Extinct Reptile Named After President Obama; ‘Obamadon gracilissmall’ Lizards Died off 65 Million Years Ago

Posted on December 11, 2012 by Kneeknee

Extinct Reptile Named After President Obama

obama-dinosaur

Whether or not President Obama will make it to Mount Rushmore is debatable…but he’ll have at least one lasting historical artifact that will pay him homage.

Scientists have named an extinct lizard, which died out 65 million years ago, after President Obama. The fossil of what scientists dub Obamadon gracilis, a small insect-eating lizard, was discovered by scientists at Yale and Harvard universities after they re-examined fossil collections from across the country, according to the Boston Globe.

According to Nicholas Longrich, a Yale paleontologist, the team had been restudying the fossils in order to find out what killed the dinosaurs. In the process, they had discovered several new species that were not previously known to the scientific community.

The lizard bearing President Obama’s name is described as being a small creature with a slender jaw. However, as Longrich told the Globe, the naming of the lizard after the president almost didn’t happen.

“I was seriously thinking, if the election had gone the other way, I would have yanked it,” Longrich said. “It might have seemed like we were mocking it, naming a lizard that goes extinct after that, seemed kind of cruel.”

But aside from paying tribute to President Obama, the research team’s findings, published Monday in the science journal titled the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, believes that lizards and snakes may not have been as fortunate in surviving the extinction of dinosaurs–long thought to have been triggered by an enormous Chicxulub asteroid crash-landing to Earth–as scientists believed.

“This is a bit speculative, but the ecosystem basically collapses when there’s not enough sunlight to make new leaves. No new plants growing, everything kind of starves, and in that situation I would imagine, maybe what you’ve got going on is dead, rotting plant material, dying, rotting dinosaurs, and probably a lot of maggots and beetles and grubs that are eating all that dead material,” Longrich said. “Animals that can eat the insects are maybe what’s surviving, so insectivores which tend to be smaller” can survive.

While small lizards and snakes may have gotten lucky, Longrich’s team theorizes that at least 83 percent of snakes and lizards may have died during the extinction.

“The lizards that dominate today get their start after the extinction-they radiate in the aftermath,” Longrich said, according to Yahoo! News. “But that said, the radiation takes a long time.”
Read more at http://www.latinospost.com/articles/8027/20121210/extinct-reptile-named-president-obama-obamadon-gracilissmall.htm#bYULKtCchp5dC8wy.99

Asteroid That Killed the Dinosaurs Also Wiped out the ‘Obamadon’

Posted on December 11, 2012 by Kneeknee

Asteroid That Killed the Dinosaurs Also Wiped out the ‘Obamadon’

Asteroid That Killed the Dinosaurs Also Wiped out the Obamadon

Dec. 10, 2012 — The asteroid collision widely thought to have killed the dinosaurs also led to extreme devastation among snake and lizard species, according to new research — including the extinction of a newly identified lizard Yale and Harvard scientists have named Obamadon gracilis.

“The asteroid event is typically thought of as affecting the dinosaurs primarily,” said Nicholas R. Longrich, a postdoctoral associate with Yale’s Department of Geology and Geophysics and lead author of the study. “But it basically cut this broad swath across the entire ecosystem, taking out everything. Snakes and lizards were hit extremely hard.”

The study was scheduled for online publication the week of Dec. 10 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Earlier studies have suggested that some snake and lizard species (as well as many mammals, birds, insects and plants) became extinct after the asteroid struck Earth 65.5 million years ago, on the edge of the Yucatan Peninsula. But the new research argues that the collision’s consequences were far more serious for snakes and lizards than previously understood. As many as 83 percent of all snake and lizard species died off, the researchers said — and the bigger the creature, the more likely it was to become extinct, with no species larger than one pound surviving.

The results are based on a detailed examination of previously collected snake and lizard fossils covering a territory in western North America stretching from New Mexico in the southwestern United States to Alberta, Canada. The authors examined 21 previously known species and also identified nine new lizards and snakes.

Could Porcupine Quills Help Us Design the Next Hypodermic Needle?

Posted on December 11, 2012 by Kneeknee

Could Porcupine Quills Help Us Design the Next Hypodermic Needle

A new study shows that microscopic barbs allow porcupine quills to slice into flesh easily and stay there stubbornly. Image via Jeffrey Karp

If you’ve ever had a violent encounter with a porcupine, it probably didn’t end well. The large rodents are most well-known for the coat of some 30,000 barbed quills that cover their backs, an evolutionary adaptation to protect against predators. Although they appear thin—even flimsy—once quills lodge in your flesh, they’re remarkably difficult and painful to get out.

Recently, a group of scientists led by Jeffrey Karp of Harvard decided to closely investigate just what makes these quills so effective. As they report in an article published today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, their analysis revealed a specialized microscopic barbed structure that enables the quills to slide into tissue extremely easily but cling to it stubbornly once it’s in place.

A microscopic image of a porcupine quill’s barbs. Image via Jeffrey Karp

Each cylindrical quill, it turns out, is coated with backwards-facing barbs interspersed with smooth, scale-like structures. When a porcupine brushes up against an adversary (or against anything else), it sheds its quills; the barbs around the circumference of the quill act like the teeth on a slicing serrated knife, providing a cleaner cut into tissue and making penetration easier. Once the quill has dug into the other animal, these same barbs have the opposite effect, lifting up and preventing the needle from sliding out easily.

The researchers took a rather interesting approach to arrive at these findings: They measured how much force it took to push in and pull out porcupine quills into pig skin and raw chicken meat. They then performed the same experiment with other quills, which they’d rendered smooth by carefully sanding off all the barbs.

All this research had a greater purpose than merely satisfying the authors’ curiosity about porcupines. Like velcro (inspired by plants’ burrs that get stuck on your clothing) and tape-based adhesives (inspired by the sticky coating on geckos’ hands and feet), the scientists studied the characteristics that made the barbs so effective in hopes of developing next-generation hypodermic needles.

If one could be designed that would require less force to penetrate human tissue, it might mean less pain with your next flu shot. The quills’ staying power could be useful for needles that need to stay in place for a longer period of time, like an I.V. drip.

As a proof-of-principle, the team made replica porcupine quills made out of plastic and put them through the same battery of tests on tissue and skin. The plastic quills worked like a charm. The researchers speculate that such technology could someday be incorporated into a range of medical applications beyond hypodermic needles, such as staples that hold wounds together during healing and adhesives used to hold drug delivery systems in place.

Posted By: Joseph Stromberg — Evolution,Ideas & Innovations,Mammals,Wildlife | Link | Comments (0)

Mars rover ‘shake and bake’ cooks up a carbon mystery

Posted on December 11, 2012 by Kneeknee

Curiosity has detected organic compounds on Mars, after cooking them up itself <i>(Image: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS)</i>

Mars rover ‘shake and bake’ cooks up a carbon mystery

NASA’s Curiosity rover has tasted carbon in Martian soil, sparking speculation as to its origin, and has also found that Mars prefers its hydrogen heavy.
A TANTALISING whiff of carbon-based compounds has been picked up by NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover. But it’s still not clear whether the eagerly awaited results are revealing the true chemical nature of Mars or are instead the products of Earthly contaminants.

One of the goals of the NASA rover, which landed on the Red Planet on 6 August, is to search for signs that Mars might once have had the means to support life. One clue would be organics – carbon-containing compounds that are the building blocks of life as we know it. During Curiosity’s first “meals” of Martian soil, baked inside the robot’s ovens, carbon and hydrogen were found to have reacted with chlorine, creating organic molecules.

This taste of carbon is intriguing, but it is a far cry from recent feverish speculation that the rover had found definitive evidence for organic compounds on Mars.
“The rover has made this detection of simple organic compounds,” says project scientist John Grotzinger of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. But crucially, the rover only detected them after cooking them up. The mystery now is: where did it find that key ingredient – carbon?

Sweet Child O’ Mine – Guns N’ Roses

Posted on December 11, 2012 by Kneeknee

Sweet Child O’ Mine – Guns N’ Roses

Sweet Child O' Mine Guns N' Roses

“Sweet Child O’ Mine” is a power ballad by American hard rock band Guns N’ Roses, and the third from their 1987 debut studio album, Appetite for Destruction. Released on August 17, 1988, the song topped the Billboard Hot 100 chart becoming the band’s first and only number-one single in the U.S. It reached number six on the UK Singles Chart, when re-released in 1989.
Lead guitarist Slash has been quoted as having a disdain for the song due to its roots as simply a “string skipping” exercise and a joke at the time In a VH1 special, it was stated that Slash played the riff in a jam session as a joke. Drummer Steven Adler and Slash were warming up and Slash began to play a “circus” melody while making faces at Steven. Rhythm guitarist Izzy Stradlin asked Slash to play it again. Meanwhile lead singer Axl Rose was upstairs in his room and heard the ‘jam session’ going on downstairs and couldn’t help but write lyrics. He based it on his girlfriend Erin Everly. With Steven’s added drum part, Izzy’s chords and Duff McKagan‘s bass line the harmony became the core of the song. Originally, there was a third verse to the song. However, this verse was later cut from recording as the band’s producer, Mike Clink, felt the song would carry on for too long. The final dramatic breakdown was not added until Clink suggested the band add one. They agreed, but weren’t sure what to do. Axl started saying to himself, “Where do we go? Where do we go now?” Clink suggested that he sing that, and “Sweet Child o’ Mine” was born.

Picture Source: http://teacherweb.ftl.pinecrest.edu/snyderd/APHG/projects/Tour.htm

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Bohemian Rhapsody – Queen

Posted on December 11, 2012 by Kneeknee

Bohemian Rhapsody – Queen

Bohemian Rhapsody - Queen

“Bohemian Rhapsody” is a song by the British rock band Queen. It was written by Freddie Mercury for the band’s 1975 album A Night at the Opera. The song has no chorus, instead consisting of four main parts: a ballad segment ending with a guitar solo, an operatic passage, and a hard rock section. At the time, it was the most expensive single ever made and remains one of the most elaborate recordings in popular music history. When it was released as a single, “Bohemian Rhapsody” became a commercial success, staying at the top of the UK Singles Chart for nine weeks and selling more than a million copies by the end of January 1976. It reached number one again in 1991 for five weeks following Mercury’s death, eventually becoming the UK’s third best-selling single of all time. It topped the charts in several other markets as well, including Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland and The Netherlands, later becoming one of the best-selling singles of all time. In the United States the song originally peaked at number nine in 1976; however, it returned to the chart at number two in 1992 following its appearance in the film Wayne’s World which revived its American popularity.

Although critical reaction was initially mixed, “Bohemian Rhapsody” remains one of Queen’s most popular songs. Rolling Stone ranked it as number 163 on their list of “The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time“. “Bohemian Rhapsody” topped the list on an ITV nationwide poll to find ‘The Nation’s Favourite Number One’ over 60 years of music, with the TV programme airing on 15 July 2012. The poll was voted for by the British public and beat records such as Michael Jackson‘s “Billie Jean” (No.2), Adele‘s, “Someone like You” (No.3) and Oasis‘, “Don’t Look Back in Anger” (No.4). The single was accompanied by a promotional video, which many scholars consider ground-breaking.

Michael Jackson – Dirty Diana

Posted on December 11, 2012 by Kneeknee

Michael Jackson – Dirty Diana

Michael Jackson - Dirty Diana

“Dirty Diana” is a song by American songwriter and recording artist Michael Jackson featuring guitarist Steve Stevens. It is the ninth track from Jackson’s seventh studio album, Bad. The song was released by Epic Records on April 18, 1988 as the fifth single from the album. The song presented a harder rock sound similar to that of “Thriller. “Dirty Diana” was written and co-produced by Jackson, and produced by Quincy Jones. The song’s lyrics pertain to groupies. “Dirty Diana” has a moderate tempo and is played in the key of G minor.
“Dirty Diana” was generally well received by contemporary music critics. The song was also a commercial success worldwide in 1988, charting at number one on the United States Billboard Hot 100. The song also charted within the top ten in multiple countries, including the United Kingdom, France, Italy and New Zealand. “Dirty Diana” was the fifth and final number-one single on the Hot 100 from Bad. In 2009, after Jackson’s death in June, the song re-entered charts, mainly due to digital download sales. A music video for “Dirty Diana” was filmed in front of a live audience and was released in 1988.

“Dirty Diana” was written and co-produced by Michael Jackson, and produced by Quincy Jones. It appeared on Jackson’s seventh studio album, Bad. The song was released by Epic Records on April 18, 1988 as the fifth single from Bad. After “Beat It“, “Dirty Diana” was the second hard rock song of his solo career, more specifically a hard rock ballad, with lyrics about a persistent groupie. Jackson hired Billy Idol‘s guitarist Steve Stevens to back him on the track. Initial reports at the time suggested the song was a poke at his close friend Diana Ross, however this was later denied. In fact, Ross started using the song as an overture at her concerts shortly before she appears on stage. In an interview from the special edition of Bad, Jones later confirmed that the song’s lyrics were about groupies. Jackson also confirmed this during an interview with Barbara Walters, adding that it was not about Diana, Princess of Wales, though he was told personally by the Princess that it was her favourite among his songs.

Bio source…..wikipedia.org

Picture source…..www.michaeljackson-7.com

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Six tips to survive Christmas (without having to strangle anyone)

Posted on December 11, 2012 by Kneeknee

Six tips to survive Christmas without having to strangle anyone

Forget peace on earth and goodwill to all men: Christmas can be a nightmare. Here’s how to rise above the pressure:

Shop smart

Resist the temptation to spend, spend, spend. Do-it-yourself gifts, like a framed photo or homemade jam, not only save you money, they mean more than shop-bought items. Other money-saving ideas include having the family agree that you’ll only buy presents for children and giving ‘time vouchers’ instead, such as one hour’s babysitting, an afternoon’s weed-pulling).
Aim for relative peace
One reason Christmas is so tense is that it’s often one of the few times the family gets together. The solution is to think through all the potential difficulties and challenges ahead of time. For example, if a ‘problem’ person is coming to visit, work out a coping strategy, such as doing safe things, like playing board games or cards, or going for a walk after lunch or dinner.
Lower your expectations
Don’t try to make Christmas perfect — it won’t be. Decide that you’ll be happy if you have a nice day with good food and a few laughs. If things end up better than you expected, that’s a bonus. Keep it simple — you don’t need to have a huge tree, design your own greeting cards, and bake your own mince pies. Settle for a big bunch of flowers, some scented candles and a sentimental favourite like Nat King Cole on the CD player.
Pamper your partner
Any problems bubbling under the surface of your relationship will inevitably come to a head at Christmas — your partner still won’t help around the house and you still won’t get on with your in-laws. Make the most of the holidays by setting aside time for activities to do together as a couple.
Delegate
There’s no reason why everyone in the house shouldn’t help out. Decide in advance whose job it is to wrap presents or set the table. If everyone knows what their task is, there will be fewer arguments. If you’re hosting Christmas dinner, ask guests to bring the starter and/or a salad or dessert, so you only have to tackle the main course. If you just can’t cope with cooking, organise to eat out.
Run away
Not spending the day with parents or relatives can be interpreted as not loving them enough, but if you really want to escape, don’t feel guilty: reassure them that you’ll see them before you go and when you get back. If you are separated from family and friends through work or distance, helping out in a shelter for the homeless or delivering meals for the elderly can be very rewarding when everything seems so commercial.

http://aww.ninemsn.com.au/dietandhealth/healthnews/786408/six-tips-to-survive-christmas-without-having-to-strangle-anyone

Ten Tips For A Calm Christmas

Posted on December 11, 2012 by Kneeknee

Don’t we adore tips for the holiday season? And no wonder really. Most of us are breathless just thinking about all we have to do and how little time is left in which to do it.

Ten Tips For A Calm Christmas

These 10 tips are brief enough to consider in a moment. And big enough to make a difference.

1. Do less. Whenever people get together, it’s atmosphere that matters most, not that impressive menu.

2. Drink less. Alcohol can lift people’s spirits – but only in small amounts. Too much – and old resentments will come pouring out.

3. Check your expectations. Not just of other people. Also of yourself. Are they the slightest bit unreasonable? Sometimes we set ourselves up for disappointment by expecting the impossible. Be realistic. Yet always ready to be enchanted.

4. Focus on what’s going well right now. Or what’s most uplifting. Forget the rest.

5. Speak up. Let people know how much you appreciate them, even when their choice of gifts, or their habits or views, leaves much to be desired. “I really love the way you…” opens hearts and mends all kinds of bridges.

6. Give thanks. Be lavish in your gratitude that there are people in your life to care about. They are imperfect, of course. Isn’t everyone? Give thanks, too, that you and yours have somewhere safe to sleep at night and food and funds to share.

7. Re-value silence. This is not the time to be honest if that means being critical, undermining or telling anyone what they “need to hear”. Biting back any words that are less than encouraging is a lasting act of love.

8. Re-value forgiveness. Yourself, others, God, or life itself? Learning something from what went wrong, giving new value to the present moment, it becomes possible to move forward.

9. Re-value good humour. Become someone who’s easy to be around. And even easier to like. It’s the best gift you will ever give. And it’s certainly the best gift your dear ones will ever receive.

10. Give pleasure, great memories, generosity of spirit, laughter, music, silly hats and games, and little acts of constant kindness. ‘Tis the season of joy, indeed. And of peace.

By Stephanie Dowrick

December 21, 2011

http://thehoopla.com.au/10-tips-christmas-calm/

Riverside County Firefighters Offer Christmas Tree Safety Tips

Posted on December 11, 2012 by Kneeknee

The following is a news release from CAL FIRE/Riverside County Fire Department:

A lot of work goes into preparing for the holiday season; baking, decorating, shopping for gifts. Why not take a little extra time to make your home safe during the holidays by following some easy tips for purchasing, decorating and disposing of your holiday tree? According to the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA):

U.S. Fire Departments responded to an estimated annual average of 240 residential structure fires that began with Christmas Trees. These fires caused an annual average of 13 civilian fire-related deaths, 27 civilian fire-related injuries and nearly $16.7 million dollars in direct property damage.
Electrical problems were factors in 33% of residential Christmas Tree structure fires.
13% of home Christmas Tree fires involved decorative lights.
Candles started 11% of home Christmas Tree structure fires.
39% (or two out of every five) home Christmas Tree fires started in the living room, family room or den.
18% of home Christmas Tree structure fires were intentionally set. Half of the intentional Christmas Tree fires occurred in January and may have been related to disposal.

“These are staggering statistics”, said CAL FIRE/Riverside County Fire Chief John R. Hawkins. “If you opt to purchase a live tree, a few simple actions can protect your family from an improperly selected, maintained and disposed of live tree and it becoming the culprit of a dangerous and deadly fire.”

We invite you to view a video clip, also available on YouTube (CAL FIRE TV), with some very important tips on selecting, decorating, maintaining and disposing of live Christmas Trees.

CAL FIRE/Riverside County Fire Department wishes all of our residents and visitors a very happy and fire safe holiday season!

Riverside County Firefighters Offer Christmas Tree Safety Tips

Related Topics: Christmas Trees and Fires

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Extinct Reptile Named After President Obama; ‘Obamadon gracilissmall’ Lizards Died off 65 Million Years Ago