How a Mother's Love Changes a Child's Brain

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Nurturing a child early in life may help him or her develop a larger hippocampus, the brain region important for learning, memory and stress responses, a new study shows.
Previous animal research showed that early maternal support has a positive effect on a young rat's hippocampal growth, production of brain cells and ability to deal with stress. Studies in human children, on the other hand, found a connection between early social experiences and the volume of the amygdala, which helps regulate the processing and memory of emotional reactions. Numerous studies also have found that children raised in a nurturing environment typically do better in school and are more emotionally developed than their non-nurtured peers.
Brain images have now revealed that a mother’s love physically affects the volume of her child’s hippocampus. In the study, children of nurturing mothers had hippocampal volumes 10 percent larger than children whose mothers were not as nurturing. Research has suggested a link between a larger hippocampus and better memory.
"We can now say with confidence that the psychosocial environment has a material impact on the way the human brain develops," said Dr. Joan Luby, the study's lead researcher and a psychiatrist at the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, Mo. "It puts a very strong wind behind the sail of the idea that early nurturing of children positively affects their development."

10 human strengh

  
He who stops being better stops being good
Oliver Cromwell


Not enough to be good, because we must strive to always better than ever. Continue to learn and perform immediate remedial measures are always better ways. Learning not necessarily from an elite school or expensive books, but learning from everyday life, the experience of ourselves and others, and so forth.
 I like learning from books, whether ancient or new edition books, because that is where I learned many valuable life lessons. One philosophy of life that expand the horizons of my life is a record of letters, purportedly written by Zhuge Liang (181-234) for his son. Zhuge Liang is a renowned expert on war and military service in the San Guo (Sam Kok) in the days of Ancient China.
 Zhuge Liang Kong aka Sun likes to read, and master a variety of sciences including geology, history, until the war strategy. At age 27 he was appointed King of Shu (Liu Bei) as a royal advisor. During her time as advisor, Zhuge Liang had written a letter to his son. The contents of the letter which was written 1,800 years ago it was loaded with a policy that timeless and changes, of which contains about 10 human power, that is;
1.Power of Silence
 Silence helps us to calm down to clear the mind. He explained that silence helps us to look inward, to evaluate all actions, and foster a determination to improve themselves. He also asserted that the key to success in learning is silence, because in the silence we can trace what exactly is the vision and mission of our lives.
2.Strength Life Saver 
Zhuge Liang led a simple life provide clues that will save ourselves from being enslaved by the material. A simple life according to his advisers formed ourselves into a more moral man. Do not be dragged into extravagant lifestyle, for an extravagant lifestyle when we can bury into the pile of debt and ruins.
3.Planning to build strength 
In the letters that Zhuge Liang underscored the importance of life planning. Fail to plan means plan to fail - Failing to plan means planning to fail. By doing good planning, then we will be able to put a priority well too. Conversely, without proper planning will always make us fail to finish everything we do.
4.Power of Learning
 Zhuge Liang in his letter states that the silence maximize the achievement of the results of learning objectives. He believes that the human ability not from inborn, but rather is the result of the learning process is done consistently. Therefore he suggested that we never stop learning until whenever. While in the process of learning, humility will greatly help us to easily absorb the necessary knowledge.
5.Power of Added Value 
His advice was that more emphasis we give, because it will make us more accepting. Therefore we must strive to always provide the best for others, including family, relatives, friends, customers, business partners, and others. If we are able to give something extra or added value to what is needed by others, of course they will be pleased, flattered and fascinated. No wonder if then they want to be in a relationship that is beneficial to you.
6.Power of Speed 
He menesehat son not to procrastinate because of the delay means inhibiting our efforts to achieve the vision and mission as quickly as possible. He insisted that we run everything by effective and time efficient. In this much needed ability to manage time. If necessary, one thing is done together with a team to be more quickly resolved, "Alone We can do so little; Together We can do so much. - Alone we accomplish less work; together we are doing so much work," said Helen Keller.
7.Power of Character 
Zhuge Liang advised his son to get used to not being in a hurry, because everything requires a process. Prudence in being able to form a complete character. In the Chinese proverb says, "It only took ten years to plant and maintain a tree, but requires at least 100 years to form a complete character."
8.Power of Time 
In his letter, Zhuge Liang wanted his son to appreciate the time. For the time passed very quickly, not infrequently come to erode morale and our ideals. Therefore time management well, do not ever waste your time by doing activities that are less useful.
9.Power of Imagination
 Zhuge Liang advised that we should think ahead, so we are not left behind by the era that continues to evolve. Imagination about the future he says is stronger than knowledge. It is also spoken by Albert Einstein, "Imagination is everything. It is the preview of life's coming Attractions. - Imagination is everything. Imagination is towing future reality."
10.Power of Simplicity 
The advisory is the example of the power of simplicity in all his letters are brief and easy to understand but full of positive living guidance. There is no theory or guiding living grandiose, but the simple wisdom of life. Likewise, if we want to produce a remarkable achievement of life, no need to use a complicated theory. Although the actions or steps we do is simple but if done consistently then we will easily achieve the vision and mission.
 "Success is the sum of small Efforts, repeated day in and day out. - Success is a collection of simple actions, repeated every day." Said Robert Collier, author of bestselling books.
 Those are some of the core messages in Zhuge Liang's letters, addressed to his son that he was able to think, behave and act better from day to day. We can absorb the mind to be the best. If we succeed in doing the best means we are getting close to the life we ​​want, life is beautiful.
 By: Andrew Ho

Inside the Brain: A Journey Through Time

The Human BrainCredit: © Benjamin Albiach Galan | Dreamstime.comThe brain has long boggled the mind with its complexity, which is probably best summed up by Carl Sagan in "The Cosmos," when he said, "The brain is a very big place in a very small space." With modern technology, scientists are peering deeper and closer than ever before at the tangle of neurons and their billions of connections. Here's a peek at what the brain looks like, from antiquity to present-day 

Portraits of the MindCredit: Thomas Deerinck and Mark Ellisman, 2004.In the book, "Portraits of the Mind: Visualizing the Brain from Antiquity to the 21st Century" (Abrams 2010), astonishing images that reveal both the complexity and beauty of the brain. And through time as brain-imaging technology comes online, scientists have new ways of seeing and interpreting the brain. Check out some of the amazing photos from the book. 

Canine ScentsCredit: Camillo GolgiThis 1875 drawing showing a dog's olfactory bulb was completed using a staining method named after Camillo Golgi in which certain chemicals are injected into nervous tissue so they can be seen. Some say its application to the study of brain tissue represents the beginning of modern neuroscience. 

Dripping DendritesCredit: In-Jung Kim and Joshua Sanes, 2008. While all cells in the body hold the same genome, only a particular set of its genes get turned on in various cells; each type of neuron switches on a gene set that defines its character.
In this picture, a gene called JAM-B had been switched on, which then turned on a fluorescent protein to reveal a small group of brain cells. The resulting image shows that all of the neurons' projections called dendrites are aligned in the same direction; moreover, these retinal neurons are known to detect only objects moving in an upward direction.

Baroque Blood VesselsCredit: Alfonso Rodríguez-Baeza and Marisa Ortega-Sánchez, 2009.A scanning electron microscope (SEM) image zooms in on the baroque branching structures that send blood to the human brain's cortex. The vessels are organized such that the large blood vessels surround the surface of the brain (top of image), sending thin, dense projections down into the depths of the cortex (bottom of image). 

View of a StrokeCredit: Henning U. Voss and Nicholas D. Schiff, 2008.A brain-imaging method called diffusion MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) is relatively new to the field of neuroscience, though it shows promise as a diagnostic tool. Here, an image taken from the brain of a patient who suffered a stroke in the thalamus and midbrain, resulting in damage to certain axons (some are visible at the bottom of the image). 

Mouse BrainCredit: Tamily Weissman, Jeff Lichtman, and Joshua Sanes, 2005.A cross-section of a mouse's hippocampus — one of the brain's memory centers — reveals its intricate network of neurons, whose soma are shown as small circles. The hippocampus is seen here nestled directly beneath the neocortex, which is the outer layer of the cerebral hemispheres. 

Spiny NeuronCredit: Thomas Deerinck and Mark Ellisman, 2009.Most neurons have three parts: an axon, a cell body called a soma and dendrites. This scanning electron microscope (SEM) image shows a soma with dendrites (and their spines) radiating from it. To create SEM images, a beam of electrons is scanned across the surface of a sample, and a detector keeps track of electrons bouncing off its surface to reveal the specimen's outer shape. 

Artsy Brain CellsCredit: Thomas Deerinck and Mark Ellisaman, 2004.Here, two types of cells in the cerebellum are shown: glia and Purkinje neurons. The cells can be distinguished because of a method that relies on the body's immune system and its antibodies — proteins that recognize and latch onto "foreign substances." Biologists now use antibodies to reveal where certain proteins are found in the brain. Here, red is an antibody staining of a protein that's found in glia cells, while green reveals a protein called IP3, of which Purkinje neurons are chockfull. 

Color My CerebellumCredit: Tamily Weissman, Jeff Lichtman, and Joshua Sanes, 2007The colored splotches reveal so-called presynaptic terminals, or junctions through which neuron signals are sent, formed by the cerebellum's axons. 

BrainbowCredit: Ryan Draft, Jeff Lichtman, and Joshua Sanes, 2007. While Golgi's staining method did wonders for finding structures hidden in a tangle of neurons, it couldn't distinguish individual brain cells that were illuminated in the same color.
Enter a bit of genetic trickery called Brainbow: Robert Tsien and other chemists tinkered with and discovered fluorescent proteins responsible for the different colors emitted by various sea creatures (such as corals and jellyfish). By coaxing different sets of neurons or even different individuals of a species (say a male and female) to express different proteins, scientists could pick out the cells by the color they glowed.
Here, several motor-neuron axons (slender projections on neurons that transmit signals to other neurons) travel side by side as they lead to the muscles whose contractions they regulate.

 

7 Foods You Can Overdose On

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Carrots
Carrots are full of vitamins, minerals and fibers that are good for your health. But eating too many carrots can bring in too much beta-carotene — the molecule responsible for carrots' bright orange hue and a precursor of vitamin A. This can lead to excess blood carotene which can discolor the skin.
Known as carotenemia, the condition occurs because carotene is a fat-soluble molecule. Excessive quantities of it tend to accumulate in the outermost layer of skin, resulting in yellow- or orange-pigmented skin, particularly in the palms, soles, knees and nasal area.
Although carotenemia occurs mostly in infants when they are fed too much pureed carrot baby food, it can occur in adults as well. In a case report published in The Journal of Dermatology in 2006, a 66-year-old woman's skin turned yellow-orange after she took too many carotene oral supplements. One cup of raw chopped carrots has about 15 mg of carotene, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Nutrient Database, so you'd need to eat half a cup of chopped carrots every day for months, in order to turn to her shade of yellow.
Despite such dramatic outward appearance, carotenemia is a mostly harmless condition and it is often reversible.

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Tuna sushi
Sushi lovers beware: eating too much raw tuna can increase your intake of mercury. Large fishes on top of the food chain, such as the prized bluefin tuna, can accumulate methyl mercury in their muscles because they consume many smaller fishes over their lives.
It's difficult to pin down the mercury levels in pieces of sushi, because they can vary depending on the size and species of fish. This makes it difficult to set a definitive cap on sushi consumption.
However, tuna sushi from restaurants tends to have higher mercury levels than supermarket tuna sushi, according to research published in the journal Biology Letters in 2010. Some samples of bigeye tuna or bluefin tuna, which are more common in restaurants, had mercury levels that exceeded or approached levels permissible by regulatory agencies in the U.S., Canada other nations and the World Health Organization, the study showed.
Because mercury can cause severe neurological problems, pregnant women and young children are advised by the Food and Drug Administration and the Environmental Protection Agency to avoid eating too much tuna. According to the agency's 2004 guidelines, others can eat up to 6 ounces (approximately equal to one average meal) of tuna steak per week.

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Kombucha Tea
Kombucha is a sugary, black tea fermented by a flat, pancake-like symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeasts called the "Kombucha mushroom." It can be purchased at health food stores or made at home with the starter "mushroom," the beverage is reputed to have immunity-boosting and beneficial effects, but there is very little scientific evidence of these available in current literature.
Although the brew is mostly benign (it usually tastes very acidic, and contains alcohol from the fermentation process), the American Cancer Society has warned that certain Kombucha starter cultures may contain contaminants such as molds and fungi, some of which can cause illness.
There have been reported cases of severe toxic reactions to Kombucha tea. In a recent report published in the Journal of Intensive Care Medicine by physicians at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, a 22-year-old male newly diagnosed with HIV became ill within twelve hours of consuming the tea. He was short of breath, his temperature spiked to 103.0 degrees Fahrenheit (39.4 Celsius), and he subsequently became combative and confused, requiring sedation and intubation for airway control.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention pointed out that kombucha tea consumed in typical quantities — approximately 4 ounces daily — might not cause adverse effects in healthy persons. However, those with preexisting health problems or those who drink excessive quantities of the tea should beware.

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Coffee
Although some people claim they would cease to function properly without their cup of morning coffee, it's best not to have too many cups. According to the Mayo Clinic, you shouldn't consume more than 500 to 600 milligrams of caffeine a day. A typical, 8-ounce cup of medium roast coffee has about 200 mg of caffeine, a 1-ounce shot of espresso has about 75 mg, an 8 ounce cup of black tea can have 120 mg of caffeine.
Noticeable side effects can occur if you consume more than 600 to 900 mg of caffeine a day, according to the Mayo Clinic, and those include: insomnia, restlessness, nausea, irregular heartbeat, muscle tremors, anxiety and headaches. In fact, too much caffeine can be fatal. According to a case published by Swedish physicians in a 2010 issue of Acta Anaesthesiologica Scandinavica, a 21-year-old woman went into cardiac arrest shortly after consuming about 10,000 mg of caffeine. Although she was resuscitated by ventricular fibrillations a few times, she stopped responding to medication three days later.

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Star fruit
Star fruit poisoning was first described in 1980 in Malaysia, where it was found to have a depressive effect on the central nervous system. Although star fruits (also known as carambolas) are not as common in North America, it is widely available in Southeast Asia and South America as fresh fruits, in salads and pickled juice.
This uniquely shaped fruit poses very little risk to healthy people when eaten in normal quantities. However, acute kidney failure has been reported in people with a history of kidney diseases. In a 2006 case report published in the Journal of Nephrology, a patient with underlying chronic kidney disease developed a bad reaction after eating star fruit, which led to rapid deterioration in kidney function and permanent renal injury. In a similar case reported in the Hong Kong Medical Journal in 2009, a 76-year-old woman with chronic renal disease was admitted to the hospital in a state of mental drowsiness and accelerated heart rate after eating two star fruits.
Common symptoms for star fruit intoxication include hiccups (the most common symptom, especially in mild intoxication), vomiting, weakness, insomnia, altered consciousness, convulsions and hypotension. People with a history of kidney illnesses should avoid pure, sour star fruit juice (a popular beverage in Taiwan) and mild, diluted pickled juice in large amounts, especially on an empty stomach.

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Water
The conventional guideline of drinking eight glasses of water a day has proven to be a myth. But there is such thing as drinking too much water. Water intoxication occurs when a person drinks so much that the water dilutes the concentration of sodium in the blood, creating an electrolyte imbalance.
Water intoxication, known as hyponatremia, is mostly a risk for endurance athletes. A 2005 article in the New England Journal of Medicine found that 13 percent of 488 runners in the 2002 Boston Marathon developed hyponatremia from drinking too much water. According to the researchers, a relatively simple strategy to reduce that risk would be for runners to weigh themselves before and after training runs, in order to gauge their overall fluid intake and ensure they do not drink too much water during exercise.
An unusual and fatal case of water intoxication occurred in 2007 when a California woman reportedly drank too much water during a "Hold Your Wee for a Wii" radio station contest.

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Nutmeg
The light dusting of nutmeg on your eggnog has practically no effects aside from making your beverage more delicious. However, trouble kicks in when the spice is consumed in excessive quantities as a low-cost hallucinogenic drug.
Unpleasant side effects usually appear three to eight hours after ingestion, and can include anxiety, fear, and a feeling of impending doom. According to a case report published in Emergency Medicine Journal in 2005, some people may also experience acute psychotic episodes, detachment from reality and visual hallucinations.
Nutmeg, even in doses as high as 20 to 80 grams of powder, is rarely deadly. There were only two reports of fatal nutmeg overdoses in medical literature. The first was reported in 1908 and involved about 14 grams ingested by an 8-year-old. The second case involved a 55-year-old and was reported in the journal Forensic Science International in 2001. Toxicology tests found traces of myristicin (a compound found in the essential oil of nutmeg) and flunitrazepam (a powerful sedative) in her blood. Her death was likely due to the combined toxic effect of both substances, the report said.

Stunning Photos of Solar Flares & Sun Storms

M9 Solar Flare, January 23, 2012Credit: NASA/SDO and the AIA Consortium/Edited by J. MajorThis SDO image (AIA 193) shows an M9-class solar flare erupting on the Sun's northeastern hemisphere at 03:49 UT on Jan. 23, 2012... just 4 days after a previous strong CME that sparked aurora around the world on the 22nd. More geomagnetic activity is expected for the 24th. 

Solar Storm X-ray Image - GOES spacecraftCredit: NOAAThe NOAA-operated GOES-15 spacecraft captured this X-ray image of a massive solar storm on Jan. 23, 2012. 

Sun's Twisting Plasma TentacleCredit: NASA/SDO/GSFCNASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory spacecraft captured this eruption from March 19, 2011 as a prominence became unstable and blasted into space with a distinct twisting motion. 

UV View of the Aug. 9, 2011 Solar FlareCredit: NASA/SDO/GSFCThis still from a video taken by NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory shows the Aug. 8, 2011 solar flare as it appeared in the ultraviolet range of the light spectrum. The flare registered as an X6.9 class sun storm, the largest of the Solar Cycle 24.

 

Monster ProminenceCredit: NASA/SDONASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory captured this view of a powerful M3.6 Class solar flare on Feb. 24, 2011 during a 90-minute sun storm. NASA scientists called the display a "monster prominence" that kicked up a huge plasma wave.

 

Solar Storm on June 7Credit: NASA/GSFC, LMSAL and SDO/AIAA satellite view of the solar storm that erupted on the sun June 7.

 

  

Shot of the Sun Fire Arrives on Earth

 

A giant flames burst from the Sun on January 19, 2012. Bursts of plasma waves it throws a light trigger beautiful auroras or the northern sky in the region when the particle is reached with the upper atmosphere of Earth.
According to observers of outer space, the Sun's eruptions - also known as a coronal mass ejection - occurred around 16:00 GMT on Thursday. The particles of the explosion hurled toward Earth at speeds of about 1,000 kilometers per second.
"When hit, a large geomagnetic storms arise, and when the particle cloud arrived, visible aurora in the high to middle latitudes," said aerospace analyst, quoted from Spaceweather, January 22, 2012.
A number of space telescopes including the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) and Solar Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) NASA's managed to make photo and video recording the eruption of the Sun.
According to the Space Weather Prediction Center, the Sun's eruptions came from a group of active sun spots called Region 1401. And the eruption this time, not just a tongue of fire that appears. One other hotspot diesel, which is called by Region 1402, also threw flames.
Of scale created by astronomers to determine the strength of the eruption, the flame that came out last Thursday itself categorized as M2-class sun storm, the storm the sun is strong. M-class solar storm itself is a strong storm, but only came out to medium range.
Its position is between the C-class flame weaker and X-class solar storms that could bring a very strong threat to satellites and astronauts who were in orbit the Sun. The eruption of X-class storms can also disrupt and destroy communications infrastructure if it just leads to Earth.
The sun itself now in the middle of the active phase in the cycle 11 yearly. According to NASA, solar storm cycle that is currently happening, called the Solar Cylce 24, is likely to peak in 2013.

25 Amazing Ancient Beasts

Aquatic TurtleCredit: Marlene DonnellyThere seems to be no end to the odd creatures that scientists find by digging up fossils. Here we celebrate some of the coolest extinct fish, mammals, dinosaurs, birds and other beasts discovered in recent years by showcasing the artistic representations that reveal what they might have looked like.  

Dino TurkeyCredit: Michael W. SkrepnickThis fleshed-out rendering by artist Michael Skrepnick best represents what a dinosaur called Hagryphus looked like. 

Plesiosaur Credit: Nicolle Rager, National Science FoundationThis artist s rendering reveals what an ancient marine reptile called a plesiosaur discovered in Antarctica may have looked like. The plesiosaur described in a forthcoming issue of the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, though not the same species, also sported four fins and a long neck. Analyses of shark teeth embedded in the reptile s bones suggest a feeding frenzy of sorts once the reptile died.

Aerosteon dinosaurCredit: Todd Marshall c 2008, courtesy of Project ExplorationThis flesh rendering of the predator Aerosteon shows its lungs (red) and air sacs (other colors) as they might have been in life about 85 million years ago. This huge carnivorous dinosaur that lived about 85 million years ago had a breathing system much like that of today s birds, a new analysis of fossils reveals, reinforcing the evolutionary link between dinos and modern birds.

MegapiranhaCredit: © Ray TrollAn artist s rendering of Megapiranha paranensis, a 3-foot-long ancestor of the modern piranha.

CamarasaurusCredit: Mark Witton/Mike TaylorAn artist impression of a camarasaurus, an extinct sauropod dinosaur thought to have lived 100 million years ago in what is now the Sahara Desert. 

MammothCredit: Stephan Shuster Lab, Penn StateDrawing of a woolly mammoth. These beasts were bigger than mastodons and and curved rather than straight tusks. They died off around 10,000 years ago, and scientists aren t yet sure if climate change was to blame -- as the Ice Age ended -- or if human hunting pressure played the larger role. Some even think a comet did them in. 

Dunkleosteus terrelliCredit: Mark Westneat This prehistoric fish, Dunkleosteus terrelli, was big, mean, and it could bite a shark in two. Scientists say Dunkleosteus terrelli might have been "the first king of the beasts." The prehistoric fish was 33 feet long and weighed up to four tons. The creature lived 400 million years ago. Art by Karen Carr in the Field Museum s Evolving Planet exhibit. 

Monster WhaleCredit: Brian Choo / Source: Museum VictoriaThis ancient whale, extinct 25 million years, was a vicious hunter, scientists figure. Though likely an ancestor of modern baleen whales, gentle giants of today’s seas this beast had monstrous teeth and huge eyes thought to have been good for hunting. 

Mega FaunaCredit: Carl Buell/Florida Museum of Natural HistoryA 7-foot-tall prehistoric bird with a monster-size noggin arrived in North America from South America long before a land bridge connected the two continents, a new study reveals. The flightless, carnivorous terror birds—that s what scientists call them—likely hopped to North America via islands that came to form what is today the Isthmus of Panama. Artist rendering of what North Florida may have looked like during about 2 million years ago. The terror bird is shown at the bottom left. 

Giant SnakeCredit: Jason BourqueThe extinct giant snake (shown in an artist s reconstruction) would have sent even Hollywood s anacondas slithering away. Researchers conservatively estimate the snake weighed about 2,500 pounds (1,140 kg) and measured nearly 43 feet (13 meters) from nose to tail tip. It was a type of non-venomous constrictor like anacondas and boas and lived in South America s rainforests some 60 million years ago.

  

Airplane-Size BirdCredit: Ludger Bollen, from "Der Flug des Archaeopteryx", Quelle+Meyer Vlg.Imagine a bird like an ocean-going goose almost the size of a small plane. That was this ancient, giant pseudo-toothed bird, or pelagornithid. It lived around what is now England 50 million years ago.  

Hurdia VictoriaCredit: Marianne CollinsReconstruction of Hurdia victoria, a 500-million-year-old monster-looking predator that was about 1.5 feet long. 

Three-Fingered DinosaurCredit: Portia SloanThe fossilized hands from this plant-eating dinosaur reveal a transitional step in the evolution of modern wings from dino digits. The finding could resolve a debate over which fingers ultimately became embedded in the wing. This dinosaur, Limusaurus inextricabilis, may have used its three-fingered hands to help it stand upright from a lying position. Its hand showed a vestigial first finger and robust second and third fingers.  

GiganotosaurusCredit: Joe Tucciarone Giganotosaurus was 47 feet long and weighed 8 tons. It lived 95 million years ago. It was not the biggest carnivore ever, though. That credit goes ti Spinosaurus, thought to reach 55 feet in length. 

TroodonCredit: Todd MarshallTroodon had one of the largest brain-to-body size ratios of any known dinosaur and it is believed to have been one of the most intelligent dinosaurs that ever lived. Its large, slightly forward facing eyes suggest that it was a nocturnal creature with excellent depth perception and it had long arms that it could fold back like a bird. It lived about 70 million years ago. 

Darwinopterus Credit: Mark Witton, University of PortsmouthThe remains of this flying reptile, called Darwinopterus modularis, suggest the animals may have been an aerial predator, hunting small feathered dinosaurs (such as the one depicted here) and tiny gliding mammals some 160 million years ago. 

European Cave BearsCredit: Copyright N. Frotzler, University of ViennaEuropean cave bears were the first of the mega-mammals to die out in the most recent historical round of big-time extinctions, going extinct around 13 millennia earlier than was previously thought, according to a new estimate. The new extinction date, 27,800 years ago, coincides with a period of significant climate change, known as the Last Glacial Maximum, when a marked cooling in temperature resulted in a reduction or total loss of the vegetation that the cave bears ate.

Giant ApeCredit: McMaster UniversityA gigantic ape standing 10 feet tall and weighing up to 1,200 pounds lived alongside humans for over a million years, researchers say. A fresh analysis of two previously found skulls determined they re 200,000 old, making them the oldest known examples of our species. Yet fossil records indicate musical instruments, drawings, needles and other sophisticated tools didn t appear until about 50,000 years ago, suggesting Homo sapiens had a pretty lowbrow culture for 150,000 years. Well, evolution takes time. Another team found the fossilized remains of what they think is humankind s first walking ancestor, from 4 million years ago. Other research confirmed that the oldest human ancestor, from the time when we split with the apes, lived around 6 million years ago. Oh, and you have to respect our relatively recent ancestors (the lowbrow folks) who we now know lived among 10-foot-tall gorillas that have since gone extinct. Maybe they were so busy running they had no time to paint or create alphabets.

Woolly RhinoCredit: © Dionisio ÁlvarezThe woolly rhinoceros grazed in the plains of what is now northern Thuringia in Germany. The climate at the time was icy cold and far drier than today, and fluctuated a great deal.

IndohyusCredit: Carl Buell This ungulate Indohyus ranged in India 48 million years ago. Indohyus is a close relative of whales, and the structure of its bones and chemistry of its teeth indicate that it spent much time in water. In this reconstruction, it is seen diving in a stream, much like the modern African Mousedeer does when in danger. 

Glypto ArmadilloCredit: Velizar Simeonovski This primitive, oversized armadillo relative, P. septentrionalis, likely weighed 200 pounds. It roamed high in the Andes in northern Chile 18 million years ago.

  

Giant EagleCredit: John Megahan.The Haast's eagle of New Zealand, which lived just 700 years go, was 40 percent larger than today's record holder, the Harpy eagle, and it topped the local food chain. Here one is shown attacking the extinct New Zealand moa. The eagle grew so large it approached the physical limits of flight. The eagle, which was the subject of cave paintings and mythological tales from New Zealand s first inhabitants, the Maori, went extinct soon after the arrival of man, as did a number of other species on the islands. [READ MORE]

Smilodon CatCredit: John ConwayWeighing an average of 550 pounds (250 kilograms), this saber-toothed cat, Smilodon fatalis, had a weaker bite than modern-day lions. Saber-toothed cats, often incorrectly called tigers, were social creatures that had a bite far less powerful than commonly thought. 

Dino-Baby EaterCredit: Mark Witton, University of Portsmouth.A group of flying reptiles called Quetzalcoatlus may have strolled along a fern prairie eating baby dinosaurs for lunch. The reptiles may have even snacked on Tyrannosaurus Rex babies. Research suggested Quetzalcoatlus, which lived during the age of dinosaurs some 230 million to 65 million years ago did not catch prey in flight, but rather stalked them on land.