Long-term impact of wildfire smoke pollution
PNAS Science Sessions
Nationwide effects of smoke-related air pollution Science Sessions are brief conversations with cutting-edge researchers, National Academy members, and policymakers as they discuss topics relevant to today's scientific community. Learn the behind-the-scenes story of work published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), plus a broad range of scientific news about discoveries that affect the world around us. In this episode, Kai Chen explains the nationwide health effects of smoke-related fine particulate matter air pollution. In this episode, we cover: •[00:00]...
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Indigenous communities and subsistence whale hunting
PNAS Science Sessions
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Perceiving musical boundaries
PNAS Science Sessions
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How python hearts grow and shrink
PNAS Science Sessions
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Neighborhood travel and racial segregation
PNAS Science Sessions
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Ocean voyages and disease spread
PNAS Science Sessions
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Why twisters target the United States
PNAS Science Sessions
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Creating culturally inclusive schools
PNAS Science Sessions
Creating culturally inclusive school environments Science Sessions are brief conversations with cutting-edge researchers, National Academy members, and policymakers as they discuss topics relevant to today's scientific community. Learn the behind-the-scenes story of work published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), plus a broad range of scientific news about discoveries that affect the world around us. In this episode, Stephanie Fryberg, Hazel Markus, and Laura Brady explore how to create culturally inclusive environments in schools. In this episode, we cover:...
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How redlining affects biodiversity
PNAS Science Sessions
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Animal's eye view of the ocean
PNAS Science Sessions
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info_outlineDinosaur feathers hint at flight history
Science Sessions are brief conversations with cutting-edge researchers, National Academy members, and policymakers as they discuss topics relevant to today's scientific community. Learn the behind-the-scenes story of work published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), plus a broad range of scientific news about discoveries that affect the world around us.
In this episode, Jingmai O’Connor and Yosef Kiat share insights gleaned from modern birds’ feathers that help understand the evolutionary history of flight in dinosaurs.
In this episode, we cover:
•[00:00] Introduction
•[01:02] Jingmai O’Connor, a vertebrate paleontologist at the Field Museum of Natural History, describes the characteristics of feathers associated with flight.
•[02:11] O’Connor gives context and background for previous knowledge of the evolution of flight feathers in dinosaurs.
•[03:25] O’Connor describes the sources of fossil specimens for analysis of feather evolution.
•[04:29] Yosef Kiat, an ornithologist at the Field Museum of Natural History, tells what he learned about the consistent number of primary feathers in modern birds. He also tells how that number applies to dinosaurs.
•[05:54] O’Connor explains what the symmetry of feathers reveals about a species’ flight ability and history.
•[06:29] Kiat applies feather symmetry to explain the flight evolutionary history of Caudipteryx.
•[07:05] Kiat summarizes the findings of the study, using feather number and shape to assess the flight abilities of four genera of dinosaurs.
•[07:47] Kiat and O’Connor describe the type of potential fossil evidence that could fill in holes in the history of flight evolution in dinosaurs.
•[08:42] Kiat and O’Connor explain the study’s caveats and limitations.
•[09:44] Conclusion.
About Our Guests:
Jingmai O’Connor
Associate Curator of Fossil Reptiles
Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago, IL
Yosef Kiat
Postdoctoral Research Fellow
Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago, IL
View related content here: https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2306639121
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