Category Archives: Paleontology

Day 1 of #NAPC2014 – Round-Up

The 10th North American Paleontological Convention has officially begun in earnest. All sorts of great talks have already taken place, and I’m really excited about presenting my own poster tomorrow.

Somehow, I’ve made it to the conference – an outcome that seemed highly unlikely yesterday. Others haven’t been so lucky, and a great number of speakers were not able to actually give their presentations today. I feel kind of guilty for having made it when others did not.Continue reading “Day 1 of #NAPC2014 – Round-Up”

Day 0 of #NAPC2014 – Travel Woes

The North American Paleontological Convention began today in Gainesville, Florida. Having a meeting in February in Florida seemed like a brilliant idea. I was excited about traveling south and being warm for a few days.

What the planners of the convention forgot about, especially in the light of a series of relatively mild winters, that anyone traveling to Florida in February would have to make connections at northern airports.

Winter Storm Pax hit the northeaster United States at the exact time when most NAPC participants were traveling, resulting in measurable snow as far south as Atlanta, Georgia, through which many flights to Gainesville must connect.Continue reading “Day 0 of #NAPC2014 – Travel Woes”

Bad Geology Movies: Ice Age: Continental Drift, 2012

Ice Age: Continental Drift

2012

Ray Romano, Denis Leary, John Leguizamo, and a whole bunch of others.

Premise: Can a sudden split of continents and iceberg-sailing pirates separate a mammoth family?Continue reading “Bad Geology Movies: Ice Age: Continental Drift, 2012”

Your Holiday Dinosaur

Most vertebrate paleontologists agree that modern birds evolved from dinosaurs. Many, including me, refer to birds as dinosaurs. Sometimes, we add the term ‘avian’ or ‘non-avian’ to the front of dinosaur, to distinguish between modern, flying birds and their relatives, and the big scary ones that went extinct 65 million years ago.

The interesting outcome is that what this means is that, at least in the United States, we traditionally have a huge family meal on the fourth Thursday of November, in which we consume vast quantities of roasted dinosaur meat.Continue reading “Your Holiday Dinosaur”

Can Science Support Creationism?

Today, I’m giving at talk for RIT Skeptics with the above title. This post is the analogue version of the presentation for those who cannot attend. It’s also a good way for me to organize my thoughts in a linear fashion.

The point of the talk is to show whether or not some ideas of ‘Special Creation’ can be supported by science. Specifically, I’ll compare the Theory of Evolution with concepts of Intelligent Design and Scientific Creationism.Continue reading “Can Science Support Creationism?”

Day Four Wrap-Up #2013SVP – Ending with a Bang

The fourth and final day of the 73th annual meeting of the Society of Vertebrate is at an end, for me at least. The after hours party goes on, but I am too exhausted to attend. I’m back in the room, ready to go to sleep.

 

Continue reading “Day Four Wrap-Up #2013SVP – Ending with a Bang”

Day Three Wrap-Up #2013SVP – Peer Pressure for A Good Cause

Another day of the 73rd annual meeting of the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology is in the record books. As with every Friday night of the annual meeting, we held the annual auction.

We have a live and a silent auction and sell donated items. The proceeds benefit various SVP programs, most often in support of student research.Continue reading “Day Three Wrap-Up #2013SVP – Peer Pressure for A Good Cause”