FIRST ENTRY WOO!!! My roommate gave me dinosaur gummies, which I'm currently eating. So far I think I have a pretty solid understanding of what Fenton chemistry is. Not gonna lie, it took me more than five days and all of my working braincells to even read it. We lost many soldiers. I'm about to finish the paper on soft tissue fossilization written by Philip J. Senter on Paleontologica Electronica. I try to keep in mind that this is just a theory, and that there may be other possibilities for as to why soft tissue fossilizes. Or maybe not. I just want to keep an open mind.
I'll be honest, I would make an entire article on that paper alone. Because it touches up on misconceptions spread by YEC (Youth Esomething Creationists), and I think thats sooo important nowadays. I know that there are many youtube videos dedicated to that kind of deconstruction. But I think that this paper is super thorough and informative, while not being completely overwhelming. Like, yeah, chemistry is hard, and the concepts are hard to assimilate at the start. But if people who believe in this stuff can dedicate so much time to misinformation, then I imagine they must have the time to do a careful read of that sort of article.
Anyway, I'm having so much fun. Its difficult sometimes not to do too many things at the same time. I try keeping organized and following my to-do list, but sometimes I feel the need to jump in between subjects. So far I've covered the basics on Microraptor, and I'm also reading all the papers I've got on it so far. I finished reading the updated description on the holotype that shows the feather preservation. Its such a beautiful specimen. Of course, I had to omit a lot to focus on my subject (which has also been very difficult so far), but I cannot stress enough how beautiful it is. The images under the UV light are also beautiful. But you know what the best part is? When I read about the chemical composition of the feathers, which was connected to what I'd been reading on the other paper about preservation. AAAAAA!!!! MY MIND LITERALLY BLEW UP. Nothing compares to that feeling. Love it when shit makes sense. I don't want to give away too much RAAHHH IM SO EXCITED TO POST THIS!!!!
I have to re-read some of my old biology textbooks though. Like, partly the reason why I struggle so much to understand this paper is that I don't even remember what Collagen is. Shout out to Teresa Audesirk and others for Biology With Phisiology. That textbook is a god send I love it so much.
I think today I did a fairly amount of good work for the day. I mean, its been kind of slow because I'm feeling SUPER TIRED today. So I've been reading in short bursts and taking notes at the same time. Then I just take a break where I look at the ceiling and kind absorb all the information I just learned. I mean, its a lot. I'm starting to realize that this project might be a little too ambitions but eh, I've gotten this far. So why stop now?
I finished reading up in tophonomy and the fenton chemistry paper from yesterday. Really fascinating stuff. And who the hell is Miller J. Bennett and why do scientific journals keep approving his creationist propaganda??
I can't wait to re-read this article five years into the future and think 'man was I moron.'... Kinda glad my website doesn't have any visitors or followers LOL. It takes off a lot of the pressure, I think.
Collage starts again this tuesday. That will definetly slow things down.