1,929 results
- Paleontology
Flying with Their Legs: Hind feathers made primitive bird nimble
The earliest-known bird had feathers on its legs that may have provided lift for flight, improving its maneuverability.
- Paleontology
Bone Hunt
Science News reporter Sid Perkins recounts the trials and tribulations of digging for dinosaurs in central Montana.
- Planetary Science
Northern Exposure: The inhospitable side of the galaxy?
Our solar system's periodic motion from one side of the galaxy to the other could expose life on Earth to massive amounts of cosmic rays and cause recurring, catastrophic mass extinctions.
- Humans
From the July 3, 1937, issue
A spectacular freak photograph of a solar eclipse, meteorites as the remnants of lost planets, and inducing dropsy in animals.
- Paleontology
Mammals started flying when birds did
The first gliding mammal winged through forests at least 70 million years earlier than scientists had previously presumed, a new fossil shows. The specimen dates from about 150 million years ago, during the time when birds were developing flight. ANCIENT GLIDER. Volaticotherium antiquus was gliding through ancient forests 150 million years ago. The creature weighed […]
- Earth
Ancient hot spell is linked to copious carbon dioxide
A mineral that formed in some lakes during a lengthy and particularly warm period in Earth's past suggests that atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide were at that time at least triple those found in today's air.
-
19655
I am rather surprised at all the attention the find mentioned in this article is getting. Some would think that these mammals caused the downfall of the dinosaurs, but the fossil record suggests a very different scenario. There is no evidence of possum-to-coyote–size mammals for the 70-odd million years that the dinosaurs ruled the planet. […]
- Earth
Flow West, Young River: Ancient Amazon ran opposite today’s route
The forerunner of the mighty Amazon ran from east to west, a new analysis of rocks laid down by that ancient river suggests.
- Paleontology
Ancient Grazers: Find adds grass to dinosaur menu
Analyses of fossilized dinosaur feces in India reveal the remains of at least five types of grasses, a surprising finding that's the first evidence of grass-eating dinosaurs and an indication that grasses diversified much earlier than previously recognized.
- Humans
Letters from the February 4, 2006, issue of Science News
Double trouble? “Sleep apnea could signal greater danger” (SN: 11/26/05, p. 349) says that “twice as many … with sleep apnea had a stroke or died of that or another cause. …” This sounds serious, but your readers can’t correctly assign importance to “twice as many” because you omit numbers of deaths. David KollasTolland, Conn. […]
- Paleontology
Out of the Shadows
An ongoing flurry of fossil finds is triggering a reevaluation of how early mammals and their close kin eked out an existence during the Age of Dinosaurs.
- Humans
Letters from the May 27, 2006, issue of Science News
Dig it or don’t I am rather surprised at all the attention this find is getting (“Out of the Shadows: Not all early mammals were shy and retiring,” SN: 3/18/06, p. 173). Some would think that these mammals caused the downfall of the dinosaurs, but the fossil record suggests a very different scenario. There is […]
