A feather found in dino poop and more...
Quirks and Quarks

A feather found in dino poop and more...

B2Upper-intermediateSeptember 18, 202654 min
  • Interview
  • Science

It’s long been a mystery why one particular avian dinosaur was the only kind to survive mass extinction, but the recent discovery of a perfectly preserved fossilized feather, found in a cherry-sized piece of dinosaur poop, offers new clues. Also today: Why citizen scientists buried thousands of undiesHow climate change tipped the scales on a catastrophic Himalayan avalancheWhy an AI leap has left mathematicians feeling uneasyWhy scientists put teeny-tiny micro-trackers on chimney swifts

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Sentence 6 of 12 · 0:53

a poop can tell us so many wonderful stories.

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I thought, oh, urban area, lots of phones, chimney swifts,

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B2 · Upper-intermediate

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  • 250 harder words (B2 and up) in the whole episode.

Transcript

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0:32

Hi, I'm Bob McDonald. Welcome to Quirks and Quarks. On this week's show, finding a fossilized feather inside dinosaur poop. You know, everybody poops. It's part of life. And now, you know, even 66 million years later,

0:50

a poop can tell us so many wonderful stories. using tiny tractors to follow elusive chimney swifts. I thought, oh, urban area, lots of phones, chimney swifts, really lightweight tags.

1:04

Let's see what we can do with these birds. Plus, mathematicians grappling with AI, climate change destabilizing mountains, and what burying 2,000 pairs of underwear

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