Bizarre 'Blue Buttons' Wash up on Florida's Gulf Coast Beachgoers saw several tiny creatures that looked like jellyfish on Destin, Florida, beaches Thursday morning.A distant relative of jellyfish, they were porpita porpita, also known as blue buttons.These quarter-sized creatures can sting, though not as painfully as many types of jellyfish. Beachgoers in Destin, Florida, recently encountered an unexpected creature that resembled a round jellyfish. Though not a jellyfish, these porpita porpita, more commonly known as blue buttons, were seen Thursday morning on several beaches in the Destin area, according to the Northwest Florida Daily News. Along Florida's Gulf Coast this summer, there have been numerous sightings. (MORE: Here's What 30 Years of Change Looks Like Along a River) "We haven’t seen them in any mass numbers where it would be a problem for the general public," Destin Fire Control District beach safety chief Joe D’Agostino told the Northwest Florida Daily News.
Nearly 200 Horses Found Dead Amid Southwest Drought In Arizona CAMERON, Arizona - Off a northern Arizona highway surrounded by pastel-colored desert is one of the starkest examples of drought's grip on the American Southwest: Nearly 200 dead horses surrounded by cracked earth, swirling dust, and a ribbon of water that couldn't quench their thirst. Flesh exposed and in various stages of decomposition, the carcasses form a circle around a dry watering hole sunken in the landscape, CBS affiliate KPHO reports. It's clear this isn't the first time the animals have struggled. Skeletal remains are scattered on the fringes and in an adjacent ravine. It's a symptom of a burgeoning wild horse population and the scarcity of water on the western edge of the Navajo Nation following a dry winter and dismal spring runoff. According to the Navajo Nation, 191 horses died of natural causes. "These animals were searching for water to stay alive. A grim photo posted by the Navajo Nation shows the horses, many of them in mud up to their thighs and even their necks.
How much the average person in 40 different countries takes home after taxes Earth has lost half of its wildlife in the past 40 years, says WWF | Environment The number of wild animals on Earth has halved in the past 40 years, according to a new analysis. Creatures across land, rivers and the seas are being decimated as humans kill them for food in unsustainable numbers, while polluting or destroying their habitats, the research by scientists at WWF and the Zoological Society of London found. “If half the animals died in London zoo next week it would be front page news,” said Professor Ken Norris, ZSL’s director of science. “But that is happening in the great outdoors. “We have lost one half of the animal population and knowing this is driven by human consumption, this is clearly a call to arms and we must act now,” said Mike Barratt, director of science and policy at WWF. The steep decline of animal, fish and bird numbers was calculated by analysing 10,000 different populations, covering 3,000 species in total. If not, he added, the overuse of resources would ultimately lead to conflicts.
Sean's Bar Seán's Bar is a pub in the town of Athlone that is Ireland’s oldest pub, dating back to AD 900. In 2004 Guinness World Records listed Seán's Bar as the oldest pub in Europe.[1][2][3] Seán's Bar is located at 13 Main Street, Athlone, on the west bank of the River Shannon in central Ireland, and was originally known as "Luain's Inn". It is often colloquially referred to simply as "Seán's". History[edit] Musicians at Sean's Bar, Athlone The name of the town Athlone derives from the Irish Atha Luain, meaning "the Ford of Luain".[4] Luain was an innkeeper who guided people across the treacherous waters of the ancient ford.[5] Later, a settlement was established around the crossing point and King Turlough O' Connor built the first wooden castle here in 1129. See also[edit] References[edit] Further reading[edit] External links[edit] Coordinates:
World’s great forests could lose half of all wildlife as planet warms – report | Environment The world’s greatest forests could lose more than half of their plant species by the end of the century unless nations ramp up efforts to tackle climate change, according to a new report on the impacts of global warming on biodiversity hotspots. Mammals, amphibians, reptiles and birds are also likely to disappear on a catastrophic scale in the Amazon and other naturally rich ecosysterms in Africa, Asia, North America and Australia if temperatures rise by more than 1.5C, concludes the study by WWF, the University of East Anglia and the James Cook University. The research in the journal Climate Change examined the impact of three different levels of warming – 2C (the upper target in the 2015 Paris agreement), 3.2C (the likely rise given existing national commitments) and 4.5C (the forecast outcome if emissions trends remain unchanged) on nearly 80,000 plant and animal species in 35 of the world’s most biodiverse regions. A partial solution may be relocation.
Apple and Its Rivals Bet Their Futures on These Men’s Dreams Over the past five years, artificial intelligence has gone from perennial vaporware to one of the technology industry’s brightest hopes. Computers have learned to recognize faces and objects, understand the spoken word, and translate scores of languages. The world’s biggest companies—Alphabet, Amazon.com, Apple, Facebook, and Microsoft—have bet their futures largely on AI, racing to see who’s fastest at building smarter machines. That’s fueled the perception that AI has come out of nowhere, what with Tesla’s self-driving cars and Alexa chatting up your child. But this was no overnight hit, nor was it the brainchild of a single Silicon Valley entrepreneur. The ideas behind modern AI—neural networks and machine learning—have roots you can trace to the last stages of World War II. While these pioneers were scattered around the globe, there happened to be an unusually large concentration of neural net devotees in Canada. (Now, not everyone agrees with Canada’s pride of place.
‘Raw hatred’: why the 'incel' movement targets and terrorises women When a van was driven on to a Toronto pavement on Tuesday, killing 10 people and injuring 15, police chief Mark Saunders said that, while the incident appeared to be a deliberate act, there was no evidence of terrorism. The public safety minister Ralph Goodale backed this up, deeming the event “not part of an organised terror plot”. Canada has rules about these things: to count as terrorism, the attacker must have a political, religious or social motivation, something beyond “wanting to terrorise”. Why have the authorities been so fast to reject the idea of terrorism (taking as read that this may change; the tragedy is very fresh)? There is a reluctance to ascribe to the “incel” movement anything so lofty as an “ideology” or credit it with any developed, connected thinking, partly because it is so bizarre in conception. There are no numbers on how many adherents this doctrine has, or how extreme they are, “but it’s not one tiny bit of Reddit” says Wendling.
A brief history of ketchup Trade wars have an interesting way of revealing cultural stereotypes. Countries often propose tariffs not on the most valuable items in their trading relationships – since that would be painful to them as well – but rather products iconic of national character. A good example of this came in the European Union’s retaliation against U.S. steel tariffs. Now, American ketchup is being targeted, both by the EU and Canada. The EU’s threat is mostly symbolic because it is already a significant producer of ketchup – including by American brands like H.J. In either case, at least part of the reasoning behind using it as a weapon in the growing trade war seems to be that ketchup, also spelled catsup, is one of those products that sounds distinctly American, poured generously on burgers and fries at baseball parks and Fourth of July barbecues across the U.S. The origins of ‘ke-chiap’ Heinz makes it ‘American’ How the world consumes ketchup Ketchup lovers today What does all this mean for the tariffs?
Climate change will displace millions Wildfires tearing across Southern California have forced thousands of residents to evacuate from their homes. Even more people fled ahead of the hurricanes that slammed into Texas and Florida earlier this year, jamming highways and filling hotels. A viral social media post showed a flight-radar picture of people trying to escape Florida and posed a provocative question: What if the adjoining states were countries and didn’t grant escaping migrants refuge? By the middle of this century, experts estimate that climate change is likely to displace between 150 and 300 million people. Yet neither individual countries nor the global community are completely prepared to support a whole new class of “climate migrants.” Millions displaced yearly Climate migration is already happening. Between 2008 and 2015, an average of 26.4 million people per year were displaced by climate- or weather-related disasters, according to the United Nations. Recognize and plan for climate migrants now