Stubby-armed dino was the southern T. rex

A newfound giant predatory dinosaur with even stubbier arms than Tyrannosaurus rex may now hint that a vast desert once existed in the heart of a lost supercontinent, potentially barring this carnivore and its kin from spreading across the entire ancient world, researchers say.

When T. rex and its tyrannosaurid relatives dominated as predators in the Northern Hemisphere in what is now North America and Asia, carnivores known as abelisaurids were the top killers in the Southern Hemisphere on the lost supercontinent of Gondwana, which once was made up of what is now Antarctica, Australia, South America and Africa.

The newfound abelisaurid species, discovered in Patagonia in Argentina, is named Eoabelisaurus mefi, or "dawn Abelisaurus of the Museo Palentol?gico Egidio Feruglio." Based on the nearly complete skeleton, the carnivore was about 21 feet long and lived about 170 million to 175 million years ago, back when the area was hot and ranged between pronounced dry seasons and extensive rain.

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The finding, detailed online May 23 in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B, suggests the abelisaurids, whose origins have remained enigmatic, originated at least 40 million years than before thought. This meant that abelisaurids existed back when all the continents were united in the supercontinent Pangaea. [ See Photos of the New Dinosaur ]

Little arms
Abelisaurids generally resembled tyrannosaurids in appearance, stalking the land on two legs, although their skulls were relatively shorter in length and taller in height, with a shape that hinted they had extremely powerful bites. As squat as the arms of tyrannosaurids were, abelisaurids had even squatter limbs that appeared even less useful ? for instance, they typically lacked wrist bones.

"Why these animals had such tiny arms is a good question," said researcher Oliver Rauhut, a paleontologist at the Bavarian State Collection for Paleontology and Geology in Germany. "One part of the answer might be that both had skulls that were adapted for very powerful bites, so these animals obviously relied on 'head hunting' for acquiring prey and didn't need the arms for that."

Rauhut added that tyrannosaurids and abelisaurids had specialized arms, with abelisaurids having an enlarged shoulder girdle, indicating muscle strength, as well as more flexibility of the upper arm. "What they did with these arms is anybody's guess," Rauhut said.

Dinosaur barrier
The fossil was first discovered in 2009 during a large-scale prospecting campaign by researcher Diego Pol at the Egidio Feruglio Paleontological Museum in Argentina in a dry, savannahlike landscape. "Basically everything that grows there has thorns," Rauhut said. Native animals include the lowland llama, a small flightless bird known as the nandu, and armadillos, "but what you see most is actually sheep," Rauhut added.

The arms of Eoabelisaurus are not as tiny as those of later abelisaurids, but they are still unusually small, revealingthat shortening of abelisaurid arms began very early in their evolution. This reduction apparently started with the lower arm ? in Eoabelisaurus, the upper forelimb is of normal size, but the lower arm is much shorter in comparison, with a very stunted hand and tiny fingers and claws.

The fact that Eoabelisaurus lived about 175 million years ago suggests abelisaurids could have spread across the whole of Pangaea before it fragmented about 10 million to 15 million years later into Gondwana and Laurasia, the supercontinent once made up of what is now Europe, Asia and North America. Since abelisaurids were apparently exceedingly rare in the Northern Hemisphere, a natural barrier may have prevented their advance northward, researchers suggested.

Growing evidence from climate models and geological data suggests a huge desert in the center of Gondwana might have kept abelisaurids from dispersing to the north. Such a barrier could also explain why other groups of animals were restricted to Gondwana, such as certain mammals and giant plant-eating sauropods, the researchers explained.

The scientists hope to continue investigating the dinosaurs of Patagonia. " Dinosaurs from the Southern Hemisphere are still extremely poorly known, so we can expect to find more surprises," Rauhut told LiveScience.

? 2012 LiveScience.com. All rights reserved.

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Artificial leaf device produces hydrogen in water using only sunlight

ScienceDaily (May 23, 2012) ? Scientists and researchers from the Photovoltaic and Optoelectronic Devices group from the Universitat Jaume I, led by Professor Juan Bisquert, have developed, using nanotechnology, a device with semiconductor materials which generate hydrogen independently in water using only sunlight.

This technology, which has been named artificial photosynthesis, was inspired by photosynthesis which occurs naturally (a process in which plants use sunlight to transform organic material into organic compounds, freeing chemical energy stored in the bonds of the molecule adenosine triphosphate-ATP, and obtaining energetic compounds such as sugars or carbohydrates).

The efficient production of hydrogen using semiconductor materials and sunlight constitutes a crucial challenge to make a paradigm shift towards sustainable energy technology, using inexhaustible resources that are environmentally friendly. "Although the energy efficiency of the device is still not sufficient enough for us to consider marketing it, we are exploring various ways to improve its efficiency and to show that this technology represents a real alternative to meet the energy demands of the 21st century," comments Sixto Gim?nez, one of the researchers responsible for the investigation.

Hydrogen is an extremely abundant element on Earth's surface, but in combination with oxygen: water (H₂0). The hydrogen molecule (H₂) contains a great amount of energy that can be released when burned due to the reaction with atmospheric oxygen, creating water as the result of this combustion process. In order to convert water into fuel (H₂), the H₂O must be broken down into its separate components and so that the process can be carried out in a renewable way (without using subsoil fossil fuels), it is necessary to use a device which relies on solar power, and with no other assistance, to provoke the chemical reactions to break the water and form hydrogen in a way similar to leaves on plants. For this reason these devices are named artificial leaves.

The device is submerged in an aqueous solution which, when illuminated with a light source, forms hydrogen gas bubbles. Firstly, the research group used a solution with an oxidizing agent and studied the evolution of hydrogen produced by photons. "Now the biggest challenge," comments Iv?n Mora, member of the team developing the solution, "is to understand the physical-chemical process which is produced by the semiconductor material and its interface with the aqueous medium in order to streamline the device process."

The development of the artificial leaf is a great scientific challenge due to the difficulty posed by the selection of materials that will be used in the process, working continuously and not decomposing. Currently, the Photovoltaic and Optoelectronic Devices group from the Universitat Jaume I is one of the few research groups on an international level that has shown the viability of a device with these characteristics, together with the North American laboratories from MIT in Boston or NREL in Denver. The research group leader, Juan Bisquert, comments that "in comparison to other devices, that which has been developed by the UJI has the advantage of low production costs and a large collection of incident photons of light, used in the production of hydrogen photons in the infrared spectrum."

In experiments of this device, the following research group members have participated: Eva Maria Barea, Francisco Fabregat, Roberto Trevisan, Maria Victoria Gonz?lez, Pau Rodenas, Pablo P. Boix and Laura Badia.

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Can a Surfboard-Sized Watercraft Cross the Pacific on Wave Power Alone?

Meet the Wave Glider, a wave-powered watercraft that is attempting to cross the entire Pacific ocean on the forward thrust of ocean currents. But this isn't just a world-record grab -- the Wave Glider also has the potential to rewrite everything we know about ocean exploration.

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The queen of SETI retires from research

Alan Boyle / msnbc.com

SETI astronomer Jill Tarter looks out from the radio dish named after her at the Allen Telescope Array in northern California. The array's 42 linked dishes search for signals from extraterrestrial civilizations.

By Alan Boyle

The real-life astronomer who inspired the central character in "Contact," the book and movie about the search for extraterrestrial intelligence, is retiring from her research post at the age of 68. But that doesn't mean Jill Tarter is giving up on the SETI quest. Instead, she's focusing on the search for funding for the non-profit SETI Institute.

For most of the institute's 28-year history, Tarter has been serving as director of the Center for SETI Research as well as holding the Bernard M. Oliver Chair for SETI. "I've worn two hats," she explained. Now she's passing along the center's top research hat to physicist Gerry Harp, a colleague at the institute?? and wearing the Oliver Chair hat full-time as a fundraiser.

"We have got to get this endeavor stably funded," she told me.

---

Tarter knows as well as anyone on Earth how much of a challenge that will be. In the 1980s and 1990s, she participated in NASA-funded efforts to search for alien radio signals ? efforts?that drew intense fire from some members of Congress. The fire became so intense that NASA as well as the National Science Foundation were barred from funding SETI research in 1993. To keep hope alive, Tarter spearheaded a program to continue the search with private donations.

Breakthrough ... then, a bummer
A breakthrough came in 2007 with the dedication of the 42-antenna Allen Telescope Array in Northern California, a facility funded with $25 million in seed money from software billionaire Paul Allen and matching funds from other contributors. The SETI Institute partnered with the University of California at Berkeley to operate the array, and it looked as if the search for alien signals was finally on stable footing.

That didn't last long, however.

Berkeley had to drop out of the partnership due to money troubles. Last year, the institute?mothballed the array and put out a plea for $200,000 in contributions to restart operations. "That certainly put an exclamation point on the funding crisis," Tarter said. The money was raised in a month and a half???thanks in part to a big financial and moral vote of support from actress-director Jodie Foster, who played the Tarter character (named Ellie Arroway) in the movie version of "Contact."

Now?the telescope array is back in business with a new partner, SRI International, which maintains the facility in return for getting half of the array's observing time to track satellites and orbital debris for the U.S. Air Force. But Tarter wants to get the institute's SETI effort out of its scrimp-and-scrape mode. "Lots of startups do that, but they don't last very long if they don't get secure funding," she said.

One of Tarter's top objectives is to build up an endowment for SETI research. "I find it very interesting that at any one time, even in this economy, there are endowment campaigns of $100 million. We could be one of them," she said.

Stable funding would reassure the researchers who work with the institute that they'll be able to pursue their projects over the long term, Tarter said. "We have to make this a real destination for folks who want to do visionary things. ... They're in some sense hanging on a cliff, because there's no guaranteed scientific payoff, although there are lots of interesting instrumentation payoffs along the way," she said.

New twists for SETI
Lots of interesting twists are in store for the SETI quest. For example, researchers are working their way through a list of hundreds of candidate planets identified by NASA's Kepler mission. Tarter said about 10 percent of the Kepler field has been surveyed so far, at a rate of 30 targets a day.

"We don't yet have Earth 2.0, but we almost can taste it," she said. "That will change the whole approach. Does anybody live there? That's going to concretize so many things which are now a bit abstract."

The institute is already using a survey setup that checks three star systems at once for telltale patterns in radio emissions that could hint at an artificial source. The setup, known as SonATA, uses the triple-check to confirm the nature of any interesting effect that's detected. If the same effect is detected from three separate directions, that's a tip-off that the telescopes are picking up on earthly radio interference rather than E.T.'s phone call.?

"The next thing we're going to take on is real-time imaging of a wide field of view," Tarter said. "There are lots of challenges there, and lots of opportunities for SETI detections that haven't been there in the past."

Those are the sorts of challenges that Gerry Harp will be taking on as the new director of the Center for SETI Research. Meanwhile, Tarter will be focusing on the long-term future of the search for extraterrestrial intelligence.

"If we can get the research to the next level, there is something so fundamental that we can learn from the detection of a signal, even if it's just a cosmic dial tone," Tarter said.?The message would be that technological civilizations can actually survive long enough to reach out to other corners of the cosmos.

"If they can do it, then dammit, we can do it," Tarter said.

More about the SETI quest:

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The SETI Institute is celebrating Tarter's 35 years of SETI research at SETIcon II, set for June 22-24 at the Santa Clara Hyatt in California's Silicon Valley. SETIcon is a public convention that draws together more than 60 scientists, artists and entertainers to focus on the present and future search for life in the universe. Tarter will be honored at a gala event on June 23. Speakers will include fellow SETI astronomer Frank Drake; former astronaut Mae Jemison, a leader of the 100 Year Starship effort; and "Star Trek" actor Robert Picardo. Tickets are available via the SETIcon website.

Alan Boyle is msnbc.com's science editor. Connect with the Cosmic Log community by "liking" the log's Facebook page, following @b0yle on Twitter or adding Cosmic Log's Google+ page to your circle. You can also check out "The Case for Pluto," my book about the controversial dwarf planet and the search for other worlds.

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FDA staff shoots down Pfizer rare disease drug

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Clearwater Real Estate News You Can Use! | Tampa Home ...

Th? weather ?s warm ?nd th? sun ?s shining, making ?t th? perfect t?m? t? start your home improvement projects.

Whether it?s ? l?ttl? tidying up, ?r ? full-on home repair, s?m? tips w?ll h?lp y?u complete your projects w?th?ut ? lot ?f headaches.

Winning th? battle ?g??nst rust

As th? sun begins t? shine brighter, imperfections around th? house begin t? appear. Metal products th?t haven?t b??n properly winterized ?r h?v? simply b??n ?ut ?n th? elements too l?ng c?n begin t? show signs ?f wear ?nd tear, ?nd worst ?f ?ll, rust. Combating rust c?n b? ? real challenge, ?nd too often, people would rather toss ?ut th? rusty bench, garden tools ?r ?v?n th? lawn mower ?nd simply buy something n?w.

Protecting your items fr?m rust ?s easy w?th ? l?ttl? h?lp fr?m th? n?w Rust Protector spray paint fr?m Krylon. It dries ?n just eight minutes, s? y?u don?t h?v? t? worry ?b?ut grass, leaves ?r ?th?r particles getting stuck ?n th? fresh coat ?f paint. Plus, ?t provides th? ultimate protection ?g??nst rust, keeping your outdoor items looking like n?w, regardless ?f th? elements th?y face.

Continue cleaning up outside

G?v? th? outside ?f your house ? l?ttl? TLC. Start w?th th? roof ?nd gutters, since they?ve collected ? lot ?f buildup ?nd h?v? experienced th??r share ?f wear ?nd tear throughout th? colder months. N? ?n? wants t? spend hours dealing w?th inside water damage ?r worse ? mold. Stop th? drama b?f?r? ?t starts by inspecting th? roof ?nd gutters ?nd looking f?r damage such ?s holes, loose shingles ?r leaks.

And wh?l? you?re outside, g?v? your siding ? glance, too. Wh?l? y?u w?r? warm ?nd toasty inside th?s past winter, th? exterior ?f your house was getting ? beating. Cold weather, snow, ice ?nd ?v?n wind c?n cause problems t? th? siding, s? b? sure t? address ?ny issues quickly.

Check f?r ? cool breeze

It?s probably b??n ? f?w months since th? air conditioner was turned ?n, making n?w th? perfect t?m? t? check th?t it?s st?ll running smoothly. Your air conditioner ?s important b?c?us? ?t n?t ?nly keeps your home cool during th? hot summer; ?t ?ls? dehumidifies your house ?nd keeps mold fr?m developing inside th? walls.

First, check th? AC filters ?nd replace th?m ?f th?y appear dirty, since ? dirty filter c?n cause strain ?nd damage t? your air conditioner by making ?t work harder th?n necessary. Turn your air conditioner ?n f?r ? test run; once ?t h?s b??n running f?r ? wh?l?, check th? refrigerant levels by feeling th? pipe connected t? your AC unit. It should f??l cool t? th? touch ? ?f ?t doesn?t y?u m?y b? low ?n refrigerant ?nd w?ll want t? refill b?f?r? th? l?ng, hot d?ys ?f summer.

M?k? th? inside sparkle

Outside projects shouldn?t g?t ?ll your attention. As y?u m?v? inside, start ?ff w?th small cleaning projects s? y?u don?t g?t overwhelmed. Scrubbing your bathroom, vacuuming your carpets ?nd dusting ?v?ry inch ?f th? house c?n t?k? s?m? t?m? ? wh?ch m?st ?f us don?t h?v?. Simple tasks such ?s cleaning ?n? room ? d?y, clearing ?ff cluttered countertops ?s y?u walk into th? kitchen, creating an organization system ?nd donating unused products t? charity c?n g?t your house clean ?n n? t?m?.

Clearwater Real Estate News You Can Use!

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Payroll management service is considered as a mammoth and time consuming task because it not only involves the salary distribution ad tracking but several other financial stuff like PF, ESI, taxation, TDS, Medical, Insurance, leave records and employee grievances.

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