Israel: new invertebrate animal species found in cave

From the Hebrew University of Jerusalem:

30 May, 2006

Press Conference on New Species Revealed in Cave

A press conference to reveal details of new species of invertebrate animals discovered in Israel that have been unknown to science until now will be held tomorrow, Wednesday, May 31, at 9:30 a.m. in room 3602 of the Geography Department (building 6, Social Sciences Faculty) of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Mt. Scopus campus.

The new species were revealed in a cave that was uncovered as a result of excavations in a quarry in the vicinity of Ramle [in Israel].

Scientists from the Hebrew University who examined the cave say they discovered there “a new and unique ecosystem,” including previously unknown aquatic and terrestrial species.

Update: what was said on the newly discovered cave and its animal species at the press conference: here.

See also here.

New invertebrate species in Grand Canyon, USA, caves: here

USA: poster against torture in Iraq

From Art for a change blog:

unidentified artists with a small budget produced the “iRaq” poster – a brilliant detournment of Apple Computer’s portable MP3 player ad campaign.

The subversive poster features the infamous image of an Iraqi prisoner tortured by American jailers at Abu Ghraib prison, with a subhead that reads, “10,000 volts in your pocket, guilty or innocent.”

The poster was designed by a New York artist’s collective whose members prefer anonymity.

Calling themselves Copper Greene, after the code name used by the Pentagon to describe its program of prisoner abuse in Iraq, these nameless artists succeeded in turning a multi-million dollar ad campaign on its head.

Eminem/Iraq remix video: here.

USA: biggest polacanthid dinosaur found

From KSL (in the USA):

Heaviest Dinosaur Discovered in Utah

May 29th, 2006

Ed Yeates Reporting

Utah bone diggers have uncovered what could be the largest and heaviest armored dinosaur on the planet.

The dino appears to be a new species and has yet to be named.

Take the three foot forearm of an armored dinosaur and stretch it out to six feet.

Pull it from head to tail so its’ longer, up to twenty five feet.

Pack it with full armor and spikes, even over the hips; now you’ve got a Polacanthid weighing five tons.

Dr. Reese Barrick, Director/Curator, CEU Prehistoric Museum: “It will be the largest, heaviest armored dinosaur found on the planet so far.”

College of Eastern Utah paleontologists found it right here in Utah, which seems to be unraveling more graves of armored dinos than anywhere in the world.

This new discovery is three times the size and weight of an armored dinosaur called gastonia.

Utahraptor, as portrayed in Jurassic Park, wouldn’t have been able to get its teeth anywhere in the armor.

And if it tried to pry open the tightly fused seams? Bye Bye claws!

See also here.

And here.

And here.

Ankylosaurs: here.

Gastonia: here.

Related articles

• Dinosaur’s feathers discovery (dearkitty1.wordpress.com)
• Canadian researchers discover fossils of first feathered dinosaurs from North America (esciencenews.com)
• Jurassic Park Can Never Happen & More Recent Dino News (nyulocal.com)
• Canadian researchers discover fossils of first feathered dinosaurs from North America (w/ Video) (phys.org)
• Long dinosaur is long (boingboing.net)
• Paleontologists Uncover the First Feathered Dinosaur Fossils in the Americas | DISCOVER Magazine (discovermagazine.com)
• Dinosaur Cells In T. Rex Fossil? Shocking Find Gets New Support From Molecular Analysis (huffingtonpost.com)

Buzzard and shelduck and house martin

This is a video of a house martin colony in Sevilla, Spain.

Today, a walk from the Hofpolder in Vlietland to bird reserve Starrevaart.

A chiffchaff singing.

The first duck of the day in a canal.

A mallard, the most common species?

No, it is a gadwall.

A buzzard circling overhead.

Two Egyptian geese on the lake bank.

We come to the Meeslouwerpolder, the most beautiful area for birds before a sand corporation made the lake too deep.

The birds then got compensation in Starrevaart, more to the south.

A cuckoo calls. A shelduck flies past.

When we arrive at Starrevaart, over a hundred swifts fly over the shallow lake, accompanied by a few score of house martins, often flying a bit lower, closer to the windy waves of the lake.

It made them look a bit like petrels.

From the hide: two common gulls, tufted ducks, common terns. Black-headed gulls nesting on an island.

On the way back, in the Meeslouwerpolder: barn swallows flying, and a cuckoo calling.

In the Hofpolder, two male pheasants.

And a red admiral butterfly.