Scientists in Australia have reported the discovery of three new species, including one agile predator that lived 98 million years ago.
Writing in the peer-reviewed journal, PLoS ONE, Scott Hocknull and colleagues at the Queensland Museum and the Australian Age of Dinosaurs Museum of Natural History noted the discovery of two large herbivorous sauropods and one carnivorous theropod in the Winton Formation in eastern Australia.
Australia doesn’t have a noteworthy fossil record, and many paleontologists see the continent’s Winton Formation in Queensland as the frontier of untapped potential.
Hocknull and colleagues discovered the …

In the fight of pachyderms vs. people — the pachyderms now have the upper trunk.
Three circus elephants scored a decisive victory over three human competitive eaters at a cross-species eating contest Friday, chomping down on 505 hot dog buns in six minutes. The humans forced down only 143 buns in the bout at Brooklyn’s Coney Island.
The elephants, Bunny, Susie and Minnie — all in their 40s — ate at what appeared to be a leisurely pace from behind a table piled high with buns. They even paused to eat some …

The Founding Fathers left one legacy not celebrated on Independence Day but which affects us all. It’s the national debt.
The country first got into debt to help pay for the Revolutionary War. Growing ever since, the debt stands today at a staggering $11.5 trillion — equivalent to over $37,000 for each and every American. And it’s expanding by over $1 trillion a year.
The mountain of debt easily could become the next full-fledged economic crisis without firm action from Washington, economists of all stripes warn.
“Unless we demonstrate a strong commitment to …

Honduras’ Supreme Court rebuffed a personal appeal from the Americas’ top international diplomat Friday, refusing to restore ousted President Manuel Zelaya before a Saturday deadline.
Jose Miguel Insulza, who heads the Organization of American States, flew to Honduras in an attempt to persuade the forces that ousted Zelaya to take him back in the face of overwhelming international condemnation and economic sanctions.
He met for two hours with Jorge Rivera, president of the Supreme Court that authorized the military to seize Zelaya on Sunday and fly him into exile.
“Insulza asked Honduras to …

Dozens of people were trapped after the blaze broke out on the fourth floor of the flats in Camberwell, south London, shortly after 4.10pm.
Firefighters equipped with specialist breathing equipment rescued about 30 residents from the smoke-choked 12-storey building.
Over 100 more were tackling the source of the flames.
Early reports said one of the children was aged seven and the other was just three weeks old. No details have yet been given about the other child or the three adults.
Seven other people were taken to hospital to be treated for the effects …

The former state telecoms company - one of Britain’s biggest private employers with 106,000 staff - is trying to save money as it struggles to cope with the impact of the recession.
BT has proposed that employees take up to a year off, in return for taking a 75 per cent pay cut. To encourage as many workers to take up of the offer, the company will pay their reduced salary as an upfront cash payment.
It is also offering staff a one-off payment of £1,000 if they switch from full-time to …

Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin abruptly announced Friday she is resigning from office at the end of the month, a shocking move that rattled the Republican party but left open the possibility she would seek a run for the White House in 2012.
Palin, 45, and her staff kept her future plans shrouded in mystery, and it was unclear if the controversial hockey mom would quietly return to private life or begin laying the foundation for a presidential bid.
Palin’s spokesman, David Murrow, said the governor didn’t say anything to him about this …

The United States lost 467,000 jobs in June, the Labour Department reported Thursday.
The increase drove the non-farm unemployment rate up 0.1 point from May to 9.5 per cent, the department said.
“Job losses were widespread across the major industry sectors, with large declines occurring in manufacturing, professional and business services, and construction.”
The job loss figure is expected to continue rising through 10 per cent because unemployment lags the economy. But the losses also mean the recovery could be slower than hoped, some economists said.
With the June loss, the total number of …

General Motors Corp. may have to wait out the long holiday weekend to learn if its bankruptcy plan is moving forward, after U.S. Judge Robert Gerber adjourned a three-day hearing without indicating when he will rule on GM’s plan to sell its good assets to a new company. Gerber asked GM’s attorneys to submit a proposed order that would be entered if the sale were to be approved. They said they would do so by Friday night or Saturday, July 4th. Gerber is expected to rule some time after …

Americans who refuse to buy affordable medical coverage could be hit with fines of more than $1,000 under a health care overhaul bill unveiled Thursday by key Senate Democrats looking to fulfill President Barack Obama’s top domestic priority.
The Congressional Budget Office estimated the fines will raise around $36 billion over 10 years. Senate aides said the penalties would be modeled on the approach taken by Massachusetts, which now imposes a fine of about $1,000 a year on individuals who refuse to get coverage. Under the federal legislation, families would pay …