A partially mummified hadrosaur discovered by a teenager in North Dakota may be the most complete dinosaur ever found, with intact skin that shows evidence of stripes and perhaps soft tissue, researchers said on Monday.
Enough of the animal remains to show it ran quickly and was far more muscular than scientists believed such dinosaurs were.
"It's sort of King Tut meets T. Rex," paleontologist Phil Manning of the University of Manchester in Britain said in a telephone interview.
The creature is fossilized, with the skin and bone turned to stone. But unlike most dinosaur fossils, tissues are preserved as well.
This includes large expanses of the animal's skin, with clear remains of scales.
"This is not a skin impression. This is fossilized skin," Manning said. "When you run your hands over this dinosaur's skin, this is the closest you are going to get to touching a real dinosaur, ever."
The remains of the hadrosaur, dubbed Dakota, were found in 2000 by Tyler Lyson, then 17, on his uncle's ranch in North Dakota.
The hadrosaur, a plant-eating dinosaur that walked on two legs, lived 67 million years ago, during the late Cretaceous Period.
Lyson contacted Manning. The National Geographic Society, which helped pay for the expedition, will air a television program about the team's work on Sunday.
Manning had the team remove the monstrous specimen almost intact, with just the tail in a separate block.
It weighed close to 10,000 pounds (4,500 kilograms).
They persuaded the Boeing Company and NASA to use a huge computed tomography, or CT, scanner in Canoga Park, California, that is usually used to scan space shuttle parts.
Showing posts with label sci and tech. Show all posts
Showing posts with label sci and tech. Show all posts
Monday, December 3, 2007
A Toilet is Just a Text Away
First came SatNav for lost drivers. Now there's "SatLav," a toilet-finding service to help people caught short in central London.
Westminster City Council launched a new mobile phone text message service that will guide Londoners and tourists to their nearest public lavatory.
Anyone who sends the word "Toilet" to 80097 will receive a reply giving details of their nearest public convenience.
Student Gail Knight, 26, came up with the idea for an innovation competition run by the council.
"When I'm out with friends we're always ducking into McDonalds or department stores to use their loos but we feel a bit bad about it," she said. "I thought a text service would be really useful for people on the move."
The service is available across the Westminster, an area that includes many of the capital's most popular sights, such as Big Ben, Trafalgar Square and Buckingham Palace.
Unlike in-car devices that rely on satellites to pinpoint someone's location, the SatLav uses mobile phone technology.
All that comes at a price, however. Rather than spending a penny, people will be charged 25 pence ($0.52) per text.
Westminster City Council launched a new mobile phone text message service that will guide Londoners and tourists to their nearest public lavatory.
Anyone who sends the word "Toilet" to 80097 will receive a reply giving details of their nearest public convenience.
Student Gail Knight, 26, came up with the idea for an innovation competition run by the council.
"When I'm out with friends we're always ducking into McDonalds or department stores to use their loos but we feel a bit bad about it," she said. "I thought a text service would be really useful for people on the move."
The service is available across the Westminster, an area that includes many of the capital's most popular sights, such as Big Ben, Trafalgar Square and Buckingham Palace.
Unlike in-car devices that rely on satellites to pinpoint someone's location, the SatLav uses mobile phone technology.
All that comes at a price, however. Rather than spending a penny, people will be charged 25 pence ($0.52) per text.
Russians Now Own LiveJournal
The owner of LiveJournal, a blogging and social-networking site, agreed yesterday to sell the company to SUP, a Russian online media company, in the latest example of deal-making in the social-networking sector.
Financial terms of SUP’s deal with Six Apart, which owns LiveJournal, were not disclosed.
As part of the deal, SUP will create an American management company, LiveJournal Inc., to manage the social network’s operations. SUP will also form an advisory board that includes Brad Fitzpatrick, LiveJournal’s founder who now works for Google.
Though its biggest user base is the United States, LiveJournal has become exceedingly popular in Russia, finding about 28 percent of its audience there. Last year, SUP struck a licensing deal with Six Apart to manage LiveJournal.ru, the site’s Russian component.
Ever since the News Corporation bought MySpace in 2005 for $580 million and saw its value skyrocket along with the site’s popularity, media companies have seen social-networking as a field ripe for the picking.
Two months ago, Google and Microsoft dueled over the right to buy a stake in Facebook, the site du jour. Microsoft prevailed and paid $240 million for a 1.6 percent stake.
LiveJournal, which claims 18 million unique visitors a month, is one of the older social-networking sites, founded in 1999. It first became known as a site where users posted diary-like entries and could control who saw them. It has since established communities around various interests, including food, fashion and television shows.
According to the site, its users skew young — the bulk are 15 to 22 years old — and two-thirds are female.
Financial terms of SUP’s deal with Six Apart, which owns LiveJournal, were not disclosed.
As part of the deal, SUP will create an American management company, LiveJournal Inc., to manage the social network’s operations. SUP will also form an advisory board that includes Brad Fitzpatrick, LiveJournal’s founder who now works for Google.
Though its biggest user base is the United States, LiveJournal has become exceedingly popular in Russia, finding about 28 percent of its audience there. Last year, SUP struck a licensing deal with Six Apart to manage LiveJournal.ru, the site’s Russian component.
Ever since the News Corporation bought MySpace in 2005 for $580 million and saw its value skyrocket along with the site’s popularity, media companies have seen social-networking as a field ripe for the picking.
Two months ago, Google and Microsoft dueled over the right to buy a stake in Facebook, the site du jour. Microsoft prevailed and paid $240 million for a 1.6 percent stake.
LiveJournal, which claims 18 million unique visitors a month, is one of the older social-networking sites, founded in 1999. It first became known as a site where users posted diary-like entries and could control who saw them. It has since established communities around various interests, including food, fashion and television shows.
According to the site, its users skew young — the bulk are 15 to 22 years old — and two-thirds are female.
Boxing Robots
At Tokyo's 12th Robo-One Grand Championship match, two-legged robots jabbed, ducked, hurled balloons and even sang in their quest to become world champ.
Twenty-five finalist robots put up their fists to knock one another out of a ring on Saturday, showing off some of the latest moves originated by children, homemakers and other robot fans in the world's biggest robot market.
Hundreds of spectators clapped as robot "Arichyon," clad in Christmas lights, sang "We wish you a Merry Christmas." They then cheered when a robot with a penguin head toppled Arichyon over with a single punch.
Japan, home to 40 percent of the world's robots, is also fertile ground for amateur programmers, who invest serious pocket money and hours into making the ideal biped out of server motors, cameras, sensors and wires.
To win the tournament and the title of the world's strongest two-legged fighting robot, contestants need to be able to keep their balance while punching and dodging blows, and get up when pushed down.
Twenty-five finalist robots put up their fists to knock one another out of a ring on Saturday, showing off some of the latest moves originated by children, homemakers and other robot fans in the world's biggest robot market.
Hundreds of spectators clapped as robot "Arichyon," clad in Christmas lights, sang "We wish you a Merry Christmas." They then cheered when a robot with a penguin head toppled Arichyon over with a single punch.
Japan, home to 40 percent of the world's robots, is also fertile ground for amateur programmers, who invest serious pocket money and hours into making the ideal biped out of server motors, cameras, sensors and wires.
To win the tournament and the title of the world's strongest two-legged fighting robot, contestants need to be able to keep their balance while punching and dodging blows, and get up when pushed down.
Sunday, December 2, 2007
Winter Show in the Night Skies
Derrick Pitts, chief astronomer and planetarium programs director of the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia, said there's plenty for amateur star watchers to appreciate.
Although Jupiter rules the summer sky, it begins to fade around late September. By November, the planet Mars makes its way into the evening sky, rising in the east just after sunset, Pitts said. Come December, Mars is at its closest position to Earth, appearing as a rosy, non-twinkling star.
Early risers will be greatly rewarded by the jewels of the morning sky. As November rolls in, Venus, Saturn and Mercury show up about 45 minutes before sunrise.
"The morning sky is a great time to observe because the overnight temperature change typically has removed a lot of humidity and haze," Pitts said.
The fall and winter sky is filled with starry constellations. Cygnus the swan, as it is known in summer and fall, morphs into the Northern Cross on the northwest horizon in December. Cygnus is the main constellation of summer, Pegasus owns the fall, Orion the winter and Leo is king of the spring sky, Pitts said.
Perennial favorite the Big Dipper hangs in the northern horizon in October and by December appears to stand on the tip of its handle.
Of the dozen or so annual meteor showers, the Geminids is one of the most spectacular. It will take place in the wee hours of December 14.
"The Geminids is really a hot meteor shower," Pitts said. The meteors fall at medium speed, so they're easy to locate, he added.
The Geminids can be seen from anywhere in the Northern Hemisphere, though you'll want to get away from city lights if possible. In truly dark skies, you may be able to see 60 to 120 meteors per hour.
Meteor showers come from comets, concoctions of carbon dioxide, rocks and dirt. A comet eventually warms up in its orbit around the sun and then discards its "dust bunnies," as Pitts called them. Earth cuts through that path and, as the comet dust falls into the heavier atmosphere nearer Earth, the meteors begin to glow.
Although Jupiter rules the summer sky, it begins to fade around late September. By November, the planet Mars makes its way into the evening sky, rising in the east just after sunset, Pitts said. Come December, Mars is at its closest position to Earth, appearing as a rosy, non-twinkling star.
Early risers will be greatly rewarded by the jewels of the morning sky. As November rolls in, Venus, Saturn and Mercury show up about 45 minutes before sunrise.
"The morning sky is a great time to observe because the overnight temperature change typically has removed a lot of humidity and haze," Pitts said.
The fall and winter sky is filled with starry constellations. Cygnus the swan, as it is known in summer and fall, morphs into the Northern Cross on the northwest horizon in December. Cygnus is the main constellation of summer, Pegasus owns the fall, Orion the winter and Leo is king of the spring sky, Pitts said.
Perennial favorite the Big Dipper hangs in the northern horizon in October and by December appears to stand on the tip of its handle.
Of the dozen or so annual meteor showers, the Geminids is one of the most spectacular. It will take place in the wee hours of December 14.
"The Geminids is really a hot meteor shower," Pitts said. The meteors fall at medium speed, so they're easy to locate, he added.
The Geminids can be seen from anywhere in the Northern Hemisphere, though you'll want to get away from city lights if possible. In truly dark skies, you may be able to see 60 to 120 meteors per hour.
Meteor showers come from comets, concoctions of carbon dioxide, rocks and dirt. A comet eventually warms up in its orbit around the sun and then discards its "dust bunnies," as Pitts called them. Earth cuts through that path and, as the comet dust falls into the heavier atmosphere nearer Earth, the meteors begin to glow.
Baking Soda Can Save the Planet
In recent months, PopSci has covered various scientists' plans to curb global warming through carbon sequestration, mainly by feeding it to algae to make biofuel, or burying it underground.
Today, a company called Skyonic announced a novel new system, Skymine, which uses the carbon dioxide emitted from smokestacks to make baking soda. According to Skyonic CEO Joe David Jones, the system will be powered by waste heat from factories, and will produce food-grade baking soda.
There's still quite a bit of work to be done to make the current system viable on a large scale, but the baking soda idea offers solutions to some of the economic problems posed by other carbon sequestration methods.
For starters, according to Jones, the stuff can be sold for home or industrial use or buried harmlessly in landfills or abandoned mines.
Jones apparently got the idea for the SkyMine system while watching a Discovery Channel show with his kids. He pulled out an old college science textbook and immediately turned to a passage about converting C02 to baking soda. He'd found it interesting years ago and highlighted it for future reference.
Today, a company called Skyonic announced a novel new system, Skymine, which uses the carbon dioxide emitted from smokestacks to make baking soda. According to Skyonic CEO Joe David Jones, the system will be powered by waste heat from factories, and will produce food-grade baking soda.
There's still quite a bit of work to be done to make the current system viable on a large scale, but the baking soda idea offers solutions to some of the economic problems posed by other carbon sequestration methods.
For starters, according to Jones, the stuff can be sold for home or industrial use or buried harmlessly in landfills or abandoned mines.
Jones apparently got the idea for the SkyMine system while watching a Discovery Channel show with his kids. He pulled out an old college science textbook and immediately turned to a passage about converting C02 to baking soda. He'd found it interesting years ago and highlighted it for future reference.
Saturday, December 1, 2007
Yeti on Mount Everest
A U.S.-based television channel investigating the existence of the legendary Yeti in Nepal has found footprints similar to those said to be that of the abominable snowman, the company said on Friday.
A team of nine producers from Destination Truth, armed with infrared cameras, spent a week in the icy Khumbu region where Mount Everest is located and found the footprints on the bank of Manju river at a height of 2,850 meters (9,350 feet).
One of the three footprints discovered on Wednesday is about one foot long, or is of similar size and appearance as shown in sketches of the mystical ape-like creature believed to live in snowy caves, the TV company said.
"It is very very similar," Josh Gates, host of the weekly travel adventure television series, told Reuters in Kathmandu after returning from the mountain.
"I don't believe it to be (that of) a bear. It is something of a mystery for us," said Gates, 30, an archaeologist by training.
Tales by sherpa porters and guides about the wild and hairy creatures lurking in the Himalayas have seized the imagination of foreign mountain climbers going to Mount Everest since the 1920s.
Several teams have searched for it and some have even claimed to have discovered footprints.
But no one has actually seen the creature nor has it been scientifically established that the Yeti exists.
Gates said the footprints on lumps of sandy soil, which would be sent to experts in the United States for analysis, were "relatively fresh left some 24 hours before we found them".
"This print is so pristine, so good that I am very intrigued by this," Gates, flanked by his team members, said adding the findings would prompt more investigation into the Yeti.
Destination Truth chronicles some of the world's notorious crypto-zoological creatures and unexplained phenomena.
Some local sherpas believe that the Himalayas are abodes of strange creatures and consider the Yeti as a protector while others say it is a destroyer.
"There is a kind of mysterious creature that lives in the Himalayas," said Ang Tshering Sherpa, chief of Nepal Mountaineering Association in Kathmandu, who hails from the Khumbhu region were Mount Everest is located.
A team of nine producers from Destination Truth, armed with infrared cameras, spent a week in the icy Khumbu region where Mount Everest is located and found the footprints on the bank of Manju river at a height of 2,850 meters (9,350 feet).
One of the three footprints discovered on Wednesday is about one foot long, or is of similar size and appearance as shown in sketches of the mystical ape-like creature believed to live in snowy caves, the TV company said.
"It is very very similar," Josh Gates, host of the weekly travel adventure television series, told Reuters in Kathmandu after returning from the mountain.
"I don't believe it to be (that of) a bear. It is something of a mystery for us," said Gates, 30, an archaeologist by training.
Tales by sherpa porters and guides about the wild and hairy creatures lurking in the Himalayas have seized the imagination of foreign mountain climbers going to Mount Everest since the 1920s.
Several teams have searched for it and some have even claimed to have discovered footprints.
But no one has actually seen the creature nor has it been scientifically established that the Yeti exists.
Gates said the footprints on lumps of sandy soil, which would be sent to experts in the United States for analysis, were "relatively fresh left some 24 hours before we found them".
"This print is so pristine, so good that I am very intrigued by this," Gates, flanked by his team members, said adding the findings would prompt more investigation into the Yeti.
Destination Truth chronicles some of the world's notorious crypto-zoological creatures and unexplained phenomena.
Some local sherpas believe that the Himalayas are abodes of strange creatures and consider the Yeti as a protector while others say it is a destroyer.
"There is a kind of mysterious creature that lives in the Himalayas," said Ang Tshering Sherpa, chief of Nepal Mountaineering Association in Kathmandu, who hails from the Khumbhu region were Mount Everest is located.
Hot Wind Turbines
Many wind turbines mounted on homes in British cities are contributing to global warming, not fighting it, according to a new study.
And although many environmentally-friendly homeowners also hope to cut their bills by generating their own power, most micro-turbines will never save as much money as the equipment costs, according to the study by the Building Research Establishment Trust.
"In large urban areas such as Manchester, even with very favorable assumptions about efficiency, lifetime and maintenance, micro-wind turbines may never pay back their carbon emissions," the report says.
"Even in the most favorable location considered in the study, there is no financial payback within the expected life of the systems, with the current system and electricity costs."
The study analyzed the likely performance of three of the most common household wind turbines in Manchester and Portsmouth in England and Wick in Scotland.
In many cases -- and across most of Manchester -- more climate-warming carbon dioxide is produced in the manufacture, installation and maintenance of the turbines than they save by generating "green" power over their expected lifetime.
"These studies have shown a large variation in the expected CO2 payback periods from a few months in good locations to situations where they never pay back, in poor locations," the report says.
Only those climate-conscious homeowners in the best locations in the two smaller cities studied can expect to save more carbon dioxide than their turbines are responsible for producing.
And although many environmentally-friendly homeowners also hope to cut their bills by generating their own power, most micro-turbines will never save as much money as the equipment costs, according to the study by the Building Research Establishment Trust.
"In large urban areas such as Manchester, even with very favorable assumptions about efficiency, lifetime and maintenance, micro-wind turbines may never pay back their carbon emissions," the report says.
"Even in the most favorable location considered in the study, there is no financial payback within the expected life of the systems, with the current system and electricity costs."
The study analyzed the likely performance of three of the most common household wind turbines in Manchester and Portsmouth in England and Wick in Scotland.
In many cases -- and across most of Manchester -- more climate-warming carbon dioxide is produced in the manufacture, installation and maintenance of the turbines than they save by generating "green" power over their expected lifetime.
"These studies have shown a large variation in the expected CO2 payback periods from a few months in good locations to situations where they never pay back, in poor locations," the report says.
Only those climate-conscious homeowners in the best locations in the two smaller cities studied can expect to save more carbon dioxide than their turbines are responsible for producing.
Mobile Phone Killer
A death originally thought to have been caused by an exploding cell phone is now being blamed on a co-worker, who confessed to making up the story after accidentally striking the victim with a drilling vehicle, South Korean police said Friday.
The quarry worker, only identified by his family name Seo, was found dead Wednesday with a melted phone battery in his shirt pocket. Police and a local doctor who examined his body said a malfunctioning battery may have killed the man.
However, after preliminary autopsy results suggested damage to Seo's internal organs was too great to be caused by a cell phone explosion, police questioned the colleague who first reported Seo's death, said Min Kang-gi, a detective in Chungju, some 85 miles south of Seoul.
The man, identified only by his surname Kwon, told police that he accidentally killed Seo while backing up a drilling vehicle, acknowledging that the exploding cell phone story was a fabrication, Min said.
Kwon told investigators after the accident that he moved his vehicle to throw off police, but did not say he set the mobile phone on fire, Min said.
Police said the phone was made by South Korea's LG Electronics Inc., the world's fifth-largest handset maker.
LG said it knew all along that its cell phone was not the killer.
"LG rigorously tests all the products not only for functionality and design, but safety as well," the company said in a statement.
The quarry worker, only identified by his family name Seo, was found dead Wednesday with a melted phone battery in his shirt pocket. Police and a local doctor who examined his body said a malfunctioning battery may have killed the man.
However, after preliminary autopsy results suggested damage to Seo's internal organs was too great to be caused by a cell phone explosion, police questioned the colleague who first reported Seo's death, said Min Kang-gi, a detective in Chungju, some 85 miles south of Seoul.
The man, identified only by his surname Kwon, told police that he accidentally killed Seo while backing up a drilling vehicle, acknowledging that the exploding cell phone story was a fabrication, Min said.
Kwon told investigators after the accident that he moved his vehicle to throw off police, but did not say he set the mobile phone on fire, Min said.
Police said the phone was made by South Korea's LG Electronics Inc., the world's fifth-largest handset maker.
LG said it knew all along that its cell phone was not the killer.
"LG rigorously tests all the products not only for functionality and design, but safety as well," the company said in a statement.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)