Rapid industrialization and urbanization has seen many animals forced to flee from their natural habitats and we can only imagine what the impact of these shifts in ecosystem dynamics will be in the future.

Several thousands of native animals were moved to safety from their home in Western Australia because a new Chevron gas processing plant will start construction. All sorts of creatures from termites and worms to lizards, snakes, and mice were moved to an area about 10km outside the construction site.

During construction of Chevron's massive gas processing facility, 12 kilometres from the tiny town of Onslow, just over 30,000 animals were salvaged from the 1,000 hectare site at the top of Exmouth Gulf.

Graham Thompson, partner and principal zoologist at Terrestrial Ecosystems said it was the largest number of animals he had ever removed from an industrial development site. In all, 240 species were recorded in the mammoth effort to collect and relocate as many animals as possible from November 2011 until July 2018.

(Image credit: Terrestrial Ecosystems/ABC)

Whenever you feel stressed or frustrated, one of the best ways to release all that tension that has been built up is through crying. Sometimes, it just feels good to shed some tears for a while when you're alone and pensive. But according to research, crying has other benefits too like helping regulate our breathing.

“We became interested in this topic when trying to understand the different possible ways that crying might function to help us, and to try to get a different perspective on why crying is so widely associated with feeling better,” explained study author Leah Sharman of the University of Queensland.

“One of the main ways that crying is often thought about is that it gets rid of toxins or brings about some kind of biological change that helps us to deal with stressful or painful situations. So we thought it would be interesting to try to test that.”

One of the primary findings of the research is that though crying doesn't help lower our stress levels, it helps in maintaining stability and soothing us by slowing down and regulating our breathing and heart rate.

However, there are limitations to the research as well. For instance, these may not necessarily apply to real world situations such as when people experience grief or loss. They don't account for external factors like having someone with you during your painful moments.

Nonetheless, whether or not we could do research that would determine the exact function of crying, it doesn't change the fact that whenever we want to alleviate stress or pain, crying helps among other things.

(Image credit: Tom Pumford/Unsplash)

With data taken from InSight's seismometer, scientists now have an idea of how Mars experiences quakes. The way a quake looks and feels depends on the kind of material it passes through and to simulate a Marsquake, scientists used a quake simulator to compare them with those on the Moon and those we experience on Earth.

By running data from these worlds through a quake simulator, or “shake room,” scientists can experience for themselves how different the earthquakes can be. Researchers had to amplify the marsquake signals by a factor of 10 million in order to make the quiet and distant tremors perceptible in comparison to the similarly amplified moonquakes and unamplified earthquakes.

(Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/ETH Zurich/ Van Driel)

Before, doctors recommended adults to take low doses of aspirin starting from their 40s as a preventative measure for developing heart diseases however, a Harvard study has shown that there is no clear medical benefit from it.

The study, which utilized survey data from recent years to paint a clearer picture of aspirin use by the public, shows that a huge number of people are taking aspirin when there is no clear medical benefit. An estimated 10 million people over the age of 70 with no prior history of heart disease still take aspirin daily as a primary preventative measure.

Of course, for those with a history of heart diseases, aspirin would still be beneficial but only under the prescription of a doctor.

(Image credit: Jesse Orrico/Unsplash)

Kevin Burdge along with his colleagues at CalTech have found a binary system, a pair of dwarf stars which are going round each other within a cycle of seven minutes. This would be the first time for us to detect a binary going round under 10 minutes. Though they have found something strange about the pair.

The two stars are strange: the less massive one is colder than we’d expect, and the more massive one is far too hot at more than 48,000° C. Burdge and his colleagues plan to use the Hubble Space Telescope to investigate why.

It’s not clear what the future holds for these two objects: they might smash together and merge in about 130,000 years, or one might start stealing matter from the other, slowing down their orbit and pushing them farther apart.

However, the team has a better solution in finding out the answer to that question. Instead of waiting 130,000 years, they simply need to find other binaries and see if there is one on the verge of merging. If they can't find one, then there is a good chance that such systems don't merge.

(Image credit: NASA/SPL)

Climate change models used to predict the Earth's atmospheric conditions in the future require data about the different gases and other elements in the Earth's atmosphere. In this regard, we now have an instrument that might be able to accurately collect atmospheric data in order to improve our climate change models.

In the Optical Society journal Applied Optics, researchers from Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt e.V. (DLR) — Germany’s national center for aerospace, energy and transportation research — describe how their lidar instrument was used aboard an aircraft to acquire the first simultaneous measurements of the vertical structure of water vapor and ozone in the tropopause region of the atmosphere. The researchers say that the new system might even be useful for monitoring atmospheric gases from space.

(Image credit: DLR/OSA)

Bacteria, viruses, and other microorganisms continue evolve and develop new strains resistant to drugs and scientists fear that in the future, the influenza A virus might evolve and cause a global pandemic. So in anticipation of such an event, researchers from the UK, Australia, and the US have now been able to map the influenza A virus genome.

By mapping its genetic structure, the researchers observed how its eight single-stranded RNA segments lock together. This is important because they are part of the means by which new viruses are formed.

They note that viruses behind past pandemics have been created by reassortment, in which a virus that infects one species, such as a bird, swaps genes with a virus that infects individuals from another species, such as humans.

This research may not necessarily be used to determine when such a pandemic would occur however, the data can help speed up the development of a vaccine.

(Image credit: Dr. Erskine Palmer/CDC)

Pink bollworms are a terror to the cotton-growing industry and in fighting these invasive pests, growers have foregone chemical sprays and started planting genetically engineered cotton called Bt cotton which are infused with proteins that kill said caterpillars.

At first, Bt cotton worked well against pink bollworm in all three countries, but this adaptable pest harbors mutations that confer resistance to Bt toxins. These mutations were rare before Bt cotton was commercialized. However, when two resistant caterpillars develop into moths and mate, their offspring are also resistant.

So, one strategy is to plant some non-Bt cotton—a refuge—allowing normal caterpillars to survive, become moths, and mate with the resistant moths, Tabashnik says. This makes it less likely that two rare, resistant moths will find one another in the crowd. Today, most countries require refuges and use Bt cotton that contains two toxins, so caterpillars need two mutations to survive.

Three of the largest cotton-growing countries - the US, China, and India - used this tactic with varying results. For the first two, Bt cotton was able to suppress the pink bollworms.

But in India, refuges weren't planted which caused a growth in resistant bollworms. Since they were already resistant to the first toxin, when a second toxin was introduced, they quickly evolved to produce resistance to that as well.

(Image credit: Peggy Greb/USDA, ARS; Wikimedia Commons)

Last Sunday, a storm was brewing over Clearwater Beach which caused the lifeguards to raise a warning for people to leave the water and head to safety. However, several minutes after the signal was issued, lightning struck and it hit a 40-year-old man who is still in critical condition. Four others also sustained injuries.

Getting struck by lightning is quite an uncommon occurrence but they do happen from time to time and they're not always fatal. But it would still be best to stay cautious and be safe. So here are a few things that we need to know about lightning strikes.

(Image credit: Forrest Moreland/Unsplash)

Each city, county, and region in the world has its own share of monuments and landmarks that form part of its identity and culture. From installation art to surprise murals, Tampa Bay has several of its own roadside oddities that would get passersby and other visitors to the area curious of their origins. Here are some of them and the stories behind them.

Recognize the giant metallic reptile that is permanently flicking its tongue out to catch a bug? That’s Security Lizard, the work of late St. Pete artist Paul Eppling.

Eppling turned everyday items into fantastical sculptures, transforming garden tools and lawnmowers into gators, birds and more. Security Lizard, for example, was created using license plates and other car parts. It was affixed to the roof of the St. Petersburg Fleet Maintenance building, where it can be seen by passing drivers.

(Image credit: gg1electrice60/Flickr)

Pampers has been developing a connected care system called Lumi which will tell you when your baby's diaper is full. Not only that but it will also give information regarding your baby's sleeping patterns and feeding times.

How Lumi works: "The sensor keeps an eye on the blue wetness strip outside of the diaper to determine how soaked it is... you'll need to buy Lumi-optimized version of the diapers to use the sensor, as they have larger and more visible wetness strips," said Devindra Hardewar in Engadget. But wait, there is more. Marie Baca in The Washington Post said Pampers intends to send the user the baby's wake and sleep times and feeding times.

The system that Pampers has in the wings has several components: (1) activity sensors, (2) the notification app, for Android and iPhone, and (3) video monitor. Engadget said that a Logitech camera has been fashioned into the Wi-Fi baby monitor.

(Image credit: Pampers/TechXplore)

When you get to see something often, they will start to blend in with the background and fade from view. We start to not think about them as much or appreciate the little ways in which they add a subtle touch into our daily lives.

With architecture, the things that often catch our eye are eye-popping monuments and structures that decorate the skies or urban spaces. But there is something to be said about the ordinary architecture with which we get to interact every day of our lives. They too have something to contribute in our lives, as in fact, they are often built for utility. But they never receive particular attention. So here are a few examples of such architecture that go unnoticed.

To appreciate the charms of small structures, it is useful to remind ourselves that we primarily interact with architecture from a ground level rather than the god’s-eye view employed in films and renderings. The architecture of day-to-day urban life is driven by utility and merges so integrally into our tasks that we barely notice it as architecture.

There have been visionary architects who have recognized and celebrated the underrated nobility of everyday life, and there are some superlative little wonders scattered around our cities.

(Image credit: Coyau/Wikimedia Commons)

It has almost been 25 years since the first episode of Friends aired and there is still some nostalgia lingering for our motley crew of six. And to celebrate, The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf will be selling Friends-inspired coffee and merch.

There are six in-store drinks, after each of the core characters from the show. The Monica is a Midnight Mocha Cold Brew, The Joey is a Mango Cold Brew Tea, The Rachel is a Matcha Latte, The Ross is a Classic Flat White, The Pheobe is a Cookies & Cream Ice Blended, and The Chandler is a Caramel Coconut Latte.

These drinks will be available starting July 31 through August 27 and will even be available to BOGO the week of August 4th for National Friendship Day.

(Image credit: Bright/Kauffman/Crane Productions, Warner Bros. Television; IMDb)

If you own a Nintendo Switch, chances are you have experienced the "Joy-Con drift" which is when the sticks on the controllers make inputs onto the console even when they have not been touched. This sensitivity of the sticks has drawn the ire of many Switch owners. But what's really going on?

There are two potential causes for drift: some users blame the issue on either dust or debris making their way into the controller underneath a rubber cap that’s designed to keep the interior clean. Others have completely disassembled the controller and found worn-down contacts, which might be causing the issue due to repetitive use.

It’s also possible that neither of those theories is correct or that it’s a combination of factors that causes stick drift over time. Without Nintendo clarifying the situation, it’s tough to tell exactly what’s wrong.

There are several ways to address this issue and perhaps the best would be to have the Switch repaired by an authorized Nintendo technician if the Switch has already passed its warranty date. However, some have tried DIY fixes like using compressed air or isopropyl alcohol with varying results.

(Image credit: Aleks Dorohovich/Unsplash)

I have enjoyed playing video games since I was a kid and I've seen the evolution that games and consoles have gone through for the last two decades. And to think that they're still going, it takes a lot of persistence and creative mettle to pump out games every year.

However, the dents in the video game industry have already begun to show for some time now. And though we are expecting new releases, new consoles, and new ideas that might further improve our gaming experience, the cost of developing and producing these games is taking its toll in the industry as a whole.

All these new things will come, and we’ll close the book on a generation that saw the industry that makes games come under greater scrutiny than ever before, as studios shuttered, developers burned out, and toxic work culture fostered environments hostile to marginalized people.

We have seen a decreasing trend of new games being released by industry leaders like Electronic Arts, Activision, and Ubisoft. Meanwhile independent developers find it difficult to squeeze themselves into the tight cracks of the market which will only offer them a tiny portion. Not to mention the costs of producing video games continues to rise while prices remain constant.

That’s the present of video games. Let’s talk about the future. The intersecting trends of games-as-a-service and the increased emphasis on streaming mean an increased reliance on off-site computing with data centers and server farms distributed across the globe.

The fact of the matter is video games will continue to exist. What form it will take will depend on whether the video game industry will shift its practices into more sustainable forms because if it continues on with what they are doing now, it might lead to an implosion of the industry in the future.

(Image credit: Jeshoots.com/Unsplash)