'Monkey kidnappings': footage shows capuchin monkeys carrying baby howler monkeys

Scientists have spotted surprising evidence of what they describe as monkey kidnappings while reviewing video footage from a small Panamanian island. Capuchin monkeys were seen carrying at least 11 howler babies between 2022 and 2023. The footage showed the capuchins walking and pounding their stone tools with baby howlers on their backs. But cameras did not capture the moments of abduction, which scientists said likely happened up in the trees, where howlers spend most of their time

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Learn with AIFact CheckingText to SpeechAI Summary

Related Articles

BBC News

an hour ago

• BBC News

Vera Rubin: First pictures taken by world's largest digital camera released

The first images captured by the world's most powerful telescope have been photos were taken by the Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST) camera located at an observatory in the south American country of show the night sky in extraordinary detail, capturing clouds of gas and dust that are several thousand light years away. Scientists are due to reveal more pictures and videos taken by the camera this week. What's the latest? Scientists say the images reveal breathtaking views of star-forming regions as well as distant of the debut images is made up of 678 exposures taken over just seven shows the Trifid Nebula and the Lagoon Nebula - both located several thousand light-years from Earth, glowing in bright pinks against orange-red image reveals these nebulae within our Milky Way in great detail, with previously faint or invisible features now clearly image shows a view of the Virgo Cluster of galaxies, which is about 100 billion times the size of the Milky shows lots of bright stars in the foreground, as well as many galaxies in the aim to photograph the night sky every three days for ten years to show how stars and galaxies move and change over time. What is the Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST) camera? According to the Guinness Book of Records, the LSST is not only the largest digital camera but also the one with the highest resolution, which means it can take really detailed top-of-the-range phones have cameras with a resolution of up to 50 megapixels, whereas the LSST has a resolution of 3,200 you definitely can't carry this camera around with you. It's about the same size as a small car and weighs a massive 2, it is kept at the Vera C Rubin Observatory in Chile, attached to a powerful mountaintop location provides dark skies and dry air, which are ideal conditions for observing the images it will capture are so large that it would take 400 ultra-high-definition televisions to display one of them at full camera aims to take 1,000 images a night over the next 10 years and the project's mission is to catalogue 20 billion goal is to capture an ultra-wide and ultra-high-definition time-lapse record of our say the observatory will transform our understanding of the captured will help scientists answer questions about dark matter, the structure of the Milky Way and the formation of our Solar also think that if a ninth planet exists in our solar system, the telescope would find it in its first year.

Daily Mail​

3 hours ago

• Daily Mail​

The Gulf Stream is on the verge of COLLAPSING, scientists warn - as they find the first concrete evidence of major ocean circulation system weakening

In the 2004 film 'The Day After Tomorrow', Earth enters a sudden period of flash freezing due to the collapse of the Gulf Stream. People and buildings are buried under mountains of ice and snow, as freezing cold winds whip vehicles into the air. Now, a study has revealed that this could soon become a reality. Scientists from the University of California, Riverside, have warned that the Gulf Stream has been weakening for more than 100 years - and could soon collapse altogether. The Gulf Stream is only a small part of a much wider system of currents, officially called the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC). Described as 'the conveyor belt of the ocean', AMOC transports warm, salty water near the ocean's surface northwards from the tropics up to the northern hemisphere, keeping Europe, the UK and the US east coast temperate. Worryingly, if the AMOC does collapse, it could plunge large parts of Europe into a deep freeze - with parts of the UK dropping to as low as -30°C. 'This work shows the AMOC has been weakening for more than a century. That trend is likely to continue if greenhouse gases keep rising,' said Professor Wei Liu, an author of the study. The researchers point to a strange patch of cold water south of Greenland and Iceland, about 1,000 miles wide, that really shouldn't be there. Unlike the water surrounding it, this 'stubborn' patch of cold water has resisted global warming for more than a century, long fueling debate amongst scientists. Now, the new study, published in the journal Communications Earth & Environment, finally links it to a long-term weakening of the AMOC. 'People have been asking why this cold spot exists; we found the most likely answer is a weakening AMOC,' said lead study author Wei Liu. Lui and a colleague analysed about 100 years of salinity and temperature data, which can be used to understand the strength of the AMOC. When the AMOC slows down, less heat and salt reach the North Atlantic, leading to cooler, fresher, less salty surface waters. From these long-term salinity and temperature records, they reconstructed changes in the circulation system and compared those with nearly 100 different climate models. They found that only the models simulating a weakened AMOC matched the real-world data – indicating that a weakened AMOC was the only possible cause for the blob. While previous studies have offered evidence that the AMOC is weakening, this anomalous blob in the Atlantic offers physical, tangible evidence What is the AMOC? The Gulf Stream is a small part of a much wider system of currents, officially called the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation or AMOC. Described as 'the conveyor belt of the ocean', it transports warm water near the ocean's surface northwards - from the tropics to the northern hemisphere. When the warm water reaches the North Atlantic (Europe and the UK, and the US east coast), it releases the heat and then freezes. As this ice forms, salt is left behind in the ocean water. Due to the large amount of salt in the water, it becomes denser, sinks, and is carried southwards – back towards the tropics – in the depths below. Eventually, the water gets pulled back up towards the surface and warms up in a process called upwelling, completing the cycle. Scientists think AMOC brings enough warmth to the northern hemisphere that without it, large parts of Europe could enter a deep freeze. Professor Li described it as a 'very robust correlation', adding: 'If you look at the observations and compare them with all the simulations, only the weakened-AMOC scenario reproduces the cooling in this one region.' Until now, some climate scientists had thought the random cool patch south of Greenland has been due to atmospheric factors such as aerosol pollution. But computer models testing this theory have before now failed to recreate the actual, observed cooling – as these experts have done with the now-proven AMOC theory. The team say the study strengthens future climate forecasts, especially those concerning Europe, where the influence of the AMOC is most pronounced. While previous studies have offered evidence that the AMOC is weakening, this anomalous blob in the Atlantic offers physical, tangible evidence. Professor Liu emphasized the complexity of the AMOC's role in the global climate, but warned what a total collapse of the system could mean. 'The overall impact on ecosystems and weather patterns, both in the Arctic and globally, could still be severe,' he said. Professor David Thornalley, a climate scientist at University College London who was not involved with the study, said temperatures would plummet if the AMOC collapsed. 'An AMOC collapse could cause more weather extremes, so as well as overall colder-than-average conditions, we also expect that there would be more winter storms caused by stronger westerly winds,' he previously told MailOnline. Why could the AMOC collapse? Scientists think melting glaciers could cause the collapse of the AMOC, the system of ocean currents. Described as 'the conveyor belt of the ocean', the AMOC transports warm water near the ocean's surface northwards – from the tropics up to the northern hemisphere. Prior studies have already shown that due to climate change, the AMOC is slowing down. The engine of this conveyor belt is off the coast of Greenland, where, as more ice melts from climate change , more freshwater flows into the North Atlantic and slows everything down. 'Unfortunately people would die due to stronger winter storms and flooding, and many old and young would be vulnerable to the very cold winter temperatures.' In the UK, the effects could be 'minor' compared with elsewhere around the world, Professor Thornalley added. 'A collapse in AMOC would cause a shift in the tropical rainfall belt which would massively disrupt agriculture and water supplies across huge swathes of the globe,' he said. 'Many millions would be affected and suffer from drought, famine and flooding, in countries that are already struggling to deal with these issues. There would be huge numbers of climate refugees, geopolitical tensions would rise.' Jonathan Bamber, a professor of Earth observation at the University of Bristol, agreed that if the AMOC were to collapse, the climate of northwest Europe would be 'unrecognisable compared to what it is today'. 'It would be several degrees cooler so that winters would be more typical of Arctic Canada and precipitation would decrease also,' he told MailOnline. 'Very harsh, cold winters would certainly be a threat to life.' In 'The Day After Tomorrow', a collapse of the AMOC takes place over a matter of days and the fictional weather immediately switches to extreme cold. Thankfully, such a rapid transition will not happen in real life, said Penny Holliday, head of marine physics and ocean circulation at the National Oceanography Centre in Southampton. 'If the AMOC does reach a tipping point it will happen over several decades at least,' she told MailOnline. 'However a slowdown of the AMOC, whether it is fast-acting or takes place over many decades, will lead to the generation of more extreme and violent weather systems that have the potential to cause deaths and major damage.' Last week, another team of scientists reported temperatures could plunge to -30°C in Scotland if the AMOC collapsed, with Edinburgh spending nearly half of the year with a minimum temperature of below 0°C. London, meanwhile, would experience cold extremes of -19°C and record over two months' worth of additional days with sub-zero temperatures compared to the late 19th century. Is 'The Day After Tomorrow' an accurate portrayal of the future? Paleoclimate records constructed from Greenland ice cores have revealed that AMOC circulation has, indeed, shut down in the past and caused regional climate change, according to the University of Illinois. It caused the area around Greenland to cool by 44 degrees Fahrenheit. In the 2004 film 'The Day After Tomorrow,' New York City's temperature dramatically dropped to a point that a deep freeze appeared within a day. Even a second outside and the movie's characters would freeze to death. Scientists say the film plays up the shift, which would take decades to see, but note temperatures would dramatically decrease along the eastern US coast. Winters would become colder and storms more frequent that would linger longer throughout the year if the AMOC would come to a halt today. However, scientist say it isn't the cold temperatures that we should prepare for, it will be the rise in sea levels that will have the largest impact. The increase would be caused by water piling up along the east coast that would have been pushed away by the northward surface flow. But with AMOC weakened, or at a stop, experts say sea levels around the North Atlantic Basin could experience a rise up to nearly 20 inches. This would eventually push people living along the coast from their homes and further inland to escape flooding. A weakened AMOC would also decrease the amount of rainfalls in the North Atlantic that would cause intense droughts in areas that rarely experience such events.

Daily Mail​

4 hours ago

• Daily Mail​

World's largest camera snaps its first picture: Incredible photo shot by the Vera Rubin observatory shows the Trifid and Lagoon nebulae in stunning detail

Scientists have revealed the first images from the world's largest digital camera, the Vera C Rubin Observatory. Located on top of the Cerro Pachón mountain in Chile, this revolutionary telescope is poised to supercharge our study of the universe. Equipped with a 5.4ft x 9.8ft digital camera, the telescope can capture an area about three times that of the moon with every photo. With a resolution of 3,200 megapixels - 67 times more than an iPhone 16 Pro - each image would need 400 4K high-definition television screens to display at its original size. One of its first stunning images shows the Trifid and Lagoon nebulae, vast clouds of colourful gas located some 9,000 light-years from Earth. Combining 678 different pictures taken over seven hours, the photograph reveals blue and pink swirls of interplanetary gas and the glow of young stars being formed. In another image, the massive telescope captures around 10 million galaxies - just 0.5 per cent of the 20 billion galaxies it will observe over its lifetime. However, these are only the very first test images from the cutting-edge telescope, with thousands more soon to come. Perched 8,770ft (2,670m) above the Chilean Andes on a mountain dedicated to space research, the newly completed Vera C Rubin Telescope is in the perfect place to watch the stars. The location is very high, exceptionally dark, and far enough above sea level to avoid much of the interference from Earth's atmosphere. The observatory's four goals are to map changes in the sky, study the formation of the Milky Way, map the solar system, and understand dark matter. As these test images offer a tantalising glimpse of what is to come, the observatory is soon to start a decade-long vigil watching the night sky. With its unique, fast-moving design, astronomers will snap an image of the sky once every 40 seconds for eight to 12 hours every single night. As part of the Legacy Survey of Space and Time, the telescope will map the entire southern night sky once every three days for the next ten years. At its peak, the observatory will be generating tens of thousands of images every night, which will be sent to scientists around the world. The UK will also play a critical role in this project by hosting the data centres to process the enormous quantities of data. Another small section of the same image shows spiral galaxies interacting in the heart of a dense galaxy cluster The Vera C Rubin Observatory Altitude: 8,768.9 feet (2,672.7m) Primary mirror diameter: 27.5 feet (8.4m) Camera resolution: 3,200 megapixels The Vera C Rubin Observatory is a unique 'survey telescope' designed to photograph the entire night sky once every three days. The telescope features the largest digital camera ever constructed and a specialised mount allowing it to move much faster than traditional telescopes. This will enable the observatory to take a photo once every 40 seconds for eight to 12 hours per night. By repeatedly taking images of the same sections of the sky, the Vera C Rubin Observatory will enable scientists to detect the smallest changes. Dr Eduardo Bañados, from the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy, says the telescope will give astronomers a 'cosmic movie' of the next decade. 'This will allow us to go beyond just discovering such super-distant galaxies, but also learning about their physical properties,' says Dr Bañados. The system will alert scientists anytime it detects that something has changed, with up to 10 million data alerts being generated every night. These alerts might be tiny fluctuations in the light from a distant galaxy or the glint of sunlight on an asteroid approaching Earth. Scientists believe that the telescope will increase the catalogue of objects in the solar system tenfold. Speaking at a press conference revealing the test images, Aaron Roodman, Deputy Director for the observatory's construction, said: 'Since we take images of the night sky so quickly and so often, we'll detect millions of changing objects literally every night. That means, if there is a ninth planet hiding somewhere in the solar system, the Vera C Rubin telescope will be able to find it. Some scientists believe there might be a ninth planet orbiting 700 times further from the sun than Earth, well beyond the range of conventional telescopes. But by using a three-mirror system to focus even the faintest amounts of light, the Vera C Rubin Observatory will be able to see this planet if it is there. Light from distant galaxies is reflected from a 27.5-foot (8.4m) primary mirror, into an 11.2-foot (3.4m) secondary mirror, back into a 15.7-foot (4.8m) mirror, which bounces it into the waiting camera. The setup is so sensitive that a single speck of dust or the light from a stray LED is enough to cause distortion. However, overcoming those difficulties will give scientists an unprecedented window into the galactic past. Mr Roodman says: 'We also will combine those images to be able to see incredibly dim galaxies and stars, including galaxies that are billions of light-years away. 'Rubin Observatory is truly a discovery machine. It will enable us to explore galaxies, stars in the Milky Way, objects in the solar system, and all in a truly new way.' More photos from the Vera C Rubin Observatory will be released in a live-streamed event at 16:00 BST today. Who was Vera C Rubin? The namesake of the world's largest digital camera The Vera C Rubin Observatory is named after the American astronomer Vera Rubin, who was born in 1928. Vera Rubin is famous for being the person whose work provided the first convincing evidence for the existence of 'dark matter'. This is the hidden, unobservable extra mass which explains why the universe looks the way it does. Prior to Rubin's discoveries, dark matter had been proposed but was not something that many astronomers took seriously. Rubin studied more than 60 galaxies and found that the stars at the edges were moving just as fast as those at the centre. According to the laws of physics that didn't make sense. When Rubin and her colleague Kent Ford added up the mass of the galaxies, they found that their gravity shouldn't have been strong enough to hold them together. That meant there needed to be some extra mass holding them together, and that mass must be dark matter. Rubin was convinced that scientists would discover what dark matter was within a decade, but the mystery has proven far more elusive.