CRYPTOZOOLOGY

Bristol Zoo Keepers 'Baffled' By 'Mysterious Winged And Horned Creature' Caught On Camera

Amy Glover
Wed 23 October 2024 


Bristol Zoological Society

’Tis the season for all things spooky ― and apparently, some keepers at the Bristol Zoo Project (run by the Bristol Zoological Society) have come across some suitably eerie footage.

A still image from night vision cameras that monitor the Zoo’s Bear Wood habitat “has us just a little stumped,” the Project’s Facebook Post reads.

The image comes from camera traps used by Bristol Zoological Society’s conservation team “to survey and monitor species of all sizes that inhabit Bear Wood’s 7.5 acres of ancient woodland.”

In a press release, Rosie Sims, Public Engagement Manager at Bristol Zoo Project, said: “The sighting of this mythical-like creature is a mystery to us here at Bristol Zoo Project.”

“Scotland has the Loch Ness monster and Cornwall has the Beast of Bodmin Moor – have we discovered a similar mythical here in Bristol perhaps?”

HuffPost UK asked the British Zoological Society whether they had a nickname for the animal, to which a spokesperson replied: “We haven’t actually got an in-house nickname for it yet, at the moment we are just referring to it as a ‘mysterious creature.’”
People had *thoughts* online

The Facebook post shared by the Bristol Zoo Project compared the night-time image to a daytime snap of a very, very similar-looking Muntjac deer.

Reddit member u/shellac, who’s part of the r/bristol subreddit, wrote into the forum to say: “It’s a Muntjac deer. I’m not an expert and even I can see that.”

The zoo’s press release says, “After reviewing the images they say the creature appears to have four legs and is like nothing [the conservation team] have spotted before.”

But a Facebook user wrote, “I realise this is a single frame, but what you call ‘wings’ looks a lot like the back of the deer’s head as it has turned to look over its back. I would expect more blurring if it were a single frame.”

Still, others have different thoughts: one Facebook user commented, “It’s obviously an infant Unicorn Pegasus,” while another said: “It is a twin birth gone awry.

“One twin did not develop separately. This sometimes happens in cattle and extra legs or two heads appear on one calf.”
It coincides with the zoo’s (genuinely exciting-sounding) Halloween trail

“The sightings come just before the launch of the zoo’s ‘Howl-oween: Myths and Legends trail’, which will give visitors the opportunity to see giraffes, lemurs, cheetah, wolves and wolverines, as well as potentially spot the mythical creature,” the press release reads.

“It will also include myth-busting talks, an interactive animal artefact experience in the Lodge of Legends, as well as the chance for visitors to create their own mythical creature in the Cauldron of Creation.”

The Bristol Zoological Society aim to tackle the genuinely scary issue of animal endangerment, sharing that “78% of the animals we care for are both threatened and part of targeted conservation programmes.”

“Our aim is for this to rise to 90% of species by 2035.”

 Smallest known dinosaur egg found in China sets new record

Vishwam Sankaran
Tue, October 22, 2024 

Smallest known dinosaur egg found in China sets new record


Scientists say fossil dinosaur eggs unearthed at a construction site in China are the smallest ever found, providing new insights into the evolution of the extinct reptile.

The six eggs, fossilised into a lump, were discovered in 2021 in China’s Ganzhou region, which boasts one of the richest deposits of fossilised eggs from a range of ancient reptiles including dinosaurs.

But the fossil eggs found previously in the region were relatively large in size.


After three years of analysis, scientists obtained the overall image of the small eggshells found in 2021 and the fossilised creatures inside them.

The analysis, detailed last week in the journal Historical Biology, confirms that the creatures in the eggs are dinosaurs that roamed the region around 80 million years ago during the Late Cretaceous era.

“We report a partial egg clutch with six complete small eggs from the Upper Cretaceous Tangbian Formation of Ganzhou City,” the study says.

The smallest of the eggs is only about 29mm in length. The previously known smallest dinosaur egg was about 45mm by 40mm by 34mm.

New dinosaur egg fossils discovered in China’s Ganzhou (China University of Geosciences)

The thickness, pores and other features of the eggshells from 2021 are unlike those of any other known for this class of dinosaurs.

This suggests they were laid by a new species from the group of four-legged dinosaurs called theropods. “The egg morphology and eggshell microstructure support it to be the smallest known non-avian theropod egg up to date,” the new study states.

The eggs are now classified in a new category called Minioolithus ganzhouensis, named after the Chinese city they were found in.

“This discovery increases the diversity of dinosaur eggs in Late Cretaceous and is significant for our understanding of the evolution of theropods in the Late Cretaceous,” the study notes.

Researchers plan to continue studying the site where the fossil eggs were found to understand the nature of the dinosaur that laid them as well as how these dinosaurs built their nests.

Tiny fossil tracks unearthed reveal new ways dinosaurs used wings

Vishwam Sankaran
Tue, October 22, 2024

Tiny fossil tracks unearthed reveal new ways dinosaurs used wings


Scientists uncovered strange fossil footprints of a tiny bird-sized feathered dinosaur in South Korea, a discovery that could shed new light on the origin of flight.

The dinosaur, named Dromaeosauriformipes rarus, was a “dinky” two-toed raptor about the size of a modern sparrow, scientists from the University of Maryland in the US said.

The scientists were perplexed by the fossil footprints, which indicated that the dinosaur had giant long strides. “These tracks were a puzzle because their footprints are so tiny but they’re so far apart,” palaeontologist Thomas Holtz, who was part of the team that made the discovery, said.

The discovery was detailed in the journal PNAS.

The dinosaur did not merely run on land but used a strange mechanism that likely paved the way for flight as seen in modern birds.

An artistic rendering of Dromaeosauriformipes rarus (Julius Csotonyi)

There is evidence that the dinosaur flapped its feathered arms to achieve lift, allowing it to travel faster than if it had relied solely on the strength of its legs.

This form of movement, called “flap running”, was somewhere between running and flying and provided the dinosaur with enough force to lift off the ground in bursts, the study noted.

While the force from the movement would have enabled the dinosaur, an ancestor of modern birds, to likely run up a tree, it fell short of full-powered flight, scientists said.

“We can now move past the debate about whether pre-avian dinosaurs used their arms to help them move before flight evolved and start to uncover missing details such as which species had these abilities and when and to what extent they were developed,” Michael Pittman, another author of the study, said.

The researchers initially suspected the fossil footprints could have been made by a dinosaur with long, stilt-like legs akin to a “a Dr Seuss character”.

They also tested the theory that the animal could have just been “extremely fast”.

After considering the dinosaur’s hip height, they estimated that the speed needed to achieve the long strides would be about 10.5 metres per second.

This is more than the speed of any living running animal, including ostrich and cheetah, making it “highly improbable” the footprints were left by any of them, the researchers said.

Likely path taken by dinosaur D rarus as it left footprints (Alexander Dececchi et al PNAS)

They concluded that the trackway was produced at lower speeds with the dinosaur elongating its stride length using the force generated by the flapping of its feathered arms.

The unique footprints, scientists said, were left “in the midst” of the dinosaur taking off or landing.

“Thus the origin of flight may not be a simply binary of ‘can or cannot’ but a spectrum,” the study said.

“It is kind of like when a plane is coming down and bounces a little bit on the runway before slowing down,” Dr Holtz explained.

The latest research could inspire a closer look at similar dinosaur trackways in Bolivia or Madagascar or Australia. “There’s no reason to suspect these trackways were only in East Asia during the early Cretaceous, so we are hoping that people will look at their footprint slabs and find something else,” Dr Holtz said.

Cheetah cub 'adopted' by mother at Cincinnati Zoo, increasing his chances at survival

Bebe Hodges, USA TODAY NETWORK

Updated Sat, June 22, 2024

Prepare to say, "Awww."

A cheetah from the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden just adopted a cub from Oregon.

The male cheetah cub joined his new family, which includes two other cubs and his mom, this week at a Cincinnati Zoo off-site breeding facility.

The cub, who has not yet been named, was introduced to the Cincinnati litter to increase his chance of survival. The cub was an only child when he was born. This posed an issue because singleton cubs don't provide enough stimulation for cheetah mothers to produce lactation.

Lucky for the cub, Cincinnati Zoo cheetah Etosha gave birth to two cubs earlier this month. Zoo keepers hoped Etosha would take care of him along with her two biological cubs if they introduced the cub.

The cub arrived in Cincinnati on Monday night and was placed in an incubator overnight to stabilize. On Tuesday, he was placed in the nest box with the other cubs.

A cub from Oregon was adopted by a cheetah at the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden's off-site breeding facility.

Since then, Etosha has shown "great maternal behaviors," according to the zoo.

“Nursing has been observed, and she’s being attentive to all three cubs,” Tom Tenhundfeld, the zoo's Cheetah Breeding Center headkeeper, said in a release.

“It’s a good thing that cheetahs can’t count!" he said.

The zoo said it would announce the cub's name on social media. The zoo gave Lighthawk Conservation Flying the opportunity to name the cub to thank the nonprofit for transporting him from Oregon.

This is not the first time a cheetah at the zoo's Cheetah Breeding Center has adopted a cub.


The Cincinnati Zoo said it would announce the adopted cub's name on social media.

“We coordinate with the other cheetah breeding centers, so litters are born semi-close together so that if cross-fostering situations arise, the cubs are as close to the same age as possible,” Tenhundfeld said.

In 2016, Cincinnati Zoo cheetah Kathleen adopted the most genetically valuable cheetah cub in the North American zoo population.

The cubs are not visible to the public, but visitors can see cheetahs at the Cincinnati Zoo during regular hours.

Contributing: Jeanine Santucci, USA TODAY

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Cincinnati Zoo cheetah adopts cub from Oregon upping survival chances

 

Robots can’t outrun animals. A new study explores why

Peer-Reviewed Publication

UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO AT BOULDER

 

IMAGE: 

THE MCLARI ROBOT DESIGNED BY ENGINEERS AT CU BOULDER POSES NEXT TO A SPIDER.

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CREDIT: HEIKO KABUTZ

The question may be the 21st century’s version of the fable of the tortoise and the hare: Who would win in a foot race between a robot and an animal?

In a new perspective article, a team of engineers from the United States and Canada, including University of Colorado Boulder roboticist Kaushik Jayaram, set out to answer that riddle. The group analyzed data from dozens of studies and came to a resounding “no.” In almost all cases, biological organisms, such as cheetahs, cockroaches and even humans, seem to be able to outrun their robot counterparts. 

The researchers, led by Samuel Burden at the University of Washington and Maxwell Donelan at Simon Fraser University, published their findings last week in the journal Science Robotics.

“As an engineer, it is kind of upsetting,” said Jayaram, an assistant professor in the Paul M. Rady Department of Mechanical Engineering at CU Boulder. “Over 200 years of intense engineering, we’ve been able to send spacecraft to the moon and Mars and so much more. But it’s confounding that we do not yet have robots that are significantly better than biological systems at locomotion in natural environments.”

He hopes that the study will inspire engineers to learn how to build more adaptable, nimble robots. The researchers concluded that the failure of robots to outrun animals doesn’t come down to shortfalls in any one piece of machinery, such as batteries or actuators. Instead, where engineers might falter is in making those parts work together efficiently.  

This pursuit is one of Jayaram’s chief passions. His lab on the CU Boulder campus is home to a lot of creepy crawlies, including several furry wolf spiders that are about the size of a half dollar.

“Wolf spiders are natural hunters,” Jayaram said. “They live under rocks and can run over complex terrain with incredible speed to catch prey.”

He envisions a world in which engineers build robots that work a bit more like these extraordinary arachnids.

“Animals are, in some sense, the embodiment of this ultimate design principle—a system that functions really well together,” he said.

Cockroach energy

The question of “who can run better, animals or robots?” is complicated because running itself is complicated. 

In previous research, Jayaram and his colleagues at Harvard University designed a line of robots that seek to mimic the behavior of the oft-reviled cockroach. The team’s HAMR-Jr model fits on top of a penny and sprints at speeds equivalent to that of a cheetah. But, Jayaram noted, while HAMR-Jr can bust a move forward and backward, it doesn’t move as well side-to-side or over bumpy terrain. Humble cockroaches, in contrast, have no trouble running over surfaces from porcelain to dirt and gravel. They can also dash up walls and squeeze through tiny cracks.

To understand why such versatility remains a challenge for robots, the authors of the new study broke these machines down into five subsystems including power, frame, actuation, sensing, and control. To the group’s surprise, few of those subsystems seemed to fall short of their equivalents in animals. 

High-quality lithium-ion batteries, for example, can deliver as much as 10 kilowatts of power for every kilogram (2.2 pounds) they weigh. Animal tissue, in contrast, produces around one-tenth that. Muscles, meanwhile, can’t come close to matching the absolute torque of many motors. 

“But at the system level, robots are not as good,” Jayaram said. “We run into inherent design trade-offs. If we try to optimize for one thing, like forward speed, we might lose out on something else, like turning ability.”

Spider senses

So, how can engineers build robots that, like animals, are more than just the sum of their parts? 

Animals, Jayaram noted, aren’t split into separate subsystems in the same way as robots. Your quadriceps, for example, propel your legs like HAMR-Jr’s actuators move their limbs. But quads also produce their own power by breaking down fats and sugars and incorporating neurons that can sense pain and pressure.

Jayaram thinks the future of robotics may come down to “functional subunits” that do the same thing: Rather than keeping power sources separate from your motors and circuit boards, why not integrate them all into a single part? In a 2015 paper, CU Boulder computer scientist Nikolaus Correll, who wasn’t involved in the current study, proposed such theoretical “robotic materials” that work more like your quads. 

Engineers are still a long way away from achieving that goal. Some, like Jayaram, are making steps in this direction, such as through his lab’s Compliant Legged Articulated Robotic Insect (CLARI) robot, a multi-legged robot that moves a little like a spider. Jayaram explained that CLARI relies on a modular design, in which each of its legs acts like a self-contained robot with its own motor, sensors and controlling circuitry. The team’s new and improved version called mCLARI can move in all directions in confined spaces, a first for four-legged robots.

It's one more thing that engineers like Jayaram can learn from those perfect hunters, wolf spiders.

“Nature is a really useful teacher.”

The mCLARI robot balances on a leaf.

CREDIT

Heiko Kabutz

The HAMR-Jr robot poses next to a cockroach.

CREDIT

Kaushik Jayaram

---

JOURNAL

Science Robotics

DOI

10.1126/scirobotics.adi9754 

ARTICLE TITLE

Why animals can outrun robots

New rock art discoveries in Eastern Sudan tell a tale of ancient cattle, the ‘green Sahara’ and climate catastrophe

THE CONVERSQTION
Published: April 25, 2024 4.02pm EDT

The hyper-arid desert of Eastern Sudan, the Atbai Desert, seems like an unlikely place to find evidence of ancient cattle herders. But in this dry environment, my new research has found rock art over 4,000 years old that depicts cattle.

In 2018 and 2019, I led a team of archaeologists on the Atbai Survey Project. We discovered 16 new rock art sites east of the Sudanese city of Wadi Halfa, in one of the most desolate parts of the Sahara. This area receives almost no yearly rainfall.

Almost all of these rock art sites had one feature in common: the depiction of cattle, either as a lone cow or part of a larger herd.

On face value, this is a puzzling creature to find carved on desert rock walls. Cattle need plenty of water and acres of pasture, and would quickly perish today in such a sand-choked environment.

Written by academics, edited by journalists, backed by evidence.Get newsletter

In modern Sudan, cattle only occur about 600 kilometres to the south, where the northernmost latitudes of the African monsoon create ephemeral summer grasslands suitable for cattle herding.

The theme of cattle in ancient rock art is one of most important pieces of evidence establishing a bygone age of the “green Sahara”.
New sites discovered on surveys in Eastern Sudan. © The Atbai Survey Project
The ‘green Sahara’

Archaeological and climatic fieldwork across the entire Sahara, from Morocco to Sudan and everywhere in between, has illustrated a comprehensive picture of a region that used to be much wetter.

Climate scientists, archaeologists and geologists call this the “African humid period”. It was a time of increased summer monsoon rainfall across the continent, which began about 15,000 years ago and ended roughly 5,000 years ago.

The wastes of the Atbai Desert, north-east Sudan – a very different landscape to the ‘green Sahara’. Julien Cooper

This “green Sahara” is a vital period in human history. In North Africa, this was when agriculture began and livestock were domesticated.

In this small “wet gap”, around 8,000–7,000 years ago, local nomads adopted cattle and other livestock such as sheep and goats from their neighbours to the north in Egypt and the Middle East.

Read more: The Sahara Desert used to be a green savannah – new research explains why
A close human-animal connection

When the prehistoric artists painted cattle on their rock canvasses in what is now Sudan, the desert was a grassy savannah. It was brimming with pools, rivers, swamps and waterholes and typical African game such as elephants, rhinos and cheetah – very different to the deserts of today.

Cattle were not just a source of meat and milk. Close inspection of the rock art and in the archaeological record reveals these animals were modified by their owners. Horns were deformed, skin decorated and artificial folds fashioned on their neck, so-called “pendants”

.
A strong relationship between human and animal: a cow with a modified ‘neck’ pendant and horns. Julien Cooper

Cattle were even buried alongside humans in massive cemeteries, signalling an intimate link between person, animal and group identity.
The perils of climate change

At the end of the “humid period”, around 3000 BCE, things began to worsen rapidly. Lakes and rivers dried up and sands swallowed dead pastures. Scientists debate how rapidly conditions worsened, and this seems to have differed greatly across specific subregions.

Local human populations had a choice – leave the desert or adapt to their new dry norms. For those that left the Sahara for wetter parts, the best refuge was the Nile. It is no accident that this rough period also eventuated in the rise of urban agricultural civilisations in Egypt and Sudan.

The most common image in the local rock art was of cattle. Julien Cooper

Some of the deserts, such as the Atbai Desert around Wadi Halfa where the rock art was discovered, became almost depopulated. Not even the hardiest of livestock could survive in such regions. For those who remained, cattle were abandoned for hardier sheep and goats (the camel would not be domesticated in North Africa for another 2,000–3,000 years).

This abandonment would have major ramifications on all aspects of human life: diet and lack of milk, migratory patterns of herding families and, for nomads so connected to their cattle, their very identity and ideology.
New phases of history

Archaeologists, who spend so much time on the ancient artefacts of the past, often forget our ancestors had emotions. They lived, loved and suffered just like we do. Abandoning an animal that was very much a core part of their identity, and with whom they shared an emotional connection, cannot have been easy for their emotions and sense of place in the world.

For those communities that migrated and lived on the Nile, cattle continued to be a symbol of identity and importance. At the ancient capital of Sudan, Kerma, community leaders were buried in elaborate graves girded by cattle skulls. One burial even had 4,899 skulls.

Today in South Sudan and much of the Horn of Africa, similar practices regarding cattle and their cultural prominence endure to the present. Here, just as in ancient Sahara, cattle are decorated, branded and have an important place in funeral traditions, with cattle skulls marking graves and cattle consumed in feasts.

As we move into a new phase of human history subject to rapid climate oscillations and environmental degradation, we need to ponder just how we will adapt beyond questions of economy and subsistence.

One of the most basic common denominators of culture is our relationship to our shared landscape. Environmental change, whether we like it or not, will force us to create new identities, symbols and meanings.

Read more: Innovations on the Nile over millennia offer lessons in engineering sustainable futures

Author

Julien Cooper
Honorary Lecturer, Department of History and Archaeology, Macquarie University
Disclosure statement
Julien Cooper receives funding from the Australian Research Council and Macquarie University.

 

Three-year population study supports fight to save Cameroon’s Kordofan giraffe

Peer-Reviewed Publication

UNIVERSITY OF BRISTOL

 

IMAGE: 

CAMERA TRAP IMAGE OF KORDOFAN GIRAFFES IN CAMEROON

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CREDIT: BRISTOL ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY

Crucial new data about the numbers of Critically Endangered Kordofan giraffe living within Cameroon’s Bénoué National Park has been released, supporting conservation efforts to save the subspecies from extinction.

Researchers from the University of Bristol and Bristol Zoological Society have carried out a three-year study using imagery of giraffe from a variety of sources, including camera traps, to establish how many of the highly threatened mammals remain within the park.

Their findings, which have been published in the African Journal of Ecology, present the first reliable estimate of giraffe population size for the region and will help conservationists monitor the threats they are facing.

The paper concluded that as few as 27 individuals remain within the park, highlighting the vital importance of ongoing efforts by Bristol Zoological Society and others to minimise threats from poaching and mounting human pressures.

Giraffe in the park are a target for illegal hunting, which poses a serious threat to the population. An alarming recent study, also led by Bristol Zoological Society and University of Bristol, found that without intervention, poaching of just two Kordofan giraffe per year could result in extinction of the population in just 15 years.

The Society has been working to conserve giraffe in Cameroon since 2017. It is thought there are fewer than 2,000 Kordofan giraffe remaining in the wild – a decline of 85% since the 1980s.

The paper’s lead author, Connor Parks, undertook the study as part of his Master’s degree in Global Wildlife Health and Conservation at Bristol Vet School, in conjunction with teaching partner Bristol Zoological Society. Connor is among more than 400 students who annually undertake one of the six degrees the Society offers, in partnership with UWE, the University of Bristol and SGS College.

Connor Parks explained: “Our study has shown a significant population of Kordofan giraffe still occur within the park, with many more living in the surrounding landscape. It also emphasises that continued conservation efforts are vital if we are to further support the subspecies in Cameroon. This should include strengthening existing anti-poaching regulations and protecting wildlife movement corridors.”

Dr Caspian Johnson, a conservation scientist and lecturer at Bristol Zoological Society said: “Habitat degradation and illegal hunting has already seen the loss of cheetah, black rhino, and all resident elephants from Bénoué National Park. It is paramount we do not lose another precious species from this area.

“These studies provide us with the crucial baseline data needed to determine how giraffe population size and structure may change in the future. This will help us inform the conservation action and management practices needed to protect giraffe in Bénoué National Park.”

Aerial image of Kordofan giraffe in Bénoué National Park, Cameroon

CREDIT

University of Bristol

JOURNAL

African Journal of Ecology

DOI

10.1111/aje.13249 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Observational study

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

Animals

ARTICLE TITLE

Preliminary population estimate of Kordofan giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis antiquorum) in two areas of the Benoué complex, Cameroon

BEWARE CROUCHY PREDATORS

Cheetahs become more nocturnal on hot days. Climate change may trigger fights among predators


In this photo provided by Briana Abrahms, a female cheetah and her cub sit watchfully in front of a herd of zebra in northern Botswana on Aug. 23, 2011. The female wears a GPS collar as part of a study. Cheetahs are usually daytime hunters, but the speedy big cats will shift their activity toward dawn and dusk hours during warmer weather, according to a study published Wednesday, Nov. 8, 2023, in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B. Unfortunately for endangered cheetahs, that sets them up for more potential conflicts with mostly nocturnal competing predators like lions and leopards, say the authors of the paper.

 (Briana Abrahms via AP)

In this photo provided by Briana Abrahms, a male cheetah, named Qamar, has a fully belly after making a kill in northern Botswana on July 17, 2015. He wears a GPS collar as part of a study. Cheetahs are usually daytime hunters, but the speedy big cats will shift their activity toward dawn and dusk hours during warmer weather, according to a study published Wednesday, Nov. 8, 2023, in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B. Unfortunately for endangered cheetahs, that sets them up for more potential conflicts with mostly nocturnal competing predators like lions and leopards, say the authors of the paper. (Briana Abrahms via AP)

BY CHRISTINA LARSON
 November 8, 2023Share

Cheetahs are usually daytime hunters, but the speedy big cats will shift their activity toward dawn and dusk hours during warmer weather, a new study finds.

Unfortunately for endangered cheetahs, that sets them up for more potential conflicts with mostly nocturnal competing predators such as lions and leopards, say the authors of research published Wednesday in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B.

“Changing temperatures can impact the behavior patterns of large carnivore species and also the dynamics among species,” said University of Washington biologist Briana Abrahms, a study co-author.

While cheetahs only eat fresh meat, lions and leopards will sometimes opportunistically scavenge from smaller predators.

“Lions and leopards normally kill prey themselves, but if they come across a cheetah’s kill, they will try to take it,” said Bettina Wachter, a behavioral biologist who leads the Cheetah Research Project at the Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research.

“The cheetahs will not fight the larger cats, they will just leave,” said Wachter, who is based in Namibia and was not involved in the study.

Hunting at different times of the day is one long-evolved strategy to reduce encounters between the multiple predator species that share northern Botswana’s mixed savannah and forest landscape.

But the new study found that on the hottest days, when maximum daily temperatures soared to nearly 45 degrees Celsius (113 degrees Fahrenheit), cheetahs became more nocturnal — increasing their overlapping hunting hours with rival big cats by 16%.

“There’s a greater chance for more unfriendly encounters and less food for the cheetahs,” said co-author Kasim Rafiq, a biologist at the University of Washington and the nonprofit Botswana Predator Conservation Trust.

For the current study, researchers placed GPS tracking collars on 53 large carnivores — including cheetahs, lions, leopards and African wild dogs — and recorded their locations and hours of activity over eight years. They compared this data with maximum daily temperature records.

While seasonal cycles explain most temperature fluctuations in the study window of 2011 to 2018, the scientists say the observed behavior changes offer a peek into the future of a warming world.

In the next phase of research, the scientists plan to use audio-recording devices and accelerometers — “like a Fitbit for big cats,” said Rafiq — to document the frequency of encounters between large carnivores.

In addition to competition with lions and leopards, cheetahs already face severe pressure from habitat fragmentation and conflict with humans.

The fastest land animal, cheetahs are the rarest big cat in Africa, with fewer than 7,000 left in the wild.

“These climate changes could become really critical if we look into the future — it’s predicted to become much warmer in this part of Africa where cheetahs live, in Botswana, Namibia and Zambia,” said Wachter of the Cheetah Research Project.
___

The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Educational Media Group. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

 

Practicing mindfulness can help people make heart-healthy eating choices

A study led by Brown University researchers found that participants in a mindfulness-based blood pressure reduction program improved health behaviors that lower blood pressure

Peer-Reviewed Publication

BROWN UNIVERSITY

PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — Practicing mindfulness focused on healthy eating can be good for the heart, a new study shows, because it improves self-awareness and helps people stick to a heart-healthy diet.

When people who had elevated blood pressure participated in an eight-week mindfulness-based blood pressure reduction program for the study, they significantly improved their scores on measures of self-awareness and adherence to a heart-healthy diet compared to a control group. The results were published in JAMA Network Open.

“Participants in the program showed significant improvement in adherence to a heart-healthy diet, which is one of the biggest drivers of blood pressure, as well as significant improvements in self-awareness, which appears to influence healthy eating habits,” said lead study author Eric B. Loucks, an associate professor of epidemiology, behavioral and social sciences, and director of the Mindfulness Center at Brown University.

Loucks said the study helps explain the mechanism by which a customized mindfulness training program adapted toward improving diet can affect blood pressure.

“Improvements in our self-awareness, of how different foods make us feel, of how our body feels in general, as well as our thoughts, emotions and physical sensations around eating healthy as well as unhealthy food, can influence people’s dietary choices,” he said.

High blood pressure, a major cause of cardiovascular disease, is the single most important risk factor for early death worldwide, according to a recent report by the World Health Organization, leading to an estimated 10.8 million avoidable deaths every year. The important thing to note about those avoidable deaths, Loucks said, is that there is ample research supporting effective strategies to control and prevent hypertension.

“Almost everyone has the power to control blood pressure through changes in diet and physical activity, adherence to antihypertensive medications, minimizing alcohol intake and monitoring stress reactivity,” he said.

A heart-focused mindfulness program

The mindfulness-based blood pressure reduction program used in the study, which Loucks developed in 2014, trains participants in skills such as meditation, yoga, self-awareness, attention control and emotion regulation. What makes the program unique, he said, is that participants learn how to direct those skills toward behaviors known to lower blood pressure.

The MB-BP plan consisted of a group orientation session, eight 2.5-hour weekly group sessions and one day-long retreat, as well as recommended home practice for 45 minutes, six days a week. The program was led by trained instructors with expertise in cardiovascular disease etiology, treatment and prevention. Classes were held in Providence, R.I., at Brown University and at a health center in a lower-income, urban neighborhood.

The study compared two groups, totaling 201 participants. The 101 people in the test group were a part of the 8-week MB-BP program, which included personalized feedback and education about hypertension risk factors; mindfulness training of participants in relationship to hypertension risk factors (including mindful eating); and behavior change support. The “usual care” control group received educational brochures on controlling high blood pressure. Both groups received a home blood-pressure monitoring device with usage training, and options for referral to primary care physicians.

The researchers focused on participant adherence to the DASH (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension) program, a balanced eating plan rich in fruits, vegetables, whole grains and low-fat dairy, intended to create a heart-healthy eating style for life. Despite its effectiveness, adherence to the DASH diet is typically low.

After six months, the mindfulness group showed a 0.34-point improvement in the DASH diet score. Loucks explained that this effect can be interpreted as equivalent for a participant shifting from a vegetable intake approaching recommended levels (2-3 servings) to recommended levels (at least 4 servings), or making similar shifts across another component of the DASH score. The control group showed a -0.04-point change in DASH diet score.

The mindfulness group also showed a 0.71-point improvement in the average interoceptive awareness (which is the process of sensing and interpreting signals from one's own body) score compared to six months prior, which outperformed the control group by a significant 0.54 points.

The authors said the trial results offer evidence that an adapted mindfulness training program for participants with high blood pressure that targets diet and self-awareness significantly improves both.

“The program gives participants the tools to make heart-healthy diet changes that can lower their blood pressure and decrease their risk of cardiovascular disease,” Loucks said.

The researchers are studying different “doses” of the program (for example, shorter program lengths, fewer sessions), as well as factors influencing the implementation of the MB-BP plan in a real-world setting — including eligibility for health insurance coverage, accessibility for different patient groups and flexibility for physicians.

Additional contributors from Brown University included Frances Saadeh, Matthew Scarpaci, Jeffrey Proulx, Roee Gutman and Willoughby Britton. The study was supported by the National Institutes of Health Science of Behavior Change Common Fund Program through an award administered by the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (UH2AT009145, UH3AT009145).

---

JOURNAL

JAMA Network Open

DOI

10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2023.39243 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Randomized controlled/clinical trial

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

People

ARTICLE TITLE

Adapted Mindfulness Training for Interoception and Adherence to the DASH Diet A Phase 2 Randomized Clinical Trial

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

2-Nov-2023

COI STATEMENT

Conflict of Interest Disclosures: Dr Kronish reported receiving grants from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) during the conduct of the study; and serving on the advisory board of the US Blood Pressure Validated Device Listing. Dr Gutman reported receiving grants from the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health during the conduct of the study; and consulting for Lion Point Capital outside the submitted work. Dr Britton reported receiving grants from the NIH during the conduct of the study; receiving personal compensation from the Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction program and from Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy; and being the founder of Cheetah House outside the submitted work. No other disclosures were reported.

1960'S TEK

Gepard's 35mm Cannons Blast Russian Drones Out Of The Sky In First-Person Video

Oliver Parken
Fri, September 8, 2023 

Gerpard Shahed 136 night

A new video shows just what it looks like from a first-person point of view when a German-made Gepard self-propelled anti-aircraft guns (SPAAG) lets loose a barrage 35mm shells from its twin barrels and splashes a Shahed-136 kamikaze drone.

The video is a reminder of the very important role that the Gepards have played so far in Ukraine's air defense. The Gepard has proved highly effective against Russian drones, and in some cases cruise missiles, owing to its intended use in a point defense role against various low-flying aerial targets.

https://twitter.com/Archer83Able/status/1699782851724792197?s=20

According to Ukraine’s Southern Air Command, which posted the video to its official Facebook page yesterday, the footage depicts one of the systems shooting down two of Russia’s Iranian-designed Shahed-series kamikaze drones. The caption reads: “Video of the combat work of the soldiers of the ‘Southern’ air command against the ‘Shahed-136/131’ attack UAVs on the night of September 7, 2023 in Odesa [Oblast, southern Ukraine]! The German ‘Gepard’ hunted down enemy ‘shahedis’!” Iran has been providing Russia with Shahed drones since September last year.

Based on the chassis of the Leopard 1 main battle tank, Gepards — which translates to cheetah in English — feature twin radar-aimed 35mm automatic cannons, mounted on a single turret. The German variant sports an S-band search radar and a Ku-band tracking radar. These radars are critical to the Gepard's ability to locate, track, and engage targets at night and amid poor weather conditions. As we've highlighted in the past, many of Russia's Iranian-made kamikaze drone strikes occur at night to help improve the types' survivability.

Examples of how Germany's Gepards have been put to use in Ukraine against low-flying aerial threats can be seen below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_PWJ97KcnmA https://twitter.com/JimmySecUK/status/1599808349981138945?s=20

To date, six Gepards have been delivered to Ukraine by Germany, with another 46 pending delivery. Germany announced as far back as April 2022 that it would send a number of its since retired Gepards to Ukraine, which were originally produced for what was then the West German military during the Cold War. Visual confirmation that German Gepards were being used on the battlefield in Ukraine came later in August 2022.

A German Gepard variant. Hans-Hermann Bühling via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0

More recently, the U.S. Army has bankrolled the transfer of an undisclosed number of Gerpards to Ukraine from Jordan, in a contract worth ​​$118,375,740. Unlike the German variant, Jordan’s stockpile of Gepards are ex-Dutch. Acquiring a total of 95 vehicles, starting in the 1970s, the Dutch Armed Force’s Gepards feature a visually distinct radar configuration compared to their German counterparts. Dutch Gepards boast an X-band search radar and a tracking radar that can operate in the X and Ka bands. In 2013, the Netherlands agreed to sell 60 retired Gepards to Jordan as well as 350,000 rounds of 35mm ammunition, amongst other assets.

A Dutch Gepard during an exercise in 1990, with its distinctive radars at the front and rear of the turret. Dutch Ministry of Defense

Sourcing the necessary ammunition for Ukraine's German Gepards during the war has proved difficult. As we’ve noted previously, the vehicles' 35mm automatic cannons were produced in Switzerland, as are significant stockpiles of shells for them. That country’s policy of neutrality in regard to the conflict forced the German government to pursue a deal with domestic defense contractor Rheinmetall to restart production of 35mm ammunition earlier this year.

The first batch of said ammunition was recently delivered to Ukraine, with 40,000 rounds promised by the end of 2023 as part of the deal. So far, Germany has delivered 86,122 rounds of Gepard ammunition from Bundeswehr and industry stocks, according to the latest government figures, with 289,920 rounds still to be sent.

35mm ammunition rounds handled by the military of Brazil. Ministry of Defense of Brazil

Alongside other short-range air defense (SHORAD) capabilities given to Ukraine by Western allies, such as the AN/TWQ-1 Avenger, of which 20 were supplied by the U.S. starting in late 2022, Gepards remain critical assets for the defense of key cities and infrastructure deep within Ukraine. As they are highly mobile, they can easily be maneuvered to forward areas as needed. This is also significant given how few of them have so far arrived in the country.

There is also an important cost factor to their use against loitering munitions such as Shahed kamikaze drones, too, which are relatively cheap for Russia to procure. Shahed-136 drones reportedly cost around $10,000 to $20,000 apiece. The price per-shot against these drones when using Gepard ammunition is far more cost-effective compared to using expensive man-portable air-defense systems (MANPADS) or larger surface-to-air missiles (SAMs).

https://twitter.com/Aviation_Intel/status/1539887496539959296?s=20

The threat of Iranian-designed Kamikaze drones is not going away, either. Russia is standing up full-scale production within its own border in order to make 6,000 more by the summer of 2025.

With the promise of more Gepards to be delivered in the future, and more ammunition for the type on the way, these systems, which were up until recently viewed broadly as antiquated, will continue to play an important role in the defense of Ukraine's skies.

PHOTOS: Step inside one of the US-made Bradley fighting vehicles keeping Ukrainian troops alive through mines and enemy fire

Jake Epstein
Updated Fri, September 8, 2023 

A soldier from Ukraine's 47th Mechanized Brigade runs past a US-made Bradley Fighting Vehicle as the engine is started at a secret workshop in a wooded area in the southern Zaporizhzhia Region.

Ed Ram/For The Washington Post via Getty Images

US-provided Bradley infantry fighting vehicles have proven to be valuable assets for the Ukrainians.


Kyiv's troops have praised the heavy armor for keeping them alive in combat missions.


New photos show the Bradley's up close and what it looks like on the inside.

Facing incoming Russian fire, minefields, and other hazards, US-made Bradley infantry fighting vehicles have helped keep Ukrainian forces alive as they continue to battle Moscow's troops amid their grinding counteroffensive.

Washington first announced its intent to supply Ukraine with these vehicles earlier this year as part of a massive effort by the West to arm Kyiv with advanced heavy armor. M2A2 Bradleys eventually reached the battlefield in April, just weeks ahead of the much-anticipated offensive, and they have proven to be a valuable asset in the months since.

Ukrainian soldiers have credited the Bradleys with saving their lives in combat, arguing that they would likely be dead had they been riding in a less-advanced Soviet-era vehicle. Bradleys have even been used to help rescue endangered civilians under heavy fire. That said, these vehicles are not indestructible, and they have still fallen victim to Russia's defenses and artillery.

The US has provided a total of 186 Bradleys to Ukraine, according to the latest Pentagon data. But 53 of these have been destroyed, damaged, or abandoned, according to open-source intelligence collected by Oryx. Though it's a possibility, none appear to have been captured by the Russians yet.

Recent photos offer a look inside a Bradley operated by Ukraine's 47th Mechanized Brigade in the southeastern Zaporizhzhia region.

Gunner 'Molfar', 39, a Bradley IFV crew member of the 47th Magura Mechanized Brigade who took part in the fighting to liberate Robotyne village from Russian invaders, stands in the hatch of the vehicle.Dmytro Smolienko/Ukrinform/Future Publishing via Getty Images

Gunner 'Molfar' stands in the hatch of the Bradley.Dmytro Smolienko/Ukrinform/Future Publishing via Getty Images

The Bradley is a highly maneuverable and quick-moving armored vehicle capable of transporting troops to and from the battlefield, providing them with fire support, and carrying out reconnaissance missions.

Designed and manufactured by BAE Systems as a response to Soviet infantry fighting vehicles, the Bradley entered service in the 1980s. It was deployed to the Gulf War in the 1990s and then again sent to Iraq the following decade.

Gunner 'Molfar' is pictured inside the Bradley.Photo by Ukrinform/NurPhoto via Getty Images

Gunner 'Molfar' is pictured inside the Bradley.Dmytro Smolienko/Ukrinform/Future Publishing via Getty Images

The Bradly is a tracked vehicle, so it is sometimes misidentified as a tank. In early January, when it was announced that the US would send Bradleys to Ukraine, Pentagon Press Secretary Air Force Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder was asked by reporters at a briefing to describe how the vehicle is different from a tank.

"It's not a tank, but it's a tank killer. A Bradley is an armored vehicle that has a firepower capability that can deliver troops into combat," he explained. "It will provide a significant boost to Ukraine's already impressive armor capabilities. And we're confident that it will aid them on the battlefield."

Gunner 'Molfar' is pictured inside the Bradley.Photo by Ukrinform/NurPhoto via Getty Images

Gunner 'Molfar' carries a belt of munitions.Photo by Ukrinform/NurPhoto via Getty Images

Bradleys are operated by a three-person crew that includes a commander, a driver, a gunner and can carry up to six fully equipped soldiers. The vehicle can travel at speeds of just over 40 mph and has an operational range of around 300 miles.

They are armed with a 25 mm M242 Bushmaster chain gun, a 7.62 mm M240C machine gun, and Tube-Launched, Optically-Tracked, Wire-Guided (TOW) missiles, which can hit armor in the distance. A 1992 Government Accountability Office report on the Bradley's Gulf War performance praised the vehicle, noting that it "proved to be lethal" and its weapons were "effective against a variety of targets."

Gunner 'Molfar' is seen inside the vehicle.Photo by Ukrinform/NurPhoto via Getty Images

Gunner 'Molfar' is seen inside the Bradley.Dmytro Smolienko / Ukrinform/Future Publishing via Getty Images

According to the Pentagon's inventory of security assistance to Ukraine, which was updated this week, the US has sent over 7,000 TOW missiles and more than 1.8 million rounds of 25 mm ammunition.

This weaponry is just a small component of the nearly $44 billion in military aid Washington has provided since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022. The Biden administration has also sent nearly 500 Stryker and M113 armored personnel carriers, as well as drones, artillery, air-defense capabilities, and advanced rocket systems.

Gunner 'Molfar' is pictured inside the Bradley.Dmytro Smolienko / Ukrinform/Future Publishing via Getty Images

Gunner 'Molfar' (R) and mechanic and driver 'Revo.'Dmytro Smolienko / Ukrinform/Future Publishing via Getty Images

In the Zaporizhzhia region, where these photos were taken, Ukrainian forces have started gaining momentum against Russia's formidable defensive lines and fortifications. There, Kyiv's troops have managed to carve out a small pocket of liberated territory south of Orikhiv, battling through minefields, anti-tank ditches, and dragon's teeth obstacles.

Though Ukraine launched offensives in multiple directions along the sprawling front line, Kyiv's goal for this particular axis of attack seems to be to fight its way down to the Sea of Azov, where it ultimately hopes to divide Russian-held land and sever the link between occupied regions in the east and south.