Nature Hub

  From Mongabay Magazine By  Farhana Parvin   Edited by - Amal Udawatta Bangladesh has seen the highest number of olive ridley turtle eggs this year, a conservationist group says. The olive ridley’s main nesting ground is different islands of the country’s southeastern district, Cox’s Bazar, in the Bay of Bengal. The key reasons behind the success are extensive conservation action across beaches and an awareness program among local people. Conservationists say they believe success might decline if the current pace of tourism and related infrastructure development is not checked, as they appear to disturb ecosystems. This year, Bangladesh has seen its highest number of olive ridley turtle eggs, thanks to extensive conservation actions, including building awareness among local people and the vigilance of local conservation groups to ensure favorable conditions for the species. Nature Conservation Management (NACOM)  found 12,425 eggs in five turtle hatcheries — Pachar ...

     From - Knowable Magazine    By  -  Boyce  Upholt   Edited by  - Amal Udawatta  N ew Zealand has long been known as a place for the birds — quite literally. Before people arrived 700 years ago, the archipelago hosted an idiosyncratic ecosystem, nearly free of mammals. More than 200 bird species filled a food web all their own. Rather than cows or antelopes, there was a family of flightless birds known as moa. And in place of apex predators like tigers, New Zealand had Haast’s eagle. Ever since a group of farm workers drained a swamp in the late 1860s and uncovered its buried bones, this eagle has captivated researchers. Julius Haast, the explorer and geologist who published the first notes on the species, described it as “a raptorial bird of enormous dimensions.” Today, biologists estimate that the eagles weighed up to 33 pounds — roughly 50 percent more than any raptor known today. But with a wingspan of only two to three meter...

  From BBC World News By Sue Nelson, Features correspondent Edited by - Amal  Udawatta Share Getty Images Astronauts living on the Moon will need lots of power – but they can't take fuel supplies with them. A new generation of miniature nuclear reactors could be the answer. The 1970s TV series  Space: 1999  began – like many a sci-fi drama – with a bang. A nuclear explosion tears the Moon out of Earth's orbit and sends Moonbase Alpha and its inhabitants on an exciting adventure through deep space. It obviously left an impression on a young Elon Musk. In 2017, when envisioning  SpaceX's plans for a future Moon base , he named it Alpha. Today, SpaceX is working with Nasa to return humankind to the Moon's surface as part of the US space agency's  Artemis programme . The planned lunar outpost, however, has a more pragmatic working title:  Artemis Base Camp . Nasa and the US Department of State have issued combined guidelines for peaceful lunar exploration ...