ريتشارد دوكنز's Blog, page 684

From Poison To Legalization, Can The Rhino Poaching Crisis Ever Be Solved?

Plants and Animals





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Mother and young rhinoceros killed for their horns. Hein Waschefort/Wikimedia Commons

Rewind about a hundred years and you could count around half a million rhinos stomping across their Asian and African habitats. Now, you’ll find a paltry 29,000, the vast majority of which are in South Africa.

Watch An Exoplanet Orbit An Alien Star

Space





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Beta Pictoris B doesn't look like much, but it is still extraordinary to see a planet 63 million light-years away about to disappear behind its star. M. Millar-Blanchaer, University of Toronto; R. Marchis (SETI Institute)

The video below provides the best images ever taken of a planet orbiting another star. The resolution may still be tiny, but it represents the start of another big step forward in our process of learning about worlds beyond the Solar System.

 

[vimeo 138973087 w=500 h=281]

 

The Thawing Of Permafrost Could Cause An Additional $43 Trillion Worth Of Economic Damage

Environment





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Permafrost covers around 25% of all land in the Northern Hemisphere. R.Vickers/Shutterstock

As the world heats up and the Arctic takes a hammering from the increasing temperature, most people will think about the disappearing sea ice and the melting of glaciers. But there’s another ticking time bomb on a much bigger scale in the Northern Hemisphere, and that’s the thawing of permafrost.

Arctic Seabeds A Growing Carbon Sink

Environment





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They may look delicate, but bryozoans like this are removing carbon from the oceans as sea ice melts. Credit: Lebendkulturen.de

The seafloor around Antarctica is becoming biologically richer as a result of sea ice reductions, and in the process mopping up some of the carbon dioxide that is causing the loss of that same sea ice. How important this will be to placing a check on global warming remains uncertain, but it's a rare piece of good news in a generally bleak picture.

Insanely Fuel Efficient Engine Could Go To Mars And Back On One Tank Of Fuel

Technology





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Patrick Newman with his laboratory version of the ion engine that could one day explore the solar system. Credit: Horst Burkhardt

An ion engine that smashes the fuel efficiency record has been registered for an innovation patent. Inventor Patrick Neumann told University of Sydney student newspaper Honi Soit the drive could go to “Mars and back on a tank of fuel”, but its first application may be shunting networks of small satellites around in Earth orbit.

North Americans Were Salmon Fishing 11,500 Years Ago

Plants and Animals





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Chum salmon (Oncorhynchus keta). David Sepp/NOAA

Researchers studying 11,500-year-old fish bones have discovered the oldest evidence of salmon fishing in North America. According to their findings, published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences this week, salmon spawning runs had been established by the end of the last Ice Age. 

Researchers Create “General Intelligence” Test For Wild Birds

Plants and Animals





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New Zealand North Island robin. Tony Wills/Wikimedia Commons CC BY 2.5

Human IQ-type tests are scored using trials assessing things like processing speed, working memory and verbal comprehension. One single factor, called “general intelligence” (or g), accounts for at least 40% of the differences between people’s scores. 

Antidepressant Trial Failed To Mention Numerous Suicide Attempts

Health and Medicine





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A controversial study of antidepressants for teenagers failed to report numerous suicidal incidents and privileged investigator assessments over how the participants felt. Credit: Mykola Ivashchenko/Shutterstock

 

Clinical notes from a trial of the antidepressant paroxetine, reported as finding it to be both safe and effective for adolescents, in fact showed the opposite, researchers have claimed. The largest re-examination of clinical data from a high profile trial has found a terrifyingly high rate of suicidal behavior that failed to be reported in the controversial study. The revelation could influence the prescription of similar drugs and will add to pressure to change the conduct of clinical drug trials, particularly for antidepressants.

Ancient New Genus Of Coelacanth Discovered

Plants and Animals





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One of the coelacanth fossils. Wits University

It has only been a couple of weeks since worldwide excitement erupted over the discovery of a new human ancestor, but already South Africa has churned out yet another fascinating fossil find. A new genus and species of coelacanth has been unearthed from the Eastern Cape, representing the earliest specimens to have been found on the continent so far.

Check Out What Happens When You Submerge A Ping-Pong Ball In Liquid Nitrogen

Chemistry





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YouTube

What happens when you submerge a ping-pong ball in liquid nitrogen? Well, watch and find out:

 

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DpSCh...]

 

So what on Earth is happening here? The ball begins to spin, reaching thousands of revolutions per minute. But why? There's a great explanation here:

 

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mvatm...]