10 Wisconsin museums you won't want to miss May 11, 2008
Collections include plant and animal fossils, a Black Light Display of rocks and minerals that feature a fluorescent glow, and meteorites found right here in Wisconsin. Rock on. (La Crosse Tribune, WI)
Why is there such a visceral negative reaction to scientists exploring alternatives to evolution? May 10, 2008
Do Intelligent Design proponents really think that the thousands of geologists digging their lives away wouldn t be thrilled to discover mammal fossils down in the age of fishes. Darwin would spin in his grave, but so what. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution -- Opinion)
English Channel coast bursts with of fossils May 10, 2008
There may be fossils hidden in these piles of pebbles ... "It wasn't just that Anning was good at spotting fossils - though she was unrivaled at that - but that she could extract them with the greatest delicacy and without damages," Bryson wrote ... If you come up empty-handed, you can buy a keepsake at the Charmouth Fossils shop on Lower Sea Lane. (San Francisco Chronicle -- Science)
Beetles bit dino bones May 10, 2008
SALT LAKE CITY -- For years, paleontologists have puzzled over strange markings etched into dinosaur fossils ... The fossils were from the 148 million-year-old articulated skeleton of a camptosaurus, a beaked plant eater that roamed what is now the Northern Rockies ... The fossils had been preserved in soft clay that was easily removed to expose pristine insect traces -- elliptical clustered pits and shallow bores -- on nearly all the bones, Britt said. (Scripps Howard News Wire)
SCRIPPS HOWARD NEWS SERVICE CONSOLIDATED BUDGET May 10, 2008
BEETLES-DINOBONES (Maffly, Salt Lake Tribune) -- SALT LAKE CITY: An answer emerges to the puzzle of markings etched into fossils. 500. (Scripps Howard News Wire)
Michigan rocks at this year's gem and mineral show May 9, 2008
An exhibit of dinosaur fossils was a big hit several years ago, he added ... For some, that means a trip to Hungry Hollow in Canada to look for fossils or a jaunt to the Red Metal Jamboree in the state's Upper Peninsula to search old copper mines. (The News-Herald)
Americas 25 most visited tourist attractions May 9, 2008
American Museum of Natural HistoryTheAmerican Museum of Natural History's 45 permanent exhibit halls contain a vast record of world history, from dinosaur fossils to the human genome. Four million visitors a year come to the 18-acre campus located in Theodore Roosevelt Park on Manhattan's Upper West Side. (MSNBC -- Travel)
Smuggled fossils seized in Tucson returned to Argentina May 9, 2008
TUCSON - U.S. officials have returned to Argentina more than four tons of rare fossils illegally brought to this country and seized at the Tucson Gem and Mineral Show ... The fossils also include dinosaur eggs, fossilized prehistoric petrified pine cones and crabs ... Experts say the fossils date from 251 million years ago to approximately 71 million years ago. (AZCentral -- News)
Oldest record of Trimeniaceae from the Early Cretaceous of northern Japan May 8, 2008
Therefore, the fossils of this family are helpful to understand the earliest flowering plants ... However, fossils of the family were previously unknown from the Early Cretaceous, the time when the angiosperm radiated. (BioMed Central)
Love's killing the country soundtrack May 8, 2008
But, even leaving aside the irony by which Mungo's fossils were first exposed by after-effects of frantic overgrazing, there's a dilemma here. It's a bit like the zoo dilemma, where catching and caging wild animals becomes essential to sustaining the love that protects their wild state. (Sydney Morning Herald -- Opinion)
Animal Interaction Behind Cambrian Explosion? 'Missing' Ancestors Of Today's Animals May Not Be Missing After All May 8, 2008
4, 2008) Scientists have known for some time that most major groups of complex animals appeared in the fossils record during the Cambrian Explosion, a seemingly rapid evolutionary event that occurred 542 ... 15, 1997) Some 600 or 700 million years ago, before animal life made a sudden evolutionary shift and diverged into nearly all the major animal divisions we know from fossils, primitive animals were inventing ... 8, 2005) Microscopic fossils found in China emerge as the oldest examples of... (Science Daily)
Lists with license May 8, 2008
Memories lie like fossils between thin strata ... "Memories lie like fossils between thin strata" seems unconnected to the other images in this stanza, which are excellent. (Guardian Unlimited -- Books)
The Flip-Flop Factor: Why Day Care Kids Dont Play Outside May 8, 2008
They spent two long periods outside each day playing on the playground toys or with water, collecting fossils from the ground, creating plays, learning games, going for walks, exploring nature, working in the community garden. It was expensive, amazingly well-run on a developmental education model, and the staff was well qualified. (New York Times)
Homeland Security assistant chief to return dinosaur eggs May 6, 2008
Julie L. Myers, assistant secretary for Immigration and Customs Enforcement, said Monday that she plans to hand over to Argentina's government a cache of more than 8,100 pounds (3,675 kilograms) of fossils seized two years ago by ICE agents at a gem and mineral show in Tucson, Arizona. The fossils -- including an unspecified number of dinosaur eggs, shell fragments, petrified pine cones and fossilized prehistoric crabs -- had been illegally removed from Argentina and offered for sale in the... (Sioux City Journal, IO)
Making millions off fish eggs May 6, 2008
"Polar bear fossils have been dated to over one hundred thousand years, which means that polar bears have already survived an interglacial period when temperatures were considerably warmer than they are at present and when, quite probably, levels of summertime Arctic sea ice were correspondingly low.". . (Anchorage Daily News)
Dinosaur Bones Reveal Ancient Bug Bites May 6, 2008
ScienceDaily (May 6, 2008) Paleontologists have long been perplexed by dinosaur fossils with missing pieces sets of teeth without a jaw bone, bones that are pitted and grooved, even bones that are half gone ... The traces on this Camptosaurus predate the oldest body fossils for dermestid beetles by 48 million years. (Science Daily)
Parrot's back to threaten desal bid May 5, 2008
Documents released by the state Government yesterday reveal an environmental study must take into account the effect of the desalination plant on the parrot and other threatened creatures, including a giant earthworm, as well as dinosaur fossils ... Dinosaur fossils have been found in a rock shelf in front of the planned site, but the Government says it will be drilling into rock well below them. (The Australian)
Paleontology field camp offered May 4, 2008
Although dinosaur fossils have been known to exist by local tribal members for many generations on the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation, it is only recently that the tribe has opened excavation up to the public. Dinosaur expert Gerald Grellet-Tinner will lead the excavation team. (Bismarck Tribune, ND)
Adams House takes honors May 4, 2008
Recent exhibits focus on the findings from the Chinese archaeological excavations that recently took place in Deadwood; the City of Deadwood's Wild Bill Hickok collection; and the official naming of a new genus and species of a plesiosaur in an new display featuring the fossils of a marine reptile that swam the shallow seas of this region 95 million years ago. The Adams Museum and the Historic Adams House are open daily from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.. (Rapid City Journal, SD)
Hazards found in parks, schools run by Interior Dept. May 3, 2008
Auditors also determined that Yellowstone National Park water systems are significantly deteriorating and that the now-closed Dinosaur National Monument was "literally falling apart" atop shifting soil in Colorado, putting irreplaceable fossils at risk. At Grand Teton National Park, a headquarters building on an earthquake fault is not built to seismic codes. (Boston Globe)
Trilobites rich in evolutionary data May 2, 2008
That, in combination with an abundance as fossils, means they re great for studying evolutionary patterns in very old rocks, Webster said. Trilobites first appeared during what paleontologists call the Cambrian explosion or the Cambrian radiation. (Univeristy of Chicago Chronicle, IL)
Archaeological vacations you'll really dig May 2, 2008
Some sites focus on pottery, others are filled with fossils ... The human remains found in and near the cave are thought to be among the oldest in Europe, and the fossils of 50 other vertebrate species found in the cave date to 1 ... Not everyone wants to dig up fossils, bones and tools. (MSNBC -- Travel)
Ancient Ecosystems Organized Much Like Our Own May 2, 2008
For example, grasping claws, swimming lobes, big eyes, and toothy mouthparts suggest that Anomalocaris canadensis, a large, unusual organism with no modern descendents, was a formidable predator of trilobites and other arthropods, consistent with bite marks found on some fossils. To compare the organization of Cambrian and recent ecosystems, the team used methods for studying network structure, including new approaches for analyzing uncertainty in the fossil data. (Science Daily)
Editoral: It’s the carping that gets you May 2, 2008
Albany Democrat Herald: Opinions. Web Search powered by YAHOO. (Albany Democrat-Herald, OR)
Tim LaydenINSIDE HORSE RACING May 2, 2008
While sport flourishes via simulcasting and Internet wagering, hulking racetracks like Belmont Park, Santa Anita and Churchill Downs sit mostly empty on race days, like giant fossils in memory of a bygone time. Every year it is widely argued that "racing needs a superstar'' to revive interest among the mainstream. Whether this would occur is hugely debatable -- "What you would get is a temporary bump,'' Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukes has said repeatedly -- but the topic arises almost every... (SportsIllustrated.CNN)
Glenelg teacher brings a dead language to life May 2, 2008
For example, Latin phrases are used on a regular basis by lawyers, and scientists often turn to Latin to name newly discovered plants, animals, fossils and celestial bodies. Locally, students seem to recognize the benefits of learning the ancient language of Cicero and Virgil, as Latin is gaining in popularity in Howard County high schools. (Howard County Times, MD)
What Red Planet fossils might look like May 2, 2008
Live microbial filaments can become fossils when coated with minerals ... By examining incipient fossils along Rio Tinto's shores and comparing them with much older fossils left on terraces now high above the river, David Fernndez-Remolar of the Astrobiology Center in Torrejn de Ardoz, Spain and Andrew Knoll of Harvard University hope to better understand how similar minerals may have preserved a record of life on Mars. (MSNBC -- Technology)
T. rex 'would outrun footballer' Apr 23, 2008
The work used data taken directly from dinosaur fossils, rather than referring to previous work on modern animals ... "We're now doing some work on Hadrosaurus which is assumed to be one of the things that T. rex would prey upon because there have been fossils found with bite marks on their backs. "What we find is that we're getting really quite high speeds for these animals as well, which makes perfect sense. (Yahoo News -- Dinosaur & Fossil Discoveries)
Teaching kids about the environment Apr 23, 2008
Since Darwin, there has been tons of evidence, (fossils, animals secluded on islands, etc. that have been found to support Darwin s theory. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
Remember President What's His Name? Apr 22, 2008
Biologically deformed Pterodactyl fossils encased in the amber pool of irrelevance, obsolescence and guilt. Whoa. (Fort Madison Daily Democrat, IO)
Neanderthals Speak Again After 30,000 Years Apr 22, 2008
Using 50,000-year-old fossils from France and a computer synthesizer, McCarthy s team has generated a recording of how a Neanderthal would pronounce the letter e. The brief recording doesn t sound like any letter in modern languages, but McCarthy says that s because Neanderthals lacked the quantal vowels modern humans use. Quantal vowels provide cues that help speakers with different size vocal tracts understand one another. (Science Daily)
Riddles of skeleton still intrigue anthropologist Apr 22, 2008
Scientists since have found older fossils, but none has matched Lucy's fame ... His team had chosen a remote area in northeastern Ethiopia, known as Hadar, because of the fossils regularly coughed up by the region's shifting tectonic plates ... Rare, heavy rains cut deep gashes into the hills and reveal ancient fossils to the sharp-eyed scientist. (AZCentral -- News)
Do-gooders and Politicians Support Faulty Ethanol Policy Apr 22, 2008
The next part of the solution is to replace all those old fossils in the Senate and Congress that have been there for friggin ever (some of the knuckleheads since the first oil crisis in 1972) that havent done anything more imaginative that raise the CAF Standards, and institute ever higher taxes on gasoline and any other petroleum products, along with God knows how many different blends to comply with EPA standards changed seasonally nationally that create false market spikes and shortages... (Human Events Online)
Tribe official: 'We can manage the South Unit' of the Badlands (1529) Apr 22, 2008
There also are prehistoric fossils, some of which were damaged during the bombing range days or taken by fossil poachers. Some, however, prefer the tribe's current role and do not want changes. (Rapid City Journal, SD)
Garden Q&A: Various ways to treat scale on bromeliads Apr 22, 2008
While these living fossils are not true palms, they do require similar nutrients. Look for a fertilizer labeled specifically for palms and use it on your sagos. (Florida Times-Union)
Cradle to the grave Apr 21, 2008
The 47 000 hectare area known as the Cradle of Humankind a designated World Heritage Site is home to over three million years of human activity and over forty percent of the entire world's human ancestor fossils have been found in and around these nondescript koppies ... Although Mrs Ples as she was later called has become the icon of the Caves and the Cradle of Humankind, over 500 hominid fossils and 9000 stone tools dating back 3 ... Using fossils, dioramas (keep an eye out for the... (iAfrica.com)
Exhibit shows why nobody's perfect Apr 21, 2008
An exhibit five years in the making, it uses fossils and interactive multimedia displays to tell the story about how the human race adapted, thrived and continues to evolve ... 2 million-year-old Lucy, one of the worlds most famous fossils, and children can see how they measure up to Nariokotome Boy, a nearly complete skeleton discovered in Kenya of a child who lived 1. (MSNBC -- Technology)
Mars rover finds evidence of water Apr 20, 2008
They need to send a trenching maching to Mars to get under the soil and find the billions of fossils that are likely (IMHO) there. After all, we need to see if they developed just like we did. (Yahoo News -- Mars Exploration)
Rock of ages Apr 20, 2008
Whether it was on horseback or on foot, the young rockhound kept his eyes down on the ground, gathering up arrowheads, Montana agates and fossils ... He will have mapped areas and information on destinations for collecting gems, fossils and crystals. (Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier)
The Peak Oil Debate Apr 19, 2008
In short, oil and coal are not the result of the decomposition of fossils; rather, they are formed through tectonic forces. Gold argues that hydrocarbons existed at the time of the solar system's formation and are abundant on other planets where no life is thought to have flourished in the past (Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and some of their moons). (Suite101.com)
Extraterrestrial Intelligence: What Are The Odds? Apr 19, 2008
8, 2003) Earth's most ancient fossils are hard to find. Some scientists think a few of the earliest fossils might still be preserved in Earth rocks blasted to the moon by an asteroid or meteor. (Science Daily)
Eminently quotable Apr 19, 2008
LOADING Apr 19, 2008 - 04:06:14 CDT "Not only are we losing the fossils themselves from North Dakota, but we're also losing the scientific information.". - State paleontologist John Hoganson, talking about learning that a 65-million-year-old triceratops fossil is offered at auction in Paris. (Bismarck Tribune, ND)
Can we have a word? Apr 19, 2008
Details of this kind are commonly presented as amusing curios, but they are the fossils of past dreams and traumas, and examining them enables an archaeology of experience. English is not alone in borrowing from other languages. (Guardian Unlimited -- Arts)
Murphys man talks rocks (00:15:00) Apr 19, 2008
Held in the educational area at the back of the Angels Camp store, fossils and minerals surround audience members as Shoemaker, 79, animatedly talks about the importance of rocks. I love the earth, he said, and I feel that I have an important goal in life and that is to convince everyone that the mot important thing in their life is rocks. (San Andreas Calaveras Enterprise, CA)
The Dirt on Dirt Apr 18, 2008
Long buried garbage, bones, fossils, and, yes, even long lost pirate treasures. Dirty Activities. (Suite101.com)
Montana tribe looks to sell juvenile dinosaur fossil Apr 18, 2008
com - Rapid City, South Dakota's News Leader. Friday, April 18, 2008. (Rapid City Journal, SD)
Chasing the elusive loon Apr 17, 2008
Science already knew loons are old - just look at those hesperornis fossils, evidence that proto-loon lived alongside dinosaurs in the late Jurassic. They're genetically complex, closely related to penguins and albatrosses, and can excrete salt just like those seabirds. (Helena Independent Record, MT)
Elephant ancestors lived like hippos, fossils suggest Apr 17, 2008
Their fossils were recovered in northern Egypt, which is now a desert but was once a sub-tropical region. The new evidence supports previous researchthat suggested elephants shared a common ancestry with the aquatic manatees, also known as sea cows. (CBC.ca)
Charles Darwin's theory of evolution drafts go online Apr 17, 2008
He wrote: "Had been greatly struck from about month of previous March on character of S. American fossils - & species on Galapagos Archipelago. - These facts origin (especially latter) of all my views.". It led to the publication in 1859 of On the Origin of Species, a book whose enunciation of the theory of how man evolved from animals rocked religious beliefs to their foundations and shook the scientific thinking of a century and beyond. (Telegraph.co.uk)
Letters to the editor (4/16/08) Apr 17, 2008
Yet not one evolutionist has stood up and claimed this as undeniable evidence of the "missing link." Maybe they are too busy fighting school boards over intelligent design, gluing peppered moths to trees, drawing ape-like figures from bone fragments and going around in circles by dating fossils from the rocks and the rocks from the fossils (read "Icons of Evolution" by Jonathan Wells). Such is the life of a busy evolutionist. (Anchorage Daily News)
Now, Neanderthals speak out Apr 17, 2008
Using 50,000-year old fossils from France, Robert McCarthy, an anthropologist at Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton reconstructed Neanderthal vocal tracts to imitate the voice. He said that Neanderthals' speech lacked the 'quantal vowel' sounds, which are the basis of modern speech. (India Times, India -- Health/Science)
Neanderthal speaks after 30,000 years Apr 17, 2008
McCarthy used 50,000-year-old fossils from France to make his reconstruction, New Scientist said. He plans to simulate an entire Neanderthal sentence, the magazine reported. (CNN)
China's largest dinosaur park to open Apr 17, 2008
The World Dinosaur Valley contains the world's largest burial site of dinosaur fossils from the late-mid-Jurassic period. (Source: CCTV.com). (Xinhuanet, China)
Ghosts Of Galaxies Apr 16, 2008
The detection of these immense stellar fossils confirms the predictions of the cold dark matter model of cosmology, which proposes that present-day grand design spiral galaxies were formed from the merging of less massive stellar systems ... According to the research team, the dwarf galaxy has lost the greater part of its mass in the form of stars, star clusters and dark matter, all of which has become strewn out along its orbit, giving rise to a complicated assembly of criss-crossing galactic... (Science Daily)
New Meat-eating Dinosaur Duo From Sahara Ate Like Hyenas, Sharks Apr 16, 2008
Named Kryptops and Eocarcharia in a paper appearing this month in the scientific journal Acta Palaeontologica Polonica, the fossils were discovered in 2000 on an expedition led by University of Chicago paleontologist Paul Sereno ... Sereno and co-author paleontologist Stephen Brusatte of the University of Bristol say the new fossils provide a glimpse of an earlier stage in the evolution of the bizarre meat-eaters of Gondwana, the southern landmass. (Yahoo News -- Anthropology and Archaeology)
Early human history dug out in WB Apr 15, 2008
The dig, which is a treasure trove of cultural artefacts, fossils and cave inscriptions, is significant as it could yield a cultural sequence of the early man ... However, he is disappointed that his team has not been able to find any human fossils yet. (India Times, India -- Health/Science)
They rock! Volunteers give hands-on lessons about rocks, fossils Apr 15, 2008
The Education Team members are volunteers who donate their time to introduce students to the beauty and wonder of rocks and their formation, as well as many types of fossils. The students get to view up-close the many exhibits such as a tooth from a mammoth, a replica of a sabre-tooth cat and petrified dinosaur dung. (Los Angeles Daily News)
Elephants ancestorsloved water Apr 15, 2008
The moeritherium fossils were found in Egypt, which would have been a tropical rainforest when the animal was alive. The researchers think the creature might have had a lifestyle similar to that of a , spending time in rivers and swamps, rather than a seafaring animal like a whale. (MSNBC -- Environment)
CARLSBAD: Giant sloth skeleton uncovered Apr 15, 2008
"We have a list of most wanted fossils for each time period," he said, "Even though it's not complete, it is going to definitely satisfy our longing for the Pleistocene." ... Carrino will prepare the fossils by carefully peeling off the plaster to expose the hardened the bones ... The discovery is one of hundreds of fossils that have been found over the last several years in the remarkably fossil-rich area of Carlsbad. (North County Times)
Triceratops Skeleton To Be Auctioned In Paris Apr 15, 2008
PARIS - The skeleton of a Triceratops dinosaur that roamed the earth some 65 million years ago goes under the hammer in Paris on Wednesday as part of a collection of prehistoric bones and fossils, auctioneers Christie's said. The 7. (Planet Ark, United States)
Ancient Elephant Ancestor Lived in Water, Study Finds Apr 15, 2008
The Moeritherium fossils were found in rock containing strong evidence of swamp and river ecosystems. But it was difficult for scientists to tell whether the ancient animals had actually lived in such an environment or whether their bodies had washed up there after their deaths. (National Geographic)
Britain the dinosaur melting pot Apr 15, 2008
The exhaustive study, by academics at the University of Portsmouth, started with the first dinosaur in the world to be identified: a megalosaurus, named in 1824 from fossils discovered in Oxfordshire. "The real thrill is that we have had people searching for dinosaur fossils in the UK for about 200 years but if we are still finding new species now, then the diversity must have been terrific," one of the authors, Dr David Martill, said ... The team compared fossils from Britain with those from... (Sydney Morning Herald -- World)
Spring break activities this week Apr 15, 2008
Utica s Children s Museum has four floors packed with fun things to do and educational exhibits, including local history, dinosaurs, fossils, puppets, science, trains, arts and crafts, radios, computers, NASA, robots and airplanes. The museum also has special activities and exhibits for spring break week. (Utica NY Obserer, NY)
Into the wild Apr 15, 2008
The Interpretive Classroom by the Lake, located off the Bog Trail, boasts 18 stations that challenge students to learn about everything from fossils and geology to trees and animals. CONTINUED 1. (AL.com)
'Dinosaur Hunters Part II' at Encounter Center Apr 14, 2008
They also will discuss 12 million-year-old mammal fossils discovered at the Ashfall Fossil Beds National Landmark at Royal, Neb. mammal fossils of Iowa and Nebraska of some 10,000 to 100,000 years ago and ancient mammoths, mastodons and rhinos ... The Dinosaur Hunters search for fossils, dinosaur bones and mammal fossils in the area and throughout South Dakota, Wyoming, Montana and Florida. (Sioux City Journal, IO)
