Prehistoric Colors (Royal Society Summer Science Exhibition)

Prehistoric Colors (Royal Society Summer Science Exhibition)

Irish palaeontologist to depict how colours change in fossils at London expo, SiliconRepublic, July 2, 2013
http://www.siliconre...eontologist-to/

Prehistoric Colours, The Royal Society
http://sse.royalsoci...storic-colours/

Yours,

Paul H

New Species Of Miocene Hornless Rhino In Thailand

New Species Of Miocene Hornless Rhino In Thailand

Fossils Reveal New Species of Hornless Rhino in Thailand, Nature World News, July 2, 2013
http://www.naturewor...no-thailand.htm

A new species of the hornless rhino found from the Late Miocene of Nakhon Ratchasima, Thailand.
Phys.org, http://phys.org/news...te-miocene.html

the paper is:
Deng, T., R. Hanta, and P. Jintasakul, 2013, A new species of Aceratherium (Rhinocerotidae,
Perissodactyla) from the late Miocene of Nakhon Ratchasima, northeastern Thailand. Journal of
Vertebrate Paleontology. vol. 33, no. 4, pp. 977-985.
http://www.tandfonli...634.2013.748058

Yours,

Paul H.

What Your Digital Pictures Can Tell About You

What Your Digital Pictures Can Tell About You

People, who take pictures, might not realize that
smartphones, digital cameras often record all
sorts data about how, when, and even where in
some cases a picture was taken. Many cameras
record this information as meta-data that is
embedded in image files in a digital format called
"Exif Metadata" as discussed in:

Tools for Managing EXIF Data of your Images
http://www.labnol.org/software/exif-data-editors/14210/

Exchangeable image file format
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exchangeable_image_file_format

Also, the EXIF Data might record when and how it
was modified depending on the software used.

If you want to see what image data is embedded
in yours or another person's picture, there are various
Exif Viewers, both online and available as software
that can be used to extract this data.

Even if you are not interested in this data, there are
people and companies that are examining the
pictures that you and other people posted to the
Internet using this data for their own purposes. If
you have a smart phone or camera with a built-in
GPS, it is scary what people can find out you and
where you have been.

Some online Exif Viewers are:

1. ExifViewer.org - http://www.exifviewer.org/

2. Jeffrey's Exif viewer - http://regex.info/exif.cgi

Yours,

Paul H.

Fossil of Bigfoot Found :-) :-) :-)

Fossil of Bigfoot Found :-) :-) :-)

With all of the others news that is happening in the world, it is interesting how easily pseudo-fossils
and meteorwrongs make their way into the newspaper.
The latest example is:

Man claims he found fossilized Bigfoot skull (Todd May of Utah says he believes his rock is a Bigfoot skull because he has seen live specimens.) Portland Press Herald, June 29, 2103
http://www.presshera...2013-06-29.html

Image at http://media.presshe...ald_3768607.jpg


Man believes he found fossilized Bigfoot head
by Mark Saal, Standard-Examiner, June 28, 2013
http://www.sfgate.co...ead-4637134.php

Yours,

Paul H.

Pseudofossils, Meteorwrongs, and Newspapers

Pseudofossils, Meteorwrongs, and Newspapers

Meteorwrongs are not the only scientifically dubious
material that seems to get regularly published in the
local newspaper without any scientific vetting. Not
only are newspaper regularly publish stories about
meteorwrongs without any critical analysis, they also
publish stories about various pseudofossils that
people have found. An example is:

Man claims he found fossilized Bigfoot skull
(Todd May of Utah says he believes his rock is
a Bigfoot skull because he has seen live specimens.)
Portland Press Herald, June 29, 2103
http://www.pressherald.com/life/man-claims-he-found-fossilized-bigfoot-skull-_2013-06-29.html
Image at http://media.pressherald.com/images/portland-press-herald_3768607.jpg

Man believes he found fossilized Bigfoot head
by Mark Saal, Standard-Examiner, June 28, 2013
http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Man-believes-he-found-fossilized-Bigfoot-head-4637134.php

Similarly, it must have been an extremely slow day for
news for this paper to have published the below story.
It seems like the editor should have killed this story
politely, but immediately.

Mystery Rocks of Half Moon Bay: Resident Believes
They are Dinosaur Artifacts. (Steve Culbreth shows
off his rock collection in a photo slideshow.)
by Angela Swartz, Half Moon Bay Patch, April 4, 2013
http://halfmoonbay.patch.com/articles/check-out-these-unique-rocks-found-in-town#photo-13816954

The Secret Life of Rocks by Steve Culbreth, Nov. 13, 2009
http://www.slideshare.net/steveculbreth/the-secret-life-of-rocks-2497489

Some articles related to such pseudofossils are:

"Pareidolia." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pareidolia

Pareidolia: Seeing Faces in Unusual Places
by Kim Ann Zimmermann, LiveScience Contributor
http://www.livescience.com/25448-pareidolia.html

Mimetoliths by R.V. Dietrich
http://stoneplus.cst.cmich.edu/mimetoliths/ http://condor.cmich.edu/cdm/singleitem/collection/p1610-01coll1/id/3445

Yours,

Paul H.

Kronosaurus Dig, Northwestern Queensland, Australia

Kronosaurus Dig, Northwestern Queensland, Australia

Kronosaurus Korner volunteers dig up fossils of armoured dinosaur in northwestern Queensland
News Limited, News.com.au, June 28, 2103
http://www.news.com....w-1226671042550

Yours,

Paul H.

4th Grade Student Discovers New Fossil Bird Species

4th Grade Student Discovers New Fossil Bird Species

Springs girl reacts to fossil find: 'I think I'm going to be pretty famous'
The Gazette, Colorado Springs, Colorado, June 11, 2013.
http://gazette.com/springs-girl-reacts-to-fossil-find-i-think-im-going-to-be-pretty-famous/article/1502195

4th grade student discovers news species of bird (Florissant Fossil
Beds National Monument),by John Martin Fox 21 News, June 19, 2013,
http://www.fox21news.com/news/story.aspx?id=911707#.UcNdX9jgyuI

Professor helps identify rare fossilized bird (Florissant Fossil Beds
National Monument), Georgia College (Picture of bird fossil)
http://infox.gcsu.edu/content/professor-helps-identify-rare-fossilized-bird

(Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument)
http://www.nps.gov/flfo/index.htm

Yours,
Paul H.

The Life of Slag/Slag-glass ...was What is this?

The Life of Slag/Slag-glass ...was What is this?

In “The Life of Slag/Slag-glass ...was What is this?” at:
http://www.mail-archive.com/meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com/msg113477.html
MEM wrote:

“I was explaining the multitude of reasons that slag is
found virtually everywhere--including Revolutionary
and Civil War foundries, long left abandoned to rural
pastures when I had someone once argue that his
specimen couldn't be slag from a rail road because
there had never been a railroad within miles. I then
showed him on the topo map where an abandoned
rail right-of-way was less than 200 yards from the
dirt road he found his "meteor-wrong" along.”

A person brought me a basketball-size piece of fresh
brownish green glass that he found in Little Rock,
Arkansas while bulldozer a site for a strip mall. It was
quickly identified as steel foundry slag glass that is
quite popular in Arkansas for use in decorating their
gardens and other landscaping. This type of steel
foundry slag glass can be seen as, often large, blocks
of colorful blue, bluish-green, greenish, yellow, red,
white, orange, purple, and so forth slag glass lying
on large tables in front of Arkansas rock shops in and
between Murfreesboro to Hot Springs areas. From
what I have fond, the slag originally came from
foundry at Fort Smith in Sebastian County, Arkansas,
and is now imported from other states. This slag glass
can also be found in rock shops all over the United
States, in people's gardens and fish tanks everywhere,
and for sale all on ebay. A person does not need to
even be next to a railroad to find it.

Fortunately, he did not believe this material to be
a meteorite. He did think it was possibly a really
weird obsidian.

Go see

J. Michael Howard answers questions about
Geology, Rock Types, and Earth Science
http://www.rockhoundingar.com/askmikeygeology.php

Slag Glass – tumblr
http://www.tumblr.com/tagged/slag%20glass

Obsidian in Oklahoma?
http://arrowheads.com/forums/learn-about-material-types/18761-obsidian-in-oklahoma

Slag glass near Austin for those lucky folks going to SAMA
http://www.mosaicandstainedglass.org/forums/index.php?topic=6753.0

Yours,

Paul H.

Authenticity of China's Fabulous Fossils Gets New Scrutiny

Authenticity of China's Fabulous Fossils Gets New Scrutiny

Balter, M., 2013, Paleontology: Authenticity of
China's Fabulous Fossils Gets New Scrutiny.
Science. Vol. 340 no. 6137 pp. 1153-1154
DOI: 10.1126/science.340.6137.1153
http://www.sciencemag.org/content/340/6137/1153.short

PDF file at:
http://english.ivpp.cas.cn/ns/es/201306/P020130614511958187570.pdf

"Until researchers hammer out a solution, controversies like
the one over Aurornis are likely to become more frequent.
The flood of fossil fakes, Wang says, "is going to haunt
Chinese vertebrate paleontology for the next 100 years.""

More PDF files of paper about Chinese fossils can be
found at http://english.ivpp.cas.cn/ns/es/ .

Best wishes,

Paul H.

New Bedmap2 Mapping Shows Antarctica's Hidden Mountain Ranges

New Bedmap2 Mapping Shows Antarctica's Hidden Mountain Ranges

New map shows Antarctica's hidden mountain ranges
by Megan Wollerton, Dvice, June 7, 2013
http://www.dvice.com/2013-6-7/new-map-shows-antarcticas-hidden-mountain-ranges

Bedmap2 gives scientists a more detailed view of Antarctica’s
landmass, British Antarctic Survey, March 8, 2013
http://www.antarctica.ac.uk/about_bas/news/news_story.php?id=2085

Antarctic's Mountains Revealed By Sharpest Map Yet
Christine Dell'Amore, National Geographic News, June 5, 2013
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2013/06/130605-nasa-map-sunken-mountains-antarctica-ice/

Antarctica Without Ice: Photos Shows Continent's Rocky
Surface, Huffington Post, June 7, 2103
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/05/antarctica-without-ice-photo-picture_n_3390481.html

This is what Antarctica looks like without ice, The Week
Magazine (video) , Jun 6, 2013‎
http://theweek.com/article/index/245277/this-is-what-antarctica-looks-like-without-ice

British Antarctica Survey, 2013, Improved ice bed, surface
and thickness datasets for Antarctica
http://www.antarctica.ac.uk/bas_research/our_research/az/bedmap2/index.php

Yours,

Paul H.

Rare Earth Elements in Alaskan Uranium Mountain

Rare Earth Elements in Alaskan Uranium Mountain

In "Rare Earth Elements in Alaskan Uranium Mountain" at
http://lists.drizzle.com/pipermail/rockhounds_lists.drizzle.com/2013-June/001426.html ,
Glenn noted the below article:

Radioactive Mountain is Key in US Rare-Earth Woes
Becky Oskin, LiveScience, June 11, 2013
http://www.livescience.com/37356-heavy-rare-earth-mining-america.html?cmpid=527273

and BK added another article:

Alaska’s Billion Dollar Mountain by Daniel Grushkin
Bloomsberg Businessweek Magazine, October 27, 2011
http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/alaskas-billion-dollar-mountain-10272011.html#p1
http://www.businessweek.com/printer/articles/4520-alaska-s-billion-dollar-mountain

The geology of the Bokan Mountain is discussed in
the below open access publications:

Long, K. R., B. S. Van Gosen, N. K. Foley, and
D. Cordier, 2010, The Principal Rare Earth Elements
Deposits of the United States—A Summary of
Domestic Deposits and a Global Perspective.
Scientific Investigations Report 2010–5220
http://pubs.usgs.gov/sir/2010/5220/pdf/SIR2010-5220.pdf

MacKevett, E. M., Jr., 1963, Geology and ore deposits
of the Bokan Mountain uranium-thorium area,
southeastern Alaska. Bulletin No. 1154. United States
Geological Survey. 125 pp.
http://pubs.er.usgs.gov/publication/b1154

(The above publication has geological maps)

Philpotts, J. A., C. D. Taylor, C. D., M. Tatsumoto, and
H. E. Belkin, 1988, Petrogenesis of late-stage granites
and Y-REE-Zr-Nb-enriched vein dikes of the Bokan
Mountain stock, Prince of Wales Island, southeastern
Alaska. Open-File Report 98-459. United States
Geological Survey. 71 pp.
http://pubs.er.usgs.gov/publication/ofr98459

Warner, D. J., and J. C. Barker, 1989, Columbium-
and Rare Earth-Bearing Deposits at Bokan Mountian,
Southeast Alaska. Open File Report 33-89. United
States Geological Survey. 196 pp.
http://www.blm.gov/pgdata/etc/medialib/blm/ak/jrmic/usbm_rpts.Par.55462.File.tmp/OFR_33-89.pdf

Yours,

Paul H.

The Rare Earths of Texas (Barringer Hill)

The Rare Earths of Texas (Barringer Hill)

Coppedge, C., 2010, All That Glitters is Sometimes Yttrium.
Footnotes in Texas History, November 2010
http://www.texascooppower.com/texas-stories/history/all-that-glitters-is-sometimes-yttrium

Nielsen, D., 2008, The Story of Barringer's Hill. GunBroker.com
http://forums.gunbroker.com/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=319896

Landes, 1932, The Baringer Hill, Texas, Pegmatite. American
Mineralogist. vol. 17, pp. 381-390.
http://www.minsocam.org/msa/collectors_corner/arc/barringertx.htm

Zelade , R., Baringer Hill beneath Lake Buchanan. Hill Country.
http://www.texasescapes.com/FEATURES/Richard_Zelade_Hill_Country/Barringer_Hill_Lake_Buchanan.htm

Yours,

Paul H.

Origin of Australian Opals - New Open Access Paper

Origin of Australian Opals - New Open Access Paper

The Australian Journal of Earth Sciences has a newly
published summary paper about the origin of Australian
opals online as open access and free to download.

the paper is:

Rey, P. F., 2013, Opalisation of the Great Artesian
Basin (central Australia): an Australian story with a
Martian twist, Australian Journal of Earth Sciences.
vol. 60, no. 3, pp. 291-314.

Abstract at:
http://www.tandfonline.com/toc/taje20/current#.UbJXX4Wzps8

PDF file at:
http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/08120099.2013.784219

This paper is well worth reading.

Best wishes,

Paul H.

Extraordinarily beautiful Fukang meteorite

Extraordinarily beautiful Fukang meteorite

Nothing in the way of either text or content.
However, it does have some nice pictures.

Необычайно красивый метеорит Фукан
Extraordinarily beautiful Fukang meteorite
http://www.fresher.ru/2013/05/26/neobychajno-krasivyj-meteorit-fukan/comment-page-1/

Yours,

Paul H.

Three-Billion-Year-Old Plankton (Western Australia)

Three-Billion-Year-Old Plankton (Western Australia)

Three-Billion-Year-Old Microfossils Include Plankton
Science Daily, June 6, 2013
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/06/130606155123.htm

Plankton fossils found in 3 billion-year-old rocks, Penn State News
http://news.psu.edu/story/278723/2013/06/06/research/3-billion-year-old-microfossils-include-plankton
http://www.futurity.org/science-technology/plankton-fossils-found-in-3-billion-year-old-rocks/

House, C. H., D. Z. Oehler, K. Sugitani, K. Mimura, 2013,
Carbon isotopic analyses of ca. 3.0 Ga microstructures imply
planktonic autotrophs inhabited Earth's early oceans.
Geology. vol. 41, no. 6, pp. 651-654. DOI: 10.1130/G34055.1
http://geology.gsapubs.org/content/early/2013/03/26/G34055.1.abstract

Yours,

Paul H.

Using Fossils To Locate The Ordovician Equator In Laurentia

Using Fossils To Locate The Ordovician Equator In Laurentia

USA's ancient hurricane belt and the US-Canada equator
http://phys.org/news/2012-11-usa-ancient-hurricane-belt-us-canada.html

USA's ancient hurricane belt and the US-Canada
equator, Durham University
https://www.dur.ac.uk/news/newsitem/?itemno=15902

Jisuo, J., D.A.T. Harper, L. R. M. Cocks, and P. J. A.
McCausland, C. M. O. Rasmussen, and P. M. Sheehan,
2013, Precisely locating the Ordovician equator in
Laurentia. Geology. vol. 41, no. 2, pp. 107-110.
Abstract - http://geology.gsapubs.org/content/41/2/107.abstract
PDF file - ftp://rock.geosociety.org/pub/reposit/2013/2013026.pdf

Yours,

Paul H.

New Paper About Hypothesized Wilkes Land impact basin

New Paper About Hypothesized Wilkes Land impact basin

von Frese, R. R. B., H. R. Kim, T. E. Leftwich, J. W. Kim and
A. V. Golynsky, 2013, Satellite magnetic anomalies of the
Antarctic Wilkes Land impact basin inferred from regional
gravity and terrain data. Tectonophysics. vol. 585, pp. 185–195.
doi:10.1016/j.tecto.2012.09.009.
http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2013Tectp.585..185V
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0040195112005677

Yours,
Paul H.

Some Facets of the Geology of Diamonds

Some Facets of the Geology of Diamonds

Some Facets of the Geology of Diamonds by Simon Wellings,
National Geographic, May 9, 2013
http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/guest-blog/2013/05/09/some-facets-of-the-geology-of-diamonds/

Yours,
Paul H.

Younger Dryas Impact Hypothesis Supported by Graham Hancock

Graham Hancock, a well known alternative "prehistorian" and
best-selling popular book author has apparently Become a supporter
of the Younger Dryas Impact Hypothesis. In his upcoming book, which
is currently described as a revision of his 1995 book, "Fingerprints of
the Gods,” Mr. Hancock will apparently argue for Younger Dryas
Impact having created a "titanic global cataclysm" that destroyed a
lost civilization that he believes existed during the Late Pleistocene.
According to published accounts, he will apparently use Gobekli Tepi
as evidence of the existence of this lost Ice Age civilization.

"Graham Hancock Working on 'Fingerprints of the Gods Part 2'" at
http://dailygrail.com/Hidden-History/2013/2/Graham-Hancock-Working-Fingerprints-the-Gods-Part-2
stated:

".... the first piece of evidence that made me realise there
was a new story to be told was proof that north America
was struck by several pieces of a giant fragmenting comet
12,900 years ago (i.e. 10,900 BC), causing an extinction-level
event all around the planet, radically changing global
climate and initiating the sudden and hitherto unexplained
thousand-year deep-freeze right at the end of the Ice Age
that geologists call the Younger Dryas."

and

"…supports the thesis of a great civilisation, lost to history
between 13,000 and 12,000 years ago, that I controversially
put before the public in 1995 with Fingerprints of the Gods."

His Facebook page about the Younger Dryas impact hypothesis is
https://www.facebook.com/Author.GrahamHancock/posts/10151506710212354

Initially, in Fingerprints of the Gods, Mr. Hancock argued that his lost
Ice Age civilization was destroyed by Earth Crustal Displacement.
In "Underworld: Flooded Kingdoms of the Ice Age", he abandoned Earth
Crustal Displacement and argued that his lost Ice Age civilization was
destroyed by rapid global sea level rise that started at the end of the
last Ice Age and continued into Early Holocene. Now it appears that
his terminal Pleistocene cataclysm has shifted again from terminal
Pleistocene – Early Holocene global sea level rise to the hypothesized
Younger Dryas impact.

Reviews of Fingerprints of the Gods are:

1. Malek, J., 1996, Fingerprints of the Gods: A Review. Discussions in
Egyptology. vol. 24, pp. 135 – 142.
http://www.hallofmaat.com/modules.php?name=Articles&file=article&sid=27

2. The Gentle Art of Myth Management by Duncan Edlin, Papers, Hall of Ma’at,
http://www.hallofmaat.com/modules.php?name=Articles&file=article&sid=28

Additional articles about “Fingerprints of the Gods” and Earth Crustal
Displacement can be found in the “Papers” section of the Hall of Ma’at,
http://www.hallofmaat.com/modules.php?name=Topics

They include:

Brass, M., 2002, Tracing Graham Hancock's Shifting Cataclysm. Skeptical
Inquirer. vol. 26, no. 4, pp. 45-49.
http://www.csicop.org/si/show/tracing_graham_hancockrsquos_shifting_cataclysm/
http://www.hallofmaat.com/modules.php?name=Articles&file=article&sid=48

Reviews of "Underworld: Flooded Kingdoms of the Ice Age" and associated
video are:

1. Book Review of Underworld by Graham Hancock by Duncan Edlin
Papers, Hall of Ma’at,
http://www.hallofmaat.com/modules.php?name=Articles&file=article&sid=47

2. Review of Flooded Kingdoms of the Ice Age by Nic Flemming
Papers, Hall of Ma’at,
http://www.hallofmaat.com/modules.php?name=Articles&file=article&sid=36

Some other books of Graham Hancock’s other books include “Keeper
Of Genesis,” “Talisman: Sacred Cities, Secret Faith,” “The Sign and The
Seal,” “Heaven's Mirror,” and “Supernatural: Meetings with The Ancient
Teachers of Mankind.”

A review of “Supernatural: Meetings with The Ancient Teachers of Mankind”
is: The trance of life by Gary Lachman, The Guardian, December 30, 2005
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2005/dec/31/featuresreviews.guardianreview12

A related paper is:

Spencer, W., 2003, The Lost Aisle: Selling Atlantis in the “Spiritual
Supermarket”. Journal of Religion and Popular Culture. vol. 3, no. 1,
article 5-5.
http://utpjournals.metapress.com/content/b416h386r5387473/
http://utpjournals.metapress.com/content/b416h386r5387473/fulltext.pdf

Yours,
Paul H.

Rock Stories: Why we need field trips and fossils

Rock Stories: Why we need field trips and fossils

Rock Stories: Why we need field trips and fossils
By Anne Brataas, Minnesota Post, May 30, 2103
http://www.minnpost.com/education/2013/05/rock-stories-why-we-need-field-trips-and-fossils

Yours,
Paul H.