsina College (now Barewa College in Zaria) has produced 5 Nigerian Presidents/Heads of State since it was founded in 1921 in Katsina<br /> 7. Ojukwu taught Murtala Mohammed and Ben Adekunle at Regular Officers Special Training School, Ghana. Both ‘fought’ their teacher during the civil war<br /> 8. At Nigeria’s independence in 1960, there were 41 Secondary Schools in the North and 842 Secondary Schools in the South<br /> 9. In 1983, Senator Arthur Nzeribe spent $16.5 million to win a Senatorial seat in Orlu (in Imo State)<br /> 10. In 1973, the Federal Government of Nigeria considered officially changing the name of “Lagos” to “Eko”. Regarding “Lagos” as a colonial name<br /> 11. The geographical area now referred to as Nigeria was once referred to as ‘Soudan’ and ‘Nigiritia’<br /> 12. Offences punishable by death sentence after the 1966 coup included embezzlement, rape and homosexuality.<br /> 13. MKO Abiola was named Kashimawo (Let us wait and see) by his parents. He was his father’s twenty-third child, but the first to survive infancy<br /> 14. Jaja Wachucku was the first person to refer to Lagos as a “no-man’s land” in 1947, provoking a national controversy.<br /> 15. Jollof rice, chicken breast, serve of ice cream, tea, coffee or Bournvita, with full cream milk and sugar: Meal Cost = 50Kobo- Unilag in the late 1970s<br /> 16. At the point death in 1989, Sam Okwaraji was a PhD candidate and qualified lawyer with an LL.M in International Law (University of Rome)<br /> 17. When British Bank of West Africa (now First Bank) opened a branch in Kano in 1929, Alhassan Dantata (Dangote’s Grandfather) opened an account depositing 20 camel-loads of silver coins<br /> 18. Jaja Wachuku is reputed to have owned the biggest one-man library in West Africa. Balewa sometimes referred to him as “Most Bookish Minister<br /> 19. The colonization of Nigeria took more than 40 years to achieve and the territories were integrated by the use of force.<br /> 20. Yoruba is spoken as a ritual language the Santeria cult in Carribean and South-Central America.<br /> 21. Slavery existed in the Nigerian territory before the 15th century and was abolished in the 19th century- 1807 by the British.<br /> 22. At least 55 women were killed in South-East Nigeria, in 1929 when the women forced the Umuahia warrant chiefs to submit to their rule.<br /> 23. The coinage ‘Supreme Court’ was first used in 1863 by the colonial administration through the enactment of the Supreme Court Ordinance No. II.<br /> 24. MKO Abiola died suddenly on July 7, 1998, exactly one month after General Sani Abacha died mysteriously on June 8, 1998<br /> 25. Agbani Darego was the only one to wear a maillot as opposed to a bikini during the Miss Universe contest in 2001<br /> 26. The ‘Ankara’ material is not indigenous to Nigeria. Our indigenous textiles include the Akwete, Ukara, Aso-Oke and Adire<br /> 27. Aloma Mukhtar is the first female lawyer from the North and went on to become the first female Chief Justice of Nigeria<br /> 28. The area known as Maroko town in Lagos was first a swamp, later sand-filled by the colonial government and served as the first bridge to the Island<br /> 29. Esie Museum is Nigeria’s first museum, established in 1945. Once reputed to have the largest collection of soapstone images in the world<br /> 30. Aminu Kano formed the Northern Teachers’ Association (NTA) in 1948, the first successful regional organization in the history of the North<br /> 31. George Goldie, who played a major role in founding Nigeria, placed a curse on anyone who attempts to write his biography<br /> 32. In 1996, John Ogbu, a Nigerian Anthropologist firmly advocated for the use of African-American Vernacular to teach in the U.S<br /> 33. Hause Language indigenous to Northern Nigeria is spoken in 11 African States. Germany, French, U.S., and British International radio stations broadcast in Hausa.<br /> 34. The surgeon who ‘killed’ Stella Obasanjo was sentenced to 1 year in prison, disqualified for 3 years and fined €120,000.<br /> 35. The word ‘asiri’ means ‘secret’ in Hausa, Yoruba, Nupe and Igarra. It also means ‘gossip’ in Igbo.<br /> 36. Igbo-Ora in Oyo State, Kodinji in India and Candido Godoi in Brazil are the towns that produce the highest number of twin births in the world<br /> 37. Bishop Ajayi Crowther, a Yoruba, in 1857 produced a reading book for the Igbo Language and a full grammar and vocabulary of NUPE in 1864<br /> 38. The first TV broadcast in Nigeria and Tropical Africa was on October 31, 1959<br /> 39. In 1978, a 50Kobo increase (from #1.50 to #2) in the cost of University Students’ meal per day caused the ‘Ali Must Go’ protests<br /> 40. Albert E. Kitson discovered coal in Enugu in 1909. This discovery led to the building of Port-Harcourt town in 1912<br /> 41. Today, only Nigeria has a larger black population than Brazil. More than 3.5 million Africans were captured, enslaved and transported to Brazil<br /> 42. Groundnut pyramids were the invention of Alhaji Alhassan Dantata to stack bags before export<br /> 43. In 1967, old traditional ruler, Oba Akran and A. Ademiluyi were jailed for 14 years (7 each) for stealing £504,750 (#2.5b)<br /> 44. Since 1960, Nigeria has been either ruled by an ex-lecturer/ex-teacher or military man. The only exceptions are Azikiwe and Shonekan<br /> 45. If you visited Lagos in 1975, you could spend a day at the Presidential Suite of Federal Palace Hotel for #100, single room for #19<br /> 46. The first aircraft to land in Nigeria landed in Kano in July 1925. A British fighter jet flew from Khartoum (present day Sudan)<br /> 47. In 1895, Koko of Nembe (now in Bayelsa) took 60 white men hostage. When the British refused his demands, more than 40 of those men were eaten<br /> 48. The ‘Naira’ was coined by Chief Obafemi Awolowo when he was serving as the Federal Commissioner of Finance<br /> 49. Koma Hill (settlement in Adamawa where people lived and practised the killing of twins) was discovered in 1986 by a NYSC corps member<br /> 50. The pilot (Francis Osakwe) that flew Ojukwu away from Biafra (1970) was the same pilot that flew Gowon to Uganda (last flight as Head of State)<br /> 51. In 1986, Shehu Shagari was banned from participation in politics for life. The ban has still not been lifted<br /> 52. As the wife of the deputy Head of State (Vice President of Nigeria) in 1984, Biodun Idiagbon personally ran a small ice cream shop in Ilorin.<br /> 53. Koma Hills (Adamawa State) inhabitants when discovered were observed to engage in the practise of borrowing wives among themselves.<br /> 54. Juju, Dashiki, Yam and Okra are words in the English dictionary that originated from ethnic groups located in present day Nigeria.

Some historical events for your enlightenments. Did you know that

1. The River Niger Bridge at Onitsha was constructed between 1964 and 1965 by Dumez- a French construction company and cost £5 million 2. Patience Jonathan is one of Nigeria’s most-educated First Lad…

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Here are some of the transfers done so far..

Wow...as the general European leagues are about to start here are some of the transfers done so far and how much it cost..the league's involved in the transfers are as follows..<br /> <br /> Premier league, Bundesliga, Ligue 1,Liga Bbva and the Seria A.<br /> <br /> <br /> The biggest transfer of the summer 2016/17.<br /> <br /> 1. Lucas Digne. PSG > Barca. €16m.<br /> <br /> <br /> 2. Samuel Umtiti. Lyon > Barca. €25m<br /> <br /> 3. Vincent Janssen. AZ Alkmaar > Tottenham €22m.<br /> <br /> 4. Gokhan Tore. Besiktas > West Ham loan.<br /> <br /> 5. Graziano Pelle. Southampton > Shandong Luneng. Undisclosed.<br /> <br /> 6. Ahmed Musa CSKA Moscow > Leicester city. €18.75m.<br /> <br /> 7. Ever Banega. Sevilla > inter. Free transfer.<br /> <br /> 8. Henrikh Mkhitaryan Borussia Dortmund > man u. €30m<br /> <br /> 9. Some Vrsaijko. Sassulo > Atletico Madrid. €16m.<br /> <br /> 10. Nani. Fenerbahnce > Valencia.,€8.5m<br /> <br /> 11. Denis Suarez Villarreal > Barca. €3.25m<br /> <br /> 12. Oleksandr Zinchenko FC Ufa > Man city. Undisclosed.<br /> <br /> 13. Thomas Meunier. Club Brugge >PSG. €7m<br /> <br /> 14. Michy Batshuayi Marseille > Chelsea. €40m.<br /> <br /> 15. Grzegorz Krychowiak. Sevilla ,>PSG €26M<br /> <br /> 16. Nampalys Mendy Nice > Leicester city. €15.5m.<br /> <br /> 17. Zlatan Ibrahimovic PSG > Man u. Free transfer.<br /> <br /> 18. Haten Ben Arfa. Nice > PSG. Free transfer.<br /> <br /> 19. Nolito. Celta Vigo> Man City.€16m.<br /> <br /> 20. Sadio mane  Southampton > Liverpool €36m<br /> <br /> 21. Dani Alves. Barca > juventus free transfer.<br /> <br /> 22. Breel Embolo. FC Basel >Schalke €25m<br /> <br /> 23.. Gianluca Lapadula. Pescara > AC Milan. €9m<br /> <br /> 24. Victor Wanyama Southampton > Tottenham €13.5m<br /> <br /> 25..Alvari Morata Juventus > Real Madrid €30m<br /> <br /> 26. Luis Hernandez. Sporting Gijon > Leicester city free transfer.<br /> <br /> 27. Nicolas Gautan. Benfica > Atletico Madrid |25m<br /> <br /> 28. Raphael Guerriro Lorient > Borussia Dortmund ,€12m<br /> <br /> 29 Sofiane Feghoul velencia > west ham. Free transfer<br /> <br /> 30. Miralem Pjanic Roma > Juventus. €38m<br /> <br /> 31. Eric Bally Sevilla > Man u €38m.<br /> <br /> 32. Sabastine Rode Bayern Munich > Borussia Dortmund. Undisclose.<br /> <br />  33.. Marc Bartra Barca > Borussia Dortmund € 8m<br /> <br /> 34. Ron Robert Zieler Hannaover > Leicester city. €3.2.<br /> <br /> 35. Ilkay Gundogan Borussa Dortmund > man city €28m<br /> <br /> 36. Caner Erkin Fenerbahce >inter  Free transfer<br /> <br /> 37. Antonio Rudiger Stuttgart> Roma |€9m<br /> <br /> 38. Granite Dhaka Borussia monchengladbach > Arsenal. €45m<br /> <br /> 39. Loris Karius Mainz 05 > Liverpool €6.2m.<br /> <br /> 40. Kelvin Volland Hoffenheim > Bayer Leverkusen.€ 20m<br /> <br /> 41. Naldo. Wolfsburg > shalke. Free transfer.<br /> <br /> 42. Ousmane  Dambele. Rennes > Borussia Dortmund. €8m<br /> <br /> <br /> 43. Harvard Nordtveit Borussia monchengladbach > west ham. Free transfer.<br /> <br /> 44. Renato Sanches Benfica > Bayern Munich. €35m<br /> <br /> 45. Mats Hummels. Borussia Dortmund > Bayern Munich €38m.<br /> <br /> 46. Joel Matip. Schalke > Liverpool. Free transfer

Here are some of the transfers done so far..

Wow...as the general European leagues are about to start here are some of the transfers done so far and how much it cost..the league's involved in the transfers are as follows.. Premier league, Bundes…

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Atlanterhavsveien – The King Of Dangerous Roads! Take A Look At This Drifting Rollercoaster!

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEloxfgJYwlShdYZC5nxFP0fJiewjdIcwE3usApeeM1oV_ybTTElHQCtBoSkLkK2hfmxyZc15PVo7j5G1vDOtYvewx_MozBG8bj-3kXPJDk-FFEAsZ26CU3FEHa-j04f0JErgPvEHIqwCb/s1600/0.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEloxfgJYwlShdYZC5nxFP0fJiewjdIcwE3usApeeM1oV_ybTTElHQCtBoSkLkK2hfmxyZc15PVo7j5G1vDOtYvewx_MozBG8bj-3kXPJDk-FFEAsZ26CU3FEHa-j04f0JErgPvEHIqwCb/s320/0.jpg" width="320" /></a></div> We were proven many times how nature and architecture rich the Scandinavian countries can be! Not long ago, we saw the crazy bridge connecting Malmo and Copenhagen. Now, we are about to see Atlanterhavsveien, the scariest bridge of all! Driving here is like taking a ride in a horror based video game! However, it attracts a lot of tourist who won`t miss a chance to take a ride on the Atlanterhavsveien bridge!<br /> <br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" class="b-hbp-video b-uploaded" frameborder="0" height="266" id="BLOGGER-video-224ab018922f680e-1300" mozallowfullscreen="mozallowfullscreen" src="https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dwlQAKP56gNQa6JpQSNYqIzMl-auEMPikpHLakemyuNk4r85lsJWZnUEbgN4Q88oqyjfAa2_F-tbye3k7xSns-JNvFW4-f-LCbMo5GPIsG8cezvn-a3FITrxZ_eiZHilvJgmOI" webkitallowfullscreen="webkitallowfullscreen" width="320"></iframe></div> Everything that you are about to see in the video that we have prepared for you, and read in this intro, is consisted in the title of this article – is it The best drifting–rollercoaster that you have ever seen or really the most dangerous route ever engineered? Whatever your answer to that question will be, I`m very much sure that you are going to really enjoy the following four minutes, with a footage taken at one of the most north-located highways in the world, The Atlanterhavsveien in Norway, also known as the Atlantic Ocean Road. The route that looks like it is located on another, deserted planet, is one of the strangest looking and totally freaky places that I have ever seen. It is 5.2 miles long and the video that you are about to see is shot from the driver`s perspective, so it really gives you the real feeling on how would it look like to do some drift-driving here, at this dangerous but at the same time, a road that will completely allure every daredevil to try and pull some stunt on it. It looks like a real muscle car rollercoaster, maybe partly because it was originally meant to be a railroad. However the case might be, watch the video and see and feel what I`m talking about.

Atlanterhavsveien – The King Of Dangerous Roads! Take A Look At This Drifting Rollercoaster!

We were proven many times how nature and architecture rich the Scandinavian countries can be! Not long ago, we saw the crazy bridge connecting Malmo and Copenhagen. Now, we are about to see Atlanterh…

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SHIP LAUNCH GONE WRONG AT MARINETTE WISCONSIN DOCK!

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtWo6oq9oCxze_cIHpItcaXKN5H7TU3C7J-ZlxY31ORvNLed1BQZvdpjtbQ6gBIYBGMNpcgCXfQgSUaO3OVRwwOuYxkFizNpb5jp5nxdm9SL4vMNGX78CpwcTm8eFz9GO5n0gLArRFcFaB/s1600/ship-launch-gone-wrong-at-marine.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtWo6oq9oCxze_cIHpItcaXKN5H7TU3C7J-ZlxY31ORvNLed1BQZvdpjtbQ6gBIYBGMNpcgCXfQgSUaO3OVRwwOuYxkFizNpb5jp5nxdm9SL4vMNGX78CpwcTm8eFz9GO5n0gLArRFcFaB/s320/ship-launch-gone-wrong-at-marine.jpg" width="320" /></a></div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> Launching big ships like this one is part art, part science, and part hold your breath as the monster is dumped into the water all at once.</div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <br /></div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> While most of the time these launches go smoothly with the small exception of sending water everywhere, this time, a ship launch gets pretty dangerous.</div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <br /></div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> When an excited onlooker pulled out their camera to film this launch, they’d be greeted with a whole lot more than they bargained for as the rush of water would obliterate a dock and send wooden shrapnel their way.</div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <br /></div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> Check out the video below that shows the sticky situation that could have very well ended badly. That wood looks dangerous!</div>

SHIP LAUNCH GONE WRONG AT MARINETTE WISCONSIN DOCK!

Launching big ships like this one is part art, part science, and part hold your breath as the monster is dumped into the water all at once. While most of the time these launches go smoothly with the …

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Victim's Ghost Seen in Accident Photo? Unlikely

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> A viral photo is said to have captured the spirit of an accident victim.</div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbLpqeNSgUmq3BlBWC1i1qWDlqhq6agSv31iBmoGOSH2yuv1awHBniXJapzasGVx7_QCsowxXtbg3TrXxVdzrkmnirwZBKNosV4jlPxaRLmYuA5vuMp08FEkPjhCyfJcEzvvAn6iuX06v0/s1600/300x300%25285%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbLpqeNSgUmq3BlBWC1i1qWDlqhq6agSv31iBmoGOSH2yuv1awHBniXJapzasGVx7_QCsowxXtbg3TrXxVdzrkmnirwZBKNosV4jlPxaRLmYuA5vuMp08FEkPjhCyfJcEzvvAn6iuX06v0/s1600/300x300%25285%2529.jpg" /></a></div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <br /></div> A photo taken at the scene of a fatal motorcycle crash in Kentucky has gone viral this week, with many claiming they can see the accident victim's spirit leaving his body.<br /> <br /> The image, showing what seems to be a gray or white vertical form in the air above two ambulances, was photographed and shared on social media by Kentucky resident Saul Vazquez.<br /> <br /> "I pulled over roll the passenger side window and snap the picture," Mr. Vazquez posted on his Facebook post of the photo, which as of today has nearly 9,000 shares.<br /> <br /> A People magazine online article was headlined "Photo of Fatal Accident Become Online Sensation Over Claims It Shows Victim's Spirit." Others have suggested it's not a spirit but instead an angel. Stories of miracles or seemingly supernatural events at the scene of accidents are not uncommon; last year police officers who helped rescue a baby from an overturned car in a Utah river claimed that they heard an unexplained voice calling from the car—despite the fact that the mother had been dead for hours.<br /> <br /> There are several reasons to suspect that the image may not be paranormal, but the best (and most obvious) reason to doubt that the whitish blur is the spirit of the accident victim appears in the news story about the incident: "He [the motorcylist] was transported to the hospital where he later died." Since the motorcyclist wasn't dead when the photo was taken, it would seem very unlikely that his spirit would be leaving his body at that time.<br /> <br /> If spirits (or angels) can be photographed at scenes of tragic accidents—especially those involving many victims—then they should appear regularly. News photos and video of train, plane, and bus accidents, for example, should reveal ghostly images in and around the wreckage. In fact, if the soul leaves the body at death (as theology and ghost folklore suggest), then hospitals—not graveyards nor haunted houses—should be filled with ghosts and blurry white images in the hallways and emergency rooms.<br /> The idea that the soul can somehow be quantified or recorded at the time of death goes back over a century. The most famous scientific experiment on that topic was conducted by Dr. Duncan MacDougall, who in 1907 tried to measure the weight of the soul. He weighed a half-dozen terminally ill patients before, during, and after death, concluding that there was an average of 21 grams difference in the weight of the bodies before and after death. His experiments were badly designed, however, with a tiny sample size and crude measurement tools. More modern measurements find no such effect, though the myth that the human soul weighs 21 grams remains today.<br /> <br /> So if the vertical whitish thing in the photo isn't a ghost, what is it?<br /> <br /> Vazquez has denied that the image has been altered, and there's no reason to think it has. It's much more likely to be an ordinary object that has taken on a spooky context because of the circumstances; in other words that same photo could likely have been taken at that same spot a day earlier, and no one would have associated it with anything odd or tragic.<br /> <br /> Writer Hemant Mehta offered the following explanation on his blog: "It could easily be a discolored tree trunk. Seriously. I pulled up a Google Maps image of Highway 15 near Stanton, Kentucky where the accident took place. I don't know if this is the exact spot, but it was *very* easy to find a discolored tree trunk in the image."<br /> <br /> It's difficult to tell what exactly the image is, but the image shows other foliage emerging from the shade of the trees in the same area; a tree trunk or light-colored branch is a real possibility. It could also be smoke from the wreck, though the motorcycle seems to be off to one side.<br /> <br /> In any event, it's noteworthy that apparently no one at the scene reported seeing anything unusual, nor the supposed apparition just above them.<br /> <br /> There's also the question of what color the soul, spirit, or ghost is—or would be. Ghosts are often assumed to be invisible, though they are also claimed to appear in a wide variety of forms including white round spots in photos (known as orbs in ghost hunting lingo); vague, shadow-like mists; whitish blobs; and even appearing completely like an ordinary person.<br /> <br /> In fact the public's idea of what a soul or spirit looks like has changed over time; in his book "The Haunted: A Social History of Ghosts" researcher Owen Davies of the University of Hertsfordshire notes the "long tradition of Christian pictorial representations of souls ascending to heaven in the form of naked children. They, along with doves, symbolized the innocence and purity of the soul once freed from the polluted body." The idea that a vaguely human-shaped misty white form would be a soul is a fairly modern idea.<br /> <br /> Because people love a mystery, not to mention sharing weird photos on social media, especially when the theme involves the afterlife, angels, and the dead, it's not surprising that this ghost photo went viral.<br /> <br />

Victim's Ghost Seen in Accident Photo? Unlikely

A viral photo is said to have captured the spirit of an accident victim. A photo taken at the scene of a fatal motorcycle crash in Kentucky has gone viral this week, with many claiming they can see t…

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Dinosaurs might have gone up in flames

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> Smoke and soot after an asteroid strike could have choked dinosaurs to death.</div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjL1l2qyYAlNKuFQOtmuNWXrCRDQexwOYjT17VUnRqKdcKuH_MXkkK23NfZtM4l3ICWVpriX6x0BMDRHY04d5DwBqETJGpFcB3cTLpIjjdh1U_AyTIrokuYsSpWSG1c3ZE7YPl7VzhY1e2V/s1600/300x300%25284%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjL1l2qyYAlNKuFQOtmuNWXrCRDQexwOYjT17VUnRqKdcKuH_MXkkK23NfZtM4l3ICWVpriX6x0BMDRHY04d5DwBqETJGpFcB3cTLpIjjdh1U_AyTIrokuYsSpWSG1c3ZE7YPl7VzhY1e2V/s1600/300x300%25284%2529.jpg" /></a></div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> A new theory on the extinction of dinosaurs and other animals at the end of the Cretaceous says that massive amounts of smoke and soot following the Chicxulub asteroid impact led to a devastating domino effect 66 million years ago.</div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <br /></div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> The asteroid, which slammed into Earth at what is now Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula, not only immediately burnt some dinosaurs and other animals to a crisp, but also, according to the new study, hit the worst possible spot: an oil-rich area.</div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <br /></div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> "The stratospheric soot was ejected from the oil-rich area by the asteroid impact and was spread globally," Kunio Kaiho of Tohoku University told Discovery News.</div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <br /></div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> "The soot aerosols caused sufficiently colder climates at mid–high latitudes and drought with milder cooling at low latitudes on land, in addition to causing limited cessation of photosynthesis in global oceans within a few months to two years after the impact, followed by surface-water cooling in global oceans in a few years."</div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <br /></div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> In short, it was curtains for dinosaurs and many other animals shortly after the asteroid hit.</div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <br /></div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> The scientists found that sediments in both locations for the target time period shared the same composition of combusted organic molecules.</div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <br /></div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> "Therefore, this is the soot from the asteroid crash," Kaiho said.</div> <br />

Dinosaurs might have gone up in flames

Smoke and soot after an asteroid strike could have choked dinosaurs to death. A new theory on the extinction of dinosaurs and other animals at the end of the Cretaceous says that massive amounts of s…

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Some Dinosaurs May Have Reared Back and ... Cooed

Specialized sounds birds make with mouths closed may have been made by dinosaurs too.<br /> <br /> <br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMwJXO4l42TlQ5HmfSjP0jYF5NSL5OgwsCFN7MW9V1dGeEz2NUl2z9zWGZdWQI-vG8phCW1FPe897ku_vDxzmZGtcuyclWnvuPpNvA3RqAqWo3YWMHuN3404fkCpeXYj7JKU9D8Tkq__m6/s1600/300x300%25283%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMwJXO4l42TlQ5HmfSjP0jYF5NSL5OgwsCFN7MW9V1dGeEz2NUl2z9zWGZdWQI-vG8phCW1FPe897ku_vDxzmZGtcuyclWnvuPpNvA3RqAqWo3YWMHuN3404fkCpeXYj7JKU9D8Tkq__m6/s1600/300x300%25283%2529.jpg" /></a></div> 0<br /> ANIMALS  Jul 12, 2016 05:07 PM ET<br /> Some Dinosaurs May Have Reared Back and ... Cooed<br /> <br /> <br /> Specialized sounds birds make with mouths closed may have been made by dinosaurs too.<br /> <br /> <br /> Photo: Did dinos and mourning doves communicate similarly? Credit: Thinkstock/SteveByland<br /> <br /> Well, this could be embarrassing – for dinosaurs.<br /> <br /> A new study on bird vocalizations suggests some dinosaurs might have made mumbling coos instead of the great roars we hear in our collective imagination.<br /> <br /> In the study, set to appear in the August issue of the journal Evolution, a team of researchers examined the evolution of closed-mouth vocalizations -- sounds birds (descendants of dinosaurs) make by pushing air into a pouch in the esophagus, with the beak closed. They're specialized sounds used for mating or defense of territory, as opposed to ordinary "conversation." The little "coos" mourning doves make, for example, are closed-mouth vocalizations.<br /> <br /> The scientists looked at how broadly such vocalization capability was distributed, studying 208 bird species. It turned out that 52 species used closed-mouth vocalizations.<br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5gaCMp2roz0jLJIc5TBoM-JjVDMg6YRIBmJhdHKuq1GhfGFXb3CzherMzBStCOhbWCKG5R6dLrWQAww_yJsmxXbfNLI3979Rayr2B_8B9dnvJoZZq1pRqhyphenhyphenImw1dUQcQQFl7bogUPa9Od/s1600/980x%25281%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5gaCMp2roz0jLJIc5TBoM-JjVDMg6YRIBmJhdHKuq1GhfGFXb3CzherMzBStCOhbWCKG5R6dLrWQAww_yJsmxXbfNLI3979Rayr2B_8B9dnvJoZZq1pRqhyphenhyphenImw1dUQcQQFl7bogUPa9Od/s320/980x%25281%2529.jpg" width="239" /></a></div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <br /></div> Birds belong to the group archosaurs, which also includes crocodiles and dinosaurs. The team found that closed-mouth vocalization has evolved at least 16 times in the group. And, only birds the size of doves or larger, they noted, "spoke" with closed beaks (see the video below for an example of one of the biggest birds we have, an ostrich, making closed-mouth vocalizations).<br /> <br /> Why only larger birds? The researchers say for larger bodies the wall of the esophageal pouch is less tense than in smaller bodies and thus easier to inflate.<br /> <br /> RELATED: Dinosaurs Danced in Bird-Like Mating Rituals<br /> <br /> With the last living archosaurs -- birds and crocodiles -- communicating in this way, and because so many dinosaurs had large bodies, the researchers suggest closed-mouth vocalization was likely to be in the vocal repertoire of some dinos.<br /> <br /> "A cool thing about this work is the demonstration that closed-mouth behavior evolved many times," said lead author Tobias Riede, of Midwestern University, in a statement. "That suggests it can emerge fairly easily and be incorporated into mating displays."<br /> <br /> RELATED: All Birds Descend from One Feathered Founder<br /> <br /> As of now, the team hastens to add, no one has yet proven what dinosaurs really sounded like. But, they say, the key to finding out may lie with the birds we see just outside our windows.<br /> <br /> "To make any kind of sense of what non-avian dinosaurs sounded like, we need to understand how living birds vocalize," said study co-author Julia Clarke, of the University of Texas at Austin.<br /> <br /> Of course, she added, "this makes for a very different Jurassic world. Not only were dinosaurs feathered, but they may have had bulging necks and made booming, closed-mouth sounds."

Some Dinosaurs May Have Reared Back and ... Cooed

Specialized sounds birds make with mouths closed may have been made by dinosaurs too. 0 ANIMALS  Jul 12, 2016 05:07 PM ET Some Dinosaurs May Have Reared Back and ... Cooed Specialized sounds birds mak…

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