Red penguin fossil found in Peru...

Image via WikipediaRed penguin fossil found in Peru... .

It also showed signs of what makes penguins such formidable swimmers - it sports radically modified feathers which are densely packed and stacked on top of each other, forming stiff, narrow flippers, and its body feathers had broad shafts to help streamline the body.



Paleontologist Julia Clarke, lead author of the paper from the University of Texas at Austin's Jackson School of Geosciences, said: "Before this fossil, we had no evidence about the feathers, colours and flipper shapes of ancient penguins.



"We had questions and this was our first chance to start answering them."



The bird's colours were established by examining its melanosomes, or pigment cells, say reports in the journal Science.



By comparing them to a library of existing birds, they found they were more similar to other species than today's penguins - which have giant melanosomes, broader than any other bird.



The researchers say that the melanosomes on living penguins give the feathers a special microstructure, making them more resistant to wear.



This suggests that the evolution to black and white may have been to help cope with the demands of an aquatic lifestyle, with the colouring a secondary factor, although the colour change may have been to help it adapt to new forms of predator, say experts.



Co-author Jakob Vinther, of Yale University, said: "Insights into the colour of extinct organisms can reveal clues to their ecology and behaviour.



"But most of all, I think it is simply just cool to get a look at the colour of a remarkable extinct organism, such as a giant fossil penguin."



The bird was discovered by Peruvian student Ali Altamirano in Peru's Reserva Nacional de Paracas.



When the team noticed scaly soft tissue on an exposed foot, they nicknamed it 'Pedro' after a sleazy or "escamoso" (scaly) character from a Colombian TV show.



It is the latest penguin discovery by Ms Clarke's team in the country, suggesting Penguin's thrived there in the late Eocene period - 36 to 41 million years ago.

Acknowledgements: University of Texas

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Electron switch could make a thin, light, high-powered organic batteries a reality...

Image via Wikipedia RESEARCH WATCH:  Electron switch could make thin, light, high-powered organic batteries a reality

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Illustration of an assembled set of different molecules that meet, exchange electrons and then disassemble because chloride ions, which are represented as green spheres, are present – if these chloride ions are removed, the entire process can be reversed

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There’s no arguing that batteries are an essential element of today’s electronics landscape. Without them our mobile devices would be a lot less mobile and we might still be crank starting our cars. The explosion in mobile electronic devices enabled by batteries and miniaturization has a major downside in the form of discarded batteries, the majority of which contain toxic heavy metals. Chemists have now discovered a new way to pass electrons back and forth between two molecules that could see the development of organic batteries that are lightweight and work without the need for toxic heavy metals.



Batteries consist of electrochemical cells that store energy in the form of chemical energy, which is converted into electrical energy when connected to an electrical circuit in which an electrical current can flow. When molecules meet, they often form new compounds by exchanging electrons. In some cases, the electron transfer process creates one molecule with a positive charge and one molecule with a negative charge. Molecules with opposite charges are attracted to each other and can combine to form something new.



In their research, University of Texas at Austin chemists Christopher Bielawski and Jonathan Sessler created two molecules that could meet and exchange electrons but not unite to form a new compound.



Pull-push molecules

"These molecules were effectively spring-loaded to push apart after interacting with each other," says Bielawski, professor of chemistry. "After electron transfer occurs, two positively charged molecules are formed which are repelled by each other, much like magnets held in a certain way will repel each other. We also installed a chemical switch that allowed the electron transfer process to proceed in the opposite direction."



Sessler adds, "This is the first time that the forward and backward switching of electron flow has been accomplished via a switching process at the molecular scale." Sessler is the Roland K. Pettit Centennial Chair in Chemistry at The University of Texas at Austin and a visiting professor at Yonsei University.



Bielawski says this system gives important clues for making an efficient organic battery. He says understanding the electron transfer processes in these molecules provides a way to design organic materials for storing electrical energy that could then be retrieved for later use.



Organic batteries

Organic batteries made from organic materials instead of heavy metals could be lightweight, could be molded into any shape, have the potential to store more energy than conventional batteries, be safer and cheaper to produce and more environmentally friendly when being disposed of.



"I would love it if my iPhone was thinner and lighter, and the battery lasted a month or even a week instead of a day," says Bielawski. "With an organic battery, it may be possible. We are now starting to get a handle on the fundamental chemistry needed to make this dream a commercial reality."



Additionally, the molecular switch could also be a step toward developing a technology that mimics plants' ability to harvest light and convert it to energy through photosynthesis. With such a technology, fuel could be produced directly from the sun, rather than through a plant mediator, such as corn.



"I am excited about the prospect of coupling this kind of electron transfer 'molecular switch' with light harvesting to go after what might be an improved artificial photosynthetic device," says Sessler. "Realizing this dream would represent a big step forward for science."



The University of Texas at Austin chemists’ research was published in the journal Science.



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