All posts tagged: nature

What Parrots Do To Each Other’s Young Is Going To Haunt Me Forever

What Parrots Do To Each Other’s Young Is Going To Haunt Me Forever

Published by Sam

[ad_1] Parrots are some of the most fascinating birds on our planet. They’re deeply intelligent animals and can use tools, sing, talk, adopt one another and even kill each other! Sorry, yeah, parrots sometimes literally murder each other and even more disturbingly, this often happens to young parrots, known as parrotlets. Once again proving that the Animal Kingdom is nothing short of a beautiful horror show, a new study has revealed that while many parrot species are known to kill the babies of their rivals to secure sexual or social advantage, some parrots other animals have been observed caring for the young of dead or missing comrades. I’m still recovering from the news that they kill each other’s young but I guess it’s cute that adult parrots sometimes adopt parrotlets, too?! Why do parrots kill parrotlets? Study senior author Steven Beissinger, a professor of environmental science, policy, and management at the University of California, Berkeley explained to Futurity exactly why all of this happens. He said: “In parrotlets, infanticide and adoption revolve around real estate …

‘We can’t defeat nature but we can be climate-resilient’: how plant roots can help stop landslides | Flooding

‘We can’t defeat nature but we can be climate-resilient’: how plant roots can help stop landslides | Flooding

Published by skeptic

[ad_1] On 14 August 2023, heavy rainfall in north India triggered flash floods and landslides, devastating the region. Kishori Lal, the sarpanch (head) of the Kothi Gehri village in the Himalayan state of Himachal Pradesh, recalls the events of that day: “Our link road connecting to the state highway and a few homes along that road were completely devastated.” Torrential downpours in nearby Rewalsar, a picturesque lake town popular with tourists, led to several water bodies bursting their banks. The subsequent flooding and landslides wrecked homes in Lal’s village, necessitating the evacuation of hamlets and severing vital links to the outside world. With roads submerged, the ensuing closure of the Mandi-Rewalsar-Kalkhar Road and link roads left scores of tourists stranded and local communities isolated. Amid this chaos, the resilience of Nog, a village in Bilaspur district, stands out. While roads across the region, including those in and around Kothi Gehri, remained closed, the road leading to Nog was accessible in less than one week, according to officials. The reason lies in an innovative approach: soil …

Lambeth Council cutting down trees just to make room for festivals, critics claim

Lambeth Council cutting down trees just to make room for festivals, critics claim

Published by skeptic

[ad_1] A council which plans to cut down 22 trees in a London park is doing so to make hosting events easier, critics have claimed. Lambeth Council says the trees in Brockwell Park in south London are dead or dying and need to be chopped down to reduce the risk of them falling on people. Another 22 trees in the park, which have been found to have a stable trunk, will have work done to them to make them safe but remain as wildlife habitats. Any trees with nesting birds will be fenced off and the work will be postponed until autumn, when the nesting season ends. The park is home to the Lambeth Country Show as well as music festivals including Wide Awake and Mighty Hoopla. Residents who object to the plan have launched a petition, saying the fellings are “timed to make the ticketed summer events easier”. In an open letter, the plan’s detractors said they first heard of the proposals last week and their response is “one of shock”. The letter reads: …

Sometimes our take on human nature trumps our political allegiances. Good | Sonia Sodha

Sometimes our take on human nature trumps our political allegiances. Good | Sonia Sodha

Published by skeptic

[ad_1] It’s not often you find yourself nodding along with those with whom you normally profoundly disagree, and raising an eyebrow at the contributions of those you would count as political allies. But it was the position I found myself in listening to MPs debate assisted dying last week. What to make of my outbreak of fervent agreement with Conservative Danny Kruger and DUP MP Ian Paisley? Some may see this as the mark of a repressed rightwinger, or a born-again social conservative. If you agree with a member of tribe X, you must de facto be part of that tribe, or so the argument goes. I see this unlikely affinity differently: as healthy proof that even in the polarised political discourse of 2024, there are some ethically complex issues that resist alignment along a left-right spectrum. How people value the individual in relation to the collective often cuts across divisions between left and right. Do you privilege individual freedom and autonomy, even when that may come at a cost to others? Or do you …

Pivot podcast host Scott Galloway: ‘Tech bros conflate luck with talent’ | Science and nature books

Pivot podcast host Scott Galloway: ‘Tech bros conflate luck with talent’ | Science and nature books

Published by skeptic

[ad_1] Scott Galloway is an American professor of marketing at New York University Stern school of Business. He has founded and sold several tech firms, and served on the board of directors of companies such as the New York Times and Urban Outfitters. With tech journalist Kara Swisher he co-hosts the hugely popular tech and business podcast Pivot. He is a fierce critic of tech companies and their business models and he has written five books, the latest of which is The Algebra of Wealth: A Simple Formula for Economic Security. You spend a lot of time with wealthy and successful people. Do they have any common habits?Well, the most common attribute I’ve registered is they were born at the right place at the right time. What I’ve found is that the majority of people’s success is not their fault. And I think something that plagues people, especially tech bros, is they conflate luck with talent. But across those who excel, the thing I have found is that if you want to be successful, you …

“All Part of Nature”: Radclyffe Hall’s Life

“All Part of Nature”: Radclyffe Hall’s Life

Published by skeptic

[ad_1]   Radclyffe Hall is today best known as the author of the once-vilified 1928 novel The Well of Loneliness, which is now celebrated as a landmark work of lesbian fiction and credited with ushering in a wave of lesbian pulp fiction later in the twentieth century. Like Stephen Gordon, the protagonist of her most famous work, Hall led a difficult life, first as an unwanted child and later as a lesbian in a society that neither recognized nor tolerated same-sex relationships between women. Here, we will take a closer look at Hall’s remarkable life story.   Radclyffe Hall’s Early Life Photograph of Radclyffe Hall. Source: The Harry Ransom Center, University of Texas   Marguerite Antonia Radclyffe Hall was born on August 12, 1880 in Bournemouth, then part of the county of Hampshire, England. Her father, Radclyffe “Rat” Radclyffe-Hall, was a man of independent means, having inherited a sizeable fortune from his father, a physician and former head of the British Medical Association. Educated at Eton and the University of Oxford, he rarely worked, instead …

So, This Is How Owls Eyes Actually Work And I Am Shocked

So, This Is How Owls Eyes Actually Work And I Am Shocked

Published by skeptic

[ad_1] Love them or loathe them, owls are giants in British birds and with good reason — these birds have calls that can be heard from half a mile away and, conversely, can spot prey from up to half a mile away, too! However, one thing I’ve never been able to get my head around (pun intended) is why owls can spin their heads, and why they would even need to. I love owls but will admit that I think this is the stuff of nightmares. Audubon explained: “Owls can rotate their necks 270 degrees. A blood-pooling system collects blood to power their brains and eyes when neck movement cuts off circulation.” As for their eyeballs? Not actually balls. This is how owls eyes actually work Yep, their eyes aren’t balls. In fact, they’re actually more tube-like. According to The Barn Owl Centre: “An owl’s eyes are large in order to improve their efficiency, especially under low light conditions. “In fact, the eyes are so well developed; that they are not eyeballs as such, but …

Two men charged with murder after man’s torso found in Salford nature reserve | UK News

Two men charged with murder after man’s torso found in Salford nature reserve | UK News

Published by skeptic

[ad_1] Two men have been charged with murder after a man’s torso was found at a nature reserve in Salford, police have said. Greater Manchester Police said more human remains were discovered this morning in an alleyway close to railway lines in the market town of Eccles. This follows earlier discoveries of human remains at two other locations – Blackleach Reservoir and Colliery Wood – as part of the investigation over the weekend in the Greater Manchester area. Police believe the torso – consisting of the bottom of the back, buttocks and thigh – found at Kersal Dale Wetlands on 4 April belongs to a man in his 60s. Officers have informed his family about his death, but have not yet identified him publicly. The remains found at the other three locations are still to be tested, but police say they are confident they belong to the same victim. Michal Jaroslaw Polchowski, 68, and Marcin Majerkiewicz, 42, both of Worsley Road, Eccles, have been charged with murder. They are due to appear at Tameside Magistrates’ …

Dolphins Taunt Pufferfish For This 1 Hilarious Reason, And I Am In Awe

Dolphins Taunt Pufferfish For This 1 Hilarious Reason, And I Am In Awe

Published by Sam

[ad_1] Our family bathrooms may not be dedicated to them the way that they were in the ’90s, but dolphins are still a really popular mammal. I mean, of course they are, look at their wee faces! One thing we have been learning over time, however, is that they are a lot more mischevious than we first thought. For example, did you know that dolphins like to swim through self-made bubbles and surf in waves? Adorable! However, I just learned something about these scamps of the ocean that is both horrifying and, to be honest, absolutely hilarious. The reason why dolphins taunt pufferfish In a BBC series called Spy In The Pod, a documentary that used hidden cameras disguised as tuna and squid, to go into the heart of the dolphin’s world and get up close with their everyday lives. One part of the footage revealed that dolphins appear to get high off pufferfish defence chemicals. According to The Smithsonian, pufferfish produce a potent defensive chemical, which they eject when threatened. In small enough doses, …

So, THAT’s Why Pandas Are So Bad At Sex And Reproduction

So, THAT’s Why Pandas Are So Bad At Sex And Reproduction

Published by skeptic

[ad_1] Let’s be honest, the human interest in pandas is bordering on perverted. Even now, when the beautiful bears are no longer endangered, we can’t stop noseying into their sex lives. The animals are no longer at a risk of disappearing but they’re still simply… not having enough sex and even the ones that are getting frisky are actually, uh, not all that good at it and often not successful in reproduction. Sorry, pandas. We do love you. The reason pandas are bad at sex So, when it comes to reproduction, pandas do have one great excuse as to why they are bad at reproducing: female pandas have just one fertile window of about 40 hours each year. So. Fair enough. That’s a tiny window. Males, on the other hand, can be a little clumsy. Captive male pandas especially tend to struggle to mount the females properly and if they don’t manage it, or they simply can’t be bothered (we’ve all been there), they only get one chance a year to make it work, according …