Black dog turns completely white

In late 2021, at the age of two, Buster was diagnosed with vitiligo, an autoimmune disease that causes areas of the skin, hair, muzzle and lips, as well as the oral and facial mucosa, to lose pigment or colour. Buster’s owner, Matt Smith, was told to keep an eye out for skin irritation, but other than that, the dog’s health wasn’t going to be affected.

Today, Buster has gone from completely black to an immaculate white. Matt Smith has documented Buster’s transformation throughout the last 2.5 years with photos.

Luckily dogs don’t feel self-conscious, so Buster is enjoying his life just like when he was completely black, and the vitiligo has not impacted his health in any serious way.

A river of millipede

Recently, tourists visiting Hsüeh-Pa National Park in central Taiwan noticed thousands of millipedes moving in the same direction, like a living river. The mass of moving arthropods was up to four metres wide and appeared to stretch over 50 metres in length.

Yang Xiaozhong, a tour guide, posted a video of this and it made such a big impact on people that the Hsüeh-Pa National Park had to put out a statement apologising for sparking a craze and reassuring everyone that the millipede river was a perfectly natural phenomenon, most likely caused by environmental or weather changes.

The park also apologised for its employee posting the video that caused so much panic, promising to avoid such situations in the future.

Antarctica’s volcano spews tiny crystals of gold

Can you believe it, gold rains from the sky in Antarctica! Yes, tucked in among the glaciers, fiery Mount Erebus is the southernmost active volcano on Earth, regularly pumping out plumes of gas and steam that sprays tiny crystals of metallic gold. Scientists estimate that the volcano spews around 80 grams of gold a day — that’s worth around $6,000!

Antarctic researchers have also detected traces of the gold dust in ambient air up to 621 miles away from the volcano. Antarctica has 138 volcanoes, around nine of them reportedly active. With a summit elevation of 3,794 metres, Mount Erebus is the most well-known.

Scientists observe the volcano through the Mount Erebus Volcano Observatory and conduct field campaigns. Satellite images of the volcano reveal a lava lake that’s been bubbling since at least 1972.

Angler reels in record gar, giant turtle

Kentucky ang­ler Art Weston ret­urned to Texas’ Sam Rayburn Lake aiming to set another fishing record. Last year, with the help of pro­fessional guide Captain Kirk Kirkland, he caught a 293-pound alligator gar on a six-pound line.

This time, while attempting to catch another record-breaking gar, Weston unexpectedly reeled in a 200-plus-pound alligator snapping turtle. The turtle was carefully released back into the water due to its protected status. The next day, Weston and Kirkland caught a 188-pound alligator gar on a four-pound line, potentially breaking the previous record of 117 pounds. They have submitted the world-record application for this latest catch.

Published in Dawn, Young World, June 1st, 2024