TOP TEN NEWS STORIES: Most Viewed of 2008

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December 15, 2008

An alien-like squid with "elbows" is caught on video, the world's biggest atom smasher fires up, and unknown "structures" are detected tugging at our universe, and more. These are the most read stories covered by National Geographic's daily news team in 2008.

10. Total Solar Eclipse on August 1: Where, How to See It
The eclipse's path of totality swept across northern Canada into central Russia and Mongolia before ending in China.

9. Bigfoot Discovery Declared a Hoax
Shockingly, no evidence emerged to support the claimed discovery in August of the corpse of a seven-foot-tall (two-meter-tall) Sasquatch in the southern U.S.

8. Oldest Living Tree Found in Sweden
A 9,550-year-old "Christmas tree" discovered on a Swedish mountain is the planet's most ancient known living plant, scientists announced in April.

7. Great Pyramid Mystery to Be Solved by Hidden Room?
The discovery of a sealed space in Egypt's Great Pyramid, announced this past fall, may help solve a centuries-old mystery: How did the ancient Egyptians move two million 2.5-ton blocks to build the ancient wonder?

6. Sky Show December 1: Jupiter, Venus, Moon Make "Frown"
The planetary bodies shone just a few degrees apart in an unusual cosmic conjunction on November 30, joined by the moon for a celestial trifecta on December 1.

5. Hurricane Gustav to Become Gulf Coast Monster?
Hurricane Gustav was on the cusp of becoming a supercharged storm on August 27, when experts said developing high-pressure system could deflect it into the central Gulf of Mexico.

4. Unknown "Structures" Tugging at Universe, Study Says
The universe is racing toward something beyond it, a study found this past fall. This "dark flow" may be evidence that our universe is part of something bigger—the multiverse.

3. Portal to Maya Underworld Found in Mexico?
A newfound underground labyrinth filled with stone temples and pyramids—some underwater—likely relates to Maya myths of the afterlife, archaeologists said in August.

2. Large Hadron Collider "Actually Worked"
The atom smasher's first step toward recreating post-big bang conditions was a September success. "Oh wow," exclaimed one scientist at the event, "it actually worked!" Just days later, it broke down.

1. Alien-like Squid With "Elbows" Filmed at Drilling Site
At an extremely deep oil-drilling site, a remote control submersible's camera captured an eerie surprise: an alien-like, long-armed, and "elbowed" Magnapinna squid, scientists said in November.

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