This ancient fly, dubbed Trichomyia lengleti, is one of a handful of bugs added to a new online database of "digital fossils." 

Paleontologists from the European Synchrotron Research Facility in France used high-energy x-rays to peer inside 640 pieces of opaque, fossilized amber that date to the Cretaceous period, 145 to 65 million years ago.

The fossils were found in 2008 in from the Charentes region of southwestern France. Until recently, fossils inside opaque amber were invisible to paleontologists. But the new accelerator technology revealed unprecedented views of 350 previously invisible insects, animals, and plantswhich could previously only be studied from fossilized mud imprints.

Using x-rays for paleontology is a new and important technique for seeing inside fossils that you can't cut or break open, said researcher Paul Tafforeau.

"When we are dealing with fossils we have to study them, but we also have to preserve them."

You won't find this cockroach crawling around city apartments--It scurried across the earth around 60 million years ago.

But now x-ray radiation has revealed the prehistoric critter frozen inside a piece of opaque amber. 

The cockroach was added to a new online database of digital fossils, which have become a new area of study in archaeology and taxonomy.

A hundred-million-year-old spider (above) is seen buried inside a tomb of opaque amber.

The digital fossil--a combination of multiple x-rays--was recently added to a new online database compiled by French researchers.

A hundred-million-year-old millipede ancestor encased in amber (pictured) was recently imaged by researchers from the European Synchrotron Research Facility.

Using a high-resolution scan called microtomography, researchers pinpointed finely detailed body parts, such as bristles, tiny legs, and insect wings--and even the hairs on the one-millimeter-long millipede.

In just 48 hours of imaging with a particle accelerator, researchers found more than 350 previously invisible creepy crawlies from Cretaceous-period amber (above right). 

Cracks and imperfections often show up in x-rays of amber (above, top left), posing a challenge to paleontologists who want to see the amber's contents. 

But a research team at the European Synchrotron Research Facility found that soaking amber in water fills in cracks, allowing for much clearer views of the insects (top, bottom left).

This prehistoric wasp-like insect, called Hymenopteran falciformicidae, was recently revealed by new x-ray technology. 

European researchers are investigating innovative ways to visualize these digital fossils, such as 3D physical models and glass blocks with the a print of the specimen inside.

This hundred-million year old isopod crustacean--an aquatic relative of woodlice--was one of more than 350 insect fossils found hiding in chunks of amber.

The critter was added to the European Synchrotron Research Facility's new online database of "digital fossils," which is accessible to the public.

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Dressed in a suit, this person would not look out of place in a busy street in a modern city.

The clay sculpture, however, portrays the face of the earliest known modern European - a man or woman who hunted deer and gathered fruit and herbs in ancient forests more than 35,000 years ago.

It was created by Richard Neave, one of Britain's leading forensic scientists, using fossilised fragments of skull and jawbone found in a cave seven years ago.

The first modern European: Forensic artist Richard Neave reconstructed the face based on skull fragments from 35,000 years ago

His recreation offers a tantalising glimpse into life before the dawn of civilisation. It also shows the close links between the first European settlers and their immediate African ancestors.

To sculpt the head, Mr Neave called on his years of experience recreating the appearance of murder victims as well as using careful measurements of bone.

It was made for the BBC2 series The Incredible Human Journey. This will follow the evolution of humans from the cradle of Africa to the waves of migrations that saw Homo sapiens colonise the globe.

The head has taken pride of place on the desk of Alice Roberts, an anthropologist at Bristol University, who presents the programme.

'It's really quite bizarre,' she told Radio Times. 'I'm a scientist and objective but I look at that face and think "Gosh, I'm looking at the face of somebody from 40,000 years ago" and there's something weirdly moving about that.

'Richard creates skulls of much more recent humans and he's used to looking at differences between populations.

'He said the skull doesn't look European or Asian or African. It looks like a mixture of all of them.

'That's probably what you'd expect of someone among the earliest populations to come to Europe.'

Anthropologist Alice Roberts with the model: 'I look at that face and think "I'm actually looking at the face of somebody from 40,000 years ago"', she says

The head is based on remains of one of the earliest known anatomically modern Europeans.

The lower jawbone was discovered by potholers in the Carpathian mountains in Romania in 2002. The rest of the fragments were found the following year.

The bones were carbon-dated to between 34,000 and 36,000 years ago when Europe was occupied by two species of human.

They were the Neanderthals, who had arrived from Africa tens of thousands of years earlier, and the more recent modern humans, also known as Cro-Magnons.

Although the skull is similar to a modern human head, it has a larger cranium, is more robust and has larger molars. Although it is impossible to work out the skin colour of the prehistoric hunter, it is likely to have been darker than modern white Europeans.

Fossil experts are also unsure if the skull was male or female.

Many scientists believe that modern humans evolved in Africa 200,000 to 100,000 years ago. Our ancestors left Africa around 60,000 years ago and migrated around the world, replacing other branches of the family tree which had left the continent earlier.

The earliest modern Europeans were far from primitive. Living in huts and caves, they used stone tools and spears made from antlers, painted on the walls of their caves and made jewellery from shells.

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Elated archaeologists searching for the lost bodies of doomed lovers Cleopatra and Mark Antony have made a number of important discoveries.

In what could be the most thrilling finds since the tomb of Tutankhamun was unearthed in 1922, leading Egyptologists believe they are edging ever-closer to the country's most fabled queen.

This skull was found during a radar survey of a temple close to Alexandria and workers are hopeful they will also find the remains of the celebrated Roman general.

Discovery: The skull found in a tomb near the Temple of Taposiris Magna in a western suburb of Alexandria, Egypt

Egypt's top archaeologist Zahi Hawass was optimistic of making a significant find when the dig began last month.

'This could be the most important discovery of the 21st century,' he said. 

'This is the perfect place for them to be hidden.'

The skull is not confirmed as Cleopatra's but is set to be tested by scientists, alongside a complete body found in a stone coffin.

The excavation is hoped to unravel a number of questions that have lingered over the couple, including whether they were buried together, her reputed beauty and their suicide.

Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities said that the three sites were identified in February during a radar survey of the temple close to Alexandria.

It is located on Lake Abusir, once known as Lake Mariut, near the northern coastal city and was built during the reign of King Ptolemy II from 282 to 246 BC.

Teams from Egypt and the Dominican Republic have been excavating the temple for the last three years.

They have already discovered a number of deep shafts inside the holy site, three of which were possibly used for burials.

Body: Another important find at the temple.

The leaders of the excavation believe it's possible Cleopatra and Mark Anthony could have been buried in a deep shaft similar to those already found.

The couple are widely believed to have committed suicide after their defeat in the battle of Actium in 31 BC.

Kathleen Martinez, an Egyptologist involved in the dig, said that Roman records suggested that the lovers were then buried together.

She added that the unearthing of ten mummies of nobles in the area has raised hopes that the lovers could be nearby.

But other experts are less convinced. John Baines, professor of Egyptology at the University of Oxford, said it is unlikely that Mark Anthony, who was an enemy, would have a burial place that would have stood the test of time.

Hopes of finding their tomb were raised with last year's discoveries at the site of: a bronze statue of the goddess Aphrodite; the alabaster head of a Queen Cleopatra statue; a mask believed to belong to Mark Anthony; and a headless statue from the Ptolemaic era at the excavation site.

Lovers: Elizabeth Taylor as Cleopatra and Richard Burton as her lover Mark Antony in the 1963 film of the Egyptian queen

The expedition also found 22 coins bearing Cleopatra's image.

Dr Hawass said the statue and coins - which show an attractive face - debunk a recent theory that the queen was 'quite ugly'.

'The finds from Tabusiris reflect a charm... and indicate that Cleopatra was in no way unattractive,' he said in a statement.

Academics at the University of Newcastle concluded in 2007 that the fabled queen was not especially attractive based on Cleopatra's depiction on a Roman denarius coin which shows her as a sharp-nosed, thin-lipped woman with a protruding chin.

Excited: Dr. Zahi Hawass walks inside the Temple of Taposiris Magna

The popular image of the lovers is of Cleopatra played by Elizabeth Taylor opposite Richard Burton in the 1963 Hollywood film of the Egyptian queen. It was during filming that the co-stars became lovers.

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For a millennium it has lain undisturbed beneath the waves a stone's throw from one of Britain's best-loved beaches.

But now modern technology has revealed this ancient fish trap, used at the time of the Norman Conquest.

In Photo : The giant fish trap, built during the Norman Conquest and designed to trap fish behind rock walls, was spotted on Google Earth.

Stretching more than 280 yards along the sea bed, the V-shaped structure was used to catch fish without the need for a boat or rod. Scientists believe it is one of the biggest of its kind.

The trap close to Poppit Sands on the Teifi Estuary in Dyfed was discovered by archaeologists studying aerial photographs of the West Wales coast.

In Photo : This image shows the coastline curving round with the trap visible out at sea. It is in water just 12ft deep, and the wall is around three feet wide.

It was designed to act like a rock pool, trapping fish behind its stone walls as the tide flowed out.

At its point is a gap where fisherman would have placed nets to catch fish. They could also have blocked up the gap, and then scooped up fish trapped in the shallows.

Now, however, it is submerged even at low tide and fish are no longer trapped as the water recedes. Researchers believe it has sunk into the sand over the centuries.

Dr Ziggy Otto, a diver and lecturer in the coastal environment at Pembrokeshire College, believes the trap is around 1,000 years old.

'It is an amazing structure,' he said. 'It looks well defined on the photographs, but when you are in the water it looks just like a natural reef.'

In Photo : The trap, made of stones, is located on the Teifi Estuary in Dyfed, Wales.

Although it was only recently spotted on aerial photographs, an armchair archaeologist could have discovered the trap on Google Earth.

Google said the V-shaped structure has been visible on its collection of satellite and aerial photos since at least December 2006.

Fish traps, or fish weirs, were common and controversial in Britain 1,000 years ago.

They were so effective at removing fish from rivers that they were banned in the Magna Carta, and were allowed only on the coast.

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Famous Pirates : Ahoy mateys! Meet some of the pirates of the Whydah. Pictured from left are Hendrick Quintor, John King, Sam Bellamy and John Julian.

Underwater explorer Barry Clifford holds some of the treasures recovered from the wreck site of the Whydah, which sank in 1717. Many of these artifacts will be on display in the new National Geographic exhibition, "Real Pirates: The Untold Story of the Whydah From Slave Ship to Pirate Ship."
This gold ring recovered from the wreck site of the Whydah has been the subject of much conjecture. Some believe the cryptic letters are the abbreviation for a Welsh "good luck" wish. Others speculate that they may be of African origin. Another theory has it that the ring once belonged to a Royal Navy seaman named Teye, who later turned pirate.

When this bell was discovered, it provided the final confirmation that the wreck site was indeed that of the Whydah, which sank in 1717. The bell is part of a new National Geographic exhibition, "Real Pirates: The Untold Story of the Whydah From Slave Ship to Pirate Ship,"

This pistol with its brass serpentine side plate was recovered from the wreck site of the sunken ship Whydah.

This gold coin was one of many found at the wreck site of the Whydah, which sank in 1717.

And more pirate booty! Coins and artifacts recovered from the wreck site of the Whydah, which sank in 1717.


The quality and engraving of this turtledove seal suggest that it was made for a wealthy buyer.

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Welcome To The Mars :

Not long after NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander reached the Red Planet on May 25, 2008, it began digging into virgin Martian soil to look for signs of life-supporting conditions.

With only months to explore its permanent resting place before freezing, scientists wasted no time beaming back a steady stream of astonishing images.

Here are some of the best shots Phoenix has sent back to Earth.

Within days of wrapping up a 10-month, 422-million-mile journey to Mars, Phoenix started digging into its dusty surroundings.

This shot, taken about 16 days after landing, reveals the bumpy terrain of northern Mars.

In the scoop of Phoenix's robotic arm is a dirt sample being carried to an on-board microscope.

One Scoop : Phoenix was equipped with only eight pen-sized ovens to bake and sniff samples of Martian soil -- not a lot for a extended stay on the Red Planet.

Needless to say, picking which piles of dirt to sample wasn't an easy task for scientists searching for life-sustaining conditions.

Shown here is a test scoop of soil -- the first-ever dug by Phoenix -- that wasn't baked. Small white patches in the grit are likely ice.

Mars In 360 View : Might be tough to make out this image, but you're looking at a 360-degree view from atop the Phoenix Mars Lander.

Scientists used the double-vision of the SSI (Surface Stereo Imager) to patch together this quilt of 400 images.

At center, just below the black blind spot of the camera, is one of the first trenches Phoenix dug .

The long pole at right (between the black solar panel arrays) is the spacecraft's meteorological station that monitored air temperature, wind speed and visibility.

Coloring Pebbles : Nopes.
Shown here is a bit of wind-blown Martian grit that Phoenix found in its optical microscope compartment.

Magnetic grains of dirt appear orange, and each is just a few thousandths of an inch wide.

Disapearing Act : Just about every robot sent to Mars has detected signs of water, but never first-hand evidence.

Phoenix was the first to do so in two ways: One, by catching these whitish chunks of ice (left) in a freshly dug trench sublimate into thin air.

Second -- shortly after this snapshot -- the robot collected a sample of icy dirt, baked it and sniffed water vapor directly. Refreshing!

Morning In Mars : The north pole of the Red Planet is an icy stretch of real estate even during the Martian summer.

As summer waned, sunlight faded and Phoenix began to observe morning frost on the bumpy terrain.

The frost in this shot vanished in the early morning after the sun came out, around 6:00 a.m. Mars time.Image In Close-up : In addition to a regular microscope, Phoenix packed some heat: an atomic force microscope (or AFM) capable of spying on individual dust grains.

On the left is a snapshot of silicon plates and at right is a 3-D simulation of the plates, which shows dust-gathering pits machined into the surface.

The pit on the upper left snagged a piece of dust just 4 ten-thousandths of an inch wide.

Color on Mars is hardly a straightforward affair thanks to a ruddy red hue cast by airborne dust.

That's why scientists built super-bright yet energy-efficient LED lamps into the camera near the end of Phoenix's robotic arm.

Each red, green and blue light helped produced color-accurate photos of digging areas and soil samples -- and this light show, of course.

Robotic Camera : Taking on a human head-like quality is the Phoenix Mars Lander's stereoscopic camera, photographed by the robotic arm camera.

By using each "eye" of the SSI, or surface stereo imager, scientists were able to create 3-D images of the surroundings.

Night In Mars : All good things must come to an end. For scientific operations of Phoenix, it was the merciless cold of the Martian north pole.

Sunlight became scarcer on the Red Planet for the robot, causing surface temperatures to dip below -141 degrees Fahrenheit at night.

Phoenix relied on heaters to keep its electronics and batteries functional during chilly nights, but in late October it began dipping into " Lazarus Mode " because not enough energy was available to power the spacecraft's science activities.

Soon the lander will be caught in an endless freeze-thaw cycle: being entombed under meters of carbon dioxide and water ice during the Martian winter, then thawing in the summer.

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Geologist Winston Seiler with some of the dinosaur tracks he identified for his thesis as a University of Utah master's degree student. The impressions once were thought to be potholes eroded by water. But Seiler and Marjorie Chan, chair of geology and geophysics at the University of Utah, published a scientific paper in the October 2008 issue of the journal Palaios identifying the abundant impressions as comprising a large dinosaur "trample surface" in northern Arizona. There are so many tracks they wryly refer to the site as "a dinosaur dance floor."

University of Utah geologist Winston Seiler walks among hundreds of dinosaur footprints in a "trample surface" that likely was a watering hole amid desert sand dunes during the Jurassic Period 190 million years ago. The track site, which also includes some dinosaur tail-drag marks, is located in Coyote Buttes North area along the Arizona-Utah border.

This Eubrontes dinosaur footprint, including three toes and a heel, measures roughly 16 inches long. Dinosaur footprints are named by their shape because the species and genus of animal that made them isn't known, although Eubrontes tracks are believed to have been made by upright-walking, meat-eaters smaller than Tyrannosaurus rex. Eubrontes is one of four types of dinosaur footprints identified by University of Utah geologists at a Jurassic Period dinosaur "trample surface" in northern Arizona. The footprints previously had been thought to be modern potholes eroded by water. The inset outlines the footprint shape.

Photo on left shows eroded dinosaur footprints, and tail-drag marks highlighted in the diagram at right, at a northern Arizona site that University of Utah geologists are calling "a dinosaur dance floor."

This 4-inch long Grallator dinosaur track is among four types of dinosaur footprints identified by University of Utah geologists at a large dinosaur "trample surface" in the Paria Canyon-Vermilion Cliffs Wilderness near the Arizona-Utah border. They were left by a small dinosaur, perhaps only 3 feet tall, some 190 million years ago.

This photo shows a trackway, or set of prints made by the same dinosaur, as it walked through a wet, sandy oasis some 190 million years ago in what is now the Coyote Buttes North area straddling the Utah-Arizona border. University of Utah geologists published a new study showing that numerous impressions at the site are dinosaur tracks, not erosion-caused potholes as was believed previously.
This 14-inch-long Sauropodomorph dinosaur track actually is two footprints in one and was left by a creature that walked on four legs. The imprint includes the deeper central circular portion, which was left when a dinosaur's "pes" or rear foot, stepped into the larger, shallower print left by a "manus" or front foot. The toe prints, top and upper right, were left by the front foot, obscuring prints from the rear toes. The print is one of many identified by University of Utah scientists at a large dinosaur "trample surface" in the Vermilion Cliffs National Monument in northern Arizona.

University of Utah geologist Winston Seiler walks in the path of dinosaurs. The dinosaur tracks were preserved in a "trample surface" where the reptiles likely gathered to drink water at an oasis among arid sand dunes some 190 million years ago. The site is in the Paria Canyon-Vermilion Cliffs Wilderness along the Arizona-Utah border.

The "dinosaur dance floor," formally known as a dinosaur "trample surface," is outlined by white dashes in this photo taken from a hill above the three-quarter-acre site. The site's numerous holes in Jurassic sandstone were identified as dinosaur tracks by University of Utah geologists Marjorie Chan and Winston Seiler.

A dinosaur trample surface has been identified on the Arizona side of that state's border with Utah. Geologists from the University of Utah determined the numerous impressions at the site are dinosaur tracks, not erosion features.

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NASA and Boeing have joined to develop the most advanced RC (radio controlled) model plane called the Skyray 48.

This prototype could be the future of commercial aviation. The RC plane will have less power consumption and fewer emissions, while increasing carrying capacity and speed compared with current cargo and passenger aircraft.



One of the latest cutting-edge experimental aircraft, or X-Planes, the X-48B BWB is a collaborative effort of the Boeing Co., NASA's Fundamental Aeronautics Program, and the Air Force Research Laboratory. The 21-foot wingspan, 500-pound, remotely piloted plane is designed to demonstrate the viability of the blended wing shape.



After completion of six flights, the X-48B team began a four-week maintenance and modification period during which removable leading edges with extended slats are being replaced with slatless leading edges in order to mimic a slats-retracted configuration. The change requires a software update to the flight control software. In addition, the team is removing and replacing all of the aircraft's flight control actuators for maintenance purposes.



NASA is interested in the potential benefits of the aircraft - increased volume for carrying capacity, efficient aerodynamics for reduced fuel burn, and, possibly, significant reductions in noise due to propulsion integration options. In these initial flights, the principal focus is to validate prior research on the aerodynamic performance and controllability of the shape, including comparisons of flight test data with the extensive database gathered in the wind tunnels at NASA's Langley Research Center in Virginia



The Subsonic Fixed-Wing Project, part of NASA's Fundamental Aeronautics Program, has long supported the development of the blended wing body concept. It has participated in numerous collaborations with Boeing, as well as several wind tunnel tests for different speed regimes. The team is focused on researching the low-speed characteristics of the design and expanding its flight envelope beyond the limits of current capabilities.



The composite-skinned, 8.5 percent scale vehicle can to fly up to 10,000 feet and 120 knots in its low-speed configuration. The aircraft is flown remotely from a ground control station by a pilot using conventional aircraft controls and instrumentation, while looking at a monitor fed by a forward-looking camera on the aircraft.



Up to 25 flights are planned to gather data in these low-speed flight regimes. Then, the X-48B may be used to test the aircraft's low-noise and handling characteristics at transonic speeds.



Two X-48B research vehicles were built by Cranfield Aerospace Ltd., in England, in accordance with Boeing specifications. The vehicle that flew on July 20, known as Ship 2, was also used for ground and taxi testing. Ship 1, a duplicate, was used for the wind tunnel tests. Ship 1 is available for use as a backup during the flight test program



So far, so good as the Skyray 48 team works through the late summer heat of the Mojave Desert as they continue blazing a trail with this futuristic aircraft design.

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