If humans can bounce back from rough times, then coral reefs can, too. For example, the corals along the Bikini Atoll have been flourishing again after the atomic blast bombardment of the area many years ago. More on Mother Nature's regenerative powers after the jump.

Australian author and historian Peter Trickett claims that a 16th century map at a Los Angeles library is the single, most irrevocable proof that Portuguese explorers led by Christopher de Mendonca beat Captain James Cook to the punch in discovering the land down under by about two and a half centuries.

In his manuscript "Beyond Capricorn," Trickett reveals that when the small map was enlarged, it was discovered that the Portuguese have actually landed in the Australian East Coast in 1522 as proven by the accurate mapmaking of Sydney's Botany Bay.

Trickett described the map as something  "so accurate that I found I could draw in the modern airport runways, to scale in the right place, without any problem at all." The map is named "Terra Java" and is among 15 hand drawn-maps in the compilation of Vallard Atlas which was the representation of the lands known back then.

Trickett made his accidental but monumental discovery eight years ago when he was browsing through the collection in a Canberra book store. The shop had a replica of the original map preserved in the United States.