#paleontology
Did you remember to set back your geologic clock last weekend?
JK.
But if you want to learn all about geologic time, and take a tour of the entire geologic time scale in just 12 minutes, then you should probably watch this!
And another thing! My friends at @scishowhave put together all of our greatest hits about the science of dinosaursinto one episode! So grab some snacks and enjoy!
Cozy up with some candy and enjoy the longest, funnest (and possibly coolest?) episode of Eons yet … about the history of dinosaur art!
If you don’t happen to know much about the nutty story of whale evolution, you should watch this video about one of the most amazing transitions in mammalian history.
You asked for it, internet, and we listened. Enjoy this who?, why? and huh? of the giant arthropods of the Carboniferous!
Here’s me making words about one of my favorite fossil fish: Helicoprion!
Every scientist’s journey is unique. Paleontologist Jingmai O'Connor grew up surrounded by science–her mom was also a scientist. But her fascination for Mezosoic avian dinosaurs and bird evolution was a convergence of both curiosity and heritage.
"This would be a way of combining my love of China and Chinese culture with paleontology, my new fascination and obsession.“ Watch her story at breakthroughfilms.org.
When paleontologist Jingmai O’Connor looks at the abdomen of a small, ancient avian fossil, she gets a thrill when she spots a jumble of nodules, no bigger than a scattering of goosebumps, protruding from the creature’s bones. Their presence could mean the animal’s metabolism supported rapid egg growth. In another specimen, O’Connor discovers an entire bird gobbled up inside of a chicken-sized feathered dinosaur, revealing a clue about the ecology in which both animals lived.
O’Connor’s obsessive eye for detail and encyclopedic knowledge of morphology comes in handy when she’s placing these fossils on the ancient family tree of birds. She credits those skills, as well as her enthusiasm for science, to her mother, a geochemist who earned her PhD while raising O’Connor and her three siblings. It was also her mother’s influence that led O’Connor to focus on geology—and to explore her own Chinese-American roots—by focusing her studies on the scores of bird fossils coming out of China at the turn of the century.
Dozens of discoveries later, O’Connor is now a professor at the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology in Beijing where she uses the world’s largest collection of avian dinosaurs to explore the changes in ancient species that led to wings, tail feathers, flight, and many other adaptations seen in modern birds.
We are so excited to unveil the latest season of Breakthrough, a short film anthology from Science Friday and Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) that follows women working at the forefront of their fields. Breakthrough hopes to inspire a future generation of women to lead careers in STEM. New episodes drop weekly OR catch the entire series now on Alamo On Demand.
Learn more at BreakthroughFilms.org. If you are an educator or career counselor, don’t forget to check out the Breakthrough Inclusive Action Tool Kit.
FossilFriday: Stenopterygius, an ichthyosaur from the Jurassic of Germany
