World news in brief
Reefs at risk from acidic oceans
Coral reefs could start to dissolve quicker than previously thought as man-made climate change drives acidification of the oceans, scientists believe. Acidification will threaten sediments that are building blocks for reefs and corals already face risks from ocean temperatures, pollution and overfishing, experts say.
“Coral reefs will transition to net dissolving before end of century,” the Australian-led team of scientists wrote in the US journal Science. “Net dissolving” means reefs would lose more material than they gain from the growth of corals.
Carbon dioxide, the main man-made greenhouse gas, forms a weak acid in water and threatens to dissolve the reef sediments, made from broken down bits of corals and other carbonate organisms that accumulate over thousands of years, it said. The sediments are 10 times more vulnerable to acidification than the tiny coral animals that also extract chemicals directly from the sea water to build stony skeletons that form
reefs, the study said.
Coral animals will be able to keep growing and replenish reefs long after sandy sediments start to dissolve, lead author Bradley Eyre, of Southern Cross University, said. “This probably reflects the corals’ ability to modify their environment and partially adapt to ocean acidification whereas the dissolution of sands is a geo-chemical process that cannot adapt.”
Scientists use birds to predict how dinosaurs walked
The Australian white ibis has helped scientists gain insight into how the fearsome Tyrannosaurus rex may have walked. While researchers have previously proven that dinosaurs would have walked like modern birds, this is the first time they have been able to develop a model which accurately predicted forces of bird movement which they extrapolated for dinosaurs.
In research published by a team led by the Queensland Museum’s Peter Bishop, scientists observed how birds, including the ibis, ran and walked to discover how dinosaurs may have done the same, ABC News of Australia reports.
The ibis was one of 12 birds monitored during the study, which featured birds weighing between 45 grams and 80 kilograms and also included the Australian brush turkey, domestic turkey, three different types of quail, the emu and the ostrich.
The researchers were able to develop an equation they called the BIRDS (biomechanically informative, regression-derived statistical) model, which only needs a bird’s body mass and speed to predict their stride length and force exerted per step. Using the model, the scientists predicted a Tyrannosaurus rex weighing eight tonnes and with a leg length of 3.1 metres would have had a stride length of more than four metres if moving at 18 kilometres per hour.
Italian far-right leader beaten by anti-fascists
A far-right leader was bound and beaten by left-wing extremists in Italy. Massimo Ursino, a prominent member of the anti-immigration Forza Nuova group, was attacked in Palermo and required hospital treatment.
His balaclava-clad assailants bound his hands and feet with parcel tape, The Local reported, and the beating left him with head and facial injuries. They pounced as Mr Ursino left a supermarket in central Palermo, in Sicily. An anonymous claim of responsibility said the attack was “a demonstration of the fact that in Palermo there are people who have no fear of fighting fascism”.
On its Facebook page Forza Nuova said it was “attempted murder”. The group’s national head, Roberto Fiore, accused the attackers of a “hate campaign”. Mr Fiore is due to speak in Palermo at the weekend.
White supremacist sues Twitter for banning him
A white supremacist is suing Twitter for allegedly violating his right to free speech. Jared Taylor, the creator of white supremacist website American Renaissance, has filed a suit against the social media company for kicking him off the platform late last year. In the suit, attorneys for Mr Taylor argue that the company banned his account “based solely on his controversial viewpoints and perceived affiliations”, causing “irreparable harm” to the writer and his business.
“Mr Taylor and American Renaissance were targeted for permanent suspension from Twitter due to nothing more than their controversial views on race and immigration – the subjective perception that they are ‘racist’ and ‘extremist’,” the lawsuit states.
A Twitter spokesperson declined to comment, saying the company does not discuss individual cases for privacy and security reasons. News of the lawsuit comes as other far-right and white supremacist users
claimed they, too, were being kicked off of the platform, spurring the hashtag #TwitterLockout.
Israel jails asylum seekers refusing deportation
Seven Eritreans who have had their asylum petitions rejected have been jailed indefinitely by Israel after refusing deportation to Rwanda. The men are the first to be detained since the Israeli authorities announced an initiative last November to make thousands of African migrants and asylum seekers choose between deportation to a third country or face an unspecified amount of jail time.
“This is the first step in a what is a globally unprecedented deportation operation, a move tainted by racism and complete disregard for the life and dignity of asylum seekers,” Israeli human rights groups said in a joint statement.
According to the UN refugee agency, there are 27,000 Eritrean and 7,700 Sudanese asylum seekers currently in Israel. Only 10 Eritreans and one Sudanese person have been granted asylum, Haaretz reports.
Montenegro: US embassy in grenade attack
A man threw an explosive device, believed to be a hand grenade, into the US embassy in Montenegro yesterday before blowing himself up. No casualties were reported, despite the small explosion near the compound.
Policemen with submachine guns and police vehicles quickly surrounded the streets around the embassy building after the incident.”All appropriate state bodies are undertaking measures and activities with an aim of resolving this case and securing full safety and security of the US embassy’s staff,” he said. State television in Montenegro quoted police sources and claimed that the attacker was a 43-year old man born in Serbia. He had been living in Montenegro’s capital, Podgorica.