Science

WARNING GRAPHIC IMAGES: Male sea lion tosses cub in frustration during mating season

Horrifying pictures of an adult sea lion taking its frustration out on a cub seal in South America have gone viral.

The images were taken by photographer Pablo Cersosimo in Peninsula Valdes, Argentinian Patagonia, during the mating season for the South American sea lion, British news agency SWNS reports.

Cersosimo, who manages Wild South Photography in Buenos Aires, Argentina, said the scenario is not uncommon during the mating season for these mammals.

This is the horrifying moment a jilted seal takes his frustration out on a poor cub. (Credit: SWNS)

VIRAL PHOTO SHOWS SEAL ‘HIDING’ FROM CAMERA BEHIND ITS FLIPPER

“These images show a sub-adult South American sea lion kidnapping a recently born pup,” Cersosimo said. “During the mating season, it’s usual to see subadults having this behavior due to the frustration of not being able to fight against the big adult bulls for the females.”

Cersosimo, 52, said he was “amazed” at the difficult lives these creatures lead, almost as soon as they are born.

“They first need to survive their own species to have a chance,” Cersosimo added. “These animals face difficult situations since they are recently born pups and as a wildlife photographer, they earned all my admiration and respect.”

This image captured at Peninsula Valdes, Argentinian Patagonia, shows a sub-adult finding himself unable to fight against the bigger adults for the attention of the females. The scorned seal decides to vent this frustration by kidnapping a newborn pup. He hoists the terrified baby up into the air and proceeds to run across the beach brandishing the baby in his mouth before hurling it into the sand. (Credit: SWNS)

Despite the unfortunate incident, Cersosimo said he was “lucky to be in the right place at the right moment,” adding he was “grateful like always when I’m working doing what I love.”

The sea lion pup managed to survive the encounter.

South American sea lions, which live for around 20 years, vary in size, according to MarineBio.org. Males can reach up to 8.5 feet in length and weigh as much as 660 pounds, while females can reach around 6 feet in length and weigh roughly half the weight of males.

Males also have lighter manes than females, though females have lighter fur on their heads and necks.

The mammals were hunted “extensively” in the 19th and 20th centuries and are “endangered,” according to the World Wildlife Fund.

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Largest dinosaur ever had ‘rhino-like horn’ at birth, research reveals

Researchers have discovered an “incredibly rare” embryo of a titanosaur that shows the long-necked herbivore had a “rhino-like horn” on its nose that was lost when it reached adulthood.

The fossilized skull of the 80-million-year-old previously unknown species of titanosaur shows the horn in remarkable detail. The skull is just 1.2-inches-long, but in addition to the horn, it shows the giant sauropod had “at least a partial binocular vision that would provide a much better visual perception,” researchers wrote in the study.

“The preservation of embryonic dinosaurs preserved inside their eggs is extremely rare,” study co-author Dr. John Nudds said in a statement. “Imagine the huge sauropods from ‘Jurassic Park’ and consider that the tiny skulls of their babies, still inside their eggs, are just a couple of centimeters long.”

(Credit: University of Manchester)

‘JURASSIC PARK’ WAS WRONG: RAPTORS DIDN’T HUNT IN PACKS

The findings were published in the scientific journal Current Biology.

After examining the “amazing specimen,” researchers now suspect these giant dinosaurs, which reached up to nearly 40 feet in length and weighed 29,000 pounds, used the horns to break out of their eggs, akin to an “egg tooth.”

“We were able to reconstruct the embryonic skull prior to hatching,” Nudds added. “The embryos possessed a specialized craniofacial anatomy that precedes the post-natal transformation of the skull in adult sauropods. Part of the skull of these embryonic sauropods was extended into an elongated snout or horn, so that they possessed a peculiarly shaped face.”

Despite the incredible findings, the fossilized skull was almost lost to science, LiveScience reports. It was smuggled out of Argentina and sold in 2001 at an auction in Tucson, Ariz., to study co-author Terry Manning.

Manning thought about selling the embryo at another auction, according to a 2004 article in the scientific journal Nature, but he eventually repatriated the fossil to Argentina. From there, it was analyzed and now resides at the Carmen Funes Municipal Museum in Neuquen Province, in Patagonia, Argentina.

‘JURASSIC PARK’ GOT NEARLY EVERYTHING WRONG ABOUT DILOPHOSAURUS, NEW STUDY SAYS

Titanosaur embryos are rare, but fossils of the enormous dinosaur have cropped up in recent years.

In 2015, a titanosaur was found in New Mexico. Fossils of another titanosaur were discovered in Argentina, also in 2015.

FOSSILIZED REMAINS OF A BABY DINOSAUR DISCOVERED IN ALASKA MAY ALTER HOW THEY’RE VIEWED

In 2017, the earliest known titanosaur on record, a 160-million-year-old behemoth, was discovered in Jurassic-era France. Separately in 2017, researchers decreed the 76-ton specimen known as Patagotitan, a member of the titanosaurs, was the largest ever dinosaur discovered.

In 2019, a new titanosaur with a “heart-shaped tail” was identified.

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Dallas Zoo announces births of 3 African lion cubs

Meet Izwi, Ilola and Tadala.

The Dallas Zoo has announced this week the births of three African lion cubs, describing them as the first litter of multiple big cats welcomed at the facility since 1974.

“These three cubs are the embodiment of resiliency, strength, and hope, which we hope can be a bright spot in our community right now,” said Gregg Hudson, its president and CEO, according to Fox4.

The Dallas Zoo announced this week the births of three African lion cubs. (Dallas Zoo)

REAL-LIFE ‘BAMBIS’ SPOTTED WITH MOTHER IN SCOTLAND

The cubs were born on Aug. 17 after their mother, Bahati, underwent a cesarean section procedure.

The zoo says the name of Izwi, a male, means “vocal” in the Shona language of Zimbabwe. Ilola, a female, is said to have undergone weeks of physical therapy to correct developmental issues in her legs, and was named after the phrase “to become strong” in the Sesotho language of South Africa.

The name of Tadala, the third cub and also a female, means “we have been blessed” in the southeast-African Chewa language, the Zoo adds.

The cubs will make remain in their den for a few more weeks before making their public debut. (Dallas Zoo)

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“During Bahati’s initial ultrasounds, it was clear that two cubs were developing, but during the birth, we were thrilled to find three cubs instead!” it said in a statement.

Zoo officials say the cubs are expected to remain away from view for several more weeks before making their debut to the public.

NASA measures California wildfire temperatures from the Space Station

NASA has measured California wildfire temperatures using an instrument on the International Space Station.

The space agency’s ECOsystem Spaceborne Thermal Radiometer Experiment on Space Station (ECOSTRESS) imaged the fires, including the El Dorado fire near Yucaipa and the Valley Fire in Japatul Valley, according to NASA.

CALIFORNIA AND OREGON WILDFIRES SPOTTED FROM SPACE IN INCREDIBLE SATELLITE PICTURES

The images were captured on Sept. 6.

NASA’s ECOsystem Spaceborne Thermal Radiometer Experiment on Space Station (ECOSTRESS) imaged active fires across California on Sept. 6, 2020.
(Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech)

“Both images, taken at 12:13 a.m. PDT (3:13 a.m. EDT), show multiple concentrated areas of surface temperatures (in red) higher than 375 degrees Fahrenheit (191 degrees Celsius),” NASA said, in a statement. “These high-temperature regions were likely where the active fires were occurring. The surrounding areas show abnormally warm middle-of-the-night background surface temperatures (orange) due to the ongoing heat wave.”

ECOSTRESS is operated by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

DEVASTATING WILDFIRE ‘ANATOMY’ EXPLAINED

The California and Oregon wildfires have also been spotted from space in remarkable satellite pictures. The images, captured by National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and NASA satellites, show the incredible scale of the wildfires.

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At least seven people have died from the wildfires ravaging the West Coast.

Fox News’ Travis Fedschun contributed to this article.

Follow James Rogers on Twitter @jamesjrogers

Baffling interstellar object ‘Oumuamua could be a ‘dust bunny’

Ever since its discovery in October 2017, researchers have speculated what the interstellar object ‘Oumuamua is: an alien “light sail” from another civilization; it’s made of something almost unheard of in science; others suggest it is a comet or an asteroid.

A new study now suggests it might be something very common on Earth: a cosmic “dust bunny.”

The research, published in Astrophysical Journal Letters, theorizes the 900 foot-long cigar-shaped object is comprised of dust fragments from an interstellar comet, which had a chunk of rock broken off. From there, the dust and rock combined and would be “ejected” into interstellar space by solar radiation.

Artist’s illustration of ‘Oumuamua, the first known interstellar object spotted in our solar system.
(M. Kornmesser/ESO)

MYSTERIOUS INTERSTELLAR OBJECT ‘OUMUAMUA GETS NEW ORIGIN STORY

“We propose that ‘Oumuamua’s properties could be explained as those of a fractal dust aggregate (a ‘dust bunny’) formed in the inner coma of a fragmenting exo-Oort cloud comet,” the researchers wrote in the study’s abstract.

They continued: “Such fragments could serve as accretion sites by accumulating dust particles, resulting in the formation of a fractal aggregate. The fractal aggregate eventually breaks off from the fragment due to hydrodynamic stress. With their low density and tenuously bound orbits, most of these cometary fractal aggregates are then ejected into interstellar space by radiation pressure.”

The idea of a “dust bunny” being created from the rock and dust of another comet is similar to another theory put forth earlier this year. In April, another group of researchers suggested ‘Oumuamua – which means “pathfinder” or “scout” in Hawaiian – could have been ripped from a larger object due to gravity from a nearby star.

MYSTERY SURROUNDING INTERSTELLAR ‘OUMUAMUA DEEPENS AS RESEARCHER CHALLENGE EARLIER THEORY

No longer observable by telescopes as of January 2018, many have speculated about what ‘Ouamumua is, as it traveled through the Solar System at 57,000 mph.

A study published in November 2018 from the Harvard Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics suggested it could be “a lightsail of artificial origin” sent from another civilization.

The researcher who discovered ‘Oumuamua, Canadian physicist and astronomer Robert Weryk, said the idea it was from another civilization was just “wild speculation.”

The mystery about its exact nature deepened in late 2018, when NASA said it had been looking in ‘Ouamumua’s direction for two months but did not originally see it.

A second interstellar object, Comet 2I/Borisov, was discovered in August 2019.

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California and Oregon wildfires spotted from space in incredible satellite pictures

The wildfires ravaging California and Oregon have been spotted from space in remarkable satellite pictures.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) tweeted satellite images of wildfires burning in Oregon. The images were captured by NOAA’s GOES-17 satellite.

“It’s not just California that is battling #wildfires, Oregon is ablaze too—seen here yesterday evening from @NOAA’s #GOES17,” tweeted NOAA satellites public affairs early Wednesday.

LIVE UPDATES: WILDFIRES RAGE IN CALIFORNIA, OREGON

NOAA released this GIF of the Oregon wildfires.
(NOAA/CIRA)

Another satellite image provided by NOAA on Sept. 8 showed smoke from wildfires blown westward, from California’s Sierra Nevada to the Coast Ranges, and from Oregon.

This satellite image provided by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration at 20:36 UTC (1:36 pm PDT) shows smoke from wildfires blown westward, from California’s Sierra Nevada to the Coast Ranges, at center to left, and from Oregon at top left, Tuesday, Sept. 8, 2020.
(NOAA via AP)

Millions of acres of wildland and many homes and other structures have been lost to the flames.

The Suomi NPP satellite, which is operated by NASA and NOAA, also captured images of the incredible scale of the wildfires.

WILDFIRE EMERGENCY IN OREGON AS IT FACES ‘ONCE-IN-A-GENERATION EVENT,’ MEDFORD UNDER EVACUATION ORDERS

The Suomi NPP satellite, which is operated by NOAA and NASA, captured an image of fires across America on Sep. 07, 2020.
(Credits: NOAA/NASA)

The satellite captured a stunning true-color image of the wildfires across the U.S. “Obscuring the surface is a blanket of smoke from California to Arkansas with a haze present over the East Coast as well,” said NASA, in a statement.

The OMPS (Ozone Mapper and Profiler Suite) on NASA and NOAA’s Suomi NPP satellite was used to provide this image of the aerosols released from the burning fires which has traveled east.
(Credits: NOAA/NASA)

Data on the aerosols released by the fires was also captured by the satellite. “High aerosol concentrations not only can affect climate and reduce visibility, they also can impact breathing, reproduction, the cardiovascular system, and the central nervous system, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency,” NASA explained. “Since aerosols are able to remain suspended in the atmosphere and be carried in prevailing high-altitude wind streams, they can travel great distances away from their source as evidenced in these images and their effects can linger.”

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Wildfires rage throughout California, and gusty Diablo and Santa Ana winds could drive flames into new ferocity, authorities have warned. Dozens of wildfires are also raging across Oregon.

Fox News’ Travis Fedschun and The Associated Press contributed to this article.

Follow James Rogers on Twitter @jamesjrogers

Real-life ‘Bambis’ spotted with mother in Scotland

It’s something out of a Disney movie.

A wildlife photographer captured an image of two “real-life Bambis” in a field of heather in Scotland, British news agency SWNS reports.

Paul Masterton, who hails from Edinburgh, captured the image of the majestic mammals in Glen Quaich, Perthshire. The 59-year-old father of three usually gets up early and heads to Glen Quaich to take photos of local wildlife, but this shot managed to surprise him.

This glorious photo shows a female deer with her two fawns in a field of heather at first light in Glen Quaich, Perthshire. (Credit: SWNS)

DEER WITH THREE ANTLERS CAUGHT ON CAMERA IN MICHIGAN

“I often go up there to enjoy wildlife [and] we got up at 4 a.m. and try to be there for first light as it’s the best time to spot wildlife,” Masterton, 59, said. “The heather is blooming right now, we have not seen any deer there before. There was a mum roe deer and two little ones, like real-life Bambis.”

Heather, which was “like a purple carpet,” according to Masterton, are small shrubs of flowers that grow in rocky areas.

Commonly found in Scotland, it often comes in pink or white, but can grow in different colors, including a pale shade of blue and purple mixed with grey.

“It was very peaceful; it was only me and a friend in the car,” Masterton added. “The three of them were looking to the left, I think they spotted a stag coming, then they bolted away. They must have thought the stag was coming to harm them. It is like a real-life Bambi.”

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E.T. missing? Astronomers come up empty looking for technological signs of life in 10M star systems

Sorry, E.T. We’re trying to find you, but we’ve had no luck.

Working on a project known as “Looking for E.T.,” astronomers in Australia completed “the deepest and broadest search” looking for technological signs of extraterrestrial civilizations at more than 10 million star systems and have come up empty.

The researchers used the Murchison Widefield Array (MWA) in outback Western Australia to scan for “technosignatures” that could potentially indicate the presence of an advanced civilization. The MWA searches for radio emissions at frequencies that are similar to FM radio frequencies.

A 20-second exposure showing the Milky Way overhead the AAVS station. (Michael Goh and ICRAR/Curtin)

ARE THERE REALLY 36 ALIEN CIVILIZATIONS OUT THERE? WELL, MAYBE

“The MWA is a unique telescope, with an extraordinarily wide field-of-view that allows us to observe millions of stars simultaneously,” the study’s lead author, Chenoa Tremblay, said in a statement. “We observed the sky around the constellation of Vela for 17 hours, looking more than 100 times broader and deeper than ever before. With this dataset, we found no technosignatures—no sign of intelligent life.”

Technosignatures are defined as “potentially detectable signatures and signals of the presence of distant advanced civilizations,” according to NASA. In February, the SETI Institute announced it is working on new techniques to spot technosignatures.

To date, no presence of another civilization has been found, something the researchers in the new study firmly acknowledge.

FINDING EXTRATERRESTRIAL LIFE ‘PROBABLY GOING TO TAKE A LONG TIME,’ ASTRONOMER SAYS

“Our results clearly continue to demonstrate that [search for extraterrestrial intelligence] has a long way to go,” the researchers wrote in the paper.

The study, which has not been peer reviewed yet, is available to be read on the preprint arXiv server.

However, there is hope that the MWA’s successor, the $2 billion Square Kilometre Array observatory with telescopes in South Africa and Western Australia, could find “Earth-like radio signals” in space in the not-too-distant future.

“Due to the increased sensitivity, the SKA low-frequency telescope to be built in Western Australia will be capable of detecting Earth-like radio signals from relatively nearby planetary systems,” study co-author Steven Tingay added. “With the SKA, we’ll be able to survey billions of star systems, seeking technosignatures in an astronomical ocean of other worlds.”

The newly published study is not the first to perform a multistar scan of a large portion of the universe and not find any signs of life. In June 2019, researchers found no evidence of extraterrestrial life among the more than 1,300 stars in close proximity to Earth, a hunt that spanned more than three years.

THERE COULD BE MORE THAN 30 ALIEN CIVILIZATIONS IN THE MILKY WAY, SHOCKING STUDY SAYS

A separate study published in mid-May suggested that not only is the “universe teeming with life” but that it’s “the favored bet.”

In March, a separate study theorized finding life in the universe “could be common” when taking into account how life’s building blocks spontaneously form throughout the universe.

ALIEN LIFE AN ALMOST CERTAINTY, EXPERT SAYS

More than 4,000 exoplanets have been discovered by NASA, approximately 50 of which were believed to be potentially habitable as of September 2018. They have the right size and the right orbit of their star to support surface water and, at least theoretically, to support life.

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‘Potentially hazardous’ asteroid wider than two football fields set to fly past Earth next week

An asteroid wider than two professional football fields is set to fly safely past Earth on Sept. 14, according to NASA’s Center for Near-Earth Object Studies.

The space rock, known as asteroid 2020 QL2, is more than 120 meters (393 feet) in diameter, the government agency notes. It is expected to fly past Earth at a speed of nearly 24,000 mph and come within a distance of 4.2 million miles.

By comparison, the moon is 238,900 miles from the Earth.

File photo: Artistic impression of two near-earth objects. (ESA / P. Carril)

ASTEROID TO FLY PAST EARTH JUST BEFORE ELECTION DAY, NASA SAYS

Asteroid 2020 QL2 is considered “potentially hazardous” by NASA, given its size and close proximity to Earth, although it has almost no chance of hitting the planet next week.

“Potentially hazardous” NEOs are defined as space objects that come within 0.05 astronomical units (4.6 million miles) and measure more than 460 feet in diameter, according to NASA. According to a 2018 report put together by Planetary.org, there are more than 18,000 NEOs.

In August, a basketball court-sized asteroid flew “at least” 45,000 miles away from Earth, according to NASA’s Asteroid Watch.

Separately in August, an asteroid the size of a pickup truck flew within 2,000 miles of Earth, the closest ever recorded. It was missed by NASA until after it flew past the planet.

MILE-LONG ASTEROID COULD BE DANGEROUS TO LIFE ON EARTH IN MILLIONS OF YEARS IF IT BREAKS UP: SCIENTISTS

NASA unveiled a 20-page plan in 2018 that details the steps the U.S. should take to be better prepared for NEOs, such as asteroids and comets that come within 30 million miles of the planet.

A recent survey showed that Americans prefer a space program that focuses on potential asteroid impacts over sending humans back to the moon or to Mars.

NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine said in April 2019 that an asteroid strike is not something to be taken lightly and is perhaps Earth’s biggest threat.

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Orca who carried dead calf for 17 days in ‘tour of grief’ gives birth again

Killer whales taught to speak, new report

“Hello” from the other side! A new report shows the findings of researchers attempting to teach killer whales how to mimic human sounds, and yes, even speak. You have to hear it to believe it.

The grieving killer whale who made global headlines two years ago for carrying her dead calf for more than two weeks is now a new mother, researchers announced Sunday.

The Center for Whale Research said the endangered orca whale, named Tahlequah, was spotted in the eastern Strait of Juan de Fuca in U.S. waters between Washington state and Vancouver Island with her new calf.

“Hooray! Her new calf appeared healthy and precocious, swimming vigorously alongside its mother in its second day of free-swimming life,” the group said on its website.

ORCA MOTHER WHO CARRIED HER DEAD CALF FOR WEEKS IS PREGNANT AGAIN, RESEARCHERS REVEAL

Researchers believe the calf, known as J57, was likely born on Friday because its dorsal fin was upright.

The new calf, J57, with its mother, J35, also known as Tahlequah, were spotted in the eastern Strait of Juan de Fuca in U.S. waters on Friday.
(Katie Jones via Center for Whale Research)

“We know that it was not born today because its dorsal fin was upright, and we know that it takes a day or two to straighten after being bent over in the womb, so we assign its birthday as September 4, 2020,” the group said.

Tahlequah, a Southern Resident killer whale, was mostly separate from the other whales and was observed being “very evasive” as she crossed the border into Canada.

The new calf, J57, with its mother, J35, also known as Tahlequah, were spotted in the eastern Strait of Juan de Fuca in U.S. waters on Friday.
(Katie Jones via Center for Whale Research)

“We ended our encounter with her after a few minutes and wished them well on their way,” the group said.

ORCA THAT CARRIED DEAD, DECOMPOSING CALF FOR WEEKS NOW RETURNS TO FUN WITH FRIENDS

Tahlequah famously conducted a “tour of grief” in the summer of 2018, carrying her dead calf for more than 1,000 miles over 17 days.

The group said the whale, also known as J35, became pregnant again in February last year. She was spotted in July.

The new calf, J57, with its mother, J35, also known as Tahlequah, were spotted in the eastern Strait of Juan de Fuca in U.S. waters on Friday.
(Katie Jones via Center for Whale Research)

In a blog post from July, marine conservation group SR3 explained that pregnant whales have been spotted among the Southern Resident killer whales. The research was based on aerial photos collected by Holly Fearnbach of SR3 and John Durban of Southall Environmental Associates.

“With such a small population (Center for Whale Research shows the population at 73 whales), every successful birth is hugely important for recovery,” explained SR3 in its blog post.

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The Marine Mammal Commission notes that in June 2019 the population of Southern Resident killer whales was 76 in June 2019, its lowest point in 34 years.

Fox News’ James Rogers and Madeline Fish contributed to this report.

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