National Geographic Headlines: Archaeology, Astronomy, and Animals

3. National Geographic shows the best photos and images anywhere! Check out this cool image of the highest known mountain in our solar system. Click on the link for other cool photos.

4. Flying Lemurs With "Backpacks" Reveal Gliding Secrets - high tech 'backpacks' have been attached to flying lemurs that help scientists better understand flight dynamics and wing flexibility. We continue to learn from the natural world around us.

5. Farmed Salmon Decimating Wild Salmon Worldwide- we farm salmon because we love to eat it and we don't wish to fish the animal into extinction. But our farming of salmon is causing a different kind of harm to the wild salmon. Another example of how hard it is to predict what our actions will do to the world around us, even those we think are good.

6. Egypt's Earliest Farming Village Found - archaeologists are now learning about the people who lived in Egypt during the late Stone Age because of the discovery of an ancient farming village. Egypt has always interested me. One of the many interesting finds in this village is the remains of domesticated wheat, barley, pigs, sheep, and goats—all imported from the Middle East or Turkey. This adds a new chapter to the history of Egypt's contact with foreign cultures in pre-pharaonic times. Cool stuff!

7. Lake Mead May Dry Up by 2021 - I visited Lake Mead back in 1994. In my mind, I picture a huge, beautiful lake. It doesn't sound like it is as large as it used to be. One of my biggest fears is the decreasing amount of freshwater in our country. That scares me far more than global warming.

8. New World Settlers Took 20,000-Year Pit Stop - it appears that the Asian ancestors of the Native Americans didn't just waltz across the Bering Strait. And it appears that more of them made the trip than previously thought.

9. Rare Sandpipers Found in Myanmar - 84 rare spoonbilled sandpipers have been found on the coast of Myanmar. This is giving conservationists hope regarding this endangered species that normally breeds in Siberia may have other as yet unfound breeding grounds, since out of the 84 discovered on Myanmar, only 1 was from Siberia. I love good news, don't you? And look at what a cool critter this guy is!

10. Rare Egyptian "Warrior" Tomb Found - Based on the coffin's inscriptions and pottery found near it, experts date the burial to the early reign of the 11th dynasty, which lasted from 2125 to 1985 B.C. Soldiers played an important role in society during that time, when Egypt was reunified after years of civil war.

Some intact burials from that period had been found in the 1920s, but the leader of the new excavation, Jose Galán of the Spanish National Research Council, said the new find could offer a fresh look into the era's burial customs.

"It's fairly uncommon to find nowadays an 11th-dynasty intact burial. This is really remarkable," Galán said.

And check out this amazing photo! Look how beautiful this is after around 4000 years in the ground! Isn't that amazing!?

11. And here is another smattering of excellent photos. My favorite is the baby monkey with its mama.

The red titi monkey was born in January to his mother Yara, but the zoo chose Valentine's Day week to announce the birth after giving the baby a few weeks to acclimatize in the biome, according to a news release on the Zoo's Web site.

12. Early Mars Too Acidic, Salty for Life, Experts Say - So water probably did exist on Mars in the past, but it was not habitable to life as we know it. Too bad...

Well, I still have 44 NG posts to peruse through, but it is time to get ready to go. Jack is going to a birthday/ice skating party and Katrina and I are going to visit my dad and stepmom for the afternoon. Toodles for now!