CaaC (John)

YABBA DABBA DOO

This

Nasa's next Mars rover will be called Perseverance The American space agency has a new name for the rover it will be sent to the Red Planet this summer. To date, the project has been known only by its code name - Mars 2020. From now on, it will be referred to as the Perseverance rover. The name came out of a schools competition that drew 28,000 entries. The Perseverance rover will begin the process of trying to bring rocks back to Earth for study. It will trundle through an equatorial crater, looking for the best samples it can cache for retrieval by a later mission. Scientists think this will be the best approach to establishing whether or not life has ever existed on Mars. FULL REPORT

Bought 2 packs of Tunnocks Snowballs (8 snowballs) I ate the bloody lot within 4 hours with cups of coffee, I love them, will have to pick some more up.

Started reading all the Lee Child's Jack Reacher books again, read this one way back when I was working.

When will you be seeing them again? sometimes I think about all the family I have back in Aussie land that I have not seen for years but really we drifted apart years ago and I only keep in contact with them by phone every now and then.

Always the way, I had an early night last night and lay in bed reading a book then an almighty scream from the living room from the wife and "JOHN, QUICK..." got out of bed and my first thought was "A spider...", spot-on, caught it with my hand and tossed it out of the lounge window, the wifes BIG SPIDER was not even bigger than my little fingernail.

The Long Kiss Goodnight (1996) with Samuel Lee Jackson & Geena Davis, a top draw film for me and I have watched it a few times 9/10.

9 Science-Backed Reasons Pets Make You Healthier and Happier In the U.S. alone, 68 per cent of households include a pet. And although you may pride yourself on giving your beloved pooch or kitty a safe, happy home, it's not just the animal who's reaping benefits. Pet owners, particularly those who have dogs and cats (but fish and guinea pigs are great, too!), stand to gain quite a bit from the relationship, not to mention years on their life. In fact, over the past decade alone, countless scientists have worked to discover just how our pets can boost our physical and mental health. Of course, Fido can't cure heart disease or reverse the effects of diabetes or stand in for a certified therapist, but studies have shown that caring for an animal still does some serious good. Read on to better understand the science-backed reasons pets make people healthier and happier. SLIDES - 1/10

Bloody unreal that.

'DNA' found preserved in 75-million-year-old dinosaur fossils for the first time suggests that organic material can survive much longer than previously thought Slides - 1/5 Cartilage cells, chromosomes and DNA have been found preserved in the 75-million-year-old fossils of a baby duck-billed dinosaur, a study has claimed. Researchers analysed the skull fragments of young, nest-bound Hypacrosaurus specimens unearthed from the 'Two Medicine Formation' in Montana in the US. Experts have conventionally believed that such organic material should not be able to remain intact for so long — with DNA expected to only last under 1 million years. If the findings are correct, however, it would appear that organic material can survive for much longer than previously thought. 'These new exciting results add to growing evidence that cells and some of their biomolecules can persist in deep-time,' said paper author and palaeontologist Alida Bailleul of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. 'They suggest DNA can preserve for tens of millions of years. 'We hope that this study will encourage scientists working on ancient DNA to push current limits and to use the new methodology in order to reveal all the unknown molecular secrets that ancient tissues have.' In their study, Dr Bailleul and colleagues studied fossilised skull fragments of the young Hypacrosaurus under the microscope — finding exquisitely preserved cells within calcified cartilage tissues. Two of the cartilage cells were still linked by an intercellular bridge — just as would be seen near the end of the process of cell division — while elsewhere cell nuclei could be seen as a dark material in the specimens. Related Slideshow: Best places to see fossils of dinosaurs and other extinct species (Provided by Photo Services) Slides - 1/17 One cartilage cell even held preserved dark elongated structures that the researchers believe may be chromosomes. 'I couldn't believe it, my heart almost stopped beating,' Dr Bailleul said. Having made this remarkable discovery, the researchers next set out to see if original molecules might also be preserved in the dinosaur cartilage — using another specimen from the same dinosaur nesting ground. The team found that the organic material surrounding the cells reacted to antibodies of so-called Collagen II, the dominant protein in the cartilage of vertebrates. 'This immunological test supports the presence of remnants of original cartilaginous proteins in this dinosaur,' said paper author and palaeontologist Mary Schweitzer of the North Carolina State University. Another test suggested that the fossils may also even contain some original fragments of dinosaur DNA. These findings fly against conventional scientific understanding, which maintains — based on modelling and experimentation — that DNA likely cannot last for a million years, let alone tens of millions of years. The full findings of the study were published in the journal National Science Review. https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/offbeat/dna-found-preserved-in-75-million-year-old-dinosaur-fossils-for-the-first-time-suggests-that-organic-material-can-survive-much-longer-than-previously-thought/ar-BB10GPqf#image=AAtfeJ8|1

I see you even turned my request down.

New lion, size of a house cat, with bone-crushing teeth, is found in fossil form An artist's rendition of the newly discovered marsupial lion, Lekaneleo roskellyae, hunting in northwestern Queensland. Peter Schouten A marsupial lion the size of a domestic cat, with teeth sharp enough to break bones, has been confirmed as a new genus. Palaeontologists from the University of New South Wales discovered the remains of the tiny lion at Australia's Riversleigh World Heritage Area in Queensland, where scientists have been finding fossils for decades. The new marsupial lion was previously believed to be part of the Priscileo roskellyae (Thylacoleonidae) genus because of its teeth and small size. But when researchers took a closer look at the skull and lower jaw, they noticed the skull anatomy was different from that of other marsupial lions. "As we found more and better specimens at Riversleigh, we began to realize it didn't belong to that group at all," University of New South Wales' Biological, Earth and Environmental Science Professor Michael Archer told CNN on Friday. "It was a new kind of marsupial that hadn't been seen before. It was a different branch on the marsupial lion family tree." In a paper published this month in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, researchers confirmed that the mammal was a new genus of the marsupial lion. Researchers think the marsupial lion, named Lekaneleo roskellyae, lived in trees and ate birds, snakes and other small animals with its bolt-cutting teeth. Marsupial lions died out 35,000 years ago, so researchers look to fossilized remains to help determine how they died and if climate change had any impact. "We see many of these very strange groups that don't have any living representatives, slowly disappearing," Archer told CNN. "Understanding this whole relationship between environmental change and biodiversity is very important in understanding and anticipating what's going to happen now." https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/offbeat/new-lion-size-of-house-cat-with-bone-crushing-teeth-is-found-in-fossil-form/ar-BB10AXLo

Just like Frozen: Homes encased in ice after freezing temperatures SLIDES - 1/3 Lakeside homes in the US have been covered in three feet of ice after two days of gale-force winds. Residents in Hamburg, New York, woke up to find their homes covered in icicles over the weekend. Photographs from the town show the properties, which sit yards from Lake Erie, and nearby trees completely encased in ice - which locals have described as "frightening". Ed Mis, who has lived in the town for eight years, told CNN his neighbours were concerned about how the ice would affect the structure of their homes once it starts melting. "It looks fake, it looks unreal," he said. "It's dark on the inside of my house. It can be a little eerie, a little frightening." Mr Mis said the ice first appeared on Friday morning. "We're worried about the integrity, of structure failure when it starts to melt, because of the weight on the roof," he added. "It's a beautiful sight, but I don't want to live through it again." Related Slideshow: Stunning frozen lakes around the world (Provided by Photo Services) SLIDES - 1/39 The giant icicles were then created when the strong winds blew the water from the lake towards the homes, which then froze. AccuWeather meteorologist Brett Rossio said: "A strong westerly fetch wave and tight pressure gradient promoted both strong winds and heavy snow to fall downwind of the lakes. "The strong winds and high waves were responsible for the significant ice accretion on the homes of Hoover Beach." Hamburg's emergency services manager said the ice must thaw before teams can assess the full extent of the damage to homes. Plans for a break wall and other protective measures are said to have been lodged by town officials. https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/offbeat/just-like-frozen-homes-encased-in-ice-after-freezing-temperatures/ar-BB10Exbj#image=BBFLMbm|1

A new one on Netflix, Awake (2019), not bad but a bit slow going 7/10.

Huge 'space snowman' is two merging stars Researchers have discovered a huge snowman-shaped star with an atmospheric composition never seen before. It is more massive than our Sun but only two-thirds the Earth's diameter. The object is thought to have resulted from the merger of two so-called white dwarf stars that often explode as powerful supernovas. Dr Mark Hollands, of Warwick University, said the team's discovery could help scientists better understand how this process occurs. "The most exciting aspect of this star is that it must have just about failed to explode as a supernova. There aren't that many white dwarfs this massive. "There remains much uncertainty about what kind of stellar systems make it to the supernova stage. Strange as it may sound, measuring the properties of this 'failed' supernova, and future look-alikes are telling us a lot about the pathways to thermonuclear self-annihilation." A white dwarf is what stars like the Sun become at the end of their lives when they have used up all their nuclear fuel. It loses most of its atmosphere, leaving a very hot core. The heavier atoms in its atmosphere sink and the lighter ones remain at the surface. Some white dwarfs have almost pure hydrogen or helium atmospheres. But this star, named WDJ0551+4135, has an atmosphere unusually rich in carbon. Dr Hollands said that initially these observations "didn't make any sense. The only way you can explain it is if it was formed through a merger of two white dwarfs". https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-51707927

How did you get on with this @Eco did you do a Geoffrey Kirui and win?

Is a bit nippy up here buddy but I love the cold, there is snow everywhere except bloody here, not like 5 years ago when we got snowed in and no buses running, you either had to walk to the local shops or if you had a car then just use that.

Nice when you bump into your daughter and youngest grandson Kaiden when shopping in Tesco's, he gives his granddad a hug and then says "You got pennies for me granddad to buy a Roblox?" daughter "NO" granddad "YES" give him his pennies then he gets his Roblox and is a happy wee chappies, so am I, my wallet got hit but I could not give a shite just to see his smiling face.

Best of luck on the bald above buddy better you than me, it takes me all of my time just walking to the loo On the other bit about the family, I hope that gets sorted with a happy ending.