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The craters, believed to be formed by an underground explosion, are now filled with snow and ice. Reindeer herders in Russia's Far North have discovered yet another mysterious giant hole about 30 kilometers away from a similar one found days earlier. Located in the permafrost of the subarctic Siberian region of Yamal, which means "end of the earth" in the local Nenets language, both craters appear to have been formed in recent years and have icy lakes at their bases. Scientists who examined the first hole theorized that it could have been created when a mixture of water, salt and...

The highlight of the excavation was the discovery of a Judea Capta coin, which was minted by Roman Emporor Domitian during his reign of 81 – 96 CE in honor of the conquest of Judea and the destruction of Jersusalem in 70 CE by his father, Vespasian, and brother, Titus. Christie Cobb, a doctoral student at Drew University in New Jersey, discovered the coin. There are only 48 other versions of this coin that have been found, and fewer still at Biblical sites such as Bethsaida. “The coin confirms other ceramic data about the date of the large Roman period...

The peer-to-peer property renting website, artAirbnb, makes it possible for people in crisis-stricken states to earn extra money, but the company itself has placed its headquarters in places like Ireland, Jersey and Delaware to avoid paying tax. EurActiv France reports. […] In late March 2014, the website announced that one million French holidaymakers used Airbnb since it launched in 2008, the same number as in the UK. In Spain, one million tourists used the website to rent property. The French Ministry of Finances has condemned this kind of revenue. “France has nothing to gain from developing this kind of renting…...

On 21July2014 Amtrak Wolverine was due to arrive in New Buffalo Michigan at 8:10pm from Chicago. But it was over 2 hours late. When my wife FINALLY talked with a REAL person she was told that AMTRAK's own dispatch center could NOTcontact the train and to call back in 10 min for update!!!!!!!!

Las Vegas has been voted the ‘overspend’ capital of the year and the destination most likely to encourage tourists to become too flash with their cash, according to a survey. Two thirds of Brits ranked the glitzy US city number one, followed by Paris, then New York. Venice and Ibiza make up the top five destinations where holidaymakers are most likely to part with too much cash.

Would a three-day work week improve your quality of life? Carlos Slim, the second richest man in the world, says it would. During a press conference, Slim called for a “radical overhaul” in workers’ lives. He said people should work three days a week, but longer hours. He also said people should work more years, until they’re 70 or 75. …

Among the most exciting of the new acquisitions are the materials from the site of Jebel Sahaba, now in northern Sudan, which were donated to the Museum by Dr Fred Wendorf in 2002. Excavating here in 1965–66, as part of the UNESCO-funded campaign to salvage sites destined to be flooded by the construction of the Aswan High Dam, Dr Wendorf found a cemetery (site 117) containing at least 61 individuals dating back to about 13,000 years ago. This discovery was of great significance for two reasons. First, as a designated graveyard, evidently used over several generations, it is one of...

...the burials of the deceased of the estimated 30,000 commoners and laborers remained elusive – until 2001, when archaeologist Barry Kemp of the University of Cambridge began to see the first signs. Kemp has directed excavations and surveys at Amarna for the Egypt Exploration Society since 1977. “The puzzle seems now to have been solved,” says Kemp. “ It has come about through the desert GPS survey begun in 2001 and continued in subsequent years. First came the discovery of two cemeteries (clearly robbed) of what must be relatively poor graves on the flat desert not far from tomb no....

About 400 footprints were first discovered in the cave in 1965. Scientists initially attributed the impressions to a man, woman and child who lived 10,000 to 15,000 years ago. But radiocarbon measurements of two cave bear bones excavated just below the footprints now indicate that Homo sapiens made these tracks around 36,500 years ago, say anthropologist David Webb of Kutztown University in Pennsylvania and his colleagues. Analyses of 51 footprints that remain — cave explorers and tourists have destroyed the rest — indicate that six or seven individuals, including at least one child, entered the cave after a flood had...

Airline apologises for postSingapore Airlines (SIA) has apologised for posting an "insensitive" comment on social media about the Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 crash in crisis-stricken eastern Ukraine. Hours after the Boeing 777-200 passenger jet with 298 people on board went down on Thursday, believed shot by a surface-to-air missile, SIA posted a one-line statement on Facebook and Twitter. It read: "Customers may wish to note that Singapore Airlines flights are not using Ukraine airspace." The comment sparked anger among users of social media. "How about at least acknowledging the terrible event and sending condolences to those families and friends involved...

Roughly 50 Ford Pinto enthusiasts are gathering today for the fourth annual "Pinto Stampede," a three-day event from Dearborn, Mich. to Hell, Mich and back to Dearborn -- the birthplace of the Ford Pinto. The caravan of Ford Pintos, produced from 1971-1980, will make several stops on their journey including a visit to the Henry Ford Museum, the Ford Product Development Center, the Ford & Mercury Restorers Club Car Show and other landmarks on their ride to 'Hell and Back.' "The Pinto Stampede enables Pinto enthusiasts to celebrate our cherished little cars while doing something meaningful for others," said Norm...

Full title: Pro-Russian looters pulled Tesco binoculars from British MH17 victim's suitcase - but threw them back because they were broken Eyewitness saw pro-Russian forces rifling through John Alder's bags Thugs stole Mr Alder's binoculars - but discarded them as they were broken Pro-Russian rebels spotted stealing victims' cash, credit cards and jewelry Prime Minister David Cameron said the killers must be 'held to account' :snip: Mr Doroschenko told The Sun: 'They were rifling belongings with torches 50 yards away. Once they'd gone I went over to the body where they had been and found wallets left open, purses empty...

The latest version of the company’s Sienna minivan has a feature called “Driver Easy Speak.” It uses a built-in microphone to amplify a parent’s voice through speakers in the back seats. Toyota says it added Easy Speak “so parents don’t have to shout to passengers in the back.” But chances are many parents will yell into the microphone anyway. And the feature only works one way, so the kids can’t talk back. At least not with amplified voices. The feature is an option on the 2015 Sienna, which is being refreshed with a totally new interior. It also has an...

Across the moon’s surface, a separate study saw the spacecraft investigate 200 extremely steep-walled craters, known as “pits”. These would be fascinating places to send astronauts for scientific study. Not only that, they’re actually one of the safest spots possible on the moon, according to a new study. “Pits would be useful in a support role for human activity on the lunar surface,” stated lead researcher Robert Wagner of Arizona State University. “A habitat placed in a pit — ideally several dozen meters back under an overhang — would provide a very safe location for astronauts: no radiation, no micrometeorites,...

James Bond’s car of choice just got an upgrade worthy of a spy-style getaway. British luxury manufacturer Aston Martin just unveiled its most-powerful machine ever built — the 2015 V12 Vantage S Roadster, a follow-up to the line debuted in 2013 which earned the company’s highest performance marks ever — until now. The new Vantage sports a 565-horsepower 6-liter V-12 engine capable of powering the car to a eyelid-ripping 201 m.p.h. top speed, and takes it from zero to 60 m.p.h. in a mere 3.9 seconds.

Sure, Las Vegas is known for its casinos. But just because Sin City has the highest concentration, that doesn’t mean it has a monopoly on gambling. If Vegas isn’t your thing but you still want to hit the slots and be entertained, then seek an alternative at one of these non-Vegas casinos that are getting the most Yahoo searches.

In honor of the 60th Anniversary of 'Lord of the Rings' book by J.R.R. Tolkien (first published July 29, 1954), Air New Zealand is introducing a special, 11-night, all-inclusive, self-guided package with Air New Zealand highlighting the movie's filming locations and best of New Zealand. The 60th anniversary 'Lord of the Rings' package by Air New Zealand includes major New Zealand attractions and breathtaking landscapes, which inspired Peter Jackson to film the 'Lord of the Rings' film trilogy in New Zealand.

Neil Young and Crazy Horse have cancelled a 17 July concert in Israel, citing "tensions which have rendered the event unsafe". As the region shudders with rocket explosions and missile attacks, the musicians said they "look forward to playing in Israel and Palestine in peace". "It is with heavy hearts and deep sadness that we must cancel our one and only Israeli concert," Young and his band said in a statement. Some 30,000 people had bought tickets to the gig at Tel Aviv's Hayarkon Park – the singer's first Israeli show in almost two decades. According to Reuters, the decision...

If there’s anything that can unite Democrats and Republicans in the partisan swamp of Capitol Hill, it’s free money. […] Lawmakers revived pension smoothing Tuesday to help find money for a government fund that finances highway construction projects. …

Congress should approve a short-term fix before the federal highway account becomes insolvent by the end of August. Yet they want a longer solution to remove uncertainly that could stop or delay projects worth an estimated $3.6 trillion to fix crumbling roads and bridges. It affects the work needed to create jobs and boost the economy while repairing outdated infrastructure to avoid disasters such as the 2007 Minneapolis bridge collapse that killed 13 people and injured 145. “I don’t have confidence in anything that goes on in Washington, D.C. right now,” New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, a Republican, told reporters.

Mount Fuji, or Fujisan as it is known in Japanese, is the highest point on the archipelago (rising to 3,776 metres) and the national emblem, immortalised in countless etchings. In June last year Unesco added it to the World Heritage list as a "sacred place and source of artistic inspiration". But it is still an active volcano, standing at the junction between the Pacific, Eurasian and Philippine tectonic plates. Though it has rarely stirred in recorded history, it is still potentially explosive. The Tohoku – or Great East Japan – earthquake on 11 March 2011 triggered a devastating tsunami, which...

This is what may have happened around 3,200 BC on the Lake of Mondsee (Lake Constance), resulting in the exodus of a metalworking community that lived there. When the site of this particular settlement was excavated in the 19th century, 595 stone axes and studded battleaxes, 451 arrowheads along with 12 copper axes and six daggers were discovered. These items represented highly sought-after status symbols, and would never have been left behind intentionally, unless of course the settlement had been abandoned as the result of a disaster. Well preserved foods such as charred hazelnuts, grain and pieces of apples were...

Abstract -- In the last years several phylogeographic studies of both extant and extinct red deer populations have been conducted. Three distinct mitochondrial lineages (western, eastern and North-African/Sardinian) have been identified reflecting different glacial refugia and postglacial recolonisation processes. However, little is known about the genetics of the Alpine populations and no mitochondrial DNA sequences from Alpine archaeological specimens are available. Here we provide the first mitochondrial sequences of an Alpine Copper Age Cervus elaphus. DNA was extracted from hair shafts which were part of the remains of the clothes of the glacier mummy known as the Tyrolean Iceman or...

CHEYENNE, Wyo.—The ever-changing thermal geology of Yellowstone National Park has created a hot spot that melted an asphalt road and closed access to popular geysers and other attractions at the height of tourist season, officials said Thursday. As they examined possible fixes, park officials warned visitors not to hike into the affected area, where the danger of stepping through solid-looking soil into boiling-hot water was high.

Crocodile might be responsible for plane crash in the Congo: UK investigators • Only one person survived the crash — as did the toothy reptile, though it was killed with machetes by rescuers sifting through the plane's wreckage. A plane crash in the Democratic Republic of Congo that left 18 people dead may have been caused by a crocodile. The animal is thought to have climbed out of a hold midflight and spooked the crew and passengers. They all panicked and ran towards the cockpit, and the forward shift in weight may have caused the plane to plummet to the...

Brazilian TV station dubs Stones frontman 'the biggest jinx in history' after he attended the match Mick Jagger has been blamed by a Brazilian TV station for Brazil’s record-breaking 7-1 World Cup semi-final defeat by Germany yesterday (July 8). Jagger has endured a six-game losing streak at the World Cup since 2010, by publicly endorsing countries who promptly lose. It even led to Brazil fans dressing cut-outs of The Rolling Stones singer in the colours of Chile and Colombia before their victories over those countries. But they lost when Jagger and his son Lucas attended the Germany game in Belo...

Following further weather delays this week Orbital Sciences Corp. commercial Antares rocket is at last set to soar to space at lunchtime Sunday, July 13, from a beachside launch pad in Virginia carrying a private Cygnus cargo freighter loaded with a diverse array of science experiments including a flock of nanosatellites and deployers, student science experiments and small cubesat prototypes that may one day fly to Mars. The privately developed Antares rocket is on a critical cargo resupply mission – named Orb-2 – bound for the International Space Station (ISS) and now targeting liftoff at 12:52 p.m. on July 13...

A valet at the five star Le Meridien Hotel in New Delhi, India is in a certain amount of trouble after he wrecked a guest's precious Lamborghini Gallardo Spyder recently, causing damages of up to $330,000 to the luxury vehicle. Captured on CCTV for all the world to see, the valet, Arun Kumar drives the car from the parking area at the hotel to the busy valet area. He briefly gets out of the car. Then, after climbing back in, the car suddenly lurches forward, sending other valets running for cover as it hits a wall head-on. The valet managed...

A British tourist had the tops of two of his fingers sliced off while riding on the Pirates of the Caribbean attraction at Disney World in Florida. The victim lost the tip of his ring and little finger after apparently dangling them outside the log fume ride which inspired the Johnny Depp movies. Disney officials in Orlando, Florida, immediately shut down the ride in the Magic Kingdom park following the incident.

...ever been to the "Calgary Stampede" AND...

It was the largest and fiercest warship in the world, named the Mars for the Roman god of war, but it went up in a ball of flames in a brutal naval battle in 1564, consigning 800 to 900 Swedish and German sailors and a fortune in gold and silver coins to the bottom of the Baltic Sea. Now, a few years after the ship's discovery, researchers have concluded that the one-of-a-kind ship is also the best preserved ship of its kind, representing the first generation of Europe's big, three-masted warships. Naval historians know a lot about 17th-century ships, but...

Naval archaeologists think they’ve found the only example of armor from Carthage to survive the destruction of the city-state by Rome in 146BC. The helmet, recovered from the site of the Battle of the Egadi Islands, northwest of Sicily, is dramatically different from the Celtic style worn across Europe, popularly known as a Roman helmet. It appears to have a nose guard, a broad brim protecting the back of the neck from ear to ear, and a high, narrow crest, said Dr Jeff Royal, director of archaeology at the RPM Nautical Foundation in Florida. Roman helmets, called montefortinos, are easily...

Archaeologists from the Institute of Archaeology and Ethnology (IAE) in Szczecin, Poland, have discovered a meteorite fragment inside the remains of a hut dating back more than 9,000 years at Bolków by Lake Świdwie in Western Pomerania... The archaeologists also excavated a rich assemblage of objects with a spiritual association: an amulet, a bone spear tip with engraved decoration and so-called magic wand made of antler, decorated with geometric motifs. In addition to the remains of the hut, which contained the meteorite, archaeologists discovered a second, almost identical structure. In both of them, within the peat layer, were the preserved...

Someone put elk bones in a bog several thousand years ago -- but archaeologists have no clue who it was... when the bones of several elks were excavated from Lundby bog in south Zealand in 1999, the archaeologists dated some of the animal remains back to sometime between 9,400 and 9,300 BC. Recently, however, the archaeologists did a new carbon 14 dating on some of the bones which revealed that they dated back to between 9,873 and 9,676 BC. These elk bones were clearly not buried in the bog over a short period, as originally thought, but were placed there...

Archaeologists in Finland are celebrating the discovery of a number of artefacts in Lapland, northern Finland. A series of surveys by the forestry watchdog Metsähallitus has unearthed hundreds of hunting pits, several prehistoric habitations, pottery shards and a stone spearhead. The most exceptional part of the archaeological find was a stone spear tip or a possible prehistoric knife, which was discovered close to the Norwegian border. The stone implement has been uncovered by high winds as it lay in a sand pit. Experts estimate that the rough blade had been used during the Stone Age or the early metal age,...

Lines to get on the new Harry Potter ride at Universal Orlando Resort were more than seven hours long on opening day Tuesday. Fans began lining up before dawn for the public opening of the The Wizarding World of Harry Potter - Diagon Alley’ attraction, modeled after the London shopping district for wizards that is featured in Rowling's book series. The area quickly filled to capacity, leading to staggered admissions into the self-contained attraction, employees handing out tickets with return times, and – according to one visitor – the creation of a nap zone in the waiting area for sleepy...

CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) — Faced with potentially hungry — and grumpy — passengers, a Frontier Airlines pilot treated them to pizza when storms diverted a Denver-bound flight to Cheyenne, where the plane was stuck for a couple of hours. Cheyenne Domino's Pizza manager Andrew Ritchie told The Associated Press that he got a call about 10 p.m. Monday just as he was about to send employees home. Ritchie said the pilot told him he needed to feed 160 people — fast. [AP Content - excerpted]

Each row got its own pieAdam Ritchie, a Domino's Pizza manager in Cheyenne, Wyo., said he'd never received a call like the one he got Monday night. "I need to feed my whole plane," the caller told him. "Lucky me, I hear 160 people. It ended up being like 38 pizzas," Ritchie said. A Frontier Airlines flight from Washington to Denver was diverted to Cheyenne because of bad weather. The plane was stuck on the ground for nearly two hours. The food on board was gone, so the pilot decided to order pizzas for everyone. Each row got its own...

Want to buy an American car? Better get one while they last. Only 10 vehicles qualified this year for the annual American-Made Index from Cars.com, and just three of them are from domestic brands. The Ford F-150 pickup took the top spot for the second year in a row, while the Chevrolet Corvette Stingray came in seventh and the Detroit-built Dodge SRT Viper rounded out the list in tenth. …

A combined team composed of archaeologists from the Ardennes departmental archaeology unit and from Inrap is currently excavating a Gallic aristocratic tomb at Warcq (Ardennes)... This type of aristocratic tomb emerges in the 7th century B.C. – during the first Iron Age – and ends with the end of the Gallic period. The oldest chariots have four wheels (like that found at Vix), while those from the second Iron Age have only two. The deceased person – who could be male or female – was generally inhumed on the chariot, which was an object of prestige and a symbol of...

At the Arabet Abydos area in Sohag, where the large temple of King Seti I is located, an Egyptian excavation mission from the Ministry of Antiquities and Heritage (MAH) stumbled upon a limestone ancient Egyptian chapel from the 11th Dynasty. The excavation work came within the framework of a cleaning programme carried out by the MAH in that area, after officers of the tourism and antiquities police caught red handed inhabitants trying to illegally excavate the area in front their residences in search of treasured artefacts. Ali El-Asfar, head of the ancient Egyptian Section at the MAH, told Ahram Online...

Blood residue on spear points and other ancient stone tools made by American Indians thousands of years ago is providing scientists based at the Savannah River Site with... interesting information that indicates what animals those early people hunted and when huge Pleistocene creatures such as mammoths and mastodons might have ceased to exist... The tools they looked at were made anywhere from 13,000 to 500 or 600 years ago. They were found at a Carolina bay at the Savannah River Site known as Flamingo Bay, at other locations in the CSRA and in the Fort Bragg area in eastern North...

Archaeologists from Bournemouth have uncovered ancient burials during a dig near a Roman villa in north Dorset... It’s thought the remains, which date back to the mid-4th century, could belong to three generations of the same family who owned the villa. The skeletons of two adult males, two adult females and one elderly female were discovered at the farm, which is currently being excavated as part of the Durotriges Big Dig project. Miles Russell, senior lecturer in archaeology at Bournemouth University and one of the archaeologists leading the dig, said: “The discovery is of great significance as it is the...

Norwegian is running direct, low-cost routes on a new Dreamliner plane between Gatwick, New York, Los Angeles and Fort Lauderdale. As with other budget flights, seat reservations, checked-in luggage and food will cost extra. The carrier suggests the flights will help spark competition between airlines—Ryanair and easyJet have both previously talked about going transatlantic—and perhaps even start a price war, but the launch has not been without hitch. Norwegian encountered fierce opposition in America over the proposition, with several US airlines, unions and the Airline Pilots Organization (ALPA) teaming up to run a media campaign over the last few months,...

Muscle cars are all about the numbers, and Dodge has just issued a triple-digit warning to the rest of the ponycar herd. Packing 707 horsepower and 650 lb-ft of torque, the supercharged 6.2-liter Hemi V-8 “Hellcat” engine is the very stuff Saturday night legends are made of. But don’t take our word for it—watch Dodge brand boss Tim Kuniskis set the record straight in the exclusive video below. Installed in the 2015 Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat, this wild engine has the loftiest power figure of any V-8 engine in Chrysler history. To put it numerically, the Hellcat brings 45 more...

Dodge just announced that the 2015 Challenger SRT Hellcat will deliver 707 hp, in addition to 650 lb-ft of torque. Let us repeat. 707 horsepower. That's more than the last Corvette ZR1. More than the new Corvette Z06. Did we mention that's more than the frickin' Viper's V10?

Islamic fundamentalists abducted the freelance reporter in August 2008, and she was released 460 days later. Just months after surviving the ordeal, she established a non-profit to provide education to girls in Somalia. "The fact that they know about the work I'm doing now," she said. "That I have chosen compassion, that they could see that they didn't break me — that's the best justice I could have." A Hollywood production company announced last week that it bought the rights to Lindhout's bestselling memoir, "A House in the Sky."

Baptiste Dubanchet is cycling 3,000 miles from Paris to Warsaw, only eating food that has been thrown out, in protest against the food we waste. The Local Germany met him to see how he lives off “dumpster-diving.” Baptiste, from Tours in France, said his objective was to denounce waste by only eating food thrown away by supermarkets, bakeries and restaurants. Travelling by bicycle, the 25-year-old's carbon footprint will be close to zero at the end of the trip. “I do not pay for any of the food I eat. The only thing I take is water,” he told The Local....

The Obama administration warns that gridlock in Washington will lead to gridlock across the country if lawmakers can’t quickly agree on how to pay for highway and transit programs. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx said Tuesday that states will begin to feel the pain of cutbacks in highway and transit aid as soon as the first week in August—peak summer driving time. That’s because the balance in the federal Highway Trust Fund is dropping and will soon go below $4 billion. …

Flaris, a new aviation company based in Poland, made an unexpected appearance at the Paris Air Show in June with its prototype of a single-engine personal jet, the LAR01. The all-composite design allows for sweeping lines, with a sharp nose, a cabin that seats four, and long, narrow wings for aerodynamic efficiency. - See more at: http://robbreport.com/aviation/flaris-personal-jets-take?utm_source=outbrain&utm_medium=relatedlinks&utm_campaign=aviation#sthash.PFsSTX3s.dpuf