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A newly discovered drug treated infections in mice caused by a strain of bacteria that is resistant to most available antibiotics

An AI analysis of satellite images reveals fishing, shipping and offshore development activities worldwide by monitoring boats that don't publicly broadcast their location

Neutrinos produced inside an exploding star could betray exotic particles that would lead to a deeper theory of physics. Will our detectors be ready in time for the next nearby supernova?

Today’s Jesus and Mo strip, called “please,” rings in the new year, with Mo asking for a distinction that’s not a difference.  And no, they’ll have to put up with blasphemy, though you might get executed for blaspheming Islam in countries that adhere to that faith. Blasphemy mesaures are still on the books in Western countries like Spain and Northern Ireland, but they’re never enforced.

 

Thanks to several readers who helped replenish the photo tank by sending in wildlife pictures. But there’s always a need for more, so don’t forget us. Thanks!

Today’s photos come from Chris Taylor in Australia. His captions are indented, and you can click on the photos to enlarge them.

Seen through a window.

For the last two years I have not been able to get out and take as many photos as before.  I was diagnosed with Myeloma, and had chemotherapy and a Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplant.  As I result, I was restricted to home for a long time and spent a lot of that sitting at my “office” where I could look out into the paddocks behind the house.  I sometimes kept a camera nearby, and all of these photos are taken from my desk!

Although people don’t associate snow with Australia, we always get a little bit of snow each winter.  At the beginning of May this year, this was the sight from my window, as the high wind raised the snow among the eucalypts as the moon set behind the hill.

Red Fox, Vulpes vulpes.
In the middle of the day and as bold as brass, this fox came wandering into the house paddock.  It calmly walked around, went hunting for something on the grass and then slowly ambled away.  Foxes were introduced into Australia around 1840, so that fox hunting could take place!  They have spread across the continent and are a serious threat to many native animals:

The vegetable patch is just outside the window, and while I wasn’t able to maintain it, became rather overgrown.  But that was much to the liking of a number of the parrot species around here, who came to feast on the seeds.

Galah, Eolophus roseicapilla.
The galah is very common throughout much of Australia.  Male and female are very similar, and only differ in the eye colour.  This one is a male, because of his black eye.  The galah is a member of the Cockatoo family (Cacatuidae) and like most cockatoos they have a crest that can be raised, although it is only a short one

Crimson Rosella, (Platycercus elegans).

The other parrots commonly visiting are the rosellas.  Two species come regularly to feed in the garden, the Eastern and Crimson rosella.  The photos are of the Crimson Rosella.

A pair of adults feeding on some seed:

The juvenile rosellas have a lot of green plumage for the first few months:

Not all photos turn out right, even when I get the focus, shutter speed and lighting right.  Not quite the right moment for pressing the shutter!  This is the juvenile bird.

Eastern Rosella, Platycercus eximius.

This is the other rosella species that commonly visit.  For the last couple of years a pair has been nesting in an old tree trunk that is nest to the driveway to the house:

My property is named after a native word meaning Blue Wren.  There are a number of species of wren with more or less blue or violet and, in one case, red coloration.  The species here is the Superb Fairy Wren, Malurus cyaaneus.  The wrens live in a family group of up to a dozen or so, and the non-breeding birds help to raise the young. The male and female will form a bond and stay together, however both the males and females are sexually promiscuous, although the pair will raise all the young, regardless of parentage!

The first photo is a breeding male.  In breeding plumage, they are striking, with iridescent blue and black on the head:

Out of season, the male’s plumage changes dramatically.  Now they are much like the female, but they retain navy blue tail feathers and a dark bill:

The females remain the same colour all year:

Flame Robin, Petroica-phoenicea.

The beautiful Flame Robin and its relative the Scarlet Robin come down to my property during the winter, and seem to spend summer on the higher plains and mountains.  Seeing them arrive for the first time in a year is a harbinger of the winter to come. The males are striking, and their glowing red plumage can be seen from quite a distance:

The female though, is rather drab in comparison:

I often get to see the raptors hunting over the fields. These would include the Wedge-tailed Eagle, Brown Falcon, and Peregrine, but most common was the Nankeen Kestrel, Falco cenchroides.

This one came and sat in the top of a small pine tree growing in the garden, and let me take its portrait before taking off:

The other common raptor is the Black Shouldered Kite, Elanus axillaris. This year a pair took up residence in a tree just out of sight from my seat, built a nest and raised two young.  These photos were taken while one was hovering over the turkey nest dam searching for some prey, usually small mammals or reptiles:

Something startled it and it looked up, while maintaining its hovering flight!:

The 2024 Quadrantids meteor shower will peak on 3 and 4 January. While moonlight may get in the way, here’s what to do for your best chance of spotting it

In Iceland, scientists are planning to drill two boreholes to a reservoir of liquid rock. One will give us our first direct measurements of magma – the other could supercharge geothermal power

A non-lethal method of catching great white sharks and releasing them 500 metres further out to sea can make the predators steer clear of beaches where people swim

The first ever soap films with chemically distinct sides are a step towards cheap soap-based devices that could create useful chemicals through artificial photosynthesis

People with severe covid-19 infections are more than 4 times as likely to later be diagnosed with schizophrenia than people who have not been infected, though the risk of developing the condition is relatively low

Palaeontologists can’t agree on whether fossils from several small dinosaurs represent juvenile Tyrannosaurus rex or smaller adults of a separate species that lived alongside them