Synchrotron imaging of birds' ancestor

At ESRF in Grenoble, France, several very interesting imaging experiments are going on. Some fossils of Archaeopteryx, which were believed to live 150 million years ago, are being imaged by using a pin-hole X-ray camera at synchrotron beamlines BM5 and ID19. The main question is about their wings - whether they could fly or not. So far, the research has encountered a number of challenges. The project is conducted by Germany's Burgermeister-Muller-Museum (the Solnhofen Museum). For more information, see the following Web site, http://www.solnhofen.de/index.php?id=0,49