Diamonds are pure or nearly pure carbon, blessed with three extraordinary qualities:   First, a diamond is the purest of earth’s gemstones, composed of a single unadulterated element. Second, it is the hardest transparent substance known to man. However, sharp impact may cause damage to a diamond. Third, a diamond has unique powers of light […] Read more

Diamonds are pure or nearly pure carbon, blessed with three extraordinary qualities: First, a diamond is the purest of earth’s gemstones, composed of a single unadulterated element. Second, it is the hardest transparent substance known to man. However, sharp impact may cause damage to a diamond. Third, a diamond has unique powers of light reflection. […] Read more

Did God invent humanity? Or did we invent God? Pioneering scientists are trekking across new frontiers of neuroscience that may at last provide an answer to this ancient mystery. Neuroscientists are recreating out of body experiences in virtual reality laboratories to uncover what happens to the brain during profoundly spiritual journeys. Yet, most of us […] Read more

For more than a century, Americans have had a love affair with dinosaurs. Extinct for millions of years, they were barely known until giant, fossil bones were discovered in the mid-nineteenth century. Two American scientists, Edward Drinker Cope and Othniel Charles Marsh, led the way to many of these discoveries, at the forefront of the […] Read more

The evidence that birds descended from dinosaurs — indeed are dinosaurs—has become conclusive for most paleontologists and evolutionary biologists. The theory had fallen out of favor in the early 20th century because, although theropods and birds share a great many features, no dinosaurs appeared to have a furcula, or wishbone […] Read more

They were awesome creatures, the great reptiles of eons and eras past. To modern eyes, they appear magnificent … grotesque … and terrifying. And in fact, it seems inconceivable that their dominance of the planet could ever have ended. But end it did … at the hands of an even mightier adversary: Change. It was, […] Read more

The evidence that birds descended from dinosaurs — indeed are dinosaurs—has become conclusive for most paleontologists and evolutionary biologists. The theory had fallen out of favor in the early 20th century because, although theropods and birds share a great many features, no dinosaurs appeared to have a furcula, or wishbone […] Read more

In nature, disaster is a constant companion and death comes in many guises. Dinosaurs now trapped by the fire flee in panic. Most will survive, but for the creatures that parish, the conflict is over. For those that remain what lies ahead is 30 million years of evolution. Triggered by unseen forces the environment will […] Read more

In nature, disaster is a constant companion and death comes in many guises. Dinosaurs now trapped by the fire- flee in panic. Most will survive, but for the creatures that perish, the conflict is over. For those that remain, what lies ahead is 30 million years of evolution. Triggered by unseen forces, the environment will […] Read more