All posts by Cathy Palmer-Lister

Dinosaurs and Company

Small mammal preyed on dinosaurs

https://www.cbc.ca/news/science/mammal-dinosaur-fossilized-pompeii-1.6909666

Preserved animals provide rare direct glimpse into ancient interactions

Thomson Reuters ·
Two fossil skeletons, a dinosaur and a mammal, are entangled.
This fossil shows the entangled skeletons of the horned dinosaur, Psittacosaurus, and the badger-like mammal, Repenomamus robustus, just before death. The scale bar equals 10 centimetres. (Gang Han)

A badger-like mammal died while chomping into the ribs of a hapless horned plant-eating dinosaur struggling to escape more than 100 million years ago. The pair were perfectly preserved, still locked in combat, in “China’s dinosaur Pompeii,” researchers report.

Dating to the Cretaceous Period, the dramatic fossil unearthed in northeastern China shows the four-legged mammal Repenomamus robustus — the size of a domestic cat — ferociously entangled with the beaked two-legged dinosaur Psittacosaurus lujiatunensis, as big as a medium-sized dog.

Scientists suspect they were suddenly engulfed in a volcanic mudflow and buried alive during mortal combat.

“Dinosaurs nearly always outsized their mammal contemporaries, so traditional belief has been that their interactions were unilateral — the bigger dinosaurs always ate the smaller mammals,” said paleobiologist Jordan Mallon of the Canadian Museum of Nature in Ottawa, who helped lead the study published in the journal Scientific Reports.

“Here, we have good evidence for a smaller mammal preying on a larger dinosaur, which is not something we would have guessed without this fossil,” Mallon said.

A black and white drawing of a mammal attacking a horned dinosaur.
An illustration shows what the two skeletons would have looked
like at their moment of death, 125 million years ago, based on the fossils. (Michael Skrepnick)

 

READ MORE: https://www.cbc.ca/news/science/mammal-dinosaur-fossilized-pompeii-1.6909666

Astronomy News

A SIGNIFICANT EXPLOSION ON THE SUN

Space Weather News for July 18, 2023
https://spaceweather.com
https://www.spaceweatheralerts.com

A SIGNIFICANT EXPLOSION ON THE SUN: Giant sunspot AR3363 finally blew its top. An hours-long explosion on July 18th hurled a massive CME into space and triggered a radiation storm around Earth. The CME might graze our planet later this week. Full story @ Spaceweather.com.

Solar Flare alerts: Sign up for Space Weather Alerts to receive instant text messages when strong flares are underway.
[] 
Above: Debris from today’s M6-class explosion. Credit: NASA/Solar Dynamics Observatory.

Fanzines

Zines to share!


This week’s new issues at https://efanzines.com:

John Purcell’s Askance #55

Opuntia #553, edited by Dale Speirs

Rich Lynch’s My Back Pages #28

Christopher J. Garcia’s Claims Department #46

Octothorpe #87, a regular fannish podcast by John Coxon, Alison Scott and Liz Batty, is now on line

—

From Lebyl in Israel:CCJuly2023-v01

From the N3F, Tightbeam

Tightbeam346
  Table of Contents
Art
Front Cover… Armada by Jose Sanchez
12… Tigana Dragon by Artist Fish
Back Cover… Big Splash by Tiffanie Gray

Letter of Comment
4… Lloyd Penney
Anime
4… Action Heroine Cheer Fruits… Review by Jessi Silver
Poetry
7… The 2019 Rhysling Anthology Edited by David C. Kopaska-Merkel…Review by Jean-Paul Garnier
ProZines of Years Past
8… Review by Heath Row
SerCon
10… H. Beam Piper Bio-Bibliography by Jon D. Swartz, Ph.D.
Television
13… Musings on Picard and the Star Trek Franchise by Chris Nuttall
Short Stories
15… F&SF May/June 2023… Review by Heath Row
Television
16… Fantastic Television: Travelers Review by Heath Row
Food of Famous Authors
18… Eat This While You Read That: Margaret Ball… Cooking by Cedar Sanderson

Awards, CSFFA / Aurora Award / Hall of Fame

CSFFA Hall of Fame Inductees, 2023


CSFFA Hall of Fame Inductees, 2023

CSFFA has inducted three people into the Hall of Fame, in 2023. Congratulations to John Robert Colombo, Michelle Sagara, and Clifford Samuels for their induction. Thank you to the 2023 Hall of Fame Jury for their work. Here are very brief bios of the inductees (please visit their web sites for more info about them).

John Robert Colombo has been called “the Master Gatherer” for his compilations of Canadiana. He is a member of the Order of Canada and Order of Ontario, and has written, compiled, and translated more books than any other serious Canadian author. More than 200 titles of his books have been published since 1960. http://colombo.ca/

Michelle Sagara has written over 40 fantasy novels and has been nominated twice for the Astounding Award for Best New Writer (the award underwent a recent name change). She also has a long running book review column, Musing on Books, for The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, with over 50 columns. https://michellesagara.com/

Clifford Samuels is the Aurora Awards Administrator and has been a pillar of support for Calgary fandom for almost four decades, his contribution reaching beyond the city, beyond the province, indeed, beyond the country.

See more at the Hall of Fame page: https://www.csffa.ca/the-csffa-hall-of-fame/

Astronomy News

A SUNSPOT SO BIG YOU CAN SEE IT FROM MARS

A SUNSPOT SO BIG YOU CAN SEE IT FROM MARS: A huge sunspot (AR3363)  just emerged over the sun’s southeastern limb. Mars rover Perseverance saw it before we did. On July 2nd, the rover’s mast-mounted stereo camera (MASTCAM-Z) tilted up to the sky above Jezaro crater and photographed a deep-black dot on the solar disk:


Zoran Knez of Croatia assembled this montage using publically available NASA images

Perseverance does this all the time. Using a solar filter, the rover looks at the sun almost every day to check its brightness. When the sun dims, researchers know a dust storm is brewing–one of the most important forms of weather on the Red Planet.

Sunspots are just a bonus. A recent study shows that Perseverance sees more than 40% of all sunspots despite the fact that Mars is 78 million km farther from the sun than Earth and the rover’s camera doesn’t put many pixels across the solar disk. It is able to resolve about 10% of the biggest sunspots into multiple pixels.

Perseverance has one big advantage. It can see parts of the sun we cannot. From where Mars is currently located, Perseverance views more than half the sun’s farside, giving it a preview of sunspots still hidden from Earth. That’s how the rover spotted AR3363 days in advance.

People on Earth saw the sunspot for the first time on July 5th:

“A very big sunspot is coming!” says photographer Philippe Tosi of Nîmes, France, who inserted an image of Earth for scale.

Just don’t forget, Perseverance saw it first. Daily photos from Perseverance are available here. Select the date and camera (MASTCAM-Z), then start looking for sunspots.

more images: from Philip Smith of Manorville, New York; from P-M Hedén of Vallentuna Sweden; from Sylvain Weiller of Jerusalem, Israel

Fanzines

Lots of zines now available for poolside reading!

From South Africa:

Good day all Here is the June issue of PROBE, number 196. I hope you enjoy reading it    PROBE196X

Best

Gail

From Bill Burns at e-fanzines:

Editors have been busy this week, with eleven titles having new issues. Added at https://efanzines.com are:

  • Alexiad #123 through 128 edited by Lisa & Joseph Major
  • Graeme Cameron’s BCSFAZine #554
  • Nic Farey’s This Here…#66
  • Andy Hooper’s CAPTAIN FLASHBACK #55
  • Opuntia #551, edited by Dale Speirs
  • Octothorpe #86, a regular fannish podcast by John Coxon, Alison Scott and Liz Batty, is now on line
  • Christopher J. Garcia’s Claims Department #44
  • Kurt Erichsen’s Endeavor #16
  • Guy & Rosy Lillian’s 2004 archive trip report The Antipodal Route
  • Guy H. Lillian III’s Spartacus #66
  • Bruce Gillespie’s SF Commentary #113

And another update followed:

To the sound of fireworks, I have added these new issues to https://efanzines.com:

  • J.L. Farey’s JenZine #5
  • Journey Planet #74, edited by James Bacon, Chris Garcia et al. Vincent Docherty special issue
  • Perry Middlemiss’s Perryscope #34
  • Christopher J. Garcia’s Claims Department #45
  • Opuntia #552, edited by Dale Speirs

From Garth an update to CUFF:

Even yet more news about the Canadian Unity Fan Fund! Slowly but surely WE ADVANCE!  Shooting My CUFFs #3

From Nic Farey:

“Authority is supposedly grounded in wisdom, but I could see from a very early age that authority was only a system of control. And it didn’t have any inherent wisdom. I quickly realized that you either became a power or you were crushed.”   TH 66

From Joe Major: Alex129

From the N3F:

Yes, a new issue of Eldritch Science the N3F Fiction zine .ES202306

 

Reading

Locus: New books for July

JULY 2023

  • GARTH NIX  • Sir Hereward and Mister Fitz • Harper Voyager US, Jul 2023 (c, hc, eb)
  • GARTH NIX  • Sir Hereward and Mister Fitz • Orion UK/Gollancz, Jul 2023 (c, hc, eb)
  • PAUL TREMBLAY  • The Beast You Are • HarperCol­lins/Morrow, Jul 2023 (c, hc, eb)
  • T.L. HUCHU • The Mystery at Dunvegan Castle • Macmillan/Tor UK, Jul 2023 (h, hc, eb)
  • SILVIA MORENO-GARCIA  • Silver Nitrate • Quercus/Jo Fletch­er UK, Jul 2023 (h, hc, eb)
  • SILVIA MORENO-GARCIA  • Silver Nitrate • Penguin Random House/Del Rey, Jul 2023 (h, hc, eb)
  • NEAL ASHER • War Bodies • Macmillan/Tor UK, Jul 2023 (hc, eb)
  • D.J. BUTLER • Between Princesses and Other Jobs • Baen, Jul 2023 (hc, eb)
  • P. DJÈLÍ CLARK • Abeni’s Song • Tor/Starscape, Jul 2023 (hc, eb)
  • JASPER FFORDE • Red Side Story • Hodder & Stough­ton UK, Jul 2023 (hc, eb)
  • SHARON LEE & STEVE MILLER • Salvage Right • Baen, Jul 2023 (hc, eb)
  • VIOLETTE MALAN • The Court War • Astra House/DAW, Jul 2023 (hc, eb)
  • GEORGE R.R. MARTIN, ET AL. • Wild Cards: Pairing Up • Penguin Random House/Del Rey, Jul 2023 (hc, eb)
  • SEANAN MCGUIRE • Be Sure • Tordotcom, Jul 2023 (om, tp, hc)
  • SEBASTIEN DE CASTELL • Fate of the Argosi • Hot Key Books UK, Jul 2023 (ya, hc, eb)
Awards, CSFFA / Aurora Award / Hall of Fame

Aurora Awards Voting Info & Voters’ Package

From the CSFFA, news of the Aurora Awards.Membership is not expensive, and the voter package is well worth the cost. The deadline for membership is tomorrow!

Aurora Awards Voting Info & Voters’ Package

In this newsletter:

  1. Voting information for this year’s Aurora Awards
  2. Aurora Awards Voters’ Package
  3. Change of dates for membership payments and voters’ package download
  4. Reminder: CSFFA AGM June 25

Voting has begun: how to vote in this year’s Aurora Awards

Voting is open for CSFFA members.  You have until 11:59 pm EDT on July 29th, 2023, to submit your ballot.  Remember, vote for what you know.  You do not have to vote in all categories, and you do not have to rank all nominated works.

We use a ranked or alternate voting method.  To vote, sort your choices from 1 (your favourite) to 5 (your least favourite).  For full details about this and how votes are tabulated, go to our about voting method page, https://www.csffa.ca/about/aurora-awards-voting-method/

Unlike our nomination process, when you submit your ballot, it will be locked, and you will NOT be able to make any changes or return to it another day.  Do not start to vote until you are sure you know everything you wish to vote for.

We are using the same voting form that we used last year.  It is easy to use.  Each category allows you to move your selections either with your mouse or finger (if you have a touch screen) on most devices.  Move your choices above the voting line which says, “No pick underneath this line will be counted”.  As you do this your choice will show you what its ranking is.  If you make a mistake, you can move your choice to a different position or back below the voting line.

For your ballot to count you must click the “Send Ballot” button at the bottom of the form.  This will lock and submit your selections.  Do NOT submit your choices until all of your selections are arranged.  This must be done at the same time since you will not be able to return to edit or add to your ballot once it has been submitted.  If you close the form before you submit all of your choices, they will be cleared and not saved, and you will have to start again.

So, download and read the nominated works that are in our voters’ package.  When you are done, go to our online voting form and rank all of your choices.  When you’ve done this for all the categories that you’re interested in, click the “Send Ballot” button at the bottom of the form to lock and submit them.

Join us for our online awards ceremony at 7 pm EDT on August 19th to find out who takes home this year’s trophies.  We will be live streaming on both Facebook and YouTube.

2023 Aurora Awards Voters’ Package

The Voters’ Package is now available for the 2023 Aurora Awards. It can be accessed and the files downloaded from https://www.csffa.ca/members-home/. You must be logged into your account to access it.

Good luck to all of the nominees. Voting will begin on June 17th and close six weeks later on July 29th. The awards ceremony will be held online starting at 7pm EDT, August 19th, 2023. The ceremony will be hosted by Mark Leslie Lefebvre and Liz Anderson. Links to both a Facebook and YouTube page for the ceremony will be posted in August.

Change of dates for membership payments and voters package download

We are changing the closing date for people to purchase CSFFA memberships and to download works from our voters’ package.  The new date is 11:59pm EDT, July 22nd, 2023.  This does NOT affect voting for the awards, that date is still one week later, July 29th.

Membership Payments:  Purchases of CSFFA memberships must be made one week prior to the close of voting.  If you purchase your membership and your account has not been automatically updated, then you must contact us ASAP.  Do NOT wait days, contact us with a copy of your payment notice from PayPal.  We will manually update your account.

Voters Package:  The download form for the voters package will also close one week prior to the close of voting.  If you have not taken what you wish to read it will be unavailable.

The CSFFA board felt that members should be part of the society at least a week prior to when voting closes.  We provide the voters package to help you vote and if you don’t download it until the last few days, you don’t have time to read the works before you vote.  The other reason is that we don’t feel the support team should be scrambling for those who decide to only join at the last moment and have problems.

We hope CSFFA members appreciate that our board members are all volunteers and cannot be monitoring the site 24/7.

Reminder: CSFFA AGM June 25, 2023

To attend the AGM, email president@csffa.ca. You will be emailed a Zoom link a few days before June 25.

The 2023 CSFFA AGM materials and motions can be viewed by logged-in members (Home page -> Annual General Meeting). Members can vote until June 24.

The AGM will begin Sunday June 25, 10 a.m. Pacific/ 11 a.m. Mountain/ noon Central/ 1 p.m. Eastern/ 2 p.m. Atlantic/ and one half-hour later, Newfoundland & Labrador.