ScienceNewsBlog.com

Stormchasers Capture Tornado Destroying Homes

Tue, 9 Mar 2010 15:40:00 EST

Two stormchasers captured this powerful tornado on video that touched down in western Oklahoma Monday. The tornado destroyed several homes and a barn. Tornadoes are less common in March but there are tornadoes in March every year. This chart here shows the annual tornado trend over the past ten years. Here is the video:

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The Cove Wins Oscar for Best Documentary

Mon, 8 Mar 2010 15:00:00 EST

Best Documentary Feature winner Louie Psihoyos (second from left) and Fisher Stevens (right) for their work in The Cove backstage during the 82nd Annual Academy Awards at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood last night. In the documentary film, dubbed an eco-thriller, a team of divers, activists and special effects experts, infiltrated a secret cove in Japan to expose dolphin killings. Here is a trailer for The Cove.

You can find more Oscar coverage here and a list of winners here.

Photo (top): Richard D. Salyer / ©A.M.P.A.S.

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Video of a Siphonophore Colony

Fri, 5 Mar 2010 16:00:00 EST

This video from CreatureCast.org shows a Siphonophore. Technically, it is a colony of Siphonophora. The Jellies Zone says some siphonophores can form chains over 100 feet long. CreatureCast explains that the jellyfish like creature seen below is actually a colony of organisms.

What looks like one long body in this video is actually a free-swimming colony of clones - many genetically identical bodies that are all attached. But each body in the group isn't just like its neighbor. They each do a specific job for the colony. Some individuals will swim, some will catch food, and some will reproduce.

You can see a couple other interesting videos of Siphonophores here and here.

(via Boing Boing)

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Fierce Europe Storms Kills Dozens

Sun, 28 Feb 2010 15:00:00 EST

Europe has been hit hard by fierce Winter storms. The storms killed dozens of people. France was particularly hard hit. The Epoch Times says at least 50 were killed in France with the death toll expected to rise. The storms are considered to be the worst in France since 1999. Take a look:

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Richard Ellis: Killer Whale Attack at SeaWorld Was Intentional

Wed, 24 Feb 2010 14:00:00 EST

Dawn Brancheau, an experienced female trainer at Sea World Orlando, was fatally injured by a 12,000 bull Orca named Tilikum today. Tilikum is also linked to two other deaths.

Richard Ellis, an author, artist and marine conservationist with the American Museum of Natural History, believes the killer whale's actions at SeaWorld Orlando were intentional. He says killer whales are intelligent creatures that don't do things accidentally. He says this was not an "insane, uncontrollable act." He doesn't think Tilikum was trying to eat the trainer but he does think the whale decided to do this. Ellis also thinks the popularity of killer whales in capitvity is going to increase, not decrease, because of this story. Take a look:

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Scientists Develop Rice That Doesn't Have to Be Cooked

Mon, 8 Feb 2010 18:00:00 EST

Scientists in India say they have developed a variety of rice that requires no cooking. It just needs to be soaked in water at room temperature for 45 minutes. The rice was developed last September by scientists at the Central Rice Research Institute (CRRI) in Orissa. They were inspired by soft rice, or komal saul, that grows in the Indian state of Assam. Take a look:

Posted in Food

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Vampire Squid Can Turn Itself Inside Out When Startled

Thu, 4 Feb 2010 15:00:00 EST

The vampire squid can turn itself "inside out" when it feels threatened by predators. The Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute released this video. The video was taken by a deep diving robotic submarine. The Monterey Bay Aquarium warns that the vampire squid are threatened by global warming and pollution. Take a look:

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Ice Balls Form in Lake Michigan

Tue, 26 Jan 2010 15:00:00 EST

You can see numerous ice balls that have formed in Lake Michigan and along the shore in the Chicago Tribune video below. Wind, wave motion and a temperature just below freezing likely contributed to the creation of the ice spheres. There are some photographs of the ice balls here. Also, some much larger ice balls were discovered off the swedish coastline earlier this year.

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Earthquake Zones Most at Risk of Killer Quakes

Sun, 17 Jan 2010 11:00:00 EST

Dr. Arthur Lerner-Lam, a seismologist at Columbia University, showed Chris Wragge some of the geographical zones most at risk of a killer earthquake. The hot spots include the Northern Caribbean, California, the Ring of Fire in the Central and South America region and Greece, Middle East and China. Take a look:

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Video: Octopus Uses Coconut Shell as Portable Home

Mon, 14 Dec 2009 18:00:00 EST

Here is a video of an octopus using a coconut shell for protection. The discovery by Julian Finn, a marine biologist at the Museum Victoria in Australia, of a clever veined octopus (Amphioctopus marginatus) using a coconut shell as a mobile home is being cited as the first reported instance of an invertebrate acquiring tools. Take a look:

(via Boing Boing)

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National Physical Laboratory Scientists Build World's Smallest Snowman

Sun, 13 Dec 2009 15:00:00 EST

The snowman pictured above is only 0.01 millimetres across, 1/5th the width of a human hair. The snowman was created by scientists at the National Physical Laboratory from two tin beads used to calibrate electron microscope astigmatism. The eyes and smile were milled using a focused ion beam, and the nose, which is under 0.001 millimetres wide, is made from ion beam deposited platinum. They also created a tiny christmas tree.

Here is a video about the micro holiday creations.

(via Telegraph)

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When Crocs Ate Dinosaurs

Mon, 16 Nov 2009 21:00:00 EST

National Geographic will air "When Crocs Ate Dinosaurs" - an episode of Expedition Week - on November 21st.

Some hundred million years ago, crocodiles were the ruling T. rexes of the waters. They galloped on land, ambushed prey at the river's edge ... even terrorized dinosaurs. And more, these swift predators' cousins evolved through the ages into the modern crocs we know today. Now, armed with newly discovered prehistoric crocodile bones, Explorer-in-Residence Dr. Paul Sereno is determined to bring the ancient creatures to life - and tell their fantastic untold story. Learn about a croc that pursued prey across land, a supercroc that locked its jaws around dinos, and even one with a startlingly canine face. Blending art, forensics and biology, Sereno's team recreates a lost world of strange Cretaceous crocs that paleontology forgot.

One can easily imagine a crocodile eating small dinosaurs but watch what happens about 2:10 into the clip when the prehistoric boar-croc decides to go after a sauropod.

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Octopus Pretends to be Seaweed

Fri, 6 Nov 2009 18:00:00 EST

This video by Brian Wysor shows an octopus cleverly camouflaging itself amongst seaweed at Wild Cane Bay in Bocas del Toro. During part of the video the octopus even mimics the movement of the seeweed in the water. Take a look:

(via Boing Boing)

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Beautiful Bug Photography by Thomas Shahan

Sat, 24 Oct 2009 21:00:00 EST

Thomas Shahan takes beautiful photographs of fairly common insects and spiders. Pictured above is a closeup photograph of a leafhopper. You can see many of his photos here on Flickr. Al Roker recently talked to Thomas Shahan about his growing collection of impressive bug photos. Take a look:

Photo: Thomas Shahan

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Pebble Toad's Amazing Escape From Toad Eating Tarantula

Tue, 20 Oct 2009 21:00:00 EST

Here is a video of amazing pebble toad in action from the BBC. The pebble toad has an amazing defensive skill. When it is threatened the pebble toad curls up like a ball and throws itself down the mountain. Bouncing down the rocky cliffs doesn't hurt the strange frog. In this situation a pebble toad is trying to avoid beating eat by a toad eating tarantula. Take a look:

Posted in Animals

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NASA Captures Rare Footage of the Sun Erupting

Wed, 14 Oct 2009 21:00:00 EST

NASA's twin Stereo spacecraft Behind and Ahead captured rare footage of the Sun erupting over a 30 hour period. The footage is from September 26-27, 2009. Take a look:

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Chipmunk-Sized Creataceous Mammal Fossil Discovered

Sat, 10 Oct 2009 21:00:00 EST

A recently discovered Cretaceous mammal called maotherium is a chipmunk-sized nocturnal mammal that lived 123 million years ago. The chipmunk-sized creature had terrestrial habits and scampered around on the ground. Maotherium weighed about 2 ounces and was 15 cm (5 inches) in length. Scientists say the tiny creature is revealing more about how mammal's complex ear bones evolved.

Photo: Mark A. Klingler/Carnegie Museum of Natural History

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Elephant Birth Filmed at Elephant Safari Park in Bali

Wed, 7 Oct 2009 21:05:00 EST

This video from contains graphic footage of an elepant birth at the Elephant Safari Park in Taro, Bali. The founder of the Elephant Safari Park Nigel Mason explains what is going on. After birth the mother tries to get the baby elephant on her feet quickly because there are predators in the wild. Take a look:

Posted in Animals

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Blowing Dust Closed Interstate in Washington

Mon, 5 Oct 2009 15:40:00 EST

Interstate 90 between Moses Lake and Ritzville in Eastern Washington was closed because of blowing dust. As you can see the blowing dust greatly reduced visibility and led to traffic accidents. The Spokesman Review says the highway has since reopened.

Posted in Weather

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Video Footage of Tsunami in American Samoa

Wed, 30 Sep 2009 18:00:00 EST

Here is some video footage of the tsunami from Tuesday's powerful magnitude 8.0 earthquake near American Samoa. The earthquake created a tsunami in the Somoas that flattened villages and swept cars and people out to sea. The tsunami hit in the middle of the harbor of the capital of Pago Pago. CNN has some photographs of the damage here. Take a look:

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Cheetah at Cincinatti Zoo Breaks 100 Meter Record

Thu, 10 Sep 2009 18:00:00 EST

The Cincinnati Enquirerr reports that a Cincinnati Zoo cheetah named Sarah ran 100 meters in just 6.13 seconds.

Sarah covered 100 meters in 6.13 seconds at the zoo's Regional Cheetah Breeding Facility, also known as the Mast Farm, in Clermont County. It was her second run of the day. In her first try, she ran 100 meters in 6.16 seconds. The record had been 6.19 seconds.

Usain Bolt recently set the world record for humans in 100-meter dash at 9.58 seconds. He would be well behind Sarah in a race. The Cheetah's running speed translates to 36 miles per hour according to the AP. The Enquirer says the Cheetah sprints are an attempt to draw attention to the plight of the fastest land animals. There are estimated to be fewer than 10,000 cheetahs left in the world.

Here's a video of Sarah's record dash.

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First Images From Upgraded Hubble Telescope Revealed

Wed, 9 Sep 2009 18:00:00 EST

Astronomers declared NASA's Hubble Space Telescope a fully rejuvenated observatory with the release Wednesday of images from four of its six operating science instruments. Sen. Barbara A. Mikulski, D-Md., unveiled the images at NASA Headquarters in Washington. They are the first images following a billion-dollar upgrade and repair. The images include colorful, multi-wavelength pictures of far-flung galaxies, a densely packed star cluster, an eerie "pillar of creation," and a "butterfly" nebula.

The image at top left shows NGC 6302, a butterfly-shaped nebula surrounding a dying star. At top right is a picture of a clash among members of a galactic grouping called Stephan's Quintet. The image at bottom left gives viewers a panoramic portrait of a colorful assortment of 100,000 stars residing in the crowded core of Omega Centauri, a giant globular cluster. At bottom right, an eerie pillar of star birth in the Carina Nebula rises from a sea of greenish-colored clouds.

You can see larger version of the photographs and a video here on HubbleSite.org. You can also see some more images in the AP video below. Take a look:

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Turtle Hatchlings Leave the Nest

Sat, 5 Sep 2009 14:00:00 EST

A video captures baby turtles leaving the nest and heading off to begin their lives at sea. The turtles are endangered loggerhead sea turtles and the nests are located off the Florida coast. They appear to be crawling along the bottom of the ocean and not swimming yet.

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Video: Imagining the Tenth Dimension

Tue, 25 Aug 2009 21:00:00 EST

This video helps you imagine up to ten different dimensions including the "flatlanders" in the second dimension and the eight dimension which includes multiple universes. Imagining the Tenth Dimension is also a book by Rob Bryanton. You can find details Here.

(via Boing Boing)

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Slow Start to Atlantic Hurricane Season

Sat, 1 Aug 2009 18:00:00 EST

The Atlantic hurricane season could not be off to a slower start with zero named storms through July. However, as the Miami Herald points out in this article it is not unusual. We are only just now heading into the most active part of the season.

"Yes, it seems slow compared to the last couple of years, but this is nothing out of the ordinary," said Dennis Feltgen, spokesman for the National Hurricane Center in West Miami-Dade County.

Many a hurricane season has started slowly, only to accelerate right about now. In 2004, for instance, the first named storm didn't pop up until the last day of July.

"That was the same year that had Charlie, Frances, Ivan and Jeanne," Feltgen said. "We ended up with 15 named storms."

Think back to 1992, when the first tropical storm formed Aug. 17. In a week's time, it morphed into Hurricane Andrew and steamrolled across South Miami-Dade as the last Category 5 storm to hit the United States.

Even with the slow start it would not be unlikely to have seven storms by the end of October. That in fact is the average. The seasonal averages of named storms per month for the upcoming months - according to Wikipedia - are 2.2 for August, 3.0 for September and 1.8 for October. The chart below from NOAA shows that the bulk of tropical storms occur in August, September and October.

Posted in Hurricanes

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Toucan Uses Bill to Regulate Body Temperature

Thu, 23 Jul 2009 15:00:00 EST

Wired reports that researchers have discovered that the toucan's enormous bill helps the bird regulate its body temperature. The toucan can use its bill to regulate its temperature by as much as 18 Fahrenheit degrees in a few minutes.

Scientists have been intrigued by the oversize toucan bill for centuries. In 1780, French naturalist Georges-Louis Buffon called it a "grossly monstrous" appendage, and Darwin puzzled over its potential role in sexual selection in The Descent of Man. Toucans have the biggest beak-to-body ratio of any bird on the planet, but no one has figured out why the animal evolved a bill one-third the length of its body.

Now, using infrared thermography, a type of temperature-sensing video originally developed by the U.S. military, scientists have tracked the pattern of heat distribution across the toucan's body under changing outside temperatures. When the bird got too hot, it released heat by sending blood to its highly vascular but uninsulated beak. In cooler weather, the toucan constricted blood vessels in its beak to conserve heat and stay warm.

"I am not aware of another example of this sort in birds," wrote developmental biologist Arhat Abzhanov of Harvard University, who was not involved in the research. "This is a fascinating study that shows how bird beaks, in addition to their already multiple important functions, can perform rather unexpected roles, such as helping to control heat exchange."

The infrared thermography video below (no audio) from Wired shows a toucan lowering its body temperature by radiating heat from its beak as it falls asleep.

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NASA Releases Restored Video of Apollo 11 Moonwalk Broadcast

Thu, 16 Jul 2009 15:00:00 EST

NASA has released newly restored video of the July 20, 1969, live television broadcast of the Apollo 11 moonwalk. The video release commemorates the 40th anniversary of the first mission to land astronauts on the moon. For another cool Apollo 11 related item, check out the special trunk Louis Vuitton made to commemorate the 40th Anniversary of Apollo 11's first lunar landing. Here's the video clip of the restored moonwalk via the AP.

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New Monkey Discovered in Amazon Rain Forest

Tue, 7 Jul 2009 13:00:00 EST

Reuters reports that a new monkey has been discovered in the Brazilian Amazon. The monkey was discovered in a remote part of the Amazon rain forest. It is related to saddleback tamarin monkeys.

The newly found monkey was first spotted by scientists in 2007 in the Brazilian state of Amazonas and is related to the saddleback tamarin monkeys, known for their distinctively marked backs, the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) said.

The small monkey, which is mostly gray and brown and weighs 213 grams (0.47 pound), has been named the Mura's saddleback tamarin after the Mura Indian tribe of the Purus and Madeira river basins where the new sub-species was found. It is 240 millimeters (9.4 inches) tall with a 320 millimeter (12.6 inch) tail.

"This newly described monkey shows that even today there are major wildlife discoveries to be made," Fabio Rohe, the lead author of a study confirming the new discovery, said in a statement released by the WCS.

The newly discovered monkey is yet another reason why the Amazon rain forest needs to be protected. The BBC has some photos here of saddleback tamarin monkeys, the monkey species the newly discovered monkey is said to be related to.

Photo: A handout illustration from the Wildlife Conservation Society

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Raleigh Sewer Blob is Tubifex Worm Colony

Thu, 2 Jul 2009 21:00:00 EST

Wired reports that the viral video reportedly of an "unknown lifeform" that was recorded in a sewer in Raliegh, North Carolina is a colony of tuibifex worms.

"They seem to respond to the light from the camera," says Ed Buchan, environmental coordinator at the Raleigh Public Utilities Department. "That light is pretty hot." Buchan also said, "We were surprised. We didn't know immediately what it was."

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Nanobots To Compete in Microscopic Soccer Game

Mon, 29 Jun 2009 15:00:00 EST

Nanosized robots are going to compete at RoboCup 2009 in a microscopic soccer stadium. Each team's nanobots will have to pass some agility tests to be allowed to compete in the miniscule soccer matches. In the matches the nanobots try to "kick" a dust mite size ball through a goal. The skills the nanobots use in the competition are similar to skills that nanobots will require for futuristic technologies like microsurgery. Take a look:

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Weather Channel Captures Tornado Footage

Sat, 6 Jun 2009 15:00:00 EST

The Weather Channel captures amazing footage of a fast-moving twister in Wyoming. One of the videos lets you look up into the funnel of a tornado - this part is around 14 seconds into the clip.

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National Ignition Facility Contains World's Most Powerful Laser

Sun, 31 May 2009 13:00:00 EST

The world's most powerful laser that took $5 billion and a decade recently debuted with a special dedicated at the Livermore National Laboratory in California. The laser is housed inside a football field sized building called the National Ignition Facility. The AP says the laser was designed to help ensure the reliability of the nation's aging nuclear weapons but it could also be used one day to create a more efficient energy source. In 2010, NIF will focus the intense energy of 192 giant laser beams on a BB-sized target filled with hydrogen fuel - fusing, or igniting, the hydrogen atoms' nuclei in the world's first controlled thermonuclear reaction. You can read how the NIF works here.

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Researchers Trying to Learn More About Platypus Evolution

Fri, 29 May 2009 22:00:00 EST

National Geographic researchers are trying to collect DNA samples from the platypus to determine whether there are separate subspecies of the duck-billed mammals. The male platypus has a spur on its hind foot that can deliver painful venom so they have to be handled carefully.

Posted in Animals

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Amateurs Chase Down Waterspout

Tue, 19 May 2009 18:00:00 EST

A couple people in Louisiana chased a waterspout and caught it on tape. Take a look:

(via @toriblaseCNN)

Posted in Weather

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Most Distant Object in Universe Discovered

Fri, 15 May 2009 18:00:00 EST

NASA's Swift satellite recently discovered the most distant object in the Universe. The object is the afterglow of a self-destructing star located 13.1 billion light years from Earth.

NASA's Swift satellite and an international team of astronomers have found a gamma-ray burst from a star that died when the universe was only 630 million years old, or less than five percent of its present age. The event, dubbed GRB 090423, is the most distant cosmic explosion ever seen.

"Swift was designed to catch these very distant bursts," said Swift lead scientist Neil Gehrels at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. "The incredible distance to this burst exceeded our greatest expectations -- it was a true blast from the past."

At 3:55 a.m. EDT on April 23, Swift detected a ten-second-long gamma-ray burst of modest brightness. It quickly pivoted to bring its ultraviolet/optical and X-ray telescopes to observe the burst location. Swift saw a fading X-ray afterglow but none in visible light.

"The burst most likely arose from the explosion of a massive star," said Derek Fox at Pennsylvania State University. "We're seeing the demise of a star -- and probably the birth of a black hole -- in one of the universe's earliest stellar generations."

Here's a video that shows a computer graphic animation of the distant object.

Posted in Space

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Science Webby Award Nominees 2009

Thu, 30 Apr 2009 18:00:00 EST

These sites were nominated for a Webby award in the science category.

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British Airways Crew Member Hospitalized With Flu-Like Symptoms

Sat, 25 Apr 2009 17:30:00 EST

There are over 1,000 cases of Swine Flu in Mexico and over sixty people have died. The Mexican government is taking action by shutting down schools and public events. There have been more alarming news today with reports of a couple Swine Flu cases in Kansas and possibly hundreds of cases at at a private school in New York City. The Guardian is reporting that a member of the cabin crew of a British Airways flight was taken to the hospital with flu-like symptoms. The flight was going from Mexico City to Heathrow airport in London.

A member of cabin crew was taken to hospital with "flu-like symptoms" today after falling ill on a British Airways flight from Mexico City to Heathrow.

The World Health Organisation has warned countries to be on alert for any unusual flu outbreaks after a swine flu virus was implicated in possibly dozens of human deaths in Mexico.

The BA employee, who has not been named, has been taken to Northwick Park hospital in Harrow, a hospital spokesman said.

He added: "He has flu-like symptoms and is responding well to treatment. The patient was admitted directly to a side room and the hospital is scrupulously following infection control procedures to ensure there is no risk to any other individual in the hospital."

The man was taken from flight BA242 which landed at 2pm today, a BA spokesman said.

Air travel is obviously the quickest way for this new strain of flu - comprised of swine, avian and human flu - to spread around the globe. The one bright spot so far is that most of the cases in the United States have been mild. It's possible that there is something else in Mexico causing the cases to be more deadly or that the U.S. just has not experience any of the more severe cases so far.

You can find CDC, WHO and local state Swine Flu resources here on Health News Blog.

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Video Cameras Attached to Eagle, Falcon in Flight

Wed, 15 Apr 2009 18:00:00 EST

Jose Luis Ortiz strapped a video camera to his pet eagle. The video gives you an idea of what it is like to soar like an eagle. Nature also has a video here, where a video camera was strapped to a Peregrine falcon.

(via OhGizmo)

Posted in Animals

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Owl Likes Having Its Head Scratched

Mon, 6 Apr 2009 21:00:00 EST

This cute bird that likes to have its head scratched does have some Furby characteristics ike BuzzFeed and other blogs are suggesting. The bird in the video is likely a Malaysian Eagle Owl. The one in this video does not appear to be afraid of people.

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Robotic Fish to Monitor Pollution in Spanish Harbor

Sat, 21 Mar 2009 18:00:00 EST

CBS News reports that a school of battery-powered robotic fish will monitor pollution in the Spanish harbor of Gijon. The robotic fish contain special sensors to help them avoid rocks, ships and other objects so they won't need to be remotely monitored or remote controlled.

The robotic fish will patrol the harbor of Gijon, in northern Spain under a $3.6 million grant from the European Union. Hu said Gijon was chosen because port authorities there had expressed an interest in the technology.

The plan might seem "like something straight out of science fiction," said Rory Doyle, a researcher working on the project, but he explained that there was a very simple reason for choosing fishlike machines to monitor the harbor's environmental health.

"The design of fish which nature has produced is a very energy-efficient one," Doyle said. "The fish's efficiency is created by hundreds of millions of years' of evolution. Submarines come nowhere near it."

Information gathered from the robo-fish would be transmitted to the port's control center using a wireless Internet signal when the devices surfaced. The data gathered would be used to create a three-dimensional pollution map of the harbor's area.

Here's a video (no sound) that shows the robotic fish in action. (via Daily Mail, Ecofriend.org)

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NASA: Urban Tornadoes Could Become More Common

Mon, 16 Mar 2009 18:00:00 EST

A NASA-funded study suggests that conditions for the tornado that whipped through downtown Atlanta a year ago were created by heat and energy generated from the urban landscape. The Wall Street Journal reports that NASA's study suggests that tornadoes are likely to become more common. NASA also has a specific report about the Atlanta tornado here.

Posted in Weather

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Monkeys in Thailand Teach Babies to Floss

Thu, 12 Mar 2009 18:00:00 EST

Mother monkeys in Thailand are apparently teaching their infants how to clean their teeth by flossing with human hair. The monkeys must have read about the health benefits of flossing. Take a look:

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Psychedilica Fish Bounces Along the Ocean Floor

Fri, 27 Feb 2009 08:00:00 EST

Histiophryne psychedelica is new species of fish that appears to bounce on the ocean floor like a rubber ball. Live Science says the carnivorous frogfish has eyes like ours as well as a fleshy chin and cheeks. More articles about the fish can be found at The Guardian, Science Daily, USA Today and Seattle Times.

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Whistling Orangutan at the National Zoo

Thu, 26 Feb 2009 14:00:00 EST

Bonnie, an orangutan at the National Zoo, has learned how to whistle. She is the first orangutan ever to be documented making the sound. You can read more about Bonnie here.

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Ray Migration Photographed

Thu, 12 Feb 2009 18:00:00 EST

KFMB meteorologist Shawn Styles reports on a rare find off the Gulf of Mexico, as a photographer named Sandra Critelli who was able to capture the migration of thousands of rare cow-nosed rays. These are some amazing photos. Take a look:

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Video: Rescue of Sam the Koala

Wed, 11 Feb 2009 18:00:00 EST

This was the video of the rescue of a koala named "Sam." A firefighter found Sam moving gingerly on her scorched paws. Sam is now recovering at a wildlife shelter with other rescued animals.

Sadly, this koala was one of the lucky ones. Millions of animals are reported to have been killed in Austrlia's worst-ever wildfires.

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Researchers: 361 to 38,000 Intelligent Civilizations in our Galaxy

Thu, 5 Feb 2009 15:00:00 EST

The BBC reports that report in the International Journal of Astrobiology estimates the number of intelligent civilizations in our galaxy is somewhere between 361 and 38,000. The researchers think there are at least 361 intelligent civizations but there could be as many as 38,000.

The current research estimates that there are at least 361 intelligent civilisations in our Galaxy and possibly as many as 38,000.

The work is reported in the International Journal of Astrobiology. Even with the higher of the two estimates, however, it is not very likely that contact could be established with alien worlds.

While researchers often come up with overall estimates of the likelihood of intelligent life in the universe, it is a process fraught with guesswork; recent guesses put the number anywhere between a million and less than one.

"It's a process of quantifying our ignorance," said Duncan Forgan, the University of Edinburgh researcher who carried out the work.

It's quite a wide range. It may not be very easy to identify intelligent life because it could be very different from human life. The head of the research team, Duncan Forgan, said, "Even if alien life forms do exist, we may not necessarily be able to make contact with them, and we have no idea what form they would take."

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Damage at Wind Farm From UFO?

Mon, 12 Jan 2009 21:00:00 EST

The BBC reports that some people are blaming a UFO for damage to a wind farm in Lincolnshire that cannot be explained. One wind farm turbine was damaged and another was knocked down. Experts say even a large bird could not have done this.

UFO enthusiasts are claiming damage to a Lincolnshire wind farm turbine was caused by a mystery aircraft.

The turbine at Conisholme lost one 66ft (20m) blade and another was badly damaged in the early hours of Sunday.

County councillor for the area Robert Palmer said he had seen a "round, white light that seemed to be hovering".

Ecotricity, which owns the site, said while investigations continued they were not ruling anything out - but the extent of damage was "unique".

The most recent news is that a family claims to have spotted "tentacled UFOs" days before the wind farm reported damage.

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Sheepdogs Guard Fairy Penguins

Wed, 7 Jan 2009 18:00:00 EST

Treehugger reports that conservationists in Australia have turned to sheepdogs to help them protect a colony fairy penguins.

A colony of fairy penguins on Warrnambool's Middle Island off the south coast of Australia has dwindled dramatically due to attacks by foxes and wild dogs. However, their numbers are rising again thanks to their new bodyguards - two Maremmas, an Italian breed of sheepdog that bonds with the flock or herd of animals it is protecting.

The idea began as an experiment but the sheepdogs have proven to be successful. Middle Island Maremma Project manager Ian Fitzgibbons says, "We've had our best penguin count since we began in 2006 with over 80 birds counted in one night and I think we have about 26 chicks on the island too." You can see a photo of the sheepdogs used to protect the little penguins here.

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Phasmids to Return to Australia Mainland

Sat, 3 Jan 2009 14:00:00 EST

One of Australia's rarest creatures has returned home. The stick bug, or phasmid, had thought to have been eaten into extinction but instead they were found inhabiting an island just offshore. The AP says the Melbourne Zoo is now breeding the insects in hopes of returning them to the mainland.

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Earthquake Swarm at Yellowstone

Wed, 31 Dec 2008 21:00:00 EST

A recent earthquake swarm at Yellowstone park ignited fears that the Yellowstone caldera could explode in a devastating supervolcano. Bloomberg reports on the swarm and quoted geophysics professor Robert Smith who says the Yellowstone quake swarm is not an indicator of an imminent threat.

Earthquakes are common in Yellowstone, which averages 1,000 to 2,000 tremors a year, and its 10,000 geysers and hot springs are the result of geologic activity, the Salt Lake City-based university said in a statement on its Web site. The park covers sections of Wyoming, Idaho and Montana.

"This is not any indicator" of an imminent threat, Robert Smith, a professor of geology and geophysics, said in a telephone interview from Jackson Hole, Wyoming. "It's part of the ongoing activity of Yellowstone being an active and alive volcanic system."

The university's network of 28 seismographs in the area started picking up the tremors on Dec. 26, and more than 250 quakes have been recorded since then -- including nine greater than magnitude 3.0 and about 24 between magnitude 2.0 and 3.0. Some visitors have reported feeling the quakes.

The Yellowstone caldera will explode someday but it could be tens of thousands of years from now. More on the earthquake swarm here, here and here. The website for the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory can be found here.

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Asteroid Impact Video

Sat, 27 Dec 2008 15:00:00 EST

If the economy isn't depressing enough for you then watch this asteroid impact video that is making its way around the Internet. A large enough asteroid impact could be devastating to our planet. NEAT is the NASA division that attempts to track Near-Earth asteroids that could potentially cause great harm to the Earth and the human race.

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