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• The Joplin tornado has already killed at least 125 people, now officials say that 232 remain unaccounted for

Following the devastating tornado which ripped though Joplin at the weekend, these satellite images show the extent of the damage.

Before and after aerial photos show the shocking extent of the damage caused by the twister in the Missouri city – this image shows a six-block path of destruction.

Authorities say it’s the deadliest single tornado in America since modern record-keeping began over 60 years ago. It’s claimed the lives of at least 125 people and reports now say that 232 people are still missing.

Devastation: The satellite image on the left shows where the tornado ripped through Joplin and left the six-block scar across the city – and on the right was the Missouri city as it was before the tragedy

A highly developed sense of smell kick-started the development of mammals’ big brains.

Scientists used very high-resolution scanning to study the skulls of two of the earliest known mammal species.

Comparing the shape of their brain cases to those of slightly earlier animals, or “pre-mammals”, revealed that the first brain areas to over-develop were those associated with the sense of smell.

The findings are published in Science.

An improved sense of smell may have allowed our tiny, furry ancestors to hunt at night.

The researchers were able to create 3D images of prehistoric animals’ brains using the latest computed tomography, or CT, scanning methods.

“The results tell us that dark energy is a cosmological constant, as Einstein proposed. If gravity were the culprit, then we wouldn’t be seeing these constant effects of dark energy throughout time.”

The latest findings have come from a galaxy survey project called WiggleZ, which began in 2006 and finished this year. WiggleZ used data from Nasa’s Galaxy Evolution Explorer (Galex) space telescope and the Anglo-Australian Telescope on Siding Spring Mountain in Australia.

The survey mapped the distribution of galaxies in an unprecedented volume of the Universe, looking eight billion years back in time – more than half the age of the Universe.

Cosmologist Bob Nicholl, who was not involved with the research, told BBC News: “This is a major step forward. These guys are serious, major scientists and we’ve been waiting for this result for some time.

The professor of astrophysics at Portsmouth University, UK, added: “It’s re-confirmation of dark energy, it gives us another data point to fit our theories around and it shows us the way to the future. More astronomers are going to be doing this in years to come.”

While dark energy makes up about 74% of the Universe, dark matter – which does not reflect or emit detectable light – accounts for 22%. Ordinary matter – gas, stars, planets and galaxies – makes up just 4% of the cosmos.

However, despite scientists being able to infer the existence of dark energy and dark matter, these phenomena still elude a full explanation.