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Whales are generally classified in two groups – baleen and toothed whales – and both show adaptations that prevents the bends that would otherwise result after diving hundreds of metres deep.

While scientists used to believe that both groups evolved from a single deep-diving ancestor, a new theory proposed by Brian Beatty puts the idea forward that the overcoming of the bends evolved independantly in both groups.

By analysing whale bone fossils they found that whales were still suffering from decompression syndromes around the time where both lineages split apart, but modern whales of either group can both dive deep without adverse effects.

Read more about this fascinating research into when anti-bends adaptations first arose in whales:

Early whales got the bends – life – 08 May 2008 – New Scientist

The above picture is a painting by Noel Ashton depicting a Sperm Whale diving © IFAW

A new project called the Great Australia Shark Count has thus far determined at least 4,022 sharks swim in waters surrounding the land down under.

Read the whole story:
Discovery News – Australia Shark Count Breaking Records

About five short-snouted seahorses (Hippocampus hippocampus) have been spotted during routine conservation surveys over the last year or so, leading scientists to think they have probably established a resident population.

Read more:
Seahorses discovered in the River Thames – life – 07 April 2008 – New Scientist

Joseph Weizenbaum, the computer pioneer who gave us the Eliza program died last week. The sad event was nearly ignored by the international press.

A whole week later, which is geological ages in today’s fast-living world, the New York Times has published an article to commemorate the great thinker, who was so far ahead of his time.

Joseph Weizenbaum, Famed Programmer, Is Dead at 85 – New York Times

Let’s hope other catch up as well and pay tribute to Weizenbaum for a last time.

Get ready for this hit of tech nostalgia over at Engadget. 

Some of you may remember the days when portable phones where just that – "portable", meaning you could (if you wanted to) carry them from place to place.

Hand-held computers didn’t compute much more than sums (using BASIC programming language) and were no more  than programmable pocket calculators. 

And if you’ve followed the head-spinning pace of development  in consumer electronics you know that this wasn’t all that long ago. It was in 1985 to be precise!

Engadget is a blog (the word didn’t exist back then) which usually brings you the latest in electronic gadgets – laptops, computers, phones, games consoles, tv & video, robots and anything rocket-powered.

Just for fun, one of their writers has compiled a list of the greatest and bestest gadgets that were around in 1985. 

Read this amusing trip down memory lane on
Engadget 1985

Did you ever:

• own a Commodore 128 or Amiga, or
• rush out to be the first to own a 1 megapixel digital camera, or
• get your hands on the first model of compact disc player ?

If you can answer yes to any of the above – This was written for you.

Those were the days!