New Species Of Prehistoric Creatures Discovered In Isle Of Wight Mud

In just four years a University of Portsmouth palaeontologist has discovered 48 new species from the age of the dinosaurs.

Dr Steve Sweetman’s discoveries, found hidden in mud on the Isle of Wight, are around 130 million years old and shed valuable light on the poorly understood world in which well known dinosaurs roamed.

Steve, a research associate with the School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, has found in ancient river deposits, at least eight new dinosaurs, many different types of lizard, frogs, salamanders, and perhaps rarest of all from the time of the dinosaurs, six tiny mammals, some as small as a shrew.

Palaeontologists have previously relied on conventional surface prospecting to collect fossils exposed naturally by weather and waves. Broken bits and pieces of bone stick out of the ground which often leads to a larger fossil being discovered.

… “In the very first sample I found a tiny jaw of an extinct newt-sized, salamander-like amphibian and then new species just kept coming.

“Although we knew a lot about the larger species that existed on the island during the Early Cretaceous no-one had ever filled in the gaps. With these discoveries I can paint a really detailed picture of the creatures that scurried at the feet and in the shadows of the dinosaurs,” he said.

he very first sample I found a tiny jaw of an extinct newt-sized, salamander-like amphibian and then new species just kept coming.

via New Species Of Prehistoric Creatures Discovered In Isle Of Wight Mud.

Biologists Find Gene Network That Gave Rise To First Tooth

A new paper in PLoS Biology reports that a common gene regulatory circuit controls the development of all dentitions, from the first teeth in the throats of jawless fishes that lived half a billion years ago, to the incisors and molars of modern vertebrates, including you and me.

“It’s likely that every tooth made throughout the evolution of vertebrates has used this core set of genes,” said Gareth Fraser, postdoctoral fellow at Georgia Tech’s School of Biology.

The first vertebrates to have teeth were a group of eel-like jawless fish known as the conodonts that had teeth not in their mouth, but lining the throat. This particular group is long since extinct, but some modern fish retain teeth in the throat (pharynx). Dr. Fraser and colleagues studied tooth formation in a group of fish known for their rapid rate of evolution, the cichlids of Africa’s Lake Malawi. The cichlids have teeth both in their oral jaws, like humans, and deep in their throats on a pharyngeal jaw. A co-author of the paper, Darrin Hulsey, first identified a surprising positive correlation between the number of teeth in the oral jaw and in the throat in these fish.

“Originally, I thought there wouldn’t be a correlation due to the developmental differences and the evolutionary distinction between the two jaw regions, but it turns out there is,” explained Fraser. “So fish that have fewer oral teeth also have fewer pharyngeal teeth. This shows that on some level there’s a genetic control that governs the number of teeth in both regions.”

The team investigated what this control might be by using a technique localizing gene expression in the cells during tooth development, known as in situ hybridization, and found that a common genetic network governs teeth in the two locations.

“So seemingly, regardless of where you grow a tooth, whether it’s in the jaw or the pharynx, you use the same core set of genes to do it,” said co-author J. Todd Streelman. “We also think it’s probable that this network is not just acting in teeth, but also in other similarly patterned structures like hair and feathers.”

via Biologists Find Gene Network That Gave Rise To First Tooth.

UFO wind turbine ‘broke due to mechanical failure not collision with flying object’

A 65 ft blade that flew off the turbine came loose after bolts attaching it to the hub failed, not because of a collision, examination of the components has revealed.

Locals near the farm in Conisholme, Lincolnshire had reported seeing orange-yellow spheres trailing octopus-like “tentacles” on the night of the incident, sparking speculation that it had it had fallen victim to low-flying aliens.

But after weeks of analysis the turbine manufacturer Enercon has released an interim report identifying material fatigue as the cause of the accident.

They are now carrying out further tests to establish what caused the bolts to come loose, focusing on the blade and hub components to which they were attached. If one of these failed, the bolts could have been put under unbearable stress.

“The bolt failure was the effect not the cause of the problem. They have ruled out bolt fatigue and design problems, and we know that they were properly put on,” said Dale Vince the co-founder of Ecotricity, which owns the farm.

It was Mr Vince’s willingness to consider paranormal explanations that drew attention to the UFO theories, and he told the Telegraph he was disappointed by the results.

“To be honest I’m not surprised. But there was part of me that did hope it was a UFO as it was a lovely story,” he said.

“My favourite theory was that some alien race was trying to steal our turbine technology. They crossed galaxies to get here and when they arrive all they want is our wind technology. Wind power may be the holy grail of energy on Earth but not for stellar space travel.”

via UFO wind turbine ‘broke due to mechanical failure not collision with flying object’ – Telegraph.

Canadian scientists read minds with infrared scan

Researchers at U of T and Canada’s largest children’s rehabilitation hospital have developed a technique that uses infrared light brain imaging to decode preference – with the goal of ultimately opening the world of choice to children who can’t speak or move. In a study published this month in The Journal of Neural Engineering, Bloorview scientists demonstrate the ability to decode a person’s preference for one of two drinks with 80 per cent accuracy by measuring the intensity of near-infrared light absorbed in brain tissue. “This is the first system that decodes preference naturally from spontaneous thoughts,” said Sheena Luu, the University of Toronto PhD student in biomedical engineering who led the study under the supervision of Tom Chau, Canada Research Chair in pediatric rehab engineering. Most brain-computer interfaces designed to read thoughts require training. For example, in order to indicate yes to a question, the person needs to do an unrelated mental task – such as singing a song in their head. The nine adults in Luu’s study received no training. Prior to the study they rated eight drinks on a scale of one to five.

Wearing a headband fitted with fibre-optics that emit light into the pre-frontal cortex of the brain, they were shown two drinks on a computer monitor, one after the other, and asked to make a mental decision about which they liked more. “When your brain is active, the oxygen in your blood increases and depending on the concentration, it absorbs more or less light,” Luu said. “In some people, their brains are more active when they don’t like something, and in some people they’re more active when they do like something.” After teaching the computer to recognize the unique pattern of brain activity associated with preference for each subject, the researchers accurately predicted which drink the participants liked best 80 per cent of the time. “Preference is the basis for everyday decisions,” Luu said. When children with disabilities can’t speak or gesture to control their environment, they may develop a learned helplessness that impedes development. In future, Luu envisions creating a portable, near-infrared sensor that rests on the forehead and relies on wireless technology, opening up the world of choice to children who can’t speak or move. Her work is part of Tom Chau’s body-talk research, which aims to give children who are “locked in” by disability a way to express themselves through subtle body processes like breathing pattern, heart rate and brain activity. Luu notes that the brain is too complex to ever allow decoding of a person’s random thoughts. “However, if we limit the context – limit the question and available answers, as we have with predicting preference – then mind-reading becomes possible.” – utoronto

New note at ‘longest concert’

Another note from a piece by a US composer has been played in what has been called the world’s slowest and longest concert.

The church organ in the German town of Halberstadt played the next – seventh – chord of John Cage’s As Slow As Possible work.

The performance began in 2001 and is scheduled to last a total of 639 years.

via BBC NEWS | Europe | New note at ‘longest concert’.

Antarctic Worm Makes Antifreeze

Two Brigham Young University researchers who just returned from Antarctica are reporting a hardy worm that withstands its cold climate by cranking out antifreeze. And when its notoriously dry home runs out of water, it just dries itself out and goes into suspended animation until liquid water brings it back to life.

Identifying the genes the worm uses to kick in its antifreeze system can be useful information – similar genes found in other Antarctic organisms are currently being used to engineer frost-resistant crops.

But BYU’s Byron Adams, associate professor of molecular biology, and his Ph.D. student Bishwo Adhikari, are carrying on their love affair with microscopic nematode worms for a different reason.

They spent Christmas near the South Pole to help determine how the fate of a half-millimeter worm can actually impact an entire ecosystem, and how that information can serve as an important baseline for understanding climate change’s impact on more complex systems, such as a farmer’s field in the United States.

Their latest study, published February 9 in the journal BMC Genomics, used samples Adams gathered during previous trips to the world’s most inhospitable continent. He’s lived at McMurdo Station seven times and hitched helicopter rides to gather soil from Antarctica’s freezing, bone-dry valleys, where only a handful of microscopic animals can survive. The ones that do make for a convenient laboratory for observing how minor changes in the environment can have a big impact on an ecosystem.

via How An Antarctic Worm Makes Antifreeze And What That Has To Do With Climate Change.

Listen: Capitol Garage Open Mic Night Jazz

Tonight I caught some nice live jazz with a friend at the Capitol Garage in Sacramento, CA. I’ve uploaded 8 new mp3 files (box on the left) raw without editing so it will almost be like a live broadcast.

All Purpose Comb

I had a song idea today. I think it will make a nice comedy bit with the right delivery. I got the idea when I opened a new comb and read the package. It said “All Purpose Comb”. That’s hilarious. It’s  not just for combing your hair, it’s for ALL purposes…

All Purpose Comb
c2009 by Xeno

If the bank is foreclosing and you’ve lost your wife
Or your job, or your hope, or your home
Don’t get too discouraged, just take my advice
Buy an All Purpose Comb

Take your last dollar fifty and go get the nifty black teeth
For the hairs on your dome
It’s for everyday use, you don’t need an excuse
To buy an All Purpose Comb

You can hold up a bank with it, stir what you drank with it
Use it to dial the phone
You can call up the Pope with it, fend off a grope with it
If he invites you to Rome
And the more you explore the more purposes you’re
Going to find it’s the best thing you own
Whatever goes wrong you will have it along
It’s your All Purpose Comb.

Lets say you’re in Vegas, you’ve lost all your wages
It’s you and a slot all alone
Just take out your friend, do a four degree bend
And slide it up under the chrome
Wiggle the button and you’ll have a sudden
Success and your name will be known
As the winner who won, it was secretly done
With an All Purpose Comb.

If a science experiment makes a black hole
and the whole Earth dissolves with a groan,
get your hairs into place, as you’re sucked into space
with your All Purpose Comb,
and the aliens watching will be so curious why
you would use your last seconds to preen
that they’ll find a fresh planet similar to Earth
And transport you there in a beam
And they’ll make you immortal so they can observe
As you sit, meditate and say “Om”
On the pyramid peak, in the city you built,
with the huge hanging gardens and the statue on stilts,
with the Temple of Art, with a vast mausoleum
with the lighthouse of light colored stone
with the sitting white Zeus holding up his hair mousse
(a gold can of non-aerosol foam)
his impeccable hair, his inscrutable stare
and his All Purpose Comb.

I like you a lot, so I’ll share what I’ve sought
I have got what you need to take home
There’s a score in my stash and I’ll trade you some cash
For an All Purpose Comb.

I got a bit carried away and had to fit the seven wonders of the ancient world in there. Needs work, but the basic idea is there.

AF colonel accused of imposing religion

An Air Force colonel is being criticized for improperly referring airmen under her command to a far-right religious Web site.  Col. Kimberly K. Toney sent a e-mail Jan. 16 to the 501st Combat Support Wing inviting airmen to enjoy a linked video highlighting an inspirational individual on 4marks.com, a Roman Catholic Web site.

The video featured Nick Vujicic, a 25-year-old who was born without arms or legs. According to the video’s introduction, Vujicic finds his “greatest joy in this life is to introduce Jesus to those he meets and tell them of his (Jesus’) great desire to get to know them personally by allowing him to become their Lord and Savior.” Air Force Master Sgt. Jeffrey L. Thompson, a member of the 501st, sent a letter to Toney that complained she had inappropriately advanced her faith in an official capacity. “My own impression of your e-mail was an organizational endorsement of Christian faith, because the e-mail, article and video compelled us to witness an exercise in religious-specific faith that I felt was in conflict with DOD neutrality on religion,” Thompson said in his letter.

Thompson, who says in the letter that he is a Roman Catholic, had no further comment Monday. No formal complaint had been lodged in connection to Toney’s e-mail as of Monday, U.S. Air Forces in Europe spokesman Senior Master Sgt. Stefan Alford said. Thompson states in his letter to Toney that he intends to file an official complaint. “He has yet to fill out the required paperwork and start the complaint process,” Alford said. “Right now there’s no complaint, no investigation.”

Alford said Toney first received the video through a colleague. In the Feb. 2 letter to Toney, Thompson contended in his letter that the e-mail violated Air Force regulations regarding religious proselytizing. He also said the Web site 4marks.com “explicitly promotes an atmosphere that is hostile to our commander-in-chief, which is potentially detrimental to the good order and discipline of our unit.”

One posting on the Web site features President Barack Obama in a Nazi uniform with a Hitler-style moustache, while other content claims Obama “wants to murder babies that have survived abortion.”

via AF colonel accused of imposing religion | Stars and Stripes.

That image of Obama, if it is still on the site mentioned, isn’t easy to find.

Grating cheese ‘cuts risk of heart disease’ says Food Standards Agency

The agency is urging consumers to make small changes to their diet to lower their intake of saturated fat, which increases cholesterol levels in the blood.

The public should opt for low fat milk instead of semi-skimmed, select leaner cuts of meat and try to cut down on unhealthy snacks, the FSA advises.

Substituting butter for margarine and frying food in vegetable oil are also encouraged.

Tim Smith, the agency’s chief executive, said that many people were unaware that they could prolong their lives by switching to easy alternatives to their favourite foods.

“It’s important to find ways to cut down, not give up. I learned to cut down cheese by grating it or using stronger flavour and I have cut down to 1 per cent milk rather than semi-skimmed,” he said. People tend to use less cheese in a meal if they have grated it.

Britons currently eat 20 per cent more than the recommended levels of saturated fat, according to the FSA, helping make heart disease the country’s most common cause of death, claiming 198,000 lives a year.

Cutting the among of energy we get from saturated fat from a national average of 13.3 per cent to 11 per cent would save 3,500 lives a year, the agency says.

The awareness campaign, involving a hard-hitting television advert and posters, is particularly targeted at slim people who may not realise the risks posed to their long term health by a fatty diet.

Heart surgeon Shyam Kolvekar, who is based at The London Heart Hospital, said: “I’m increasingly seeing patients as young as 40 in my surgery who do not realise the effect of the saturated fatty foods on their hearts such as butter, biscuits and snacks until it is too late.”

via Grating cheese ‘cuts risk of heart disease’ says Food Standards Agency – Telegraph.