Researchers say they have found evidence that supports the idea that the emergence of agriculture in prehistory took much longer than originally thought.

Until recently researchers say the story of the origin of agriculture was one of a relatively sudden appearance of plant cultivation in the Near East around 10,000 years ago, spreading quickly into Europe and dovetailing conveniently with ideas about how quickly language and population genes spread from the Near East to Europe. Initially, genetics appeared to support this idea but now there are questions about the evidence underpinning that model

A team led by Dr Robin Allaby from the University of Warwick's plant research arm, Warwick HRI, have developed a new mathematical model that shows how plant agriculture actually began much earlier than first thought, well before the Younger Dryas (the last "big freeze" with glacial conditions in the higher latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere). It also shows that useful gene types could have actually taken thousands of years to become stable.

SAN FRANCISCO and LONDON, September 18 /PRNewswire/ --

- This BREEAM Certification for Design and Procurement is Industry First for Green Datacentres

NEW YORK, September 18 /PRNewswire/ --

- Credit Crisis Threatens Leading Financial Services Brands Coca-Cola Maintains its No. 1 Spot; Google's Brand Soars; Merrill Lynch's Plummets

Google, Apple, Amazon.com, Zara and Nintendo are among this year's top gainers in Interbrand's annual ranking of The Best Global Brands, and not surprisingly, financial services giants Merrill Lynch, Citi and Morgan Stanley are among the companies that have slipped dramatically down the list.

Coca-Cola (No. 1) remains the best global brand for the eighth year in a row. Yet, a notable shift in this year's rankings was made by IBM, which took over the No. 2 position from Microsoft (No. 3). Google also moved into the top 10 brands, at No. 10, after ranking at No. 20 in 2007.

Manipulating embryo-derived stem cells before transplanting them may hold the key to optimizing stem cell technologies for repairing spinal cord injuries in humans, according to research published in the Journal of Biology. They say it may lead to cell based therapies for victims of paralysis to recover the use of their bodies without the risk of transplant induced pain syndromes.

Dr. Stephen Davies, Associate Professor of Neurosurgery at the University of Colorado Denver School of Medicine, reported that, in collaboration with researchers at the University of Rochester, his research team has transplanted two types of the major support cells of the brain and spinal cord, cells called astrocytes. These two types of astrocytes, which are both made from the same embryo-derived stem cell-like precursor cell, have remarkably different effects on the spinal repair process.

This summer, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration is celebrating its 50th anniversary. Take this quiz to find find out how NASA knowledgeable you really are.

You consider yourself a staunch supporter of space travel. As a child, you spent many a day lying under your mother's dining room table, pushing imaginary overhead buttons in your very own spaceship. When Apollo 13 opened in movie theaters, you spent all 140 excruciating minutes questioning its historic accuracy while your date slumped over snoozing. You even know that Starfleet Headquarters is located in San Francisco.

But how much do you really know about NASA, the US agency that's been pushing to explore that final frontier for the last fifty years?

People who believe eating genetically modified organisms will turn them literally into what they eat are in for a new nightmare - genetically engineered animals.

Highly ironic case of misinformed alarmist sprouting antlers, snout reported to FDA

The Food and Drug Administration issued a draft guidance on the regulation of genetically engineered animals today. (For those not well versed in the parlance of regulation, this is a document that describes FDA's current thinking on an issue. The agency alerts the relevant stakeholders that they can comment on the guidance, and then a final guidance is developed. This is not regulation, it's guidance - as the name implies, the document guides stakeholders in what actions they should take.)

LONDON, September 18 /PRNewswire/ --

- Metallica Plays to a Record Crowd of 18,000

Ticketmaster (NASDAQ:TKTM), the world's leading live entertainment ticketing and marketing company, is pleased to announce for the first time ever in a concert setting in the United Kingdom, an entire arena was scanned in with our new, fan-friendly Paperless Ticket(TM) technology. More than 7000 tickets were scanned or swiped in the first 45 minutes with more than 18,000 fans admitted in total in just over 2 hours.

LONDON, September 18 /PRNewswire/ --

- Firex India - 16-18 October 2008 - Pragati Maidan, New Delhi, India

One of India's most influential associations, the Fire and Safety Association of India (FSAI), has voiced its support of the inaugural Firex India exhibition, which is launching on the 16-18 October at Pragati Maidan, New Delhi, India. Firex India has been developed to run alongside security event IFSEC India 2008 in response to the rapid national economic development of India and the increasing role the fire industry plays in this development.

MIAMI, September 18 /PRNewswire/ --

Brightstar Corp., a global leader in customized distribution and integrated supply chain solutions for the wireless industry, today announced the appointment of Harry Lagad as president, integrated supply chain solutions.

With a career spanning over 30 years, Lagad's experience ranges across five continents and several industries covering a blend of general management, business development, manufacturing and supply chain. He has worked in leadership roles with Pacific Dunlop, Kodak, Tech Pacific (Ingram Micro), TNT, and most recently with Nokia, the world leader in mobility.

BEIJING, September 18 /PRNewswire/ --

As the Paralympic Games draw to a close, the official Language Training and Testing Supplier of the Beijing Olympics, aifly Education Technology Company, continues to work with volunteer organizations in China and internationally to give China's Olympic volunteers opportunities to take their passion and message of friendship and hope to people all over the world.

(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20080918/CNTH032 )

While international guests and athletes journey back to their homes abroad, the 15 million volunteers who trained for and served them over the last two months are looking forward to bringing the spirit of volunteerism to the entire nation and beyond.