This is sad...

Found here, originally published in National Geographic. Click to embiggen, and then sigh sadly while slowly shaking your head.

650 Million Years of Continental Drift

Neat!


650 Million Years In 1:20 min - Watch more Free Videos

Palaeobet

Wow... VisuEvo has been getting a lot of hits from people doing web searches for 2009 celebrity predictions. I guess it's time for a disclaimer. I am not psychic! Then again, neither is anyone else. Except for Hank Yarbo, of course:
Wait... guess that's "phycic." Anyway, I have a real post coming up soon, but in the meantime, here's something cool PZ posted on Pharyngula this morning: Palaeobet!

click to embiggen:

Time for a new banner, maybe?

"Psychic" predictions for 2009

My friend Harrison at Strange Future has made his predictions for 2009, so I guess it's my turn!

~~~ Predictions for 2009: ~~~

January - Oil prices rise again, causing a sudden spike in gas prices.

February - lawsuits abound as ignorant antenna-TV owners suddenly find their sets to be showing nothing but static.

March - scientists come up against a major stumbling block in stem cell research

April - a record-breaking blizzard surprises the northern midwest US, dumping feet of snow and causing power outages in many areas.

May - a celebrity associated with the Harry Potter movies runs up against some legal issues

June - a well-known religious leader is revealed to have been involved in a sex-related scandal.

July - a multi-state thunderstorm system causes travel delays in several airports. Tornadoes rip through small towns and three states are declared disaster areas.

August - American auto-makers tank yet again. The government debates further bail-out packages.

September - unseasonably warm weather causes issues for farmers. Corn prices, and as a result food prices in general, skyrocket.


October - a relatively well-known, yet extremely old, celebrity dies, causing people around the country to say “That guy was still alive?”

November - Coldplay releases their 5th album, and it is hailed as the ‘best ever!’ by fans. All the Coldplay-haters hang their heads in shame and finally admit just how wrong they’ve been.

December - Jim Davis writes a series of strips in which Jon Arbuckle marries his long-time girlfriend Liz, then finally retires Garfield.

Linkfest: Spider, Orangutan, and a dozen others

Last entry for the year! Hope everyone enjoys their extra second of 2008! Now some links:

From Science Daily: How the Spider Spun Its Web: Missing Link in Spider Evolution Discovered

Even in this form, spiders creep me out.

From National Geographic News: Whistling Orangutan May Hint at Language Evolution


From Wired Science: 12 Elegant Examples of Evolution

Darwin - Big Idea Big Exhibition

London's Natural History Museum just opened an exhibition in celebration of Darwin's 200'th birthday in February. Darwin Big Idea Big Exhibition is on display until April 19th, after which I really, really hope it becomes a traveling exhibition. Mainly so I ogle this with my face pressed helplessly against the glass:

*drool*

These photos are from the slide show on the Natural History Museum website, by the way. That first one is of course Darwin's notebook, and the very first cladogram he drew when working out his idea.
And here is a model of the HMS Beagle. I have always wanted a model of the HMS Beagle. Always, always.
These are the mockingbirds Darwin collected on the Galapagos. The birds there inspired Darwin to think about species changing over time.
Is this a first edition of On the Origin of Species? Why yes! Yes it is!

Meanwhile, the National Museum of Australia in Canberra is having a Darwin exhibition of their own until March 29th. And theirs features this Augustus Earle painting!
If you're lucky enough to be close to either of these museums, don't miss out!

Weekend Poetry

I got an email from Craig Gosling today, and he sent me some more poems! So, Weekend Poetry is back!

Archaeopteryx Nightmare

The Archaeopteryx is fictitious, shall I tell you why?
It doesn’t fit into God's plan; it's just a secular lie.
Fossils found all over the world are not the missing links.
As is said of fishy facts, something in Denmark stinks.

I can't let facts get in the way when I read my bible.
I can't let science confuse me, it's simply secular libel.
How can scales turn into feathers, a beak turn into teeth?
How can legs turn into wings, the concept causes me grief.

As I lay me down to sleep, I hope I don't have dreams
Of flying reptiles with feathers and teeth, animals so extreme.
The Archaeopteryx cannot exist, the bible tells me so.
Fossils are lies and science is wrong, this I truly know.

I'll stick to claims of Iron Age profits with faithful resolution
and ignore all those scientists who do swear by evolution.
Archaeopteryx, you never lived, you're not a missing link;
you don’t fit into God's plan, for those of us who don't think.

- Craig Gosling

Also, I see this has been bumped from the front page yet again... *sigh*
I'll have an actual blog entry sometime this week, once I sort through all the Google Alerts in my inbox I've ignored for the past two weeks. Ciao