Asteroid may have killed dinosaurs quicker than scientists thought

By Irene Klotz

CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida | Fri Feb 8, 2013 4:56am EST

CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida (Reuters) - Dinosaurs died off about 33,000 years after an asteroid hit the Earth, much sooner than scientists had believed, and the asteroid may not have been the sole cause of extinction, according to a study released Thursday.

Earth's climate may have been at a tipping point when a massive asteroid smashed into what is now Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula and triggered cooling temperatures that wiped out the dinosaurs, researchers said.

The time between the asteroid's arrival, marked by a 110-mile-(180-km-)wide crater near Chicxulub, Mexico, and the dinosaurs' demise was believed to be as long as 300,000 years.

The study, based on high-precision radiometric dating techniques, said the events occurred within 33,000 years of each other.

Other scientists had questioned whether dinosaurs died before the asteroid impact.

"Our work basically puts a nail in that coffin," geologist Paul Renne of the University of California Berkeley said.

The theory that the dinosaurs' extinction about 66 million years ago was linked to an asteroid impact was first proposed in 1980. The biggest piece of evidence was the so-called Chicxulub (pronounced "cheek'-she-loob") crater off the Yucatan coast in Mexico.

It is believed to have been formed by a six-mile-(9.6-km-) wide object that melted rock as it slammed into the ground, filling the atmosphere with debris that eventually rained down on the planet. Glassy spheres known as tektites, shocked quartz and a layer of iridium-rich dust are still found around the world today.

Renne and colleagues reanalyzed both the dinosaur extinction date and the crater formation event and found they occurred within a much tighter window in time than previously known. The study looked at tektites from Haiti, tied to the asteroid impact site, and volcanic ash from the Hell Creek Formation in Montana, a source of many dinosaur fossils.

NEW DATING TECHNIQUE

"The previous data that we had ... actually said that they (the tektites and the ash) were different in age, that they differed by about 180,000 years and that the extinction happened before the impact, which would totally preclude there being a causal relationship," said Renne, who studies ties between mass extinctions and volcanism.

He and colleagues were comparing a new technique to date geologic events when they realized there was a discrepancy in the timing - the so-called 'K-T boundary' - the geological span of time between the Cretaceous and Paleocene periods when the dinosaurs and most other life on Earth died out.

"I realized there was a lot of room for improvement. Even though many people had locked in their opinions that the impact and the extinctions were synchronous or not, they were basically ignoring the existing data," Renne said.

The study, published in Science, resolves existing uncertainty about the relative timing of the events, notes Heiko P?like of the Center for Marine Environmental Sciences at the University of Bremen, Germany.

Renne, for one, does not believe the asteroid impact was the sole reason for the dinosaurs' demise. He says ecosystems already were in a state of deterioration due to a major volcanic eruption in India when the asteroid struck.

The asteroid strike "provided the coup-de-grace for the final extinctions," Renne said, adding that the theory was speculative, but backed by previous ties between mass extinction events and volcanic eruptions.

About 1 million years before the impact, Earth experienced six abrupt shifts in temperature of more than 2 degrees in continental mean annual temperatures, according to research cited by Renne and his co-authors.

The temperature swings include one shift of 6 to 8 degrees that happened about 100,000 years before the extinction.

"The brief cold snaps in the latest Cretaceous, though not necessarily of extraordinary magnitude, were particularly stressful to a global ecosystem that was well adapted to the long-lived preceding Cretaceous hothouse climate. The Chicxulub impact then provided a decisive blow to ecosystems," Renne and his co-authors wrote in Science.

(Editing by Tom Brown and Stacey Joyce)

Source: http://feeds.reuters.com/~r/reuters/scienceNews/~3/CpSlATWnh7c/us-space-asteroid-dinosaurs-idUSBRE91618A20130208

London 2012 Table Tennis badminton Dominique Dawes Gabby Olympic Gymnast Robyn Lawley Gore Vidal mlb trade rumors

Hollywood Scoop

Hollywood Scoop

Lynsi Torres: America’s Youngest Female Billionaire?[The Frisky] Kim Kardashian Wants Divorce Finalized Before Giving Birth?[HollyWire] Check Out Justin Timberlake’s ‘Suit & Tie’?[Right Celebrity?] Madonna Fights Back at Adoption Criticism?[The Celebrity Cafe] Leonardo DiCaprio Dating Another Model?[The Blemish] Julianne Hough Goes Sheer for ‘Safe Haven’ Premiere?[The Huffington Post] Vanessa Hudgens Stuns at New York Fashion Week?[Radar ...

Hollywood Scoop Stupid Celebrities Gossip Stupid Celebrities Gossip News

Source: http://stupidcelebrities.net/2013/02/hollywood-scoop-13/

nike new nfl uniforms nfl uniforms andrew bailey the village dallas fort worth tornado dallas tornadoes dallas weather

Choosing Between a House and Apartment ? The Gin Lady

5 hours ago

Apartment housing has grown in popularity, possibly due to the rise of single-person households or households without children. Apartment housing might also be popular with baby boomers who are looking to downsize as their children leave the family home. However, houses still offer a number of benefits. We look at the benefits of each type of property and which might be best for you.

?

Benefits of apartments

Lower cost

Apartments are generally cheaper to buy or to rent than houses, and so you might be able to choose a property located in a more convenient location closer to the inner city to cut down on commuting time if you buy an apartment instead of a house. Hence, choosing to buy an apartment rather than a house could enable new home buyers to save up more quickly, as they?ll need a smaller deposit for their home loans.

Less maintenance

While you?ll usually need to pay body corporate or strata title fees, there is usually less maintenance work to do if you live in an apartment. Most of the common areas such as hallways, common garden areas, and other shared spaces will be taken care of by the body corporate.

Convenient lifestyle

Less maintenance usually means a more convenient lifestyle. In addition to possible location advantages, this could help you save more time, which can be important if you?re living a busy lifestyle.

Location

If you?re on a tight budget for your property purchase, you might be able to buy in a better location closer to the inner city (or closer to your workplace) if you opt for an apartment instead of a house.

Benefits of houses

Spaciousness

Houses offer more space for living than most apartments. For a family with children, this can be a vital factor.

Garden and outdoor living

Houses also tend to offer more variety in the types of living spaces available, with more outdoor living and indoor living spaces. You could have an outdoor kitchen, a patio, a deck, and a large garden for greater enjoyment. These, if available, tend to be shared spaces in apartment housing.

Privacy

As houses (other than townhouses and units) usually don?t have shared or communal areas such as hallways or shared driveways, they can offer more privacy.

No strata title or body corporate fees

No strata title or body corporate could mean you have greater freedom to make changes to your home, though this is probably more relevant if you?re renting rather than buying. For example, you might be able to upgrade and switch to renewable energy systems such as natural gas or solar power with greater ease.

Capital growth

If you?re buying, a house could offer more capital growth than an apartment, though this would depend on factors such as the location and other features in the house.

Houses vs. apartments

While houses are more expensive than apartments, there are major advantages to living in a house. Houses are spacious, they offer more privacy, and they usually provide more outdoor living spaces.

However, many people choose to live in apartments not only for the cost savings, but for the sense of community, convenience, location, and lifestyle. There are no garden or yard upkeep requirements associated with apartments; the compact space makes it convenient for singles or small families who lack sufficient time for garden maintenance.

Source: http://www.ccmep.org/choosing-between-a-house-and-apartment/

robbie robertson the curious case of benjamin button secret service prostitute rich ross april 20 jennifer love hewitt secret service prostitution

Green Blog: A Climate Proposal: Bundling Consumer Buying Power

Each year, an estimated 46 percent of the population is responsible for 77 percent of discretionary spending in the United States. To strengthen individual buying power, a Santa Barbara-based entrepreneur and philanthropist has proposed a new social enterprise to finance climate change solutions, among other social justice and humanitarian issues.

The Big Idea, a nonprofit corporation founded by the entrepreneur Chris Norton and initially backed by his $11 million donation, is loosely modeled after the A.A.R.P., the membership organization that promotes the interests of retired people. The aim is to unify individuals with common interests.

Acting as a green intermediary, The Big Idea bundles purchases of regular services like like cellphone plans and auto insurance ? what Mr. Norton calls ?low-engagement? products? ? to achieve social impact. By harnessing group buying power, members achieve a cost savings and share it with social justice and environmental action groups like the Natural Resources Defense Council, Environmental Defense Fund and 350.org, among others.

The Big Idea doesn?t plan to measure direct benefits to the environment. Contributions will be made to environmental action groups and social justice groups that size up their own success at meeting their strategic goals.

Mr. Norton, a Santa Barbara, Calif.-based executive and the co-author of an e-book titled ?113 Million Markets of One,? said that individuals may want to wield their economic power to help solve social issues but don?t have a mechanism to do so as a group. Most don?t take the time to do due diligence themselves, he said, especially on their regular ?service? purchases.

?The Big Idea has the ethics of Patagonia, scalability of Facebook, and buying power of Costco,? Mr. Norton said. With grass-roots buying power, they can support companies that ?pay a living wage to employees, take care of the environment and pay taxes in the U.S.,? he said. The group can also help consumers foster environmental solutions through purchases that are not ordinarily associated with the environment.

Is all of this feasible?

Americus Reed, a professor of marketing at the Wharton School, said that social impact branding is a popular topic in marketing these days, especially among start-ups seeking to leverage the idea that consumers can do something for the collective good. He cites Warby Parker, a company that sells designer eyeglasses and donates a certain amount of money to purchase glasses for people in poor countries.

?As a way to differentiate your company right now, social impact branding is a hot branding approach,? Dr. Reed said.
Yet as more and more companies develop a social brand, consumers will become desensitized and the tactic will prove less effective, he predicts.

?By the time you hear about the 15th company doing something like this, then sometimes consumers will have a skeptical reaction,? he said. ? ?It?s just a marketing gimmick,? they?ll say, as opposed to being an authentic DNA of the company. So that?s a big challenge for sustaining this kind of branding over time.?

Often consumers doubt that their individual choices will make a difference. ?In the tragedy of the commons, everyone assumes everyone else is going to help, and no one ends up helping,? Dr. Reed said. In addition, he said consumers have much opportunity with social media to do the philanthropic giving themselves.

Yet a word-of-mouth, groundswell approach might help change consumer thinking around something so tedious as paying a phone bill, he said, if The Big Idea can counter the inertia.

?It?s going to be a huge challenge,? he said.

Source: http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/02/07/a-climate-proposal-bundling-consumer-buying-power/?partner=rss&emc=rss

chris anderson rondo suspended bay bridge presidents day band of brothers presidents george washington

Video allegedly shows Syrian soldiers dancing to Usher song

A video has emerged online which appears to show Syrian soldiers dancing to Usher's hit song "Yeah!"

By Becky Bratu, Staff Writer, NBC News

A video posted on YouTube allegedly shows Syrian soldiers dancing to R&B singer Usher's 2004 hit song "Yeah!"

Though unverified, the video is being highlighted by both pro and anti-regime activists on social media, The Associated Press reported.

In the clip, heavily armed soldiers dressed in camouflage and flak jackets can be seen bobbing their heads to the music at first, then standing up and moving their feet and hips to the beat, their weapons pointed in the air.

Grinning, the men then get in a line and walk past the camera, still moving their gun-wielding arms and bobbing their heads.

The dancing stops toward the end of the nearly 2-minute-long video, as a loud bang is heard and the soldiers break out into a battle cry that translates to, "With our souls, our blood, we sacrifice for you Bashar!"? -- referring to embattled Syrian President Bashar Assad -- according to the AP.

Some of the soldiers then begin spraying bursts of gunfire in the air.

The AP reported that the video was purportedly filmed in southern Syria. The uniforms appear to be consistent with those worn by Syrian soldiers, the news agency said.

Source: http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/02/07/16888946-video-allegedly-shows-syrian-soldiers-dancing-to-usher-song?lite

bear grylls us news law school rankings gael glen rice jr bars lindzi cox bachelor finale

Product Launches ? What You Should Know | Email Marketing

There are so many different aspects of both online and offline business that have the potential for overwhelming anyone. All the old vets of internet marketing who pioneered eczematreatmentsite.org went through that and know the deal. There are several reasons why those who are making money with their business tend to outsource as much as possible. We understand if you are not quite at that point, though, but there is much available that is very low cost or no cost. There is nothing more frustrating than learning the hard way, and we are talking about getting educated about any new marketing or business method, first. However, regardless of how you approach outsourcing or anything else, just recover and roll with any mistakes you may make. Releasing an internet product and making certain that it will be effective is all about doing the small things the right way and being certain that the timing is right. There are many good products out there that ended up making low impact on their launch day just because the simple factors weren?t focused upon. The product originator has to prepare things the right way in order to ensure that the product gets the right amount of exposure and sales when it is launched. So, what kinds of things must be dealt with before a product is launched? Let?s look at a few of these in this article. Ensure Your Site?s Functioning Properly: This step is vital because your site is where your potential customers will be making their purchases. Double check to make sure all the links on your website are working properly before your site goes live. Be sure to test your payment gateway for errors; after all you don?t want to lose orders because of it. Your customer should be guided to the ?Thank You? page without any issues, as well, after they complete their order. In order to make this whole process smoother, ask your customers for their suggestions whenever possible. Understand Your Product?s USP: When looking to launch a product, you need to know how important it is to make it different from everything else on the market. Having a unique selling proposition is something that no Internet marketer can ignore; it doesn?t matter what niche your product is being launched in, as long as you understand the value of having a USP you?re good to go. Be sure to do your homework before hitting the launch button, and research and review to make sure you get it right. Failing to get your USP right can keep you from making a huge impact with your launch. Everybody wants more from their business such as profits, and testing and tracking is one of the surest ways to get more. Here is an example, you can test something new with this site in your email marketing by only mailing to half your list. Tools such as various forms of testing, and we have only briefly touched on it, are what those who are most serious will ever do; not those who are lazy or looking for fast money. Carelessness along with incomplete knowledge of certain things makes for a tricky combination. The scope of some projects can quickly and easily overwhelm a lot of newer marketers, and in that case do some testing and see what your results are. Remember that the nature of testing by default implies it will be a small scale operation. Any time you want to implement something new and untried on one of your sites, then think about a small scale test on an appropriate page. Before you roll-out your well thought out test, do not forget to track all that you are doing so you can interpret the results. Be Around for Your Customers: Be Available for Your Customers: A lot of marketers will fail to keep the hype going after a product launch, but this is a requirement. Be available to provide product assistance for your product, if need be. Taking the right steps at the right time is what helps create a successful product launch. Applying these tips will make launching your product successfully easier.

Source: http://emailmarketing.de.gg/2013/02/07/product-launches-what-you-should-know/

earthquake california earthquake california roy orbison the third man 2012 nfl draft order mohamed sanu chris polk

ECB's Draghi says eurozone growth likely in 2013

BERLIN (AP) ? Mario Draghi, the president of the European Central Bank, has given a cautiously upbeat assessment of the prospects of the economy of the 17 European Union countries that use the euro.

He says inflation will likely fall below the 2 percent target in the coming months and that economic growth would likely resume thanks to low borrowing rates, an improvement in financial market conditions and a pick-up in global demand.

The eurozone economy is currently in recession.

Draghi says Thursday that the risks to inflation are "broadly balanced" but that the risks to growth are "to the downside."

Draghi is speaking after the ECB kept its main interest rate on hold at the record low of 0.75 percent. The euro's strength is likely to feature heavily in his press briefing.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/ecbs-draghi-says-eurozone-growth-likely-2013-140043724--finance.html

netflix les miserables Django Unchained iTunes Alfred Morris weight watchers fandango