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Grand Canyon Gorge Is 9 Times Older Than Thought Hope Hamashige for National Geographic NewsApril 9, 2008 New research on the Grand Canyon challenges the long-held belief that the canyon was carved by the mighty Colorado River about six million years ago. Parts of the canyon were formed more than 50 million years earlier than previously thought, according to the new study. The newfound evidence, which will be presented in the May issue of the Geological Society of America Bulletin, shows that part of the canyon known as Upper Granite Gorge formed more than 55 million years ago. The history...

Three hundred years from now, the world's population will have stabilized at about 9 billion and we will look forward to living until age 95. In Japan, that bastion of longevity, people will be hanging around until they're 106. India, China and the United States will still be the most populous countries on the planet -- if they still exist -- and Africa's share of the world's population will double to 25 percent. The average woman will give birth to two children. Those are just a few possibilities projected in a U.N. report released Thursday, which lowers long-term population estimates...