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Top headlines
Lead story
Were dinosaurs living their best lives until an asteroid struck and wiped them out 66 million years ago? Or were they already slumping toward extinction when that final disaster hit? Paleontologists have been debating this question for decades.
A serendipitous discovery of a new species provides a clue.
Oklahoma State University researchers Kyle Atkins-Weltman and Eric Snively and their colleagues were cross-sectioning fossils in order to count rings in the bone. Much like a tree’s rings, these lines can reveal the age of the animal when it died.
It turns out that what they’d assumed was a juvenile of one species was actually a fully grown adult of a previously unknown smaller species – one they dubbed Eoneophron infernalis, or “Pharaoh’s chicken from Hell.” They explain why this new discovery from a known fossil suggests that dinosaur diversity wasn’t on the decline on that fateful day.
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Birdlike dinosaur Eoneophron infernalis was about the size of an adult human.
Zubin Erik Dutta
Kyle Atkins-Weltman, Oklahoma State University; Eric Snively, Oklahoma State University
Rather than a juvenile of a known species, several fossilized bones represent a new species – and shed light on the question of whether dinosaurs were already in decline before disaster struck.
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Economy + Business
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João Marinotti, Indiana University
It may seem extreme, but there’s a reason the law allows it.
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Politics + Society
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John E. Jones III, Dickinson College
A retired federal judge sheds light on what’s going on in Judge Lewis Kaplan’s courtroom during the latest trial involving former President Donald Trump.
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International
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Elis Vllasi, University of Tennessee
The fragility of peace settlements in the Balkans provides a cautionary tale. US and EU policymakers may inadvertently make matters worse by acceding to the aggressor’s territorial ambitions.
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Ethics + Religion
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Elaine Howard Ecklund, Rice University; Brenton Kalinowski, Rice University; Denise Daniels, Wheaton College (Illinois)
Many workers who see their work as a spiritual calling wind up tolerating unfair treatment and poor work conditions.
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Ari Joskowicz, Vanderbilt University
Many young people today know little about the murder of European Jews during the Holocaust, and even less about the murder of Romani communities.
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Environment + Energy
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Scott Jasechko, University of California, Santa Barbara; Debra Perrone, University of California, Santa Barbara; Richard Taylor, UCL
Rapid and accelerating groundwater level declines are widespread in dry climates where groundwater is used for irrigation. But some communities have found ways to turn things around.
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Richard B. (Ricky) Rood, University of Michigan
As the climate changes and weather warms, the freezing line is shifting, bringing rain and ice to regions not prepared for it.
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Pei-Chin Wu, University of Rhode Island; Meng (Matt) Wei, University of Rhode Island; Steven D’Hondt, University of Rhode Island
Land subsidence is a factor as preparations are made for rising sea levels and strengthening storms. Human infrastructure, including buildings and groundwater extraction, increases vulnerabilities.
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Science + Technology
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Nathan Schneider, University of Colorado Boulder
Your data privacy is under threat from hackers, data brokers and big tech. Here’s what you can do about it. Step 1 is to get your colleagues, friends and family on board.
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Education
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Natasha Joseph, The Conversation
Education can spur peace and development. Here are five essential reads on the topic.
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Podcast 🎙️
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Gemma Ware, The Conversation; Dale Berning Sawa, The Conversation
Alice Bloch talks about her research with the descendants of Holocaust survivors who have replicated the Auschwitz tattoo. Listen to The Conversation Weekly podcast.
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