Talk about spectacular trick photography, WoW!
Jeptoo of Kenya wins women’s Boston Marathon 2013
Even as she led the women’s Boston Marathon for mile upon mile with nary another female runner in sight, Ana Dulce Felix kept looking over her shoulder.
Turns out she was wise to be on the lookout. Because Rita Jeptoo was closer than she appeared."
Lelisa Desisa, a 23-year-old Ethiopian who won then men's but the woman had the dramatic story, Rita Jeptooo Kenya won the woman's Boston coming from behind. I can't wait to see them in my home town New York City for the Big One.
'via Blog this'
Rita Jeptoo of Kenya wins women’s elite race at Boston Marathon; Shalane Flanagan fourth - Marathon - Boston.com:
DNA Integrative Medicine & Wellness Center: Abu Dhabi forays into Health Tourism
Integrative medicine is on the risE!
"The DNA Integrative Medicine & Wellness Center will be an affiliate of US DNA Health Corp, that has signed a leasing agreement with TIDC to provide various medical services, including recreational therapy, as well as treatment of chronic diseases. The centre will offer a new model of family health care based on the holistic approach — uniting leading-edge Western medicine, advanced diagnostics, and cellular therapies complemented by Eastern alternative modalities."
DNA Integrative Medicine & Wellness Center: Abu Dhabi forays into Health Tourism - arabiangazette.com:
'via Blog this'
"The DNA Integrative Medicine & Wellness Center will be an affiliate of US DNA Health Corp, that has signed a leasing agreement with TIDC to provide various medical services, including recreational therapy, as well as treatment of chronic diseases. The centre will offer a new model of family health care based on the holistic approach — uniting leading-edge Western medicine, advanced diagnostics, and cellular therapies complemented by Eastern alternative modalities."
DNA Integrative Medicine & Wellness Center: Abu Dhabi forays into Health Tourism - arabiangazette.com:
'via Blog this'
Hail Volantia
A lot has happened since I last posted any comics. (How long has it been? A bit more than a year?) In fact, plenty has happened since I last posted here at all. (What, I'm supposed to write more about Earthflight and zoo trips? When did I say that?)
For instance, a paper came out describing the prevalence of large leg feathers in Mesozoic avialans, finding evidence of pennaceous feathers on the tibiotarsi of several confuciusornithid and enantiornithine specimens as well as on the metatarsals of Sapeornis. In fact, almost all coelurosaurs that preserve integument on the lower legs and feet have feathers there, with plumulaceous leg feathers and extensive foot scales (as in most modern birds) known only in Yanornis and more derived taxa. It is perhaps no accident that this is also the point in avialan phylogeny that a tail fan homologous with those of modern birds is known to have been present. (On that subject, the new Sapeornis specimen also preserves tail feathers, previously unknown in this genus, but that's a story for a different time.)
The implications of this are quite clear. After all, what else has four wings?
That's right, a new analysis shows that it's looking likely that flight evolved only once in the entire history of life, all flying organisms being united in a clade now called Volantia. Aside from the common biplane design, the monophyly of this group is supported by many other previously overlooked features. (I didn't look at the data matrix, but the study listed so many synapomorphies I figured it simply must be correct.) For example, the clade is also united by the ancestral characteristics of echolocation (still retained in swifts, oilbirds, planes, and most bats), being capable of learning the move Wing Attack (secondarily lost in planes due to their stiff wing structure)*, and eating foods widely considered to be disgusting in Western society (such as insects, rotting carcasses, and aviation fuel). In an interesting example of convergence, all five major clades of Volantia are all known to have independently evolved two-winged forms later on. This discovery is also further refutation of several ideas so preposterous it's a wonder there still exist those who support them in the scientific community, such as the dinosaurian origin of birds, the ornithodiran origin of pterosaurs, the mammalian origin of bats, the arthropod origin of insects, and the human invention of planes. (Too bad about the squamate origin of pterosaurs and the pterosaurian origin of birds though, those actually had some good things going for it.) Biology textbooks will now have to look elsewhere for comparisons between analogous and homologous structures. In fact, this was such abadly-written significant paper that an entirely new journal was created just to publish it. Fortunately, it is open-access, although you actually have to pay about $200 so unfortunately it is not really open-access.
*Evidently the production team of Pokémon was on to something when they included a puff of feathers in the animation of Wing Attack (despite some featherless Pokémon knowing this move). Considering that there are many obscure biological references in Pokémon, it appears likely that this was included as a nod to the Volantia hypothesis (then called the Single Origin of Flight Hypothesis or SOF).
Naturally, this also has implications for my comic, because it indicates that the use of echolocation and a biplane configuration should be present in most of my characters. However, I don't think I will bother to incorporate this new info into future comic strips. It is just too much work and having to come up with reasons for changing the characters' attributes in-universe is way too difficult. Even though I tried to include scientific understanding and in-jokes when I began this comic, I now realize that accuracy is overrated and is entirely irrelevant in a universe with levitating troodonts, talking fossil casts, and turkey-sized dinosaurs that can jump three meters in the air to slash an Allosaurus fatally in the throat. It's not like anyone actually appreciates the sciency stuff I put in to begin with and the few that do are just whiny nerds who can always go start their own comic if they want silly things like accuratedinosaurs volantians.
References
Troll, I.M.A. 2013. A four-winged configuration for basal birds: implications for the Single Origin of Flight (SOF) Hypothesis. Journal of Random Crap 1: 1-5. doi: 42.1007/s42336.012.0910.7
Zheng, X., Z. Zhou, X. Wang, F. Zhang, X. Zhang, Y. Wang, G. Wei, S. Wang, and X. Xu. 2013. Hind wings in basal birds and the evolution of leg feathers. Science 399: 1309-1312. doi: 10.1126/science.1228753
For instance, a paper came out describing the prevalence of large leg feathers in Mesozoic avialans, finding evidence of pennaceous feathers on the tibiotarsi of several confuciusornithid and enantiornithine specimens as well as on the metatarsals of Sapeornis. In fact, almost all coelurosaurs that preserve integument on the lower legs and feet have feathers there, with plumulaceous leg feathers and extensive foot scales (as in most modern birds) known only in Yanornis and more derived taxa. It is perhaps no accident that this is also the point in avialan phylogeny that a tail fan homologous with those of modern birds is known to have been present. (On that subject, the new Sapeornis specimen also preserves tail feathers, previously unknown in this genus, but that's a story for a different time.)
 |
| New specimen of Sapeornis showing hind limb feathers, from Zheng et al, 2013. |
The implications of this are quite clear. After all, what else has four wings?
 |
| The pterosauromorph Sharovipteryx mirabilis, licensed. |
 |
| The anisopteran insect Hemicordulia tau, photographed by Fir0002 and licensed. |
 |
| The chiropteran Agilichiropteryx johtoensis. |
 |
| The biplane Handleyvolans hannoi. |
That's right, a new analysis shows that it's looking likely that flight evolved only once in the entire history of life, all flying organisms being united in a clade now called Volantia. Aside from the common biplane design, the monophyly of this group is supported by many other previously overlooked features. (I didn't look at the data matrix, but the study listed so many synapomorphies I figured it simply must be correct.) For example, the clade is also united by the ancestral characteristics of echolocation (still retained in swifts, oilbirds, planes, and most bats), being capable of learning the move Wing Attack (secondarily lost in planes due to their stiff wing structure)*, and eating foods widely considered to be disgusting in Western society (such as insects, rotting carcasses, and aviation fuel). In an interesting example of convergence, all five major clades of Volantia are all known to have independently evolved two-winged forms later on. This discovery is also further refutation of several ideas so preposterous it's a wonder there still exist those who support them in the scientific community, such as the dinosaurian origin of birds, the ornithodiran origin of pterosaurs, the mammalian origin of bats, the arthropod origin of insects, and the human invention of planes. (Too bad about the squamate origin of pterosaurs and the pterosaurian origin of birds though, those actually had some good things going for it.) Biology textbooks will now have to look elsewhere for comparisons between analogous and homologous structures. In fact, this was such a
*Evidently the production team of Pokémon was on to something when they included a puff of feathers in the animation of Wing Attack (despite some featherless Pokémon knowing this move). Considering that there are many obscure biological references in Pokémon, it appears likely that this was included as a nod to the Volantia hypothesis (then called the Single Origin of Flight Hypothesis or SOF).
 |
| Results of the new phylogenetic analysis for Volantia, from Troll, 2013. (To avoid confusion, unicorns are the outgroup here, not part of Volantia proper.) |
Naturally, this also has implications for my comic, because it indicates that the use of echolocation and a biplane configuration should be present in most of my characters. However, I don't think I will bother to incorporate this new info into future comic strips. It is just too much work and having to come up with reasons for changing the characters' attributes in-universe is way too difficult. Even though I tried to include scientific understanding and in-jokes when I began this comic, I now realize that accuracy is overrated and is entirely irrelevant in a universe with levitating troodonts, talking fossil casts, and turkey-sized dinosaurs that can jump three meters in the air to slash an Allosaurus fatally in the throat. It's not like anyone actually appreciates the sciency stuff I put in to begin with and the few that do are just whiny nerds who can always go start their own comic if they want silly things like accurate
References
Troll, I.M.A. 2013. A four-winged configuration for basal birds: implications for the Single Origin of Flight (SOF) Hypothesis. Journal of Random Crap 1: 1-5. doi: 42.1007/s42336.012.0910.7
Zheng, X., Z. Zhou, X. Wang, F. Zhang, X. Zhang, Y. Wang, G. Wei, S. Wang, and X. Xu. 2013. Hind wings in basal birds and the evolution of leg feathers. Science 399: 1309-1312. doi: 10.1126/science.1228753
Africa, Where Masturbation and Homosexuality Do Not Exist
"When sex means reproduction, certain proclivities may simply not be part of cultural models of sexuality."
Barry and Bonnie Hewlett had been studying the Aka and Ngandu people of central Africa for many years before they began to specifically study the groups' sexuality. As they reported in the journal African Study Monographs, the married couple of anthropologists from Washington State University "decided to systematically study sexual behavior after several campfire discussions with married middle-aged Aka men who mentioned in passing that they had sex three or four times during the night. At first [they] thought it was just men telling their stories, but we talked to women and they verified the men's assertions."
In turning to a dedicated study of sex practices, the Hewletts formally confirmed that the campfire stories were no mere fish tales. Married Aka and Ngandu men and women consistently reported having sex multiple times in a single night. But in the process of verifying this, the Hewletts also incidentally found that homosexuality and masturbation appeared to be foreign to both groups.
Aunk's commentary:
This is a remarkable read that I recommend to all my readers. In many African Cultures there is no word for Masturbation and Homosexuality. They think of sex as a kind of night work looking for children. Wow!
Cultural Literacy Minute: When Westerners say something is just "human nature", their own science now indicates that the statement should be corrected to Western nature. We should not confuse social nature, "human nature" and natural law.
This is a good time to remind ourselves of the three major worldviews i.e. the central worldview (African), the Eastern worldview (Asian) and the Western worldview (Caucasian) in the order of their coming into recorded history. The cosmological orientation and resulting Values, Interests and Principles (VIP's) as Dr. Jeffries points out must be understood if one is to be considered a Culturally Literate global citizen.
To reach reasoned conclusions about man one must have the facts from all three worldviews leaving any worldview out of any fact finding mission by definition calls any resulting conclusions into question.
Living according to natural law seems to work just fine.
Does anyone know the three purposes of Sex?
Full Story: Click below
Where Masturbation and Homosexuality Do Not Exist - Atlantic Mobile:
'via Blog this'
Barry and Bonnie Hewlett had been studying the Aka and Ngandu people of central Africa for many years before they began to specifically study the groups' sexuality. As they reported in the journal African Study Monographs, the married couple of anthropologists from Washington State University "decided to systematically study sexual behavior after several campfire discussions with married middle-aged Aka men who mentioned in passing that they had sex three or four times during the night. At first [they] thought it was just men telling their stories, but we talked to women and they verified the men's assertions."
In turning to a dedicated study of sex practices, the Hewletts formally confirmed that the campfire stories were no mere fish tales. Married Aka and Ngandu men and women consistently reported having sex multiple times in a single night. But in the process of verifying this, the Hewletts also incidentally found that homosexuality and masturbation appeared to be foreign to both groups.
Aunk's commentary:
This is a remarkable read that I recommend to all my readers. In many African Cultures there is no word for Masturbation and Homosexuality. They think of sex as a kind of night work looking for children. Wow!
Cultural Literacy Minute: When Westerners say something is just "human nature", their own science now indicates that the statement should be corrected to Western nature. We should not confuse social nature, "human nature" and natural law.
This is a good time to remind ourselves of the three major worldviews i.e. the central worldview (African), the Eastern worldview (Asian) and the Western worldview (Caucasian) in the order of their coming into recorded history. The cosmological orientation and resulting Values, Interests and Principles (VIP's) as Dr. Jeffries points out must be understood if one is to be considered a Culturally Literate global citizen.
To reach reasoned conclusions about man one must have the facts from all three worldviews leaving any worldview out of any fact finding mission by definition calls any resulting conclusions into question.
Living according to natural law seems to work just fine.
Does anyone know the three purposes of Sex?
Full Story: Click below
'via Blog this'
Healthcare Dem vs. Repub and The Palin Liberty Pose?
: "Sarah Palin’s wildly popular CPAC speech, punctuated by the Big Gulp swig heard ’round the word, has sparked a new late-night, post-CPAC trend
Now is it me, or has Sarah Palin and the Republican party become dumber then rocks.
The Dems made the citizens health care benefit we voters requested law and they have a Let's Move Project to help reduce child hood obesity.
The Repubs have a kill our citizen's health care benefit ideology and the Palin Big Gulp Project to help promote childhood obesity, woW! "
Source: The Palin Liberty Pose? - via Aunk (The Cultural Health Guy) - Newsvine:
'via Blog this'
Now is it me, or has Sarah Palin and the Republican party become dumber then rocks.
The Dems made the citizens health care benefit we voters requested law and they have a Let's Move Project to help reduce child hood obesity.
The Repubs have a kill our citizen's health care benefit ideology and the Palin Big Gulp Project to help promote childhood obesity, woW! "
Source: The Palin Liberty Pose? - via Aunk (The Cultural Health Guy) - Newsvine:
'via Blog this'
American Museum of Natural History
Sad to say, this will be a bit of a disappointing post, because I wasn't able to take enough photos on this trip. (However, as it turns out that's a minor good thing, because both the new image upload system of Blogger and the new design of Photobucket are stupid.) In all likelihood it's no great loss; the AMNH exhibitions have all been photographed so many times by so many people that I'm unlikely to add anything new. Besides that though, I'm not complaining about the trip at all, far from it. In fact, it was easily one of the best trips I've made anywhere in a while.
Believe it or not, I'd never been to the AMNH prior to this, so the fact that I got to visit alone would have been exciting enough, and, as one might expect, not much else could have made it any more exciting. What did manage that feat though was that I was on a field trip led by paleontologists Drs. Thomas Holtz and John Merck. In fact, it appears that this was an exceptional trip even for them, as Dr. Holtz tells me that in all the years they've been taking field trips there he can't think of another that went as smoothly as this one. Looks like I got lucky in that respect!
Upon our arrival, Drs. Holtz and Merck each gave us tours of the fossil halls. Unlike most other museums, at the AMNH these are arranged phylogenetically (for most part), with dinosaurs and synapsids getting their own dedicated halls. Here are some paintings of Pleistocene mammals by Charles Knight.
Needless to say, we were only passing through the synapsid halls to get to the good stuff. By chance I started out with Dr. Holtz's party, and he gave us an overview of (what else?) the dinosaurs. Here's "Big Mama" the nesting Citipati! (Though there's a chance it may really be "Big Papa".)
The hand of Plateosaurus. Non-pronated too! (Unfortunately the same can't be said for all the theropod mounts.)
The skull of Plateosaurus.
The head and neck of Apatosaurus. An elevated walkway allows us puny ones to get closer to its level.
Ah, Deinocheirus. More is coming. More is coming soon.
The genotype of Struthiomimus.
Little Archaeopteryx skeleton!
Just above it, its buddy Deinonychus. Here's a blurry picture of its foot, bearing the talon that gave it its name. Check out those short metatarsals!
Hey, it's Mononykus (still in the same case as avialans, naturally)! I tried to make conversation, but it didn't appear too inclined to talk.
It's worth mentioning that although the AMNH bungled with the tyrannosaurids (placing them among the carnosaurs)*, it places birds firmly in the saurischian dinosaur hall. Score!
*They do have a (later-installed) sign that has a more up-to-date phylogeny.
Incidentally, I swear that I didn't intend to take pictures only of saurischian dinosaurs and essentially nothing else.Saurischians are just better. It was entirely an unfortunate coincidence. Perhaps some other time...
After we finished with the dinosaurs, I joined Dr. Merck's tour, which took place in what is officially called the Hall of Vertebrate Origins, but was instead variously called the "Hall of Everything Else" and the "Hall of Paraphyly" by Dr. Holtz. In other words, it exhibits all the other fossil vertebrates that aren't either dinosaurs or synapsids. "Dinosaurs are overrated," Dr. Merck told us as he began his exposition, also known as "Vertebrate Evolution in 45 Minutes".
Interestingly, we even had a museum volunteer drop in to listen to Dr. Merck's talk, asking him about the origin of turtles. This was something that Dr. Merck had understandably not planned on talking about in detail - though it must be said that if the volunteer hadn't asked, I would have done so myself afterward. Either way, to paraphrase Dr. Merck, whatever you think about turtles, there will be someone else who thinks you're an idiot.
As it happens, said museum volunteer had been in contact with Dr. Holtz by email and using his website as a resource for a while now, and was delighted to finally meet him in person. As someone who has had a similar experience, I know firsthand what an awesome moment that must have been.
I also got to meet one of Drs. Holtz and Merck's former students, Eugenia Gold, who now does CT scanning on archosaurs at the museum (if I'm not mistaken). She very graciously took me on a tour behind the scenes, which was truly the icing on the cake. I got to look at specimens of Minotaurasaurus, Alioramus altai, and Khaan, what appeared to be a temnospondyl skull in the midst of being prepared, and the museum's CT scanning apparatus (along with an exquisite 3D print of a lizard skull). Apparently there was even more I could have been shown, but, alas, I had an assignment I needed to finish before we left the museum. Perhaps that was for the best, because I suspect that by then if I had gone through any more unspeakably awesome experiences I would have fallen over from excessive giddiness.
The end result was that during my last minutes at the museum, I went madly dashing about snapping arbitrary photos, but most of my efforts were thwarted either by crowds or my own poor photography skills. Ultimately, the only marginally useable photo that came out of that was, perhaps appropriately, one of the famous rearing Barosaurus mount.
Believe it or not, I'd never been to the AMNH prior to this, so the fact that I got to visit alone would have been exciting enough, and, as one might expect, not much else could have made it any more exciting. What did manage that feat though was that I was on a field trip led by paleontologists Drs. Thomas Holtz and John Merck. In fact, it appears that this was an exceptional trip even for them, as Dr. Holtz tells me that in all the years they've been taking field trips there he can't think of another that went as smoothly as this one. Looks like I got lucky in that respect!
Upon our arrival, Drs. Holtz and Merck each gave us tours of the fossil halls. Unlike most other museums, at the AMNH these are arranged phylogenetically (for most part), with dinosaurs and synapsids getting their own dedicated halls. Here are some paintings of Pleistocene mammals by Charles Knight.
Needless to say, we were only passing through the synapsid halls to get to the good stuff. By chance I started out with Dr. Holtz's party, and he gave us an overview of (what else?) the dinosaurs. Here's "Big Mama" the nesting Citipati! (Though there's a chance it may really be "Big Papa".)
The hand of Plateosaurus. Non-pronated too! (Unfortunately the same can't be said for all the theropod mounts.)
The skull of Plateosaurus.
The head and neck of Apatosaurus. An elevated walkway allows us puny ones to get closer to its level.
Ah, Deinocheirus. More is coming. More is coming soon.
The genotype of Struthiomimus.
Little Archaeopteryx skeleton!
Just above it, its buddy Deinonychus. Here's a blurry picture of its foot, bearing the talon that gave it its name. Check out those short metatarsals!
Hey, it's Mononykus (still in the same case as avialans, naturally)! I tried to make conversation, but it didn't appear too inclined to talk.
It's worth mentioning that although the AMNH bungled with the tyrannosaurids (placing them among the carnosaurs)*, it places birds firmly in the saurischian dinosaur hall. Score!
*They do have a (later-installed) sign that has a more up-to-date phylogeny.
Incidentally, I swear that I didn't intend to take pictures only of saurischian dinosaurs and essentially nothing else.
After we finished with the dinosaurs, I joined Dr. Merck's tour, which took place in what is officially called the Hall of Vertebrate Origins, but was instead variously called the "Hall of Everything Else" and the "Hall of Paraphyly" by Dr. Holtz. In other words, it exhibits all the other fossil vertebrates that aren't either dinosaurs or synapsids. "Dinosaurs are overrated," Dr. Merck told us as he began his exposition, also known as "Vertebrate Evolution in 45 Minutes".
Interestingly, we even had a museum volunteer drop in to listen to Dr. Merck's talk, asking him about the origin of turtles. This was something that Dr. Merck had understandably not planned on talking about in detail - though it must be said that if the volunteer hadn't asked, I would have done so myself afterward. Either way, to paraphrase Dr. Merck, whatever you think about turtles, there will be someone else who thinks you're an idiot.
As it happens, said museum volunteer had been in contact with Dr. Holtz by email and using his website as a resource for a while now, and was delighted to finally meet him in person. As someone who has had a similar experience, I know firsthand what an awesome moment that must have been.
I also got to meet one of Drs. Holtz and Merck's former students, Eugenia Gold, who now does CT scanning on archosaurs at the museum (if I'm not mistaken). She very graciously took me on a tour behind the scenes, which was truly the icing on the cake. I got to look at specimens of Minotaurasaurus, Alioramus altai, and Khaan, what appeared to be a temnospondyl skull in the midst of being prepared, and the museum's CT scanning apparatus (along with an exquisite 3D print of a lizard skull). Apparently there was even more I could have been shown, but, alas, I had an assignment I needed to finish before we left the museum. Perhaps that was for the best, because I suspect that by then if I had gone through any more unspeakably awesome experiences I would have fallen over from excessive giddiness.
The end result was that during my last minutes at the museum, I went madly dashing about snapping arbitrary photos, but most of my efforts were thwarted either by crowds or my own poor photography skills. Ultimately, the only marginally useable photo that came out of that was, perhaps appropriately, one of the famous rearing Barosaurus mount.
Integrative medicine practitioners gather to hear Dr. Andrew Weil
"The physician generally credited with establishing the field of integrative medicine, Dr. Andrew Weil, delivered the keynote address Feb. 1, at the 10th annual Natural Supplements Conference, presented by the Scripps Center for Integrative Medicine, Jan. 30-Feb. 2 at the Hilton San Diego Resort."
'via Blog this'
Integrative medicine practitioners gather to hear Dr. Andrew Weil | La Jolla Light:
'via Blog this'
Integrative medicine practitioners gather to hear Dr. Andrew Weil | La Jolla Light:
Army urged to do more with alternative medicine technique
"When the pills didn't work, Army Brig. Gen. Rebecca Halstead teamed up with her chiropractor to find a holistic solution to her chronic pain.
And that worked.
"Success is a team sport," she said at last week's Foundation for Chiropractic Progress 10th anniversary gathering at the Rio hotel-casino. She was referring to her chiropractor teammate, Dr. Carol Ann Malizia"
'via Blog this'
Army urged to do more with alternative medicine techniques - News - ReviewJournal.com:
And that worked.
"Success is a team sport," she said at last week's Foundation for Chiropractic Progress 10th anniversary gathering at the Rio hotel-casino. She was referring to her chiropractor teammate, Dr. Carol Ann Malizia"
'via Blog this'
Army urged to do more with alternative medicine techniques - News - ReviewJournal.com:
Favorite Maniraptor of 2011 Results
The results of last year's poll are in. While not as one-sided as the poll for 2010, we have a clear winner in the troodont Talos, followed by the basal paravian Xiaotingia. Not much of a surprise there!
A new poll for last year's newly-named maniraptor genera is now up as well, so go ahead and vote.
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