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Nova Ornus Hestii is a little bird that's about 80 million years old,

and it's helping scientists piece together how bird brains evolved.

They look very, very much like that of a modern bird. And yet, the bones that made up this skull

are primitive. So in a sense, it's like if you were to be building the Empire State building

with Adobe bricks. It's Tuesday, November 19th, and you're

listening to Science Friday. I'm SciFRI producer Rasha Aridi. A little bit later, we're going

to get into why we know so little about what happened to birds' brains between archaeopteryx,

which was the earliest bird-like dinosaur,

to the birds we know now. But before we get to bird brains, we'll learn how black-legged ticks,

also called deer ticks, might be hanging out with invasive plant species. Here's Syphre's Kathleen Davis.

Black-legged ticks, also known as deer ticks, are a big problem for both people

and wildlife in the eastern United States. Their bites can spread bacterial infections like

Lyme disease, and their populations have spread over the past few decades. Researchers in Vermont and

Maine have noticed an interesting correlation between ticks

and invasive plant species. A better understanding of this could have an impact on how we manage both.

Here to talk about this project is my guest, Lexi Krupp, Science and Health Reporter for

Vermont public based in Burlington, Vermont.

Lexi, welcome to Science Friday.

Thanks for having me.

So tell us about this project that you reported on.

What exactly are these researchers in Vermont and Maine trying to figure out?

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