A pack of sloth bears attacked three persons and seriously injured them in agricultural fields near Kavthala village in Chimur tehsil on Friday. Sources said that Avinash Rajurkar was working in his farm, when he saw two adult bears accompanied by three cubs heading towards him. He immediately climbed up a tree, but a bear injured his leg while trying to pull him down.

The bears also injured two other persons in nearby fields. The bears attacked Sudhakar Rajurkar, who was working around 200 metres away in the same stretch of farm, and injured him. Hearing his cries other farmers from nearby farms rushed to his rescue and shooed away the bears. The pack however went to the fields in adjacent Shedegaon and attacked one more farmer Yogesh Ninawe in his farm.

Later as the news spread, local forester and villagers gathered in the fields and forced the pack of the bears to flee into the forest. The three seriously injured persons were rushed to Nagpur for emergency treatment. RFO, Chimur range, KR Akkewar has paid Rs5,000 each to the injured persons for treatment. Department will bear the cost of treatment, forest officials said.

At least six persons, including two forest personnel were injured when a wild bear mauled them at Belagaom today.

The injured persons were admitted to the MKCG Medical College and Hospital here and condition of three of them was stated to be critical.

The animal entered the village last night and became violent, when villagers teased it. It attacked the villagers one after other, injuring at least four of them.

Forest guards were injured when they tried to save the villagers from the animal, officials said.

Since the villagers panicked at the sight of the animal, around 30 forest personnel were deployed in the vicinity, said divisional forest officer (DFO) Berhampur A K Behera.

In a new study, published in Science, researchers from Uppsala University found that larval fish exposed to microplastic particles during development displayed changed behaviors and stunted growth which lead to greatly increased mortality rates. The researchers discovered that larval perch that had access to microplastic particles only ate plastic and ignored their natural food source of free-swimming zooplankton.

Microplastic particles (defined as plastic particles <5mm in size) originate from large plastic waste products that fragment into smaller pieces, or from manufactured plastics of microscopic size (e.g., microbeads in personal care products). These microscopic waste particles reach oceans via waterways and lakes and accumulate in high concentrations in shallow coastal areas.

Today there is increasing concern that the accumulation of microplastic waste particles could affect the functioning of marine ecosystems, but our knowledge of the impacts of microplastic fragments on marine animals is limited. For the first time, scientists have now been able to show that development of fish is threatened by microplastic pollution.

'Fish reared in different concentrations of microplastic particles have reduced hatching rates and display abnormal behaviors. The microplastic particle levels tested in the current study are similar to what is found in many coastal habitats in Sweden and elsewhere in the world today' says marine biologist, Oona Lönnstedt, lead author of the article.

Larval perch exposed to environmentally relevant concentrations of microplastic polystyrene particles displayed stunted growth rates. The authors found that this was related to larval feeding preferences as perch that had access to microplastic particles only ate plastic and ignored their natural food source of free-swimming zooplankton.

'This is the first time an animal has been found to preferentially feed on plastic particles and is cause for concern', says Professor Peter Eklöv, co-author of the study.

As if we didn't have enough to worry about with the start of wildfire season, we now have to face the reality of zombie blazes: fires that never really die.

Last year's Alaskan wildfire season was the second-largest ever — and it seems it never entirely ended. A wildfire in southwest Alaska that swept more than 8,000 acres in the Medfra area over the course of this week is a continuation of a 2015 fire that never went out, despite having ceased to visibly burn. The Soda Creek Fire raged through 16,500 acres in the same area last summer, according to Alaska Dispatch News. It smoldered underground, survived the winter, and finally reignited on Sunday, spreading to an acre within an hour.

It's harder than it may seem to completely douse an established wildfire. Fire can burrow deep into the roots of old-growth trees, where it burns slowly, insulated by a thick, moisture-absorbing blanket of decomposing moss, leaves, and twigs on the forest floor. And once the ground freezes, the embers are sealed in, sometimes under feet of snow. Come spring, the ground warms up, the surrounding brush and trees dry out, and the fire can spring back to life.


These reignited fires — called holdover fires — are becoming more common. Sixteen Alaskan wildfires have been attributed to holdovers this year alone. In the past, officials haven't even kept records of the number of holdovers, but they're rare enough that we know 16 is abnormally high. One of this year's wildfires was started by a holdover fire from two years ago.

In short: Fires are slumbering in the ground, and we have no idea when — and where — they'll wake up.

Torrential rains and severe flooding across France have forced thousands of people to flee their homes amid a state of emergency. Paris' iconic Louvre museum will stay closed on Friday to be ready to remove artworks if the River Seine rises too high.

French President Francois Hollande declared a state of emergency on Thursday due to the flooding, which has been caused by the Loire and Seine rivers bursting their banks following heavy downpours. The leader promised money to help local authorities deal with the damage.

Meteorological institute KNMI issued a code yellow warning for thunderstorms in the Netherlands for the sixth day in a row on Thursday. The storms are expected to hit the eastern parts of the country during the afternoon and evening.

The code yellow warning applies to the provinces Noord-Brabant, Limburg, Gelderland, Drenthe, Groningen and Overijssel. It'll be in effect between 2:00 p.m. and 10:00 p.m.

According to the KNMI, the storms will be accompanied by strong wind and heavy rains, between 30 and 40 mm/hour. There is also chance of lightning strikes. "Avoid open waters and open areas, do not take shelter under trees. Follow weather reports and warnings", the institute writes.

The A74 highway from Germany in the direction of Venlo will be closed all Thursday due toe flooding, according to traffic service VID.

Several volcanos around the world were very active last week spewing enormous amounts of ash and gas into the atmosphere and forcing thousands of people to leave their homes. But it's not all just about volcanic activity, there has also been quite a bit of earthquake activity along some the volcano impacted areas, especially in the Pacific Ring of Fire.

During the last 10 days close to 40 volcanos worldwide have been showing signs of activity and great deal of them, 34, are located along the very active Ring Fire.

Considering that in the 20th century the average number of volcanic eruptions was 35 per year, what we are seeing just this week is above last century's average for an entire year. This increasing volcanic activity around the the Ring of Fire is not new...


...the region is home to 452 volcanoes, 75% of all earth's, and geologists have been warning that this 25,000 mile stretch of active and dormant volcanoes is becoming more unstable in recent years.

Two people were killed by separate peals of lightning in Mathbaria upazila on Tuesday.

The deceased were identified as Khairul Islam, 11, son of Monir Hossain of Betmore village, and Sumi Akhter, wife of Ruhul Amin Sardar of Tushkhali village in the upazila.

Mathbaria upazila nirbahi officer SM Farid Uddin said Khairul died on the spot as a thunderbolt struck him at noon when he went to a beel (water body) in Betmore village to catch fish during rain.

Besides, Sumi was killed by another lightning strike in Tushkhali village while she was working near the house in the afternoon.

The incident took place near Council Hall police chowky, when the two persons standing under a tree were killed due to a lightening shock around 7 pm, Bundgarden police said.

Two persons were killed after being struck by the lightning which occurred during the pre-monsoon showers that lashed the city on Wednesday evening. The incident took place near Council Hall police chowky, when the two persons standing under a tree were killed due to a lightning shock around 7 pm, Bundgarden police said. Police have identified the deceased as Gautam Laxman Veer (54), a resident of Akurdi who worked as an attendant at the National Institute of Virology, and Balayya Mark Pidatala (63), a resident of Ghorpadi who worked as an attendant at the office of Public Works Department.

The Met department recorded 4 mm rainfall in the city.

Baner, Singhagad Road, Kothrud, Kondhwa, Wanowrie, Maval, Chakan and various parts of Pimpri Chinchwad experienced partiicularly heavy showers. Many parts of the city plunged into darkness after electricity lines snapped. Trees were also reported uprooted at many places.

A pack of stray dogs attacked 14 children playing in front of their homes in Shahenshah Nagar on Wednesday. The injured children are receiving treatment at the SNR District Hospital, while the seriously injured Kulsum (5), Shakina (4) and Tasleem (5) are being treated at the R L Jalappa Hospital.

There are many butcher shops in the vicinity and the waste thrown onto the streets from these shops attract stray dogs. Earlier, the dogs have attacked riders and passersby. Numerous complaints to the municipal authorities about the dog attacks and the reckless disposal of waste on the streets have gone unheard, said the local residents and parents of the injured children.