Now, to the feast!\u00a0<\/p>\n
I guess that\u2019s why they call them killer whales<\/p>\n
Higuera-Rivas, Jes\u00fas Erick et al. \u201cNovel evidence of interaction between killer whales (Orcinus orca) and juvenile white sharks (Carcharodon carcharias) in the Gulf of California, Mexico.\u201d Frontiers in Marine Science<\/a>.<\/p>\n Orcas kill young great white sharks by flipping them upside down and tearing their livers out of their bellies, which they then eat family-style, according to a new study that includes new footage of these Promethean interactions in Mexican waters.<\/p>\n \u201cHere we document novel repeated predations by killer whales on juvenile white sharks in the Gulf of California,\u201d said researchers led by Jes\u00fas Erick Higuera Rivas of the non-profit Pelagic Protection and Conservation AC.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cAerial videos indicate consistency in killer whales\u2019 repeated assaults and strikes on the sharks,\u201d the team added. \u201cOnce extirpated from the prey body, the target organ is shared between the members of the pods including calves.\u201d<\/p>\n I\u2019ll give you a beat to let that sink in, like orca teeth on the belly of a shark. While it’s well-established that orcas are the only known predator of great white sharks aside from humans, the new study is only the second glimpse of killer whales targeting juvenile sharks.\u00a0<\/p>\n This group of orcas, known as Moctezuma\u2019s pod, has developed an effective strategy of working together to flip the sharks over, which interrupts the sharks\u2019 sensory system and puts them into a state called tonic immobility. The authors describe the pod\u2019s work as methodical and well coordinated.<\/p>\n \u201cOur evidence undoubtedly shows consistency in the repeated assaults and strikes, indicating efficient maneuvering ability by the killer whales in attempting to turn the shark upside down, likely to induce tonic immobility and allow uninterrupted access to the organs for consumption, ” the team said. Previous reports suggest that \u201cthe lack of bite marks or injuries anywhere other than the pectoral fins shows a novel and specialized technique of accessing the liver of the shark with minimal handling of each individual.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n An orca attacking a juvenile great white shark. Image: Marco Villegas\u00a0<\/p>\n Sharks, by the way, do not attack orcas. Just the opposite. As you can imagine based on the horrors you have just read, sharks are so petrified of killer whales that they book it whenever they sense a nearby pod.<\/p>\n \u201cAdult white sharks exhibit a memory and previous knowledge about killer whales, which enables them to activate an avoidance mechanism through behavioral risk effects; a \u2018fear\u2019- induced mass exodus from aggregations sites,\u201d the team said. \u201cThis response may preclude repeated successful predation on adult white sharks by killer whales.\u201d<\/p>\n In other words, if you\u2019re a shark, one encounter with orcas is enough to make you watch your dorsal side for life\u2014assuming you were lucky enough to escape with it.\u00a0<\/p>\n In other news\u2026<\/p>\n Apocalypse now plz<\/p>\n Albrecht, Rudolf et al. \u201cGeopolitical, Socio-Economic and Legal Aspects of the 2024PDC25 Event.\u201d Acta Astronautica.<\/a><\/p>\n You may have seen the doomer humor meme to \u201csend the asteroid already,\u201d a plea for sweet cosmic relief that fits our beleaguered times. As it turns out, some scientists engage in this type of apocalyptic wish fulfillment professionally.\u00a0<\/p>\n Planetary defense experts often participate in drills involving fictional hazardous asteroids, such as the 2024PDC25, a virtual object \u201cdiscovered\u201d at the 2025 Planetary Defense Conference. In that simulation, 2024PDC25 had a possible impact date in 2041.<\/p>\n Now a team has used that exercise as a jumping off point to explore what might happen if it hit even earlier, channeling that \u201csend the asteroid already\u201d energy.. The researchers used this time-crunched scenario to speculate about the effect on geopolitics and pivotal events, such as the 2028 US Presidential elections.<\/p>\n \u201cAs it is very difficult to extrapolate from 2025 across 16 years in this \u2018what-if\u2019 exercise, we decided to bring the scenario forward to 2031 and examine it with today\u2019s global background,\u201d Rudolf Albrecht of the Austrian Space Forum. \u201cToday would be T-6 years and the threat is becoming immediate.\u201d<\/p>\n As the astro-doomers would say: Finally some good news.<\/p>\n Big dark energy<\/p>\n Son, Junhyuk et al. \u201cStrong progenitor age bias in supernova cosmology \u2013 II. Alignment with DESI BAO and signs of a non-accelerating universe.\u201d Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.<\/a><\/p>\n First, we discovered the universe was expanding. Then, we discovered it was expanding at an accelerating rate. Now, a new study suggests that this acceleration might be slowing down. Universe, make up your mind!<\/p>\n But seriously, the possibility that the rate of cosmic expansion is slowing is a big deal, because dark energy\u2014the term for whatever is making the universe expand\u2014was assumed to be a constant for decades. But this consensus has been challenged by observations from the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI)<\/a> in Arizona, which became operational in 2021. In its first surveys, DESI\u2019s observations have pointed to an expansion rate that is not fixed, but in flux.<\/p>\n Together with past results, the study \u201csuggests that dark energy may no longer be a cosmological constant\u201d and \u201cour analysis raises the possibility that the present universe is no longer in a state of accelerated expansion,\u201d said researchers led by Junhyuk Son of Yonsei University. \u201cThis provides a fundamentally new perspective that challenges the two central pillars of the [cold dark matter] standard cosmological model proposed 27 years ago.\u201d<\/p>\n It will take more research to constrain this mystery, but for now it\u2019s a reminder that the universe loves to surprise.<\/p>\n And the award for most squee goes to\u2026<\/p>\nSequence of the killer whales attacking the first juvenile white sharks (Carcharodon carcharias) on 15th of August 2020. In (d) The partially exposed liver is seen on the right side of the second shark attacked. Photos credit: Jes\u00fas Erick Higuera Rivas.<\/p>\n
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