1st Atomic Lighthouse Goes On-Line

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On this day in 1964, the first U.S. atomic-powered lighthouse was put into operation in the Chesapeake Bay, Baltimore Harbor, Md. Designed to supply a continuous flow of electricity for ten years without refuelling, the 60-watt nuclear generator generated heat from strontium-90 in the form of strontium titinate, a safe radioisotope. The heat was converted to electricity by 120 pairs of lead telluride thermocouples. Complete with shielding, the unit was only 34.5 inches high and 22 inches in diameter. Link

The lighthouse (right) c. 1952 was used by Ray Harryhausen in his film "Beast from 20,000 Fathoms" and was taken from the book, "The Art of Ray Harryhausen", available from HERE.

Living Fossil Found In New Caledonia

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French scientists who explored the Coral Sea said Friday they discovered a new species of crustacean that was thought to have become extinct 60 million years ago.

The "living fossil," a female baptized Neoglyphea Neocaledonica, was discovered 1,312 feet under water during an expedition in the Chesterfield Islands, northwest of New Caledonia, the National Museum of Natural History and the Research Institute for Development said in a statement.

Another so-called living fossil from the Neoglyphea group was discovered in 1908 in the Philippines by the U.S. Albatross, a research vessel. It remained unidentified until 1975 when two French scientists from the natural history museum identified and named it: Neoglyphea Inopinata. More of the creatures were then found in expeditions to the Philippines between 1976 and 1984.

Link. Neoglyphea Neocaledonica.

The discovery "conveys a message that, in the first years of the 21st century, the exploration of planet Earth is not over," Bouchet said.

Visit CenSeam, “a Global Census of Marine Life on Seamounts” for more info.

Watch a 30 sec clip from "Attack of the Crab Monsters":

Trees - On The Shore

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Lp. CBS 64168 / Lp. Decal LIK 12 (1987) / Cd. Beat Goes On BGOCD 173 (1993) / Cd. Columbia 484435 (1996)

Bias Boshell/guitar, vocals; Unwin Brown/drums, vocals; Barry Clark/guitar; David Costa/guitar; Tony Cox/bass; Celia Humphris/keyboards, vocals; Michael Jeffries/harp

Released in 1970, this record soon disappeared and became a sought-after classic. This folk-rock outfit influenced by Fairport Convention only bought out two albums before they split up and this is their debut. Tobias Boshell, the main songwriter then joined Kiki Dee's Band and wrote her biggest hit, "I've Got the Music in Me".

I’ve never heard the album but I’ve always liked the cover (by Hipnosis if I remember correctly).

It’s this week’s featured album on the Freak Zone on BBC 6 Radio. You can listen to the entire show by clicking HERE.

Listen to an MP3 from their 2nd LP HERE

Colombian Frog Believed Extinct Found Alive

Researchers exploring a Colombian mountain range found surviving members of a species of Harlequin frog believed extinct due to a killer fungus wiping out amphibian populations in Central and South America.

Link to d’Holbachie-Yoko On-Line Gallery

From the Conservation International press release:

The discovery of what could be the last population of the painted frog (Atelopus ebenoides marinkellei) indicates the species has survived the fungus, providing hope that other species also might avoid elimination from the epidemic caused by a pathogenic fungus of unknown origin.

The painted frog is one of 110 species of a diverse group of neo-tropical amphibians that live mostly in Colombia. The country’s amphibian population is considered among the most diverse on Earth and key in the conservation efforts to protect amphibian species worldwide. So far, 42 of the 113 species of Atelopus found in the Tropical Andes Hotspot that includes parts of Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Venezuela have experienced population declines of up to 50 percent.

KRAKA-DOOM!

Art© Jay Stephens. The Nocturnals © Dan Brereton

One of the nice things about living in the 30th Century and having a Time Bubble is that you make everyday Halloween! Above is Jay Stephens' pin-up of Hallowen Girl from Dan Brereton's series, "The Nocturnals." Staq is lucky enough to own the originals for the two B&W pages below.

Art © Jay Stephens. The Nocturnals © Dan Brereton


Art © Jay Stephens. The Nocturnals © Dan Brereton

Hydrothermal Vent Tubeworms Edosymbiosis

Photo: A. D. Nussbaumer, C. R. Fisher & M. Bright.
Adult Riftia pachyptila tubeworms in situ.

Giant tubeworms found near hydrothermal vents more than a mile below the ocean surface do not bother to eat: lacking mouth and stomach, they stand rooted to one spot. For nourishment, they rely completely on symbiotic bacteria that live within their bodies to metabolize the sulphurous volcanic soup in which they both thrive.

But the microscopic larvae of these giants are born bacteria-free, with a complete digestive system. Juveniles swim, hunt, and eat before permanently settling down and taking up with their microbial partners. Now the idea that the larvae acquire their symbionts by eating them has been overturned. By collecting the giant worms' tiny spawn from traps laid on the ocean floor, oceanographers have shown that the sulfur-eating bacteria infect the larvae through their skin.

Previous groups had shown that, after a larva quits swimming and attaches itself to the bottom of the ocean near a volcanic vent, its mouth disappears and its stomach shrinks away, even as it grows a specialized organ called the trophosome that houses the symbiotic bacteria it collects. "It is an absolutely obligate symbiosis for the worm," Fisher explains. "If the larvae do not get the right symbiont, they die." Link

HORIZONTAL ENDOSYMBIONT TRANSMISSION IN HYDROTHERMAL VENT TUBEWORMS. Nature 441: 345-348.

Irwin Allen's 'The Lost World' by Gil Kane Alex Toth

In 1960, Irwin Allen produced the 'The Lost World' starring Claude Raines, Michael Rennie, and David Hedison ('Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea'). To help promote the movie Dell Comics produced a comic adaptation with art by Gil Kane (pencils) as part of the “Four Colors Movie Titles” book (#1145). (Amigo Steve Bissette assures me that the art is by Alex Toth. That was my first thought but the 'net said otherwise -- so, never trust everything you read on the web!)

Each month this title presented an adaptation of a different movie or TV show showing at the time. Dell never paid their artists or writers the top dollar offered by other publishers so the work produced by the artists almost always had a ‘rushed’ quality to it. However, the artists experienced little to no editorial interference and usually used this freedom to at least tell a good story.

Here are some of the more interesting pages from the book that also condense the story into 6 pages:

(CLICK ON EACH IMAGE TO ENLARGE AND READ)

If you liked these samples you can download the whole book as a VERY LARGE pdf courtesy of Hyperdave at Datajunkie.

As for Gil Kane, he would go on to fame in the 60’s as the artist who would revitalize The Atom and Green Lantern for DC Comics, and become Marvel Comics top cover artist in the 70’s.