Unknown Bird Species In Africa

Just over a month since the Smithsonian Institution announced the discovery of new bird species in Africa, little is still known about the olive-backed forest robin named for its distinctive olive back and rump.

Scientists are trying to unravel the little bird’s specific diet, mating and nesting habits, and the species’ complete habitat range, but the dense undergrowth of tropical forest where it was sighted may still offer further surprises.

Adult members of the robins - both male and female - measure just about 4.5 inches in length and average 18 grams in weight.

Males exhibit a fiery orange throat and breast, yellow belly, olive back and black feathers on the head. Females are similar, but less vibrant. Both sexes have a distinctive white dot on their face in front of each eye.

Ocean Appears in Middle Of Africa

At the same time as Paraguay is drying up, Africa is ripping open, a slow process that will result in the emergence of a whole new ocean, according to Scientific American. The rip you see above can't be resewn — as Eitan Haddock's photographs document. Last year, scientists watched an 8 meter rip in the earth appear in only three weeks. Change is nothing new for this part of the world: researchers recently revealed that the Sahara was entirely covered in vegetation at many points during the last 120,000 years. Watch an ocean appear before your disbelieving eyes, after the jump.

Asteroid hits western Sudan

A small asteroid exploded over Africa this week following what astronomers said was the first firm prediction of an incoming space rock.

It did not strike Earth.

The asteroid was about the size of kitchen table, astronomers estimated, and they think the explosion (caused by the pressures of slamming into the atmosphere) left nothing but perhaps a few small bits to fall to the surface.

No photographs of the explosion have been reported, owing to the remote location of the object's path over Sudan. But the explosion was recorded by an infrasound array in Kenya. Peter Brown at the University of Western Ontario estimated, based on the infrasound data, that the asteroid exploded at 0243 UT with an energy of somewhere between 1.1 and 2.1 kilotons of TNT.