The New York Times offers us an interesting examination of human evolution and how our bodies might essentially have been developed for running long sustained distances.  it is an interesting theory and one that I have heard before.  Sure we might not be the fastest living things, but it does seem to make sense that we can sustain long running travelling prety well. 

Of course, knowing this, I wonder if I will choose to run more than I have in recent years.

The discovery and identification of Raptorex kriegsteini, a minute Tyrannosaur (note: this is different than Tyrannosaurus rex which is the best known species of Tyrannosaur) throws some wonderful new insight into the evolution of one of the best known dinosaurs of all time.  You can read all about it in this New York Times article.  What is most amazing is that this eight to nine foot long animal had so many similar features to its huge descendant, including the well known little two fingered arms.  Raptorex came quite some long time before T. Rex walked the Earth, some 35 million years ago according to the article, but it demonstrates to paleontologists that a lot of the features which attributed to the King of the Dinosaurs’ success as an apex predator were already present long before.  Likely it was the success of these features (things like powerful sense of smell, strong legs for fast speed, etc.) which allowed Raptorex to have a lineage of progressively dominant predators.

This is wonderful stuff which adds to the allure and interest of one of the world’s favorite dinosaurs.

The New York Times (which by now anyone who reads any of my blogs should be aware is probably my favorite publication) has provided us with a fascinating look at the evolution of flowers.

For me the interest in this article lies in the fact that I think the origin of flowers is something that we often overlook.  While we may wax poetic about the beauty and ubiquity of flowers or we may carefully tend perfectly manicured flower gardens, we often take these amazing aspects of plants for granted.  Flowers are very complex structures that have dominated the large majority of the plant kingdom. 

But there were not always flowers.  Back in the days of the dinosaurs the flower was almost completely abscent until some 130 million years ago, and then it was still overshadowed (probably quite literally) by non-flowering plant types.  yet we have all been born and live in a world where flowers are everywhere and we should be pretty glad that they are because, as the article explains, the majority of our dietary energy is thanks to flowering plants.

So perhaps the next time we squat to take a slight wiff of a tulip or lily we should take a second to consider just hao important and amazing the flower is beyond its merely aesthetic appeal.  Just a suggestion.

Slate.com’s Explainer answers a question I was just pondering the other day.  The question goes something like this: how long before we start running out of dinosaur fossils to find?  The Answer, according to Slate, is not any time too soon.

I’ll let you read the explination for yourself, while here I will explain what made me think about this.  If you’ve read much of what I’ve written on this blog then you are likely aware that I am hugely interested in dinosaurs.  I often (though not as much lately) post about any latest news regarding dinosaur discoveries.  Still, thinking of all the fossil findings I am more than aware that the amount of preserved dinosaur remains has to be finite considering that the number of dinosaurs was obviously finite and also that fossilization is no easy process in and of itself.  So yeah, I’ve known that mathmatically speaking there will come a day and age when we aren’t finding any new dinosaur bones, I just wasn’t sure when.

Thanks to Slate I can now relax with the assumption that for quite some time I will be pleased to read about new dinosaur discoveries every few weeks or so.  It should also be noted that even if there are not a abundance of fossils being discovered at any given time there are still a lot of opportunities for scientists to learn more about these prehistoric animals.  Our understandings of dinosaurs have advanced greatly since their remains first began to be dug up in the nineteenth century.  Back in the 1800s we thought of these creatures as slow lumbering cold-blooded lizards, nowadays we see them in a wide range of diversity, with complex anatomies which support theories of warm-bloodedness and very close relation to (if not direct evolution into) modern birds.  Heck, as a kid there was still no dinosaur discovieries with recognized feathers, now it seems like every three or four months, especially with the abundance of finds in China (as mentioned by Slate), there is some new dinosaur that is found to be feathered including some genera within the ornithischia order (previously all feathered dinosaurs were of the saurischian order).

So all around I take this as happy news for the dinosaur lovers amongst us.  And all you paleontologists out there, keep up the good work for all us non-scientists, we owe our fascination in part to your efforts.

For those of you who have visted Google this fine day of August 25th, 2009 you will see that the search site is paying special homage to Galileo Galilei and his first demonstration of his first telescope.

400 years ago this day, Galileo demonstated his telescope and thus in many ways changed the history of astronomy and his own life drastically.  Modern astronomy is greatly endebted to Galileo and his discoveries and so the moment of telescope presentation siginifies an important one (you can read about it in this Gaurdian article).

Boy, between marking 200 years since Charles Darwin’s birth, 150 years since the first publishing of On the Origin of Species, and now 400 years since Galileo’s telescope demonstration it seems like 2009 has been a big year for “things that happened in science a nice century or more ago.”

Still, all great stuff.

Been a long time once again.  Apologies I suppose.

Alright, what’s happening on the science front?  Well I am currently listening to an audiobook called Evolution: The Remarkable History of a Scientific Theory which is absolutely fantastic.  While it certainly talks a lot about the theories of evolution it seems to be more of a focus on the various figures in scince history who have contributed to the development of the theory.  It is really great stuff.  While we may all be really familiar with Charles Darwin and his contributions to the theory, there were many other scientists who were just as instrumental in the gradual acceptance amongst the scientific community of evolution.

That being said, and thinking about some of the characters who were involved in this theory (and they certainly were characters) I find myself fascinated by the pursuits of Peter A. Rona in his hunt for Paleodictyon nodosum.  the New York Times article which I’ve linked here demonstrates something that I am very fond of in science and it is what I’d call the questing for answers.  For some it is not enough to just propse a good sounding hypothesis (actually that shold be enough for any self respecting scientist considering the scientific method) but they really love the hunt for evidence for or against their proposed ideas.  To many of us Dr. Rona’s pursuit might seem strange or even inane but to him and others like him, these quests of scientific discovery are the pinnacle of what it means to know the world.  I applaud that and even, to a degree, envy it.

I love that there a people with the ambition for discovery.  Whether it was the early scientists working on a theory of evolution of people like Dr. Rona who are hunting for answers about an elusive creature.  The desire to discover and know the world further is an essential element to what it means to be a scientist.

For all of you who might not be aware, forty years ago from today (July 20th 2009) on July 20th 1969 the first humans stepped onto the Moon.  Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin became the first two people to make it onto the surface of Earth’s only natural satellite.  I don’t know if the momentousness of the moment could be summed up any better than with Mr. Armstrong’s famous line “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.”

Now, forty years later there is talk of returning to the Moon again.  I hope it happens,  sincerely do.  I think the exploration of space is one of our greatest endeavors and there is so much still worth learning.  To Mr. Armstrong and Mr. Adrin, the two of you are true American heroes and icons of a generation that believed in the ability to overcome even the most difficult of challenges.  I hope the future holds more people in your mold.

Today would be the inventor Nikola Tesla’s 155th birthday so I’d like to offer a happy birthday shout out.  Tesla is one of the figures in scientific history that I’d love to know more about.  From what I do know about him he was instrumental to the development of Alternating Current (AC) and also played a huge role in creating wireless communication (radio).

Also, David Bowie played him in “The Prestige.”

Mr. Nikola Tesla

Google honors Tesla's birthday with this custom logo today

Quite literally.  This New York Times article seems to cover it all, and go into details about how newer stronger glass is being used in ways that previously would not have been considered for the material.  Probably my favorite thing about the article is that it clarifies that most experts now classify glass as an amorphous solid as opposed to a super viscous liquid. It really is an amazing material when you think about it, but often we don’t, because it is so ubiquitous.  A great article which also offers a slide show and two infographics (here and here).  Maybe the next time you take a look through glass you’ll be able to appreciate the transparent material a little bit more.

Considering the  previous post, I feel it is worth pointing out the potential world colony of Argentine Ants as described by BBC.  Not a lot that I can say about it that hasn’t been said in the article.  I really suggest you just read it and maybe experience the momant of baffled amazement.  Still, as the article clearly points out, it seems that this is in part directly responsible to human movement throughout the world.  fascinating stuff about a fascinating species.