Toen 66 miljoen jaar geleden de dinosaurussen uitstierven, overleefde één groep afstammelingen: de vogels. En dat kwam, omdat die dieren in tientallen miljoenen jaren tijd weer klein waren geworden. Tegenwoordig zijn er 10.000 vogelsoorten.

Daarmee is het de meest diverse groep dieren met vier ledematen ter wereld. Ooit waren dinosaurussen klein. 230 miljoen jaar geleden wogen de meesten tussen de 10 en 35 kilo. Ze waren zo groot als een gemiddelde hond.

Maar al snel werden ze groter. Binnen 30 miljoen jaar wogen ze 10.000 kilo. Nog later werden sommige soorten wel 35 meter lang en wogen 90.000 kilo. De dino's stopten wel met groeien, maar behielden hun grootte, behalve de maniraptora. Van deze gevederde dieren werd een deel juist weer klein. En alleen de dieren die nog maar een kilo wogen, overleefden de asteroïde-inslag, die de dinosaurussen de kop kostte. Dat waren de vogels. Doordat ze zo klein waren, konden ze zich makkelijker aanpassen aan de veranderde omstandigheden in tegenstelling tot de enorme dinosaurussen met bijbehorende grote honger. De voorouders van de vogel werden in eerste instantie kleiner, omdat ze daardoor beter konden vliegen. Dat kost met minder gewicht uiteraard minder energie.

Bron(nen): Science

While most hybrids are said to use one to two litres of fuel per 100km, a study claims they need six litres on average

Plug-in hybrid electric cars (PHEVs) use much more fuel on the road than officially stated by their manufacturers, a large-scale analysis of around a million vehicles of this type has shown.

The Fraunhofer Institute carried out what is thought to be the most comprehensive study of its kind to date, using the data transmitted wirelessly by the PHEVs whilst they were on the road, from a variety of manufacturers.

Continue reading...

The Brazilian has seen this before, football has seen this before and yet why does it feel like nothing ever changes?

José Mourinho: against provoking opposition fans. José Mourinho: in favour of restrained celebrations. José Mourinho, once of the poke-in-the-eye, sprint-down-the-touchline, accost-the-referee-in-the-car-park school of footballing expression: now apparently very big on showing respect to the game. Well, it seems like we’ve all been on a journey here.

“I told him the biggest person in the history of this club was Black,” Mourinho recounted when asked about his conversation with Vinícius Júnior on Tuesday night. “This club, the last thing that it is, is racist.” And doubtless these words will have been a profound source of comfort to Vinícius in his lowest moment, having been insulted on the pitch by an opposition player in a Champions League playoff.

Continue reading...

Portuguese managed Fenerbahce and leads his new side into their Europa League playoff sounding confident

As Vítor Pereira wrapped up his pre-match media duties at Sukru Saracoglu Stadium on Wednesday evening, his assistant Luís Miguel Moreira da Silva waited at the mouth of the tunnel. “Let’s go?” he said as Pereira eventually emerged, before the Nottingham Forest squad followed the pair on to the pitch.

Then it was down to business, Pereira’s first assignment in charge of Forest at one of his 13 former clubs, Fenerbahce. For Pereira, the Kadikoy district of Istanbul represents familiar territory, having lived in the city across two enjoyable but trophy-less spells here as a manager, most recently in 2021.

Continue reading...

The threat of Russian aggression makes a compelling case for urgent continental cooperation

For Vladimir Putin, peace talks with Ukraine are war pursued by other means. That is why progress has been so slow in negotiations, which resumed in Geneva this week. The Russian president demands the surrender of territory that his army has failed so far to win in combat. Since Mr Putin cannot be trusted to honour any agreement, Volodymyr Zelenskyy rightly insists on robust security guarantees. The Kremlin remains committed to restoring national pride through territorial expansion. Mr Putin might accept a lull in the Ukraine conflict, but only to regroup. He must be deterred from resuming a campaign aimed at extinguishing Ukraine’s sovereignty.

His country’s economy and propaganda apparatus are increasingly oriented towards sustaining a long war. He has shown little sign of abandoning efforts to weaken Nato and punish European democracies for backing Kyiv. The intent is signalled by a campaign of constant provocations: sabotage, maritime and air incursions, cyber-attacks and online disinformation.

Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here.

Continue reading...

'First time we have detected a crime using this method,' cops say

Spanish police arrested a hacker who allegedly manipulated a hotel booking website, allowing him to pay one cent for luxury hotel stays. He also raided the mini-bars and didn't settle some of those tabs, police say.…

conspectus_bs posted a photo:

Fomapan 100 with Mamiya 645 Pro and Sekor 80 mm

Robin van Leijen gaat waarschijnlijk toch de Tweede Kamer in. De Maassluizer stond op de landelijke kieslijst van D66 op plek 28 en kwam in oktober vorig jaar net tekort voor een zetel. Omdat zijn partij naar verwachting de nieuwe premier (Rob Jetten) én meerdere ministers en staatssecretarissen gaat leveren, komen er in de 26-koppige Kamerfractie plaatsen vrij. Daardoor schuift Van Leijen waarschijnlijk alsnog door.

February 14th marked the 35th anniversary of the launch of a little puzzle game for the Amiga that would rocket to popularity on the backs of its little green-headed hero-victims. Lemmings helped secure the fortunes of its creators, DMA Design (who would go on to make a little franchise called Grand Theft Auto). For its anniversary, many of the original team sat down with YouTuber onaretrotip to talk about the creation of the game and its legacy.

Though the game was built on the core of lemmings being suicidal little guys, it turns out that most of what people know about actual lemmings is complete false