Nature Hub

  By Tom Housden BBC News, Sydney, Edited by - Amal Udawatta, IMAGE S IMAGE SOURCE, GETTY IMAGES   An Australian man has escaped with his life after being attacked by a saltwater crocodile while snorkelling at an exclusive Queensland resort. Marcus McGowan, 51, has detailed how he managed to prise the predator's jaws off his head, suffering lacerations. He was airlifted to a nearby island hospital, and later flown to Cairns for further treatment. Crocodile attacks are uncommon in Australia, but there have been several in recent months. Mr McGowan said he was in the water with a group of people about 28km (17.3 miles) off Haggerstone Island near Cape York when he was bitten from behind. "I thought it was a shark but when I reached up, I realised it was a crocodile. I was able to lever its jaws open just far enough to get my head out," he said in a statement. The crocodile - suspected to be a juvenile - came back for another go, he said, but he was able to push it away, suf

From- Sky & Telescope, By - Jure Japelj Edited by -Amal Udawatta Artist’s impression of a white dwarf sucking material from a companion helium star. Adam Makarenko / W. M. Keck Observatory Astronomers have observed an unusual supernova, in which a helium star fed a white dwarf until it exploded. In March 2020, astronomers detected a supernova designated  SN 2020eyj . They weren't particularly impressed at first — just one more among the thousand supernovae found each year. But then its strange behavior caught researchers’ attention. The supernova was of Type Ia, indicating that a white dwarf had exploded when it became more massive than it could handle. Most white dwarfs cross this limit when they merge with a white dwarf companion — the so-called  double-degenerate  scenario. But more than 100 days after the detection, it became apparent that this supernova wasn’t behaving like most Type Ias. Further observations, presented in  Nature ,  reveal a rare specimen. For the first t

  By Helen Briggs Environment correspondent, Edited by - Amal Udawatta , IMAGE SOURCE, NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM LONDON Image caption, From anemones to worms: A number of weird creatures have been retrieved from the Clarion Clipperton Zone of the Pacific Ocean. A vast stretch of ocean floor earmarked for deep sea mining is home to thousands of oddball sea creatures, most of them unknown to science. They include weird worms, brightly coloured sea cucumbers and corals. Scientists have put together the first full stocktake of species to help weigh up the risks to biodiversity. They say more than 5,000 different animals have been found in the Clarion Clipperton Zone of the Pacific Ocean. The area is a prime contender for the mining of precious metals from the sea bed, which could begin as early as this year. Companies want to exploit valuable deep-sea metals in international waters, but have yet to start extraction. Scientists warn of sea mining threat to whales and dolphins Companies back mo

From  BBC  News Edited by - Amal Udawatta, Image caption, Her stage performances were always energetic Tina Turner's husky contralto and raunchy stage presence made her one of the best-known singers of her generation. It was a long and often painful journey from a troubled childhood in rural Tennessee to global stardom. She was almost 40 before she broke free from an abusive relationship to establish herself as a solo artist. But she went on to record a string of best-selling albums, garner a host of awards, and become one of music's most popular live acts. Disrupted childhood Tina Turner was born Anna Mae Bullock on 26 November 1939 in the small rural town of Nutbush, Tennessee. Her father Floyd worked on a local farm. IMAGE SOURCE, GETTY IMAGES Image caption, Ike Turner physically abused Tina and completely controlled her career She had a disrupted childhood. She and her elder sister Aillene were separated when her parents moved to work in a munitions factory, and the young A