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Experts worked in ocean midwater off Brazil at near-record speeds thanks to cutting-edge tech

Setting out from Salvador, Bahia, their focus was on the ocean midwater – the area between the seafloor and the sunlit layer closer to the surface. The researchers said this was the largest habitat on Earth, encompassing 90% of the living space on our planet, and also one of the least explored.

Among the discoveries were an amphipod, a type of crustacean related to crabs and lobsters; a fast-moving gossamer worm; nine jellyfish; seven siphonophores, colonial organisms related to jellyfish and corals; seven comb jellies or ctenophores, famous for the glittering cilia they use to swim; four larvaceans, tadpole-like creatures that live in mucus houses and are more closely related to humans than invertebrates; and two giant rhizarians, single-celled organisms visible to the naked eye.

“It was pretty exciting,” said the expedition’s chief scientist, Dr Karen Osborn of the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History. “The midwater is chock full of incredible animals that we don’t know much about. And this was an area that hadn’t been explored before so there were more opportunities to find new species. This must be close to a record for discoveries of new animals in a short space of time.”

One of the technological breakthroughs was the onboard use of a spinning wheel confocal microscope, nicknamed the Squid, which uses lasers to scan microscopic details of how organisms are put together. “That opens up a whole new world of exploring. We could see cells interacting with each other, exchanging material and building skeletons. And we could do that live on the ship, when usually it takes a couple of weeks of staining and mounting to see anything,” Osborn said.

The researchers also used prototype imaging systems, genetic analysis, and assembled a team of taxonomic experts for rapid identification of species.

The findings contribute to human understanding of the distribution of life in the oceans. “I think about it as a layer cake. It is common to find the same thing at similar depths in distance locations such as Japan and California,” Osborn said.

But there is also a huge vertical movement at night when creatures that have been hiding in the depths during the day go closer to the surface to eat under the cover of darkness. This has considerable influence on the drawdown of carbon by the oceans.

The expedition coincided with the unveiling of plans by the Trump administration to dismantle one of the world’s most important deep-sea observation systems – the $368m (£278m) Ocean Observatories Initiative, which uses more than 900 instruments to collect data on ocean health, including current patterns, climate variability and marine biodiversity.

Osborn said the latest expedition confirmed for her the importance of scientific collaboration and learning more about the ocean. “I think we should be doing this so much more. We need to bring together teams with a common goal to try out new ways of looking at things,” she said.

“What humanity has found so far is just the tip of the iceberg. There is an immense amount of life out there solving life’s challenges in unusual ways. Imagine what we can learn from them as we understand them better.”

todaysbird

had….had someone been punishing them for this?

(source)

news-wtf

The team surveyed bird experts and online communities of bird keepers, breeders and enthusiasts, and combined their accounts with others published in scientific literature. In total, they collected data on 120 bird species, captive and wild.

Avian onanism is widespread among species, including parrots, ducks, turkeys and chickens, and more common in the wild than in captivity, the survey found. Slightly more accounts mention males, but females were by no means exempt.

Typically, males would be “rubbing quite vigorously” on their perch, a toy or a twig, or on their owner’s hand, foot or shoulder, Heys said. Females tended to lift their tail and back on to convenient objects.

The activity was sometimes accompanied by wing flapping and vocalisations not typically heard from the birds. Asked if they showed any signs of self-loathing or Catholic guilt, Heys thought not. “I don’t want to say satisfied, but they do look different after they finish. It’s obviously doing something for them.”

Accounts from hobbyists revealed that some owners had sought veterinary help when they caught their birds masturbating, fearing the animals might hurt themselves. In turn, some vets had suggested disrupting the behaviour, by removing perches and toys and not stroking the birds in certain spots.

mindblowingscience

Three decades ago, researchers working atop the Llullaillaco volcano, located on the border between Argentina and Chile, discovered exceptio

Three decades ago, researchers working atop the Llullaillaco volcano, located on the border between Argentina and Chile, discovered exceptionally well-preserved remains. The find included the mummified bodies of three children along with associated artifacts. The site became known as the Capacocha burial, which was linked to the Inca ritual by the same name, which involved sacrificing children and young women. In a recent study published in Archaeometry, researchers turned to the coca leaves, manioc seeds and maize grains found among the offerings surrounding a buried maiden. By combining radiocarbon dating and stable isotope analysis of these short-lived plant remains, researchers were able to pinpoint a more precise timeframe for the burial.

maryfitzroy

Gracie the giraffe is described as having rounded ears. She went missing from a ranch in Real County.

im crying dude

fandomsandfeminism

Yeehaw yall. Gracie is on the run.

fandomsandfeminism

To answer some common questions in the tags:

1. How do you lose a Giraffe? She apparently scaled a cliff that served as part of the enclosure (which the other giraffes in the herd had shown no interest in climbing.)

2. Well it should be easier to find her, she's a whole ass giraffe? Yeah, you'd think, but Texas ranches are fuckin huge. The man has apparently hired a helicopter and several drones to aide the search, but no luck yet. She's been seen on some game cameras on the nearby ranches though. But she's sneaky.

3. Why does a random guy in Texas have a herd of giraffes? Because it's Texas and we have basically no exotic animal regulations. No really. If you have enough land out in the hill country, you can just own stuff. It's fuckin nuts.

nochd

What's sending me is the "described as having rounded ears", as if to distinguish her from other stray giraffes that concerned neighbours might encounter.

captaindibbzy

I mean given Texas apparently has no exotic animal regulation the fact you might encounter another stray giraffe is low, but not zero.

news-wtf

Gracie the giraffe is missing no more. Officials say she was spotted early on June 26 and will be captured and brought home.

Gracie the giraffe has been found more than two weeks after she escaped from the Texas ranch where she lives.

The precocious young animal who authorities said defied the norms of her fellow giraffes by scaling a rocky slab to escape the Cedar Hollow Ranch in Real County, Texas, was spotted the morning of June 26 about 4 miles south of the ranch, according to the Real County Sheriff's Office.

Vick Jones, manager of Cedar Hollow Ranch, and Jeff Hill of Concho Aviation were searching for by air Gracie when they saw her at about 7:30 a.m. local time, the sheriff's office said.

"Mr. Jones has contacted his Veterinarian and is putting a team together to safely capture Gracie and bring her home," the sheriff's office said in a statement.

Gracie, with her signature rounded ears, left the ranch on June 11, Jones told USA TODAY. Since then, she had been spotted on multiple game cameras on other properties in the county but was always gone by the time the area was searched, Sheriff Nathan Johnson said.

Gracie was "out on a fling, enjoying the countryside of Real County," Johnson said.

Gracie is expected to be returned home to rejoin her fellow giraffe resident, Atlas. Jones said he's working with a fencing company to make sure she can't get out again. The giraffes that have lived at Cedar Hollow Ranch over the past three decades have never wandered to that area − because giraffes don't typically climb rocks, he said.

maryfitzroy

Gracie the giraffe is described as having rounded ears. She went missing from a ranch in Real County.

im crying dude

fandomsandfeminism

Yeehaw yall. Gracie is on the run.

fandomsandfeminism

To answer some common questions in the tags:

1. How do you lose a Giraffe? She apparently scaled a cliff that served as part of the enclosure (which the other giraffes in the herd had shown no interest in climbing.)

2. Well it should be easier to find her, she's a whole ass giraffe? Yeah, you'd think, but Texas ranches are fuckin huge. The man has apparently hired a helicopter and several drones to aide the search, but no luck yet. She's been seen on some game cameras on the nearby ranches though. But she's sneaky.

3. Why does a random guy in Texas have a herd of giraffes? Because it's Texas and we have basically no exotic animal regulations. No really. If you have enough land out in the hill country, you can just own stuff. It's fuckin nuts.

nochd

What's sending me is the "described as having rounded ears", as if to distinguish her from other stray giraffes that concerned neighbours might encounter.

captaindibbzy

I mean given Texas apparently has no exotic animal regulation the fact you might encounter another stray giraffe is low, but not zero.

Older mice that received a faecal microbiome transplant from younger animals went on to have improved brain plasticity, which suggests their

Paola Tognini at the Sant’Anna School of Advanced Studies in Pisa, Italy, and her colleagues wanted to see whether the gut microbiome is involved in this and could be manipulated to boost brain plasticity in adulthood.

First, they gave 21-day-old mice a high dose of broad-spectrum antibiotics dissolved in water every day for 10 days, and found substantial changes to their gut microbiomes compared with a control group of mice that had untreated water. This included reduced levels of bacterial families such as Lachnospiraceae, which is involved in making short-chain fatty acids with neuroprotective properties.

Each mouse then had one eye sealed for three days. After this, when the researchers imaged the neural responses to the stimulation of each eye, they found that only the control mice showed evidence of neuroplasticity, with their brains responding more to stimulation of the eye that had stayed open.

‘They showed up in Michigan a while ago. Bought 5 cases,’ one Costco shopper said

Costco shoppers clamoring for a taste of Australia can now buy fan-favorite sweet treat Tim Tams in bulk.

The retailer has recently started selling rectangular-shaped chocolate-covered biscuit cookies in the U.S., much to the delight of shoppers.

While the brand has expanded to include different flavors since first launching in 1964, Costco members can score the original Tim Tams in a six-sleeve box containing 66 cookies for $14.

Fans have been quick to discover the new item, sharing their hauls on social media. On Reddit, some even admitted to buying multiple boxes of the treats.

“They showed up in Michigan a while ago. Bought 5 cases,” someone else wrote, while another said, “They were in Colorado in Feb/March. 11.99 a box. I bought 10 boxes lol.”

Parker Molloy on Bluesky:

God-tier NYT correction. Correction (left), original (right)

Think your clubbing days are behind you? Earlybirds Club wants you to have a blast and still get to bed on time.

Imagine a night out at the club: dancing to hits from Madonna, Janet Jackson, Robyn, Britney Spears, Kesha, Sia and Florence + The Machine.

And then imagine still getting to bed on time.

This is the concept of Earlybirds Club — a traveling club experience with a 10 p.m. last call — founded by Chicago-based friends Laura Baginski and Susie Lee.

“It allows you to have your full eight hours of sleep, hopefully do your face routine, but still have a great time dancing to throwbacks,” Baginski said. “Music that brings you back to the person you were before life started life-ing.”

The club is coming to Salt Lake City on June 27 at The Commonwealth Room.

But the party started back in 2024. Baginski said the idea for the club came from her love of seeing live music.

Scientists found Earth's deepest and largest whale necropolis in the Indian Ocean, holding bones dating back five million years.

In early 2023, the team boarded the research vessel Tansuoyihao and sent down a crewed submersible named Fendouzhe.

Over the course of 32 dives, they searched a long corridor of seafloor ranging from 15,000 to 23,000 feet (4,616 to 7,001 meters) deep.

What they found was staggering in scale. They recorded five active whale falls and 476 fossil cetacean sites scattered across the zone.

Before this work, almost every documented whale fall sat shallower than 13,000 feet (4,000 meters).

The deepest active one on record reached 4,204 meters in the southwest Atlantic.

The new site shatters that limit. One active community, made of three beaked whale vertebrae, sits at 22,200 feet (6,789 meters), far deeper than any living whale-fall ecosystem ever described.

theprofessional-amateur

This sketch is incredible. Perfect moment to capture. 10/10 for the artist.

Link to post

A hearing in Luigi Mangione’s state murder case in the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was postponed until Wednesday after pr

news-wtf

“It’s on us,” Seidemann said. “We got the writ signed but we failed to serve it.”

“That’s unfortunate,” Carro replied.

Seidemann noted that the judge in Mangione’s federal case, Margaret Garnett, had sent an order to the jail authorizing him to wear a suit to court, but the prosecutor acknowledged that alone wasn’t enough to get him brought to court.

allthegeopolitics

Two former novice nuns have shared their story after leaving the convent, falling in love and getting married.

Francília Costa and Luiza Silvério, known online as ‘Double Wow’ (Dupla Oxiuai), first met in a convent in Brazil back in 2019. Costa had been raised by deeply religious grandparents and was encouraged to join the convent, while Silvério joined as a teenager while searching for purpose, according to the Daily Star. The pair initially didn’t like each other, with Silvério admitting that she thought Costa was “an unbearable and stuck-up little nun.” Costa shared that she also didn’t like Silvério, but for no particular reason.

news-wtf

rjzimmerman

Researchers traced new undersea ecosystems of soft coral, sea anemones, sponges, and more to large rocks and mineral deposits ferried by ice

Excerpt from this story from Earther/Gizmodo:

A polar research expedition back in 2021 noticed something weird along the Fram Strait, a marine passage into the Arctic Ocean between Greenland and Svalbard. “Some of the icebergs were carrying unusually large amounts of debris and looked almost black from above,” as one biologist on the team, Melanie Bergmann, recalled in a statement.

This strange floating mystery has yielded a series of surprising discoveries along this Arctic region’s ocean floor. Researchers led by Germany’s Alfred Wegener Institute (AWI) and the Massachusetts-based Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution have documented thriving and entirely new ecosystems of soft coral, sea stars, “moss animal” bryozoa, anemones, sponges, and more. These emerging habitats on the chilly Arctic seabed, the team argues in its new study, appear to have been seeded by “dropstones” released from those craggy melting icebergs, creating the “hard substrate” surfaces that sedentary marine animals have long adapted to colonize.

But the research doesn’t just show how sensitive these Arctic climes have become to the impacts of climate change. Their work may soon also be of use to sea vessels needing better data to navigate around this increasing number of icebergs calved from melting glaciers—as well as from their dropstones, which pose risks in shallow waters if left uncharted.

Western Australia Is Battling a Mouse Plague

After months of setting traps and baits, clearing them and resetting them, Morawa residents say the number of mice is finally declining.

Peter Thornton, who runs a grocery shop and liquor store called Morawa Traders, said he had not caught a mouse in four days. At the height of the plague, mice used to run along the shelves, eat the labels off the alcohol bottles and nibble the stock, he said.

While there are fewer mice, the stench of the dead and the smell of their feces linger, he said.

“It was relentless,” Mr. Thornton said, adding that he was even bitten on the finger while he was sleeping a few months ago.

“They’ll die under a fridge or something like that, so we’re constantly moving furniture around to try and find where it’s all coming from. So, it gets a bit weary after a while,” he said. “We’ll get through it.”

Australia and China are the only two countries where mouse plagues occur, although scientists are not sure why.

Sellers of products with names like Boner Bears and DTF have voluntarily recalled their products after testing positive for the active ingre

The US Food and Drug Administration regularly announces recalls. But it has recently issued a surprising series of alerts: Several brands of chocolate marketed for “sexual enhancement” contain undisclosed drugs prescribed for erectile dysfunction, according to lab analyses conducted by the agency.

The flagged products—some of which are being voluntarily recalled—are sold online under names like Boner Bears Chocolate, DTF Sexual Chocolate, Lovion Chocolate With Ginseng for Men, and Rhino Choco VIP. Some are labeled “all natural” or claim to contain herbal ingredients such as pau de cabinda powder, which is used as a libido enhancer.

The FDA is advising consumers not to purchase the chocolates, because they contain sildenafil and tadalafil, the active ingredients in Viagra and Cialis, respectively. They work by relaxing blood vessels and boosting blood flow to the penis. One of the products, Pink Pussycat Aphrodisiac Chocolate, is marketed to women. (The FDA hasn’t approved Viagra or Cialis for women.)

“FDA approval of Viagra and Cialis is restricted to use under the supervision of a licensed health care professional,” according to the agency. The FDA warns that these ingredients may interact with nitrates found in some prescription drugs, such as nitroglycerin, and may lower blood pressure to dangerous levels. Adult men who use nitrates for cardiac conditions are most at risk from these products, the FDA says.

Some distributors of the chocolates, including Nalpac and Gear Isle, are voluntarily recalling the products. An FDA notice says Nalpac is not the manufacturer of these products. On its website, Gear Isle says it does not have a manufacturing arm and does not make any of the products it sells.

The FDA says that consumers and retailers that have the recalled products should stop using or selling products and return them to the place of purchase or discard them immediately.

A walk in the cemetery led to Cornell researchers discovering an underground colony of bees with an estimated population of 5.5 million—one

To calculate the size of the colony, scientists placed 10 traps placed in the cemetery between late March and mid-May 2023. These small net curtains cover less than one square meter of soil and channel insects coming out of the ground to a glass container. In total, more than 3,000 insects belonging to 16 different species were sampled, including bees, beetles, and flies, with an overwhelming prevalence of Andrena regularis. Extrapolating from the average density found in the traps, the researchers estimated a total population of between 3 and 8 million, with an average value of 5.5 million—the equivalent of more than 200 domestic bee hives.

The research yielded previously unpublished data on the biology of this little-studied insect. The traps revealed that males emerge from the ground a few days earlier than females during the first warm days of April, a strategy that maximizes mating opportunities. Subsequently, females dig nests and lay eggs in cells filled with pollen and nectar. The species has the distinction of wintering at the adult stage underground, which allows it to become active very early in the spring, in perfect synchrony with the flowering of apple trees in the nearby Cornell University orchards. Monitoring also revealed the presence of complex ecological dynamics, such as parasitism by bees of the Nomada imbricata species, which lay their eggs in the nests of the host species at the expense of the original larvae.

Team now plans to see if they can use yeast strains harvested from Ötzi the Iceman to brew beer too

Scientists have baked a sourdough loaf of bread using yeast strains harvested from a 5,000-year-old mummy and now plan to see if they can use them to brew beer too.

The yeast came from Ötzi the Iceman, a famous corpse remarkably preserved by being frozen in Alpine ice near the Italy-Austria border until he was discovered in 1991. Ötzi has been the subject of intense study since he was found and has shed much light on pre-historic European people and their way of life.

Scientists have been recently studying the microorganisms preserved in and on Ötzi’s remains. One unexpected result of that work was that researchers extracted yeast and then used it to make sourdough bread.

“Eventually, we obtained a completely normal dough that rose within 24 hours − basically just like with ordinary yeast. We made some really good dough with it,” microbiologist Mohamed Sarhan said in statements posted to the website of Eurac Research where he works for the Institute for Mummy Studies.

“I’ve never baked bread before – and it showed. So the result definitely had room for improvement. But as I said, these were our very first experiments,” Sarhan added.

Now, homemade beer could also be on the menu.

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