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Scientists working in the remote rainforests of Madagascar say they’ve discovered seven new frog species whose calls sound similar to Star Trek sound effects, which are often heard on the iconic TV franchise’s various series. Due to these auditory similarities, the researchers have named the newly discovered amphibians after seven of the franchise’s most iconic captains. “Not only do these frogs sound like sound effects from Star Trek, but it seems also fitting that to find them, you often have to do quite a bit of trekking!” quipped senior study author, Assistant Professor Mark D. Scherz from the Natural History...

According to a Phys.org report, Guido Schreurs of the University of Bern and his colleagues suggest that rock-cut terraces and chambers at the remote archaeological site of Teniky in southern Madagascar were carved some 1,000 years ago by a Zoroastrian community. High-resolution satellite images revealed that Teniky was much larger than previously thought. Schreurs and his colleagues then identified dozens of circular and rectangular stone niches carved into the cliffs. Circular recesses in these niches may have been used to close the spaces with wooden or stone slabs, he explained. Charcoal and pottery recovered during the investigation have been dated...

A first-of-its-kind for habitat selection. Image courtesy of Miguel Vences Rejoice! There’s a new tiny chameleon on the block. Hailing from Madagascar, it joins other miniature chameleons in the Brookesia genus, subgenus Evoluticauda. At little bigger than the end of your forefinger, it was a remarkable spot in what’s presently a highly threatened habitat in Madagascar. The new-to-science species has been named Brookesia nofy after the forest it was found in, known as Ankanin’ny Nofy. Sitting at about sea level, it’s a littoral forest making this the first of the mini chameleons to be found in this kind of habitat....

VIDEO AT LINK................... March 20 (UPI) -- The Nashville Zoo announced the birth of a rare spotted fanaloka, a Mdagascar-native species also known as the Malagasy civet. The zoo, which is the only facility in the United States to keep fanalokas, said the male pup was born March 10 and does not yet have a name. The zoo previously welcomed the birth of a female fanaloka, named Pepite, about two years ago. She was the first of her species to be born at the zoo and among the first to be born in the country. The new arrival is being...

For a long time, scientists had assumed a gradual expansion of African people through Sinai into both Europe and Asia. Then, bizarrely, it became clear from both genetics and archaeology that Europe was peopled later (after 40,000 years ago) than Australia (before 50,000 years ago). Meanwhile, the geneticists were beginning to insist that many Africans and all non-Africans shared closely related DNA sequences that originated only after about 70,000-60,000 years ago in Africa. So a new idea was born, sometimes called the "beachcomber express," in which the first ex-Africans were seashore dwellers who spread rapidly around the coast of the...

An Ancient Link to Africa Lives on in Bay of Bengal By NICHOLAS WADE Inhabitants of the Andaman Islands, a remote archipelago east of India, are direct descendants of the first modern humans to have inhabited Asia, geneticists conclude in a new study. But the islanders lack a distinctive genetic feature found among Australian aborigines, another early group to leave Africa, suggesting they were part of a separate exodus. The Andaman Islanders are "arguably the most enigmatic people on our planet," a team of geneticists led by Dr. Erika Hagelberg of the University of Oslo write in the journal Current...

Elephant Bird Egg What a whole Aepyornis egg would have looked like when freshly laid, seen in a market near the town of Toliara on the southwest coast of Madagascar. Credit: Gifford Miller More than 1,200 years ago, flightless elephant birds roamed the island of Madagascar and laid eggs bigger than footballs. While these ostrich-like giants are now extinct, new research from the University of Colorado at Boulder (CU Boulder) and Curtin University in Australia reveals that their eggshell remnants hold valuable clues about their time on Earth. Published on February 28 in the journal Nature Communications, the study describes...

Scientists have found evidence that an earthquake 3,800 years ago in Northern Chile is the largest in human history, according to a new study. The quake had a magnitude of around 9.5, prompting tsunamis that struck countries as far away as New Zealand and boulders the size of cars to be carried inland by the waves, according to researchers at the University of Southampton. Since earthquakes occur when two tectonic plates rub together and rupture, a longer rupture indicates a bigger earthquake, they said. "It had been thought there could not be an event of that size in the north...

Tropical Cyclone "Batsirai" formed well east of Madagascar on January 27, 2022, at a time Madagascar, Mozambique and Malawi were still assessing severe damage caused by the passage of Tropical Cyclone "Ana." Environmental conditions favor further intensification, leading to a possible catastrophic landfall in Madagascar on February 5. Up to 600 mm (24 inches) of rain is possible in some areas. Batsirai is the second named storm of the 2021/22 Southwest Indian Ocean cyclone season. At 06:00 UTC on February 2, Batsirai was an Intense Tropical Cyclone located approximately 246 km (153 miles) NNE of Port Louis, Mauritius. Its maximum...

A huge seismic event that started in May of 2018 and was felt across the entire globe has officially given birth to a new underwater volcano. Off the eastern coast of the island of Mayotte, a gigantic new feature rises 820 meters (2,690 feet) from the seafloor, a prominence that hadn't been there prior to an earthquake that rocked the island in May 2018. French governmental institutions sent a research team to check it out; there, sure enough, was an undersea mountain that hadn't been there before. Led by geophysicist Nathalie Feuillet of the University of Paris in France, the...

When you deny involvement when there is no crime, you sound suspect. Things have become completely unhinged in the nation’s capital, so why not add to the mayhem? For a few days now, it has been a story of mild interest in the area that five zebras have escaped from a compound where they had been kept. They have reportedly splintered to evade capture, with one trio running off and the remaining duo taking a different escape plan. It’s the kind of nonsensical story that is basically welcomed, what with the world in complete disarray from the border, to the...

With the rise in false Coronavirus cases, the Tanzanian President John Magufuli growing suspicious of the World Health Organization (WHO), decided to investigate the claims himself. He sent the WHO samples of a goat, a papaya and a quail for testing. After all 3 samples came COVID-19 positive, the President is reported to have kicked out the WHO from the country. UPDATE: Days after Tanzanian move, now Burundi kicks out WHO Coronavirus Team from the country for interference in internal matters. Meanwhile, in yet another African nation Nigeria, Bill Gates has been caught bribing forced Coronavirus program. Just couple of...

In a shocking claim the President of Madagascar has said that the WHO offered $20m bribe to poison COVID-19 cure. The herbal remedy called COVID-19 Organics made from Artemisia can cure COVID-19 patients within ten days said the President. He also raised the question that if it was a European country that had actually discovered this remedy, would there be so much doubt? The President of Madagascar Andry Rajoelina has accused the World Health Organisation of a plot to have its COVID-19 Organics, the local African ‘cure’ for the virus poisoned. Rajoelina claims WHO offered a $20 million bribe to...

The president of Madagascar, Andry Rajoelina, has officially launched a local herbal remedy he claims can prevent and cure coronavirus in seven days. The beverage, called COVID-Organics and developed by the Malagasy Institute of Applied Research (IMRA), contains Artemisia, a plant used to treat malaria. “Tests have been carried out – two people have now been cured by this treatment,” Rajoelina told ministers, diplomats and the media at the IMRA on Monday. “This herbal tea gives results in seven days,” he said. Drinking a bottle of COVID-Organics, he said: “I will be the first to drink this today, in front...

The legend says that vanilla was introduced to Europe by Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés, who had seen the Aztec Emperor Montezuma drink his xocolatl (sort of a chocolate drink) with a bit of vanilla. The Mesoamerican flavoring gained massively in popularity in the 19th century, when botanists found a way to hand-pollinate it, which allowed for it to be grown around the world. Today, the vast majority of vanilla (some 60%-80%) comes from the African island of Madagascar, and it is the second most expensive spice (only behind saffron) in the world, mostly because it’s difficult to produce. However, at...

On the morning of November 11, just before 9:30 UT, a mysterious rumble rolled around the world. The seismic waves began roughly 15 miles off the shores of Mayotte, a French island sandwiched between Africa and the northern tip of Madagascar. The waves buzzed across Africa, ringing sensors in Zambia, Kenya, and Ethiopia. They traversed vast oceans, humming across Chile, New Zealand, Canada, and even Hawaii nearly 11,000 miles away. These waves didn't just zip by; they rang for more than 20 minutes. And yet, it seems, no human felt them. Only one person noticed the odd signal on the...

Full Title: "The mystery of the 'rumble in the Indian Ocean': Strange seismic waves that shook the world on November 11 baffle researchers" Mysterious seismic waves in the Indian Ocean that were picked up by monitoring stations from Madagascar to Canada three weeks ago have baffled scientists. Researchers and earthquake enthusiasts who spotted the signals have narrowed down the origin to a region just off the coast of the island Mayotte. The slow waves detected on November 11 rumbled for more than 20 minutes, unbeknownst to most people. They are similar to those typically seen after large earthquakes, which are...

British satellite historians claim to have discovered the true location of an iconic American revolutionary ship which defeated the Royal Navy off the Yorkshire coast. The famous vessel, the USS Bonhomme Richard, was the first US ship to beat the Royal Navy in British waters before she sank on September 24, 1779. The location of the wreck has long been a mystery, but now a British satellite historian from Harrogate claims to have found it. Tim Akers, 60, used pioneering satellite radar techniques alongside British satellite firm Merlin Burrows to track down the buried vessel.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A suspect is in custody after an American diplomat was found dead at home while serving in Madagascar, the U.S. State Department said on Monday. Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said in a statement the U.S. foreign service officer was found during the overnight hours of Friday. She gave no further details.

Analysis of bones, from what was once the world's largest bird, has revealed that humans arrived on the tropical island of Madagascar more than 6,000 years earlier than previously thought... A team of scientists led by international conservation charity ZSL (Zoological Society of London) discovered that ancient bones from the extinct Madagascan elephant birds (Aepyornis and Mullerornis) show cut marks and depression fractures consistent with hunting and butchery by prehistoric humans. Using radiocarbon dating techniques, the team were then able to determine when these giant birds had been killed, reassessing when humans first reached Madagascar. Previous research on lemur bones...