Page 181 | Sci.News: Breaking Science News

Embryological series of Japanese quail (Coturnix coturnix japonica) showing the transition from ancestral to derived pelvic states across avian prehatching ontogeny: (a) pelvic reconstructions along the evolutionary transition to living birds; note that pelves are shown as examples of character states and are not in one-to-one correspondence with ontogenetic stages; (b) during ontogeny, the ilium extends first posteriorly and then anteriorly, the pubis retroverts, the tail becomes relatively reduced and a transient pubic boot appears at intermediate ontogenetic stages; (c) the CFL (M. caudofemoralis longus homologue) is large during early ontogenetic stages; the IF (M. iliofemoralis homologue) originates smaller and further back on the ilium before expanding anteriorly to the derived condition and never splits into two muscles as seen in the adult; and PIFE1+2 (Mm. puboischiofemoralis externus 1 et 2 homologues) fail to fully differentiate until after the pubis is retroverted; muscles that are not highlighted are in gray; (d) the derived pelvic spinal nerve arrangement in birds (top), with additional spinal nerves contributing to the sacral plexus and nerves in Coturnix embryos (bottom). Scale bars - 1 mm in (b and d), 2 mm in (c). Image credit: Griffin et al., doi: 10.1038/s41586-022-04982-w.

Study: Developing Bird Hip Bone Passes through Ancestral Dinosaurian Conditions

Aug 8, 2022 by News Staff

Living birds have bodies substantially modified from the ancestral reptilian condition. The bird pelvis (hip bone) in particular experienced major changes...

A bedroom in the House of the Lararium in Pompeii, Italy. Image credit: Parco Archeologico di Pompei / Italian Ministry of Cultural Heritage, Cultural Activities and Tourism.

New Pompeii Finds Shed Light on Life of Middle-Class Romans

Aug 8, 2022 by News Staff

Italian archeologists have unearthed four new rooms in the House of the Lararium in Pompeii filled with various everyday household objects, such as amphorae,...

This image shows a male Santa Marta sabrewing (Campylopterus phainopeplus); male Santa Marta sabrewings are green with a blue throat, and females are green above and mostly white below; both sexes have a white spot behind the eye and lack copper in the tail; the Santa Marta sabrewing had not had a documented sighting in 13 years; it is only the third time the hummingbird has been documented since it was described by science in 1946. Image credit: Yurgen Vega / SELVA / ProCAT.

Santa Marta Sabrewing: Elusive and Spectacular Hummingbird Species Rediscovered in Colombia

Aug 8, 2022 by News Staff

A poorly known species of hummingbird called the Santa Marta sabrewing (Campylopterus phainopeplus) has been unexpectedly rediscovered in the highlands...

A simulated star-forming region where massive stars destroy their parent cloud. Image credit: STARFORGE.

Star Formation is Self-Regulatory Process, New Research Suggests

Aug 8, 2022 by News Staff

Although star formation is one of the most fundamental processes of astrophysics, there is no widely accepted theory of star formation, despite decades...

This Hubble image shows HH 505, a Herbig-Haro object located some 1,000 light-years away in the constellation of Orion. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble / J. Bally / M.H. Özsaraç.

Hubble Spots Mysterious Herbig-Haro Object in Orion Nebula

Aug 8, 2022 by Enrico de Lazaro

NASA has released a beautiful photo taken by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope of the Herbig-Haro (HH) object 505. This Hubble image shows HH 505, a...

A possible scene at Liang Bua Cave around 70,000 years ago: Leptoptilos robustus challenges a juvenile Komodo dragon for access to the carcass of a dwarf proboscidean while other giant marabou storks, vultures and hominins look on. Image credit: Gabriel Ugueto.

Giant Marabou Storks Lived alongside Mysterious Homo floresiensis

Aug 7, 2022 by Sergio Prostak

Over 50,000 years ago, Leptoptilos robustus — an extinct species of large-bodied stork around 1.8 m tall — co-existed with mysterious miniature...

Since landing on Mars in August 2012, Curiosity has been exploring Mt. Sharp in Gale Crater. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech.

NASA’s Curiosity Rover Celebrates Ten Years on Mars

Aug 5, 2022 by News Staff

NASA’s Curiosity rover successfully landed in Gale Crater on Mars on August 5, 2012, to search for evidence that the Red Planet could once have supported...

Alemayehu Tassew et al. confirm that, in addition to the selective hand-picking of red-ripe berries, better quality coffees can be obtained by using the dry processing method within the recommended range of green bean moisture content. Image credit: Daniel Ramirez.

Best Coffees Come from Selectively Hand-Picked, Sundried Red-Ripe Cherries, Study Confirms

Aug 5, 2022 by News Staff

Researchers have carried out a comprehensive physical and cup quality assessment of Arabica coffee (Coffea arabica) from three regions in the Kafa Biosphere...

Dorsal, lateral, and ventral views of Pegasus sinensis. Image credit: Xin Wang

Bizarre New Species of Fish Found in East China Sea

Aug 5, 2022 by Natali Anderson

Marine biologists have discovered a new species of the seamoth genus Pegasus living in the coastal waters of Xiamen City, Fujian Province, China. Dorsal,...

This image from Webb’s Near Infrared Camera (NIRCam) shows the Maisie’s galaxy, one of the earliest galaxies ever observed; if its estimated redshift of 14.3 is confirmed with future observations, that would mean we’re seeing it as it was just 290 million years after the Big Bang. Image credit: NASA / STScI / CEERS / TACC / S. Finkelstein / M. Bagley / Z. Levay.

Webb Spots Candidate for Most Distant Known Galaxy

Aug 4, 2022 by News Staff

The new Webb images, taken by its two cameras — the Near Infrared Camera and the Mid-Infrared Instrument — as part of the Cosmic Evolution...

Life restoration of Lalieudorhynchus gandi and an associated aquatic tupilakosaurid temnospondyl (bottom left); estimated water depth about 2 m, algae are possible. Image credit: Frederik Spindler.

Permian Synapsid Had Hippopotamus-Like Semi-Aquatic Lifestyle

Aug 4, 2022 by Enrico de Lazaro

A new genus and species of caseid synapsid that lived 264 million years ago (Permian period) has been identified from a partial but well-preserved postcranial...

This map shows that lightning occurs mostly over land compared to ocean; the gray rectangle indicates the region of interest from 50°W to 50°E and 20°S to 20°N. Image credit: Pan et al., doi: 10.1038/s41467-022-31714-5.

Salt in Sea Spray Aerosols Inhibits Lightning during Marine Thunderstorms: Study

Aug 4, 2022 by News Staff

In a study published this week in the journal Nature Communications, scientists tested the hypothesis that fine and coarse marine aerosols have opposite...

The strong force is the fundamental force that binds smaller particles called quarks into larger particles called protons and neutrons. Image credit: Gerd Altmann.

Physicists Determine Strong Force Coupling at Largest Distances Yet

Aug 4, 2022 by News Staff

The strong force, also referred to as the strong nuclear force, is one of the four basic forces in nature, along with gravity, the electromagnetic force,...

$Optical manufacture of stretchable color-changing materials at the macroscale: (a) structural color patterns are recorded as periodic refractive index variations in the photo-elastomer via standing waves that result from exposure to a projected light pattern that reflects off the mirror backing; (b) the resulting structural color matches the spectral distribution of the exposure pattern; when the material is stretched or compressed, the periodicity of the recorded photonic structure changes, causing a predictable and reversible color change. Image credit: Miller et al., doi: 10.1038/s41563-022-01318-x / MIT Communication Initiatives.$