Timeline for 1990s to 1999 CE

Throughout 1990s various authors contribute to the published literature articles and books that support a growing array of support for intelligent design. See the Second Feature Area of WindowView for related topics and feature articles that are relevant to this topic.

Experience WindowView
(the main goals of this site!)

1990 CE - Cosmic Background Explorer (COBE) satellite makes accurate measurement of microwave radiation first detected by Wilson and Penzias (1965).

Corroborating evidence locks in a strong case for physical evidence of the beginning of the universe.

Suggestion: see Fred Heeren's book, Show Me God, for an exceptionally easy to read discussion on astronomy, physics, and other science topics that support the biblical perspective on the creation we read about in science news.

1990 CE Nobel Prize for Physics: R.E. Taylor, J.I. Friedman, and H.W. Kendall for their work on quarks

English and French engineers meet under the sea as the Channel tunnel is linked together (G)

The US Food and Drug Administration approves the first low-calorie fat substitute (G)

1990 CE - Temple Mount Faithful (TMF) second attempt to put cornerstone on mount. (IP)

Soviet Communists relinquish sole
power (Feb. 7). (Info)

U.S.-Soviet summit reaches accord on armaments (June 1). (Info)

Western Alliance ends cold war and proposes joint action with Soviet Union and Eastern Europe (July 6). (Info)

U.S. Appeals Court overturns Oliver North's Iran-Contra conviction (July 20). (Info)

Iraqi troops invade Kuwait and seize petroleum reserves, setting off Persian Gulf War (Aug. 2). (Info)

East and West Germany reunited (Oct. 3). (Info)

Leaders of 34 nations in Europe and North America proclaim a united Europe (Nov. 21). (Info)

The ''New Revised Standard Version'' of the Bible is published in the US (G)

Metropolitan Aleksy of Leningrad is elected the Russian Orthodox Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia (G)

1991 CE

U.S. and Allies at war with Iraq (Jan. 15). (Info)

Warsaw Pact dissolves military
alliance (Feb. 25). (Info)

Cease-fire ends Persian Gulf War; UN forces are victorious (April 3). (Info)

South African Parliament repeals apartheid laws (June 5). (Info)

Warsaw Pact dissolved (July 1). (Info)

Boris N. Yeltsin inaugurated as first freely elected president of Russian Republic (July 10). (Info)

Bush-Gorbachev summit negotiates strategic arms reduction treaty (July 31). (Info)

1991- TMF makes third attempt with cornerstone (July). Another attempt also made in September. (IP)

China accepts nuclear nonproliferation treaty (Aug. 10). (Info)

Israel and Soviet Union resume relations after 24 years (Oct. 18). (Info)

U.S. indicts two Libyans in 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland (Nov. 15). (Info)

Anglican envoy Terry Waite and U.S. Prof. Thomas M. Sutherland freed by Lebanese (Nov. 18). (Info)

Last three U.S. hostages freed in Lebanon (Dec. 2—4). (Info)

Soviet Union breaks up after resident Gorbachev's resignation; constituent republics form Commonwealth of Independent States (Dec. 25). (Info)

U.S. and Soviet Union sponsor Madrid peace conference to help ease tensions following Palestinian rebellion stemming from late 1980s.

SW1
Storm Warnings Everywhere

1992 CE Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) releases first report warning gloal warming is problem of enormous consequence. (A)

g12
WARNING:
World's Scientists
Warning on Global Change

Mid-90s Response to IPCC report includes industry groups forming the Global Climate Coalition (GCC) which later proved effective in countering progress on climate treaties.(A)

1996 CE A study dated the Chinese Homo erectus fossils collectively known as Peking Man to at least 400,000 years ago (SciNews: May 11: 292).

1996 CE Finds at a 600,000-year-old Israeli site suggested that human ancestors carried African cultural traditions to the Middle East in a series of population movements (SciNews: March 23: 183).

1996 CE Researchers unveiled the Hubble Deep Field, the most detailed view of a patch of sky ever taken (SciNews: Jan. 20: 36, Feb. 3: 77).

1996 CE Analysis of the images spawned fresh insights into the birth and evolution of galaxies, as well as the fate of the cosmos (SciNews: April 20: 246).

1996 CE Researchers reported firm evidence that a black hole lies at the heart of our galaxy (SciNews Oct. 5: 212).

1996 CE World War II Holocaust survivors often pass on to their children a vulnerability to post-traumatic stress disorder (SciNews May 18: 310).

1996 CE A controversial theory proposed that sexual orientation springs from personality traits that gear children toward sex-typical or sex-atypical activities (SciNews Aug. 10: 88).

1996 CE Memory-related brain cells do not appear to die as people age (SciNews Sept. 7: 150).

1996 CE New technique may make possible the cloning of large numbers of genetically altered livestock (SciNews March 9: 148).

1996 CE Butterflies can alter their wing patterns in just a few generations, using only a few genes (SciNews Nov. 23: 324).

1996 CE Ecologists mapped out endangered species' hot spots (SciNews Aug. 17: 101).

1996 CE Exotic strains of HIV were found in the United States (SciNews July 20: 40).

Upward trend in spread of diseases globally

1996 CE A human version of mad cow disease was reported in the United Kingdom (SciNews April 13: 228, Nov. 2: 282).

1996 CE The United States was identified as having the largest epidemic of sexually transmitted diseases of any developed country
(Nov. 30: 343). Infectious diseases continued to rebound worldwide (SciNews Jan. 20: 38).

1996 CE Diet pills were linked to deadly pulmonary hypertension (SciNews Aug. 31: 134).

1996 CE Myrrh, an ancient balm, was shown to have pain-killing properties (SciNews Jan. 13: 20).

1996 CE Congestion on the Internet prompted new efforts to circumvent information traffic jams (SciNews March 23: 181).

1996 CE Oceanographers drilled into the seafloor to study frozen deposits of methane gas, a potential fuel of the future (SciNews Nov. 9: 298).

g3
CONSUMPTION Spike
Humanity is Exhausting Earth's
Resources at an ever Increasing Pace

1996 CE Climate scientists and public health researchers predicted that global warming will cause adverse effects on human health (SciNews April 6: 218).

1996 CE The 1996 ozone hole over Antarctica failed to reach record depths, confounding expectations of some scientists (SciNews Oct. 19: 246).

1996 CE Trawling causes significant, long-term damage to seafloor communities (SciNews Oct. 26: 268).

1996 CE Environmental laws revised limitations on pesticide residues in foods and set new controls on drinking water contaminants
(SciNews Dec. 7: 159).

1996 CE Analysis of carbon isotopes in ancient Greenland rocks pushed back the history of life on Earth to 3.85 billion years ago (SciNews Nov. 9: 292).

1996 CE Continental plants suffered a massive die-off 250 million years ago, coincident with a great animal extinction (SciNews March 16: 164).

1996 CE Several studies focusing on projected population growth identified social issues that complicate analyses of how many
people Earth can sustain (SciNews June 22: 396).

g4

POPULATION Spike
Humanity's Numbers Keep Increasing and DRIVING more Global Change

1996 CE In a controversial report, scientists announced that a meteorite from Mars may contain fossils of primitive Martian bacteria (SciNews Aug. 10: 84, Dec. 14: 380).

1992

Bush and Yeltsin proclaim formal end to cold war (Feb. 1). (Info)

Caspar W. Weinberger indicted in Iran-Contra affair (June 16). (Info)

Last Western hostages freed
in Lebanon (June 17). (Info)

Supreme Court reaffirms right to abortion (June 29). (Info)

Israeli Parliament approves Yitzhak Rabin's coalition
government, dominated by Labor Party (July 13). (Info)

North American trade
compact announced (Aug. 12). (Info)

UN approves U.S.-led force to guard food for Somalia (Dec. 3). (Info)

Prince and Princess of Wales agree to separate (Dec. 9). (Info)

Bush pardons former Reagan administration officials involved in Iran-Contra affair (Dec. 24). (Info)

-------------------------------

1993 CE

Clinton agrees to compromise on military's ban on homosexuals (Jan. 29). (Info)

World Trade Center bombing by terrorists in New York City. Damage to parking garage; six killed, others injured.

Federal agents besiege Texas Branch Davidian religious cult after six are killed in raid (March 1). (Info)

Five arrested, sixth sought in bombing of World Trade Center in New York (March 29). (Info)

Fire kills 72 as cult standoff in Texas ends with federal assault (April 19). (Info)

Twenty-two UN troops killed in Somalia (June 5). (Info)

Iraq accepts UN weapons monitoring (July 19). (Info)

U.S.-Midwest flood damage expected to exceed $10 billion (July 24). (Info)

Israeli-Palestinian accord reached (Aug. 28). (Info)

U.S. agents blamed in Waco, Tex., siege (Oct. 1). (Info)

Yeltsin's forces crush revolt in Russian Parliament (Oct. 4). (Info)

China breaks nuclear test moratorium (Oct. 5). (Info)

Europe's Maastricht Treaty takes effect, creating European Union (Nov. 1). (Info)

House of Representatives approves North American Free Trade Agreement (Nov. 17); Senate follows (Nov. 21). (Info)

Terrorist shootings outside of CIA HQ in McLean, VA.

Oslo accords lay groundwork for Palestinian self rule... including mutual recognition between Palestine and Israel.

-------------------------------

SW2
Global Problems - Gathering Storms

1994 CE

Major earthquake jolts Los Angeles; 51 dead (Jan. 17). (Info)

Four convicted in World Trade Center bombing (March 4). (Info)

Rwandan genocide of Tutsis by Hutus begins; estimated 800,000 slaughtered in c. 100 days (April 6). (Info)

Israel and Palestinians sign accord (May 4). (Info)

Powerful earthquake strikes Japan (Oct. 4). (Info)

U.S. sends forces to Persian Gulf (Oct. 7). (Info)

Israel and Jordan sign peace treaty (Oct. 17). (Info)

Russians attack secessionist Republic of Chechnya (Dec. 11). (Info)

Palestinian Authority formed to administer West Bank and Gaza. Full control of West Bank and Gaza not implemented.

-------------------------------

1995 CE

More than 5,000 dead in
Japanese earthquake (Jan. 17). (Info)

U.S. rescues Mexico's economy with $20-billion aid program (Feb. 21). (Info)

Nerve gas attack in Tokyo subway kills eight and injures thousands. The Aum Shinrikyo (“Supreme Truth”) cult is to blame (March 20). (Info)

UN Council votes easier sanctions for Iraq (April 14). (Info)

Scores killed as terrorist's truck bomb blows up block-long Oklahoma City federal building (April 19); Timothy McVeigh arrested as suspect (April 21); link right-wing paramilitary groups to bombing (April 22). (Info)

France explodes nuclear device in Pacific; wide protests ensue (Sept. 5). (Info)

Israelis and Palestinians agree on transferring West Bank to Arabs (Sept. 24). (Info)

Pope John Paul II visits
U.S. on whirlwind tour (Oct. 4–8). (Info)

Million Man March draws hundreds of thousands of
black men to capital (Oct. 16). (Info)

Israeli prime minister Yitzhak Rabin slain by Jewish extremist at peace rally (Nov. 4). (Info)

Twarted plot — terrorists intended to bomb New York landmarks

1997 CE December, Kyoto, Japan, national delegates from all over the world convene to draft a global climate treaty with regard to CO2 emissions. (A)

1997 CE The first successful isolation of mitochondrial DNA from a Neanderthal fossil fueled the long-running debate over modern human origins (SciNews: July 19: 37).

1997 CE A new fossil analysis indicated that a largely upright stance evolved in a 9-million- to 7-
million-year-old ape, upsetting notions that only members of the human evolutionary family can claim this posture (SciNews: Oct. 18: 244).

1997 CE New fossils of a 1.4-million-year-old human ancestor suggested that it possessed more biological variation than has often been assumed (SciNews: Oct. 4: 215).

1997 CE Astronomers obtained evidence of a black hole's event horizon and suggested that such
holes lie at the heart of nearly every galaxy (SciNews: Jan. 18: 39; Nov. 29: 346).

1997 CE Researchers are measuring the speed at which black holes at the centers of galaxies devour their surroundings (SciNews: Nov. 1: 278).

1997 CE Researchers deduced the presence of planets orbiting other sunlike stars (SciNews: May 17: 305).

1997 CE Even in the poorest neighborhoods, crime rates fall if residents share a sense of mutual trust, unity, and public duty, researchers reported (SciNews: Aug. 16: 101).

1997 CE General reasoning skills inculcated by ultraorthodox Jewish schools in Israel prepare students to solve tricky geometry problems better than do mathematics and science classes in Israel's mainstream schools, a study found (SciNews: Jan. 25: p. 53).

1997 CE The birth of Dolly, a lamb cloned from the cells of an adult ewe, surprised the world (SciNews: March 1: 132; April 5: 214).

1997 CE Researchers deciphered the DNA sequence of every gene used by the bacterium E. coli (SciNews: Feb. 8: 84).

1997 CE Geneticists assembled the first human artificial chromosomes (SciNews: April 5: 204).

1997 CE A gene shared by many animal species creates doubt that eyes evolved independently many times (SciNews: May 10: 288).

1997 CE Specialized proteins escort RNA and other molecules from the cell nucleus (SciNews: Nov. 15: 316).

1997 CE Scientists isolated human embryonic stem cells (SciNews: July 19: 36).

1997 CE Scientists took movies of the world's smallest rotary motor, an enzyme that makes fuel for biochemical processes (SciNews: March 22: 173; Oct. 25: 262).

1997 CE A multiprocessor computer became the first machine to surpass a calculation rate of 1 trillion operations per second (SciNews: Jan. 4: 7; July 5: 5).

1997 CE A record El Nino developed in the Pacific Ocean (SciNews: May 24: 316; Aug. 2: 75), altering the typical hurricane pattern (Oct. 18: 245).

1997 CE Debate over the rate of global warming intensified with the detection of errors in satellite temperature data (SciNews: March 15: 156).

1997 CE The Antarctic ozone hole reached new heights (SciNews: Oct. 25: 262).

1997 CE The global average temperature in 1996 rose to a near-record value (Jan. 18: 38).

1997 CE Global warming raises temperatures mostly at night (SciNews: July 19: 38) and has made the world wetter (Nov. 29: 341).

1997 CE Satellite data hint that the sun's radiation is growing stronger (SciNews: Sept. 27: 197).

1997 CE Continents grew surprisingly early in Earth's history (SciNews: Feb. 1: 70).

1997 CENegotiators in Kyoto, Japan, drafted a treaty that would set binding limits on greenhouse
gas emissions for industrial nations (SciNews: May 24: 320; Dec. 20 & 27: 388).

1997 CE Human activities now contribute more nitrogen to biological communities than natural sources do, a trend that may explain some loss of biodiversity (SciNews: Feb. 15: 100).

1997 CE Outbreaks of fish-killing Pfiesteria and other toxin-producing microorganisms plagued coastal areas, prompting congressional hearings (SciNews: Sept. 6: 149; Sept. 27: 202; Oct. 4: 213).

1997 CE IBM started to manufacture computer chips that use copper instead of aluminum circuitry, making them faster, smaller, and cheaper (SciNews: Sept. 27: 196).

1997 CE Dinosaur discoveries in Patagonia, Madagascar, and China rekindled debate about the hypothesis that birds evolved from dinosaurs (SciNews: Aug. 23:120; Nov. 15: 310).

1997 CE A Namibian fossil defies categorization as an animal or plant, raising questions about a bizarre group of creatures from 550 million years ago (Nov. 22: 326).

1997 CE Russian science appears to be poised on the brink of collapse (SciNews: May 10: 294).

1997 CE Chemical weapons treaty went into effect, stipulating that signatory nations must destroy their stockpiles by 2007 (SciNews: May 3: 270).

1997 CE Researchers began grappling with the ethical and legal rights of people who donate
human tissue and the obligations of those who use the tissue for research (SciNews: Sept. 20: 190).

1997 CE After landing on the Red Planet on July 4, Mars Pathfinder and its rover proceeded to explore their surroundings (July 12: 20).

1997 CE Researchers continued to debate whether a Martian meteorite holds signs of ancient, primitive life (SciNews: Feb. 8: 87; March 29: 190).

--------

1998 CE Global conference on climate in Buenos Aires, Brazil, where climate concerns were politically compromised by industrial interests (e.g., primarily oil, coal, electric, auto, and chemical industries). (A)

1998 CE Disputed DNA data indicated that modern humans migrated out of Africa around 100,000 years ago and founded modern East Asian populations (SciNews Oct. 3: 212).

1998 CE By about 8,000 years ago, prehistoric North Americans had fashioned sophisticated sandals and slip-on shoes (SciNews July 4: 7).

1998 CE Rather than slowing down, the universe appears to be expanding at an ever-increasing
rate (SciNews Jan. 3:. 4).

1998 CE Staring down a corridor 12 billion light-years long, the Hubble Space Telescope dramatically increased the number of galaxies that scientists can study (SciNews Nov. 28: 343).

1998 CE Simulations indicated that half the ordinary matter in the cosmos remains hidden because it radiates at hard-to-detect wavelengths (SciNews June: 390).

1998 CE Immigrants and their children tend to become more susceptible to mental and physical ailments with greater exposure to U.S. culture (SciNews Sept. 19:180).

1998 CE Religious faith attracted attention as an aid in treating mild to moderate depression (SciNews April1: 247).

1998 CE Sparking a debate on medical ethics, researchers finally isolated embryonic human cells
that can diversify into many different cell types (SciNews Nov. 7: 293).

1998 CE Engineering cells to keep producing an enzyme called telomerase, which rebuilds
chromosome ends, makes the cells immortal (SciNews Jan. 17: 37).

1998 CE DNA analyses supported the oral tradition of how the Jewish priesthood originated (SciNews Oct. 3: 218)

1998 CE Two coelacanths caught in Indonesia represent only the second known population of
these living fossil fish, despite some 50 years of searching (SciNews Sept. 26: 196).

1998 CE In a rare demonstration of links between major ecosystems, dwindling of prey in deep water seems to have driven killer whales to kelp forests, where they devastate sea otters (SciNews Oct. 17: 245).

1998 CE Computer simulations indicated that greenhouse warming will exacerbate ozone destruction in the Arctic (SciNews April 11: 228).

g5
Evidence for Global Change
as Climate Change ... change in the weather.

1998 CE The mass extinction at the end of the Permian period happened much faster than
previously thought (SciNews May 16: 308).

1998 CE Global temperatures continued their push upward into record range (SciNews Jan. 17: 38; July 25: 52).

1998 CE The Antarctic ozone hole reached record dimensions (SciNews Oct. 17: 246).

1998 CE After 34 industrial nations pledged to control many of the most toxic long-lived industrial
pollutants, the UN began work on a global treaty to ban or phase out these chemicals (SciNews July 4: 6).

1998 CE European chemists found detectable drug residues — excreted by people taking a wide variety of drugs — in samples ranging from treated sewage to open water to drinking water (SciNews March 21:187).

1998 CE Fishing fleets, a new study showed, are maintaining their yields only by harvesting stocks that are lower and lower in the food chain—an ecologically unsustainable practice (SciNews Feb. 7: 86).

1998 CE The World Conservation Union reported in its first IUCN Red List of Threatened Plants that one out of every eight known plant species is in peril (SciNews April 25: 264).

1998 CE Invasive algae, apparently escapees from aquariums, have been spreading throughout the northern Mediterranean Sea, wiping out native seafloor life and prompting calls for a US ban on trade in this species (SciNews July 4: 8).

1998 CE The explosive growth of the World Wide Web focused attention on improving search
techniques and developing methods to characterize and model Internet traffic (SciNews: May 2: 278).

1998 CE The discovery of feathered dinosaur fossils in China boosted the theory that birds arose from dinosaurs (SciNews: June 27: 404).

1998 CE Fossilized soil deposits indicate that life may have colonized the continents as much as 2 billion years ago (SciNews: March 7: 151).

1998 CE Eye scans and other identification techniques that measure anatomical traits began to be used in security screening (SciNews: April 4: 216).

1996

France announces end to nuclear tests (Jan. 29). (Info)

Britain alarmed by deadly cow disease (March 20). (Info)

UN tribunal charges war crimes by Bosnian Muslims and Croats (March 22). (Info)

Chechnya peace treaty signed (May 27). (Info)

Israel elects Benjamin Netanyahu as prime minister (May 31). (Info)

China agrees to world ban on atomic testing (June 6). (Info)

Truck bomb kills 19 at U.S. base in Saudi Arabia (June 25). (Info)

Iraqis strike at Kurdish enclave (Aug. 31); after warning, U.S. attacks Iraq's southern air defenses (Sept. 2–3); Iraq halts attacks on U.S. planes enforcing flight exclusion zones in north and south (Sept. 13). (Info)

Violence flares in Jerusalem over Israel opening tourist tunnel (Sept. 24). (Info)

Taliban Muslim fundamentalists capture Afghan capital (Sept. 27). (Info)

Kofi Annan named UN secretary-general (Dec. 13). (Info)

-------------------------------

SW3
Science to Scripture
Where Are We Headed?

1997

Two Hutu sentenced to death in Rwandan genocide (Jan. 3). (Info)

Floods cause wide damage in U.S. West (Jan. 5). (Info)

Hebron agreement signed; Israel gives up large part of West Bank city of Hebron (Jan. 16). (Info)

U.S., U.K., and France agree to freeze Nazis' gold loot (Feb. 3). (Info)

Israeli government approves establishment of Jewish
settlement in East Jerusalem, a setback in Middle East peace process (Feb. 26). (Info)

Senate, 74–26, approves chemical-weapons treaty (April 24). (Info)

Russian president Yeltsin signs Chechnya peace treaty (May 12). (Info)

European Union bolsters currency merger (June 16). (Info)

Three Islamic suicide bombers kill four persons in Jerusalem (Sept. 4). (Info)

Mother Teresa dead at 87 (Sept. 5).

Swiss plan first payment to Holocaust victims (Sept. 17). (Info)

Militant Taliban leaders seize Kabul (Sept. 27). (Info)

Iraq expels all U.S. members of UN arms-inspection team (Oct. 29). (Info)

Pakistani convicted in 1993 CIA killings (Nov. 10). (Info)

Two convicted in New York World Trade Center bombing (Nov. 12). (Info)

Egyptian Islamic militants kill 62 at Luxor tourist site (Nov. 17). (Info)

-------------------------------

1998

Ramzi Ahmed Yousef sentenced to life for 1993 World Trade Center bombing (Jan. 9). (Info)

Pope John Paul II visits Cuba (Jan. 21–25). (Info)

Thousands dead in Afghanistan quake (Feb. 4). (Info)

Europeans agree on single
currency, the euro (May 3). (Info)

India conducts three atomic tests despite worldwide disapproval (May 11, 13). (Info)

Pakistan stages five nuclear tests in response to India's (May 29, 30). (Info)

Iraq ends cooperation with UN arms inspectors (Aug. 5). (Info)

U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania bombed (Aug. 7). (Info)

U.S. cruise missiles hit suspected terrorist bases in Sudan and Afghanistan (Aug. 20). (Info)

North Korea fires missile across Japan (Aug. 31). (Info)

Senate sustains veto of bill to outlaw late-term abortions (Sept. 18). (Info)

Iran lifts death threat against Salman Rushdie (Sept. 24). (Info)

Wye Mills Agreement between Netanyahu and Arafat moves Middle East peace talks forward (Oct. 23). (Info)

Clinton orders air strikes on Iraq (Dec. 16–19). (Info)

SW4
Moral Decay & Being Deceived

1999 CE Finds at a 600,000-year-old Israeli site suggested that human ancestors carried African cultural traditions to the Middle Eastin a series of population movements (SciNews: March 23: 183).

1999 CE Researchers reached a stalemate in discerning what mitochondrial DNA studies reveal about human evolution (SciNews: Feb. 6: 88).

1999 CE Bone flutes uncovered at a 9,000-year-old Chinese village included the earliest known complete, playable musical instrument (SciNews: Sept. 25: 197).

1999 CE Astronomers found new evidence that the universe is flat (Jan. 9: 30) and identified novel tests for the startling notion that the universe's expansion is accelerating (July 12: 379; Nov. 27: 341).

1999 CE The team that 3 years ago reported controversial evidence of tiny fossils in an ancient meteorite from Mars described possible fossils in two considerably younger Martian rocks (SciNews: May 1: 286).

1999 CE Biologists sequenced human chromosome 22, a milestone in the human genome project (Dec. 4: 356), and a biotech firm claimed that people have more than 140,000 genes, doubling earlier estimates (SciNews: Oct. 9: 239).

1999 CE Genetic studies confirmed that the AIDS virus originated in chimpanzees living in central Africa (SciNews: Feb. 6: 84).

1999 CE Mice lacking the enzyme telomerase aged prematurely in some ways and were more cancer prone than normal mice (SciNews: March 13: 166).

1999 CE As temperatures rose in recent decades, British birds nested earlier and some 40 species' nesting ranges shifted north, while Mexican jays in Arizona started families earlier in the spring (SciNews: June 12: 383).

1999 CE New evidence explained how DNA strands conduct electrons, a process that might contribute to repair of genetic mutations (SciNews: Aug. 14: 104).

1999 CE Meteorologists discovered a cousin of El Niño in the Indian Ocean (SciNews: Sept. 25: 196).

1999 CE Studies of Amazon deforestation proved to be underestimates (SciNews: April 10: 228).

1999 CE The carbon dioxide buildup in the air has stunted coral reef growth (April 3: 214).

1999 CE Global temperatures in 1998 proved the highest in 140 years (SciNews: Jan. 2: 6).

1999 CE Signs of climatic warming appeared in the Arctic Ocean (SciNews: Feb. 13: 104).

1999 CE Meteorologists predicted that La Niña will skew U.S. winter weather (Oct. 30: 278) and started factoring global warming into extended forecasts (SciNews: March 20: 188).

1999 CE Research aircraft found unexpected smog over the Indian Ocean (SciNews: June 19: 389).

1999 CE Geologists linked a massive eruption in Pangea to extinctions 200 million years ago (SciNews: April 24: 260).

1999 CE Cutting down on haze-causing pollution could increase crop productivity—perhaps eliminating China's demand for grain exports—a study calculated (SciNews: Dec. 4: 356).

1999 CE A large share of the diseases in ocean wildlife traces to a complex interplay of human activities and climate, marine epidemiologists concluded (SciNews: Jan. 30: 72).

1999 CE U.S. rivers have become a major reservoir of antibiotic - resistant bacteria that can spread to wildlife and people, new studies showed (SciNews: June 5: 356).

1999 CE Efforts to avert year - 2000 computer-chip and software problems held the attention of computer experts, engineers, and public officials throughout 1999 (SciNews: Jan. 2: 4; Nov. 6: 294; Nov. 27: 351).

1999 CE The Melissa computer virus exposed new software vulnerabilities, while researchers looked for ways to render computers immune to such digital pests (SciNews: May 8: 303; July 31: 76).

1999 CE The discovery of the earliest fossil vertebrates—two Chinese fish—pushed back the origin of such animals to the Cambrian explosion (SciNews: Nov. 6: 292).

1999 CE China yielded two new dinosaur species bearing evidence of downy coats (Sept. 18: 183). A third Chinese dinosaur had feathers and might have flown (SciNews: Nov. 20: 328).

1999 CE The earliest evidence of complex cells turned up in Australian shale deposits (Aug. 28: 141).

1999 CE Evidence indicated that homonids killed off large mammals at the end of the last ice age (SciNews: Dec. 4: 360).

1999 CE After years of construction, several new or rebuilt giant accelerators started operations that may lead to deeper understanding of matter and antimatter, the fundamental forces of nature, and the Big Bang (SciNews: May 29: 342; June 19: 399; Aug. 7: 95).

1999 CE A sensitive measurement showed that gravitational energy is accelerated by gravity, just like mass and other forms of energy, reconfirming Einstein's general theory of relativity (SciNews: Oct. 30: 277).

1999 CE Beagles received lab-grown bladders, the first engineered organs to successfully replace whole native organs (SciNews: Feb. 13: 101).

1999 CE Genetic engineering produced trees tailored to be made into paper or fuel (July 31: 70). Gene-altered plants synthesized commercial-grade plastic (SciNews: Oct. 16: 246).

1999

King Hussein of Jordan
dies (Feb. 7). (Info)

U.S. accuses China of stealing nuclear secrets (March 5). (Info)

Libya hands over two suspects in 1988 Pan Am jet bombing (April 5). (Info)

Ehud Barak defeats Benjamin Netanyahu in Israeli prime minister election (May 17). (Info)

U.S. inspects suspected nuclear weapons site in North Korea, finds nothing (May 20–24). (Info)

Yeltsin replaces Prime Minister Stepashin with Vladimir Putin in fourth government shakeup in 17 months (Aug. 9). (Info)

Islamic militants declare independence for Dagestan and announce holy war against Russia (Aug. 10). (Info)

White supremacist opens fire at Jewish community center in LA, wounding five and killing one as he flees (Aug. 10). (Info)

More than 17,000 people die in 7.4 earthquake in Turkey (Aug. 17). (Info)

Attorney General Janet Reno reopens investigation of 1993 Waco, Tex., stand-off (Aug. 25). (Info)

Israeli prime minister Ehud Barak and PLO leader Yasir Arafat announce peace accord (Sept. 4). (Info)

Russia sends ground troops to Chechnya as conflict with Islamic militants intensifies (Oct. 1). (Info)

World population reaches six billion milestone (Oct. 11). (Info)

Military coup led by Gen. Pervez Musharraf overthrows Pakistani government (Oct. 12). (Info)

Indonesia elects Muslim leader Abdurrahman Wahid president (Oct. 20). (Info)

Muslim terrorists hijack Indian Airlines jet with 189 on board (Dec. 24). (Info)

SW5
Warning: Psychology of the Times

For Middle East Updates, editorials, news editions, and background articles see our postings at 'News from Israel.'