tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-151942262024-03-17T11:32:55.743-06:00Matt's Sci/Tech BlogMatt Bille, authorMatt Billehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18230930494550861704noreply@blogger.comBlogger3655125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15194226.post-38136994723775663162024-03-17T11:32:00.001-06:002024-03-17T11:32:16.571-06:00Anniversary of Vanguard 1, Oldest Satellite in Orbit<p> </p><h3 class="post-title entry-title" itemprop="name" style="background-color: #0d4400; color: #ddffdd; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 30px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; position: relative;"><br /></h3><div class="post-body entry-content" id="post-body-203015455266114093" itemprop="description articleBody" style="background-color: #0d4400; color: #ddffdd; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.524px; line-height: 1.5; position: relative; width: 488.182px;"><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white; font-family: inherit;">“Nothing ever built arose to touch the skies unless some man dreamed that it should, some man believed that it could, and some man willed that it must.” - Charles F. Kettering<o:p></o:p></span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white; font-family: inherit;"><span class="msoIns"><ins cite="mailto:Matt" datetime="2020-03-16T20:38"> </ins></span> </span><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white; font-family: inherit;">It’s often forgotten that long before Sergei Korolev, Chief Designer, launched Sputnik 1, an American satellite program was underway.</span><span style="color: white; font-family: inherit;"> </span><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white; font-family: inherit;">This is a story Erika Maurer and I were honored to chronicle in the NASA-sponsored publication of </span><i style="color: white; font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/First-Space-Race-Satellites-Centennial/dp/1585443743" style="color: #77ff88; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">The First Space Race</a></i><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white; font-family: inherit;"> (Texas A&M, 2004).</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white; font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-x-cvX1V9zDU/XnF41YAQr8I/AAAAAAAACHA/JcoR7dZnmUYOZ4c8CEXui_Ro2-WSjqF_gCEwYBhgL/s1600/FSR2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="color: #77ff88; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-decoration-line: none;"><img border="0" data-original-height="499" data-original-width="335" height="200" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-x-cvX1V9zDU/XnF41YAQr8I/AAAAAAAACHA/JcoR7dZnmUYOZ4c8CEXui_Ro2-WSjqF_gCEwYBhgL/s200/FSR2.jpg" style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: none; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.5) 1px 1px 5px; padding: 8px; position: relative;" width="133" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white; font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white; font-family: inherit;">The Stewart Committee assembled in 1955 selected Project Vanguard in what might be termed the ultimate Army-Navy game. Vanguard, to be run by the Naval Research Laboratory, was to orbit a scientific satellite during the 1957-58 International Geophysical Year (IGY). The Navy and the Soviet Union pressed towards the goal of the first satellite (with the Stewart Committee loser, the Army Ballistic Missile Agency, left, for the moment, on the bench). <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white; font-family: inherit;">That competition has been second-guessed, then and now, and some annoyingly persistent and unproven claims have been made about it. Since we have an opportunity here to mention those, and it’s my blog and these irk me, there are three such claims:<o:p></o:p></span></div><br /><ol start="1" style="margin-top: 0in;" type="1"><li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white; font-family: inherit;">The Committee (in some versions, directed or pressured by President Eisenhower) picked Vanguard because it was the “more civilian” satellite, with the National Academy of Sciences being the official sponsor even though the program was hosted and carried out by NRL. The idea here (logical in itself) is that a civilian satellite would have more of a chance to establish a lasting principle of free overflight through space. But while the Stewart Committee was well aware of this logic, there’s no evidence they acted on it. There’s also no evidence Ike pressured the Committee in any way. </span></li></ol><ol start="1" style="margin-top: 0in;" type="1"><li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white; font-family: inherit;">That dislike of German engineers under the ABMA’s famous Dr. Wernher von Braun carried the day. Again, no evidence. Whether one or more people held an unconscious bias, or a conscious one never spoken of, is unknown and unknowable. </span></li></ol><ol start="1" style="margin-top: 0in;" type="1"><li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white; font-family: inherit;">That Ike wanted the U.S. program slowed down so the Russians would establish freedom of space. Again, the Committee, the National Security Council, and the President were aware of this thinking, but Ike more than once criticized Vanguard for being behind schedule. The “slow down” idea was disproved by Ike’s post-Sputnik action of calling his R&D chief, Donald Quarles, on the carpet and demanding to know how the Russians came in first. </span></li></ol><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white; font-family: inherit;">Erika and I are convinced that, in this case, the official version of events is the true one.</span><br /><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white; font-family: inherit;">On 4 October 1957, Korolev successfully placed a satellite in Earth orbit. The spacecraft itself was an unimpressive-looking sphere, not much bigger than a basketball. What it signified, though, was enormous. The first phase of the first space race was over. The Soviets quickly followed up with the far larger Sputnik 2.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white; font-family: inherit;">Project Vanguard hustled to develop a response to the Soviet Union – and a questioning American public. Everyone knew Ike had approved Project Vanguard but also that he’d watched with growing impatience as its timetable slipped and costs mushroomed. Vanguard never had an explicit directive to be first, but it was widely assumed the Soviets were behind us in technology and so the first satellite would be American.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white; font-family: inherit;">On December 6, 1957, what had originally been meant as a non-orbital Vanguard test vehicle but now fitted with a tiny satellite, attempted a launch from Cape Canaveral in full television view of the entire world. The result was an embarrassment: a massive explosion two seconds after launch. Vanguard’s director, John P. Hagen, was remarkably reserved in his response: “Nuts.” The satellite, built quickly in a minor engineering miracle by a team led by Roger Easton, fell forlornly to the sand. Easton carried it back to Washington, where it languished, seemingly unwanted, in his house. (Years later, the Smithsonian put it on permanent display.)<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white; font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white; font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-gMSGfZ7mMBQ/XnF6v1ZxdqI/AAAAAAAACHI/G0bb-OUD0cYWc6kSkcb_vr8izt3eQ8hUQCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/NRL%2BVanguard%2Barticle.png" imageanchor="1" style="color: #77ff88; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-decoration-line: none;"><img border="0" data-original-height="730" data-original-width="788" height="296" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-gMSGfZ7mMBQ/XnF6v1ZxdqI/AAAAAAAACHI/G0bb-OUD0cYWc6kSkcb_vr8izt3eQ8hUQCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/NRL%2BVanguard%2Barticle.png" style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: none; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.5) 1px 1px 5px; padding: 8px; position: relative;" width="320" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white; font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white; font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white; font-family: inherit;">NRL newsletter article</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white; font-family: inherit;">The Army Ballistic Missile Agency’s Explorer 1 became the first American satellite on January 31, 1958.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white; font-family: inherit;">Vanguard did not give up. On March 17, 1958, on its third try, the program put a satellite into orbit.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white; font-family: inherit;">“I heard a tremendous roar, as if a fire had started. Suddenly, books, shoes, and other things flew over the balcony down into the hangar.”<o:p></o:p></span></i></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white; font-family: inherit;">- Propulsion engineer Kurt Stehling on the Vanguard celebration at Cape Canaveral<o:p></o:p></span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white; font-family: inherit;"> In October 1958, the U.S. created the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to run civilian space programs. This organization eventually absorbed the Army and Navy satellite programs. The NRL reconstituted a Satellites Techniques Branch under Martin Votaw, and the Lab continues working on small satellites today. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white; font-family: inherit;">Vanguard has been categorized as a flop. It wasn’t. It went over time, it went way over budget, and it had a launch failure at the worst possible moment, but that shouldn’t obscure its contributions, which echo into 2020 and well into the future. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white; font-family: inherit;">First, there was the rocket. The Vanguard launch vehicle, still the smallest ever to successfully orbit a satellite, pushed technology hard. The margins were miniscule, and the rocket met with success only after great effort (and considerable infighting) by the Glenn L. Martin Company and the NRL team. The second and third stages, the Able and Altair, mated to a Thor missile first stage, became integral components of the longest-running and most successful American booster family, the Delta rockets. Vanguard’s engineering DNA was still traceable in the last Delta II launcher, flown in September 2018.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white; font-family: inherit;">Vanguard’s satellite design packed a lot into a small space. There were two designs: the full-sized satellite and the miniature one.</span><span style="color: white; font-family: inherit;"> </span><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white; font-family: inherit;">Of the full-sized (24-lb) satellite that would become Vanguard 2, Constance Milton Green and Milton Lomask wrote in their book </span><i style="color: white; font-family: inherit;">Vanguard: A History</i><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white; font-family: inherit;">, that "Miniaturization, today a commonplace of technology, was a novelty in 1955. The Laboratory's proposal, however, hinged on it. satellite casing weighing eight pounds would carry miniaturized instruments weighing ten pounds for accumulating scientific data…Minitrack equipment weighing two pounds… and two pounds of telemetering equipment."</span><span style="color: white; font-family: inherit;"> </span><span style="color: white; font-family: inherit;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white; font-family: inherit;">There was a recognition even then that some power source besides heavy, short-lived batteries was needed for spacecraft. The first miniature Vanguard "grapefruit" satellite drastically shrunk the original design. Weighing only 3.25 lbs, it carried six solar cells into space and proved the utility of this brand-new technology. The satellite also had a mercury battery, two radio transmitters, and a temperature sensor.</span><span style="color: white; font-family: inherit;"> </span><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white; font-family: inherit;">The claim has been made that the NRL originally didn’t want solar cells, but an Army researcher put pressure on them. Roger Easton, discussing the satellite 50 years after launch, reported he had checked into this (and of course, he was also THERE) and it was groundless.</span><span style="color: white; font-family: inherit;"> </span><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white; font-family: inherit;">The occasional suggestion that Vanguard 1 was essentially a rickety thing slapped together that somehow worked also irked Easton and other program vets. The ingenious design of the satellite, using every cubic inch of space, and its long active life transmitting from orbit (until 1964) stand as refutation to that idea.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white; font-family: inherit;">Then there was the tracking system.</span><span style="color: white; font-family: inherit;"> </span><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white; font-family: inherit;">Minitrack was another achievement led on the design side by Easton, who deserves his own biography (although his son Richard put a lot of the story into his book </span><i style="color: white; font-family: inherit;">GPS Declassified</i><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white; font-family: inherit;">, cited below).</span><span style="color: white; font-family: inherit;"> </span><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white; font-family: inherit;">Minitrack was a north-south line of 14 stations, built by the Army Corps of Engineers and stretching all the way down to Argentina. It was a predecessor to the Naval Space Surveillance System (NAVPASUR), created for more accurate tracking of Soviet satellites. That system (somewhat convolutedly) led to an Easton-led satellite project called Timation and then the invention of GPS. Richard Easton says, “I think the most important legacy of the Vanguard 1 satellite is the solar-powered transmitter. The second was Minitrack, leading as it did to Space Surveillance and eventually to Roger Easton’s Timation satellite and then onward to and GPS. But that was a long process.”</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white; font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-SKFTA4wTO1c/XnF7kT6jS6I/AAAAAAAACHg/OyMXTMLHkY81M511_1U57UvFChGlyYkugCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/NRL%2BBlossom%2BPoint.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="color: #77ff88; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-decoration-line: none;"><img border="0" data-original-height="316" data-original-width="290" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-SKFTA4wTO1c/XnF7kT6jS6I/AAAAAAAACHg/OyMXTMLHkY81M511_1U57UvFChGlyYkugCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/NRL%2BBlossom%2BPoint.jpg" style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: none; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.5) 1px 1px 5px; padding: 8px; position: relative;" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">NRL Minitrack Station at BlossomPoint, MD</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white; font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white; font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white; font-family: inherit;">(Side Note: Victory has a thousand fathers (and mothers), and credit for GPS is a complex matter given the long gestation and many contributions leading to the Air Force-deployed operational system that changed the world. If one person and one program were absolutely essential, though, they would be Easton and Timation.)</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white; font-family: inherit;">The Vanguard program would end with the 52.5-pound Vanguard 3, launched on September 18, 1959. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white; font-family: inherit;">The full-sized satellite had a second life: it lent its structure, or bus, to NRL’s SolRad (Solar Radiation) satellites, along with its telemetry equipment and other technology. SolRad is best remembered for having a once-classified secondary mission as the first electronic intelligence satellite, called GRAB (Galactic Radiation and Background), which studied Soviet radar emissions, but it also did important science. SolRad was the first satellite built by the revived Satellite Techniques branch. The series opened with the launch of SolRad 1 on June 22, 1960 and put 11 satellites in orbit.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white; font-family: inherit;">Not bad for a “flop.”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><i><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white; font-family: inherit;">Key References</span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white; font-family: inherit;">Constance McLaughlin Green and Milton Lomask, 1969. <i>Vanguard - A History</i> (Washington, DC: NASA SP-4202, Smithsonian Institution Press, 1969).<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white; font-family: inherit;">Kurt Stehling, <i>Project Vanguard</i> (Garden City, NY: Doubleday & Company, 1961).<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white; font-family: inherit;">Richard D. Easton and Eric F. Frazier, GPS Declassified: From Smart Bombs to Smartphones (Potomac Books, 2013).<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white;">Richard Easton, online discussion, March 2020.</span><o:p></o:p></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white;"><br /></span></span></div></div>Matt Billehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18230930494550861704noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15194226.post-1738688205634010902024-02-22T11:20:00.002-07:002024-02-22T11:20:18.033-07:00Book Review: Sunshine State Monsters<p><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white; font-family: inherit;"><i>Sunshine State Monsters: Cryptids & Legends of Florida</i> </span></p><p><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white; font-family: inherit;">Eerie Lights, 2022: 300pp. </span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8gzqBLGsy0PvjZg8309DnjiKdJc_-Qxlbb_eC2JsZYbniDJIXaSC0a7RUoQN18O_AUlQ1SRcOHcvXX_LZ3MnzJtegIuvjf-rrEj4uDiszP4ERg_UZ1j9cd4ihsVitTpCAj2p6YB0jLeX_EJXhFdzDKVFIVs_IeoPThqjHCPGOEZ_Y4NypycfS/s1500/Sunshine%20State.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1500" data-original-width="1000" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8gzqBLGsy0PvjZg8309DnjiKdJc_-Qxlbb_eC2JsZYbniDJIXaSC0a7RUoQN18O_AUlQ1SRcOHcvXX_LZ3MnzJtegIuvjf-rrEj4uDiszP4ERg_UZ1j9cd4ihsVitTpCAj2p6YB0jLeX_EJXhFdzDKVFIVs_IeoPThqjHCPGOEZ_Y4NypycfS/s320/Sunshine%20State.jpg" width="213" /></span></a></div><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white;"><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span><p></p><p><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white; font-family: inherit;">This is a wondrous book for a Floria-raised naturalist and
cryptozoological researcher to peruse. I know of three other books on the
topic, but this is my new favorite. It's also the best of Weatherly's state-by-state cryptozoology books I've read so far. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white; font-family: inherit;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white; font-family: inherit;">From Pinky the sea monster (wonderfully rendered by Sam
Shearon on the cover) to skunk apes to giant octopuses, Weatherly has collected
all the stories and uncovered new ones. His work shows a great deal of research.
I would have been more skeptical in recounting some of the stories, but this is not a deep scientific analysis: Weatherly is a storyteller, and a very good one. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white; font-family: inherit;">Weatherly of course covers all the most famous cryptids. He
has the most thorough account I’ve read of the Saint Augustine globster, aka <i>Octopus
giganteus</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On the Brian McCleary “sea
serpent” tragedy, he tries to be very fair to McCleary, but the sole witness
was a terrified, nearly drowned 14-year-old in pitch darkness: you can’t prove there
was no sea monster, but there’s no evidence there was. I have some nitpicks on
his coverage of the “giant penguin” tracks known as Old Three-Toes. He
correctly points out discrepancies between the tracks as reported by Ivan
Sanderson and his inability to reproduce the tracks vs the iron shoes of
confessed hoaxer Tony Signorini. However, he overlooks the fact Sanderson was a
serial exaggerator. He also, like seemingly every other writer, misses the fact
that Thomas Helm reported the hoax in this 1962 book <i>Monsters of the Deep</i>.
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white; font-family: inherit;">He mines the state’s folklore for enjoyable tales of giant
alligators, sharks, birds, snakes (not much of an exaggeration these days), and
– one I’d never heard of – armadillos.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He
mentions Scott Marlowe’s report of seeing a dead gator 24 feet long being
removed by authorities. This is a bit of an aside, but I’ve never known what to
make of this. I knew the late Mr. Marlowe and had no reason to think him a
liar, but the gator simply could not have been that large – authorities would immediately
have called the news media, the people involved in the removal would have gone
on TV as soon as they clocked out, and the thing would have been hauled to a
university and be on display. (I have email correspondence claimed n a 30-foot
gator was killed and left in a swamp, but I’ll just leave that here.) I hadn’t
heard much about Two-toed Tom, a gigantic gator blamed for a host of depredations
at the north end of the state. Weatherly includes a claim of a 20-foot rattlesnake:
I heard a similar story secondhand when I was a kid. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white; font-family: inherit;">There are tales of dinosaur-like creatures, sea serpents, a
mermaid or two, an alligator man, and much more! For cryptozoologists, Florida
is the gift state that keeps on giving. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white; font-family: inherit;">When it comes to Bigfoot-like critters, most writers lump
them under the title Skunk Ape, which seems to be a primate a bit smaller and a
lot smellier than its Pacific Northwest counterparts. As Weatherly shows,
however, there is a confusing myriad of reports of everything from monkey-size
animals to those more on the order of baboons or chimps, to wildmen, to apes of
genuine Bigfoot proportions. Florida’s well-earned reputation as a haven for
all sorts of escaped or released wildlife, including primates, can explain some
of the smaller creatures, but the Skunk Ape endures. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white; font-family: inherit;">The book includes the search for endangered or presumed extinct
wildlife, including the ivory-billed woodpecker, Carolina parakeet. Concerning
the Florida panther, the story is complicated by claims of black panthers,
lions, and other exotics. Just for fun, Weatherly throws in stories of
werewolves, El chupacabra, and similar unlikely beasts. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white; font-family: inherit;">As in all Weatherly’s books, there is a short bibliography and
nothing more in the reference section. He does, however, do a very good job of
listing the sources for individual accounts in the text, and that largely makes
up for it. The lack of an index is irritating when modern software makes it
fairly easy to generate. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I certainly
would have liked more maps and photos, although I know photos can jack up the
cost for a small publisher. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white; font-family: inherit;">This is a most enjoyable romp through the lore of a state
that must have more types of cryptids than any other. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white; font-family: inherit;"> </span></o:p></p>Matt Billehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18230930494550861704noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15194226.post-43061765417767234182024-02-03T20:45:00.001-07:002024-02-03T20:53:48.560-07:00Unique Dunkleosteus fossil model<p><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white;"><span> </span>Here’s a unique Dunk item. Star Ace Toys in Hong Kong offers
a simulacrum of a complete, articulated <a href="https://staracetoys.com/products/copy-of-dunkleosteusnx-ver-1?" target="_blank">Dunkleosteus fossil</a>. This is part of their Wonders of the Wild series. I'll leave aside my usual quibbles about the tail structure and just enjoy it. It's a great piece of work. </span></p><p><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white;"><a href="https://staracetoys.com/" target="_blank">Star Ace</a> produces a
wonderful selection of items (no, I’m not being compensated here), including pop
culture figures, creatures from movies (Rhedosuarus, anyone?), and other
fossils like mammoths and dire wolves. </span></p><p><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white;">They have a detailed, large (42 cm) <a href="https://staracetoys.com/products/copy-of-dunkleosteusnx-ver?" target="_blank">Dunkleosteus sculpt</a>, but at $329 I need to wait for someone to buy me a Christmas present. </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXXvjpk6kRb2P7YBWpdHwvMY1tTyzyMV8-m3991FTYsqfJIshrCnbWV2p622Sq08E82vuJgC9kI4EmbQLTzteJF_Jo3OEa3ILbYm48UKwiGJ3YUZhE8NcedOzZBV8ueKGKIla54BxJqP23WLxfVcUxEOElUbPdVu5Jrnl9QBOMgfHg5NrddWBV/s4032/IMG_3338.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXXvjpk6kRb2P7YBWpdHwvMY1tTyzyMV8-m3991FTYsqfJIshrCnbWV2p622Sq08E82vuJgC9kI4EmbQLTzteJF_Jo3OEa3ILbYm48UKwiGJ3YUZhE8NcedOzZBV8ueKGKIla54BxJqP23WLxfVcUxEOElUbPdVu5Jrnl9QBOMgfHg5NrddWBV/s320/IMG_3338.jpg" width="240" /></span></a></div><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white;"><br /></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.524px;"><i><span style="background-color: #274e13; font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: white;"><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;">Matt Bille is a writer, historian, and naturalist living in </span><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;">Colorado</span><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;"> Springs. He can be reached at mattsciwriter@protonmail.com. Website: www.mattbilleauthor.com. </span></span></span></i></p><div dir="auto" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.524px;"><i><span style="background-color: #274e13; font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: white;"><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;">Read Matt's Latest book, Of Books and Beasts: A Cryptozoologist's Library. This unique reference offers a </span><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;">friendly</span><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;"> skeptic's 400 reviews of books on cryptozoology, zoology, related </span><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;">sciences</span><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;">, and cryptozoological fiction. Your </span><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;">search</span><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;"> for the world's new and undiscovered animals begins here!</span></span></span></i></div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.524px;"><i><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;"><span style="background-color: #274e13; font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: white;"><br /></span></span></span></i></div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.524px;"><i><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsGonplH7eOjL-Rns2Y3ebC3p8XEXz_y8CwWvpvxMz0MrOfERgMoaRX0_JBltvQ3SWl9XeKMw4KjWIgDDLs_fbMyPadQbpk-FGdMpstehGMZJ3ng6wk_bJRc-vfkiXMOxieiYwJPyGHqA6lXFtLn0WD8ir4aaZxpMmSbuNJsIRdSBMJvdDmhQx/s2560/OF%20BOOKS%20and%20BEASTS%20Cover%20final.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2560" data-original-width="1600" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsGonplH7eOjL-Rns2Y3ebC3p8XEXz_y8CwWvpvxMz0MrOfERgMoaRX0_JBltvQ3SWl9XeKMw4KjWIgDDLs_fbMyPadQbpk-FGdMpstehGMZJ3ng6wk_bJRc-vfkiXMOxieiYwJPyGHqA6lXFtLn0WD8ir4aaZxpMmSbuNJsIRdSBMJvdDmhQx/s320/OF%20BOOKS%20and%20BEASTS%20Cover%20final.jpg" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: medium; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.5) 1px 1px 5px; padding: 8px; position: relative;" width="200" /></span></a>A</span></div></i></div>Matt Billehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18230930494550861704noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15194226.post-32832311970157684192024-02-03T16:35:00.005-07:002024-02-03T16:38:21.531-07:00Booz Review: Merbeings as a Real Species? <p><b><i><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Merbeings-Story-Mermaids-Mermen-Lizardfolk/dp/1949501272" target="_blank"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white;">Merbeings: The True Story of Mermaids, Mermen, and Lizardfolk </span></a></i></b></p><p><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white;">by Mark A. Hall (Author), Loren Coleman (Author), David Goudsward (Author)</span></p><p><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white;">Anomalist Books, 2023, 200pp.</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhB5okxHJutTNxkr_TA4oe54Zx5qo1BwAgCOHkS8aUZ31_9G0cXeRjXVzYeQxhSa67pTxZsVTuDTYQUq4GGF-kCYK8zLuSn8azGf3JgaTVc46vE0cwMap8F6_vpvB-X9wtgf_9r3G78PEisu049XlC-R_P3AN08izjFR1V_jW4G3QP6ZdWdQi-t/s466/Merbeings.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="466" data-original-width="311" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhB5okxHJutTNxkr_TA4oe54Zx5qo1BwAgCOHkS8aUZ31_9G0cXeRjXVzYeQxhSa67pTxZsVTuDTYQUq4GGF-kCYK8zLuSn8azGf3JgaTVc46vE0cwMap8F6_vpvB-X9wtgf_9r3G78PEisu049XlC-R_P3AN08izjFR1V_jW4G3QP6ZdWdQi-t/s320/Merbeings.jpg" width="214" /></a></div><p></p><p><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white;">I wanted to be intrigued by this book, but in the event I was disappointed. It's an uneven work, a mix of speculation, interesting stories, and puzzling errors. Hall (the primary author) was an exceptional researcher, Coleman is a prodigious cryptozoological writer and a friend, and Goudsward wrote a very good book on creature tales from Florida. I understand the challenge of trying to mesh the work of three people into a cohesive whole, but I expected a better book. </span></p><p><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white;">The book starts with the hypothesis there is a global species of aquatic primate behind the merbeing stories. Most of the stories of merpeople, as well as some hard-to-classify animal reports and even “Lizardmen,” refer to some variety of this species. It’s fair to mention that the late Mr. Hall liked to throw out provocative hypotheses, and the reader isn’t always sure how strongly he believes in them, but this is what we have to work with. If we suspend disbelief and read with an open mind, the book is entertaining but far from persuasive.</span></p><p><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white;">The authors did their research. The book is filled with interesting stories, with sources given in the chapter notes. Another good point is that Indigenous sources are, whenever possible, referred to by tribe or group names, vs the still-too-common “the Indians around Lake Powell say…” approach of lazy writers. They wisely avoid tying their idea too closely to the aquatic ape theory proposed by Hardy and expanded on by Morgan: they mention it just enough to make it a possible source of support without being dragged down by its universal rejection. Finally, they make a worthy effort to collect information from all over the world, avoiding being hemmed in by relatively recent Western motifs. Missteps include stating the existence of many land primates all over the world as given despite the nonexistence of hard evidence and Hall’s championing of <i>Homo gardarensis</i>, a discarded species based on an acromegalic <i>H. sapiens</i> skull. </span></p><p><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white;">The supporting accounts are spread all over the world, decades or centuries apart, often describing creatures quite differently. The authors suggest there is only one species of marine primate, likely a descendant of the swamp-liking fossil ape <i>Oreopithecus</i>. The differences are due to its using ornaments and coverings (including tails) from other mammals and fish to improve mobility, provide insulation, or express cultural norms. It’s an imaginative solution, and would be fun for fiction, but without evidence, it’s easier to argue the differences indicate unrelated mistakes, folklore, and hoaxes. (At one point it is mentioned there might be two species, one genuinely tailed.) </span></p><p><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white;">Tales from Pacific fishermen, Native Americans, Western explorers, and other sources are used, and the hypothesis requires we accept all of them as true and basically accurate – even the ones about lizardmen jumping on to the running boards of cars. There is not a whit of evidence besides stories. The worst choice of an incident to mention concerns huge yellow humanoids in Vietnam. The source account in Martin Caiden’s book <i>Natural or Supernatural? </i>says American troops blasted the creatures at short range with automatic weapons without harming them, meaning the story is necessarily a hoax. </span></p><p><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white;">The authors never try to condense the accounts into a single description of the species: size, current range and the reason for it, reproduction, etc. Nor is there an illustration of such. The book holds that scientists haven’t discovered the living animal because they are closed-minded about it and have not found fossils in the likely places (land once covered by shallow water), because they haven’t been looking for them. In any fossil dig, though, everything is collected and examined, and there have been many, many digs of such sites. One could posit that the species was always too rare to have turned up yet, but if so, it wouldn’t have a worldwide distribution of viable populations. Hall explains this with a crackpot theory of crustal displacement, which doesn’t help any. </span></p><p><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white;">The speculation here is just too much of a reach, the evidence too thin and scattered to support it. Some of the individual accounts and legends are intriguing, and those plus the references make the book worth having for cryptozoologists, but the boat the authors try hard to build just doesn’t float.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: #0d4400; color: #ddffdd; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.524px;"><i><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white; font-family: inherit;"><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;">Matt Bille is a writer, historian, and naturalist living in </span><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;">Colorado</span><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;"> Springs. He can be reached at mattsciwriter@protonmail.com. Website: www.mattbilleauthor.com. </span></span></i></p><div dir="auto" style="background-color: #0d4400; color: #ddffdd; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.524px;"><i><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white; font-family: inherit;"><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;">Read Matt's Latest book, Of Books and Beasts: A Cryptozoologist's Library. This unique reference offers a </span><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;">friendly</span><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;"> skeptic's 400 reviews of books on cryptozoology, zoology, related </span><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;">sciences</span><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;">, and cryptozoological fiction. Your </span><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;">search</span><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;"> for the world's new and undiscovered animals begins here!</span></span></i></div><div dir="auto" style="background-color: #0d4400; color: #ddffdd; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.524px;"><i><span style="background-color: #274e13; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><span style="color: white; font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></i></div><div dir="auto" style="background-color: #0d4400; color: #ddffdd; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.524px;"><i><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsGonplH7eOjL-Rns2Y3ebC3p8XEXz_y8CwWvpvxMz0MrOfERgMoaRX0_JBltvQ3SWl9XeKMw4KjWIgDDLs_fbMyPadQbpk-FGdMpstehGMZJ3ng6wk_bJRc-vfkiXMOxieiYwJPyGHqA6lXFtLn0WD8ir4aaZxpMmSbuNJsIRdSBMJvdDmhQx/s2560/OF%20BOOKS%20and%20BEASTS%20Cover%20final.jpg" style="color: #77ff88; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white; font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2560" data-original-width="1600" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsGonplH7eOjL-Rns2Y3ebC3p8XEXz_y8CwWvpvxMz0MrOfERgMoaRX0_JBltvQ3SWl9XeKMw4KjWIgDDLs_fbMyPadQbpk-FGdMpstehGMZJ3ng6wk_bJRc-vfkiXMOxieiYwJPyGHqA6lXFtLn0WD8ir4aaZxpMmSbuNJsIRdSBMJvdDmhQx/s320/OF%20BOOKS%20and%20BEASTS%20Cover%20final.jpg" style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: medium; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.5) 1px 1px 5px; padding: 8px; position: relative;" width="200" /></span></a>A</div></i></div><div><br /></div>Matt Billehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18230930494550861704noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15194226.post-42723330929396013832024-01-30T19:56:00.001-07:002024-01-31T11:20:31.940-07:00Excellent new article on placoderms<p><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white; font-family: inherit;">We have an <a href="https://www.cell.com/current-biology/fulltext/S0960-9822(23)01588-9" target="_blank">important new publication</a> on the placoderms, including Dunkleosteus. An article in <i>Cell Biology</i> by Australian paleontologists John Long of Flinders University (Adelaide), who's written a considerable amount on placoderms, and Kate Trinajstic of Curtin University (Bentley) recaps the entire topic with the latest research. </span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7-hvNVUQn99wZQxWuYp5_vyYaRlKlssvvRDz9vWj7fx1KaM_4JGvaYsux7Muv8Qsnx4ALn_CSfyRhz35q5T9ahYuYwEbrLtvuZ-yr1uhOBgzTa5XAwWBjNQ8hPD3x-hHr8tTHlxjg-5MGOlQgBf5RFAeJYX6o7uFQueDyFhHKD0KhpjKXB1Wq/s320/Dunkleosteus%20Model_A%20Paleozoo.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white;"><img border="0" data-original-height="151" data-original-width="320" height="151" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7-hvNVUQn99wZQxWuYp5_vyYaRlKlssvvRDz9vWj7fx1KaM_4JGvaYsux7Muv8Qsnx4ALn_CSfyRhz35q5T9ahYuYwEbrLtvuZ-yr1uhOBgzTa5XAwWBjNQ8hPD3x-hHr8tTHlxjg-5MGOlQgBf5RFAeJYX6o7uFQueDyFhHKD0KhpjKXB1Wq/s1600/Dunkleosteus%20Model_A%20Paleozoo.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div><span style="color: white; font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;"><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: #274e13; font-family: inherit;">Dunkleosteus, Paeleozoo model</span></div></span><p></p><p><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white; font-family: inherit;">The authors discuss the history of placoderm discoveries, their place in public awareness, and much more. They accept the view of Martin Brazeau (published 2009) that, in their words, </span></p><p><span style="color: white; font-family: inherit;"><i style="background-color: #274e13;">"placoderms are not a ‘natural group’ (monophyletic) but represent a paraphyletic grouping of early jawed fishes, with some branches of the placoderm family tree leading to modern fishes, while others were dead-ends." </i></span></p><p><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white; font-family: inherit;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white; font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGCOOIIBzuoUq8kelpbmuxpHGUGbb85yw1WZPf7MJ82lBF8HMNfPf8AV5f1duxe8Ljsbx3DpKOf33wXbx-HgRExBnOOWZR8k9Id97InM7VKDUwdEKuQuSU8sD-8XZGpeLsl-s0NEemFLKcPrTIa2sGuI_-FD51H2UcU9dvATtqjkqC88KrHcFC/s507/Placoderm%20ancestry.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="422" data-original-width="507" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGCOOIIBzuoUq8kelpbmuxpHGUGbb85yw1WZPf7MJ82lBF8HMNfPf8AV5f1duxe8Ljsbx3DpKOf33wXbx-HgRExBnOOWZR8k9Id97InM7VKDUwdEKuQuSU8sD-8XZGpeLsl-s0NEemFLKcPrTIa2sGuI_-FD51H2UcU9dvATtqjkqC88KrHcFC/s320/Placoderm%20ancestry.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white; font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><p></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: white; font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;"><i style="background-color: #274e13;">Placoderm evolution. Copyright 2024 Cell Biology: nonprofit educational use claimed.</i></span></p><p><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white; font-family: inherit;">Some 450 million years ago, in the early Silurian, lived a recently discovered placoderm only 3 cm long. <i>Xiushanosteus</i>, from China, is apparently the ancestor of the arthrodires (which make up 60 percent of placoderm species) and other major lineages.</span><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white; font-family: inherit;"> </span></p><p><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white; font-family: inherit;">The paper reviews placoderm evolution, the features that first developed in placoderms, their contributions to evolutionary biology, and their radiation. It's a great addition to the literature. </span></p><p><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white; font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><i><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white; font-family: inherit;"><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;">Matt Bille is a writer, historian, and naturalist living in </span><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;">Colorado</span><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;"> Springs. He can be reached at mattsciwriter@protonmail.com. Website: www.mattbilleauthor.com. </span></span></i></p><div dir="auto"><i><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white; font-family: inherit;"><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;">Read Matt's Latest book, Of Books and Beasts: A Cryptozoologist's Library. This unique reference offers a </span><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;">friendly</span><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;"> skeptic's 400 reviews of books on cryptozoology, zoology, related </span><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;">sciences</span><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;">, and cryptozoological fiction. Your </span><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;">search</span><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;"> for the world's new and undiscovered animals begins here!</span></span></i></div><div dir="auto"><i><span style="background-color: #274e13; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><span style="color: white; font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></i></div><div dir="auto"><i><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsGonplH7eOjL-Rns2Y3ebC3p8XEXz_y8CwWvpvxMz0MrOfERgMoaRX0_JBltvQ3SWl9XeKMw4KjWIgDDLs_fbMyPadQbpk-FGdMpstehGMZJ3ng6wk_bJRc-vfkiXMOxieiYwJPyGHqA6lXFtLn0WD8ir4aaZxpMmSbuNJsIRdSBMJvdDmhQx/s2560/OF%20BOOKS%20and%20BEASTS%20Cover%20final.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-decoration-line: none; text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white; font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2560" data-original-width="1600" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsGonplH7eOjL-Rns2Y3ebC3p8XEXz_y8CwWvpvxMz0MrOfERgMoaRX0_JBltvQ3SWl9XeKMw4KjWIgDDLs_fbMyPadQbpk-FGdMpstehGMZJ3ng6wk_bJRc-vfkiXMOxieiYwJPyGHqA6lXFtLn0WD8ir4aaZxpMmSbuNJsIRdSBMJvdDmhQx/s320/OF%20BOOKS%20and%20BEASTS%20Cover%20final.jpg" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: medium; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.5) 1px 1px 5px; padding: 8px; position: relative;" width="200" /></span></a></div></i></div>Matt Billehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18230930494550861704noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15194226.post-88743457117936653792024-01-19T20:17:00.000-07:002024-01-19T20:17:09.914-07:00Is the government hiding UFOs? Nope. <p><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white; font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"> "...no record exists of any president or living DOD or intelligence community leader knowing about this alleged program, nor any congressional committee having such knowledge. This should speak volumes if this case were following typical procedure because it is inconceivable that a program of such import would not ever have been briefed to the 50 to 100 people at the top of the USG over the decades of its existence."</span></p><p><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white; font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><a href="https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/heres-what-i-learned-as-the-u-s-governments-ufo-hunter/" target="_blank">That's the word</a>.</span></p><p><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white; font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">It comes from the first head of the Department of Defense’s official investigators, the All-Domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO). Sean Kirkpatrick says his attempts to do serious scientific investigation but was buried in unverifiable, sensationalist claims. AARO will soon release its<i> Historical Record Report Volume 1</i>, demonstrating that nothing about claims the government has UFO remains can be proven.</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh78xZ_kiFYIUuo74q0IryDfANv8XXr3YFtEBzHJ5o_RpJlqbTvwZYwwm18JLVCg5t5bepCThhJldx6LHsRQVxAF8xejjOYXH60oQ6nVe1TPIuGb-4x6Rjv6nnvqD2PPghCjEOx7iFMoYaYQd_yr-C4odqDWQ0nubDyoCgzk4KTmKrH4sa7hrWq/s474/UFO.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white;"><img border="0" data-original-height="266" data-original-width="474" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh78xZ_kiFYIUuo74q0IryDfANv8XXr3YFtEBzHJ5o_RpJlqbTvwZYwwm18JLVCg5t5bepCThhJldx6LHsRQVxAF8xejjOYXH60oQ6nVe1TPIuGb-4x6Rjv6nnvqD2PPghCjEOx7iFMoYaYQd_yr-C4odqDWQ0nubDyoCgzk4KTmKrH4sa7hrWq/s320/UFO.jpeg" width="320" /></span></a></div><p></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white; font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;">Puzzling? Yes. Alien? No. (US Government image)</span></p><p><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">There are sightings and videos not definitively explained. In an era soon to see advanced hypersonic weapons with AI brains, some capable of diving down from orbital altitudes, investigating anomalous targets is extremely important. But that's hard to do in a cloud of myths.</span><span style="font-size: 20px;"> </span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: #274e13; font-size: 20px;"><span style="color: white;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.524px;"><i style="font-size: 13.524px;"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;">Matt Bille is a writer, historian, and naturalist living in </span></span><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;">Colorado</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;"> Springs. He can be reached at mattsciwriter@protonmail.com. Website: www.mattbilleauthor.com. </span></span></span></i></p><div dir="auto"><i><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 13.524px; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Read Matt's </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13.524px; white-space-collapse: preserve;">acclaimed</span></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 13.524px; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> book on the early days of the Space Age <a href="https://www.amazon.com/First-Space-Race-Satellites-Centennial/dp/1585443743" target="_blank">here</a>.</span></span></span></i></div><div dir="auto"><i><span style="color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: #274e13; font-size: 13.524px; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span></span></span></i></div><div dir="auto"><i><span style="color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8dzpyAklTJL5_UU_fxvQ3VR8p4ST6uExoRsLqh1xo5IJ7o-TXsEmFVumSgouSAbZfZuK69TUBPUDPfONE_VyKCbZWdbOm667406H_9sUFTOiGojK7cjh_w6EfBJgdmmeAQGGIti1M6NZkH7LQzBD3jCdwUzLfRUVtOSd-6dPQMoZglyrNOGvA/s220/FSR%20Cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white;"><img border="0" data-original-height="220" data-original-width="150" height="220" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8dzpyAklTJL5_UU_fxvQ3VR8p4ST6uExoRsLqh1xo5IJ7o-TXsEmFVumSgouSAbZfZuK69TUBPUDPfONE_VyKCbZWdbOm667406H_9sUFTOiGojK7cjh_w6EfBJgdmmeAQGGIti1M6NZkH7LQzBD3jCdwUzLfRUVtOSd-6dPQMoZglyrNOGvA/s1600/FSR%20Cover.jpg" width="150" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: #274e13;">The First Space Race was the first book to chronicle the efforts to launch the first satellites from all perspectives, US and Soviet. </span></div><span style="background-color: #274e13;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: #274e13; font-size: 13.524px; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span></span></span></i></div>Matt Billehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18230930494550861704noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15194226.post-1283146098882430992024-01-16T18:47:00.000-07:002024-01-16T18:47:19.192-07:00A bit of good news in rare tiger photo <p><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white; font-family: inherit;">Conservationists, with enormous effort, obtained<a href="https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/why-a-rare-image-of-one-of-malaysia-s-last-tigers-is-giving-conservationists-hope/ar-AA1n5yVd?ocid=msedgntphdr&cvid=8cfaa299d62d447bbf4edba56af4b9e3&ei=8" target="_blank"> a photo</a> of the rare and endangered Malayan tiger. "It took 12 weeks of preparations, eight cameras, 300 pounds of equipment, five months of patient photography and countless miles trekked through the 117,500-hectare [451 square mile] Royal Belum State Park." There are fewer than 150 of this subspecies left. We need to celebrate every scrap of positive news these days. I didn't include the photo here for copyright reasons. </span></p><p><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white; font-family: inherit;">As a side note on my interest in cryptozoology, this puts into perspective the odds of a TV show going into reported Bigfoot habitat and immediately finding stuff, as they inevitably do. Bigfoot proponents, though, can also use it as an example of how hard it is to get a picture of a large, camera-shy animal.</span></p><p><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white; font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: #0d4400; color: #ddffdd; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.524px;"><i style="font-size: 13.524px;"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;">Matt Bille is a writer, historian, and naturalist living in </span></span><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;">Colorado</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;"> Springs. He can be reached at mattsciwriter@protonmail.com. Website: www.mattbilleauthor.com. </span></span></span></i></p><div dir="auto" style="background-color: #0d4400; color: #ddffdd; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.524px;"><i><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;">Read Matt's Latest book, Of Books and Beasts: A Cryptozoologist's Library. This unique reference offers a </span></span><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;">friendly</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;"> skeptic's 400 reviews of books on cryptozoology, zoology, related </span></span><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;">sciences</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;">, and cryptozoological fiction. Your </span></span><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;">search</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;"> for the world's new and undiscovered animals begins here!</span></span></span></i></div><div dir="auto" style="background-color: #0d4400; color: #ddffdd; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.524px;"><i><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: #274e13; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><span style="color: white;"><br /></span></span></span></i></div><div dir="auto" style="background-color: #0d4400; color: #ddffdd; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.524px;"><i><span style="font-family: inherit;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsGonplH7eOjL-Rns2Y3ebC3p8XEXz_y8CwWvpvxMz0MrOfERgMoaRX0_JBltvQ3SWl9XeKMw4KjWIgDDLs_fbMyPadQbpk-FGdMpstehGMZJ3ng6wk_bJRc-vfkiXMOxieiYwJPyGHqA6lXFtLn0WD8ir4aaZxpMmSbuNJsIRdSBMJvdDmhQx/s2560/OF%20BOOKS%20and%20BEASTS%20Cover%20final.jpg" style="color: #77ff88; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2560" data-original-width="1600" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsGonplH7eOjL-Rns2Y3ebC3p8XEXz_y8CwWvpvxMz0MrOfERgMoaRX0_JBltvQ3SWl9XeKMw4KjWIgDDLs_fbMyPadQbpk-FGdMpstehGMZJ3ng6wk_bJRc-vfkiXMOxieiYwJPyGHqA6lXFtLn0WD8ir4aaZxpMmSbuNJsIRdSBMJvdDmhQx/s320/OF%20BOOKS%20and%20BEASTS%20Cover%20final.jpg" style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: none; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.5) 1px 1px 5px; padding: 8px; position: relative;" width="200" /></span></a></div></span></i></div><div class="x1e56ztr" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; margin-bottom: 8px;"> </div>Matt Billehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18230930494550861704noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15194226.post-38582405726120395082024-01-07T22:01:00.000-07:002024-01-07T22:01:14.875-07:00Book Review: Apocalypse Television<p><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white; font-family: inherit;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white; font-family: inherit;"><i><span style="line-height: 107%;"><b><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Apocalypse-Television-After-Helped-Cold/dp/1493079174" target="_blank">Apocalypse Television</a></b></span></i><span style="line-height: 107%;"><b><i><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Apocalypse-Television-After-Helped-Cold/dp/1493079174" target="_blank">:
How The Day After helped end the Cold War</a></i></b><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background-color: #274e13; line-height: 107%;"><span style="color: white; font-family: inherit;">Daivd Craig, Applause (Globe Peaquot), 2024. 245pp.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background-color: #274e13; line-height: 107%;"><span style="color: white; font-family: inherit;">The title is a bit of a reach, but this film did have an
impact far beyond what any other single Cold War TV-movie achieved. The story
that unfolds here is an exciting as well as enlightening one. The best part is
the inside baseball about how such a controversial film was approved and made,
although the section on the film’s impact is also compelling. Craig is a good
writer and has researched the topic thoroughly. He says at the start he wants
to address the much larger issue of survival in a nuclear-armed world, and my
reservations about the book mainly concern the way he treats that issue.</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background-color: #274e13; line-height: 107%;"><span style="color: white; font-family: inherit;"></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="color: white; font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_ZZ1vPGPfeeccoxibFH2k1jOGVM5aAWBJ2ehfrtzjq-CBKHMsEJEsREJrm5BV_vFxkvN8ITXVirTHDOag3RUOCwyDXdA_jVucD8Ay0KS9Rc3jSKSj4nTMR2uUqjpPOF121dpZ7vLCjfaVW6e4XSMceX8XN-XwKJKLmyVq72dEIB_UMOHeCBui/s466/DayAfterBook.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="background-color: #274e13; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="466" data-original-width="311" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_ZZ1vPGPfeeccoxibFH2k1jOGVM5aAWBJ2ehfrtzjq-CBKHMsEJEsREJrm5BV_vFxkvN8ITXVirTHDOag3RUOCwyDXdA_jVucD8Ay0KS9Rc3jSKSj4nTMR2uUqjpPOF121dpZ7vLCjfaVW6e4XSMceX8XN-XwKJKLmyVq72dEIB_UMOHeCBui/s320/DayAfterBook.jpg" width="214" /></a></span></div><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white; font-family: inherit;"><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></p>I am reviewing the book, not the movie so I went with my memory of the
latter: I didn’t want my impressions of it to be overwritten by a rewatch long
out of context. It was certainly a good
movie. Well-acted, well-cast, it used the town of Lawrence, Kansas as the
perfect Middle American locale to study the impact of a holocaust. It was
well-paced, although I thought the time wasted on bed-hopping was pointless.
The military scenes made excellent use of stock footage and felt authentic. The
ruined post-bomb town and its shattered, dying citizenry were superbly
conveyed: no one could be unmoved.</span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background-color: #274e13; line-height: 107%;"><span style="color: white; font-family: inherit;">I had an unusual perspective on the film. I was in a
silo, with the keys to a nuclear missile, the night before we saw it. The
Pentagon attitude toward nukes wasn’t cavalier as Craig portrays it. We knew
the film was authentic because we’d watched in training the most graphic
depictions of bomb test effects and horribly disfigured and dead inhabitants of
Hiroshima: The Air Force wanted us to understand what we were doing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was certain the US would never fire first,
but I understood the filmmakers’ decision to leave it ambiguous to focus on the
human impact. In a quick survey of other retired missileers, everyone
remembered the movie. Reactions ran the gamut: “I remember thinking how much
worse reality would be;” “it made me more aware of what I was doing;” and
“Marxist propaganda.” <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background-color: #274e13; line-height: 107%;"><span style="color: white; font-family: inherit;">How creator Brandon Stoddard got the movie made is
fascinating. Initially, despite Stoddard’s track record of successful
programming, no one else at the network wanted to touch it. As he persisted,
debates included movie vs. miniseries, whether to make clear who started the
war, where to locate the film (large city or smaller town?) and how realistic
to make the postwar horrors. While Stoddard hatched the idea for the film with
the intent of showing the horrors of a nuclear war, he insisted the film was
nonpolitical with the villains being the nukes. The creative team did have antinuclear
activists, including screenwriter Ed Hume and others connected to the nuclear
freeze movement.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background-color: #274e13; line-height: 107%;"><span style="color: white; font-family: inherit;">Craig portrays that movement as sincere, and it was, but
he also portrays it as pure. As he surely knows, it was supported clandestinely
by the USSR (although most protestors didn’t know that) and used heavily in Soviet
propaganda. The book says very little about the Soviet actions the West was
responding to or frightened by. Neither did the movement, which aimed 90
percent of its rhetoric at the US and carried out all its protesting in the
West: no one took the risk of protesting anywhere an Eastern bloc government might
arrest them. (I’m not sure Craig knows President Jimmy Carter offered Soviet
leader Leonid Brezhnev a nuclear freeze back in 1979 and was turned down flat.)<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background-color: #274e13; line-height: 107%;"><span style="color: white; font-family: inherit;">As Craig recounts, <i>The Day After</i> appeared during a
space of American and British films, mainly documentaries but also dramatic
films like <i>Testament</i>, dealing with nuclear war. <i>On The Day After</i>,
producer Robert Papazian led the hard work of research. The filmmakers debated
how much of the larger military and political world to depict, but they stuck
(wisely) to focusing on the victims and showed just enough of the buildup and
the war to tell their story. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background-color: #274e13; line-height: 107%;"><span style="color: white; font-family: inherit;">The Pentagon declined cooperation since it was unclear
who started the war, but did provide some access, like a tour of a missile
control center. Young director Nicholas Meyer (whose recollections of the film,
Craig notes, often differ considerably from those of his colleagues), came on
board. There were many discussions with Broadcast Standards and Practices (“the
censors”), and the filmmakers fought hard to keep realistic burns, illness, and
death in the film. They definitely pushed the envelope. Some of the nuclear
images in the film were from Hiroshima and some from American nuclear tests. The
the mushroom of the explosion was a low-budget but effective special effect
inspired when Meyer noticed how someone’s creamer dispersed in his coffee. The
film used a reddish liquid dispersing into an aquarium and turned the film
upside down, layering in the background shot behind it. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background-color: #274e13; line-height: 107%;"><span style="color: white; font-family: inherit;">Lawrence, Kansas, became an indispensable part of the
film, not only providing locations but most of the cast and its active local
peace movement even reaching out to the Soviet Union to create exchanges. The
choice to have only one name actor, Jason Robards (to whom Meyer offered the
role in a conversation on an airliner), and a few younger actors plus a cast of
unknowns and local talent turned out to be spot on. Forty percent of the
speaking roles were local. Many actors came from Kansas City. Theater troupes,
professors, etc. were solicited: University of Kansas students filled many
roles, as did a good chunk of Lawrence’s fifty thousand people. Actual
buildings were used unless they needed to be destroyed. Lawrence is in fact
near numerous Minuteman missile silos, and it had the right rural Midwestern
feel, even though Meyer and others were typical Hollywood types who wanted and
expected the locals to be simplistic and aw-shucks. Despite that, it all
gelled. Ratings were huge, and it’s not an exaggeration to say the whole
country was discussing it. Reviewers felt the result, as filmmaking as well as
an issue-raiser, was very good indeed, although Stoddard and Meyer both said
later they thought the film could have been better.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The film’s signature shot, of citizens
looking up as the ICBMs arc into a beautiful blue sky, is as effective now as
it always was.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background-color: #274e13; line-height: 107%;"><span style="color: white; font-family: inherit;">The political whirlpools and currents around the movie
began swirling long before the air date. The movie was shown to peace groups,
who did all they could to use it to promote the freeze movement. President
Ronald Reagan saw an advance cut: while the book’s implication it was the film
that ended in him enacting more “humane” policies toward the USSR is unproved,
Reagan did describe himself in his diary as “depressed.” He and his
Administration cited the film as proof of the famously hawkish Regan’s new mantra
that “A nuclear war cannot be won and must never be fought.” Craig writes that
ex-actor Reagan was moved by films “like no other medium.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I never knew the Administration actually
prepared a version with subtitles and sent it to the Soviets. The peace
movement and the filmmakers didn’t want the message of the
nonpolitical-but-political film co-opted, and they largely succeeded in keeping
the focus on antinuclear sentiment.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background-color: #274e13; line-height: 107%;"><span style="color: white; font-family: inherit;">Craig makes the important point that <i>The Day After</i>
would have less of an impact in similar circumstances in the modern day because
it came at a time when the broadcast networks were still the most widely viewed
and influential sources of televised drama. Excellent films of the streaming
era rarely reach such a vast segment of the public. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background-color: #274e13; line-height: 107%;"><span style="color: white; font-family: inherit;">In the mid to late 1980s, arms control policies were in
flux, as hardliners in Russia lost their grip on power and, in 1985, passed
power to the more practical Mikhail Gorbachev. Amid the continuing battle over
intermediate-range weapons in Europe, Reagan proposed the “zero option” – no
such weapons for either side. (Only later did he expand that phrase to include
all nuclear arms, a distinction the book misses.)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In 1987 came the Intermediate Nuclear Forces
Treaty, which enshrined the zero option in Europe. Craig writes this treaty
“ended the arms race.” It most certainly did not, as it had no effect on the
heavier long-range strategic arms, but it was a major step in the right
direction. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background-color: #274e13; line-height: 107%;"><span style="color: white; font-family: inherit;">Stoddard went on to make the Russian-occupation film <i>Amerika</i>,
which neither Craig nor I thought was all that good. He never admitted <i>The
Day After</i> was political, although the rest of the creative team had never
denied it was. Meyer, in later years, thought delivering the antiwar message
through this film was “the best thing I ever did.” <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background-color: #274e13; line-height: 107%;"><span style="color: white; font-family: inherit;">Thie book, like the film, has a bit more of a political
slant than the creator admits to. Only a lunatic can be in favor of nuclear
war, but Craig doesn’t allow for the sincerity of people who thought keeping
peace meant keeping a strong force and handling reduction step by step, with
caution about Soviet intentions. Still, those of us who believed in a strong
nuclear deterrent can’t claim there’s anything moral about it except the bare
fact that it’s worked. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background-color: #274e13; line-height: 107%;"><span style="color: white; font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Craig has provided us with a well-written book that
chronicles an important, though perhaps not pivotal, moment in Cold War history.
This is a rare look at how the entertainment industry – or one determined
individual, in this case – played a role in that war and the public’s
understanding of it. I have differences with the context and background Craig
provides, but that doesn’t take away from the importance of the book. </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background-color: #274e13; line-height: 107%;"><span style="color: white; font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: white;"><span style="background-color: #274e13; line-height: 107%;"></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background-color: #274e13; line-height: 107%;"><span style="color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i> Matt Bille is a former Air Force officer, now a writer, historian, and
naturalist living in Colorado Springs. He is hte author of The First Space Race Launching the World's First Satellites (Texas A&M, 2004). He can be reached at
mattsciwriter@protonmail.com. Website: www.mattbilleauthor.com. </i></span><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><br /><p></p>Matt Billehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18230930494550861704noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15194226.post-6022636808253528172023-12-31T10:18:00.003-07:002023-12-31T10:18:30.497-07:00A Prayer for 2024 courtesy of Alfred, Lord Tennyson<p><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white;"> <span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; white-space-collapse: preserve;">I publish this poem every year. Whatever your faith or views, this poem has sentiments everyone can embrace. </span></span></p><div style="font-family: inherit;"><div class="" dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;"><div class="x1iorvi4 x1pi30zi x1swvt13 xjkvuk6" data-ad-comet-preview="message" data-ad-preview="message" id=":r3ub:" style="font-family: inherit; padding: 4px 16px;"><div class="x78zum5 xdt5ytf xz62fqu x16ldp7u" style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; font-family: inherit; margin-bottom: -5px; margin-top: -5px;"><div class="xu06os2 x1ok221b" style="font-family: inherit; margin-bottom: 5px; margin-top: 5px;"><span class="x193iq5w xeuugli x13faqbe x1vvkbs x1xmvt09 x1lliihq x1s928wv xhkezso x1gmr53x x1cpjm7i x1fgarty x1943h6x xudqn12 x3x7a5m x6prxxf xvq8zen xo1l8bm xzsf02u x1yc453h" dir="auto" style="display: block; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; line-height: 1.3333; max-width: 100%; min-width: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; word-break: break-word;"><div class="x11i5rnm xat24cr x1mh8g0r x1vvkbs xtlvy1s x126k92a" style="font-family: inherit; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white;">In Memoriam, [Ring out, wild bells]</span></div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white;"> </span></div></div><div class="x11i5rnm xat24cr x1mh8g0r x1vvkbs xtlvy1s x126k92a" style="font-family: inherit; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white;"> <span style="font-family: inherit;"><a style="cursor: pointer; font-family: inherit;" tabindex="-1"></a></span>Ring out, wild bells, to the wild sky,</span></div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white;"> The flying cloud, the frosty light:</span></div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white;"> The year is dying in the night;</span></div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white;">Ring out, wild bells, and let him die.</span></div></div><div class="x11i5rnm xat24cr x1mh8g0r x1vvkbs xtlvy1s x126k92a" style="font-family: inherit; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white;">Ring out the old, ring in the new,</span></div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white;"> Ring, happy bells, across the snow:</span></div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white;"> The year is going, let him go;</span></div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white;">Ring out the false, ring in the true.</span></div></div><div class="x11i5rnm xat24cr x1mh8g0r x1vvkbs xtlvy1s x126k92a" style="font-family: inherit; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white;">Ring out the grief that saps the mind</span></div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white;"> For those that here we see no more;</span></div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white;"> Ring out the feud of rich and poor,</span></div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white;">Ring in redress to all mankind.</span></div></div><div class="x11i5rnm xat24cr x1mh8g0r x1vvkbs xtlvy1s x126k92a" style="font-family: inherit; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white;">Ring out a slowly dying cause,</span></div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white;"> And ancient forms of party strife;</span></div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white;"> Ring in the nobler modes of life,</span></div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white;">With sweeter manners, purer laws.</span></div></div><div class="x11i5rnm xat24cr x1mh8g0r x1vvkbs xtlvy1s x126k92a" style="font-family: inherit; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white;">Ring out the want, the care, the sin,</span></div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white;"> The faithless coldness of the times;</span></div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white;"> Ring out, ring out my mournful rhymes</span></div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white;">But ring the fuller minstrel in.</span></div></div><div class="x11i5rnm xat24cr x1mh8g0r x1vvkbs xtlvy1s x126k92a" style="font-family: inherit; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white;">Ring out false pride in place and blood,</span></div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white;"> The civic slander and the spite;</span></div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white;"> Ring in the love of truth and right,</span></div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white;">Ring in the common love of good.</span></div></div><div class="x11i5rnm xat24cr x1mh8g0r x1vvkbs xtlvy1s x126k92a" style="font-family: inherit; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white;">Ring out old shapes of foul disease;</span></div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white;"> Ring out the narrowing lust of gold;</span></div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white;"> Ring out the thousand wars of old,</span></div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white;">Ring in the thousand years of peace.</span></div></div><div class="x11i5rnm xat24cr x1mh8g0r x1vvkbs xtlvy1s x126k92a" style="font-family: inherit; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white;">Ring in the valiant man and free,</span></div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white;"> The larger heart, the kindlier hand;</span></div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white;"> Ring out the darkness of the land,</span></div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white;">Ring in the Christ that is to be. </span></div></div></span></div></div></div></div></div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><div class="x168nmei x13lgxp2 x30kzoy x9jhf4c xx9tyur x6ikm8r x10wlt62" style="border-radius: 0px 0px 8px 8px; font-family: inherit; min-height: 12px; overflow: hidden;"><div class="x78zum5 xdj266r xq8finb xat24cr x16n37ib x1iorvi4 x4uap5 xjkvuk6 xkhd6sd" style="display: flex; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px 12px; padding: 4px 0px;"><span class="x78zum5 x1iyjqo2 xl56j7k x8du52y x828ble xj0lthr x1w1xfga x1ieng3p x1lku1pv" style="display: flex; flex-grow: 1; font-family: inherit; justify-content: center;"><div aria-label="Send this to friends or post it on your timeline." class="x1i10hfl x1qjc9v5 xjbqb8w xjqpnuy xa49m3k xqeqjp1 x2hbi6w x13fuv20 xu3j5b3 x1q0q8m5 x26u7qi x972fbf xcfux6l x1qhh985 xm0m39n x9f619 x1ypdohk xdl72j9 x2lah0s xe8uvvx xdj266r x11i5rnm xat24cr x1mh8g0r x2lwn1j xeuugli xexx8yu x4uap5 x18d9i69 xkhd6sd x1n2onr6 x16tdsg8 x1hl2dhg xggy1nq x1ja2u2z x1t137rt x1o1ewxj x3x9cwd x1e5q0jg x13rtm0m x1q0g3np x87ps6o x1lku1pv x78zum5 x1a2a7pz" role="button" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; align-items: stretch; border-bottom-color: var(--always-dark-overlay); border-left-color: var(--always-dark-overlay); border-radius: inherit; border-right-color: var(--always-dark-overlay); border-style: solid; border-top-color: var(--always-dark-overlay); border-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; cursor: pointer; display: flex; flex-basis: auto; flex-direction: row; flex-shrink: 0; font-family: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; min-height: 0px; min-width: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; position: relative; text-align: inherit; touch-action: manipulation; user-select: none; z-index: 0;" tabindex="0"><div class="x6s0dn4 x78zum5 x10w6t97 x1h0ha7o xg83lxy x1n2onr6" style="align-items: center; display: flex; font-family: inherit; height: 32px; padding-left: 2px; padding-right: 2px; position: relative;"><div><br /></div></div></div></span></div><div class="x1pi30zi x1swvt13 x1n2onr6" style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; padding-left: 16px; padding-right: 16px; position: relative;"></div></div></div>Matt Billehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18230930494550861704noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15194226.post-16166521556853789892023-12-30T21:24:00.002-07:002023-12-30T21:26:12.132-07:00An Amazing Novel of Octopuses, Intelligence, and Humanity<p><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white; font-family: inherit;"> Ray Nayler</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white; font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Mountain-Sea-Novel-Ray-Nayler/dp/0374605955" target="_blank"><b><i><span style="font-size: medium;">The Mountain in the Sea</span></i></b></a><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white; font-family: inherit;">MCD (Farrar,
Strauss, and Giroux), 2022. 452pp.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white; font-family: inherit;">Nayler, an
author of acclaimed short fiction, delivers a first novel that’s original,
superbly written, and profound, showing extensive research and a fearless
approach to the largest of themes – consciousness, sentience, and life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white; font-family: inherit;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white; font-family: inherit;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white; font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgM-5olLVwafy-1LnOjRGLoBgNe5pa8Y21SMRMILbnZMBZso7fbs3R6jQ-W0VR_6ueZVq2etixIbn-soBV9_Ha8YUS-W-0b5SDim8vVFXRkTPDYVcR8O3pfw12qLFEn5QqutF4VQb33EECpyGmBDwcg6BdmpRLl1mJRRwA8OMUjBtcDo5xM6HkN/s1500/Nayler%20Book.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1500" data-original-width="978" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgM-5olLVwafy-1LnOjRGLoBgNe5pa8Y21SMRMILbnZMBZso7fbs3R6jQ-W0VR_6ueZVq2etixIbn-soBV9_Ha8YUS-W-0b5SDim8vVFXRkTPDYVcR8O3pfw12qLFEn5QqutF4VQb33EECpyGmBDwcg6BdmpRLl1mJRRwA8OMUjBtcDo5xM6HkN/s320/Nayler%20Book.jpg" width="209" /></a></span></div><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white; font-family: inherit;"><br /><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><br /></span></span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white; font-family: inherit;">We’re in a world
set just far enough in the future for the creation of Evrim, the world’s first and
only sentient android (such creations were immediately outlawed). The world has
been reshaped by wars but remains functional, with greater roles for
international authorities (governmental and corporate) plus a powerful cyber
empire based in Tibet. Transport is largely AI-driven, and advanced drones and
other gadgets are ubiquitous. Nayler chillingly depicts life on an AI-driven fishing
vessel where the crew are slaves, never setting foot ashore and unable to
communicate. On one such ship, fisherman Eiko learns from his Vietnamese friend
Son the legend of a shapeshifting sea monster at the Con Dao Archipelago. This
is where Dr. Ha Nyguen has just been hired to investigate what may be a
sentient octopus species. Nayler's characters talk through the factors that have kept octopi
from having a civilization: short lives, no parent-child bond, and lack of
symbolic communication. The author repeatedly and effectively shows how hard it
may be for humans to understand the thinking of any alien species, as theory
after theory goes bust.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white; font-family: inherit;">With Ha on
the remote atoll are only Evrim and Altantseteg, the enigmatic guard who
commands an array of automated defenses. Also in the cast are Ha’s long
distance friend Kamran, the cybergenius Rustem, the DIANIMA corporation’s
scientist Arnkatia Minervudotter-Chan, and a mysterious woman hidden by an AI facemask
who ruthlessly manipulates people for DIANIMA’s benefit. Nayler introduces the “point
five,” an AI companion (it and a human together make one point five) sophisticated enough to have discussions and arguments, and
pass almost any Turing test, and we’re not always sure who is actually human. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One of Nayler’s fascinating explorations concerns
what tips the scale to sentience: why Evrim is an autonomous intelligent being
and other constructs, cyber or physical, are not. What, he asks, is the ultimate Turing test?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white; font-family: inherit;">The octopuses
are not what you’d expect. They are trying to understand us, as Ha and Evrim
try to understand them. There are echoes here of other interesting works: <i>Star
Trek TNG</i> (although the gap between android and human is greater than Data showed
us), <i>Alien</i>, and the film <i>A Cold Night’s Death</i> are a few. The various
stories collide, literally, at a point where we find out what’s really happening
on the island, who’s in charge, and key characters’ real motivations, all of
which come as revelations. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white; font-family: inherit;">This isn’t a
novel you can read casually. Nayler’s prose is inventive and highly effective without
ever becoming flowery. Every paragraph is there for a reason, and the reader
needs to pay attention. The technical and philosophical details are well thought
out and often provocative. Excerpts from the books of Drs. Nyguen and Minervudotter-Chan
give essential insights into the characters’ thinking as well as their world. The
result is a masterpiece of suspenseful and thoughtful storytelling. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white; font-family: inherit;">My last thought
is that Nayler needs to keep tight control when this book is optioned for a film.
A studio’s first instinct will be to make it a monster movie, which is like
making <i>Moby Dick</i> an Ahab-vs-whale contest while ignoring the many layers
that make the tale profound and unique. I wish him luck.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white; font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white; font-family: inherit;"> </span></o:p><i style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.524px;"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;">Matt Bille is a writer, historian, and naturalist living in </span></span><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;">Colorado</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;"> Springs. He can be reached at mattsciwriter@protonmail.com. Website: www.mattbilleauthor.com. </span></span></span></i></p><div dir="auto" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.524px;"><i><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;">Read Matt's Latest book, Of Books and Beasts: A Cryptozoologist's Library. This unique reference offers a </span></span><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;">friendly</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;"> skeptic's 400 reviews of books on cryptozoology, zoology, related </span></span><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;">sciences</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;">, and cryptozoological fiction. Your </span></span><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;">search</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;"> for the world's new and undiscovered animals begins here!</span></span></span></i></div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.524px;"><i><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: #274e13; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><span style="color: white;"><br /></span></span></span></i></div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.524px;"><i><span style="font-family: inherit;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsGonplH7eOjL-Rns2Y3ebC3p8XEXz_y8CwWvpvxMz0MrOfERgMoaRX0_JBltvQ3SWl9XeKMw4KjWIgDDLs_fbMyPadQbpk-FGdMpstehGMZJ3ng6wk_bJRc-vfkiXMOxieiYwJPyGHqA6lXFtLn0WD8ir4aaZxpMmSbuNJsIRdSBMJvdDmhQx/s2560/OF%20BOOKS%20and%20BEASTS%20Cover%20final.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2560" data-original-width="1600" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsGonplH7eOjL-Rns2Y3ebC3p8XEXz_y8CwWvpvxMz0MrOfERgMoaRX0_JBltvQ3SWl9XeKMw4KjWIgDDLs_fbMyPadQbpk-FGdMpstehGMZJ3ng6wk_bJRc-vfkiXMOxieiYwJPyGHqA6lXFtLn0WD8ir4aaZxpMmSbuNJsIRdSBMJvdDmhQx/s320/OF%20BOOKS%20and%20BEASTS%20Cover%20final.jpg" width="200" /></span></a></div></span></i></div>Matt Billehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18230930494550861704noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15194226.post-53476151597790584812023-12-13T11:47:00.003-07:002023-12-13T11:47:40.204-07:00Review: Darren Naish Gives us the Best Book on Marine Reptiles<p><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Ancient-Sea-Reptiles-Plesiosaurs-Ichthyosaurs/dp/1588347273/" target="_blank"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white;"> Ancient SeaReptiles: Plesiosaurs, Ichthyosaurs, Mosasaurs, and More</span></a></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white;">by Darren
Naish <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white;"> Smithsonian
Books, <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>2023.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>192 pages<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white;">My go-to book
on marine reptiles used to be Richard Ellis’s <i>Sea Dragons: Predators of the
Prehistoric Oceans </i>(2003), which is highly readable but long since obsolete
thanks to a raft of new fossils and analytical techniques. <i>Ancient Sea
Reptiles</i>, which reflects the latest information in text and diagrams while
remaining readable, is my new one. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi93BMUCHYoxfX-je-glvpgmHBwh2Vid8BxaM2ky3PqD6yNQ0y1RhnyW1kpZfWLZ7zr-QcGpJRDPva-f3_74E-rN_eD9MiBfDUgBEOrEOyXLQ6JvMlxfhjeHt1IC_-qnIcLPC2PCgGXGr7Q28LMY2qM8h_4EavcjnzBQJRl-sUZnMGH2gn9l3-j/s466/Naish%20book%20cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white;"><img border="0" data-original-height="466" data-original-width="350" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi93BMUCHYoxfX-je-glvpgmHBwh2Vid8BxaM2ky3PqD6yNQ0y1RhnyW1kpZfWLZ7zr-QcGpJRDPva-f3_74E-rN_eD9MiBfDUgBEOrEOyXLQ6JvMlxfhjeHt1IC_-qnIcLPC2PCgGXGr7Q28LMY2qM8h_4EavcjnzBQJRl-sUZnMGH2gn9l3-j/s320/Naish%20book%20cover.jpg" width="240" /></span></a></div><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white;"><br /><br /></span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white;">An excellent Introduction
sets up our voyage into the Mesozoic. Dr. Naish explains land masses, climate,
temperatures (until recently no one was sure whether marine reptiles braved
cold seas), and a capsule history of discoveries by naturalists and
paleontologists. The first ichthyosaurs,
mosasaurs, and plesiosaurs came out of Europe in 18<sup>th</sup> and 19<sup>th</sup>
centuries. Speaking of Europe, Naish zaps the myth Many Anning was ever obscure
or forgotten, even if she didn’t always get proper credit. More discoveries
came out of North America, although Edward Drinker Cope in 1869 delayed proper
study of his stunning Elasmosaurus by mistaking the neck for the tail and
putting the skull on the wrong end. More mosasaurs and plesiosaurs also came
out of North America, supplemented in modern times by marine reptile finds all
over the world: from Australia, Morocco, China, and many other places.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white;">Diving into evolution,
Naish straightens out the convoluted mess of theories, family trees, and
cladograms. These lead to the predominant modern hypothesis, that all the
marine reptiles form a superclade descended from a common ancestor. That
ancestor may resemble <i>Womengosaurus</i>, 255 million years old. The evolution
within the clade was complex. With nearly 200 million years of changing
conditions and evolutionary pressures, bodies responded in all kinds of
different ways. Not only did the same body plans appear (and reappear) from
different reptilian lineages, but similar body plans were shared among
creatures as different as ichthyosaurs, cetaceans, and fishes. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white;">Each of the
major groups gets a chapter, but the “and More” in the title is very important.
Most readers will have at least a general idea of the three largest groups,
even if their relationships are very complex.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Naish shows us in Chapter 4 the marine reptiles were much more diverse
than is generally known, not to mention weirder.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Mesosaurs, a bit crocodilian to our eyes,
prowled the shallows and ventured on land. Placodonts looked like bony, husky,
broad-bodied marine lizards. The platyochelids looked like bizarre turtles with
shells of heavy scales: I was remined of a swimming waffle iron. Nothosaurs had
long, shallow skulls, a bit alligatorish. Then there’s <i>Tanystropheus</i>, with a
neck as long as the body and tail put together. It appears to have been an
amphibious shoreline ambusher that picked off fish in the shallows. There are
many more groups. Above the Mesozoic oceans soared pterosaurs and, eventually,
seabirds. There were sea snakes, too, some with tiny hind limbs. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white;">The
ichthyosaurs looked the most like modern fishers or cetaceans. They were around
more than 100 million years from the 1-meter (m) types of the early Triassic to
the amazing shastosaurs, which reached 21 m and probably longer. They split
into many groups and evolved countless variations. The <i>Suevoleviathan </i>had unusually
large front fins and a gigantic tuna-like tail. Some had enormous eyes
indicating they, like some modern cetaceans, didn’t let the need for oxygen
keep them from diving deep to hunt fish and squid. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white;">The
plesiosaurs might be the most famous group of all. They are classically
described as looking like “a snake threaded through the body of a turtle.”
Naish notes the media stars are the elasmosaurs, with their extremely long
necks, but necks and skulls came in all lengths and thicknesses. (He also notes
they did NOT produce the alleged Loch Ness monster.) <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For 130 million years, the plesiosaurs evolved,
differentiated, and even produced the pliosaurids, which had massive heads and short
(sometimes almost absent) necks. There was also the giant <i>Liopleurodon</i>, once
estimated at 25 m but really well under half that (still a giant!)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i>Kronosaurus </i>was another large and relatively
famous species (among the types resurrected, with gills in the novels of Max
Hawthorne), and up to 11 m long. Leptocleidids were smaller types inhabiting
estuaries and lakes, filling niches many modern seals occupy: indeed, some look
considerably like four-flippered seals. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white;">Naish spends
some time on the interesting and still disputed topic of just how these
creatures swam. Were they underwater flyers, like penguins? Rowers? It now
looks more complex, with precisely synchronized fore and hind paddle movements
for top efficiency. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white;">The thalattosuchians
were the ocean-going crocodylomorphs, though unrelated to modern crocodiles. The
teleosaurids came first, starting with predators of the shallows and moving
into the oceans, while the later-developing metriorhynchids were pure
ocean-going animals with smooth skins.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white;">The mosasaurs
were unique in being, literally, huge seagoing lizards. Naish says they can be
thought of as “whale-lizards,” albeit scaly-skinned, driven by their shark-like
tails. While the discovery of a soft-shelled egg 29cm long, which made headlines
in 2020, led to speculations mosasaurs laid eggs, the evidence is strong that
they bore live young (exactly what laid that egg is still a mystery). One
branch, the tylosaurines, produced giants 14 meters long. Here again underwater
flight has been suggested, at least for the long-limbed and deep-chested <i>Plioplatecarpus</i>.
In this case, too, the idea has been largely dismissed. <i>Mosasaurus </i>itself might
have grown as long as 18 m, although the <i>Jurassic Park</i> films make it the
size of a small U-boat.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white;">Finally, we
have the sea turtles. On group, the protostegids, which may not have been
turtles at all, is extinct. This is unfortunate, since it produced the spectacular
Archelon, from North America, 4.6 m long and with a sharp parrot-like beak and a
cover of skin and/or scales over a full ribcage, unlike modern turtles where
ribs and carapace are fused.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The others
are the hard-shelled turtles, relatives of those still with us today, and the
leatherbacks, which swam pretty much unconcernedly through the K-Pg event and
everything since. The only real enemies of the jellyfish-loving adults,
decimating their ranks today, are plastic bags. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white;">The
illustrations are superb throughout. The book offers a plethora of photographed
fossils, artwork, and line drawings which connect us to the creatures being
discussed and to the technical topics like the importance of salt glands. The
diagrams of evolutionary relationships are equally helpful. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white;">It’s not a
perfect book.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While
Naish gives many sources in text, there are no footnotes, endnotes, or other citations
and only a token bibliography. This Smithsonian series doesn’t have citations
in general, and Nasih himself doesn’t consider them critical for a popular
book, but I’m a fan of them: I love the way books by people like Ellis and
Susan Casey (and, for that matter, me) give us many pages of things to look up
as curiosity dictates. Finally, the book just ends. There are two lines on the
future of the oceans at the end of the turtle chapter, and it just stops. Naish
had more material he could not incorporate, but even a short summary of this
broad topic we’ve just covered would make it feel more complete.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white;">The marine
reptiles, then, were a group of astonishing numbers, variations, and sizes.
Naish has given us the best guide in print to these creatures and their world.
An exciting aspect, threaded throughout the book, is that discoveries,
theories, and analysis of these animals is progressing faster than ever before.
Naish may have to revise this superb book in ten years or so.</span></p><div dir="auto" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.524px;"><i><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;">Matt Bille is a writer, historian, and naturalist living in </span></span><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;">Colorado</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;"> Springs. He can be reached at mattsciwriter@protonmail.com. Website: www.mattbilleauthor.com. </span></span></span></i></div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.524px;"><i><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;">Read Matt's Latest book, Of Books and Beasts: A Cryptozoologist's Library. This unique reference offers a </span></span><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;">friendly</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;"> skeptic's 400 reviews of books on cryptozoology, zoology, related </span></span><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;">sciences</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;">, and cryptozoological fiction. Your </span></span><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;">search</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;"> for the world's new and undiscovered animals begins here!</span></span></span></i></div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.524px;"><i><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: #274e13; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><span style="color: white;"><br /></span></span></span></i></div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.524px;"><i><span style="font-family: inherit;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsGonplH7eOjL-Rns2Y3ebC3p8XEXz_y8CwWvpvxMz0MrOfERgMoaRX0_JBltvQ3SWl9XeKMw4KjWIgDDLs_fbMyPadQbpk-FGdMpstehGMZJ3ng6wk_bJRc-vfkiXMOxieiYwJPyGHqA6lXFtLn0WD8ir4aaZxpMmSbuNJsIRdSBMJvdDmhQx/s2560/OF%20BOOKS%20and%20BEASTS%20Cover%20final.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2560" data-original-width="1600" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsGonplH7eOjL-Rns2Y3ebC3p8XEXz_y8CwWvpvxMz0MrOfERgMoaRX0_JBltvQ3SWl9XeKMw4KjWIgDDLs_fbMyPadQbpk-FGdMpstehGMZJ3ng6wk_bJRc-vfkiXMOxieiYwJPyGHqA6lXFtLn0WD8ir4aaZxpMmSbuNJsIRdSBMJvdDmhQx/s320/OF%20BOOKS%20and%20BEASTS%20Cover%20final.jpg" width="200" /></span></a></div><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span></span></i></div>Matt Billehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18230930494550861704noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15194226.post-60191912923229594162023-12-09T17:03:00.000-07:002023-12-09T17:03:24.610-07:00Following the work of Sharon Hill<p><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white; font-family: arial;">Sharon Hill, geologist, science writer, skeptic, and reporter on cryptozoology, natural phenomena, and paranormal claims, is a very important resource for those of us who follow those topics. She has been on several platforms which either proved unsatisfactory or became so, so she is consolidating. </span></p><p><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white; font-family: arial;">Her Substack will go away and everything will be on her website at <a href="http://sharonahill.com/">Sharon A. Hill - Strange Claims Adjuster (sharonahill.com)</a> She also posts on Mastodon.</span></p><p><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white; font-family: arial;">This includes her old Spooky Geology site and her <a href="https://moderncryptozoology.wordpress.com/" target="_blank">Modern Cryptozoology</a> blog. </span></p><p><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white; font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white; font-family: arial;">Good luck, Sharon!</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIq653yYjg4zrGS4Pdyk4HEtOMGa_95vG4PXPmzA4_IE80podYQi-cDrBQC6UQWexCY5RN7oO4pa3jddtaDENSOLfiIqKrq3kCZ32EHPZIzGpulZam4AxUUVr-Fc4of-J8YgWz3keigonvL437TKqDKBsZ4uKaFBQkR09-MeZWhqJhXQLZoU0n/s512/Sharon%20Hill.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white; font-family: arial;"><img border="0" data-original-height="512" data-original-width="512" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIq653yYjg4zrGS4Pdyk4HEtOMGa_95vG4PXPmzA4_IE80podYQi-cDrBQC6UQWexCY5RN7oO4pa3jddtaDENSOLfiIqKrq3kCZ32EHPZIzGpulZam4AxUUVr-Fc4of-J8YgWz3keigonvL437TKqDKBsZ4uKaFBQkR09-MeZWhqJhXQLZoU0n/s320/Sharon%20Hill.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white; font-family: arial;"><br /></span><p><strong style="box-sizing: inherit; letter-spacing: 0.5px;"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white; font-family: arial;">Sharon A. Hill</span></strong></p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; letter-spacing: 0.5px; margin: 0.8em 0px;"><em style="box-sizing: inherit;"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white; font-family: arial;">Independent researcher, Geologist, author, and science communicator with 25+ years of research and writing about anomalous natural phenomena, paranormal beliefs in society, paranormal popular culture, pseudoscience, science and society, cryptozoology, Forteana, and geologic topics.</span></em></p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; letter-spacing: 0.5px; margin: 0.8em 0px;"><strong style="box-sizing: inherit;"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white; font-family: arial;">Author of Scientifical Americans (McFarland, 2017)</span></strong></p><p><br /></p>Matt Billehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18230930494550861704noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15194226.post-2684991946849597582023-12-07T15:01:00.005-07:002023-12-07T17:30:03.628-07:00The most puzzling of "Sea Serpents"<div class="MsoPlainText" style="line-height: 32px; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="line-height: 32px;"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white; font-family: inherit;">In the age of hard science and amazing tools, is there any room for the romantic possibility of large and truly strange creatures roaming the oceans of the world? The age of monsters is long past, but there remains a most peculiar eyewitness account from December 7, 1907 by two British men of science, Michael J. Nicoll and E.G.B. Meade-Waldo. In 1905, these witnesses observed a "sea monster" which still hasn't been definitively explained.</span></span></div><div class="MsoPlainText" style="line-height: 32px; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="line-height: 32px;"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white; font-family: inherit;">The men were both experienced naturalists, Fellows of the Zoological Society of London. Their account of "a creature of most extraordinary form and proportions" is recorded in the Society's <i>Proceedings</i> and Nicoll's 1908 book <i>Three Voyages of A Naturalist</i>.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoPlainText" style="line-height: 32px; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="line-height: 32px;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWhJnrt2PstZLbsx2VIS861xgTy_40pz8leJ9OEN7AiyUooGMbsxoZEC5Lyt22wCZuTze4bM28My5lry_urhoYDTxBqiXBD43804axvu5ZJeT0vARxafEL0lW4KaUS47IVbuzEOou8ZtCEseHTdC_DKx7y2SS63JFZlVp6QBZK7FGx7Aa5S5zs/s350/Naturalist%20book.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="350" data-original-width="233" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWhJnrt2PstZLbsx2VIS861xgTy_40pz8leJ9OEN7AiyUooGMbsxoZEC5Lyt22wCZuTze4bM28My5lry_urhoYDTxBqiXBD43804axvu5ZJeT0vARxafEL0lW4KaUS47IVbuzEOou8ZtCEseHTdC_DKx7y2SS63JFZlVp6QBZK7FGx7Aa5S5zs/s320/Naturalist%20book.jpg" width="213" /></a></div><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white; font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoPlainText" style="line-height: 32px; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="line-height: 32px;"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white; font-family: inherit;">On December 7, 1905, at 10:15 AM, Nicoll and Meade-Waldo were on a research cruise aboard the yacht <i>Valhalla</i>. They were 15 miles east of the mouth of Brazil's Parahiba River when Nicoll turned to his companion and asked, "Is that the fin of a great fish?" <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoPlainText" style="line-height: 32px; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="line-height: 32px;"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white; font-family: inherit;">The fin was cruising past them about 90 meters away. Meade-Waldo described it as "dark seaweed-brown, somewhat crinkled at the edge." The visible part was roughly rectangular, about 1.8 m long and 60 cm high. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoPlainText" style="line-height: 32px; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="line-height: 32px;"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white; font-family: inherit;">As Meade-Waldo watched through “powerful” binoculars, a head on a long neck rose in front of the frill. He described the neck as "about the thickness of a slight man's body, and from seven to eight feet was out of the water; head and neck were all about the same thickness ... The head had a very turtle-like appearance, as also the eye. It moved its head and neck from side to side in a peculiar manner: the color of the head and neck was dark brown above, and whitish below - almost white, I think."<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoPlainText" style="line-height: 32px; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="line-height: 32px;"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white; font-family: inherit;">Nicoll noted, "Below the water we could indistinctly see a very large brownish-black patch, but could not make out the shape of the creature." They kept the creature in sight for several minutes before the <i>Valhalla</i> drew away from the beast. The yacht was traveling under sail and could not come about. At 2:00 AM on December 8th, however, three crewmembers saw what appeared to be the same animal, almost entirely submerged. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoPlainText" style="line-height: 32px; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="line-height: 32px;"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white; font-family: inherit;">In a letter to author Rupert T. Gould, author of <i>The Case for the Sea Serpent</i>, Meade-Waldo remarked, "I shall never forget poor Nicoll's face of amazement when we looked at each other after we had passed out of sight of it ... " Nicoll marveled, “This creature was an example, I consider, of what has been so often reported, for want of a better name, as the ‘great sea-serpent.’”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoPlainText" style="line-height: 32px; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="line-height: 32px;"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white; font-family: inherit;">What did these gentlemen see? For the sake of inquiry and fun, let's assume they got the description right. If the animal did have this "extraordinary" appearance, and thus could not be simply ascribed to a known creature, and we let in the possibility of an unknown one, then what might we theorize?</span></span></div><div class="MsoPlainText" style="line-height: 32px; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="line-height: 32px;"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white; font-family: inherit;">Meade-Waldo offered no theory. Nicoll, while admitting it is "impossible to be certain," suggested they had seen an unknown species of mammal, adding, "…the general appearance of the creature, especially the soft, almost rubber-like fin, gave one this impression." The witnesses did not notice any diagnostic features such as hair, pectoral fins, gills, or nostrils.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoPlainText" style="line-height: 32px; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="line-height: 32px;"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white; font-family: inherit;">The late zoologist Bernard Heuvelmans, in his exhaustive tome <i>In the Wake of the Sea-Serpents</i>, suggested this sighting involved a huge eel or eel-shaped fish swimming with its head and forebody out of the water. For reasons no one understands, the largest known species of eel, the conger, does swim this way on occasion. Interestingly, the conger also has been observed to undulate on its side at the water’s surface, producing an appearance that looks little like an eel and a lot like a serpentine monster, albeit a small one. Congers are known to reach about nine feet in length.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoPlainText" style="line-height: 32px; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="line-height: 32px;"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white; font-family: inherit;">Another candidate for the sighting might be a reptile. Nicoll's sketch certainly bears some resemblance to a plesiosaur, a Mesozoic-era tetrapod suggested as a solution for sea serpent sightings as early as 1833. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoPlainText" style="line-height: 32px; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="line-height: 32px;"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white; font-family: inherit;">Plesiosaurs keep turning up in connection to sea serpents because they were one of the few marine species of any type in the fossil record to have long necks. American humorist Will Cuppy once remarked on plesiosaurs, “They might have a had a useful career as sea serpents, but they were before their time. There was nobody to scare except fish, and that was hardly worth while.” Indeed, the plesiosaur fossil record stops with that of their land-based cousins, the dinosaurs. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoPlainText" style="line-height: 32px; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="line-height: 32px;"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white; font-family: inherit;">There is another problem in connecting these animals to the 1905 description. In addition to the absence of relevant fossils dated within the last sixty million years, no plesiosaur is known to have possessed a dorsal fin. There was no need for a dorsal fin for stability on the turtle-like bodies of these animals. A plesiosaur with a fin or frill unsupported by bones and thus unlikely to fossilize, presumably for threat or sexual display, is not impossible, but this is pure speculation As a non-expert on these creatures, I can only refer to my favorite source, Darren Naish's book, which, shows no hint of a dorsal on any relevant species.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoPlainText" style="line-height: 32px; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="line-height: 32px;"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white; font-family: inherit;">Nicoll's idea of a mammal poses problems as well. No known mammal, living or extinct, fits the description given by the two naturalists. Some cryptozoologists believe sea monster reports are attributable to archaeocetes: prehistoric snakelike whales, such as those in the genus <i>Basilosaurus</i>. It's conceivable this group could have evolved a long-necked form but not only did the basilosaurs, according to fossils, vanish millions of years ago, but the known whales were actually evolving in the opposite direction, resulting in the neckless or almost neckless modern cetaceans. One other mammalian possibility is a huge elongated seal. This seems equally difficult to support, given that no known seal, living or extinct, has either a truly long neck (although the necks of pinnipeds are startlingly long when extended) or anything resembling a dorsal fin.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoPlainText" style="line-height: 32px; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="line-height: 32px;"><span style="color: white; font-family: inherit;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody style="background-color: #274e13;"><tr><td><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-a6z6JwGsoKM/WEgs17GMMEI/AAAAAAAABGw/WxWrDBrD-UwLzuXGgXt82_Av3fPrSYmHgCLcB/s1600/Valhalla.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="color: white; font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="197" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-a6z6JwGsoKM/WEgs17GMMEI/AAAAAAAABGw/WxWrDBrD-UwLzuXGgXt82_Av3fPrSYmHgCLcB/s400/Valhalla.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><span style="color: white; font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;">The original eyewitness drawing by Nicoll (out of copyright)<br /><br /></span></td></tr></tbody></table></span></span></div><div class="MsoPlainText" style="line-height: 32px; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="line-height: 32px;"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white; font-family: inherit;">Meade-Waldo was aware of the famous sea monster report made in 1848 by the crew of the frigate HMS <i>Daedalus</i>. He thought his own creature "might easily be the same." The <i>Daedalus</i> witnesses described an animal resembling "a large snake or eel" with a visible length estimated at sixty feet. To me, though, a squid or whale seems most likely.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoPlainText" style="line-height: 32px; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="line-height: 32px;"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white; font-family: inherit;">Eels come up in relation to this sighting because Maurice Burton and others have written of conger eels (known maximum size 3 meters) showing peculiar behaviors. One is undulating on their sides on the surface (which, if you make the eel big enough, is an impressive "sea serpent:" the other is rushing about with head and forebody lifted out of the water, which makes no sense but must look really cool and can include the tip of the dorsal fin. </span></span></div><div class="MsoPlainText" style="line-height: 32px; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="line-height: 32px;"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white; font-family: inherit;">There are a few reports specifically describing giant eels. A German vessel, the <i>Kaiserin Augusta Victoria</i>, observed such a creature in its entirety off England in 1912. The <i>Kaiserin</i>'s Captain Ruser described it as over six meters long and half a meter thick. Four Irish fisherman claimed to have caught a six-meter eel in 1915. In 1947, the officers of the Grace liner <i>Santa Clara</i> reported their ship ran over a brown eel-like creature estimated at nearly 20 meters. In 1971, English fisherman Stephen Smith was in the area of the 1912 sighting when he allegedly encountered an eel 6-7 meters long, with the head of a conger eel but “four times the size.” He told author Paul Harrison, “I have fished all over the world, but never have I seen something like this.” Smith suggested it was “…a form of hybrid eel, but at twenty feet? There must be a more rational explanation, but I’m damned if I know what it is!”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoPlainText" style="line-height: 32px; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="line-height: 32px;"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white; font-family: inherit;">The first “non-monster” hypothesis offered came from Richard Ellis, a prominent writer on marine life. Ellis suggested in 1994 that a giant squid swimming with its tentacles foremost, with one tentacle or arm held above the surface, could present an unusual appearance which, combined with a reasonable degree of observer error, might account for the details reported in this case.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoPlainText" style="line-height: 32px; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="line-height: 32px;"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white; font-family: inherit;">Squid can swim tentacles-first, and often do so when approaching prey. For one to have presented the appearance described, though, it must have acted in a totally unnatural fashion. The squid would have to swim on its side to keep one fin above the water while pointlessly holding up a single limb and swimming forward for several minutes. Even assuming it is physically possible for a squid to act this way, it seems impossible to come up with a reason why it might do so. This explanation also requires that Meade-Waldo, at least, made a major mistake, since he recorded seeing a large body under water “behind the frill.” (Nicoll did not see this or did not remark on it.)</span></span></div><div class="MsoPlainText" style="line-height: 32px; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="color: white;"><span style="background-color: #274e13; font-family: inherit; text-indent: 0.5in;">Dr. Naish has suggested the witnesses saw a large pinniped, perhaps a sea elephant, lying on its side, head slightly above the water, "finning:" waving one fin for cooling. That's known behavior. It's the most plausible known-species idea, and may be current, but it not being an exact fit makes me keep the file open. (Sheer romanticism, of course, is another reason.) </span></span></div><div class="MsoPlainText" style="line-height: 32px; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white; font-family: inherit;"><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">While the idea of a large seagoing animal remaining unidentified to this day may seem surprising, it’s not beyond the bounds of plausibility. Recently identified whales have already been mentioned.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">The five-meter-plus megamouth shark (</span><i style="text-indent: 0.5in;">Megachasma pelagios</i><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">), while discovered quite a while back (1976), is still a good example because this huge,</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> slow-moving, blimplike filter-feeder was not just unknown as a living species, but completely unknown in every respect.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">There were no fossil indications, no sighting reports, and no local folklore about such a strange creature among Pacific islanders.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">The species just appeared. </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">The newest of the beaked whales was known only by Japanese fishermen's reports until it stranded in Alaska in June 2016. We still don't know the identity of the species called the Cross Seamount beaked whale, even though records of its vocalizing show it prefers shallower water than any other beaked whale. </span></span></div><div class="MsoPlainText" style="line-height: 32px; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="line-height: 32px;"><span style="color: white;"><span style="background-color: #274e13; font-family: inherit;"><span>The whole sea serpent business is hopelessly buried in hype and hoax, but there are a handful of reports that still make a few scientists wonder. If the <i>Valhalla </i>report is ever </span>satisfactorily<span> explained, I'm willing to give up the whole topic. But all we know for now is that, on this date in 1905, two well-qualified witnesses described a large unknown marine animal for which no convincing explanation has been presented. </span></span></span></span></div><div class="MsoPlainText" style="line-height: 32px; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="line-height: 32px;"><span style="color: white;"><span><span><div dir="auto" style="text-indent: 0px; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><span style="background-color: #274e13; font-family: inherit;">REFERENCES</span></div><div dir="auto" style="text-indent: 0px; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><span style="background-color: #274e13; font-family: inherit;">Ellis, Richard. 1998. <i>The Search for the Giant Squid</i>. New York: Lyons Press.</span></div><div dir="auto" style="text-indent: 0px; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><span style="background-color: #274e13; font-family: inherit;">Ellis, Richard. 1994. <i>Monsters of the Sea.</i> New York: Knopf.</span></div><div dir="auto" style="text-indent: 0px; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><span style="background-color: #274e13; font-family: inherit;">Gould, Rupert T. 1930. <i>The Case for the Sea Serpent</i>. London: Philip Allan.</span></div><div dir="auto" style="text-indent: 0px; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><span style="background-color: #274e13; font-family: inherit;">Harrison, Paul. 2001. <i>Sea Serpents and Lake Monsters of the British Isles.</i> London: Robert Hale.</span></div><div dir="auto" style="text-indent: 0px; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><span style="background-color: #274e13; font-family: inherit;">Heuvelmans, Bernard. 1968. <i>In the Wake of the Sea Serpents</i>. New York: Hill and Wang.</span></div><div dir="auto" style="text-indent: 0px; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><span style="background-color: #274e13; font-family: inherit;">McCullough JLK, <i>et. al.</i> 2023. "Geographic distribution of the Cross Seamount beaked whale based on acoustic detections," <i>Marine Mammal Science</i>, 1–20. https://doi.org/10.1111/mms.13061</span></div><div dir="auto" style="text-indent: 0px; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: #274e13;">Meade-Waldo, E.G.B., and Nicoll, Michael J., 1906. "Description of an Unknown Animal Seen at Sea off the Coast of Brazil," <i>Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London</i>, p.719.</span></span></div><div dir="auto" style="text-indent: 0px; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><span style="background-color: #274e13; font-family: inherit;">Molloy, R. 1915. “A Queer Tale of Flanagan and the Eel off Dalkey Sound,” publication title unknown, August 28. Available at <a class="x1i10hfl xjbqb8w x6umtig x1b1mbwd xaqea5y xav7gou x9f619 x1ypdohk xt0psk2 xe8uvvx xdj266r x11i5rnm xat24cr x1mh8g0r xexx8yu x4uap5 x18d9i69 xkhd6sd x16tdsg8 x1hl2dhg xggy1nq x1a2a7pz xt0b8zv x1fey0fg" href="https://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.clubi.ie%2Fdalkeyhomepage%2Fee.html%3Ffbclid%3DIwAR39cSmwG4GGSbGjbDlNw2jyO1nPKOifjF-KAeUXTv9U2zoFqoHawYxsXRs&h=AT0QQ-mg_YrT6YadnBGTScFdDvYkPjOIc4v3ieMM0cI7TR6uF-1IUV0D8qmXolfNpd62NvVppCMyltqnvPUIHUU7VoWeMyHU8VDHdJNRj0nZRlc49FIPWjDPjWwk5aLUZxShcr74PQs2WIEGCg&__tn__=-UKH-R&c[0]=AT0GzAxgR7n56lUs34PE4iTUXXldHTqHLGxil7kUPXfdU8A0tbFaJs4bxBJ684pCksvmQmLuY0Pas2ul9FlE7wg_DxlHZs2jJz4wwhVnSB3cCqApMhPVxKyMT6o_j_rs1vPAVNFfD1cGteuiY3cZ_wWZ9XMbPHozmO42rHnSoVLXE0IKEky06cDphvZrq7dAg4KAst78IQ" rel="nofollow" role="link" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; border-color: initial; border-style: initial; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; cursor: pointer; display: inline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-align: inherit; text-decoration-line: none; touch-action: manipulation;" tabindex="0" target="_blank">http://www.clubi.ie/dalkeyhomepage/ee.html</a>.</span></div><div dir="auto" style="text-indent: 0px;"><span style="background-color: #274e13;"><span style="font-family: inherit; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Naish, Darren. 2023. </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><i>Ancient Sea Reptiles: Plesiosaurs, Ichthyosaurs, Mosasaurs, and More</i>. Washington, DC: Smithsonian.</span></span></div><div dir="auto" style="text-indent: 0px;"><span style="background-color: #274e13;"><span style="text-indent: 0.5in; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Naish, Darren. 2016. Hunting Monsters: Cryptozoology and the Reality Behind the Myths. Arcturus, </span></span></div><div dir="auto" style="text-indent: 0px; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: #274e13;">Nicoll, Michael J. 1908. <i>Three Voyages of a Naturalist</i>. London: Witherby and Co.</span></span></div><div dir="auto" style="text-indent: 0px; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><span style="background-color: #274e13; font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div dir="auto" style="text-indent: 0px;"><span style="background-color: #274e13;"><i><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;">Matt Bille is a writer, historian, and naturalist living in </span></span><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;">Colorado</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;"> Springs. He can be reached at mattsciwriter@protonmail.com. Website: www.mattbilleauthor.com. </span></span></i></span></div><div dir="auto" style="text-indent: 0px;"><span style="background-color: #274e13;"><i><span><span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;">Read Matt's Latest book, Of Books and Beasts: A Cryptozoologist's Library. This unique reference offers a </span></span><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;">friendly</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;"> skeptic's 400 reviews of books on cryptozoology, zoology, related </span></span><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;">sciences</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;">, and cryptozoological fiction. Your </span></span><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;">search</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;"> for the world's new and undiscovered animals begins here!</span></span></span></span></i></span></div><div dir="auto" style="text-indent: 0px;"><span style="background-color: #274e13;"><i><span><span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaBm-XB9JT5d5SKZ_da1__ibfkSZHFFgDgkGZrV_Wz2ewdxh4P0q8yb5LV3rTFAvdWcJVzoB2Y_4dWMkqNp-ohIJ6G1gwWyAP4lTp5sWouvg5g1szdNynZSQH36wvA2q-EoetF2xt7F1FgJ7m5ZhLNZYWiDIsafhdH4Kt0k0WvNkZFOsITTWu_/s2560/OF%20BOOKS%20and%20BEASTS%20Cover%20final.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2560" data-original-width="1600" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaBm-XB9JT5d5SKZ_da1__ibfkSZHFFgDgkGZrV_Wz2ewdxh4P0q8yb5LV3rTFAvdWcJVzoB2Y_4dWMkqNp-ohIJ6G1gwWyAP4lTp5sWouvg5g1szdNynZSQH36wvA2q-EoetF2xt7F1FgJ7m5ZhLNZYWiDIsafhdH4Kt0k0WvNkZFOsITTWu_/s320/OF%20BOOKS%20and%20BEASTS%20Cover%20final.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><br /><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span></span></span></span></i></span></div><div dir="auto" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; text-indent: 0px; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></div></span></span></span></span></div>Matt Billehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18230930494550861704noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15194226.post-10639586267114373702023-12-02T13:43:00.004-07:002023-12-17T18:40:52.417-07:00Book Review: Susan Casey Takes us to the Deeps in The Underworld<p><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Underworld-Journeys-Depths-Ocean/dp/0385545576/" target="_blank">The<span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span>Underworld<span style="font-family: inherit;">: </span>Journeys</a><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Underworld-Journeys-Depths-Ocean/dp/0385545576/" target="_blank"> to the Depths of the Oceans</a> </span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white;">Doubleday<span style="font-family: inherit;">: 2023, 352pp.</span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Susan Casey's
new book is her best work: her best writing, her most fascinating topic, and
the best blending of her personal adventures and the larger picture of the
natural world and the people who explore it.</span><span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><span style="font-family: inherit;">To be honest, I’ve also never been as envious of the adventures she undertakes
or manages, by excellent networking, to get invitations to.</span></span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixjoewZOunpvxfd6dYK9_6SnZOW_Aftb1ry7p8BXk_GM04PJrSjB6zgENuBEXGZxp3BS9-MWMTd-Tlv2xkosnpxUo7oDIexIMHtfc77J8C2oZ7yyU51st8NJkGEUP4z5srQTQIkzQHOXFpgMpEvgXMO1rzglWp4WoMYt78YEcgnBEh05PcG-F1/s425/Case%20book%20Underworld.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white;"><img border="0" data-original-height="425" data-original-width="280" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixjoewZOunpvxfd6dYK9_6SnZOW_Aftb1ry7p8BXk_GM04PJrSjB6zgENuBEXGZxp3BS9-MWMTd-Tlv2xkosnpxUo7oDIexIMHtfc77J8C2oZ7yyU51st8NJkGEUP4z5srQTQIkzQHOXFpgMpEvgXMO1rzglWp4WoMYt78YEcgnBEh05PcG-F1/s320/Case%20book%20Underworld.jpg" width="211" /></span></a></div><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><p><span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></p>Casey’s
Chapter 1 is a trip to Sweden to see the original Carta Marina, the famous 16</span><sup style="font-family: inherit;">th</sup><span style="font-family: inherit;">-century
illustrated map showing an incredible variety of monstrous creatures. Most, she
notes, were based on fact, albeit with enormous degrees of exaggeration. This is
her starting point to explore the history of deep ocean observation, the
competing theories, and the slow advance of technology through the </span><i style="font-family: inherit;">Challenger</i><span style="font-family: inherit;">
expedition. She chronicles the work of pioneering explorer William Beebe, the
development of the bathyscaphe, and </span><i style="font-family: inherit;">Trieste’s</i><span style="font-family: inherit;"> descent to the Challenger
Deep (I never knew William Beebe and Theodore Roosevelt once drew submersible
designs on a napkin!) </span></span><p></p><p><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The </span>author<span style="font-family: inherit;"> threads information and stories on geology,
hydrothermal vents, seaquakes, and life of every kind, from whales to bacteria,
all through her narrative. She sails on the RV <i>Atlantis </i>with the famed ROV </span><i style="font-family: inherit;">Jason</i><span style="font-family: inherit;">,
doing shifts as a data logger while the ROV sends back stunning images, and
tours the world’s most famous submersible, </span><i style="font-family: inherit;">Alvin</i><span style="font-family: inherit;">. She includes many
tales of disaster and near-disaster for the aquanauts. Everyone she meets
reminds her that this is an environment that, while bearing life in unprecedented
variety, is as hospitable to humans as deep space.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white; font-family: inherit;">Casey introduces
us to the legends of marine exploration, Don Walsh and Her Deepness, Sylvia Earle,
along with a dozen or so lesser-known people who deserve to share the spotlight. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(Walsh just died at
92, literally while I was reading this book.) <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white; font-family: inherit;">The real highlight
for the reader is Casey’s own experience as a submersible passenger.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m not sure ocean life can be described more
evocatively than Casey does it on her two dives. The first is a test dive of the <i>Neptune</i>
to a thousand meters off the Bahamas. <i>Neptune</i> was one of the
submersibles supporting creator/funder <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-49636756" target="_blank">Victor Vescovo’s Five Deeps</a> effort
(diving to the deepest point in each ocean, doing science along the way). <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She is fascinated by the luminescent jellies...
“a blazing purple ring with flowing white tentacles…a gold crown that throbbed
like a heart...a child’s drawing of the sun.” When they turn off all lights, “It
was as though we were in the center of a meteor shower, streaks and bursts and aureoles
of light bejeweling the darkness to the far edges of our vision…” </span><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white; font-family: inherit;">For someone
whose breakthrough book was about great white sharks, Casey clearly appreciates
amazing life of all kinds. She even gets to drive a little. “You’re doing great,”
the pilot says. “I think you’re going backwards, though.” </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white; font-family: inherit;">Casey later gets to
do a much deeper dive, to Kamaʻehuakanaloa Seamount (aka Lōʻihi) in the Hawaiian
Islands on a trip with Vescovo himself to free a stuck lander. Five thousand
meters down, Casey tries hard to describe the sensations of being embraced, enthralled,
and awed by the scenery. “You don’t glimpse the mystery, you <i>enter</i> it.” Vescovo,
among many other accomplishments, mentions filming a snailfish at 6,890m, then
a record for finding a living fish. (The record as of this writing is a
snailfish at 8,336 m.)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white; font-family: inherit;">Casey does a
great job of describing shipboard and submersible conditions and the work
needed to launch, operate, and recover submersibles, ROVs, and fixed-site
landers. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Much of this hardware is aimed
at hydrothermal vents, whose 1977 discovery shocked everyone: It was, Casey
writes, “A Star Wars bar ecosystem bar scene ecosystem that flouted all of our
rules.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white; font-family: inherit;">She does
almost as well with descriptions of the undersea environment and underlying
science. If she can get a little cutesy (morphing mantle rock… “throws off
heat, hydrogen, and methane in a kind of planetary hissy fit”), the complex grandeur of the topic demands the reader let her get away with it. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Casey
includes detours to other fascinating topics, including more museums and the
search for the world’s most valuable treasure sh</span><span><span style="font-family: inherit;">ip, the </span><i style="font-family: inherit;">San Jose’</i><span style="font-family: inherit;">,
finally lo</span></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">cated but “reburied” under intense legal disputes. She explores the
fraught question of mining the deep sea for manganese nodules and does not have
much trouble making the case that, however greenwashed such projects may be, they
are a terrible idea.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white; font-family: inherit;">For my fellow
fans of unrecognized species, Casey covers William Beebe’s claims of seeing
spectacular deep-sea fish that, she notes, no one has observed since. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To be charitable to Beebe, the vivid way Casey
describes the self-illuminating life seen on her submersible dives, it's easy
to imagine Beebe, squinting through a thick quartz window with inadequate
illumination, thinking multiple animals or chained invertebrates were part of a
large, illuminated fish. In interviewing Don Walsh, she does not mention
his Challenger Deep sighting of a fish at almost 11 kilometers down. (Walsh had still maintained
in talking to Bill Streever for his 2109 book <i><a href="https://mattbille.blogspot.com/2020/03/review-in-oceans-deep-by-bill-streever.html" target="_blank">In Oceans Deep</a></i> that it may have been a fish and not a holothurian.)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Casey discusses numerous deep invertebrates
discovered, many still undescribed, by ROV and submersibles. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white; font-family: inherit;">In discussing
giant squid, she includes encounters like the spectacular <i>Pauline</i> squid v. whale report from 1875 (which, allowing for some overestimated dimensions,
could be true) and the racing trimaran <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/sailing/01/15/kersauson.ppl/index.html" target="_blank"><i>Geronimo</i>'s 2003 encounter</a> with a 10m squid
that wrapped its arms around the rudder. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Casey is relatively conservative in describing
the sizes of the giant and colossal squids, so it was interesting to read on page 187, “…researchers have found larger beaks from what they describe as a
<i>super-colossal</i> colossal squid.” Her source is a <a href="https://deepseanews.com/2015/04/super-colossal/" target="_blank">2015 article in </a><i><a href="https://deepseanews.com/2015/04/super-colossal/" target="_blank">Deep Sea
New</a>s</i> by Dr. Douglas Long, who refers to extra-large beaks found in sperm
whales' stomachs. I’ll have to poke into that a bit more. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white; font-family: inherit;">She closes
with a discussion of the future of deep-sea exploration, centered around an Explorers Club dinner that includes all the luminaries of that world. The dangers
to the deep are huge: the possibilities of exploration and discovery are
endless.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white; font-family: inherit;">There are
nits to pick. The USS <i>Indianapolis</i> was a cruiser, not a battleship. And it's odd wording when she says, referring to underwater explorers, “I’d come to think of
them as the ‘aquanauts,’" – a term in use for many decades. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white; font-family: inherit;">There are 29
pages of page notes, four of references, and two of resources, so kudos to Casey
for documentation. There’s also a very good collection of photographs, most in
color, although Casey isn’t the only one to note that photography doesn’t do justice
to how spectacular the depicted creatures and features look in person. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white; font-family: inherit;"><i>The
Underworld</i> also makes
a good companion to Helen Scales' <i><a href="https://mattbille.blogspot.com/2021/11/book-review-brilliant-abyss.html" target="_blank">The Brilliant Abyss</a></i>, with Scales
providing more science and Casey conveying more the sense of wonder. Casey has turned
in a five-star tour of the deep that all us landlubbers should have on our
reading lists. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: white; font-size: x-small;"><span style="background-color: #274e13;"><i> </i></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span><i><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;">Matt Bille is a writer, historian, and naturalist living in </span></span><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;">Colorado</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;"> Springs. He can be reached at mattsciwriter@protonmail.com. Website: www.mattbilleauthor.com. </span></span></i></span></p><div dir="auto"><span><i><span><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;">Read Matt's Latest book, Of Books and Beasts: A Cryptozoologist's Library. This unique reference offers a </span></span><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;">friendly</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;"> skeptic's 400 reviews of books on cryptozoology, zoology, related </span></span><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;">sciences</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;">, and cryptozoological fiction. Your </span></span><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;">search</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;"> for the world's new and undiscovered animals begins here!</span></span></span></span></i></span></div><div dir="auto"><span><i><span><span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaBm-XB9JT5d5SKZ_da1__ibfkSZHFFgDgkGZrV_Wz2ewdxh4P0q8yb5LV3rTFAvdWcJVzoB2Y_4dWMkqNp-ohIJ6G1gwWyAP4lTp5sWouvg5g1szdNynZSQH36wvA2q-EoetF2xt7F1FgJ7m5ZhLNZYWiDIsafhdH4Kt0k0WvNkZFOsITTWu_/s2560/OF%20BOOKS%20and%20BEASTS%20Cover%20final.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2560" data-original-width="1600" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaBm-XB9JT5d5SKZ_da1__ibfkSZHFFgDgkGZrV_Wz2ewdxh4P0q8yb5LV3rTFAvdWcJVzoB2Y_4dWMkqNp-ohIJ6G1gwWyAP4lTp5sWouvg5g1szdNynZSQH36wvA2q-EoetF2xt7F1FgJ7m5ZhLNZYWiDIsafhdH4Kt0k0WvNkZFOsITTWu_/s320/OF%20BOOKS%20and%20BEASTS%20Cover%20final.jpg" width="200" /></span></a></div><div><br /></div></span></span></span></i></span></div><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>Matt Billehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18230930494550861704noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15194226.post-5192534438096500372023-11-23T15:56:00.006-07:002023-12-07T17:33:20.461-07:00Whole-animal specimen collection: yes or no?<p><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white;">For centuries, Western naturalists and scientists collected animal species mainly by shooting or other lethal means. And they did it thoughtlessly: museums received hundreds of the same species. Live animals were prized for menageries, but were harder to collect and hard to ship home in good condition, especially in the days of sail. Others collected for the cabinets of curiosities for the wealthy, or simply for anything they could sell.</span></p><p><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white;">Sometimes even the scientists were foolish, in that they didn't think enough about the impact of such collection on the populations of rare species. Some of this was ignorance, but it should be obvious that, if it's harder and harder to find specimens, there are fewer to find, and maybe collecting more is not a good idea. We do not, as far as I can find out from books and discussions, have a case where a species was driven to extinction solely by scientific collecting, </span></p><p><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white;">One factor in old-style scientific collecting was that it was hard to share specimens at a distance. Shipping them back and forth was chancy, travel was time-consuming, and so on. Illustrations (although many were gorgeous and detailed, and an art form unto themselves) could only fill part of that gap. Before the 20th century, societies for scientific discussion, usually centered around universities and museums, met mostly locally, although transportation improvements continuously improved that situation as railroads and steamships became more common. Another challenge was that, without databases, online discussions, and especially the science and tools of DNA analysis and gene sequencing, there was limited information to derive from feathers, scales, and other castoff or partial specimens that could be collected without harming animals. </span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzNc_oj6miztpyOFpbfCsMrxCR1Gbg_cLDKIZyZy_L9Ic6GGhLSLci4BiJxxbJdTQJFHw7Zl8B4SgPzMocBq2uHiiAvIBWPCedeLVanQyJdfDK_TEUkqum7FBqa_vYs3gIj93y8Nhh5ilEUw5QIxNolYwUHfHmgxbAqgHfexpr2OxgVthnlYfe/s728/DNA2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="455" data-original-width="728" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzNc_oj6miztpyOFpbfCsMrxCR1Gbg_cLDKIZyZy_L9Ic6GGhLSLci4BiJxxbJdTQJFHw7Zl8B4SgPzMocBq2uHiiAvIBWPCedeLVanQyJdfDK_TEUkqum7FBqa_vYs3gIj93y8Nhh5ilEUw5QIxNolYwUHfHmgxbAqgHfexpr2OxgVthnlYfe/s320/DNA2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white;"><br /></span><p></p><p><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white;">Allison Q. Byrne, <a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosbiology/article?id=10.1371/journal.pbio.3002101" target="_blank">in this article</a> in <i>PLOS Biology</i>, set off a major round of discussion (as she hoped to) by arguing museums and other institutions should stop collecting whole animals. Not only did modern communications, photography and 3D modeling, and analysis techniques mean we could gather more information from fragmentary specimens, but there was harmful mindset behind whole-animal collecting, "Removing an animal from its natural habitat and killing it for the purpose of storing it in a museum collection reinforces the stance that humans have dominion over other living creatures." "...compassionate collection recognizes the importance of the emotional connection that links human and nonhuman lives..." students on a collecting trip would be excited to see a new specimen but realize "...because they found this creature, it will not live to see another day."</span></p><p><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white;">Michael W. Nachman, Elizabeth J. Beckman, Carla Cicero, Chris J. Conroy, Robert Dudley, Tyrone B. Hayes, <i>et. al.,</i> (and by <i>et. al.</i> I mean 120 other scientists) just published <a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosbiology/article?id=10.1371/journal.pbio.3002318" target="_blank">this response </a>in the same journal. While agreeing specimen collecting should be cautiously done and endorsing other aspects of Byrne's "compassionate collection," they argue she overstated what could be done without whole animals." "...verification of these species requires intensive anatomical analyses that are impossible without whole-organism voucher specimens." They added, "...understanding evolutionary processes often involves the study of large series of voucher specimens that document geographic, temporal, age, or sexual variation in specific traits." DNA and small castoff items like feathers don't allow us to fully study parasites or diseases. They don't allow us to track evolutionary processes. </span></p><p><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white;">Byrne responded with<a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosbiology/article?id=10.1371/journal.pbio.3002390" target="_blank"> this piece</a> arguing the response ignored the "beating heart" of her original essay: her focus on ethics. She argued some of the points about the need for lethal collections, noting for example, "Skin swabs taken from live animals provide for more accurate pathogen detection than those taken after formalin-fixation." It's a short response, though, and she does not engage that in depth. She encourages all scientists involved to think about their ethics and adherence to the status quo.</span></p><p><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white;">While I appreciate Byrne's points about our relation to animals, I think Nachman and company are right. Anatomical studies, especially, can only be done with specimens. Modern DNA studies and genome sequencing were developed on collected specimens. Using only the results of those studies means resulting analysis is only completely valid for that animal at a point in time. Collecting should be done only when needed, and as painlessly as possible, but it <i>is </i>necessary.</span></p><p><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span><i><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;">Matt Bille is a writer, historian, and naturalist living in </span></span><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;">Colorado</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;"> Springs. He can be reached at mattsciwriter@protonmail.com. Website: www.mattbilleauthor.com. </span></span></i></span></p><div dir="auto"><span><i><span><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;">Read Matt's Latest book, Of Books and Beasts: A Cryptozoologist's Library. This unique reference offers a </span></span><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;">friendly</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;"> skeptic's 400 reviews of books on cryptozoology, zoology, related </span></span><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;">sciences</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;">, and cryptozoological fiction. Your </span></span><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;">search</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;"> for the world's new and undiscovered animals begins here!</span></span></span></span></i></span></div><p><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white;"></span></p><div dir="auto"><span><i><span><span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaBm-XB9JT5d5SKZ_da1__ibfkSZHFFgDgkGZrV_Wz2ewdxh4P0q8yb5LV3rTFAvdWcJVzoB2Y_4dWMkqNp-ohIJ6G1gwWyAP4lTp5sWouvg5g1szdNynZSQH36wvA2q-EoetF2xt7F1FgJ7m5ZhLNZYWiDIsafhdH4Kt0k0WvNkZFOsITTWu_/s2560/OF%20BOOKS%20and%20BEASTS%20Cover%20final.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2560" data-original-width="1600" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaBm-XB9JT5d5SKZ_da1__ibfkSZHFFgDgkGZrV_Wz2ewdxh4P0q8yb5LV3rTFAvdWcJVzoB2Y_4dWMkqNp-ohIJ6G1gwWyAP4lTp5sWouvg5g1szdNynZSQH36wvA2q-EoetF2xt7F1FgJ7m5ZhLNZYWiDIsafhdH4Kt0k0WvNkZFOsITTWu_/s320/OF%20BOOKS%20and%20BEASTS%20Cover%20final.jpg" width="200" /></span></a></div><div><br /></div></span></span></span></i></span></div><p><br /></p>Matt Billehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18230930494550861704noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15194226.post-10478213945782324842023-11-22T13:09:00.005-07:002023-12-07T17:33:37.535-07:00Book Review: A Solid Introduction to Lakes <p><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Lakes-Their-Birth-Life-Death/dp/1643260480" target="_blank">Lakes: Their Birth, Life, and Death </a> </span></p><p><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white;">by John Richard Saylor </span></p><p><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white;">Timber Press, 2022, 240pp.</span></p><p><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white;">As someone whose fiction and nonfiction both often concern lake ecosystems and the life they support, I was looking for a primer to help me dig into the basic science. Saylor does not disappoint. </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhP5mSOd7gfbR01wX5AsRy-svSqp8xXY9GlwSRKJuu5Ps2Z74_oUx4LxezT8n47oGWjkir_Ig0PicZE_7VWHc_SltBOSAEE6DIFQzEcKYqetQAUceL-ufisN7NLYqV_5J8QYGCw2wjpCW1esuev9jNQsxBI4JrulEqk2muPDNXP5RROHLB99QzC/s425/Lakes%20book%20cover.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white;"><img border="0" data-original-height="425" data-original-width="282" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhP5mSOd7gfbR01wX5AsRy-svSqp8xXY9GlwSRKJuu5Ps2Z74_oUx4LxezT8n47oGWjkir_Ig0PicZE_7VWHc_SltBOSAEE6DIFQzEcKYqetQAUceL-ufisN7NLYqV_5J8QYGCw2wjpCW1esuev9jNQsxBI4JrulEqk2muPDNXP5RROHLB99QzC/s320/Lakes%20book%20cover.jpg" width="212" /></span></a></div><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white;"><br /></span><p><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white;">Here I learned the ways lakes form, the ways they exchange oxygen and CO2, and the life and death of lakes themselves, something I'd never really thought about. Another topic I knew little about is the controversy over how some lakes, the most famous being the Carolina Bays, formed and obtained their symmetrical shapes. (Saylor says correctly that extraterrestrial impact would have to be improbably precise, but he doesn't 100% rule it out, and none of the other theories works well.) He explores ice, glaciers, subglacial lakes, salt lakes, surface tension, overturning (the layers of water flip, oxygenating the depths) and many other topics. He also discusses ecology and the damage humans and their side effects, like agricultural runoff, are doing to so many of these vital bodies of water. The prose is readable although dry in spots, and I only had to reread to get the mechanisms or facts he was describing at two points. </span></p><p><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white;"> I had some quibbles that held back a fifth star. Saylor doesn't treat the life within lakes - why which lakes have which types of plants and animals, the food chain, and how all lake life interacts - in as much (there's no way to avoid the word) depth as I hoped. And the book needs more illustrations. At one point he describes where factors fall on a graph without even showing the graph or offering examples of lakes the reader might be familiar with. The (here we go again) bottom line, though, is that I came away much better informed than I had been, so on balance Saylor definitely achieved his main goal. This is a reference everyone who enjoys the bounty of lakes, wonders about them, or writes about them should definitely have on the shelf. </span></p><p><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span><i><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;">Matt Bille is a writer, historian, and naturalist living in </span></span><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;">Colorado</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;"> Springs. He can be reached at mattsciwriter@protonmail.com. Website: www.mattbilleauthor.com. </span></span></i></span></p><div dir="auto"><span><i><span><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;">Read Matt's Latest book, Of Books and Beasts: A Cryptozoologist's Library. This unique reference offers a </span></span><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;">friendly</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;"> skeptic's 400 reviews of books on cryptozoology, zoology, related </span></span><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;">sciences</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;">, and cryptozoological fiction. Your </span></span><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;">search</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;"> for the world's new and undiscovered animals begins here!</span></span></span></span></i></span></div><p><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white;"></span></p><div dir="auto"><span><i><span><span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaBm-XB9JT5d5SKZ_da1__ibfkSZHFFgDgkGZrV_Wz2ewdxh4P0q8yb5LV3rTFAvdWcJVzoB2Y_4dWMkqNp-ohIJ6G1gwWyAP4lTp5sWouvg5g1szdNynZSQH36wvA2q-EoetF2xt7F1FgJ7m5ZhLNZYWiDIsafhdH4Kt0k0WvNkZFOsITTWu_/s2560/OF%20BOOKS%20and%20BEASTS%20Cover%20final.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2560" data-original-width="1600" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaBm-XB9JT5d5SKZ_da1__ibfkSZHFFgDgkGZrV_Wz2ewdxh4P0q8yb5LV3rTFAvdWcJVzoB2Y_4dWMkqNp-ohIJ6G1gwWyAP4lTp5sWouvg5g1szdNynZSQH36wvA2q-EoetF2xt7F1FgJ7m5ZhLNZYWiDIsafhdH4Kt0k0WvNkZFOsITTWu_/s320/OF%20BOOKS%20and%20BEASTS%20Cover%20final.jpg" width="200" /></span></a></div><div><br /></div></span></span></span></i></span></div><div><br /></div>Matt Billehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18230930494550861704noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15194226.post-23108195902681722942023-11-19T16:57:00.001-07:002023-12-07T17:34:12.719-07:00Dunking on "Life on Our Planet"<p><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white;">As a paleonerd in general and a Dunkleosteus fan in particular, I think <i>Life on Our Planet</i> is a spectacular creation that could have been created better. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white;">The Dunk sequence is given appropriate prominence.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Good.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
CGI is decent, and the problematical tail and dorsal fin are up to current
thinking. The filmmakers did a fair job of using the third dimension: some animated underwater sequences in documentaries are confined mainly to one plane or orientation. Also, the animators get points for not merely re-imaging the juveniles
and adults – at least, the scars/digs/scratches are different. It was filmed before the recent <a href="https://mattbille.blogspot.com/2023/07/resizing-dunkleosteus-russell-engelmans.html" target="_blank">publications </a>about <i>Dunkleosteus </i>size and proportions, so the filmmakers didn't need to pick a side. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white;">After that, though – what the hell?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white;">First, the Dunk just appears, with no word of the evolution
leading up to it or the larger groups it nests within. I never heard the word “placoderm.”
This is a problem that reoccurs throughout this series, but it bugs me
especially here.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>From the narration, you'd think this is the first fish with jaws.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Really
bad.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white;">Most bizarrely, why are the juveniles following an adult? I’ve
never read any suggestion that this happened.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>IIRC, it would be utterly unknown behavior for fish.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> These aren't ducklings: they're independent juveniles that would swim like hell away from an adult that might use those jaws to make sushi out of them. For that matter, why are they even near each other? I see nothing in the literature about schooling behavior for Dunks. </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white;"><span>Most disappointingly, the armor appears to be uncovered bone
in direct contact with the water. You can see the scrapes – not healed or
scarred over, as they would be with flesh, but simply dug in.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is very outmoded thinking.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> Also, </span>the juveniles weirdly have just as many scrapes as the adults. Do they get in all their serious fights as teenagers and then switch to safe prey? Not hardly. Finally, I don't like the "wrists" on the fins. This isn't a plesiosaur. L</span>ook at Coccosteus, of which we know the outline, or any shark. There's a little room for debate on the exact appearance but I'm pretty sure this version is wrong. [Yes, I know I usually object to using the 1-m Coccosteus as a model for the ~8m Dunkleosteus, but like everyone else, I can be flexible when it supports my point,]</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white;">The series has problems beyond Dunkleosteus. Dinosaur
experts have shredded the design of animals like T. rex, noting the filmmakers
used obsolete ideas or copied (if not repurposing actual animation) from sources like
<i>Jurassic Park</i>, maximizing the scariness of the animals as opposed to the more
lifelike creations in <i>Prehistoric Planet </i>(PP).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There’s no excuse for that given the budget the program had and the
resources of its parent company.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> One point often made online is that no</span> effort seems to have been made to even look at the work of top paleoartists who’ve
spent years evolving their work along with the science. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white;">The structure is odd – why are we in the “Age of Dinosaurs” (as voiced by the always-superb Morgan Freeman) watching modern ants fight? I like the sliding time scale, but surely some branching images showing how evolution is getting us from one featured animal to the next are in order.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white;"><span>Why do the trilobites make amplified, very clear clicking noises when
they walk given that they and presumably we observers are supposedly underwater? <o:p></o:p></span> That the water is swimming-pool clear is an understandable artistic choice, but it's not a good one: it's another thing that distances us from the idea we're watching real animals. Water is done much better in the <i>Dunkleosteus </i>sequence, at least when we draw back and see through longer distances. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white;">I said the CGI was pretty good with the Dunk, although it’s not
on the level of realism we see with aquatic species in PP (which I hope will
someday venture to the Devonian). The overall quality varies, though. I saw a comment
on X that the anomalocarid doesn’t look at all like a live animal, just a
sophisticated cartoon.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I went back to
look, and… yeah.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white;"><span>I was mostly entertained, occasionally enthralled and sometimes disappointed. Simply put, this series isn’t the best it could be, or
should have been.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white; font-size: x-small;">Screen grabs: Fair Use claimed for program review. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Dunk with offspring: Dunk head emphasizing damage to bone armor: Anamalocaris:</span><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white;"><br /></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1sgJBmBEjfcuA1HcPPxaysZz4Fc_9r0Dj3uG7OkvGt4ipKANi_mEEPhNy6KXbv57LpLYJ59dToHKx0jNbjacMBCfcC8RR2ZjQGYebZMzYwBiHJvqkaPhndqO89gUgsTyiiG2sAlEPTvnRyOLGWosIn0B5eKQiXjN1fqHH-BbGrriBLk5w2Esa/s4032/LOOP%20Dunk%20Grouo.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1sgJBmBEjfcuA1HcPPxaysZz4Fc_9r0Dj3uG7OkvGt4ipKANi_mEEPhNy6KXbv57LpLYJ59dToHKx0jNbjacMBCfcC8RR2ZjQGYebZMzYwBiHJvqkaPhndqO89gUgsTyiiG2sAlEPTvnRyOLGWosIn0B5eKQiXjN1fqHH-BbGrriBLk5w2Esa/s320/LOOP%20Dunk%20Grouo.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white;"><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: #274e13; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjc9Nc14nnWR20CSPh3h2bBCnr-r0JaAFA4xpTSgbVqAVFtjXEs8dVIruYsnTA9MsjnuVagApAaDEWJKLQgTcI_H5qtv_fyl2oQH5U6Jov3_DPZ9TYHSw7q6r-eGwSKInEJ3qyVyld4NI-x4YFYo8Jf-GhUEl8z57Y4Yfst1Hmx-3N_aUbwxFTC/s4032/LOOP%20Dunk%20Head.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: white;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjc9Nc14nnWR20CSPh3h2bBCnr-r0JaAFA4xpTSgbVqAVFtjXEs8dVIruYsnTA9MsjnuVagApAaDEWJKLQgTcI_H5qtv_fyl2oQH5U6Jov3_DPZ9TYHSw7q6r-eGwSKInEJ3qyVyld4NI-x4YFYo8Jf-GhUEl8z57Y4Yfst1Hmx-3N_aUbwxFTC/s320/LOOP%20Dunk%20Head.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: #274e13; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjc9Nc14nnWR20CSPh3h2bBCnr-r0JaAFA4xpTSgbVqAVFtjXEs8dVIruYsnTA9MsjnuVagApAaDEWJKLQgTcI_H5qtv_fyl2oQH5U6Jov3_DPZ9TYHSw7q6r-eGwSKInEJ3qyVyld4NI-x4YFYo8Jf-GhUEl8z57Y4Yfst1Hmx-3N_aUbwxFTC/s4032/LOOP%20Dunk%20Head.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: white;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="223" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0qCouFwEsD_d8FOev5eBRmd-wrcPDpZ0MEFjXpaz-UrLK_opbLwIOShFwMOxzX9TpLCCLfOtet48Ksz2tKjpstaYLgs19YGYTyrY3GcNk_3Som5Br8PymSAWGkPo8S3taXjSHYdUlPFgmF9YcUPpd9n6Yxsr3INLoae_nRbapkoYA98f12Uza/w331-h223/Loop%20Amalocaris.jpg" width="331" /></span></a></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><span style="color: white;"><span style="background-color: #274e13;">Visit: www.mattbille.com</span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white;">Dunkleosteus terrelli page: https://www.facebook.com/DunkleosteusTerrelli/</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><span style="color: white;"><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span><i><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;">Matt Bille is a writer, historian, and naturalist living in </span></span><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;">Colorado</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;"> Springs. He can be reached at mattsciwriter@protonmail.com. Website: www.mattbilleauthor.com. </span></span></i></span></p><div dir="auto"><span><i><span><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;">Read Matt's Latest book, Of Books and Beasts: A Cryptozoologist's Library. This unique reference offers a </span></span><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;">friendly</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;"> skeptic's 400 reviews of books on cryptozoology, zoology, related </span></span><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;">sciences</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;">, and cryptozoological fiction. Your </span></span><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;">search</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;"> for the world's new and undiscovered animals begins here!</span></span></span></span></i></span></div><div dir="auto"><span><i><span><span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaBm-XB9JT5d5SKZ_da1__ibfkSZHFFgDgkGZrV_Wz2ewdxh4P0q8yb5LV3rTFAvdWcJVzoB2Y_4dWMkqNp-ohIJ6G1gwWyAP4lTp5sWouvg5g1szdNynZSQH36wvA2q-EoetF2xt7F1FgJ7m5ZhLNZYWiDIsafhdH4Kt0k0WvNkZFOsITTWu_/s2560/OF%20BOOKS%20and%20BEASTS%20Cover%20final.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2560" data-original-width="1600" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaBm-XB9JT5d5SKZ_da1__ibfkSZHFFgDgkGZrV_Wz2ewdxh4P0q8yb5LV3rTFAvdWcJVzoB2Y_4dWMkqNp-ohIJ6G1gwWyAP4lTp5sWouvg5g1szdNynZSQH36wvA2q-EoetF2xt7F1FgJ7m5ZhLNZYWiDIsafhdH4Kt0k0WvNkZFOsITTWu_/s320/OF%20BOOKS%20and%20BEASTS%20Cover%20final.jpg" width="200" /></span></a></div><div style="background-color: #274e13;"><br style="color: black;" /></div></span></span></span></i></span></div></span></div></div><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white;"><br /><span><br /></span></span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white;"><br /></span></p>Matt Billehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18230930494550861704noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15194226.post-8199809461593679182023-11-13T11:59:00.005-07:002023-12-07T17:34:39.760-07:00Newly Acquired Dunkleosteus Fossils!<p><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white;">I have two new Dunkleosteus fossils in my personal collection. It's immensely satisfying, and I thought the journey involved would be of interest to readers. </span></p><p><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white;">First, the fossils. I now have a 5-cm maxillary fang tip, with the <i>very</i> tip broken off but still lethal after 380MY, and a lovely, professionally prepped posterior dorsolateral bone.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoUXiZMUc35ZOV_clml_wzb3jhA623mDrO3-609G2D3cZD1MUnPIW-0H_nHMVsQyTw__Ortjo8HDxIGFKhiGo2A3dVgYkLv8OMsJpgXoLynk1UeMBiTyGRJmu7U_zW1GnN-VRRrqUlrTzY6izNZscbN1msoVO2_2aGKDfwKGZc2HQgd1ZF6x08/s460/Dunk%20fang.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white;"><img border="0" data-original-height="460" data-original-width="356" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoUXiZMUc35ZOV_clml_wzb3jhA623mDrO3-609G2D3cZD1MUnPIW-0H_nHMVsQyTw__Ortjo8HDxIGFKhiGo2A3dVgYkLv8OMsJpgXoLynk1UeMBiTyGRJmu7U_zW1GnN-VRRrqUlrTzY6izNZscbN1msoVO2_2aGKDfwKGZc2HQgd1ZF6x08/s320/Dunk%20fang.jpg" width="248" /></span></a></div><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white;"><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj53tghi5JRyYF06WLGMmOUBPf_dC0a6FIKOTC1m_Do3u1yuHp2F0JYbmMIJQuoIIfHgVGZD2sH73treQsqXfkuI6_-ibAvTkMrhzJCUeEm6UJW2wF1gTAD1m5V84UpkZywDl2F_orIc4HWlcdDao3iOesDAXMnULRGZkkhQ00f62m2dT0gcOzD/s312/Dunk%20PDL%20bone.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white;"><img border="0" data-original-height="280" data-original-width="312" height="280" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj53tghi5JRyYF06WLGMmOUBPf_dC0a6FIKOTC1m_Do3u1yuHp2F0JYbmMIJQuoIIfHgVGZD2sH73treQsqXfkuI6_-ibAvTkMrhzJCUeEm6UJW2wF1gTAD1m5V84UpkZywDl2F_orIc4HWlcdDao3iOesDAXMnULRGZkkhQ00f62m2dT0gcOzD/s1600/Dunk%20PDL%20bone.png" width="312" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white;">Photos Yinan Wang, 2023</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjisCXP0Boa5ASBMrT4MAmz9X1ze9jB8NXhGJqdOpqfCl3fCy7ePPh0u1BCSKMf1D8qYuETMUy2XpQuyujrBRuk2OzNesWhYtuYo8eA_eg3-ptfNgrY9auFd6VKcumQphWMiihUGAu83JB9G6DUH2GeHNlonYHrKg4tdv6HBpxON8XgV8eoC_QN/s1396/Dunk%20PDL%20bone%20on%20skull.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white;"><img border="0" data-original-height="953" data-original-width="1396" height="218" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjisCXP0Boa5ASBMrT4MAmz9X1ze9jB8NXhGJqdOpqfCl3fCy7ePPh0u1BCSKMf1D8qYuETMUy2XpQuyujrBRuk2OzNesWhYtuYo8eA_eg3-ptfNgrY9auFd6VKcumQphWMiihUGAu83JB9G6DUH2GeHNlonYHrKg4tdv6HBpxON8XgV8eoC_QN/s320/Dunk%20PDL%20bone%20on%20skull.png" width="320" /></span></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white;"><br /></span></div><p><span style="color: white;"><span style="background-color: #274e13;">As a science writer who’s done one article on the species (<i>Prehistoric
Times</i>, Summer 2018) and created the <a href="ttps://www.facebook.com/DunkleosteusTerrelli/" target="_blank"><i>Dunkleosteus terrelli</i> Facebook
page</a>, I of course have always wanted to
own a piece of the real thing, </span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white;"> (BONUS: my posted <a href="https://mattbille.blogspot.com/2023/02/new-paper-shrinks-dunkelosteus-my.html" target="_blank">interview with Engelman</a> on the latest Dunk theories) </span></p><p><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white;"> got
three Dunk fossil pieces, two bits of armor and a chunk of supraorbital bone, off eBay
about 2014. They’d come from an Ohio garage sale. There were faded specimen
numbers on their plastic bags. I sent photos and numbers to “Dunk Central,” the
Cleveland Museum of Natural History, asking if they were anything important and
saying I’d donate them if the</span><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white;">y were. They were not. I’m guessing they were collected on some dig,
judged unnecessary, and someone was allowed to take them home. Maybe they were
given to a volunteer. In any event, I felt ok keeping them after learning they
had no scientific value. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhl-8Lc4AHN5uEI3Kf1Y8RUTWSqeJfCmZEk4jzN0TelJLEVj0k37fwnaqGb_BSuiy8nc2lA-rrMshfGmbDI5OycrNl3X33VzKW41-UTJVN6TPYjGoElM30vC0MlVSJ53aMtSobAAFSufaxHVENYOIfJ0z3QopGL-3tLn_FmMAExy7cjH6fhOVJ9/s4032/Dunk2020f.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhl-8Lc4AHN5uEI3Kf1Y8RUTWSqeJfCmZEk4jzN0TelJLEVj0k37fwnaqGb_BSuiy8nc2lA-rrMshfGmbDI5OycrNl3X33VzKW41-UTJVN6TPYjGoElM30vC0MlVSJ53aMtSobAAFSufaxHVENYOIfJ0z3QopGL-3tLn_FmMAExy7cjH6fhOVJ9/s320/Dunk2020f.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white;">One of my older Dunk fossils with skull in Denver Museum of Nature and Science. </span></div><span style="background-color: #274e13;"><span style="color: white;"><br /></span></span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white;">I wanted some pieces from other areas of the skull: not as a
part of a study approach, but to feel like I had a more complete connection to
the animal.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was working hard on a Dunk
novel that would take the standard rediscovered-predator thriller premise and
elevate it with a focus on human drama vs. blood, and one backed by thorough
and accurate research.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This became <i>Apex
Predator</i>, which I’ve been shopping in current form for several years
now.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I often took bone bits to meetings
with agents.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white;">After the quick eBay find,<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I assumed it would be fairly easy to find more. Instead, I learned that
even the major fossil houses rarely offer anything, and when they do it’s
beyond what a middle-class science writer can pay out.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’d love a $3,500 jawbone, but if I showed my
wife the bill, you can guess what the next extinct species would be.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> There are also many reports of fake Dunkleosteus fossils, and some beautiful fossils from places like some areas of Morocco are tainted by reports of dubiously legal collecting, </span><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqXLgIAi3osXFDJM0K29pWotFHevr9wZJhiOmZouf0dbODgAeFuCTiR06wlKQeqW_51Yndlb-BYNsxxylLb09gcoVOb4EVuMKZUEFINUrxPJcEL8oWSoYbEdcUY5nSh6VsL576FLxqrh7WuV7nnOii1U70Ft-KCcu9KfIB6cSBAqttn-eGXmve/s4032/Dunk%20collections.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqXLgIAi3osXFDJM0K29pWotFHevr9wZJhiOmZouf0dbODgAeFuCTiR06wlKQeqW_51Yndlb-BYNsxxylLb09gcoVOb4EVuMKZUEFINUrxPJcEL8oWSoYbEdcUY5nSh6VsL576FLxqrh7WuV7nnOii1U70Ft-KCcu9KfIB6cSBAqttn-eGXmve/s320/Dunk%20collections.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white;"><br /><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><br /></span></span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white;">I didn’t obsess over it, but I kept an eye out. I posted on
Facebook and other social media that I was looking. I kept checking online
fossils sales merchants, and contacted the ones that didn’t detail their wares
online. I created an eBay alert. I asked paleontologists and writers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I asked dealers at fossil shows that came
through Denver. (It was at one of these a dealer claimed he’d seen an
impression fossil of a small juvenile Dunk but had not been able to afford
it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ve never found anyone else who
recalls seeing such a thing, so I assume it must have been a fake or a
misidentification of a smaller placoderm.) <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white;">It was the personal contact approach that paid off after
almost a decade. I’d chatted on X with Yinan Wang, “The Fossil Locator,” <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>author of books on state fossils and so
on.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was asking him to take a glance at
the current <i>Apex Predator</i> draft, which he offered to do.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I mentioned in passing that I was looking for
more fossils. It turned out he was, in fact, willing to part with two items
from his own collection. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white;">He wrote, "They're both from the Cleveland Shale and collected around the Cleveland region. I don't know the name of the collector but they were in an estate auction back in 2018. Gray Estates LLC." So the exact trail is unknown, but Wang owned them legally.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white;">So I have them now. And I do feel more connected as I run my
hands over them. Fossils are the closest
thing we can get to time traveling. They take us back. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span><i><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;">Matt Bille is a writer, historian, and naturalist living in </span></span><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;">Colorado</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;"> Springs. He can be reached at mattsciwriter@protonmail.com. Website: www.mattbilleauthor.com. </span></span></i></span></p><div dir="auto"><span><i><span><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;">Read Matt's Latest book, Of Books and Beasts: A Cryptozoologist's Library. This unique reference offers a </span></span><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;">friendly</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;"> skeptic's 400 reviews of books on cryptozoology, zoology, related </span></span><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;">sciences</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;">, and cryptozoological fiction. Your </span></span><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;">search</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;"> for the world's new and undiscovered animals begins here!</span></span></span></span></i></span></div><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white;"></span></p><div dir="auto"><span><i><span><span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaBm-XB9JT5d5SKZ_da1__ibfkSZHFFgDgkGZrV_Wz2ewdxh4P0q8yb5LV3rTFAvdWcJVzoB2Y_4dWMkqNp-ohIJ6G1gwWyAP4lTp5sWouvg5g1szdNynZSQH36wvA2q-EoetF2xt7F1FgJ7m5ZhLNZYWiDIsafhdH4Kt0k0WvNkZFOsITTWu_/s2560/OF%20BOOKS%20and%20BEASTS%20Cover%20final.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2560" data-original-width="1600" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaBm-XB9JT5d5SKZ_da1__ibfkSZHFFgDgkGZrV_Wz2ewdxh4P0q8yb5LV3rTFAvdWcJVzoB2Y_4dWMkqNp-ohIJ6G1gwWyAP4lTp5sWouvg5g1szdNynZSQH36wvA2q-EoetF2xt7F1FgJ7m5ZhLNZYWiDIsafhdH4Kt0k0WvNkZFOsITTWu_/s320/OF%20BOOKS%20and%20BEASTS%20Cover%20final.jpg" width="200" /></span></a></div><div><br /></div></span></span></span></i></span></div><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>Matt Billehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18230930494550861704noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15194226.post-78286978391471375812023-11-11T15:54:00.001-07:002023-12-07T17:35:03.489-07:00New species of wild cat described!<p><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white;"> All new mammals are noteworthy, and we generally love cats, so a new cat is news is the way a new newt is not news, or at least not notable news. And we have a new cat.</span></p><p><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white;">Small wild cats have flourished in South América. The genus Leopardus groups eight species (most common popular names: ocelot, pampas cat, and margay) marked by a variety of colors and spot patterns and a predilection for cute little rounded ears. They're genetically distinct from other cats, with 36 chromosomes instead of the standard 38. </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAULdy3ASWo2C2sexJQKhyphenhyphenDW4h7GGVoJbbow-PAjkfQQhHW6SYFzAjKZnLEM__kCn_u_M8PM-4ZjztynUMh3zeY8ZKjx55NCL7rXvV3R9VxsmeWoDE40bsSHReNFoUNy6Q5sCGb1XHbKoVl1IlEmiCQFsWrZN-0RZ1lB5MVOy3mcPoUCTy4LJl/s1280/ocelot-628109_1280.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAULdy3ASWo2C2sexJQKhyphenhyphenDW4h7GGVoJbbow-PAjkfQQhHW6SYFzAjKZnLEM__kCn_u_M8PM-4ZjztynUMh3zeY8ZKjx55NCL7rXvV3R9VxsmeWoDE40bsSHReNFoUNy6Q5sCGb1XHbKoVl1IlEmiCQFsWrZN-0RZ1lB5MVOy3mcPoUCTy4LJl/s320/ocelot-628109_1280.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white; font-size: x-small;">Best known of the Leopardus species, the ocelot <i>L. pardalus</i>). The species is about twice the size of a house cat. (Photo in public domain)</span></p><p><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white;">Now a presumed ocelot skin collected in Columbia in 1989 has proven to be something else. Manuel Ruiz-García spotted the striking reddish skin in the Alexander von Humboldt Biological Resources Research Institute in 2001. He was immediately certain it was a new species, but species, especially of high-profile groups like wild cats, can't just be named because they look different. (In theory, the rules are universally applicable, but does anyone look hard when you publish on a new species of amoeba?) There are differing opinions about the number and distinctiveness of several Leopardus species to begin with, and Ruiz-Garcia had to be thorough. The episode thus illustrates the painstaking process involved and the dedication required of scientists seeking to establish a new species. It took him 22 years to accomplish the analysis needed to separate the new cat both morphologically and genetically and then publish <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10298493/" target="_blank">his paper</a>. </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizoCYHydzilEiJQSTASq_ZKs9p2nOIAeqMGi9I86sNQT1tt0S0JVMetH3-39aokR-WOvcNN5fxOymGbBIod28jfVpvNwJdaprVkT6Kc1AI4n2Aa-8vFuKwT8sy6xPUjH8N5O0MUX88v3x3csRTmCdm9ct5f-1AdqFF8Xtaxhbg2F93Px3SULbe/s680/Leopardus_narinensis_and_tigrina.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white;"><img border="0" data-original-height="680" data-original-width="450" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizoCYHydzilEiJQSTASq_ZKs9p2nOIAeqMGi9I86sNQT1tt0S0JVMetH3-39aokR-WOvcNN5fxOymGbBIod28jfVpvNwJdaprVkT6Kc1AI4n2Aa-8vFuKwT8sy6xPUjH8N5O0MUX88v3x3csRTmCdm9ct5f-1AdqFF8Xtaxhbg2F93Px3SULbe/s320/Leopardus_narinensis_and_tigrina.jpg" width="212" /></span></a></div><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white;"><br /></span><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">L: Ruiz-Garcia's designated holotype of the new species. R: comparison skin of the most visually similar cat, the tigrina or oncilla (<i>L. tigrinus</i>). (</span><span style="font-size: small;">Fair use claimed for photo by Manual Ruiz-García - https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4425/14/6/1266# https://www.javeriana.edu.co/pesquisa/gato-de-narino-nueva-especie-felino/)</span></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white;">While I know only the very basics of genetics, I think this text from the Abstract offers a useful idea of the complexity involved.</span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white;">"Analysis of the complete mitochondrial genomes from 44 felid specimens (including 18 <i>L. tigrinus</i> and all the current known species of the genus Leopardus), the mtND5 gene from 84 felid specimens (including 30 <i>L. tigrinus </i>and all the species of the genus Leopardus), and six nuclear DNA microsatellites (113 felid specimens of all the current known species of the genus Leopardus) indicate that this specimen does not belong to any previously recognized Leopardus taxon."</span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white;">So we have a new cat. At least, we hope we do. There is still just the one specimen. The cat is, at best, extremely rare. It is, at worst, extinct. Let us hope that adage about nine lives has some scientific significance this time<span style="font-size: x-small;">.</span></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span><i><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;">Matt Bille is a writer, historian, and naturalist living in </span></span><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;">Colorado</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;"> Springs. He can be reached at mattsciwriter@protonmail.com. Website: www.mattbilleauthor.com. </span></span></i></span></p><div dir="auto"><span><i><span><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;">Read Matt's Latest book, Of Books and Beasts: A Cryptozoologist's Library. This unique reference offers a </span></span><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;">friendly</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;"> skeptic's 400 reviews of books on cryptozoology, zoology, related </span></span><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;">sciences</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;">, and cryptozoological fiction. Your </span></span><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;">search</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;"> for the world's new and undiscovered animals begins here!</span></span></span></span></i></span></div><p><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"></span></span></p><div dir="auto"><span><i><span><span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaBm-XB9JT5d5SKZ_da1__ibfkSZHFFgDgkGZrV_Wz2ewdxh4P0q8yb5LV3rTFAvdWcJVzoB2Y_4dWMkqNp-ohIJ6G1gwWyAP4lTp5sWouvg5g1szdNynZSQH36wvA2q-EoetF2xt7F1FgJ7m5ZhLNZYWiDIsafhdH4Kt0k0WvNkZFOsITTWu_/s2560/OF%20BOOKS%20and%20BEASTS%20Cover%20final.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2560" data-original-width="1600" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaBm-XB9JT5d5SKZ_da1__ibfkSZHFFgDgkGZrV_Wz2ewdxh4P0q8yb5LV3rTFAvdWcJVzoB2Y_4dWMkqNp-ohIJ6G1gwWyAP4lTp5sWouvg5g1szdNynZSQH36wvA2q-EoetF2xt7F1FgJ7m5ZhLNZYWiDIsafhdH4Kt0k0WvNkZFOsITTWu_/s320/OF%20BOOKS%20and%20BEASTS%20Cover%20final.jpg" width="200" /></span></a></div><div><br /></div></span></span></span></i></span></div>Matt Billehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18230930494550861704noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15194226.post-10342364419844886962023-10-14T11:54:00.002-06:002023-12-07T17:35:36.701-07:00Sideline: Dropping in on new social networks. <p><span style="background-color: #274e13; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><span style="color: white;">Well, I've spent some time on Mastodon and put up a BlueSky profile last night to see what they were like. </span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: #274e13; white-space-collapse: preserve;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: #274e13; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiohFAhu0dcUJDYzPMwkZrshNsgIJNWyQMwHQbIMFj-zRWfnU4dsNX7l-2cqfev4Gkc6RQKVoiwyXgxT6yiN1QFwSxj2o-Sjfr-yd8hkRWEm6Vlv86dSdowQntH8LLLsswnDwzdYerQbp078xdTKxekwlyrzatlkdU1xSEuyAghILdiUO_BXfoM/s788/Matt%20Bille%20header.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="262" data-original-width="788" height="106" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiohFAhu0dcUJDYzPMwkZrshNsgIJNWyQMwHQbIMFj-zRWfnU4dsNX7l-2cqfev4Gkc6RQKVoiwyXgxT6yiN1QFwSxj2o-Sjfr-yd8hkRWEm6Vlv86dSdowQntH8LLLsswnDwzdYerQbp078xdTKxekwlyrzatlkdU1xSEuyAghILdiUO_BXfoM/s320/Matt%20Bille%20header.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div><span style="background-color: #274e13; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><span style="color: white;"><br /></span></span><p></p><span style="color: white;"><span style="background-color: #274e13; white-space-collapse: preserve;">I'll keep visiting Mastodon, though I don't spend much time there. There are some interesting people, though the interface is clunky even after a few months on the platform and there's no encrypted private messaging. </span></span><div><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white;"><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;">https://writing.exchange/@mattbille</span><br /><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;">BlueSky? Pluses: 1) it looks like, works like, and is a simpler, cleaner Twitter, which it used to be part of; 2) A lot of refugees from Science Twitter - I had friends the moment I landed. Minuses: the writing community looks much smaller and less active, experts say the data-selling rules are really bad, and I haven't found whatever the connections / circles / networks features are. But it's still in beta, with 1 million people total, so I will drop in to see how it is developing. I just spotted a third-party app for encrypted messaging. </span></span></div><div><span face="-apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: #274e13; font-size: 15px; letter-spacing: 0.25px; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><span style="color: white;">@mattbille.bsky.social</span></span></div><div><div><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;"><span style="color: white;"><span style="background-color: #274e13;">I have not tried Threads, which I understand has the worst privacy/data rules ever invented. <br />I'm moving away from X, which a man I used to admire is driving into a Xesspool and to eventual Xtinction. I'm still active because there are so many writers and writer events, but it's only a matter of time. </span></span></span></div></div><div><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white;">MattWriter</span></span></div><div><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;"><span style="color: white;"><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span><i><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span>Matt Bille is a writer, historian, and naturalist living in </span></span><span>Colorado</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span> Springs. He can be reached at mattsciwriter@protonmail.com. Website: www.mattbilleauthor.com. </span></span></i></span></p><div dir="auto"><span><i><span><span style="color: white;"><span style="background-color: #274e13;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Read Matt's Latest book, Of Books and Beasts: A Cryptozoologist's Library. This unique reference offers a </span>friendly<span style="font-family: inherit;"> skeptic's 400 reviews of books on cryptozoology, zoology, related </span>sciences</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: #274e13;">, and cryptozoological fiction. Your </span></span><span style="background-color: #274e13;">search</span><span style="background-color: #274e13; font-family: inherit;"> for the world's new and undiscovered animals begins here!</span></span></span></i></span></div><div dir="auto" style="background-color: #274e13;"><span><i><span><span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaBm-XB9JT5d5SKZ_da1__ibfkSZHFFgDgkGZrV_Wz2ewdxh4P0q8yb5LV3rTFAvdWcJVzoB2Y_4dWMkqNp-ohIJ6G1gwWyAP4lTp5sWouvg5g1szdNynZSQH36wvA2q-EoetF2xt7F1FgJ7m5ZhLNZYWiDIsafhdH4Kt0k0WvNkZFOsITTWu_/s2560/OF%20BOOKS%20and%20BEASTS%20Cover%20final.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: white;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2560" data-original-width="1600" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaBm-XB9JT5d5SKZ_da1__ibfkSZHFFgDgkGZrV_Wz2ewdxh4P0q8yb5LV3rTFAvdWcJVzoB2Y_4dWMkqNp-ohIJ6G1gwWyAP4lTp5sWouvg5g1szdNynZSQH36wvA2q-EoetF2xt7F1FgJ7m5ZhLNZYWiDIsafhdH4Kt0k0WvNkZFOsITTWu_/s320/OF%20BOOKS%20and%20BEASTS%20Cover%20final.jpg" width="200" /></span></a></div><div><br style="color: black; white-space-collapse: collapse;" /></div></span></span></span></i></span></div></span></span></div>Matt Billehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18230930494550861704noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15194226.post-76889786919749851432023-10-11T20:07:00.002-06:002023-12-07T17:36:08.413-07:00Happy National Fossil Day!<p> Can you guess mine? </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiz9GtS1Oi2EYpkvXAmSuGc1Cmb_30kBNh4s4kCEksaA80eDbuMiSShe-J7wZ8cXNbEnBpx8os_MzvoXhssCapDouaZUDde8_i-mSvWzyhiWY0W_F4YjG2aUY_TWGo16LJoq034YnBNfh9bjhkXdCEnUdyp6i5kGCNhBOqEjn4US0QiUtnwIpdL/s960/DUNK%20Mastodon.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="457" data-original-width="960" height="152" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiz9GtS1Oi2EYpkvXAmSuGc1Cmb_30kBNh4s4kCEksaA80eDbuMiSShe-J7wZ8cXNbEnBpx8os_MzvoXhssCapDouaZUDde8_i-mSvWzyhiWY0W_F4YjG2aUY_TWGo16LJoq034YnBNfh9bjhkXdCEnUdyp6i5kGCNhBOqEjn4US0QiUtnwIpdL/s320/DUNK%20Mastodon.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgURGPwkSZw_onKRuUdzcFU51S44HA4kh1xoOyfak9aiZKMTrd8AjdBURaUt4IrytXKyqpWp8FpIsIKl9q4CiajaUW5FUopSge5sbYtLLsTOrhJNS-50vG7rw0z_VfLIn7Sll9y4m7Q0ngFHqUDP9adXVSaFfdZwqcw5peInWHaJChdZx3n2Zyh/s4032/Dunk%20collection2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgURGPwkSZw_onKRuUdzcFU51S44HA4kh1xoOyfak9aiZKMTrd8AjdBURaUt4IrytXKyqpWp8FpIsIKl9q4CiajaUW5FUopSge5sbYtLLsTOrhJNS-50vG7rw0z_VfLIn7Sll9y4m7Q0ngFHqUDP9adXVSaFfdZwqcw5peInWHaJChdZx3n2Zyh/s320/Dunk%20collection2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoe9YHeXejbA6z-_pemyi0_e_w0zoueY4so6Sqd9wzV-PDeDTjgYqIm0akg5wy6M5tXPna7L_Xd47IDWvyQdS5JZoX1UbzeDJ_zOar8PuA_zJ0kRcWSEFah547WkfHxmmanBwfe_VLfbr06M_saS7AYVniW4kF0Hgsv686Y0Cpp2tf6rGS7j-s/s4032/Dunks%20July%202023.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoe9YHeXejbA6z-_pemyi0_e_w0zoueY4so6Sqd9wzV-PDeDTjgYqIm0akg5wy6M5tXPna7L_Xd47IDWvyQdS5JZoX1UbzeDJ_zOar8PuA_zJ0kRcWSEFah547WkfHxmmanBwfe_VLfbr06M_saS7AYVniW4kF0Hgsv686Y0Cpp2tf6rGS7j-s/s320/Dunks%20July%202023.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span><i><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;">Matt Bille is a writer, historian, and naturalist living in </span></span><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;">Colorado</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;"> Springs. He can be reached at mattsciwriter@protonmail.com. Website: www.mattbilleauthor.com. </span></span></i></span></p><div dir="auto"><span><i><span><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;">Read Matt's Latest book, Of Books and Beasts: A Cryptozoologist's Library. This unique reference offers a </span></span><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;">friendly</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;"> skeptic's 400 reviews of books on cryptozoology, zoology, related </span></span><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;">sciences</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;">, and cryptozoological fiction. Your </span></span><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;">search</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;"> for the world's new and undiscovered animals begins here!</span></span></span></span></i></span></div><div dir="auto"><span><i><span><span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaBm-XB9JT5d5SKZ_da1__ibfkSZHFFgDgkGZrV_Wz2ewdxh4P0q8yb5LV3rTFAvdWcJVzoB2Y_4dWMkqNp-ohIJ6G1gwWyAP4lTp5sWouvg5g1szdNynZSQH36wvA2q-EoetF2xt7F1FgJ7m5ZhLNZYWiDIsafhdH4Kt0k0WvNkZFOsITTWu_/s2560/OF%20BOOKS%20and%20BEASTS%20Cover%20final.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2560" data-original-width="1600" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaBm-XB9JT5d5SKZ_da1__ibfkSZHFFgDgkGZrV_Wz2ewdxh4P0q8yb5LV3rTFAvdWcJVzoB2Y_4dWMkqNp-ohIJ6G1gwWyAP4lTp5sWouvg5g1szdNynZSQH36wvA2q-EoetF2xt7F1FgJ7m5ZhLNZYWiDIsafhdH4Kt0k0WvNkZFOsITTWu_/s320/OF%20BOOKS%20and%20BEASTS%20Cover%20final.jpg" width="200" /></span></a></div><div><br style="text-align: left;" /></div></span></span></span></i></span></div></div><br /><p><br /></p>Matt Billehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18230930494550861704noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15194226.post-74738646739784204912023-10-04T21:42:00.001-06:002023-12-07T17:36:26.806-07:00Sputnik 1 at 66<p><span face=""Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web (West European)", "Segoe UI", -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif" style="background-color: #274e13; font-size: 16px; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><span style="color: white;">On October 4, 1957, the 84-kg Object PS 1, as the Soviet Union called it - or Sputnik 1, as everyone else called it - rode a modified R-7 ICBM into space and into global headlines. </span></span></p><p class="paragraph-287" style="box-sizing: inherit; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web (West European)", "Segoe UI", -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white;">What happened next? Many momentous things.</span></p><p class="paragraph-287" style="box-sizing: inherit; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web (West European)", "Segoe UI", -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white;"><br /></span></p><p class="paragraph-287" style="box-sizing: inherit; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web (West European)", "Segoe UI", -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; white-space-collapse: preserve;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.524px; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidw4fuGue70WBBM8FsGMmjq1AQD0e4W1lcUKPYIHOFXQUa0STBwqaT2byullZG663lcn3k0Yk-DRGllPeSK8oQI9zvHTmw9LLD0w-CksdT8hqrJXa1l6lmQdlTEN9LoVCAvLtaZo1lDWDXfcpyfEq251RYma2G0kRGSi_QzSeZRO0-NIHybw/s1600/Museum%20Sputnik.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidw4fuGue70WBBM8FsGMmjq1AQD0e4W1lcUKPYIHOFXQUa0STBwqaT2byullZG663lcn3k0Yk-DRGllPeSK8oQI9zvHTmw9LLD0w-CksdT8hqrJXa1l6lmQdlTEN9LoVCAvLtaZo1lDWDXfcpyfEq251RYma2G0kRGSi_QzSeZRO0-NIHybw/s320/Museum%20Sputnik.jpg" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: none; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.5) 1px 1px 5px; padding: 8px; position: relative;" width="320" /></span></a></div><p style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.524px;"></p><p class="paragraph-287" style="box-sizing: inherit; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web (West European)", "Segoe UI", -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white;"><br /></span></p><p class="paragraph-287" style="box-sizing: inherit; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.524px; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: #274e13; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><span style="color: white;">R7 and Sputnik display at Museum of Flight (Matt Bille) </span></span></p><p class="paragraph-287" style="box-sizing: inherit; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web (West European)", "Segoe UI", -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; text-align: center; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white;"><br /></span></p><p class="paragraph-287" style="box-sizing: inherit; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web (West European)", "Segoe UI", -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white;">The Sputnik program's creator was Chief Designer Sergei Korolev, leader of Soviet long-range missile and space programs. Despite having done an undeserved and almost fatal stretch in a gulag for "sabotage," he was a Russian patriot who, like his counterpart Wernher von Braun (of whom he once wistfully said, "We should be friends"), had one eye on missiles and one on spaceflight. (No one outside the USSR knew who Korolev was.) </span></p><p class="paragraph-287" style="box-sizing: inherit; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web (West European)", "Segoe UI", -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white;">Korolev had an explicit commission to beat the United States to the first satellite. He was spurred on by a belief that a US Jupiter-C reentry vehicle test flight was a failed satellite attempt. When the initial satellite design, "Object D," was initially too big and unreliable to launch in 1957, Korolev's right-hand man, Mikhail Tikhonravov, suggested they instead fly the simplest possible satellite. The lead designer of the satellite itself was Nikolai Kutyrkin. The launch was a success, and Sputnik 1's famous "beep" - described by <span class="text-288" style="box-sizing: inherit; display: inline; font-style: italic;">LIFE </span>magazine as "a cricket with a cold" - was heard worldwide. (Object D later become Sputnik 3.)</span></p><p class="paragraph-287" style="box-sizing: inherit; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web (West European)", "Segoe UI", -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white;">As Korolev congratulated his comrades, saying, "The road to the stars is now open!" </span></p><p class="paragraph-287" style="box-sizing: inherit; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web (West European)", "Segoe UI", -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white;">Radio operators around the world tuned in and millions scanned the night sky. The satellite was too small to be seen with the naked eye, but the core of the R-7 booster had followed Sputnik into orbit and was spotted easily. This visual proof magnified the satellite’s impact.
Reports that Sputnik caused panic in Western nations were exaggerated. However, influential American media outlets, most notably <span class="text-288" style="box-sizing: inherit; display: inline; font-style: italic;">LIFE </span>and <span class="text-288" style="box-sizing: inherit; display: inline; font-style: italic;">US News and World Report</span>, published alarmist critiques, which succeeded in raising the public’s concern. </span></p><p class="paragraph-287" style="box-sizing: inherit; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web (West European)", "Segoe UI", -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white;">Sputnik 1 sent shock waves through U.S. and allied governments. Missile experts correctly deduced the launcher was a powerful ICBM. The Soviet Union had announced the first flight of Korolev’s ICBM a few months earlier, but U.S. intelligence had been unsure of the announcement's validity. Now there was no doubt.
If the little sphere caused consternation among governments, it also excited scientists who knew that the Earth satellite concept, long a theoretical possibility, had at last been proven feasible. British author and space visionary Arthur C. Clarke recalled that it was "...a complete shock, but I realized it would change the world."
The international impact of Sputnik was unexpected even by the Soviet leaders. At first, the official newspaper <span class="text-288" style="box-sizing: inherit; display: inline; font-style: italic;">Pravda </span>gave the launch only a brief mention. Only after it became clear Sputnik had caused a global sensation did the satellite earn banner headlines. A CIA assessment stated that Sputnik had immediately increased Soviet scientific and military prestige among many peoples some governments. Soviet diplomats and politicians made the most of the resulting admiration.
President Eisenhower reassured the public that the U.S. satellite program had not been conducted as a race against other nations and Sputnik raised no new security concerns. In private, he called his advisers on the carpet for an explanation of why the "backward" USSR had gone first. Ike refused demands from some Congressional and media alarmists for an all-out crash program in space, calling only for $1 billion in extra funding for American missile programs.
A consequence the Soviets didn't foresee was the effect of Sputnik on international law. Before Sputnik, the right of transit through space above a nation’s territory was an unsettled question. Donald Quarles, Eisenhower’s Deputy Secretary of Defense, pointed out that the Soviets had done the United States an unintentional favor by establishing the concept of freedom of international space. Not one government protested the overflight of Sputnik. "Freedom of space” was eventually enshrined by the 1967 Outer Space Treaty.
Sputnik's success gave Korolev vast resources to devote to his dreams of spaceflight. The price imposed was the need to keep the successes coming to maintain leadership in this new field. Korolev responded with new satellites, lunar probes, and in 1961 the launch of the first human into orbit.
Sputnik also galvanized the lagging U.S. space program. With the official U.S. satellite program, the Naval Research Laboratory's Project Vanguard, still struggling, the Army missile team headed by Wernher von Braun was given approval to launch a satellite. After a frantic effort, Explorer 1 was orbited in January 1958. The Pentagon created the Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA) to lead its space programs and the post of Director, Defense Research and Engineering (DDR&E). Civilian space programs, Eisenhower decided, should belong to a new agency. On 1 October 1958 the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) came into existence. It began pursuing numerous space endeavors, including science and applications satellites and its own human-in-space program. Sputnik’s launch was the beginning of the journey to the Moon. </span></p><p class="paragraph-287" style="box-sizing: inherit; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web (West European)", "Segoe UI", -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white;"><br /></span></p><p class="paragraph-287" style="box-sizing: inherit; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web (West European)", "Segoe UI", -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white;"><br /></span></p><p class="paragraph-287" style="box-sizing: inherit; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web (West European)", "Segoe UI", -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; white-space-collapse: preserve;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj73cr70AcRgz-2judCuDrcKXwqtgng9wWWgI9dbcLYV1o0YwOhKHSQv3LU762jxUEl-O9ECF5yy5r4hKBtRpsXquEOQj0cG-sgQ2_k0MQutGQBGjyr9lWuIkc0MjtwXtR0auRHcUM_Md4J1yQL4ECcsBQkmKHQEnMj7B2VUzNrqx-M-u_lW9FG/s499/FSR%20Cover.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white;"><img border="0" data-original-height="499" data-original-width="335" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj73cr70AcRgz-2judCuDrcKXwqtgng9wWWgI9dbcLYV1o0YwOhKHSQv3LU762jxUEl-O9ECF5yy5r4hKBtRpsXquEOQj0cG-sgQ2_k0MQutGQBGjyr9lWuIkc0MjtwXtR0auRHcUM_Md4J1yQL4ECcsBQkmKHQEnMj7B2VUzNrqx-M-u_lW9FG/s320/FSR%20Cover.jpg" width="215" /></span></a></div><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white;"><br /><br /></span><p></p><p class="paragraph-287" style="box-sizing: inherit; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web (West European)", "Segoe UI", -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white;"><br /></span></p><p class="paragraph-287" style="box-sizing: inherit; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web (West European)", "Segoe UI", -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white;">Want to know more? Read <i><a href="https://www.amazon.com/First-Space-Race-Satellites-Centennial/dp/1585443743" target="_blank">The First Space Race: Launching the World's First Satellites</a></i> </span></p><p class="paragraph-287" style="box-sizing: inherit; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web (West European)", "Segoe UI", -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span><i><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;">Matt Bille is a writer, historian, and naturalist living in </span></span><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;">Colorado</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;"> Springs. He can be reached at mattsciwriter@protonmail.com. Website: www.mattbilleauthor.com. </span></span></i></span></p><div dir="auto"><span><i><span><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;">Read Matt's Latest book, Of Books and Beasts: A Cryptozoologist's Library. This unique reference offers a </span></span><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;">friendly</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;"> skeptic's 400 reviews of books on cryptozoology, zoology, related </span></span><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;">sciences</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;">, and cryptozoological fiction. Your </span></span><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;">search</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;"> for the world's new and undiscovered animals begins here!</span></span></span></span></i></span></div><p class="paragraph-287" style="box-sizing: inherit; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web (West European)", "Segoe UI", -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white;"></span></p><div dir="auto"><span><i><span><span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaBm-XB9JT5d5SKZ_da1__ibfkSZHFFgDgkGZrV_Wz2ewdxh4P0q8yb5LV3rTFAvdWcJVzoB2Y_4dWMkqNp-ohIJ6G1gwWyAP4lTp5sWouvg5g1szdNynZSQH36wvA2q-EoetF2xt7F1FgJ7m5ZhLNZYWiDIsafhdH4Kt0k0WvNkZFOsITTWu_/s2560/OF%20BOOKS%20and%20BEASTS%20Cover%20final.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2560" data-original-width="1600" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaBm-XB9JT5d5SKZ_da1__ibfkSZHFFgDgkGZrV_Wz2ewdxh4P0q8yb5LV3rTFAvdWcJVzoB2Y_4dWMkqNp-ohIJ6G1gwWyAP4lTp5sWouvg5g1szdNynZSQH36wvA2q-EoetF2xt7F1FgJ7m5ZhLNZYWiDIsafhdH4Kt0k0WvNkZFOsITTWu_/s320/OF%20BOOKS%20and%20BEASTS%20Cover%20final.jpg" width="200" /></span></a></div><div><br /></div></span></span></span></i></span></div>Matt Billehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18230930494550861704noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15194226.post-61178706959505290042023-10-04T09:49:00.005-06:002023-12-07T17:37:12.091-07:00Review of a Marvelous Modern Bestiary<p><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Modern-Bestiary-Collection-Wondrous-Wildlife/dp/1588347303" target="_blank"><b><i><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white;">The Modern Bestiary: A Curated Collection of Wondrous Wildlife</span></i></b></a></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: #274e13; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; background: rgb(39, 78, 19); line-height: 107%;"><span style="color: white;">Joanna
Bagniewska <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background-color: #274e13; line-height: 107%;"><span style="color: white;">Smithsonian Books, 2022, 256 pp.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSFiw8MYQtCl19du2XZ467gqXL2UDuXfywhUF90T0KrQSEXkUCO9eg19PMEMATJytD18td1TBtDbs1NsJwEDo2BUmxe0kJ_Zh5j0jJhPl7NMi7mKdyK0Q6HvxIpOwV3fCcCWLpOdbP2trAF-gKdmlkJl9FrzNCAj8yFfWYhMkFU83mOsEu4Bpz/s350/Bestiary%20cover.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white;"><img border="0" data-original-height="350" data-original-width="216" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSFiw8MYQtCl19du2XZ467gqXL2UDuXfywhUF90T0KrQSEXkUCO9eg19PMEMATJytD18td1TBtDbs1NsJwEDo2BUmxe0kJ_Zh5j0jJhPl7NMi7mKdyK0Q6HvxIpOwV3fCcCWLpOdbP2trAF-gKdmlkJl9FrzNCAj8yFfWYhMkFU83mOsEu4Bpz/s320/Bestiary%20cover.jpg" width="197" /></span></a></div><span style="background-color: #274e13; line-height: 107%;"><span style="color: white;"><br /></span></span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background-color: #274e13; line-height: 107%;"><span style="color: white;">Happy World Animal Day: October 4, birthday of Francis of Assisi, patron saint of animals. </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background-color: #274e13; line-height: 107%;"><span style="color: white;">As a sometime writer on zoology, my
first thought in browsing through this book, was, “Damn, why didn’t I write
this?” Fortunately for readers, Dr. <span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">Bagniewska,
a zoologist who is, among other things, a science comedian, does it better than
I ever could. This is an animal book you will browse, devour, keep, and use to pose
zoological trivia questions no one will answer. She writes that a classic bestiary
should reflect a sense of wonder, and she delivers.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: #274e13; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; background: rgb(39, 78, 19); line-height: 107%;"><span style="color: white;">On the
question of what species to include in her 100 subjects, Bagniewska took an
unusual approach. First, she determined to include animals from every branch of
the kingdom. There are some “stars” like the panda and the platypus here, but
most of the two-page essays concern animals the general public knows little
about or hasn’t even heard of. Then she applied the “Marie Kondo rule” – did writing
about it give her joy? <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: #274e13; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; background: rgb(39, 78, 19); line-height: 107%;"><span style="color: white;">The
result is fascinating, Her writing is superb, both technically precise and
funny. Bagniewska anthropomorphizes quite a bit and spends a lot of time on
animals’ bizarre reproductive habits, which reduces the chance of this being adopted
as a textbook but makes it the most enjoyable animal book of the year<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A few times, this very well-read animal
aficionado had to stop and grab the<i> Oxford Dictionary of Zoology</i>. Then you hit
the end of the essay and she closes with the kind of bad animal pun I always
appreciate – the way frog-to-frog predation is “a classic case of cold-blooded
murder” or (I wonder how long this took her) <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>the dictatorial queen of a naked mole rate colony,
whose subjects eat her feces, has shown that “a combination of bullying and
crap meals is an effective way of running an underground organization.” <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: #274e13; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; background: rgb(39, 78, 19); line-height: 107%;"><span style="color: white;">I never
knew that female Giant Australian cuttlefish who are not in the mood create a highly
visible white stripe on their fin. (A human equivalent would save a lot of hurt
feelings.) Or that an Australian musk duck learned to imitate its keeper; just
imagine hearing “You bloody fool!” from a <i>duck</i>. Or that some pangolins effectively
have scales lining their stomachs as well as their backs. Or that velvet worms
form territorial packs, with the dominant female having first dibs on food. They
somehow hunt together at a speed of 4 cm per minute. Or how fish gather around a "Bobbit worm" and annoy iit until it until it retreats under the seafloor. And I certainly didn’t know
a coconut crab, member of a species prone to talking off with odd objects, once
stole a gun from a military guard. (OK, that's "alleged," but I don't care.)<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: #274e13; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; background: rgb(39, 78, 19); line-height: 107%;"><span style="color: white;">The
good doctor walks us through complex processes like the multiple survival
mechanisms of the Saharan silver ant, which moves as fast as a human even when
it’s 46.5 degrees (115 if you like your degrees in Fahrenheit). You’ll learn
how herring communicate by farts, how the Mary River turtle breathes through
its rear end, and Common swifts build muscle for their intercontinental journeys
by doing push-ups with the tips of their wings. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: #274e13; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; background: rgb(39, 78, 19); line-height: 107%;"><span style="color: white;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There’s a surprise on every page, and Bagniewska
has done a monumental job of research. Extensive sourcing information for each essay and an index (which should not be a big deal, but some publishers no longer pay for it) complete a wonderful book.</span></span><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white; font-size: 10pt;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span><i><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;">Matt Bille is a writer, historian, and naturalist living in </span></span><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;">Colorado</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;"> Springs. He can be reached at mattsciwriter@protonmail.com. Website: www.mattbilleauthor.com. </span></span></i></span></p><div dir="auto"><span><i><span><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;">Read Matt's Latest book, Of Books and Beasts: A Cryptozoologist's Library. This unique reference offers a </span></span><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;">friendly</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;"> skeptic's 400 reviews of books on cryptozoology, zoology, related </span></span><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;">sciences</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;">, and cryptozoological fiction. Your </span></span><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;">search</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;"> for the world's new and undiscovered animals begins here!</span></span></span></span></i></span></div><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white; font-size: 10pt;"></span></p><div dir="auto"><span><i><span><span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaBm-XB9JT5d5SKZ_da1__ibfkSZHFFgDgkGZrV_Wz2ewdxh4P0q8yb5LV3rTFAvdWcJVzoB2Y_4dWMkqNp-ohIJ6G1gwWyAP4lTp5sWouvg5g1szdNynZSQH36wvA2q-EoetF2xt7F1FgJ7m5ZhLNZYWiDIsafhdH4Kt0k0WvNkZFOsITTWu_/s2560/OF%20BOOKS%20and%20BEASTS%20Cover%20final.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2560" data-original-width="1600" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaBm-XB9JT5d5SKZ_da1__ibfkSZHFFgDgkGZrV_Wz2ewdxh4P0q8yb5LV3rTFAvdWcJVzoB2Y_4dWMkqNp-ohIJ6G1gwWyAP4lTp5sWouvg5g1szdNynZSQH36wvA2q-EoetF2xt7F1FgJ7m5ZhLNZYWiDIsafhdH4Kt0k0WvNkZFOsITTWu_/s320/OF%20BOOKS%20and%20BEASTS%20Cover%20final.jpg" width="200" /></span></a></div><div><br /></div></span></span></span></i></span></div>Matt Billehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18230930494550861704noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15194226.post-1941594443206123252023-09-27T16:51:00.002-06:002023-12-07T17:37:32.556-07:00Writers Guild Win and Artificial Intelligence <p><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white;">Given the debate about generative AI, the terms obtained by the Writers
Guild from studios may be of interest. A studio exec said the plan was to
starve the writers out until they lost their homes (yes, he said that,
literally) but the studios eventually decided they were losing too much money.
Among other things, the studios agreed for the first time ever to share
information about viewership and popularity of streaming shows: while they
added some limits and weasel wording, this ends the situation where the studios
were black boxes that hid all the data and paid residuals based on whatever
they claimed the data said.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white;">In this and other areas, it was a major win</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgiV3vCsQ67QiTurNGiDCkvZqQw79fj9yVMqgdds_ReIG9AsoH2lZE3MWRcnx69X2VeVeUZe4mMcwHyS_DC0UWy3-EPQdw0ZqSZFY3kHdIyVlecghH8TDGB3RRe1Qxw_nibBzGTs_201o2BFx21d6liS4U6nT70QbtnfGN2zTowDj8fWMvSzGa0" style="background-color: #274e13; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgiV3vCsQ67QiTurNGiDCkvZqQw79fj9yVMqgdds_ReIG9AsoH2lZE3MWRcnx69X2VeVeUZe4mMcwHyS_DC0UWy3-EPQdw0ZqSZFY3kHdIyVlecghH8TDGB3RRe1Qxw_nibBzGTs_201o2BFx21d6liS4U6nT70QbtnfGN2zTowDj8fWMvSzGa0" width="320" /></a></div><span style="color: #cccccc;"><div style="background-color: #274e13; text-align: center;">(progressivehub.net, marked Free to Use and Share)</div></span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white;"> for writers. Congratulations!</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white;">The AI terms:</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white;">"AI can’t write or rewrite literary material, and AI-generated material will not be considered source material under the MBA, meaning that AI-generated material can’t be used to undermine a writer’s credit or separated rights. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white;">A writer can choose to use AI when performing writing services, if the company consents and provided that the writer follows applicable company policies, but the company can’t require the writer to use AI software (e.g., ChatGPT) when performing writing services. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white;">The Company must disclose to the writer if any materials given to the writer have been generated by AI or incorporate AI-generated material.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white;">The WGA reserves the right to assert that exploitation of writers’ material to train AI is prohibited by MBA [this agreement] or other law." (i.e., the lawsuits by the WGA [and every other major writers' and artists' organization] about ripping off their copyrighted property in training AI and wording outputs can continue separately.)</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span><i><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;">Matt Bille is a writer, historian, and naturalist living in </span></span><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;">Colorado</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;"> Springs. He can be reached at mattsciwriter@protonmail.com. Website: www.mattbilleauthor.com. </span></span></i></span></p><div dir="auto"><span><i><span><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;">Read Matt's Latest book, Of Books and Beasts: A Cryptozoologist's Library. This unique reference offers a </span></span><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;">friendly</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;"> skeptic's 400 reviews of books on cryptozoology, zoology, related </span></span><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;">sciences</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;">, and cryptozoological fiction. Your </span></span><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;">search</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;"> for the world's new and undiscovered animals begins here!</span></span></span></span></i></span></div><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white;"></span></p><div dir="auto"><span><i><span><span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaBm-XB9JT5d5SKZ_da1__ibfkSZHFFgDgkGZrV_Wz2ewdxh4P0q8yb5LV3rTFAvdWcJVzoB2Y_4dWMkqNp-ohIJ6G1gwWyAP4lTp5sWouvg5g1szdNynZSQH36wvA2q-EoetF2xt7F1FgJ7m5ZhLNZYWiDIsafhdH4Kt0k0WvNkZFOsITTWu_/s2560/OF%20BOOKS%20and%20BEASTS%20Cover%20final.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2560" data-original-width="1600" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaBm-XB9JT5d5SKZ_da1__ibfkSZHFFgDgkGZrV_Wz2ewdxh4P0q8yb5LV3rTFAvdWcJVzoB2Y_4dWMkqNp-ohIJ6G1gwWyAP4lTp5sWouvg5g1szdNynZSQH36wvA2q-EoetF2xt7F1FgJ7m5ZhLNZYWiDIsafhdH4Kt0k0WvNkZFOsITTWu_/s320/OF%20BOOKS%20and%20BEASTS%20Cover%20final.jpg" width="200" /></span></a></div><div><br /></div></span></span></span></i></span></div><div><br /></div>Matt Billehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18230930494550861704noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15194226.post-81223556898226479452023-09-24T15:18:00.006-06:002023-12-07T17:38:04.598-07:00Work in Progress: Apex Predator<p><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white;">I'm continuing my search for the right agent and publisher for my next novel, <i>Apex Predator.</i> <i>Apex </i>was born from my love of "creature" novels and my noticing that such novels (with a few praiseworthy exceptions) handwave the science and consider most characters "monster chow." <i>Apex </i>is about the human drama surrounding the discovery of a spectacular and dangerous (not to mention endangered) prehistoric predator,<i> Dunkleosteus terrelli</i>, in a remote Alaskan lake. The story offers accurate science and explores the deadly clash of interests that would accompany something so historic and potentially lucrative. </span></p><p><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white;">Here's the moodboard (all images public domain or by permission.) All suggestions are welcome! </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDVXTE_fa-E93qxizJmZcjSgyc5Nb4_Cc1MSZy8832lgdU4MiBDMK80FBtict1SqHo4Oj53jE3gRsw2-S5sz8j4JoEmqTcWUvXUbxW1EVu4fHmitJ6o9_bv5IHXRCmQgsubYKr04F59KGDaDhEUrYc9Ya8V_Cw5R-Gwl42uXFVCReTf3nzB2U_/s2307/Moodboard.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1545" data-original-width="2307" height="285" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDVXTE_fa-E93qxizJmZcjSgyc5Nb4_Cc1MSZy8832lgdU4MiBDMK80FBtict1SqHo4Oj53jE3gRsw2-S5sz8j4JoEmqTcWUvXUbxW1EVu4fHmitJ6o9_bv5IHXRCmQgsubYKr04F59KGDaDhEUrYc9Ya8V_Cw5R-Gwl42uXFVCReTf3nzB2U_/w426-h285/Moodboard.png" width="426" /></span></a></div><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white;"><br /></span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span><i><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;">Matt Bille is a writer, historian, and naturalist living in </span></span><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;">Colorado</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;"> Springs. He can be reached at mattsciwriter@protonmail.com. Website: www.mattbilleauthor.com. </span></span></i></span></p><div dir="auto"><span><i><span><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;">Read Matt's Latest book, Of Books and Beasts: A Cryptozoologist's Library. This unique reference offers a </span></span><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;">friendly</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;"> skeptic's 400 reviews of books on cryptozoology, zoology, related </span></span><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;">sciences</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;">, and cryptozoological fiction. Your </span></span><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;">search</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;"> for the world's new and undiscovered animals begins here!</span></span></span></span></i></span></div><div dir="auto"><span><i><span><span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaBm-XB9JT5d5SKZ_da1__ibfkSZHFFgDgkGZrV_Wz2ewdxh4P0q8yb5LV3rTFAvdWcJVzoB2Y_4dWMkqNp-ohIJ6G1gwWyAP4lTp5sWouvg5g1szdNynZSQH36wvA2q-EoetF2xt7F1FgJ7m5ZhLNZYWiDIsafhdH4Kt0k0WvNkZFOsITTWu_/s2560/OF%20BOOKS%20and%20BEASTS%20Cover%20final.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: white;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2560" data-original-width="1600" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaBm-XB9JT5d5SKZ_da1__ibfkSZHFFgDgkGZrV_Wz2ewdxh4P0q8yb5LV3rTFAvdWcJVzoB2Y_4dWMkqNp-ohIJ6G1gwWyAP4lTp5sWouvg5g1szdNynZSQH36wvA2q-EoetF2xt7F1FgJ7m5ZhLNZYWiDIsafhdH4Kt0k0WvNkZFOsITTWu_/s320/OF%20BOOKS%20and%20BEASTS%20Cover%20final.jpg" width="200" /></span></a></div><div><br /></div></span></span></span></i></span></div>Matt Billehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18230930494550861704noreply@blogger.com0