Study indicates that dinosaurs were warm, though maybe not warm-blooded

Scientists have figured out a way to take the temperature of dinosaurs, and it turns out that theirs was almost the same as ours.
Of course, you can’t just stick a thermometer under the tongue of a gigantic creature that’s been extinct for millions of years. So they did the next best thing. They studied dinosaur teeth, which can reflect body temperature.
They found the long-necked brachiosaurus had a temperature of about 100.8 degrees , and the smaller camarasaurus had a temperature of about 98.3 degrees. People average 98.6.
But their findings, reported online in the journal Science, won’t settle the debate over whether dinosaurs were warm-blooded or cold-blooded.
When dinosaurs were first discovered, the theory was that they were lumbering and cold-blooded, but in recent years the consensus has been moving more toward warm-blooded, which would have allowed them to be more active, like the velociraptors in the “Jurassic Park” movies.
“Our analysis really allows us rule out that they could have been cold, like crocodiles, for example,” lead researcher Robert A. Eagle of the California Institute of Technology said in a briefing.
But, he added, “this doesn’t necessarily mean these large dinosaurs had high metabolism like mammals and birds . . . they could have been ‘gigantotherms’ and stayed warm because they were so large.”
A giant body mass is very good at keeping the temperature constant, explained co-author Thomas Tuetken of the University of Bonn in Germany.
Their research was on sauropods, the largest of dinosaurs, and the researchers explained that animals that large can retain body heat even with a relatively low metabolism, simply because they are so big. Brachiosaurus weighed in at 40 tons and camarasaurus was a 15-ton creature. Both lived about 150 million years ago.
The finding “confirms that dinosaurs were not sluggish, cold-blooded animals,” commented Roger Seymour of the University of Adelaide in Australia, who was not part of the research team.
But, he added, “the debate about dinosaur metabolic rate will go on, no doubt, because it can never be measured directly, and paleoscientists will often seek evidence to support a particular view and ignore contrary evidence.”
Geoffrey F. Birchard of George Mason University agreed that the debate is likely to continue.
The new paper helps confirm what the temperatures of these dinosaurs were, but knowing what the temperature was in something so big doesn’t necessarily confirm that it was warm-blooded, said Birchard, who was not part of the research team.
The researchers were able to determine the creatures’ temperatures because body temperature affects the amount of different types of carbon and oxygen that collect in the tooth enamel.
Now that they’ve looked at the biggest ones, they plan to turn their attention to smaller dinosaurs.
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LeapFrog Leapster 2 Learning Game System - Toy Story

LeapFrog Leapster 2 Learning Game System - Toy Story
LeapFrog Leapster 2 Toy Story Learning Game System. Play and learn on the go, then expand the fun online with this Toy Story 3 Collector's Edition of the best-selling Leapster2 handheld! Also includes a Toy Story 3 mini-game download. The Leapster2 system features built-in tutorials and learning levels that adapt automatically to your child's pace. Its touch screen and stylus help develop motor skills used in writing. And a library of 40+ games lets kids get practice with a wide variety of school skills as they play with their favorite characters. Parents can connect to the groundbreaking LeapFrog Learning Path to see their child's play and learning.

LeapFrog is a leading designer, developer and marketer of innovative, technology-based educational products and related proprietary content and learning toys and learning games. LeapFrog is 100% focused on developing products that will provide the most engaging, effective learning experience - for all ages, in school or home, around the world. LeapFrog puts learning toys first with online technologies, including the LeapFrog Learning Path. The LeapFrog Learning Path lets you see the skills your child is exploring with LeapFrog, see time spent playing, challenge level and more, find learning ideas to match your child's passions, and discover your child's favorite activities.

The LeapFrog learning toy experience is brought to life by LeapFrog's highly specialized teams who unite the three key elements that truly set LeapFrog products apart: a rigorous, proven learning toy methodology, compelling multi-layered content, and delivered content and learning toy experience through the use of technology that is intuitive, invisible and engaging. Leapfrogs Learnings Toys include, Leapster, TAG, TAG Jr., DIDJ, Zippity, My First Leap pad, Learn and Groove and my Puppy Pal.

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D-Rex Interactive Dinosaur

 D-Rex Interactive Dinosaur 2009D-Rex Interactive Dinosaur
I got this for my twins and they love their DRex. My daughter and son plays hide and seek with it. They both love to pet D Rex and watch him react to it (waging his tail, making some happy noise & moving his eye brows). I do just let DRex do his thing around the kids. But I use the controller when I'm playing with my kids with DRex. I've even shot videos of them playing with their DRex. I'll post them on Youtube. Over all, I'm pretty happy to have gotten this for my twins.

Hesitant at first about purchasing this for my 5 year old dinosaur-mad little girl. Happy that I did. Does all it's advertised to do. Put batts in and tried it out before wrapping it up for Xmas....had a ball just playing with it myself. Looks a little mean in the beginning but it plays, growls, bites his bone, walks around the house "looking" at things & comes when you call it. It's like an ugly puppy that somehow starts to look adorable. Has great facial(?!)expressions. My daughter is going to LUV this, and to me, seeing her so happy is worth the pricetag. Super toy!

D-REX is as cute as the other reviews say; However, The Batteries are NOT included!

The Product Description reads incorrectly: "Requires four "C" batteries, included, and two "AA" batteries, not included."

It should read ( as it does on the box): "Requires five "C" batteries in his tail and two "AAA" batteries in the bone-shaped controller."

Also, contrary to some, its reptilian skin is lifelike in appearance and seems durable.

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   D-Rex Interactive Dinosaur 2009
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Animal Planet T-rex Radio Control Dinosaur

Animal Planet T-rex Radio Control DinosaurImagine a Dinosaur T-rex toy with radio control in your child's hands! Dinosaur devotees will be roaring over this radio controlled Tyrannosaurus Rex as he growls and roars, moves his head, thrashes his tail, and blinks his beady yellow eyes. T-Rex is 12 inches tall and 21 inches from nose to tail, with textured, flexible brown rubber skin that bends and moves. Requires six AA batteries.

I love this thing! I always take my kids to the toy store and they pick out one toy. And one day I brought Benny along with me. And one time he picked out this. He brought it home then put it on the floor. And the dino worked! I love it! 

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  Animal Planet T-rex Radio Control Dinosaur
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Mighty Megasaur Remote Control Dinosaur - Colors May Vary

Mighty Megasaur Remote Control Dinosaur - Colors May VaryFor the price and the appearance, this remote control dinosaur fulfilled my sons wishes and has provided him with hours of making the dinosaur walk while our puppy freaks out and does excited circles around it. Plus, its eyes glow red. Sweet.

This easy to control walking T-Rex Dinosaur with light and sound features is great fun for youngsters learning how to play with remote control toys.

  • Made of safe and durable plastic in brown or grey textured skin
  • Wired remote control function
  • Authentic sounds and light-up eyes
  • Operates on 3 x AA batteries (included for try me function only) and some assembly required
  • For ages 5 and up
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50s Sci-Fi Double Feature: The Jungle/King Dinosaur (DVD)

50s Sci-Fi Double Feature: The Jungle/King Dinosaur 
50s Sci-Fi Feature: The Jungle/King Dinosaur (DVD) VCI Entertainment and Kit Parker Films presents "50s Sci-Fi Double Feature: King Dinosaur (1955) & "The Jungle" (1952) (Dolby digitally remastered)...featuring top performances by actors of the '40s and '50s with outstanding drama and screenplays...from almost forgotten and little known films that will leave you wanting more...so pop some popcorn, sit back and enjoy the movie.

First up we have Lippert Pictures "KING DINOSAUR" (1955) (63 min/B&W) --- Under Bert I. Gordon (Director / Producer), Al Zimbalist (Producer), Tom Gries (Screenwriter), Gordon Avil (Cinematographer), Mischa Terr (Composer (Music Score), John A. Bushelman (Editor), Jack Cornall (Editor), Howard A. Anderson (Special Effects) ------ the cast includes William Bryant (Dr. Ralph Martin), Wanda Curtis (Dr. Patricia Bennett), Douglas Henderson (Dr. Richard Gordon), Patti Gallagher (Nora Pierce), Marvin Miller (Narrator (voice) . . . . . . this film in some circles is considered a cult classic for collectors ... our story opens with an unknown planet that has joined our solar system "Planet Nova" ... it's up to our top scientists to explore and discover if there is life on the planet, if there is what kind and is it friendly ...our four cast members land on this planet and run into various obstacles ... can we start a colony or will there be nothing but death and ruin, don't leave the theater you're about to discover this exciting answer yourself.

SPECIAL FEATURES:
1. Scenes censored from British Release
2. Theater Lobby cards & Behind the Scenes Shots
3. Sample Pages from The Original Script with Director Notes
4. Advertising Gallery on King Dinosaur

TRAILERS:
1. King Dinosaur (1955) - William Bryant and Marvin Miller
2. Death Monster - (not available)
3. Bride and the Beast (1958) -Charlotte Austin and Lance Fuller

BIOS:
1. Bill Bryant
Date of birth: 31 January 1924 - Detroit, Michigan
Date of death: 26 June 2001 - Woodland Hills, Los Angeles, California
2. Marvin Miller (aka: Marvin Mueller) (Narrator)
Date of birth: 18 July 1913 - St. Louis, Missouri
Date of death: 8 February 1985 - Los Angeles, California
3. Bert I. Gordon (aka: Bert Ira Gordon) (Director)
Date of birth: 24 September 1922 - Kenosha, Wisconsin
Date of death: Still Living

Second on the double bill is Lippert Pictures - "THE JUNGLE" (1952) (74 mins/Sepiatone) --- Under William A. Berke (Director / Producer), Orville H. Hampton (Screenwriter), Carroll Young (Screenwriter), Clyde de Vinna (Cinematographer), Daksnamurti (Composer (Music Score), G. Ramanathan (Composer (Music Score), L. Balu (Editor), A.J. Dominic (Art Director), P.B. Krishnan (Art Director) ------ the cast includes Rod Cameron (Steve Bentley), Marie Windsor (Princess Mari), Cesar Romero (Rama Singh), Ruby Mayer (The Aunt (as Sulochana), M.N. Nambiar (Mahaji), David (Prime Minister (as David Abraham), Chitra Devi (Dancer), Ramakrishna (Young Boy) . . . . . . our story has our hero Rod Cameron as the great white hunter, who has escaped a previous encounter with giant mammoth elephants ... Marie Windsor the Indian Princess and Cesar Romero as the Rama Singh don't believe Cameron's story ... Romero's brother was killed on Cameron's first safari and believes he had something to do with it ... much Indian wildlife and scenic landscape with a twist and surprising ending ... ........there's a great deal of entertainment here for all the film fans out there...all courtesy of VCI Entertainment, who in my humble opinion is the best there is in restoring early serials and features like this one.

BIOS:
1. Rod Cameron (aka: Nathan Roderick Cox)
Date of birth: 7 December 1910 - Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Date of death: 21 December 1983 - Gainesville, Georgia
2. Cesar Romero (aka: Cesar Julio Romero Jr.)
Date of birth: 15 February 1907 - New York, New York
Date of death: 1 January 1994 - Santa Monica, California
3. Marie Windsor (aka: Emily Marie Bertelsen)
Date of birth: 11 December 1919 - Marysvale, Utah
Date of death: 10 December 2000 - Beverly Hills, California
4. William Berke (Director)
Date of birth: 3 October 1903 - Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Date of death: 15 February 1958 - Los Angeles, California

SPECIAL FEATURES:
1. Marie Windsor remembers "The Jungle" as told to Tom Weaver
2. Theater Lobby Cards & behind the scenes shots
3. Advertising Gallery
4. Trivia

TRAILERS:
1. The Jungle (1952) - Rod Cameron, Cesar Romero and Marie Windsor
2. Jungle Bride (1933) - Anita Page & Charles Starrett
3. Macumba Love (1960) - Walter Reed, Ziva Rodann, William Wellman Jr and June Wilkinson.
4. White Gorilla (1945) - Ray Corrigan and Lorraine Miller

Great job by VCI Entertainment for releasing the "King Dinosaur (1955) & The Jungle (1952), digital transfere with a clean, clear and crisp print...looking forward to more of the same from the '40s and '50s vintage...order your copy now from Amazon or VCI Entertainment, stay tuned once again with a top notch films from the Forgotten Age of Hollywood that only VCI Entertainment (King of the Serials) can deliver...just the way we like 'em!

Total Time: 132 mins on DVD ~ VCI KPF563 ~ (10/31/2006)
Readmore50s Sci-Fi Double Feature: The Jungle/King Dinosaur (DVD)

Excellent quality DVD: The Jungle/King Dinosaur

50s Sci-Fi Double Feature: The Jungle/King Dinosaur50s Sci-Fi Double Feature: The Jungle / King Dinosaur (1952)

This is the first double feature DVD I have bought from VCI Entertainment. I don't know if they have others, but if they do, I will check them out as the quality of this one is excellent. Both of these old movies are in pristine condition here, with crystal picture clarity, good contrast levels, no speckling whatsoever, and fine sound. "King Dinosaur" is in anamorphic wide screen, and "The Jungle" is full-screen, in sepia-tint that lends an old-fashioned look. There are a few extras I haven't bothered with. In general, VCI gets 5 stars for presentation and the care with which they have released these movies. I never expected to find either of these films in such nice condition, so it's a very pleasant surprise. By the way, the package gives "King Dino" a running time of 59 minutes, but it played a full 63, so hasn't been cut as far as I can see.

Now the bad news...

Both these movies are clunkers. "King Dinosaur" follows four scientists as they explore a wandering planet, Nova, which has entered our solar system. The first eleven minutes are stock footage. Then the expedition gets to Nova, which looks a lot like California, but with more animals. The women scream a lot while the men shoot everything in sight. Some scientists! In the end they decide guns are inadequate and haul out the heavier weapons. The effects, which are mainly recycled from 1940's "One Million BC," consist of enlarged iguanas, gila monsters, armadillos and so forth. "King Dinosaur" has neither kings nor dinosaurs. It does, however, have an abundance od corny dialogue and incomprehensible activity, which make it worthwhile for "so bad it's good" aficianados.

"The Jungle" has Cesar Romero, an exotic locale (rural India), song and dance numbers, plenty of wildlife... and a lot of walking through the jungle. Then there's more. And more. It is, needless to say, a bit slow. It's redeemed somewhat by the unusual setting, but for the monsters in a monster movie to be outweighed ten-to-one by singin' and dancin', well, that's a problem. There are, in fact, monsters, of a very unusual type too, but they show up in the last 5 minutes of the movie and probably occupy about 60 seconds of screen time. This is quickly followed by a climax that makes no sense and it's over. Shades of "Monster From Green Hell" or "Two Lost Worlds," this is a monster movie that really isn't.

So there you go. If you're a 1950s monster-movie completist, like me, you might want these films. "The Jungle," especially, has been out of circulation for a while. But if you're looking for hokey fun, you might be better off with "Missile to the Moon" or even "Teenagers From Outer Space."

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Go, Diego, Go!: Great Dinosaur Rescue (2)

Go, Diego, Go!: Great Dinosaur Rescue
We bought a Nintendo Wii system for Christmas and chose the Go, Diego, Go!: Great Dinosaur Rescue for our son who just turned 3 years old. This was a great choice for him. The game has Diego and his sister Alicia tromping through the jungle with a myasaurus on a dinosaur rescue.

What I loved about this game:
1) The game is very intuitive with my three year old able to play most of it without help.

2) The player uses the Wii remote to make Diego move by jumping up and down, swimming, pushing, and lots of other actions. As a mom who wants to get the kids off the couch, this game has a lot of movement.

3)There is a section of the game called "Prehistoric Racers" that allows my 3 year old and 5 year old to use two Wii remotes and race against each other. It's an easy way to allow both to play a game at the same time.

4) When an activity might be too much for a little one, an icon flashes on the screen that informs that another person can grab a Wii remote and help.

What I didn't like...
1) It seems a little repetitive to me but I doubt that my three year would complain about that.

2) I can see that if I let the kids play this game for a long time at each sitting, they will quickly move through all the adventure.


Go, Diego, Go!: Great Dinosaur Rescue
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