From NYTimes (hat tip – Floyd): … New research by American and Chinese scientists shows that the animal had a predominantly glossy iridescent sheen in hues of black and blue, like a crow. This is the earliest known evidence of iridescent color in feathers. The animal also had a striking pair of long, narrow tail feathers, perhaps to call attention to itself in courtship. In the study, published online Thursday in the journal Science, the researchers compared the patterns of pigment-containing cells from a Microraptor fossil with those of modern birds.… more  

This is your chance to be part of history and help ESCONI publish this new revision of the Mazon Creek Fauna book by buying a $100 share. Buy as many shares at $100 each that you can.  When we sell enough books, we will repay your shares (with no interest) but with our thanks. Repayment will depend on how quickly the books are sold and printing costs are recovered. Contact Irene Broede or Karen Nordquist to participate. Please make checks out to “ESCONI Associates”. Andy Jansen, ESCONI Librarian, provides this historic article (.pdf), written by ESCONI’s First Secretary, Stella Barrick, on…

The ESCONI Yahoo Discussion group is having a discussion about the news of a living plant from a 30,000 year old seed. Stop on by and join the discussion!

Via ABC 13 Houston: >   

Via geology.com: Scientists have discovered a new type of hot spring along the banks of a volcanic lake in the Philippines. These “terrestrial smokers” are cousins to submarine black smokers, hydrothermal vents on the seafloor that spew plumes of hot, nutrient-rich water and often support rich communities of life.  

Via PhysOrg: In the past year, Allison has been using a Microsoft Research-developed tool called Layerscape. Based on the popular WorldWide Telescope, also developed by Microsoft Research, Layerscape is a cloud-based instrument that enables earth scientists to analyze and visualize massive amounts of data. With Layerscape, scientists can create three-dimensional virtual tours of the Earth; explore new ways of looking at Earth and oceanic data; and build predictive models in areas such as climate change, health epidemics, and oceanic shifts….

Always interesting to talk about the oil supply – video. “The former president of Shell Oil Company debated Tad Patzek, Chair, Dept. of Petroleum Engineering, University of Texas on Feb 14 at the University of Wisconsin – Madison. The subject was: “The World Oil Supply: Looming Crisis or New Abundance?””

The Paleobiology Database now has over a million occurences of fossils. 

From Sci-News.com: … In the study, published yesterday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the researchers reveal that this prehistoric species of bushcricket radiated musical songs using a resonant mechanism tuned at a specific frequency… The article includes a lovely animation with the sound of the imagined call of a Juraasic bushcricket.