Animals that can change color are observed more often than you might think across different species‚ habitats‚ and even body parts. While reindeer have eyes that change color in winter and fish can turn black with anger‚ documentary makers have witnessed the Labord's chameleon (Furcifer labordi) putting on a spectacular display at the end of her life."On reviewing the footage‚ we were amazed and moved by the colorful spectacle they had filmed – something that the scientists have never observed in the wild before‚" producer Valeria Fabbri-Kennedy and Chris Raxworthy‚ a herpetologist at the American Museum of Natural History‚ told Live Science.Using time-lapse photography for the new PBS series Big Little Journeys‚ the team recorded the last few colorful hours of the chameleon's life in Kirindy Forest in western Madagascar. The researchers recorded her laying her eggs and covering them to protect them from the harsh weather extremes of a dry season in Madagascar. "The females put all their energy into producing eggs that need to get through the long drought while underground‚" Fabbri-Kennedy and Raxworthy said. "They die within just a few hours of having laid them‚ as they have few resources left."        The colorful display occurs because of several layers of skin cells. According to Wired‚ the topmost layer is transparent while the layers beneath contain cells known as chromatophores. Each chromatophore has a different kind of pigment‚ some are deeper down and contain melanin‚ while those on top might have yellow or red pigments within types of chromatophores called xanthophores or erythrophores. When the chameleon changes temperature or mood‚ the sacs containing the pigments are triggered by the nervous system‚ which produces a whole array of colors across a chameleon's body. "During death‚ nervous signals continue to transmit and to change the shape of the skin cells‚ creating the chaotic technicolor patterns that were captured‚" Fabbri-Kennedy and Raxworthy said.The Labord's chameleon is an unusual chameleon species in the first place with a lifespan of just four to five months. In fact‚ the species spends more of its life as an egg developing for nine months before hatching. According to The Guardian‚ hatchlings typically emerge in November and are able to breed two months later. By February‚ they show signs of aging and even fall out of trees because of weakened grip.Experts believe this shortened lifespan could be to cope with the harsh variations in season present in Madagascar. Regardless‚ we'll be watching the last colorful display of this female on repeat for the rest of the week.[H/T: Live Science]

NASA’s Ingenuity Mars helicopter has taken its final flight across the dusty plains of Jezero Crater. The first flying vehicle on another world‚ Ingenuity spent almost 1‚000 days on the Red Planet carrying out test flights and helping its rover companion Perseverance navigate the Martian terrain‚ 33 times longer than NASA had initially planned. It was designed to perform five flights. In the end‚ it flew 72 times‚ faster and higher than even the goals of the mission team.“The historic journey of Ingenuity‚ the first aircraft on another planet‚ has come to an end‚” confirmed NASA Administrator Bill Nelson in a statement. “That remarkable helicopter flew higher and farther than we ever imagined and helped NASA do what we do best – make the impossible‚ possible. Through missions like Ingenuity‚ NASA is paving the way for future flight in our solar system and smarter‚ safer human exploration to Mars and beyond.” On January 18‚ during its 72nd flight to establish its position‚ Ingenuity hovered at 12 meters (40 feet) over the ground for a handful of seconds before descending. And then disaster struck. At about 3 meters of altitude‚ Ingenuity lost contact with the rover. Once communications were re-established and images arrived‚ it became clear that this had been the last flight for the helicopter. One of its rotor blades was damaged‚ ending any future flights. The exact cause of the damage is yet to be established.Ingenuity's shadow on its 25th flight‚ as captured by its own navigation camera on April 8‚ 2022.Image credit: NASA/JPL-CaltechThe mission is a shining legacy for the people involved in planning‚ constructing‚ and navigating the helicopter once it was on Mars. Beyond autonomous landing‚ Ingenuity was pushed to its very limits‚ flight after flight‚ performing three emergency landings‚ cleaning itself after dust storms‚ and surviving the Martian winter. These last two are the number one killers of robots on Mars“At NASA JPL‚ innovation is at the heart of what we do‚” Laurie Leshin‚ director at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory‚ said. “Ingenuity is an exemplar of the way we push the boundaries of what’s possible every day. I’m incredibly proud of our team behind this historic technological achievement and eager to see what they’ll invent next.”Ingenuity flew for over two hours in total covering over 17 kilometers (11 miles). It assisted Perseverance by scouting the terrain ahead of the rover for interesting rocks and outcrops. The highest height it reached was 24 meters (79 feet). In its original mission‚ Ingenuity was expected to fly at a height of 3–5 meters (10–16 feet) for a maximum of 90 seconds per flight.The Ingenuity team will perform final tests on the helicopter systems and download all the data and images from the onboard computer. Perseverance is too far away to take images of Ingenuity‚ so with little fanfare Ingenuity will be switched off. But it made history by proving controlled flight on another world was possible‚ paving the way for the next generation of flying vehicles on Mars.  “It’s humbling Ingenuity not only carries onboard a swatch from the original Wright Flyer but also this helicopter followed in its footsteps and proved flight is possible on another world‚” added Ingenuity’s project manager‚ Teddy Tzanetos of NASA JPL. “The Mars helicopter would have never flown once‚ much less 72 times‚ if it were not for the passion and dedication of the Ingenuity and Perseverance teams. History’s first Mars helicopter will leave behind an indelible mark on the future of space exploration and will inspire fleets of aircraft on Mars – and other worlds – for decades to come.”Its name couldn’t have been better chosen. Ingenuity is truly a testament to the extraordinary things humans can do when we choose to.

Researchers from the SETI Institute report what may have been the first conversation with whales in the humpbacks’ own language. The SETI scientists have been exploring interspecies communication to learn something about how we may someday interact with extraterrestrial intelligences. The human-whale conversation took place at a humpback feeding area off the coast of Alaska. “We believe this is the first such communicative exchange between humans and humpback whales in the humpback ‘language‚’ said UC Davis research behaviorist Dr. Brenda McCowan who collaborated with the SETI team on this effort. From the SETI Institute: In response to a recorded humpback ‘contact’ call played into the sea via an underwater speaker‚ a humpback whale named Twain approached and circled the team’s boat‚ while responding in a conversational style to the whale ‘greeting signal.’ During the 20-minute exchange‚ Twain responded to each playback call and matched the interval variations between each signal[…] Similar to studying Antarctica as a proxy for Mars‚ the Whale-SETI team is studying intelligent‚ terrestrial‚ non-human communication systems to develop filters to apply to any extraterrestrial signals received. The mathematics of information theory to quantify communicative complexity – (for example rule structure embedded in a received message) will be utilized The researchers from the SETI Institute‚ UC Davis‚ and the Alaska Whale Foundation report on the project in the science journal PeerJ: “Interactive bioacoustic playback as a tool for detecting and exploring nonhuman intelligence: “conversing” with an Alaskan humpback whale“ The post New study reveals that humans and whales can communicate appeared first on Anomalien.com.

Donald Trump’s early primary victories have started the “newsroom debates” again. Associated Press media reporter David Bauder penned a story headlined “Trump’s live appearances pose a riddle that news executives still haven’t solved.” So when a newsworthy event happens – like Trump’s victory speech after the New Hampshire primary – the pro-Biden networks worry “Trump will make false statements that are difficult‚ if not impossible‚ to correct in real time — or go completely off script with something entirely unexpected.” Does Trump make false statements? Yes‚ starting with his refusal to concede he lost the 2020 election. Does Biden make false statements? The name “Biden” never comes up in Bauder’s story. There are no fraught newsroom debates over what the president says live. Biden lies and mangles facts on a regular basis‚ but none of these networks have the slightest resistance to airing him live. This makes them look like naked partisans. On January 24‚ the afternoon this AP story was posted‚ Biden spoke to accept the endorsement of the United Auto Workers union. CNN aired six minutes of the speech live‚ and there was no “fact checking” to be done. They turned to CNN reporters who touted the endorsement as a big deal‚ and pointed out the UAW president called Trump a “scam.” That’s lapdog coverage. But with Trump‚ Bauder wrote nervously of “the responsibility of giving a potential future president the chance to be heard.” Then he mentioned “a disastrous town hall event with Trump on CNN last spring reminded everyone of the implications of airing his appearances live.” How was it “disastrous”? Did anyone die? Did CNN fall apart? Or were they out of third place for an hour? It obviously rocked CNN to its core‚ and marked the beginning of the end of CNN boss Chris Licht. Bauder hinted it was disastrous because “fact-checking on the fly can be extraordinarily hard‚ and many of Trump’s supporters are more inclined to believe what comes out of the former president’s mouth than what a news organization declares is true.” The problem here‚ then‚ is that the media are frustrated that anyone doubts their “fact checking‚” as if it’s completely factual and not influenced by their red-hot partisan loathing of their subject. “I don’t know why anyone has to take him live‚” former CNN president Jon Klein told Bauder. They’re so opposed to it that Bauder hints that newsrooms are already faced with a “particularly hard decision” over whether to air Trump’s convention acceptance speech live if he’s nominated. At this point‚ you wonder if Trump and Biden ever debate in the fall‚ they’ll decide Trump’s answers will not be aired live. What remains is the other unspoken‚ apparent non-issue in newsrooms of access to the candidates. While they are all agitated over granting Trump any access‚ none of these networks have seemed to offer the slightest public critique of Biden refusing to do news conferences or grant interviews to even liberal outlets. This president has not granted one interview to a national newspaper during his term‚ and apparently none of them have ever objected. As usual‚ Trump grants wide access‚ and gets cut off. Biden is granting almost zero access to persistent questioning‚ and he’s getting the royal treatment. You never bother the monarch with an impertinent inquiry! As the public observes this flaming double standard‚ the media elites keep wondering why no one trusts them and why they are shedding employees. In the end‚ it’s clear they think too many voters are stupid‚ and won’t listen to their sweet reason. That’s not helping them gain trust.

A bill being debated by the legislature would allow the state to take gender-dysphoric kids away from parents who disagree with ‘gender-affirming care.’

We’ll be a long time recovering from the evidence-free ‘science’ pushed on the public during Covid.

A new bill may have far-reaching consequences for much of the online creativity that we already enjoy — and chill speech more generally.

Plus: Texas vs. the Feds.

Ron DeSantis got the worst presidential-campaign press since Barry Goldwater in 1964.

Ozon’s tour de farce exorcises the zeitgeist.