Brachiopods & maybe coral near Strawberry, AZ

[Kane]

4 minutes ago, Fossildude19 said:

S'okay, Kane - we'll all be implanted with chips soon, so we won't have to worry about pesky signing .  

Likely. That way we can be the ideal target audience consumers, lol. Interestingly enough, though, the more you understand about cybernetics, the more you understand contemporary computing right down to filtered algorithms that deliver ads.

 

Just now, Auspex said:

I still hold high esteem for those who can synthesize existing tech into a complete game-changer. Sometimes, it's all about recognizing the potential and maybe tweaking a few things. Sometimes is pivots on devising a new way to make this Buck Rogers stuff (1) affordable, and (2) intuitively simple to use for a real everyday application.

I am an Apple boy, but I know the sins of the "father." He was ruthless and took credit for a lot of things. Making it affordable was part of a neoliberal economic agenda to responsibilize the individual to adopt risk with little reward. At the time this was happening, the "economic miracle" as espoused by Thatcher, Reagan, et al., had been built on the Austrian School of economics to focus on the individual and dismantle community. Tied with the evangelical push, and arch-individualism that was hot commodity in the 1970s, it was a perfect mix. "Democratizing" computing, and then the web, quickly became absorbed by the oligopolies during the browser wars of the late 90s. Once the dot-com bubble burst, they found a new way to generate revenue through data extraction and sale, while treating it as "entertainment." The import of social buttons has allowed for a great deal of metrification of engagement, which makes things so much easier in a privately controlled space. The warnings of the Frankfurt School in the "culture industry" remain true. If we take a brief tour of "technology" from a political economy perspective, it does reveal a great deal of commercial control and manipulation. The same goes for the cycle-over of gadgets, and those who are left with our digital waste (mostly children who are exposed to carcninogens in salvage operations). Such is the reality, and just a glimpse. Rare earth mineral mining in itself is worthy of some comment.  

[Auspex]

Either that, or it was all about the money. I like the simplicity of the latter, especially because without the profit motive, it would not have happened.

Henry Ford did it with the Model T, too.

[Kane]

And yet TFF can operate as social media without the profit motive. This place is an exemplar of what is possible. 

[Kane]

52 minutes ago, Auspex said:

Either that, or it was all about the money. I like the simplicity of the latter, especially because without the profit motive, it would not have happened.

Henry Ford did it with the Model T, too.

And despite the repugnant example, Veblen was right. It could not be all about the money. Without the cooperation and collaboration of state, science, and private infustry, nuclear power would never have happened. 

 

Take a look at what DARPA funding did for computing in the 60s. Once the piper called the tune, innovation ended. No more experimentation that brought us the mouse or video streaming. Entirely commercial. A cautionary tale is already precociously there with Thorstein Veblen's opus The price system and the Engineers. 

[FossilDAWG]

26 minutes ago, Kane said:

And despite the repugnant example, Veblen was right. It could not be all about the money. Without the cooperation and collaboration of state, science, and private infustry, nuclear power would never have happened. 

Neither the sequencing of the human genome, which lead to technological and computing advances that now make large-scale DNA sequencing projects routine and (relatively) inexpensive.  

 

Don

[Kane]

10 minutes ago, FossilDAWG said:

Neither the sequencing of the human genome, which lead to technological and computing advances that now make large-scale DNA sequencing projects routine and (relatively) inexpensive.  

 

Don

Indeed. And that was initially based on basic, not applied, research. I would, however, dispute the sequence of events. It was quantum theory that led us to a state of being more able to sequence genomes. There is still the legacy of cybernetics in that as well. 

 

But these questions about the history of science and technology, not always united, would make for a separate topic. It is one that is part of my research wheelhouse, but I fear we might have deviated from the OP. Have we deviated too far?

[ynot]

I miss My stick horse!!!!

[DPS Ammonite]

Wow, this thread has strong legs that led to many interesting topics; from flip phones to cybernetics to stick horses and everywhere else.  Back to the original post. Deb asked about the brachiopods: "why none have the other side." Most of the Peniculuaris bassi brachiopods in the Kaibab Fm. have both shells. One shell is concave which may make it look like you are looking at the interior of a shell. See this photo of the concave shell found at:   http://hoopermuseum.earthsci.carleton.ca/canyon/wanda19.htm

 

Deb, make sure that you visit Chris Schur's Arizona fossil website: http://www.schursastrophotography.com/fossiladventures.html

 

John

[Deb Petruzzi]

Having a little difficulty figuring out how to reply. I collected all the specimens except the cut one on the same trip, but it was years ago & we may have driven around the area. The cut one was from a yard sale of a deceased rockhound's kids selling off the collection that was scattered in the dirt of the back yard. I was excited to see the specimen that was cut, and seemed to me to indicate quartz replacement of coral, which I thought might indicate what I had thought was weathered quartz might be coral.

Top view of the yatd sale specimen.

[ynot]

This last one looks like a "midwest sedimentary type geode"

This type of geode is derived from organic material that has often been distorted beyond recognition. 

Your piece does have some characteristics that resemble coral, but it is impossible to be sure (at least for Me).

These geodes are found around the Illinois Kentucky border and neighboring areas.

[Deb Petruzzi]

On 7/25/2017 at 9:54 PM, DPS Ammonite said:

Wow, this thread has strong legs that led to many interesting topics; from flip phones to cybernetics to stick horses and everywhere else.  Back to the original post. Deb asked about the brachiopods: "why none have the other side." Most of the Peniculuaris bassi brachiopods in the Kaibab Fm. have both shells. One shell is concave which may make it look like you are looking at the interior of a shell. See this photo of the concave shell found at:   http://hoopermuseum.earthsci.carleton.ca/canyon/wanda19.htm

 

Deb, make sure that you visit Chris Schur's Arizona fossil website: http://www.schursastrophotography.com/fossiladventures.html

 

John

Thank you for all your information! I need to reexamine my finds to see whether they are actually complete...I had assumed both sides would be convex! Chris Shur's site is very interesting. I'm getting some inspiration for future trips.

[Deb Petruzzi]

On 7/25/2017 at 9:54 PM, DPS Ammonite said:

Wow, this thread has strong legs that led to many interesting topics; from flip phones to cybernetics to stick horses and everywhere else.  Back to the original post. Deb asked about the brachiopods: "why none have the other side." Most of the Peniculuaris bassi brachiopods in the Kaibab Fm. have both shells. One shell is concave which may make it look like you are looking at the interior of a shell. See this photo of the concave shell found at:   http://hoopermuseum.earthsci.carleton.ca/canyon/wanda19.htm

 

Deb, make sure that you visit Chris Schur's Arizona fossil website: http://www.schursastrophotography.com/fossiladventures.html

 

John

Thank you for all your information! I need to reexamine my finds to see whether they are actually complete...I had assumed both sides would be convex! Chris Shur's site is very interesting. I'm getting some inspiration for future trips.

Edited August 13, 2017 by Deb Petruzzi
Add text...one had half a bottom side!