IMF Accepting Chinese Yuan as Reserve Currency

Even as the International Monetary Fund prepares to accept China's yuan in its basket of reserve currencies, a major diplomatic victory for Beijing's campaign to internationalize the currency, foreign companies are growing more skeptical.

Thanks to recent reforms in China and the endorsement of key European governments, including Britain during a visit by President Xi Jinping last month, the yuan looks increasingly likely to find its way into the IMF reserve basket, known as Strategic Drawing Rights (SDR).

The IMF seal of approval would come on top of other diplomatic coups: European endorsement of Beijing's new regional development bank, another channel for pushing the yuan outwards, and the recent announcement of a trading platform for yuan-denominated financial products in Germany.

"It's a big step for the RMB's internationalization if the currency is included (in the IMF basket)," said an executive at a Chinese multinational in Hong Kong, who said he expects the move would make his foreign counterparties more willing to settle transactions in yuan.

So far this year, however, the willingness of foreigners to hold offshore yuan (CNH) has flagged as China cuts interest rates and the United States prepares to raise them.

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Teleportation of Quantum Entanglement Over 143 km

Teleportation of entanglement over 143 km

Authors:

Herbst et al

Abstract:

As a direct consequence of the no-cloning theorem, the deterministic amplification as in classical communication is impossible for unknown quantum states. This calls for more advanced techniques in a future global quantum network, e.g., for cloud quantum computing. A unique solution is the teleportation of an entangled state, i.e., entanglement swapping, representing the central resource to relay entanglement between distant nodes. Together with entanglement purification and a quantum memory it constitutes a so-called quantum repeater. Since the aforementioned building blocks have been individually demonstrated in laboratory setups only, the applicability of the required technology in real-world scenarios remained to be proven. Here we present a free-space entanglement-swapping experiment between the Canary Islands of La Palma and Tenerife, verifying the presence of quantum entanglement between two previously independent photons separated by 143 km. We obtained an expectation value for the entanglement-witness operator, more than 6 SDs beyond the classical limit. By consecutive generation of the two required photon pairs and space-like separation of the relevant measurement events, we also showed the feasibility of the swapping protocol in a long-distance scenario, where the independence of the nodes is highly demanded. Because our results already allow for efficient implementation of entanglement purification, we anticipate our research to lay the ground for a fully fledged quantum repeater over a realistic high-loss and even turbulent quantum channel.

Neptune's Internal Temperature NOT Caused by Centaur Impacts

Assessing the contribution of centaur impacts to ice giant luminosities

Author:

Dodson-Robinson et al

Abstract:

Voyager 2 observations revealed that Neptune’s internal luminosity is an order of magnitude higher than that of Uranus. If the two planets have similar interior structures and cooling histories, Neptune’s luminosity can only be explained by invoking some energy source beyond gravitational contraction. This paper investigates whether centaur impacts could provide the energy necessary to produce Neptune’s luminosity. The major findings are (1) that impacts on both Uranus and Neptune are too infrequent to provide luminosities of order Neptune’s observed value, even for optimistic impact-rate estimates and (2) that Uranus and Neptune rarely have significantly different impact-generated luminosities at any given time. Uranus and Neptune most likely have structural differences that force them to cool and contract at different rates.

British Electric Supercar Maker has Started Manufacturing SP:01 Roadster

Detroit Electric has announced that the first SP:01 battery-electric sports roadster has rolled off the assembly line, now located nowhere near Detroit. Today, the company is based in the United Kingdom and is aiming for sales in the European and Asian markets. It's taken pre-orders and is soon to begin shipping to fill those.

Billed as the world’s fastest two-seat electric car, the SP:01 is impressive and, by all accounts, picks up where the Tesla Roadster left off. When it was first announced in its final form, which we covered previously, the Detroit Electric SP:01 was something of a dream. Although steadily working towards reality, the numbers underneath this Lotus body are phenomenal.

The two-seat roadster has a stated 0-60 mph time of just 3.7 seconds, doing 0-100 km/h in only 3.9 seconds. Its top speed is 155 mph (249 km/h). It does all of this thanks to the massive output of a 285 horsepower (210 kW) electric motor with 280 Nm (207 lb-ft) of maximum torque through a single-speed automatic transmission. A twin-speed automatic or even a six-speed manual transmission are also available.

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Tesla to Deliver up to 2,000 More Electic Cars by Year's End Than Originally Planned

If you're on the waiting list for a new Tesla, you may get it sooner than you thought.

Tesla Motors said Tuesday that it plans to build 15,000 to 17,000 of its Model S and Model X electric cars before the end of the year, and deliver 17,000 to 19,000 by then. That puts the company on track for 50,000 to 52,000 deliveries in 2015.

While that total would fall at the low end of a revised forecast Tesla gave in August, it seemed to please investors, who sent shares up 10 percent in after-hours trading.

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GAO to USMC: Rushing Armored Vehicle (ACV) Development can be Costly Later

The Marine Corps' plan to fast track the development of its next-generation amphibious vehicle could mean some design and mechanical problems might not emerge until after the first systems hit the fleet, according to a government watchdog agency.

As the Marine Corps prepares this month to select two competitors to produce prototypes of its Amphibious Combat Vehicle 1.1, the Government Accountability Office commended the service for following best practices tied to major acquisition programs. But the GAO is also warning Marine officials to keep an eye on two key points.

Developing the first round of ACVs before the preliminary design review is complete “poses risk,” the Oct. 28 report states. That could result in costly modifications down the road.

The service's plan to combine preliminary and critical design reviews into one event — just 90 days after development begins — leaves too little time to address issues, the report states. GAO officials cited the canceled Expeditionary Fighting Vehicle program as an example of what the Marine Corps should not repeat. The EFV's critical design review was conducted at a similar stage, but prototype testing continued for three years — long after the findings could inform the design. After 15 years, the $3.7 billion program was deemed too expensive to maintain.

“If the ACV 1.1 does not demonstrate the expected amphibious capabilities, then more development than currently anticipated may be required for ACV 1.2 to achieve ship-to-shore amphibious capability and greater effort may be needed to retrofit ACV 1.1 vehicles to achieve the same capabilities,” the report said.

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document link.

Congress Concerned by Aircraft Carrier 'Gap'

There is no US carrier operating today in the Middle East, a situation that is the product of several years of high-tempo operations and the need to catch up on major maintenance put off to sustain that pace. Carriers have been absent from Central Command’s operating area before – the last time was in 2007 – but this particular gap has caught a lot of people’s attention, even more so as the Navy has warned that another gap will occur in 2016 in the Pacific operating area.

The US Navy is also unable to meet its commitment to field two carrier strike groups, with another three able to surge and deploy should the need arise. Even if sequestration cuts are reversed and full funding is restored, service leaders have said it would be at least 2018 before the Navy would be able to regain those operational readiness levels.

“Gaps in carrier coverage threaten to undermine both the US ability to deter conflict and respond to crises,” Rep. Randy Forbes, R-Virginia and chairman of the House Seapower and Projection Forces subcommittee, said Tuesday during a hearing on the carrier situation. Members of the House Subcommittee on Readiness joined with Seapower members in the hearing.

And even as Sean Stackley, the Navy’s top acquisition official, acknowledged that the carrier “is at the very core of our maritime strategy,” he and a panel of admirals provided detailed testimony why shortages will continue, and why the fleet will remain at 10 ships for the time being, rather than the 11-ship fleet mandated by Congress.

“We require 11, today we have 10,” Stackley said. “We have more in depot maintenance today than we would normally have under a stable operational cycle. So we have a shortfall in our ability to generate the forces we need.”

Exacerbating the effort to restore the 11-ship fleet are delays in getting the new carrier Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78) to sea. The ship, which will be delivered and commissioned in 2016 as the first of a new carrier design, was to have made its first deployment in 2019 after extensive tests and training. But the Pentagon decided in early August to acquiesce to the urging of Michael Gilmore, director of the Office of Test and Evaluation, and carry out shock tests on the Ford rather than wait, as the Navy had planned, to perform the tests on a later ship in the class.

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Lockheed Martin Wins $4.6 Million for Development of Maritime Canister-launched Vector Hawk UAV

Lockheed Martin was awarded a $4.6 million contract for the continued development of a maritime canister-launched small Unmanned Aircraft System (sUAS).

“We are extending our sUAS capabilities to tactical maritime users with the Vector Hawk’s innovative canister deployment and launch ability,” said Jay McConville, Lockheed Martin director of business development for Unmanned Solutions.

Lockheed Martin is currently working on a re-configurable version of the collapsible wing Vector Hawk. The Vector Hawk design is well suited to support a man packable all in one solution that includes: a fixed-wing aircraft for standard and long endurance missions; a collapsible fixed-wing aircraft that can be launched from a tube from land or water; a vertical takeoff and landing aircraft; and a tilt-rotor enabling VTOL with transition to forward flight.

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Watch the MIT Drone 'Sense and Avoid' Autonomously at 30 mph

Mammalian Body Size Shrinks as the Climate Temperature Rises

To unravel the link between past climates and animal faunas requires an exceptional fossil record. Chew, an associate professor at Western University of Health Sciences, California, used fossils from the Bighorn Basin of Wyoming, a nearly complete record of around 5 million years of mammalian evolution, to study responses of mammal communities through time. "The Bighorn Basin fossil record, particularly from this part of the basin, is one of the best early Cenozoic terrestrial records in the world." remarks Chew. "My colleagues have been assembling the fossil samples on which this work is based for more than 30 years. Their efforts have produced a superb, highly resolved, thoroughly studied record that is unparalleled. This record allows us to examine more sophisticated questions about faunal response to climate and environmental change than was previously possible."

Information on past climate in the Bighorn basin comes from the structure of carbon atoms, known as isotopes, preserved in the rock. This technique revealed three global warming events. The first occurred 55 million years ago, and has been previously linked to decreasing body-size. However, data from the next two events, occurring two million years later, is required to test if this forms part of a larger evolutionary pattern. "No other terrestrial record exists with the density of fossils necessary to test faunal response to the later hyperthermals [climatic warming]. The central Bighorn Basin record essentially documents a set of repeated, natural experiments in climate warming." Chew explains.

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Pliobates cataloniae: new Gibbon-like Hominoid From Miocene Neogene Spain

Miocene small-bodied ape from Eurasia sheds light on hominoid evolution

Authors:

Alba et al

Abstract:

INTRODUCTION

Reconstructing the ancestral morphotype from which extant hominoids (apes and humans) evolved is complicated by the mosaic nature of ape evolution, the confounding effects of independently evolved features (homoplasy), and the virtual lack of hylobatids (gibbons and siamangs) in the Miocene fossil record. For several decades, small-bodied anthropoid primates from Africa and Eurasia have not played an important role in this debate, because they generally lack the shared derived features of extant catarrhines (hominoids and Old World monkeys) and are thus considered to precede their divergence. Even some small-bodied catarrhines from Africa (dendropithecids), considered to be stem hominoids by some authors, are viewed as more primitive than the larger-bodied stem ape Proconsul. This has led to the assumption that hylobatids are a dwarfed lineage that evolved from a larger-bodied and more great ape–like common ancestor with hominids (great apes and humans).

RATIONALE

Here we describe a new genus of small-bodied (4 to 5 kg) ape from the Miocene (11.6 Ma), discovered in the Abocador de Can Mata stratigraphic series (Vallès-Penedès Basin, northeast Iberian Peninsula), that challenges current views on the last common ancestor of extant hominoids. This genus is based on a partial skeleton that enables a reliable reconstruction of cranial morphology and a detailed assessment of elbow and wrist anatomy. It exhibits a mosaic of primitive (stem catarrhine–like) and derived (extant hominoid–like) features that forces us to reevaluate the role played by small-bodied catarrhines in ape evolution.

RESULTS

The new genus retains some features that are suggestive of generalized above-branch quadrupedalism, but it possesses more extensive hominoid-like postcranial features (mostly related to enhanced forearm rotation and ulnar deviation capabilities) than those convergently displayed by atelids. Its overall body plan is more compatible with an emphasis on cautious and eclectic climbing, combined with some degree of below-branch forelimb-dominated suspension (although less acrobatic than in extant gibbons). Its relative brain size implies a monkey-like degree of encephalization (similar to that of hylobatids but below that of great apes), and dental microwear indicates a frugivorous diet. From a phylogenetic viewpoint, the new genus combines craniodental and postcranial primitive features (similar to those of dendropithecids) with multiple derived cranial and postcranial features shared with extant hominoids. Some cranial similarities with gibbons would support a closer phylogenetic link between the new genus and hylobatids. However, this possibility is not supported by the total evidence. A cladistic analysis based on more than 300 craniodental and postcranial features reveals that the new genus is a stem hominoid (preceding the divergence between hylobatids and hominids), although more derived than previously known small catarrhines and Proconsul.

CONCLUSION

As the first known Miocene small-bodied catarrhine to share abundant derived features with extant hominoids, the new genus indicates a greater morphological diversity than previously recognized among this heterogeneous group, and it provides key insight into the last common ancestor of hylobatids and hominids. Our cladistic results, coupled with the chronology and location of the new genus, suggest that it represents a late-surviving offshoot of a small African stem hominoid that is more closely related to crown hominoids than Proconsul is. These results suggest that, at least in size and cranial morphology, the last common ancestor of extant hominoids might have been more gibbon-like (less great ape–like) than generally assumed.

Russia's Most Syrian Adventure #26

The Pentagon now disputes the interaction of one fighter counts as an exercise with the Russians in Syria.  It was a 3 minute long 'test' instead.

A Touch of Autumn

Cimoliopterus dunni: a new Toothed Pterosaur From Cenomanian Cretaceous Texas

First North American occurrence of the toothed pteranodontoid pterosaur Cimoliopterus

Author:

Myers

Abstract:

A new pterosaur species, Cimoliopterus dunni, sp. nov., is described based on a partial rostrum from the upper Cenomanian Britton Formation in the Eagle Ford Group of north-central Texas. The holotype preserves alveoli for a minimum of 26 upper teeth and bears a thin premaxillary crest that begins above the fourth pair of alveoli. The rostrum, characterized by a slight lateral flare, lacks the pronounced lateral expansion found in ornithocheirids and anhanguerids. The tip of the snout is small and blunt, and the anterior face of the rostrum is oriented posteroventrally, forming an approximately 45° angle with the anterior portion of the palate. The anteroventrally oriented first pair of alveoli is directed more ventrally than anteriorly. Phylogenetic analysis suggests that Cimoliopterus dunni and Cimoliopterus cuvieri, from the Cenomanian Grey Chalk Subgroup in Kent, England, are basal pteranodontoids that are closely related to Aetodactylus halli from the middle Cenomanian Tarrant Formation of north Texas. Cimoliopterus dunni marks only the second known occurrence of Cimoliopterus, extending its geographic range from Europe to North America. In conjunction with Coloborhynchus wadleighi from the upper Albian Pawpaw Formation, Cimoliopterus dunni provides unambiguous evidence of biogeographic linkages between the pterosaur faunas of North America and Europe in the middle Cretaceous.

A new Emydopoid Dicynodont From Upper Permian Tanzania

Distinctive emydopoid dicynodont (Therapsida, Anomodontia) mandibles from the Permian Ruhuhu and Usili formations (Songea Group), Ruhuhu Basin, Tanzania

Authors:

Angielczyk et al

Abstract:

Dicynodont therapsids were discovered in the Permian Usili Formation (Ruhuhu Basin, Tanzania) in the 1930s and in the Permian Ruhuhu Formation in the 1960s, with further collections being made in 2007, 2008, and 2012. Here we describe two fragmentary mandibles that represent a new morphotype of emydopoid dicynodont. One specimen was collected in the middle fossiliferous horizon of the Ruhuhu Formation, and the other originated in the overlying Usili Formation. Three synapomorphies support the placement of these specimens in the emydopoid subclade Kingoriidae: mandibular fenestra occluded by the dentary; curved ridge that follows the profile of the symphysis present on the edge between the anterior and lateral surfaces of the dentary; and posterior dentary sulcus absent. The specimens may represent a new dicynodont species, a previously known species for which mandibular material was unknown, or an intraspecific variant of Dicynodontoides nowacki. Regardless of which of these options is correct, the specimens constitute the first taxon with a stratigraphic range extending from the likely middle Permian middle fossiliferous horizon of the Ruhuhu Formation into the late Permian Usili Formation. They also improve our understanding of the middle Ruhuhu tetrapod fauna, which previously consisted only of Endothiodon tolani.

Finland Preparing Guaranteed Minimum Income Program

The Finnish Social Insurance Institution is to begin drawing up plans for a citizens' basic income model. The preparation's director Olli Kangas says that full-fledged basic income would net Finns some 800 euros a month.

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We're Doomed: Coal Demand Remains High in Asia, Preferred Over Natural Gas?

The shine is coming off once bright prospects for natural gas as the future fossil fuel of choice in Asia as power companies in India and Southeast Asia tap abundant and cheap domestic coal resources to generate electricity.

Asian loyalty to coal is shrinking the space available for natural gas just as supplies are ramping up after massive investments in U.S. and Australian output. Demand growth for natural gas is also slowing in top energy consumer China, further dampening the fuel's prospects.

While much attention has been given to a potential peak in China's coal demand and worries about emissions, in Asia alone this year power companies are building more than 500 coal-fired plants, with at least a thousand more on planning boards. Coal is not only cheaper than natural gas, it is often available locally and has no heavy import costs.

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Seoul is Planning Vertical Farms

Seoul City Hall is planning to introduce “vertical farms.”

The farms would be three stories high, with vegetables and crops grown on the second and third floors, while the first floor would serve as a classroom for teaching agriculture, city officials said Tuesday.

The farms will be computer controlled to provide the right light, temperature and humidity, and check carbon dioxide levels.

The western district of Yangcheon will be home to the first farms.

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The Solar System Probably did NOT Have Another Gas Giant

TILTING SATURN WITHOUT TILTING JUPITER: CONSTRAINTS ON GIANT PLANET MIGRATION

Authors:

Brasser et al

Abstract:

The migration and encounter histories of the giant planets in our solar system can be constrained by the obliquities of Jupiter and Saturn. We have performed secular simulations with imposed migration and N-body simulations with planetesimals to study the expected obliquity distribution of migrating planets with initial conditions resembling those of the smooth migration model, the resonant Nice model and two models with five giant planets initially in resonance (one compact and one loose configuration). For smooth migration, the secular spin–orbit resonance mechanism can tilt Saturn's spin axis to the current obliquity if the product of the migration timescale and the orbital inclinations is sufficiently large (exceeding 30 Myr deg). For the resonant Nice model with imposed migration, it is difficult to reproduce today's obliquity values, because the compactness of the initial system raises the frequency that tilts Saturn above the spin precession frequency of Jupiter, causing a Jupiter spin–orbit resonance crossing. Migration timescales sufficiently long to tilt Saturn generally suffice to tilt Jupiter more than is observed. The full N-body simulations tell a somewhat different story, with Jupiter generally being tilted as often as Saturn, but on average having a higher obliquity. The main obstacle is the final orbital spacing of the giant planets, coupled with the tail of Neptune's migration. The resonant Nice case is barely able to simultaneously reproduce the orbital and spin properties of the giant planets, with a probability $\sim 0.15\%.$ The loose five planet model is unable to match all our constraints (probability less than 0.08%). The compact five planet model has the highest chance of matching the orbital and obliquity constraints simultaneously (probability ~0.3%).

Poll Update: Clinton Leads Sanders ~2:1, Carson Surpasses Trump Nationally

Nationally for the Democrats:

Democratic presidential race

• Clinton - 62%
• Sanders - 31%
• O'Malley - 3%

Nationally for the Republicans:

Republican presidential race

• Carson - 29%
• Trump - 23%
• Rubio - 11%
• Cruz - 10%
• Bush - 8%.

But not in New Hampshire:

New Hampshire GOP presidential race

• Trump - 26%
• Carson - 16%
• Rubio - 13%
• Kasich - 11%
• Cruz - 9%
• Bush - 7%
• Fiorina - 5%
• Christie - 5%
• Paul - 3%
• Huckabee - 1%

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So we begin the countdown to dropping Bush in the political chipper.  Paul probably will go as will some of the others soon.

The Haderach-Caprican Drone Wars: the Game of Drones Wargame by a Think Tank

The Haderach militants were in a tight spot. They were dispersed throughout towns in southern Caprica and were under assault by the powerful Caprican military.

The Haderach leaders, who were based out of neighboring city of Kobol, ordered the militant cells to maintain pressure on the Caprican government and safeguard the towns that sympathized with the rebels. They deployed their large stockpile of unguided rockets to tie up Caprican air defenses and launched medium-range Ababil and Mohajer drones to identify vulnerable targets within Caprican cities, followed by guided rockets.

Having made their move, the members of the Haderach team sat back in the stark classroom at the National Defense University, and waited to hear the results from the game officials.

The Caprican-Haderach contest was not in fact taking place in a distant land or on one of Frank Herbert’s planets in Dune, as the names of the actors might suggest. It was one scenario in a two-day war game organized by the Center for a New American Security, a national security think tank in Washington, DC.

The “Game of Drones” was designed to explore the different ways that drones could be used for tactical and strategic effect in a conflict.

The summit sought to address whether shooting down a drone might escalate tensions between countries or whether drones changed the character of a conflict by giving actors capabilities they didn’t have before. As more and more state and non-state actors acquire drones, the war game illustrated how drones could be used in creative ways to further political or military objectives.

“One of the things that we see with new technologies like drones, is that the marginal utility for that platform is much higher for weaker actors than strong actors,” Ben Fitzgerald, a senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security and one of the organizers of the war game, said afterward. “For non-state actors, they get much more value in relative terms, because all of sudden they have airpower.”

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USNS Brunswick, the 6th Expeditionary Fast Transport/Joint High Speed Vessel Finishes Last Trials

The Navy’s 6th Expeditionary Fast Transport (EPF) has completed its last set of trials ahead of delivery to Military Sealift Command, Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) annouced on Monday.

Now the Austal USA-built Brunswick (EPF-6) — of the class formerly known as the Joint High Speed Vessel (JHSV) — is expected to deliver to the service later this year.

“Conducting acceptance trials is a major milestone for the shipyard and the program office,” said Capt. Henry Stevens, Strategic and Theater Sealift Program Manager, Program Executive Office, Ships.

“We are very proud of our contractor and government team’s commitment to delivering affordable, quality ships and look forward to the delivery of EPF 6 later this year.”

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Singapore's Navy Unveils Unmanned Surface Vehicle, aka Robo Boat

The existence of a new and never before seen unmanned surface vehicle (USV) currently undergoing sea trials with the Republic of Singapore Navy (RSN) was revealed on the service's Facebook page on 1 November.

Specifications of the indigenously developed Venus 16 USV were not disclosed, although IHS Jane's Unmanned Maritime Vehicles indicates that the vehicle has an overall length of 16.5 m and width of 5 m, displacing 26 tons at full load. Powered by a waterjet propulsion system, the vehicle is thought to be capable of attaining a maximum speed of in excess of 35 kt.

Details of the prototype USV's payload were likewise kept under wraps, but IHS Jane's understands that this vehicle has been configured for mine countermeasure (MCM) missions. A launch and recovery cradle with what appears to be a towed side-scan sonar system can be seen on its payload bay under cover.

"Our navy will be integrating more and more unmanned technology as part of the navy of the future," the service stated in its announcement. "The Venus 16 unmanned surface vessel (USV) is one of the unmanned systems currently being tested to support our maritime security operations."

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1/3 Model of China's 2020 Mars Mission

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Okay, India.  You beat the Chinese to Mars (and the Russians going back for that matter...and the Japanese), time to get there again before the Chinese.

Pleistocene Quaternary Giant Mammals Became Extra Vulernable to Extinction due to Habitat Fragmentation?

Life and extinction of megafauna in the ice-age Arctic

Authors:

Mann et al

Abstract:

Understanding the population dynamics of megafauna that inhabited the mammoth steppe provides insights into the causes of extinctions during both the terminal Pleistocene and today. Our study area is Alaska's North Slope, a place where humans were rare when these extinctions occurred. After developing a statistical approach to remove the age artifacts caused by radiocarbon calibration from a large series of dated megafaunal bones, we compare the temporal patterns of bone abundance with climate records. Megafaunal abundance tracked ice age climate, peaking during transitions from cold to warm periods. These results suggest that a defining characteristic of the mammoth steppe was its temporal instability and imply that regional extinctions followed by population reestablishment from distant refugia were characteristic features of ice-age biogeography at high latitudes. It follows that long-distance dispersal was crucial for the long-term persistence of megafaunal species living in the Arctic. Such dispersal was only possible when their rapidly shifting range lands were geographically interconnected. The end of the last ice age was fatally unique because the geographic ranges of arctic megafauna became permanently fragmented after stable, interglacial climate engendered the spread of peatlands at the same time that rising sea level severed former dispersal routes.

The Earliest Unequivocally Modern Humans in Southern China

The earliest unequivocally modern humans in southern China

Authors:

Liu et al

Abstract:

The hominin record from southern Asia for the early Late Pleistocene epoch is scarce. Well-dated and well-preserved fossils older than ~45,000 years that can be unequivocally attributed to Homo sapiens are lacking. Here we present evidence from the newly excavated Fuyan Cave in Daoxian (southern China). This site has provided 47 human teeth dated to more than 80,000 years old, and with an inferred maximum age of 120,000 years. The morphological and metric assessment of this sample supports its unequivocal assignment to H. sapiens. The Daoxian sample is more derived than any other anatomically modern humans, resembling middle-to-late Late Pleistocene specimens and even contemporary humans. Our study shows that fully modern morphologies were present in southern China 30,000–70,000 years earlier than in the Levant and Europe. Our data fill a chronological and geographical gap that is relevant for understanding when H. sapiens first appeared in southern Asia. The Daoxian teeth also support the hypothesis that during the same period, southern China was inhabited by more derived populations than central and northern China. This evidence is important for the study of dispersal routes of modern humans. Finally, our results are relevant to exploring the reasons for the relatively late entry of H. sapiens into Europe. Some studies have investigated how the competition with H. sapiens may have caused Neanderthals’ extinction (see ref. 8 and references therein). Notably, although fully modern humans were already present in southern China at least as early as ~80,000 years ago, there is no evidence that they entered Europe before ~45,000 years ago. This could indicate that H. neanderthalensis was indeed an additional ecological barrier for modern humans, who could only enter Europe when the demise of Neanderthals had already started.

Russia's Most Syrian Adventure #25

Russia claims to have conducted 2084 airstrikes since starting the fight a month and change ago.  Strangely though, what I have been able to find, the Russians only hit 24 targets in the last 24 hours.  However, the targets were supposedly given to them by the nonIS, non Nusra rebels.

To me at least, the claim by Russian sources that the US and Russian air forces conducted a joint training exercise in Syria is explosive.  The US military has confirmed.  I feel sick.

Russia states, officially at least, it does not care if Assad stays in power, but peace through talks is.  That's why they are more than willing to bomb any and all enemies of Assad because it doesn't matter who is in charge so long as its Assad.

Update:  Whoops!  I left out the Sinai airliner crash.  Truth be told, I am not sure this ought to count in here, but ok.

An American observation satellite (aka spysat) seems to have caught the moment when the airliner broke up.  There seems to have been an explosion caught in the IR.

The Russians stated whatever happened to the airliner, it is not what ought to help decide their policy in Syria.
 

Kids These Days

They can't even TP properly.  ;)

Scuffle in the South China Sea #5

China will hold snap drills in response to the American passage.

The USS Lassen's sail-by was an 'innocent passage.'

The US is planning at least two such passages per quarter.

The Philippines and Vietnam have been urged to start doing the same sorts of sail-bys as the US has been.

The Permanent Court of Arbitration decision is seen as a turning point for the South China Sea disputes.

Did the Late Heavy Bombardment Destroy the Hadean Crust?

Excavation and Melting of the Hadean Continental Crust by Late Heavy Bombardment

Authors:

Shibaike et al

Abstract:

No Hadean rocks have ever been found on Earth's surface except for zircons---evidence of continental crust, suggesting that Hadean continental crust existed but later disappeared. One hypothesis for the disappearance of the continental crust is excavation/melting by the Late Heavy Bombardment (LHB), a concentration of impacts in the last phase of the Hadean eon. In this paper, we calculate the effects of LHB on Hadean continental crust in order to investigate this hypothesis. Approximating the size-frequency distribution of the impacts by a power-law scaling with an exponent {\alpha} as a parameter, we have derived semi-analytical expressions for the effects of LHB impacts. We calculated the total excavation/melting volume and area affected by the LHB from two constraints of LHB on the moon, the size of the largest basin during LHB, and the density of craters larger than 20 km. We also investigated the effects of the value of {\alpha}. Our results show that LHB does not excavate/melt all of Hadean continental crust directly, but over 70% of the Earth's surface area can be covered by subsequent melts in a broad range of {\alpha}. If there have been no overturns of the continental crust until today, LHB could be responsible for the absence of Hadean rocks because most of Hadean continental crust is not be exposed on the Earth's surface in this case.

Robopocalypse Report #29:

Drones:

That looks like the killer app for drones!

GoPro's prototype quad copter with video camera sneak peak.

Walmart has applied to the FAA to begin testing drones for home delivery.

Google wants to start drone deliveries in 2017.

Australia's postal service plans on starting to deliver packages to rural communities in 2016.

Nigeria wants to deploy drones to help stop crime in Lagos.

AIG wants to insure your drones against damage and damage to others' property.  

The guy who shot down a drone he claimed was hovering over his property was charged with a crime, as reported before.  However, the judge in the case just dismissed the entire case stating the  man had the right to go John Connor on the drone.

There's a group trying to repurpose ex military drones to reforestation work.

Kansas University built a giant cage to test drones in to get around the FAA restrictions.

Most ski areas have banned drones.

A drone tried to do the Brit thing and fly weapons and drugs into an Oklahoma prison.

A drone knocked out power in West Hollywood.  Doh!

Those just adds fuel to the fire of those wanting the FAA to register all drones.  Some even think the registry doesn't go far enough.

The FAA also wants to be able to take over drones that are too close to sensitive places.

This is the team of 25 people going to be doing the registration at the FAA.

Canada thinks certain places need to be protected from drones, not for safety reasons, but privacy.

When the Robopocalypse comes, we can protect ourselves with pumpkins!   I think the pumpkin needed to be registered with the FAA though.

Self Driving Cars:

Here's the differences between Tesla Autopilot and Google's Car.

Nissan has a concept electric self driving car and here.  The car has taken to Japan's streets.

Mercedes has unveiled its own self driving car in its 'Social Commuting' Concept.

Digitally connected cars are far, far easier to spy on.

Bosch wants self driving cars to recognize pedestrians.

Here are some of the companies building the self driving cars for Apple and Google.

Companies are waiting for the DMV rules for self driving cars.

Some think the future with self driving cars could be a nightmare.

Others say the data from self driving cars and their accidents is misleading.

Does Detroit even have a remote chance of being the center of the self driving car future?

Does GM want to team with Google for self driving cars?

Google's self driving car learns to deal with Trick or Treaters.

How cities can prepare for self driving cars.

Tokyo plans to have a robo taxi service in place for the 2020 Olympics.

What will the self driving truck do to the supply chain?

Robotics:

Robotic hands get a soft touch.

An Irish startup (from the creators of skype) wants to deliver up to 20 lbs of groceries via a robot (see pic) instead of a drone.

Humber River Hospital in Toronto uses robots extensively.

Here's more on Oregon State University's walking robot technology.

MIT has developed a bot to drift through the sea in  a swarm to study the oceans.

Swiss researchers developed a robot dog that can teach itself to walk.

Blueberry growers have offered a $250k prize for a bot that can pick the fruit.

Yamaha developed a robot that can ride a motorcycle.

More on the Swiss construction bot.

Service bots are finally being embraced.

Cyborgism:

Was is Boring is profiling how robotic prosthetics are catching up to what nature gave us.

Software Bots:

Siri is refusing to answer unless you are subscribed to Apple Music.

And forget Siri, there's a new way for a bot to speak to people.

Economics:

These jobs are most at risk of being replaced in the first years of the robopocalypse.

This piece argues we ought to be embracing the robopocalypse.

Like Angry Birds but With Pumpkins and Drones!

Australian Scientists Propose Quantum Computer Chip Architecture

Australian scientists have designed a 3D silicon chip architecture based on single atom quantum bits, which is compatible with atomic-scale fabrication techniques - providing a blueprint to build a large-scale quantum computer.

Scientists and engineers from the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Quantum Computation and Communication Technology (CQC2T), headquartered at the University of New South Wales (UNSW), are leading the world in the race to develop a scalable quantum computer in silicon - a material well-understood and favoured by the trillion-dollar computing and microelectronics industry.

link.

1d Icy Moon Model Predicts Encedalus to be More Rocky Than Previously Thought

A 1-D evolutionary model for icy satellites, applied to Enceladus

Authors:

Prialnik et al

Abstract:

We develop a long-term 1-D evolution model for icy satellites that couples multiple processes: water migration and differentiation, geochemical reactions and silicate phase transitions, compaction by self-gravity, and ablation. The model further considers the following energy sources and sinks: tidal heating, radiogenic heating, geochemical energy released by serpentinization or absorbed by mineral dehydration, gravitational energy and insolation, and heat transport by conduction, convection, and advection. We apply the model to Enceladus, by guessing the initial conditions that would render a structure compatible with present-day observations, assuming the initial structure to have been homogeneous. Assuming the satellite has been losing water continually along its evolution, we postulate that it was formed as a more massive, more icy and more porous satellite, and gradually transformed into its present day state due to sustained long-term tidal heating. We consider several initial compositions and evolution scenarios and follow the evolution for the age of the Solar System, testing the present day model results against the available observational constraints. Our model shows the present configuration to be differentiated into a pure icy mantle, several tens of km thick, overlying a rocky core, composed of dehydrated rock at the center and hydrated rock in the outer part. For Enceladus, it predicts a higher rock/ice mass ratio than previously assumed and a thinner ice mantle, compatible with recent estimates based on gravity field measurements. Although, obviously, the model cannot be used to explain local phenomena, it sheds light on the internal structure invoked in explanations of localized features and activities.

How Extensive, Really, are China's Ghost Cities?

In recent years, China has undergone a period of urban growth that is unprecedented in human history. The number of square kilometers devoted to urban living grew from 8,800 in 1984 to 41,000 in 2010. And that was just the start. China used more concrete between 2011 and 2013 than the U.S. used in the entire 20th century.

Some of this building has been misplaced. In various parts of China, developers have built so much housing so quickly that it has outstripped demand, even in the world’s most populous country. The result is the well-publicized phenomenon of ghost cities—entire urban areas that are more or less deserted.

But much of the reporting on ghost cities is anecdotal or based on unreliable measurements such as a simple count of the number of lights on at night in residential buildings. That’s a particularly inaccurate method, not least because it ignores seasonal variations caused by tourism. Many places are busy during the tourist season but empty during the off-season, and not just in China. So being unable to distinguish these from ghost cities is something of a problem.

And that raises an interesting question: how bad, really, is the problem of ghost cities in China?

link.

The Chinese Unveil C919 (737 Equivalent) Airliner

A state-owned manufacturer on Monday unveiled the first plane produced by a Chinese initiative to compete in the market for large passenger jetliners.

China is one of the biggest aviation markets but relies on Boeing and Airbus aircraft. The multibillion-dollar effort to create the homegrown C919 jetliner is aimed at clawing back some of the commercial benefits that flow to foreign suppliers.

The Commercial Aircraft Corp. of China showed off the first of the twin-engine planes in a ceremony attended by some 4,000 government officials and other guests at a hangar near Shanghai's Pudong International Airport.

"It's a major push for the country, as they want to be known as a major player" in airplane manufacturing, said Mavis Toh, Asia air transport editor for Flightglobal magazine.

The C919 is one of several initiatives launched by the ruling Communist Party to transform China from the world's low-cost factory into a creator of profitable technology in aviation, clean energy and other fields.

The C919, which can seat up to 168 passengers, is meant to compete in the market for single-aisle jets dominated by Airbus Industrie's A320 and Boeing Co.'s 737.

link.

F-35 Fires its gun While Flying

Absorption of the British Military Continues: The Defense Intelligence Agency Appoints British Officer as Deputy Director

The Pentagon's principal spy agency is appointing a British Air Force officer as its first deputy director in charge of improving "integration" between U.S. intelligence units and spy agencies of other English-speaking countries.

U.S. intelligence agencies have long had close relationships with their British counterparts, but former and current U.S. intelligence officials said this is the first time they knew of a U.S. spy agency naming a foreigner to a top executive position.

In an official announcement, the Pentagon said that the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) had chosen Air Vice Marshal Sean Corbett of Britain's Royal Air Force (RAF) as its first "deputy director for Commonwealth Integration."

The Pentagon said that Corbett, presently the RAF's top professional intelligence officer, would be top advisor to DIA director Lt. Gen. Vincent Stewart on defense and intelligence issues concerning an alliance of English-speaking countries known as the "Five Eyes."

Mark Lowenthal, a former senior CIA and State Department official, said the British general's DIA appointment marked a first for a foreigner, but the appointment was "not that unusual. Think of him as a senior liaison officer."

Five Eyes partners include the U.S., Britain, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. Relations between these countries agencies have always been close, but the Pentagon said that over the last ten years the U.S. had sought to improve mechanisms to exchange intelligence information and to collaborate more closely.

Historically, Five Eyes spy units which have collaborated most closely have been the agencies which engage in electronic eavesdropping, notably America's National Security Agency (NSA) and Britain's Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ).

Traditionally, these agencies have shared raw information and divided up the world for eavesdropping coverage.

link.

Israel Requests Another Squadron of F-15s

An additional squadron of advanced Boeing F-15s has been revealed as one of the elements of a so-called "compensation package" requested by Israel in exchange for the US government backing a lifting of sanctions against Iran.

Israeli sources confirm that details of the request were agreed during a recent meeting between the defence ministers of the USA and Israel in Washington DC. This included the Israeli air force expressing its operational need for another squadron of F-15s, to ensure that the type can remain the "backbone" of its capabilities.

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US Army Tests Implications of Drone Swarms During Exercises at Fort Bliss, White Sands Missile Range

The U.S. Army has for the first time tested swarms of consumer drones during a major military training exercise and determined the low-cost technology is at a stage where it could be used offensively.

Off-the-shelf drones have brought what was previously complex and expensive technology into the reach of consumers, and the military was curious to see how much of a threat that might pose.

So it brought consumer quadcopters and octocopters to the Network Integration Evaluation war games that concluded earlier this month at White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico, and Fort Bliss, Texas.

During the exercise, which is used by the Army to help evaluate new technology, the drones were deployed as a swarm to simulate a threat. Later, the Army expanded the trials to discover whether it might be able to make use of the same technology.

link.

Tyrannosaurs Were Cannibals

A nasty little 66-million-year-old family secret has been leaked by a recently unearthed tyrannosaur bone. The bone has peculiar teeth marks that strongly suggest it was gnawed by another tyrannosaur. The find could be some of the best evidence yet that tyrannosaurs were not shy about eating their own kind.

"We were out in Wyoming digging up dinosaurs in the Lance Formation," said paleontologist Matthew McLain of Loma Linda University in California. "Someone found a tyrannosaur bone that was broken at both ends. It was covered in grooves. They were very deep grooves."

The grooves were clearly those of an animal pulling the flesh off the bone -- pulling in a direction perpendicular to the bone, in the same way humans eat a piece of fried chicken. But one groove stood out. It was located at the larger end of the bone and contained smaller parallel grooves caused by the diner's head turning, so that the serrated edges of its teeth dragged across the bone.

link.

Aurochs Genome Sequenced, Indicates Cattle Domestication Very Complicated in Europe

The ancestry of domesticated cattle proves more complex than previously thought, reports a paper published today in the open access journal Genome Biology. The first nuclear genome sequence from an ancient wild ox reveals that some modern domestic cow breeds, including the Scottish Highland and Irish Kerry, had wild ancestors that were British, as well as Asian.

The aurochs, Bos primigenius, is an extinct wild ox species that ranged across the grasslands of Eurasia and North Africa 11,000 years ago. Domestication of aurochs gave rise to two major groups of cattle; Bos taurus and Bos indicus.

Previous studies have shown that European B. taurus are descended from western Asian populations of aurochs. However, little was known about the relationship between domesticated cattle and wild aurochs in Europe, and how wild populations contributed to the evolutionary history of the cows that graze our fields today.

To build a clearer picture of the ancestry of European cattle breeds, scientists from University College Dublin extracted genetic material from a bone of a 6,750 year old wild British aurochs discovered in a cave in Derbyshire, England. They then sequenced its complete genome - its genetic blueprint - and compared it with the genomes of 81 domesticated B. taurus and B. indicus animals, and DNA marker information from more than 1,200 modern cows.

link.

Russia's Most Syrian Adventure #24

The video above claims to be showing an attempted MANPADS attack on a Russian jet. 

The comment that Russia's pace of strikes decreasing may be a false step or they fixed their issues.  In the last 48 hours, the Russians have conducted a total of 237 air strikes.  The Russians hit near Palmyra for the first time according to them.

There are claims the rebels are actually starting to take back various locations the Assadites held despite the Russian and Iranian support.

Secretary of State Kerry has stated Russia needs to be part of the political solution for Syria.

A Russian airline went down over Sinai and all 224 people were killed.  IS claimed responsibility (hence why its here in the RMSA).  Rumors are it broke up at high altitude, everything appeared normal until the break up and there is no evidence of an external attack on the plane.

Just what *IS* Russia hoping to accomplish in Syria?  Here's one take.

Spooky Jack O'Lanterns

Scuffle in the South China Sea #4

China has stated conflicts over the islands in the South China Sea could spark a war.

Chinese and American admirals have consulted over video conference.  The USS Lassen also sailed through Vietnamese and Philippine's claimed territorial waters.

The European Union has decided to side with the United States over the issue.

Here's the Economist's take on the scuffle.

Nontrivial Update: The Chinese have started flying J-11 (Su-27 knockoffs) over the islands.  There are some reports that they are based on one of the islands.

A More Precise Method for Determining the Speciation and Extinction Rates

A more precise speciation and extinction rate estimator

Author:

Alroy

Abstract:

A new turnover rate metric is introduced that combines simplicity and precision. Like the related three-timer and gap-filler equations, it involves first identifying a cohort of taxa sampled in the time interval preceding the one of interest (call the intervals i 0 and i 1 ). Taxa sampled in i 0 and i 1 are two-timers (t 2 ); those sampled in i 0 and i 2 but not i 1 are part-timers (p); and taxa sampled only in either i 1 , i 2 , or i 3 are newly notated here as either s 1 , s 2 , or s 3 . The gap-filler extinction proportion can be reformulated as (s 1 −s 3 )/(t 2 +p). The method proposed here is to substitute s 3 with the second-highest of the three counts when the expected ordering s 1 ≥s 2 ≥s 3 is violated. In simulation, this new estimator yields values that are highly correlated with those produced by the gap-filler equation but more precise. In particular, it rarely produces highly negative values even when sample sizes are quite small. It is mildly upwards biased when sampling is extremely poor and turnover rates are extremely low, but it is otherwise highly accurate. Examples of Phanerozoic extinction rates for four major marine invertebrate groups are given to illustrate the method’s improved precision. Based on the results, the procedure is recommended for general use.

Chinese Manufacturing Contracted Again for Third Straight Month

China's manufacturing contracted for the third consecutive month in October in a sign of weakness in the world's second-largest economy, official data showed Sunday.

The National Bureau of Statistics said that China's purchasing managers' index was 49.8 for October, the same figure as September. A PMI reading above 50 indicates an expansion of manufacturing activity while those below 50 indicate contraction.

The official non-manufacturing PMI, which gauges the services sector, was 53.1 percent for October, down from September's 53.4.

The Chinese government has cut interest rates six times in the past year to shore up economic growth that slowed to 6.9 percent in the third quarter.

link.

The Confusing Spatially Resolved Spectroscopy of Europa

Spatially Resolved Spectroscopy of Europa: The Distinct Spectrum of Large-scale Chaos

Authors:

Fischer et al

Abstract:

We present a comprehensive analysis of spatially resolved moderate spectral resolution near infrared spectra obtained with the adaptive optics system at the Keck Observatory. We identify three compositionally distinct end member regions: the trailing hemisphere bullseye, the leading hemisphere upper latitudes, and a third component associated with leading hemisphere chaos units. We interpret the composition of the three end member regions to be dominated by irradiation products, water ice, and evaporite deposits or salt brines, respectively. The third component is associated with geological features and distinct from the geography of irradiation, suggesting an endogenous identity. Identifying the endogenous composition is of particular interest for revealing the subsurface composition. However, its spectrum is not consistent with linear mixtures of the salt minerals previously considered relevant to Europa. The spectrum of this component is distinguished by distorted hydration features rather than distinct spectral features, indicating hydrated minerals but making unique identification difficult. In particular, it lacks features common to hydrated sulfate minerals, challenging the traditional view of an endogenous salty component dominated by Mg-sulfates. Chloride evaporite deposits are one possible alternative.

New Warriors Stadium Redesigned

link.

Those Crazy New Yorkers and Their Vertical Trailer Park, ahem, Modular Tower

link.

Trailer parks in NYC are vertical!

QueensBridge Tower Rendering, Melbourne, Australia

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The Americas Loss of Megafauna Caused Significant Ecological Shifts

Variable impact of late-Quaternary megafaunal extinction in causing ecological state shifts in North and South America

Authors:

Barnosky et al

Abstract:

Loss of megafauna, an aspect of defaunation, can precipitate many ecological changes over short time scales. We examine whether megafauna loss can also explain features of lasting ecological state shifts that occurred as the Pleistocene gave way to the Holocene. We compare ecological impacts of late-Quaternary megafauna extinction in five American regions: southwestern Patagonia, the Pampas, northeastern United States, northwestern United States, and Beringia. We find that major ecological state shifts were consistent with expectations of defaunation in North American sites but not in South American ones. The differential responses highlight two factors necessary for defaunation to trigger lasting ecological state shifts discernable in the fossil record: (i) lost megafauna need to have been effective ecosystem engineers, like proboscideans; and (ii) historical contingencies must have provided the ecosystem with plant species likely to respond to megafaunal loss. These findings help in identifying modern ecosystems that are most at risk for disappearing should current pressures on the ecosystems’ large animals continue and highlight the critical role of both individual species ecologies and ecosystem context in predicting the lasting impacts of defaunation currently underway.

Extinction of Pleistocene Megafauna Allowed Forests to Expand

Combining paleo-data and modern exclosure experiments to assess the impact of megafauna extinctions on woody vegetation

Authors:

Bakker et al

Abstract:

Until recently in Earth history, very large herbivores (mammoths, ground sloths, diprotodons, and many others) occurred in most of the World’s terrestrial ecosystems, but the majority have gone extinct as part of the late-Quaternary extinctions. How has this large-scale removal of large herbivores affected landscape structure and ecosystem functioning? In this review, we combine paleo-data with information from modern exclosure experiments to assess the impact of large herbivores (and their disappearance) on woody species, landscape structure, and ecosystem functions. In modern landscapes characterized by intense herbivory, woody plants can persist by defending themselves or by association with defended species, can persist by growing in places that are physically inaccessible to herbivores, or can persist where high predator activity limits foraging by herbivores. At the landscape scale, different herbivore densities and assemblages may result in dynamic gradients in woody cover. The late-Quaternary extinctions were natural experiments in large-herbivore removal; the paleoecological record shows evidence of widespread changes in community composition and ecosystem structure and function, consistent with modern exclosure experiments. We propose a conceptual framework that describes the impact of large herbivores on woody plant abundance mediated by herbivore diversity and density, predicting that herbivore suppression of woody plants is strongest where herbivore diversity is high. We conclude that the decline of large herbivores induces major alterations in landscape structure and ecosystem functions.

pop sci write up. 2nd one.

Pleistocene/Holocene Megafaunal Extinction has Significantly Altered Inland Nutrient Transport

Global nutrient transport in a world of giants

Authors:

Doughty et al

Abstract:

The past was a world of giants, with abundant whales in the sea and large animals roaming the land. However, that world came to an end following massive late-Quaternary megafauna extinctions on land and widespread population reductions in great whale populations over the past few centuries. These losses are likely to have had important consequences for broad-scale nutrient cycling, because recent literature suggests that large animals disproportionately drive nutrient movement. We estimate that the capacity of animals to move nutrients away from concentration patches has decreased to about 8% of the preextinction value on land and about 5% of historic values in oceans. For phosphorus (P), a key nutrient, upward movement in the ocean by marine mammals is about 23% of its former capacity (previously about 340 million kg of P per year). Movements by seabirds and anadromous fish provide important transfer of nutrients from the sea to land, totalling ∼150 million kg of P per year globally in the past, a transfer that has declined to less than 4% of this value as a result of the decimation of seabird colonies and anadromous fish populations. We propose that in the past, marine mammals, seabirds, anadromous fish, and terrestrial animals likely formed an interlinked system recycling nutrients from the ocean depths to the continental interiors, with marine mammals moving nutrients from the deep sea to surface waters, seabirds and anadromous fish moving nutrients from the ocean to land, and large animals moving nutrients away from hotspots into the continental interior.

pop sci write up.

Ornithomimus was a VERY Fluffy Dinosaurs

An undergraduate University of Alberta paleontology student has discovered an Ornithomimus dinosaur with preserved tail feathers and soft tissue. The discovery is shedding light on the convergent evolution of these dinosaurs with ostriches and emus relating to thermoregulation and is also tightening the linkages between dinosaurs and modern birds.

"We now know what the plumage looked like on the tail, and that from the mid-femur down, it had bare skin," says Aaron van der Reest. This is the first report of such preserved skin forming a web from the femoral shaft to the abdomen, never before seen in non-avian dinosaurs. "Ostriches use bare skin to thermoregulate. Because the plumage on this specimen is virtually identical to that of an ostrich, we can infer that Ornithomimus was likely doing the same thing, using feathered regions on their body to maintain body temperature. It would've looked a lot like an ostrich." In fact, this group of animals—referred to as ornithomimids—is commonly referred to as "ostrich mimics."

Although the preserved feathers are extremely crushed due to sediment compaction, scanning electron microscopy reveals a three-dimensional keratin structure to the feathers on the tail and body. van der Reest made the initial discovery during his first year as an undergraduate student, supervised by Philip Currie, Canada's leading palentologist."It's pretty remarkable. I don't know if I've stopped smiling since."

link.

There was no "‘Northern Branch of Neotethys” During the Jurassic

Where are the remnants of a Jurassic ocean in the eastern Mediterranean region?

Authors:

Eyuboglu et al

Abstract:

The subduction polarity of Tethyan oceanic lithosphere during Jurassic is a controversial topic in relation to the geodynamic evolution of the Alpine–Himalayan system. We present new geological, geochemical and zircon U–Pb data from four different regions of the Eastern Pontides Orogenic Belt, a key area of the Alpine–Himalayan system. We discuss the origin of the magmatism and also the existence of an ocean in the eastern Mediterranean region during the Jurassic period. Jurassic intrusions, predominantly gabbro, tonalite and minor diorite, are well exposed in the southern and axial zones of the orogenic belt. Thermobarometry indicates that high-pressure (6–10 kb) crystallization of these intrusions occurred at temperatures of 1183–1250 °C. Zircon U–Pb dating from 10 samples show ages between 195 and 165 Ma, indicating that magmatism occurred between Sinemurian and Callovian time. We characterize the intrusions from electron microprobe, zircon geochronology, and whole rock and Sr, Nd, and Pb isotopes. Our data show that the studied intrusions are broadly tholeiitic, except for two calc-alkaline bodies, and formed in an arc-related setting with minimal involvement of older crust or sediment.

The most widely accepted model proposes that the ultramafic–mafic rocks exposed between the Pontide arc and the Tauride belt are remnants of a Jurassic Penrose-type and/or suprasubduction zone ophiolite. However, new zircon U–Pb age data from mafic lithologies cutting the Kop ultramafic massif do not support this model and clearly indicate that the ultramafic lithologies are Paleozoic or older in age and are not remnants of a Jurassic ocean that known as ‘’Northern Branch of Neotehtys”.

Evidence of an Extended Stay in Beringia for Extant Mitochondrial Native American Lineages

Two contemporaneous mitogenomes from terminal Pleistocene burials in eastern Beringia

Authors:

Tackney et al

Abstract:

Pleistocene residential sites with multiple contemporaneous human burials are extremely rare in the Americas. We report mitochondrial genomic variation in the first multiple mitochondrial genomes from a single prehistoric population: two infant burials (USR1 and USR2) from a common interment at the Upward Sun River Site in central Alaska dating to ∼11,500 cal B.P. Using a targeted capture method and next-generation sequencing, we determined that the USR1 infant possessed variants that define mitochondrial lineage C1b, whereas the USR2 genome falls at the root of lineage B2, allowing us to refine younger coalescence age estimates for these two clades. C1b and B2 are rare to absent in modern populations of northern North America. Documentation of these lineages at this location in the Late Pleistocene provides evidence for the extent of mitochondrial diversity in early Beringian populations, which supports the expectations of the Beringian Standstill Model.

pop sci write up.

Witch Art

Giant Sharks From the Devonian/Carboniferous Boundary in Texas

Previously, giant sharks had only been recovered from rock dating back 130 million years, during the age of the dinosaurs. The largest shark that ever lived, commonly called "Megalodon", is much younger, with an oldest occurrence at about 15 million years ago. This means the new fossils from Texas indicate giant sharks go much further back into the fossil record.

After the generous donation of these fossils and careful study with Dr. John Maisey of the American Museum of Natural History in New York, the team was able to estimate how big the entire sharks would have been by comparison with smaller and more complete fossils of closely related sharks. The results were very impressive.

The size range estimated for these two Texas 'supersharks' was between 18 and 26 feet in length (5.5 to 8 meters). The largest of these specimens was 25% bigger than today's largest predatory shark, the Great White. Although not nearly as large as Megalodon, which might have reached up to 67 feet in length (about 20 meters), the fossil sharks from Texas would have been by far the biggest sharks in the sea.

link.