Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain The J pod of endangered southern resident orcas has a new baby. Researchers Maya and Mark Sears recently spotted a new calf with J pod. The Center for Whale Research hadn’t spotted the baby in recent encounters with the orcas, likely making the calf just a few days old. The calf … Read more
Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain According to media reports, in 2023 the UK experienced an unprecedented wave of shoplifting. The theory goes that the cost of living crisis and poor police responses are driving a crime wave. Is that really true? Here, we assess six of the most popular assertions made about shoplifting in 2023. Are … Read more
Credit: Vlada Karpovich from Pexels As native trees in the Pacific Northwest die off due to climate changes, the U.S. Forest Service, Portland, Oregon and citizen groups around Puget Sound are turning to a deceptively simple climate adaptation strategy called “assisted migration.” As the world’s climate warms, tree growing ranges in the Northern Hemisphere are … Read more
The authorities regularly warn bathers of the shark threat. A court in New Caledonia on Thursday ordered the authorities to stop hunting sharks, saying multiple culls were a “disproportionate” response to any danger to swimmers. The French Pacific territory has been scrambling to protect its busy beaches from sharks after two attacks earlier this year, … Read more
Schematic diagram of the population and decay of the 8He(02+) cluster state. Credit: Z. Yang/ Peking University Researchers at Peking University in China have successfully observed the elusive 02+ state of 8He, revealing a novel cluster structure with two strongly correlated neutron pairs. This finding provides insights into exotic nuclear structures and their potential implications … Read more
Map showing: a) the location of the Canary Islands (red square), b) the island of Tenerife and the Teide National Park (gray shape), and c) the location of the samples in the National Park (white dots). Credit: Mammal Research (2023). DOI: 10.1007/s13364-023-00728-9 Trophic ecology is the study of the food chain. On Tenerife in the … Read more
This aerial photo taken from a seaplane shows tourist boats sailing on the waters of Ha Long Bay on December 28. Vietnam’s Ha Long Bay is losing its famous turquoise hue as pollution and over-development threaten its wildlife and picture-perfect image. The UNESCO site is one of Vietnam’s most popular tourist destinations, with more than … Read more
The spatial distribution, proper motion, and parallax distributions of the members of NGC 6940 and sample sources determined using the ML-MOC algorithm. Credit: Panthi and Vaidya, 2023 Using the AstroSat spacecraft, astronomers from the Birla Institute of Technology and Science in Pilani, India, have investigated a nearby open cluster NGC 6940. Results of the observational … Read more
Calotes wangi. Credit: Huang et al A new iguana joins Asia’s rich reptile fauna, officially described as new to science in the open-access journal ZooKeys. “From 2009 to 2022, we conducted a series of field surveys in South China and collected a number of specimens of the Calotes versicolor species complex, and found that the … Read more
Awn imaging. Credit: TranSpread Awns, bristle-like extensions on grass crops like wheat and barley, are vital for protection and seed dispersal, with barbs on their surface playing a crucial role. While the genetic basis of barb formation has been explored through genome-wide association and genetic mapping, the detailed analysis of these small, variable structures poses … Read more
