 Is Prince Harry Abdicating? Not So Fast.
"Call it the Instagram heard round the world: a picture of a smiling Duke and Duchess of Sussex (Prince Harry and Meghan Markle) and a bombshell announcement that they will “step back” from their royal roles. The royal ripples are leading some to draw parallels with another monarchical mess: Edward VIII’s 1936 decision to step back from his role as king of England so he could marry American socialite Wallis Simpson. But though both situations involve frustrated royals, American divorcees, and public furor, the similarities are not as straightforward as they might seem." Please Note: The above comes directly from their website: Click here to read more.  Selfless Parrots Seem Happy to Help Others
"People have long known that African grey parrots are clever. Now, new research shows that they are also selfless, and willing to help a partner get ahead, even if doing so doesn’t help them at all. It’s not unusual for a person to help someone else out without getting anything in return. That’s something humans do. But this behavior is thought to be rare among animals. Some apes and some dogs do it. So do dolphins, rats, and even vampire bats. But as far as we know, most animals do not. Up to now, that kind of behavior hadn’t been seen in birds. That’s why scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Ornithology created an experiment designed to test whether African grey parrots were willing to help each other out." Please Note: The above information comes directly from their website. Click here to read more.   A Billion Animals Caught in Australia's Fires; Some May Go Extinct
"The dunnart is not as famous as the koalas or platypuses that draw tourists. The mouse-sized animal though, is arguably the most special mammal on Australia's Kangaroo Island. Before bush fires struck, the dunnart was already endangered, so rare that even researchers who studied them had never seen one. Now they fear they never will. One-third of the 1,700-square-mile island has burned, including the entire area where these dunnarts are known to live. "One hundred percent — all of our records since 1990 are within the burned fire scar. The entire range of the species has been burned," said Rosemary Hohnen, an ecologist who spent more than two years surveying the Kangaroo Island dunnart. "They're in true peril, real peril of extinction." More than 1 billion mammals, birds and reptiles nationwide, some of them found nowhere else on Earth, may have been affected or killed by the fires sweeping across Australia, according to a University of Sydney estimate. The potential toll is far greater when other types of animals are included." Please Note: The above information comes directly from their website. Click here to read more.  Flying Foxes are Dying En Masse in Australia’s Extreme Heat
"THE 30,000 GRAY-HEADED flying foxes in Yarra Bend Park, just outside the heart of Melbourne, Australia, were having a fairly normal early spring. In September and October—springtime in Australia and prime birthing season for the 11-inch long megabats—many of the flying foxes had returned to the park from their winter migration up the coast. Females were birthing pups as normal, says biologist Stephen Brend, who is in charge of monitoring gray-headed flying foxes in Victoria province, including at Yarra Bend Park, which is home to a significant colony of the bats. All was routine. “And then the horror started,” Brend says. “It got too hot, too quickly.” Incapable of surviving the extreme, relentless heat that gripped Melbourne in December, the flying foxes were dying. Across three days just before Christmas, when temperatures exceeded 110 degrees Fahrenheit, 4,500 of the park’s gray-headed flying foxes perished—15 percent of the colony’s population." Please Note: The above information comes directly from their website. Click here to read more.  Surprise! Even Brainless Single-Celled Organisms Can Make "Complex" Decisions
"With no brains or nerve cells, single-cellular microorganisms are often regarded to be simple, primitive beings with few capabilities. However, a new Harvard University study suggests that protozoans, like Stentor roeseli, have the smarts to make "complex" decisions when confronted with unpleasant situations. The trumpet-shaped creature, found worldwide in freshwater ponds, lakes, rivers, and ditches, attaches itself to a firm surface such as algae or submerged waste. It then uses its large mouth-like opening, which contains thousands of tiny hairs called cilia, to suck in food. The simple creature's decision-making prowess was first observed in 1906 by American zoologist Herbert Jennings. The researcher noted that when exposed to an environmental irritant, in this case carmine powder, the S. roeselii swayed away as though hoping it would pass and things would return to normal. If that failed to work, the microorganism tried several other clever tricks, such as reversing its direction or contracting, before finally detaching from its anchor and floating away in search of a more tranquil location. Unfortunately, Jennings' findings, which could not be replicated by other scientists, were met with skepticism and soon dismissed." Please Notes: The above information comes directly from their website. Click here to read more. |
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This blog is for elementary age students. The posted devotions, news articles, videos and other materials are gleaned from websites by my student advisers. They believe this material would be of interest to other students of their same ages.
Student Advisers (grade):
I. Wood (6 Technician),
S. Farmer (6),
A. Hardy (6),
C. McDonough (4) and
E. Unthank (4)
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