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Jody Werner
06/27/97 04:48 PM
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DISCOVERY CHANNEL ONLINE NEWS RELEASE
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 26, 1997
DCOL Contact: Susan Bluttman
Phone: (301) 771-5673
AMNH Contact: Elizabeth Chapman
Phone: (212) 769-5762
DISCOVERY CHANNEL ONLINE JOINS NEW YORK'S AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATIONAL
HISTORY IN A SEARCH FOR DINOSAURS IN THE GOBI DESERT OF MONGOLIA,
BEGINNING JUNE 30
--DCOL's Audience Can Follow the Expedition, Get Dinosaur Information in
the "Bone Zone" and Talk to Scientists at the Site Via E-mail and at Two
Special Live Museum Events --
Starting June 30, Discovery Channel Online (http://www.discovery.com), the
multi-faceted web site that features originally produced, interactive
stories about the real world, joins with scientists from the American
Museum of Natural History (AMNH) in New York and the Mongolian Academy of
Sciences as they search for dinosaurs and other fossil vertebrates in
Mongolia's remote Gobi Desert. DCOL correspondent Hannah Holmes and
photographer David Sanders -- armed with digital cameras, satellite phones
and laptop computers -- will join the expedition and travel to the area
called Ukhaa Tolgod, or "brown hills," where the team in 1993 discovered
one of the most remarkable vertebrate fossil sites ever uncovered in the
history of paleontology. This will be the first time in its eighth season
of work in Mongolia that an online site has been invited by the Museum to
go along on the Gobi expedition. DCOL Science Editor John Keefe is
producing the nearly-month-long online feature under the direction of
Rebecca Farwell, Editorial Director of Discovery Online.
"We are very excited to be teaming up with the world-renowned American
Museum of Natural History to produce exclusive online coverage of this
exploration," said Farwell. "This unique partnership will enable DCOL's
audience to join this important expedition by way of Hannah's daily
dispatches and David's digital photos from the field. Our viewers will
also have the opportunity via e-mail to directly ask questions of the Gobi
team as they search for bones and answers to some of the most hotly debated
questions."
"We are delighted to have Discovery Channel Online as the sole online
reporting post for the Gobi expedition," said Michael J. Novacek, one of
the expedition co-leaders and Senior-Vice President and Provost at American
Museum of Natural History. "The goal of the Museum's research in the Gobi
is not only to discover new dinosaurs, but to understand the ecosystems of
Central Asia that existed millions of years ago. Discoveries from this
region are providing new perspectives on the history of life and the
evolution of major groups of modern animals, including birds, mammals and
reptiles."
In 1993, the Gobi scientific team discovered a remarkably rich vertebrate
fossil site, providing an unparalleled record of the diversity and
abundance of creatures living during the Late Cretaceous Period, 80 million
years ago. During four seasons of work at Ukhaa Tolgod, they have
uncovered the remains of nearly 150 dinosaurs, 1,000 fossil lizards, and,
perhaps most scientifically important, the skulls and skeletons of 500
extremely rare early mammals. Among the important dinosaur discoveries are
the remains of a meat-eating dinosaur found nesting on its eggs (the first
fossil to show definitive evidence of parental care among dinosaurs) and
the first embryo of a meat-eating dinosaur ever found, one of only six or
seven dinosaur embryos known to science.
Among the scientists from the Museum's team participating in the online
event include Novacek, an expert on the evolutionary history of mammals and
a Curator in the Museum's Department of Vertebrate Paleontology, and Mark
A. Norell, an expert on dinosaurs who is Chairman and Associate Curator of
the Department of Vertebrate Paleontology. The paleontologists from the
Mongolian Academy of Sciences include Demberelyin Dasheveg, who is a
co-leader of the expedition, and Rinchen Barsbold.
In addition to daily dispatches and digital photos from the field, and the
chance to pose questions directly to the experts on site, DCOL's audience,
via "the Bone Zone," will also be able to follow the expedition on a
detailed map of the Gobi, find out what tools the experts are using to
unearth the fossils and how they protect them for shipping, check out
DCOL's Dinosaur Gallery (which describes in pictures and text the kinds of
dinosaurs known to have lived in the Gobi), a prehistoric timeline that
puts it all in context, and a rundown of the high-tech tools Hannah is
using to send back her dispatches and photos.
Discovery Channel Online and the American Museum of Natural History will be
holding two special live events at the Museum in New York City. On
Tuesday, July 15, from 11:00 AM to 12:00 PM (ET), Museum visitors, invited
school children from the Shelter Rock School in Manhasset, Long Island, New
York, and Internet users will be able to pose questions of the Gobi
expedition team and listen to their responses via Real Audio. And on
Wednesday, July 23, DCOL's live weekly talk show, Discovery Live! hosted by
Neal Conan, will cybercast from the Museum from 7:30-8:15 PM (ET). DCOL
users can participate by logging onto the site at www.discovery.com, and
clicking on "Live!" or "Live Events" on the main page.
In order to transmit the Gobi feature story to the World Wide Web,
Discovery Channel Online will be using a Mobiq NERA WorldPhone satellite
telephone, generously provided by Telenor communications of Norway.
Photographs at the expedition site will be made with a Nikon E2 digital
photography system.
For more than 125 years, the American Museum of Natural History has been
one of the world's preeminent institutions for scientific research and
education. The Museum is renowned for its collections and exhibitions,
which serve as a field guide to the entire planet and present a panorama of
the world's cultures.
The Museum is one of the largest natural history museums in the world, and
throughout its history, has had a commitment to the exploration and
conservation of the natural world that has been rivaled by few other
institutions. Its scientific staff of 200, including more than forty
curators, carries out research programs in anthropology, biology, earth and
planetary sciences, molecular systematics, and paleontology. Since 1887
the Museum has sponsored thousands of expeditions, sending scientists and
explorers to every continent.
Discovery Communications, Inc. (DCI) is a privately held, diversified media
company head-quartered in Bethesda, MD. Fueled by an original production
engine that now includes films for theatrical and large-format release, DCI
operates four distinct business units including:
* Discovery Networks, U.S., consisting of Discovery Channel (over 71
million subscribers), The Learning Channel (over 59 million subscribers),
Animal Planet and the recently launched package of Discovery digital
services: Discovery Kids Channel, Discovery Science Network, Discovery
Travel & Living Network and Discovery Civilization: The History and
Geography Channel;
* Discovery Networks International, consisting of 19 different feeds of 13
separate Discovery networks transmitted worldwide in 15 separate languages;
* Discovery Enterprises Worldwide, consisting of Discovery Channel
Multimedia, Discovery Channel Online, Discovery Channel Video, Discovery
Channel Publishing and Discovery Channel Education; and
* Discovery Channel Retail, consisting of 113 stores of The Nature
Company, 16 Discovery Channel Stores and 3 Scientific Revolution stores.
* DCI also operates a wholly owned subsidiary, Your Choice TV, Inc.
DCI's ownership consists of four shareholders -- Liberty Media Corporation,
a division of Tele-Communications, Inc. (Nasdaq: LBTYA/LBTYB), Cox
Communications (NYSE: COX), Advance/Newhouse Communications and John S.
Hendricks, the company's founder, chairman and CEO.
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