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☆ Newly discovered ancient creature may have been the heaviest animal ever
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-05 | by ( Ashley Strickland | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

This week, scientists shared discoveries of ancient species that lived and died tens of millions of years ago, providing tantalizing insights into creatures never documented until now. The colossal ancient whale, which swam the seas about 39 million years ago, likely weighed two to three times more than the blue whale. NASA/ESA/Joseph Olmsted (STScI)When the Hubble Space Telescope initially observed a young planetary system 32 light-years from Earth, it didn’t reveal any surprises. And the James Webb Space Telescope spied new details within the colorful, iconic Ring Nebula. The fruit flies in the groundbreaking study don’t typically reproduce through virgin births, also called parthenogenesis, although many animal species do.

Persons: Alberto Gennari, Michael Brecht, ” Brecht, Joseph Olmsted, Euclid, James Webb, —, Hala Alarashi, Alice Burkhardt, Ba, Emperor Nero, Ashley Strickland, Katie Hunt Organizations: CNN, Canadian Rockies, Humboldt University, NASA, ESA, Hubble, Telescope, Petra Museum, CNN Space, Science Locations: Ica, Berlin, Jordan, East Coast, United States

☆ Google and Meta are creating so much new ad inventory, it's causing big price drops. Here's how much ads cost across the Big Tech giants.
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-04 | by ( Lauren Johnson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Ad prices declined in the second quarter as new formats like Reels and Shorts rolled out. After some rough quarters, Google's and Meta's ad businesses are on the rebound , and they're creating so much short-form video ad inventory that the surge in supply is driving ad prices down. "Anytime you've got an influx of newer ad inventory, typically that inventory does come with lower ad pricing," he said. And Instagram Reels ad inventory is both plentiful and 39% cheaper than Instagram Feed ads, according to Tinuiti. Meta also added more ads to its Marketplace on Facebook, which dropped Facebook ad prices by 25%, Taylor said.

Persons: Shawndu Stackhouse, Tom Williams, Andy Taylor, Pacvue, Taylor, Tinuiti's Taylor, Mike Ryan, Meta, TikTok TikTok Organizations: Inc, Getty, Tinuiti, Brands, Google, Anadolu Agency, Meta, Facebook, CPM Locations: Google's, Northeast Washington, lockstep

☆ This Ancient Whale May Have Been the Heaviest Animal Ever
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-02 | by ( Carl Zimmer | More About Carl Zimmer | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Paleontologists on Wednesday unveiled the fossilized bones of one of the strangest whales in history. The 39-million-year-old leviathan, called Perucetus, may have weighed about 200 tons, as much as a blue whale — by far the heaviest animal known, until now. While blue whales are sleek, fast-swimming divers, Perucetus was a very different beast. Some experts cautioned that more bones would have to be discovered before a firm estimate of Perucetus’s weight could be made. “It’s clear from this discovery that there are so many other ways of being a whale that we have not yet discovered.”

Persons: Perucetus, ”, Nicholas Pyenson Organizations: Wednesday, Smithsonian National Museum of

☆ The partial skeleton of an ancient whale shows it could've weighed nearly as much as a Boeing 747, making it one of the heaviest animals ever
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-02 | by ( Jenny Mcgrath | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

It may have weighed twice as much as a blue whale because of its dense bones. That's nearly as heavy as a Boeing 747 or twice as much as a blue whale, which typically weighs between 72 and 180 tons. That means the other fossils retrieved from the area may not offer clues to how P. colossus lived. A 3D model shows what a complete skeleton of Perucetus colossus would look like, above a blue whale and smaller Cynthiacetus peruvianus skeletons. No limbs were found near the P. colossus skeleton, but fossilized evidence suggests it likely had both front and back legs.

Persons: Mario Urbina, Olivier Lambert, Giovanni Bianucci, Cynthiacetus, colossus, colossus isn't, Lambert, Florent Goussard, Marco Merella Organizations: Service, Boeing, Santa Barbara Museum of, History Locations: Wall, Silicon, Pisco, Peru, London

☆ Whale fossil may be the heaviest animal ever
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-02 | by ( Kristen Rogers | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

CNN —A colossal ancient whale discovered in Peru might be the heaviest animal on record, according to a new study. What’s more, Perucetus likely weighed two to three times more than the blue whale, which today weighs a maximum of 149.6 metric tons (330,000 pounds). Giovanni Bianucci“Discoveries of such extreme body forms are an opportunity to re-evaluate our understanding of animal evolution,” wrote J.G.M. “It seems that we are only dimly aware of how astonishing whale form and function can be,” they added. The lifestyle of a colossal whaleThe findings suggest that gigantism or peak body mass among cetaceans had been reached around 30 million years earlier than previously thought, according to the study.

Persons: Giovanni Bianucci, “, ” Bianucci, Perucetus, ”, ’, Bianucci, pacificus, Mystacodon selenesis, Mario Urbina Schmitt, Schmitt, Thewissen, David A, Waugh, weren’t, Ingalls, Brown, ” Thewissen Organizations: CNN, University of Pisa’s, sirenians, Peru “, National University of San, Ohio Medical University Locations: Peru, Italy, Ica, Peruvian, National University of San Marcos, Lima

☆ Ancient whale from Peru may be most massive animal ever on Earth
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-02 | by ( Will Dunham | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Giovanni Bianucci/Handout via REUTERSAug 2 (Reuters) - Move over, blue whale. The biggest-known blue whale weighed around 190 tons, though it was longer than Perucetus at 110 feet (33.5 meters). Its skeletal mass alone was estimated at between 5 and 8 tons, at least twice that of the blue whale. The researchers suspect Perucetus lived like sirenians - not an active predator but an animal that fed near the bottom of shallow coastal waters. The researchers said it was unlikely Perucetus was a filter-feeder like today's baleen whales including the blue whale.

Persons: Giovanni Bianucci, Perucetus, Bianucci, Olivier Lambert of, Will Dunham, Rosalba O'Brien Organizations: REUTERS, University of Pisa, Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences, Thomson Locations: Peru, Handout, Italy, Argentina, sirenians, Brussels, hoofed, Washington

☆ Rare video shows an orca ripping open a 30-foot-long whale shark before feasting on its liver
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-02 | by ( Marianne Guenot | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Divers captured rare footage of a gruesome killer whale hunting technique. An orca off the coast of California was seen "slurping" the liver of a live shark. The gruesome footage shows an orca tearing into the stomach of a 30-foot-long whale shark before removing its liver. "Looks like they slurped in the liver and then the whale shark just fell and descended down, with no movement — I'm assuming it was dead," he said. Shortly after the encounter, another orca killed another whale shark nearby.

Persons: James Moskito, It's, Moskito, Roets, Michael Weiss Organizations: Service, Marine Dynamics, Center, , Research Locations: California, Wall, Silicon, Cortez, Farallon, South

☆ A billionaire wants to use a cargo plane to fly an orca to freedom after 53 years in captivity. Here's how it could work.
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-02 | by ( Marianne Guenot | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

A $20 million plan to release a killer whale named Tokitae from captivity is firming up. The orca has been kept in a small enclosure in the Miami Seaquarium since her capture 53 years ago. The billionaire-backed plan would see the killer whale loaded on a plane and flown across the US. The killer whale has been living in the world's smallest orca tank, which measures 80 feet by 35 feet. She's the second oldest orca living in captivity.

Persons: I've, let's, Jim Irsay, Pat McAfee, Toki, Euronews, Miami Seaquarium, Orcas, Tokitae Organizations: Miami, Service, Indianapolis Colts, Dolphin Company, The Times, Seattle Airport, Times, Miami Herald, Tribune, Getty Locations: Wall, Silicon, Seattle, London, Miami, San Juan, Tokitae, Penn Cove , Washington, Lummi, Pacific

☆ The Sea Captain Who Ran From Abraham Lincoln
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-01 | by ( Dorothy Wickenden | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

SHIPWRECKED: A True Civil War Story of Mutinies, Jailbreaks, Blockade-Running, and the Slave Trade, by Jonathan W. WhiteWho was Appleton Oaksmith? One contemporary described him as a “good seaman, & a bold & daring officer.” His enemies, President Abraham Lincoln among them, judged him a scoundrel and a traitor. As a young seafaring adventurer in the 1850s, Oaksmith armed mercenaries in Nicaragua and joined the liberation movement in Cuba. After Lincoln took office, in 1861, Oaksmith became a shipping agent, outfitting old whaling ships. Whaling was in decline, so, it was assumed, the people who bought and fitted whalers were likely slavers.

Persons: Jonathan W, White, Appleton, ”, Abraham Lincoln, Lincoln, Oaksmith Organizations: Slave, Tammany Hall Democrat, Whaling Locations: Jailbreaks, Nicaragua, Cuba, North

☆ You can own this Santa Barbara home shaped like a whale for $3.25 million. Or you can rent it on Airbnb, so long as you're 40 or older — see inside.
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-30 | by ( Dan Latu | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: 1 min

But it's not only the color of a whale. The entire estate aims to recreate the creature's form, explained listing agent Daniel Carpenter. "It truly runs the anatomy of the whale," he told Insider. Courtesy of Scott Gibson for Sotheby's International Realty

Persons: it's, Daniel Carpenter, Scott Gibson Organizations: Sotheby's International

LONDON/SYDNEY, July 31 (Reuters) - Commercial real estate investors and lenders are slowly confronting an ugly question - if people never again shop in malls or work in offices the way they did before the pandemic, how safe are the fortunes they piled into bricks and mortar? WALL OF DEBTGlobal banks hold about half of the $6 trillion outstanding commercial real estate debt, Moody's Investors Service said in June, with the largest share maturing in 2023-2026. U.S. banks revealed spiralling losses from property in their first half figures and warned of more to come. Borrowers in the UK real estate holding & development category were 4% more likely to default. But the whale could be commercial real estate in the U.S.".

Persons: Richard Murphy, Jeffrey Sherman, Charles, Henry Monchau, Bank Syz, Jones Lang LaSalle, Savills, JLL, Dhara Ranasinghe, Huw Jones, Clare Jim, Kirsten Donovan Organizations: Employers, UK's Sheffield University, Reuters, Investors, Moody's Investors Service, Fed, Federal, Bank, Suisse, Washington D.C, HSBC, Capital Economics, Thomson Locations: SYDNEY, London, Los Angeles and New York, U.S, New York, Beijing, San Francisco, Tokyo, Washington, Shanghai, North America, Hong Kong

☆ They were slaughtered for their blubber, and nearly wiped out in Brazil. Decades later, humpback whales are making a comeback.
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-29 | by ( Marta Biino | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

In the 1980s, thousands of humpback whales were slaughtered in Brazil for their blubber. A few decades ago, a population of only 300 to 500 humpback whales survived in the country, scientist Jose Truda Palazzo, who works at the Humpback Whale Institute in the state of Bahia, told the news agency. Humpback whales have grown to about 30,000 in Brazil after being decimated in the 80s. REUTERS/Leonardo BenassattoThe population growth in humpback whales should be taken as a good sign for marine conservation not only in Brazil, but worldwide, Palazzo said. The effort to track the whale population is supported by "citizen scientists," non-professionals with a passion for science who support the work of the scientific community.

Persons: repopulating, Jose Truda Palazzo, Leonardo Benassatto, Palazzo, Julio Cardoso Organizations: Reuters, Service, Whale Institute, REUTERS Locations: Brazil, Wall, Silicon, Bahia, East

☆ Brazilian citizen scientists see humpbacks return decades after mass killings
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-28 | by ( Leonardo Benassatto | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Like other citizen scientists, as they are known, Cardoso uses the photographs to collect information on the numbers of the marine mammals, helping researchers and scientists track the surging numbers of humpbacks in the area. "These animals survived whaling with a very, very small population remaining... something between 300 to 500 animals," Palazzo, of the Humpback Whale Institute in the state of Bahia, said. Palazzo says the surge of whales in Ilha Bela is great news for marine conservation, not only in Brazil, but worldwide. "It shows that if we can do effective protection for marine species, most of them will recover," he said. Reporting by Leonardo Benassatto; Additional reporting and writing by Steven Grattan; Editing by Sharon SingletonOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Julio Cardoso, Cardoso, we've, Jose Truda Palazzo, Palazzo, Ilha Bela, Leonardo Benassatto, Steven Grattan, Sharon Singleton Organizations: ILHA, Whale Institute, Thomson Locations: ILHA BELA, Brazil, Bela's, Bahia, Antarctica, Patagonia, Australia, Ilha

☆ Aided by A.I. Language Models, Google’s Robots Are Getting Smart
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-28 | by ( Kevin Roose | More About Kevin Roose | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

A one-armed robot stood in front of a table. On the table sat three plastic figurines: a lion, a whale and a dinosaur. An engineer gave the robot an instruction: “Pick up the extinct animal.”The robot whirred for a moment, then its arm extended and its claw opened and descended. Until very recently, this demonstration, which I witnessed during a podcast interview at Google’s robotics division in Mountain View, Calif., last week, would have been impossible. Robots weren’t able to reliably manipulate objects they had never seen before, and they certainly weren’t capable of making the logical leap from “extinct animal” to “plastic dinosaur.”

Locations: Mountain View, Calif

☆ Fifty-one pilot whales die after mass stranding in Australia
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-26 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/2] A view of pilot whales stranded on Cheynes Beach, Australia July 25, 2023, in this still image obtained from social media video. Marine experts and volunteers camped overnight at Cheynes Beach, more than 450 kilometres (280 miles) southeast of Perth in Western Australia state, after the whales were found washed up near the beach. "Sadly, 51 whales have died overnight after a mass stranding," Western Australia Parks and Wildlife Service said in a statement. Pilot whales are notorious for their strong social bonds, so when one whale gets into difficulty and strands, the rest usually follow, according to marine experts. Australia and neighbouring New Zealand are hot spots for mass whale strandings owing to large colonies of pilot whales living in the deep oceans surrounding both island nations, but the reason why they get trapped on beaches remains a mystery.

Persons: Allan Marsh, Renju Jose, Sonali Paul Organizations: REUTERS, Australia Parks and Wildlife Service, Thomson Locations: Beach, Australia, REUTERS SYDNEY, Australia's, Cheynes, Perth, Western Australia, New Zealand, Sydney

☆ The Whales Gathered in a Heart Shape. Experts Feared What Would Come Next.
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-26 | by ( Yan Zhuang | More About Yan Zhuang | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Even when whales are successfully returned to sea, they will often strand themselves again. By Wednesday, 52 of the whales had died, the authorities said. However, that afternoon, the whales re-stranded themselves further along the beach, the authorities said. The Australia Broadcasting Corporation reported that the whales had again formed a huddle before drifting back to shore. “Veterinarians will continue to assess the re-stranded whales and advise of the most appropriate course of action to ensure the most humane outcome for the whales,” the state’s department of conservation said in a statement.

Persons: Peter Hartley Organizations: The Australia Broadcasting Corporation Locations: Australia’s

☆ Cheynes Beach: Dozens of whales die in mass stranding in Western Australia
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-26 | by ( Chris Lau | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

CNN —More than 50 whales have died in a mass stranding event in Western Australia as officials and volunteers race to save dozens of others stuck in shallow waters, authorities said Wednesday. A pod of stranded pilot whales off Cheynes Beach in Western Australia. Toothed whales such as pilot whales that use sonar to navigate are more commonly prone to stranding than their toothless counterparts, Pirotta said. Tasmania’s largest stranding was in 2020, when more than 450 pilot whales were found. Earlier this month, a pod of more than 50 pilot whales died after a mass stranding on a northwestern Scottish island.

Persons: ”, Allan Marsh, Vanessa Pirotta, Pirotta Organizations: CNN, Facebook, Parks and Wildlife Service, Western, Southern Hemisphere Locations: Western Australia, Tasmania, Australia, Scottish

☆ Carl Sagan’s personal master recording of Voyager’s iconic Golden Record goes up for auction
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-26 | by ( Ashley Strickland | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

The master recordings of the Voyager Golden Record still have their original boxes. Courtesy Sotheby'sNow, a copy of the master recording for NASA’s Voyager Golden Record — the one kept by the late astronomer Carl Sagan and his wife, producer Ann Druyan — will be for sale at Sotheby’s New York on Thursday. Both Voyager spacecraft carry a copy of the Golden Record. Each record cover was etched with symbols depicting how to locate the sun and instructions on how to play the record. Engineers can be seen securing the cover over the Voyager 1 Golden Record in 1977.

Persons: Carl Sagan, Ann Druyan —, Chuck Berry’s, Johnny B, Goode, Sagan, Frank Drake, Linda Salzman, “, ”, Suzanne Dodd, Dodd, ” Dodd, they’ve Organizations: CNN, NASA’s, Sotheby’s, Columbia Recording, United Nations, Cornell University, NASA, Voyager, JPL, Caltech, Engineers, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Neptune, Hulton, “ Locations: York, Senegalese, Peruvian, Indian, Pasadena , California

☆ The Prize for the Longest Pregnancy in Mammals May Go to This Whale
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-25 | by ( Miriam Fauzia | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

For animals that humans almost drove into extinction, there’s a lot about whales we still don’t know. Consider the bowhead whale in particular. “But even today, we’re still learning very basic things about the reproductive cycle of animals like these. That would edge out elephant pregnancies — the longest known within the mammalian kingdom — by a month. Their findings, published on Wednesday in the journal Royal Society Open Science, illuminate the complexities underlying the whale’s population growth, which Dr. Lysiak hopes can guide conservation efforts, especially as an inhospitable climate looms.

Persons: ”, Nadine Lysiak, Lysiak Organizations: Royal Society Open Science

☆ A herd of orphan elephants could be the key to bringing back the woolly mammoth
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-22 | by ( Ashley Strickland | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

Editor’s note: A version of this story appeared in CNN’s Wonder Theory science newsletter. But a key question is whether such animals could survive if they roamed the Arctic tundra as their ancestors did thousands of years ago. Eventually, the bonded herd will make its way into the wild, where its progress can be monitored for the next decade. Sign up here to receive in your inbox the next edition of Wonder Theory, brought to you by CNN Space and Science writers Ashley Strickland and Katie Hunt. They find wonder in planets beyond our solar system and discoveries from the ancient world.

Persons: paleobiologist Jordan Mallon, It’s, Esme Ashe, Jepson, Katie Jones, J, Robert Oppenheimer, Christopher Nolan’s, “ Oppenheimer, ”, Ashley Strickland, Katie Hunt Organizations: CNN, Canadian Museum of Nature, University of Cambridge, Southern Resident, for Whale Research, Virgin Galactic’s, CNN Space, Science Locations: Botswana, China, Ottawa, Chile, Chicago . Wild, Pacific Northwest, North America

☆ How a Record-Setting Giant Fish Could Help Save Its Home River
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-21 | by ( Rachel Nuwer | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Researchers may have solved a big mystery surrounding a very big fish. Around the world, freshwater fish are in trouble. The fish, a female, weighed 661 pounds, or about 300 kilograms, and set a record for the heaviest freshwater fish ever caught. The discovery was surprising because the species, known as the giant freshwater stingray, like many of the other big fish of the Mekong, is listed as endangered. “It’s a shock and also opens the door to so many questions.”Nearly a third of freshwater fish worldwide are threatened with extinction.

Persons: Moby Dick, ”, Zeb Hogan, “ Organizations: University of Nevada Locations: Reno

☆ Orca moms fiercely protect their sons from bullying and fights — but not their daughters, study suggests
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-21 | by ( Marianne Guenot | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Older orca mothers may protect their sons from bullying well into adulthood. Orca males carry fewer bite marks if their moms are alive in their old age, a study found. Moms may step in if their sons are in troubleTooth rake marks left behind on a Southern resident killer whale. David Ellifrit, Center for Whale ResearchThis new research, from the Universities of Exeter and York in the UK and the Center for Whale Research in Washington, suggests moms could be going even further for their sons. By protecting their sons, older females may be increasing the pod's chance of passing on its genes, while expending fewer resources.

Persons: Charli Grimes, Michael Weiss, Grimes, David Ellifrit, Darren Croft Organizations: Service, University of Exeter, Southern, for Whale Research, Center, , Research, Exeter University, for, Universities of Exeter, Center for Whale Research Locations: Wall, Silicon, synchrony, Southern, York, Washington

☆ Why grandmother killer whales go through menopause
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-20 | by ( Katie Hunt | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

The head of a killer whale pod shares her knowledge of the best hunting spots and more than half the fish she catches with her family members. Female orcas help their sons navigate the complexities of orca social life and protect them from fights with other killer whales. The center has been studying this critically endangered group of killer whales, which now number around 75, since 1976. “Males have the opportunity to mate with multiple females, and they do this outside of their own social group. Only humans and five species of toothed whales are known to experience menopause, the new study noted.

Persons: —, ”, Charli Grimes, David Ellifrit, Grimes, “, ” Grimes, Katie Jones, doesn’t, … Organizations: CNN, Southern Resident, Center for Whale Research, Centre for Research, UK’s University of Exeter, UK's University of Exeter, for, for Whale Research Locations: Pacific Northwest, North America, Harbor , Washington

[1/5] A killer whale member of the Bigg's orca T65B pod is seen in the Salish Sea near Eastsound, Washington, U.S., July 7, 2023. While the interactions may be frightening, they have also spawned a popular social media trend that humorously suggests killer whales are rising up to attack wealthy yacht owners. Dr. Michael Weiss, research director of the Center for Whale Research, has another theory for the orcas’ behavior – it’s a fad. "We've seen killer whales do fad-like behavior, and other cetaceans have fads. In 1987, Washington’s Southern Resident orcas suddenly began wearing dead salmon on their heads, like hats.

Persons: Matt Mills McKnight, orcas, Deborah Giles, Giles, Olivia Hafey, Hafey, it's, Dr, Michael Weiss, Weiss, We're, Matt McKnight, Jane Ross, Mary Milliken, Diane Craft Organizations: REUTERS, Puget Sound, University of Washington’s, Harbor Laboratories, Southern, Center for Whale Research, Reuters, Washington’s, Thomson Locations: Eastsound , Washington , U.S, Matt Mills McKnight SEATTLE, . Washington, Portuguese, Washington’s San Juan Island, Seattle

☆ A video of a whale appearing to ask for humans to remove parasites went viral. An expert says tourists are hurting the creatures, not helping.
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-19 | by ( Sophia Ankel | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

A video showing a boat captain pulling parasites off a whale's head in a Mexican lagoon went viral. "People are going to get hurt because of that video," Bondy, told Insider in an interview. Bondy said that picking parasites like barnacles off a whale could hurt them because they have extremely thin and sensitive skin. "Whales, for thousands of years, have been surviving without people picking parasites off," she told Insider. Bondy is also worried that if tourists pick parasites from whales, the sea mammal could react aggressively toward them.

Persons: Shari Bondy, Bondy, Gray Organizations: Service Locations: Mexican, Wall, Silicon, Ojo, Mexico's Baja

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