Ancient statue discovered by Nazis is made from meteorite

An ancient Buddhist statue that was recovered by a Nazi expedition in the 1930s was originally carved from a highly valuable meteorite.

Researchers say the 1,000-year-old object with a swastika on its stomach is made from a rare form of iron with a high content of nickel.

They believe it is part of the Chinga meteorite, which crashed about 15,000 years ago.

... Read more »

The mechanisms behind the effortless way that hummingbirds fly backwards have been revealed in a recent study.

Although hummingbirds routinely fly backwards, it has never before been scientifically described in detail.

University of California scientists Dr Nir Sapir and Robert Dudley, recorded the birds' flight biomechanics using high-speed cameras and oxygen uptake.

They found that hummingbirds' backward flight uses similar amounts of energy to flying for ... Read more »