Argentine security forces have discovered 13 large dinosaur footprints, belonging to a carnivorous species with claws, in a 100-million-year-old rock formation in Patagonia, at the southern tip of South America.
The officers from the Argentina Naval Prefecture, a police force that operates as a coast guard and river protection service, were patrolling the Ezequiel Ramos Mexia Reservoir on the Argentinean side of Patagonia, which is divided from the Chilean side by the Andes Mountains, when they made the discovery.
A prehistoric footprint of a bipedal dinosaur that lived in Patagonia, at the southern tip of South America. (Argentine Naval Prefecture/Zenger)
“While conducting a patrol to provide security in the area, the team spotted 13 footprints on a rocky terrain and some fallen rocks, located about four kilometers [2.48 miles] from the area known as ‘Los Gigantes,’” the naval prefecture said in a statement.
Scientists have dated the footprints back to the Late Cretaceous period, which ran from 100 million years ago to 66 million years ago, ending with the mass extinction of the dinosaurs. They have not identified the exact species of dinosaur the footprints belong to, but the Late Cretaceous period saw the Tyrannosaurus rex and Triceratops roam the Earth.
The prehistoric footprints of a bipedal tridactyl dinosaur that lived in the Patagonia region. The footprints date back to the Late Cretaceous period, when the Tyrannosaurus rex roamed the Earth. (Prefectura Naval Argentina/Zenger)
In its statement, the naval prefecture noted that the track-bearing levels where the discovery was made are part of the Candeleros Formation, a geological formation composed mostly of sandstone deposited by an ancient river system. The formation is approximately 100 million years old and is rich in dinosaur footprints and various kinds of fossils.
Scientists at the Paleontological Laboratory of the Ernesto Bachmann Municipal Paleontological, Archaeological and Historical Museum analyzed the images and said the footprints were made by “a bipedal dinosaur of medium-large size.” Bipedal animals walk on two legs. The research team confirmed the dinosaur was a tridactyl — meaning each foot has three toes — but the species remains unknown.
Coastal security officers in Argentina found the footprints of a bipedal dinosaur that lived in Patagonia 100 million years ago. (Argentine Naval Prefecture/Zenger)
Meanwhile, researchers at the National University of Rio Negro reported that the footprints measured between 11.8 and 19.6 inches (30–50 centimeters) and the three elongated toes had pointed ends. This suggests, according to the scientists, that the footprints belong to a theropod dinosaur — a bipedal carnivore, potentially with claws — that would have measured between 3.9 and 4.9 feet (1.2–1.5 meters) in height.
The discovery is similar to a previous finding in the area in the same month last year. The footprints found on the shore of the reservoir were also those of a bipedal tridactyl, but studies to confirm the species of the dinosaur that left them are still underway.
An elephant-sized sloth that roamed South America 1.8 million years ago has surprised scientists.
Unlike its tree-dwelling descendants, it was not a vegetarian, a long-held belief.
The American Museum of Natural History led a study published Oct. 7 in Scientific Reports that rejects previous assumptions. It claims the giant sloth, known as Mylodon or Darwin’s ground sloth, was an opportunistic omnivore.
The Mylodon weighed between 2,200 and 4,400 pounds and was nearly 10 feet long. The enormous ground-dwelling sloth roamed South America during the Pleistocene epoch, between 2.5 million years and 12,000 years ago.
Paleontologists have identified at least 23 different kinds and sizes of prehistoric sloths. The largest, the Megatherium, weighed seven tons.
Skin and dung from the extinct giant ground sloth Mylodon on display at the American Museum of Natural History. (American Museum of Natural History, D. Finnin/Zenger)
Since the six living sloth species are all relatively small plant-eating tree-dwellers, experts had previously believed the giant sloth consumed a similar diet despite its monstrous size.
Further dental characteristics and jaw biomechanics had been cited as evidence to prove the giant sloth had no interest in eating meat.
However, in the new study, researchers used chemical analysis of amino acids preserved in sloth hair to get clues about their diets.
Julia Tejada, lead author and postdoctoral researcher at the University of Montpellier, in France, said: “Whether they were sporadic scavengers or opportunistic consumers of animal protein can’t be determined from our research, but we now have strong evidence contradicting the long-standing presumption that all sloths were obligate herbivores.”
Lead author Julia Tejada with Candy, a three-toed sloth at the Huachipa Zoo in Lima, Peru, one of six species of living, plant-eating sloths. (Carmen Capunay/Zenger)
The chemical analysis examines stable nitrogen isotopes preserved in body tissues, such as hair and fingernails.
By analyzing the amino-acid nitrogen values in a wide range of modern herbivores and omnivores to determine a clear signal for eating both plants and animals, fossils can then be measured to determine the food they consumed.
This allows paleontologists to look accurately at the diets of extinct animals and determine if they were herbivores, omnivores or carnivores.
John Flynn, a co-author of the paper, said: “Prior methods relied solely on bulk analyses of nitrogen and complex formulas that have many untested or weakly supported assumptions. Our analytical approach and results show that many previous conclusions about trophic levels are poorly supported at best, or clearly wrong and misleading at worst.”
Tejada is more definitive.
“These results, providing the first direct evidence of omnivory in an ancient sloth species, demands a reevaluation of the entire ecological structure of ancient mammalian communities in South America,” she said. “Sloths represented a major component of these ecosystems across the past 34 million years.”
New images from NASA’s Mars Perseverance Rover suggest that megafloods took place at the Jezero Crater on the Red Planet’s surface billions of years ago, moving giant rocks and forming large embankments.
NASA said in a statement that the new images at Jezero Crater will offer insight into how liquid water helped shape the Martian surface billions of years ago.
An analysis of the high-resolution images was published in the journal Science.
The rover landed on Feb. 18 and has since been exploring the ancient lake and its surroundings, looking for evidence of liquid water.
NASA said the most recent images “reveal that billions of years ago, when Mars had an atmosphere thick enough to support water flowing across its surface, Jezero’s fan-shaped river delta experienced late-stage flooding events.”
This image of “Kodiak” — one remnant of the fan-shaped deposit of sediments inside Mars’s Jezero Crater known as the delta — was taken by Perseverance’s Mastcam-Z instrument on Feb. 22, 2021. (NASA, JPL-Caltech, ASU, MSSS/Zenger)
These floods are believed to have carried rocks and debris into the delta from the highlands located well outside the crater.
The floods created long, steep slopes known as scarps, which are marked in the images analyzed in the study.
“We saw distinct layers in the scarps containing boulders up to 5 feet (1.5 meters) across that we knew had no business being there,” said Nicolas Mangold, a Perseverance scientist and lead author of the paper.
A slow-moving waterway that fed into the delta must have been transformed by fast-moving floods, said Mangold.
The researchers estimated that a torrent of water needed to transport the boulders would have to travel at speeds ranging from 4 to 26 mph (6 to 30 kph).
The rover team has long planned to visit the delta because of its potential for harboring signs of ancient microbial life.
“Never before has such well-preserved stratigraphy been visible on Mars,” said Mangold. “This is the key observation that enables us to once and for all confirm the presence of a lake and river delta at Jezero. Getting a better understanding of the hydrology months in advance of our arrival at the delta is going to pay big dividends down the road.”
The escarpment the science team refers to as “Scarp a” is seen in this image captured by the Perseverance rover’s Mastcam-Z instrument on Apr. 17, 2021. (NASA, JPL-Caltech, ASU, MSSS/Zenger)
“A better understanding of Jezero’s delta is key to understanding the change in hydrology for the area,” said Sanjeev Gupta, a Perseverance scientist from Imperial College London and co-author of the paper.
He added that the information provides “valuable insights” into why the entire planet dried out.
The rover’s mission is expected to continue for over a decade, and at some point in 2030, it will be sent back to Earth carrying 30 rock and soil samples in sealed tubes that will then be analyzed.
Amy Williams, a NASA astrobiologist, described the opportunity to witness the discovery of a Martian river system as “eye-opening.” She added that finding clear proof that Mars once harbored life would be one of the most “profound” scientific discoveries ever made.
The interior of the restored Porsche 911 RSR features dual bucket seats and a rollbar. (Collecting Cars/Zenger)
The car was on sale at Collectingcars.com, which stated that the winning bidder would have had to collect the car from Boca Raton, Florida. This is the car’s second time on the auction block this year, reports the Motor Authority, which said it was listed for sale in March by the DuPont Registry with a $2.2 million asking price.
The latest auction closed Oct. 8, without a successful bid. (Collectingcars.com did not disclose a minimum bid for the vehicle.)
A 320-horsepower engine fills the Porsche 911 RSR’s rear compartment. (Collecting Cars/Zenger)
One of 15 such vehicles made for the racing series’ inaugural year, the 911 comes with ownership records which show that it was originally brought into the U.S. and owned by another legend in racing circles, Roger Penske, who then sold to the racer John Tunstall. The latter sold it to Escobar in the early 1990s.
Despite changing hands so many times and being shipped from the United States to Colombia and back, it is in good condition. “There is no known bodywork damage and no evident panel damage or rust,” the auction site’s listing said.
Pablo Emilio Escobar Gaviria is one of the most infamous drug lords in the world, as he was the founder and sole leader of the Medellin Cartel and is believed to have been the wealthiest criminal in history.
The drug cartel operated from 1972 to 1993 in Bolivia, Colombia, Peru, Panama, Central America, the Bahamas, the United States and has since been immortalized in dozens of movies and series.
Escobar’s cartel monopolized the cocaine trade into the United States during its heyday, resulting in him amassing an estimated $30 billion fortune before he was killed in a 1993 shoot-out with Colombian authorities in Medellin. He was 44. His death marked the end of the Medellin Cartel’s dominance over the cocaine trade and its rival, the Cali Cartel, went on to control much of the cocaine flooding into the U.S. during the 1990s.
The driver’s side setup in the five-speed Porsche 911 RSR. Its speedometer goes to a maximum reading of 300 kph (roughly 185 mph). (Collecting Cars/Zenger)
During his lifetime, Escobar spent his immense wealth on countless luxury goods, including huge mansions, exotic animals and a stable of fast cars, including the 911. (It is not known what he paid for the powerful two-seater.) He reportedly entered several races with the car.
Collecting Cars has not responded to a request for comment.
“No Time To Die” quickly became one of the most polarizing Bond films ever before a single person had even seen it.
The film made numerous headlines over the last three years, and the more production issues that were reported, the more die-hard Bond fans worried about the film.
First, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer had a prolonged battle with actor Daniel Craig to get him to return after he complained about the stress of performing the lead role. Then there were early reports of the film replacing Craig in favor of Lashana Lynch in a bait and switch that would see the British actress become the new 007.
After those reports were denied, Neal Purvis, Robert Wade and Cary Joji Fukunaga were named as the screenwriters. Having three writers for one film is enough of a red flag by itself, but then “Fleabag” series creator Phoebe Waller-Bridge was brought in by Craig himself in order to polish the script in an attempt to bring Bond into the “modern era.”
Producer Barbara Broccoli clarified that in the era of #MeToo, it was important for the movement to influence everything that was done with Bond, including making sure women in the film were portrayed respectfully.
Add in a $300 million production budget, an estimated $900 million break-even mark, two years of delays due to COVID-19 and studio concerns about massive box-office losses, and you start to understand why the hype for the latest Bond film was at an all-time low point for a lot of people.
Does any of the offset drama have anything to do with the film itself? No. Does that mean the film itself was good?
The Story: “No Time To Die” begins with Bond (Craig) enjoying retirement from MI6 with his love interest Madeleine (Léa Seydoux) until he is ambushed in Southern Italy by Spectre assassins. Bond believes that Madeleine has betrayed him as she has a secret she refuses to tell him.
With the film jumping five years into the future, MI6 scientist Valdo Obruchev (David Dencik) has developed “Project Heracles”, a bioweapon containing nanobots that attacks people like a virus and is coded to an individual’s specific DNA, rendering it lethal to the target but harmless to others.
For personal reasons, Bond decides to work with the CIA over MI6 in order to get to the bottom of the Spectre attack and the location of the bioweapon. To Bond’s surprise, someone has taken out all of Spectre’s agents, and that is when he is introduced to Lyutsifer Safin (Rami Malek) a dangerous eco-terrorist with a direct tie to Madeleine and a dark secret in Bond’s past.
Bond has no choice but to work with Nomi (Lynch), the new 007, and find Safin, but the list of people Bond can trust gets shorter with every moment.
Ana de Armas plays the bubbly CIA agent Paloma in “No Time to Die.” (Courtesy MGM Studios)
Bright Spots: “No Time To Die” is a film with a lot to like but not a lot to love. One of the undeniable bright spots of this film comes in the form of Ana de Armas as Paloma. For a woman who doesn’t have much screen time, she sure as hell makes lemonade with what she is given. Armas plays a somewhat clumsy CIA agent whose energy and personality remind everyone of what the Bond films used to be: fun. Out of all the ladies in this film, de Armas undoubtedly makes the biggest impact.
The emotional weight of this film rides on Craig. With five films over 15 years, Craig is the longest-tenured James Bond to date. “No Time To Die” is Craig’s farewell to the franchise, and the film ties up loose ends in order to close the chapter. There are some amazing car-chase sequences through the streets of Italy that cap a great opening pre-credit scene before Billie Eilish serenades the audience with her title track, “No Time To Die”. Jeffrey Wright returns as CIA operative Felix Leiter and leaves an impressive mark on the Bond series with his performance.
Weak Spots: MGM wants Lynch to take over the lead role of “007” from Craig. But if this film was her screen test to see how she would do in that role, Lynch doesn’t show anything that would grant her the keys to the franchise. Lynch plays a strait-laced, by-the-book agent who is the balance to Craig’s emotionally compromised motivations. But as an action star, she is uninspiring, and at times, the film itself doesn’t have much faith in her either.
Another disappointment is the addition of Malek as the villain. As the main villain of the film, Malek as Safin is often forgotten about — and when he does turn up, the writing isn’t strong enough to make him a memorable bad guy. Safin wishes to doom the world with an artificial pandemic — *wink wink* — basically making him a generic villain. The film spends so much time trying to give character depth to Bond that it fails to make anyone care about the antagonist, which is a complete waste of Malek.
After 15 years and five films as James Bond, Daniel Craig is finally hanging up his martini glass in “No Time To Die.” (Courtesy MGM Studios)
At 163 minutes, “No Time To Die” is one of the longest films in the Bond franchise. And for the audience, it feels like taking an SAT test that you can’t leave early. James Bond has become a franchise without an identity. The writers and producers spend so much time trying to “move the franchise forward” but they can’t get away from callbacks to the past, to the point where “No Time To Die” feels like a Frankenstein monster of past Bond movies.
The soundtrack, the score and the dialogue are all references to a much better era of Bond films, which is ironic, considering how much the creators want to move past that era.
The Takeaway: There is no way to sugarcoat it, “No Time To Die” is Craig’s swan song for the franchise — a song that will be remembered as a middle-of-the-road addition to his era of Bond movies. Whether the franchise goes down with him is yet to be determined, but for the end of an era, Craig gives audiences a decent but flawed close to an epic 15-year chapter.
See or Skip: “No Time To Die” doesn’t go out with a bang. Its 163-minute runtime requires some patience and strong wills to catch the few diamonds hiding in the film.
MEXICO CITY — Scholars in Mexico are concerned for their future.
The primary public body in charge of financing, promoting and disseminating science in academia in Mexico is going through a series of changes.
The National Council of Science and Technology (Conacyt) has been facing a period of uncertainty.
On Sept. 30, scientists and researchers belonging to the Independent Union of Workers and Researchers of Conacyt’s Chairs (Siintracatedras) gathered in front of the Council’s facilities in Mexico City and several states. They protested Conacyt’s refusal to sign a collective bargaining agreement and the Federal Conciliation and Arbitration Board’s — the government body that mediates in labor disputes — refusal to allow their strike.
“We are taking legal action; we are going to file an amparo claiming they deny us our labor and union rights. … Without labor certainty, science does not work well. To carry out science continuously, we need job certainty because science requires social commitments and longtime investments,”’ the General Secretary of Siintracatedras, Mateo Mier y Terán Giménez Cacho, told Zenger.
The problem stems from the Chair Program’s Researchers for Mexico, which has hired national and international researchers from different scientific fields and assigned them to public agencies, universities and research centers since 2014. The program arose from the need to open spaces to conduct academic research in the country.
However, being a member of the program has its challenges.
Conacyt and the universities and public research centers involved evaluate them periodically. Since President Andrés Manuel López Obrador appointed María Elena Álvarez-Buylla as the council’s director, some claim unjustified dismissals have increased, and they are usually “subjective” decisions.
Members of Siintracatedras demonstrate outside Conacyt’s facilities in Mexico City. They seek job security. (Julio Guzmán/Zenger).
They also say researchers are usually hired as exempt employees. Ordinarily, management, auditing, surveillance and control personnel have this type of contract. Exempt employees cannot join a union, which increases job vulnerability.
“As an exempt employee, you can be fired at any time,” Siintracatedras Secretary Perla Fragoso Lugo told Zenger.
“Conacyt justifies dismissals through annual evaluations, but these evaluations do not follow any academic criteria. It is the project coordinator who evaluates you, and there is often a power dynamic that gets in the way if you think differently from them,” she said.
“There have also been cases of sexual abuse and workplace harassment toward colleagues. If you report it, the authorities will most likely believe the project coordinator and fire you,” she said.
Since its inception in 2019, Siintracatedras has sought to sign a collective bargaining agreement that protects researchers from labor vulnerability. Over 300 of the more than 1,276 members of the Chair Program have joined the union.
After several meetings with the union, Conacyt has not signed the agreement. The problem got worse when the council changed the evaluation criteria for researchers in the Statute of Academic Staff, published on June 29, 2021. One of the changes establishes that to keep a researcher in the program, Conacyt will consider “their labor insertion in the receiving institution or any other.”
In response, scientists and researchers launched a campaign on social media. They exposed the council’s new policy under the hashtag #Buscotrabajo (I’m looking for a job).
#BuscoTrabajo Doctor en Sociología. SNI 1. Especialista en sociología de grupos armados, violencia criminal y política de drogas. Experiencia en investigación, docencia, vinculación y difusión. Catedrático @Conacyt_MX
Pero, para conservar mi empleo tengo que buscar empleo.pic.twitter.com/7j5WxOj12S
“We wanted to point out how absurd it is for me as a scholar to prove that I am looking for work somewhere else to pass my annual evaluation,” said Edgar Guerra, a doctor in sociology attached to the Drug Policy Research Program at the Center for Economic Research and Teaching (CIDE) and a member of the union.
On Sept. 29, Conacyt stated in a press release that Siintracatedras’ strike was inappropriate and that it considered the issue fully resolved.
Between 2015 and 2020, 51 scientists were fired from the project, 44 of whom lost their positions in 2019 and 2020. They claim that conducting scientific research is a job like any other, and not a privilege. (Julio Guzmán/Zenger).
“The 11th Special Board considered that the strike summons and the signing of a collective bargaining agreement are inadmissible. Conacyt labor practices abide by Article 123, section B of the Mexican Constitution, and it already has the General Labor Conditions [a legal document], which acts as a collective agreement. As a decentralized public body, Conacyt does not have the power to arrange benefit payment within a collective bargaining agreement,” reads the statement.
Conacyt’s next evaluation was scheduled for September, but it is likely to happen in October. Researchers fear that many may lose their jobs. Between 2015 and 2020, 51 scientists were fired from the project, 44 of whom lost their positions in 2019 and 2020.
The scientific and research community has launched the #CienciaBajoProtesta [science under protest] campaign, which invites society to participate in sessions where scientists present their projects to the public. Arguing abuse and corruption, López Obrador ordered a 75 percent budget cut for public administration spending in May 2020, affecting Conacyt and several research centers.
“We explained to him that the money is an investment — and it is a myth that investing in science is a privilege. We conduct research to prevent femicide, better use alternative energies, protect the environment and preserve insects, flora and fauna. It pays off to keep investing. Mexican society has paid for our education, and now, Conacyt says that it cannot invest in giving continuity to projects as important as the ones we are working on,” said Fragoso Lugo.
Guerra highlighted scientists’ role in the country’s development, and Conacyt’s crucial role in training.
“I earned master’s … and doctoral degrees thanks to Conacyt grants. The same research professors that Conacyt has trained over many years are now in complete uncertainty,” he said.
“We are not dissatisfied with the tasks and research that we carry out. We want to continue working as scholars,” he said, explaining they would like to establish a more formal relationship with Conacyt.
“We are just seeking stability and certainty, what a collective-bargaining agreement states. We want to continue being, with great pride, Conacyt scholars,” he said.
Translated and edited by Gabriela Olmos; edited by Gabriela Alejandra Olmos and Fern Siegel
An American soldier who fought in Italy during World War II is on a new mission.
His quest is to find the eight children he photographed in 1945, as the war drew to a close.
Edward Roethel, now over 90, was deployed in Italy as part of the Fifth Army and was stationed in Naples in 1944. Later, he was sent to the town of San Miniato, in the province of Pisa in the Tuscany region in 1945.
It may be a quixotic effort, but the town of San Miniato is trying to help him achieve his goal, 76 years later.
The children former American soldier Edward Roethel photographed in Italy in 1945. (City of San Miniato/Zenger)
However, Roethel has little evidence to begin his search.
All he has is the black-and-white photograph of the eight children standing on some steps in front of a building entrance. He does not know the names of the children; he only remembers the name of the city. Time is also working against him: The youngsters would be around 80 now and may not be from San Miniato.
The closing months of the war were chaotic, characterized by numerous displaced families from Tuscany being hosted by locals. The town was repeatedly shelled during the war. Much of San Miniato, including a famous tower built by Emperor Frederick, was leveled.
The Fifth Army landed on the Italian beach of Salerno, southeast of Naples, on Sept. 9, 1943, under the command of Lieutenant General Mark Clark. It was the first American military force to invade mainland Europe during the global conflict that pitted the Allies against the Axis powers: Germany, Japan and Italy.
American Edward Roethel when he was a World War II solder sent to San Miniato in Italy. City of San Miniato/Zenger)
Federica Antonelli, a spokesperson for the municipality of San Miniato, said: “Edward Roethel, a former American soldier now over 90, a veteran of the Second World War, … expressed the desire to trace the children immortalized in this photo or some of their relatives, taken in those days in our city.
“We ask the citizens if anyone recognizes themselves in this photo or if they recognize a family member, contact us by writing to ufficioostampa@comune.san-miniato.pi.it or by calling 348/8160268, so we help Edward to find them!”
The Fifth Army holds a singular place in WWII history.
It was the first to win a battle on the Continent and the first to liberate a European capital, Rome. It was constituted from Army units that participated in the invasion of North Africa, in French Morocco. The formation was the first of the seven field armies the United States created during World War II.
The U.S. Coast Guard is partnering with other agencies to investigate the massive oil spill that occurred four miles off the coast of Huntington Beach, Calif., on Oct. 2.
Martyn Willsher, CEO of Amplify Energy Corp., which operates the pipeline, said at a press conference on Oct. 6 that damage from a ship anchor is “one of the distinct possibilities” as a cause of the damage.
“The pipeline has essentially been pulled like a bowstring,” he said. “And so, at its widest point is about 105 feet away from where it was. So it is kind of almost a semicircle.”
Amplify Energy, in a press statement on Oct. 4, said: “The company has sent a remotely operated vehicle to investigate and attempt to confirm source of the release. As a precautionary measure, all of the company’s production and pipeline operations at the Beta Field have been shut down.
“Amplify Energy is a fully engaged member of and working cooperatively with the unified command, consisting of the Coast Guard, California Department of Fish and Wildlife’s Office of Spill Prevention and Response.”
The Coast Guard said on Oct. 7: “A joint investigation is being led by the Coast Guard, with assistance from the National Transportation Safety Board, Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement and the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration.
“The Coast Guard commandant designated the oil spill as a Major Marine Casualty.”
A Major Marine Casualty, as defined by the Coast Guard, includes one or more of the following: The loss of six or more lives; the loss of a mechanically propelled vessel of 100 or more gross tons; property damage initially estimated as $500,000 or more; serious threat, as determined by the commandant and concurred with by the NTSB chairman, to life, property, or the environment by hazardous materials.
The Coast Guard and partner agencies are examining a fractured pipeline that spilled tens of thousands of gallons of crude oil off the coast of Southern California on Oct. 7. (DVIDS, U.S. Coast Guard District 11/Zenger)
The estimated 144,000-gallon spill has shut down fisheries and beaches along the Southern California coast
Video released by the Coast Guard on Oct. 7 shows the ruptured underwater oil pipeline. The footage shows a portion of the 4,000-foot section of the nearly 18-mile-long oil pipeline, with a fissure estimated at 13 inches.
To date, more than 5,500 gallons of crude oil have been recovered, and 2.5 miles of beach have been protected with containment booms, the Coast Guard said.
There is no assessment yet of the ecological damage of the oil spill, which is estimated to have created an oil slick covering about 13 square miles of the Pacific Ocean. Countless fish were killed, and birds in contaminated water were covered in oil.
Kim Carr, the mayor of Huntington Beach, said: “Our wetlands are being degraded and portions of our coastline are now covered in oil.”
Amplify Energy is facing a class-action lawsuit brought by small businesses that operate along the coast.
Once crews are able to remove the damaged section of pipe, it will be sent to experts for analysis to help determine the cause of the breach that led to the oil spill.
Tyson Fury’s father John says Deontay Wilder could learn a thing or two from defeated British boxer Anthony Joshua on how to handle being beaten in the ring.
John Fury, 57, a former professional boxer and bare-knuckle fighter, told Dan Ludlam from Hayters TV that Wilder has been “in total denial” and “talking absolute rubbish for the last two years” following his defeat to Tyson Fury in February 2020.
As excitement builds ahead of the third Fury versus Wilder bout on Oct. 9, John Fury said “AJ [Anthony Joshua] had dignity in defeat” following his loss to Oleksandr Usyk on Sept. 26, whereas Wilder lacks the same humility.
In December 2018, Fury took on then-world champion Wilder for the first time and the fight ended in a controversial draw, with many believing the British challenger outpointed his opponent.
The result was more decisive last year when “The Gypsy King” stopped Wilder in the seventh round.
Following his first professional defeat and the loss of his heavyweight titles, Wilder started making several excuses for his, in the eyes of many, poor performance, including that Fury cheated, his water was spiked and that his costume before the fight was too heavy.
In the aftermath of the defeat, Wilder also split with long-term trainer Mark Breland, who threw in the towel in the seventh round of the second fight.
“I got asked about Wilder being like AJ,” John Fury told Hayters TV’s Ludlam. “You could never compare the two men. AJ had dignity in defeat, he knows what’s gone wrong, and he’s trying to put it right, and he will do [that].
“The other one’s in total denial and has been talking absolute rubbish for the last two years. He’s still talking rubbish and that’s what puts me off him as a fighter and that’s why in my opinion he cannot improve because of his mindset.
Tyson will know when to fight and when to box and “I don’t think Wilder has the intelligence to cope with that on any level at all,” the elder Fury said. “Not knocking him; it’s just the character he’s shown to me in defeat.
“How can you learn in defeat when you carry on like that?
“The American people love Tyson and I love the American people, but I like men amongst men, I like men to be men. I don’t want them to be like spoiled children in defeat. I admire men in defeat with dignity.”
He also predicted that his son will inflict even more punishment on Wilder in their highly anticipated third showdown.
Trainer Javan “Sugar” Hill-Steward (left) is prepping WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury (right) to go after the knockout on Saturday against Deontay Wilder, whom Fury dethroned by two-knockdown seventh-round TKO in February 2020. (Top Rank)
“The way I see it, the result will be the same, but I think he’ll get a worse beating than what he got before, and it will be the end of Deontay Wilder.”
Tyson Fury’s dad also suggested that a second successive defeat to his son could result in him entering his “retirement stages” as he will be “too badly damaged because Tyson has been training to hurt him and hurt him bad.
“And I mean that in the nicest way I possibly can.
“He’s got people blowing smoke up his back side, saying he can do this and do that. They can all talk a good show but when you’re under those bright lights and the man’s there in your face, you then realize that a formidable task is in front of you.
Summing up, John Fury said “Tyson is a great finisher these days, and he is in the hurt mode. He’s not going for a points decision. He knows it’s not possible in America.
“Tyson is going for the knockout and in explosive fashion. That’s what he’s trained to do.”
The fight will be shown exclusively live in the U.K. on BT Sport Box Office on Oct. 9. It is available elsewhere on ESPN/FOX PPV.
Scientists looking at excrement from snakes in the Galápagos Islands discovered they are cannibals that eat each other when stressed or hungry.
The findings by researchers at New Zealand’s Massey University and the Galápagos National Park involved snakes living on Fernandina Island in the western part of the Galápagos archipelago, a part of Ecuador.
Teeth and skin fragments in the feces of the snakes were determined to belong to members of the same species.
Luis Ortiz-Catedral, who led the study, which began in 2018, details fragments of snakeskin in 11 samples; one of which had 31 teeth and remains of skin.
“Our study highlights the generalist feeding behavior of Galápagos terrestrial snakes. In a place like Galápagos, it pays to be a generalist as prey numbers can fluctuate dramatically between years,” he said.
“We are only beginning to understand the trophic relationships of these snakes, which will help us conserve them in the long term.”
A Western Galápagos Racer (Pseudalsophis occidentalis) ​perhaps out of stress or real hunger looks in its own family for a meal on Fernandina Island, Galapagos Islands. (Luis Ortiz-Catedral/Zenger)
The results of the findings were published in the journal The Herpetological Bulletin.
Richard Wollocombe, a co-author of the study and nature documentarian, recorded and photographed the hunting behavior of the archipelago’s snakes and witnessed several attempts at cannibalism, the Galápagos National Park said in a statement.
The scientists concluded that the reason the snakes exhibited cannibalistic tendencies could be due to a state of stress that instinctively stops them from dying of starvation. But they also said that these occurrences could be random.
The study, which is part of a bigger investigation of all snakes that live in the Galápagos Islands, totaling nine species, began in 2018, with the scientists only publishing their findings now.
The Galápagos Islands, situated in the Pacific Ocean about 620 miles off the coast of South America, include 19 islands. They, along with the surrounding marine reserve, have been called a unique “living museum and showcase of evolution.”
Charles Darwin likely thought so.
After seeing and studying land iguanas, giant tortoises and the many types of finch on the island during an 1835 visit, he developed his theory of evolution by natural selection. Darwin noted the animals were similar from island to island, but had adapted to thrive in the environment they were in.
A Western Galápagos Racer (Pseudalsophis occidentalis) is one of the sturdy species that has ​adapted to survive — for now — on Fernandina Island, Galapagos Islands. (Luis Ortiz-Catedral/Zenger)
The huge expanse of ocean between the Galápagos Islands and the South American coast makes it very difficult for new kinds of plants and animals to reach the islands — in Darwin’s time and now.
But today more than 45 species of endemic birds, 42 reptiles, 15 mammals and 79 fish species live on Galápagos and in its nearby waters, according to the Ecuador national parks office.
