Sometimes, a bloggers life is not a happy one. On those days, becoming more frequent of late, that I have trouble bestirring myself to comment on the sad state of the world, I feel a vague sense of guilt, as if I have some obligation to satisfy the reading requirements of what is a largely non-existent readership. These days, life is tough. As Yogi Berra probably could have said, it’s always deja vu all over again. The gun bill won’t see the light of day, or maybe it will, but either way it will go down to defeat, Harry Reid is mysteriously disappointed that his toothless filibuster reform has proven to be—wait for it– toothless, Wall Street Banks are still too big to prosecute, and our media is still too easily led astray by the memes propagated in the Beltway to distract them, and by extension the American people, from the real problems we face, and the real solutions to those problems. What else is new?
So, something completely different, and rather cool:
A nine-year-old girl has had a prehistoric beast named in her honour after fossilised bones she found turned out to be an undiscovered species.
Daisy Morris from the Isle of Wight stumbled upon the remains on Atherfield beach four years ago.
A scientific paper stated the newly discovered species of pterosaur would be called Vectidraco daisymorrisae.
Fossil expert Martin Simpson said this was an example of how “major discoveries can be made by amateurs”.
Daisy’s mum Sian Morris said her daughter had started fossil hunting aged three and came across the blackened “bones sticking out of the sand” in 2009, when she was four years old.
(via BBC News)
Apparently the Vectidraco daisymorrisae represents a brand spanking new genus, so Daisy’s achievement is quite impressive.
There is no obvious political component to this story, but it was so neat I had to pass it on in lieu of engaging in another futile rant. It brings back happy memories of my younger son, who spent several years living with a dinosaur obsession. Alas, he never discovered a species of his own and at some point his ardor cooled, for he is not now, nor will he ever be a paleontologist. Still, while the obsession lasted, it was great fun.
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