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All in Human Interest
It took amateur photographer Nimi Sarikhani three days of searching for polar bears, but he finally happened upon the perfect shot: a young male bear catching a few zees atop a small iceberg, illuminated in northern Norway’s midnight sun.
Coffee shops around Japan have fully embraced the concept of the animal cafe. First came pet-friendly spots, then cat and dog cafes, then all manner of creature-themed stops, including the latest craze: the pig cafe.
Last year we noted the longevity of Bobi, both at his incredible 31st birthday, and at his passing in October. Now the arbiter of such things, Guinness World Records, is investigating Bobi’s advanced age, which has been questioned by veterinarians.
Last week’s Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas was heavy on artificial intelligence, including new thinking machines programmed to care for your pets when you cannot. Among the new products is the Oro Dog Companion Robot, an AI-powered droid from Ogmen Robotics.
A brave soul on Australia's NSW Central Coast recently captured a very large funnel-web spider, the world’s most venomous arachnid. The spider, the largest male of its kind ever seen, has been donated to the Australian Reptile Park, which will now put the ginormous creeper they’ve named Hercules to work saving lives.
Researchers spent many hours watching and filming domestic cats in a Los Angeles cat cafe, and they determined that the felines can conjure nearly 300 facial expressions. The research is published in the journal Behavioural Processes.
The bears have eaten and the people have spoken. The winner of the 2023 Fat Bear Week is an empty-nest mom named Grazer 128. The zaftig beauty beat out the competition at Katmai National Park and Preserve in Alaska, where she won the final round in a landslide – 108,321 votes to 23,134.
The UK’s Natural History Museum has announced its annual Wildlife Photographer of the Year winners. Top marks go to French marine biologist-photographer Laurent Ballesta, who captured on film a gold-colored horseshoe crab patrolling the sea floor off Pangatalan Island, Philippines, closely followed by three tiny golden trevally fish.
A female peregrine falcon sank her talons into a much larger brown pelican mid-flight, and photographer Jack Zhi was on hand to capture the attack on film. The image, among the 23,000 entries submitted to the Bird Photography of the Year contest, is so good it was the Overall Winner and it took the gold in another category, Bird Behaviour.
A number of books on foraging mushrooms and related cookbooks sold on Amazon are not authored by expert mycophagists or even by humans. They are generated by artificial intelligence and they are dangerous.
A surgeon performing a biopsy in Australia was shocked to pluck a wriggling worm from her patient’s brain. Neurosurgeon Hari Priya Bandi was investigating the patient’s mysterious symptoms when she happened upon the 3-inch parasite, which she extracted with forceps.
An intensive search over the weekend for the legendary (mythical? elusive? imaginary?) Loch Ness Monster has turned up no specific evidence of Nessie’s existence, so far. Hundreds of researchers, tourists, and assorted Nessie enthusiasts took part in what is being touted as the biggest search for the beast in fifty years.
A king penguin in Scotland’s Edinburgh Zoo reached a new career milestone this week as he was promoted to Major General in the King’s Guard of Norway. His new title is a mouthful: Major General Sir Nils Olav III, Baron of the Bouvet Islands.
Scientists in Peru discovered a new species of snake in the Andes Mountains, which they promptly named after a movie star whose most famous character happens to hate snakes: Tachymenoides harrisonfordi.
A rare two-headed snake took two years to recover from its self-induced injury, but he’s (they’re?) finally back in his exhibit at the Cameron Park Zoo in Waco, Texas.
A Japanese man spent two million yen (about $15K) on a terrifyingly realistic dog suit. He goes only by his dog name, Toco, preferring to keep his human identity a secret.
A mayor in Mexico’s Oaxaca state has married a caiman – a toothly reptile and close cousin to alligators and crocodiles – in a traditional wedding. Victor Hugo Sosa got hitched to one “Alicia Adriana” in the town of San Pedro Huamelula, re-enacting an ancestral ritual believed to bring good fortune.
Valentine’s Day isn’t just for sharing chocolate and flowers, it’s also a time for feeding your ex to a meerkat. Zoos are offering exes a chance to name cockroaches and other vermin after their departed partners.
Scientists from Tel Aviv University have created a monster, but it might be a useful monster: a very sensitive odor-identification device built of electronics, artificial intelligence, and the antenna of the humble locust.
Prison guards at the Pacific Institution in Abbotsford, British Columbia were stunned last week when a pigeon arrived carrying contraband: about an ounce of crystal meth. The bird was attempting to smuggle the drug inside its wee backpack.
