Technologies

Stunningly well-preserved dinosaur embryo found inside fossilized egg

One researcher calls the embryo «one of the most beautiful fossils I have ever seen.»

An illustration shows a small animal in a tight tuck, legs pulled up, back curved and beaked head bent toward its tail. This is Baby Yingliang, a nickname given to a remarkable fossilized dinosaur embryo found inside an ancient egg and tucked into a position much like that of a modern bird just before it hatches.

The Baby Yingliang fossil dates to the late Cretaceous, putting it at between 72 million and 66 million years old. It was found in southern China and is the remains of a theropod dinosaur called a oviraptorosaur. The embryo’s state of preservation and its position inside the egg make the fossil a remarkable find.

«Previously unrecognized in dinosaurs, this posture is similar to that of modern bird embryos,» says a Tuesday statement from the University of Birmingham. Researchers from that institution and from Beijing’s China University of Geosciences led a study of the fossil, which was published in the journal iScience this week.

The scientists estimate the dinosaur would be about 10.6 inches (27 centimeters) long. The egg is 6.7 inches (17 centimeters) long, which gives you an idea of how much the creature was folded over.

«It is interesting to see this dinosaur embryo and a chicken embryo pose in a similar way inside the egg, which possibly indicates similar prehatching behaviors,» said joint first author Fion Waisum Ma, a paleontologist at the University of Birmingham. The researchers would like to study more well-preserved dinosaur embryos to test the idea that the tucking posture is something that first developed in theropods. The posture helps ensure modern birds hatch successfully.

Study co-author Steve Brusatte of the University of Edinburgh described the find as «one of the most beautiful fossils I have ever seen,» saying it represents «yet more evidence that many features characteristic of today’s birds first evolved in their dinosaur ancestors.»

Technologies

AT&T Says It’s Pumping $250 Billion Into New Infrastructure Improvements

Technologies

Apple’s New Smart Home Display Delayed Until Fall Over Siri Issues

It has been nearly a year and a half since the company announced the AI-powered product.

Your home could get smarter with Apple’s Siri, but it will have to wait a few more months. Bloomberg reported the iPad-shaped AI home hub won’t be ready until September, several months after the company was hoping to launch it this spring. Apple engineers first need to complete work on a new and improved Siri assistant for the home device, code-named J490, according to Bloomberg.

Apple was hoping to release J490 this month, along with a slew of other new devices, including the iPhone 17e, MacBook Neo, MacBook Air M5, new Pro models, and iPad Air M4. Apple first teased the smart home display in November 2024.

A representative for Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Siri is Apple’s virtual assistant that uses voice recognition and AI to fulfill a variety of tasks and commands, along with intriguing uses. You might use Siri to find your iPhone — «Hey Siri, where are you?» — or to hear the weather forecast — «Siri, what will the weather be today?» Siri is available on iPhones, MacBooks and iPads. It was launched in 2011 as a feature of the iPhone 4S.

As CNET reported last month, Apple engineers have struggled to push the upgraded Siri assistant out the door. It isn’t fast enough, gets confused by complex commands and doesn’t interact well with other Apple AI models. The company is also wrestling with how much personal data to access to inform the AI, and the new Siri is not yet able to complete in-app tasks, such as finding a photo and posting it to socials, all with one command.

It has been nearly two years since Apple announced that it would give Siri a major upgrade. In the meantime, competitors like Alexa Plus and Gemini for Home have entered the marketplace.

Tech tester Jon Rettinger, whose YouTube channel has 1.66 million subscribers, says the repeated delays in upgrading Siri can «erode» confidence in Apple’s ability to keep up in the AI race.

«Apple as a whole is still one of the strongest companies on the planet. But their AI play is clearly the weakest link in an otherwise very strong chain,» Rettinger told CNET.

Rettinger said he has had issues getting Siri to complete basic commands, such as setting two alarms at the same time, and that it’s a bit of «a mess» right now.

«Having said that, the iPhone has such massive market penetration that I’m not sure it will actually matter in the end. Which is kind of wild when you think about it,» Rettinger said.

Facial recognition for residents

The hardware for the forthcoming smart home display has already been finished. It resembles an iPad and can be either attached to a wall or rest on a half-domed-shaped base, the Bloomberg report said.

The device will be equipped with facial recognition, so when residents walk up to it, they will be shown personalized data such as music preferences, news headlines, appointments, reminders, tasks and so on.

The screen interface will include a bunch of circular app icons, similar to the display on an Apple Watch. The Bloomberg report said the smart home display will be the first of several home devices by Apple. Future products include a tabletop robotic limb with a 9-inch screen, a smart security camera and a Face ID-enabled smart doorbell.