Major Dinosaur Site Founded By China

The new discoveries include a large hadrosaur, or "duck-billed" dinosaur

Scientists in China say they believe a group of dinosaur fossils discovered in the east of the country could be the largest collection ever found.

The researchers, from the Chinese Academy of Sciences, say they have unearthed 7600 dinosaur bones since March in Shandong province.

Most of the bones date back to the late Cretaceous period which is around the time when dinosaurs became extinct.

The scientists hope the find will help to explain why the creatures died out.

"Dinosaur City"

Zhucheng in Shandong province is known locally as "dinosaur city" and has been the scene of several important finds since the 1960s.

However, the researchers say a new fossil field discovered during mining explorations earlier this year appears to be even more important.

About 3000 dinosaur bones have been dug up from a single pit just a few hundred metres long and thousands of others have been unearthed at a number of sites nearby.

Professor Zhao Xijin, the palaeontologist in charge of the excavations, told Chinese state media: "This group of fossilised dinosaurs is currently the largest ever discovered in the world... in terms of area."

The full details of the findings have not yet been published. But they are reported to include tyrannosaurus and ankylosaurus bones, as well as what could be the largest duck-billed dinosaur ever excavated.

Extinction clues

Mr Zhao said the uncovering of so many remains in such a small area is significant.

Zhao Xijin is renowned for fossil finds, such as this parrot-beaked dinosaur

"The discoveries are expected to contribute to research on the mystery of dinosaur extinction", he said.

Detailed information on the fossil find is not expected to be published in scientific journals until later in 2009.

However, a leading palaeontologist, Dr Paul Barrett, of London's Natural History Museum, told BBC News that the claim this find is the "world's largest" is likely to be credible.

Excavations are currently suspended for the winter but will resume when the weather gets warmer. The scientists say they're expecting to find even more dinosaur remains.

The local authorities in Shandong are making plans to set up a fossil park in the area.

Bug affected Microsoft Zune

The problem appears restricted to first-generation 30GB Zune players

Faulty software has crippled 30GB first generation versions of the Microsoft Zune digital media player, affecting thousands of customers worldwide.

The company said it was aware of the problem, and offered advice to Zune users on how to solve it.

Customers have reported that their devices refuse to boot up, and freeze when the start-screen appears.

The Zune was launched in 2006 as Microsoft's contender to Apple's highly successful iPod player.

Uncertainty

Discussing the cause on some user forums, some owners have said they believe the problems are due it being the first time the Zune will have updated its calendars following a Leap year.

On the Zune Insider website, Microsoft said it had been aware of the problem since early in the morning of December 31.

It said its technical team "jumped on the problem immediately and isolated the issue" - a fault in the internal clock driver related to the way the device handles a leap year.

Said Microsoft: "The issue should be resolved over the next 24 hours as the time change moves to January 1, 2009.

"We expect the internal clock on the Zune 30GB devices will automatically reset tomorrow (noon, GMT).

"By tomorrow you should allow the battery to fully run out of power before the unit can restart successfully then simply ensure that your device is recharged, then turn it back on."

When Microsoft launched the Zune in 2006 the company hoped it could become a serious rival to the iPod player.

But sales of the Zune so far have been a fraction compared to Apple's best-seller.

The problem appears restricted to 30GB first generation Zune players. Later 80GB and 120GB models appear to be unaffected.

Sixth Day of Gaza Voilence

Israel says it is fighting Hamas, not the people of Gaza

Violence has continued in the Gaza Strip for a sixth day, after calls for a UN-backed ceasefire between Israel and Palestinian militants foundered.

A series of Israeli air strikes hit the parliament building and the justice ministry. There are reports of damage to a children's hospital.

Rockets fired by Hamas militants have again landed in Beersheba, some 40km (24 miles) inside Israel.

Israel on Wednesday rejected calls for a 48-hour truce to allow aid into Gaza.

A draft UN resolution put forward by Egypt and Libya failed after the US and UK complained that it called on Israel to ends its air assaults but made no mention of Hamas rocket attacks against Israel, which they say started the latest hostilities.

Since the Israeli air offensive began on Saturday, jets and attack helicopters have targeted Hamas security compounds, government buildings, smuggling tunnels under the border with Egypt and homes belonging to militant leaders.

Palestinian officials say 391 Palestinians have died in the Israeli air strikes; four Israelis have been killed by rockets fired from Gaza, which is under Hamas control.

Aid distribution

Palestinians sources say Gaza's Justice Ministry, Legislative Assembly and Education ministry were hit.

A workshop and several money changers' officers were also hit, one of which was close to a children's hospital.

Israel said it targeted at least five smuggling tunnels along the border with Egypt, a weapons manufacturing and storage facility in central Gaza, and a Hamas police command centre in Rafah.

The UN's relief agency, Unwra, says Gaza is facing a dire humanitarian situation and is on the brink of catastrophe.

It has resumed the distribution of food and medical supplies in Gaza.

The agency's Commissioner-General, Karen AbuZayd, said 20,000 people a day had been without food aid for two weeks.

"People are doing pretty badly," she told the BBC.

"We do see for the very first time people going through the rubbish dumps looking for things, people begging, which is quite a new phenomenon."

However, Capt Benjamin Rutland of the Israeli Defence Force told the BBC that enough food and medical supplies were getting through.

Despite the failure of the initial UN talks, diplomatic efforts continue to bring an end to the fighting.

France's President Nicolas Sarkozy has said he would visit the region on Monday, although he is not scheduled to travel to Gaza.

Israel and Hamas say they may consider a ceasefire in the future, but their terms are very different.

Israel wants a permanent end to Hamas rocket attacks, while Hamas wants the Israeli air strikes to stop and the blockade on Gaza to be lifted.

Opinion polls in Israel indicate strong public backing for the air campaign, but support for risky action on the ground is much lower.

However, Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak has spoken of "widening and deepening the operation".

The Haaretz newspaper reported on Thursday that the Israeli army had recommended a major but short-term ground offensive.

Israel has massed forces along the boundary with Gaza and has declared the area around it a "closed military zone", leading to speculation a ground offensive into the tiny coastal strip could be imminent.

International reporters have been barred from entering Gaza, however Israel's Supreme Court told the government to allow at least some foreign journalists to enter.

The government was given until Thursday morning to respond.

Some General Knowledge Questions & Answers

Questions:

1. What programming language is GOOGLE developed in?

2. What is the expansion of YAHOO?

3. What is the expansion of ADIDAS?

4. Expansion of Star as in Star TV Network?

5. What is expansion of "ICICI?"

6. What does "baker's dozen" signify?

7. Who is the only man to have written the National Anthems for two different countries?

8. From what four word expression does the word `goodbye` derive?

9. How was Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu better known?

10. Name the only other country to have got independence on Aug 15th?

11. Why was James Bond Associated with the Number 007?

12. Who faced the first ball in the first ever One day match?

13. Which cricketer played for South Africa before it was banned from international cricket and later represented Zimbabwe ?

14. The faces of which four Presidents are carved at Mt.Rushmore?

15. Which is the only country that is surrounded from all sides by only one country (other than Vatican )?

16. Which is the only sport which is not allowed to play left handed?

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I'm sure that you didn't answer even any five of them so here are the Answers


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Answers:


1. Google is written in Asynchronous java-script and XML, or its acronym Ajax .

2. Yet Another Hierarchy of Officious Oracle

3. ADIDAS- All Day I Dream About Sports

4. Satellite Television Asian Region

5. Industrial credit and Investments Corporation of India

6. A baker's dozen consists of 13 items - 1 more than the items in a normal dozen

7. Rabindranath Tagore who wrote national anthem for two different countries one is our 's National anthem and another one is for Bangladesh- (Amar Sonar* *Bangla)

8. Goodbye comes from the ex-pression: 'god be with you'.

9. Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu is none other Mother Teresa.

10. South Korea .

11. Because 007 is the ISD code for Russia (or the USSR , as it was known during the cold war)

12. Geoffrey Boycott

13. John Traicos

14. George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt, and Abraham Lincoln

15. Lesotho surrounded from all sides by South Africa .

16. Polo.

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