Richard L. Coats "Dick" February 14, 1936 - December 14,
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Yahoo
19-07-2025
- Yahoo
Underwater expedition unveils new imagery of sunken World War II destroyer
HONIARA, Solomon Islands - Maritime experts on an expedition around the Solomon Islands in the South Pacific recently explored the wreckage of the USS Laffey, a destroyer sunk during a pivotal series of battles in World War II. According to the USS Laffey Association, the ship went down on Nov. 13, 1942, during the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal and currently rests upright about half a mile beneath the surface in a region known as the Iron Bottom Sound — a graveyard for dozens of ships and hundreds of planes lost during the six-year-long global conflict. The latest mission, expedition NA173, was conducted by the nonprofit Ocean Exploration Trust and supported by NOAA. Over a stretch of 21 days, researchers used a remotely operated vehicle and sophisticated imaging technology to survey the wreckage and other historic sites. War Trophy From George Washington's Army Discovered Amid British Shipwreck Photos released by the team show the Laffey still sitting upright on the seafloor with much of her bow and midsection intact despite more than 80 years underwater. Among the discoveries was a plaque that is still legible, showing the ship's name and builder information despite decades of exposure on the bottom of the Pacific. The ship's wreckage was originally discovered in 1992 during a National Geographic Society expedition led by renowned oceanographer Dr. Robert Ballard, who is most famous for locating the Titanic in 1985. Since that initial discovery, the Laffey has been explored less than a handful of times, making this latest adventure a unique opportunity to document the wreckage's condition. According to the USS Laffey Association, a torpedo led to the ship's demise after sailors engaged several Japanese battleships in a ferocious battle. Historical records indicate that 59 sailors were killed or lost during the attack on the ship, with more than 100 wounded. Noaa Mission Finds Unexpected Discovery At Site Of Sunken Uss Yorktown Historians say during the broader conflict, located more than 1,000 miles northeast of Australia, some 20,000 lives were claimed from both the Axis and Allied powers. Researchers believe at least 111 ships and 1,450 planes were lost in the region during the war, but only a small fraction of these wrecks have been thoroughly explored or documented. During the three-week-long exploratory mission, experts also investigated the wrecks of Australia's HMAS Canberra - the largest warship ever lost in battle by the Royal Australian Navy - and several other sites belonging to the U.S. and article source: Underwater expedition unveils new imagery of sunken World War II destroyer
New York Times
11-07-2025
- New York Times
Earth Is Spinning Faster and Days Are Getting Shorter, for Now
It wouldn't be summer without the stretched out days. The dawns break early and the dusks come late, affording more time for lazy beach trips and long barbecues under the slow curve of the sun. But when it comes to the full astronomical day — a single rotation of planet Earth in which the hour hand moves twice around a standard clock — some of this year's shortest are happening in July and August. This week has seen the shortest days of the year so far. According to data from the U.S. Naval Observatory and the International Earth Rotation and Reference Systems Service, Tuesday's rotation was about 1.34 milliseconds less than 24 hours. More quick spins are expected this week, later this month and in early August, according to predictions from the website Time and Date. This isn't completely out of the ordinary: Our world's spins have been faster than usual lately. The average day has mostly shortened over the past decade, and within the past five years or so, the full rotation has clocked in at a hair less than 24 hours more often than not. Factors driving the change include movements at Earth's core, atmospheric changes and the moon's position. But long-term trends do not suggest that the days will shorten in perpetuity. In fact, it is just the opposite. For many millenniums, the days have been growing longer. A Tyrannosaurus rex that lived 70 million years ago would have experienced an average daily rotation of about 23 1/2 hours, studies have found. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
Miami Herald
09-07-2025
- Miami Herald
Foreign, feral honeybees are crowding out native bee species in southern California
LOS ANGELES - You've probably heard the phrase: "Save the bees." But new research suggests we may need to be more specific about which bees we're saving. Europeans introduced western honeybees (Apis mellifera L.) to the Americas in the early 1600s. They play an essential role in pollinating crops and flowering plants, and are often hailed as the "unsung heroes of our planet." They are both omnivorous and omnipresent: Researchers have found that western honeybees visit more plant species than any other species of pollinator and are the most common visitor to plants in non-managed habitats worldwide, accounting for nearly 13% of all floral visitors. The problem is that this dominance may be coming at the cost of some native pollinators. That's what caught the attention of Joshua Kohn, a former biology professor at UC San Diego. "Pollination biologists in general in North America tend to ignore western honeybees because they're not native," he said. "But when I saw just how abundant they were, I thought to myself: They're not just a nuisance, they're the story." In San Diego County - a global bee biodiversity hotspot - feral honeybee populations have quietly exploded in number since the late 1960s. Many of these bees trace their ancestry to a hybrid of European and African subspecies, the latter known for traits that boost survival in hot, dry climates - places with mild winters and vegetation that blooms year-round. In other words, perfect for Southern California, where previously domesticated populations became feral colonies that thrived independent of human management, nesting in rock crevices, abandoned rodent burrows and other natural cavities. However, despite their population growth and spread, researchers don't know much about these bees' pollen consumption, or the extent to which their foraging habits may be displacing native species. A new study published July 7 in the journal Insect Conservation and Diversity seeks to address that knowledge gap. Drawing from field surveys in San Diego's coastal scrubland, researchers at UC San Diego found that feral honeybees - non-native, unmanaged descendants of domesticated bees - may be monopolizing local ecosystems and effectively squeezing out native pollinators such as bumblebees. In total, these feral bees now comprise about 90% of all bees in the area, according to the study. "It's like going to the Amazon rainforest to bird-watch and seeing only pigeons," said James Hung, an ecologist at the University of Oklahoma and co-author of the study. "I was shocked. This was supposed to be a biodiversity hotspot - but all we were seeing were honeybees." The team also wanted to understand how honeybee foraging affected pollen availability for native species, and what that might mean for the latter's ability to reproduce successfully. The researchers looked at how honeybees interacted with three native plants: black sage, white sage and distant phacelia. They found that in just two visits, a western honeybee could remove more than 60% of the pollen from these flowers. By the end of a single day for all three plant species analyzed, more than 80% of all pollen was gone. The problem is that this leaves almost no pollen for native bees. Kohn, a co-author of the study, explained that while western honeybees are prolific foragers, they aren't always the most effective pollinators. His previous research suggests plants pollinated by these bees often produce less fit offspring, in part due to inbreeding. This is because western honeybees tend to visit many flowers on the same plant before moving on - a behavior that increases the risk of self-fertilization. What this means for the broader plant community is still unclear, Kohn said. "But it's likely that the offspring of plants would be more fit if they were pollinated by native pollinators. It's possible that if honeybees were not in the system that there'd be more bumblebees, which visit flowering plants much more methodically." Kohn emphasized that the findings aren't an argument against honeybee conservation, especially given their importance to agriculture. However, they do suggest we may need to reconsider how to manage domesticated western honeybee populations. When used for agricultural pollination, managed honeybees are often brought into an area temporarily in what's called a mobile apiary: essentially, dozens or hundreds of hives kept on a trailer or platform, moved from place to place, wherever pollination is needed. While this is essential for crops, stripping nectaring plants of resources before native species have a chance to feed could lead to their decimation. Hung suggested designating specific forage zones for commercial beekeeping - ideally in areas less vulnerable to ecological disruption - as a way to offset that pressure. "If we can identify ecosystems that are less sensitive to disturbance - those with a lower number of endemic plant or pollinator species - we could scatter seed mixes and produce way more flowers than any comparable habitat nearby," he said. "Then, we could set aside some acres of land for beekeepers to come and park their bees and let them forage in a way that does not disrupt the native ecosystem. This would address the conflict between large-scale managed honeybee populations and the wild bees that they could potentially be impacting." Rather than replacing crop pollination, the idea would be to offer alternative foraging options that keep honeybees from spilling into and dominating natural areas. Longer-term, Hung said scientists may need to consider more direct forms of intervention, such as relocation or eradication. "Honeybees have dug their roots very deep into our ecosystem, so removing them is going to be a big challenge," he said. But at some point, he believes, it may be necessary to protect native plants and pollinators. In the words of Scott Black, director of the Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation, "Keeping honeybees to 'save the bees' is like raising chickens to save birds." Copyright (C) 2025, Tribune Content Agency, LLC. Portions copyrighted by the respective providers.
