Matt Bonnan discusses Aardonyx
This video is a short clip of Dr. Matt Bonnan of Wester Illinois University discussing Aardonyx, his research interest, and how he became involved with the project, which was funded by the National Geographic Society. One of Dr. Bonnan's research interest involves the morphology and mechanics of sauropod dinosaur forelimbs. He explains how Aardonyx had the adaptation of interlocking forearm bones that would reinforce the forelimb and prevent the weight-bearing hand from twisting. Since the earliest dinosaurs were bipeds (walking on their hindlimbs), it is interesting to Dr. Bonnan (and others) that even during the early Jurassic

Guest Post: Michigan State University to close Geological Sciences Department
An update on the Michigan State University plan to close the Geological Sciences Department, by guest blogger Dr. Chris Noto:On November 11, the Provost acted on the Dean's recommendation to close the Department of Geological Sciences by forwarding his recommendation to the Board of Trustees. The Board sent it to academic governance, which is mainly procedural. The Board, sometime in the future, perhaps as early as Dec. 11, will vote on the closing.After consulting with alumni and others a plan was presented to the Dean in which the alumni would endow two chairs, and that with potential retirements and other opportunities, the Department could be revital

Rock star of the week: Vanessa Bateman
*(Please read my previous post if you have not yet)*As I am sure many of you have, I have watched the video of the rockslide on U.S. Highway 64 in Tennessee over and over. It is just awesome to watch. I was super excited when I found this link that has a video (different from the one below) te

Guest Post: Why it is wrong for Michigan State University to close Geological Sciences
There is a situation currently happening that I feel everyone needs to know about: Michigan State University closing their Geological Sciences program. And rather than writing it from second (or third) hand knowledge, I thought it would be better to go directly to a source that actually knows what is going on. I have asked my friend, and fellow paleontologist, Chris Noto to fill us in. Below are his words and thoughts on the situation. ~ ReBeccaAround the nation, many geoscience departments have been closed or threatened with closure. Furthermore, there

Dark Matter
On a recent movie rental I saw a trailer for a movie I had never hear of (this does not happen all that often to me). The movie was called Dark Matter and has Meryl Streep and Aidan Quinn staring in it. One would expect a movie with bigger named "movie stars" would have gotten some press - so how did I miss this one? I am still not sure, but I wonder if it perhaps has to do with the subject mater - Science. The big, scary, "S" word that so much of middle america does not relate to (or so I hear). The plot for the movie revolves around a Chinese Ph.D. candidate working in the US for a well known professor in a cosmology program. This stude