Entries by John Good

99-Million-Year-Old Bird Wings Found Encased in Amber

smithsonianmag.com Finding things trapped in amber is far from a rare occurrence: lizards, bugs, flowers and more are regularly found encased in hardened lumps of the tree resin. But when a group of researchers digging through amber mined in Burma uncovered a sample with a pair of tiny bird-like wings frozen inside, they knew they had something […]

Rare Dinosaur-Era Bird Wings Found Trapped in Amber

nationalgeographic.com Two tiny wings entombed in amber reveal that plumage (the layering, patterning, coloring, and arrangement of feathers) seen in birds today already existed in at least some of their predecessors nearly a hundred million years ago. READ MORE

The Event that Wiped out Dinosaurs Also Nearly Did in the Mammals

smithsonianmag.com About 65 million years ago the Cretaceous era came to a dramatic end when a huge asteroid slammed into the Earth and likely jump started the mass extinction that wiped out the dinosaurs. In the wake of such devastation, plucky mammals in their underground burrows survived and eventually rose to the prominence they enjoy […]

Nature up close: Monument Valley

cbsnews.com Monument Valley is probably best known to many Americans from having been seen in more Western movies than any other location in the U.S. Most visitors to Monument Valley are immediately taken back to old John Ford films, including “The Searchers,” “Stagecoach,” and “She Wore a Yellow Ribbon.” READ MORE

What Killed the Dinosaurs in Utah’s Giant Jurassic Death Pit?

smithsonianmag.com Utah is dinosaur country—so much so that the state has a scenic byway system called the Dinosaur Diamond that connects ancient final resting places across the desert. But among the sites holding preserved tracks and dusty fossils, one boneyard stands out as a 148-million-year-old mystery: the Cleveland-Lloyd Dinosaur Quarry. READ MORE

Solar Surge Adds To Utah’s Energy Landscape

solarindustrymag.com new report from the Utah Geological Survey (UGS) highlights the increasingly significant role solar power is playing in the state’s diverse energy portfolio. READ MORE