The Tunguska event is regarded as one of the biggest natural disasters of modern times. On 30 June 1908 one or more explosions took place in the area close to the Tunguska River north of Lake Baikal. The explosion(s) flattened around 80 million trees over an area of more than 2000 square kilometres.

The strength of the explosion is estimated to have been equivalent to between five and 30 megatons of TNT. That is more than a thousand times as powerful as the Hiroshima bomb.

This almost unpopulated region of Siberia was first studied in 1927 by Professor Leonid A. Kulik. There are a number of different theories about what caused the catastrophe. However, the majority of scientists assume that it was caused by a cosmic event, such as the impact of a meteorite, asteroid or comet. If it had exploded in the atmosphere just under five hours later, St. Petersburg, which was the capital of Russia at that time, would have been completely destroyed because of the Earth's rotation.

hominin fossils are the most important materials for exploring human origins and evolution. Since most hominin fossils are incomplete, or filled with a heavy calcified matrix, it is difficult or often impossible to reconstruct the endocast in a real fossil without destroying it.

Accordingly, traditional methods limited the study of human brain evolution. CT can explore fossils in a noninvasive way by transforming a real fossil into a virtual object, and make it possible for paleoanthropologists to extend the study of fossil specimens from the exterior to the interior.

SOUTHAMPTON, England, July 15 /PRNewswire/ --

- With Photos

Garmin, the global leader in portable satellite navigation, today announced it has strengthened its relationship with Ford Europe by developing a unique mounting solution that allows seamless integration of the award winning Garmin nüvi 760 to the vehicles electronics. Available on the Focus, C-Max, Kuga, new Fiesta, Transit and Transit Connect, this is Ford's first genuine portable navigation system available at select dealerships across mainland Europe.

LONDON, July 15 /PRNewswire/ --

ICE Clear Europe(TM), a wholly-owned subsidiary of IntercontinentalExchange (NYSE: ICE), today announced that it has reached agreement with LCH. Clearnet (LCH) and Members on the transition date for the movement of all ICE Futures Europe(TM) and ICE over-the-counter (OTC) trading positions from LCH to ICE Clear Europe. The transition will occur over the weekend of September 13-14, 2008. Existing futures and OTC clearing arrangements between ICE and LCH remain unchanged until the transfer is complete. ICE Clear Europe had previously announced that the transition date was expected to occur in the month of August, but was subject to further consultation with LCH and clearing members.

PORTSMOUTH, New Hampshire, July 15 /PRNewswire/ --

- Companies' Joint Technologies Further Unify Information Security From Edge-to-Core Battling Data Breaches; Meets Stringent Compliance Requirements

NitroSecurity, Inc. (http://www.nitrosecurity.com), a provider of high performance, unified information security solutions, today announced that it has acquired RippleTech. The combination of NitroSecurity's award winning Security Information & Event Management (SIEM) and Intrusion Prevention System (IPS) solutions with RippleTech's Database Activity Monitoring and Log Management solutions, allows companies to better protect their critical data and infrastructure with one integrated solution.

BOSTON, July 15 /PRNewswire/ --

- ePals to provide Kenyan classrooms with the largest social network for meaningful learning

The Kenyan Ministry of Education will provide the opportunity for their students and educators to safely connect with schools around the world through ePals (http://www.epals.com), the largest and fastest growing global network for meaningful learning. Leveraging the safe, protected and collaborative learning and e-mentoring tools available through ePals, Kenyan students and educators can connect with classrooms in 200 countries and territories, conducting cross-cultural exchanges, language learning practice, and project-based collaboration to build the 21st century skills necessary to succeed in a global economy.

BASINGSTOKE, England and CAMBRIDGE, Massachusetts, July 15 /PRNewswire/ -- Shire Limited (LSE: SHP, NASDAQ: SHPGY), the global specialty biopharmaceutical company, notes that Jerini AG (FSE:JI4) has announced today that the European Commission has granted the company marketing authorization for its lead compound FIRAZYR(R) (Icatibant) in the treatment of acute attacks of hereditary angioedema (HAE). HAE is a debilitating and potentially life-threatening genetic disease characterized by spontaneous and recurring attacks of edema.

PALO ALTO, California and TOKYO, July 15 /PRNewswire/ -- HP and Sony Corporation today announced an agreement to create the next generation Digital Audio Tape (http://www.datmgm.com/) format - the DAT 320 - providing improved performance and capacity over existing DAT drives.

HP and Sony are jointly developing the DAT or Digital Data Storage (DDS) standard, but will separately offer their own DAT 320 tape drives and cartridges. Similar to previous generations of DAT/DDS, the DAT 320 will be an open standard, which ensures partners can continue to obtain license rights.

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia, July 15 /PRNewswire/ --

The financial year ended 31 March 2008 was yet another highly challenging year for the PETRONAS Group as it continues to strive to generate value amidst an increasingly volatile and uncertain global oil and gas industry environment beleaguered with escalating cost and an acute shortage of experienced personnel as well as equipment.

WALTHAM, Massachusetts, July 15 /PRNewswire/ --

- First Patient has been Enrolled for this Phase II clinical study of EyeGate's Lead Product EGP-437 Delivered by its Iontophoresis Technology that Non-Invasively Delivers Drug to the Eye