Word: sahara
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Digging for archaeological paydirt in what is now the Sahara Desert, scientists have unearthed the fossilized bones of the second-largest dinosaur ever to walk the earth. Dubbed Paralititan stromeri (the first name means "tidal giant"; the second refers to Ernst Stromer, a geologist who found dinosaur fossils in the area in the 1930s and took them to Germany, only to have them destroyed by Allied bombing in WWII) this long-necked, plodding sauropod munched on lush ferns and trees in an area that 90 million years ago was, according to discoverer Joshua B. Smith "dinosaur heaven...
...will broker a book deal, and he may also talk to agents in Manhattan eager to package this most mediagenic figure into a brand: big-ticket speeches taped to become one-hour specials; missions to Africa turned into PBS series, to do for the starving masses in the sub-Sahara what Harvest of Shame did for migrant workers...
...Christmases past haunt Elton John this week as the secrets of his private spending sprees continue to leak out of his legal imbroglio with a former lover. John, of course, is the world's most famous compulsive shopper-he once boasted that he could find a shop in the Sahara desert and has four luxury homes, and all sorts of vintage cars, jewelry, outrageous costumes and clothes. Out of court came the precise figure: John once spent $56.95 million in a 20 month period, more than $468,000 of it on flowers alone. When asked to explain the petals purchase...
...sudden chill would shorten growing seasons, and the resulting changes in precipitation could be even more damaging. Colder air is dryer air, and Alley points out that during the Younger Dryas, the monsoon weakened in Asia and the Sahara expanded. Harvey Weiss, a Yale archaeologist who has studied the role of climate in human history, notes that it's not changes in temperature that bring down civilizations but changes in precipitation...
...does not lack for opinions. He criticizes Europeans for seeing North Africans as terrorists, and when asked if he is satisfied with U.S. economic support, his answer is, "Absolutely not." He is blunt about Morocco's relations with Algeria, which he cites for prolonging the dispute over the Western Sahara. The King refuses to take part in a meeting that simply becomes "a contest on who will speak the loudest." Yet he is not above praising Algeria's President for his sense of humor...