Sunday, December 20, 2009
Last Chance for the Paleo Paper Challenge
Per the "rules" of the Paleo Paper Challenge, we've all got until January 1st to finish up! Then, it's accountability time. . .(cue ominous music)
Thursday, December 17, 2009
New Paleo Articles in PLoS ONE
As we close down the year, PLoS ONE keeps on turning out the paleontology articles. There's some important stuff here, both for mammal workers as well as those interested in anthropogenic change.
Horovitz I, Martin T, Bloch J, Ladevèze S, Kurz C, et al. (2009) Cranial anatomy of the earliest marsupials and the origin of opossums. PLoS ONE 4(12): e8278. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0008278
Carrasco MA, Barnosky AD, Graham RW (2009) Quantifying the Extent of North American Mammal Extinction Relative to the Pre-Anthropogenic Baseline. PLoS ONE 4(12): e8331. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0008331
Horovitz I, Martin T, Bloch J, Ladevèze S, Kurz C, et al. (2009) Cranial anatomy of the earliest marsupials and the origin of opossums. PLoS ONE 4(12): e8278. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0008278
Carrasco MA, Barnosky AD, Graham RW (2009) Quantifying the Extent of North American Mammal Extinction Relative to the Pre-Anthropogenic Baseline. PLoS ONE 4(12): e8331. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0008331
Saturday, December 12, 2009
New issue of Palaeontologia Electronica
Sorry for the slow posts lately. . .it's that end of the year crunch!
To keep you busy in the meantime, there is a new issue of the on-line, open access paleontology journal Palaeontologia Electronica. This has lots of interest, with an editorial for new faculty by new faculty, a review of the current state of bovid systematics and paleontology, digital dinosaurs, and much more.
And, a belated congrats to Sterling Nesbitt and colleagues on the publication of Tawa hallae!
To keep you busy in the meantime, there is a new issue of the on-line, open access paleontology journal Palaeontologia Electronica. This has lots of interest, with an editorial for new faculty by new faculty, a review of the current state of bovid systematics and paleontology, digital dinosaurs, and much more.
And, a belated congrats to Sterling Nesbitt and colleagues on the publication of Tawa hallae!
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
Data or Hypothesis?
Skull of modern human (Homo sapiens), reconstructed from CT scan of original specimen using 3D Slicer 3.4. Data from OUVC 10503, downloadable at the WitmerLab web page.As the headline says: data or hypothesis? Discuss.
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Welcome A New Blogging Paleontologist!
I am pleased to note that my colleague, friend, and fellow ceratopsian fan Scott Sampson has just started up his own blog, "The Whirlpool of Life."
For those of you who only know him as a paleontological researcher, Scott is also a very skilled communicator and educator. The past few months have seen some tremendous successes in that regard - first, his on-screen and behind-the-scenes role with the new PBS kids' show Dinosaur Train, and second, his just-published book Dinosaur Odyssey.
Scott has a special interest in popularizing issues of science education, evolution, sustainability, and paleontology, all of which promise to be themes on the new blog. This will be a good one to add to your regular reading list!
Scott Sampson with an extinct friend.
For those of you who only know him as a paleontological researcher, Scott is also a very skilled communicator and educator. The past few months have seen some tremendous successes in that regard - first, his on-screen and behind-the-scenes role with the new PBS kids' show Dinosaur Train, and second, his just-published book Dinosaur Odyssey.
Scott has a special interest in popularizing issues of science education, evolution, sustainability, and paleontology, all of which promise to be themes on the new blog. This will be a good one to add to your regular reading list!
Scott Sampson with an extinct friend.Monday, November 16, 2009
How Meaningful Are User Ratings?
In the spirit of some earlier posts on this blog, The Scholarly Kitchen (an excellent blog for those interested in following issues of open access publishing) has this post about the utility of ratings systems at journals such as PLoS ONE. Interesting food for thought.
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Tragedy in Michigan
I wanted to take a brief moment to call your attention to a situation brewing at Michigan State University - the powers-that-be are on the verge of closing down their Geological Sciences program.
Geoscientists impact our lives in more ways than most of us realize. Did you drink a glass of clean water this morning? Geologists and hydrologists help to keep our water supply clean and safe. Did you fill your car with gas this week? A petroleum geologist helped locate the oil deposits and coordinate their extraction. Do you use a cell phone or laptop? The cobalt in the batteries (and nearly all of the other raw materials) was mined from deposits located by geologists. Did your local roads not wash away during the last major rainstorm? A geologist likely had a role in that too. Not to mention all of the paleontologists, planetary geologists, sedimentologists, mining engineers, and the like who have significant training in geology departments around the world.
Surveys find that we are facing a severe shortage of trained geoscientists in the coming decades, as the older generations retire. Our need for geoscientists is not going away, and closing geology departments is not a way to rectify this.
What can you do? Check out these two posts by Chris Noto (guesting at ReBecca's Hunt's Dinochick Blogs) for more information. Don't let the MSU geology department go extinct!
Geoscientists impact our lives in more ways than most of us realize. Did you drink a glass of clean water this morning? Geologists and hydrologists help to keep our water supply clean and safe. Did you fill your car with gas this week? A petroleum geologist helped locate the oil deposits and coordinate their extraction. Do you use a cell phone or laptop? The cobalt in the batteries (and nearly all of the other raw materials) was mined from deposits located by geologists. Did your local roads not wash away during the last major rainstorm? A geologist likely had a role in that too. Not to mention all of the paleontologists, planetary geologists, sedimentologists, mining engineers, and the like who have significant training in geology departments around the world.
Surveys find that we are facing a severe shortage of trained geoscientists in the coming decades, as the older generations retire. Our need for geoscientists is not going away, and closing geology departments is not a way to rectify this.
What can you do? Check out these two posts by Chris Noto (guesting at ReBecca's Hunt's Dinochick Blogs) for more information. Don't let the MSU geology department go extinct!
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