Announcement: This Saturday at The Science Circle - "Titanaboa & Fireside Chat" and "The Dynamic Geology of Asia-Oceania"

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"Titanaboa and Fireside Chat"

Saturday September 11

10 AM to 11 AM SL time

This is an abbreviated replay of June 5 presentation with a Fireside Chat attached.

The Science Behind Titanoboa

Dr. Alex Hastings will lead part of the tour discussing the world of Titanoboa, 60 million years ago. How and why was the snake so big? What else lived in those murky waters?  Plus he’ll share what it was like finding Titanoboa fossils in the Cerrejon coal mine.

Linda Kelley’s Ecosystem

Linda will talk a little about what it takes to bring fossils to life and particularly building an ecosystem from what is shown and not shown in the fossil records. For her this entailed doing a lot of literature review and sussing out how all these things could plausibly fit together.  In addition to the fauna that shared space with the Titanoboa, and the kinds of flora,  this included reading about geologic changes during that period and estimates of Paleocene weather.

Creating an Animated Animesh Titanoboa for Second Life

Dr. Greg Bollella will discuss the process for creating, texturing, rigging, and animating an animesh object for Second Life. Most of the presentation will be an overview of the processes with more detail for a few very interesting techniques and observations. The workflow and tool-chain are important and will be presented. The tools used were, ZBrush, Maya, Photoshop, Substance Painter, and Substance Designer.  Of particular interest is that no images were used in creating the textures for Titanoboa, only math!

For more on the event, Click Here.

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/The%20Science%20Circle/104/125/1114

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"The Dynamic Geology of Asia-Oceania"

Saturday September 11

9 PM to 10 PM SL time 

The dynamic geology of the Asia-Oceania region might be viewed as a metaphor for the history of the area itself. While living in harmony with earth, water, fire, and air during tranquil times, each generation is reminded of the tension and power inherent in these elements, in the form of earthquakes, violent seas, volcanoes, and typhoons, just as they are aware of the tension and power of the human forces in the area.

While we will concentrate on geology this hour, it is difficult not to look at geography as well, that is, the relationship of people to the land. The Asia-Oceania region is a complex array of blends and contrasts. Just as it hosts some of the oldest and youngest physical features, plus the tallest and deepest points on Earth today, the land was also host to some of the earliest and most recent human origins, plus some of the oldest and youngest human cultures.

Join me as we explore the dynamic geology of the Asia-Oceania region, the harmony and tensions inherent in the earth, water, fire, and air that are influenced by it, and how this affects the lives of the people who live there.

For more on the event, Click Here.

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/The%20Science%20Circle/67/129/32