BA #34/National Geographic

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New Hope for a Rare Bird in the Syrian Desert
   A few years back, Gianluca Serra found a legendary bird thought extinct in Syria, with funds from National Geographic's Committee for Research and Exploration. Now Serra, an IUCN specialist on northern bald ibis, is trying to forge a stable population of these ungainly creatures, with a little help from a prince and some first ladies. The rest of this article is Q&A's e.g.e...
  
Q: The northern bald ibis was considered extinct in Syria for more than 70 years, according to the scientific literature. Tell us about how this legendary bird was rediscovered -- and when and where?
We rediscovered the bald ibis on a remote cliff of the Syrian desert in April 2002, following clues from local hunters and Bedouin nomads as part of a general fauna survey of the area. The birds were the oriental subspecies of northern bald ibis, which had not been seen for many years.

Coldest Star Found—No Hotter Than Fresh Coffee
   Dubbed CFBDSIR 1458 10b, the star is what's called a brown dwarf. These oddball objects are often called failed stars, because they have starlike heat and chemical properties but don't have enough mass for the crush of gravity to ignite nuclear fusion at their cores.With surface temperatures hovering around 206 degrees F (97 degrees C), the newfound star is the coldest brown dwarf seen to date. Over the years there has been steady but slow progress in pushing the boundaries of finding the coldest stars, but with this latest discovery we have made a big leap forward—besting the previous record holder by at least 150 Kelvin [270 degrees F, or 150 degrees C].

Swamp Men
  

In the Everglades’ Big Cypress Swamp, more than 1,600 animals roam wild on thousands of acres in a park run by the Seminole tribe of Florida.  Best described as controlled chaos, the Billie Swamp Safari offers visitors face-to-face encounters with ostriches, American bison, African elan, wild alligators, venomous snakes, wild hogs, raccoons and virtually every other animal found near the swamp.  The goal is to immerse visitors in the wild, in accordance with the Seminoles’ love of harmony with nature, but sometimes these close encounters can mean trouble for people and wildlife.  It’s up to the park’s director, Ed Woods, and his tough team of self-described Swamp Men to patrol the land, relocate animals from dangerous situations and rescue animals in need.


Read more: http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/wild/shows-swamp-men#ixzz1HcwonNpa