New frightening species of fish were found in the waters of Australia.
After making the discovery of four active volcanoes in the vicinity of Australia, CSIRO revealed the first photos of Australia’s terrifying fish species. Based on the information that has been withdrawn from the collected images, it appears that this newly found fish can be quite dangerous.
Australia’s wild fauna and flora has been many times the subject of special documentaries due to the unusual behavior and characteristics of these exemplars. CSIRO, the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization might have just contributed to Australia’s rich environment by publishing the first photos of terrifying species of fish.
The newly discovered exemplars were first spotted on the eastern side of the coast as researchers were scanning the depths of the ocean with the help of their explorer. They were, thus, able to see the small, yet very dangerous exemplars swimming along the investigating device.
According to the images they have provided, the small exemplars have two long fans coming out of their large mouths and a possibly poisonous sting at the bottom of their tails. We can’t yet make suppositions in relation to the characteristics of these fish exemplars, but it appears that they are not too friendly.
Fortunately, the identified species were not very large in size; otherwise, they could have posed many threats to the Australian population. Their body has a gelatinous consistency, which works as a reminder of the water mollusks. The colors are also resembling; some of the photographed species were transparent, while others were black, depending most likely on the water they lived in.
The Australian community of scientists praised the works of their water explorer as it has enabled them to make significant discoveries in the past weeks. In addition to these intriguing species of fish, CSIRO has also acknowledged the presence of four active volcanoes on the Sydney Coast.
These 50-million-year-old underwater mountains went unnoticed during past researches, but marine experts have finally managed to get a glimpse of them. Based on their calculations, the string of four volcanoes is 20 kilometers long and 6 kilometers wide. The highest mountain reaches an altitude of 700 meters, scientists have concluded.
Further studies will be carried out in the region to establish whether these peaks represent a threat for the Australian population or not. The recent data indicates only that there is volcanic activity in the region and future episodes of tectonic movements are likely to happen.
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The High Definition Space Telescope will shed light on planet formation and gather evidence about alien populations.
Based on recent findings, scientists plan to introduce the telescope of the 2030s, a much advanced version of the Hubble Telescope that will look for extraterrestrial life. Scientists want the new space telescope to be five times bigger and 100 times more sensitive than the current telescopes that NASA is using, but detailed descriptions of the new prototype have not been yet provided.
NASA is arming itself with new means of investigation to find the remotest forms of life in space. The Hubble Telescope has done a remarkable job, so far, but the time has come for scientists to upgrade their systems, so they would meet scientists’ demands.
The space lens that has been designed by scientists for future space explorations has to overcome the technical abilities of the Hubble Telescope. For that matter, the telescope of the 2030s will be five times bigger and 100 times more accurate than Hubble.
Scientists will embed a 40-feet wide mirror on the mechanism and will program it to orbit the Sun at a much closer distance. The telescope of the 2030s will orbit at million miles away from the Earth, taking high definition images of the surrounding space regions.
So far, researchers have been unable to study the structure and the evolution of smaller galaxies, but the telescope of the future will shed light on many of these mysteries. It may be too early to make assumptions, but NASA experts hope they will get pictures of celestial objects that have a diameter of 300-light years.
The new program was developed by professors at the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, which is responsible for many of the studies that the Hubble Telescope is conducting. According to Matt Mountain, the president of the association, the future initiatives that the administration will carry out are meant to establish whether alien populations really exist or not.
Mountain believes the project must begin now as NASA has all the resources to carry it through. Moreover, the production of a new telescope requires a lot of time; therefore, the sooner scientists begin manufacturing works, the better it will be.
Production costs will most likely amount to $9 billion, but the High Definition Space Telescope is definitely a worthy investment considering the numerous benefits it could bring to the entire science community.
Image source: static01.nyt.com
Google is determined to increase its presence among mobile users through its recent app Music Key.
According to Susan Wojcicki’s recent declaration during a conference in Aspen, Colorado, Google’s YouTube introduces Music Key to spruce up mobile usage. The app is expected to provide support to Google’s mobile users as the YouTube’s leader believes mobile devices represent the future of the online streaming platform.
Google is doing very well, in spite of recent rumors suggesting that the company has been outrun by Facebook and Apple. Leader Susan Wojcicki made this declaration to reassure customers and partners that the company is still registering growth, although the competition is rather strong.
According to Wojcicki, YouTube has a reliable base of users that accounts for billions of video lovers. This base is getting larger and larger, if we were to judge from the 50 percent growth that YouTube is registering each year.
Facebook’s decision to enter the video streaming business is not alarming the YouTube’s leader. On the contrary, Wojcicki believes there is significant difference between the service that Mark Zuckerberg’s social network is offering and the video options that YouTube puts forth. In her opinion, YouTube users are more attached to the videos they watch, they get actively involved in the process by searching and clicking videos.
Facebook, on the other hand, is an auto player, which means users are not free to interact with the videos they watch. They can’t leave messages, like or comment on a specific video, as YouTube allows users to do.
Susan Wojcicki understands the recent interest that social networks display towards video sharing websites. She believes many more companies will enter this domain because it is a huge market that it is worth investing in, particularly since young generations are drawn to it.
Google is also interested in making investments in the YouTube platform. For that matter, the company will provide mobile support to users because many customers have replaced the traditional PC with smart devices. Great part of YouTube’s views comes from mobile units; hence, the growing need to develop this field.
The first attempt in this sense was made last year when Google introduced Music Key, a mobile service for YouTube. The beta version of the app was available in exchange for $8, but the official version, which will be launched later this year will cost $10 a month.
Music Key has been provided with many tools that allow YouTube users to view their favorite videos, while performing other tasks on their smartphones. The app lets customers play ad-free videos, hear music offline and play videos in the background.
Unlike Apple and Spotify, YouTube’s Music Key was designed to meet users’ need of watching their favorite artists perform in music videos.
Image source: static01.nyt.com
Hacking Team, the Italian cyber-security firm that has been recently in the news for a massive data breach, is now putting the blame on the shoulders on governmental forces and warns that criminals might now find it extremely easily to use its software codes in other attacks.
Hackers who are yet to be identified have leaked in a torrent file approximately 400GB of data from the company’s servers, revealing the controversial connections it has with several governments. Hacking Team sells surveillance software that many intelligence and law enforcement agencies use to keep tabs on the phones and computers of suspects.
Many documents have since been uploaded on Wikileaks, as the public could skim through several thousands of private corporate emails. During the same data breach, the company’s source codes for many of its top secret programs have also been made public online.
Even though he offered no further details, David Vincenzetti, Hacking Team’s CEO, gave a statement on Sunday saying that the attack must have been carried out at a government level, considering the complexity and the resources it needed.
Clients of the company have been advised not to use its software until the compromised programs can be updated and made secure again. Although only some of the services have been targeted, Hacking Team representatives warn that all computer systems might have been messed with.
A company’s statement posted on its official website revealed that Hacking Team is conducting an investigation on the attack, which so far proves that hackers have leaked enough code as to allow anyone to use the software as a weapon against any chosen target.
Having a bit of know-how in technical ability might enable extortionists, terrorists, and other ill-willed people to use this technology for their own purposes. The irony is that the company’s website still promotes its products as being able to offer complete control for target surveilling.
Leaked emails revealed that Hacking Team has worked with many governmental institutions in various countries, such as Australia, Italy, and – of course – the United States. The company has been called out before for its dealings with countries who abuse the human rights of its population, including Libya, Nigeria, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Sudan.
After keeping silent for almost a week after the attack was made public, Vincenzetti went on record defending his choice of clients; he said his connections are legal, as no international trade laws were ever broken in the partnerships he’s been involved.
Image Source: Motherboard
Plutonium is highly unstable as a result of its impaired electronic cloud.
Scientists at the Department of Energy have made a groundbreaking discovery showing that neutrons are responsible for Plutonium’s lack of magnetism. This finding has provided an answer for all the questions that have been tormenting researchers for a long period of time in relation to the behavior of plutonium – a highly unstable chemical element.
Plutonium is very hard to study, especially since the substance is highly radioactive and special permissions are required in order for scientists to operate researches on it. Nevertheless, the team of experts from the Department of Energy has managed to obtain the approval of all national institutions after two years of anticipation.
They were, thus, able to conduct the first experiment on plutonium and to unravel the mystery behind its lacking magnetism. This chemical element, much like any other chemical substance, has an electronic cloud all around its nucleus.
The electronic cloud that surrounds the nucleus of the metal element contains a specific number of electrons. The magnetic field of a metal is usually determined by pairs of electrons, whose northern and southern poles get aligned when encountering a magnet.
Things are somewhat different in the case of plutonium, whose electrons are usually impaired and, for that matter, they often lack the magnetism they need to remain attached to magnets. In awe of the recent researches, scientists have discovered that the unpaired electron aligns the rest of the electrons in the cloud, rendering the magnetic field invalid.
The findings of the recent study have been identified with the help of the process called neutron scattering. This investigation technique is used in physics, physical chemistry, crystallography and other similar researches and it presupposes the scattering of neutrons through a given matter.
Marc Janoschek, the leader of the research, told the press that two particular behaviors of the platinum have been identified during the recent experiment. As a matter of fact, scientists were aware of the two tendencies of the plutonium, but hadn’t been able to confirm them until now because they lacked the necessary means of investigation.
According to Janoschek, the electrons surrounding the plutonium’s nucleus can one time arrange themselves around the ion; thus, producing magnetism. Other times, they delocalize themselves from the respective ion and they fail to produce the desired magnetism. This process is called quantum mechanical superposition, Janoschek concluded.
The findings were published in the journal Science Advances.
Image source: machineslikeus.com
Apple’s iPod range gets revamped with new lively shades of pink, blue, fuchsia, grey and gold.
Rumor has it on the Internet that Apple is launching a new colorful iPod on July 14 in response to users’ repeated suggestions indicating that the music player should be revamped. There are many upgrades that users would like to see featured on the revamped model of the mp3 player. So far, analysts were only able to find out that the new version will be colorful, with many more shades than the ones of the previous models.
The last time iPods have been in the spotlight was in 2012, before smartphones stole all the attention. That was also the year when Apple last operated a system upgrade for the said music players. However, the company is now determined to make their media gadgets popular again.
Based on a recent report, Apple could be launching a new colorful iPod on July 14, even though the company did not confirm these rumors. The company that first put forth this hypothesis justified their belief by saying that the new iPod touch model will bear the reference number n102, as opposed to the n78 model available until now.
The entire iPod range is expected to receive upgrades. Thus, the new number of iPod nano is n31a, whereas the previous version has been labeled as n31. iPod shuffle, too, has been modified, if we were to judge from the n12d number that the revamped model received.
Customers will have many more colors to choose from as the smartphone producer is putting the all too dull Apple white aside to make room for lively shades of electric blue, fuchsia, gold, pink, gray sidereal and black.
While the new models may appear to target a feminine audience, the technical specifications of the new iPod Touch suggest male customers will also be satisfied with the new prototype. The music player will be now a lot faster thanks to its new 64-bit processor which comes to replace the usual 32-bit unit.
Tech savvies have also hinted to a possible camera upgrade for iPod Touch, although they did not venture into making too many suppositions in relation to its technical specifications.
Apple does not usually launch new products during the summer months. iPod and iPhone launches are usually organized in September, but, this time, Apple, like other developing customers, has decided to take customers by surprise with an unexpected July launch.
Image source: cdn.macrumors.com
Keeping boat utensils clean is the only way to prevent Zebra mussel infestations.
Based on the recent official reports, Morisson County is infected by Zebra mussels, DNR warns. The official authority is now asking fishermen and local inhabitants to clean their fishing gear to prevent the Zebra mussel population from spreading.
The Department of Natural Resources has agreed that the recent invasion of the Zebra mussel population could pose lots of threats to other fish species existing in the lake, as well as to the local population.
The Zebra mussel, scientifically named Dreissena polymorpha is a species of mussel that usually lives in fresh water, whose origin was established in Russia. These D-shaped stripped species of mussels are not bigger than a fingernail in the beginning, but they can grow up to 2 inches during their adult stages of life.
In spite of their attractive form and looks, Zebra mussels can be highly dangerous for other water species. They usually infest water causing other species to go extinct, which, in turn affects the human population.
There is little that can be done to prevent this species from spreading, once it has started infecting waters, as in the case of the Fish Trap Lake in the Morisson County. The Department of Natural Resources acknowledged that the lake has been infested and they are now implementing various measures to put an end to the Zebra mussel infestation.
Until now, authorities used to perform 1,500 hours of boat inspections per year, whereas now their number has been increased to 3,100 hours of annual boat inspections. This measure has been imposed because the only solution to block the Zebra mussel infestation is to keep fishing and boat gear as clean as possible.
Zebra mussels infect most waters, especially standing water; therefore biologists ask people to avoid leaving water in a container for too long. This measure is highly recommended, especially in the nearby areas of inhabitants’ homes because Zebra species can cause problems to humans, as well. They can infest drinking water and lead to sever health problems, the Department of Natural Resources has concluded.
Image source: extras.mnginteractive.com
The new dinosaur seems quite menacing, yet only eats plants.
There’s exciting news from the world of paleontology as something completely unique has been literally – unearthed. Fossil hunters have uncovered a new dinosaur in Canada named Wendiceratops, after Wendy Sloboda, the paleontologist and hunter who discovered it.
It really seems that the creators of “Jurassic World” really have nothing on Mother Nature and the diligent bunch of scientist, or paleontologists, who always working to dig up whatever hidden mysteries she’s left for us.
It appears that this dinosaur is much, much cooler than the Indominus Rex that they genetically engineered on the big screen. After all, what could be more amazing than a dinosaur with a crown of horns, and three other, bigger horns on its forehead and nose?
A piece of the skull of the newly discovered dinosaur was spotted in a picture by already renowned fossil hunter Wendy Sloboda. She quickly tracked the GPS coordinates, retrieved the fragment, and then showed to two other scientists, Michael Ryan and David Evans, her colleagues at the Southern Alberta Dinosaur Research Project.
When the two saw the bone fragment, they just jumped into a car and drove directly to the place where the skull had been found. All this happened in 2010.
Five long years after the discovery and the two above researchers have just recently published what they have learned in this period of studying the 200 pieces of bone. That’s four whole individual dinosaurs that were uncovered by a team of just five people jack-hammering a rock until they reached the bones.
The dinosaur is believed to be a more distant relative of the Triceratops, having lived approximately 79 million years ago. Measuring about 20 feet and weighing in at about a ton, the dinosaur is quite unlike most others, even different from its cousin mentioned above. Its crown of horns is extremely intricate, and Evans said it is a “most striking” since it’s the earliest example of all the horned dinosaurs. Despite these horns, the dinosaur was definitely an herbivore, Evans and Ryan say, and used the horns in battles over mating, or in defense against predators.
The most interesting of its horns is its protruding nasal horn, as no other example of an earlier form of nasal horn had been uncovered. Palenontologists are now looking at how the horn evolved from the Wendiceratops to the Triceratops.
Wendy Sloboda, one of few women fossil hunters in the world, chose to celebrate having a dinosaur with her name by tattooing his face on a very special region of her body she had reserved especially for this occasion.
Image source: turner.com
Even though more and more people surf and swim in the waters off California’s coast, a new study showed their risk of being attacked by sharks has dropped with 90 percent since the 1950s.
This study comes in apparent contrast with recent news headlines which reported this year to have a record number of incidents with sharks attacking people in the water – eight shark attacks just in the past three weeks.
Francesco Ferretti from the Hopkins Marine Station operating under the Stanford University said the disparity between the study and the recent shark attack reports needs more research before it can be explained.
Fiorenza Micheli, a fellow researcher of Ferretti, explained that the study proved that in spite of the slight increase in number of attacks that’s been registered in the past six decades, the risk of being attacked has actually dropped dramatically.
This risk was calculated in relation with the great number of people swimming and surfing on the Californian coast; shark attack incidents should be a lot more often if the risk hadn’t plummeted.
The reason behind the decline is actually rather satisfying for environmentalists: sharks have turned their attention from human prey to animals in their environment, like elephant seals and sea lions – which have significantly increased in number thanks to conservation initiatives.
Another possible theory that explains the sheer drop in shark-attack risk is the fact that fewer of these great hunters are roaming in the waters. But this hypothesis is tough to test as shark populations are inconsistently tracked in the past decades.
During the 1950s, California saw an annual average of less than one attack on humans; in the past decade, that number has reached one or two attacks a year. But when compared to the population boom, the risk drops considerably.
Coastal California experienced a tripling in human population during the same period, from 7 million to 21 million. Moreover, beachgoers and fans of scuba diving and surfing have also significantly increased in number.
This year’s eight shark attacks off North Carolina’s coast reported in the past three weeks broke the record for the most shark incidents that the state has seen in the past 80 years or records.
The spike has yet to be explained, and more research is required for that. Some scientists believe that the unseasonably hot temperatures June has brought pushed the sharks up north earlier than usual.
Bottom line is that, in California, your odds of swimming in the ocean and getting bit by a shark are about “one in every 738 million beach visits;” surfers have it a bit worse, but chances were still in the range of 17 million.
Image Source: The Project Avalon Forum
This is not a car, it’s a beast.
It’s been some time since we got excited about a car, but we’re really excited about this: the roaring Mercedes-Benz CLS 63 AMG S. It will make you smile. It will make you frown. It might even make you a bit… uneasy.
Now, if you happen to be driving down the road in one of these monsters, you might want to make sure you are pretty relaxed beforehand, since the looks you get from other drivers around you might not be exactly what you’d hoped.
You’re going to get a lot of smirks thinking you’re some sort of unhealthily rich guy, which you probably are. People driving Toyotas will undoubtedly show disgust on their facial expressions, since your car may well be the equivalent of a leaking nuclear power plant, in terms of Eco-friendliness – it probably is. Two students chatting about Nietzsche on a bench may literally cover their ears for fear of going deaf, since your engine noise is so loud, it could play lead guitar in a heavy metal band.
And really, you can’t possibly blame these reactions. No, you can’t. Then again, there is still something undeniably captivating about shooting down the street in one of these mean white stallions. Perhaps the people on the street ought to be thinking what their inner child would do with one.
The three-spiked star sits gloriously in the front. Behind it, there lay a 5.5 liter V8 and two turbocharges which, really, are like Superman’s X-ray vision – it could do just fine without another superpower. But it doesn’t want two have just one trait, it needs to have it all. And the engineers have made sure of this – the car delivers 5500 rpm, it goes to 60 in 4.1 seconds. It has two top speeds, 250 km/h or, if you ask nicely of the guys or girls at the factory, they will remove the limiter, and you can go to 300.
But here come the bad parts. It’s a luxury car – and because of this, the makers thought you probably don’t care what you spend on fuel. It gobbles up about 10 liters per kilometer, the company says, but recent test put it at around 15.5. If you’re feeling lucky, you’d better strike a deal with an Arab oil company yourself, you’re going to need it.
That is not all. There is a problem with its beast-like behavior. When you accelerate a bit, it wobbles like a maniac. And if it’s wet on the road, you’d best have a clean soul, for you may need it.
We’re going to leave the price to you, since we don’t want to pose a health risk. What can be said, is that it should come with driving lessons, or a personal driver, because you could afford to pay one for many, many years with the money you would spend on this.
Image source: mnmcdn.com