Speaking of Science: The littlest dino

This teeny skull trapped in amber belongs to the smallest dinosaur ever found; TV series explores why girls should see science, technology, engineering and math as the right career moves; Spinal cord injury patients can imagine resuming many activities because of new technologies; Galaxy Cruise, a citizen science project, seeks volunteers to help classify images of 'galactic interactions'; NASA is hiring new astronauts for moon landing in 2024 ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌

Sign up for this newsletter Read online Talk nerdy to us.       By Ben Guarino  Email The littlest dino Researchers announced today the discovery of what's very probably the smallest dinosaur yet found. It's an extinct dinosaur about the size of the littlest hummingbirds. "The fact that this specimen and bee hummingbirds are really close in size does strongly suggest that this is the limit in body size" for birds and birdlike dinosaurs, said study author Jingmai O'Connor, who studies the evolution of early birds at the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology in Beijing. The dinosaur, Oculudentavis khaungraae, manages to pack a whole lot of strangeness into its exceptionally tiny skull — in fact, more than I could mention in today's 800-word news story. Here's one bonus oddity: Oculudentavis has what researchers call a "scleral ring" in its eye socket. That's a circle of 14 scoop-shape bones (they look kind of like the wooden spoons that come packaged with single-serve ice cream cups). This feature, more closely associated with lizards than birds or other dinosaurs, is a result of the strange ways miniaturization warps anatomy, the scientists suggested. This teeny skull trapped in amber belongs to the smallest dinosaur ever found By Ben Guarino ●  Read more »   ADVERTISEMENT   TV series explores why girls should see science, technology, engineering and math as the right career moves By Erin Blakemore ●  Read more »   Spinal cord injury patients can imagine resuming many activities because of new technologies By Karen Weintraub ●  Read more »   ADVERTISEMENT   Galaxy Cruise, a citizen science project, seeks volunteers to help classify images of 'galactic interactions' By Erin Blakemore ●  Read more »   NASA is hiring new astronauts for moon landing in 2024 By Ben Guarino ●  Read more »     We think you'll like this newsletter Check out Must Reads for a curated selection of our best journalism in your inbox every Saturday, plus a peek behind the scenes into how one story came together. Sign up »

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ESO — ESO Telescope Observes Exoplanet Where It Rains Iron — Science Release eso2005

ESO — Reaching New Heights in Astronomy Subscription preferences | Unsubscribe | View in browser European Southern Observatory ESO News 11 March 2020 11 March 2020 — ESO Science Release eso2005 ESO Telescope Observes Exoplanet Where It Rains Iron Researchers using ESO's Very Large Telescope (VLT) have observed an extreme planet where they suspect it rains iron. The ultra-hot giant exoplanet has a day side where temperatures climb above 2400 degrees Celsius, high enough to vaporise metals. Strong winds carry iron vapour to the cooler night side where it condenses into iron droplets. The release, images and videos are available on: https://www.eso.org/public/news/eso2005/ Kind regards, The ESO Department of Communication 11 March 2020   ESOblog Future science — What will the Extremely Large Telescope reveal about the Universe? Interview with Michele Cirasuolo 6 March 2020: The Extremely Large Telescope (ELT) will massively advance ground-based astronomy by tackling the biggest scientific challenges of our time. With such a powerful telescope, astronomers will be able to examine ... Read more Share this newsletter on:     Start receiving this newsletter in your language  Picture of the Week 9 March 2020 A New Age of Discoveries Upcoming Events Ongoing Café & Kosmos in Munich              ESO Pictures of the Week You are receiving this newsletter because you subscribed to ESO News. Subscription preferences | Unsubscribe | View in browser Follow us on: European Southern Observatory, Karl-Schwarzschild-Str 2, D-85748 Garching bei München, Germany