A Small But Important Victory at Johns Hopkins

This article first appeared in Issue 15 of our free digital magazine CURIOUS. Thousands of seals call Kaikura‚ New Zealand‚ home‚ but when the winter weather starts to kick in come April‚ the hau Point Seal Colony’s pups make a unique journey. They swim inland‚ following a stream to hau Waterfall‚ which for one to three months of the year acts like a creche for young seals.The falls are a pups-only party where they can practice swimming‚ chase each other in the pool‚ and socialize with other seals as they chill out on the rocks. hau waterfall is what’s known as a horsetail waterfall‚ meaning its falling water maintains contact with the rockface for the 15-meter (49-foot) plummet.The colony is made up of fur seals (Arctocephalus forsteri) and it’s believed to be the only place in the world where their young make this unusual inland journey to use a waterfall as a nursery. Pups will need to travel semi-regularly during their stay here so that they can stock up on mom’s milk before getting back to the fun.Access to the waterfall for humans has been affected by a devastating 7.8 magnitude earthquake that struck Kaikura in 2016‚ sending loose rock and debris cascading across the landscape‚ including main access roads. The area has since been secured but the risk of rockfall at the hau Stream walkway has made it difficult to decide if tourists should be granted access to the seals’ playground.Subscribe to our newsletter and get every issue of CURIOUS delivered to your inbox free each month. The waterfall itself didn’t escape the quake scot-free. Kaikura Tourism manager Glenn Ormsby told Stuff that Department of Conservation managers reported there had been some destruction including the addition of a new giant boulder in the middle of the pond. However‚ that hasn’t stopped the young seals.According to the New Zealand Herald‚ the “quake generation” of fur seals born in the aftermath of the seismic event were thriving one year on‚ despite the initial loss of around 100 seals from rockfall and natural causes. Some had predicted the earthquake and ongoing disruption due to humans’ construction efforts might push the seals to migrate elsewhere‚ but they’ve proven to be remarkably resilient in the face of the fallout.New Zealand is prone to earthquakes because it straddles the Pacific and Australian tectonic plates. As they grind together‚ pressure builds up which can cause the crust to give way‚ resulting in massive‚ sudden movement that we recognize as an earthquake. The location means New Zealand experiences earthquakes every day‚ but only around 250 each year are strong enough to be noticed.How to get there: The waterfall trail is closed due to earthquake damage‚ but you can safely soak up the seals from the hau Point Lookout that’s 30 minutes North of Kaikura.CURIOUS magazine is a digital magazine from IFLScience featuring interviews‚ experts‚ deep dives‚ fun facts‚ news‚ book excerpts‚ and much more. Issue 18 is out now.

Archaeologists have unearthed two more Egyptian mummies with golden tongues at the ancient town of Oxyrhynchus‚ around 100 miles from Cairo. This brings the total number of specimens to 16‚ all of which have been recovered from this site.Oxyrhynchus‚ otherwise known as the "City of the Sharp-nosed Fish"‚ has been a veritable treasure trove for archaeologists for some time. From late 1896 to 1907‚ excavation teams discovered thousands of pieces of papyrus buried in ancient rubbish mounds at the site. The surrounding areas have been almost continuously excavated ever since‚ and have continued to yield various important finds‚ including papyrus texts from the Ptolemaic Kingdom (305-30 BCE) and Roman Egypt (30 BCE to 641 CE).But in recent years‚ archaeologists have recovered even more intriguing artifacts: golden tongues.During the Roman period‚ golden tongues were put into the mouths of some mummies in the belief that the precious object would aid the deceased in the afterlife. By having a gold tongue‚ it was thought the dead would be able to communicate with the god Osiris in the underworld. This was because gold‚ to the ancient Egyptians‚ was the “flesh of the gods”.The tongues were discovered by archaeologists from the University of Barcelona‚ who were led by Drs Maite Mascort Roca and Esther Pons Mellado.In 2021‚ the same team found three other golden tongues at Oxyrhynchus‚ but the latest finds were not the only discoveries of note.Two of the 30 mummies recovered from Oxyrhynchus in 2023.Image credit: The Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and AntiquityIn addition to these spectacular objects‚ the team identified three large hypogea‚ underground burial chambers‚ that date to the Ptolemaic period. Inside were nine sarcophagi‚ two of which had not been opened by tomb robbers.The chamber contained over 30 mummies wrapped in “colorful rolls”‚ some of which also had “colorful funerary masks”‚ according to a statement from the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities. It was within the mouths of some of these mummies that the tongues were found.The mummies were also accompanied by terracotta figurines of Isis-Aphrodite‚ a goddess that blended together the Egyptian goddess of healing and magic‚ with the Greek goddess Aphrodite‚ who was associated with beauty."It is the first time that we have found in Oxyrhynchus terracotta with the image of Isis-Aphrodite and the first time that [these] kind[s] of pieces appear in this area of the middle Egypt‚" Pons Mellado told Live Science.Terracotta statue pieces of Isis-Aphrodite‚ a blend of the goddesses from Ancient Egypt and Greece.Image credit: The Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and AntiquityAt the moment‚ it is unclear who these mummified individuals were‚ but they would have been important in their day‚ given they had been mummified and buried with such valuable possessions.

A new study of global shark fishing mortality has revealed the true extent of humanity’s negative impact on the oceans: around 80 million sharks die in fisheries each year‚ despite fishing regulations and bans on finning.Between 2012 and 2019 – during which time there was a tenfold increase in finning legislation – global fishing mortality rose from 76 million sharks to more than 80 million in 2017‚ with an average of 79 million from 2017 to 2019. Improving the analysis could increase the number of shark deaths to 101 million in 2019‚ the researchers estimate.Even worse‚ of those shark deaths‚ between 22 million and 28 million each year were in threatened species.“Over the past two decades‚ sharks have been increasingly recognized among the world’s most threatened wildlife and hence have received heightened scientific and regulatory scrutiny‚” the authors of the new study write. They face threats from overfishing and large numbers are caught incidentally by pelagic tuna fisheries. There is also an increasing demand for their fins‚ which are a valuable commodity in Asian markets.Protective regulations‚ mostly aiming to eliminate the practice of finning‚ have been introduced‚ alongside agreements to limit the trade of threatened species‚ efforts to address bycatch‚ and numerous public awareness campaigns. However‚ no studies have investigated the impact of these regulations on global shark fishing mortality.Using fisheries data‚ computer modeling‚ and expert interviews‚ the team behind the new study have changed that. However‚ their findings were not as positive as you might hope: overall‚ fishing-induced mortality has increased in the past 10 years.“By linking fishing mortality data to the global regulatory landscape‚ we show that widespread legislation designed to prevent shark finning did not reduce mortality‚” they write‚ although regional bans did have some success‚ they add.Shark deaths were particularly concentrated in coastal hotspots‚ with 50 percent of global mortality from 2017 to 2019 occurring in the territorial waters of just six coastal nations. Four of these – Indonesia‚ Brazil‚ Mauritania‚ and Mexico – also have “insufficient regulatory capacity” and are either major suppliers or consumers of shark meat.“These findings suggest a shifting global landscape of shark fishing mortality that is moving away from finning of larger pelagic species toward full use of smaller coastal species‚ presenting new regulatory and conservation challenges‚” the authors write as a potential explanation for their findings.While serving as yet another reminder that we’re a bigger threat to them than they are to us‚ the study also hammers home just how desperately sharks need protecting.   Measures such as shark fishing bans‚ catch limits‚ and protecting key areas could all help to protect sharks‚ the authors told Live Science."It's a solvable problem‚" lead author Boris Worm added. "But it's a problem that really needs to be tackled now‚ because sharks have not much time left."The study is published in the journal Science.

Marine mammals come in all shapes and sizes‚ from surfboard-stealing sea otters to giant humpback whales making Fibonacci spirals. However while the former is famously cute and fluffy with thick fur‚ do whales have hair? We take a closer look at the skin of these ocean giants.Do All Whales Have Hair?The short answer is yes – however‚ as always‚ it's a bit more complicated. There are around 90 species of cetaceans (the group including whales‚ dolphins‚ and porpoises)‚ and not all of them have hair‚ according to Whales.Org. Whales and other cetaceans are mammals despite their watery lifestyle‚ and while it may seem unusual‚ they share certain characteristics unique across all mammals (let's not get into monotremes right now) regardless of habitat. One of those characteristics is hair. Some whales and dolphin species have hair where land mammals have whiskers.          IFLScience is not responsible for content shared from external sites.Do baleen whales have hair?Whales are split into two groups‚ largely based on what is inside their mouths. One group‚ the baleen whales‚ have baleen bristles that help filter and sieve their prey of small krill and plankton from the ocean.Baleen whales include humpbacks‚ fin‚ sei‚ and bowhead species‚ and they have been found to have hair follicles – even if they don’t have visible hair. These follicles are found along the jawline‚ chin‚ and on top of the head‚ these whale species may have 30 to 100 hairs‚ writes the Blue Ocean Society.  Humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) have tubercles‚ large visible bumps typically on the head‚ and inside each tubercle is a hair follicle. Some adult humpbacks still have hairs growing from them. The bumps on the top of the whale's head sometimes contain a single hair.Image Credit: © Callum Evans via iNaturalist CC BY NC 4.0Toothed whales have hairThe other group of whales are the toothed whales‚ which as the name suggests possess teeth rather than baleen plates. Whale calves in some species of toothed whales are born with hair along their snouts and lose it quickly after birth.Do dolphins have hair?One cetacean species – the Amazon river dolphin‚ also known as the boto (Inia geoffrensis) – has stiff hairs on its beak throughout its life. They are thought to aid the dolphins in finding prey at the bottom of murky rivers. Why Do Whales Have Hair?No one knows for sure why whales have hair. Some suggest it could be a leftover trait from when whale ancestors were living on land. Others suggest that the nerves around the hair follicles help the whales in some way‚ and could be used to sense changes in the water such as pressure‚ helping whales detect shoals of fish or changes in the currents. There is some research showing that Minke whales have been observed using their chin hairs to detect air and ice interfaces in cold Antarctic waters. A study in 2015 found that bowhead whales are typically hairless‚ apart from patches of more than 300 hairs on the tops of their heads and their chins. This makes them the hairiest of all modern cetaceans. The team found that the hairs closer to the whales' blowholes were thicker than the hairs on their chins and rostrums. The placement of these hairs leads the team to believe these hair patches may have specialized functions.Given that young whales are often born with hairs‚ these could be used in communication between the calves and their mothers during feeding. All “explainer” articles are confirmed by fact checkers to be correct at time of publishing. Text‚ images‚ and links may be edited‚ removed‚ or added to at a later date to keep information current.

Jungle-piercing lasers have revealed the ruins of even more ancient cities hiding in the Amazon. Located in the Upano Valley of Ecuador‚ this sprawling network of long-lost settlements shows how South America was rich in highly complex human culture long‚ long before Christopher Columbus arrived on their shores.The vast urban settlements were recently uncovered thanks to 20 years of interdisciplinary research that included fieldwork and light detection and ranging (LIDAR) mapping. This revolutionary imaging technology allows researchers to scan vast swathes of land and detect the imprints of hidden structures that aren't always visible to the naked eye.In recent times‚ archeologists have found a huge number of pre-Columbian settlements in the Amazon basin that remained undetected for centuries‚ if not millennia. However‚ this new research constitutes the earliest and largest example of urbanism in the Amazon discovered yet.The recently discovered civilization first emerged around 2‚500 years ago with significant construction occurring between 500 BCE and 600 CE. The extensive network of towns and cities consists of at least 15 distinct settlement sites of various sizes‚ characterized by constructed platforms and plazas that are connected by large‚ straight roads.Among the many finds‚ they also revealed the impressions of some 6‚000 rectangular platforms measuring about 20 meters (66 feet) by 10 meters (33 feet) and up to 3 meters (10 feet) high. The Amazon is no place to mine for stone‚ so these structures were fashioned out of earth and mud.The researchers describe the settlements as an example of “garden urbanism‚” where human-made structures were closely intertwined with agricultural plots‚ featuring extensive drainage systems and terraces.  It’s said that European colonizers came across giant cities when they first set foot in the Amazon. So the stories go‚ the settlements have since been consumed by the unrelenting jungle. Inspired by these legends‚ British explorer Percy Fawcett and his expedition went missing in 1925 while on the hunt for the so-called “Lost City of Z”‚ an enigmatic civilization that they believed was lying hidden in Brazil. These stories are often brushed off as tall tales‚ but recent research like this suggests that they might have been onto something. “Such a discovery is another vivid example of the underestimation of Amazonia’s twofold heritage: environmental but also cultural‚ and therefore Indigenous. Like many others‚ we believe that it is crucial to thoroughly revise our preconceptions of the Amazonian world and‚ in doing so‚ to reinterpret contexts and concepts in the necessary light of an inclusive and participatory science‚” the study authors write in their conclusion.The new study is published in the journal Science.

The cosmological principle states that at a large enough scale‚ the universe is uniform and isotropic. That means that it’s the same everywhere‚ no matter which direction you are looking at. You should not be seeing a single enormous structure in a particular direction. So imagine finding two in close proximity.Two years ago‚ researchers found the Giant Arc. This is a crescent of galaxies spanning 3.3 billion light-years located 9.2 billion light-years away. Now‚ the same team reports the discovery of a second giant structure. They are calling it the Big Ring – it has a diameter of 1.3 billion light-years and it is also 9.2 billion light-years away. The two are only 12 degrees apart in the sky.“We could expect maybe one exceedingly large structure in all our observable universe. Yet‚ the Big Ring and the Giant Arc are two huge structures and are even cosmological neighbours‚ which is extraordinarily fascinating‚” discoverer Alexia Lopez‚ a graduate researcher from the University of Central Lancashire‚ said in a statement.   “Neither of these two ultra-large structures is easy to explain in our current understanding of the universe. And their ultra-large sizes‚ distinctive shapes‚ and cosmological proximity must surely be telling us something important – but what exactly?”An exact explanation for this is yet to be provided. According to the cosmological principle‚ galaxies should be evenly distributed‚ and despite the presence of galaxy clusters and the so-called cosmic web‚ these structures tend to average out. So structures cannot grow beyond a certain limit.“Cosmologists calculate the current theoretical size limit of structures to be 1.2 billion light-years‚ yet both of these structures are much larger – the Giant Arc is almost three times bigger and the Big Ring’s circumference is comparable to the Giant Arc’s length‚” Lopez continued.“From current cosmological theories we didn't think structures on this scale were possible. We could expect maybe one exceedingly large structure in all our observable universe. Yet‚ the Big Ring and the Giant Arc are two huge structures and are even cosmological neighbours‚ which is extraordinarily fascinating.”Further observations will be needed to confirm these claims and provide insight that the theory can use to understand what the presence of these structures means for our understanding of the Universe.Lopez presented her findings on the Big Ring at the 243rd meeting of the American Astronomical Society. 

Researchers have studied several stars similar to the Sun and determined that there is a higher likelihood of discovering advanced extraterrestrial civilizations near certain of them‚ reports Phys. Scientists first discovered a planet orbiting a Sun-like star called 51 Pegasi in 1995. New observations of this star‚ published recently‚ suggest that the current magnetic environment around it may be particularly favorable for the development of complex life. When stars similar to the Sun appear‚ they usually have a high speed of rotation around their axis. As a result of their high rotation rates‚ Sun-like stars generate strong magnetic fields‚ resulting in constant streams of charged particles and harmful radiation directed at neighboring planets. However‚ over billions of years‚ the star’s rotation gradually slows down‚ a phenomenon called magnetic braking occurs. It is noted that with a decrease in rotation speed‚ the magnetic field of the star weakens. It was previously thought that magnetic braking was an endless process‚ but new research is challenging this assumption. Research suggests that the best place to search for life‚ including advanced life‚ beyond our solar system may be planets orbiting old and middle-aged stars. The post Old stars may be the best place to search for alien-life appeared first on Anomalien.com.

Media Research Center founder and president L. Brent Bozell spoke in the strongest terms Thursday about the need for the media to denounce and fire journalists joking about assassinating Donald Trump like John F. Kennedy was shot dead in 1963. The comments by journalists yet to be identified were caught on an open mic outside the E. Barrett Prettyman Courthouse in Washington‚ DC while Trump was inside.  “Maybe someone‚ just like they told JFK‚ ‘You know what you should do? You should take a convertible! It’s so nice out‚" one of them joked as people laughed.  EXCLUSIVE: MRC's @BrentBozell calls on Joe Biden and leftist media outlets to denounce the journalists caught talking about assassinating President Trump. The culprits must be fired. Rhetoric like this is dangerous and someone's going to get hurt. pic.twitter.com/gCUqVi1S8Z — Media Research Center (@theMRC) January 11‚ 2024 Bozell insisted:  Making jokes about assassinating a president is no laughing matter. But in today's highly charged world‚ it is flat-out dangerous. When you make it acceptable to joke about assassinations‚ someone will eventually act on it.  Bozell reminded people of James Hodgkinson‚ the Bernie Sanders volunteer who shot at a softball practice of House Republicans in 2018‚ nearly killing Congressman Steve Scalise‚ as well as Nicholas Roske‚ arrested in 2022 (armed with a pistol) near the home of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh.  The MRC president asked how the media would react if a conservative comedian held up a bloody fake head of Joe Biden‚ as Kathy Griffin did with Donald Trump in the summer of 2017. At around the same time‚ a Shakespeare theatre company produced a modernized version of the play Julius Caesar‚ with Trump playing the leader who was stabbed to death. Liberals praised these things.  Bozell called on President Biden to denounce these jokes‚ since he speaks of Donald Trump in frightening terms as the end of democracy. In today's violent world‚ it's not hard to imagine that people might attempt violence toward Trump if he's described as a mortal threat.