A new orca whale calf spotted in Puget Sound in Washington State is the latest addition to a well-known family of killer whales with a connection to SeaWorld. In 1976, the calfs great-grandmother T046 Wake was one of six orcas captured with the intention of being sold to marine parks and temporarily held by SeaWorld in Budd Inlet near Olympia, Washington.The Pacific Whale Watch Association (PWWA) first saw this new baby whale with a group of orcas on March 20 in the eastern Juan de Fuca Strait. According to PWWAs executive director Erin Gless, the calfs fetal folds and distinctive orange coloration were visible. The fetal folds are creases along the calfs skin that come from being scrunched inside its mothers uterus for about 18 months.Visible fetal folds indicate the calf was born very recently. CREDIT: Tom Filipovic, Eagle Wing Tours (PWWA). These factors are normal and indicate the calf is quite young, likely a week or two at most, Gless said in a statement.The calf has been given the designation T046B3A and was spotted swimming alongside its 14-year-old mother, T046B3 Sedna, who was named after a goddess and the Mother of the Sea in Inuit culture. T046B3A is also Sednas first known calf.Sedna is one of Wakes grand-calf and the familys lineage was almost cut short during that 1976 capture. The late Ralph Munro, a former Washington Secretary of State and an assistant to then-Governor Dan Evans, witnessed the orca captures while he was sailing. Munro then helped file a lawsuit against SeaWorld, which ultimately led to the release of the whales from Budd Inlet several weeks later. The event was the last in a series of orca captures in the 1970s, where an estimated 100 killer whales were taken from the Pacific. Wake and these five other cetaceans were the last orcas to be captured in US waters. The PWWA says that at least 30 killer whales would not have been born without Munros actions. Wake is believed to have had eight calves of her own, 16 grand-calves, and six great grand-calves. Munro died on March 20the same day that this new whale calf was first spotted.T046B3 Sedna with new calf, T46B3A. CREDIT: Sam Murphy, Island Adventures (PWWA). The family is part of a group of orcas called Biggs killer whales or transient killer whales. Unlike the nearby Southern Resident orcas that primarily eat salmon, Biggs orcas feed on marine mammals including porpoises, sea lions, and seals. Their population has grown steadily, with more than 140 calves welcomed in the last 10 years. Research organization Bay Cetology estimates that there are nearly 400 individual whales in the coastal Biggs orca population today. Meanwhile, there are only about 73 Southern Resident orcas left, down from 97 whales in 1996.According to PWWA, local whale watch tours focus on Biggs killer whales and not the endangered Southern Residents.The post Baby orca is a descendent of a whale almost sold to SeaWorld in 1976 appeared first on Popular Science.

Were big fans of citizen science here at PopSci. Adding a weather station to your home is a great way to collect hyper-local climate data that can contribute to our collective understanding of our environment. Right now, our pick for the best overall home weather station is on sale during Amazons Big Spring Sale for its lowest price ever. The Ambient Weather WS-2902 WiFi Smart Weather Station typically rarely dips below its $194 price, but its just $165 right now.Ambient Weather WS-2902 WiFi Smart Weather Station $165 (was $194)Ambient Install this device around your home and it will track just about everything youve ever wanted to know about your own little microclimate. External sensors track wind speed and direction as well as total rain fall. Hidden sensors track light, temperature, and pressure. The station wirelessly transmits all that data to a connected display or an app. Because of the built-in Wi-Fi, it can connect to smart home devices, so you can ask a smart assistant about the weather conditions happening around you at any given moment. It can also give forecasts. Beyond that, you can share data with the Ambient network, which analyzes data from many weather stations to get a bigger picture of the overall environment. This is a great thing to have around if you love data or if you have kids who youre trying to get more interested in science.Ambient Weather WS-5000 Ultrasonic Smart Weather Station $382 (was $449)Ambient If you dont mind spending a little extra cash, you can upgrade to the WS-5000 Ultrasonic. It offers top-tier sensing equipment, including a pagoda thermo-hygrometer radiation shield with passive aspiration for the upmost accuracy. Tell me that doesnt tickle your nerd senses.Also on saleAmbient Weather WS-1965 WiFi Weather Station w/Remote Monitoring and Ambient Weather Network Access $123 (was $149)

NewsAnimalsYou might be reading your dogs moods wrongContext may lead people to misread canine emotions, a small study suggests Human perception of canine emotions is strongly influenced by the overall context, not just body language such as wagging tails or licking lips, a study shows. The finding suggests that people may misinterpret how a dog is feeling. Daniel Garrido/Moment/Getty Images PlusBy Gennaro Tomma36 seconds agoMany dog owners can tell how their precious pooch is feeling, watching it wag its tail or raise its ears at least, they think they can.But peoples perception of canine emotions may be strongly influenced by environmental context around the dog, researchers report March 10 in Anthrozos.Animal welfare scientist Holly Molinaro filmed her father interacting with his dog, Oliver, a 14-year-old pointer-beagle mix, in a variety of situations. She filmed the dog in positive ones, such as being played with or praised, and negative ones, such as being around a cat or reprimanded.

Nature, Published online: 26 March 2025; doi:10.1038/d41586-025-00922-6The personal touch.

Nature, Published online: 26 March 2025; doi:10.1038/d41586-025-00898-3The sudden withdrawal of almost half of global funding for nutrition suddenly will have dire consequences for decades.

An Iron Age hoard discovered in England is on a "kind of scale and size that is exceptional for Britain and probably even Europe."

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Senior Character Artist Alin Bolcas has been given the go-ahead to reveal a few behind-the-scenes moments from the latest hit live-action Sonic movie, so now we can get a glimpse of how Sonic himself was brought to life.Before AI was all the rage with video and 3D generations, consistent characters, and other workflows, about a year ago, I was sculpting character expression sheets like this one frame by frame, commented Alin. He also collaborated closely with VFX and animation supervisors, the art director, and the film director to ensure the characters aligned with the films evolving vision.They refined each expression through multiple rounds of paintover feedback and live sessions, carefully adjusting the sets to strike the perfect balance between appeal and staying true to the original designs. All the hero characters underwent similar facial expression studies, which played a key role in defining the look and emotional range that contributed to the nearly half-billion dollar box office success.Alin shared that the majority of this work was done in Blender during the concept phase. He handled the individual shape work in Maya, after which the final rig, created by Red9, was sent to post-production vendors.Its exciting to see Blender gaining more recognition in the professional world, especially after Flows Oscar win this year. Follow Alin Bolcas, who will be sharing more details on the role of AI in production moving forward on LinkedIn, and joinour80 Level Talent platformand ournew Discord server, follow us on Instagram,Twitter,LinkedIn,Telegram,TikTok, andThreads,where we share breakdowns, the latest news, awesome artworks, and more.Source link The post Sonic The Hedgehog 3 Artist Shared Sonics Facial Expression Tests appeared first on CG SHARES.

PlayStation has revealed April's batch of free games for PlayStation Plus subscribers. All PS Plus members will be able to claim a trio of freebies starting April 1 - RoboCop: Rogue City, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, and Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth. If you haven't claimed March's PlayStation Plus free games yet, make sure to do so before next Tuesday.This story is developing

Hello Games faced an interesting dilemma with regards to its hit space exploration game No Man's Sky: How do you follow up the massive two-part Worlds update, which added new worlds, new graphical improvements, and more? The answer, it seems, is introducing interplanetary paleontology to the game with Relics, which launches today.The Relics update introduces ancient bones to the No Man's Sky experience, with some planets now featuring "fossil beds" filled with skulls, ribs, and more. As players collect bones during their travels, they can then build skeletons from them however they wish--with "millions of possibilities for unique species" according to the official NMS website--or trade with Fossil Traders for other options.No Man's Sky RelicsDig SitesStone GuardiansRelics ExpeditionDesign SkeletonsBarteringBasilisk StaffBone CreaturesShare Fossil DisplaysBone BrothStone ExosuitSkeletal CompanionStone GhostsPrecious RelicsTitanic BonewormsFree and out now pic.twitter.com/nthusegmYZ Sean Murray (@NoMansSky) March 26, 2025 The bones at these burial sites are not unprotected, however, as a new enemy known as the Reanimated Guardian will defend these bones from intruding Travellers. These are powerful and massive enemies, with both laser and melee attacks at their disposal designed to thwart any player's paleontological pursuits.Continue Reading at GameSpot