Earth Science Club of Northern Illinois - ESCONI

Zhuchengtyrannus magnus

 Via Dave Hone's blog - Archosaur Musings:

So, as probably everyone knows by now, I have a new paper out and this is the first dinosaur I have named (as a first author) so welcome please, Zhuchengtyrannus magnus. This is a very large tyrannosaurine theropod that is comparable in size to that legendary source of all dinosaur comparisons: Tyrannosaurus rex. Yep, Zhuchengtyrannus, (or ZT as I’ve been informally calling it) is a big guy with a skull over a metre in length, in the 10 metre range for total length and thus also probably around 6 tons or so.

Obviously this is a big deal for me so there’s lots more to come on this over the next few posts and so don’t panic if this first introduction doesn’t give you all the details you were hoping for.

On-Line Archaeology Game from BBC

Hunt the Ancestor, is a fun game from the BBC that challenges you to complete an archaeology dig in time and in budget. The game is more for adults.

Dinosaur Tapeworms

Via Smithsonian:

In one short section of his book Parasite Rex, science writer Carl Zimmer asked a simple question: “Did tapeworms live in dinosaurs?”

Rockhounding to Lapidary

From a post from a member of McRocks message board:

Collecting rocks and minerals for lapidary, who me? Never, I used to say. After all, my rockhounding was about hunting crystals and going out into the field just to find and drag home rocks for hacking up and making jewelry was for the old timers. I guess you could say I was a rockhounding snob because, if the truth be told, I considered lapidarists as being 2nd class rockhounds because they collected pretty rocks instead of just mineral specimens. Now don't get me wrong, I didn't treat lapidarists differently than anybody else, but I did have my thoughts.

Well, time has caught up to me and I've become one of those old timers, having taught myself to make cabochons in February 2009. As some friends and fellow rockhounding snobs would put it, I've moved over to the "dark side". But, along with time came wisdom and I've come to realize how wrong I was to have ever considered lapidarists as being anything less than full fledged rockhounds. Stated more bluntly, I was a big dope.

Review of Internet Use By Those in Geology Field

Via Scientific American:

On 23 Feb. 2011, I posed a question to my "followers" on Twitter: "If you stopped ‘doing social media’ (Twitter, FB, LinkedIn etc.) would anyone notice? Would your input be missed?" I received several replies, the most cogent of which came from University of Oklahoma geoscience Ph.D. student Jefferson Chang (@jeffersonite), "It's not my input that I'm concerned about, but the information that I wouldn't otherwise receive."

Webcams for John Day Fossil Bed Park

Via John Day Fossil Beds National Park:

The rugged and remote landscape of John Day Fossil Beds National Monument is both fascinating and awe-inspiring. As you admire the colorful layers of volcanic clay on the Sheep Rock Cam, imagine what ancient wonders lay hidden there, encased in a tomb of hardened ash for millions of years.

Fortunately, you don't have to rely entirely on your imagination! Our Paleo Lab Cam, the only one of its kind in the National Park Service, gives you a backstage glimpse of real scientists at work! You'll be able to watch, in real time, as our paleontologists meticulously prepare recently discovered fossils for study and public display.

Pre-Clovis Tools

Informative radio interview on Science Friday -

Reporting in Science, researchers write of finding blades and spearpoints that pre-date Clovis tools--long thought to be the earliest evidence of people in the Americas. Archaeologist Michael B. Collins talks about how the discovery could change theories about the first inhabitants of the Americas.

$400,000 Gold Nugget Bought

Via Geology.com from CNN (video too)

A gold nugget, weighing 100 troy ounces, sold at auction in Sacremento for $400,000 Wednesday night.

ESCONI Newsletter Looking for Authors and Photographers

The ESCONI Newsletter is always looking for articles, photographs. Contact John Good about your interest in submitting an article or photo for an upcoming ESCONI newsletter.

Mazon Creek Collecting Trip 5/21/2011

Pencil in this date, 5/21-22, for an ESCONI Mazon Creek fossil collecting trip in Braceville. More details to come.

Archaeology Study Group Field Trip 4/30/2011

No Archaeology Study Group Meeting in April because the group is doing a field trip on April 30th to Dave's Down to Earth Rock Shop and the Mitchell Museum of the American Indian.

Fun video about Dave's Down to Earth Rock Shop from Fox News.

Events This Week, 3/28 - 4/3, 2011

Mon, 3/28       Friday, 4/1

Safety Training6:30 - 9:30 p.m. College of Dupage, Building K, Rm 161. Cost: $10 for all, additional $7 for the book (if you don't have the book that you purchased last year) payable at the door to John McArdle. John McArdle of ZRS (Zoological Research Services) is approved to offer Miner Safety Certification Training and issue certificates.   Field trip to Jacobs Geodes in Hamilton, Illinois 9:00 A.M. Saturday, 3/27, Meet at 9:00 am at 823 E. County Rd. 1220 in Hamilton, Illinois at Jacob's Geodes. $16 for a full 5-gallon pail. Please call John Good at630 483-2363 for reservations or e-mail at [email protected]. This collecting trip is half an hour away from the MAPS Fossil Expo, so many members do an overnight stay on Friday and attend MAPS too.

Fri. 4/1 - Sun 4/3

Mid America Paleontology society National Fossil Expo 33, Macomb, IL. Theme - "The Cretaceous" Dr. Steven Nicklas of Atlanta will give the keynote talk entitled, "Application of Archaeological Field Methods in Paleontology."

Field Trip Friday 4/1 - Geode Hunting

Field trip to Jacobs Geodes in Hamilton, Illinois 9:00 A.M. Saturday, 3/27, Meet at 9:00 am at 823 E. County Rd. 1220 in Hamilton, Illinois at Jacob's Geodes. $16 for a full 5-gallon pail. Please call John Good at 630 483-2363 for reservations or e-mail at [email protected]

This Monday, 3/28 - Safety Training Session, 2011

Safety Training - 6:30 - 9:30 p.m. College of Dupage, Building K, Rm 161. Cost: $10 for all, additional $7 for the book (if you don't have the book that you purchased last year) payable at the door to John McArdle. John McArdle of ZRS (Zoological Research Services) is approved to offer Miner Safety Certification Training and issue certificates. He will teach the course.

This is the second year we are offering Miner Safety Certification Training. The certificate has to be recertified every year. The formal presentation follows a 50 page book. A formal (but rather easy) test must be passed to receive a certificate. The training takes three (3) hours with a break.

Reservations recommended but not necessary. Contact John Good at 630-483-2363 for reservations or e-mail at [email protected].

Quarries in Minnesota require Miner Safety Certification training. We had miner safety training at our Larson Quarry field trip in 2009, which was a very informative. Miner safety training helps to ensure successful and safe collecting.

All ESCONI Meetings in Rm 161 Mar - May

All the ESCONI meetings will be in room 161 for the months of March, April and May.

Ancient Nuclear Reactors

Via Scientific American:

... It is truly amazing that more than a dozen natural reactors spontaneously sprang into existence and that they managed to maintain a modest power output for perhaps a few hundred millennia. Why is it that these parts of the deposit did not explode and destroy themselves right after nuclear chain reactions began? What mechanism provided the necessary self-regulation? Did these reactors run steadily or in fits and starts? The solutions to these puzzles emerged slowly after initial discovery of the Oklo phenomenon...

Possible New Dinosaur Museum

Via Miami Herald:

A German company has big plans to turn a struggling geological state park in the Keys into a prehistoric open-air museum with life-size dinosaurs and a Megalodon shark....

Image: “Calvert Marine Museum, Solomons, Maryland”

Old Experiment Gives New Clues to Origin of Life

Via Science:

A classic experiment that has sat on the shelf for more than a half-century is yielding new clues about how life may have arisen on Earth, according to a team of scientists that has gone back and analyzed the data with modern techniques....

Events This Week 3/21 - 27, 2011

Fri.  3/25 Board Meeting. 7:30 p.m. College of Dupage, Building K, Rm 131.

Sat. 3/26 Archaeology Study Group. 7:30 p.m. College of Dupage, Building K, Rm 131.

Insight Into pterobranch hemichordates

Via PhysOrg:

Researchers from China, Leicester and Oxford have discovered a remarkable fossil which sheds new light on an important group of primitive sea creatures.

The 525-million-year-old fossil belongs to a group of tentacle-bearing creatures which lived inside hard tubes. Previously only the tubes have been seen in detail but this new specimen clearly shows the soft parts of the body including tentacles for feeding.

Details of the discovery have been announced today in the journal Current Biology. The study was funded by the Royal Society and the National Natural Foundation of China....