Latest news with #NaturalHistory
The Sun
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Sun
BBC presenter & film producer left six-figure sum for his wife after death aged 95
A FORMER BBC presenter and film producer left a six-figure sum for his wife following his death last year, aged 95. Tony Soper, the former BBC wildlife presenter, died in September 2024 and left a £628k fortune to his family. 4 4 4 Soper left instructions in his will for his estate to pass to his wife Hilary, who he had lived with in a home in Slapton, Devon. He was born in Southampton in 1929 and brought up in Plymouth. It was there that he began his long career at the BBC as a trainee engineer in 1947 before progressing onto radio and producing. His TV break came when he filled in as unofficial assistant floor manager for Wild Geese in Winter in 1954. And his debut as a presenter was on Animal Magic with Johnny Morris in the 1960s. He was the co-founder of the BBC's Natural History Unit which began in 1957 in Bristol and has produced countless wildlife programmes around the globe. The unit has become world renowned and produced the Planet Earth series narrated by another wildlife icon, Sir David Attenborough. According to his website, he started working as a freelancer in 1963 so he could live closer to the sea in Devon. As well as a wildlife camera operator, Soper was also a film producer and went on to present a number of TV shows. His skill in front of the camera earned him the nickname 'One-take Tony'. BBC presenter Tony Soper introduces Birdwatch He presented Birdwatch, Birdspot, Discovering Birds, Discovering Animals, Beside the Sea, Wildtrack and Nature. Soper later pursued a career in leading wildlife cruises to the Arctic and Antartica. He also penned a string of books about wildlife in the UK and further afield. Following his sad passing last September, former colleagues flocked to social media to pay their tributes. Lorraine Kelly said at the time: "On one of my very first shows presenting on TVam, this wonderful kind man came on to talk about his book on owls. "He was a joy and a delight." Wildlife presenter Stephen Moss said: "Very sad news - Tony Soper was a huge influence on generations of birders and broadcasters. "I had the huge privilege of working with Tony and getting to know him. "The last person who was there at the start of the BBC Natural History Unit - a lovely man." Soper is survived by his wife Hilary, his two sons Tim and Jack and his five grandchildren. 4
Yahoo
7 days ago
- Science
- Yahoo
See Venus, the moon and fiery star Aldebaran form a dawn triangle this weekend
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. One of the brightest and most colorful stars in the sky and the most brilliant planet are on stage in the early morning dawn sky this weekend and will be joined by the moon on Monday morning. The star in question is Aldebaran, a first-magnitude star that shines with a distinct orange hue and marks the right eye of Taurus, the Bull. The brilliant planet is, of course, Venus, which outshines Aldebaran by almost five magnitudes or a light ratio difference of almost 100-fold. At this particular moment in time, both star and planet can be seen roughly one-quarter of the way up from the eastern horizon, roughly 45 minutes before sunrise. Venus, a dazzling morning "star," rises about an hour prior to the first light of dawn and shines low in the east-northeast as dawn brightens. On Monday morning, you'll also see a delicately thin (14 percent illuminated) crescent moon hovering approximately 8 degrees above Venus. Your clenched fist held at arm's length measures roughly 10 degrees in width, so on Monday morning, the slender lunar sliver will appear almost "one fist" above Venus. In a telescope, Venus is a disappointment: just a tiny, gibbous blob, 72 percent illuminated by the sun. It has shrunk and become more nearly round in recent months as it has swung far around to the back side of the sun as seen from Earth. TOP TELESCOPE PICK Want to see Venus, the moon, and Aldebaran together? The Celestron NexStar 8SE is ideal for beginners wanting quality, reliable and quick views of celestial objects. For a more in-depth look at our Celestron NexStar 8SE review. And situated well to the right of both Venus and the moon will be Aldebaran. The trio will appear to form a broad isosceles triangle with Venus marking the vertex angle, while Aldebaran and the moon form the base of the triangle. It will not be a particularly "tight" array, but still should be attractive enough to catch the attention of early risers. With the reappearance of Aldebaran, it is also a gentle reminder that while we are not yet at the midpoint of summer, the colder nights of fall and winter will be looming in the months to come. Aldebaran is crossing the meridian at midnight around Thanksgiving ... and at around 9 p.m. in mid-January. Who knows? By then, some of you might be shoveling snow. So take advantage of this week's opportunity to see not only an out-of-season winter star, but Venus as well, while they both "flirt" with a waning crescent moon. Joe Rao serves as an instructor and guest lecturer at New York's Hayden Planetarium. He writes about astronomy for Natural History magazine, Sky and Telescope and other publications.
GMA Network
18-07-2025
- Science
- GMA Network
Martian meteorite sells for record $5.3 million at Sotheby's
The meteorite NWA 16788, the largest known piece of Mars on Earth, is displayed during the press preview of Sotheby's Natural History auction in New York City, US, July 8, 2025. REUTERS/Eduardo Munoz/File Photo NEW YORK - A 54-pound (24.5-kg) Martian meteorite that is the largest known piece of Mars found on Earth has sold for $5.3 million at Sotheby's, setting a new auction record for a meteorite. The auction on Wednesday for the rock known as NWA 16788 sparked a 15-minute bidding war between online and phone bidders. "This is an amazing Martian meteorite that broke off of the Martian surface," said Cassandra Hatton, Sotheby's vice chairman and global head of science and natural history, ahead of the auction. The fragment was discovered in November 2023 by a meteorite hunter in the Sahara Desert, in Niger's remote Agadez region. "The people there knew already that it was something special," said Hatton. "It wasn't until it got to the lab and pieces were tested that we realized, 'Oh my gosh, it's Martian.' And then when those results came back and we compared and saw, OK, it's not just Martian, it is the biggest piece of Mars on the planet." About 5 million years ago, an asteroid or comet slammed into Mars so hard that rocks and other debris launched into space. "So it comes hurtling... 140 million miles through space, makes it through Earth's atmosphere," said Hatton, noting that most things burn up in our planet's atmosphere. "It's incredible that it made it through and then that it crashed in the middle of the desert instead of the middle of the ocean, in a place where we could find it, and that somebody who could recognize what it was found it. "So there's a whole kind of process or a layer of things that have to happen in order for this to become reality and be here in front of us." Just like its mother planet, NWA 16788 has a distinctly reddish hue, as well as signs of fusion crust from its violent descent through Earth's atmosphere. There are about 400 officially recognized Martian meteorites on Earth, of which NWA 16788 is by far the largest. — Reuters
Deccan Herald
17-07-2025
- Business
- Deccan Herald
Ceratosaur fossil auctioned for Rs 262 crore by Sotheby's
The only known juvenile Ceratosaurus fossil just sold in the #SothebysNewYork sale room for a staggering $30.5 million, making it the third most valuable dinosaur fossil ever sold at auction. #AuctionUpdate The Natural History sale continues LIVE:
Yahoo
08-07-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
New species of flying reptile that lived among dinosaurs 200 million years ago discovered
Researchers have discovered a new species of pterosaur - a winged reptile that lived alongside dinosaurs 200 million years ago. Scientists at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History uncovered the fossilised jawbone of the creature in 2011, and have now identified it to be the oldest known species of pterosaur in North America. Unearthed at a remote bonebed in Petrified Forest National Park in Arizona, its jawbone was preserved in volcanic ash 209 million years ago. The new species would have been small enough to comfortably perch on a person's shoulder. The remarkable fossil was unearthed by Suzanne McIntire, who volunteered in the museum's FossiLab for 18 years. 'What was exciting about uncovering this specimen was that the teeth were still in the bone, so I knew the animal would be much easier to identify,' McIntire said. Because the tips of the teeth were worn down, the team concluded that the pterosaur likely fed on the site's fish, many of which were encased in armor-like scales. The team named the new pterosaur species Eotephradactylus mcintireae. The name means 'ash-winged dawn goddess' and references the site's volcanic ash where the fossil was found. This part of northeastern Arizona was positioned in the middle of Pangaea and sat just above the equator 209 million years ago. The area was crisscrossed by small river channels and likely prone to seasonal floods - these floods washed sediment and volcanic ash into the channels and likely buried the creatures preserved in the bonebed. In total, the team has uncovered more than 1,200 individual fossils, including bones, teeth, fish scales and coprolites, or fossilised faeces. The researchers also described the fossils of an ancient turtle with spike-like armor and a shell that could fit inside a shoebox. This tortoise-like animal lived around the same time as the oldest known turtle, whose fossils were previously uncovered in Germany. 'This suggests that turtles rapidly dispersed across Pangaea, which is surprising for an animal that is not very large and is likely walking at a slow pace,' Kligman said.
