Oldest dinosaur footprints found

Summary

8 October 2010

Scientists have found dinosaur-like footprints in a 250-million-year-old rock, suggesting that first dinosaur-like creatures emerged up to nine million years earlier than previously thought.

ReporterPallab Ghosh

For listening go here

Image by Grzegorz Niedzwiedzki

Report

These earliest dinosaur-like animals were about the size of domestic cats. They would have weighed two or three pounds (1 to 1.5 kilos) and walked on four legs.

But what's really intrigued scientists is that they date from two million years after the worst mass extinction event in the history of the planet.

It was a time when volcanic eruptions, sudden global warming and a stagnation of the oceans wiped out more than 90% of all life on Earth.

Up until recently scientists thought that dinosaurs emerged 15 to 20 million years after this event. But the new footprints suggest that they arose directly as a result of the devastation, filling a gaping ecological void. Without the mass extinctions there would have been no dinosaurs.

Pallab Ghosh, BBC News, London

dinosaur

large reptile that lived around 200 million years ago

mass extinction

large number of deaths in a relatively short period of time

volcanic eruptions

explosions of ash, fire and liquid rock coming out of the earth

global warming

increased average temperatures across the world

stagnation

inactivity

wiped out

completely destroyed

devastation

destruction

gaping

very wide

ecological

connected with plants, animals and the environment

void

area of empty space

Contacting outer space

11 October, 2006 - Published 12:17 GMT

a pyramid in Mexico A unique experiment to try to communicate with life in outer space and give a picture of life on earth is to take place from a pyramid in Mexico. Thousands of people around the world have already sent in their images, videos and sounds to the project. Duncan Kennedy reports from Mexico City: Listen to the story Contacting outer space has been an obsession for humans for thousands of years. Well now, this new project aims to make an attempt on behalf of the digital generation. Organised by the internet search engine Yahoo, material has started to be collected from around the planet. Under the section 'what makes you sad', a man from Ethiopia has sent in a letter with the word 'greed' written on it. In the 'what is fun' section, a man from Toronto has posted a picture of himself poking his tongue out. The majority of contributions so far are about the subject of love. A panel of judges will decide the final content to be digitalised. Then, later this month, the chosen work will be projected via a laser onto an ancient pyramid on the outskirts of Mexico City and then into space. The site was chosen because of the contrast between old and new civilisations. The organisers say information has never been captured on such a scale before and will show anyone or anything watching what life is really like on earth. Time capsules have long been a favoured tool of humans to pass on their legacy. In the 1970s, the astronomer Carl Sagan famously compiled a record. It included the sound of a mariachi band and greetings in an ancient Sumerian language. The record was sent out on the Voyager spacecraft. This latest attempt to speak to any potential neighbours may be earthbound. But in what is being described as the first ever digital mosaic of humanity, it hopes to harness the power of lasers and the internet to cross the inter-galactic divide. Duncan Kennedy, BBC, Mexico City Listen to the words an obsession something that people are so interested in that they are unable to think about anything else projected shown as large, clear images usually on a screen or flat surface pyramid a large building made up of four triangle-shaped walls of equal size on a flat base; the walls are usually made of stone and slope up into a point; pyramids are mainly found in Egypt and Central America on the outskirts far from the centre of, on the edge of on such a scale in such large amounts or large numbers to pass on their legacy to leave things and information after they've died to help people in the future understand more about who they were and how they lived compiled gathered or grouped together in order to make an organised collection earthbound based on earth, unable to leave the planet earth mosaic a patterned item that is made up of many pieces, here, a picture of life as it is lived by many different people to harness to capture so that it can be controlled and used Read more about this story Do a comprehension quiz about this story For teachers Lesson plan based on this story (65k)

Zoo visitors look up to new baby

20 December, 2006 - Published 10:51 GMT

A baby giraffe Visitors to a zoo in England have to look up to see the latest new born animal. It's a rare Rothschild giraffe and it is 5ft (1.5m) tall. This story voiced by Yvonne Archer:     Listen to the story The baby female, who was born on the 13 November, has been named Molly by Chester Zoo staff. Molly made her debut weighing 11 stone (70kg) and was walking around her enclosure within half an hour, said a zoo spokesperson. There are just 600 Rothschild giraffes left in the wild in Kenya and Uganda. Mike Jordan, Chester Zoo's Curator of Mammals and Birds, said that she is coming along very well and that they are delighted with her progress. He added that the zoo has a good track record when it comes to breeding giraffes and that they are delighted to welcome another to the fold." Molly is the first Rothschild giraffe to be born at the zoo and her birth came just a day after the birth of an Asian elephantcalf. Listen to the words debut first appearance enclosure (here) place where animals are kept spokesperson the worker who represents the organisation when speaking to journalists in the wild living in their natural environment Curator person who is in charge of a collection of (here) animals mammals animals which have hair or fur and are fed by milk when they are young coming along developing, making progress track record history of achievements or successes fold group or community calf young large mammal (usually cow) Read more about this story For teachers Lesson plan based on the story (36k) (past tense)

Everest Heroes Honoured in Nepal

13 February, 2008 - Published 14:04 GMT

The government of Nepal has renamed the closest airport to Mount Everest to honour the first two men known to have climbed the mountain, Tenzing Norgay and Sir Edmund Hillary. The two explorers achieved their feat in May 1953. This report from Charles Haviland: Listen to the story Except for the purists who walk all the way in from the nearest road-head, most visitors' first experience of Nepal's spectacular Everest region is the airstrip at Lukla. It's a dramatic introduction, as the plane has to drop down almost vertically between the mountains and then lands on a runway which slopes steeply upwards. It was actually the New Zealand joint first conqueror of Everest Sir Edmund Hillary, who died a month ago, who inspired the building of the airstrip in the 1960s. And it's been a motor for the development of health, education and tourism in the area. Now Nepal's tourism minister, Prithvi Subba Gurung, says it will henceforth be known as Tenzing Hillary Airport, also commemorating Hillary's climbing partner, the NepaleseSherpa Tenzing Norgay, who died in 1986. As much as anything it's a tribute to the friendship between the two men and their families, which remained strong, with Sir Edmund visiting Nepal regularly until the end of his life. Charles Haviland, BBC News, Kathmandu Listen to the words the purists people who believe in and follow very traditional rules or ideas in a subject (here, traditional mountain climbers would only arrive in Nepal by walking, not by plane) lands returns to the ground (after flying) a runway the strip of land that a plane uses when it arrives at and leaves from an airport slopes steeply upwards leans or rises up at a very sharp or steep angle joint first conqueror of Everest Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay were together the first people ever to successfully climb to the top of Mount Everest a motor for a source of energy for something, made something happen henceforth from now on Sherpa a member of a Himalayan ethnic group who is skilled at mountain climbing. Sherpas are often employed as guides by visiting climbers As much as anything one of the main aspects is a tribute in praise of, a way of celebrating and highlighting something Read more about this story Try this quiz For teachers Download lesson plan 86 K (Using apostrophe -'s)

France introduces smoking ban

02 January, 2008 - Published 15:00 GMT   France introduces smoking ban

France has joined several other European countries in imposing a ban on smoking in bars, cafes and restaurants. The ban came into effect at midnight on New Year's Eve. Most people appear to have accepted the prohibition as inevitable, though there's strong resistance in rural France. Hugh Schofield reports. Listen to the story Here in the Point du Jour bar in the town of Cosne sur Loire in Burgundy the tobacco ban has, shall we say, not quite yetcome into effect. There's a group of four or five men beside me here at the counter and they're all busy puffing away. Have no fear though, this does not mean that the ban is without teeth. The fact is that the government has given a twenty-four hour reprieve for people to bring in the New Year. And from tomorrow, everyone here concedes they will be respecting the law. If they want a ‘cloppe’ or a fag, it'll be outside on the pavement or in their cars. It's in places like this deep in the heart of the French countryside that resistance to the smoking ban has been at its strongest. People see it here as an affront to personal liberty and as a threat to a traditional way of life centred on the village café. But the fines are large, the government says it means business. And so from tomorrow here at the Point du Jour bar as across the rest of France, the morning coffee and cigarette will be a thing of the past. Hugh Schofoeld, BBC News, Burgundy Listen to the words come into effect officially become the law busy puffing away (informal) smoking cigarettes quickly is without teeth doesn't have serious consequences reprieve when you're let off (or don't have to do) something for a period of time to bring in to celebrate a fag (informal) a cigarette resistance people feel very strongly that they don't want something (here, the ban on smoking to become the law) an affront to personal liberty an action which insults or offends the freedom of individuals says it means business  is very serious about something a thing of the past something which no longer happens Read more about this story Try a quiz on this story For teachers (Countable and uncountable nouns) Download a lesson plan based on this story (82 K)

Compulsory cooking classes

23 January, 2008 - Published 16:10 GMT Compulsory cooking classes

English teenagers are to receive compulsory cooking lessons in schools. The idea is to encourage healthy eating to combat the country's spiralling obesity rate. It's feared that basic cooking and food preparation skills are being lost as parents turn to pre-prepared convenience foods. Jon Devitt reports Listen to the story Cooking was once regarded as an integral part of education in England - even if it was mainly aimed at girls. In recent decades cooking has progressively become a peripheral activity in schools. In many cases the schools themselves have given up cooking meals in kitchens on the premises. But the rising level of obesity, has led to a rethink about the food that children are given and the skills they should be taught. Ed Balls is the minister in charge of schools. "What I want is for young people to be taught how to do basic, simple recipes like a tomato sauce, a bolognaise, a simple curry, a stir-fry - which they can use then at home and in their later life, experiment with, discover the joy of food, having got the basics under control." The new lessons are due to start in September but some schools without kitchens will be given longer to adapt. There is also likely to be a shortage of teachers with the right skills, since the trend has been to teach food technology rather than practical cooking. Also the compulsory lessons for hands on cooking will only be one hour a week for one term. But the well known cookery writer, Pru Leith, believes it will be worth it. "If we'd done this thirty years ago we might not have the crisis we've got now about obesity and lack of knowledge about food and so on. Every child should know how to cook, not just so that they'll be healthy, but because it's a life skill which is a real pleasure and we deny children that pleasure." The renewed interest in cooking is primarily a response to the level of obesity in Britain which is amongst the highest in Europe, and according to government figures half of all Britons will be obese in 25 years if current trends are not halted. Jon Devitt, BBC News Listen to the words integral essential, very important peripheral minor, not as important as other things (here, school subjects) on the premises here, in the schools obesity extreme fatness to adapt to change so that they are suitable a shortage of teachers not enough teachers compulsory something you are obliged or have to do hands on  practical, making or doing something with your hands a life skill  knowledge that you can use all your life, that will help you outside of school current trends are not halted the way that most people (here, British people) are behaving continues Read more about this story Try a quiz on this story For teachers Download a lesson plan based on this story (142 K)

Oscar Wilde

Oscar Wilde's spectacular fall from grace is one of the best-known and most tragic stories in the history of literature. Born in Dublin in 1854, the son of an eye surgeon and a well-known poet, Wilde graduated from Oxford in 1878 and moved to London where he rapidly became a celebrity and the most prominent figure in the Aesthetic movement. 

A lecture tour to the United States and Gilbert and Sullivan's mockery of him in their comic operetta Patience only increased his fame. He published poetry, fairy tales and a scandalously successful novel, The Picture of Dorian Gray, about a golden youth who retained his beauty while the marks of his sins showed only on his painted portrait. 

In 1884 Wilde married Constance Lloyd and moved into the house in Tite Street, Chelsea which is now marked by a blue plaque. By the mid-1890s he was the feted author of epigrammatic comedies like Lady Windermere's Fan and The Importance of Being Earnest. 

But in 1895, the Marquess of Queensberry, disapproving of Wilde's friendship with his son Lord Alfred Douglas, sent a note addressed to Wilde, "posing as a Sodomite." Unwisely Wilde decided to sue for libel and set in motion a sequence of events that ended with him prosecuted and imprisoned for homosexuality. After his release from prison Wilde was a broken man and he died in exile in Paris in 1900. 

Stories of his last words emphasise that he retained his wit to the end. Seriously ill in a cheap Paris hotel room he is reputed to have said, "This wall-paper will be the death of me - one of us will have to go". 


Vocabulary

the Aesthetic movementThis was a literary and artistic movement which held that art should be a thing of beauty and should not be concerned with politics or religion

mockeryThis is unkind or critical comments about someone

comic operettaThis is a humorous musical play

the feted authorThis means that the writer was highly praised and regarded

epigrammaticThis means that the play used a lot of epigrams, which are short, and often humorous, sayings or poems

to sue for libelThis is to take someone to court for libel, which is the writing of lies that are harmful to someone's reputation

homosexualityThis is the sexual attraction for someone of the same sex

to be in exileThis is the state of living abroad because your government has forced you to leave your country, or (as in this context) because you feel you cannot remain there

he is reputed to have saidThis means that we do not know for certain that he said this, but we believe it to be true

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