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Miracle Planet
''Miracle Planet'' is a six-part documentary series, co-produced by Japan's NHK and the National Film Board of Canada (NFB), narrated by Christopher Plummer (Seiko Nakajo in the original Japanese), which tells the 4.6-billion-year-old story of how life has evolved from its humble beginnings to the diversity of living creatures today. It is a remake of the 1989 series produced by NHK and KCTS. Filmed around the world and based upon the most recent scientific findings, ''Miracle Planet'' combines location footage and interviews with leading scientists, along with computer animation, to depict the cataclysmic events that have shaped our planet and all of the life-forms within it. The five standard episodes depict the evolution of life on Earth in perspective with our place in the universe - from the simplest microbes to the complexity and diversity that is found on the planet today. The entire 5-hour series ''Miracle Planet'' aired on Discovery Channel in Canada on April 22, 200 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Science Channel
Science Channel (often simply branded as Science; abbreviated to SCI) is an American pay television channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The channel features programming focusing on science related to wilderness survival, engineering, manufacturing, technology, space, space exploration, ufology and prehistory. As of February 2015, Science is available to approximately 75.5 million pay television households (64.8% of households with at least one television set) in the United States. History In November 1994, Discovery Networks announced plans for four digital channels set to launch in 1996. Discovery originally named the network under the working title Quark!; this was changed before its launch to the Discovery Science Network. Discovery Science launched in October 1996 as part of the simultaneous rollout of the new channel suite (alongside Discovery Home & Leisure, Discovery Kids and Discovery Civilization). In 2007, adult shows began airing around the clock weekdays, wh ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Panspermia
Panspermia () is the hypothesis, first proposed in the 5th century BCE by the Greek philosopher Anaxagoras, that life exists throughout the Universe, distributed by space dust, meteoroids, asteroids, comets, and planetoids, as well as by spacecraft carrying unintended contamination by microorganisms.Forward planetary contamination like '' Tersicoccus phoenicis'', that has shown resistance to methods usually used in spacecraft assembly clean rooms: Panspermia is a fringe theory with little support amongst mainstream scientists. Critics argue that it does not answer the question of the origin of life but merely places it on another celestial body. It is also criticized because it cannot be tested experimentally. Panspermia proposes (for example) that microscopic lifeforms which can survive the effects of space (such as extremophiles) can become trapped in debris ejected into space after collisions between planets and small Solar System bodies that harbor life. Panspermia studies c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eusthenopteron
''Eusthenopteron'' (from el, εὖ , 'good', el, σθένος , 'strength', and el, πτερόν 'wing' or 'fin') is a genus of prehistoric sarcopterygian (often called lobe-finned fishes) which has attained an iconic status from its close relationships to tetrapods. Early depictions of this animal show it emerging onto land; however, paleontologists now widely agree that it was a strictly aquatic animal.M. Laurin, F. J. Meunier, D. Germain, and M. Lemoine 2007A microanatomical and histological study of the paired fin skeleton of the Devonian sarcopterygian ''Eusthenopteron foordi'' ''Journal of Paleontology'' 81: 143–153. The genus ''Eusthenopteron'' is known from several species that lived during the Late Devonian period, about 385 million years ago. ''Eusthenopteron'' was first described by J. F. Whiteaves in 1881, as part of a large collection of fishes from Miguasha, Quebec. Some 2,000 ''Eusthenopteron'' specimens have been collected from Miguasha, one of which was ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Carboniferous
The Carboniferous ( ) is a geologic period and system of the Paleozoic that spans 60 million years from the end of the Devonian Period million years ago ( Mya), to the beginning of the Permian Period, million years ago. The name ''Carboniferous'' means "coal-bearing", from the Latin '' carbō'' ("coal") and '' ferō'' ("bear, carry"), and refers to the many coal beds formed globally during that time. The first of the modern 'system' names, it was coined by geologists William Conybeare and William Phillips in 1822, based on a study of the British rock succession. The Carboniferous is often treated in North America as two geological periods, the earlier Mississippian and the later Pennsylvanian. Terrestrial animal life was well established by the Carboniferous Period. Tetrapods (four limbed vertebrates), which had originated from lobe-finned fish during the preceding Devonian, became pentadactylous in and diversified during the Carboniferous, including early amphibian line ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Devonian
The Devonian ( ) is a geologic period and system of the Paleozoic era, spanning 60.3 million years from the end of the Silurian, million years ago (Mya), to the beginning of the Carboniferous, Mya. It is named after Devon, England, where rocks from this period were first studied. The first significant adaptive radiation of life on dry land occurred during the Devonian. Free-sporing vascular plants began to spread across dry land, forming extensive forests which covered the continents. By the middle of the Devonian, several groups of plants had evolved leaves and true roots, and by the end of the period the first seed-bearing plants appeared. The arthropod groups of myriapods, arachnids and hexapods also became well-established early in this period, after starting their expansion to land at least from the Ordovician period. Fish reached substantial diversity during this time, leading the Devonian to often be dubbed the Age of Fishes. The placoderms began dominating ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dicranurus
''Dicranurus'' (Greek, 'dikranon', a pitchfork, and 'oura', tail) is a genus of Lower to Middle Devonian odontopleurid trilobites that lived in a shallow sea that lay between Euramerica and Gondwana, corresponding to modern-day Oklahoma and New York, and Morocco, respectively. As such, their fossils are found in New York, Oklahoma, and Morocco. Their bodies averaged about or so, in length, though their large spines made them at least in length. It is speculated that such tremendous spines hampered the ability of predators, such as arthrodire placoderms, to attack them, as well as to help prevent them from sinking into the soft mud of their environment. ''Dicranurus'' trilobites are distinguished from other odontopleurids by the pair of large, curled, horn-like spines that emanate from behind the glabellum. The genus name refers to these distinctive horns, in fact. In popular culture *''Dicranurus'' was an inspiration for an early version of an alien creature from the 2012 m ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Halysites
''Halysites'' (meaning ''chain coral'') is an extinct genus of tabulate coral. Colonies range from less than one to tens of centimeters in diameter, and they fed upon plankton. These tabulate corals lived from the Ordovician to the Devonian (from 449.5 to 412.3 Ma). Fossils of ''Halysites'' species have been found in the sediments of North America, Europe, Asia and Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma .... Species Species in the genus ''Halysites'' include: * ''Halysites catenularia'' Linnaeus, 1767 * ''Halysites encrustans'' Buehler * ''Halysites grandis'' Sharkova, 1981 * ''Halysites infundibuliformis'' Buehler * ''Halysites junior'' Klaamann, 1961 * ''Halysites louisvillensis'' Stumm * ''Halysites meandrina'' Troost * ''Halysites magnitubus'' Buehler * ''Hal ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Trilobites
Trilobites (; meaning "three lobes") are extinct marine arthropods that form the class Trilobita. Trilobites form one of the earliest-known groups of arthropods. The first appearance of trilobites in the fossil record defines the base of the Atdabanian stage of the Early Cambrian period () and they flourished throughout the lower Paleozoic before slipping into a long decline, when, during the Devonian, all trilobite orders except the Proetida died out. The last extant trilobites finally disappeared in the mass extinction at the end of the Permian about 252 million years ago. Trilobites were among the most successful of all early animals, existing in oceans for almost 270 million years, with over 22,000 species having been described. By the time trilobites first appeared in the fossil record, they were already highly diversified and geographically dispersed. Because trilobites had wide diversity and an easily fossilized exoskeleton, they left an extensive fossil record. The stud ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Arandaspis
''Arandaspis prionotolepis'' is an extinct species of jawless fish that lived in the Ordovician period, about 480 to 470 million years ago. Its remains were found in the Stairway Sandstone near Alice Springs, Australia in 1959, but it was not determined that they were the oldest known vertebrates until the late 1960s. ''Arandaspis'' is named after a local Aboriginal tribe, the Aranda (now currently called Arrernte). Description ''Arandaspis'' was about long, with a streamlined body covered in rows of knobbly armoured scutes. The front of the body and the head were protected by hard plates with openings for the eyes, nostrils and gills. It probably was a filter-feeder. It had no fins; its only method of propulsion was the use of its vertically flattened tail. As a result, it probably swam in a fashion similar to a modern tadpole. See also * ''Astraspis'' * ''Sacabambaspis ''Sacabambaspis'' is an extinct genus of jawless fish that lived in the Ordovician period. ''S ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kimberella
''Kimberella'' is an extinct genus of bilaterian known only from rocks of the Ediacaran period. The slug-like organism fed by scratching the microbial surface on which it dwelt in a manner similar to the gastropods, although its affinity with this group is contentious. Specimens were first found in Australia's Ediacara Hills, but recent research has concentrated on the numerous finds near the White Sea in Russia, which cover an interval of time from . As with many fossils from this time, its evolutionary relationships to other organisms are hotly debated. Paleontologists initially classified ''Kimberella'' as a type of Cubozoan, but, since 1997, features of its anatomy and its association with scratch marks resembling those made by a radula have been interpreted as signs that it may have been a mollusc. Although some paleontologists dispute its classification as a mollusc, it is generally accepted as being at least a bilaterian. The classification of ''Kimberella'' is imp ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Yorgia
''Yorgia waggoneri'' is a discoid Ediacaran organism. It has a low, segmented body consisting of a short wide "head", no appendages, and a long body region, reaching a maximum length of . It is classified within the extinct animal phylum Proarticulata. Etymology The generic name ''Yorgia'' comes from the Yorga river on the Zimnii Bereg (Winter Coast) of the White Sea, where the first specimens were found. The specific name ''Yorgia waggoneri'' honors the American paleontologist Ben Waggoner, who found the first specimen. Morphology The body plan of the ''Yorgia'' and other proarticulates is unusual for solitary (non-colonial) metazoans. These bilateral organisms have segmented metameric bodies, but left and right transverse elements (isomers) are organized in an alternating pattern relatively to the axis of the body – they are not direct mirror images. This phenomenon is described as the symmetry of glide reflection, which is a characteristic also found in the similar ''Spri ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pteridinium
''Pteridinium'' is an erniettomorph found in a number of Precambrian deposits worldwide. It is a member of the Ediacaran biota. Body plan The three-lobed body is generally flat such that only two lobes are visible. Each lobe consists of a number of parallel ribs extending back to the main axis where the three lobes come together. Even on well-preserved specimens, there is no sign of a mouth, anus, eyes, legs, antennae, or any other appendages or organs. The organism grew primarily by the addition of new units, probably at both ends, with the inflation of existing units contributing little to its growth. Ecology Specimens found in what is thought to be life positions indicate that the creature rested on — or possibly in — the sediment in shallow seas. No tracks are known that would seem to be consistent with a moving ''Pteridinium''. It is unclear whether it performed photosynthesis, or osmotically extracted nutrients from seawater. Occurrence Fossils are common in late Preca ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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