Dancing Dinosaurs, New Elements and Earthquakes, Oh My!

Here's a highlight reel of what's been shared recently on the CSI: Current Science Information facebook page. As always we'll try to keep both locations updated with current cool science news and other tidbits. Remember to feel free to share with us your science stories!

Male dinosaurs might have competed in dancing contests to win the hearts of females. (Photo : Xing Lida and Yujiang Han)

In paleontology news: Recent analysis of scrape marks/track ways from the Dakota sandstone formation in Colorado have led to interpretations that dinosaurs were 'dancing,' not unlike what we observe in modern birds in mating displays. Head on over to the article at Science to find out more about these hot-stepping archosaurs.

The seventh row of the periodic table was recently filled all the way in as four new elements were added, discovered by teams of scientists working in Japan, Russia and America. Find the full article over at The Guardian, thank you Chris in DC for sharing this on the facebook page!

In a yellow level Rapid Response last week, educators used SOS to interpret a 4.8 M earthquake that hit off the southeast coast of Victoria Is, British Columbia. Hitting so close to home, Pepper shared at the morning meeting that the City of Seattle has a great Natural Hazards Explorer that allows you as a citizen to learn about and navigate what hazards are common in your neighborhood. Both of the above articles got tons media attention, and still continue to, so make sure to peruse both of them!

SpaceX recently successfully landed a rocket back on Earth, opening the way for potential return or retrieval missions. The Verge covered this awesome space news in last week's article, shared by Shalini, SIP volunteer, thanks!

Lobster displaying male and female coloration, BBC article below.

Thank you Lauren and Rin for this interesting tid-bit from the Life Science portion of the science center. Rin had observed a butterfly with two distinct coloring patterns, different from one wing to another. This might be a case of 'bilateral gynandromorphy' or when an animal expresses male traits on one side of its body while female on the other, like the above pictured lobster. The article shared from BBC has a great right up on this phenomena!