SIGHISOARA, ROMANIA

TIRGU MURES, ROMANIA

GREEN EYED MONSTERS

MASTODON

Sunshine & Rain: Bowron's Lanezi and Sandy Lakes

Like most mountainous areas, Bowron makes its own weather system and it appears you get everything in a 24-hour period. In fact, whatever weather you are enjoying seems to change 40 minutes later; good for rain, bad for sun. Wisps of cloud that seemed light and airy only hours early have become dark.

Careful to hug the shore in our kayaks, we are ready for a quick escape from lightening as thundershowers break. Paddling in the rain, I notice bits of mica in the water, playing in the light and the rock change here to greywacke, argillite, phyllite and schist. Past Lanezi, we continue onto Sandy Lake, where old growth cedars line the south-facing slopes to our left and grey limestone, shale and dolostone line the shore. Mottled in with the rock, we sneak up on very convincing stumps posing as large mammals.

Picking up the Cariboo River again, we follow it as it flows into Babcock Lake, an area edged with Lower Cambrian limestone, shale and argillite. At the time these rocks were laid down, the Earth was seeing our earliest relatives, the first chordates entering the geologic scene.

THE SCIENCE OF LOVE AND INFIDELITY

Big chin. Big cheater.

As Valentine’s Day approaches, both mating and chocolate get on the brain. If you have not already chosen your new love, researchers suggest you stay away from those with big chins as they have a tendency to cheat. Researchers from four universities across the US and Canada prodded into the sexual habits of chinny and relatively chin-less females to determine these resultts.

Kidding? No, they’ve published in the journal Personality And Individual Differences, so it must be true. Larger chins, especially on adult females, are associated with the male growth hormone testosterone and too much of that bad boy can lead to messing around. It seems on an unconscientious level men sense this trend and are biased against a more masculine chin.

"The findings are important in demonstrating that perceptions of women as desirable and trustworthy long-term mates can be reliably gleaned by men from viewing only the women's facial features.

"Results suggest that information about women's sexual unrestrictedness, which is related to their risk of infidelity, can potentially be conveyed by the masculinity of women's faces."

Hogwash you say? Perhaps you are already hooked up with said chin-cheater? Well, they may cheat, but you may also have found s sexual goldmine. Women with larger chins are also more sexually assertive and perhaps better in bed.

While the study only looked at the chins of the female of our species. Friends and neighbors also speculate on the tendencies of our males. Is Leno a complete dog? And what of the chin of our own Brian Mulroney?

Bring on the chocolate and the chins I say. It's Valentine's Day!

View the original story at http://fossilhuntress.blogspot.com/

ALPINE BEAUTIES

Possible Walrus Bone Found near Grand Manan

New find near Grand Manan, New Bruinswick needs ID... a few people have taken a look and the most likely critter seems to be a walrus.

If you have any thoughts, please pass them along : )

EN PROVENCE

MYSTERIOUS DESIGN : ACROSS THE UNIVERSE

The Fossil Huntress was intrigued by astrophysicist George Smoot's stunning new images from deep-space surveys. His ideas prod us to ponder how the cosmos -- with its giant webs of dark matter and mysterious gaping voids -- got built this way.

read more | digg story

KANE: RHODESIAN RIDGEBACK

ORCA MAX'INUX

Orca, Black Fish or Killer Whale — these toothed whales in the oceanic dolphin family are one of the most recognized species in the world.

These large marine mammals are easily distinguished by their black-and-white colouration, large dorsal fin and a sleek, streamlined body. You can often get a peek at their top fin and just enough of their distinctive white eye patch to id

Their genus name Orcinus means "of the kingdom of the dead."

In the Kwak̓wala language of the Kwakiutl or Kwakwaka'wakw, speakers of Kwak'wala, of the Pacific Northwest, orca or killer whales are known as max̱'inux̱.