More ancient than that stuff in your fridge...

Researchers believe they have extended the age of domesticated maize; as far back as 8,700 years ago. 

Maize - also known as corn - has been recently shown by molecular biologists to have evolved from a wild grass from the Balsas Valley in southern Mexico. 

Researchers focused on the Xihuatoxtla Shelter in an area of the Balsas Valley that is home to a large, wild grass called Balsas teosinte that molecular biologists recently identified as the ancestor of maize. The shelter contained early maize and squash remains as well as ancient stone tools used to grind and mill the plants.

"We found the remains of maize and squash in many contexts from the earliest occupation levels," added Dolores Piperno, of the Smithsonian's Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C. "This indicates these two crops were being routinely consumed nearly 9,000 years ago."

"Big deal," you may think.  "No honey..."

Since around 2006 there have been reports of the rapid decline and disappearance of bee populations around the world.  The British Beekeeper's Association, for example, reported a 30% decline in bee numbers during 2007/2008.

It's not just a decline in the production of honey that will result, however.  Those of us who are city dwellers may not be completely aware that honeybees pollinate many plants - and some of those plants go on to feed animals.  One estimate is that around 90 commercial crops are pollinated by the honey bee - resulting in an annual harvest approaching a figure of US$ 15 billion.

So far, the decline in bee populations are not understood by researchers.  Theories abound such as  Colony Collapse Disorder, parasitic insects (the varroa mite), bacterial infection (foulbrood) - some claims even include speculation on bee proximity to genetically modified crops and mobile phone masts.

...but find giant prehistoric snakes instead

Carolos Jaramillo and his team of Smithsonian funded paleontologists would be able to tell you just how similar coal mining and hunting fossils really are.  Mostly due to the fact that their work-site is within the massive open-pit Cerrejon coal mine in northern Colombia.

The similarity mostly ends there.  Coal miners hunt for ancient plant matter, unrecognisably compressed over millions of years, which they will bring up to the earth's surface and send off to be burned.  Paleontologists, on the other hand, carefully examine dig sites, aiming to find, classify, understand and preserve the remains of fossilised life from the past.

oh...don't forget Titanoboa cerrejonensis...

13 metres long and over a thousand kilograms in weight.  Jamarillo's team have found the 60 million year old fossil remains of 28 of these monster snakes under the layers of the open-pit mine.  The name, Titanoboa, definitely conjures up (nearly as old!) gaudily coloured Godzilla monster movies.

You don't have to be 8 years old to love it.

Baobab trees!

This is a photo of a group of Adansonia Grandidieri trees - a.k.a. baobab trees.

Baobab are found in Africa and Australia and can grow up to 30m in height with trunks up to 11m.  Some baobabs are though to be thousands of years old.

This image is available to download - please read image rights prior to use.

So.  Two guys tell you they have a dead bigfoot in their freezer....

It sounds like the beginning of a really bad joke you might hear in a bar.  But the sequence of events associated with the most recent claims about the discovery of bigfoot are definitely more strange than funny.