Solar Eclipse, New Dragon Species, and a Prehistoric Blast

Solar Eclipse, New Dragon Species, and a Prehistoric Blast: Buzz Week in Review

by
Vera H-C Chan

Corruption
probes, presidential regrets,
and other breaking news occupied headlines this week, but a mighty big science
phenomena dwarfed those earthly concerns. After a busy
seven days, take a look at the latest—and some ancient news, too—in the
Buzz Week in Review.

An eclipse to remember
Earthlings won't see another solar eclipse like
the one that darkened Asia this week for
another 123 years, but that's soon enough for some. Millions ventured outside
to enjoy the six-minute plus blackout, with astronomy experts gathering in Shanghai (which reportedly offered the "best
views"), Japanese party planners setting up a music festival for the
occasion, and passengers chartering a plane in India for a closer view. The
prospect of being submerged in darkness, though, unleashed old
superstitions, as some shut themselves indoors, cleansed their sins in the Ganges River,
or prayed against bad omens. The event may have come and gone, but video
and photos
abound.

Another new Dragon species?
The Komodo dragon has had a busy year. First, studies of its venomous bite upgraded the lizard to an elite
poisonous group occupied only by the Gila monster and the Mexican beaded
lizard. Now the Komodo's got new kin: German scientists
stumbled upon a new (to human beings) species of mangrove
monitor lizard in the Talaud Islands.
The discovery of the Varanus lirungensis (which is also related to the crocodile
monitor) points to a huge predator
diversity in Indonesia.
So watch where you step!

The other big bang?
The theory about space rocks wiping out Ice Age species just got another boost:
It turns out the first human inhabitants may have also been hit. Rare "nano-sized
diamonds" that form under extremely hot fires are evidence that
space rocks hit the North American continent about 13,000 years ago.
Unfortunately, some pygmy mammoth (a smaller
version of the woolly mammoth) and a group called the Clovis
people happened to be in the line of fire. The galactic slam, plus "overhunting
and climate change," created what one researcher called a
"perfect storm" that wiped out the Ice Age population. The findings swelled
searches on Yahoo! for the prehistoric "clovis people,"
so named because of artifacts first found in Clovis, New Mexico.
For more on the mastodon hunters and the first Americans, check out this 2007 LiveScience article.