Was the Tricerotops a baker?

Q: On a recent Scout hike, a heated debate developed during our woodly wanderings. Proudly standing on one side was a 12 year old insisting that grass did not exist during the era of the dinosaurs, and didn' t appear until after the great meteorite that brought mass extinction. On the other were several boys and leaders insisting that common sense pointed to the fact that grass did exist. There is honor, a little money and participation in future Scouting events riding on this. So. Did grass exist at the time of the dinosaurs?
The Vegan Raptor

A: Dear Poaceaen Minded,

It sounds like your adolescent dinophile is fairly caught up on the early eras of the earth and the development of land animals and plants. Or fairly so. You may not like the answer, but technically the 12 year old is right, and wrong. (What a safe cop-out). And until 2005 or so, he was mostly correct. Let's explain.

Grasses - specifically of the poaceaen or gramineae family - are a branch of flowering plants, even part of a greater group of monocotelydons (single seed leaf) that include pineapples, palms, orchids and lilies. We know grasses as things that produce food we eat - ryes, wheat, etc - and things we decorate with, i.e the lawn. The family includes bamboo, rice, and corn, and includes 9-10,000 species.

But this plant family that dominates our lives and cuisine, is relatively new. Lets describe the history briefly, as understood up through 2004, best summarized by Elizabeth Kellogg. Using rDNA studies of the chloropast genome (a sub-cell structure in plants) scientists can begin to create a family tree of grasses to show their development. You have to go pretty far back to find a common ancestor of rice and corn (maize). Scientists also use fossil evidence in conjunction with atomic dating to start fixing the early descendants. Specifically they look at pollen fossils and for specific grass features (look for channels that go through the outer but not inner pollen walls). Earliest examples are found at 60-55 million years ago. They have found some examples of pollen from 70 million years ago, but they cannot confirm it actually comes from grass.

Your brief dinosaur history: Dinosaurs were the dominant land vertabrates from the late Triassic to late Cretaceous period - roughly 230-65.5 million years ago. Science generally points to several mass extinction events taking place at the end of hte Cretaceous period to kill off the dinosaurs and allow mammels to dominate. This later time is a time of thriving for dinosaurs, including the Tyrannosaur. And some mammels were around at this time. But you can see that with dinosaurs dying off in 65.5 million years from asteroids and/or volcanos, grass wasn't around according to the fossil and genetic record. So before 2004 scientists declared, "Dinosaurs did not eat grasses".



A type of titanosaur sauropod

 But dinosaur poop saves the day! (Didn't expect that ever!) In 2005, a Science article discussed that they have found evidence of grasses in corprolites (the polite word for fossilized poop). Specifically they found that 5 different taxas (major species groups) of grasses were eaten by dinosaurs. (In this case titanosaur suaropods in India) This points to the fact that grasses were somewhat widespread and developed before the catastrophes of 65.5 million years ago.



A TV lie! He may have had the hammock, but not the lawn.

 So...both sides are right. (Keep in mind the the exact dating and science here is a bit nebulous and often dependent on what we are lucky enough to find in someone's backyard). Grasses did exist to a good extent during the time of the dinosaurs, but not for the majority of the time. So Fred Flinstone didn't have to mow the lawn. How you settle the bet is up to you.

HRB

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You Can Say That Again...You Can Say That Again

Q: Dear 100 Hour Board:

Why do "identical" twins have different finger prints?- Not so identical are they?

Irish Twin

A: Dear Celtic Brother,

Having an identical twin certainly does have its benefits: a free friend, an automatic transplant organ source, and a diabolical crime partner. Imagine you rob a bank, or knock-off somebody, and can blame it on your twin. The jury would never know who really committed the crime - and given just DNA evidence - either would Grissolm or the CSI team (no matter how much Prada they wear)! But if you left a fingerprint, it is true, the coppers could tell you apart from your twin. (Or if you have an identifiable tattoo that leads an eyewitness to correctly pick you apart).

Now, if you're being that nitty-gritty about it, identical twins don't exactly have the same DNA. They start out with the same zygoate (single fertilized egg) that splits: so on Day 1 they have the same genetics. But over time the environment inside the womb - and eventually outside - will change the DNA. Even naturally occurring mistakes in gene translation will cause differences. But things like different temperatures, blood flow, food, nutrients, position, etc in the womb can change the genes. Heck, DNA isn't even the same in all parts of your body. (Dr Starr, Stanford U)

Fingerprints are an amplified piece of this puzzle. The pattern of whorls, arches, loops are dermal ridges which are at first determined by genetic code in the baby. Around the 13th week of pregnancy the baby develops these, however immediately they are changed and influenced by the surroundings - ie. mother. Touching the amniotic sac, their face, what they eat, etc. changes the patterns slightly. But the changes are dramatically amplified in the patterns we see and therefore offer a distinguishing feature between twins.

Identical twins, similarly, aren't that identical when born. Their other features and genetics have the same influence of environment. This is all referred to as phenotype - the way we or species look. Genotype (DNA) + environment + random variables = Phenotype.

So yes. That extra helping of General Zhaos chicken when you are preggo could make your kid's fingerprints randomly closer to a mass murderer. You never know.

100 Hour Board

Oh and PS: Chance of having twins 1:40, identical twins 1:240, spontaneous fraternal twins 1:60, two sets of fraternal twins 1:5

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Yes...We Have No Bananas

Q: Dear 100hrb

You've shown time and time again that you truly know all the answers. so i will turn to you for another solution... where do seeds from lettuce, radishes, and carrots come from?

Regards,

a green thumb...

A: Dear Vermilion Opposable Digit,

Ah, we at the 100 Hour Board love when our readers begin thinking more about their food (we also love the unabashed ego-stroking). There is so much wonder to be found in what we eat. Amazing things really. For example, that broccoli, cabbage, brussel sprouts, broccoli rabe, cauliflower, etc. are all really just slightly differently developed plants. Man has been at it for quite a while.

So before we get too far, lettuce take a look at your question. A little anatomy is needed first. Plants have roots, stems, leaves and flowers - usually. A vegetable is really the part of a plant we eat that is not either fruit or seed (like wheat or rice). Fruits come from the plants ovary and surrounds the seeds. And then we use herbs (green parts) and spices (non-green parts). Vegetables are leaves, stems, pods, roots, storage vessels, bulbs, etc. Fruits are unique in that they are specifically grown to be yummy, in order to spread seeds. Veggies are things we have either become used to eating (bitterness), or we alter in some way to make them safe (soak, cook, beat, pound, etc.)

So in the case of all vegetables, there is another part of the plant that is an ovary and produces seeds. These then grow into other vegetables. We usually eat around these fruits, or eat the veggie before the flowers/seeds develop. There are few plants to we eat almost everything on it, usually we develop a breed for a specific part. Like beets and chard are the same plants, but we develop them differently to get good, big beets, or large leaves.

Take lettuce then. If left to grow it sprouts flowers - lots of them - this is called bolting. Of course we eat lettuce before it gets to this point, usually. Dandelion greens are delicious, and you are quite familiar with the flower.

Radishes are not roots - although some will dangle off. They are mostly a swollen stem, like a turnip, that isn't starchy like potatoes. But radishes are relatives of the cabbage family (even mustards too - which you may be more familiar with the seeds and flowers). They get flowers too - nice white ones with four leaves.

What does this mean for veggies then? You usually harvest - and kill - the ones you eat, and then dedicate another crop for developing seeds. There are a few perennials - like rhubarb, asparagus (grow from underground rhizomes) and Good King Henry. But many of these are not grown now because it is easier to harvest plants completely than parts of them.

Fruits are perennial, essential to the plants reproduction. So things we think of as having seeds (or eating them) are fruits: peas, beans, tomatoes, squash, artichoke - ok really a flower, etc. Fruits come from the plants ovary - usually in a flower - that has 4 steps: is fertilized (male pollen + female ovule - thank you bees!), fruit development, storage growth and ripening. There are exceptions. And thus are born "seedless" fruits.

Seedless plants are either 1) bred to be sterile - chromosomes prevent seed growth, like melons (though the sterile triploid plant must grow next to the unsterile diploid plant to get pollen) or 2)they are created without fertilization - like bananas, pineapples, grapes and naval oranges.

The issue with seedless fruits is they are a target for parasites or diseases b/c they are usually clones of each other.

Plant cultivation for food is a fascinating topic. We take for granted the years of cultivation, technology, breeding and science in what we eat. The 100 Hour Board for one is very interested in getting their own garden growing. But Community Supported Agriculture is also a good idea.

So - happy eating. Olive you to your food.

100 Hour Board

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Greening the Diamond

Q: Dear 100 Hour Board

How do major league grounds crews get the grass looking so green on opening day before the normal blossoms of spring ~ thank you george toma.

Pat

A: Dear Baseball Aficionado,

Care and love. It is possible. Although I assume you are asking about colder weather parks and not just Turner Field or Tropicana Field. (Although Tropicana Field in Tampa Bay uses artificial grass) Of course there are fundamentals. It is only recently that ballparks are switching back to real grass en masse. There was a long trend of artificial turf because it stayed green consistently. Water management remained the biggest issue. Nowadays all 16 National League teams and all but 3 American League teams use grass. (Tampa Bay, Minnesota and Toronto don't - hmmm...maybe no sun :) )

Newer fields are a work of magic - or smart engineering. I can only quote the system at Dodger stadium to give you an idea:

"The Dodgers installed a brand new state-of-the-art grass field after the conclusion of the 1995 season. Prescription Athletic Turf (PAT), created and installed by the Cincinnati-based Motz Group, used the latest agronomic and engineering technology to manage field moisture through controlled drainage and irrigation. The 100,000 square feet of bermuda grass is grown on pure sand, beneath which a vacuum chamber is laid over a water-tight plastic barrier that forcibly extracts water during heavy rains. New moisture gauges monitor the field's water level in coordination with a microprocessor that controls drainage functions. A computer controller has the ability to reverse the scenario and subirrigate when the sand's moisture reading drops below the optimal level."

So proper water management is key. Other pieces? From an interview with Boston's Fenway Park Ground Crew, steps include: watering the field, cleaning up, moving, removing and changing the tarp (a hard job - it can create a vacuum when sitting for a while), fertilize, mow, roll patterns, spread chopped up rubber tires into the grass (protects for wear and tear), and finally repaint lines. This all helps.

But I found an article from Baseball Field Renovation that offers tips on how to get grass green (and grown) by Feb/March start. Rye, fescue and bluegrass seeds need sunny weather over 50 degrees to germinate well. Sometimes that is just luck. But tips include light straw, minimum water layup, black tarps to keep seeds warm to germinate (but remove it before it kills new grass), automatic irrigation systems and fertilizer. Another tip - seed every two weeks through January. Of course if you plant before the winter it's just maintaining the field and covering it at night.

And how do they get the checkerboard? Easy. Mow and roll it flat. The bent grass gives the patterns. But make sure you alternate rolling to keep from damaging the grass too much. Now go watch some ball!

100 HB

PS and if you didn't know George Toma - the legendary 'God of Sod'. Mostly a grass consultant for the NFL, he's an old timer the pros turn to for 'live or die' grass. Multiple Superbowls, World Series and other events are under his belt. Yes - thank you!

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