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ESCONI Flashback Friday #26: Field Trip to Dixon, IL 05-24-1959
Read more: ESCONI Flashback Friday #26: Field Trip to Dixon, IL 05-24-1959As part of the run up to ESCONI’s 70th Anniversary, here is Flashback Friday post #26. If you have pictures or stories to contribute, please send them over to esconi.info@gmail.com. Thanks! Here are some pictures from a field trip to Dixon, IL on May 24th, 1958. Field trips in the past were much more of a family affair. Collecting fossils and picnics seem to go hand in hand… If the pictures show anything, these were very social event. Too bad there aren’t just a few pictures of what they found… I’ll have a few trilobites with my hot dogs and…
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ESCONI November Junior Meeting – Space and Fossils on November 8th, 2019
Read more: ESCONI November Junior Meeting – Space and Fossils on November 8th, 2019Does your child like space and fossils? Bring them to our next junior meeting and we will expand their knowledge of both! Friday November 8th,2019 at 7pm College of DuPage Technical Education Center West side room 1038B Contact gallowayscottf@gmail.com with questions Go to www.ESCONI.org for the map.
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ESCONI November General Meeting – ESCONI 70th Birthday Celebration on November 8th, 2019
Read more: ESCONI November General Meeting – ESCONI 70th Birthday Celebration on November 8th, 2019Come on out to the November General Meeting! There will be cake, a slide show, and maybe some surprise guests! Officers of the Earth Science Club of Northern Illinois William H. Allaway Chairman Roy Beghtol Vice-Chairman Herb Beck Recording Secretary Jay E. Farr Corresponding Secretary Stevens T. Norvell Treasurer Mrs. Ethel Whitney Historian Curator B. J. Babbitt Editor Harry Nelson Associate Editor Active Membership $2.00 Associate Membership $1.25 Junior Membership $0.75 Non Resident Membership $1.25 Meetings on 2nd Friday of every month, except July and August, at 8:00 PM. Visitors Welcome!
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Phys.org: New way to date rocks
Read more: Phys.org: New way to date rocksPhys.org has a post about a new way to date rocks. Scientists at the University of Queensland have developed a way to date rocks by analyzing a silicate mineral known as garnet. The method is detailed in a paper which appeared in the Journal GSA Bulletin. A new way to date a common mineral could help pinpoint ore deposits and improve mineral exploration globally, according to University of Queensland scientists. The researchers have identified a new reference material and used a state-of-the-art instrument to better date rock formations in central Asia. UQ’s Professor Jian-xin Zhao said the team started by…
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LiveScience: Meet ‘Cold Dragon of the North Winds,’ the Giant Pterosaur That Once Soared Across Canadian Skies
Read more: LiveScience: Meet ‘Cold Dragon of the North Winds,’ the Giant Pterosaur That Once Soared Across Canadian SkiesLive Science has a story about a new giant pterosaur. The animal, Cryodrakon boreas (cold dragon of the north winds), was discovered in Dinosaur Provincial Park in Alberta, Canada. It is thought to have lived between 77 million to 74 million years ago. The bones were originally found decades ago and were thought to be those of Quetzalcoatlus, a related azhdarchid pterosaur that was first discovered in Texas. These findings were recently published in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. Millions of years ago, a flying reptile as big as an airplane took flight in what is now Canada. Now, this…
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ESCONI Events November 2019
Read more: ESCONI Events November 2019Field trips require membership, but visitors are welcome at all meetings! Fri, Nov 8th ESCONI Junior Meeting, 7:00 PM College of Dupage – Tech Ed (TEC) Building, Room 1038A (Map) – Topic: “Space and Fossils” Fri, Nov 8th ESCONI General Meeting, 8:00 PM College of Dupage – Tech Ed (TEC) Building, Room 1038A (Map) – Topic: “ESCONI 70th Birthday Celebration” Mon, Nov 11th Happy 70th Birthday ESCONI! Sat, Nov 16th ESCONI Paleontology Study Group Meeting, 7:30 PM –Tech Ed (TEC) Building, Room 1038B (Map) – Topic: “Pontiac Crinoids” by ESCONI Member Tom Williams
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ESCONI December 2019 Speaker is Dr. Thomas Cullen “Microsites to Macroinferences: a Multi-Scale Approach to Analyzing Dinosaur Paleoecology”
Read more: ESCONI December 2019 Speaker is Dr. Thomas Cullen “Microsites to Macroinferences: a Multi-Scale Approach to Analyzing Dinosaur Paleoecology”Dr. Thomas Cullen, Post-Doctoral Research Scientist at the Field Museum. The title of his talk is: “Microsites to Macroinferences: a Multi-Scale Approach to Analyzing Dinosaur Paleoecology”.
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PBS Eons: Were These Monsters Inspired by Fossils?
Read more: PBS Eons: Were These Monsters Inspired by Fossils?PBS Eons has a new episode. This one is about monsters, more specifically the Cyclops. People have been discovering the traces and remains of prehistoric creatures for thousands of years. And they’ve also probably been telling stories about fantastic beasts since language became a thing. So, is it possible that the monsters that populate our myths and legends were influenced by the fossil record? Check out Monstrum's full episode on Cyclops: https://youtu.be/s-pMfIWl4kI
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ESCONI Flashback Friday #25: Ode to a Blob
Read more: ESCONI Flashback Friday #25: Ode to a BlobAs part of the run up to ESCONI’s 70th Anniversary, here is Flashback Friday post #25. If you have pictures or stories to contribute, please send them over to esconi.info@gmail.com. Thanks! Rob Sula wrote this poem back in 2002. Rob as 1st Vice-President from 2008-2014. The poem is about Essexella asherae, the iconic Mazon Creek cnidarian. While there was a recent paper about whether it is a jellyfish or a sea anemone, the consensus opinion is that it is a jellyfish. ODE TO A BLOB Oh, lowly blob,Whose grave I did not rob. On the ground you sitSo round and…
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ESCONI Holiday Party December 6th, 2019, 5:30 PM at Cozymel’s in Wheaton
Read more: ESCONI Holiday Party December 6th, 2019, 5:30 PM at Cozymel’s in WheatonAn artist’s depiction of the extinct giant, frond-shaped organisms known as rangeomorphs. Credit: Reid Psaltis The 2019 ESCONI Holiday Dinner is December 6, 2019, starting at 5:30 PM at Cozymel's in Wheaton. We will be ordering off the menu. As in the past few years, there will be door prizes given away. Please RSVP to Dave at fossil54@att.net
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Roy Plotnick: The First Day of the Rest of Life
Read more: Roy Plotnick: The First Day of the Rest of LifeRoy Plotnick has a great post about of the last day of the Mesozoic Era (or the first day of the Cenozoic Era). It would have been a very bad day, indeed! On a day some sixty-six million years ago, life was Earth was suddenly and irreversibly altered. An enormous asteroid or comet struck the Earth next to what is now the Yucatan peninsula. After that, life on the Earth would never be the same. Dinosaurs, apart from birds (of course), died out. Even the birds, however, suffered dramatic losses. Extinctions struck plants and insects. Mammals may have lost more…
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‘A scientific goldmine’: U of A paleontologists discover complete skeleton of small, carnivorous dino
Read more: ‘A scientific goldmine’: U of A paleontologists discover complete skeleton of small, carnivorous dinoThe Edmonton Journal has a story about a recent dinosaur find. In 2014, a remarkablely complete, small, carnivorous dinosaur in “exquisitely preserved” condition was discovered by University of Alberta paleontologist Clive Coy. The animal, called Saurornitholestes, lived about 76 million years ago. Saurornitholestes is a small, feathered carnivorous dinosaur part of the dromaeosaurid family — also known as raptors — and was long thought to have been closely related to the velociraptor from Mongolia. The skeleton was “exquisitely preserved,” with all the bones except for the tail preserved. “Paleontology, in general, is a gigantic puzzle where most of the pieces…
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CBS Sunday Morning: Our fascination with Tyrannosaurus Rex
Read more: CBS Sunday Morning: Our fascination with Tyrannosaurus RexCBS Sunday Morning had a segment about our fascination with T rex. One of the most aptly named dinosaurs, it’s name means “Tyrant Lizard King”. This piece an interview with Mark Norell, head paleontologist at the American Museum of Natural History. As the CBS crew joins a University of Kansas expedition to Wyoming to find a baby T rex. At the American Museum of Natural History in New York City stands a goliath: The most accurate reconstruction of Tyrannosaurus Rex ever made. And according to Mark Norell, head paleontologist at the museum, the exhibit is notable for some new ideas,…
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ScienceMag: 300-million-year-old ‘Tully Monster’ may not be the creature scientists thought it was
Read more: ScienceMag: 300-million-year-old ‘Tully Monster’ may not be the creature scientists thought it wasScience Magazine has a story about the Tully Monster. A paper, which appeared in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B, calls into question whether Tullymonstrum is a vertebrate. The new research found melanosomes in extant invertebrate eyes (Octopus and Squid). That was a key part of the previous argument as it was widely believed melanosomes were only present in vertebrate eyes. The mysterious “Tully Monster,” a 15-centimeter-long, stalk-eyed creature (artist’s concept above) that swarmed the seas of what is now Illinois more than 300 million years ago, was a vertebrate and a close relative of lampreys. At least that’s what…
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ESCONI Flashback Friday #24: 60 Years of ESCONI by Kathy Dedina
Read more: ESCONI Flashback Friday #24: 60 Years of ESCONI by Kathy DedinaAs part of the run up to ESCONI’s 70th Anniversary, here is Flashback Friday post #24. If you have pictures or stories to contribute, please send them over to esconi.info@gmail.com. Thanks! The dedication for the 60th Anniversary was written by Kathy Dedina and appeared in the January 2010 issue of The Earth Science News. She was President from 1989-1990. Additionally, she served in other capacities for the club over the years, such as Vice-President, Treasurer, and Recording Secretary. Unfortunately, Kathy is no longer with us. ESCONI has a long and distinguished history as evidenced by this article. Kathy Dedina, Jean…
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PBS Eons: When Hobbits Were Real
Read more: PBS Eons: When Hobbits Were RealA new episode of PBS Eons is out. And, this one is about Homo floresiensis, otherwise known as the “hobbit”. Its discoverers named it Homo floresiensis, but it’s often called “the hobbit” for its short stature and oddly proportioned feet. And it’s been at the center of a major controversy in the field ever since. Was it its own species? Or was it really just one of us? Or, could it even have descended from a whole lineage of hominins that we don’t even know about?
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T. rex used a stiff skull to eat its prey
Read more: T. rex used a stiff skull to eat its preyPhys.org has a story about the strength of a Tyrannosaurus rex bite. This story describes research which appeared in a paper published in the journal The Anatomical Record. A Tyrannosaurus rex could bite hard enough to shatter the bones of its prey. But how it accomplished this feat without breaking its own skull bones has baffled paleontologists. That’s why scientists at the University of Missouri are arguing that the T. rex’s skull was stiff much like the skulls of hyenas and crocodiles, and not flexible like snakes and birds as paleontologists previously thought. “The T. rex had a skull that’s…
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The Dinosaur-Killing Asteroid Acidified the Ocean in a Flash
Read more: The Dinosaur-Killing Asteroid Acidified the Ocean in a FlashNew York Times has a story about the K-Pg mass extinction event. A recently published paper in The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences finds that the meteor at the end of the Cretaceous had an immediate and catastrophic effect on the ocean. What happened to the dinosaurs when an asteroid about six miles wide struck Earth some 66 million years ago in what is today Mexico is well known: It wiped them out. But the exact fate of our planet’s diverse ocean dwellers at the time — shelly ammonites, giant mosasaurs and other sea creatures — has not been as…
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Ancient ‘Cockroaches of the Sea’ Fossilized While Playing ‘Follow the Leader’
Read more: Ancient ‘Cockroaches of the Sea’ Fossilized While Playing ‘Follow the Leader’LiveScience has a piece on a new trilobite discovery in Morocco. Morocco is famous for fossils and one particularly notable animal from there is the trilobite. In this case, a whole line of these animals died and were preserved together in line. Behavior is rarely fossilized, but this window into the past, shows collective behavior is not as new and novel as was previous thought. These Ordovician trilobites, Ampyx priscus, were described in a paper in the journal Scientific Reports. The trilobites go marching one by one, hurrah, hurrah … well, at least they did, some 480 million years…
ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show
Most Recent Post
- 49th Annual CGMA Show – May 23rd and 24th, 2026
The 49th Annual CGMA Show will be held May 23rd and 24th, 2026 at the Expo Center of the Kane County Fairgrounds.
- About ESCONI
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Field trips require membership, but visitors are welcome at all meetings!
| Friday, April 10th | General Meeting – 8:00 PM via Zoom. Jessica Hull will present “Life in the Devonian Period, The Age of Fishes.” |
| Saturday, April 11th | Junior Study Group Meeting – 2:00 PM, in person at the College of DuPage Technical Education Center (TEC) Building – Room 1038A (Map). Katherine Howard will present on Sand and Sediment Collecting. Specifics of this meeting are available from Scott Galloway, 630-670-2591, gallowayscottf@gmail.com. |
| Saturday, April 18th | Paleontology Study Group – 7:30 PM via Zoom and in person at the College of DuPage, TEC, Room 1038B (Map). Keith Robitschek will present “Digging the Marl of the Lance Formation.” |
| Friday, April 24th | MAPS Expo XLVII – Springfield, IL. |
| Saturday, April 25th | MAPS Expo XLVII – Springfield, IL. |
| Sunday, April 26th | MAPS Expo XLVII – Springfield, IL. |
| No meeting this month | Mineralogy Study Group |
