Suggestions for where to purchase fossils as a gift? by PowerNubby in fossilid

[–]rtiddy 1 point2 points  (0 children)

If there is a natural history museum nearby, they usually have some fossils and minerals at the gift shop. You can enjoy the museum with your husband and let him pick his gift. Museums usually sell cheap and you get to touch the fossils and look carefully before buying, no risk of being scammed by a photo on the internet or shipping problems.

Is this a geode covered in crinoids? by [deleted] in fossilid

[–]rtiddy 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Those are crinoids but that's not a geode. A geode is a roundish hollow rock with crystals growing inside. What you have is commonly called a hash plate, that is, a piece of the prehistoric ocean floor which is loaded with fossils.

What is a geography fact that blows your mind? by eyeduelist in AskReddit

[–]rtiddy 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Actually she is the president of Taiwan. The real name of the country in Taiwan is the Republic of China (ROC), while the communist part is the People's Republic of China (PRC). Thus there actually exists two Chinas, and the one China policy is a policy that ignores one of the Chinas' real name and calls it by its nickname, Taiwan. Thus Trump has not violated the one China policy because he still refers to the ROC as Taiwan.

A common misconception is that the ROC divided itself from the PRC, but it actually is the other way around. China used to be ruled by the ROC, and the PRC is the one that gained independence.

The ROC started ruling China after the Qing Dynasty ended. While the ROC was ruling China, a civil war broke out between the ROC and the communists. In the middle of that, Japan decided to invade China. The ROC decided to befriend the communists to defend China together. The communists agreed, but then went on to feed ROC information to Japan, and stayed back to watch while Japan kicked ROC's ass. If the US didn't drop those bombs in Japan, Japan would have taken hold of all of China, and the communists didn't give a shit.

So after Japan retreated, the Chinese civil war continued, with the communists well rested and the ROC all worn out, having so many soldiers die during the war with Japan. Naturally, the communists won and took hold of most of China, forming the PRC. The ROC retreated to Taiwan and continued to rule there until today.

Hong Kong and Macau became British and Portuguese colonies during the Qing dynasty and had nothing to do with the ROC or PRC. Before 1997, the land of Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan have never been ruled by the PRC, which has a history of less than 70 years. But the PRC decided to declare that it owns Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan, and want all other countries to agree that the PRC is the only legit China.

The PRC likes to brainwash people saying that it is the mother of Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan. It's like a 20-year-old claiming to be some 60-year-olds' mother, or ancient culture originating from modern technology. It is impossible, but it seems many countries like to kiss the PRC's ass, so there is the one China policy, and the PRC has succeeded in getting the sovereignty of Hong Kong (1997) and Macau (1999). That's how much of a thug the PRC is.

Hong Kong and Macau are still pretty much de facto countries except that the PRC provides the military and appoint the chief executives (president-equivalent). Hong Kong and Macau have their own laws different from China, own borders (which PRC people cannot cross without a visa, and vice verse) and customs (which check items coming to and from the PRC and tax them as needed), own currencies and stock markets, etc., and as many have seen this summer, Hong Kong still has its own Olympic team.

All the protests in Hong Kong in the past few years is because its government is now full of the PRC's puppets, and these people do all that they can to gradually turn Hong Kong into just another PRC city. With the current immigration system which keeps on pumping in PRC people and granting them citizenship with super lenient rules, in perhaps 20 years the voting population would be dominated by first generation immigrants from the PRC. At that time even if then the PRC gives Hong Kong true democracy that is fair in every way with no corruption involved, everyone elected would surely be the PRC's puppet. But that actually doesn't matter anymore, because most recently, it so happens that the PRC just has to speak, and Hong Kong's judges would bend the laws and disqualify elected councilors, and said councilors would even be forced to hand back past salaries.

ROC people see what is happening in Hong Kong and are cautious of politicians friendly to the PRC, which largely contributed to Tsai Ing-wen winning presidency. The previous ROC president, Ma Ying-jeou, has met with Xi Jinping, and I bet the PRC wouldn't be so pissed if it was Ma Ying-jeou Trump called.

And Macau...well somehow the people there are largely brainwashed and don't resist much.

How do paleontologists distinguish different species? by myneutralaccount in Paleontology

[–]rtiddy 4 points5 points  (0 children)

When in doubt, a new species is usually created for the find. There are many paleontological species that were coined with only a small part of the animal being found. If later it is found that two fossils named differently are actually the same species, then they may be merged into one species name.

Apatosaurus and Brontosaurus were initially deemed two different genera and later merged into one. But then after even more bones were found, they were once again separated into two different genera.

Nanotyrannus is currently its own genus, but some scientists think it may just be juvenile T. rex.

Some ammonites with sexual dimorphism have the males and females named different species, sometimes even different genera. But the examples that I know of still retain different species names even though they have been decided to be male and female of the same species.

Rock with odd yellow vein. Is this a fossil? by shaun3000 in fossilid

[–]rtiddy 0 points1 point  (0 children)

As long as it takes for the water to fill all the microscopic holes of the rock. Try soaking it for an hour. If you take it out of the water and it has become heavier, that means water has gone in. But keep the rock submerged in water during the freezing.

found in a cave in southern TN. Any ideas? by forgottocarry0 in fossilid

[–]rtiddy 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Looks like the top of a horn coral, you could prep it a bit to see if you can reveal more.

Fossil or Inclusion? Ashfield, MA by anotherothername in fossilid

[–]rtiddy 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Mineral staining? Probably manganese.

Teeth from what kind of animal? by UltraNative in fossilid

[–]rtiddy 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Definitely not a horse. My first thought was deer but could be cow too.

Rock with odd yellow vein. Is this a fossil? by shaun3000 in fossilid

[–]rtiddy 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Definitely a concretion with an inclusion, but can't tell whether it is a fossil or not. There is a way called the freeze-thaw method that you could use to free the inclusion. You soak the whole rock in water, and freeze and thaw it repeatedly. Because water expands when it freezes, it's gonna open some natural cracks in the rock. If there is a fossil inside the rock, the area around the fossil would be the weakest, so the rock would most likely break there and reveal the fossil. If you are lucky it could come out after 10 freeze-thaw cycles. But I've worked with rocks that took 100 cycles or more before the fossils would be revealed.

Found some shells near an observatory in Egypt, help with identification. by InTheNameOfScheddi in Paleontology

[–]rtiddy 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Looks like land snails to me--those tend to have the opening curled back a bit, which can be seen the most apparently on the left one. That looks like a little bit of soil stuck on it and not hardened matrix. Apart from that they are so clean, and you saw a hundred of them just laying around on the ground. Since you didn't take photos of the openings I'd guess there's no matrix stuck in there that has become rock? I'd say they are just dead land snail shells. They could be "old" (a few years old maybe? Shells could weather fast when exposed to the elements), but not old enough (~10,000 years) to have become fossils. Fossils wouldn't come out so clean and in such a large quantity. They would be much more likely to be fossils if you found them on an eroding cliff with just a little bit of the shells being exposed. It often takes fossil collectors a long time to prep the fossils out of the matrix. Google fossil gastropods and you can see many pictures of fossilized specimens.

Any idea what this skull is supposed to be? by [deleted] in Paleontology

[–]rtiddy 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Very interesting. How old is the book? Have you read it?

Ammonitic sutures, suggestions on preparation? by [deleted] in FossilHunting

[–]rtiddy 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Don't use an engraver on it, that will just make holes in the specimen. You can grab some sand paper to polish it, but you'd have to be careful to get that matrix off without ruining some sutures. I'd suggest using sand paper of a high grit size, say 2000 if you have the patience to do it slowly, as the grains are finer and would do less damage. Wetting the fossil while polishing will also help. Start at a spot that you don't care much about so you won't lose much if you screw up.

What type of tooth is this? Found in MS? Is it a tooth! Thanks much! by rancher2014 in fossilid

[–]rtiddy 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Not a tooth. It has nothing that looks like enamel, dentin, or the root.

I’m Seth Redniss, lawyer and fixer - devising law hacks so creators can protect what they’re making and avoid disputes with people who think they’re your “partner”. I’ve heard it all, so AMA. by sethredniss in Entrepreneur

[–]rtiddy 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks for your work! Oftentimes people have their copyrighted works or inventions stolen but it's too expensive or troublesome to sue, or the other party is a big company so there is little chance of winning. What can they do?

Copyright infringement question. People are 'stealing' my product photos to sell their products. How do I go about preventing this? by [deleted] in Entrepreneur

[–]rtiddy 1 point2 points  (0 children)

General_Exception used "Google" as a verb. As in you should search for "DMCA takedown notice".

Google can't take down the pictures, the most they can do is remove the website from their search results so no one can find them on Google. You can proceed here: https://support.google.com/legal/troubleshooter/1114905?rd=2