SCIENCE IN THE NEWS WEEKLY
Early Sponges, a Killer Bird, and a Civil War Camp
Scientists reported last week that tiny fossils, which resemble sponges, in rocks from Australia could be the oldest fossils of full-fledged animal bodies yet discovered.
In other news of the ancient past, researchers said that the so-called South American "terror bird" likely wielded its huge skull and hooked beak like a pickax to subdue its prey.
The New York Times looked at what's known about South American khipus -- the cryptic woven knots that may explain how the Incas ruled a vast empire without a written language.
And, finally, a graduate student's research project has led to the location of an undisturbed Civil War POW camp near Savannah, Georgia. Archaeologists say a number of rare artifacts have been found at the Camp Lawton site, as the prison was known.
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