Giant 'Kraken' Lair Discovered: Cunning Sea Monster That Preyed On Ichthyosaurs

Photo shows shonisaur vertebral disks arranged in curious linear patters with almost geometric regularity. The arranged vertebrae resemble the pattern of sucker discs on a cephalopod tentacle, with each vertebra strongly resembling a coleoid sucker. (Credit: Used with permission of Mark McMenamin.)

Science Daily — Long before whales, the oceans of Earth were roamed by a very different kind of air-breathing leviathan. Snaggle-toothed ichthyosaurs larger than school buses swam at the top of the Triassic Period ocean food chain, or so it seemed before Mount Holyoke College paleontologist Mark McMenamin took a look at some of their remains in Nevada. Now he thinks there was an even larger and more cunning sea monster that preyed on ichthyosaurs: a 'kraken' of such mythological proportions it would have sent Captain Nemo running for dry land.

The evidence is at Berlin-Ichthyosaur State Park in Nevada, where McMenamin and his daughter spent a few days this summer. It's a site where the remains of nine 45-foot (14-meter) ichthyosaurs, of the species Shonisaurus popularis can be found. These were the Triassic's counterpart to today's predatory giant squid-eating sperm whales. But the fossils at the Nevada site have a long history of perplexing researchers, including the world's expert on the site: the late Charles Lewis Camp of U.C. Berkeley.

McMenamin is presenting the results of his work on Oct. 10 at the annual meeting of the Geological Society of America in Minneapolis.

"Charles Camp puzzled over these fossils in the 1950s," said McMenamin. "In his papers he keeps referring to how peculiar this site is. We agree, it is peculiar."

Camp's interpretation was that the fossils probably represented death by an accidental stranding or from a toxic plankton bloom. But no one had ever been able to prove that the beasts died in shallow water. In fact more recent work on the rocks around the fossils suggest it was a deep water environment, which makes neatly arranged carcasses even more mysterious.

This question -- shallow or deep ocean death -- is what attracted McMenamin to the site.

"I was aware that anytime there is controversy about depth, there is probably something interesting going on," McMenamin said. And when they arrived at the remote state park and started looking at the fossils, McMenamin was struck by their strangeness.

"It became very clear that something very odd was going on there," said McMenamin. "It was a very odd configuration of bones."

First of all, the different degrees of etching on the bones suggested that the shonisaurs were not all killed and buried at the same time. It also looked like the bones had been purposefully rearranged. That it got him thinking about a particular modern predator that is known for just this sort of intelligent manipulation of bones.

"Modern octopus will do this," McMenamin said. What if there was an ancient, very large sort of octopus, like the kraken of mythology. "I think that these things were captured by the kraken and taken to the midden and the cephalopod would take them apart."

In the fossil bed, some of the shonisaur vertebral disks are arranged in curious linear patterns with almost geometric regularity, McMenamin explained.The proposed Triassic kraken, which could have been the most intelligent invertebrate ever, arranged the vertebral discs in double line patterns, with individual pieces nesting in a fitted fashion as if they were part of a puzzle.

Even more creepy: The arranged vertebrae resemble the pattern of sucker discs on a cephalopod tentacle, with each vertebra strongly resembling a coleoid sucker. In other words, the vertebral disc "pavement" seen at the state park may represent the earliest known self portrait.

But could an octopus really have taken out such huge swimming predatory reptiles? No one would have believed such a tale until the staff of the Seattle Aquarium set up a video camera at night a few years ago to find out what was killing the sharks in one of their large tanks. What they were shocked to discover was that a large octopus they had in the same tank was the culprit. The video of one of these attacks is available on the web to anyone who uses the search terms "shark vs octopus."

"We think that this cephalopod in the Triassic was doing the same thing," said McMenamin. Among the evidences of the kraken attacks are many more ribs broken in the shonisaur fossils than would seem accidental and the twisted necks of the ichthyosaurs. "It was either drowning them or breaking their necks."

Of course, it's the perfect Triassic crime because octopuses are mostly soft-bodied and don't fossilize well. Only their beaks, or mouth parts, are hard and the chances of those being preserved nearby are very low. That means the evidence for the murderous Kraken is circumstantial, which may leave some scientists rather skeptical. But McMenamin is not worried.

"We're ready for this," he said. "We have a very good case."

How a Team of Enthusiasts Are Mapping Dark Matter

Earthly skills like handwritten signature verification turn out to be useful on a cosmological scale as well

By Rebecca Boyle

Abell Elliptical Galaxy The giant elliptical galaxy ESO 325-G004, from the Abell S740 cluster. Wikimedia Commons

When the Euclid mission lifts off at the end of this decade, it will map galaxy clusters in infrared and visible light, helping to blueprint the large-scale structure of the universe. And a bunch of amateur science geeks who signed up for the competition will use their specialized skills to elucidate those findings.

The Mapping Dark Matter competition proves that Arabic handwriting analysis, glaciology and particle physics are more relevant to cosmology than anyone would have thought — and that when you ask people to solve problems for bragging rights, you get some very creative results.

NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory sponsored the competition in cooperation with Kaggle, a startup that hosts prediction and data modeling competitions. In all, 73 teams signed up to measure the ellipticity of galaxies in astronomy images, a key element in studying cosmology's dark materials. Physics professor David Kirkby and graduate student Daniel Margala from the University of California-Irvine won the prize and brought their findings to JPL last week.

The problem: estimating the shapes of simulated postage-stamp-sized galaxy images that had been deliberately blurred. Kirkby’s background is in particle physics, but he’s interested in cosmology, so he was intrigued when he saw the competition online.

“It’s hard to get into a new area of research, because so much has already gone on before, and there’s so much jargon, it’s hard to work with the data,” Kirkby said in an interview. “But because this was a competition, it was a really well-designed problem. It posed the question in a way that was really easy for us to understand and jump in — they wanted to bring in unique ideas to work on the problem.”

And it worked. Right off the bat, Martin O’Leary, a Ph.D student in glaciology from Cambridge University, spends most of his time studying satellite images to detect the edges of glaciers; his techniques also applied to determining galactic edges. Then teammates Eu Jin Lok, an Australian graduate student at Deloitte, and Ali Hassaine, a signature verification specialist from Qatar University, built on O’Leary’s findings. Kirkby and Margala built an artificial neural network and were able to come up with the most accurate values for the galaxies’ ellipticity.

Jason Rhodes, an astrophysicist at JPL and an investigator on the Euclid mission, said the results will likely be incorporated into future algorithms that will measure real data.

“We’ll have the best quality of data from Euclid, and we need these techniques to fully exploit that data,” he said.

Looking for dark matter is something like looking for the wind — it’s invisible, but you can tell it’s there because of its impact on other objects. (Obviously wind has more observable effects than dark matter, but you get the idea.) Just as you might study a waving flag to infer that it’s windy, dark matter researchers look at warps in galaxy light to infer that the dark matter is present.

The Bullet Cluster:  Wikimedia Commons

The image above, of the Bullet Cluster, is probably the best example of this. It depicts two colliding clusters of galaxies that have passed through one another at unspeakably energetic speeds. As they moved past each other in opposite directions, the stars slowed down a little, and the hot gas, which is the pinkish areas, slowed down a lot. But the dark matter, which doesn’t interact with anything except gravitationally, didn’t slow down. It is represented in blue here, way ahead of the rest of the material in these clusters. It’s not directly visible in this image; the blue shading is inferred from the effect that its gravity has on background radiation. The gravity of dark matter acts like a lens, warping the passing light.

Think of a penny in a pool of water — the penny you see is distorted because the light reflecting off it has to travel through water, Rhodes explained.

“In the same way, a very distant galaxy has a shape that we see as distorted, as it is moving through the intervening dark matter,” he said.

To know how much the light has been distorted, you’d need to know the shape of the object emitting it — a galaxy that looks warped might just be a particularly ovoid galaxy. Determining galactic ellipticity helps astronomers determine how much of that ellipticity is the result of dark matter.

Kirkby and Margala came up with a model for each galaxy, involving six or seven different parameters. This global view, rather than looking at each data point on its own, was a novel approach, according to Rhodes. Then they fed the data into an artificial neural network, which they used to find the galaxies’ elliptical shapes. Kirkby said he planned to write a paper about his work.

“The astronomy community is trying to get out in front of the large data analysis problem that’s looming,” Kirkby said. “The fact that it was set up as a competition was kind of unusual for research, but I think that made it fun ... It adds a new element to research that we haven’t seen before, where people tend to work by themselves and publish papers.”

plz plz watch this...in my whole life i never seen ds type

FIVE BEST PAYING HOURLY JOBS

In a tough economy it’s important to find jobs that have the highest pay and potential. If you are in the market for an hourly salary you should look into these great career choices! Get the list of the top 5 paying jobs here!

Payscale highlights…

1. Commercial Diver - $25.58 – $35.75

Welding work can be rigorous and demanding. Can you imagine doing it in the dark, under 1,000 feet of water? Commercial divers do all kinds of repairs, construction work, search and rescue, and other tasks while floating over river beds or past schools of fish. Divers must be efficient workers, excellent communicators, comfortable working in teams and up for very physically demanding work. Divers attend diving school then look for work placement opportunities where they can build their skill and experience level.

2. Construction Superintendent – $22.52 – $35.17

From strip malls to 50 story office towers, construction superintendents are responsible for coordinating the building of commercial and residential structures. A person in this job needs to be an effective leader who can coordinate the teams and processes needed to complete a project on time, from hiring workers to getting materials to the site. Depending on the size of the project, there may be more than one construction manager involved. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), most construction managers are often self-employed and those with college degrees in construction tend to have better job prospects.

3. Grant Writer – $24.75 – $50.51

When non-profit groups, research institutions and community-based organizations look for funding, they often rely on grant money. And, grant writers are responsible for bringing in those dollars. Besides having excellent written communication skills, grant writers must be good researchers, know how to organize information well, be aware of the best grant sources and know how to write persuasively. Many grant writers work for themselves, though a large organization can hire them full-time. And, grant writers have the opportunity to work for a cause they believe in which can make it a very satisfying job.

4. Ultrasound Technologist – $29.11 – $38.04

Diagnostic medical sonography is a growing field. When compared with less portable and more expensive approaches, like CT and MRI scans, ultrasound is growing in popularity. And, as the baby boomers age, this technology will become more in demand. Technologists often work at healthcare facilities and need to be available on weekends and evenings. This career can be entered several ways, including study at vocational institutions, colleges or in the armed forces, along with on-the-job training. There are certifications available and sonographers can also specialize in certain areas of the body.

5. Landscape Architect – $22.73 – $32.90

When a new freeway goes in or a home is being built, the undeveloped land around it often requires the care of a landscape architect. If you love the outdoors and have an eye for both beauty and function, this may be a great career for you. Landscape architects review a site, talk to their clients about their needs, create a plan, follow a budget and then work with the other members of the project team to ensure that the final landscaping is completed as planned. Landscape architects spend time indoors doing research, meeting with clients and creating proposals, but the rest of their time is spent on the job site. A bachelor’s or a master’s degree in landscape architecture is usually needed to enter this profession, as well as licensure in most states.

Get more high paying hourly jobs at Payscale!

THE UNEXPECTED KEY INGREDIENT TO SUCCESS

When you think of success, you are much more likely to imagine perfection than imperfection. If this is the case, you may be overlooking a vital ingredient to success. It is not perfection which makes success, but instead overcoming the imperfections. Find out why this is so important here!

Success.com explains…

Imperfection is part of the human condition.  We all make mistakes, fail to perform at an optimum level sometimes, miss things that should be obvious and have moments of reflection in which, in hindsight, we say: “how did I miss that?”  What is important is to recognize is that in order to achieve success you do not need to be perfect.  In fact, the lessons you learn from your imperfections are critical for your growth and are essential in your success journey.

Not only is it important to accept our condition of imperfection, it is also critical that we build up the courage to own up our own shortcomings and take responsibility for when we make mistakes.  When you are in the heat of battle, dealing with difficult situations and being accused of things that are not true, we tend to become defensive.    It is important to get the facts straight and communicate it in a professional manner, defending your position when the facts show that you not guilty as charged.

But it is just as important to recognize when you do fail.  No one expects you to be perfect, and owning up to the occasions when you made mistakes or did not fully meet expectations will only increase the respect other people have for you and strengthen your ability to win and be successful.

Others relate to you when you make mistakes because they realized that they are not perfect themselves.  Just like you make mistakes, other people are also vulnerable to imperfections.  But if you expect others to understand when you make mistakes, it is important that you don’t become quick to judge others either.  Judging others by different standards than what you expect them to judge you is not a good way to develop your character and leadership abilities.

Don’t be afraid of making mistakes, or to admitting to them.  Even the best and most experienced people in your field will make mistakes.  Not only is making mistakes natural, it is also healthy and good for success, as it teaches you lessons that you can use when the stakes are higher.

Get the full story at Success.com!

Tum To There Pardesi - Sai Baba Version

It's not an IT park, It's Jail in Austria

Lets go to Austria

and start doing Robbery and Pick Pocketing

ITS NOT A "REPOST " ITS A REMAINDER

..... i can't see more..!!!

Can u see it..? ? ?

Lets redefine our thinking
Child labour is a curse to humanity

adopt one child and pay for his education.

Bio Jet Fuel

Small molecules can starve cancer cells

 by Biomechanism 

CANCER RESEARCH: All cells in our body have a system that can handle cellular waste and release building blocks for recycling. The underlying mechanism is called autophagy and literally means “self-eating”. Many cancer cells have increased the activity of this system and the increased release of building blocks equip the cancer cells with a growth advantage and can render them resistant towards treatment.

“We have discovered a small molecule that can block autophagy in different cancer cells and specifically, this molecule can increase the sensitivity of breast cancer cells towards one of the most commonly used treatments for breast cancer,” says Professor Anders H. Lund, at BRIC, University of Copenhagen. 

Our own anti-cancer molecule
The molecule that the researchers have studied is called microRNA-101 and is found naturally in our cells. In cancer research, there is currently a large focus on both autophagy and microRNA molecules, which can control our genes and both mechanisms are known to play an important role for cancer development.

“We have shown that microRNA-101 can turn off specific genes and thereby inhibit autophagy in cancer cells. The fact that microRNA molecules can regulate autophagy is quite new and our results disclose a large and interesting field within cancer research” says researcher Lisa Frankel, who has been leading this research project in Anders H. Lund’s laboratory.

Breast cancer treatment
MicroRNA-101 is often lost in liver cancer, prostate cancer and breast cancer. By controlling the level of microRNA-101 in cells of different cancer types, the researchers from BRIC show that microRNA-101 regulates autophagy. In addition, the researchers have shown that breast cancer cells become more sensitive towards treatment with the anti-hormone Tamoxifen, when they via microRNA-101 turn off the autophagy system.

“This result has a clear clinical relevance, as resistance against tamoxifen is a large problem in the treatment of breast cancer,” says Anders H. Lund.

The next step of the researchers is to investigate whether other microRNA molecules are involved in the regulation of autophagy in cancer cells. Further, they will take a closer look at the role of microRNA-101 in normal development of our organism and in the development of cancer.

-Latest Cancer Research on Biomechanism.com 

Homeland Security Application Monitors Crowds' Faces, Races, and Eye Movements to Detect Would-Be Criminals

By Sean Kane

FAST Crime Department of Homeland Security

The Department Homeland Security is developing a system designed to apprehend you before you commit a crime. The Future Attribute Screening Technology, or FAST, is designed to analyze whether a person is likely to commit a crime, using a long list of factors. Some are akin to lie detection, such as breathing and heart rate, but the system also measures body movements, voice pitch changes, blink rate, breathing patterns, eye movements, body heat changes and prosody (changes in speech rhythm and intonation). The "prototype screening facility" is built to "detect cues indicative of mal-intent" using these algorithms. The system also analyzes factors like ethnicity, gender, age and profession.

The DHS has already conducted a FAST field test at an undisclosed location in the northeast. "It is not an airport, but it is a large venue that is a suitable substitute for an operational setting," says DHS spokesman John Verrico.

The department views FAST as a tool for airport security, but it has other potential uses as well. A DHS document suggests a mobile version "could be used at security checkpoints such as border crossings or at large public events such as sporting events or conventions."

The development of FAST has raised some eyebrows, including those of the Electronic Privacy Information Center, a public interest research center in Washington, D.C. EPIC has obtained multiple documents, including one detailing the field test (PDF).

[via CNET]