Volcano explosion didn’t cause Earth to go into ‘deep freeze’ 74,000 years ago

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.

September 7th, 2009 LONDON - An expedition team has found a new species of giant rat in an extinct volcano in the jungle of Papua New Guinea, which at 82cm length, is as big as a cat. According to a report by BBC News, the creature, which has not yet been formally described, was discovered by an expedition team filming the BBC programme 'Lost Land of the Volcano'.

August 15th, 2009 WASHINGTON - NASA scientists have placed about a dozen monitoring 'spiderbots' inside the volcanic crater in Mount St Helens in the US, which are high-tech devices that can detect an impending eruption. Mount St. Helens is one of the most active volcanoes in the US.

July 27th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Scientists have found that petroleum can be formed under the very high pressure and temperature conditions found deep within the earth. The finding potentially multiplies underground oil deposits manifold.

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.

July 9th, 2009 WASHINGTON - A team of scientists has suggested a massive greening of the planet by non-vascular plants, or 'primitive ground huggers', triggered off the Cambrian explosion of life, roughly 700 million years ago. The Cambrian explosion of life was one of the biggest moments in Earth's lifetime, around 540 million years ago, when complex, multi-cellular life burst out all over the planet.

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 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 7th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Scientists studying the world's most unusual volcano in Tanzania have discovered the reason behind its unique carbon-based lavas, attributing them to an extremely small degree of partial melting of typical minerals in the earth's upper mantle. Although carbon-based lavas, known as carbonatites, are found throughout history, the Oldoinyo Lengai volcano, located in the East African Rift in northern Tanzania, is the only place on Earth where they are actively erupting.

May 6th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Marine scientists, on an expedition to an erupting undersea volcano near the Island of Guam, have discovered that it appears to be continuously active, has grown a new cone during the past three years, and its activity supports a unique biological community thriving despite the eruptions. The international science team on the expedition, funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF), captured dramatic new information about the eruptive activity of NW Rota-1.

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.

April 8th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Scientists have completed the first study of microbes that live within the plumbing of deep-sea mud volcanoes in the Gulf of Mexico, where conditions may resemble those in extraterrestrial environments and early Earth. The study, which was partially funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF), was conducted in an area where clusters of seafloor vents spew mud, oil, brine and gases that support food chains independently of the Sun.

March 24th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Redoubt Volcano in Alaska, has roared into activity overnight with a series of eruptions that blew ash as high as 9.5 miles (15 kilometers) into the sky, with scientists saying that more such explosions are due. According to a report in National Geographic News, the Redoubt Volcano eruption has already sparked earthquake swarms and mudflows, and more are expected-along with perhaps a new lava dome.

March 15th, 2009 WASHINGTON - A geochemist of Indian origin has determined that an active African volcano possesses the most fluid lava in the world, which points toward its source being a mantle plume that is in complete pristine condition. The lava composition indicates that a mantle plume-an upwelling of intense heat from near the core of the Earth-may be bubbling to life beneath Nyiragongo, an active African volcano, in the emocratic Republic of the Congo.

March 4th, 2009 WASHINGTON - An asteroid as big as a 10-storeyed building flew past Earth Tuesday, the US space website has said. The space rock was perhaps a bit larger than one thought to have created a colossal explosion in the air above Siberia in 1908 that flattened 500,000 acres (2,000 square km) of forest.