These are the sources:
"
Soft tissues are preserved within hindlimb elements of
Tyrannosaurus rex (Museum of the Rockies specimen 1125). Removal of the mineral phase reveals transparent, flexible, hollow blood vessels containing small round microstructures that can be expressed from the vessels into solution. Some regions of the demineralized bone matrix are highly fibrous, and the matrix possesses elasticity and resilience. Three populations of microstructures have cell-like morphology. Thus, some dinosaurian soft tissues may retain some of their original flexibility, elasticity, and resilience."
http://www.sciencemag.org/content/307/5717/1952.short
"Fossilized bones from extinct taxa harbor the potential for obtaining protein or DNA sequences that could reveal evolutionary links to extant species. We used mass spectrometry to obtain protein sequences from bones of a 160,000- to 600,000-year-old extinct mastodon (
Mammut americanum) and a 68-million-year-old dinosaur (
Tyrannosaurus rex). The presence of
T. rex sequences indicates that their peptide bonds were remarkably stable. Mass spectrometry can thus be used to determine unique sequences from ancient organisms from peptide fragmentation patterns, a valuable tool to study the evolution and adaptation of ancient taxa from which genomic sequences are unlikely to be obtained."
http://www.sciencemag.org/content/316/5822/280.short
"Six independent lines of evidence point to the existence of heme-containing compounds and/or hemoglobin breakdown products in extracts of trabecular tissues of the large theropod dinosaur
Tyrannosaurus rex."
http://www.pnas.org/content/94/12/6291.short
I don't remember it word for word but there's an expression: A person can grow only as high as they set their horizon. If all the scientists see with this discovery is how it relates to evolution, they've set their sights pretty low. Scientists peer through a telescope and make a new discovery. Interesting but what practical value is it to the real world? Scientists find soft tissue preserved for 68 million years and
regard it as nothing special. If true that actually has practical value for anything with an expiration date. Donated blood, food, how we store meat. But examining 68 million year preservation is a waste of time. Nothing here to see, keep moving. Sounds like what they said about junk-DNA.
When a new discovery is made in Astronomy:
1. New discovery is made;
"Weighing in at 11 times Jupiter's mass and orbiting its star at 650 times the average Earth-Sun distance, planet HD 106906 b is unlike anything in our own Solar System"
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/12/131205141629.htm
2. It contradicts current theories and models:
"and throws a wrench in planet formation theories."
"This system is especially fascinating because no model of either planet or star formation fully explains what we see," said Vanessa Bailey
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/12/131205141629.htm
3. This is cause for excitement and discovery:
"This planet discovery is particularly exciting because it is in orbit so far from its parent star. This leads to many intriguing questions about its formation history and composition."
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/12/131205141629.htm
A new discovery is made, it conflicts with old theories, this is cause for excitement and it leads to new ideas. I think that's what Bill Nye was talking about when he said the "joy of discovery".
When a new discovery is made in Biology:
1. New discovery is made:
"
Soft tissues are preserved within hindlimb elements of
Tyrannosaurus rex"
2. It contradicts current theories and models:
"The find was also controversial, because scientists had thought proteins that make up soft tissue should degrade in less than 1 million years in the best of conditions"
"The problem is, for 300 years, we thought, 'Well, the organics are all gone, so
why should we look for something that's not going to be there?' and nobody looks," she said.
http://www.livescience.com/41537-t-rex-soft-tissue.html
3. This is cause for controversy and suppression.
"The find was also controversial"
Seems to me some people want to bury this story and make it go away. I say that shows an extreme lack of imagination. This could radically change how blood, medicine or food is stored. But that's assuming the t rex is 68 million years old. Seems some aren't very interested in examining that any further.
Another example:
"The frozen remains of a horse more than half a million years old have reluctantly given up their genetic secrets, providing scientists with the oldest DNA ever sequenced."
“When we started the project, everyone — including us, to be honest — thought it was impossible,” said Dr. Ludovic Orlando
Previous to this, the oldest genome ever sequenced was of a 120,000-year-old polar bear — no small feat considering that the half-life of a DNA molecule is estimated to be about 521 years. By this reckoning, even under the best conditions, DNA could remain intact for no more than 6.8 million years."
“But also we pioneered the usage of what is called true Single Molecular Sequencing that basically reads through molecules as they stand, without further manipulation,” Orlando added. By tracking a full, single DNA molecule, the team was able to avoid having to “amplify” fragments, which can often introduce errors."
“So basically we know that members of the genus
Equus are at least twice as old as previously believed,” he said.
http://westerndigs.org/700000-year-...on-permafrost-yields-oldest-dna-ever-decoded/
They did the impossible and all they can say is
basically, we know it's twice as old as previously believed. Sequencing a genome 700,000 years old is a big deal considering they thought it had a half-life of 521 years. Is it that they set their horizon so low they don't see the implications of their discovery or they don't want to rock the boat as far as million of years is concerned? They send rovers to mars and telescopes to space to find out more, but as far as re-examing the whole millions of years is concerned, let's listen to everyone who insists it's a waste of time. There used to be a thing called intellectual honesty.