Dinosaurs – Page 26

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Dinosaur Protein Is Primordial

July 26, 2011

Scientists from 10 universities and institutions have verified that the collagen protein in dinosaur bone is primordial – i.e., from the dinosaur, not from later contamination. By first studying the molecular packing of collagen in living animals, and using X-ray diffraction modeling, they matched the surviving collagen molecules to those that would most likely survive degradation. They feel this establishes the authenticity of the protein fragments against claims of contamination and simultaneously offers a mechanism for its resistance to degradation.

Awards

Fossil Finds Feed Facile Fables

July 20, 2011

Remarkable fossils continue to come to science’s attention, yielding clues about past ecological conditions. Once in awhile, whole fossil specimens – even graveyards of many organisms – are uncovered, but most fossils are mere fragments. Placing fossils into interpretive stories requires knowledge of other fossils and comparisons with living species. Even then, the history of life is not directly observable. Fossils, being silent, can only show their current state; the lack of access to the past, combined with ignorance of all the clues, leaves room for alternative interpretations. Evolutionists, in their desire to fit fossils into a preconceived story, sometimes go far beyond what the actual fossil evidence is capable of saying – and some of their explanations border on the miraculous.

Awards

Flap Over Flight Evolution

June 26, 2011

Birds flap their wings when they run up ramps. It takes less energy than flying. This is uncontroversial; it is observable, and science can measure the energy cost. But for at least eight years now, Ken Dial at the University of Montana has been claiming that this behavior explains the origin of flight in birds (01/16/2003, 12/22/2003). When he first came out with this hypothesis in 2003, Elisabeth Pennisi in the journal Science said, “I imagine people will continue to argue about the origin of bird flight for a long time.” There’s been very little argument in the media over the years, though (05/01/2006, 9/22/2007, 1/25/2008); in fact, the BBC News just gave another plug for Dial’s hypothesis with no criticism at all.

Amazing Facts

Follow the Leader: Nature

June 21, 2011

Ever since biomimetics (the imitation of nature) gradually emerged around 2002 and really took off in 2005, it has not slowed down. Over 90 previous entries in these pages have reported teams all over the world seeking out natural designs for ideas. The reports have accelerated in recent years to the point where there is only space for short summaries that give a taste of the wide variety of engineering work taking inspiration from plants, animals, and even cells. You yourself might inspire some inventor. Here are a few more highlights from recent adventures in biomimetics.

Amazing Facts

How They Do It: Amazing Organisms

May 27, 2011

The plants and animals around us seem so ordinary, but they all are so extraordinary, the extraordinary becomes ordinary simply because of their numbers. But if you expanded the sample space to include the entire solar system, what we have in earth’s biosphere should astonish everyone. Here are nine notable fellow creatures.

Darwin and Evolution

Dinosaur Classification Is a Mess

May 13, 2011

Are there a thousand species of dinosaurs – or far fewer? John Horner, a dinosaur hunter himself, thinks the classification is a mess and wants to clean it up. According to Science Magazine News Horner is worred that “with almost 1000 types of dinosaurs on record and a new species being named somewhere in the […]

Dinosaurs

More Soft Tissue Found in Old Fossils

March 23, 2011

A reptile skin fossilized in rock said to be 50 million years old has been found. According to Science Daily, scientists at the University of Manchester reported the discovery of amide molecules in “fossilized soft tissue of a beautifully-preserved reptile.” The original paper, accessible to the public, was published in the Proceedings of the Royal […]

Amazing Facts

Amazing Animals

February 28, 2011

Three recent articles about amazing animals and fossils deserve entries of their own, but due to lack of time, will be corralled here lest, like strays, they wander off. Turtle navigation: Wired Science has a beautiful photo of a marine turtle in an article about how they achieve a difficult navigational skill: determining longitude from […]

Darwin and Evolution

Bizarre Fossils Raise Questions

February 8, 2011

For decades, students have been taught that the fossil record shows a long, slow, gradual progression of increasing complexity over millions of years. Scientific data are usually not so simple. Surprising youth in old fossil: When you see the word unexpected in a headline, expect the unexpected. “Unexpected exoskeleton remnants found in Paleozoic fossils,” reported […]

Darwin and Evolution

Fossils by Faith

February 4, 2011

Fossils are real artifacts you can hold in your hand. The stories behind them are not. How does science connect the one with the other? Sometimes, it requires faith in incredible stories. Stay, sis: Darwin portrayed a world in flux, with natural selection continually sifting and amplifying minute changes over time. Why, then did Science […]

Dinosaurs

Dinosaur Bones Crack Open Surprises: Original Tissue

January 30, 2011

Nature is kind. That’s nice to know; but what was the context of the statement in New Scientist? “Occasionally, though, nature is kind and fossilisation preserves details of an animal’s soft tissue.” But has nature been kind for tens of millions of years? In an article called “Soft-centred fossils reveal dinosaurs’ true colours,” Jeff Hecht […]

Darwin and Evolution

Cute Dinosaur Forced to Support Evolution

January 14, 2011

Knee-high to a human, little Eodromaeus looks like a pet, but its discoverers are making the claim that it represents an early stage in dinosaur evolution. Do the facts support this claim? National Geographic announced a “nasty little predator from dinosaur dawn found.” The BBC News said that Eodromaeus, whose name means “dawn […]

Darwin and Evolution

Divining Dino Dining

December 21, 2010

Some of those big, fierce-looking dinosaurs—cousins to T. rex—could have been vegetarians. That’s a paradigm-shaking announcement being made by PhysOrg, Science Daily, and Live Science: “Meat-Eating Dinosaurs Not So Carnivorous After All.” The revision is based on information from the Field Museum of Chicago. A similar article on PhysOrg laments that one of […]

Darwin and Evolution

Mammals Partied When Dinosaurs Left

November 29, 2010

A research team headed by a biology professor at the University of New Mexico are claiming that mammals had a field day when the dinosaurs went extinct. They got bigger and more diverse, filling in the ecological wasteland left by the missing giant reptiles. Their analysis was published in Science.1 In addition, they […]

Dinosaurs

Kinder, Gentler Dinosaurs Envisioned

October 6, 2010

See if this statement by Tim Rowe [U of Texas at Austin] meets your mental picture of dinosaurs after a lifetime of movies: “We used to think of dinosaurs as fierce creatures that outcompeted everyone else,” he said. “Now we’re starting to see that’s not really the case. They were humbler, more opportunistic creatures. They […]

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