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Labels: unbelievable

People were drinking chocolate in Central America more than 3,000 years ago, scientists say.

Archaeologists led by John Henderson of Cornell University studied the remains of pottery used in the lower Ulua Valley in northern Honduras about 1100 B.C.

Residue from the pots contained theobromine, which occurs in the cacao plant and is the source of chocolate, the researchers said in Monday's online edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

The find dates the first use of chocolate to some 500 years earlier than previously known, they said.

The style of the pottery indicates that cacao was served at important ceremonies to mark weddings and births, according to the authors.

Labels: discoveries

Tucking into a plate of seafood, few diners spare a thought for the feelings of the creatures in front of them.

Scientists have no qualms either, having long argued that crustaceans such as lobsters don't feel pain even when cooked live in boiling water.

But a British biologist is challenging this orthodoxy with a study suggesting that prawns, at least, do suffer when harmed.

Professor Robert Elwood dabbed acetic acid, the main ingredient of vinegar, on to the antennae of 144 of them.

The reaction, he said, was exactly the same as that seen in mammals exposed to painful irritants.

"The prolonged, specifically directed rubbing and grooming is consistent with an interpretation of pain experience," he told New Scientist magazine.

Most biologists believe that simple invertebrates - animals with no backbones and limited nervous systems- cannot feel pain or experience-suffering.

Professor Elwood, of Queen's University, Belfast, rejects this argument on evolutionary grounds. The ability to suffer allows animals to learn from harmful experiences and avoid them in the future, he said.

His research has not, however, convinced other experts in the field.

Liverpool University's Dr Lynne Sneddon, who has investigated whether eels feel pain, said: "You could argue the shrimp is simply trying to clean the antenna rather than showing a pain response."

Dr Richard Chapman, of the University of Utah's pain response centre, said there was a difference between responding to an acidic chemical and actually feeling pain.

Most animal have sensors that react to irritants, he said, adding: "Even a single-cell organism can detect a threatening chemical and retreat from it. But this is not sensing pain."

Annette Pinner, of the Vegetarian Society, said diners should avoid eating lobsters even if the jury was still out on whether they can suffer.

She added: "The more information people have about the pain that animals feel and the way they are treated, the more likely they are to move to a vegetarian diet."

Labels: science

Baros was driving on a motorway not far from Lyon on Thursday when he was caught by French police, who confiscated the black Ferrari and took his driving license.

The 26-year-old, sidelined by an injury, had to take a taxi back to Lyon. He faces a heavy fine and a three-year driving ban.

Labels: news