U of C searches for ET
Arctic's strange sulphur spring may hide secrets of life
University of Calgary geology professor Benoit Beauchamp was in the High Arctic studying rocks when he noticed an unusual yellowish stain in a snow-covered valley. He flew over in a helicopter several times, but couldn't figure out why the snow had turned yellow. "I thought it was some sort of moss or vegetation," he recalled Tuesday. "It's not until I landed that I realized it was pure sulphur.University of Calgary geology professor Benoit Beauchamp was in the High Arctic studying rocks when he noticed an unusual yellowish stain in a snow-covered valley. He flew over in a helicopter several times, but couldn't figure out why the snow had turned yellow. "I thought it was some sort of moss or vegetation," he recalled Tuesday. "It's not until I landed that I realized it was pure sulphur.
Arctic expedition will investigate alien-like glacier
And remember Frank Zappas warning kids: Don't Eat No Yellow SnowSave for an unexpected pair of top-40 hits in "Don't Eat the Yellow Snow" and "Valley Girl," Frank Zappa didn't make much of a dent in the mainstream in his quarter century as a recorded artist. And understandably so; he was, and remains more than a dozen years after his passing, years ahead of his time. To Zappa's benefit, and probably much to the appreciation of his still-die hard fan base, he never fit the rock and roll mold, inspired more by the likes of Igor Stravinsky than the Fab Four and making no bones about it. He was also an astute social and political commentator, despite penning locker-room savvy classics such as "Broken Hearts are for A******s" and "Bobby Brown."
Let's be Frank
Frank Zappa's Family Brings His Music to a New Audience
The similarity of G. yumenensis to modern birds came as a surprise: Previously, such advanced anatomical features had been seen only in birds that lived during and after the late Cretaceous period — within the last 100 million years. "In short, no one expected to find a bird this modern in rocks this old," Harris says, referring to the shale formation where the team made its discovery. The shale dates to the early Cretaceous period, which occurred between 100 million and 145 million years ago. As a result of the finding, G. yumenensis now has the distinction of being "the oldest-known bird that is really, really modern in its anatomy," he says.
As such, G. yumenensis may help fill in gaps in the branch of the evolutionary tree that gave rise to today's birds. Specifically, scientists are looking to G. yumenensis for present-day evidence of whether modern birds originated in aquatic or terrestrial habitats.
An artist's reconstruction shows Gansus yumenensis in a lake in China's Gansu province. The bird probably had the ability to dive and swim underwater, much like modern loons or grebes. Illustration by Mark A. Klingler, courtesy of the Carnegie Museum of Natural History.
"The most primitive living birds — for example, ostriches, rheas, and chickens — tend to be terrestrial" and therefore would seem to hint that today's birds got their start on land, says Matthew Lamanna, a research team member from the Carnegie Museum of Natural History in Pennsylvania. Yet two other features of G. yumenensis — webbed feet and a large crest on its lower leg bone that would have provided a strong anchor for leg muscles — suggest the bird was aquatic and had the ability to dive and swim underwater like loons or grebes. According to You's research team, this supports the idea that modern birds actually originated in water habitats.
Also See:UPDATE: It seems that a clever webmaster has discovered that I have prematurely announced Ms. Notley's candidacy.
As such, her site has been taken down until the official announcement is made. Even though I did have the foresight to see this coming and captured screenshots and copied her announcement speech and press release (dated June 16), I'm really not cruel enough to post stuff like that (this early in the nomination game).
Bolivia's president pays homage to Che Guevara
LA HIGUERA, Bolivia (Reuters) - Bolivian President Evo Morales pledged solidarity with Cuba and Venezuela on Wednesday as he paid homage to Ernesto "Che" Guevara at the spot where the legendary leftist guerrilla was killed in 1967.
Clutching double-sided Cuban-Bolivian flags, white-coated Cuban doctors joined Morales and hundreds of local residents in the remote eastern village La Higuera to mark the 78th anniversary of the Cuban revolutionary leader's birth.
Morales, who has hung a large portrait of Guevara in the presidential palace, defended his leftist alliance with Cuba and Venezuela and said he would be willing to take up arms to defend them in the face of any U.S. attack.
"If they did it in Cuba, in Venezuela or Bolivia, we'd be willing to take them on with arms to defend the nation, natural resources and social reforms," Morales said.
"Ten years ago, I said there'd soon be many Cubas in Latin America and I now feel I was right ... . Now we've got another commander, our comrade (Venezuelan President) Hugo Chavez. We've got two freedom-fighting commanders ... whatever the empire says," added Morales, who often dubs Washington "the North American empire."
He is the first Bolivian president to pay homage to Guevara in the mountainous area where the Argentine-born medical doctor was captured and shot to death by Bolivian soldiers as he sought to spread communism to Bolivia.
Guevara was Fidel Castro's lieutenant in the 1959 Cuban Revolution. His attempt to spark another movement in Bolivia in 1967 was stopped after seven months of fighting in the subtropics.
He was captured on October 8 and taken to the school building in La Higuera, where he was executed the next day at the age of 39.
Che was executed by the CIA and Bolivian Army in the first act of the phoney War On Drugs that began way back then.
Bolivia Remembers Che for Humanity
La Paz, Jun 15 (Prensa Latina) The government and people´s tribute to the 78th anniversary of Argentine-Cuban guerrilla commander Ernesto Che Guevara, shared by ambassadors from Cuba and Venezuela, has caused a great impact in Bolivia.
President Evo Morales, and Cuban and Venezuelan Ambassadors Rafael Dausa and Julio Montes ratified their nations´ will to emulate Che´s solidarity fight as the greatest homage to his memory.
History has done justice to the guerrilla fighter, in an emotive revolutionary activity at the La Higuera village, where he was assassinated in 1967.
In his address, Evo Morales described Che as an immortal leader who tirelessly fought against US imperialism and for the liberty and dignity of Latin America, "dying for us, equality and justice."
"When I was a farmers´ leader ten years ago, I was asked about my views on Cuba, and I answered there would be many 'Cubas' in Latin America. I am very satisfied I was right," he noted.
Morales referred to unconditional solidarity among Cuba, Venezuela and Bolivia, calling it the axis of humankind, of the poor who fight for life, as proven in health and education collaboration, and pledged he would never betray Che´s ideals.
Cuban and Venezuelan Ambassadors Rafael Dausa and Julio Montes also addressed participants, including Che´s son Camilo Guevara March and government officials from Caracas and Havana.
Evo Morales Honors Che Guevara with New Clinic from Cuba
Bolivian President Pays Homage to Che Guevara Today
Bolivian President Pays Tribute to Guevara
''Bolivia's Evo Morales Launches His Movement Toward Socialism ...
Unlike the traditional populist leaders in the Andean region, who originate in the middle and upper classes and who implement redistributionist measures from above without coherent ideological grounding and grassroots organization, Morales comes from a poor indigenous background and heads an organized mass movement with ideological foundations and programmatic applications of them. His Movement Toward Socialism (M.A.S.) -- Bolivia's largest political party -- brings together indigenous, community, peasant, labor and student groups in a coalition that, despite the many tensions within it, seeks to replace permanently the oligarchic rule of the European and affluent mestizo middle and upper classes that have become linked to and dependent upon multinational corporations and the states that protect them, particularly the United States. [See: "Bolivia's Evo Morales Shifts the Hemispheric Balance of Power"]
The aim of the M.A.S. is not simply to take over the existing system and run it by keeping it intact, but to change it fundamentally. The extent of the transformation that the M.A.S. envisions became evident in June when it released its program, "Refounding Bolivia," which incorporates its agenda for the forthcoming constituent assembly.
At the highest level of ideological abstraction, the document interprets Bolivian history as "indigenous-popular resistance to discrimination and poverty," proclaiming the "rights" of indigenous peoples to self-determination, control over their territories and "collective resources," and use of their traditional political and justice systems, consistent with respect for human rights. The M.A.S.' vision for Bolivia is a "plural, participative, communitarian and representative democracy, based on diversity of peoples, for the elimination of all forms of colonialism, segregation and discrimination." In the economic sphere, "Refounding Bolivia" declares that natural resources are "social property" and that their management falls to the state -- a model of "social economy" with room for private productive property so long as it serves socially useful purposes.
Bolivia’s Gas Nationalization: A South American AffairThe diplomatic whirlwind following Evo Morales’ takeover of Bolivia’s gas fields has revealed that South American unity is far stronger than critics of the regio... :: 14/6/2006
Morales to Release Economic Plan
© 2006 The Associated Press
