Perching Robots, Vulture Eagles, Bio Blobs and More Mysterious News Briefly — December 2, 2021

Mysterious News Briefly — December 2, 2021

U.S. Rep. Tim Burchett gave a speech on the House floor detailing a letter he sent to the Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence & Security about UAPs and stated that “Our citizens can handle the truth [about UFOs]…”. Is he referring to the same people who can’t handle the truth about reality shows?

The American Astronomical Society (AAS) of professional astronomers is the latest group to petition NASA head Bill Nelson to change the name of the James Webb Space Telescope because of the former administrator’s role in purging LGBT+ employees from NASA. If they’re taking suggestions, how about Queer Eye on the Straight Sky?

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk says some of his Starlink satellites had to swerve out of the way of the same space debris which forced NASA to call off a spacewalk, but he wouldn’t blame it on Russia shooting down a satellite in a test. However, good luck getting a Tesla fixed in Moscow.

A climate scientist and researcher at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography warns that geoengineering is becoming so affordable, countries will soon be using it to deal with climate change without considering the consequences – such as worsening weather conditions in other parts of the world that could trigger mass extinction events and crop destruction. To paraphrase Pogo … we have met the enemy again and it is still us.

Using new digital models, researchers found that the biggest eagle that ever lived, the extinct Haast’s eagle (Hieraaetus moorei), hunted like modern eagles but then consumed its dead prey like a carrion-eating vulture – biting and slashing into the carcass and inserting its head deep inside the body cavity to gulp down internal organs. Time for the Philadelphia NFL team to trade up to a scarier mascot?

Scientists from Northeastern University in Massachusetts are using a new type of ‘living’ bioink made from programmed Escherichia coli bacterial cells to 3D-print living blobs of hydrogels that can be used to release different types of drugs or absorb toxins depending on how they’re engineered. Putting the words “living” and “blob” in the same sentence has never turned out well.

The ‘Great Pacific Garbage Patch’ covers 1.6 million square km (610,000 square miles) of open ocean, contains 79,000 metric tons of plastic waste, and, according to a new study, is now home to marine species such as anemone, hydroids, and shrimp-like amphipods. Have they seen ‘The Graduate’?

Engineers at Stanford University have developed a perching bird-like robot with feet and legs like a peregrine falcon that can sit and balance on a branch before grabbing and carrying objects off with the same taloned feet. Is this the next generation of porch pirates?

A new study reveals that Japanese macaque snow monkeys (Macaca fuscata) living in the coldest areas of the islands where snow covers their normal winter foods have developed the skills to fish for brown trout that help keep them alive until spring. It’s time to get worried if they start wearing little hats with flies stuck in them.

Scientists at China’s Tianjin University have developed a new bioplastic by combining salmon sperm with water and an adhesive chemical derived from vegetable oil to create a hydrogel they molded and dried into the shape of a cup. For those just learning English, there’s a big difference between a salmon sperm mug and a mug of salmon sperm.

The post Perching Robots, Vulture Eagles, Bio Blobs and More Mysterious News Briefly — December 2, 2021 first appeared on Mysterious Universe.

from Mysterious Universe https://ift.tt/3xKwhR8