Latest news with #Jurassic
Telegraph
8 hours ago
- Telegraph
The 10 best things to do in Dorset
Though Dorset's coastline steals the show, some fascinating sights are tucked away in the mellow hinterland too. Perhaps always destined to be the sleepy neighbour to Devon and trendy Somerset, Dorset's lack of fast roads and city sights is part of its draw. There's a wealth of history to dig into, from Jurassic-era fossils on the coast – a natural World Heritage Site – to evidence of neolithic remains, Iron Age hillforts and medieval castles. If you tire of simply relaxing on the many beaches, there are numerous watersports to get the heart racing. The South West Coast Path, meanwhile, keeps walkers happy, charting a rugged route past iconic cliffs and rock formations. All our recommendations below have been hand selected and tested by our resident destination expert to help you discover the best things to do in Dorset. Find out more below or for further inspiration, see our guides to the region's best hotels, restaurants and beaches. Find things to do by type: Best for days out by the sea Swanage and Weymouth Enjoy a traditional day at the seaside If buckets, spades and helter skelters are more your thing, Swanage and Weymouth are two thriving seaside towns with echoes of the past and a friendly atmosphere. Swanage is smaller and less built up, with a fine sweep of sand. Weymouth's beach is complemented by a bustling quayside, where crabbing is popular. Or try Bournemouth's long and lively main beach, with its Victorian pier. Insider tip: The historic steam railway is integral to Swanage's vintage charms. Plan ahead to ride the steam carriage at sunset, past fireworks during Swanage carnival or catch it to watch outdoor cinema in the ruins of Corfe Castle during the Purbeck Film Festival.
SBS Australia
15 hours ago
- Science
- SBS Australia
Ep.378: An Enigmacursor wrapped in a riddle inside a mystery?
DOWNLOAD the script in Italian and English side by side. English London's Natural History Museum is home to some 80 million natural specimens - and now, it has one more. Among the museum's impressive dinosaur collection, the skeleton of an Enigmacursor is a relatively small, but significant, new exhibit. "So Enigmacursor is a small plant-eating dinosaur. It walked around on its hind legs, would have been quite a speedy runner. And it's a fairly rare animal from this time and from this part of the world. It comes from the Western USA, from Colorado, and it lived about 150 million years ago and would have be scuttling around the feet of more famous dinosaurs like Stegosaurus and Diplodocus." Professor Paul Barratt is a paleontologist at the museum, whose research helped identify this new dinosaur species. The Enigmacursor roamed over the Earth in the late Jurassic period but remained unknown until a remarkably intact skeleton was unearthed from a quarry nearly four years ago. It was initially described as a nanosaurus, a poorly known species first recorded in the 1870s. Until, that is, the fossil discovery solved a tantalising mystery, as Professor Susannah Maidment explains: 'Enigma means puzzle, of course, and this is in reference to this sort of complicated naming history of these sorts of dinosaurs. There's been up to eight or nine different names given to these fragmentary, tantalising remains, and we couldn't figure it out until we found this nice more complete skeleton, so that's the enigma part. Now cursor means runner, so this is in reference for the dinosaur's very long hind limbs and very big feet." As well as powerful and huge feet, the Enigmacursor boasts a long swooping tail. At just 64 centimeters tall and 180 centimeters long, it is much smaller than Jurassic giants like the 25-metre-long Diplodocus. But Professor Paul Barrett says this small creature could shed light on how its bigger cousins developed. "This little dinosaur fills an evolutionary gap. So it is somewhere in between the origin of the big group that includes things like Stegosaurus and Triceratops and their relatives, and the development of the weird features we see in those groups. So if you like, it's the template on which those weirder, bigger dinosaurs were built. And it helps us to understand how those different features started to come into existence. And it also shows us what these late Jurassic ecosystems were like. They weren't just dominated by huge long-necked dinosaurs or huge predators, but also a cast of characters of smaller dinosaurs that are making a living in different ways." More research is now needed to confirm whether other specimens previously thought to be nanosaurus are also different species, very likely according to Professor Sarah Maidment. "It tells us that there were actually more of these small dinosaurs than we thought previously, because in our investigations in other US collections and museums, what we discovered was that there are a whole range of little fragments of bones that are different from Enigmacursor, but are from this sort of dinosaur. So we think that the diversity of these sorts of dinosaurs was greater than we previously realised." The dinosaur's full name - Enigmacursor mollyborthwickae - credits the private donor who helped the Museum acquire the fossil. Professor Barrett says new species of dinosaur are being found all the time, but the discovery of a skeleton such as this is rare. "All together we're naming about one new dinosaur per week around the world. So about 50 to 60 new dinosaurs get a name each year. So it's not super rare to name a new dinosaur, but it's always exciting to be involved in a new discovery." Italian Il Museo di Storia Naturale di Londra ospita circa 80 milioni di esemplari animali, e da oggi ne possiede uno in più. Tra l'impressionante collezione di dinosauri del museo, lo scheletro di un Enigmacursor è un nuovo reperto, relativamente piccolo, ma significativo. "So Enigmacursor is a small plant-eating dinosaur. It walked around on its hind legs, would have been quite a speedy runner. And it's a fairly rare animal from this time and from this part of the world. It comes from the Western USA, from Colorado, and it lived about 150 million years ago and would have be scuttling around the feet of more famous dinosaurs like Stegosaurus and Diplodocus." Il professor Paul Barratt, paleontologo del museo, ha contribuito con le sue ricerche all'identificazione di questa nuova specie di dinosauro. L'Enigmacursor si aggirava sulla Terra nel tardo Giurassico, ma è rimasto sconosciuto fino a quando uno scheletro straordinariamente intatto è stato portato alla luce da una cava quasi quattro anni fa. Inizialmente era stato descritto come un nanosauro, una specie poco conosciuta e registrata per la prima volta negli anni '70 del XIX secolo. Questo finché la scoperta del fossile non ha risolto un mistero allettante, come ha spiegato la professoressa Susannah Maidment: 'Enigma means puzzle, of course, and this is in reference to this sort of complicated naming history of these sorts of dinosaurs. There's been up to eight or nine different names given to these fragmentary, tantalising remains, and we couldn't figure it out until we found this nice more complete skeleton, so that's the enigma part. Now cursor means runner, so this is in reference for the dinosaur's very long hind limbs and very big feet." Oltre a zampe potenti ed enormi, l'Enigmacursor vanta una lunga ed ampia coda. Con un'altezza di soli 64 centimetri e una lunghezza di 180 centimetri, è molto più piccolo di giganti giurassici come il Diplodoco, lungo 25 metri. Ma per il professor Paul Barrett questa piccola creatura potrebbe far luce su come si sono sviluppati i suoi cugini più grandi. "This little dinosaur fills an evolutionary gap. So it is somewhere in between the origin of the big group that includes things like Stegosaurus and Triceratops and their relatives, and the development of the weird features we see in those groups. So if you like, it's the template on which those weirder, bigger dinosaurs were built. And it helps us to understand how those different features started to come into existence. And it also shows us what these late Jurassic ecosystems were like. They weren't just dominated by huge long-necked dinosaurs or huge predators, but also a cast of characters of smaller dinosaurs that are making a living in different ways." Sono ora necessarie ulteriori ricerche per confermare se anche altri esemplari precedentemente ritenuti nanosauri siano specie diverse, cosa ritenuta molto probabile dalla professoressa Sarah Maidment. "It tells us that there were actually more of these small dinosaurs than we thought previously, because in our investigations in other US collections and museums, what we discovered was that there are a whole range of little fragments of bones that are different from Enigmacursor, but are from this sort of dinosaur. So we think that the diversity of these sorts of dinosaurs was greater than we previously realised." Il nome completo del dinosauro - Enigmacursor mollyborthwickae - attribuisce il merito al donatore privato che ha aiutato il Museo ad acquisire il fossile. Il professor Barrett ha affermato che vengono trovate continuamente nuove specie di dinosauri, ma la scoperta di uno scheletro come questo è rara. "All together we're naming about one new dinosaur per week around the world. So about 50 to 60 new dinosaurs get a name each year. So it's not super rare to name a new dinosaur, but it's always exciting to be involved in a new discovery." Report by SBS News Listen to SBS Italian every day from 8 am to 10 am. Follow us on Facebook and Instagram.
RTHK
21 hours ago
- Science
- RTHK
Young dinosaur skeleton fetches US$30mn at Sotheby's
Young dinosaur skeleton fetches US$30mn at Sotheby's The juvenile Ceratosaurus nasicornis skeleton caused a bidding frenzy. Photo: Reuters The largest piece of Mars ever found on Earth was sold for just over US$5 million at an auction of rare geological and archaeological objects in New York on Wednesday. But a rare young dinosaur skeleton stole the show when it fetched more than US$30 million in a bidding frenzy. The 25-kilogramme rock named NWA 16788 was discovered in the Sahara Desert in Niger by a meteorite hunter in November 2023, after having been blown off the surface of Mars by a massive asteroid strike and travelling 225 million kilometres to Earth, according to Sotheby's. The final bid was US$4.3 million, before fees and charges bumped the price to US$5.3 million. Bidding was slow, with the auctioneer trying to coax more offers and decreasing the minimum bid increments. The dinosaur skeleton, on the other hand, sparked a bidding war. Bidding for the skeleton started with a high advance offer of US$6 million, then escalated during the live round with bids US$500,000 higher than the last, and later US$1 million higher than the last before ending at US$26 million. People applauded after the auctioneer gavelled the bidding closed. The official sale price was US$30.5 million with fees and costs. That buyer's identity was also not immediately disclosed. The skeleton is one of only four Ceratosaurus nasicornis to be unearthed, and the only juvenile skeleton of the species, which resembles the Tyrannosaurus rex but is smaller. Parts of it were found in 1996 near Laramie, Wyoming, at Bone Cabin Quarry, a gold mine for dinosaur bones. Specialists assembled nearly 140 fossil bones with some sculpted materials to recreate the skeleton and mounted it so it's ready to exhibit, Sotheby's says. It's more than 2 metres tall and nearly 3 metres long, and is believed to be from the late Jurassic period, about 150 million years ago. Ceratosaurus dinosaurs could grow up to 7.6 metres long, while the T-rex could be 12 metres long. (AP)
NBC News
a day ago
- Science
- NBC News
Largest piece of Mars on Earth sells for $5.3 million at auction, but young dinosaur steals the show
The largest piece of Mars ever found on Earth was sold for just over $5 million at an auction of rare geological and archaeological objects in New York on Wednesday. But a rare young dinosaur skeleton stole the show when it fetched more than $30 million in a bidding frenzy. The 54-pound rock named NWA 16788 was discovered in the Sahara Desert in Niger by a meteorite hunter in November 2023, after having been blown off the surface of Mars by a massive asteroid strike and traveling 140 million miles to Earth, according to Sotheby's. The estimated sale price before the auction was $2 million to $4 million. The identity of the buyer was not immediately disclosed. The final bid was $4.3 million. Adding various fees and costs, the official sale price was about $5.3 million. The live bidding was slow, with the auctioneer trying to coax more offers and decreasing the minimum bid increases. The dinosaur skeleton, on the other hand, sparked a bidding war. With a pre-auction estimate of $4 million to $6 million, it is one of only four known Ceratosaurus nasicornis skeletons and the only juvenile skeleton of the species, which resembles the Tyrannosaurus rex but is smaller. Bidding for the skeleton started with a high advance offer of $6 million, then escalated during the live round with bids $500,000 higher than the last and later $1 million higher than the last before ending at $26 million. People applauded after the auctioneer gaveled the bidding closed. The official sale price was $30.5 million with fees and costs. That buyer also was not immediately disclosed. Parts of the skeleton were found in 1996 near Laramie, Wyoming, at Bone Cabin Quarry, a gold mine for dinosaur bones. Specialists assembled nearly 140 fossil bones with some sculpted materials to recreate the skeleton and mounted it so it's ready to exhibit, Sotheby's said. It was acquired last year by Fossilogic, a Utah-based fossil preparation and mounting company. It's more than 6 feet tall and nearly 11 feet long, and is believed to be from the late Jurassic period, about 150 million years ago. Ceratosaurus dinosaurs could grow up to 25 feet long, while the T. rex could be 40 feet long. The bidding for the Mars meteorite began with two advance offers of $1.9 million and $2 million. The live bidding slowly proceeded with increases of $200,000 and $300,000 until $4 million, then continued with $100,000 increases until reaching $4.3 million. The red, brown and gray meteorite is about 70% larger than the next largest piece of Mars found on Earth and represents nearly 7% of all the Martian material currently on this planet, Sotheby's said. It measures nearly 15 inches by 11 inches by 6 inches. It was also a rare find. There are only 400 Martian meteorites out of the more than 77,000 officially recognized meteorites found on Earth, the auction house said. "This Martian meteorite is the largest piece of Mars we have ever found by a long shot," Cassandra Hatton, vice chairman for science and natural history at Sotheby's, said in an interview before the auction. "So it's more than double the size of what we previously thought was the largest piece of Mars." It's not clear exactly when the meteorite was blasted off the surface of Mars, but testing showed it probably happened in recent years, Sotheby's said. Hatton said a specialized lab examined a small piece of the red planet remnant and confirmed it was from Mars. It was compared with the distinct chemical composition of Martian meteorites discovered during the Viking space probe that landed on Mars in 1976, she said. The examination found that it is an "olivine-microgabbroic shergottite," a type of Martian rock formed from the slow cooling of Martian magma. It has a course-grained texture and contains the minerals pyroxene and olivine, Sotheby's said. It also has a glassy surface, likely due to the high heat that burned it when it fell through Earth's atmosphere, Hatton said. "So that was their first clue that this wasn't just some big rock on the ground," she said. The meteorite previously was on exhibit at the Italian Space Agency in Rome. Sotheby's did not disclose the owner. Wednesday's auction was part of Sotheby's Geek Week 2025 and featured 122 items, including other meteorites, fossils and gem-quality minerals.
New Straits Times
a day ago
- Entertainment
- New Straits Times
#SHOWBIZ: 'Jurassic World: Rebirth' rumbles, but doesn't quite roar
SO, the dinosaurs are back. Again. And if you're anything like me, your inner child (or just the part of you that still secretly wishes for a pet Velociraptor) probably did a little happy dance when 'Jurassic World: Rebirth' first splashed across the screens. Directed by the visually astute Gareth Edwards, whose previous works have always promised a cinematic spectacle, this latest entry into the prehistoric monster mash aimed to, well, re-birth the magic. Did it succeed? Sort of, if you squint and have a generous imagination. Let's get straight to it: the good news is, if you're heading to the cinema for one thing and one thing only – big, stomping, toothy dinosaurs – then 'Rebirth' delivers on the CGI front. Edwards has a knack for making these ancient beasts look genuinely menacing and awe-inspiring, especially when they're caught in tense, shadowy close-ups or tearing through the jungle. The visual feast is undeniable, and on a giant screen, the sheer scale of it all is, frankly, thrilling. There's a particular sequence involving a rather unamused T-Rex and a makeshift raft that had me clutching my popcorn. Pure, unadulterated Jurassic fun for a few glorious minutes. But – and you knew there was a "but", didn't you? – beyond the visual razzle-dazzle, 'Rebirth' feels less like a fresh start and more like a gentle, albeit well-intended, re-tread. The storyline, unfortunately, is as thin as a single strand of ancient mosquito DNA. We've got new characters – a rather charming Scarlett Johansson and a surprisingly enthusiastic Jonathan Bailey as the paleontologist Dr Loomis (who, bless him, tries his best to inject some much-needed life into the proceedings) – embarking on a mission to, wait for it, collect dinosaur DNA. For a heart disease cure. Yes, you read that right. While it's a novel enough premise, it often feels like a rather flimsy excuse to get our protagonists into ever-increasing peril. One of the biggest gripes was the pacing. The film starts off at a leisurely, almost plodding, pace. A significant chunk of the first act is spent on a boat, and while I appreciate a good build-up, this felt more like a gentle cruise than a tension-filled expedition. Then, just as you start to wonder if anyone will ever get eaten, the film suddenly slams on the accelerator in the final act, rushing through what could have been genuinely thrilling set pieces. And the new dinosaurs? The much-hyped "mutated" D-Rex and Mutadons, while visually impressive, felt a tad generic. They roar, they chase, they look scary – but they lack the distinct personality and terrifying ingenuity of the franchise's earlier, more iconic monsters. It's hard to feel genuine dread when the villainous creatures feel like, well, just another CGI monster. So, is 'Jurassic World Rebirth' worth making a trip to the cinema? If you're a die-hard fan desperate for a dinosaur fix on the biggest screen possible, and you're willing to overlook a familiar plot and some uneven pacing, then yes, the visual spectacle alone might justify the excursion. But if you're hoping for a genuinely fresh, innovative, or deeply engaging chapter in the Jurassic saga, you might find yourself wishing for a bit more roar and a little less whimper. It's entertaining enough for a popcorn flick, but don't expect a rebirth of the franchise's golden age. This movie would certainly appeal more to kids than to older mammals out to scratch their cinematic itch. NOW SHOWING JURASSIC WORLD: REBIRTH STARRING Scarlett Johansson, Mahershala Ali, Jonathan Bailey, Rupert Friend, Manuel Garcia-Rulfo, Luna Blaise, David Iacono, Audrina Miranda, Philippine Velge, Bechir Sylvain, Ed Skrein DURATION: 134 mins CLASSIFICATION: 13
