Feathered Dinosaurs: Sinosauropteryx

Sinosauropteryx was the first dinosaur to have its life colouration described by scientists based on physical evidence. Some fossils of Sinosauropteryx show an alternation of lighter and darker bands preserved on the tail.

Digital illustration of the coelurosaurian dinosaur Sinosauropteryx prima, based on the holotype specimen. Coloration and pattern follows Zhang et al 2010.

All described specimens of Sinosauropteryx preserve integumentary structures (filaments arising from the skin) which most palaeontologists interpret as very primitive feathers. These short, down-like filaments are preserved along the back half of the skull, arms, neck, back, and top and bottom of the tail. Additional patches of feathers have been identified on the sides of the body, and palaeontologists Chen, Dong and Zheng proposed that the density of the feathers on the back and the randomness of the patches elsewhere on the body indicated the animals would have been fully feathered in life, with the ventral feathers having been removed by decomposition.

Fossils That Made History: Sinosauropteryx (1997)

The first of a spectacular series of "dino-bird" discoveries in China's Liaoning quarry, the well-preserved fossil of Sinosauropteryx betrays the unmistakable impression of primitive, hair-like feathers.

Fossil of Sinosauropteryx prima, the first “feathered” dinosaur. Its primitive feathers could be seen clearly on the head, back, and tail. The length of the fossil is about 130 cm.

The first genus of dinosaur outside of Avialae (birds and their immediate relatives) to be found with evidence of feathers. They were covered with "furry" coats of very simple filament-like feathers. Structures that indicate colouration have been preserved for some of the feathers, which also makes Sinosauropteryx the first non-avialian dinosaurs where colouration has been determined. Colouration includes a banded tail with reddish and light bands.

Cities Bet They Can Curb Traffic With Games of Chance

 Josie Garthwaite, For National Geographic News

The largest lottery jackpot in history inspired Americans to spend $1.5 billion for a slim chance at riches. Transportation experts are wagering that this fervor for small gambles can be put to use solving a big urban problem: traffic congestion.

Two experimental transportation projects under way in 2012 in Singapore and Silicon Valley aim to improve commutes through gaming.

Thousands of commuters so far have decided it's worth the effort to change their routines for a shot at $50 or $100.

Photograph by Munshi Ahmed, Bloomberg/Getty Images


Singapore's Electronic Road Pricing (ERP) system charges motorists for road use during peak hours, but disincentive programs have limitations. New schemes that offer drivers cash for adjusting their schedules may help cities win the fight against untenable traffic conditions.

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HOPEFUL ENERGY STORIES: Innovation in Cities

Energy Sustainable Transport

 Photograph by Kike Calvo, National Geographic

The new aerial tramway in Medellin, Colombia, looks more like a ski lift than an urban transportation system—but the project is just one of the many creative energy innovations being advanced by cities around the globe. The tram cars, which traverse hilly, low-income neighborhoods, won a Sustainable Transport Award from the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy (ITDP).

In other cities, drivers are helping to ease gridlock—and the financial burdens of auto ownership—with car-sharing systems.  And communities such as Singapore, the capital of the nation with the same name, and Stanford, California, home to Stanford University, are enticing drivers to skip rush hour entirely by giving them a chance to win cash prizes.

While many projects aim to ease traffic on city streets, others are  looking below them in hopes of tapping an unusual energy source—the hot water that showers, dishwashers, laundries, and other users send down the drain each year. Some estimates suggest that the energy in America's wastewater could power 30 million U.S. homes per year—and fledgling projects in Vancouver and Chicago aim to capture that resource through heat-recovery systems.



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More on the Maisaura

Maiasaura lived in herds and it raised its young in nesting colonies. The nests in the colonies were packed closely together, like those of modern seabirds, with the gap between the nests being around 7 metres (23 ft); less than the length of the adult animal.[6] The nests were made of earth and contained 30 to 40 eggs laid in a circular or spiral pattern. The eggs were about the size of ostrich eggs.

Illustration of a herd of Maiasaura walking along a creekbed, as found in the semi-arid Two Medicine Formation fossil bed. This region was characterized by volcanic ash layers and conifer, fern and horsetail vegetation.

Maiasaura Nest Model in the Natural History Museum of London

The eggs were incubated by the heat resulting from rotting vegetation placed into the nest by the parents, rather than a parent sitting on the nest. Upon hatching, fossils of baby Maiasaura show that their legs were not fully developed and thus they were incapable of walking. Fossils also show that their teeth were partly worn, which means that the adults brought food to the nest.

Amazing Places on Earth

The Fairy Chimneys

You want a fantastic real-world locale? It's hard to improve upon the fairy chimneys of Cappadocia in central Turkey. Here, tall spires of stone dot the landscape like some manner of bizarre growth. What's more, early Christians carved countless storerooms, stables and domiciles into the fairy towers from the 4th to the 11th century. 

To understand the formation of these stone spires (also known as hoodoos), look at the accompanying photograph. The fairy chimneys you see here were once part of a massive slab of earth covered in a layer of hardened volcanic ash called tuff. Over time, the erosive forces of wind and water wore away much of the underlying soft material, leaving only slender towers with caps of tuff.

The early Christians went so far as to carve whole monasteries and underground cities out of the stone in Cappadocia. Today, many such chambers are still in use -- some as guesthouses for visiting tourists.  



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PALEONTOLOGISTS: Jack Horner

Jack Horner is an American paleontologist who discovered and named Maiasaura, providing the first clear evidence that some dinosaurs cared for their young. He is one of the best-known paleontologists in the United States. In addition to his many paleontological discoveries, Horner served as the technical advisor for all of the Jurassic Park films, and even served as partial inspiration for one of the lead characters, Dr. Alan Grant.

In Montana during the mid-1970s, Horner and his research partner Bob Makela discovered a colonial nesting site of a new dinosaur genus which they named Maiasaura, or "Good Mother Lizard". It contained the first dinosaur eggs in the Western hemisphere, the first dinosaur embryos, and settled questions of whether some dinosaurs were sociable, built nests and cared for their young. The discovery established his career. Horner has named several other species of dinosaur (including Orodromeus makelai in memory of his late friend Bob Makela) and has had two named after him: Achelousaurus horneri and Anasazisaurus horneri.

Fossils That Made Dinosaur History: Maiasaura (1975)

Maiasaura was discovered by Laurie Trexler and described by dinosaur paleontologist Jack Horner (paleontologic advisor for the Jurassic Park movies) and Robert Makela. 

He named the dinosaur after Marion Brandvold's discovery of a nest with remains of eggshells and babies too large to be hatchlings. These discoveries led to others, and the area became known as "Egg Mountain", in rocks of the Two Medicine Formation near Choteau in western Montana.

This was the first proof of giant dinosaurs raising and feeding their young. Over 200 specimens, in all age ranges, have been found. The announcement of Maiasaura's discovery attracted renewed scientific interest to the Two Medicine Formation and many other new kinds of dinosaurs were discovered as a result of the increased attention. 

World’s Worst Power Outages

Northeastern U.S. and Canada, 2003

Photograph by Andrew Lichtenstein, Corbis

On August 15, 2003, a mass of New York commuters crossed the Brooklyn Bridge on foot during a blackout that robbed 50 million people of power for as long as two days in southeastern Canada and the Northeastern United States. It also crippled all trains, stranding many travelers. The U.S.-Canada Power System Outage Task Force determined that equipment failures and human error had combined to cause the blackout, which started when power lines shut down after contact with trees.

An improving ability to monitor the exact condition of the power system at any given instant with voltage and current sensors, and to make rapid changes like taking lines out of service, is critical to avoiding the cascading effects that lead to widespread outages like the 2003 event.

"If something goes wrong and an ice storm brings down a line or someone blows up a transmission tower that will propagate a disturbance and we need to know exactly how far it propagates and exactly what it looks like—like the ripples of a pebble dropped into a pond, so that we can take a definitive corrective action," said EPRI's Clark Gellings. "When that capability doesn't exist, like it didn't in 2003 in the United States, the system is set up for some kind of failure."





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HOPEFUL ENERGY STORIES: Solutions in the Developing World

Photograph courtesy Robert A. Freling, Solar Electric Light Fund

A man tends solar panels in Benin, Africa, site of a project that aims to bring energy, water, and hope to villages. The Solar Electric Light Fund (SELF) has shown how solar panels can power drip-irrigation systems that grow crops sustainably in arid regions where food shortages and malnutrition have been endemic. 

It is just one of the efforts that aim to deliver clean energy to the 1.6 billion people in the world who don't have access to reliable electric power. The United Nations sought to bring attention to the problem by declaring 2012 the Year of Sustainable Energy for All.

Small-scale solutions can bring enormous dividends, such as simple solar lamps that can sell for as little as $10 to $20.

SELF's Benin irrigation project is aided by a grant from the Great Energy Challenge, which funds other innovative energy solutions around the world, from Costa Rica to India and Washington, D.C.



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More on the Coelophysis

Coelophysis meaning "hollow form" in reference to its hollow bones, is one of the earliest known genera of Dinosaur. It was a small, carnivorous biped that lived during the Late Triassic (Norian stage) of the southwestern United States

 

PALEONTOLOGISTS: Edward Drinker Cope

An American paleontologist and comparative anatomist. Born to a wealthy Quaker family, Cope distinguished himself as a child prodigy interested in science; he published his first scientific paper at the age of nineteen.

Cope had little formal scientific training, and he eschewed a teaching position for field work. He made regular trips to the American West prospecting in the 1870s and 1880s, often as a member of United States Geological Survey teams. 

One of the last photographs taken of Cope (third from right), during his attendance at the 1896 American Association for the Advancement of Science meeting in Buffalo

A personal feud between Cope and paleontologist Othniel Charles Marsh led to a period of intense fossil-finding competition now known as the Bone Wars. In the late 19th century, paleontologists Edward Cope and O.C. Marsh uncovered the remains of hundreds of prehistoric animals in the American West, including dozens of previously undiscovered dinosaur species. But the rivalry that developed between them would spiral out of control, permanently damaging their careers and threatening the future of American paleontology.

Cope's cluttered study in 1897. The Pine Street home was filled with Cope's papers, bones, stuffed and mounted animals, and specimens preserved in alcohol that covered his desks and an improvised shelf in his bathroom.

 
Though Cope's scientific pursuits nearly bankrupted him, his contributions helped to define the field of American paleontology.