Shark scientists have admonished the public to call human-shark interactions something other than shark attacks and to prefer less derogatory terms like “shark encounters”. The scientists point out that humans are responsible for shark injuries – when they accidentally step on small sharks that snap back; swim in murky water, dare to get too close.
“A ‘shark attack’ is a story of intent,” said Christopher Pepin-Neff of the University of Sydney to Times reporter Alan Yuhas. “But sharks don’t know what humans are. You don’t know when you are in the boat. You don’t know what a propeller is. It’s not an attack. “
But the terms that are offered as substitutes are more precise and less inflammatory, but have a genteel sound that is reminiscent of top hats and evening gloves of bygone centuries.
A shark incident:
Meanwhile, scientists elsewhere this week released one of the most detailed views of shark intestines yet, using a CT scanner to reveal “the complex internal geography of more than 20 species of shark,” writes Veronique Greenwood. The results, in a stunning 3-D video, show that the spiral-shaped intestines of some sharks behave like a Tesla valve, pulling fluid forward with no moving parts.
The study also seems to confirm the long-held notion that such complexity helps slow digestion and deprive the prey of most of the calories. Chew on it as you do your part to avoid shark, uh, euphemisms.
What we’ve been metabolizing lately
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Hard to miss: a rare, 100-pound opah, or sunfish, washed up in Oregon earlier this week.
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This week Michio Kaku, a physicist at the City College of New York, and Douglas Vakoch, an astrobiologist and president of the nonprofit research and education organization METI (Messaging Extraterrestrial Intelligence) International, discussed the wisdom of trying to contact others this week intelligent life in the universe.
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These African wild dog parents don’t exactly bring home bacon, but this rare footage of them feeding their pups sure is adorable.
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And there are few better moments to read Norman Maclean, both “A River Runs Through It,” his majestic fly-fishing memoir, and “Young Men and Fire,” his reconstruction of the 1949 Montana Mann Gulch tragedy, the lives of a dozen firefighters from the US Forest Service. “The story, which I’ve read at least four times now, is excruciating to read and makes the hair stand on end on my arms,” wrote Anna Holmes in 2015 in The Times. “It’s also one of the most enjoyable experiences I’ve had.”
Important facts
“On Tuesday, the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks imposed“ Hoot Owl ”restrictions on the Missouri River, one of the state’s most popular trout fisheries, between Helena and Great Falls because of warm water temperatures. The rule forbids fishing after 2 p.m. that lit a fire. Lumberjacks often heard owls in their early morning shifts.) “
