The Cryogenian (from Greek cryos "cold" and genesis "birth") is a geologic period that lasted from 850 to 635 million years ago. It forms the second geologic period of the Neoproterozoic Era, preceded by the Tonian Period and followed by the Ediacaran. The Sturtian and Marinoan glaciations,^[2] which are the greatest ice ages known to have occurred on Earth and may have covered the entire planet, occurred during this period. These so-called 'snowball earth' events are the subject of much scientific controversy. The main debate involves whether these glaciations were truly global or merely localised events.

Ratification[link]

This unreferenced section requires citations to ensure verifiability.

The period has not received the international ratification that most geological time periods undergo (the most recent being the Ediacaran Period, which was ratified in 2004). The start of the period is defined only on the ages of the rocks and not on any observable and documented global event. This is problematic as estimates of rock ages are variable and are subject to laboratory error. For instance, the Cambrian Period is marked not by rock younger than a given age (542 million years), but by the appearance of the worldwide Treptichnus pedum diagnostic trace fossil assemblage. This means that rocks can be recognised as Cambrian when examined in the field and do not require extensive testing to be performed in a lab to find a date. As yet, there is no consensus on what global event is a suitable candidate to mark the start of the Cryogenian Period, and its base is only loosely set to 850 Ma.

Climate[link]

The name of the geologic period refers to the very cold global climate of the Cryogenian: characteristic glacial deposits indicate that Earth suffered the most severe ice ages in its history during this period (Sturtian and Marinoan). Glaciers extended and contracted in a series of rhythmic pulses, possibly reaching as far as the equator.^[3] It is generally considered to be divisible into at least two major worldwide glaciations. The Sturtian glaciation persisted from 750 million years ago to 700 Ma, and the Marinoan glaciation which ended approximately 635 Ma.^[4] The deposits of glacial tillite also occur in places that were at low latitudes during the Cryogenian, a phenomenon which led to the hypothesis of deeply-frozen planetary oceans called "Snowball Earth".^[5]

Paleogeography[link]

During the Cryogenian, the supercontinent Rodinia broke up, and the supercontinent Pannotia began to form.

Cryogenian biota and fossils[link]

This section requires expansion.

Fossils of testate amoeba (or Arcellinida) first appear during the Cryogenian period.^[6] During the Cryogenian period, the oldest known fossils of sponges (and therefore animals) make an appearance. ^{[7] [8] [9]}

References[link]

1. ^ Brain, C.K., Prave, A. R., Hoffmann, K. H., Fallik, A. E., Herd D. A., Sturrock, C., Young, I., Condon, D. J.Allison, S. G. (2012). "The first animals: ca. 760-million-year-old sponge-like fossils from Namibia". S. Afr. J. Sci. 108 (8): 1–8. DOI:10.4102/sajs.v108i1/2.658. 
2. ^ These events were formerly considered together as the Varanger glaciations, from their first detection in Norway's Varanger Peninsula.
3. ^ Dave Lawrence (2003). "Microfossil lineages support sloshy snowball Earth". Geotimes. http://www.agiweb.org/geotimes/apr03/WebExtra041803.html. 
4. ^ Shields, G. A. (2008). "Palaeoclimate: Marinoan meltdown". Nature Geoscience 1 (6): 351–353. DOI:10.1038/ngeo214.  edit
5. ^ Hoffman, P.F. 2001. Snowball Earth theory
6. ^ Porter, S.A., and Knoll, A.H. (2000). "Testate amoeba in the Neoproterozoic Era: evidence from vase-shaped microfossils in the Chuar Group, Grand Canyon". Paleobiology 26 (3): 360–385.. DOI:10.1666/0094-8373(2000)026<0360:TAITNE>2.0.CO;2. ISSN 0094-8373. 
7. ^ Love et al.; Grosjean, Emmanuelle; Stalvies, Charlotte; Fike, David A.; Grotzinger, John P.; Bradley, Alexander S.; Kelly, Amy E.; Bhatia, Maya et al. (2009). "Fossil steroids record the appearance of Demospongiae during the Cryogenian period". Nature 457 (7230): 718–721. DOI:10.1038/nature07673. PMID 19194449. http://eaps.mit.edu/geobiology/recent%20pubs/Love%20et%20al%202009.pdf. 
8. ^ Maloof, Adam C.; Rose, Catherine V.; Beach, Robert; Samuels, Bradley M.; Calmet, Claire C.; Erwin, Douglas H.; Poirier, Gerald R.; Yao, Nan et al. (17 August 2010). "Possible animal-body fossils in pre-Marinoan limestones from South Australia". Nature Geoscience 3 (9): 653–659. DOI:10.1038/ngeo934. http://www.nature.com/ngeo/journal/v3/n9/abs/ngeo934.html. 
9. ^ "Discovery of possible earliest animal life pushes back fossil record". 2010-08-17. http://www.physorg.com/news201273825.html. 

Further reading[link]

• "Cryogenian Period". GeoWhen Database. Archived from the original on December 2, 2005. http://web.archive.org/web/20051202005002/http://www.stratigraphy.org/geowhen/stages/Cryogenian.html. Retrieved January 5, 2006. 
• James G. Ogg (2004). "Status on Divisions of the International Geologic Time Scale". Lethaia 37 (2): 183–199. DOI:10.1080/00241160410006492. 
• Brain, C. K.; Prave, A. R.; Hoffmann, K. H.; Fallick, A. E.; Herd, D. A. Sturrock, C.; Young, I.; Condon, D. J. Allison, S. G. (2012). "The first animals: ca. 760-million-year-old sponge-like fossils from Namibia". South African Journal of Science S. Afr. J. Sci. 108: 1–8. DOI:10.4102/sajs.v108i1/2.658. 
• The Cryogenian Period

Ram Vaswani
Ram Vaswani at the 2005 World Series of Poker
Nickname(s)	Crazy Horse
Residence	London, United Kingdom
World Series of Poker
Bracelet(s)	1
Money finish(es)	15
Highest ITM Main Event finish	None
World Poker Tour
Title(s)	None
Final table(s)	None
Money finish(es)	1
European Poker Tour
Title(s)	1
Final table(s)	4
Money finish(es)	6
Information accurate as of 27 December 2009.

Ram Vaswani (born c. 1970 in London) is an English professional snooker player, turned professional poker player and the youngest member of The Hendon Mob. He resides in Finchley ^[1] with his wife Jackie and daughter Hollie.^[2]

Following a brief snooker career, Vaswani became a regular on the poker circuit, and due to his involvement in Late Night Poker, he also became one of the pioneers of poker on television. He is the first (and to date only) person to reach 4 European Poker Tour (EPT) final tables. The latest being at Monte Carlo 2007 (eliminated first, on the first hand) ^[3][4][5] one of those final tables bought a win, the Dublin Season 2 (2004) event. He won his first World Series of Poker bracelet in 2007, in the $1,500 Limit Hold'em Shootout event.

His other televised appearances include a win in the Poker Nations Cup, and runner-up in finishes in two more televised events.^[6][7]

Snooker[link]

Vaswani grew up in Finchley, where his first major game was snooker, where he lived a hustler lifestyle, regularly playing truant to play when he was 13 and 14.^[1] At the age of 18, he played professionally for 2 years before realising that although he was making a comfortable living through the game (he once managed to make 3 centuries in one match, and achieved a 147 break), he was spending more time gambling than practicing, and he was unlikely to break through into the top players in the world. (Vaswani's younger brother Sunit did break through in the snooker world, finishing 2nd in the race for the 2001 English Amateur award. Vaswani has since acted as his manager.) ^[8][9]

Poker career[link]

Early years[link]

Vaswani, of Indian origin, began playing cards from the age of 9, and at the age of 12, he organised a low-stakes poker game with friends on a trip to Wales. Their teacher stopped them playing, so they ended up playing for sweets instead. Vaswani has long considered seven-card stud to be the most skilful poker variant, and built up his early poker knowledge playing the £100 game at the Victoria Casino on Edgware Road.^[9][10]

Vaswani met Joe Beevers in Luton when placing bets on dog racing and they later set up a private poker game together. It was in one of these games that they met both Barny and Ross Boatman. Together, the four became known as The Hendon Mob and became regulars on the European poker tournament circuit. In the first published article on The Hendon Mob, journalist Victoria Coren publicised Vaswani's nickname The Looks, referring to his claimed status as the best-looking of the group. Soon after, Vaswani began using the nickname Crazy Horse, sharing his nickname with the Lakota leader Tashunca-uitco.^[11]

Vaswani and the rest of The Mob were invited by Nic Szeremeta to appear in the brand new Late Night Poker television series.^[11] Vaswani appeared in each of the show's 6 series, reaching the series 2 Grand Final ^[12] and the series 4 ^[13] and 5 ^[14] Semi-Finals.

Vaswani's first major tournament win happened at the HFl 5,000 LIDO tournament at the Master Classics of Poker tournament in Amsterdam in 1999.^[15] At the time, this was Europe's most prestigious tournament, but he was broke and had to borrow money off Joe Beevers to stake in a cash game to build up money for the entry fee.^[9]

The WSOP and beyond[link]

Vaswani first finished in the money of a World Series of Poker (WSOP) event in the 2001 $3,000 no limit Texas hold 'em event won by Erik Seidel.^[16] The next year he had a 3rd place finish in the $2,000 limit hold 'em event,^[17] and a 2nd place finish in the $2,000½ hold 'em - 1/2 seven-card stud event.^[18] He made three final tables in the 2004, with his best finish being 3rd place in the $3,000 no limit hold 'em event.^[19] In 2007, Vaswani became the first (and to date only) member of the Mob to win a WSOP bracelet, winning $217,438 in the $1,500 limit hold 'em shootout event.^[20] The following year, he made the final table of the $10,000 World Championship Omaha Hi-Lo Split event, finishing 7th.^[20] His most recent WSOP cash was in the Main Event of the 2009 World Series of Poker Europe, where he finished 15th and earned £40,481 ($66,738 at the time of the event).^[20]

Vaswani has also made 4 final tables on the European Poker Tour (EPT). In the first season, he won the Dublin event ^[3] and finished 2nd to Noah Boeken in the Copenhagen event.^[4] In the second season, he finished 5th in Deauville.^[5] He also made the final table of the Season 3 Main Event, where he finished 8th. His EPT final table tally is double the next best total, held several other players, including Marc Karam, Marcel Lüske and Noah Boeken (The record belongs to Luca Pagano, who has made 6 finals tables).

His other major tournament victories include:

• £500 pot limit seven-card stud, European Poker Classic 2000 ^[21]
• €5,000 European Hold'em Championship, Euro Finals of Poker 2002 ^[22]
• £500 pot limit seven-card stud, Poker Classics 2003 ^[23]
• £500 no limit hold'em, Midland Masters 2003 ^[24]
• Poker Nations Cup 2006 ^[25]

Vaswani was also a quarter-finalist in the 2003 World Heads-Up Poker Championship,^[26] runner-up to Harry Demetriou in the 2004 Victor Chandler Poker Cup,^[6] and a finalist in the pot limit hold 'em Gaming Club World Poker Championship.^[27]

He finished runner-up in the 2005 William Hill Poker Grand Prix, following a bad beat against eventual winner Phil Laak.^[7] However, commentator Lucy Rokach repeatedly laid claim to him being the best player in the 64-player field, that included former World Champion Scotty Nguyen and WSOP bracelet winners Donnacha O'Dea and Brian Wilson. (Simon Trumper has also referred to him as "the best tournament player in Europe, especially in No Limit.") ^[28]

As of 2009, his total live tournament winnings are exceed $3.2 million.^[29] His 15 cashes at the Las Vegas WSOP account for $846,229 of those winnings.^[30][31]

Vaswani appeared in Late Night Poker Masters in late 2006 on Channel 4, in the same heat as season 6 champion Peter Costa and Willie Tann, but did not progress.^[32]

Vaswani has written over 20 articles for The Hendon Mob's website,^[33] and a poker lesson for Matthew Hilger's site internettexasholdem.com.^[34]

Vaswani regularly plays $100–$200 no limit hold 'em online, and is sponsored by Full Tilt Poker.^[10] He has also played $200–$400 pot limit Omaha on the site, where he has won pots in excess of $160,000.^[35]

Other gambling[link]

Vaswani has been described as "an avid gambler who 'would bet on anything that moves'".^[28] This has led to him being known for having a fluctuating bankroll due to the variance in his sports betting hobby. Joe Beevers has indicated that Vaswani will often have $100,000 in his pocket one day; but it will be gone the next. Vaswani has indicated he is not too concerned about the outcome of bets he makes, so long as he has made the right decision in each case.^[1] He is also a keen golfer,^[36] and has had large financial upswings and downswings as a result of wagering on his game.^[37] Also, during the 888.com Poker Nations Cup, Vaswani made numerous large wagers with the Swedish team, and staked large amounts of money on Chinese poker, which he considers to be a game of pure luck.^[9]

Notes[link]

External links[link]

• Hendon Mob tournament results

Feliks Zemdegs (born 20 December 1995 in Melbourne, Australia) is an Australian Rubik's Cube master speedsolver. The surname is Latvian. He bought his first cube in April 2008 inspired by speedcubing videos and tutorials on Youtube. The first unofficial time he recorded was an average of 19.73 seconds on 14 June 2008.^[1] He currently uses the Fridrich method to solve the 3x3x3 cube and the CLL method to solve the 2x2x2 cube.

He won the first competition he attended, the New Zealand Championships (July 2009) with an average of 13.74 seconds in the final round. He also won 2x2, 4x4, 5x5, 3x3 Blindfolded, and 3x3 One-Handed.

At his next competition, the Melbourne Summer Open (January 2010), he set his first world records for 3x3x3 and 4x4x4 average, with times of 9.21 seconds and 42.01 seconds respectively. Since then he has broken more records as listed in the table below.

Current world records[link]

Competitions attended[link]