Deep-sea, light-absorbing fish discovered

Deep in 0the ocean where sunlight doesn’t reach, scientists have found several species of ‘Vantablack’ fish. These fish absorb more than 99.5% of the light that hits them, making them nearly undetectable in the water.

A team of scientists, led by Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History, found 16 fish species that showed this capability and published their research in Current Biology.

They only realised these ultra-black properties when they tried to photograph one of the fish specimens they’d pulled to the surface. It was noticed that one particular fish turned into a “black hole” as it was tried to be photographed.

The scientists realised that they were looking at fish that had learned to camouflage themselves with their ‘Vantablack’ skin. The ultra-black quality of the fish is due to melanin that is abundant throughout their entire body.

Currently, researchers are thinking about how these fish could give them insight into how designers could more efficiently design ultra-black materials.

World record of 322 punches in one minute

A Slovakian mixed martial artist broke a Guinness World Record when he was filmed throwing 322 punches in one minute.

Pavel Trusov trained for six months with a routine that involved CrossFit, powerlifting and interval work before officially attempting the record.

Trusov had to make sure to comply with Guinness rules requiring each punch to be a “full extension punch,” meaning his arm fully extends with every blow.

The athlete has been practicing martial arts since he was six years old.

Home needed for rare orange lobster

A New Jersey grocery store is trying to find a new home for a rare orange lobster to make sure it doesn’t end up on a dinner plate.

Employees at the Stop & Shop store in Toms River said they noticed one of the lobsters had an orange coloration similar to that of its cooked brethren, but was still alive and well.

Experts said the lobster’s colour is extremely uncommon, but exactly how rare is unclear.

“Unofficial estimates are in the range of one in a million, although I have not seen a scientific assessment of the actual proportion they comprise of the wild population,” Rick Wahle, the director of Lobster Institute at the University of Maine, told the Asbury Park Press.

Pakistani girl breaks Guinness periodic table record

A nine-year-old science enthusiast broke a Guinness World Record when she arranged the elements of the periodic table in two minutes, 42 seconds.

Natalia Najam of Lahore took on the Guinness record for the fastest time to arrange all elements of the periodic table and beat the previous record by seven seconds.

The previous record was set by Indian economics professor Meenakshi Agarwal, who completed the task in two minutes, 49 seconds.

Najam hopes her accomplishment inspires other children to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering and math.

Published in Dawn, Young World, August 15th, 2020