CaaC (John)

Why this coyote and badger 'friendship' has excited scientists Like a page out of a child’s storybook, a coyote and a badger trot side by side, seemingly the best of friends. The remote camera video clip was captured recently under a busy highway in California’s Santa Cruz Mountains. It’s gone viral on Twitter, showing just how much people love to cheer on unusual animal bonds. Scientists have known for a long time that coyotes and badgers in the American West hunt cooperatively for small mammals; the partnership is even featured in Native American mythology. But until now, the phenomenon has always been thought to be purely transactional. What’s so striking about the video, says independent behavioural ecologist Jennifer Campbell-Smith, is that it’s not “these cold, robotic animals taking advantage of each other—they’re instead at ease and friendly.” Case in point: The coyote wags its tail and bows down playfully, signalling that it’s inviting the badger to follow it into the tunnel. The badger’s body language is relaxed; the animal even lifts its tail to waddle more quickly to keep pace with the coyote. “The badger was showing happy behaviour—for a badger,” she laughs. The animals are known for being notoriously grumpy. What’s more, the affability between the animals shows that they certainly know each other as individuals. “I wouldn’t scientifically want to use the term friends, but these are two wild animals that clearly understand their partnership.” The video, taken by the nonprofit group Peninsula Open Space Trust, is an important discovery for scientists: It shows both the first example of coyote-badger cooperation ever taken in the San Francisco Bay Area and possibly the first video showing two species sharing a culvert—a tunnel that allows water to flow under a road and wildlife to bypass highways. But there’s another crucial takeaway here, she adds: Helping the public to relate to the wildlife in their own backyards. Such clips help “people see that, oh wait, just like I can have a friendship with a dog, they can, too,” she says. “It’s not just a human thing; all animals can collaborate.” Win-win situation Coyotes and badgers occasionally form short-term alliances to hunt ground-dwelling creatures, particularly in areas with relatively high densities of predators and prey, such as open expanses of Wyoming, Montana, and Oregon. The most common structure is one coyote and one badger, though occasionally two coyotes will join up (two badgers have not been observed, however), notes Campbell-Smith. (Learn how coyotes are hacking life in the city.) It's not known how the relationship begins, or whether it’s learned behaviour from the species’ parents, she says. But there’s no question the association is mutually beneficial. That’s because the carnivores complement each other’s hunting styles. If a coyote spends time near a badger, there’s a good chance the badger is going to scare up a squirrel, which the coyote can then run and catch. If the badger hangs around a coyote, there’s a likelihood the coyote will drive the prey underground, which then gives the badger—a superior digger—a meal. Research has backed up the efficacy of this mutualism: Coyotes and badgers that hunt together are both more effective at getting food. For instance, observations in Wyoming have revealed that coyotes that team up with badgers save energy and likely time by not having to search, chase, and stalk Uinta ground squirrels. Such studies have also shown the coyote-badger affiliations are more common in rural areas untouched by humans—making this video all the more exciting, notes Megan Draheim, a conservation biologist at Virginia Tech and founder of the District Coyote Project, which studies the predators. “This is a great reflection of how much nature and wildness there can be in urban areas, and why it’s important to think about nature and plan for it.” It also gives the public a glimpse into the coyote’s playful side, Draheim adds. Usually considered “mean, skulking animals,” coyotes are “very intelligent, and have a lot of interactions with other animals around them.” It’s amazing, she adds, “how close that [coyote in the video] mirrors the playfulness of our own dogs.” https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/offbeat/why-this-coyote-and-badger-friendship-has-excited-scientists/ar-BBZHnLA?li=AAg17eQ&ocid=mailsignout

Premier League: Summer transfer window expected to change Premier League clubs are expected to make changes to the summer transfer window to bring it in line with the rest of Europe. For the past two seasons, the window in England closed the day before the top-flight campaign began. However the deadline for most of Europe is the end of August, leading clubs to say they are at a disadvantage. The matter will be discussed when senior officials of all 20 Premier League clubs meet on Thursday. The transfer window was moved to the start of August in England following complaints from clubs and managers that keeping it open after the start of the season was disruptive. It was hoped major leagues across Europe would also bring their own windows forward. However, that did not happen and a number of clubs found themselves in the uncomfortable position of knowing their players were in demand across the continent but unable to bring in replacements for anyone they wanted to sell. On Thursday, the clubs could decide to keep the window as it is, but this is thought to be unlikely. If they opt for a change, it would either be to revert back to the end of August, in line with the rest of Europe, or split the window so it closes domestically before the season starts while remaining open for international deals. Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has previously voiced his support for bringing the closure of the summer transfer window in line with the rest of Europe. "I don't care when it closes, but it must close at the same time," he said in September. "They spoke about finishing it before the season starts. Good idea, but only England did it. That makes no sense. It was a good idea but it didn't work out." In addition, the clubs will decide the date for the opening weekend of the 2020-21 season with both the finals of Euro 2020 and the Copa America on 12 July. Following a YouGov report published on Tuesday which said 74% of fans wanted the video assistant referee (VAR) retained with some modifications, referees' chief Mike Riley will give an update on the system. He will present the findings of research aimed at gauging opinion from a broad spectrum of fans, both those who attend matches and others who watch games on television. https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/51392691

That One of the wifes biggest fears with other creepy crawlies, when I would get in from work I would see a slipper/shoe lying in the middle of the floor and I would automatically say to myself "I bet there is a splattered spider under that...", yep lol or "There is a spider on the ceiling in the bedroom...get rid of it please", the problem would be that she saw the bloody spider when she first got out of her bed 8-9 hours ago and where the bloody hell it was now god knows!! There was once a wee spider that would crawl across our bedroom ceiling no bigger than my little fingernail I called it Henry, I got used to it and would say to the wife "There goes Henry looking for dead flys" the wife would just stare and say "as long as he does not come near me..." it was there for weeks and it was harmless, and I told her don't go hitting him with a broom it's harmless, then one day he just disappeared and never saw it again and I mentioned it to the wife and she said she had hoovered my little Henry up weeks before.

Greenlight for UK commercial telecoms Moon mission UK satellite company SSTL has got the go-ahead to produce a telecommunications spacecraft for the Moon. The platform, which should be ready for launch in late 2022, will be used by other lunar missions to relay their data and telemetry to Earth. Satellites already do this at Mars, linking surface rovers with engineers and scientists back home. The Lunar Pathfinder venture will do the same at the Moon. SSTL is financing the build of the satellite itself but will sell its telecoms services under a commercial contract with the European Space Agency (Esa). It's hoped other governmental organisations and private actors will purchase capacity as well. The Moon is set to become the go-to destination this decade with the Americans intent on putting humans on the surface again, 50 years after Apollo. Europe's new space budget to enable CO2 mapping Europe keen to demonstrate Moon ambitions To the Moon and beyond: The future of exploration Nasa's Project Artemis has identified 2024 as the date when the "first woman and the next man" will touchdown, close to the lunar south pole. The plan is to put the UK satellite into a highly elliptical orbit so that it can have long periods of visibility over this location. Pathfinder is expected to be particularly useful for any sorties - human or robotic - to the Moon's far side, which is beyond the reach of direct radio transmission with Earth. The UK satellite's presence would make connections possible and this could be the enabler for some smaller, low-cost lunar projects that would otherwise have to procure their own separate relay system. But anywhere at the Moon, above it or on the surface - all missions should benefit from the boost in data rates that comes from a local, dedicated telecoms platform. SSTL says Lunar Pathfinder should be just under 300kg at launch. Its radio payloads will work in S-band and UHF frequencies to talk to nearby spacecraft, and in the X-band to make the back-and-forth connection with Earth. Goonhilly teleport in Cornwall, with its big radio dishes, is anticipated to act as the uplink/downlink station. The Guildford firm is getting this opportunity thanks to the money invested by the UK government in Esa at its recent Ministerial Council in Seville, Spain. The UK Space Agency (UKSA) delegation committed €14m (£12m) to Europe's lunar exploration budget. British representatives also put down €18m (£15m) to be part of efforts to develop an international space station at the Moon called Gateway. Again, the UK is hopeful it can play a role in this station's communications. "This would be to talk from Gateway to surface missions," said Sue Horne, the head of the space exploration at UKSA. "This should be compatible with Lunar Pathfinder. So, you can see our strategy: We'd like to take a lead in deep space communications with Goonhilly, Lunar Pathfinder and Gateway. We're carving out an area for the UK," she told BBC News. Separately, SSTL is working on a feasibility study for Esa looking at how a constellation of spacecraft could be flown around the Moon to provide not just telecoms but also satellite-navigation services for the lunar market (SSTL has been part of the consortium that's built all the spacecraft for Europe's Galileo sat-nav system). Good positioning on the Moon will be relevant as more and more missions visit the surface. "Lunar Pathfinder is a 'pathfinder' - it will prove the technology but also test the viability of a commercial market for telecoms services at the Moon. When the future constellation is launched, Pathfinder will become a node within that network," explained Nelly Offord Harlé, the business manager for exploration at SSTL. SSTL says Lunar Pathfinder should be just under 300kg at launch. Its radio payloads will work in S-band and UHF frequencies to talk to nearby spacecraft, and in the X-band to make the back-and-forth connection with Earth. Goonhilly teleport in Cornwall, with its big radio dishes, is anticipated to act as the uplink/downlink station. The Guildford firm is getting this opportunity thanks to the money invested by the UK government in Esa at its recent Ministerial Council in Seville, Spain. The UK Space Agency (UKSA) delegation committed €14m (£12m) to Europe's lunar exploration budget. British representatives also put down €18m (£15m) to be part of efforts to develop an international space station at the Moon called Gateway. Again, the UK is hopeful it can play a role in this station's communications. "This would be to talk from Gateway to surface missions," said Sue Horne, the head of the space exploration at UKSA. "This should be compatible with Lunar Pathfinder. So, you can see our strategy: We'd like to take a lead in deep space communications with Goonhilly, Lunar Pathfinder and Gateway. We're carving out an area for the UK," she told BBC News. Separately, SSTL is working on a feasibility study for Esa looking at how a constellation of spacecraft could be flown around the Moon to provide not just telecoms but also satellite-navigation services for the lunar market (SSTL has been part of thee consortium that's built all the spacecraft for Europe's Galileo sat-nav system). Good positioning on the Moon will be relevant as more and more missions visit the surface. "Lunar Pathfinder is a 'pathfinder' - it will prove the technology but also test the viability of a commercial market for telecoms services at the Moon. When the future constellation is launched, Pathfinder will become a node within that network," explained Nelly Offord Harlé, the business manager for exploration at SSTL. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-51378320

Please, please let this be true Atletico Madrid and Roma are leading the chase to sign English midfielder Jesse Lingard, 27 if he leaves Manchester United. (ESPN)

Come on buddy, if this was a Beatles story you would be reading all the updates with your tongue hanging out of your mouth I might no post much in this thread but I always read the updates from Nudge, it saves me going into the main news outlets and getting all the info from the sources there.

England getting hammered by France so far 24-7.

Well...this guy used to sware a lot, off camera and on camera.

Streatham: Man shot by police after stabbings in London A man has been shot by armed officers in a "terrorist-related" incident in south London, the Met Police have said. It is believed a number of people have been stabbed in the incident at Streatham High Road, police said. Witnesses on social media have said they heard three gunshots fired just after 14:00 GMT on Sunday and people were being treated by doctors. London Ambulance Service said it had a number of resources attending the incident. One person tweeted: "Something major happening in Streatham High Road. Armed police and roads closed off". https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-51349664

Mind-blowing photos of the unseen side of things We often go through life with a surface-level acceptance of objects, landmarks, and animals, taking them at face value and moving on. But never underestimate the difference a change of angle can make! Click through to see some fascinating photos that will make you re-imagine your reality. SLIDES - 1/31

This guy grows on you, he says more than shit Planet Football - 8th May 2019 Jurgen Klopp was typically passionate after Liverpool's stunning comeback against Barcelona in the Champions League semi-final at Anfield on Tuesday night. Liverpool overturned a 3-0 first-leg deficit with a 4-0 win over Barcelona, secured thanks to braces from Divock Origi and Georginio Wijnaldum. Straight after the final whistle, Klopp ran to embrace James Milner, who was in tears after becoming overwhelmed by emotion, and the Reds boss did not hide his own feelings in his interview with BT Sport. To be fair to Klopp, at least he had the decency to check it was past the watershed before lauding his “f*cking unbelievable” players, and he’s more than happy to pay any fine which comes his way.

@Happy Blue whats your thoughts on this, would you still love your Pep's if he could not bring you Champions League glory? Pep Guardiola: My Manchester City reign will be a failure if we do not win the Champions League Spanish manager admits his time at the club will be judged by success in Europe – and insists he has no concerns about out-of-touch attacker Sterling. Pep Guardiola has admitted that he will be regarded as a failure at Manchester City if he does not win the Champions League. Guardiola has won five major trophies since taking charge at the Etihad Stadium in 2016, including two Premier League titles. As yet, however, they have been unable to transfer their domestic dominance onto the European stage. City have not yet progressed beyond the quarter-finals under Guardiola, getting knocked out by Monaco, Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur in the Spaniard's last three campaigns. Guardiola won the competition twice at Barcelona but could not repeat that at Bayern Munich. His tenure at the German club was consequently considered a disappointment in some quarters, despite him winning three successive Bundesliga crowns. FULL REPORT

All National League Transfers season 2020 National League (allow 15 seconds loading time)

Koalas found dead on Australia logging plantation Dozens of koalas have been found dead or injured at a timber plantation in the Australian state of Victoria, sparking an investigation by officials. Blue gum trees - an important koala habitat - were harvested from the plantation in December, leaving only a few isolated stands of trees. Some koalas had starved to death in the remaining trees. Others were apparently killed by bulldozers. About 80 surviving koalas have been removed and are being cared for. The deaths come after tens of thousands of koalas were killed in the bushfires that have ravaged Australia. The marsupial is listed as "vulnerable" by Australia's Environment Ministry. 'Australia should be ashamed' After the plantation was logged in December, reports of hundreds of starving koalas came in, environmental group Friends of the Earth Australia said. "People apparently witnessed the bulldozing of many dead koalas into slash piles," it said. The Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning said it was prepared to prosecute over the incident. Local resident Helen Oakley, who first raised the alarm on Wednesday, posted a video to Facebook, saying she had seen dead koalas at the site. "There are koalas lying there dead," she said. "Mothers killed and their little babies. Australia should be ashamed of this. We need help." Animal protection group Animals Australia said it has sent teams to the site in order to "save as many of these precious animals as possible". It added: "We are still gathering the details as to what has occurred in this case but it would appear that there are various breaches of legislation, including the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, which we will be supporting authorities to pursue." Andrew Pritchard from the Department of the Environment said 25 koalas had been euthanised. He told ABC News the surviving koalas would be "rehabilitated at a later stage". Investigations underway The company behind the logging is currently unclear. According to the logging industry, the blue gum trees were harvested in November and the contractor followed all of the protocols in place to protect the animals. However, Animals Australia said it was investigating several apparent breaches of the legislation. "By law, the companies that own these plantations must provide koala 'spotters' to identify koalas in trees before logging commences, so that animals can be safely removed and relocated. There is also a legal responsibility to ensure the welfare of koalas after logging has ceased," it said. The Australian Forest Products Association said the remaining trees were cleared after the contractors had left. It has vowed to investigate the incident. Chief Executive Ross Hampton told The Age: "It is unclear as yet who bulldozed the trees with the koalas apparently still in them, but it is absolutely certain that this was not a plantation or a forestry company. "We support all those calling for the full force of the law to be applied to the perpetrator. The incident comes after a number of koalas were killed in recent bushfires in the country. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-australia-51346637

A partial descendant of 'Lonesome George' species found near a volcano © Reuter's Lonesome George was the last of his kind before his death in 2012 Conservationists say they have found 30 giant tortoises partially descended from two extinct species, including that of the famed Lonesome George, around the largest volcano on the Galapagos Islands. The Galapagos National Park and Galapagos Conservancy said they discovered a young female who has a direct line of descent from the Chelonoidis Abingdon species of Pinta Island in Ecuador. The last of those tortoises was Lonesome George, a giant tortoise, who was believed to be over 100 years old when he died in June 2012. Another 11 males and 18 females were from the Chelonoidis niger line of Floreana Island in Ecuador. © Reuter's Conservationists found 30 giant tortoises at the bottom of a volcano The 45-member expedition was working around the Wolf Volcano on Isabela Island. The conservationists said pirates and whalers had taken tortoises from other islands in the archipelago and left them near the volcano. Those found during the new expedition were hybrids descended from both the extinct and other species. The Galapagos Islands, which once held 15 closely related species of tortoise, according to the Galapagos Conservancy. The nonprofit organisation estimates that 20,000 to 25,000 wild tortoises live on the islands today. At least four of the species are now considered extinct. https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world/partial-descendant-of-lonesome-george-species-found-near-volcano/ar-BBZyO88?li=BBoPWjQ

Juventus have already begun work on summer deals for Brescia's 19-year-old Italy midfielder Sandro Tonali and Manchester United's 26-year-old France midfielder Paul Pogba. (Calciomercato - in Italian)

Wales ahead against Italy 14-0 in the 6 Nations, Ireland v Scotland later on, me and the wife won't miss that one.

All SPFL Transfer's 2020 - In/Out

Premier League Confirmed Transfers 2020 - 1 February See: Transfer Deadline Day - All the deals

I will have to watch this, some scenes shot here in Edinburgh.

Mega-constellation firms meet European astronomers Leading satellite mega-constellations companies SpaceX and OneWeb have met with astronomers in Europe to discuss the impact their operations could have on observations of the Universe. There's concern that the size and brightness of the firms' planned fleets could interfere with the work of professional telescopes. The parties discussed the issues in a private meeting at the Royal Astronomical Society in London, UK. The talks were described "as positive". Present for OneWeb was Dr Timothy Maclay, the start-up's director of mission systems engineering; and for SpaceX, the participant was Patricia Cooper, the California company's vice president of satellite government affairs. OneWeb and SpaceX are in the process of launching big networks of spacecraft to deliver broadband internet to every corner of the globe. The numbers of platforms involved are unprecedented in the history of spaceflight. The RAS gathering was intended as an opening move in what is hoped will become a continuing dialogue. Media were excluded to allow the delegates to have a frank discussion, RAS deputy executive director and press officer, Robert Massey, told BBC News. It's understood two new, soon-to-be-published research studies were presented. One, from the University of Southampton, has investigated the reflectivity of SpaceX's Starlink satellites and what's driving their brightness in the sky. The second, from the European Southern Observatory organisation, has attempted to model how much observing time might be lost by the world's major telescope facilities if the mega-constellations' interference is as bad as some fear it could become. Image captionOneWeb will be launching 34 satellites at once in the coming week Already, astronomers have talked of passing Starlink satellites producing streaks and "ghosting" in telescope images; and of detectors becoming saturated in the glare from the satellites. SpaceX has so far launched 240 satellites in what it says will be an initial constellation of 12,000. OneWeb only has six spacecraft up at the moment but will begin a big roll-out next week. This will see 34 satellites being lofted every month or so until 650 platforms are circling the globe. SpaceX is already in discussions with the American Astronomical Society. It's the wide-field survey telescopes that could suffer most. These will scan large portions of the sky every night looking for opportunity targets such as passing asteroids and exploded stars, but these searches could become compromised if astronomers also have to account for large numbers of confounding artificial light sources. Dr Massey told BBC News: "We appreciated the openness of the two companies; we appreciated the fact that they came to see us and to talk to us. We know that they're not the only operators out there and we need to be having discussions with those people as well. But I think we started to understand some of the genuine quantitative impacts on optical and radio telescopes." The absence of an internationally agreed framework to guide the satellite industry on the brightness of its satellites, giving it some standards to work to, was one of the issues raised at the meeting, Dr Massey added. He contrasted this with the best-practice measures designed to mitigate space debris. Operators are urged to pull defunct spacecraft out of orbit within 25 years to reduce the chances of a collision with active platforms. SpaceX has modified one of its satellites to have a different coating which may help reduce its reflectivity. However, the suspicion is that much of the brightness comes from light bouncing off the long singular solar array incorporated into the Starlink design. The RAS meeting also included representatives from the UK and European space agencies, and from the Square Kilometre Array. Earlier in January, the 235th American Astronomical Society meeting held a special session on the impacts of mega-constellations. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-51334423