Researchers report today in Science Express that they have taken a big step in determining what the first birds looked like more than 100 million years ago, when their relatives, the dinosaurs, still ruled the Earth. At the Department of Energy’s SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, they discovered chemical traces of a pigment, an important component of color, that once formed patterns in the feathers of the fossilized birds. Pictured here is a synchrotron rapid scanning x-ray fluorescence image of the calcium distribution in a fossil specimen of Confuciusornis sanctus, an ~120 million year old avian species, the oldest documented to display a fully derived beak. Calcium is high in the bones as shown by the bright white areas, but calcium is also high in the areas corresponding to residue of downy feathers in the neck region. This is interpreted to be due to the distribution of calcium being controlled by eumelanin chelates in the neck feathers, indicating that these soft tissues were originally darkly pigmented. (Credit: Data were collected at SLAC's Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Lightsource, image created by Gregory Stewart (SLAC))
Science Daily — Scientists report that they have taken a big step in determining what the first birds looked like more than 100 million years ago, when their relatives, the dinosaurs, still ruled Earth. At the Department of Energy's SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, they discovered chemical traces of a pigment, an important component of color, that once formed patterns in the feathers of the fossilized birds.
The discovery, reported June 30 inScience Express, will help give textbook illustrators, diorama makers and Hollywood special-effects artists a more realistic palette for their depictions of ancient animals. Understanding these pigment patterns is important for science, too, since they play a role in a wide range of behaviors that are important in evolution such as camouflage, communication and selecting mates.The pigment, eumelanin, is one of the coloring agents responsible for brown eyes and dark hair in many modern species, including humans. It would have been one of the factors that determined the birds' color patterns, along with structural properties of the birds' feathers and other pigments they ingested as part of their diets."This is a pigment that evolved a very, very long time ago but is still actively synthesized by organisms on the planet, and we found a way to map it and show its presence over 120 million years of geological time passing," said geochemist Roy Wogelius of the University of Manchester, one of the leaders of an international team that reported the discovery. "It is a direct relationship between you, me, and some extremely old organisms."
Said report co-author Uwe Bergmann of SLAC, "If we could eventually give colors to long extinct species, that in itself would be fantastic. Synchrotron radiation has revolutionized science in many fields, most notably in molecular biology. It is very exciting to see that it is now starting to have an impact in paleontology, in a way that may have important implications in many other disciplines."
Working at SLAC's Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Lightsource, the researchers examined two fossilized birds.Confuciusornis sanctus, which lived 120 million years ago, was one of many evolutionary links between dinosaurs and birds, sporting the first known bird-like beak. Gansus yumenensis, considered the oldest modern bird, lived more than 100 million years ago and looked a bit like a modern grebe.
Scientists had previously found melanosomes -- the biological "paint pots" where melanin pigments are made and stored -- in both ancient and living organisms. They used information about the structures of the melanosomes to make an educated guess about the colors of the pigments inside. But the newly published research shows that this prior approach has limitations. The team looked instead for chemical traces of the pigments themselves with two sophisticated X-ray techniques developed at SSRL.
The first technique identifies specific chemicals or elements in a sample, and it can examine whole fossils rather than the tiny fragments used in previous methods, revealing pigment patterns across the whole specimen. With it, the researchers unveiled traces of specific elements in and around the tissues, bones and surrounding rock of Confuciusornis sanctus. These traces provide an image of the pigmentation patterns from this long-dead bird in eerie detail.
The most striking of these trace elements was copper. As Bergmann points out, copper, which can be toxic in high levels, has persisted in the fossil in significant amounts, appearing in the images as a ghostly glow in places where feathers remained. What was it doing there? Before they could answer that, the researchers had to determine what chemical form the copper took.
SSRL staff scientist Sam Webb used the second X-ray imaging technique to study the fossil of a single feather from Gansus yumenensis. His analysis revealed that the copper in the fossil took the same form as copper trapped by eumelanin pigment. What's more, Webb said, "When we looked outside the feather we didn't see the copper at all."
Couple that chemistry with the way the copper was distributed, and the research team was faced with a mind-boggling conclusion: They had seen actual color patterns in the fossil bird feathers. "There is a stunningly remarkable preservation of pigments," Wogelius said. The team found the same relationship between copper and pigments in samples from modern feathers and squid.
"These new techniques for teasing out evidence of pigmentation will take a lot of the guesswork out of reconstructing the appearance of extinct dinosaurs and birds," said renowned dinosaur illustrator James Gurney, author of the best-selling Dinotopia series.
The discovery opens a window on the biochemistry of ancient creatures, and could lead to a far greater understanding of what they ate and the chemistry of their surroundings.
"The fossils we excavate have vast potential to unlock many secrets about the original organism's life, death and subsequent events impacting its preservation," said paper co-author Phil Manning, a paleontologist at the University of Manchester. "In doing this, we unlock much more than just paleontological information. We now have a chemical roadmap to track similar pigments in all life."
“Kirtanam actually means "describing." We can describe with music, words, pictures, etc. Shravanam goes hand in hand with kirtanam, for unless we hear, we cannot describe. We don't need any material qualifications in order to attain the Supreme. All we have to do is hear from authoritative sources and repeat accurately what we hear.” (Shrila 
Isn’t this a bad thing? If our objective is to describe a particular entity and we know from the outset that we will never fully succeed in our venture, isn’t frustration thereby guaranteed? “If I’m trying to describe this person and I know I can’t do it properly, what is the point to even trying?” Unlike with any other attempt at glorification, kirtana in bhakti is beneficial at every step. The justification for taking the plunge into attempting to glorify the Supreme Person - who is described as neti neti in the Vedic literature, which means “not this, not that” - is that the process corresponds directly with the inherent properties of the soul, which is the source of identity within all individuals, including those not part of the human species.
Therefore uninhibited kirtanam must have a source, an initial spark and fuel to subsequently feed its continuation. This is where shravanam, or hearing comes into play. We know that the Supreme Person being glorified can be addressed as Krishna because the Vedas say so and also because of His all-attractiveness. He is described as Bhagavan because He is the most fortunate. He possesses the fortunes of beauty, wealth, strength, fame, knowledge, renunciation and wisdom to the fullest degree. Besides these distinguishable qualities, He is always adorned by His closest associates, those who never leave Him in terms of consciousness. Narada Muni, Kapila Deva, Yamaraja, 
But where did we get all of this information from? How do we know so much about Krishna and the people who love Him? The hearing process, the fuel for the continuous drumbeat of hari-kirtana, provides a steady supply of information to the individual looking to rekindle their constitutional engagement of loving service. Irrespective of the body type, the natural penchant of the living being is to serve. When proper information is supplied through the hearing process, the glorification and service can be aimed in the proper direction, with the engine of kirtana revved up to full speed as a result.
The neti neti statements describing the Absolute Truth can be taken in a negative light by those who don’t understand its purpose. But to the devotees, neti neti is accepted as the most wonderful gift. Knowing that Krishna’s glories can never fully be enumerated, those anxious to serve God realize that they can spend the rest of their lifetime engaged in kirtana and never reach an end, never exhausting in effort or enthusiasm. What continually fuels their fire is hearing from the sacred texts, especially the Shrimad Bhagavatam and Bhagavad-gita, which safely house descriptions of God’s pastimes and His direct instructions.
The original Vedas and the classic Vedic texts are composed in the Sanskrit language, which is known as the language of the gods. Needless to say, Sanskrit is one of the most difficult language to understand, for the words are very complex, with terms crunched together to ensure that the most information can be packed into each verse. In this age of quarrel and hypocrisy, where there isn’t the time available for fully understanding Sanskrit, kirtana is there to provide the same benefit, to act as a sturdy boat that can carry an unlimited number of passengers across the ocean of nescience. The songs composed by the saints of the bhakti school are aimed at making the names of Krishna accessible to everyone. Ironically enough, there is no degradation of the knowledgebase, as these songs are complete in the information they present. Goswami
If we visit a Vaishnava temple and see that the person standing on the altar is holding a flute in His hands and has a smile on His face, we may be interested to know more about Him and why everyone is so given to glorifying Him. But when we hear that this person is known as Krishna because of His all-attractiveness, we become further interested in chanting. When we hear that Krishna, as a young child living in Vrindavana, would playfully go to the neighbors’ homes and steal from their stocks of butter, our interest further increases. When we next find out that the cowherd women who would complain to Mother Yashoda, Krishna’s foster mother, about the Lord’s stealing would then beg her not to punish Him, for even Krishna’s taking of their property was bringing them supreme joy, our attachment to performing kirtana further increases.
In this way we see that the more we hear about Krishna, the more attached we become to His lotus feet, which are the shelter for the saints and those who have abandoned the search for happiness in a material world full of dualities. Kirtana in bhakti knows no end, as the devotees who love Krishna never run out of affectionate feelings for Him. The most valuable boon offered by the most fortunate entity the world has ever known is the ability to continue kirtana. No other entity grants us the benediction of allowing our service to continue uninterrupted and without motivation. Only in bhakti-yoga, the ancient art of divine love, can the full potential for the outpouring of service found within the heart be met. Only with glorification of Krishna nourished by constant hearing does the human being make full advancement in consciousness, embarking on a progressive march which carries the soul towards the spiritual sky, the realm where the air is permeated with the sounds of Krishna’s flute and songs glorifying Him.
