Potential Record-Breaking Coral Colony on Great Barrier Reef Reported

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Potential Record-Breaking Coral Colony on Great Barrier Reef Reported by Citizen Scientists (Maria)

The author writes, “Citizen scientists surveying the Great Barrier Reef say they have identified what could be the largest single coral colony ever documented. The giant colony of Pavona clavus was discovered by Sophie Kalkowski-Pope, marine operations coordinator of the conservation group Citizens of the Reef, and her mother, Jan Pope. … Preliminary measurements indicate the colony is approximately 364 feet long and covers an estimated 42,776 square feet.”

No Help and Few Options for Travelers Stranded by Mideast Conflict (Dana)

From The New York Times: “As the conflict with Iran rages, thousands of travelers remain stranded not only in Israel and the United Arab Emirates, but also in more distant places that rely on connections through global hubs like Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Doha, Qatar. More than 20,000 flights to or from the Middle East have been canceled since Saturday. Stranded travelers say they’ve had to improvise expensive, often complex plans to get home. They report frantically messaging airlines, calling embassies and booking backup flights, sometimes traveling in the opposite direction, to steer clear of the affected airports. Many said they received no help rebooking flights or paying for hotels.”

Trump’s Next Tariff Fight: Keeping the Money (DonkeyHotey)

The authors write, “Officials across the Trump administration are scrambling to devise legal strategies that would allow the government to keep billions of dollars in tariff revenue the Supreme Court said was illegally collected. Early ideas include policies to discourage companies from claiming their refunds, prevent the government from paying the money back or otherwise preserve at least some of the tariff revenue, according to five people familiar with the conversations, granted anonymity to discuss them.”

Online Universe of Hate, Gore, Death Is Easy for Kids to Access. Why? (Al)

From the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: “Today, the descent into an alternative digital reality in which extreme violence is praised and critiqued, radical thought is normalized, and likeminded — even sympathetic — peers, is just a few keystrokes away. At the same time, we’ve weakened our methods for understanding why certain children seek out these spaces and find them not just alluring, but, in a twisted way, therapeutic.”

Antarctica Is Losing Ice the Size of Los Angeles Every Three Years (Sean)

From Discover: “Thirty years of radar from satellites circling the globe now give scientists the first complete map of Antarctica’s grounding line, the thin boundary where land-based ice begins to float. The picture they uncovered is a mix of stability and retreat: about 77 percent of the continent’s edges have barely budged since 1996, but vulnerable sectors in West Antarctica, along the Antarctic Peninsula, and in parts of East Antarctica are losing grounded ice at a startling pace.”

Cash-Starved and Censored, America’s Student Newspapers Are Fighting To Survive (Laura)

From The Student Press Report: “For years, student press advocates have been frantically pointing toward the gathering clouds that gravely threaten college news organizations: money problems, censorship and disengaged campus audiences. With a federal government that’s rewriting the rules on press freedoms and higher education, those clouds have become a perfect storm that’s rocking independent student media.”

Every Major Galaxy Is Speeding Away From the Milky Way, Except One — And We Finally Know Why (Dana)

The author writes, “A vast, flat sheet of dark matter may solve the long-standing mystery of why our neighboring galaxy Andromeda is speeding toward us while our other neighbors are moving away from us.”