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Weekly Update
Octopus helps unearth ancient pottery
SEOUL: South Korean archaeologists said they have discovered a sunken vessel packed with ancient pottery, in an exploration prompted by an octopus which attached its suckers to a plate.
The 12th-century wooden vessel was found buried in mud flats off Taean, southwest of Seoul, the National Maritime Museum said.
More than 2,000 pieces of 12th-century bowls, plates and other types of pottery were heaped inside the 7.7-metre vessel, it said.
The exploration began in early June after shards of celadon pieces were found attached to the suckers of several webfoot octopuses which a fisherman had netted. —AFP
Rain puts animal rescuers on red alert
OXFORD, England: It is not only humans who have been hit by Britain’s worst floods in 60 years — cats, dogs and donkeys are also suffering, prompting a rescue mission on an unprecedented scale.
The Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) has sent a third of its inspectors to central and western England, where they are working round the clock to ensure the safety of all creatures great and small.
RSPCA teams in the worst-hit areas are working with local fire crews to look out for household pets and farm animals, often making sure they have access to clean water amid failing supplies in some parts.
The charity says it has rescued a total of 1,500 animals so far. —AFP
Russian explorers to make epic probe of polar seabed
MOSCOW: Two members of Russia’s parliament headed to the North Pole on Tuesday on an unprecedented mission to descend in a mini-submarine to the seabed beneath the pole.
The expedition is part of Russia’s efforts to assert territorial claims well north of its Arctic coast in territory thought to contain significant oil, gas and other reserves.
“The Arctic is ours and we should demonstrate our presence,” the expedition’s 67-year-old leader, the explorer and Member of Parliament Artur Chilingarov, said earlier.
Chilingarov, fellow parliamentarian Vladimir Gruzdev and scientist Anatoly Sagalevich aim to descend in the Mir submersible vehicle 4,200 metres to the bottom of the Arctic Ocean beneath the pole.
Once on the seabed they will carry out scientific experiments and probes and will leave behind a Russian flag and a capsule containing a message for future generations, Sagalevich said in an interview with the Izvestia newspaper. —AFP
Miami: Dade county sea turtle expert Bill Ahern holds Loggerhead turtles as he prepares to release them into the ocean on July24, 2007 in North Miami, Florida. Each summer, April to September, Florida beaches host the largest gathering of nesting sea turtles in the United States. Sea turtles once roamed the oceans by the millions but over the past few centuries, the demand for sea turtle meat, eggs, shell, leather and oil and loss of habitat due to urban development along the coasts have greatly reduced their numbers. The Miami-Dade Parks Sea Turtle Nesting and Relocation Programme, since 1980, has seen more than 537,134 endangered sea turtles hatched and released. —AFP
A rat and cat are seen in a cage at a police station in Bogota. The Colombian police force has been experimenting with training rodents to detect explosives in minefields. The process would take advantage of rat’s acute sense of smell and low weight, which would allow them to find mines without activating them. The cats are included in the training to help rats become used to possible predators. —AP
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