tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-209492552024-03-13T00:45:24.549-07:00RadixExamining the roots of things.Corey Zakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02833918743451646860noreply@blogger.comBlogger19125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20949255.post-21160076506005746312011-01-16T05:46:00.000-08:002011-01-16T05:48:50.460-08:00"New" Zodiac Sign Ophiuchus has Been Around for thousands of Years.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiICnanxKyKAJaUdL7w-sOYjIvchm9Wo4eEVAi0sfciG5Avm-sO23VUIoI4Mdtp217z7Fn7BUiQIMuu3D-4Udz45jCpQaI0Y8FcnkYnCdIEKJrKAa2L2tI6SqEBvpKg0sfOyyWnUQ/s1600/new-horiscope-ophiuchus-constellation.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiICnanxKyKAJaUdL7w-sOYjIvchm9Wo4eEVAi0sfciG5Avm-sO23VUIoI4Mdtp217z7Fn7BUiQIMuu3D-4Udz45jCpQaI0Y8FcnkYnCdIEKJrKAa2L2tI6SqEBvpKg0sfOyyWnUQ/s1600/new-horiscope-ophiuchus-constellation.png" /></a></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoYKKwG4PIRUv2X2dF_9rLA-g2EtSOqYT-TZTx5vSXuGFjgdgDyRI_xfATzK33aX877YNYKJ4EQdhjzhnb294YnAD1pbDpxcMnJ7jb74vQxHyP4_FUg2_BKDQ5qHj55KfGCfANDg/s1600/ophiuchus-new-horoscope-zodiac-sign.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a>For some reason it was reported recently that a "new sign" has joined the traditional 12 signs of the Zodiac.<br />
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This "13th sign", however, has been there for thousands of years. The Sun passes through it once a year as it travels from Scorpio to Sagittarius.<br />
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The constellation Ophiuchus may be based on Asclepius, the ancient Greek God of Medicine (in Latin he was called Aesculapius). He learnt the art of healing from Chiron, the Centaur. <br />
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On either side of Ophiuchus in the heavens lie the two parts of the sign of the serpent he holds, Serpens Caput, the Serpent's Head and Serpens Cauda, the Serpent's Tail. It is from the Serpent that Ophiuchus learnt the secret of the Elixir of Life.The "rod of Asclepius" consisted of a serpent entwined around a staff. It has been used as a symbol of the medical profession ever since (although it has been confused with the caduceus in modern north America).<br />
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Asclepius was the son of Apollo and his mother Coronis. Coronis died before his birth, but Apollo surgically removed the baby carried it to the centaur Chiron who raised Asclepius and instructed him in the art of medicine. Among his children were his daughters Hygieia, Meditrina, and Panacea. The names of his daughters each rather transparently reflect a certain subset of the overall theme of "good health".<br />
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Zeus killed Asclepius with a thunderbolt because he raised Hippolytus from the dead and accepted gold for it. Other stories say that Asclepius was killed because after bringing people back from the dead, Hades thought that no more dead spirits would come to the underworld, so he asked his brother Zeus to remove him. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDO9yYLxqf0mzobAHGii_tbSJBPc3NZLzscrZMIwc1dbOXkvBmrQIUd9vjlqmspjRwEtuNgjeIB5xACh4IuwBjfZgHIFkHN6kKIuZpdsgk7XSK_9NmlpJV-8SIntrGkV02IGXaxA/s1600/ophiuchus-new-horoscope-zodiac-sign.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="178" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDO9yYLxqf0mzobAHGii_tbSJBPc3NZLzscrZMIwc1dbOXkvBmrQIUd9vjlqmspjRwEtuNgjeIB5xACh4IuwBjfZgHIFkHN6kKIuZpdsgk7XSK_9NmlpJV-8SIntrGkV02IGXaxA/s200/ophiuchus-new-horoscope-zodiac-sign.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>After Asclepius' death, Zeus placed Asclepius among the stars as the constellation Ophiuchus.<br />
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The even older Babylonian version of Ophiuchus, however, is slightly different. Here the serpent is Tiamat, the Monster of the Bitter Ocean. Holding Tiamat is Marduk, the Sun God of the Babylonians. They are doing battle together in the eternal fight of good against evil.Corey Zakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04533366766410946062noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20949255.post-58331896542012502002010-10-18T06:47:00.000-07:002010-10-18T06:47:29.706-07:00Flowers Spread Around the World While Dinosaurs Helplessly Watched<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihgSSqFqIFJKtUrn-_YW6HHFFbkT3zs06e76Txq3ZvFSSQsuKJkY9k7NruqUPbXsJVP1J6XqePR_8kRynLQRUQfcbYcB23eCTBueEbfjzVztPbcJ4kNfHdfyXbv8ohFR7K3Lcelw/s1600/flower-plant-family-origin.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihgSSqFqIFJKtUrn-_YW6HHFFbkT3zs06e76Txq3ZvFSSQsuKJkY9k7NruqUPbXsJVP1J6XqePR_8kRynLQRUQfcbYcB23eCTBueEbfjzVztPbcJ4kNfHdfyXbv8ohFR7K3Lcelw/s320/flower-plant-family-origin.jpg" width="306" /></a></div>From the ubiquitous daisy to the fantastical orchid, flowering plant species are as diverse as they are numerous. Turns out, these bloomers went through an evolutionary "Big Bang" of sorts some 130 million years ago, a brief era of explosive floral diversification at a time when dinosaurs walked the Earth.<br />
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The origin of flowering plants called angiosperms has long baffled scientists, with Charles Darwin famously referring to the plant puzzler as an "abominable mystery."<br />
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"One of the reasons why it's been hard to understand evolutionary relationships among the major groups of flowering plants is because they diversified over such a short time frame," said researcher Robert Jansen, professor of integrative biology at the University of Texas at Austin. <br />
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<a href="http://www.livescience.com/environment/071126-flower-tree.html">Read More ></a><br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>In the picture: Phylogenetic relationships among the major lineages of flowering plants. Pictured counter-clockwise from the root at the base of the circle tree are: Amborella trichopoda, Nymphaea odorata, Illicium floridanum, Chloranthus angustifolius, Piper longum, Liriodendron tulipifera, Ceratophyllum demersum, Ranunculus ficaria, Pelargonium exstipulatum, Helianthus annuus, Yucca filamentosa, Triticum aestivum, and Acorus americanus. New Caledonia, home to Amborella trichopoda, is shown in the background. Credit: Gwen Gage, PNAS </i></span>Corey Zakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04533366766410946062noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20949255.post-88668715316604601212010-08-08T05:21:00.000-07:002010-08-08T05:24:39.079-07:00Sponge Genes Provide Toolkit for Multicellular Life<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="195" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiP_hqsuBlfUVCWJwvGe6lX8fsmvtkAXi0UZQ9mER2sSYDHUSq18e5FXzw8g_Zdyb8jssxisWFSwfiOae95fgM-zh6YupuOaQFTV83-qVZ07c7Kfkh3m4MD1EjJXdrGRF9ebucqxw/s320/sponge-shows-hows-cells-work-together.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="320" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.nature.com/news/2010/100804/full/466673a.html">Read more about me, the humble sponge!</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>Sponges are primitive creatures with a body plan unlike that of any other living organism. They are also our most distant animal cousins. Now that their genetic make-up has finally been sequenced, it could explain one of the greatest mysteries of evolution: how single-celled organisms in the primordial oceans evolved into complex multicellular animals with the spectacular diversity of body plans we see today.<br />
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The sponge genome confirms that sponges share much the same genetic tool kit for multicellularity as the rest of the animal kingdom. This means that all the key genetic prerequisites for modern animals made up of trillions of cells were in place well before sponges split from other animals 600 million years ago. What's more, the sponge genome reveals the very ancient origin of genes involved in cancer, which is caused by a derailing of cell replication and is the signature disease of multicellularity.<br />
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We had already gained some insights from studies comparing the genomes of single-celled protozoans with those of other primitive animals. But there was a crucial gap, occupied by the sponges. "Sponges really were the last missing piece of this puzzle," says Mansi Srivastava, an evolutionary biologist at the Whitehead Institute in Cambridge, Massachusetts.<br />
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<a href="http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20727724.100-sponge-genome-provides-toolkit-for-multicellular-life.html">Read More >> </a>Corey Zakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04533366766410946062noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20949255.post-75261466813533106052010-06-13T05:15:00.000-07:002010-06-13T05:15:50.970-07:00New Theory for Life's First Energy Source<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQP1lxKklu6DRcNPjnyeojcvy9-rgSl7McRBi58naQFv__cvJzCRsvyGLyhvqVBueGbCK280Yq-nxr6qpahyphenhyphenked8NVVLLu5Q_3fGkosU567TnV4Bdy7n237wFEwlhHIrlaWS18Kg/s1600/Phosphite-ion-from-xtal-3D-balls.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQP1lxKklu6DRcNPjnyeojcvy9-rgSl7McRBi58naQFv__cvJzCRsvyGLyhvqVBueGbCK280Yq-nxr6qpahyphenhyphenked8NVVLLu5Q_3fGkosU567TnV4Bdy7n237wFEwlhHIrlaWS18Kg/s200/Phosphite-ion-from-xtal-3D-balls.jpg" width="195" /></a></div>An obscure compound known as pyrophosphite could have been a source of energy that allowed the first life on Earth to form, scientists now say.<br />
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From the tiniest bacteria to the <a href="http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/livescience/sc_livescience/storytext/newtheoryforlifesfirstenergysource/36504057/SIG=11por4mhq/*http://www.livescience.com/health/top_10_about_you.html">complex human body</a>, all living beings require an energy-transporting molecule called ATP to survive. Often likened to a "rechargeable battery," ATP stores <a class="kLink" href="http://news.yahoo.com/s/livescience/20100612/sc_livescience/newtheoryforlifesfirstenergysource#" id="KonaLink0" target="undefined"><span style="color: rgb(54, 99, 136) ! important; font-family: arial,helvetica,clean,sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-weight: 400; position: static;"><span class="kLink" style="color: rgb(54, 99, 136) ! important; font-family: arial,helvetica,clean,sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-weight: 400; position: static;">chemical </span><span class="kLink" style="color: rgb(54, 99, 136) ! important; font-family: arial,helvetica,clean,sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-weight: 400; position: static;">energy</span></span></a> in a form that can be used by organic matter. <br />
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"You need enzymes to make ATP, and you need ATP to make enzymes," said researcher Terence Kee of the University of Leeds in England. "The question is: Where did energy come from before either of these two things existed? We think that the answer may lie in simple molecules, such as pyrophosphate, which is chemically very similar to ATP, but has the potential to transfer energy without enzymes."<br />
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<a href="http://www.livescience.com/animals/life-origins-phosphorus-theory.html">Read More >> </a>Corey Zakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04533366766410946062noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20949255.post-23171349351464605012010-05-28T05:08:00.000-07:002010-05-28T05:08:53.956-07:00The Cambrian Explosion: The "Big Bang" of Animal Life<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-Ud7yaI5FrUe75XsvcmbSDaMMK5E_Rx4WDU9uzLlrlEw2SJ9l_LJG1aA9SgUWYcbyyDpTloXjWw2bbQc_VS_s8YQA7NvOQtQUE3t0_4YMr4qufb9OMOciBji0bPw2h_WVZOZ4Aw/s1600/411a_cambrian.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-Ud7yaI5FrUe75XsvcmbSDaMMK5E_Rx4WDU9uzLlrlEw2SJ9l_LJG1aA9SgUWYcbyyDpTloXjWw2bbQc_VS_s8YQA7NvOQtQUE3t0_4YMr4qufb9OMOciBji0bPw2h_WVZOZ4Aw/s320/411a_cambrian.jpg" /></a></div> The "Cambrian Explosion" was the relatively rapid appearance, over a period of approximately 10 million years, of most major groups of complex animals around 530 million years ago, as found in the fossil record.<br />
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For more than 3 billion years - most of earth's history - all organisms were simple, composed of individual cells occasionally organized into colonies. Starting around 580 million years ago, the rate of evolution began to accelerate rapidly, and a remarkable amount of biological diversity appeared, culminating in the Cambrian Explosion. Here, the majority of types of modern animals appeared in the fossil record for the first time, as well as unique lineages that subsequently became extinct.<br />
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The Cambrian explosion has generated extensive scientific debate. The seemingly rapid appearance of fossils in the “Primordial Strata” was noted as early as the mid 19th century, and Charles Darwin saw it as one of the main objections that could be made against his theory of evolution by natural selection.<br />
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The long-running puzzlement about the appearance of the Cambrian animals, seemingly abruptly and from nowhere, centers on three key points: whether there really was a mass diversification of complex organisms over a relatively short period of time during the early Cambrian; what might have caused such rapid change; and what it would imply about the origin and evolution of animals. Interpretation is difficult due to a limited supply of evidence, based mainly on an incomplete fossil record and chemical signatures left in Cambrian rocks.<br />
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<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cambrian_explosion">Wikipedia Article: "Cambrian Explosion"</a>Corey Zakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04533366766410946062noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20949255.post-10355164527026039222010-03-12T06:47:00.000-08:002010-03-12T06:47:57.906-08:00Researchers reconstructing make-up of ancient oceans - News<a href="http://media.www.highlandernews.org/media/storage/paper1400/news/2010/02/23/News/Researchers.Reconstructing.MakeUp.Of.Ancient.Oceans-3877033-page2.shtml">Researchers reconstructing make-up of ancient oceans - News</a>Corey Zakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04533366766410946062noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20949255.post-28949150636964391322009-12-10T18:45:00.000-08:002009-12-10T18:49:37.120-08:00New Fossils Shed Light on Evolution of Dinosaurs<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwwWn2UB10M_LrOzBH6hv2oI7PJIYLJDik3PYy8k2SDRrbgK-ZsAIrhn9C-A635HTTxDGCBPK1zPaH6ad84bJzrTidePKoJtyOIVNcBC47Qyok0AvBhSlBDna0mA1YZOmJoDxBDg/s1600-h/early-dinosaur-evolution.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwwWn2UB10M_LrOzBH6hv2oI7PJIYLJDik3PYy8k2SDRrbgK-ZsAIrhn9C-A635HTTxDGCBPK1zPaH6ad84bJzrTidePKoJtyOIVNcBC47Qyok0AvBhSlBDna0mA1YZOmJoDxBDg/s200/early-dinosaur-evolution.jpg" /></a><br />
</div><span style="line-height: 18px;">Newly described <span id="lw_1260483733_0" style="-webkit-background-clip: initial; -webkit-background-origin: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-repeat: initial; border-bottom-color: rgb(0, 102, 204); border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-width: 1px; cursor: pointer;">dinosaur fossils</span> from New Mexico are helping scientists better understand the early development of these ancient creatures. The 6-to-12 foot-long, meat-eating creature, Tawa hallae, is described in Friday's edition of the journal Science.</span><br />
<div style="line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 1em; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">The first dinosaurs developed about 230 million years ago, and T. hallae skeletons date from about 213 million years ago, according to researchers led by Sterling J. Nesbitt of <span id="lw_1260483733_1">the University of Texas at Austin</span>.<br />
</div><div style="line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 1em; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">"Tawa gives us an unprecedented window into early dinosaur evolution, solidifying the relationships of early dinosaurs, revealing how they spread across the globe, and providing new insights into the evolution of their characteristics," <span id="lw_1260483733_2">Nesbitt</span> said.<br />
</div><div style="line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 1em; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">"This new dinosaur, Tawa hallae, changes our understanding of the relationships of early dinosaurs, and provides fantastic insight into the evolution of the skeleton of the first carnivorous dinosaurs" co-author Randall Irmis of the <span id="lw_1260483733_3" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(0, 102, 204); border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-width: 1px; cursor: pointer;">Utah Museum of Natural History</span>, said in a statement.<br />
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<a href="http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091210/ap_on_sc/us_sci_new_dino;_ylt=AogPOrRLS85eUq94HSC5PnKs0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTNqdjdqc2pzBGFzc2V0A2FwLzIwMDkxMjEwL3VzX3NjaV9uZXdfZGlubwRjY29kZQNtb3N0cG9wdWxhcgRjcG9zAzkEcG9zAzYEcHQDaG9tZV9jb2tlBHNlYwN5bl9oZWFkbGluZV9saXN0BHNsawNuZXdmb3NzaWxzc2g-">Read more ></a><br />
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</div>Corey Zakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04533366766410946062noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20949255.post-60768833527774041582009-11-12T12:56:00.000-08:002009-11-12T12:56:51.651-08:00New Dinosaur Species May be a Missing Link<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6C9BzLZyh_DsF3xp6-WNGYwaCGDdqS695KdOPHGCtkX3gJxwtR9gh8f81sm169h547V1koHva98f7GTeY_lrozjoov0EsBNBwBs1ioHhscvGWSCVjFmmVztuLRlBcUgpKSIROPA/s1600-h/aardonyx-celestae-new-dinosaur.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" sr="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6C9BzLZyh_DsF3xp6-WNGYwaCGDdqS695KdOPHGCtkX3gJxwtR9gh8f81sm169h547V1koHva98f7GTeY_lrozjoov0EsBNBwBs1ioHhscvGWSCVjFmmVztuLRlBcUgpKSIROPA/s320/aardonyx-celestae-new-dinosaur.jpg" /></a><br />
</div>A newly discovered dinosaur species that roamed the Earth about 200 million years ago may help explain how the creatures evolved into the largest animals on land, scientists in South Africa said.<br />
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The <em>Aardonyx celestae</em> was a 23-foot-long small-headed herbivore with a huge barrel of a chest. It walked on its hind legs but also could drop to all fours, and scientists told reporters that could prove to be a missing evolutionary link.<br />
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This is a species "that no one has seen before and one that has a very significant position in the family tree of dinosaurs," said Australian paleontologist Adam Yates, who led the research with a number of other local and international scientists.<br />
The <em>Aardonyx celestae</em> species dates back to the early Jurassic period. Yates said the creature found in South Africa stood nearly 6 feet high at the hip and weighed about 1,100 pounds. It was about 10 years old when it died, and its death may have been caused by drought.<br />
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The newly discovered species shares many characteristics with the plant-eating herbivores that walked on two legs, Yates said. But the new species also has similar attributes to dinosaurs known as <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sauropods">sauropods</a>, or brontosaurs, that grew to massive sizes and went about on all fours with long necks and whip-like tails.<br />
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<a href="http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091111/ap_on_re_af/af_south_africa_dinosaur">Read more ></a>Corey Zakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04533366766410946062noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20949255.post-30508296129700487902009-10-23T12:29:00.000-07:002009-10-23T12:33:17.716-07:00Algae May be Secret Weapon in Climate Change War<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_5cJjhvbQVYYxD8Dc7rsfngf_rFgVGp2D8rnRA9jOMB3SDZIsQ7DRRK22hR1SUoR5UzYHb02dU2rTCLlKM_31rXEQJTor6w0EB3gRAokTndFlcS_Q9M4eBGPDMWu0raCPW1dY9w/s1600-h/algae-renewable-energy-source.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_5cJjhvbQVYYxD8Dc7rsfngf_rFgVGp2D8rnRA9jOMB3SDZIsQ7DRRK22hR1SUoR5UzYHb02dU2rTCLlKM_31rXEQJTor6w0EB3gRAokTndFlcS_Q9M4eBGPDMWu0raCPW1dY9w/s200/algae-renewable-energy-source.jpg" vr="true" /></a><br />
</div>Driven by fluctuations in oil prices, and seduced by the prospect of easing climate change, experts are ramping up efforts to squeeze fuel out of a promising new organism: pond scum.<br />
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As it turns out, algae -- slimy, fast-growing and full of fat -- is gaining ground as a potential renewable energy source.<br />
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Experts say it is intriguing for its ability to gobble up carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas, while living happily in places that aren't needed for food crops.<br />
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Algae likes mosquito-infested swamps, for example, filthy pools, and even waste water. And while no one has found a way to mass produce cheap fuel from algae yet, the race is on.<br />
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<a href="http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20091022/sc_afp/lifestyleusclimateenergyalgae">Read More ></a>Corey Zakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04533366766410946062noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20949255.post-63865436761330257842009-10-04T06:48:00.000-07:002009-10-04T06:49:58.767-07:00"Ardi" Fossil May Rewrite Human Origins<b><i>4.4 million year old Ardi casts doubt on the notion that we have an innate killer instinct.</i></b><br />
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<a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/10/01/AR2009100103432.html">Read Article ></a>Corey Zakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04533366766410946062noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20949255.post-85517273914450294532009-09-15T11:51:00.000-07:002009-09-15T12:39:44.890-07:00The Indus Valley Civilization<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjj_nbb_8rG2ty6KUFfx7-etZIPcSu0dnUO4kZJSolzXRMF1ATfA9k3PX4BW7BVOMBjL8-zLmxZPsY1Fwlt1ehNj7xFG5oo-pWw5nG1B3wdEdAmz9hh45MTY6ofQF6OrcYZgcD79A/s1600-h/indus-civilization-harappa-map.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 304px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjj_nbb_8rG2ty6KUFfx7-etZIPcSu0dnUO4kZJSolzXRMF1ATfA9k3PX4BW7BVOMBjL8-zLmxZPsY1Fwlt1ehNj7xFG5oo-pWw5nG1B3wdEdAmz9hh45MTY6ofQF6OrcYZgcD79A/s320/indus-civilization-harappa-map.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5381769090575355026" /></a><br />The Indus Valley (Harappan) Civilization flourished between 2600-1900 BC. The Indus Civilization was twice as extensive as two earlier civilizations -- the Old Kingdom of Egypt and the Sumerian city-states. <br /><br />The Indus Civilization built the first cities in the Indian subcontinent, sophisticated and technologically advanced urban centers. The quality of municipal town planning suggests the knowledge of urban planning and efficient local government which placed a high priority on hygiene and public access to the means of religious ritual.<br /><br />Their urban planning included the world's first urban sanitation systems. Within the city, individual homes or groups of homes obtained water from wells. Specific rooms were set aside for bathing, and waste water was directed to covered drains, which lined the major streets. Houses opened to inner courtyards and smaller lanes. <br /><br />The ancient Indus systems of sewerage and drainage that were developed and used in cities throughout the Indus region were far more advanced than any found in contemporary urban sites in the Middle East and even more efficient than those in many areas of Pakistan and India today. <br /><br />The advanced architecture of the Harappans is shown by their impressive dockyards, granaries, warehouses, brick platforms and protective walls. The massive walls of Indus cities most likely protected the Harappans from floods and may have dissuaded military conflicts.<br /><br />Huge granaries were built at each city. The Harappans cultivated wheat, barley, peas, sesame seed, and cotton. <br /><br />The people of the Indus Civilization achieved great accuracy in measuring length, mass, and time. They were among the first to develop a system of uniform weights and measures. Unique Harappan inventions include an instrument which was used to measure whole sections of the horizon and the tidal lock. <br /><br />In addition, Harappans evolved new techniques in metallurgy and produced copper, bronze, lead and tin. The engineering skill of the Harappans was remarkable, especially in building docks after a careful study of tides, waves and currents.<br /><br />They had knowledge of proto-dentistry -- the oldest evidence of teeth-drilling in a living person has been found in Harappan territory.<br /><br />Judging from the dispersal of Indus civilization artifacts, their trade networks integrated a huge area, including portions of Afghanistan, the coastal regions of Persia, northern and western India, and Mesopotamia.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHONZlV5Dx5jVZ_jUHIXM8pnjrVYMwmGet7cIYSgI-18436PZHYeRsj1IvV83BrXOhjyfsEPJ9ZLLv-c7EtrOksr7qbDiWnuN4KRGguDwVYLZTLgCnErk6RU25bMh7sMvLH4p47Q/s1600-h/indus-civilization-script.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 94px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHONZlV5Dx5jVZ_jUHIXM8pnjrVYMwmGet7cIYSgI-18436PZHYeRsj1IvV83BrXOhjyfsEPJ9ZLLv-c7EtrOksr7qbDiWnuN4KRGguDwVYLZTLgCnErk6RU25bMh7sMvLH4p47Q/s200/indus-civilization-script.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5381780698140653522" /></a><br />The Indus writing system script, despite many attempts at decipherments and claims, it is as yet undeciphered. The underlying language is unknown, and the lack of a bilingual example makes the decipherment difficult -- however, <a href="http://www.organiser.org/dynamic/modules.php?name=Content&pa=showpage&pid=309&page=4">see this article</a>.Corey Zakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04533366766410946062noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20949255.post-59257872189842840092009-08-23T05:00:00.000-07:002009-08-26T04:07:18.875-07:00Earliest Complex Organisms Fed By Absorbing Ocean Buffet, Geobiologists Propose<em><strong>Earth's First Animals Ate Through Their "Skin" !</strong></em><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyznpbsWqcBzxE6P_7ma_CdRE2nE1ilGp0j0rfs4F0LfSt6tLw0gKvwjacebpSo40e75wSxnr_NEQaygRVwZ7KcFWj4o7kv5cupT8ns_aeItVt_JMHCF8xxC1vE47ZlbHHK_Q8Qw/s1600-h/ediacaran-fossil-first-animal-life.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 271px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyznpbsWqcBzxE6P_7ma_CdRE2nE1ilGp0j0rfs4F0LfSt6tLw0gKvwjacebpSo40e75wSxnr_NEQaygRVwZ7KcFWj4o7kv5cupT8ns_aeItVt_JMHCF8xxC1vE47ZlbHHK_Q8Qw/s320/ediacaran-fossil-first-animal-life.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5373130798703990866" /></a><br />Research at Virginia Tech has shown that the oldest complex life forms -- living in nutrient-rich oceans more than 540 million years ago – likely fed by osmosis.<br /><br />The researchers studied two groups of modular Ediacara organisms, the fern-shaped rangeomorphs and the air mattress-shaped erniettomorphs. These macroscopic organisms, typically several inches in size, absorbed nutrients through their outer membrane, much like modern microscopic bacteria . . .<br /> <br />There is a growing body of evidence that in Ediacaran times, due mainly to the absence of animals with true guts capable of packaging organic matter into fecal pellets, there was a much greater pool of dissolved organic nutrients, especially in deeper waters. Without fecal pellets, organic substances would have remained in suspension and decomposed into fats and proteins capable of dissolution into marine waters," he said. "We believe these compounds were then absorbed via osmosis through Ediacaran "skin" due to the high surface-area to volume ratios."<br /><br /><a href="http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/08/090819113447.htm">Read More ></a>Corey Zakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04533366766410946062noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20949255.post-6549038165675219412009-08-21T04:47:00.000-07:002009-08-21T05:28:00.273-07:00Narmer - the First Pharaoh<em><strong>His Nation Would Last for Over 3,000 Years . . .</strong></em><div><br />Narmer was an Egyptian Pharaoh who ruled in the 31st century BC. Thought to be the successor to the predynastic "King Scorpion", he is considered by many to be the unifier of Egypt and founder of the First dynasty, and therefore the first king of all Egypt. There is a growing consensus that Scorpion and Narmer are identical, but no identification with any early king can yet be definitively proven. The famous Narmer Palette, discovered in 1898 in Hierakonpolis, shows Narmer displaying the insignia of both Upper and Lower Egypt, giving rise to the theory that he unified the two kingdoms in c. 3100 BC.<br /><br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5372390272364409234" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 262px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1IIgbYIDgvdSsxSB4q2cRZMFs_287l3UH22e9pgqPTGfSc-EmKbXIr6HIRBSwvlrrZyoePKSt6AJTrVmmxfFRwL9f6cJnD4cKwJvRgUlDT_fV2ezdPgdT_52xyWiflJdftL1vPw/s320/narmer-first-pharaoh.jpg" border="0" />It was during the time of Narmer that the divine kingship became well established as Egypt's form of government. Writing evolved from a few simple signs mainly used to denote the quantity and condition of goods, to a complex system of several hundreds of signs with both phonetic and ideographic values. Craftsmen increased their skills and experimented with the use of more durable materials. Structures built in brick, wood and reeds were copied in stone, giving birth to the typical Ancient Egyptian architecture.<br /><br />Most of the features developed during the time of Narmer would remain in use until the Greek-Roman Period -- an entire culture that would remain virtually unchanged for more than 3000 years.</div>Corey Zakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04533366766410946062noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20949255.post-92068065400806636592009-07-17T19:52:00.000-07:002009-07-21T20:00:25.304-07:00Pond Scum -- God's Most Productive Servant<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXevGE8ZvqrYlNsWmA-W3To37LzfokRUbfxKk8cfQI_C77ITvTIhHWP8THbjOJtk_dyerE3gsSG3n1wIuQ7YgZEn1Y_5t06XQDLlTb1Z6dAG6OHA9A473sCpNJ5qy6cRwBZVKk/s1600-h/stromatolites.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 250px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXevGE8ZvqrYlNsWmA-W3To37LzfokRUbfxKk8cfQI_C77ITvTIhHWP8THbjOJtk_dyerE3gsSG3n1wIuQ7YgZEn1Y_5t06XQDLlTb1Z6dAG6OHA9A473sCpNJ5qy6cRwBZVKk/s320/stromatolites.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5359628660033547346" /></a><br />Stromatolites are rock-like buildups of microbial mats that form in limestone-forming environments. They typically form by the trapping and precipitation of mineral particles by communities of microorganisms such as cyanobacteria (pond scum). <br /><br />Stromatolite-building communities include the oldest known fossils, dating back some 3.5 billion years when the environments of Earth were too hostile to support life as we know it today. <br /><br />Stromatolites are the <strong>only </strong>fossils we can find for the first <em>7/8th of the history of life on earth</em>. They show us the role that ancient cyanobacteria ("pond scum") played in the evolution of life on earth and in shaping earth's environments. The fossil record of stromatolites is astonishingly extensive, spanning 4 billion years of geological history with the forming cyanobacteria possibly having occupied every conceivable environment that ever existed. <br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQhEhBNSek0F0zQXnB4RVfk0XqTVEsaEZJYXMZcsgbJGjJE592Am5VMgpQL6Q_bI6rDm5rNdhaUN1ldRHLx_FsG9hJsU57JfUyxFMhqtFZpaiu2ViJLqU8iOFvsflqdu8T8tnE/s1600-h/cyanobacteria-in-pool.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 188px; height: 233px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQhEhBNSek0F0zQXnB4RVfk0XqTVEsaEZJYXMZcsgbJGjJE592Am5VMgpQL6Q_bI6rDm5rNdhaUN1ldRHLx_FsG9hJsU57JfUyxFMhqtFZpaiu2ViJLqU8iOFvsflqdu8T8tnE/s320/cyanobacteria-in-pool.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5359629174767793874" /></a><br />Cyanobacteria are conjectured to have been the predominant form of life on early earth for more than 2 billion years, and were likely responsible for the creation of earth's atmospheric oxygen, consuming CO2 and releasing O2 through their photosynthetic metabolism. <br /><br />Creation of the modern atmosphere by cyanobacteria is perhaps the most critical event in the history of earth. It powered the Cambrian explosion and subsequent evolution of the aerobic forms of life, including all animals.Corey Zakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02833918743451646860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20949255.post-81185902770214915572009-07-11T07:40:00.000-07:002009-07-11T08:08:00.697-07:00Explosive Growth of Life on Earth Triggered by Early Greening of Planet With Primitive Plants<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrkcY0a476uxXLFNMX9I3gDDHriVOtV0n1YsQWBUyi9nGzqOSspcTnrjjDnvXafL1uv0TL5HR0RwsMOThAb2zwHsRxhHU-X0H0GH1JKqb-suhtr2BibAUCK9QGoYr4qJji15oq/s1600-h/non-vascular-moss.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 267px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrkcY0a476uxXLFNMX9I3gDDHriVOtV0n1YsQWBUyi9nGzqOSspcTnrjjDnvXafL1uv0TL5HR0RwsMOThAb2zwHsRxhHU-X0H0GH1JKqb-suhtr2BibAUCK9QGoYr4qJji15oq/s320/non-vascular-moss.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5357219553726005554" /></a><br />Earth's 4.5-billion-year history is filled with several turning points when temperatures changed dramatically, asteroids bombarded the planet and life forms came and disappeared. But one of the biggest moments in Earth's lifetime is the Cambrian explosion of life, roughly 540 million years ago, when complex, multi-cellular life burst out all over the planet.<br /><br />While scientists can pinpoint this pivotal period as leading to life as we know it today, it is not completely understood what caused the Cambrian explosion of life. Now, researchers led by Arizona State University geologist L. Paul Knauth believe they have found the trigger for the Cambrian explosion.<br /><br />It was a massive greening of the planet by non-vascular plants, or primitive ground huggers, as Knauth calls them. This period, roughly 700 million years ago virtually set the table for the later explosion of life through the development of early soil that sequestered carbon, led to the build up of oxygen and allowed higher life forms to evolve.<br /><br />ScienceDaily (July 9, 2009) - <a href="http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090708153235.htm" target="_blank">Read More ></a>Corey Zakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02833918743451646860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20949255.post-91574077664478059272007-08-16T12:49:00.000-07:002007-08-16T13:27:29.531-07:00LUCA was an orgyFor many years, LUCA, (the hypothetical "Latest Universal Common Ancestor" of all life on earth), was believed to be a tiny and primitive bacteria. It lived all by itself, 3.8 billion years ago, in the metallic soup and volcanic gas of ancient earth.<br /><br />Eventually, somehow, it evolved into the three Domains of Life - bacteria, archaea, and eukaryota (multicellulars like us).<br /><br />But a new view says otherwise . . .<br /><br />Genetic studies indicate that all the DNA in the three Domains today show signs of "contamination" from the other Domains. And this "gene-swapping" happened many billions of years ago.<br /><br />Old View: Lonely little LUCA works hard to grow itself into all the lifeforms on earth.<br /><br />New View: A crowd of LUCAs, swapping genes in a primordial orgy! And their mutant offspring? They join the party too!Corey Zakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02833918743451646860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20949255.post-1163228920305889712006-11-10T22:34:00.000-08:002006-11-10T23:08:40.323-08:00Halloween RootsWhy is Halloween sinister? Why the ghosts and goblins, skeletons and scary witches?<br /><br />Halloween comes from the Celtic <em>Samhain</em>, the 'threshold day' when the door was open to the spirit world. Souls both friendly and evil could cross over on this night. Scary costumes and frightening jack-o-lanterns could keep the spirits at bay.<br /><br />But the origin lies even deeper than this 2,500 year old tradition.<br /><br />Thousands of years before the Celts, in the early Neolithic, our hunting-gathering forebears gradually settled down when the Ice Age ended and big game went extinct. They took up farming.<br /><br />Farming was an off-and-on proposition. Some years were good, some bad. In good years there was a food surplus, enough for winter, new births, and spring planting. Bad years meant famine, disease and starvation.<br /><br />And around the time of the year we now call late October, the harvest would be in, and the people would know for sure: if it was a good year or a bad one. Winter feasts or winter famines.Corey Zakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02833918743451646860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20949255.post-1139120426524380982006-02-04T21:53:00.000-08:002006-02-04T22:49:26.506-08:00Infinity . . .Infinity means "having no boundries or limits" and "having no beginning or end". Mathematically, infinity is unlimited in space and time.<br /><br />Philosophers and theologians have always said that God is infinite: omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent (all-powerful, all-knowing; everywhere).<br /><br />Since infinity is everything, everywhere, always, it follows that there can be only ONE infinity. In the entire universe, in all time, there is only 'room' for ONE infinity. Nothing can exist, ever, outside this ONE infinity.<br /><br />So if somehow our minds could slip beyond finite thoughts, could for a moment glimpse infinity, we would, in that moment, <em>be</em> infinite. We would <em>be</em> the 'one infinity'. We would BE God!<br /><br />But since infinity is everywhere always, we (and everything around us) is <em>already</em> part of the 'one infinity', is <em>already</em> God!<br /><br />This is the heresy of pantheism, but as much as theologians try to rebut it - <a href="http://www.newadvent.org/summa/100801.htm">http://www.newadvent.org/summa/100801.htm</a> - they can only play with words. Infinity is infinite. Nothing can escape it. Not even <em>nothing</em>.<br /><br /><em>Once, having been asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, Jesus replied, "The kingdom of God does not come with your careful observation, nor will people say, 'Here it is,' or 'There it is,' because the kingdom of God is within</em><em> you."</em><br />-Luke 17: 20-21Corey Zakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02833918743451646860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20949255.post-1137185382355210372006-01-13T12:28:00.000-08:002006-01-13T13:38:18.186-08:00What is Radix?<strong>ra-dix</strong><br /><strong>1.</strong> <em>Biology</em>. A root or point of origin. <strong>2.</strong> <em>Mathematics</em>. The base of a system of numbers, such as 2 in the binary system or 10 in the decimal system.<br />[Latin <em>radix</em>, root. From the Indo-Euopean <em>wrad-</em>, branch or root]<br /><br />From the roots come the trunk, branches and leaves of the tree, its shape, its character and its 'lifestyle'. Language families have a 'root language' that give all the descendant languages their structure. Hair, teeth and nerves have roots that hold them and nurture them. Human families trace geneology to ancestral roots -- ancestors whose decisions and actions determine the location, lives and physical appearance of their progeny.<br /><br />Musical chords are built from root notes. From the simple embryo 'root' comes the complex adult. From the events of the past come the reality of the present, and the possibilities of the future.<br /><br />To understand the whole of something one must absolutely study its roots.Corey Zakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02833918743451646860noreply@blogger.com0