A dinosaur nicknamed the "chicken from hell" was described by a team
of paleontologists in a study released Wednesday, and researchers say it
is even weirder then they first imagined.
The dinosaur's official name is Anzu wyliei, but
it was nicknamed the chicken from hell because it reminded researchers
of a giant clawed chicken with a neck like an ostrich.
And from North Dakota.
The dinosaur had a rounded crest on its head and a long, strong tail.
Its jaws were tipped by a toothless beak, and it was probably covered
in feathers.
The description of Anzu wyliei comes from three fossils
found in North and South Dakota that together make an almost complete
skeleton. The fossils were discovered in rock that is about 66 million
years old, which means Anzu wyliei lived at the tail end of the age of dinosaurs, at the same time as the T-rex and stegosaurus.
And where was it found?
But perhaps the coolest part of this find is that it was made in the
Hell Creek Formation, one of the most picked-over areas of the world for
dinosaur fossils.
"The fact that this big, distinctive, very weird-looking animal
remained effectively hidden in one of the best-explored set of rocks
shows you how much more out there is left to be found," Lamanna said.
One more thing (a natural gas deal with Shell) that Ukraine missed out. So let's take a look: no more $98 million per year from Russia for the naval base; no more $15 billion, no strings attached aid; no more discount gas from now on from
Gazprom. Lukoil stopped oil flow to Ukraine, no more talks with Shell
for extracting oil, lost Crimea permanently. Ukraine really screwed the
pooch here on this one. I bet this new government
didn't predict this one, huh? Wow, this is a complete circus, but its ok. The Ukraine will get $1 billion dollar loan from US that will go straight to
Russia's pocket for natural gas payments, and the Ukraine will still owe about $1
billion to Russia.
If Putin wants the whole country, he doesn't have to do a thing -- just wait the Ukraine out -- I give the country one harsh winter .... unless, of course, Merkel and Obama want to step in and start sending the Ukraine several billion dollars every year for the next decade.
I always enjoy receiving a new set of photographs from Vern Whitten. Seldom do I get a long comment on the photos, but a reader sent me the following note, which is quite enjoyable.
I noticed slides 12 - 15 are photos of White Earth Bay.
In slide 12, on the left is the Hess 12-well pad in NWNW
26-154-94 on which Hess has been drilling the EN-Leo and EN-Freda wells that Ihave been discussing.On the right is a
Continental pad where they are drilling several Vachal wells in NENE 27-154-94.In the Hess spacing unit, section 26 extends
south to the lake, and section 35 is almost entirely in the lake.
Across White Earth Bay to the east is Continental's 25-36
spacing unit that has yet to see a drill bit, and that spacing unit goes down to the lake's
edge.Across the bay and around the
point, southeast down the lake shore a bit is Continental's 30-well Jersey pad
off to the left.Most of Its 4-section
spacing unit is in the lake, and immediately to its west is another Continental
4-section spacing unit that again is mostly in the lake and which Continental
will drill from the south side.
In slide 14, north of the Hess pad is section 23 where the
EN-Leo H-1, 2 & 3 wells are.Just
under two miles to the east Hess is putting in a pad to drill an additional 4
permitted EN-Leo wells back to the west across the 23-24 spacing unit.
In slide 13 is the Nabors B5 rig that has drilled, other
than the spud work, all the EN-Leo and EN-Freda wells to-date.
Link here. Thank you, Don. In case the link breaks, it has to do with the phenomenal US crude oil production and US crude oil export over the past several decades in graphic form. Striking.
The comments are as entertaining as the graphs are educational. One comment:
Hell_Is_Like_Newark
In NJ we went through a 50% increase
in retail electrical costs in order to pay for a massive increase in
solar, wind, and other green projects. Result after years of build out
(per EIA): Less than 1% of all the electricity generated comes from
these green sources. It’s supposed to be 20% at some point.
Green energy is an unmitigated disaster and deserves to be thrown into the ash pit of history.
Porsche
is set to completely manufacture a car outside Germany for the first
time, marking a departure from its proud brand claim that all its
vehicles are “Made in Germany.”
Matthias Müller, Porsche chief executive, said on Tuesday that after
2016 the next generation of the Cayenne SUV – a vehicle that currently
accounts for roughly half of Porsche sales – will be manufactured
entirely in Bratislava, Slovakia.
I love the "stated" reason: to be closer to their fast-growing markets. I can't make that up.
According
to google maps, Stuttgart (Porsche HQ/Factory) and Bratislava are less
than 500 miles apart. That would be like Mall of America moving to
Williston to be closer to a fast-growing market. I doubt the Slovakians
are a fast-growing market for Porsche. This is all about cheap labor. No
unions in Slovakia.
Northern Italy is a bigger Porsche market than eastern Europe. It is almost twice as far from Bratislava to Milan as from Stuttgart to Milan. Just saying. If they wanted to be closer to their markets, Porsche would have moved to Austria or northern Italy. Or North Dakota.
In the agreement with the Department of Justice, the Japanese automaker
admitted that it misled U.S. consumers by concealing and making
deceptive statements about two safety issues affecting its vehicles,
each of which caused a type of unintended acceleration. The case focused
on reports of floor mats jamming gas pedals and sticking gas pedals.
Misleading regulators. No excuse. Incredible. Sad. No better than GM in my book.
If New England’s governors wanted something to help buttress their
case for an unprecedented new electricity tariff, ISO New England just
gave it to them.
The Holyoke-based grid operator reported today that the volatile natural gas market in this region pushed wholesale electric prices up by 55 percent last year.
We’re already seeing some of this at the retail level, but the real
impact will likely be seen in our monthly bills next winter.
Driving this increase is a 76-percent jump in natural gas prices in
New England over the same time frame. This region has become
increasingly reliant on natural gas as older plants are retired, but
pipeline constraints are making it tougher to take advantage of the
cheap shale gas from Pennsylvania.
Wholesale electric rates had hit their lowest point in 2012 since the
current market system took effect in 2003. So we had been enjoying some
benefits from the low-cost Marcellus Shale gas. But it’s going to get
harder to do so as more people and businesses convert from heating oil
to natural gas, putting added pressure on the pipeline network.
And how would they pay for this expanded pipeline network? From the same source, different link:
Here's one more reason to complain about this bitter cold snap we're
all experiencing: It could cause our electric bills to go up again next
year.
We saw this already in the past year, with National Grid's and NStar's rates rising by double-digit percentages this winter.
Blame New England's constrained pipeline capacity: On cold days, the
natural gas pipelines are filled to capacity, but power plants that
normally rely on that gas get bypassed to ensure heating customers get
what they need.
To keep the lights on, more expensive gas is imported
from Canada, and rarely used oil and coal turbines are fired up. (During
this cold weekend, as much as 35 percent of New England's electricity
came from coal and oil, compared to less than 4 percent normally.) This
pattern of tight natural gas supplies and high wholesale electric prices
already happened last February, driving up the cost of electricity to consumers this winter.
Well, top state officials across New England are paying attention, and they've come up with an unprecedented solution.
The New England States Committee on Electricity, a group of the six
governors' top electricity regulators, sent a letter to electric grid
operator ISO New England last week on behalf of the states' governors.
In that letter, the regulators ask ISO New England to approve a tariff
on electricity that would help pay for increased natural gas pipeline
capacity into New England by the end of 2017.
