Latest news with #Pauli
Yahoo
6 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Why three-toed sloths risk their lives to help moths
For centuries, people encountering sloths for the first time have reacted by ridiculing them. In 1526, Spanish conquistador Gonzalo Fernández de Oviedo y Valdés wrote that the sloths he'd seen in the American tropics were 'ugly,' 'useless,' and 'the stupidest animal that can be found in the world.' In 1749, French naturalist Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon, called them 'the lowest form of existence' and judged that 'one more defect would have made their lives impossible.' Harsh words about a creature that's survived for at least 50 million years. Yes, sloths have poor hearing and eyesight, and they're slow—the slowest mammal on Earth. But their lethargy is an energy-saving strategy; despite the inability to outrun threats, sloths have figured out what works for them. And while they may appear to be solitary, they don't succeed alone. Sloths operate as one-third of a partnership with moths and algae, which both live in the mammal's thick fur (along with fungi and ticks and mites, oh my). 'Sloths are these fascinating, fantastic, weird mammals that have enlisted really unexpected organisms to help them make their living,' says Jonathan Pauli, a wildlife ecologist at the University of Wisconsin–Madison who has studied this symbiosis. After a three-toed sloth has lounged for days in the forest canopy, napping and grazing on poisonous leaves—slowly, so that its liver and four-chambered stomach can break down the toxins—the time comes for its weekly poop. Rather than rain droppings from high up, the animal makes a drawn-out descent. As captured on camera in National Geographic's Underdogs series, the move is exceptionally risky, burning a tenth of the sloth's daily calories and exposing it to predators on the jungle floor, where it's mostly—but not always—helpless to defend itself. More than half of the sloth deaths documented by Pauli's team of researchers in Costa Rica occurred on bathroom breaks. But if a jaguar isn't waiting at the tree's base, a sloth digs a small depression in the soil—a toilet bowl—and relieves itself at last. Cue the moths. Females, including species found only on sloths, lay their eggs in the fresh dung. The eggs become coprophagous larvae, feeding on the feces, and larvae become adult moths that flutter off in search of their own hairy habitats. As many as 120 moths have been counted on a single sloth. Moths fertilize sloth fur with nutrients, like nitrogen, whether by delivering fecal matter there or dying and decomposing. Along with rainwater, nitrogen encourages the growth of algae. And algae give sloths a green coloring—effective camouflage from birds of prey patrolling overhead. The more moths on a sloth, the more nitrogen and algae. Sloths also eat the green stuff as a sort of dietary supplement. Although researchers haven't observed the behavior, Pauli's team tested the contents of sloths' stomachs and found algae. What seems clear to researchers is that sloths, moths, and algae all benefit from their shared arrangement. And now, a team of scientists in Costa Rica is exploring whether the microbiome living on sloths could boost human health, too. Many experts believe sloths are resistant to illness or infection; testing fur samples, the Costa Rican team isolated previously unknown bacteria that may lead to new antibiotics. As concerns mount about superbugs that are capable of defeating existing medications, what if remedies are discovered on the backs and bellies of sloths? An animal maligned in the past as useless and an unlikely survivor would prove to be a hero, sophisticated enough to save human lives. Perhaps we were awfully slow to recognize the sloth's potential. Underdogs will premiere on National Geographic June 15th and stream the next day on Disney+ and Hulu. Please check local listings.
National Geographic
6 days ago
- General
- National Geographic
Why three-toed sloths risk their lives to help moths
For centuries, people encountering sloths for the first time have reacted by ridiculing them. In 1526, Spanish conquistador Gonzalo Fernández de Oviedo y Valdés wrote that the sloths he'd seen in the American tropics were 'ugly,' 'useless,' and 'the stupidest animal that can be found in the world.' In 1749, French naturalist Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon, called them 'the lowest form of existence' and judged that 'one more defect would have made their lives impossible.' Harsh words about a creature that's survived for at least 50 million years. Yes, sloths have poor hearing and eyesight, and they're slow—the slowest mammal on Earth. But their lethargy is an energy-saving strategy; despite the inability to outrun threats, sloths have figured out what works for them. And while they may appear to be solitary, they don't succeed alone. Sloths operate as one-third of a partnership with moths and algae, which both live in the mammal's thick fur (along with fungi and ticks and mites, oh my). 'Sloths are these fascinating, fantastic, weird mammals that have enlisted really unexpected organisms to help them make their living,' says Jonathan Pauli, a wildlife ecologist at the University of Wisconsin–Madison who has studied this symbiosis. After a three-toed sloth has lounged for days in the forest canopy, napping and grazing on poisonous leaves—slowly, so that its liver and four-chambered stomach can break down the toxins—the time comes for its weekly poop. Rather than rain droppings from high up, the animal makes a drawn-out descent. As captured on camera in National Geographic's Underdogs series, the move is exceptionally risky, burning a tenth of the sloth's daily calories and exposing it to predators on the jungle floor, where it's mostly—but not always—helpless to defend itself. More than half of the sloth deaths documented by Pauli's team of researchers in Costa Rica occurred on bathroom breaks. But if a jaguar isn't waiting at the tree's base, a sloth digs a small depression in the soil—a toilet bowl—and relieves itself at last. Cue the moths. Females, including species found only on sloths, lay their eggs in the fresh dung. The eggs become coprophagous larvae, feeding on the feces, and larvae become adult moths that flutter off in search of their own hairy habitats. As many as 120 moths have been counted on a single sloth. Moths fertilize sloth fur with nutrients, like nitrogen, whether by delivering fecal matter there or dying and decomposing. Along with rainwater, nitrogen encourages the growth of algae. And algae give sloths a green coloring—effective camouflage from birds of prey patrolling overhead. The more moths on a sloth, the more nitrogen and algae. Sloths also eat the green stuff as a sort of dietary supplement. Although researchers haven't observed the behavior, Pauli's team tested the contents of sloths' stomachs and found algae. Underdogs Official Trailer What seems clear to researchers is that sloths, moths, and algae all benefit from their shared arrangement. And now, a team of scientists in Costa Rica is exploring whether the microbiome living on sloths could boost human health, too. Many experts believe sloths are resistant to illness or infection; testing fur samples, the Costa Rican team isolated previously unknown bacteria that may lead to new antibiotics. As concerns mount about superbugs that are capable of defeating existing medications, what if remedies are discovered on the backs and bellies of sloths? An animal maligned in the past as useless and an unlikely survivor would prove to be a hero, sophisticated enough to save human lives. Perhaps we were awfully slow to recognize the sloth's potential. Underdogs will premiere on National Geographic June 15th and stream the next day on Disney+ and Hulu. Please check local listings. From scuba diving to set-jetting
Yahoo
29-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
‘A Light That Never Goes Out' Is a Cannes Debut Opus on Outcasts, Depression, Music, and Hope
'Take me out tonight…where there's music and there's people,' The Smiths say in their 1986 song 'There Is a Light That Never Goes Out.' Filmmaker, musician, and graphic designer Lauri-Matti Parppei grew up in the coastal town of Rauma, Finland. And they take audiences there and out to where music and people come together in their feature film debut, A Light That Never Goes Out, which world premiered in the ACID Cannes 2025 program, a sidebar to the Cannes Film Festival run by France's independent cinemas' association. 'Successful classical flutist Pauli (29) returns to his small hometown after a breakdown,' reads a synopsis for the movie, starring Samuel Kujala, Anna Rosaliina Kauno, Camille Auer, and Kaisa-Leena Koskenkorva. 'Reconnecting with old schoolmate Iiris, he is drawn into experimental music. Pauli, who has always sought perfection, is drawn to her chaotic energy and finds comfort in their sonic experiments.' More from The Hollywood Reporter Netflix, BBC Studios Team on Comedy Podcast 'The Big Pitch With Jimmy Carr' Presley Chweneyagae, Star of South African Oscar-winner 'Tsotsi', Dies at 40 Co Hoedeman, Oscar-Winning Canadian Animator, Dies at 84 Produced by Finland's Made and co-produced by Norway's Goodtime Pictures, A Light That Never Goes Out takes audiences on a journey of struggles and laughs. It has been picked up for French distribution by Les Alchimistes. Patra Spanou Film is handling sales. The filmmaker may have set the movie in a Finnish location known to few but the universal story rings a bell on alienation and the healing powers of community that seems fit to strike a chord with audiences far beyond Finland. Parppei talked to THR about the inspiration for A Light That Never Goes Out, its themes of outcasts and mental health issues, creating its experimental music, returning to Rauma to film, and possible future projects. What was the inspiration for your film? And to what degree does it show some of your personal experiences? My background is basically in the world that the film is showing. I'm from a small town, and I was a pretty lonely teenager. I had nothing else to do, so I started to make a lot of weird music and art. And through that hobby, I started to find friends. We were a bunch of outcasts, but we came from very different social classes and from very different backgrounds. And somehow we shared this massive drive to do something of our own and somehow shape the world to our liking. So I really just wanted to depict that world and that experience of doing art in it. Was part of your motivation for the film to give hope to people who feel like outcasts? Yeah, absolutely. I think 90 percent of the motif behind the film was just to give this feeling to people when they think how they could maybe do something like that. When we started making music, we didn't really have any skills to do so, and we just kind of learned as we went. I remember when someone asked me: 'Is it hard to hard to start to play guitar?' And I always just like saying: 'Well, it's very easy to play just one string, and you can make a song out of that.' So, this was our approach. So, yes, basically it's to encourage people to try out their own voice in different ways. In the movie, we see the characters using clothes hangers and other unusual items you wouldn't traditionally expect to see in the creation of music. How did you create the experimental music we hear in the film? You can say that it was a composition itself. Well, it was pretty meticulously written in the screenplay already: that's what's going to happen in the scene, and how the songs build up and progress. But then, after we cast the actual actors, we started to play around with things. And I brought them lots of crates full of different stuff. And our set production designer also came up with a lot of things, and then I kind of modified them and put on contact mics. And, yeah, I wrote and produced the music, but basically we created and arranged it together. Everything is played live on camera. The protagonist is facing mental health struggles. I am not sure if you would call it depression or something else. How key was it to showcase these struggles, and how did you approach that? Yeah, depression and anxiety – all the fun things, those illnesses or disorders, whatever the word is. That was a pretty integral part of the whole setting, because during the time when I was most active and still living in this small town – I actually moved back once – me and my friends, a lot of us struggled with all sorts of mental health issues, and some struggled with some substance or alcoholism and things like that. But somehow, making music and being with your friends always was a safe haven from that. Somehow it didn't reach that place. So, we really saved each other, even in a literal sense, during that time. And while depression and self-harm is not something that is thoroughly explored itself, it kind of paints the setting because I've struggled with similar issues myself. I kind of find depictions of depression a little exploitative somehow, if that's the word. How? In films, we are often putting depressive music and dark sounds around it, and someone is looking out of the window in a darkly lit scene. But being depressed is extremely boring. And it's about if you can find anything to fill up the boredom. Sometimes it's very harmful things. For me, it was pretty important to not romanticize depression, but show that this depressed person gets something completely different in their life. Did you need or look for help writing your characters? The two main characters are me in very different places in my life. One was me in a small town being very scrappy – I just wanted to make something of my own. 'Why don't people understand my ingenuity?!' And the other person is like me when I'm trying to be a filmmaker, and that world is very different. I kind of feel like a classical musician. I've never been a classical musician, but it's something that I feel because I need to adhere to some rules and bow down to the establishment and beg for money to make a film. At the same time, I have a lot of friends who have been more successful, and a couple of people who are close to me are also classical musicians. For me, it's absurd how they face pressures and how they are just thinking about how to present themselves to other musicians. And I get anxiety just watching them being stressed about their work. How is going back home these days? I am from a small town, and during the time that the film takes place in, I was a little too visible at times. I am not a person who wants to be the center of attention, even though I'm a musician. We have a band, so it kind of protects me from that. But I organized a festival there. We had a small record company there. We had the band, which still has strong ties to the town, and now I'm the filmmaker who has made the first film about that town. So, it sometimes feels a little uncomfortable to go to this place where a lot of people have an image of me, which is not really true, and they have had this for a long time, because I also used to work as a graphic designer in that town. I was just involved in this and that. So that is just part of being a small local celebrity. What was it like to return to Rauma to shoot the film and will you screen the movie there? Actually, we will have the first Finnish screening there. I was actually quoted by the biggest newspaper in Finland as saying that I don't care what the French say about the film, I only care what the people of Rauma think. I am a little nervous to hear how they react to it. But at the same time, it's my view of that place and my view on life and the world altogether. It's actually been super-rewarding to see how the film has crossed borders. Because the characters are speaking a very distinctive local dialect, and that's, of course, completely lost in translation. But that's the thing that Finnish viewers will notice first in the film, because it's very different. I've been super happy to see that there are similar small towns everywhere, and people can relate to the feeling of being there. While shooting in Rauma, did you cast any locals or did any people come up to you to ask for a role in the film? People were pretty indifferent to it in a funny way. They were just like: 'Yeah, they're filming some film.'But we have a lot of local people playing characters. The man playing a music store guy is a local guy who used to work in a music store that is now gone. And a couple on a boat was just some random couple from there. We asked them: 'You have a boat. Can you come play a small part?' So, we involved a lot of people. Are your main characters professional actors? Only the main character [played by Samuel Kujala] and his parents are professional actors. He has been in a couple of films and a very popular TV series. Everyone else is in their first role. Anna [Rosaliina Kauno] is actually from the town. We're so happy that we found her, because she really keeps the whole film together, to be honest. actually directed by a guy who is just in the room. Oh, okay, yeah, but yeah, well, but most days, just like new, complete newcomers and cool. It's very important for me to bring new people along when doing something, and even though I know for a fact that at least a couple of them won't be acting that much after this, I hope Anna will continue. Will we get to see more films from you? I hope I can get more films made. Currently, I'm working on two different projects. One will be a super-micro-budget thing, a small, small drama about an abusive relationship, a psychological drama. The other one will be a folk tale, a film which takes place in the countryside in Finland, in a rural setting, on a farm. I've started writing, so it's in early development. After my first feature, which took seven years from start to finish, or even slightly more, with a new project, I'm looking at a seven-year mountain. So it's just scary, but I think it's part of the charm of this profession. Anything else you'd like to highlight about or anything else? The thing was really behind the film, the whole concept was about friendship and hope, and what friendship and unity, and community can bring along. I'm just super-happy that the film, which I thought might just be a small, silly music film from my own hometown, which isn't that much of a marketable concept itself, is now out in the world and seems to actually touch people and pull the strings that we wanted to pull. I think that during these times, it's pretty important to have that. 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Yahoo
20-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Tacoma won't release investigation on ex-police chief's use of leave. Here's why
Tacoma declined Monday to release records pertaining to its internal review of ex-Police Chief Avery Moore's usage of leave, which had come under scrutiny late last year around the same time he was being investigated for overseas work phone charges. Moore, who resigned in February as the city's top cop and retired from law enforcement, racked up a $1,000-plus bill on his city-issued phone while on a July family vacation in Sweden. An outside probe, which cost the city more than $11,000, concluded that Moore didn't deliberately mislead two city administrators about his knowledge of the charges, which were incurred for GPS navigation. He repaid the bill. An investigation report in December authored by Hana Kern, a contracted lawyer tasked with digging into Moore's truthfulness related to the charges, also noted that City Manager Elizabeth Pauli had heard rumors in September about Moore's use of leave, prompting Pauli to request an examination that was still occurring when Pauli spoke to Kern in late September. 'Even though these were just rumors and nothing concrete, she had asked City HR Director Shelby Fritz to look at Moore's leave usage to see if there was any cause for concern,' the report said. 'That process was still ongoing when Pauli was interviewed for this report.' In January, before Moore announced his resignation, The News Tribune filed a public records request for all information related to the city's inquiry into Moore's usage of leave, including any reports, emails and meeting notes. The city's public records office on Monday notified The News Tribune in writing that the city had taken the position that those records were exempt from disclosure and cited a state statute that indicated the review is still ongoing. The statute in question exempts the disclosure of preliminary drafts, notes, recommendations and memos 'in which opinions are expressed or policies formulated or recommended.' Governments or agencies relying on this exemption must show, among other things, that the 'records contain predecisional opinions or recommendations expressed as part of a deliberative process,' according to the Municipal Research and Services Center of Washington. The News Tribune first learned late last week that the city planned to withhold information from the public records request due to the matter being unresolved. The city previously provided some documents, which were either redacted due to attorney-client privilege or related to the investigation into Moore's work phone charges. On Friday, The News Tribune asked for details about the review into Moore's usage of leave, confirmation that it was still active and an explanation of why the city continued to look into the work-related activities of a now-former employee. City spokesperson Maria Lee replied that she didn't have any information to share. It's unclear what exactly about Moore's usage of leave had been the subject of rumors and the subsequent review. Attempts to reach Moore on Monday were unsuccessful, using phone numbers that public records show were connected to him. Moore's calendar and a Tacoma Police Department memo obtained by The News Tribune showed that he took paid time off or was out of the office last year between March 18-22, July 10-21, Nov. 6-12, Nov. 21-Dec. 1 and Dec. 24-31. In her late-September interview with Kern, Pauli noted that she was responsible for approving Moore's leave as she did with others who directly reported to her, according to a copy of Kern's notes obtained in a previous public records request. Moore was also placed on paid administrative leave in late September, returning the following week, amid the investigation into his overseas work phone charges. Last month, The News Tribune reported that Moore was paid nearly $500,000 by the city as part of his employment separation agreement. TPD's second-in-command, Deputy Chief Paul Junger, was fired in March following a workplace investigation. The News Tribune later reported that Assistant Chief Crystal Young-Haskins had accused Junger of harassment and creating a hostile work environment.
Yahoo
21-02-2025
- Yahoo
Tacoma hired an outside firm to investigate its ex-police chief. It cost the city $11K
Tacoma paid more than $11,000 for an outside investigation into former Police Chief Avery Moore's truthfulness about pricey work-phone charges while on an overseas family vacation, documents show. An investigative report submitted in December found that Moore hadn't deliberately misled two city administrators about his knowledge of the $1,000-plus phone bill incurred while in Sweden but could have been clearer in regard to what he knew. Between September and November, a Seattle-based law firm — Ryan, Swanson & Cleveland, PLLC — submitted three invoices to the city totaling $11,052 for the investigation, according to documents obtained by The News Tribune in a public records request. The invoices reflected nearly 31 hours of work at an hourly rate of $360, including for preparing and conducting interviews and working on the report, the documents show. The city declined to comment on the cost to taxpayers and referred to prior statements made by Moore and City Manager Elizabeth Pauli about Moore's bill, placement on paid administrative leave and subsequent return. Moore, who retired earlier this month, accumulated $1,082 in international charges in July while on the nearly week-long vacation. He told city officials that he used his city-issued phone for GPS navigation because his personal phone neither was accessible nor working, The News Tribune previously reported. Moore, who reimbursed the city, was placed on leave in late September as the city launched an outside investigation focused on whether he had lied to officials about his initial awareness of the bill. The now-retired chief apparently denied knowing of any personal charges in a late September meeting with Pauli and another official, The News Tribune previously reported. Pauli later learned that Moore had received text messages from Verizon relating to the incurred costs while on vacation. Moore returned from leave in early October after receiving a verbal counseling from Pauli, who said in a statement at the time that she had concluded Moore didn't intend to be misleading although he also 'did not meet expected standards of professional judgment.' Upon returning to work, Moore also released a statement, saying that he accepted his discipline and 'look(ed) forward to restoring the trust and integrity that have defined my career.' Ryan, Swanson & Cleveland, PLLC signed a professional services contract with the city in January 2018 to conduct probes into possible workplace violations on an as-needed basis upon the request of the city's Human Resources department, according to a copy of the contract.
