SCIENCE IN THE NEWS WEEKLY
Killer Waves, A Tyrannosaur Cousin, Nazca Catastrophe
Researchers reported last week that new evidence suggests that giant tsunamis from the eruption of Thera volcano in the Aegean Sea more than 3,000 years ago inundated coastal sites across the Eastern Mediterranean.
In other news of the ancient past, researchers said a fossil in London's Natural History Museum is from the oldest known relative of the carnivorous Tyrannosaurus rex. It was found in Gloucestershire in the 1900s.
Elsewhere, researchers said the Nazca people of Peru may have been at least partly responsible for their own demise. The evidence suggests that deforestation for agriculture by the ancient civilization left the landscape vulnerable to a devastating El Niño-fueled flood.
And, finally, academics reported that creationism is increasingly being embraced by Muslims, but that those who believe God made the universe in just a few thousand years are rare. The Koran's metaphorical reckoning of time was cited as the main reason.