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Diver killed by shark near Perth, Australia; 2nd fatality within week


abc.net.au
Sun, 05 Jun 2016 18:09 UTC
Shark
© Ryan Pierse/Getty Images
A woman has died after being attacked by a shark reportedly bigger than 5.3 metres off the Perth coast, less than a week after Ben Gerring was mauled near Mandurah.

The woman, 60, was diving about two kilometres off the northern suburb of Mindarie with her 43-year-old diving partner when she was attacked late on Sunday morning.

Three men who were heading out on a fishing trip came to the pair's aid before the woman's companion retrieved her body from the water, between One and Three Mile Reefs.

The woman is believed to have died from her injuries before arriving back at the Mindarie boat ramp near Alexandria Drive shortly before 12pm.


Comment: See also: Shark bites off surfer's leg near Perth, Australia

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Wolf

Dog kills 7-year-old boy in Penobscot County, Maine

Beth Quimby
Portland Press Herald
Sun, 05 Jun 2016 17:51 UTC
Dog attack
Few details were available late Saturday, and the attack was still under investigation.

The Penobscot County Sheriff's Office is investigating a dog attack in Corinna that killed a 7-year-old boy.

The sheriff's office, assisted by the Mayo Regional Hospital Emergency Medical Service ambulance, responded around 5:15 p.m. Saturday to a report of a dog attack on Moody Mills Road in Corinna. Deputies found a 7-year-old boy had been killed as a result of the attack.

The attack remained under investigation Sunday.

No other parties were injured in the attack. The dog was impounded.
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Cloud Lightning

Lightning bolt kills 3 in Odisha, India


prameyanews7.com
Sat, 04 Jun 2016 17:40 UTC
Lightning strike
In yet another such incident, two minor boys and an youth were killed in lightning at Pandadihi in Raighar block of Nabarangpur district on Thursday.

According to sources, lightning struck them while they had gone to graze goats in the nearby fields.

In thunder squalls at various parts of the State, such incidents are reported on a daily basis.
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Bizarro Earth

More than half of Texas has been under flood watches or warnings during past week


Phys.org
Sat, 04 Jun 2016 00:00 UTC
flooding rosharon texas
© AP Photo/David J. Phillip
Homes surrounded by floodwaters are shown in this aerial view, Saturday, June 4, 2016, in Rosharon, Texas. Parts of Texas have been inundated with rain in the last week, and more than half of the state has been under flood watches or warnings.
The heavy rain that's been hovering over parts of Southeast and Central Texas and caused deadly flooding began to lift Saturday, but officials said the flooding emergency near the Gulf Coast was worsening and Army officials kept up their investigation of a training exercise that turned deadly at Fort Hood.

Only the wheels of an Army transport truck were visible after swift floodwaters washed the 2½-ton vehicle from a low-water crossing on Thursday, killing nine soldiers, Coryell County emergency medical services chief Jeff Mincy told the Killeen Daily Herald. Mincy said he arrived at the scene about 11:30 a.m. Thursday, and that firefighters had already pulled the three surviving soldiers from the rushing waters of usually dry Owl Creek.

"I can't estimate how fast it was flowing, but it was faster than I would have felt comfortable putting anything into the water," Mincy said. "When we did find the vehicle, we could see the tires sticking up out of the water, so in that position where the vehicle settled, it had to have been about 8 feet deep."

The bodies of five soldiers from the Central Texas post were recovered Thursday and four were found Friday, while the three surviving soldiers were discharged Friday from Fort Hood's hospital and returned to duty.
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Bizarro Earth

Magma buildup in northern New Zealand explains spate of recent earthquakes, may signal beginning of new volcano

Nick Perry
Phys.org
Sat, 04 Jun 2016 00:00 UTC
Taupo volcanic zone new zealand
© Ian Hamling
A drawing looking south along the Taupo Volcanic Zone showing the subduction of the Pacific Plate under the North Island of New Zealand. Uplift of the surface measured by satellite radar and GPS suggests the presence of a magmatic body beneath the Bay of Plenty coast at a depth of 9.5 km
Scientists say they've discovered a magma buildup near a New Zealand town that explains a spate of recent earthquakes and could signal the beginnings of a new volcano—although they're not expecting an eruption anytime soon.

Geophysicist Ian Hamling said that since 1950, enough magma to fill 80,000 Olympic-size swimming pools has squeezed up beneath the surface near the coastal town of Matata, about 200 kilometers (120 miles) southeast of Auckland.

A paper published Saturday in the online journal Science Advances outlines the findings. Hamling, the paper's lead author, said that while other parts of New Zealand have active volcanoes, there have been none near Matata for at least 400,000 years.

"It was quite a big surprise," he said in an interview with The Associated Press.

Using GPS data and satellite images, the scientists say they discovered an area of land about 400 square kilometers (154 square miles) has risen by 40 centimeters (16 inches) since 1950.

Hamling said a period of quick uplift between 2004 and 2011 likely triggered thousands of small earthquakes. Scientists had previously thought tectonic shifts caused the quakes.
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Fire

Ash and dust from Canadian wildfires have been found in Switzerland


Phys.org
Fri, 03 Jun 2016 00:00 UTC
canada wildfire dust switzerland

Massive forest fires in western Canada have "injected an enormous quantity of dust into the atmosphere," which has now been found in Switzerland, according to the nation's meteorological authorities.
Ash and dust particles from the massive forest fires ravaging western Canada for the past month have been found in Switzerland, according to Swiss meteorologists.

"The fires have injected an enormous quantity of dust into the atmosphere, (which) is now being detected over Switzerland," the Swiss meteorological authorities said in a report discreetly issued on Tuesday and picked up by Swiss media Friday.

MeteoSwiss said it had determined that particles observed at the Payerne measurement station in the western canton of Vaud on May 24 and 25 had been emitted from western Canada around May 19-20.
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Attention

Shark attacks kitesurfer off New Caledonia; 3rd attack in 2016


The Sun Daily
Fri, 03 Jun 2016 13:40 UTC
Shark
© Ryan Pierse/Getty Images
A shark attacked a kitesurfer sailing his board off the Pacific Ocean archipelago of New Caledonia, tearing off part of his heel, a report said Friday.

Pierre de Rotalier told Les Nouvelles-Caledoniennes newspaper that he was sailing along the coast towards Noumea Thursday when the shark struck.

"It was when I was gybing (turning) that the shark attacked me from behind. I was hit hard," he said.

De Rotalier said he thought he was going to die when he saw the shark rush towards him. The animal bit the board and tore off part of his heel.

He swam towards the shore and was picked up by a boat.
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Fire

California wildfire threatens homes, mandatory evacuations ordered


RT
Sun, 05 Jun 2016 01:44 UTC
California wildfire
© AP
The 200-acre blaze that erupted Saturday afternoon northwest of downtown Los Angeles is threatening about 3,000 homes, according to Los Angeles County fire officials
Mandatory evacuations have been ordered in Southern California, as three brush fires quickly spread on Saturday, one of which is moving dangerously close to homes in the Calabasas area, the Los Angeles County Fire Department said.

Witnesses reported that one fire began near 23062 Mulholland Highway at around 4:30 pm local time. It was originally said to affect two acres, but is now moving towards residential areas.

Local Agoura High School on West Driver Avenue is currently being evacuated.

Three water-dropping helicopters have been dispatched to battle the fire.

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Windsock

Freak weather including whirlwinds, flash floods and giant hail cause havoc in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia


The Sun Daily
Sun, 05 Jun 2016 07:10 UTC
freak weather in Kuala Lumpur
© YouTube/Rhapsodyx Entertainment (screen capture)

Drastic weather changes such as sudden night-like darkness and whirlwinds were seen taking place when a hailstorm hit the Bukit Jalil area here Friday evening, according to witnesses.

The two-hour hailstorm beginning 5pm, had changed the landscape at several areas in Bukit Jalil, with most trees of various sizes toppled, and some broken and hurled up to a 100m.

Other than trees, a container which was used as a guard hut, was also damaged after it was struck by a wind-blown object in the incident.

A signboard belonging to a drive-in cafe, the size of a car, had also fallen over.

A cafe staff, who declined to be identified, said during the incident, darkness descended suddenly, turning day to night.

"There were whirlwinds, (I) definitely saw the winds spinning yesterday. Luckily, no object was blown towards the buildings, so all (the people) in the buildings were safe. Several people who were outside sustained slight injuries after being struck by hailstones," he told Bernama when met Saturday while evaluating the damage at the cafe.

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Christmas Tree

5,000 year old tree in Scotland is changing gender, a rare and unusual phenomenon


Off Grid Quest
Tue, 31 May 2016 20:17 UTC
tree
Fortingall Yew, in Perthshire, has been recorded as 'male' for centuries, but in recent years it has started to sprout seeds, suggesting that part of it is changing gender. This 'rare and unusual phenomenon' move has baffled botanists.

The Fortingall Yew standing in a church yard in Perthshire, Scotland is estimated to be 5,000 years old. For as long as people have been recording data on the tree, it was assumed to be male - meaning that it produces pollen instead of berries. Yet, this year three red berries were spotted growing on its branches, which can only mean one thing: at least part of the tree is changing its sex to female.
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