Some Australian dolphins use sponges to hunt fish, but it's harder than it looks
Using the sponge to protect from sharp rocks, the dolphins swim with their beaks covered, shoveling through rubble at the bottom of sandy channels and stirring up barred sandperch for a meal.
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Meet the robo-bunny: This tiny, furry robot is taking on invasive pythons in Florida
Among the cypress and sawgrass of South Florida, a new weapon in the state's fight to remove invasive pythons lurks, waiting to entice its prey. Yes, it's a mechanical rabbit. Just don't call it the Energizer bunny. Researchers at the University of Florida have outfitted 40 furry, fake toy rabbits with motors and tiny heaters that work together to mimic the movements and body temperature of a marsh rabbit — a favorite python meal. The fluffy army's mission? Help conservationists remove the highly destructive serpents that have invaded the state's ecosystem Florida's 10-day python challenge: Why hunters are chasing invasive snakes in the state Why are they using robot rabbits? The bunnies spin. They shake. They move randomly, and their creation is based on more than a decade of scientific review that began with a 2012 study that transported rabbits into Everglades National Park to see if, and how quickly, they would become python prey. 'The rabbits didn't fare well,' said Robert McCleery, a UF professor of wildlife ecology and conservation who's leading the robot bunny study that launched this summer. Subsequent studies revealed that pythons are drawn to live rabbits in pens with an average python attraction rate of about one snake per week. But having multiple live rabbits in pens spread across a formidable landscape is cumbersome and requires too much manpower to care for them. So, why not robot bunnies? 'We want to capture all of the processes that an actual rabbit would give off,' McCleery said. 'But I'm an ecologist. I'm not someone who sits around making robots.' Instead, colleague Chris Dutton, also a UF ecology professor but more mechanically adept, pulled the stuffing out of a toy rabbit and replaced it with 30 electronic components that are solar-powered and controlled remotely so that researchers can turn them on and off at specific times. The rabbits were placed in different areas of South Florida in July 2025 for a test phase that includes a camera programmed to recognize python movement and alert researchers when one nears the rabbit pen. One of the biggest challenges was waterproofing the bunnies so the correct temperature could still be radiated. McCleery was reluctant to give specifics on where the rabbit pens are located. 'I don't want people hunting down my robo-bunnies,' he said. Version 2.0 of the study will add bunny scent to the stuffed rabbits if motion and heat aren't enough to fool the snakes. Why are Burmese pythons a problem? Burmese pythons aren't native to Florida. They were introduced to the state through the pet trade in the 1970s and release over time into the wild. The snakes gained a foothold in Everglades National Park by the mid-1980s, according to the 2021 Florida Python Control plan, and quickly proliferated, threatening other key species in the ecosystem. A 2012 study by the United States Geological Survey found the pythons had contributed to population declines of a half-dozen animals, including racoons, opossums, bobcats, foxes, marsh rabbits and cottontail rabbits The United States Geological Survey puts the Burmese python population in the Everglades in the tens of thousands. Pythons have migrated north from the park, and researches believe they may be able to survive as far north as Georgia if temperatures continue to warm and the snakes burrow during cold snaps. What else is Florida doing to control the python population? State officials trying to mitigate the python population have turned to many strategies – with varying degrees of success. Renowned snake hunters from the Irula tribe in India were brought in to hunt and share their skills. People have used near-infrared cameras for python detection and specially designed traps. Some pythons are tracked by the DNA they shed in water. The annual Florida Python Challenge has also gained legendary status, attracting hundreds of hunters each year vying for the $10,000 grand prize. The 10-day challenge was developed by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission to remove the pythons from state land. This year's challenge runs through July 20. Starting in 2017, the South Florida Water Management District and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission also began paying 100 bounty hunters hourly wages and bonuses based on the length of the snake caught. The hunters have removed an estimated 15,800 snakes since 2019 and were called the 'most effective management strategy in the history of the issue' by district invasive animal biologist Mike Kirkland. Kirkland oversees the district's hunters. Kirkland oversees the district's hunters and is involved in other python removal projects, including the robo-bunny experiment. 'It's projects like (McCleery's) that can be used in areas of important ecological significance where we can entice the pythons to come out of their hiding places and come to us,' Kirkland said at the board meeting. 'It could be a bit of a game changer.' Euthanasia or execution? Lawsuit says government wrongly killed Peanut the squirrel McCleery said he's pleased state officials are willing to experiment. 'Our partners have allowed us to trial these things that may sound a little crazy,' McCleery said. 'Working in the Everglades for 10 years, you get tired of documenting the problem. You want to address it.' McCleery said researchers did not name the robot rabbits, although he did bring one home that needed repair. His son named it 'Bunbun.' Contributing: Kim Luciani and Karissa Waddick, USA TODAY Network This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Army of robot rabbits deployed in fight against Florida pythons Solve the daily Crossword
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3 hours ago
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Scientists issue warning over surprising effects of emerging ocean phenomenon: 'Particularly impactful'
The Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science in the UK recently mapped how a number of threatened marine species will react to increasingly warming sea waters in the UK, with surprising results. What happened? Seas in the UK have seen a record amount of warming in the past 50 years. According to the BBC, researchers have projected how 19 threatened marine species are likely to react to this disruption to their native habitats. Surprisingly, some of these species, including rays and endangered sharks, may see a boon as they move to new habitats in search of cooler waters. However, more static species, such as the clam known as the ocean quahog, will find it much more difficult to adapt to rising temperatures as compared to mobile species. Even with some species relocating to new areas in the seas, though, the disruption caused by changes in sea temperatures will result in adverse effects for local ecosystems, economies, and food supply chains. One marine scientist from the Centre told the BBC, "As an island nation, we're hugely reliant on the sea for our food and for jobs. Any changes that we see in our seas are particularly impactful." Why are rising sea temperatures concerning? The world's seas absorb nearly 90% of the additional heating caused by human use of dirty energy sources. As temperatures continue to rise, the consequences can be deadly for both marine and human life. When warmer water forces marine species to move to new habitats because their current ones are too warm for them to survive, it can sometimes cause these species to increase in number, as may be the case with sharks in the UK, but it can also result in these species dying out. Static species unable to move to new locations won't be able to survive. If deadlier marine life, such as sharks, increasingly moves closer to where humans congregate, it will be more dangerous for both the animals and humans. Rising sea temperatures also affect humans in a variety of ways. Fewer marine species means less seafood, less need for fishermen, and issues in the food supply chain. Warmer temperatures in the sea increase the risk of extreme weather events, too, which often lead to flooding, damage to property, injuries, and deaths in local communities. Should we be harnessing the ocean to power our homes? Absolutely Leave it be It depends I'm not sure Click your choice to see results and speak your mind. What's being done about rising sea temperatures? One significant way to mitigate the damage caused by rising sea temperatures is by reducing carbon pollution. As more people and corporations continue to switch to utilizing renewable energy and reducing their use of plastic, this pollution can be greatly reduced. Several conservation groups are hard at work managing, protecting, and restoring marine and coastal ecosystems to ensure marine life is more resilient in warmer waters. Join our free newsletter for good news and useful tips, and don't miss this cool list of easy ways to help yourself while helping the planet.
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4 hours ago
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Healthy babies born in UK using DNA from 3 people to prevent hereditary diseases
In a groundbreaking advance, eight healthy babies have been born in the UK using a revolutionary technique that combines DNA from three different people to prevent the inheritance of rare and often fatal genetic diseases. It's an innovation made possible by a 2016 change in British law. Though banned in the United States and many other countries, the technique is also permitted in Australia. The news 'marks an important milestone,' said Dr. Zev Williams, who directs the Columbia University Fertility Centre but was not involved in the work. 'Expanding the range of reproductive options will empower more couples to pursue safe and healthy pregnancies'. Related Patients with mysterious rare diseases get a second chance at diagnosis with data-sharing project First IVF baby born in the UK with DNA from three parents in major trial to avoid defective genes Why mitochondrial diseases are so dangerous Most of our DNA comes from the nucleus of a cell, inherited from both mother and father. But there's also some DNA outside of the cell's nucleus, in structures called mitochondria - tiny energy-producing structures that come only from the mother. When mitochondrial DNA carries dangerous mutations, it can lead to severe and often untreatable conditions in children, from seizures and muscle weakness to organ failure and early death. Screening embryos during IVF can sometimes detect these mutations - but not always. As a result of these rare and uncertain cases, scientists have been developing a pioneering workaround: replacing the mutated mitochondria with healthy ones from a donor egg. The mother's genetic material is extracted and inserted into a donor egg that has had its own nucleus removed, keeping the donor's mitochondria intact but none of her traits. The resulting embryo contains DNA from three people: the mother, the father, and a third-party mitochondrial donor. Outcomes and early results from the UK study Researchers from Newcastle University in the UK and Monash University in Australia, writing in the New England Journal of Medicine, reported that they applied the technique to embryos from 22 women. Eight healthy babies have been born so far, and one woman remains pregnant. One of the babies showed slightly elevated levels of abnormal mitochondria - but not high enough to cause disease, experts say. Still, doctors will continue to monitor development. Dr. Andy Greenfield, a reproductive health expert at the University of Oxford, called the work 'a triumph of scientific innovation,' and said the method of exchanging mitochondria would only be used for a small number of women for whom other ways of avoiding passing on genetic diseases, like testing embryos at an early stage, was not effective. While the term 'three-parent baby' makes headlines, the amount of donor DNA involved is tiny - less than 1 per cent of the child's genome. "If you had a bone marrow transplant from a donor... you will have much more DNA from another person,' noted stem cell expert Robin Lovell-Badge. So far, 35 families in the UK have been approved to use the technique, which is closely regulated. Critics have voiced concerns over the long-term effects of heritable genetic changes, which is partly why the US currently prohibits clinical research into such methods. Federal restrictions have blocked the FDA from even considering applications involving embryos altered in this way But for families like Liz Curtis', the technique offers something they never had before: hope. Her daughter Lily died of a mitochondrial disease in 2006 at just eight months old. She said the diagnosis 'turned our world upside down, and yet nobody could tell us very much about it, what it was or how it was going to affect Lily.' Curtis later founded the Lily Foundation in her daughter's name to raise awareness and support research into the disease, including the latest work done at Newcastle University. 'It's super exciting for families that don't have much hope in their lives,' Curtis said.
