There Are Exceptions to Every Rule
Get the Free eBook! Want to master cold calling? Download my free eBook! Many would have you believe that cold calling is dead, but the successful have no fear of the phone; they use it to outproduce their competitors. Download Now In law school, I was taught that there are rules. You look at a fact pattern and apply the rule to that fact pattern. The rule is always right and you always follow the rule.Except when you don’t.For every rule, there is an exception. So you always follow the rule, except when there is an exception, in which case you follow a new rule based on that exception. Following this pattern always guarantees that you come to the right decision.Except when it doesn’t.There are exceptions to every exception. So the rule is always right, unless there is an exception to that rule, in which case you take the course of action prescribed by the exception, unless there is an exception to that exception, in which case, you follow the course of action prescribed by the exception to the exception.This is how the law works. You look at the fact patterns to discover the rules. Then you look for exceptions, things that would make it so the rule doesn’t apply and where some other rule might produce a better result.It is illegal to kill another human being, unless it is in self-defense, unless you had a duty to retreat . . . and on and on it goes.It’s easy to write about sales if there was a single set of rules that could be taught and universally applied. There isn’t a single set of rules that are universally applicable to every sales situation. Much like the countless legal issues we humans can create, there are countless sales situations. There are also some big broad principles, rules if you will, like “you diagnose before you prescribe,” or “you always start as high up in the organization as possible.”But each of these big broad principles is generally true. They’re worth knowing. But it’s also worth knowing that there are exceptions to the big broad rules, there are subtleties.It is always right to diagnose before you prescribe, unless your client doesn’t know how to help you understand their needs, unless they have already purchased what you sell enough to know what they need, unless they don’t enough to know that what they believe they need isn’t what’s going to get them the outcome they want . . . This isn’t say that you should always make sure understand your client’s needs before prescribing, but rather, sometimes you may have to help them by prescribing. We take our clients as we find them.If you want to improve your ability to sell well, then you need to study the big principles, the big rules. Then you have to understand where and when the rules don’t apply and what the most effective course of action is based on that exception (or the exception to that exception).Big principles first, exceptions and subtleties second.QuestionsWhat are some of the big rules, the big principles that apply to sales?How many of these rules are subject to an exception? What are those exceptions?Are there exceptions to those exceptions?Have you ever seen a salesperson mistake the exception for the rule?
I respond to every email I receive that requires a response, including responses to my Sunday newsletter. Email takes more of my time than I want it to, but it is still an important medium for communication. Because email isn’t my priority, and by that I mean something that needs to be completed in order to further my goals or projects, it needs to managed well. I go to inbox zero twice a week.First, I don’t live in my inbox. I don’t leave my email program open at all times because it isn’t where I do my work. My work is done in face-to-face meetings, on the telephone, or in Ulysses, the software program I use to write. By keeping my email closed, I am not distracted my new incoming email.Second, I look at my email three or four times a day. If you work for 90 minutes, you can complete a reasonably good amount of work on your most important project. A quick scan at the end of that period lets you check for anything urgent and ensures that you don’t miss anything. If something is really important, someone is going to call you. A quick look, a quick break, and you can go head down for another 90 minutes, or 45 minutes and a 45-minute meeting.Third, I respond to everything that needs an immediate response. That is far fewer emails than you might imagine. It’s something like one in twenty, mostly client-related email. A good portion of the email you get will be things that other people send you because they want you to be aware of something, most of which won’t impact you or your company or your biggest priorities. Much of what you want to respond to can simply wait.Much of your email deserves to wait. If you respond to it immediately and in real time, you are saying that whatever is in that email is more important than your most important priority. You are trading your greatest goal for the goal of answering email.On Wednesday mornings, I process my email, getting all five of my inboxes to zero, replying, archiving, and transferring tasks to my task manager. I repeat this process on Saturdays. In between, I live with a cluttered inbox, free from feeling guilty because I am dedicating my time and energy to my most important priorities.You are a knowledge worker who is living in the Information Age, a time of accelerating, disruptive change. One of the primary decisions you are going to be responsible for making is how you prioritize, and how you focus your attention and energy on meaningful, purposeful work.
The age old question is are salespeople born or made. The answer presumes that these two ideas are mutually exclusive. Some salespeople are born, and others are made.
When you should disqualify a prospective client?
Cow vigilantes ‘anti-social’: Modi breaks his silence Those making rent agreements, mortgage papers and lease agreements in Rajasthan will now have to pay a surcharge of 10% on stamp duty for cow protection.The finance department has imposed the surcharge on all such non-judicial instruments, order for which was released on March 31 last.Man transporting cows beaten to death in Rajasthan“In exercise of the powers conferred of the Rajasthan Stamp Act, 1998 and in supersession of this department’s notification, state government hereby orders surcharge at the rate of 10 per cent on stamp duty payable on all instruments for the purposes of conservation and propagation of cow and its progeny,” states the order.In her budget speech, Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje had proposed the surcharge for development of basic infrastructure facilities and protection and propagation of cows.However, judicial stamps, revenue ticket and insurance ticket have been excluded from the order.Also Read
In a landmark judgment, Gujarat High Court has ordered retrial even before the trial court pronounces its verdict in RTI activist Amit Jethva murder case in which a former BJP MP Dinu Solanki is a key accused.The court sets aside the ongoing trial in the CBI court, calling it “miscarriage of justice” as the trial was managed by the key accused Solanki, a powerful political leader in the state.According to lawyer Anand Yagnik, who appeared for Jethva’s father, the High Court has concluded the trial was influenced by the accused and therefore, it has been set aside even before the verdict is pronounced.The trial court had concluded the trial but the same was stayed by the court on the ground that 105 out of 195 witnesses had turned hostile during the course of trial.“This is a first case in the judicial history of the country that before pronouncement of judgement, the trial has been set aside and retrial ordered before a new judge,” Mr. Yagnik told The Hindu, adding, the court has directed the state of Gujarat and prosecuting agency CBI to ensure the retrial is conducted without any influence of money and muscle power of the accused.Amit Jethva, a wildlife and RTI activist in Saurashtra region, was shot dead outside Gujarat High Court in 2010 when he had filed a PIL exposing rampant mining of limestone Gir forest.The case was first probed by Ahmedabad crime branch, which had filed a charge sheet against five persons while the then Junagadh MP Dinu Solanki was given a clean chit. Subsequently, the case was handed over to the CBI, which had arrested and charge sheeted Mr. Solanki in 2013.The central agency had stated that Mr Jethva was killed primarily as he was exposing the illegal mining involving Mr. Solanki and his relatives in Kodinar area.
Suspected militants vandalised the residence of a ruling PDP leader in the Tral area of Pulwama district of Jammu and Kashmir on Saturday night, police sources said. The ultras, carrying guns, barged into the house of PDP zonal president Peer Mohammad Ashraf at Dadsara in Tral and vandalised it, the sources said. They said the gunmen fired shots in the air before fleeing. Mr. Ashraf was not present in the house at the time of the incident, the sources added. The PDP governs the State in alliance with the BJP.
The Bombay High Court at Goa on Tuesday reserved its order after hearing a petition filed by former Tehelka editor-in-chief Tarun Tejpal, who has been chargesheeted for alleged rape and other charges in a case involving a junior female colleague, at a Goa resort in November 2013. Justice Nutan Sardesai reserved her order after she heard arguments from special public prosecutor (PP) Sarvesh Lotlikar who pleaded for the trial to begin. No date has been specified for the order.Defence lawyers Aman Lekhi and Pramodkumar Dubey argued that the CCTV footage obtained from cameras at the five star hotel where the offence occurred, showed that the accusations against Tejpal were false, citing the lack of distress in the body language of the victim, as she, along with Tejpal, stepped out of the elevator, where the offence is alleged to have occurred. Tejpal has been charged under Sections 341 (wrongful restraint), 342 (wrongful confinement), and 376 (rape) of the Indian Penal Code(IPC) and the same have been endorsed by the court, while an additional Section 354 (b) (criminal assault with intent to disrobe) had been added.Tejpal is accused of sexually assaulting consecutively for two days a junior female colleague in the elevator of a hotel in north Goa during an event of Tehelka group, in November 2013.He was arrested subsequently but is now out on bail.Earlier in the day on Tuesday, defence lawyers also dismissed as “hearsay”, accounts of friends and family members of the victim, who she had confided in about the alleged rape by Tejpal. They argued that while rape was a “heinous crime”, slandering the reputation of a married man with two children by false allegation was “equally important issue”. The prosecution requested the Court to allow the trial to begin at the earliest. “Let the victim come to explain her conduct. Precisely for that, I appeal that a trial should take place. It is far fetched to discount her statement at this stage,” PP Lotlikar said. On December 6, the Supreme Court asked the additional District and Sessions court in North Goa to go ahead with the trial, even as Tejpal’s lawyers had appealed to the High Court seeking stay on the same
A Border Security Force (BSF) jawan was killed on the International Border (IB) in Jammu on Wednesday in a fresh violation of ceasefire agreement by Pakistan, triggering a major exchange of fire.A BSF official said the jawan was killed in a sniper fire from across the border in Jammu’s Samba district around 4:30.p.m. “The jawan was posted at the Chak Dolma post when he came under fire,” he said.The BSF spokesperson identified the deceased jawan as head constable R. P. Hazra, a resident of Rampara Murshidabad, West Bengal. He was born on this day in 1967.The incident sparked a major skirmish between the troops of India and Pakistan. (With PTI inputs)
Four Class IV and V students of a residential school in Koraput district of Odisha have been apprehended for allegedly attempting to murder a first standard boy.The incident took place at the Mahadeiput residential school, managed by the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe Development Department of the Odisha government, on January 10.‘Attempt to murder’ According to police sources, the four minor boys were apprehended on Sunday on charges of attempt to murder. They were produced before the Juvenile Justice Board that granted them bail following undertakings from their parents, the police said.Two of the boys are from Class IV while the other two are from Class V.The victim has been admitted to SLNM Medical College and Hospital in Koraput. His condition is reported to be stable.The victim went missing from the hostel on January 10 and was rescued in an unconscious state from a drain near the school campus the next day.‘Both hands fractured’ Additional Superintendent of Police, Koraput, K.V. Rao said both hands of the victim are fractured and he also has head injuries.The parents of the victim have registered a complaint with the Koraput Sadar police station.“Based on the names provided by the victim, the police managed to identify and apprehend the four minors involved in the attack,” said Mr. Rao.Initial investigation revealed that two days before the incident, the Class I student had teased a Class IV student and also slapped him. The group had then planned to take revenge. ‘Deserted spot’On January 10, they called the victim to a deserted spot near the school campus and allegedly thrashed him ruthlessly. When the victim became unconscious, they allegedly threw him into a drain and returned to the hostel. They did not mention about the incident to anyone.A case has been registered under Section 341 (wrongful restraint), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt) and 325 (voluntarily causing grievous hurt by dangerous weapons or means) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) against the four juveniles, the ASP said.
Conrad Kongkal Sangma has begun his innings as the head of a non-Congress government in Meghalaya 10 years after his father Purno Agitok Sangma stitched one.The Meghalaya Progressive Alliance that the senior Sangma cobbled up in 2008 had – except for the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and the People’s Democratic Front (PDF), a new regional player – the same constituents as younger son Conrad’s coalition government sworn in on Tuesday.But then, the NCP metamorphosed into the National People’s Party (NPP) that is heading the coalition now. Conrad Sangma took over charge of the NPP after his father, who founded the party in January 2013, died two years ago.The Assembly election a decade ago had produced a fractured verdict. The Congress with 25 MLAs was the single largest party, but the NCP with 14 and the United Democratic Party (UDP) with 11 came together to form the government with the BJP (one MLA) and other regional parties such as the Hill State People’s Democratic Party (HSPDP) that had two legislators.This time, the Congress bagged 21 seats including the two that former Chief Minister Mukul M. Sangma won. The NPP won 19, the UDP six, the PDF four and the BJP and the HSPDP two each.In 2008, Purno Sangma gave up the opportunity to become Meghalaya’s Chief Minister for the second time in order to ensure stability in a State notorious for political uncertainty except for the first six years after its birth in 1972.UDP president Donkupar Roy became the Chief Minister that year, but the inevitable happened. The alliance government lasted a year, 365 days to be precise.Mr. Roy has been chosen Speaker of the 60-member Assembly. Elections, though, were held for 59 seats only as suspected militants had gunned down NCP candidate Jonathone N. Sangma in the Williamnagar seat.“History has repeated itself if one takes the composition of the NPP-led government into consideration. But we hope the well-educated, young (40) Conrad Sangma will have fresh ideas to not let the history of instability be repeated,” Tokiwaio Blah, former bureaucrat and political analyst, told The Hindu from Meghalaya capital Shillong.The father and son, he added, have another thing in common. They were sworn in as Chief Minister on the same day – February 6.Purno Sangma was 41 years old when he became the State’s fourth Chief Minister in 1988.
Ahead of Ambedkar Jayanti on Saturday, Bhim Army founder Chandrashekhar Azad “Ravan” began a fast last Tuesday. He is currently lodged in Saharanpur jail after the U.P. government slapped the stringent National Security Act on him. According to Kamlesh Devi, mother of Chandrashekhar (who took on the title of “Ravan” as an act of defiance), her son started the “fast unto death” to protest against the “targeting of Dalits and filing of cases against them” during the Bharat bandh on April 2.“The way Dalits are being harassed by the Adityanath government has pained us all. Chandrashekhar has started a fast against the atrocities. I met him in jail where I got to know that he was having only water. The jail administration is pressuring him to break his fast,” she told The Hindu.
The Bombay High Court on Wednesday refused to grant relief to Islamic preacher Zakir Naik, who is facing charges of inciting communal disharmony and engaging in unlawful activities, observing that he did not show any interest to help the probe agencies.A Division Bench was hearing a petition filed by Naik seeking a direction to the National Investigation Agency and the Enforcement Directorate to submit reports on the probe carried out against him.
Patna, along with other parts of the State, received heavy rainfall on Saturday night leaving the Intensive Care Unit of a government-run hospital waterlogged and causing a flood-like situation in the labour room of another government hospital on Sunday.At the ICU of the Nalanda Medical College and Hospital (NMCH), the second biggest government hospital in the State capital, nurses and doctors were seen wading through stagnant rainwater to provide medicine and other emergency care. At another government hospital in Rajendra Nagar, rainwater entered the labour room causing extreme difficulty for patients, paramedics and doctors. The residence of Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi and a large number of private hospitals in the same neighbourhood were flooded. Earlier in the day a major portion of Bailey Road, the main road of Patna caved in at an under-construction site due to heavy downpour. Traffic movement in the area was severely affected and it is expected to be restored only by Monday. Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, who visited the site of the cave-in, said, “I’ve asked officials to check the groundwater level of the area as it is also a part of the metro rail network.” Since Saturday afternoon the heavy downpour disrupted normal life in Patna and the nearby districts. Schools have declared a holiday on Monday as the India Meteorological Department (IMD) bulletin warned of heavy-to-very heavy rainfall in a few places in Bihar till August 1.Opposition fireMeanwhile, taking a dig at pictures of fish swimming in rainwater at the government hospital, Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly Tejashwi Yadav tweeted on Sunday, “Nitish Kumar’s model of development. ICU of NMCH is swimming in drain water, fishes seen in ICU. Mind you, you can’t question him as his conscience is fast asleep and snoring with BJP.”In another tweet, he said, “Bihar’s 2nd largest Hospital NMCH has turned into an aquarium filled with drain water. Hope the JD(U) doesn’t declare this a stunt by Lord Indra. Even Lord Indra is highlighting the wrong policies followed by the government for 14 years.”
Due to the increased penetration of security forces into the erstwhile cut-off area of Balimela reservoir because of the recently inaugurated Gurupriya bridge, a hardcore Maoist couple surrendered in Odisha’s Malkangiri district on Sunday.It was a blow to the clout of the Maoist outfit as the couple surrendered before Makangiri Superintendent of Police Jagmohan Meena on the second day of martyrs’ week being observed by Naxalites. The surrendered Maoists are Waga Urmani and his wife Mude Madhi.A reward of ₹4 lakh had been declared for the capture of Urmani, while his wife had a ₹1-lakh reward on her head. Both were active members of the Andhra-Odisha Border Military Platoon of the outlawed CPI (Maoist) organisation and were operating in the region that had remained cut-off from the mainland due to Balimela reservoir till the inauguration of Gurupriya bridge. Now the region has been named ‘swabhiman area’.‘Realised futility’ Speaking to newsmen after their surrender, Urmani and Madhi said the Gurupriya bridge was a major reason behind their surrender as it had enabled the setting up of a camp of security personnel, enabling enhanced anti-Maoist operations. They also claimed that they had realised the futility of the violent activities of Maoists. They were also critical of the activities of Maoist leaders like Dhananjay Gope alias Sudheer, who were involved in exploitation of women and attacks on innocents.Both of them were involved in around 40 cases of Maoist violence, including murders. Urmani was allegedly involved in at least nine murders, while Madhi in seven killings.According to the SP, both of them would be rehabilitated as per the surrender and rehabilitation policy of the Odisha government for surrendered Maoists.
In a rare gesture in trouble-torn Kashmir valley, people rallied in support of IPS officer Basant Kumar Rath following his transfer by the administration, in the wake of his online spat with newly-elected Mayor Junaid Azim Mattu.Mr. Rath, who has earned plaudits for streamlining the traffic system in Jammu and Kashmir in less than one year of being appointed as Inspector General of Police (Traffic), was shunted out on Tuesday and replaced by 1997-batch IPS officer Alok Kumar. He has been attached with the office of Commandant General of Home Guards.“Dear officer, Basant Rath, we salute you for being an honest and dedicated officer. Love you always and you’ll always stay in our heart and our blessings are always with you. We are going to miss you sir. May God bless you,” wrote Mohsin Ahmed on Twitter, one of his legions of fans. Mr. Rath trended on several social media platforms in the Valley after the transfer.Hailing from Odisha, Mr. Rath, who studied sociology at Jawaharlal Nehru University in Delhi, cleared the UPSC examination in 2000 and made it to the IPS. He earned himself a following in Kashmir, a place where a significant section of youth is angry against security forces and engages in frequent street battles. His pro-people measures, accessibility to the commoners and punishing the ‘rich brats’ saw Mr. Rath emerge as a rare cop whom the locals would gladly approach to get selfies clicked with. However, last week, Mr. Rath took on Mr. Mattu over his remarks at his maiden conference as Mayor that wetlands in Srinagar were not of much use if the city did not have proper infrastructure for expansion, triggering an online face-off between the two.‘Madhav behind move’National Conference leader and former Srinagar Mayor Salman Ali Sagar alleged that the current incumbent used his newly-found affection for the BJP and its general secretary Ram Madhav to get Mr. Rath transferred.
It’s not every day that the body of a king turns up, especially one who died in battle and was buried in haste. But last year, archaeologists discovered the skeleton of King Richard III under a parking lot in Leicester, U.K. Ever since, researchers have been looking for clues about his life. Using a microscope, the scientists found eggs, just 55 microns wide, of the roundworm Ascaris lumbricoides where his intestines would have been in the grave. Adult roundworms grow up to 30 centimeters long, absorb nutrients from the gut, and can produce 200,000 eggs a day for a year. As published today in The Lancet, scientists found only a few eggs anywhere else around the remains or in the surrounding soil so they conclude that the eggs from his gut (see photo inset) came from a roundworm infection, not contamination of the soil. As roundworm eggs hatch, they dig their way through the heart and lungs, so Richard may have spit blood and suffered abdominal pain. It could have been worse: Noblemen like Richard ate a lot of beef, pork, and fish, which carry the other common gut parasite, tapeworms, but cooking prevents infection. Richard apparently had no tapeworms. He probably acquired his roundworms from water or raw food contaminated with feces, a common fertilizer during the Middle Ages.See more ScienceShots.Sign up for our daily newsletterGet more great content like this delivered right to you!Country *AfghanistanAland IslandsAlbaniaAlgeriaAndorraAngolaAnguillaAntarcticaAntigua and BarbudaArgentinaArmeniaArubaAustraliaAustriaAzerbaijanBahamasBahrainBangladeshBarbadosBelarusBelgiumBelizeBeninBermudaBhutanBolivia, Plurinational State ofBonaire, Sint Eustatius and SabaBosnia and HerzegovinaBotswanaBouvet IslandBrazilBritish Indian Ocean TerritoryBrunei DarussalamBulgariaBurkina FasoBurundiCambodiaCameroonCanadaCape VerdeCayman IslandsCentral African RepublicChadChileChinaChristmas IslandCocos (Keeling) IslandsColombiaComorosCongoCongo, The Democratic Republic of theCook IslandsCosta RicaCote D’IvoireCroatiaCubaCuraçaoCyprusCzech RepublicDenmarkDjiboutiDominicaDominican RepublicEcuadorEgyptEl SalvadorEquatorial GuineaEritreaEstoniaEthiopiaFalkland Islands (Malvinas)Faroe IslandsFijiFinlandFranceFrench GuianaFrench PolynesiaFrench Southern TerritoriesGabonGambiaGeorgiaGermanyGhanaGibraltarGreeceGreenlandGrenadaGuadeloupeGuatemalaGuernseyGuineaGuinea-BissauGuyanaHaitiHeard Island and Mcdonald IslandsHoly See (Vatican City State)HondurasHong KongHungaryIcelandIndiaIndonesiaIran, Islamic Republic ofIraqIrelandIsle of ManIsraelItalyJamaicaJapanJerseyJordanKazakhstanKenyaKiribatiKorea, Democratic People’s Republic ofKorea, Republic ofKuwaitKyrgyzstanLao People’s Democratic RepublicLatviaLebanonLesothoLiberiaLibyan Arab JamahiriyaLiechtensteinLithuaniaLuxembourgMacaoMacedonia, The Former Yugoslav Republic ofMadagascarMalawiMalaysiaMaldivesMaliMaltaMartiniqueMauritaniaMauritiusMayotteMexicoMoldova, Republic ofMonacoMongoliaMontenegroMontserratMoroccoMozambiqueMyanmarNamibiaNauruNepalNetherlandsNew CaledoniaNew ZealandNicaraguaNigerNigeriaNiueNorfolk IslandNorwayOmanPakistanPalestinianPanamaPapua New GuineaParaguayPeruPhilippinesPitcairnPolandPortugalQatarReunionRomaniaRussian FederationRWANDASaint Barthélemy Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da CunhaSaint Kitts and NevisSaint LuciaSaint Martin (French part)Saint Pierre and MiquelonSaint Vincent and the GrenadinesSamoaSan MarinoSao Tome and PrincipeSaudi ArabiaSenegalSerbiaSeychellesSierra LeoneSingaporeSint Maarten (Dutch part)SlovakiaSloveniaSolomon IslandsSomaliaSouth AfricaSouth Georgia and the South Sandwich IslandsSouth SudanSpainSri LankaSudanSurinameSvalbard and Jan MayenSwazilandSwedenSwitzerlandSyrian Arab RepublicTaiwanTajikistanTanzania, United Republic ofThailandTimor-LesteTogoTokelauTongaTrinidad and TobagoTunisiaTurkeyTurkmenistanTurks and Caicos IslandsTuvaluUgandaUkraineUnited Arab EmiratesUnited KingdomUnited StatesUruguayUzbekistanVanuatuVenezuela, Bolivarian Republic ofVietnamVirgin Islands, BritishWallis and FutunaWestern SaharaYemenZambiaZimbabweI also wish to receive emails from AAAS/Science and Science advertisers, including information on products, services and special offers which may include but are not limited to news, careers information & upcoming events.Required fields are included by an asterisk(*)
Move over, Sherlock Holmes. There is a new master of disguise—and it’s a plant. Camouflage and mimicry are usually reserved for the animal realm. The hawk moth caterpillar scares away predators by resembling a snake. Myrmarachne jumping spiders imitate ants as they creep up on unsuspecting insects—fangs ready. Fewer examples of mimicry—or crypsis—are known for plants. But as in some mistletoe species in Australia, all of these imposters copy only one other species. That’s not the case with the woody vine Boquila trifoliolata, which transforms its leaves to copy a variety of host trees. Native to Chile and Argentina, B. trifoliolata is the first plant shown to imitate several hosts. It is a rare quality—known as a mimetic polymorphism—that was previously observed only in butterflies, according to this study, published today in Current Biology. When the vine climbs onto a tree’s branches, its versatile leaves (inset) can change their size, shape, color, orientation, and even the vein patterns to match the surrounding foliage (middle panel; the red arrow points to the vine, while the blue arrow indicates the host plant). If the vine crosses over to a second tree, it changes, even if the new host leaves are 10 times bigger with a contrasting shape (right panel). The deceit serves as a defense against plant-eating herbivores like weevils and leaf beetles, according the researchers. They compared the charlatan leaves hanging on branches with the leaves on vines still crawling on the forest floor in search of a tree or scaling leafless trunks. Herbivory was 33% and 100% worse for the vines on the ground and on tree trunks, respectively. It is unclear how B. trifoliolata vines discern the identity of individual trees and shape-shift accordingly. The vines could read cues hidden in odors, or chemicals secreted by trees or microbes may transport gene-activating signals between the fraud and the host, the researchers say.See more ScienceShots.Sign up for our daily newsletterGet more great content like this delivered right to you!Country *AfghanistanAland IslandsAlbaniaAlgeriaAndorraAngolaAnguillaAntarcticaAntigua and BarbudaArgentinaArmeniaArubaAustraliaAustriaAzerbaijanBahamasBahrainBangladeshBarbadosBelarusBelgiumBelizeBeninBermudaBhutanBolivia, Plurinational State ofBonaire, Sint Eustatius and SabaBosnia and HerzegovinaBotswanaBouvet IslandBrazilBritish Indian Ocean TerritoryBrunei DarussalamBulgariaBurkina FasoBurundiCambodiaCameroonCanadaCape VerdeCayman IslandsCentral African RepublicChadChileChinaChristmas IslandCocos (Keeling) IslandsColombiaComorosCongoCongo, The Democratic Republic of theCook IslandsCosta RicaCote D’IvoireCroatiaCubaCuraçaoCyprusCzech RepublicDenmarkDjiboutiDominicaDominican RepublicEcuadorEgyptEl SalvadorEquatorial GuineaEritreaEstoniaEthiopiaFalkland Islands (Malvinas)Faroe IslandsFijiFinlandFranceFrench GuianaFrench PolynesiaFrench Southern TerritoriesGabonGambiaGeorgiaGermanyGhanaGibraltarGreeceGreenlandGrenadaGuadeloupeGuatemalaGuernseyGuineaGuinea-BissauGuyanaHaitiHeard Island and Mcdonald IslandsHoly See (Vatican City State)HondurasHong KongHungaryIcelandIndiaIndonesiaIran, Islamic Republic ofIraqIrelandIsle of ManIsraelItalyJamaicaJapanJerseyJordanKazakhstanKenyaKiribatiKorea, Democratic People’s Republic ofKorea, Republic ofKuwaitKyrgyzstanLao People’s Democratic RepublicLatviaLebanonLesothoLiberiaLibyan Arab JamahiriyaLiechtensteinLithuaniaLuxembourgMacaoMacedonia, The Former Yugoslav Republic ofMadagascarMalawiMalaysiaMaldivesMaliMaltaMartiniqueMauritaniaMauritiusMayotteMexicoMoldova, Republic ofMonacoMongoliaMontenegroMontserratMoroccoMozambiqueMyanmarNamibiaNauruNepalNetherlandsNew CaledoniaNew ZealandNicaraguaNigerNigeriaNiueNorfolk IslandNorwayOmanPakistanPalestinianPanamaPapua New GuineaParaguayPeruPhilippinesPitcairnPolandPortugalQatarReunionRomaniaRussian FederationRWANDASaint Barthélemy Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da CunhaSaint Kitts and NevisSaint LuciaSaint Martin (French part)Saint Pierre and MiquelonSaint Vincent and the GrenadinesSamoaSan MarinoSao Tome and PrincipeSaudi ArabiaSenegalSerbiaSeychellesSierra LeoneSingaporeSint Maarten (Dutch part)SlovakiaSloveniaSolomon IslandsSomaliaSouth AfricaSouth Georgia and the South Sandwich IslandsSouth SudanSpainSri LankaSudanSurinameSvalbard and Jan MayenSwazilandSwedenSwitzerlandSyrian Arab RepublicTaiwanTajikistanTanzania, United Republic ofThailandTimor-LesteTogoTokelauTongaTrinidad and TobagoTunisiaTurkeyTurkmenistanTurks and Caicos IslandsTuvaluUgandaUkraineUnited Arab EmiratesUnited KingdomUnited StatesUruguayUzbekistanVanuatuVenezuela, Bolivarian Republic ofVietnamVirgin Islands, BritishWallis and FutunaWestern SaharaYemenZambiaZimbabweI also wish to receive emails from AAAS/Science and Science advertisers, including information on products, services and special offers which may include but are not limited to news, careers information & upcoming events.Required fields are included by an asterisk(*)
Scientists have found a nearly square peg underneath a round hole—on the moon. Several kilometers below Oceanus Procellarum, the largest dark spot on the moon’s near side, scientists have discovered a giant rectangle thought to be the remnants of a geological plumbing system that spilled lava across the moon about 3.5 billion years ago. The features are similar to rift valleys on Earth—regions where the crust is cooling, contracting, and ripping apart. Their existence shows that the moon, early in its history, experienced tectonic and volcanic activity normally associated with much bigger planets.“We’re realizing that the early moon was a much more dynamic place than we thought,” says Jeffrey Andrews-Hanna, a planetary scientist at the Colorado School of Mines in Golden and lead author of a new study of the Procellarum’s geology. The discovery also casts doubt on the decades-old theory that the circular Procellarum region is a basin, or giant crater, created when a large asteroid slammed into the moon. “We don’t expect a basin rim to have corners,” Andrews-Hanna says.The work is based on data gathered by GRAIL (Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory), a pair of NASA spacecraft that orbited the moon in 2012. Sensitive to tiny variations in the gravitational tug of the moon, GRAIL mapped density variations below the surface (because regions of higher density produce slightly higher gravitational forces). Below known impact basins, GRAIL found the expected ringlike patterns, but underneath the Procellarum region, the mysterious rectangle emerged. “It was a striking pattern that demanded an explanation,” Andrews-Hanna says.Sign up for our daily newsletterGet more great content like this delivered right to you!Country *AfghanistanAland IslandsAlbaniaAlgeriaAndorraAngolaAnguillaAntarcticaAntigua and BarbudaArgentinaArmeniaArubaAustraliaAustriaAzerbaijanBahamasBahrainBangladeshBarbadosBelarusBelgiumBelizeBeninBermudaBhutanBolivia, Plurinational State ofBonaire, Sint Eustatius and SabaBosnia and HerzegovinaBotswanaBouvet IslandBrazilBritish Indian Ocean TerritoryBrunei DarussalamBulgariaBurkina FasoBurundiCambodiaCameroonCanadaCape VerdeCayman IslandsCentral African RepublicChadChileChinaChristmas IslandCocos (Keeling) IslandsColombiaComorosCongoCongo, The Democratic Republic of theCook IslandsCosta RicaCote D’IvoireCroatiaCubaCuraçaoCyprusCzech RepublicDenmarkDjiboutiDominicaDominican RepublicEcuadorEgyptEl SalvadorEquatorial GuineaEritreaEstoniaEthiopiaFalkland Islands (Malvinas)Faroe IslandsFijiFinlandFranceFrench GuianaFrench PolynesiaFrench Southern TerritoriesGabonGambiaGeorgiaGermanyGhanaGibraltarGreeceGreenlandGrenadaGuadeloupeGuatemalaGuernseyGuineaGuinea-BissauGuyanaHaitiHeard Island and Mcdonald IslandsHoly See (Vatican City State)HondurasHong KongHungaryIcelandIndiaIndonesiaIran, Islamic Republic ofIraqIrelandIsle of ManIsraelItalyJamaicaJapanJerseyJordanKazakhstanKenyaKiribatiKorea, Democratic People’s Republic ofKorea, Republic ofKuwaitKyrgyzstanLao People’s Democratic RepublicLatviaLebanonLesothoLiberiaLibyan Arab JamahiriyaLiechtensteinLithuaniaLuxembourgMacaoMacedonia, The Former Yugoslav Republic ofMadagascarMalawiMalaysiaMaldivesMaliMaltaMartiniqueMauritaniaMauritiusMayotteMexicoMoldova, Republic ofMonacoMongoliaMontenegroMontserratMoroccoMozambiqueMyanmarNamibiaNauruNepalNetherlandsNew CaledoniaNew ZealandNicaraguaNigerNigeriaNiueNorfolk IslandNorwayOmanPakistanPalestinianPanamaPapua New GuineaParaguayPeruPhilippinesPitcairnPolandPortugalQatarReunionRomaniaRussian FederationRWANDASaint Barthélemy Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da CunhaSaint Kitts and NevisSaint LuciaSaint Martin (French part)Saint Pierre and MiquelonSaint Vincent and the GrenadinesSamoaSan MarinoSao Tome and PrincipeSaudi ArabiaSenegalSerbiaSeychellesSierra LeoneSingaporeSint Maarten (Dutch part)SlovakiaSloveniaSolomon IslandsSomaliaSouth AfricaSouth Georgia and the South Sandwich IslandsSouth SudanSpainSri LankaSudanSurinameSvalbard and Jan MayenSwazilandSwedenSwitzerlandSyrian Arab RepublicTaiwanTajikistanTanzania, United Republic ofThailandTimor-LesteTogoTokelauTongaTrinidad and TobagoTunisiaTurkeyTurkmenistanTurks and Caicos IslandsTuvaluUgandaUkraineUnited Arab EmiratesUnited KingdomUnited StatesUruguayUzbekistanVanuatuVenezuela, Bolivarian Republic ofVietnamVirgin Islands, BritishWallis and FutunaWestern SaharaYemenZambiaZimbabweI also wish to receive emails from AAAS/Science and Science advertisers, including information on products, services and special offers which may include but are not limited to news, careers information & upcoming events.Required fields are included by an asterisk(*)Scientists already know that the Procellarum region is rich in radioactive elements that billions of years ago would have produced excess heat. The study team theorizes that as this region cooled, the rock would have cracked in geometrical patterns, like honeycomb patterns seen on Earth in basalt formations, but on a much larger scale. In a study published today in Nature, the researchers propose that these cracks eventually grew into rift valleys, where magma from the moon’s mantle welled up and pushed apart blocks of crust. Lava spilled out and paved over the Oceanus Procellarum, creating the dark spot that is seen today. The extra weight of this dense material would have caused the whole region to sink slightly and form the topographic low that has made the Procellarum seem like a basin.With the discovery, the moon joins Earth, Mars, and Venus as solar system bodies with mapped examples of rifting. There are also similar features near the south pole of Enceladus, the moon of Saturn that is spewing water into space from cracks in an ice shell.Andrews-Hanna and colleagues have made a good case, says Herbert Frey, a planetary scientist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, even though the newly described features are surprising. The moon is not big enough to have the same strong convective cooling process that Earth has in its interior, he explains, and ordinarily convection is one of the main mechanisms thought to lead to large-scale rifting. So just what caused the rifting remains unclear. “It just means the moon continues to surprise us,” he says. Frey adds that a remaining mystery is why the rectangular features were found only beneath Oceanus Procellarum. Even if the rifting is explained by the excess radioactive elements, there is still no definitive explanation for why only the near side of the moon ended up enriched.The discovery could also be a death knell for the impact theory for Oceanus Procellarum, an idea first put forth in the early 1970s. A basin there would have been the largest on the moon—larger than the South Pole–Aitken Basin—and second in the solar system only to the Borealis Basin on Mars, which covers the planet’s entire northern hemisphere.Ryosuke Nakamura, a researcher at the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology in Tsukuba, Japan, is still not convinced that an impact can be ruled out. In 2012, he and his colleagues published a paper in Nature Geoscience that found compositional evidence for an impact within Procellarum—a type of pyroxene mineral that is found in other, known impact basins such as South Pole–Aitken and is associated with the melting or excavation of mantle rock from an asteroid impact.In response to the current study, Nakamura says that the features in the southwestern corner of the Procellarum region look to be circular rather than rectangular, and still consistent with an impact. But Frey, who has long been skeptical of the impact theory, says that the features are as clear as day, and not what you’d expect underneath a basin. “That looks like a rectangle to me.”
An unusual object about 90 million light-years from Earth might be a supermassive black hole kicked out of its home galaxy during a collision with another galaxy, a new study suggests. If so, it’s the first evictee to be confirmed as such by astronomers. The object, dubbed SDSS1133, lies about 2600 light-years from the center of a dwarf galaxy known as Markarian 177 (both of which lie within the bowl of the Big Dipper, a familiar star pattern in the constellation Ursa Major). SDSS1133 has brightened substantially over the past 2 years but has been spotted in images taken by various instruments during the past 63 years, hinting that the object—whose brightest features measure less than 40 light-years across—probably isn’t a recently exploded supernova. Recent observations of Markarian 177 reveal specific areas of intense star formation, possible signs of a recent galactic collision that expelled SDSS1133 from the parent galaxy where it once resided, the researchers reported online before print in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. (The video depicts the purported 2.7-billion-year-long intergalactic collision and its aftermath.) According to an alternate scenario, SDSS1133 is an extraordinarily rare type of massive star called a luminous blue variable. But if that’s the case, the researchers note, SDSS1133’s near-continual eruption since 1950 would be the most persistent yet reported for that type of star. A series of observations in ultraviolet wavelengths planned for next year may help scientists distinguish between these widely disparate explanations.(Video credit: L. Blecha [UMD])Sign up for our daily newsletterGet more great content like this delivered right to you!Country *AfghanistanAland IslandsAlbaniaAlgeriaAndorraAngolaAnguillaAntarcticaAntigua and BarbudaArgentinaArmeniaArubaAustraliaAustriaAzerbaijanBahamasBahrainBangladeshBarbadosBelarusBelgiumBelizeBeninBermudaBhutanBolivia, Plurinational State ofBonaire, Sint Eustatius and SabaBosnia and HerzegovinaBotswanaBouvet IslandBrazilBritish Indian Ocean TerritoryBrunei DarussalamBulgariaBurkina FasoBurundiCambodiaCameroonCanadaCape VerdeCayman IslandsCentral African RepublicChadChileChinaChristmas IslandCocos (Keeling) IslandsColombiaComorosCongoCongo, The Democratic Republic of theCook IslandsCosta RicaCote D’IvoireCroatiaCubaCuraçaoCyprusCzech RepublicDenmarkDjiboutiDominicaDominican RepublicEcuadorEgyptEl SalvadorEquatorial GuineaEritreaEstoniaEthiopiaFalkland Islands (Malvinas)Faroe IslandsFijiFinlandFranceFrench GuianaFrench PolynesiaFrench Southern TerritoriesGabonGambiaGeorgiaGermanyGhanaGibraltarGreeceGreenlandGrenadaGuadeloupeGuatemalaGuernseyGuineaGuinea-BissauGuyanaHaitiHeard Island and Mcdonald IslandsHoly See (Vatican City State)HondurasHong KongHungaryIcelandIndiaIndonesiaIran, Islamic Republic ofIraqIrelandIsle of ManIsraelItalyJamaicaJapanJerseyJordanKazakhstanKenyaKiribatiKorea, Democratic People’s Republic ofKorea, Republic ofKuwaitKyrgyzstanLao People’s Democratic RepublicLatviaLebanonLesothoLiberiaLibyan Arab JamahiriyaLiechtensteinLithuaniaLuxembourgMacaoMacedonia, The Former Yugoslav Republic ofMadagascarMalawiMalaysiaMaldivesMaliMaltaMartiniqueMauritaniaMauritiusMayotteMexicoMoldova, Republic ofMonacoMongoliaMontenegroMontserratMoroccoMozambiqueMyanmarNamibiaNauruNepalNetherlandsNew CaledoniaNew ZealandNicaraguaNigerNigeriaNiueNorfolk IslandNorwayOmanPakistanPalestinianPanamaPapua New GuineaParaguayPeruPhilippinesPitcairnPolandPortugalQatarReunionRomaniaRussian FederationRWANDASaint Barthélemy Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da CunhaSaint Kitts and NevisSaint LuciaSaint Martin (French part)Saint Pierre and MiquelonSaint Vincent and the GrenadinesSamoaSan MarinoSao Tome and PrincipeSaudi ArabiaSenegalSerbiaSeychellesSierra LeoneSingaporeSint Maarten (Dutch part)SlovakiaSloveniaSolomon IslandsSomaliaSouth AfricaSouth Georgia and the South Sandwich IslandsSouth SudanSpainSri LankaSudanSurinameSvalbard and Jan MayenSwazilandSwedenSwitzerlandSyrian Arab RepublicTaiwanTajikistanTanzania, United Republic ofThailandTimor-LesteTogoTokelauTongaTrinidad and TobagoTunisiaTurkeyTurkmenistanTurks and Caicos IslandsTuvaluUgandaUkraineUnited Arab EmiratesUnited KingdomUnited StatesUruguayUzbekistanVanuatuVenezuela, Bolivarian Republic ofVietnamVirgin Islands, BritishWallis and FutunaWestern SaharaYemenZambiaZimbabweI also wish to receive emails from AAAS/Science and Science advertisers, including information on products, services and special offers which may include but are not limited to news, careers information & upcoming events.Required fields are included by an asterisk(*)