MORNING SUNSHINE

SALT SPRING ISLAND: HMS ORIOLE

MISTER FINALLY

CLIMBING TO GLORY: 2010 WINTER OLYMPICS

CHÂTEAU-NEUF DU PAPE

Châteauneuf du Pape est le vin de Côtes du Rhône le plus célèbre. Le Coteaux de Châteauneuf du Pape est entre l'orange et Avignon, dans un des paysages les plus beaux de la Provence. Les papes utilisés pour avoir leur résidence d'été là en Châteauneuf du Pape. C'est la vue du plus grand château dans la région.

VANCOUVER 2010

2010 OLYMPICS

SEA SCORPIONS: PREDATORS OF PERMIAN SEAS

About two dozen families of eurypterids “sea scorpions” are known from the fossil record.

Although these ancient predators have a superficial similarity, including a defensive needle-like spike or telson at their tail end, they are not true scorpions. They are an extinct group of arthropods related to spiders, ticks, mites and other extant creepy crawlies.

Eurypterids hunted fish in the muddy bottoms of warm shallow seas some 460 to 248 million years ago before moving on to hunting grounds in fresh and brackish water during the latter part of their reign. Their numbers diminished greatly during the Permian-Triassic extinction, becoming extinct by 248 million years ago.

Eurypterids are found in Canada, most notably at the Ridgemount Quarry near Niagara Falls. This near-perfect specimen of Eurypterus remipes, held by my young cousin Sivert, was named the official state fossil of New York in 1984.

BURNT LEAVES

SEX & INFIDELITY: CLUES AT FACE VALUE

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 results.

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 subconscious level men sense this trend and are biased against a more masculine chin. Well, most men. Brad Pitt, quite famously, does prefer women with a strong jawline. Given that his preference might skew the results, I suspect he wasn't included in the study.

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 a sexual goldmine. Women (and perhaps men) with larger chins are also more sexually assertive and perhaps better in bed.

Perhaps Brad is onto something. Bring on the chocolate and the chins I say. Everyday is Valentine's Day!

SHEIKS, EBBETS, ANISALAGA ANEIN HUNT, HENDERSON FAMILY TREE

Chief Sheiks, Chief Ebbets, Mary Anéin Anisalaga Hunt (1823-1919), Henderson Family Tree

 

TYAUGHTON AMMONITES

CROSSING THE BERING LAND BRIDGE

The Columbian Mammoth, the official state fossil of Washington, crossed the Bering Land Bridge into North America some one million years ago and made a home roaming the vast grasslands that stretched from Alaska to Mexico, mirroring the great Rocky Mountains, and munching down about 300 pounds of vegetation each day.

During the Pleistocene this extinct elephant extended his habitat down into Central America to modern day Nicaragua and Honduras before dying out around 12,500 years ago. Photo courtesy of Filippo Bertozzi