Environment

More Antarctic protections urged on World Penguin Day

by Martin Parry Agence France-Presse SYDNEY, Australia (AFP) — The world needs to do more to protect the Antarctic wilderness and its wildlife, scientists warned Tuesday, as they marked World Penguin Day. The flightless seabirds — a favorite with children for their clumsy, waddling gait — offer a useful yardstick for researchers to judge the health of their habitat. “Penguins are great ambassadors for understanding the need to conserve Southern Ocean resources,” Christian Reiss, an Antarctic […]

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Watch: Magnificent sight of Hukou Waterfall (courtesy CCTV)

JIXIAN COUNTY, China (CCTV) — A section of the Hukou Waterfall on the Yellow River in Jixian County, north China’s Shanxi Province, has turned the water from yellow to clear, presenting a magnificent sight that attracts crowds of visitors. Water flows of the Yellow River usually become low in the period from April to June every year, when minor waterfalls have disappeared, leaving only the major one, with the water turning from yellow sandy into […]

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Rare green Sakura, namulaklak sa east China; Milyong tulips namukadkad naman sa US

Sikat ang mga sakura flower sa China, pero ang mas agaw pansin ngayon sa lugar ay ang paglutang ng mga green Sakura na syang bihira lamang at syang nagpadagdag sa ganda ng iba pang bulaklak. Kaya naman agad itong dinayo ng mga residente at turista sa lugar upang makapagpa-litrato sa unique green flowers na ito. Ayon sa residente sa lugar,  ang nasabing puno ng sakura ay nasa edad na ng 30s O 40s na syang […]

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Fossils may be earliest known multicellular life: study

by Marlowe Hood Agence France Presse PARIS, France (AFP) — Fossils accidentally discovered in South Africa are probably the oldest fungi ever found by a margin of 1.2 billion years, rewriting the evolutionary story of these organisms which are neither flora nor fauna, researchers said Monday. If verified as both fungal and multicellular, the 2.4 billion-year-old microscopic creatures — whose slender filaments are bundled together like brooms — could also be the earliest known specimens of […]

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Belgium’s ‘fairytale’ bluebell forest victim of own beauty

https://youtu.be/V5qLUUCMra8 by Philippe SIUBERSKI Halle, Belgium (AFP) — A carpet of bluebells bursts into flower in Belgium in a wonder of the natural world — but one that is at risk of being trampled by tourists drawn to its beauty. For two or three weeks in April the ground of the Hallerbos wood just outside the drab capital of Brussels is transformed into a breathtaking sea of shimmering purple. “The scene is like in a […]

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Reindeer at risk from Arctic hot spell

by Pierre-Henry Deshayes Agence France-Presse Kautokeino, Norway (AFP) — Winter temperatures in Norway’s Lapland could rise dramatically this century, with potentially devastating consequences for the region’s reindeer and the indigenous Sami people who make their living herding them. A vast frozen tundra, the mountainous Finnmark plateau in Norway’s far north, is experiencing a hot spell — relatively speaking — wreaking havoc on the centuries-old Sami way of life. “We already feel the effects of global warming […]

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Last killer whale born at Sea World

SAN ANTONIO. United States (Reuters) — The last killer whale to be born at SeaWorld was delivered on Wednesday (April 19) at the company’s San Antonio park. Sea World veterinarians said they have not yet determined the gender of the calf, but said the baby and its 25-year-old mother, Takara, are in good shape and are being monitored 24 hours a day. This is Takara’s fifth birth, and officials say she will determine when park […]

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European salamander at risk of extinction: study

PARIS, France (AFP) — Europe’s already endangered salamander population faces extinction due to a new, virulent fungus that also poses a broader threat to biodiversity, according to a new study. Even a small amount of the highly infectious pathogen could wipe out fire salamanders from Western Europe, as the amphibian lacks the immune response to fight it off, researchers reported Wednesday in the journal Nature. “The fungus presents a ‘perfect storm’,” said senior author An […]

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Spectacular iceberg drifts off Canada shore

NEWFOUNDLAND, Canada (Reuters) — Residents off the coast of the South Shore of Newfoundland, Canada have recently been treated to a view of the first iceberg and sea ice drift of the season. The massive chunks of floating ice have been witnessed off the coast of the towns of Middle Cove Beach and Ferryland, both in Newfoundland. The region is commonly referred to as “Iceberg Alley” and delighted a number of residents over the holiday […]

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Mystery of mosquito flight solved

ENGLAND, United Kingdom (Reuters) — Scientists have solved the mystery of mosquito flight using super-high speed cameras and computer analysis to understand the unique mechanisms the insect uses to stay airborne. Despite solving the bumble bee paradox some time ago, which stated the bumble bee should not be able to fly under normal rules of aerodynamics, until now science has been unable to explain how mosquitoes managed to flap their wings through such a short […]

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Key leopard population ‘crashing,’ study warns

by Marlowe Hood Agence France Presse PARIS, France (AFP) — The leopard population in a region of South Africa once thick with the big cats is crashing, and could be wiped out within a few years, scientists warned Wednesday. Illegal killing of leopards in the Soutpansberg Mountains has reduced their numbers by two-thirds in the last decade, the researchers reported in the Royal Society Open Science journal. “If things don’t change, we predict leopards will essentially […]

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