Earth ChangesS


Attention

Signs and Portents: Two-headed sea slug found in Malaysian waters

Lizzie Seffer
Daily Mirror, UK
Sat, 15 Aug 2015 15:08 UTC
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© CatersWarning signs: The animal is commonly known as a variable neon slug due to its incredible colouring of neon green and bright orange
With its otherworldy two heads, you might be forgiven for thinking this two-headed neon slug is an alien lifeform - but it's actually just been discovered right here on earth.

Divers have revealed what they believe to be the first ever two-headed sea slug, and it's a pretty weird-looking creature.

The nudibranch - a soft-bodied, marine gastropod mollusk - was discovered by a diver and a team of film-makers at Kapalai, a sandbar off the coast of Sabah in eastern Malaysian Borneo.

They found that, as well as having two heads, the slug also possesses both female and male sex organs, as all nudibranchs are hermaphrodites.

This particular slug measured around 25mm long, but this species of psychedelic sea slug can grow up to 120mm.

The nudibranch is part of the species nembrotha kubaryana, but is more commonly known as a variable neon slug due to its incredible colouring of neon green and bright orange which warns predators of their toxicity.
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Shoe

Sinkhole swallows three cars at apartment complex in Madison, Wisconsin


The Chicago Tribune
Fri, 14 Aug 2015 22:03 UTC
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© Steve Apps, Wisconsin State JournalCars are sumberged in a sinkhole at an apartment complex on Aug. 14, 2015, in Madison, Wis. About 300 residents of the complex were evacuated after a water pipe break created the sinkhole and potential gas leak.
About 300 residents had to evacuate an apartment complex in Madison, Wisconsin, after a water pipe broke, creating a sinkhole that swallowed three vehicles.

Madison Fire Department spokeswoman Cynthia Schuster said emergency personnel were called to the River's Edge Apartments shortly before 5 a.m. Friday.

Rajendra Aryal's Honda Civic was among the three cars that fell into the water-filled sinkhole. Aryal, a native of Nepal who's still learning English, tells the Wisconsin State Journal he had never heard the word "sinkhole" before it happened.

While residents had to evacuate four buildings because of initial concerns about a gas leak, that danger was later ruled out. However, two buildings still had no electricity or water Friday afternoon. Officials say those residents will likely need to spend the night elsewhere.

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Attention

Yosemite campground shutting after dead squirrels found to be infected with plague

Dan Whitcomb
Reuters
Fri, 14 Aug 2015 23:32 UTC
yersinia pestic, plague
A bubonic plague smear, prepared from a lymph removed from an adenopathic lymph node, or bubo, of a plague patient, demonstrates the presence of the Yersinia pestis bacteria that causes the plague.
A second Yosemite National Park campground will be shut down for five days after a pair of dead squirrels were found to be infected with the plague, park and California public health officials said on Friday.

The closure of Tuolumne Meadows Campground comes a week after a child who camped elsewhere in Yosemite, one of America's top tourist destinations, was hospitalized with the disease.

The case marked the first time a human was known to be infected with the centuries-old scourge, which is carried by rodents and the fleas that live on them, in California since 2006.
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Bizarro Earth

Japan raises eruption alert for volcano near nuclear plant

Kevin Buckland, Takako Taniguchi
Live Mint
Sat, 15 Aug 2015 09:50 UTC
Sakurajima Volcano
© Agence France-PresseJapan’s weather agency on 15 August raised their alert to its second-highest level after picking up increasing seismic activity around the volcano Sakurajima.
Tokyo: Japan raised an eruption warning for a volcano on the southern island of Kyushu to the second-highest level, days after restarting a nuclear reactor 50 kilometers (31 miles) away.

The Japan Meteorological Agency increased the alert level for the volcano Sakurajima to 4 from 3, advising people within 3 kilometers of the crater to prepare to evacuate. It detected multiple earthquakes in the area on Saturday, the agency said on its website.

Kyushu Electric Power Co. began bringing online the No. 1 reactor at its Sendai power station on 11 August, the first nuclear facility to restart in Japan under new safety rules implemented following the 2011 Fukushima disaster.
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Bizarro Earth

2.5 magnitude earthquake rattles New Jersey, as residents heard 'explosion'-like booms

Ben Horowitz and Justin Zaremba
NJ Advance Media
Fri, 14 Aug 2015 08:26 UTC
New Jersey earthquake
BERNARDSVILLE—After a 2.5 magnitude earthquake rattled parts of Somerset and Morris early Friday morning, borough residents recounted feeling booming, shaking and hearing what sounded like an explosion.

Patrons and employees of the Bagel Bin in downtown Bernardsville told NJ Advance Media they felt the earthquake early Friday morning, but no one said they'd sustained any damage to their homes or been injured.

Rich Green, a customer, said the earthquake shook his Mendham Road house, which was near the epicenter of the quake.

"It was a huge boom," he said. "The ground was shaking. My wife thought it was thunder, I thought it was some type of explosion."

Abby Chernin, a Bagen Bin employee, said she hadn't heard the earthquake, but her husband had jumped out of bed because of it.

Chernin said she asked her husband, "Are you going to make sure we weren't being robbed?" But, she said, then they realized what had actually happened.

Sari Mazen, another employee, said she, too, had initially thought it was thunder. Mazen said this was her second New Jersey earthquake in recent memory, the last occurring more than two years ago while she was on a beach in Belmar.
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Cloud Lightning

Lightning bolt kills 2 in Chhattisgarh, India


Kerala Kaumudi Daily
Fri, 14 Aug 2015 20:57 UTC
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Two youths were killed after being struck by lightning in Lakhuri village Friday, police said.

The incident took place when Devilal Dheeraj (33) and Amarnath Yadav (21) took shelter under a tree to save themselves from rain but they became the victim of nature's fury.

The duo died on the spot and bodies were sent for post-mortem.
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Attention

Cotopaxi volcano in Ecuador spews ash column 5 kilometers high


The Tico Times
Fri, 14 Aug 2015 17:43 UTC
Cotopaxi volcano
© Juan Cevallos/AFPAshes rise above Cotopaxi volcano in the Andes mountains about 50 kilometers south of Quito, Ecuador on August 14, 2015. The Cotopaxi reaches 5,897 meters and is one of the highest volcanos.
A volcano in Ecuador spewed a column of ash five kilometers (3 miles) high on Friday, prompting officials to raise the alert level.

The ash was preceded overnight by two small explosions from the crater, the Geophysics Institute said on Twitter.

The Cotopaxi volcano stands 5,897 meters (19,500 feet) high and is located 45 kilometers (30 miles) south of the capital Quito.

The Geophysics Institute said Cotopaxi is one of the most dangerous volcanos in the world because of the large amount of snow at its peak and because nearby areas are densely populated.
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Attention

A 66-year-old man fights off bear near Yosemite, California

Gene Haagenson
abc30.com
Thu, 13 Aug 2015 19:35 UTC
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A 66-year-old man was attacked by a bear Thursday, but he fought off the animal and lived to tell an incredible tale.
A 66-year-old man was attacked by a bear Thursday, but he fought off the animal and lived to tell an incredible tale.

The incident occurred around 4 a.m. at a home on Colorado Road near Highway 140 in Midpines. The California Department of Fish and Wildlife said they believe the bear was rummaging through Larry Yepez's trash when he stepped out of his house in the early morning hours while it was still dark.

Yepez was able to fight off the 200-pound black bear and made it back into his home.

"I put my feet underneath his belly and kicked him, and the bear flipped backwards, but then he jumped back up," Yepez said. "I was doing everything I could to try to get him off of me."

Yepez says his tiny Yorkshire Terrier was nipping at the bear and distracted the animal long enough so he could get away.

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Attention

Black bear attack injures man in Fulton County, New York

Brian Mann
northcountrypublicradio.org
Thu, 13 Aug 2015 18:54 UTC
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© The Wild Center, Creative CommonsBlack bear (Ursus americanus).
State officials say a 55 year old man was attacked by a black bear Tuesday evening in Fulton County in the southwest corner of the Adirondack Park.

The man, who wasn't named, was walking his dog in the Ferris Lake Wild Forest near the town of Stratford.

According to the DEC, the bear first attacked the dog and when the man tried to intervene, hitting the animal with a stick, he suffered bites, scratches and puncture wounds. The injuries weren't considered life-threatening.

After the bear attack, passing drivers helped the man and he was eventually taken to a hospital in Utica. The dog was taken to a local veterinarian for treatment.

State officials attempted to track the black bear this week but were unable to locate the animal. In a statement, DEC said that they believe "the bear has left the area and poses no continuing threat at this time."

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Cloud Precipitation

Rainstorm floods roads, residential areas of Lijiang, China

Li Shaotong
english.cri.cn
Fri, 14 Aug 2015 17:40 UTC
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© Yunnan.cnHeavy rains in Yunnan leave many people trapped inside their homes.
Heavy rains have been pounding parts of Yunnan, bringing heavy flooding.

Dozens of vehicles ended up being inundated in the flooding in the city of Lijiang, a popular tourist destination in China.

The heavy rains have also left many trapped inside their homes.

"The stairs on the first floor have been completely submerged. I came to check my car. But the water soon rushed into the vehicle when I opened the door and the car was flooded.

A number of people living in low-lying areas in the Lijiang area have been moved out for safety.

So far no fatalities have been reported.

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