Increased Hunting Pressure Evidence from Paleolithic/Aurignacian Greece

Optimal Foraging, Dietary Change, and Site Use during the Paleolithic at Klissoura Cave 1 (Southern Greece)

Author:

Starkovich

Abstract:

This paper evaluates a long sequence of zooarchaeological remains from Klissoura Cave 1 (southern Greece) within the paradigm of evolutionary ecology. The prey choice, central place foraging, and patch choice models are applied to the dataset in order to understand subsistence shifts related to local resource depression and changes in the intensity of site use from the Middle Paleolithic through Mesolithic. Major trends in prey choice indicate that Middle Paleolithic hominins tended to focus on high-ranked large game resources, while Upper Paleolithic and Mesolithic occupants shifted to lower-ranked small game, fast-moving animals in particular. Overarching shifts in prey use do not correspond to environmental change, so they likely reflect human impacts on local prey populations. Reconstructions of body part profiles indicate that hunters exploited large game animals locally, possibly as they passed through the gorge or drank at a nearby stream. Occupation intensity at the site was highest at the beginning of the Aurignacian, which is reflected by an increase in material culture such as lithics and hearth features, as well as different subsistence strategies. Specifically, bone marrow processing is more important, evidenced by ungulate transport decisions that focus on marrow-rich elements, and an overall increase in marrow processing intensity. Environmental data indicate that conditions in southern Greece were particularly favorable at the beginning of the Aurignacian, which supported rich ungulate faunas and larger populations of their hominin predators in the area. In general, faunal data from Klissoura Cave 1 fit within larger trends found in the Mediterranean over the course of the Late Pleistocene, which indicate that human hunting pressures were on the rise. However, many aspects of prey use are specific to Klissoura Cave 1, reflecting unique environmental and cultural circumstances of southern Greece at various phases in the occupation of the site.

Lakukullus anatisrostratus: a new Miocene Neogene Nothrotheriid Sloth From Bolivia

Lakukullus anatisrostratus, gen. et sp. nov., a new massive nothrotheriid sloth (Xenarthra, Pilosa) from the middle Miocene of Bolivia

Authors:

Pujos et al

Abstract:

Xenarthra constitute one of the most representative groups of South American endemic mammals. The armored Cingulata is recorded beginning in the Itaboraian SALMA (lower Eocene; Pujos et al., 2012). Its sister group is Pilosa, which includes Tardigrada, the sloths, and Vermilingua, the South American anteaters.

Sloths appear during the Eocene–Oligocene transition (Tinguirirican SALMA) in Chile, represented by Pseudoglyptodon (McKenna et al., 2006). The late Oligocene Deseadan SALMA saw the emergence of Mylodontidae (e.g., Octodontotherium and Orophodon) and Megalonychidae (e.g., Deseadognathus) in Patagonia and the Bolivian altiplano (Pujos et al., 2007). Megatherioidea appear later during the middle Miocene, Megatheriidae in the Santacrucian SALMA (i.e., Megathericulus; Pujos et al., 2013), and Nothrotheriidae in the Huayquerian SALMA (i.e., Mionothropus; De Iuliis et al., 2011). According to De Iuliis et al. (2011), Nothrotheriidae is supported by 13 unequivocal synapomorphies and includes at least five genera: Mionothropus, Pronothrotherium, Thalassocnus, Nothrotherium, and Nothrotheriops. Several possible nothrotheriids, generally represented by poor material, have been described from Colombia (Huilabradys), Argentina (e.g., Nothropus, Chasicobradys, Amphibradys, and Xyophorus), and Bolivia (Xyophorus and Hiskatherium). Those from Argentina are poorly diagnosed, cannot certainly be differentiated morphologically from other taxa such as Hapalops, and are likely invalid. Nothropus priscus is exclusive to the Pleistocene of Argentina and is not present in the Amazon (see De Iuliis et al., 2011, for further details). By its central geographical position in South America, the present territory of Bolivia (Fig. 1) has played an important role in the evolution and diversity of mammals during the Paleogene and Neogene periods (Croft, 2007), although few nothrotheriids have been recorded from this country. St.-Andr e (1996) assigned a dentary and an astragalus to Xyophorus villarroeli from the Huayquerian SALMA of Achiri; previously this genus was known from the Santacrucian (Ameghino, 1887, 1891, 1894) and Chasicoan of Argentina with X. bondesioi (Scillato-Yan e, 1979). A partial skull and mandible of X. villarroeli is also recorded from the Laventan SALMA of Quebrada Honda (D Hapalops angustipalatus Frailey, 1988; Fig. 3 A–D; see Scillato-Yan e and Carlini, 1999, for further details), which also yielded the dentary of the peculiar Megatherioidea Hiskatherium saintandrei, recently described by Pujos et al. (2011). Croft et al. (2009) noted the presence of Xyophorus cf. bondesioi in the Friasian SALMA of Cerdas.

The Laventan SALMA Quebrada Honda vertebrate locality was identified by Hoffstetter (1977). Croft (2007) presented the most recent list of the vertebrate fauna, which includes the marsupials Didelphimorphia, Paucituberculata, and Sparassodonta, native ungulates Litopterna, Notoungulata, and Astrapotheria, five rodent clades (Dasyproctidae, Eocardiidae, Octodontidae, Echimyidae, and Chinchillidae), and xenarthrans, represented by dasypodids, glyptodontids, and sloths. Three sloths have previously been reported from Quebrada Honda: the nothrotheriid Xyophorus villarroeli, the megatherioid Hiskatherium saintandrei, and a mylodontid indet. (Takai et al., 1984). Here we describe the fourth sloth, a massive Nothrotheriidae.

Evidence of Hydrothermal Fluid, Escaping CO2 & Black Shale Interaction From Rhyacian PaleoProterozoic China

Fluid evolution of the Paleoproterozoic Hujiayu copper deposit in the Zhongtiaoshan region: Evidence from fluid inclusions and carbon-oxygen isotopes

Authors:

Jiang et al

Abstract:

The Zhongtiaoshan region, located in the southern margin of the North China Craton, is the host to a number of metamorphosed sediment-hosted stratiform copper deposits. These deposits are hosted by dolomitic marble and silicic albitite of the mid-Paleoproterozoic Zhongtiao Group and contain economically significant copper and cobalt. The formation of these deposits is considered to be closely associated with the evolution of the Paleoproterozoic “Zhongtiao” rift. The Hujiayu deposit, the second largest Cu deposit of this type, is mainly hosted in silicic albitite and dolomitic marble in the upper part of the Bizigou Formation but locally extends into carbonaceous shales at the bottom of the Yujiashan Formation. Mineralization of the Hujiayu Cu deposit can be divided into an early stage (diagenetic stage) with disseminated to veinlet sulfides and a late stage (metamorphism stage) with coarse-vein sulfides. Mineral assemblages are similar for the two stages, with major minerals as chalcopyrite, pyrite, and pyrrhotite and main gangue minerals as dolomite and quartz. Sulfide veinlets formed in the early stage are thin and discrete, and have irregular boundaries with the host rocks; whereas the ore-bearing veins of the late stage are controlled by fractures.

Five types of fluid inclusions are recognized in the Hujiayu Cu deposit and they are: (1) pure vapor and vapor-rich inclusion (V-type), (2) pure CO2 inclusion (PC-type), (3) CO2-H2O inclusion (C-type), (4) liquid-rich inclusion (L-type), and (5) daughter mineral-bearing inclusion (S-type). Microthermometric analysis shows that the ore-forming fluids of the early mineralization stage are characterized by high salinity (22-40 wt.% NaCl equiv.) and moderate temperature (120-280 °C). The ore-forming fluids of the late mineralization stage are characterized by CO2 enrichment, high salinity, high temperature and underwent significant unmixing at a temperature interval of 240 °C to 480 °C. Compositions of the ore-forming fluids in the early and late stages are interpreted to be mainly basinal brine and metamorphic hydrothermal solution, respectively. Carbon and oxygen isotope compositions suggest possible carbon isotope exchange between the ore-forming fluids and organic-rich carbonaceous shales during the early stage. In the late mineralization stage, both degassing of CO2 and isotopic exchange with organic carbon may have contributed to the formation of the more negative δ13CV-PDB values of mineralized carbonates.

The early stage mineralization of the Hujiayu Cu deposit may have occurred via interaction of oxidized Cu-bearing brines from the red-bed in the lower segment of the Bizigou Formation with the overlying reductive carbonaceous shales. Late stage mineralization at Hujiayu was mainly triggered by CO2 escaping from metamorphic hydrothermal solutions.

Florida Reefs Experiencing 2 deg F Higher Water Temperatures, Endangered

Late-summer water temperatures near the Florida Keys were warmer by nearly 2 degrees Fahrenheit in the last several decades compared to a century earlier, according to a new study by the U.S. Geological Survey.

Researchers indicate that the warmer water temperatures are stressing corals and increasing the number of bleaching events, where corals become white resulting from a loss of their symbiotic algae. The corals can starve to death if the condition is prolonged.

"Our analysis shows that corals in the study areas are now regularly experiencing temperatures above 84 F during July, August and September; average temperatures that were seldom reached 120 years ago," said Ilsa Kuffner, a USGS research marine biologist and the study's lead author. "When corals are exposed to water temperatures above 84 F they grow more slowly and, during extended exposure periods, can stop growing altogether or die."

The new analysis compares water temperatures during two time periods a century apart at two of Florida's historic offshore lighthouses – Fowey Rocks Lighthouse, off Miami, and Carysfort Reef Lighthouse, off Key Largo, Florida. The first period included data from 1879 to 1912, while the second period spanned from 1991 to 2012. Temperatures at a third area, a reef off Islamorada, Florida, were also monitored from 1975 to 2007.

"What's interesting is that the temperature increase observed during this recent 32-year period was as large as that measured at the lighthouses spanning 120 years," said Kuffner. "This makes it likely the warming observed at the lighthouses has actually occurred since the 1970s."

The study indicates that August is consistently the month when Florida's ocean temperatures peak. In the analysis of recent decades, average temperatures for August have been at or very close to 86 F. At Fowey Lighthouse from 1879 to 1912, the average August temperature was just 84.2 F. Temperatures this August at the same location, though not included in the study, averaged 87 F.

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Russians Successfully Launch Bulava SLBM From Borey Class Vladimir Monomakh SSBN

On September 10, 2014 the Vladimir Monomakh submarine of the Project 995 Borey class successfully launched a Bulava missile from the White Sea toward the Kura test site at Kamchatka (this video appears to show the actual launch. UPDATE: No, it's probably a launch of a R-29RM Sineva/Liner. See the discussion in comments). According to the ministry of defense, the launch was part of the state tests of the submarine, which is expected to join the fleet later this year. All warheads were said to successfully reach their targets.

This was the first Bulava launch after the September 2013 failure.

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Catalonia Threatens "Practically Impossible" to Stop Independence Referendum

Catalonia's president warned Wednesday it was "practically impossible" to stop the region voting on secession from Spain and looked to Scotland to smooth the way with its own independence referendum.

Artur Mas, who has defied Madrid by calling a vote on independence for the rich northeastern region on November 9, predicted Scotland would stay in the European Union even if it chooses independence and drew hope from that for his own cause.

"If the Catalan population wants to vote on its future, it's practically impossible to stop that forever," Mas told AFP in an interview on the eve of Catalonia's annual national day, the Diada.

The commemoration this year is more politically charged than ever, coming just a week before Scotland holds a referendum on independence from the rest of Britain, and less than two months before the date set for the Catalan vote.

Spain's national government fiercely opposes any move towards independence for Catalonia. It has branded the planned vote illegal and vowed to block it.

"I think it's absurd to pretend that could be so and I think the Spanish government will have to realise that," Mas said.

In contrast to Madrid's stance on Catalonia, the British government has agreed to let Scots vote in a referendum even though it is against Scotland breaking away from the United Kingdom.

Mas said Scotland's vote could smooth the way for Catalonia on its own drive for independence.

"If a nation such as Scotland can vote, why not Catalonia?" Mas said.

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Details of Google's Self Driving Car Tests in Nevada Revealed by IEEE Spectrum

Regulations governing Google’s experimental self-driving cars will come into effect on California’s roads starting 16 September. They have driven more than 1 million kilometers since the company started secretly developing them in 2009, but they have been tested only once by a government body on open roads—by Nevada Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) officials in May 2012.

IEEE Spectrum has now obtained the driving log of this test, and e-mails referring to it, under Freedom of Information legislation. Some of this information is not new. For example, Nevada officials shared that the Google’s autonomous Toyota Prius passed the test almost immediately. What has not been revealed until now, however, is that Google chose the test route and set limits on the road and weather conditions that the vehicle could encounter, and that its engineers had to take control of the car twice during the drive.

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First Cryptocurrency (bitcoin) Derivative Launches

Good news for Bitcoin enthusiasts: TeraExchange today launched a swap based on the cryptocurrency.

It is the first financial product based on Bitcoin to receive approval from the Commodity Futures Trading Commision, as Reuters’ Douwe Miedema reports:

The derivative allows clients to protect the value of their bitcoin holdings by locking in a dollar value, offering an insurance against the astronomical price swings that have plagued the computer-generated currency.

“For a merchant to take bitcoin, there wasn’t until this product a regulated way for them to put on a hedge to manage the risk … and now with this product they can,” Christian Martin, who heads TeraExchange, told Reuters.

The launch comes nearly six months after TeraExchange announced plans for the swap this spring. As Miedema writes, “The Tera Bitcoin Price Index was based on information from six different exchanges, the company said, a number it expected to grow. It had agreed with the exchanges to share information if there were suspicious price moves.”

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US Navy Secretary: UCLASS to be More Than a Recon Drone

The U.S. Navy's planned unmanned plane for use on aircraft carriers should eventually be able to take on additional roles besides just surveillance, Navy Secretary Ray Mabus said on Wednesday.

The Navy last week said it had delayed this month's planned kickoff of a competition for the new carrier-based unmanned spy plane, citing affordability concerns and a Pentagon-wide review of intelligence and surveillance programs.

Mabus addressed the Unmanned Carrier Launched Airborne Surveillance Strike (UCLASS) program during the Reuters Aerospace and Defense Summit, but stopped short of calling the delay a setback for the program.

"It's going through a process at (the Office of the Secretary of Defense) to take a broader look at programs," he said, adding that decisions about the program's future would likely be included in the Pentagon's fiscal 2016 budget request.

Companies interested in the competition include Northrop Grumman Corp, maker of the X-47B unmanned, unarmed plane that has already been tested on U.S. carriers, Boeing Co, Lockheed Martin Corp, and privately held General Atomics, which builds the popular Predator unmanned planes used by the U.S. Air Force and other government agencies.

Congress has been debating what the range and armaments should be for the Navy's next-generation unmanned plane.

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US Navy Testing "Universal" Operating System for Unmanned Aerial Systems

The US Navy has begun testing the software that eventually will control all of its maritime unmanned air vehicles and will initially be installed in the unmanned carrier-launched surveillance and strike (UCLASS) vehicle.

US Naval Air Systems Command announced on 10 September that engineers at NAS Patuxent River had installed the latest version of the common control system (CCS) software on a simulator based on the Northrop Grumman MQ-4C Triton control station. The common software will eventually be the baseline for navy UAS, including the Triton and MQ-8 Fire Scout rotary wing UAS.

CCS is the control and connectivity leg of the three-part UCLASS programme. The other two legs are the UCLASS air vehicle and its physical control station aboard a carrier. Integration and testing of all three systems will be done at Pax River’s laboratory.

The navy already has demonstrated the feasibility of a stealthy, tailless carrier-based UAS with the Northrop Grumman X-47B unmanned combat air systems demonstrator (UCAS-D) programme. That aircraft in August successfully launched from the USS Theodore Roosevelt, flew in formation with a Boeing F/A-18D Hornet and returned to the ship’s deck.

A final request for proposals from industry was expected following a meeting of a defence acquisition board scheduled for 10 September, but the meeting was delayed as the Navy reviews how to proceed with UCLASS in regard to the 2016 budgeting process. Northrop, Boeing, Lockheed Martin and General Atomics Aeronautical Systems already were awarded preliminary design review contracts for the air vehicle last year.

“One of the premises that started CCS was not rebuilding the software that we needed for every UAS every time,” CCS team lead Jeff Davis says in a statement. “We focused on using existing products that we have within the Navy inventory to provide that first baseline going forward for the next UAS, in this case UCLASS. As a result, this allows development investment to focus on the future — the new capabilities that you can bring to the fleet.”

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United States Calls Revised Sino-Russian Spcae Weapons Ban "Fundamentally Flawed"

A U.S. review of an updated Chinese-Russian treaty proposal to ban weapons in space finds that it suffers from the same problems that made the original version unacceptable, an American diplomat said.

Ambassador Robert Wood, the U.S. representative to the Conference on Disarmament in Geneva, said Sept. 9 that the United States had completed an in-depth review of the revised treaty, formally known as the “Treaty on the Prevention of the Placement of Weapons in Outer Space, the Threat or Use of Force against Outer Space Objects” and generally referred to as PPWT. China and Russia had submitted an update to their original 2008 proposal in June.

“According to the U.S. analysis, the draft PPWT, like the earlier 2008 version, remains fundamentally flawed,” Wood said in his prepared remarks for a plenary session of the Conference on Disarmament.

Wood, in his speech, cited a number of issues with the PPWT, including the lack of a verification mechanism and no restrictions on the development and stockpiling of anti-satellite (ASAT) weapons on the ground. That means, he said, a nation “could develop a readily deployable space-based weapons break-out capability” should it decide to withdraw from the treaty.

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Dung Beetles Probably did NOT Feed on Dinosaur Droppings

The evolution of scarab beetles tracks the sequential rise of angiosperms and mammals

Authors:

Ahrens et al

Abstract:

Extant terrestrial biodiversity arguably is driven by the evolutionary success of angiosperm plants, but the evolutionary mechanisms and timescales of angiosperm-dependent radiations remain poorly understood. The Scarabaeoidea is a diverse lineage of predominantly plant- and dung-feeding beetles. Here, we present a phylogenetic analysis of Scarabaeoidea based on four DNA markers for a taxonomically comprehensive set of specimens and link it to recently described fossil evidence. The phylogeny strongly supports multiple origins of coprophagy, phytophagy and anthophagy. The ingroup-based fossil calibration of the tree widely confirmed a Jurassic origin of the Scarabaeoidea crown group. The crown groups of phytophagous lineages began to radiate first (Pleurostict scarabs: 108 Ma; Glaphyridae between 101 Ma), followed by the later diversification of coprophagous lineages (crown-group age Scarabaeinae: 76 Ma; Aphodiinae: 50 Ma). Pollen feeding arose even later, at maximally 62 Ma in the oldest anthophagous lineage. The clear time lag between the origins of herbivores and coprophages suggests an evolutionary path driven by the angiosperms that first favoured the herbivore fauna (mammals and insects) followed by the secondary radiation of the dung feeders. This finding makes it less likely that extant dung beetle lineages initially fed on dinosaur excrements, as often hypothesized.

Space Property Bill Gets Mixed Reception in Congress

A bill that would grant property rights and other protections for commercial asteroid mining ventures received a mixed reception at a hearing of the House Science space subcommittee Sept. 10.

H.R. 5063, the American Space Technology for Exploring Resource Opportunities In Deep Space (ASTEROIDS) Act, would grant U.S. companies the rights to resources they extract from asteroids. The bill would also allow companies to take legal action if they suffered “harmful interference” during those activities by other entities under U.S. jurisdiction.

At the hearing, though, one space law expert raised questions about the bill’s language. “My professional opinion is that the ASTEROIDS Act, as written, is very, very vague,” said Joanne Gabrynowicz, professor emerita of space and remote sensing law at the University of Mississippi. “Strictly from reading the text, and based on legal knowledge, it definitely needs work.”

Gabrynowicz said she was concerned about the use of the term “harmful interference” in the bill. While the phrase is used in accords like the Outer Space Treaty, it refers to exploration activities by nations, not private entities. “Harmful interference has never been used that way in the treaties. It’s a completely novel application of that term of art,” she said.

That, she said, could raise questions about what constituted such interference.

She added that international legal opinion is divided on whether an entity that extracts space resources then owns those resources, ownership that the bill would recognize. “What we are talking about is resource extraction, which is a very volatile and contentious issue at the international level,” she said. “There will be a great deal of political and legal discussion catalyzed by this.”

One key member suggested that, because of those issues, the committee delay work on the bill until next year. “We could easily postpone our consideration” of the bill to carry out “additional, more in-depth explorations in the next Congress,” said Rep. Donna Edwards (D-Md.), ranking member of the space subcommittee.

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Boom/Bust Demographic Patterns in Neolithic Europe

Reconstructing regional population fluctuations in the European Neolithic using radiocarbon dates: a new case-study using an improved method

Authors:

Timpson et al

Abstract:

In a previous study we presented a new method that used summed probability distributions (SPD) of radiocarbon dates as a proxy for population levels, and Monte-Carlo simulation to test the significance of the observed fluctuations in the context of uncertainty in the calibration curve and archaeological sampling. The method allowed us to identify periods of significant short-term population change, caveated with the fact that around 5% of these periods were false positives. In this study we present an improvement to the method by applying a criterion to remove these false positives from both the simulated and observed distributions, resulting in a substantial improvement to both its sensitivity and specificity. We also demonstrate that the method is extremely robust in the face of small sample sizes. Finally we apply this improved method to radiocarbon datasets from 12 European regions, covering the period 8000 to 4000 BP. As in our previous study, the results reveal a boom-bust pattern for most regions, with population levels rising rapidly after the local arrival of farming, followed by a crash to levels much lower than the peak. The prevalence of this phenomenon, combined with the dissimilarity and lack of synchronicity in the general shapes of the regional SPDs, supports the hypothesis of endogenous causes.

Oh no They Didn't! Ikrandraco avatar: An Aptian Cretaceous Pterosaur From Aptian Cretaceous China

An Early Cretaceous pterosaur with an unusual mandibular crest from China and a potential novel feeding strategy

Authors:

Wang et al

Abstract:

The Aptian Jiufotang Formation of northeast China is a Konservat Lagerstätte particularly rich in pterosaurs, notably azhdarchoids. Here we describe a new genus and species of toothed pteranodontoid pterosaur, Ikrandraco avatar gen. et sp. nov., based on two laterally flattened specimens. Ikrandraco avatar is diagnosed by a suite of features, including a very low and elongate skull, strongly inclined quadrate, and a deep, blade-like bony mandibular crest with a hook-like process on its posterior edge, an unusual structure so far unique to this taxon. The particular skull shape hints at a distinct feeding habit for pterosaurs that potentially includes temporary skimming and an extensible skin acting as a throat pouch that was more developed than in any other pterosaur known so far. The presence of two other taxa of purported piscivorous pterosaurs in the Jiufotang Formation suggests distinct resource exploitation in this part of China during the Early Cretaceous.

Spinosaurus was Really a Croc, erm, Parallel Evolution to a Croc

Semiaquatic adaptations in a giant predatory dinosaur

Authors:

Ibrahim et al

Abstract:

We describe adaptations for a semiaquatic lifestyle in the dinosaur Spinosaurus aegyptiacus. These adaptations include retraction of the fleshy nostrils to a position near the mid-region of the skull and an elongate neck and trunk that shift the center of body mass anterior to the knee joint. Unlike terrestrial theropods, the pelvic girdle is downsized, the hind limbs are short, and all of the limb bones are solid without an open medullary cavity, for buoyancy control in water. The short, robust femur with hypertrophied flexor attachment and the low, flat-bottomed pedal claws are consistent with aquatic foot-propelled locomotion. Surface striations and bone microstructure suggest that the dorsal “sail” may have been enveloped in skin that functioned primarily for display on land and in water.

Evidence of Supercontinent Wilson Cycle From the Central Tianshan Arc Terrane, NW China

Geochemistry and geochronology of the Precambrian high-grade metamorphic complex in the Southern Central Tianshan ophiolitic mélange, NW China

Authors:

Wang et al

Abstract:

The Central Tianshan Arc Terrane is one of the major constituents of the Tianshan orogen in the southwestern Altaids. Thus its Precambrian evolution is important for unraveling the geodynamic and continental evolution of the Altaids. Biotite-plagioclase-hornblende orthogneisses intruded by leucogranite dykes are exposed as exotic blocks within the Southern Central Tianshan ophiolitic mélange. Zircon U–Pb age dating of one orthogneiss sample yields an upper intercept age of 2466 ± 51 Ma and a weighted mean 207Pb/206Pb age of 1812 ± 19 Ma around the lower intercept. These ages are interpreted as protolith crystallization age and subsequent metamorphic overprint age, respectively. The orthogneisses have moderate SiO2 contents, high MgO and Na2O contents, high Sr/Y ratios (32–43) and moderately fractionated REE patterns ([La/Yb]N = 7.59–13.64) with negligible Eu anomalies, enriched Sr contents and pronounced negative Th–U, Nb–Ta, Zr–Hf and Ti anomalies resembling high-SiO2 TTGs derived from subducted basaltic slab-melts. Positive ɛHf(t) values (+3.4 to +9.2) and low (176Hf/177Hf)i ratios (0.281304–0.281469) with Neoarchaean to early Paleoproterozoic single-stage Hf model ages (TDM1 = 2431–2652 Ma) suggest that the orthogneisses probably originated from partial melting of juvenile subducted oceanic crust. The orthogneisses were subsequently also affected by collisional orogenic events associated with the assembly of the supercontinent Columbia. In contrast, the zircon U–Pb age of 785 ± 15 Ma obtained for the intrusive leucogranite dykes is consistent with the timing of rifting events associated with the breakup of Rodinia. The leucogranites have a high-Al trondhjemitic composition characterized by extremely low MgO and K2O contents as well as high SiO2, Al2O3 and Na2O contents, dramatically low ∑REE abundances and REE patterns with moderate LREE enrichments ([La/Yb]N = 3.55–8.4) and pronounced positive Eu anomalies (Eu/Eu* = 1.29–2.61). The high zircon initial Hf compositions (0.281670–0.281841) and negative ɛHf(t) values (-21.7 to -15.4), in conjunction with high whole-rock initial 87Sr/86Sr ratios (0.70737–0.70751) and negative ɛNd(t) values (-4.7 to -5.1) suggest that the leucogranite resulted from reworking of ancient lower crust. Based on the presented data we conclude that the Central Tianshan Arc Terrane has undergone three tectonothermal events, namely ∼2.5 Ga continental crustal growth, ∼1.8 Ga collision related to the Columbia assembly and ∼785 Ma crustal reworking due to the Rodinia breakup. The Central Tianshan Arc Terrane, which experienced the same tectonic events as the Tarim Craton during the Precambrian, is considered to be a micro-Precambrian block that separated from the Tarim Craton during the Rodinia breakup.

Rare, Endangered African Amphibian Distrbitution NOT Modeled Under Climate Change

An international team of researchers has found that the majority of threatened species are 'invisible' when using modern methods to predict species distributions under climate change.

Using African amphibians as a case study, the researchers found that more than 90 per cent of the species listed as threatened on The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species are omitted by the most popular tools for species distribution modelling.

The study, led by researchers from the Universities of York and Copenhagen and the United Nations Environment Programme World Conservation Monitoring Centre (UNEP-WCMC) in Cambridge, is published in the journal Diversity and Distributions.

Dr Philip Platts, lead author and Research Fellow with York's Environment Department, said: "Modern methods to predict species distributions under climate change typically leave out rare and threatened species - the ones that currently underpin global spending on conservation. This is because those species, almost by definition, have too few data for their spatial distributions to be modelled using standard tools. We looked at whether missing them out makes a difference for conservation priority setting, either now or under future climates."

The researchers found that under the current climate, statistical restrictions on species distribution modelling means that important sites for narrow-ranging and threatened species are systematically down-played. They say this issue spans many species-groups and is only partially mitigated by modelling at finer spatial scales.

However, when they looked at climate change in the future, they found that persistence among both narrow and wide-ranging species is likely to be highest in sites already identified for conservation investment. Many such sites are projected to experience lower rates of climatic change, echoing historical processes underlying their importance. The wealth of species accumulated, in part, because they were able to persist during large-scale climatic shifts.

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China Unveils Boston Dynamics Big Dog Knock-off, Other Unmanned Advances

In early September Norinco revealed a "Mountain Quadruped Bionic Mobile Platform": a four-leg walking unmanned ground vehicle. A brief mention in a Chinese press report noted that it could perform transport, reconnaissance or combat missions or could be used for disaster relief in mountainous areas.

The same article noted that it weighs 130 kg while carrying a payload of 50 kg at a maximum speed of 6 km/h. It can traverse a 30 degree slope and has an endurance of two hours. An image showed it carrying four backpacks.

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Royal Bank of Scotland, Other Banks to Relocate to London if Little Scotlanders Win

Scotland's leading banks warned Thursday that they would move their headquarters to England if Scots vote to leave the United Kingdom, intensifying doubts about the territory's economic future and dealing a blow to the Scottish independence campaign just days ahead of a historic referendum.

Although the banks say the contingency plans are legal procedures that would have a minimal effect on their operations and jobs in Scotland, the warnings renewed concerns about an independent Scotland's ability to retain businesses — particularly during the long months of financial uncertainty that would follow a vote to break the 307-year union with England.

The Royal Bank of Scotland, which has been based there since 1727, said it drew up the plans because of uncertainties that could hurt its business and customers if the Sept. 18 vote leads to independence. Lloyds Banking Group, which owns Halifax and Bank of Scotland, said it also had plans to set up new "legal entities" in England if the independence campaign succeeds.

The vote "could have a bearing on the bank's credit ratings and the fiscal, monetary, legal and regulatory landscape to which it is subject," RBS said in a statement.

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Where and why Languages go Extinct

Global distribution and drivers of language extinction risk

Authors:

Amano et al

Abstract:

Many of the world's languages face serious risk of extinction. Efforts to prevent this cultural loss are severely constrained by a poor understanding of the geographical patterns and drivers of extinction risk. We quantify the global distribution of language extinction risk—represented by small range and speaker population sizes and rapid declines in the number of speakers—and identify the underlying environmental and socioeconomic drivers. We show that both small range and speaker population sizes are associated with rapid declines in speaker numbers, causing 25% of existing languages to be threatened based on criteria used for species. Language range and population sizes are small in tropical and arctic regions, particularly in areas with high rainfall, high topographic heterogeneity and/or rapidly growing human populations. By contrast, recent speaker declines have mainly occurred at high latitudes and are strongly linked to high economic growth. Threatened languages are numerous in the tropics, the Himalayas and northwestern North America. These results indicate that small-population languages remaining in economically developed regions are seriously threatened by continued speaker declines. However, risks of future language losses are especially high in the tropics and in the Himalayas, as these regions harbour many small-population languages and are undergoing rapid economic growth.

Bank of England's Take on Bitcoin

Is bitcoin irrelevant to the U.K. economy? Well perhaps the biggest authority on that, the Bank of England, has weighed in on the cryptocurrency today, and its conclusion is basically thus: While bitcoins in circulation in the U.K. pose no threat to the financial system, and perhaps never will, the technology raises interesting possibilities that could one day have ramifications for stocks, other financial products and even physical assets like gold.

The bank estimates some 20,000 people (of a nation of 60 million at the moment) in the U.K. hold bitcoins. And daily transactions number about 300 or so.

As a proportion of the U.K. economy that’s obviously tiny: In all the £60 million of bitcoins circulating in the U.K. represent a tiny 0.003% of British broad money balances. All of which means that bitcoin currently represents no financial stability risk to Britain.

What’s more, there are reasons to believe that Bitcoin’s relative importance to the economy won’t grow much, the BOE’s economists add. Why? Well, although one of the prime attractions to bitcoin is how cheaply it can be transacted, its design suggests transaction fees would rise with usage and that could limit interest.

And its attractiveness as a medium of exchange is also limited by its volatility. With bitcoin’s total supply limited in advance, it won’t be able to respond to normal economic fluctuations in demand. So where a central bank can adjust liquidity to meet economic conditions, a bitcoin based economy would see the electronic currency’s value swing violently.

But the bank, which has touched on bitcoin before but has never opined in this level of detail, says all this doesn’t mean its uptake couldn’t change in future.

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NY's Proposed Undeground 'Lowline' Park

Perhaps these guys ought to talk to yesterday's mass producer of forests...otherwise this will look like a mall...bleh.

Pentagon Wants to buy 8 F-35s, 12 AH-64Es With Supplemental Wartime Funding

The Pentagon has asked the US Congress for permission to move just over USD1.9 billion in supplemental wartime funding, known as the Overseas Contingency Operations (OCO) account, into specific procurement accounts, with over half of that amount going to aircraft purchases.

The reprogramming request, dated 9 September and viewed by IHS Jane's , asks for USD404,000 million for 12 Boeing AH-64E Apache attack helicopters to replace 21 Bell OH-58D Kiowa Warrior helicopters lost in combat.

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Miocene Neogene Paleoenvironment of Bulgaria

Late Miocene vegetation and climate reconstruction based on pollen data from the Sofia Basin (West Bulgaria)

Authors:

Hristova et al

Abstract:

The analysis of fossil palynomorh assemblages in the Late Miocene freshwater sediments of the Sofia Basin (West Bulgaria) was done to collect data on the vegetation and climate dynamics during the Late Miocene. On the basis of pollen data, we described the main palaeocomunities developed in the region. The mixed mesophytic forests dominated the vegetation in which species of Quercus, Ulmus, Zelkova, Fagus, Carpinus, Betula, Castanea, Corylus, Pterocarya, Carya, Juglans, and Eucommia played important roles. Swamp forests were also recorded, including Taxodiaceae, Alnus, Glyptostrobus, Nyssa, and Myrica. Herbaceous vegetation was distributed in the middle part of the section, with a maximum of 35.5%. The vegetation dynamic passes through several phases, which were associated with changes in paleoclimate and palaeoecological conditions. Coexistence Approach (CA) was applied to palynological data to calculate four climatic parameters. The values of coexistence intervals for mean annual temperatures are 13.6–16.6 °C, with winter temperatures being 3.7–6.6 °C and summer temperatures being 23.6–27.8 °C. Mean annual precipitation ranged most frequently between 828–1308 mm. The palaeoclimatic reconstruction illustrates existence of a warm-temperate and relatively humid climate with higher mean annual temperature than the present day climate.

China Plans to Launch 2nd Small Space Station in 2016

China will launch its second orbiting space laboratory in two years' time, a top official said Wednesday, the latest step in an ambitious space programme Beijing says will one day land a Chinese man on the moon.

Astronaut Yang Liwei, who in 2003 became China's first man in space and is now deputy director of the country's manned space programme, made the announcement at the Association of Space Explorers (ASE) congress in Beijing.

"We are going to launch the spacelab Tiangong-2 in 2016, and then we will launch Shenzhou-11 and then Tianzhou-1 cargo spaceship to dock on the spacelab," he said.

It is the first time China has hosted the annual meeting, which has drawn nearly 100 astronauts from 18 countries to Beijing, in a marker of the country's scientific progress.

Beijing sees its multi-billion-dollar space programme as a symbol of its rise and the Communist Party's success in turning around the fortunes of the once poverty-stricken nation.

Yang added that Beijing plans to launch an experimental core space station module in 2018 and finish construction of a Chinese space station around 2022.

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NASA Completes First Orion Capsule

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Tomographically Examining the Taung Child for Clues to Human Brain Evolution

New high-resolution computed tomography data of the Taung partial cranium and endocast and their bearing on metopism and hominin brain evolution

Authors:

Holloway et al

Abstract:

Falk and colleagues [Falk D, Zollikofer CP, Morimoto N, Ponce de León MS (2012) Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 109(22):8467–8470] hypothesized that selective pressures favored late persistence of a metopic suture and open anterior fontanelle early in hominin evolution, and they put an emphasis on the Taung Child (Australopithecus africanus) as evidence for the antiquity of these adaptive features. They suggested three mutually nonexclusive pressures: an “obstetric dilemma,” high early postnatal brain growth rates, and neural reorganization in the frontal cortex. To test this hypothesis, we obtained the first high-resolution computed tomography (CT) data from the Taung hominin. These high-resolution image data and an examination of the hominin fossil record do not support the metopic and fontanelle features proposed by Falk and colleagues. Although a possible remnant of the metopic suture is observed in the nasion–glabella region of the Taung partial cranium (but not along the frontal crest), this character state is incongruent with the zipper model of metopic closure described by Falk and colleagues. Nor do chimpanzee and bonobo endocast data support the assertion that delayed metopic closure in Taung is necessary because of widening (reorganization) of the prefrontal or frontal cortex. These results call into question the adaptive value of delaying metopic closure, and particularly its antiquity in hominin evolution. Further data from hominoids and hominins are required to support the proposed adaptive arguments, particularly an obstetric dilemma placing constraints on neural and cranial development in Australopithecus.

Chinese Oxfordian Jurassic Euharamiyidan Mammals Suggest Allotheria Split From Other Mammals at the Rhaetian/Norian Triassic Boundary

Three new Jurassic euharamiyidan species reinforce early divergence of mammals

Authors:

Bi et al

Abstract:

The phylogeny of Allotheria, including Multituberculata and Haramiyida, remains unsolved and has generated contentious views on the origin and earliest evolution of mammals. Here we report three new species of a new clade, Euharamiyida, based on six well-preserved fossils from the Jurassic period of China. These fossils reveal many craniodental and postcranial features of euharamiyidans and clarify several ambiguous structures that are currently the topic of debate. Our phylogenetic analyses recognize Euharamiyida as the sister group of Multituberculata, and place Allotheria within the Mammalia. The phylogeny suggests that allotherian mammals evolved from a Late Triassic (approximately 208 million years ago) Haramiyavia-like ancestor and diversified into euharamiyidans and multituberculates with a cosmopolitan distribution, implying homologous acquisition of many craniodental and postcranial features in the two groups. Our findings also favour a Late Triassic origin of mammals in Laurasia and two independent detachment events of the middle ear bones during mammalian evolution.

Delorhynchus cifellii: a new Lanthanosuchoid Parareptile From Sakmarian Permian Oklahoma

A new species of the parareptile genus Delorhynchus, based on articulated skeletal remains from Richards Spur, Lower Permian of Oklahoma

Authors:

Reisz et al

Abstract:

Description of a new species of the parareptile genus Delorhynchus is based on a well-preserved partial subadult skeleton, an isolated adult skull, and disarticulated elements recently collected from the Lower Permian Richards Spur locality of Oklahoma, U.S.A. Delorhynchus cifellii, sp. nov., is distinguished from Delorhynchus priscus by the lack of an accessory articulating anterodorsal flange of the maxilla. The hypodigm of Delorhynchus cifellii reveals that Delorhynchus is distinguished from other parareptiles by cranial dermal sculpture consisting of a system of low, smooth tuberosities and a pattern of diffuse shallow, circular dimples. In a phylogenetic analysis of parareptiles, Delorhynchus cifellii is positioned as the sister species of Lanthanosuchoidea. Recognition of Delorhynchus cifellii, sp. nov., and its phylogenetic position among parareptiles highlights the significance of the Richards Spur locality in our understanding of the early evolutionary history of reptiles.

Is the Calymmian MesoProterozoic Ladoga Rift Really a Continental Rift?

Is the Proterozoic Ladoga Rift (SE Baltic Shield) a rift?

Authors:

Artemieva et al

Abstract:

The southern part of the Baltic Shield hosts a series of mafic dykes and sills of Mesoproterozoic ages, including a ca. 1.53-1.46 Ga sheet-like gabbro-dolerite sills and the Salmi plateau-basalts from the Lake Ladoga region. Based on chiefly geochemical data, the region is conventionally interpreted as an intracratonic Ladoga rift (graben). We question the validity of this geodynamic interpretation by analyzing regional geophysical data (crustal structure, heat flow, Bouguer gravity anomalies, magnetic anomalies, and mantle Vs velocities). We provide a complete list of tectonic, magmatic, and geophysical characteristics typical of continental rifts in general and demonstrate that, except for magmatic and, perhaps, some gravity signature, the Lake Ladoga region lacks any other rift features. We also compare the geophysical data from the Lake Ladoga region with similar in age Midcontinent and Valday rifts, and provide alternative explanations for Mesoproterozoic geodynamic evolution of the southern Baltic Shield. We propose that Mesoproterozoic mafic intrusions in southern Fennoscandia may be associated with a complex deformation pattern during reconfiguration of (a part of) Nuna (Columbia) supercontinent, which led to magma intrusions as a series of mafic dykes along lithosphere weakness zones and ponding of small magma pockets within the cratonic lithosphere. Consequent magma cooling and its partial transition to eclogite facies could have led to the formation of a series of basement depressions, similar to intracratonic basins of North America, while spatially heterogeneous thermo-chemical subsidence, with phase transitions locally speeded by the presence of (subduction-related) fluids, could have produced a series of faults bounding graben-like structures.

Antarctic Sea Level Rise Faster Than Rest of World due to Glacial Melt, Water Freshening

A new study of satellite data from the last 19 years reveals that fresh water from melting glaciers has caused the sea-level around the coast of Antarctica to rise by 2cm more than the global average of 6cm.

Researchers at the University of Southampton detected the rapid rise in sea-level by studying satellite scans of a region that spans more than a million square kilometres.

The melting of the Antarctic ice sheet and the thinning of floating ice shelves has contributed an excess of around 350 gigatonnes of freshwater to the surrounding ocean. This has led to a reduction in the salinity of the surrounding oceans that has been corroborated by ship-based studies of the water.

"Freshwater is less dense than salt water and so in regions where an excess of freshwater has accumulated we expect a localised rise in sea level," says Craig Rye, lead author of the paper that has been published in the journal Nature Geoscience.

In addition to satellite observations, the researchers also conducted computer simulations of the effect of melting glaciers on the Antarctic Ocean. The results of the simulation closely mirrored the real-world picture presented by the satellite data.

"The computer model supports our theory that the sea-level rise we see in our satellite data is almost entirely caused by freshening (a reduction in the salinity of the water) from the melting of the ice sheet and its fringing ice shelves," says Craig.

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Brits *WILL* Commission, Operate HMS Prince of Wales (2nd Carrier)

UK Prime Minister David Cameron has announced the Ministry of Defence will bring its second aircraft carrier, HMS Prince of Wales, into service – a reversal of a decision made in 2010.

In the Strategic Defence and Security Review (SDSR) released in 2010 the government said it would mothball the second carrier, but this decision has been reversed in an effort to “project power globally”, Cameron said at the 2014 NATO summit in Newport, Wales.

A decision on the future of the second carrier was previously not expected until the next SDSR – expected around May 2015 – was released.

“The second carrier will be brought into service to ensure that we always have one carrier available 100% of the time,” Cameron says.

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Hong Kong's Democratic Struggle Produces an Occupy Movement

FOR more than 30 years now, political activists in Hong Kong have been agitating for a more democratic political system. On August 31st China made it plain they will not get their way. “Take it or leave it,” is how the South China Morning Post summed up China’s position. Not wanting to take it, several thousand people attended a rally in protest that rainy Sunday evening. They heard Benny Tai Yiu-ting, a mild and thoughtful academic, declare a new “era of resistance” and civil disobedience. He is one of the organisers of the “Occupy Central” movement, which is planning waves of street protest, culminating in the peaceful “occupation” of Hong Kong island’s central business district. “The road of dialogue has come to the end,” he said. Months of debilitating confrontation are in prospect.

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Ukraine: Barely a Bubble for the Cooked Frog

Little in the way of clashes is happening in Ukraine. The ones which are seem rather sporadic.

The accounts as to what is happening is rather murky.

I have seen some sources claim the Russian Troops have pulled out of Ukraine, one of the conditions to prevent the EU sanctions from smacking Russia's economy. Other sources state they have not.

Some state Poroshenko is willing to federalize the nation. Others not.

I have to wonder if we will see Poroshenko hold the truce in place through the winter and then come spring, after rearming, an offensive will begin. I don't know.

Previous reports of Ukraine having abandoned Debaltseve were incorrect, fyi.

The preliminary reports on MH17 state the aircraft was hit by a SAM in the front. This increases the odds of the SAM coming from the Russian side. Also, locals report the BUK crew were from Russia proper.

We still have two in Gorlovka. oy.

California Blue Whales Have Recovered to Near Historical Levels

The number of California blue whales has rebounded to near historical levels, according to new research by the University of Washington, and while the number of blue whales struck by ships is likely above allowable U.S. limits, such strikes do not immediately threaten that recovery.

This is the only population of blue whales known to have recovered from whaling – blue whales as a species having been hunted nearly to extinction.

Blue whales – nearly 100 feet in length and weighing 190 tons as adults – are the largest animals on earth. And they are the heaviest ever, weighing more than twice as much as the largest known dinosaur, the Argentinosaurus. They are an icon of the conservation movement and many people want to minimize harm to them, according to Trevor Branch, UW assistant professor of aquatic and fishery sciences.

"The recovery of California blue whales from whaling demonstrates the ability of blue whale populations to rebuild under careful management and conservation measures," said Cole Monnahan, a UW doctoral student in quantitative ecology and resource management and lead author of a paper on the subject posted online Sept. 5 by the journal Marine Mammal Science. Branch and André Punt, a UW professor of aquatic and fisheries sciences, are co-authors.

California blue whales ¬ are at their most visible while at feeding grounds 20 to 30 miles off the California coast, but are actually found along the eastern side of the Pacific Ocean from the equator up into the Gulf of Alaska.

Today they number about 2,200, according to monitoring by other research groups. That's likely 97 percent of the historical level according to the model the co-authors used. That may seem to some a surprisingly low number of whales, Monnahan said, but not when considering how many California blue whales were caught. According to new data Monnahan, Branch and another set of co-authors published earlier this summer in PLOS ONE, approximately 3,400 California blue whales were caught between 1905 and 1971.

"Considering the 3,400 caught in comparison to the 346,000 caught near Antarctica gives an idea how much smaller the population of California blue whales was likely to have been," Branch said.

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Is ApplePay a Threat to Bitcoin, Cryptocurrencies?

With Apple Pay, the tech juggernaut has begun its assault on antiquated payment networks. The launch could not have come at a better time, as consumers have been inundated with security breaches and are likely ready to make a change.

The concept of a "tokenization" or a one-time card number that does not transmit personal data is a similar concept to the Bitcoin blockchain. Certainly technology purists will argue that the blockchain technology at the heart of Bitcoin is superior, but to the consumer, the difference is indistinguishable.

Even if the consumer demands a superior technology, Apple's ability to partner with Visa, MasterCard and American Express in addition to retailers like McDonalds, Whole Foods and Disney provides a formidable barrier to entry. Moreover, Apple can crowdsource the next "killer app" with its development ecosystem. But does this mean Bitcoin is dead?

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Mass Production of Forests

JLTV Venders Ready for Production

As the joint light tactical vehicle program heads toward the end of its engineering, manufacturing and development phase, the military is testing each competitors’ manufacturing prowess.

Lockheed Martin announced Sept. 5 that its team had completed a production readiness review that evaluated the company’s manufacturing capabilities in terms of schedule, performance, cost and risk. The review was conducted at the company’s Camden, Arkansas, ground vehicle assembly facility.

“During the PRR we demonstrated to the satisfaction of the customer that the Lockheed Martin JLTV team is ready for full-rate production in Camden,” said Scott Greene, vice president of ground vehicles at Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control. “We did this through two days of presentations and factory line visits where we provided a government team with proof of our ability to produce the JLTV vehicle now.”

To further demonstrate the facility’s capabilities, the company assembled its JLTV variant from the ground up during the PRR, a process that took about 10 hours, Greene said. This was not a required part of the review.

The joint light tactical vehicle is slated to replace the Army and Marine Corps’ Humvee fleets. The services plan on buying 48,000 and 5,500 vehicles, respectively.

The completion of the production readiness review was a significant milestone for Lockheed, which does not have as much experience manufacturing ground vehicles as the other two competitors in the program, Oshkosh Defense and AM General.

Incumbent AM General, which produced the Humvee, completed its PRR at the end of August, Chris Vanslager, the company’s vice president of program management and business development, told National Defense. Its blast resistant vehicle-off road vehicle, or BRV-O, would be produced at the same Mishawaka, Indiana, plant where Humvees and other light tactical vehicles are assembled.

“We have incorporated the joint light tactical vehicle production processes right into our existing hot production base for the Humvee,” he said. This allows the JLTV to benefit from lessons learned from other vehicles and the experience of AM General’s workforce, he added.

“If you talk about the Humvee line or the special forces line or the foreign military market line, the JLTV stays in line with that flexible, kitted approach, contributing to affordability without having to add special tools,” he added.

A spokeswoman for Oshkosh declined to comment on the program. The company is offering its light combat tactical all-terrain vehicle, known as the L-ATV.

Lockheed, Oshkosh and AM General entered the EMD phase in 2012 and have since built 22 vehicles for testing.

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Northrop Grumman Offering X-47B Deriv for British FCAS

Northrop Grumman is pitching the unmanned combat air vehicle technology derived from its US Navy-sponsored X-47B demonstrator to the UK, to feed into its Future Combat Air System (FCAS) programme.

The UK Ministry of Defence began the FCAS effort in 2011 to help shape the combat system that forces would operate in the future, identifying unmanned technology as a key area of concern. Northrop Grumman is hoping to begin discussions with the MoD to encourage it to consider four key areas in its UCAV design.

The X-47B demonstrator was produced under the USN’s unmanned combat air system demonstrator (UCAS-D) programme, through which Northrop has identified the key areas of range, endurance, survivability and payload capacity as paramount for the development of this type of aircraft.

“You need to look at all four areas to get the balance that you need,” Timothy Beard, deputy director of long lead capture advanced concepts development at the company, says.

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Younger Dryas Pleistocene Quaternary Greenland Paleotemperature Mystery Solved

A new study of three ice cores from Greenland documents the warming of the large ice sheet at the end of the last ice age – resolving a long-standing paradox over when that warming occurred.

Large ice sheets covered North America and northern Europe some 20,000 years ago during the coldest part of the ice age, when global average temperatures were about four degrees Celsius (or seven degrees Fahrenheit) colder than during pre-industrial times. And then changes in the Earth's orbit around the sun increased the solar energy reaching Greenland. Beginning some 18,000 years ago, release of carbon from the deep ocean led to a graduate rise in atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2).

Yet past analysis of ice cores from Greenland did not show any warming response as would be expected from an increase in CO2 and solar energy flux, the researchers note.

In this new study, funded by the National Science Foundation and published this week in the journal Science, scientists reconstructed air temperatures by examining ratios of nitrogen isotopes in air trapped within the ice instead of isotopes in the ice itself, which had been used in past studies.

Not only did the new analysis detect significant warming in response to increasing atmospheric CO2, it documents a warming trend at a rate closely matching what climate change models predict should have happened as the Earth shifted out of its ice age, according to lead author Christo Buizert, a postdoctoral researcher at Oregon State University and lead author on the Science article.

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KIC 2856960: an Impossible Star System Which *DOES* Exist and Observed by Kepler

KIC 2856960: the impossible triple star

Authors:

Marsh et al

Abstract:

KIC 2856960 is a star in the Kepler field which was observed by Kepler for 4 years. It shows the primary and secondary eclipses of a close binary of 0.258d as well as complex dipping events that last for about 1.5d at a time and recur on a 204d period. The dips are thought to result when the close binary passes across the face of a third star. In this paper we present an attempt to model the dips. Despite the apparent simplicity of the system and strenuous efforts to find a solution, we find that we cannot match the dips with a triple star while satisfying Kepler's laws. The problem is that to match the dips the separation of the close binary has to be larger than possible relative to the outer orbit given the orbital periods. Quadruple star models can get round this problem but require the addition of a so-far undetected intermediate period of order 5 -- 20d that has be a near-perfect integer divisor of the outer 204d period. Although we have no good explanation for KIC 2856960, using the full set of Kepler data we are able to update several of its parameters. We also present a spectrum showing that KIC 2856960 is dominated by light from a K3- or K4-type star.

Bronze Age Wine Cellar Found in Israel

A Bronze Age palace excavation reveals an ancient wine cellar, according to a study published August 27, 2014 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by Andrew Koh from Brandeis University and colleagues.

Wine production, distribution, and consumption are thought to have played a role in the lives of those living in the Mediterranean and Near East during the Middle Bronze Age (1900-1600 BC), but little archaeological evidence about Bronze Age wine is available to support art and documentation about the role wine played during this period. During a 2013 excavation of the Middle Bronze Age Canaanite palace in modern-day Israel, the researchers in this study found 40 large storage vessels in an enclosed room located to the west of the central courtyard.

An organic residue analysis using mass spectrometry revealed that all of the relatively uniform jars contained chemical compounds indicative of wine. The authors also detected subtle differences in the ingredients or additives within similarly shaped wine jars, including honey, storax resin, terebinth resin, cedar oil, cyperus, juniper, and possibly mint, myrtle, and cinnamon. The researchers suggest the detection of these additives indicates that humans at the time had a sophisticated understanding of plants and skills necessary to produce a complex beverage that balanced preservation, palatability, and psychoactivity. According to the authors, these results may contribute to a greater understanding of ancient viticulture and the Canaanite palatial economy.

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Rukwatitan bisepultus: a new Endemic Titanosaurian Sauropod from Albian/Cenomanian Cretaceous Tanzania

Ohio University paleontologists have identified a new species of titanosaurian, a member of the large-bodied sauropods that thrived during the final period of the dinosaur age, in Tanzania. Although many fossils of titanosaurians have been discovered around the globe, especially in South America, few have been recovered from the continent of Africa.

The new species, named Rukwatitan bisepultus, was first spotted by scientists embedded in a cliff wall in the Rukwa Rift Basin of southwestern Tanzania. Using the help of professional excavators and coal miners, the team unearthed vertebrae, ribs, limbs and pelvic bones over the course of two field seasons.

CT scans of the fossils, combined with detailed comparisons with other sauropods, revealed unique features that suggested an animal that was different from previous finds—including those from elsewhere in Africa, according to a study the team published today in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology.

"Using both traditional and new computational approaches, we were able to place the new species within the family tree of sauropod dinosaurs and determine both its uniqueness as a species and to delineate others species with which it is most closely related," said lead author Eric Gorscak, a doctoral student in biological sciences at Ohio University.

Rukwatitan bisepultus lived approximately 100 million years ago during the middle of the Cretaceous Period. Titanosaurian sauropods, the group that includes Rukwatitan, were herbivorous dinosaurs known for their iconic large body sizes, long necks and wide stance. Although not among the largest of titanosaurians, Rukwatitan is estimated to have a forelimb reaching 2 meters and may have weighed as much as several elephants.

The dinosaur's bones exhibit similarities with another titanosaurian, Malawisaurus dixeyi, previously recovered in Malawi. But the two southern African dinosaurs are distinctly different from one another, and, most notably, from titanosaurians known from northern Africa, said co-author Patrick O'Connor, a professor of anatomy in the Ohio University Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine.

The fossils of middle Cretaceous crocodile relatives from the Rukwa Rift Basin also exhibit distinctive features when compared to forms from elsewhere on the continent.

"There may have been certain environmental features, such as deserts, large waterways and/or mountain ranges, that would have limited the movement of animals and promoted the evolution of regionally distinct faunas," O'Connor said. "Only additional data on the faunas and paleo environments from around the continent will let us further test such hypotheses."

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Majiashanosaurus discocoracoidis: An new Eosauropterygian From Olenekian (Spathian) Triassic China

The Early Triassic eosauropterygian Majiashanosaurus discocoracoidis, gen. et sp. nov. (Reptilia, Sauropterygia), from Chaohu, Anhui Province, People’s Republic of China

Authors:

Jiang et al

Abstract:

Records of Early Triassic marine reptiles, when they first emerged after the end Permian mass extinction, are rare. During an excavation at Majiashan, Chaohu, Anhui Province, a new sauropterygian specimen was found co-occurring with the ichthyopterygian Chaohusaurus from the Upper Member of the Nanlinghu Formation, of Olenekian (Spathian, Early Triassic) age, for which a new taxon, Majiashanosaurus discocoracoidis, gen. et sp. nov., is erected. This skeleton is exposed in ventral view, with the last three cervical vertebrae together with 19 dorsal, three sacral, and more than 18 caudal vertebrae preserved. The cervical centra are keeled ventrally, and cervical ribs are double-headed, carrying a free anterior process. The transverse processes of the dorsal vertebrae are not distinctively elongated. The dorsal ribs are single-headed, and the clavicles articulate on the anteromedial aspect of the scapula. The humerus is curved. These features allow assignment to a new sauropterygian taxon. The interclavicle has no posterior process, and the scapula is of typical eosauropterygian shape, with a broad and ventrally expanded glenoidal portion that is separated from a narrow posterodorsal blade by a distinct constriction. The coracoid is round and plate-like without a waist. This feature is different from that of all other known eosauropterygians, but resembles that of placodonts.

Sulfur Very Important for Volcanicly Driven Mass Extinctions?

Microanalyses link sulfur from large igneous provinces and Mesozoic mass extinctions

Authors:

Callegro et al

Abstract:

Volcanic gases can have devastating impacts on Earth's environment and life. However, measurement of volatile elements in prehistoric magmas is challenging. We present a new method for determining sulfur contents in magmas using its concentrations in clinopyroxenes and an experimentally determined crystal-melt partition coefficient. Using this method we compared magmatic sulfur contents in the Paraná-Etendeka large igneous province (LIP; South America) and two other similarly sized LIPs, the Central Atlantic magmatic province (CAMP) and the Deccan Traps (India). We found that the CAMP and Deccan Traps, both associated with major extinction events, contained high magmatic sulfur concentrations, up to 1900 ppm. Conversely, the Paraná-Etendeka LIP, lacking significant environmental effects, had substantially lower magmatic sulfur concentrations, less than 800 ppm.

They ought to look at the Permian Extinction/Siberian Traps.  I am a bit surprised they did not.  And, again, the Deccan Traps have dinosaur fossils below, between and above the lava flows.

Happy Birthday, Son

You were born exactly now and, today, you are five.

The Columbia Supercontinent Broke up in the Ectasian MesoProterozoic

Mid-Mesoproterozoic (∼1.32 Ga) diabase swarms from the western Liaoning region in the northern margin of the North China Craton: Baddeleyite Pb–Pb geochronology, geochemistry and implications for the final breakup of the Columbia supercontinent

Authors:

Wang et al

Abstract:

Diabase swarms widely intrude the late Paleoproterozoic to Mesoproterozoic sedimentary rocks in the northern margin of the North China Craton (NCC). In this paper, we present new baddeleyite SIMS Pb–Pb ages and whole-rock geochemical data for representative samples of the diabase swarms intruding the Mesoproterozoic Wumishan and Xiamaling formations in the western Liaoning region. Our aim is to elucidate the age and origin of the diabase swarms and their relationship to the fragmentation of the Columbia supercontinent. The baddeleyite SIMS Pb–Pb dating results show emplacement ages varying from 1325.9 ± 4.1 Ma to 1318.6 ± 3.7 Ma, indicating voluminous basic magmatism leading to the generation of the diabase swarms during the Mid-Mesoproterozoic time. Geochemically, the Mesoproterozoic diabasic rocks have relatively low REEs contents and show weak positive Eu anomalies. Moreover, these diabase samples are characterized by enrichment in light rare earth elements (LREEs), large ion lithophile elements (LILEs; e.g., Rb and Pb) and some high field strength elements (HFSEs; e.g., Th, U, Zr, Ti and Hf), and depletion in heavy rare earth elements (HREEs) and several high field strength elements (HFSEs; e.g., Nb, Sm, Gd and P), with affinities to basalts belonging to within-plate tholeiite series. Taken together, these geochemical characteristics suggest that the primary magmas of the diabases in the western Liaoning region could have been derived by partial melting of a transitional mantle or slightly enriched mantle in a continental extensional setting. In the context of assembly, growth and breakup of the Columbia supercontinent, together with the recognition of large volumes of ∼1.32 Ga diabase swarms in the northern NCC as well as the nearly coeval rift-related anorogenic magmatism recorded elsewhere on the globe, such as Africa, Baltica, Siberia, North America and Greenland, we conclude that the northern margin of NCC experienced the global-scale Mid-Mesoproterozoic rifting events, corresponding to the final breakup of the Columbia supercontinent, probably at around 1.32 Ga.

How Vulnerable is the Carbon dioxide Stored in Soil to Global Warming?

The response of soil microbial communities to changes in temperature increases the potential for more carbon dioxide to be released from the world's soils as global temperatures rise, scientists have revealed.

The potential for global warming to stimulate decomposition rates in soils, and thus release large quantities of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere, has long been considered to be one of the potentially most important positive feedbacks to climate change. However, the results from more recent studies have suggested that responses within microbial communities could greatly reduce, or even eliminate, the potential for soil carbon losses under global warming.

This key idea was tested using soils collected from a thermal gradient from the Arctic to the Amazon rainforest. The results, published in Nature, show that, contrary to expectations, microbial community responses resulted in an overall increase, rather than a decrease, in the effects of temperature on rates of carbon dioxide release from soils.

Dr Kristiina Karhu of the University of Helsinki, and lead author of the paper, said: "Because soils store more than twice as much carbon than the atmosphere, changes in rates of decomposition and carbon dioxide release from soil could be very important. Our findings suggest that warming will increase the activity of soil microbes to a greater extent than was previously expected, which could have implications for future rates of climate change."

Responses were not found to be equal in all soils, and differed between geographical regions and ecosystem types. Managed agricultural soils stood out, being the only soils in which microbial community responses reduced the effects of a temperature change on rates of carbon dioxide release. On the other hand, the greatest stimulation was observed in the soils with the greatest carbon content and from boreal and arctic ecosystems, which are warming most rapidly. This indicates that the observed responses could increase the vulnerability of some of the world's most important soil carbon stocks to climate change.

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More Details Why India is Unhappy With the PAK-FA Program

The Indian Air Force (IAF) has expressed concerns to Russia over technical problems and delays plaguing the USD10.5 billion Fifth Generation Fighter Aircraft (FGFA) programme, which is based on the Russian Air Force's Sukhoi T-50 PAK-FA platform.

Official sources told IHS Jane's that the IAF's primary objections to fighter's preliminary design features included the inadequacy of its AL-41F1 engines, its stealth features and its weapons carriage system.

Differences also emerged over the operational capability of the Byelka active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar. Additional IAF concerns include the overall development cost of the aircraft, its maintainability and safety features, the sources said.

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China's Shadow Banks are Evolving

WILL rising defaults and stricter rules halt the breakneck growth of China’s shadow banks? When one of the country’s many trust companies, which sell high-yield investments, warned earlier this year of a looming default on one of its products, its clients reacted with anger and the wider market with alarm. As panic spread, regulators orchestrated a bail-out of the product, reassuringly named “Credit Equals Gold #1”. But in recent weeks investors in its sibling, “Credit Equals Gold #2”, have met a crueler fate. It is backed by loans to a bankrupt coal-mining firm which came due in July and have since gone unpaid. Investors will not get their money back until collateral can be seized and sold. That process may take more than a year. The episode, naturally, calls into question the widespread belief that such investments are safe because they are marketed by big, state-owned financial institutions.

Shadow banks, which barely existed before China’s credit surge in 2009, now have assets of at least 30 trillion yuan ($4.9 trillion), or more than 50% of GDP, according to estimates by ANZ, a bank. The government’s attempts to slow the pell-mell growth in credit extended by conventional banks have only steered more business to their shadowy cousins. In fact, investments from mainstream banks have been the shadow banks’ biggest source of funds. So the government has promulgated new regulations that make it harder for conventional lenders to do business with the duskier sort.

Assets managed by trust companies, the most common form of shadow bank, have surged fivefold since the start of 2010 to 12.5 trillion yuan. But growth in the second quarter was tepid and June marked the first monthly decline. The stock of bank-acceptance drafts—another popular form of shadow finance—is also falling. Perhaps as a result, fears that the problems at shadow banks will hobble the economy seem to have faded. At any rate, the default of Credit Equals Gold #2 barely made a ripple in markets.

Yet it is far too soon to call time on China’s shadow banks.

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Scientists Regenerate Rat Muscle Tissue

Muscle lost through traumatic injury, congenital defect, or tumor ablation may soon be regenerated from within. A team of researchers at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center has shown how stem cells in the body of mice and rats can be mobilized to form new muscle in damaged regions.

"Working to leverage the body’s own regenerative properties, we designed a muscle-specific scaffolding system that can actively participate in functional tissue regeneration," explains Sang Jin Lee, senior author on the study. This scaffold was implanted in the rats' tibialis anterior muscle (which is found below the knee), serving as a kind of home for the muscle progenitor cells to grow and develop.

After four weeks, a significant population of host stem cells and a mature network of blood vessels had formed within the scaffolds, with the most effective scaffold holding up to four times the number of cells of plain scaffolds thanks to its myogenic factor – a protein, in this case insulin-like growth factor 1, that binds to specific DNA sequences to encourage or accelerate the formation of muscular tissue (in a process called myogenesis).

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