Using Mercury Isotopes to Determine Volcanic or Meterorite Source for Mass Extinctions

High-resolution Hg chemostratigraphy: A contribution to the distinction of chemical fingerprints of the Deccan volcanism and Cretaceous–Paleogene Boundary impact event

Authors:

Sial et al

Abstract:

There is a renewed interest in volcanism as the major trigger for dramatic climatic changes at the Cretaceous–Paleogene transition (KTB), which were accompanied by a decrease in biodiversity and mass extinction. We have used Hg contents as proxy for volcanic activity at the classical localities of Gubbio (Italy) and Stevns Klint (Denmark) where the KTB layer is easily recognizable, and at a near-complete succession exposed at the Bajada del Jagüel locality in the Neuquén Basin, Argentina. These three localities display similar δ13Ccarb trends with markedly negative excursion at the KTB layer. Bulk-rock oxygen isotopes yielded similar pathways across the KTB layers in these localities and, if considered near-primary, the negative δ18O excursion at the KTB in Gubbio and Bajada del Jagüel suggest warming temperatures during this transition, whereas the negative excursion immediately followed by positive one at Stevns Klint points to a cycle of warm followed by colder climate. At Stevns Klint, Hg contents reach 250 ng g− 1 within the KTB layer (Fiskeler Member) and 45 ng.g− 1 at 1.5 m above that, while within the Scaglia Rossa Formation at Gubbio, three Hg peaks across the KTB are observed, one of them within the KTB layer (5.3 ng g− 1). Hg shows several peaks across the KTB in the Neuquén Basin, with up to 400 ng g− 1 in the Jagüel Formation. The phenomena that caused dramatic changes at the KTB probably expelled huge amounts of Hg into the atmosphere as recorded by these high Hg levels. A co-variation between Hg and Al2O3 in the studied sections suggest that Hg is adsorbed onto clays. Hg concentrations and also Hg isotopes are perhaps a powerful tool in the assessment of the role of volcanic activity during extreme climatic and biotic events, and in assessing the role of meteorite impact versus volcanism as the predominant cause of past global catastrophes and mass extinction.

Ordovician Trilobites From Greenland

Early Ordovician (Skullrockian) trilobites of the Antiklinalbugt Formation, northeast Greenland, and their biostratigraphic significance

Authors:

McCobb et al

Abstract:

The Antiklinalbugt Formation of northeast Greenland comprises peritidal to subtidal carbonate sediments, deposited in shallow shelf settings during an early Tremadocian transgressive-regressive megacycle. The succession of shales and microbial, muddy and grainy limestone, with minor dolostone at the base and top, terminates at the cryptic Fimbulfjeld disconformity. The formation has yielded trilobites collected on Ella Ø, Albert Heim Bjerge, and Kap Weber by C. Poulsen (1920s and 1930s), J. W. Cowie and P. J. Adams (1950s), and during recent field studies in 2000 and 2001. The fauna includes dimeropygids Tulepyge cowiei and T. tesella n. spp., hystricurids Millardicurus and Hystricurus, and several species of Symphysurina. Micragnostus chiushuensis (Kobayashi, 1931) is rare, as are Chasbellus sp., Clelandia sp., and Lunacrania?. The presence of several Symphysurina species places the Antiklinalbugt Formation within the Symphysurina Zone. Chasbellus indicates the upper (lower Ordovician) part of the Symphysurina Zone for the lower upper Antiklinalbugt Formation. Conodonts place the middle lower formation in the Cordylodus intermedius conodont Biozone, the lower upper part in the Cordylodus angulatus conodont Biozone and the uppermost part in the Rossodus manitouensis conodont Biozone. This combined fauna is characteristic of the upper Skullrockian Stage of the Ibexian Series, with the lower part of the Antiklinalbugt Formation lying within the uppermost Cambrian of North America, and the upper part within the lower Ordovician. The entire formation lies within the global Tremadocian Stage of the early Ordovician.

2014 the 6th Lowest Arctic Sea Ice Level Measured

Arctic sea ice coverage continued its below-average trend this year as the ice declined to its annual minimum on Sept. 17, according to the NASA-supported National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) at the University of Colorado, Boulder.

Over the 2014 summer, Arctic sea ice melted back from its maximum extent reached in March to a coverage area of 1.94 million square miles (5.02 million square kilometers), according to analysis from NASA and NSIDC scientists. This year's minimum extent is similar to last year's and below the 1981-2010 average of 2.40 million square miles (6.22 million square km).

"Arctic sea ice coverage in 2014 is the sixth lowest recorded since 1978. The summer started off relatively cool, and lacked the big storms or persistent winds that can break up ice and increase melting," said Walter Meier, a research scientist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.

"Even with a relatively cool year, the ice is so much thinner than it used to be," Meier said. "It's more susceptible to melting."

This summer, the Northwest Passage above Canada and Alaska remained ice-bound. A finger of open water stretched north of Siberia in the Laptev Sea, reaching beyond 85 degrees north, which is the farthest north open ocean has reached since the late 1970s, according to Meier.

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Israel Close to Purchasing More F-35s

The Pentagon's Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II programme office is close to signing a deal with Israel for more stealthy combat aircraft, the programme manager said on 25 September.

"We are in discussion with another one of our partners, Israel, to increase their buy and those discussions are going very, very well," said US Air Force Lieutenant General Chris Bogdan.

"We are very, very close," Lt Gen Bogdan said in Oslo following a meeting with partner nations on the programme. He added that the new agreement with Israel will be signed "probably within the next few months". Israel has already ordered 19 aircraft.

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In Order to Form an Ever More Germanic Union...

THE European Union, it is often said, long served to disguise both French weakness and German strength. It magnified France’s unabashed pursuit of its national interests and allowed Germany to pretend it did not have any. But the euro crisis has shifted power decisively to Angela Merkel’s Germany, dispelling the illusion. The recent allocation of top jobs may have killed it.

This is not apparent at first glance. No German has secured a big post (barring Martin Schulz, who stays as president of the European Parliament). This week Jean-Claude Juncker, the incoming president of the European Commission, doled out various jobs to the individuals nominated by their national governments. Günther Oettinger, the German, was put in charge of the “digital economy and society”: hardly a dazzling portfolio for a man from the club’s largest and richest member (although, of course, Mr Juncker insists that commissioners leave their passports at the door). Mr Oettinger’s work will also be overseen by a vice-president: Andrus Ansip, from tiny Estonia.

But German influence may be detected in subtler form. The best example is the economic and financial affairs commissioner. Since the euro crisis erupted it has fallen to this person to act as a fiscal watchdog, telling off euro-zone countries who fail to abide by their budget commitments. The job has been performed with gusto by two austere Finns who have held the post since 2010, acting, says one official, “as surrogate Germans”.

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J-31 Mockup Spotted on Chinese Aircraft Carrier Replica

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That settles that: J-31 Stealth Fighter is a People's Liberation Army Navy aircraft.

China Upset India Beat it to Mars

Mars receives two visitors from the Earth this week.

NASA's new spacecraft MAVEN entered the orbit around Mars on Sept. 21 to hunt for the planet's lost water. And India's first Mars probe has reached Mars on Sept. 24, said Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, adding that India is the first country to have reached the Red Planet on its first attempt.

After China's successful soft landing on the moon late last year, will Mars be its next goal? No official plan has been published yet, but some experts have disclosed the country's interest.

Ouyang Ziyuan, a leading scientist in China's moon program, told the International Planetarium Society conference in Beijing in June that China plans to send a Mars rover around 2020, collect samples and bring them back to Earth around 2030.

Russia launched a rocket carrying a China-made probe to Mars in 2011, but the mission failed because of an accident in the orbital transfer.

Ye Peijian, a leading design adviser for China's Chang'e-2 and Chang'e-3 moon probes, has called repeatedly during the annual sessions of the national legislature and political advisory body for an early start of a Mars exploration mission.

"India has gone ahead of us," Ye says.

Is China capable of probing Mars? Many experts are confident.

With current technologies, China could send a probe to orbit and land on Mars in one mission, Ye says.

"We already lag behind (India) in time, so we should do it better," Ye says.

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US Military Looking into Cryptocurrency Links to Terrorism

The United States military is studying digital currencies like bitcoin to learn if they can be traced and to figure out how they are used by America's adversaries around the world.

CNBC has learned that the global policy counsel of the Bitcoin Foundation flew to Florida to meet with officials from U.S. Special Operations Command for a daylong discussion Monday on the role of so-called cryptocurrencies—of which bitcoin is the best known—in illicit finance.

The first-of-its-kind discussion came just as U.S. warplanes began flying missions over Syria in President Barack Obama's effort to check the advance of the Islamic terror network ISIS. A key priority for the U.S. military is stopping the flow of money to ISIS fighters and blocking the network's ability to process profits from kidnapping, extortion and illicit oil sales.

The military's interest in virtual currency is part of an overall effort by special operations forces to understand how their enemies finance themselves, and what intelligence special operators can glean by following the illicit money.

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The Robopocalypse has Come for the Videographer/Photographer

The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration is taking its first major step toward opening up the skies for commercial drone use, allowing six TV and movie production companies to use drones to shoot video.

Commercial flight of drones has been effectively banned by the FAA as it grapples with how to integrate drone traffic into controlled airspace while not compromising the safety of existing air traffic. But as the months have passed, it has come under increasing pressure from U.S. companies to make a ruling.

Online retailer Amazon.com has been one of the most vocal, warning that it would take development of parcel-delivery drones overseas if the FAA doesn’t allow commercial use soon, and numerous other companies in the movie production, agriculture, environmental and energy industries have also been lobbying to allow their drones to fly.

“There has been a lot of interest around this technology recently,” said U.S. Department of Transport Secretary Anthony Foxx, recognizing the role the pressure played in reviewing the issues.

Foxx was speaking on a telephone conference call with FAA Administrator Michael Huerta where they announced that limited use of drone technology wouldn’t pose a problem to existing users of airspace.

Thursday’s deal with the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) will allow six companies to operate drones over controlled areas of movie and TV sets. The drones will be flown by licensed pilots and won’t fly at night, and details of any accidents will have to be filed with the FAA.

A seventh production company has applied to the FAA and its application is under review.

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Managing the Robopocalypse: The Case for a a Federal Robotics Commission

The U.S. Department of Transportation had a problem: Toyota customers were alleging that their vehicle had accelerated unexpectedly, causing death or injury. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) found some mechanical problems that may have accounted for the accidents—specifically, a design flaw that enabled accelerator pedals to become trapped by floor mats—but other experts suspected a software issue was to blame. Like most contemporary vehicles, Toyotas rely on computers to control many elements of the car. Congress was worried enough at the prospect of glitches in millions of vehicles that it directed the DOT to look for electronic causes.

NHTSA lacked the expertise to disentangle the complex set of interactions between software and hardware “under the hood.” The agency struggled over what to do until it hit upon an idea: let’s ask NASA. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration builds semi-autonomous systems and sends them to other planets; it has deep expertise in complex software and hardware. Indeed, NASA was able to clear Toyota’s software in a February 2011 report.1 “We enlisted the best and brightest engineers to study Toyota’s electronics systems,” proudly stated U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, “and the verdict is in. There is no electronic-based cause for unintended high-speed acceleration in Toyotas."2

Under extraordinary circumstances, the best and brightest at NASA can take a break from repairing space stations or building Mars robots to take a look at the occasional Toyota. But this is not a sustainable strategy in the long run. Physical systems that sense, process, and act upon the world—robots, in other words3—are increasingly commonplace. Google, Tesla, and others contemplate widespread driverless cars using software far more complex than what runs in a 2010 sedan. Amazon would like to deliver packages to our homes using autonomous drones. Bill Gates predicts a robot in every home.4 By many accounts, robotics and artificial intelligence are poised to become the next transformative technology of our time.

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US Marine Corps Testing MUTT Unmanned Ground Vehicle

The Marine Corps is testing a tethered unmanned vehicle designed to follow human movement, carry supplies and perform a wide range of possible missions for forces on-the-move, industry officials said Sept. 24 at the Corps’ Modern Day Marine symposium, Quantico, Va.

General Dynamics Land Systems has developed the Multi-Utility Tactical Transport, or MUTT – a 54-inch wide, five-foot long, 750-pound four-wheeled amphibious unmanned vehicle engineered to help dismounted infantry units.

The MUTT, which can drive on wheels or tracks, can transport on-board an MV-22 Osprey, developers said.

“MUTT can help lighten the load. It can perform casualty evacuations and it can carry counter-IED components or communications packages. It is really multi-utility,” said John Rash, business development, General Dynamics Land Systems.

The Marine Corps recently conducted operations with two MUTTs at Yuma Proving Ground, Ariz., Rash added. One of the MUTTs carried communications equipment and the other helped lighten the load for dismounted Marines by carrying supplies.

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Two F-35Cs to Deploy to USS Nimitz for Testing in November: one may not really be ready for carrier flights

Plans to test a Lockheed Martin F-35C aboard a US aircraft carrier in November are on track, but both aircraft scheduled to deploy to the Pacific may not be capable of taking off and landing from the ship.

The C-model F-35 will be the US Navy’s carrier-based version of the jet and will be the last to enter service in 2018, following the Marine Corps and air force variants. Lt Gen Christopher Bogdan, speaking at a meeting of the programme’s joint executive steering board in Oslo, Norway, said the deployment to the USS Nimitz in the Pacific Ocean was on track despite lagging software development and flight restrictions resulting from a June engine fire that damaged an F-35A prior to a training flight.

However, work is ongoing to determine if both aircraft slated to deploy will be fully capable of performing carrier launches and landings, Bogdan says.

“We have some work to do as we lead up to that point in November,” he says. “That work we’re doing now will decide whether both airplanes that go to the ship will be capable of doing arrestments and catapult launches or only one of them will be and the other airplane we will leave on the deck to do logistics testing.”

“The November deployment will happen. It will most likely happen with two airplanes. Whether both airplanes will be fully capable of doing all the work remains to be seen,” he says.

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Procyonids Dispersed Twice From North America to South America Prior to the Great American Biotic Interchange

Carnivorans at the Great American Biotic Interchange: new discoveries from the northern neotropics

Authors:

Forasiepi et al

Abstract:

We report two fossil procyonids, Cyonasua sp. and Chapalmalania sp., from the late Pliocene of Venezuela (Vergel Member, San Gregorio Formation) and Colombia (Ware Formation), respectively. The occurrence of these pre-Holocene procyonids outside Argentina and in the north of South America provides further information about the Great American Biotic Interchange (GABI). The new specimens are recognized in the same monophyletic group as procyonids found in the southern part of the continent, the “Cyonasua group,” formed by species of Cyonasua and Chapalmalania. The phylogenetic analysis that includes the two new findings support the view that procyonids dispersed from North America in two separate events (initially, previous to the first major migration wave—GABI 1—and then within the last major migration wave—GABI 4—). This involved reciprocal lineage migrations from North to South America, and included the evolution of South American endemic forms.

Titan's Methane Clouds are due to Circulation Between Poles

Subsidence-induced methane clouds in Titan’s winter polar stratosphere and upper troposphere

Authors

Anderson et al

Abstract:

Titan’s atmospheric methane most likely originates from lakes at the surface and subsurface reservoirs. Accordingly, it has been commonly assumed that Titan’s tropopause region, where the vertical temperature profile is a minimum, acts as a cold trap for convecting methane, leading to the expectation that the formation of methane clouds in Titan’s stratosphere would be rare. The additional assumption that Titan’s tropopause temperatures are independent of latitude is also required. However, Cassini Composite InfraRed Spectrometer (CIRS) and Radio Science Subsystem (RSS) data sets reveal colder temperatures in Titan’s tropopause region near the winter pole than those at low latitudes and in the summer hemisphere. This, combined with the presence of a cross-equatorial meridional circulation with winter polar subsidence, as suggested by current general circulation models, implies the inevitable formation of Subsidence-Induced Methane Clouds (SIMCs) over Titan’s winter pole. We verified this by retrieving the stratospheric methane mole fraction at 70°°N from the strength of the far infrared methane pure rotation lines observed by CIRS and by assuming the RSS-derived thermal profile at 74.1°°N. Our retrieved methane mole fraction of 1.50 ±± 0.15% allows for methane to condense and form SIMCs at altitudes between 48 and ∼∼20 km. Radiative transfer analyses of a color composite image obtained by the Cassini Visible and Infrared Mapping Spectrometer (VIMS) during northern winter appear to corroborate the existence of these clouds.

Human Female Populations Have Been Larger Than Male Throughout Human Genetic History

Female populations have been larger than male populations throughout human history, according to research published today in the open access journal Investigative Genetics. The research used a new technique to obtain higher quality paternal genetic information to analyse the demographic history of males and females in worldwide populations.

The study compared the paternally-inherited Y chromosome (NRY) with maternally inherited mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) of 623 males from 51 populations. The analysis showed that female populations were larger before the out-of-Africa migration and remained so throughout almost all subsequent migrations. The main drivers of this trend are likely to be processes such as polygyny, where one male mates with many females, and the fact that in most societies, women tend to move to live with their husbands. This has resulted in females making a greater genetic contribution to the global population than males.

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Glyptodontoid Panochthus From Pleistocene Quaternary Brazil Reappraised

The intertropical Brazilian species of Panochthus (Xenarthra, Cingulata, Glyptodontoidea): a reappraisal of their taxonomy and phylogenetic affinities

Authors:

Porpino et al

Abstract:

Four species of Panochthus (P. greslebini, P. jaguaribensis, P. oliveira-roxoi, and P. rochai) have been described from the late Pleistocene of northeastern Brazil. P. oliveira-roxoi, and P. rochai have been considered loosely as synonyms of P. greslebini. This paper reevaluates the referred material, diagnostic characters, and validity of these species and includes a cladistic analysis of 25 caudal tube and carapace characters to determine their positioning relative to other species of Panochthus. P. greslebini and P. jaguaribensis are valid species and differ from the other species of Panochthus by unique combinations of caudal tube characters. Carapace fragments previously attributed to P. jaguaribensis are in fact fragments of cephalic shields. These fragments and the isolated ostoderms previously described for P. jaguaribensis cannot be confidently assigned to this species. We support the interpretation of P. rochai as a junior synonym of P. greslebini, but P. oliveira-roxoi is actually a nomen dubium instead of a synonym of P. greslebini. Our analysis yielded a fully resolved tree in which Panochthini, as traditionally defined, is paraphyletic and the species formerly attributed to Panochthus form a monophyletic group, echoing recent findings based on a different dataset. Within Panochthus, the Brazilian species form a clade with the Bonaerian species P. subintermedius, which is the sister species to P. greslebini. Instead of a more basal position suggested in early and recent works, P. jaguaribensis is deeply nested within the clade encompassing the species of Panochthus.

Evidence From French Rhaetian Triassic Ichthyosaurs Experienced Severe Turnover From the Triassic-Jurassic Mass Extinction

Ichthyosaurs from the French Rhaetian indicate a severe turnover across the Triassic–Jurassic boundary

Authors:

Fischer et al

Abstract:

Mesozoic marine reptiles went through a severe turnover near the end of the Triassic. Notably, an important extinction event affected ichthyosaurs, sweeping a large part of the group. This crisis is, however, obscured by an extremely poor fossil record and is regarded as protracted over the entire Norian–earliest Jurassic interval, for the lack of a more precise scenario. The iconic whale-sized shastasaurid ichthyosaurs are regarded as early victims of this turnover, disappearing by the middle Norian. Here we evaluate the pattern of this turnover among ichthyosaurs by analysing the faunal record of two Rhaetian localities. One locality is Autun, eastern France; we rediscovered in this material the holotypes or partial ‘type’ series of Rachitrema pellati, Actiosaurus gaudryi, Ichthyosaurus rheticus, Ichthyosaurus carinatus and Plesiosaurus bibractensis; a revised taxonomic scheme is proposed. The second assemblage comes from a new locality: Cuers, southeastern France. Both these assemblages provide several lines of evidence for the presence of shastasaurid-like ichthyosaurs in the Rhaetian of Europe. These occurrences suggest that both the demise of shastasaurids and the sudden radiation of neoichthyosaurians occurred within a short time window; this turnover appears not only more abrupt but also more complex than previously postulated and adds a new facet of the end-Triassic mass extinction.

Evidence Ediacaran NeoProterozoic Doushantuo Embryo Fossils may be Stem-Group Animals

Cell differentiation and germ–soma separation in Ediacaran animal embryo-like fossils

Authors:

Chen et al

Abstract:

Phosphorites of the Ediacaran Doushantuo Formation (~600 million years old) yield spheroidal microfossils with a palintomic cell cleavage pattern. These fossils have been variously interpreted as sulphur-oxidizing bacteria, unicellular protists4, mesomycetozoean-like holozoans green algae akin to Volvox and blastula embryos of early metazoans or bilaterian animals. However, their complete life cycle is unknown and it is uncertain whether they had a cellularly differentiated ontogenetic stage, making it difficult to test their various phylogenetic interpretations. Here we describe new spheroidal fossils from black phosphorites of the Doushantuo Formation that have been overlooked in previous studies. These fossils represent later developmental stages of previously published blastula-like fossils, and they show evidence for cell differentiation, germ–soma separation, and programmed cell death. Their complex multicellularity is inconsistent with a phylogenetic affinity with bacteria, unicellular protists, or mesomycetozoean-like holozoans. Available evidence also indicates that the Doushantuo fossils are unlikely crown-group animals or volvocine green algae. We conclude that an affinity with cellularly differentiated multicellular eukaryotes, including stem-group animals or algae, is likely but more data are needed to constrain further the exact phylogenetic affinity of the Doushantuo fossils.

Pacific Island Nations Looking to Procure Land Elsewhere to Survive Inundation by Rising Seas

The president of the Pacific island state of Kiribati favors buying more land abroad after a purchase in Fiji, to secure both food supplies and perhaps a future home if rising sea levels swamp low-lying atolls.

Anote Tong, in Norway on a stopover to view melting Arctic ice pushing up sea levels before he attends a U.N. climate summit in New York on Tuesday, said he wanted to lay conditions for "migration with dignity" from the islands.

Kiribati, a nation of 100,000 people scattered over 32 Pacific atolls, completed a deal with Fiji this year to buy 6,000 acres (2,400 hectares) of forest land for A$9.3 million ($8.3 million) on the island of Vanua Levu, he said.

"With sea level rise, the value of land will go up," Tong predicted in a weekend interview, nursing a cold from a visit to the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard. "I am not going to relocate my people, but someone else might" in coming decades.

"Some people have suggested 'why not (buy more land in) Australia and New Zealand, they are selling land to the Chinese?'," he said. "My view is 'yes' ... property poses the least risk" compared to other investments.

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inundation 

India Considering Nuclear Powered Aircraft Carrier as Follow-on to INS Vikrant

India is considering powering its second domestically built aircraft carrier with a nuclear propulsion plant, according to a Tuesday report by news agency Press Trust of India.

The design of the carrier is ongoing and nuclear power is still an option for the carrier, said Director General of Naval Design Bureau, Rear Admiral Atul Saxena, in response to questions from reporters.

India’s first domestically built carrier — the 40,000-ton INS Vikrant currently under construction in Cochin Shipyard in Southern India — will be powered by four General Electric LM-2500 gas turbines.

The second carrier Vishal is planned to be much larger — up to 65,000-tons — and is still in the conceptual design process, Saxena said.

Last year Indian officials said the two major decisions for the carrier were its power supply and launching and recovery methods for the planned Vishnal.

Though more technically complicated in design and construction stages, a nuclear powered carrier provides greater flexibility to commanders once in operation, Eric Wertheim, author of the Naval Institute’s Combat Fleets of the World, told USNI News on Wednesday.

“Nuclear power frees up space,” he said.
“You don’t have to store fuel for your ship onboard.”

Nuclear carriers have more room for ammunition and fuel for aircraft on the ship and shedding the requirement for refueling the ship simplify the logistics of resupplying the carrier at sea.

However, it’s unclear if India can overcome the technical requirements to fielding a nuclear carrier.

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Oh the Irony! Kaliningrad Seperatism now a Foreign Policy Issue

Statements by Lithuanian and Polish commentators about Kaliningrad and actions by the Russian authorities against activists in that non-contiguous Russian Federation exclave suggest that the issue of separatism there is an increasingly lively one even if the prospects for any change in its status are not great.

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Hat tip Randy.

Mothers who do NOT Take Iron Supplements are 5x at Risk for Having Autistic Child, Older Mothers More

Mothers of children with autism are significantly less likely to report taking iron supplements before and during their pregnancies than the mothers of children who are developing normally, a study by researchers with the UC Davis MIND Institute has found.

Low iron intake was associated with a five-fold greater risk of autism in the child if the mother was 35 or older at the time of the child's birth or if she suffered from metabolic conditions such as obesity hypertension or diabetes.

The research is the first to examine the relationship between maternal iron intake and having a child with autism spectrum disorder, the authors said. The study, "Maternal intake of supplemental iron and risk for autism spectrum disorders," is published online today in the American Journal of Epidemiology.

"The association between lower maternal iron intake and increased ASD risk was strongest during breastfeeding, after adjustment for folic acid intake," said Rebecca J. Schmidt, assistant professor in the Department of Public Health Sciences and a researcher affiliated with the MIND Institute.

The authors of the current study in 2011 were the first to report associations between supplemental folic acid and reduced risk for autism spectrum disorder, a finding later replicated in larger scale investigations.

"Further, the risk associated with low maternal iron intake was much greater when the mother was also older and had metabolic conditions during her pregnancy."

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*cough*older mothers*cough*

Robopocalypse in Germany: DHL Experimenting With Delivery by Drone

German postal service DHL Parcel is to begin testing the delivery of supplies using its Parcelcopter unmanned air vehicle, marking the first operation of a UAV in European airspace beyond line of sight.

The company – owned by Deutsche Post – first flew the vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) Parcelcopter in December 2013, when it travelled across the river Rhine in Bonn.

DHL has been working alongside the institute of flight system dynamics at RWTH Aachen University and VTOL UAV manufacturer Microdrones, which derived the Parcelcopter from its md4-1000 system.

A restricted flight area for the UAV has been established by the German ministry of transport and digital infrastructure in coordination with Deutsche Flugsicherung – the company in charge of air traffic control in the country. This flightpath covers some 6.5nm (12km) of the North Sea from the city of Norden to the island of Juist.

The route will enable the team to test the UAV under harsh conditions. The testing is due to take place over “several months”, and each individual flight will be registered, according to the team.

The carbonfibre Parcelcopter can reach speeds of 35kt (65km/h) while 160ft above sea level. It will be used to deliver medication and urgent supplies to residents of the island during the test phase.

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A Preview of the 3d Printed Future on TED

US Navy MQ-4C Triton set for 2017 Service Entry

The U.S. Navy’s newest and largest drone took another step last week towards its first operational deployment in 2017 after it completed a cross country flight to Patuxent River, Maryland, where engineers will complete more tests on the MQ-4C Triton.

Navy pilots flew the Triton at altitudes of 50,000 feet from Palmdale, California, along the U.S. southern border with Mexico and up the Atlantic Coast. The 3,290 nautical mile flight took 11 hours for the Triton to complete, Navy officials said.

Officials said the Triton will fly up to 2,000 hours before it’s deployed operationally at sea. The Navy has grand plans for the Triton once it enters operational service.

“We brought Triton home to the center of research, development, test and evaluation for naval aviation,” said Rear Adm. Mat Winter, who oversees the Program Executive Office for Unmanned Aviation and Strike Weapons (PEO (U&W)) at NAVAIR. “The testing performed here over the next few years is critical to delivering a capability that will provide our warfighter an unparalleled awareness of the maritime environment in locations across the globe.”

The aircraft, which boasts a 130-foot wingspan and can reach altitudes of 60,000 feet, is engineered as a long-endurance surveillance platform, meaning it can stay in the air as long at 30 hours on a single mission.

Navy admirals plan to use the Triton to offer better situational awareness across the large swaths of ocean the Navy’s fleets cover. Triton will feature advanced radars that will help carrier strike groups identify enemy threats.

The Triton’s next-generation radar, called the Multi-Function Active Sensor (MFAS), is a 360-degree radar capability optimized to provide the identification of surface ships over vast areas covering thousands of miles..

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Korea's KFX Program Greatly Benefits From F-35 Purchase

In return for obtaining 40 Lockheed Martin F-35 Joint Strike Fighters, South Korea will receive technologies related to its long-planned KFX indigenous fighter programme.

Following Lockheed’s announcement on 24 September that Seoul was on the verge of signing an order for 40 F-35s, state news agencyYonhapquoted a spokesman from South Korea’s Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) as saying that the F-35 technologies will play a key role in KFX.

Under the F-35 deal – which will cover deliveries to run between 2018 and 2021 – Lockheed will transfer key fighter technologies from “17 sectors”, he says.

The DAPA spokesman adds that Seoul will build 120 KFX aircraft for deployment from 2025. South Korean officials indicate the fighter will be a twin-engined design that is more capable than advanced versions of the Lockheed F-16, but less capable than leading Western fighters such as the F-35.

Technology transfer was a major consideration in Seoul’s pursuit of a replacement for its McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantoms and Northrop F-5s under its F-X III requirement, which was ultimately won by the F-35.

Industry sources say Lockheed, Boeing and Eurofighter all offered attractive technology transfer packages during the contest. Boeing offered an upgraded version of its F-15E, dubbed the Silent Eagle, while Eurofighter offered the Typhoon.

At last year’s Seoul lnternational Aerospace & Defense Exhibition, Korea Aerospace Industries, which will likely build the new jet, displayed two models of the KFX, both of which bore low-observable characteristics reminiscent of the F-35.

The aircraft will be developed with help from Indonesia, which is a 20% partner in the programme.

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A Unique Miocene Neogene Fauna From Shuitangba, China

The site of Shuitangba (Yunnan, China) preserves a unique, terminal Miocene fauna

Authors:

Jablonski et al

Abstract:

The late Miocene was an important interval in mammalian evolution because of the concatenated tectonic, climatic, and environmental changes that led to increased seasonality and heterogeneity of most terrestrial ecosystems (Ruddiman and Kutzbach, 1989; An et al., 2001; Guo et al., 2002). These phenomena had profound influences on mammalian habitats and on the anatomies and fates of many mammalian lineages (Fortelius et al., 2002; Jablonski, 2005). In Eurasia, this period was marked by the decline in diversity and abundance of obligate forest dwellers and the rise of species able to survive in more open and seasonal habitats. Southeastern Asia did not escape the effects of changing global climatic conditions of the Late Neogene, but appears to have, in part, played a role as a refugium for some mammals. The few known fossil sites of southern China are beginning to reveal the architecture of faunal change in the region. The terminal Miocene site of Shuitangba, Yunnan Province, China, provides a snapshot of this critical transition.

Using Solar Occultation to Determine Titan's Atmospheric and Surface Composition

Titan’s Surface Composition and Atmospheric Transmission with Solar Occultation Measurements by Cassini VIMS

Authors:

Hayne et al

Abstract:

Solar occultation measurements by the Cassini Visual and Infrared Mapping Spectrometer (VIMS) reveal the near-infrared transmission of Titan’s atmosphere down to an altitude of ∼40 km. By combining these observations with VIMS reflectance measurements of Titan’s surface and knowledge of haze and gas opacity profiles from the Huygens probe, we constrain a simple model for the transfer of radiation in Titan’s atmosphere in order to derive surface reflectance in the methane windows used for compositional analysis. The advantages of this model are twofold: 1) it is accurate enough to yield useful results, yet simple enough to be implemented in just a few lines of code, and 2) the model parameters are directly constrained by the VIMS occultation and on-planet measurements. We focus on the 2.0, 2.7, 2.8 and 5.0 μm windows, where haze opacity is minimized, and diagnostic vibrational bands exist for water ice and other candidate surface species. A particularly important result is the strong atmospheric attenuation at 2.7 μm compared to 2.8 μm, resulting in a reversal of apparent spectral slope in a compositionally diagnostic wavelength range. These results show that Titan’s surface reflectance is much “bluer” and more closely matched by water ice than the uncorrected spectra would indicate, although the majority of Titan’s surface has a spectrum consistent with mixtures (either intimate or areal) of water ice and haze particles precipitated from the atmosphere. Compositions of geologic units can be accurately modeled as mixtures ranging from predominantly water ice (Sinlap crater ejecta and margins of dark equatorial terrain) to predominantly organic-rich (Tui Regio and Hotei Regio), with particles in the size range ∼10 – 20 μm. In distinguishing between hypothesized formation mechanisms for Tui and Hotei Regio, their organic-rich composition favors a process that concentrates precipitated haze particles, such as playa lake evaporite deposition (Barnes et al., 2011). In other places, kilometer-scale exposures of nearly pure water ice bedrock on Titan’s surface indicate relatively locally rapid erosion compared to rates of accumulation of solid hydrocarbons precipitated from the atmosphere. Somewhat surprisingly, Titan’s vast equatorial dune fields appear slightly enriched in water ice compared to the surrounding bright regions, but the spectrum of the dune material itself may nonetheless be consistent with a predominantly organic haze-derived composition.

Early Paleolithic Artifacts From Poland are Really Geofacts, not Man-made

The alleged Early Palaeolithic artefacts are in reality geofacts: a revision of the site of Kończyce Wielkie 4 in the Moravian Gate, South Poland

Authors:

Wiśniewski et al

Abstract:

In this paper we show that a site Kończyce Wielkie 4 (SW Poland) published in JAS (2010a) by Foltyn et al. can no longer be accepted as a reliable evidence for the oldest presence of humans in the northern part of Carpathians and Sudetes Mountains (Matuyama-Brunhes). Unfortunately, in the light of conducted analysis among others with Peacock's method, it seems that the lithics from Kończyce Wielkie appear to be much more similar to geofacts rather than to artefacts. As a background for comparison Lower Paleolithic artefacts from two German sites Wallendorf and Wangen were used. Moreover, the petrological determination of the finds from Kończyce Wielkie is also dubious issue. Foltyn et al. suggested a long distance transport of lithics from several sources. As it has been demonstrated in the paper, local glacial sediments consist of rocks that are analogous to published lithic spectrum. Finally, the geological data shown by Foltyn et al. seem to be incorrect. Authors did not take into account the results concerning the regional geology that indicate clearly much younger age of layers dated by Foltyn et al. (2010a) at the beginning of the Middle Pleistocene.

Reinterpreting Theosodon hystatus, a South American Litoptern

Taxonomic reinterpretation of Theosodon hystatus Cabrera and Kraglievich, 1931 (Litopterna, Macraucheniidae ) and phylogenetic relationships of the family

Authors:

Schmidt et al

Abstract:

Associated fragments of a maxilla and mandible of Theosodon hystatus Cabrera and Kraglievich (Macraucheniidae, Litopterna) from the late Miocene Arroyo Chasicó locality (Buenos Aires Province, Argentina) are described and taxonomically reinterpreted. The systematic arrangement is supported by the first phylogenetic analysis of the family. The holotype (MLP 29-IX-1-75) of T. hystatus was originally poorly described and its generic assignation was not fully justified. The comparison of MLP 29-IX-1-75 with Paranauchenia denticulata Ameghino from the ‘Mesopotamiense’ (lower member of the Ituzaingó Formation, Entre Ríos Province; late Miocene) shows significant morphological similarities that lead us to propose that T. hystatus belongs to the genus Paranauchenia Ameghino, resulting in the new combination Paranauchenia hystata. The phylogenetic analysis of Macraucheniidae supports this proposal because both taxa form a monophyletic clade, sharing one synapomorphy: metaconid of m2 lingually placed. This new taxonomic interpretation implies the geographic extension of Paranauchenia to Buenos Aires Province. The obtained phylogeny also corroborates the monophyly of Macraucheniidae, but not that of the currently considered subfamilies, because Cramaucheniinae is paraphyetic.

First Picture From India's Mangalyaan

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An Early Triassic Ichthyopterygian From Japan

An Early Triassic ichthyopterygian fossil from the Osawa Formation in Minamisanriku Town, Miyagi Prefecture, Japan

Authors:

TAKAHASHI et al

Abstract:

The Ichthyopterygia Owen 1840 is a remarkable group of Mesozoic marine reptiles with distinctive fish-shaped bodies. There are conflicting views on the taxonomic nomenclature of ichthyopterygians (e.g., Motani and McGowan, 2003; Maisch, 2010). In this study, we employed the phylogeny and nomenclature of McGowan and Motani (2003) in which the term Ichthyosauria refers to a derived clade within the Ichthyopterygia; according to this system, Utatsusaurus is a basal ichthyopterygian and not an ichthyosaurian. The phylogenetic relationships and systematics within the group have been analyzed in recent synthetic studies (e.g., Motani, 1999; Sander, 2000; McGowan and Motani, 2003; Maisch 2010), but a consensus is yet to be reached regarding the phylogenetic relationship with other reptiles (e.g., McGowan and Motani, 2003). More information on early ichthyopterygians is crucial to understand their origin. Ichthyopterygian fossil record extends from the Early Triassic Olenekian to the Late Cretaceous Cenomanian (Motani and McGowan, 2003). Early Triassic taxa have been reported from Europe, North America, and Asia (Table 1). Note that some species are represented by fragmentary specimens, whereas the ichthyopterygian affinity of a few taxa have been debated (e.g., Omphalosaurus and “Pessopteryx nisseri”; Motani, 2000, Sander and Faber 2003; McGowan and Motani, 2003; Dalla Vecchia, 2004; Maisch, 2010).

Permian–Triassic mass extinction affected the marine ecosystem seriously (Raup, 1979; Sepkoski, 1984), and the Paleozoic fauna was largely replaced by the modern fauna (Sepkoski, 1984). The occurrence of marine reptiles added a new trophic level of top predators in the Mesozoic marine ecosystem, and their radiation started in the Olenekian (Chen and Benton, 2012; Fröbisch et al., 2013). However, only a limited number of Early Triassic reptilian faunas actually document this process (e.g., Sulphur Mountain Formation in Canada, Vikinghøgda Formation in Norway, Nanlinghu Formation in China: see Table 1). The Osawa reptilian fauna is important in this regard as well.

In 2007, a partial skeleton of a reptile was discovered from the Lower Triassic Osawa Formation (Spathian or late Olenekian: Bando and Shimoyama, 1974; Bando and Ehiro, 1982), Inai Group, in Miyagi Prefecture, northeastern Japan (Fig. 1). This formation has yielded a number of articulated skeletons of the primitive ichthyopterygian Utatsusaurus hataii Shikama et al. 1978, which is one of the oldest animals secondarily adapted to life in open (Nakajima et al., in press). Apart from U. hataii, only two other vertebrate taxa, i.e., hybodontoid shark (Kato et al., 1995) and “Metanothosaurus nipponicus” Yabe and Shikama 1948, have been reported from the formation to science. The holotype and only specimen of the latter taxon has been missing, and the existing information is not sufficient to determine its taxonomic status (e.g., sauropterygian in Mazin [1986]; ichthyosaur and not sauropterygian in Rieppel [2000: 109]); hence this taxon is regarded as nomen dubium.

The new specimen was discovered at the base of the dark gray shale exposed along the coast in Minamisanriku Town in the northeastern corner of the Miyagi Prefecture. It was collected as a float but retained fresh surface. The locality is within 1 km from the holotype locality of Utatsusaurus hataii, and the horizon of the new specimen is correlated to the middle part of the formation and is within the stratigraphic range of Utatsusaurus (Shikama et al., 1978).

The Origin of Annelids

The origin of annelids

Authors:

Parry et al

Abstract:

Annelids are a phylum of segmented bilaterian animals that have become important components of ecosystems spanning terrestrial realms to the deep sea. Annelids are remarkably diverse, possessing high taxonomic diversity and exceptional morphological disparity, and have evolved numerous feeding strategies and ecologies. Their interrelationships and evolution have been the source of much controversy over the past century with the composition of the annelid crown group, the relationship of major groups and the body plan of the ancestral annelid having undergone major recent revisions. There is a convincing body of molecular evidence that polychaetes form a paraphyletic grade and that clitellates are derived polychaetes. The earliest stem group annelids from Cambrian Lagerstätten are errant, epibenthic polychaetes, confirming that biramous parapodia, head appendages and diverse, simple chaetae are primitive for annelids. Current evidence from molecular clocks and the fossil record suggest that crown group annelids are a Late Cambrian – Ordovician radiation, with clitellates radiating in the Late Palaeozoic. Their body fossil record is largely confined to deposits showing exceptional preservation and is punctuated by the acquisition of hard parts in major groups. The discovery of an Ordovician fossil with soft tissues has shown that machaeridians are in fact a clade of crown polychaetes. They were in existence for more than 200 million years and possess unique calcitic dorsal armour, allowing their mode of life and phylogeny to be interpreted in the context of the annelid body plan. We identify a novel clade of machaeridians, the Cuniculepadida, which exhibit a series of adaptations for burrowing.

The Environmental Impacts of Fracking Examined

Greenhouse gas emissions from the production and use of shale gas would be comparable to conventional natural gas, but the controversial energy source actually faired better than renewables on some environmental impacts, according to new research.

The UK holds enough shale gas to supply its entire gas demand for 470 years, promising to solve the country's energy crisis and end its reliance on fossil-fuel imports from unstable markets. But for many, including climate scientists and environmental groups, shale gas exploitation is viewed as environmentally dangerous and would result in the UK reneging on its greenhouse gas reduction obligations under the Climate Change Act.

University of Manchester scientists have now conducted one of the most thorough examinations of the likely environmental impacts of shale gas exploitation in the UK in a bid to inform the debate. Their research has just been published in the leading academic journal Applied Energy and study lead author, Professor Adisa Azapagic, will outline the findings at the Labour Party Conference in Manchester, England, today (Monday, 22 September).

"While exploration is currently ongoing in the UK, commercial extraction of shale gas has not yet begun, yet its potential has stirred controversy over its environmental impacts, its safety and the difficulty of justifying its use to a nation conscious of climate change," said Professor Azapagic.

"There are many unknowns in the debate surrounding shale gas, so we have attempted to address some of these unknowns by estimating its life cycle environmental impacts from 'cradle to grave'. We looked at 11 different impacts from the extraction of shale gas using hydraulic fracturing – known as 'fracking'– as well as from its processing and use to generate electricity."

The researchers compared shale gas to other fossil-fuel alternatives, such as conventional natural gas and coal, as well as low-carbon options, including nuclear, offshore wind and solar power (solar photovoltaics).

The results of the research suggest that the average emissions of greenhouse gases from shale gas over its entire life cycle are about 460 grams of carbon dioxide-equivalent per kilowatt-hour of electricity generated. This, the authors say, is comparable to the emissions from conventional natural gas. For most of the other life-cycle environmental impacts considered by the team, shale gas was also comparable to conventional natural gas.

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Modifications to China's J-31 Stealth Fighter

Is Europe Going to Follow Japan's Recent Economic Trajectory?

By now it should be clear that the monetary experiment currently being carried out in Japan (known as “Abenomics”) is fundamentally different from the kind of quantitative easing which was implemented in the United States and the United Kingdom during the global financial crisis. In the US and the UK QE was implemented in order to stabilize the financial system, while in Japan, and now the Euro Area (EA) the objective is to end deflationary pressures and reflate economies which are arguably caught in some form of liquidity trap.

In particular it is hard not to draw the conclusion that something structural and more long-term is taking place in Japan, and that that something is only tangentially related to the recent global financial crisis. One plausible explanation is that Japan’s long-lasting malaise is not simply a debt deflationary hangover from the bursting of a property bubble in 1992 but rather with the rapid population ageing the country has experienced. If this is the case then the ongoing economic stagnation in Europe may have a lot more to do with the Japan experience than it does with the recent economic dynamics seen in the UK and the US. The reason for this is simple: Europe’s population is the second oldest on the planet after Japan’s. Certainly at first sight the similarity is striking, especially when it comes to working age population dynamics.

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TEH AWESUM: If the Moon Were One Pixel...

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Ukraine: Russia Unhappy With Only Boiled Frog?

Fighting seems to continue in Debalsteve.

A Ukrainian Army helicopter was shotdown.  It was within the LNR, which is a bit...odd.

The Ukrainians still holding the wreckage of the Donetsk Airport.  Shelling by the rebels continues there.

There are reports of mass graves outside of Donetsk.  Both sides point at the other.

Ukraine's government has expressed a lot of doubt the cease fire will last.

The Russians are amping up their persecution of the Tatars.  They are accusing the Tatars of hoarding weapons and distributing extremist literature.  This will not end well.

The Russians have commenced another very large exercise.

The Russians have sent a letter to Ukraine stating if the EU treaty is implemented, they will cut off all trade with Ukraine.

The Russians are now starting to send MiG-31s on the air "raids" against the Western nations.  This is a significant departure from the past where they sent bombers and tankers only.  It seems they are giving their tankers and whatnot a long range escort. 

Finally, the Russians are supposed to be sending another aid convoy to eastern Ukraine.

Court Order Shuts Down Buttefly Labs Bitcoin Miner Company

A Kansas company that offered bitcoin-generating computers is being sued by the Federal Trade Commission, which said it bilked more than 20,000 consumers out of as much as $50 million.

The Leawood-based company, Butterfly Labs, failed to deliver the machines or sent worthless equipment, according to the FTC's complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Kansas City.

The court had issued a temporary restraining order that shut down the business, according to an FTC statement Tuesday, The Kansas City Star reported.

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The music seems appropriate...

A Review of International Treaty Obligations vs the ASTEROIDS Act

Given their desire to extract resources from asteroids, US space industry stakeholders seek assurances that whatever is extracted can be processed and sold like terrestrial resources. In order to encourage investment, these businesses need to know that outer space resources can be protected by property rights.

On July 10, 2014, Congressmen Bill Posey (R-FL) and Derek Kilmer (D-WA) introduced the ASTEROIDS Act.1 The Act seeks to facilitate the commercial exploration and utilization of asteroid resources to meet national needs and to promote the right of US commercial entities to explore and utilize resources from asteroids, in accordance with existing international obligations of the US.

On September 9, the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology, Subcommittee on Space, held a hearing titled, “Exploring Our Solar System: The ASTEROIDS Act as a Key Step.” The hearing addressed a host of topics, many of which were not germane to the Act. Fortunately, Joanne Gabrynowicz, Professor Emerita and former editor-in-chief of the University of Mississippi Journal of Space Law, offered testimony on the legal difficulties associated with crafting legislation for novel space activities. This article briefly explores some of these difficulties with a focus on international obligations that should be considered in an attempt to draft a law creating property rights over outer space resources.

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Robopocalyse Coming for the Cephalopods...Again

Humans, and the machines we make, are particularly unwieldy swimmers. Many types of fish can travel at speeds of up to 10 body lengths per second. By contrast, an Olympic swimmer manages no more than about one body length per second. And while nuclear submarines can travel at about 80 kilometres per hour, that translates into much less than half a body length per second.

This kind of performance has long fascinated marine engineers who would dearly love to match it. In particular, they have puzzled over the way certain sea creatures can accelerate from a standing start at rates of up to 120 metres per second squared. That’s 10g!

Among the creatures that demonstrate this extraordinary fast-start acceleration are the octopus, squid and certain jellyfish. Marine biologists have long observed these creatures’ ability to avoid prey by filling their bodies with water and squirting it out to generate propulsion. In this way, the octopus, for example, can accelerate at more than 10 body lengths per second squared.

hat gave Gabriel Weymouth at the University of Southampton and few pals an idea. Why not build their own robotic octopus capable of squirting in the same way and seeing whether it can match its natural cousins’ performance. The results are something of a surprise.

Their underwater robot is essentially a copy of an octopus’s head, which expands when it is filled with water and squirts it out through a nozzle at the rear. This robot has no tentacles but instead, the team fitted small fins to the rear to stabilise its movement through the water.

So the robot is roughly ellipsoidal in shape, measuring 27 centimetres in length and is 5 times longer than it is wide. It is created by stretching a rubber membrane over a set of polycarbonate ribs. Weymouth and co chose this shape because of its ability to glide many body lengths through water.

The team then filled the robot with water under pressure, causing the rubber membrane to expand into a bluff body shape that is particularly unsuited to gliding. Finally, they released the robot in a pool and filmed its progress through the water at a rate of 150 frames per second as water squirting through a rear-facing nozzle propelled it along.

The results are extraordinary. As the water starts to squirt out of the nozzle, the robot begins to accelerate. However, it moves little during the first half second or so since its bluff body shape prevents efficient progress.

But then, as the robot shrinks, it accelerates rapidly. And here’s the thing: Weymouth and co say that its maximum acceleration is 14 body lengths per second squared and that it reaches speeds of 10 body lengths per second.

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Second Hand F-16 Fighters Might end up in China

Ma Zhiping, the general manager of China National Aero-Technology Import & Export Corporation, said in an article in China Aviation News that as F-16s are being decommissioned world wide, refurbished Fighting Falcons could be sold to China’s traditional markets.

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South Korea Moves Ahead With Procuring 40 F-35s

South Korea has approved a deal to acquire 40 Lockheed Martin F-35 Joint Strike Fighters for about KRW7.3 trillion (USD7.1 billion).

The Defense Acquisition Program Executive Committee headed by Minister of National Defense Han Min-gu approved the signing of a letter of offer and acceptance at a meeting in Seoul on 24 September.

Deliveries to South Korea of the F-35A - the conventional take-off and landing variant - will start in 2018, according to a statement by Lieutenant General Chris Bogdan, Program Executive Officer for the F-35 Lightning II Joint Program Office.

"[South] Korea becomes the third Foreign Military Sales customer joining Israel, Japan, and our eight partner nations on the programme," Lt Gen Bogdan added. "This is a good day for the F-35 programme and we look forward to working with the Republic of Korea government in executing its F-35 programme."

The F-35A will fulfil the Republic of Korea Air Force's (RoKAF's) FX-III requirement, under which Seoul originally planned to buy 60 aircraft to replace 1970s-era McDonnell Douglas F-4E Phantom IIs. The original estimate quoted for 60 F-35As was USD10.8 billion, one reason why the RoKAF approved a reduced fleet of 40 aircraft.

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Expectations for the Procurement and Deployment of 5th Generation Fighters

The entry into service of the US F-22 Raptor in 2005 marked the unofficial arrival of the era of the fifth-generation fighter. In the coming years, as the American F-35 Lightning II and foreign competitors such as the Sukhoi T-50 and Chengdu J-20 enter the market, the fifth-generation fighter will become an important element of the global fighter market. With revolutionary advancements such as reduction of radar and infrared visibility and supersonic cruise capability, fifth-generation combat aircraft will provide an impressive boost to any nation’s air force.

However, according to analysis by IHS, the development and deployment of fifth-generation fighters is accompanied by various costs.

Between the significant procurement price and the particular set of missions for which such aircraft are suited, nations with limited budgets for defense spending should carefully think through their options before committing to purchase these next-generation aircraft.

As with most complex procurement decisions, a number of factors will define the market size and direction; in some cases, less expensive and older aircraft – including retrofitted models and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) – may constitute a more sensible choice.

Already, expectations for purchases of fifth-generations have fallen. Original projections were for around 5,000 of these advanced planes to enter service. So far, only 430 – or less than one-tenth – of the expected total have been committed to or paid for by various countries. While many more are expected to be purchased in the coming years, demand has a long way to go before it fulfills the original projection.

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Blame it on the Rain: Mean Annual Precipitation Explains North American Cenozoic Mammal Diversity

Mean Annual Precipitation Explains Spatiotemporal Patterns of Cenozoic Mammal Beta Diversity and Latitudinal Diversity Gradients in North America

Authors:

Fraser et al

Abstract:

Spatial diversity patterns are thought to be driven by climate-mediated processes. However, temporal patterns of community composition remain poorly studied. We provide two complementary analyses of North American mammal diversity, using (i) a paleontological dataset (2077 localities with 2493 taxon occurrences) spanning 21 discrete subdivisions of the Cenozoic based on North American Land Mammal Ages (36 Ma – present), and (ii) climate space model predictions for 744 extant mammals under eight scenarios of future climate change. Spatial variation in fossil mammal community structure (β diversity) is highest at intermediate values of continental mean annual precipitation (MAP) estimated from paleosols (~450 mm/year) and declines under both wetter and drier conditions, reflecting diversity patterns of modern mammals. Latitudinal gradients in community change (latitudinal turnover gradients, aka LTGs) increase in strength through the Cenozoic, but also show a cyclical pattern that is significantly explained by MAP. In general, LTGs are weakest when continental MAP is highest, similar to modern tropical ecosystems in which latitudinal diversity gradients are weak or undetectable. Projections under modeled climate change show no substantial change in β diversity or LTG strength for North American mammals. Our results suggest that similar climate-mediated mechanisms might drive spatial and temporal patterns of community composition in both fossil and extant mammals. We also provide empirical evidence that the ecological processes on which climate space models are based are insufficient for accurately forecasting long-term mammalian response to anthropogenic climate change and inclusion of historical parameters may be essential.

Simulating Titan's Organic Haze Creates Prebiotic Microstructures

Surface-active substances in a laboratory simulated Titan's organic haze: Prebiotic microstructures

Authors:

Jagota et al

Abstract:

Titan, the largest satellite of Saturn, is a key planetary body for astrobiological studies due to its active organic chemistry, hydrocarbon lakes and possible subsurface water-ammonia liquids. We have investigated the physicochemical properties of organic compounds synthesized in a simulated Titan atmosphere. A laboratory analogue of Titan's aerosols, called tholin, was produced by irradiation of a nitrogen/methane gas mixture. The primary aim was to determine whether tholin represent possible sources of surface-active substances that could have been involved in the formation of prebiotic structures. A tholin sample was extracted with chloroform-methanol and the chloroform soluble material was separated by two-dimensional thin layer chromatography. Fluorescence excited by UV light was used to identify the major components on the plates. After being scraped from the TLC plate, the components were eluted as specific fractions and investigated by surface chemical methods, FTIR, scanning electron microscopy and cyclic voltammetry. Fractions 1 and 2 were strongly fluorescent and surface active, producing films at air-water interfaces. When exposed to aqueous phases, components in fraction 1 form spherical microstructures resembling prebionts. The prebionts are precursor structures that might have evolved into the first living cells.

Chimpanzees are Just Inherently Violent

Of all of the world's species, humans and chimpanzees are some of the only to engage in coordinated attacks on other members of their same species. Jane Goodall was among the first to introduce the occurrence of lethal inter-community killings and since then primatologists and anthropologists have long debated the concept of warfare in this genus. Research theories have pointed to increased gains and benefits of killing off competitors and opening up increased access to key resources such as food or mates. In contrast, others have argued that warfare is a result of human impact on chimpanzees, such as habitat destruction or food provisioning, rather than adaptive strategies.

New research from an international coalition of ape researchers, published September 18 in the journal Nature, has shed new light on the subject, suggesting that human encroachment and interference is not, as previous researchers have claimed, an influential predictor of chimp-on-chimp aggression.

The study began as a response to a growing number of commentators claiming that chimpanzee violence was caused by human impacts. "This is an important question to get right. If we are using chimpanzees as a model for understanding human violence, we need to know what really causes chimpanzees to be violent," said University of Minnesota researcher Michael L. Wilson, lead author on the study.

"Humans have long impacted African tropical forests and chimpanzees, and one of the long-standing questions is if human disturbance is an underlying factor causing the lethal aggression observed," explained co-author David Morgan, PhD, research fellow with the Lester E Fisher Center for the Study and Conservation of Apes at Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago. Morgan has studied chimpanzees deep in the forests of Republic of Congo for 14 years. "A key take-away from this research is that human influence does not spur increased aggression within or between chimpanzee communities."

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Embrithopod Palaeoamasia Evidence From Paleogene Anatolia

Latest evidence of Palaeoamasia (Mammalia, Embrithopoda) in Turkish Anatolia

Authors:

Sanders et al

Abstract:

Geological investigation of the Boyabat Basin in north-central Anatolia, Turkey, yielded palaeoamasid (Embrithopoda, Mammalia) gnathodental fossil specimens from two localities dated to the Eocene–Oligocene transition. These specimens include an upper incisor (BOY-1) and maxillary fragment preserving M2–M3 (BOY-2), and are geologically the youngest embrithopods known from Eurasia. The maxillary specimen is taxonomically more useful and, among embrithopods preserving the same molars, is most similar to the late Paleocene–middle Eocene Turkish palaeoamasid Palaeoamasia kansui. However, the new specimens are cautiously classified as Palaeoamasia, sp. nov., based on distinctions between BOY-2 and P. kansui in M3 morphology. Features distinguishing the M3 in BOY-2 are intermediate between those of P. kansui and the more derived Afro-Arabian arsinoitheriid embrithopods Arsinoitherium spp. and Namatherium blackcrowense, although the new Turkish specimens are stratigraphically too young to be ancestral to these middle Eocene–late Oligocene arsinoitheriids. Salient differences in dental and gnathic morphology between contemporaneous Eurasian and Afro-Arabian embrithopods indicate long, separate phylogenetic trajectories for these taxa, supporting the view that they are divisible at the family level into Palaeoamasidae and Arsinoitheriidae, respectively. Improved documentation of the lengthy paleogeographic separation of palaeoamasids and arsinoitheriids confirms that Afro-Arabia was sufficiently isolated from Eurasia during the Paleogene to limit embrithopods to rare sweepstakes dispersal between these landmasses.

HUZZAH! India's Mangalyaan Beats China, Japan (Even Russia's Return) to Mars!!!

Indians woke up Sept. 24 to see their country’s first interplanetary probe successfully go into orbit around Mars, an anxiously awaited event that had grabbed much media attention.

The Mars Orbiter Mission spacecraft built by the Indian Space Research Organisation entered Mars orbit at 7:47 a.m. local time. Also known as Mangalyaan, the probe was the second visitor to reach the red planet in less than a week, the first being NASA’s Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution mission.

“You have made history today and made the nation proud,” an excited Prime Minister Narendra Modi told ISRO scientists after watching the crucial operation leading to Mangalyaan’s capture by Mars from the mission control center near Bangalore. In an address telecast live from mission control, Modi congratulated the entire ISRO team and urged them to aim for “even more challenging goals.”

Modi noted that the mission is the first Mars orbiter launched by an Asian nation and was developed in a relatively short time frame — 15 months — at a cost of less than what it takes to make some Hollywood movies.

The Mangalyaan spacecraft was launched Nov. 5 by India’s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota in the eastern coast 80 kilometers north of Chennai. After a nearly 10-month journey covering some 680 million kilometers, the probe arrived within Mars’ zone of influence Sept. 22 as scheduled to carry out the final operation that would put it into orbit.

At 7:17 a.m. Sep. 24 the spacecraft fired its main onboard engine together with eight smaller attitude control thrusters for 24 minutes. ISRO confirmed the successful burn and orbit insertion around 8 a.m.

In a statement released later, ISRO said Mangalyan was in a highly elliptical orbit with a perigee of 421.7 kilometers and an apogee of 76,993.6 kilometers. The orbital inclination is 150 degrees, with a period of just under 73 hours.

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Awesome job, folks!  Congratulations!  Welcome to a very exclusive club.

Evidence of Warm Ocean Water at High Latitudes of Pangaea During the Moscovian/Sakmarian Carboniferous

Paleobiology and paleoecology of Palaeoaplysina and Eopalaeoaplysina new genus in Arctic Canada

Authors:

Anderson et al

Abstract:

Palaeoaplysina is an enigmatic platy macrofossil with a cellular skeleton and internal canal system common to upper Carboniferous–lower Permian reefs of the northern hemisphere. Its rapid flourishing from the Moscovian and subsequent extinction near the end of the Sakmarian, as well as its unique combination of physical features, are poorly understood. In addition to Palaeoaplysina reefs forming major petroleum exploration targets in Russia, Palaeoaplysina is abundant and well preserved in the Sverdrup Basin in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. A new genus of Palaeoaplysinaceae, Eopalaeoaplysina n. gen., is also widespread in the Sverdrup Basin and identified based on a simple morphology with broad canals distributed in roughly even rows. The distribution of paleoaplysinids in strata from the Moscovian to the Sakmarian in the Sverdrup Basin reveals Eopalaeoaplysina and Palaeoaplysina represent two distinct reef-building forms with an increase in complexity over time. The aragonitic composition of Palaeoaplysina, in addition to its distribution within the photic zone and differentiated cellular skeleton, suggests paleoaplysinids were ancestral red algae. Palaeoaplysina occurs in both low-energy back-reef and higher-energy reef front facies. Preserved thin edges of Palaeoaplysina plates indicate it was encrusting, at least in low-energy conditions. The exclusion of Palaeoaplysina from the late Paleozoic tropics and the southern hemisphere, its rapid appearance and proliferation, and its eventual extinction may point towards an evolutionary niche optimized for warm-water conditions at unusually high latitudes along the western margin of Pangea.

Evidence of a Rhyacian PaleoProterozoic Volcanic Island Arc In Ghana

Geochemistry and Geochronology of Paleoproterozoic Granites from the Lawra Volcanic Belt; Northwestern Ghana: Constraints on Petrogenesis and Geologic Implications

Authors:

Asamoah Sakyia et al

Abstract:

Paleoproterozoic Birimian granitoid rocks from the Lawra volcanic belt of northwestern Ghana have been analyzed for their major, trace, REE concentrations and their zircon U-Pb age. Based on the mineral assemblages, the calc-alkaline, metaluminous to weakly peraluminous I-type granitoids were classified as: (1) gneissic biotite granite, (2) hornblende granodiorite, (3) biotite granite, (4) two-mica granite and (5) pyroxene hornblende gneiss. The high LaN/YbN (∼4-146) values of the granitoids, characterized by enriched LREE pattern and flat to depleted HREE pattern ((Dy/Yb)N = 0.95-3.47), is typical of rocks derived from an evolved magma or partial melting of the depleted mantle. Similarly, the slightly negative Sr- and Eu-anomalies indicate varying degrees of plagioclase fractionation. Their high but varying SiO2 contents (58.1-76.1 wt. %), K2O/Na2O ratios (0.17-1.2) and (FeO + Fe2O3)/MgO ratios (0.98-4.02), and low Ce and Ti suggest that they are volcanic arc granites (VAG). The granitoids have zircon U-Pb ages between 2130.8 ± 9.5 Ma and 2213 ± 76 Ma, and preclude the contamination of the juvenile Birimian crust by notable amounts of reworked Archean crustal material. However, these ages spanning ∼81 Ma were recorded by all the rock types in the study area, with no distinct age difference among them. Accordingly, the area could be described as an undifferentiated terrain that experienced erratic emplacement of pulses of granitic magma during the period. Furthermore, the oldest ages of 2211 Ma and 2213 Ma obtained for the first time in this study suggest that the emplacement of Birimian granitoids in Ghana may have commenced much earlier than previously reported in the literature. The results demonstrate the juvenile character of the granitoid rocks. We therefore infer that the Birimian granitoids of the Lawra volcanic belt formed from large-scale crustal growth process with large amounts of juvenile crust formed from the depleted mantle in an island arc environment