A recent study conducted by researchers in Europe suggested that the rabbit was the nail in the coffin for the ancient Neanderthals.Tens of thousands of years ago, Neanderthals hunted for large-bodied animals such as mammoths and rhinos and didn’t go after small and fast animals like rabbits. As the number of mammals decreased, they had difficulty hunting them.The researchers collected some remains of rabbits in parts of Europe and found that rabbits were very popular among ancient humans 30,000

A research team found fossils of an extinct giant camel in Canada’s High Arctic, providing direct evidence linking the animal to modern camels, sources reported.The camel’s 30 fragmented bones were found on Ellesmere Island, where many other mammal fossils have been discovered. The ancient animal was about 30 percent larger than today’s camels, measuring roughly 2.7 meters from foot to shoulder, according to the BBC and Science Daily. The camel fossil found in the High Arctic region came as a su

The absence of a gene related to storing fat and controlling metabolism is found to prevent obesity, according to a study conducted in the U.S. The research team at the University of Colorado School of Medicine have created mice without the PLIN2 gene, which produces the protein perilipin to regulate fat storage and metabolism. The observation of the mice found that the size of their fat cells is 20 percent smaller than the average size. Moreover, they ate less but were more active and did not s

Scientists say a baby born with the AIDS virus appears to have been cured thanks to faster and stronger treatment than is usual for newborns.Scientists at a major AIDS meeting say the Mississippi child is now 2 years old and has been off HIV drugs for about a year with no signs of infection.If the child remains healthy, it would mark only the world’s second reported cure. Specialists say it offers promising clues for more research to fight pediatric HIV.Doctors don’t usually give high-dose treat

The reason why Earth did not warm as much as expected between 2000 and 2010 could be down to dozens of volcanoes spewing sulfur dioxide, U.S. scientist say.A team led by the University of Colorado Boulder said emissions from moderate volcanoes around the world might have masked some of the effects of global warming.Sulfur dioxide emissions from Earth's surface eventually rise 12 to 20 miles into the stratospheric aerosol layer of the atmosphere, where chemical reactions create sulfuric acid and

 Dying stars may have planets with life, U.S. astronomers say, and it might even be easier to detect such planets than around a sun-like star.Scientists at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics say a new theoretical study of Earth-like planets orbiting white dwarf stars suggests we could detect oxygen in the atmosphere of a white dwarf’s planet much more easily than for an Earth-like planet orbiting a sun-like star.“In the quest for extraterrestrial biological signatures, the first sta

Scientists said Sunday they had found traces of a micro-continent hidden underneath the Indian Ocean island of Mauritius.The slab, dubbed Mauritia, was probably formed around 61-83 million years ago after Madagascar split from India, but eventually broke up and became smothered by thick lava deposits, they said.In a study published in the journal Nature Geoscience, scientists analyzed beach sand on Mauritius that contained ancient zircons between 660 million and about two billion years old.The m

A study suggested that people who quit smoking cigarettes in their 50s can still expect an improved health condition. Researchers at the cancer center in Germany conducted the 10-year study with 8,807 male and female participants aged between 50 and 74 years. The study was published in the latest issue of European Journal of Epidemiology.According to the research, the average risk of smokers dying of heart attack or stroke is twice as high as that of non-smokers. Former smokers also had a lower

A masculine woman or a feminine man may not be such an exception, a study suggested, citing the greater-than-expected volume of character traits shared by men and women.Men, for example, can be as care-giving, empathetic and self-sacrificing as women. Likewise, women can be talented in science or math, think logically, and value looks when finding a mate -- traits traditionally associated with men. The study analyzed the data of 122 behavioral and personality factors from 13,301 participants who

NASA says it Solar Dynamics Observatory has detected a giant sunspot that has grown to over six times the diameter of Earth in the last two days.Sunspots form on the sun‘s surface as magnetic fields rearrange and realign.Beginning Tuesday, instruments on the solar observatory detected a sunspot that grew to giant proportions in just under 48 hours, the space agency said Wednesday.The spot has quickly grown into what astronomers call a delta region, in which the lighter areas around the sunspot,

The interior of the moon contained water early in its history, suggesting the formation theories of the moon may have to be re-thought, U.S. researchers say.University of Michigan researchers and colleagues found tiny amounts of water in mineral grains from samples from the lunar highlands obtained during the Apollo missions.The lunar highlands are thought to represent the original crust that crystallized from a mostly molten early moon, suggesting the lunar interior contained water during this