The Daily: November 28
Vinyl records are back in fashion with the greatest sales since 1996
Although it has been strongly believed that vinyl records went out of style after the introduction of CDs and downloads, it appears they have recently come back into fashion. More than one million vinyls were purchased in the UK this year, which has not been the case since 1996. Current figures display how the number of sales this year has already exceeded last year's sum of 780,674 and is predicted to move past 1.2 million with the Christmas sales. Previously this month, Pink Floyd's The Endless River received 6,000 sales, making it the fastest-selling vinyl release since 1997. The vinyl industry is now valued at £20 million, in comparison to the estimated £3 million a year in 2009
Neolithic teeth reveal that Cereal was a basic diet in Sudan 7,000 years ago
It has recently been discovered that humans in Africa were harvesting and consuming cereals 7,000 years ago, numerous centuries earlier than it was originally believed to be. This revelation occurred as researchers discovered ancient barley and wheat residue on the teeth of skeletons from two Neolithic cemeteries in Central Sudan and Nubia. Dr Welmoed Out from Kiel University says: 'The diversity of the diet was much greater than previously assumed.' It is understood that wheat was initially cultivated in the Middle East around 10,500 years ago and expanded from there to Central and South Asia then again to Europe and North Africa.
Could turkeys affirm more about how our muscles work?
Amazingly, Dr Thomas Roberts from Brown University in Rhode Island is carrying out an experiment where he will analyse how turkeys run on a treadmill in order to achieve a greater understanding of the science behind running. He claims the exercise will not only expose more about how the muscles of birds work, it could even relate to humans. The intention of the experiment is to comprehend how muscles control the movement of our bodies, 'Even seemingly simple activities that we take for granted, like walking, involve dozens of muscles performing complex mechanical actions, and incredibly coordinated pattern of neural control, and some involved physics as well,' he says. Roberts trusts that turkeys are an exceptional model for understanding how our muscles power movement as they experience the same physical challenges as us.
247-million-year-old fossil suggests more species survived the world's greatest mass extinction
In China, the discovery of a 247-million-year-old giant sea dragon fossil could confirm that more species survived the world's greatest mass extinction, known as the Permian–Triassic or 'The Great Dying', than previously thought. The Nothosaurus zhangi is part of the Sauropterygia, a group of aquatic reptiles in the Triassic period and was named after the researcher who exposed the 22-foot-long fossil in 2008. The calamitous Permian-Triassic took place around 250-million-years ago, causing 96 per cent of species to become extinct. It has remained unexplained what generated the catastrophic event however some scientists believe it to be the result of a volcanic eruption.
Carriage that carried Churchill after his funeral is restored to former glory
Around half a century ago, millions of people across the world witnessed the funeral of Sir Winston Churchill after which his body was carried in a classically charming train carriage to his final resting place. Following the ceremony, the train carriage arrived in Los Angeles before being returned to the UK in 2007. It is now in the hands of the Swanage Railway Trust and has been revived at the National Railway Museum's site in Shildon, County Durham. The carriage will be brought to the museum's site in York where it will be presented alongside the Shildon locomotive No 34051, named Winston Churchill, which pulled the funeral train. Both articles have been meticulously restored to their former glory to honour the 50th anniversary of the wartime Prime Minister's funeral.
Although it has been strongly believed that vinyl records went out of style after the introduction of CDs and downloads, it appears they have recently come back into fashion. More than one million vinyls were purchased in the UK this year, which has not been the case since 1996. Current figures display how the number of sales this year has already exceeded last year's sum of 780,674 and is predicted to move past 1.2 million with the Christmas sales. Previously this month, Pink Floyd's The Endless River received 6,000 sales, making it the fastest-selling vinyl release since 1997. The vinyl industry is now valued at £20 million, in comparison to the estimated £3 million a year in 2009
Neolithic teeth reveal that Cereal was a basic diet in Sudan 7,000 years ago
It has recently been discovered that humans in Africa were harvesting and consuming cereals 7,000 years ago, numerous centuries earlier than it was originally believed to be. This revelation occurred as researchers discovered ancient barley and wheat residue on the teeth of skeletons from two Neolithic cemeteries in Central Sudan and Nubia. Dr Welmoed Out from Kiel University says: 'The diversity of the diet was much greater than previously assumed.' It is understood that wheat was initially cultivated in the Middle East around 10,500 years ago and expanded from there to Central and South Asia then again to Europe and North Africa.
Could turkeys affirm more about how our muscles work?
Amazingly, Dr Thomas Roberts from Brown University in Rhode Island is carrying out an experiment where he will analyse how turkeys run on a treadmill in order to achieve a greater understanding of the science behind running. He claims the exercise will not only expose more about how the muscles of birds work, it could even relate to humans. The intention of the experiment is to comprehend how muscles control the movement of our bodies, 'Even seemingly simple activities that we take for granted, like walking, involve dozens of muscles performing complex mechanical actions, and incredibly coordinated pattern of neural control, and some involved physics as well,' he says. Roberts trusts that turkeys are an exceptional model for understanding how our muscles power movement as they experience the same physical challenges as us.
247-million-year-old fossil suggests more species survived the world's greatest mass extinction
In China, the discovery of a 247-million-year-old giant sea dragon fossil could confirm that more species survived the world's greatest mass extinction, known as the Permian–Triassic or 'The Great Dying', than previously thought. The Nothosaurus zhangi is part of the Sauropterygia, a group of aquatic reptiles in the Triassic period and was named after the researcher who exposed the 22-foot-long fossil in 2008. The calamitous Permian-Triassic took place around 250-million-years ago, causing 96 per cent of species to become extinct. It has remained unexplained what generated the catastrophic event however some scientists believe it to be the result of a volcanic eruption.
Carriage that carried Churchill after his funeral is restored to former glory
Around half a century ago, millions of people across the world witnessed the funeral of Sir Winston Churchill after which his body was carried in a classically charming train carriage to his final resting place. Following the ceremony, the train carriage arrived in Los Angeles before being returned to the UK in 2007. It is now in the hands of the Swanage Railway Trust and has been revived at the National Railway Museum's site in Shildon, County Durham. The carriage will be brought to the museum's site in York where it will be presented alongside the Shildon locomotive No 34051, named Winston Churchill, which pulled the funeral train. Both articles have been meticulously restored to their former glory to honour the 50th anniversary of the wartime Prime Minister's funeral.