Rat as big as a cat found in extinct volcano in Papua New Guinea

September 14th, 2009 LONDON - Archaeologists have discovered teeth and bones from late Ice Age animals, including hyenas, deer and woolly rhinos at a cave in Devon, UK, which may yield clues as to why Neanderthals became extinct. According to a report by BBC News, the dig, organised by the University of Durham and the University of Sheffield, is part of a study into Neanderthals.

September 8th, 2009 LONDON - The world's smallest parrot, which is not much bigger than an adult person's thumb, has been filmed in the wild for the first time. According to a report by BBC News, an expedition team filming in Papua New Guinea for the BBC programme 'Lost Land of the Volcano' caught two of the buff-faced pygmy parrots on camera.

September 7th, 2009 LONDON - A team of archaeologists has solved the ancient mystery of why the odd-looking statues on the Easter Island statues wear red hats. Up to one thousand years ago, the islanders started putting giant red hats on the statues.

August 14th, 2009 LONDON - A seabird thought to have been driven to extinction by hungry European sailors in the late 18th century has been rediscovered, in the laboratory. It turns out the 'extinct' species is actually a sub-species of a bird very much alive.

August 12th, 2009 WASHINGTON - In a surprising finding, scientific sleuths have rediscovered an "extinct" bird living under a false name and wearing a mask. Native to small islands off Australia and New Zealand, the species, known as the Tasman booby, was dealt its first near fatal blow around A.D.

August 1st, 2009 LONDON - An elite team of guinea pigs has entered the Guinness Book of World Records by setting two new records. Two-year-old Flash has won the world record for the fastest run by a guinea pig by conquering the 10metre red carpet track in 8.81 seconds.

July 10th, 2009 Philippines' most active volcano restive againMANILA, Philippines — Scientists say the Philippines' most active volcano is rumbling again while emitting steam and a strong glow at the summit crater that can be seen with the naked eye. State volcanologists say the frequency of volcanic earthquakes has increased on Mayon signifying the possible movement of magma below the surface that could lead to ash explosions and eventually eruption.

June 20th, 2009 WASHINGTON - A team of scientists has found that the highest microbial life on Earth appears to be in South America, around vents near the rim of the Socompa volcano, which sits on the border between Argentina and Chile in the Atacama Desert. The newfound creatures, at a height of almost 19,850 feet (6,050 meters) above sea level, are the highest-altitude microbial communities known, Steve Schmidt, a microbiologist at the University of Colorado at Boulder, US, told National Geographic News.

June 10th, 2009 WASHINGTON - A scientist has successfully completed the first study of a rare egg-laying mammal called the long-beaked echidna, which many other field biologists considered "mission impossible". The scientist in question is Muse D.

June 7th, 2009 Scientists eye glowing volcano crater in HawaiiVOLCANO, Hawaii — The summit of Hawaii's Kilauea volcano is glowing brightly as molten lava swirls 300 feet below its crater's floor, bubbling near the surface after years of spewing from the volcano's side. The expanding vent of Halemaumau crater helps confirm scientists' belief that the lava is close to the surface of the summit, said Janet Babb, a geologist and spokeswoman for the U.S.

May 28th, 2009 SYDNEY - In a new study, researchers have found ancient rock art depicting the extinct marsupial lion found in the Kimberly region of Western Australia, which hints at what the extinct beasts may have looked like, and suggests that they co-exited with early Australians. The Marsupial Lion is an extinct species of a carnivorous marsupial mammal that lived in Australia from the early to the late Pleistocene (1,600,000-46,000 years ago).

May 8th, 2009 LONDON - A 'hot' new adrenaline sport called 'volcano boarding' has been developed by a group of thrill-seekers. In the sport, participants race at speeds of up to 50mph down the side of an active volcano.

May 5th, 2009 Scientists: another Mount Redoubt eruption likelyANCHORAGE, Alaska — Geologists in Alaska say the Mount Redoubt volcano may be getting ready to awaken after being relatively quiet for more than a month. Scientists at the Alaska Volcano Observatory say activity at the volcano about 100 miles southwest of Anchorage suggests a significant explosive event is likely with days — although that's not certain.

May 3rd, 2009 LONDON - The secrets of now extinct ice age beasts have been revealed after the discovery of a body of a 37,000-year-old baby mammoth. The perfectly preserved frozen body was found in the artic tundra.

March 30th, 2009 LONDON - In a new research, scientists have found that Volcano plumes can swirl like cyclones, thus spawning tornadoes and sheet lightning. It is conventionally thought that a volcanic plume rises straight up and spreads out in a rough circle.