No divers were in danger when two large squid (species Taningia danae) began acting aggressively toward a robot submersible operated deep in the Pacific from NOAA’s […]

The post Rare squid “T. danae” captured in new video appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

A female Guam kingfisher, a brightly colored bird and one of the most endangered bird species on the planet, hatched at the Smithsonian Conservation Biology […]

The post Rare Guam kingfisher hatched appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Recent botanical exploration efforts in the rugged Marquesas Islands (French Polynesia) have increased the known flora of the archipelago by an impressive 20 percent. Field research and collecting in conjunction with the Vascular Flora of the Marquesas Islands and Flore de la Polynesie française projects have yielded 62 new species of ferns and flowering plants bringing the total native species to 360, of which 18 are newly described and illustrated in a special issue of PhytoKeys.

The post Marquesas Islands in French Polynesia yield 18 new species of rare ferns and flowering plants appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

When Gary Graves cranks up his boom box and drives remote back roads through pine plantations in Texas, Louisiana and other southern states, a few […]

The post Rare American warbler surprises scientists by adapting, thriving in a new ecosystem appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Crystals of the rare earth metal polytelluride LaTe1.82(1), namely, lanthanum telluride (1/1.8), have been grown by molten alkali halide flux reactions and vapour-assisted crystallization with iodine. The two-dimensionally incommensurately modulated crystal structure has been investigated by X-ray diffraction experiments. In contrast to the tetra­gonal average structure with unit-cell dimensions of a = 4.4996 (5) and c = 9.179 (1) Å at 296 (1) K, which was solved and refined in the space group P4/nmm (No. 129), the satellite reflections are not compatible with a tetra­gonal symmetry but enforce a symmetry reduction. Possible space groups have been derived by group–subgroup relationships and by consideration of previous reports on similar rare earth metal polychalcogenide structures. Two structural models in the ortho­rhom­bic superspace group, i.e. Pmmn(α,β,1 over 2)000(−α,β,1 over 2)000 (No. 59.2.51.39) and Pm21n(α,β,1 over 2)000(−α,β,1 over 2)000 (No. 31.2.51.35), with modulation wave vectors q1 = αa* + βb* + 1 over 2c* and q2 = −αa* + βb* + 1 over 2c* [α = 0.272 (1) and β = 0.314 (1)], have been established and evaluated against each other. The modulation describes the distribution of defects in the planar [Te] layer, coupled to a displacive modulation due to the formation of different Te anions. The bonding situation in the planar [Te] layer and the different Te anion species have been investigated by density functional theory (DFT) methods and an electron localizability indicator (ELI-D)-based bonding analysis on three different approximants. The temperature-dependent electrical resistance revealed a semiconducting behaviour with an estimated band gap of 0.17 eV.

Talia Ryder and Théodore Pellerin in "Never Rarely Sometimes Always".
; Credit: Focus Features/Never Rarely Sometimes Always (2020)

Larry Mantle and KPCC film critics Lael Loewenstein, Peter Rainer and Christy Lemire review this weekend’s new movie releases and share their picks for the best movies and TV shows to binge, rewatch or see for the first time while you’re staying at home.

• "Never Rarely Sometimes" on VOD (for rent on Amazon Prime & FandangoNOW)

• "Bacurau" on virtual cinemas, including Laemmle's and Alamo Drafthouse

• "Slay The Dragon" on VOD, including iTunes

• "About A Teacher" on Amazon Prime Video

• "Dolphin Reef" on Disney+

• "Elephant" in Disney+

Guests:

Lael Loewenstein, KPCC film critic and film columnist for the Santa Monica Daily Press; she tweets @LAELLO

Peter Rainer, film critic for KPCC and the Christian Science Monitor

Christy Lemire, film critic for KPCC, RogerEbert.com and co-host of the ‘Breakfast All Day’ podcast; she tweets @christylemire

This content is from Southern California Public Radio. View the original story at SCPR.org.

Director Eliza Hittman on the set of her film "Never Rarely Sometimes Always".
; Credit: Focus Features/Never Rarely Sometimes Always (2020)

The film “Never Rarely Sometimes Always” was slated for a theatrical release in March, but due to COVID-19 screenings were postponed. Instead, the film is out on digital this week, currently sporting a 98 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes and receiving critical acclaim both here on FilmWeek and nationwide as one of the best films of 2020 so far.

Writer-director Eliza Hittman’s third feature-length film is about two teenage girls Skylar (Talia Ryder) and Autumn (Sidney Flanagan) from rural Pennsylvania who travel to New York City for medical help after an unplanned pregnancy. Hittman says the idea for the film came to her when she read in a book about how some women in Ireland, which up until recently had very strict laws against abortions, would travel from Ireland to London in 24 hours just to get a procedure. It struck her as worthy of a screenplay, and the idea was born. As part of her research for the film Hittman went to a small coal-mining community in rural Pennsylvania and, even though she wasn’t pregnant, visited pregnancy centers, got tested, and talked with women getting treatment and counseling so she could, as she says, “write the scenes with credibility.”

Today on FilmWeek, we’ll air “The Frame” host John Horn’s interview with “Never Rarely Sometimes Always” director Eliza Hittman where the two discuss how Hittman came up with the idea for the film, her journey to rural America to find out what visiting pregnancy centers there is like, and how that informed the way she conceived and wrote the film.

Guest:

Eliza Hittman, writer and director of “Never Rarely Sometimes Always”

This content is from Southern California Public Radio. View the original story at SCPR.org.

A rare small-bodied pterosaur, a flying reptile from the Late Cretaceous period approximately 77 million years ago, is the first of its kind to have been discovered on the west coast of North America.

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Recycling offers a promising means of supplying the rare earth elements neodymium and dysprosium, used in computing and low-carbon technologies, research suggests. If recycling infrastructure and technologies are prepared now to deal with the larger volumes of high-tech waste expected in the future, 7-9% of global demand for these critical elements could be met by recycling by the year 2030.

Terzan 5, 19 000 light-years from Earth in the constellation of Sagittarius (the Archer) and in the direction of the galactic centre, has been classified as a globular cluster for the forty-odd years since its detection. Now, an Italian-led team of astronomers have discovered that Terzan 5 is like no other globular cluster known.

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The number of birds in Europe has fallen by more than 420 million between 1980 and 2009, new research has found. The study, which examined 144 bird species across 25 countries, found that 90% of the lost numbers were accounted for by common species, such as house sparrows (Passer domesticus). The decline was steepest in the first half of the study (1980–1994), followed by a period of greater stability in the second (1995-2009). More needs to be done to conserve common, as well as rare species, the researchers say.

The prominent role of EU countries in the international trade of reptiles for pets, including many rare and illegally traded species, is highlighted in a recent study. The researchers call for better enforcement and tighter legislation to control the trade, which is a major threat to global biodiversity. In particular the researchers appeal for legislation to be passed for species protected in their native range countries, which can currently be freely traded in the EU if they are not subject to international trade conventions such as CITES.

Rare earth elements (REEs) are used increasingly often in innovative technologies, causing these elements to enter the natural environment. They can be sourced via deep-sea mining, raising concerns about marine exposure to mining processes and waste products. This study examined how two REEs, lanthanum and yttrium, affected and stressed marine ecosystems, using young marine mussels (Mytilus galloprovincialis) as indicators of water quality. The researchers determine a parameter known as the ‘predicted no effect concentration’ (PNEC) for La and Y — the maximum environmental level of each of the two elements at which no effect is seen on the most sensitive organisms and which is, therefore, deemed safe for the environment.

The post Global carbon capture potential for rare nanoparticle appeared first on The Lead SA.

Photographer Frank Liu captured photographs of a polka-dotted zebra in Kenya that ended up published in National Geographic.

Explore.org has affixed several high-definition cameras to locations in Churchill, Manitoba, the 'Polar Bear Capital of the World.'

A world in need of faster computers, smarter phones and more energy-efficient light bulbs threatens to strain the small supply of rare metals used by the global

There's more to salmon sperm than making salmon babies, as researchers find it can also be used to help sort out toxic waste.

An uptick in seahorse spottings in London is a sign that the iconic English waterway is getting cleaner by the year.

Massive trees, towering over 250 feet, only flower once every 7 to 10 years.

Deep sea explorers capture video of a rare encounter with a piglet squid, so named because it appears to have a snout.

The massive tsunami generated by the March 2011 earthquake off the coast of northeastern Japan was a "merging tsunami" — a type of tsunami long thought to exi

In the bucolic exburbs of New York City, a mass-produced home designed by the legendary architect hits the market.

New research seems to demonstrate that iridium, a rare metal found in meteorites, can kill cancer cells.

The discovery of rare pterosaur eggs is being heralded as one of the most extraordinary discoveries in paleontology.

New genetic evidence shows that Solenodons survived the asteroid impact that wiped out the dinosaurs.

Did Japan hit the rare earth elements jackpot? Scientists have found undersea mud off the coast that could be packed with elements like yttrium, cerium and pras

The light emitted after the sun sets could be harvested, according to a new study.

A cave in Slovenia has two new baby olms — ghostly 'dragons' that can live for 100 years but rarely reproduce.

A 'capped inversion' trapped air pollutants near the ground.

Researchers have launched a mission to find the Javan fishing cat, the rarest cat in the world.

It's been 5 years since the West Virginia northern flying squirrel came off the Endangered Species List, and the recovery rate is encouraging.

These critical elements are abundant in Alaska's Bokan Mountain, but extracting them could be a long and difficult process.

Storm-chaser Mike Olbinski recorded this illuminated wave of 'undulatus asperatus' clouds in North Dakota.

Only 68 critically endangered Javan rhinos are left on Earth.

In 'Kaibab Elegy,' filmmakers Gavin Heffernan and Harun Mehmedinović show us a full cloud inversion at Grand Canyon National Park.

The jaguar crept past a camera trap set up to record the elusive cats in a French Guiana rainforest.

Scientists hope a new vaccination campaign will give Ethiopian wolves a fighting chance at survival.

Custom colors haven't always been as easy to come by as they are today. In the past they came from insects, mummies and heavy metals around the world.

The Monkey's Paw book store in Toronto has a Biblio-Mat that distributes random rare books to customers for only a few dollars.

Rare 'Flasher' Squid Caught on Video

Thanks to an abundance of beech seeds, so far this year 150 orange-fronted parakeet chicks have been born in the wild in New Zealand.

Sheryl Grossman has one of the rarest diseases on Earth and may not live to see 50. In spite of this, or perhaps because of it, this woman battling Bloom's Synd

Long feared extinct, the extremely rare Omura's whale was recorded by a team of biologists off the coast of Madagascar.

Video settles who is truly atop the ocean food chain.

Photojournalist Emmanuel Rondeau spent a month trying to photograph endangered tigers in Bhutan for the World Wildlife Fund.

Explore.org and the Owl Research Institute team up for a live cam that offers a rare glimpse of an arctic snow owl nest in Alaska.

Fire-created thunderstorms, "ember attacks," high winds and fire clouds are all a part of the intense fires down under.

An arctic animal that typically spends its days lounging on pack ice came ashore on the southern coast of Washington this summer.