Steep oxygen decline halted first land colonization by Earth's sea creatures
Vertebrate creatures first began moving from the world's oceans to land about 415 million years ago, then all but disappeared by 360 million years ago. The fossil record contains few examples of animals with backbones for the next 15 million years, and then suddenly vertebrates show up again, this time for good. The mysterious lull in vertebrate colonization of land is known as Romer's Gap...Statistics Show Steep Rise of Female Smokers in Hong Kong
Social change and marketing campaigns by tobacco companies have been blamed for a 45 percent increase in the number of female smokers in the last eight years//, a media report said Monday. Figures from Hong Kong's census and statistics department show the number of women smokers jumped from 78,800 in 1998 to 114,300 last year, the South China Morning Post said. By comparis...Steep Rise in Number of Babies Born Out of Wedlock
A study conducted by The National Center for Health Statistics shows that there has been a remarkable increase in the number of babies born to unwed mothers, worldwide.// The statistics show that four babies out of ten born last year were borne by unwed mothers.It is generally believed that only teen-age girls end up bearing babies without getting married. This study has found that the...