A new species of prehistoric predator that could prove to be the missing link between prehistoric and present-day crocodiles was unveiled by Brazilian paleontologists, Thursday. Learn more about this agile predator in the full article.

Now here's something that sounds like something out of a cheesy sci-fi flick. It's been reported that last Saturday, a meteor landed near a remote Peruvian village located in the Andes department of Puno in the Desaguadero region, near the Bolivian border. The meteor crash left a crater 100 feet wide, and 20 feet deep. There were also reports that boiling water was found in the said crater.

But while near-misses like these are interesting, what's all the more baffling is the aftermath of the space rock's landing. Local health department official Jorge Lopez reports that shortly after the incident, villagers began complaining of headaches and vomiting due to a strange odor. Seven Peruvian police officers who were sent to investigate the initial reports also fell ill, and had to be hospitalized.

Rescue teams and experts are currently investigating the crash site. We've also managed to pick up this related news report via Reuters. It should give you an idea of what the crash site looks like.

In a recent Q&A conducted by Reuters, Dr. Konrad Steffen of the University of Colorado at Boulder's Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences revealed that global warming has had an adverse effect on the ice sheet flow in Greenland.

According to veteran Arctic climate researcher, they have noted an increase of 30% of the total melt area in the last 30 years. But it could probably increase further with the new developments they have observed in their field research camp. "In the past we all assumed the ice sheet was moving at constant speed toward the ice edge," said Steffen.

But apparently, the local glacier has increased in speed suddenly somewhere between 2002 and 2003 to twice its normal speed. "In the past we all assumed the ice sheet was moving at constant speed toward the ice edge. The big glacier here, Jakobshavn Isbrae, had a velocity of 6-7 km per year into the fjord up to 1995," Steffen noted.

Although many theories are now open to interpret what this could mean for global current (also referred to as the conveyor belt of ocean currents), Steffen still remains adamant that they have no way of modelling the dynamics that arises out of the increased melting. "We can model melt but we cannot model the dynamics," he admitted.

He remains strong in his opinion, however, that there will be no effect on the global ocean currents. "It is unlikely that we have an abrupt climate change due to the ice loss of Greenland alone," he concluded.

Reuters reports that international wildlife experts have come upon a treeless island that is home to hundreds of wild elephants in the swamps of south Sudan. "We flew out of a cloud, and there they were. "It was like something out of Jurassic Park," said Tom Catterson, who works on a U.S.-funded environment program in south Sudan.

The elephants have apparently managed to avoid unchecked hunting during more than 20 years of Sudan's north-south civil war. "It's not that good a habitat for elephants, but they're free of people shooting at them," said Catterson. "You and I wouldn't stand a chance in there between the mosquitoes and crocodiles. And you'd get lost."

The extent of damage the war has caused to Sudan's animal population is only now being discovered. To help protect the elephants from poachers, environmentalists have chosen to keep the location of the island secret. Environmentalists are also hoping to find other elephant herds or other groups of animals in areas unreachable by poachers and other animal hunters.

Although it's not supposed to give anyone ideas for human testing, a report by Reuters had announced that scientists had found a way to switch off certain genes related to Alzheimer's disease. They found out that by turning off a certain gene, called Cdk5, they were also able to make experimental mice smarter.

These researchers were in the process of finding a cure for memory problems, when they stumbled upon genetic engineering techniques that would allow them to switch certain genes on and off.

Cdk5, a gene that determines the production of an enzyme that is reputably linked to Alzheimer's, was one of those that they could turn off.

And what's more, the mice that did have Cdk5 turned off became better at tasks based on associated learning. Dr. James Bibb of the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center said, "It's the most important kind of learning in the animal kingdom. It's how we know where our car is and that is our wife or our husband and that's our kids. It's how we connect things."

When placed inside a maze together with ordinary mice, the altered mice performed much better in contrast. "The increase in sensitivity to their surroundings seems to have made them smarter. It was very clear right off the bat that the loss of Cdk5 made them have a much stronger associative memory," said Bibb.

Britain might not have the love hotels, but they'll probably be finding ways to make the day of hearts work to their advantage with this new update from the medical industry. It seems that Britain's men will have the pleasure of purchasing erectile dysfunction medicine over the counter on February 14, Valentine's Day.

According to Reuters, three Boots pharmacies will be selling Viagra without a prescription. All those hopefuls will need is a certification from a pharmacist to get a starting supply:

Men aged between 30 and 65 suffering from erectile dysfunction will be able to buy four Viagra pills for 50 pounds (US$ 97) without having to get a prescription from a doctor first.

Instead, they will have a private consultation with a Boots pharmacist, when their medical history will be checked and measurements taken of their blood pressure, cholesterol and blood glucose levels.

That's a lot of cash for a bit of help with lovemaking. On the bright side, there's still going to be some screening, which should temper abusive libidos somewhat. With only one out of every ten men actually needing the drug, expect some men in Britain to be turned away from a quick fix.

It's still sinking, but Shanghai's gradual descent into the sea is now at its slowest pace since 2000 thanks to massive engineering efforts to keep the city above water.

According to Reuters, the Shanghai Daily newspaper quoted the Shanghai Engineering Administrative Bureau on Tuesday as saying that the city sank only 7.5 millimeters (0.3 inches) last year. In 2005, the city sank 8.3 mm while in 2004, it sank 8.7 mm. Officials say however that more has to be done.

"Shanghai plans to control the yearly subsidence level to within seven millimeters by 2010," Liu Shouqi, of the city's land subsidence supervision department, was quoted as saying. Authorities have deployed sensors around the city to detect subsidence and cause water to be pumped underground to shore up the subsurface if necessary.

Reuters note that Shanghai, China's commercial and financial hub, is built on swamp land at the mouth of a powerful river, and lies a scant 4 meters (13 feet) above sea level on average. Its soft soil, massive development and overuse of underground water reservoirs have raised the threat of inundation.

The Center for Food Safety wants the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to declare LLRice 601 as a plant pest. The "super rice" is genetically-modified to withstand high dosages of the commercial weed killer Liberty (glufosinate ammonium). Both LLRice 601 and Liberty are products of Bayer CropScience.

The brouhaha started last month when grains of LLRice 601 were found mixed with commercial supplies of long grain rice in several states including Arkansas and Missouri.

"USDA's stamp of approval to genetically engineered rice after it has illegally contaminated the food supply would set a dangerous precedent, rewarding the biotech industry's negligence and thereby making similar contamination episodes more likely in the future," warned the consumer group.

LL601 Rice contains a protein known as Liberty Link. This protein enables the rice to survive high levels of the herbicide that would kill weeds. Two other genetically modified rice lines with Liberty Link have been confirmed safe for use in food and the environment. But they need USDA approval before they can be grown and sold commercially.

Aside from contamination issues, the consumer group contends that LLRICE 601 could create herbicide resistant super weeds and increase chemical residue.

The USDA maintains its stand that LLRice 601 carries no environmental or health concerns and it does not plan to recall or destroy the contaminated commercial product.

Rice (Oryza sativa and Oryza glaberrima) are members of the grass family and native to tropical and subtropical southern and southeastern Asia and Africa. Rice is a dietary staple of more than half of the world's human population mostly in Asia and Latin America.

Because they are naturally wind-pollinated, groups who are opposed to anti-genetically modified crops say the risk of spreading their unnatural characteristics into the wild are high.