Aussies swoon over 'fuzzy' pink creature crawling on bench: 'What the flip'
Aussies are swooning over a 'fuzzy' pink creature spotted crawling on a wooden bench this week. A camper was soaking up the scenery in northern NSW when he stumbled upon the 'adorable' insect.
Intrigued by the caterpillar's mysterious identity, the man searched for answers about his new friend online, posting photos and videos of it strutting its colourful self across the thick piece of wood.
The creepy-crawly, which has two black 'bunny ears' emerging from its head, appeared to be completely oblivious to the fact it had company, the avid outdoorsman explained on Reddit.
Other Aussies were left just as amazed, and praised the 'fluff' ball's incredible colouring. 'What the flip?' one person wrote, while another said they 'want it' but were also 'scared' of the insect.
'Part of the fuzzarati,' the man who discovered it joked.
🪲 Aussie stunned by strange backyard find: 'WTF?'
🌴 Warning as thousands of critters 'swarm' backyards and gardens
🏕️ Campers warned about native plant with sting 'worse than a snake bite'
Speaking to Yahoo News Australia, Dr Chris Burwell, senior curator of insects at Queensland Museum, confirmed the alluring creature is a 'caterpillar in the larval stage of a moth'.
More specifically, it is most likely a trichiocerus sparshalli, otherwise known as a Sparshall's moth — a species that belongs to the moth family notodontidae.
'The colour of the caterpillars is variable. The fringe of hairs around the body can be white, yellow or pink and the tufts of hairs long the top of the body can also be red and black, or orange and black,' he explained.
'The caterpillars feed at night on the leaves of eucalypts. When they are young the caterpillars are gregarious, sheltering together during the day and moving out to feed at night, travelling in a procession, head to tail. When they are older and larger they become solitary, feeding on their own.'
The caterpillars grow to about 4cm in length and pupate in a silk cocoon in ground debris. The species is widespread in the Northern Territory and along the east coast of Australia. It can also be found in South Australia and southern Western Australia, Dr Burwell said.
However, when they become adult moths, they loose their flair.
'The adult moth will be white or greyish with a brown thorax,' the expert told Yahoo.
Do you have a story tip? Email: newsroomau@yahoonews.com.
You can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Twitter and YouTube.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
16 hours ago
- Yahoo
Screen time is both a cause and symptom of kids' bad behavior, according to new research
Kara Alaimo is an associate professor of communication at Fairleigh Dickinson University. Her book 'Over the Influence: Social Media Is Toxic for Women and Girls — And How We Can Take It Back' was published in 2024 by Alcove Press. Follow her on Instagram, Facebook and Bluesky. Does your child not listen to you? Do they kick and scream when they get angry? You may need to rethink their screen time, according to an article published Monday in Psychological Bulletin, a journal of the American Psychological Association. The more time kids spent looking at a screen, the more likely their actions and feelings didn't meet expectations for their stage of development, according to a meta-analysis of 117 studies of kids younger than 10½ when the research began. These socioemotional problems included anxiety, depression, hyperactivity and aggression. The association was small but significant, especially for girls. The studies were designed in different ways but the overall picture showed that trouble occurred when kids under age 2 had any screen time (other than video chats), when kids ages 2-5 had more than an hour per day of screen time and when older kids had more than 2 hours per day of screen time. Kids who spent a lot of time on games were particularly at risk. And 6-to-10-year-olds were more likely to develop socioemotional problems than children age 5 or younger. What's more, kids who experienced these challenges tended to turn to screens even more to cope, which could exacerbate the problem. This was especially the case for boys. 'High screen use isn't just a cause of problems — sometimes, it's a symptom,' said lead author Roberta Pires Vasconcellos via email , noting one of the most striking findings. 'In many cases, children who are already struggling emotionally turn to screens, especially video games, as a way to cope or escape,' said Vasconcellos , who is a n associate lecturer at the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia. 'While that might offer short-term relief, over time it can trap them in a cycle that reinforces those emotional difficulties.' One of the largest of its kind, the meta-analysis has limitations, however, because it couldn't account for factors such as parenting style or socioeconomic status, Vasconcellos said. And since the studies looked at screen time more broadly, they couldn't pinpoint the effects of social media use on kids' mental health. Nevertheless, this latest data on kids and screen time suggests specific actions parents or guardians can take to have a real, positive impact on their kids' mental health. Adults often give kids screens to help them calm down, especially during work time or in other situations when children need to be quiet, such as at a restaurant. 'While this may offer short-term relief, it can lead to longer-term problems,' Vasconcellos warned. That's because it may prevent kids from learning how to behave appropriately and handle their emotions. 'Instead of developing self-regulation skills, they come to rely on screens for comfort and distraction,' she said. 'This can reinforce a harmful cycle where emotional difficulties are masked rather than addressed, making it even harder for children to cope without a screen over time.' Look for signs that children are reaching for screens when they have a problem. Rather than assuming the problem is the screen itself, look at the bigger picture, Vasconcellos said. ' If you notice your child turning to screens more often when they're upset or withdrawn, it might be time to check in on how they're doing emotionally,' she advised. 'In some cases, they might be seeking the sense of connection or support they're not finding in their face-to-face relationships — at home, at school or in other social settings.' That's when they need parental support and guidance the most — 'to help them feel heard, understood and emotionally safe, both online and offline,' Vasconcellos said. School guidance counselors or therapists are also good sources of support. The amount of time kids spend gaming is also important to note, according to the study. ' Online games, in particular, pose additional risks because they often function like social media platforms,' Vasconcellos said. 'Since these games continue even when a player logs out, children may feel pressure to stay connected for longer periods, which can lead them to neglect important real-life activities like sleep, schoolwork and face-to-face interactions. 'For this reason, gaming may require extra attention and clearer boundaries — especially for older children, who are typically granted more independence in how they use their time.' It's important to set rules for kids' screen time and stick to them. 'Keeping rules consistent helps children know what to expect and makes limits easier to follow,' Vasconcellos said. Parental controls on phones and apps are also useful. 'Most devices offer built-in tools to help you manage screen time and filter content,' she said. 'Use these settings to set reasonable daily limits and ensure your child is only accessing age-appropriate material.' To help prevent kids from depending too much on devices, Vasconcellos suggests removing apps such as video streaming platforms that are particularly tempting. Instead, give kids content that is educational or that serves a good purpose. The results of this study didn't surprise me. In my research, therapists and teachers often complain that parents or guardians aren't willing to set limits and say no when their kids ask for screens. When I say no to my own kids, their reactions aren't always pleasant. I have to remind myself that, as their mom, it's my job to know what's best for them and to make decisions that will keep them healthy in the long run — even if it leads to short-term distress for us all. Limiting kids' phone use is also wise. A newly published consensus statement I coauthored with experts around the globe offers evidence that heavy use of social media and smartphones by young people is linked to problems with sleep, attention, addiction and body dissatisfaction. When I speak to parents about how to handle their kids' social media use, they often tell me they feel they need to give their younger kids a phone at the same age their older siblings got one. That's not true. Tell younger kids who make this argument that you are more experienced now and have more data showing how screen time can be harmful. Also consider attractive alternatives to a phone. One mom told me she offered her daughter $1,600 to wait until she was 16 to get a phone. Her daughter took the cash. While many people don't have that kind of disposable income, you can still be creative and propose other things that kids would like. Sleepovers with friends, or a family camping adventure are just some examples. No matter what you offer, it's important to rethink the way you let your kids use technology. Since screen time may be both a cause and a symptom of behavioral and emotional problems in children, get comfortable saying no. It may provoke kicking and screaming in the moment, but it will likely lead to better mental health in the long run. Get inspired by a weekly roundup on living well, made simple. Sign up for CNN's Life, But Better newsletter for information and tools designed to improve your well-being.
Yahoo
16 hours ago
- Yahoo
Scientists Just Discovered a New Type of Magnetism
"Hearst Magazines and Yahoo may earn commission or revenue on some items through these links." Here's what you'll learn when you read this story: Researchers have found a way to merge the properties of ferromagnetic materials (whose atoms spin in the same direction) and antiferromagnetic materials (whose atoms spin in opposite directions and cancel out magnetism). By applying just a small voltage, they were able to switch the direction in which the atoms of nickel iodide, an antiferromagnetic material, were spinning. The ability to manipulate the spins of atoms could allow for the development of computer chips whose storage is based on spin rather than charge, allowing for much more space and longevity. Magnetism can be a strange and powerful force. In an almost supernatural way, magnets stick to surfaces with no adhesives, which is why games like Etch-a-Sketch and Operation have fascinated generations of kids. Most of what we see every day is ferromagnetism (think refrigerator magnets), the phenomenon describing how metals like iron and nickel are magnetized in a magnetic field and thus adhere to certain surfaces. There are also paramagnetic materials, like aluminum, which have a weak and almost unnoticeable attraction to magnets. There's even antiferromagnetism—a type of magnetism in which magnetic atoms or ions in a material cancel their magnetism out if they end up next to each other. And then there is a magnetism that is none of the above. By merging properties of ferromagnetic and antiferromagnetic materials, MIT physicists created a new kind magnetism that may someday revolutionize the memory chips that store data in laptops and smartphones. It's called 'p-wave magnetism,' and it makes use of the spin of atoms in a material rather than their charge to create magnetic properties. '[This discovery] opens new opportunities for developing ultrafast, energy-efficient and high-endurance antiferromagnetic spintronic devices,' the researchers said in a study recently published in Nature. The find is particularly huge for the field of spintronics. It might sound like a DJ spinning tracks on an alien planet—and, to be fair, it's almost as far out—but it's actually a scientific discipline centered around manipulating the spins of atoms in ferromagnetic and antiferromagnetic materials. Atoms in ferromagnets are known to spin in the same direction, and as these atoms spin, so do their electrons. Those electrons, spinning furiously around their nuclei, generate magnetic fields that cause ferromagnets stick to some metals. On the other hand, neighboring atoms in antiferromagnets have opposite spins, which means the electrons generating their magnetic fields are spinning in opposite directions. Antiferromagnets do not show visible magnetization, because the spins of their electrons and atoms cancel each other out—but the MIT team found a way around that. They synthesized nickel iodide (NiI2) in a lab and observed the behavior of the electrons in its atoms. Like a ferromagnet, the electrons did have one spin orientation they preferred, and like an antiferromagnet, there were enough electrons spinning in the opposite direction to cancel out magnetism. But there was something more. It turned out that nickel atoms form spiral patterns that mirror each other, which made it possible to manipulate the spins of those atoms with a voltage. This caused some atoms to switch their spiral path from spinning left to right, and vice versa, turning the material into a p-wave magnet. And the electrons had their spins switched right along with the atoms as a whole in the same direction of that voltage. This is how spintronics could seriously level up computer chips. With data taking the form of an electron's spin rather than its charge, it leaves much more space for storage. Spintronics could mean chips able to store amounts of information orders of magnitude greater than anything currently available. 'The reported results represent the first observation of an electrically-switchable unconventional [opposite direction] magnet,' the researchers said. 'These findings open a new frontier to realize symmetry-protected voltage-based switching of non-relativistic spin polarization in a compensated magnet.' You Might Also Like The Do's and Don'ts of Using Painter's Tape The Best Portable BBQ Grills for Cooking Anywhere Can a Smart Watch Prolong Your Life?
Yahoo
16 hours ago
- Yahoo
Mathematicians Are Getting Closer to Translating an ‘Alien Language'
"Hearst Magazines and Yahoo may earn commission or revenue on some items through these links." Here's what you'll learn when you read this story: First proposed in 2012, the Inter-universal Teichmüller Theory (IUT) is a devilishly difficult math theory that experts describe as an 'alien language.' Although only a few mathematicians around the world understand any small portion of IUT, a 28-year-old tech worker recently made significant gains toward decoding the theory. This could help make progress in understanding math enigmas like the ABC Conjecture and Fermat's Last Theorem. It's likely that you won't understand any of the mathematics in this article, but you'd be in good company—most mathematicians don't understand it, either. That's because we're talking about the famously difficult Inter-universal Teichmüller Theory (IUT), first proposed across 2,000 pages in 2012 by Japanese mathematician Shinichi Mochizuki and vigorously debated in the 13 years since: is it a revolutionary way of understanding mathematics or a complete waste of time? The best way to think about IUT is that it's a completely novel understanding of mathematics that makes a drastic departure from the theorems taught in universities around the world. According to mathematics expert Kato Fumimot, speaking to the South China Morning Post (SCMP), the theory is almost an otherworldly creation. 'Imagine an alien coming to Earth who can only speak an extraterrestrial language,' Fumimot told the SCMP. 'If he were to give a speech in front of a large group of Earthlings, surely no one would understand what he is saying, and no matter how many times he repeats it, there would be no progress.' Whole branches of mathematics have been set up to try to interpret the secrets of IUT. According to some estimates, only two dozen or so mathematicians in the world can even begin to understand this mysterious language. However, it seems that a promising new mathematician may have recently been added to their number. Zhou Zhongpeng isn't a learned professor or noted mathematician, but a former doctoral student turned tech worker—one that happens to be obsessed with learning IUT. After decoding key elements of IUT and proposing novel refinements and explanations of the ABC conjecture, he sent his work—uploaded to the preprint server arXiv—to the theory's creator, Mochizuki, and Ivan Fesenko, one of the few mathematicians who has made some headway in understanding IUT. According to SCMP and Interesting Engineering, Fesenko immediately reached out to Zhou and told him to fly to his campus in Westlake University in China. Zhou promptly quit his tech job and began working with Fesenko. If mathematicians at large are ever able to truly learn IUT, they could be able to find more efficient solutions to some of the field's most devilish problems. Take, for example, Fermat's Last Theorem. Formulated in 1637 and named after French mathematician Pierre de Fermat, the theorem states that no three positive integers (a, b, and c) can satisfy the equation an + bn = cn where 'n' is greater than two. Although this seems simple, it took more than 350 years to prove it, and the solution ran 130 pages long. Zhou's work could solve such a theorem in fewer steps and also prove useful for other mathematical enigmas. For now, IUT remains a mostly an 'alien language.' And because so many of the theory's adherents live in Japan, New Scientist says that, effectively, the proof is only true in that country. Only time will tell whether that claim spreads to eventually envelop the world. You Might Also Like The Do's and Don'ts of Using Painter's Tape The Best Portable BBQ Grills for Cooking Anywhere Can a Smart Watch Prolong Your Life?
