This Week, June 3 - 7, 2013
'Lizard King' fossil shows giant reptiles coexisted with mammals during globally warm past
Some 40 million years before rock singer Jim Morrison's lyrics earned him the moniker "the Lizard King," an actual king lizard roamed the hot tropical forests of Southeast Asia, competing with mammals for food and other resources. A team of U.S. paleontologists, led by Jason Head of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, describes fossils of the giant lizard from Myanmar this week in the scientific journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B. Their analysis shows that it is one of the biggest known lizards ever to have lived on land.
The creature's scientific name is Barbaturex morrisoni -- which means "Lizard King," in honor of the aforementioned Doors singer. Read more about this discovery.
Ashfall Fossil Beds announces 2013 season schedule
Ashfall Fossil Beds State Historical Park has announced its 2013 season schedule through Oct. 13. The 360-acre park near Royal displays three-dimensional skeletons of prehistoric animals, including rhinos, camels, three-toed horses, and birds, among others -- all preserved in the area where volcanic ash killed them 12 million years ago.
This paleontology treasure is a joint project of the University of Nebraska State Museum of Natural History and the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission. Read more about the Ashfall schedule.
Lied hosts 'Putnam County Spelling Bee' June 7-8
The Lied Center for Performing Arts, in collaboration with TADA Productions Inc. of Lincoln, will present the Tony Award-winning musical comedy, "The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee" on June 7 and 8. Curtain time for each performance is 7:30 p.m.
"The Lied Center is excited to be working with TADA in bringing one of Broadway's funniest shows, 'The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee,' to Nebraska's 'Home for the Arts,'" said Bill Stephan, executive director of the Lied Center. "This show is a laugh-out-loud musical comedy that can best be described as simply hilarious." Read more about this comedy in Today@UNL.
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Morrill Hall offers free admission on Thursday evenings
Stay cool this summer and discover all that is new at Nebraska's natural history museum. The University of Nebraska State Museum of Natural History in Morrill Hall is offering free admission on Thursday nights, June 6 to Aug. 29.
The museum is open Thursday evenings from 4:30 to 8 p.m. Tickets to Mueller Planetarium fulldome shows will be $3 for adults and $2.50 for children. Morrill Hall will begin charging regular Thursday night admission fees on Sept. 5.
Turner earns German research award
Joe Turner, professor of mechanical and materials engineering, has received a Friedrich Wilhelm Bessel Research Award from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation in Germany.
The award (worth approximately $60,000) will allow Turner to conduct research with his nominator, Konrad Samwer, professor at the University of Goettingen. Turner and Samwer will focus on the application of contact resonance atomic force microscopy and nano-indentation to map elastic and anelastic properties of bulk metallic glasses near stress concentrations. Read more about Turner and this award in Today@UNL.
Fountain Frolics concert series opens June 6
The band Jumpin' Kate and the Naked Reserves will open the 15th year of Fountain Frolics concerts with a noon, June 6 performance outside the Nebraska Union.
Organized by the University Program Council, the free concert series features a wide variety of performers playing during the lunch hour under the Nebraska Union's north overhang nearly every Thursday through Aug. 1. The UNL Dairy Store will serve a hot dog, chips and soda lunch for $4. Ice cream will also be available for purchase. Read more about Fountain Frolics in Today@UNL.
