April 2022, ScientificAmerican.com 19LAOS
The World Wildlife Fund
described an astonishing
224 newly documented
species in a region encom
passing parts of Laos,
Vietnam, Cambodia,
Thailand and Myanmar.
These finds include a slug-
eating snake, a monkey with
whiteringed eyes and the
first-ever succulent bamboo,
which is found only in Laos.IRELAND
Archaeologists unearthed evidence of at
least 58 Neolithic cattle in northern Dublin.
Each animal was slaughtered at peak age
for meat production, suggesting the site
was host to massive communal barbecues.For more details, visit http://www.ScientificAmerican.com/apr2022/advancesSWEDEN
New Caledonian crows are learning to clean up litter.
A pilot program launched in Stockholm by startup
Corvid Cleaning uses food-dispensing robots to train
the brainy birds to pick up cigarette butts.ETHIOPIA
Paleoanthropologists analyzed crystals in a layer of volcanic ash
to reevaluate the age of Kibish Omo I, a fossil that is among Earth’s
oldest human remains. The specimen appears to be 233,000 years
old—more than 30,000 years older than previously thought.ECUADOR
New fishing restrictions
covering 20,000 square
miles around the Galápagos
Islands aim to create an
underwater “highway” for
local wildlife. This region
would help link neighboring
countries’ protected areas
along the Pacific coast.TURKMENISTAN
President Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov has set up
a committee tasked with closing the “Gates of Hell,”
a 230-foot-wide crater that has been engulfed in flames for
more than 50 years. The crater, the site of a former Soviet
gasmining operation, was intentionally set ablaze in 1971.IN THE NEWSQuick
Hits
By Joanna Thompson© 2022 Scientific AmericanLAOS
The World Wildlife Fund
described an astonishing
224 newly documented
species in a region encom-
passing parts of Laos,
Vietnam, Cambodia,
Thailand and Myanmar.
These fi nds include a slug-
eating snake, a monkey with
white-ringed eyes and the
fi rst-ever succulent bamboo,
which is found only in Laos.IRELAND
Archaeologists unearthed evidence of at
least 58 Neolithic cattle in northern Dublin.
Each animal was slaughtered at peak age
for meat production, suggesting the site
was host to massive communal barbecues.For more details, visit http://www.ScientificAmerican.com/apr2022/advancesSWEDEN
New Caledonian crows are learning to clean up litter.
A pilot program launched in Stockholm by start-up
Corvid Cleaning uses food-dispensing robots to train
the brainy birds to pick up cigarette butts.ETHIOPIA
Paleoanthropologists analyzed crystals in a layer of volcanic ash
to reevaluate the age of Kibish Omo I, a fossil that is among Earth’s
oldest human remains. The specimen appears to be 233,000 years
old—more than 30,000 years older than previously thought.ECUADOR
New fi shing restrictions
covering 20,000 square
miles around the Galápagos
Islands aim to create an
underwater “highway” for
local wildlife. This region
would help link neighboring
countries’ protected areas
along the Pacifi c coast.TURKMENISTAN
President Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov has set up
a committee tasked with closing the “Gates of Hell,”
a 230-foot-wide crater that has been engulfed in fl ames for
more than 50 years. The crater, the site of a former Soviet
gas-mining operation, was intentionally set ablaze in 1971.IN THE NEWSQuick
Hits
By Joanna Thompsonsad0422Adva3p.indd 19sad0422Adva3p.indd 19Untitled-1 1Untitled-1 1 2/16/22 7:00 PM2/16/22 7:00 PM2/17/22 9:26 AM2/17/22 9:26 AM