In a desert in northern Chile, scientists are busy digging out dozens of fossils of the ancestors of modern whales, many of them complete skeletons. The fossils are up to seven million years old. This will add to an impressive collection of whale and pre-whale fossils already in the scientific record. And see here.
Not everyone has earned the right to burn oodles of carbon-based fuel in order to travel to both the North Pole and the South Pole. Sir David Attenborough has earned that right, based upon his exquisite, inspiring, nature documentaries. Yes, he's visiting the poles as part of an effort to produce yet another documentary, this one called "Frozen Planet." Here's the report from the U.K. times:
In more than half a century of bringing the world into our living rooms, Sir David Attenborough has travelled to pretty much every far-flung spot you can think of. But one inhospitable place, short on wildlife and good excuses for stopping by, remained unexplored by the veteran broadcaster. Now he has finally realised his boyhood ambition to stand on the top of the world.If you don't know Sir David Attenborough by name, you'll like know his face and his upbeat warm-hearted scientifically precise commentary. Here's one of my favorite clips, where he describes the anatomy of the blue whale: