Dinosaur Footprints and Trackmarks

You can do the dinosaur footprint math yourself: If the average Tyrannosaurus rex walked two or three miles per day, it would have left behind thousands of footprints. Multiply that number by T. Rexs multi-decade life span, and youre well into the millions. Of these millions of footprints, the vast majority would have been erased by rain, floods, or the subsequent footprints of other dinosaurs. However, a tiny percentage baked and hardened in the sun, and an even tinier percentage managed to survive to the present day. Because they’re so common, especially compared to complete, articulated dinosaur skeletons, dinosaur footprints are an especially rich source of information about the size, posture, and everyday behavior of their creators. Many professional and amateur paleontologists devote themselves full-time to the study of these trace fossils or as they’re sometimes called, ichnites or ichnofossils. Other examples of trace fossils are coprolites — fossilized dinosaur poop to you and me. How Dinosaur Footprints Fossilize One of the odd things about dinosaur footprints is that they fossilize under different conditions than dinosaurs themselves. The holy grail of paleontologists — a complete, fully articulated dinosaur skeleton, including imprints of soft tissues — usually forms in sudden, catastrophic circumstances, such as when a Parasaurolophus is buried by a sandstorm, drowned in a flash flood, or chased by a predator into a tar pit. Newly-formed footprints, on the other hand, can only hope to be preserved when theyre left alone — by the elements and by other dinosaurs — and given a chance to harden. The necessary condition for dinosaur footprints to survive for 100 million years is that the impression has to be made in soft clay (say, along a lake, coastline, or riverbed), and then baked dry by the sun. Assuming the footprints are well-done enough, they can then persist even after being buried under successive layers of sediment. What this means is that dinosaur footprints aren’t necessarily found only on the surface. They can also be recovered from deep beneath the ground, just like ordinary fossils. What Dinosaurs Made the Footprints? Except in extraordinary circumstances, its pretty much impossible to identify the specific genus or species of dinosaur that made a given footprint. What paleontologists can figure out fairly easily is whether the dinosaur was bipedal or quadrupedal (that is, whether it walked on two or four feet), what geological period it lived in (based on the age of the sediment where the footprint is found), and its approximate size and weight (based on the size and depth of the footprint). As for the type of dinosaur that made the tracks, the suspects can at least be narrowed down. For example, bipedal footprints (which are more common than the quadrupedal kind) could only have been produced by meat-eating theropods (a category that includes raptors, tyrannosaurs, and dino-birds) or plant-eating ornithopods. A trained investigator can distinguish between two sets of prints. For example, theropod footprints tend to be longer and narrower than those of ornithopods. At this point, you might ask: cant we identify the exact owner of a set of footprints by examining any fossil remains unearthed nearby? Sadly, no. As stated above, footprints and fossils are preserved under very different circumstances, so the odds of finding an intact Stegosaurus skeleton buried next to its own footprints are virtually zero. Dinosaur Footprint Forensics Paleontologists can only extract a limited amount of information from a single, isolated dinosaur footprint. The real fun starts when the prints of one or more dinosaurs (of the same or different species) are found along extended tracks. By analyzing the spacing of a single dinosaur’s footprints — both between the left and right feet and forward, in the direction of motion — researchers can make good guesses about the dinosaurs posture and weight distribution (not a small consideration when it comes to larger, bulkier theropods like the huge Giganotosaurus). It may also be possible to determine whether the dinosaur was running rather than walking, and if so, how fast. Footprints also tell scientists whether or not the dinosaur held its tail upright. A droopy tail would have left a telltale skid mark behind the footprints. Dinosaur footprints are sometimes found in groups, which (if the tracks are similar in appearance) counts as evidence of herding behavior. Numerous sets of footprints on a parallel course may be a sign of mass migration or the location of a now-vanished shoreline. These same sets of prints, arranged in a circular pattern, can represent the traces of an ancient dinner party — that is, the dinosaurs responsible were digging into a heap of carrion or a tasty, long-gone tree. More controversially, some paleontologists have interpreted the proximity of carnivorous and herbivorous dinosaur footprints as evidence of ancient chases to the death. This may certainly have been the case, in some instances, but its also possible that the Allosaurus in question tromped along the same patch of ground as the Diplodocus a few hours, a few days, or even a few years later. Don’t Be Fooled Because theyre so common, dinosaur footprints were identified long before anyone had even conceived of the existence of dinosaurs — so these track marks were attributed to giant prehistoric birds! This is a good example of how its possible to be right and wrong at the same time. Its now believed that birds evolved from dinosaurs, so it makes sense that some types of dinosaurs had bird-like footprints. To show how quickly a half-baked idea can spread, in 1858, the naturalist Edward Hitchcock interpreted the latest footprint finds in Connecticut as evidence that herds of flightless, ostrich-like birds once roamed the plains of North America. Over the next few years, this image was taken up by writers as diverse as Herman Melville (author of Moby Dick) and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, who referenced birds unknown, that have left us only their footprints in one of his more obscure poems. Source Longfellow, Henry Wadsworth. To the Driving Cloud. The Belfry of Bruges and Other Poems, Bartleby, 1993.

Halakha, Jewish Religious Law And Religious Commandments

Halakha by definition is Jewish religious law, encompassing both civil and religious commandments and prohibitions. The word Halakha stems from the root meaning to walk. Halakha involves the study of law and customs in the Jewish religion. According to rabbinic law it must be performed to sanctify all life and attain redemption. This idea when introduced was a collection of rabbinic commentaries from the Hebrew bible or the torah. The importance of halakha among Judaism and its trends, ideas, theories etc. is the fact that halakha is trying to integrate itself into the world and not just strictly deal with Jews but integrate itself into the world of non-Jews. Halakha is derived from the oral and written torah. The laws can cover many†¦show more content†¦Responsa are the answers to questions Jews posed in the ancient days, the questions not addressed by halakhic law but questions posed in everyday life. The importance of responsa in Judaism is the fact that we have a physica l database so to speak on questions about Judaism or about practices, we have somewhere where the rabbis answered questions posed by the gaon and Jews of the era and even though they won’t correlate with some questions and situations we go through today as modern Jews in America, the basic questions of Judaism and basic concerns would be covered by the rabbis of the ancient times. The Talmud has many response within it, they cover business ethics, ethics, customs, etc. The most posed questions and answers to the responsa would be rules about ordinary incidents of life. ID: Samuel Ha nagid was born in 993-1055.Samuels real name was Samuel ibn Naghrillah but once he became an intellectual and a major part of Granada Jewry, he changed his name to nagid meaning â€Å"Chief†. Samuel ha nagid was a â€Å"statesmen and a military commander, scholar, and poet who reached the highest level achieved by a Jew in medieval Muslim Spain, serving as vizier of Granada and leading a Muslim army into battle.†(Efron, et.al, glossary). Samuel HaNagid s importance

Paper Bag Free Essays

JoAnna Baugh Greg Bade English 40322 11, September, 2012 Paper bag Essay If you were to give me a paper bag and told me to place three or four things that represented who I am inside of it, I would not know where to start. There are so many things that I could fit in a paper bag that describes me. I think that these three specific items will represent me the most. We will write a custom essay sample on Paper Bag or any similar topic only for you Order Now The first item that I would place inside of the paper bag would be a coffee cup from Starbucks because I am an avid coffee drinker. I have tried to drink coffee straight without creamer or sugar but to no prevail. The taste, in my honest opinion, is revolting and there is no flavor if you do not add anything to your coffee. I also plan on owning my own coffeehouse in the distant future. I have always been involved in culinary arts. My mother got me into it when I was two and ever since then it is all I have been passionate about. I was even in a culinary program when I was in high school and instead of just learning how to cook; it gave me the opportunity to experience what it would be like to work in something similar to Starbucks. Sure, there were times where I thought I could not take anymore, but I got through it and even through the chaos I enjoyed every moment. For my next item, I would choose the music score from Wicked, one of my favorite musicals. My friends at church would go on and on about glorious it was, so I wanted to see what they were getting all worked up about. I went on YouTube that night and listened to the soundtrack, falling in love with it instantly. Although I am getting more affiliated with more and more musicals, Wicked will always be number one. Another reason why I would add a music score is because I love to sing. Especially whenever my mother plays a song on the piano that I know the words to. The final item I would place inside this paper bag would be a pencil. There are so many things I have done with a pencil, but whenever I have a pencil in my hand, I am writing. I am currently writing a few stories and I have a short story in mind that I would like to bring to life. My sister is to blame for my passion for writing. I would always see her writing down whatever she could think of which inspired me to do the same. Ever since that day, writing has become much easier to me, especially free writing. Each item I have put inside of my paper bag has one thing in common. They are all things that I love. I love to drink coffee, if it is flavored of course; I love musicals, mainly Wicked, and to sing; and I love to write. If that does not describe who I am, then I do not know what does. How to cite Paper Bag, Essay examples

The Recent Trend of Online Retail Marketing

Question: Discuss about The Recent Trend of Online Retail Marketing. Answer: Introduction The purpose of the concerned report is to make a critical evaluation of certain aspects related to the recent trend of online retail marketing and its future opportunities. Additionally, the critical discourse has concentrated on to identify and analyze the impact of the growing trend of online retail trading on the traditional retail shopping. In the present era of rapid development through the hand of globalization, e-business is one facet that is growing in fast pace in both the developing and developed nations of the world. Fast technical growth and easy access to the internet has accelerated the emergence of online retail marketing (Gallino Moreno, 2014). This critical assignment therefore aims to understand whether online retail trading is the ultimate future of retail marketing or there is any scope for the re-emergence of traditional retail trading. Comparison and analysis of the recent trend of online retail marketing in developed and developing countries Over last few years, the online retrial marketing around the world is achieving an impressive growth as growth of the e-business has increased more than 20% in the year 2014, which amounts to near about $840 billion (Siqueira et al., 2014). Probably the reason behind this boom in both developing and developed countries is the continuous support from the stock markets and growing success of public offerings. In the developed countries like the United States, Australia and European continent the online retail trading has already set its foot and rapidly dominating the overall retail market. The developing countries on the other side has started to encounter a progressive growth in online retail shopping in an active pace as the rapid development of this aspect in developed countries have contributed a fruitful impact over developing nations. It is fortunate that developing countries are now giving tough competition to the most developed countries. According to the global index of 2013, China and Japan have scored highest than developed countries like US, Germany, Canada, UK, Italy and other ones. The prominent features of the online retail sector in developing countries like China, Hong Kong and United Arab Emirates rely not only upon the consumer behaviour and infrastructure facility but also upon the organized health of their domestic physical retail industries. It is unfortunate at the same time that in comparison with other South East domains, India who is considered to have second biggest population could not make its list in the tip 30 position in global online retail index (Wischenbart, 2013). Nevertheless, instead of grabbing top position developed countries have acquired the top half list of the global index. However, there are certain differences in terms of retailers between developed and developing countries. Retailers in the developed countries who both have virtual and physical stores are concerned more to integrate their in-store with the online ones to maximise customer engagement. On the contrary, the retailers of the developing countries are struggling to develop the logistic and economic infrastructure to break down the barriers related to online retail purchasing (Wischenbart, 2013). However, customers of both the countries possess same purchasing attributes. Critical views regarding online retail trading in future According to Fernie and Sparks (2014), the online retail purchasing sector is expected to grow on fast velocity as the account for retail spending around the world in 2015 will experience a growth by 8.8% in the year 2018 and further by 13% in the year 2019. Therefore, it is understandable that in case of having bright scope in future, both developed and developing countries will found themselves fortunate. The reason behind expecting rapid growth in online retail marketing is the increasing development in the technology and rising consumption of electronic gadgets like tablets, smart phones and laptops. Consumption rate of laptops and personal desktops is high as around 53.9% of the online user access to online stores through them and 33.7% use smart phones for the access (Clemes et al., 2014). Other chief reasons behind this expectation is most of the giant in store retailers like Wal-Mart, Sears and Kmart are going hand in hand with online successors like Amazon. Most of the physi cal stores concentrating on online marketing are implementing smart systems like in store pick up facility, home delivery and designing retail based websites. Amazon, who is considered as the most dominating online retailers of the world, has opened a physical bookstore in the university village of Seattle as a brick and mortar extension. Hence, it is understandable that the future of online retail marketing is hugely depending on the race between online retailers like Amazon and those retailers who are trying to win over both the on line and off line retail stores (Meeker Wu, 2013). To give competition to each other, retailers will implement more technologies and infrastructure in the field of online retailing and through this process the industry will continue its growth. Impact of online retail shopping on traditional retailing It is unfortunate that the growing trend in consumer behaviour to address online retail shopping is affecting negatively upon the physical retail parlours. Instead of trying hard to compete with the online retailer by developing several new channels, most in-store retailers are having rapid reduction in sales density in both developed and developing countries (Labrecque et al., 2013). The reason consumers prefer to buy retrial products online is that online retail purchasing is more convenient and easy. For evidence, in the year 2014, commerce department of US had noticed that e-retailers have consumed near about 8.3% of the unadjusted sales of retail excluding service sector of food and automobile. Consequently, the community retail stores are lagging and struggling. Because of the impact of online retailing, first in-store retailers have encountered decreasing sales for books and toys then reduction of sales have been found in the clothing and thereafter in the grocery system (Morg an-Thomas Veloutsou, 2013). It can be recommended that off line retailers should implement offers that are more lucrative and discount to keep their target market in hand. Conclusion The discourse has bring out some key points which suggest that in the world of online retail marketing, developing countries like China, Japan, Hong Kong are giving hard competition to the developed countries like US, UK and Canada. Most importantly, online retail trading will find a potential buyers market in future as recently physical retail stores are approaching the online retail trading to increase the revenue margin and to give seamless shopping experience. However, the report has pointed out that because of the rapid increase in online shopping, in-store retailers are encountering rapid decrease in sales. References Clemes, M. D., Gan, C., Zhang, J. (2014). An empirical analysis of online shopping adoption in Beijing, China. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 21(3), 364-375. Fernie, J., Sparks, L. (2014). Logistics and retail management: emerging issues and new challenges in the retail supply chain. Kogan Page Publishers. Gallino, S., Moreno, A. (2014). Integration of online and offline channels in retail: The impact of sharing reliable inventory availability information. Management Science, 60(6), 1434-1451. Labrecque, L. I., Patrick, V. M., Milne, G. R. (2013). The marketers prismatic palette: A review of color research and future directions. Psychology Marketing, 30(2), 187-202. Meeker, M., Wu, L. (2013, May). Internet trends. In Proc D11 Conference. Rancho Palos Verdes. Morgan-Thomas, A., Veloutsou, C. (2013). Beyond technology acceptance: Brand relationships and online brand experience. Journal of Business Research, 66(1), 21-27. Siqueira, A. C. O., Webb, J. W., Bruton, G. D. (2014). Informal entrepreneurship and industry conditions. Entrepreneurship Theory and practice. Wischenbart, R. (2013). The global eBook market: current conditions future projections. " O'Reilly Media, Inc.".