www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/05/120507102054.htm7938. concerned - 5/13/2012 5:13:30 AM
I haven't really been that into dinosaurs, especially over the last 20 years, but things have been percolating quite a bit in that time, especially regarding bird-like dinosaurs in the theropod family.
One of the most unusual recent finds (in the Gobi desert region of China) in 2007 has been a species that has been named Gigantoraptor. It is unusual because it is literally over three times larger in each dimension as the next largest species in its family, the Oviraptoridae.
It has distinctly bird like characteristics and behavior such as brooding over eggs, a toothless beak, and being feathered. In fact, it is speculated that Gigantoraptor may have been descended from birdlike dinosaurs that flew (the specimen found of Gigantoraptor is actually about 70 million years younger than what is widely considered the 'first' bird, Archaeopteryx).
Btw, the word 'raptor' in the scientific name of a species merely emphasizes its 'birdlike' characteristics - this does not imply that Gigantoraptor was all that closely related to the 'Velociraptors' in Jurassic Park, although both are theropods.
And finally, Gigantoraptor stood nearly 20 feet tall and weighed an estimated 2 tons when fully mature, nearly the size of a Tyrannosaurus Rex - perhaps one reason it was humorously nicknamed the 'meat eating chicken of doom'.
7939. concerned - 5/13/2012 5:35:18 AM
Slight correction: technically Theropoa is regarded as a 'clade', not a family.
Also, I've found out the the purpose of Velocitraptor's upraised hindfoot claw is now considered not to disembowel its opponent after leaping in the air, but to assist in holding relatively large prey to the ground.
7940. concerned - 5/13/2012 5:35:42 AM
Theropoda - sheesh.
7941. concerned - 5/22/2012 7:35:23 PM
Btw, I'm considering doing a computer graphic or cartoon drawing where a family of Gigantoraptors (both parents and as many as a dozen 6 - 10 foot tall 'chicks') is attacking a residence - sort of a variation of the Jurassic Park theme but with a little more humor of a sort. I want to represent the gigantoraptor family in a way that implies they have most of the social characteristics of modern birds, rather than just being individual beasts running amok.
I'm not really an artist or an illustrator, but if I need to I usually can figure out how to draw or 'illustrate' either cartoon or semi-realistic scenes. I think I already know how to get the 'chicks' done rather quickly (but I'm not gonna say), but I figure doing the adults will require the most effort, since I will assume that, like many birds, they have brighter plumage/coloration than the chicks. And representing the feathers may be a challenge.
7942. concerned - 6/26/2012 5:51:29 PM
Former Wacko James Lovelock loses his religion about the global warming apocalypse
Will wonders never cease. Former chicken little wingnut James Lovelock suddenly sounds almost like me about global climate.
excerpts:
Lovelock explained that "the world has not warmed up very much since the millennium. Twelve years is a reasonable time" for the warming to occur. Yet the temperature "has stayed almost constant, whereas it should have been rising" as carbon dioxide was rising.
More recently, as revealed in an interview with the British Guardian, Lovelock disclosed other points of contention with those he calls "greens."
He has come to support fracking to produce more natural gas to fire electric power plants. He's rebuked environmentalists for creating a "green religion" that "is now taking over from the Christian religion." And he has called the idea of sustainable development through renewable energy "meaningless drivel."
Moreover, Lovelock has cast doubt on the article of faith that the science on global warming is settled.
This from the guy who gave Gore his talking points six years ago by writing that:
"before this century is over, billions of us will die and the few breeding pairs of people that survive will be in the Arctic where the climate remains tolerable."
So, scratch off from the list one global warming multi layer nut and fruit cake who says 'hello' to intellectual honesty.
7943. concerned - 6/26/2012 5:53:18 PM
Slight clarification:
So, scratch off from the list one global warming multi layer nut and fruit cake who now says 'hello' to intellectual honesty.
7944. concerned - 6/26/2012 5:56:05 PM
Talk about knocking the props out from the global warming looney tunes. Btw, isn't 0bama supposed to make reductions of anthropogenic CO2 emissions a top priority if he wins reelection?
Another reason not to vote for him - his ideas are from the dustbins of history.
7945. iiibbb - 8/6/2012 1:21:02 PM
3-cheers for the Mars landing.
7946. alistairconnor - 8/10/2012 2:38:43 PM
Polar cap says the earth is warming.
US Midwest certainly is.
July was the hottest month in the lower 48 states since the government began keeping temperature records in 1895. ... A hot July also contributed to the warmest 12-month period ever recorded in the United States, the statistics showed.
How do you like that ethanol?
UN urges US to cut ethanol production - FT.com
The UN has called for an immediate suspension of government-mandated US ethanol production, adding to pressure on Barack Obama to address the food-versus-fuel debate in the run-up to presidential elections.
...
The US is poised to divert around 40 per cent of its corn into ethanol because of the Congress-enacted mandate despite “huge damage” to the crop because of the worst drought in at least half a century, José Graziano da Silva, director-general of the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation, warned.
7947. concerned - 8/10/2012 9:53:19 PM
Hi, AC -
How's it going?
Say, remember that $100 wager we had about four years ago, about 'peak oil'? How would you like to pay me?
7948. PincherMartin - 8/17/2012 8:00:33 PM
Alistair,
I'm glad to see you're still around and spreading doomsday gloom.
I hope your dreary outlook on life hasn't prevented you from saving up your euros. You're already 500 in the hole to me, and I'm well ahead on the other 1000.
Less than twelve months to go, mate.
7949. Wombat - 8/17/2012 9:58:53 PM
Pincher Martin! Care to step into the fever swamp of the Political thread?
7950. PincherMartin - 8/20/2012 6:48:47 PM
Thanks for the offer, Wombat, but I'm just here to protect my investment.
7951. alistairconnor - 8/23/2012 5:19:52 PM
7947 : Con, you can drop by and pick it up any time! When are you planning to be in Europe next?
But seriously : I could probably send it by Western Union or something.
7952. concerned - 8/28/2012 2:46:24 AM
Hi, AC -
Sorry for the delay. I meant to respond earlier but forgot. Don't worry about it. I just wanted to see if you remembered.
Best wishes,
7953. robertjayb - 9/20/2012 6:05:44 AM
This image made available by NASA shows the amount of summer sea ice in the Arctic on Sunday, Sept. 16, 2012, at center in white, and the 1979 to 2000 average extent for the day shown, with the yellow line. Scientists say sea ice in the Arctic shrank to an all-time low of 1.32 million square miles on Sunday, Sept. 16, 2012, smashing old records for the critical climate indicator. That's 18 percent smaller than the previous record set in 2007. Records go back to 1979 based on satellite tracking. (AP Photo/U.S. National Snow and Ice Data Center)
Global warming? What global warming?
(Via AP The Big Story)
7954. robertjayb - 9/20/2012 6:17:06 AM
Arctic Ice Shrinks
7955. concerned - 9/21/2012 8:31:09 PM
I believe that 'all time low' for arctic sea ice is "zero", achieved on at least two years in the 1930's and 1940's, when no arctic sea ice at all was noted by exploratory vessels.
