In November 2013, a volcanic eruption raised a large land mass in the Pacific Ocean, about 1,000 kilometers south of Tokyo, eventually connecting with the nearby island of Nishinoshima in the Ogasawara archipelago. For the most part, the new 2.46-square-kilometer formation, which is still spreading, consists solely of rocks. Now a team of biologists has observed that although the outcrop is essentially a barren expanse, life can begin to colonize it from the droppings of seabirds.
The discovery has taken place in the Chinese province of Hebei, where members of the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology have found a pair of perfectly preserved fossils of this new species, baptized with the name of Archaeornithura meemannae.
They have been colonizing Europe and North America for almost 50 years, creating thousands of nests in cities and suburban areas. We are talking about the Argentine parrots (Myiopsitta monachus), one of the most invasive bird species on the entire planet, which seem to come from the same and not very extensive geographical area of South America.
In the last tens of millions of years, some species of moths have developed various strategies to interfere with the echolocation system that bats use to detect and trap them.
Stephen Haggerty, a geologist at Florida International University in Miami and head of exploration for the Youssef Diamond Mining Company, says he has discovered a West African plant that only grows on kimberlite chimneys or pipes.
The impact of forest fires is increasing in the Iberian Peninsula, due in part to climate change. A team of Spanish and Portuguese researchers have quantified the likely areas that will burn between now and the end of the century to calculate how rising temperatures will affect the proliferation of fires.
Danni Büchner is invited to Sam Dylan's Halloween party. But the "Goodbye Germany" emigrant has no desire for many other party guests. And find clear words.
