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Space Shuttle Discovery Landing – A remarkable space shuttle Discovery landing was observed in Florida.

The space shuttle discovery landing ends a twenty seven year life in space.

The space shuttle Discovery is famous for ferrying the first female pilot, the first African American astronaut and as well as John Glenn, the oldest astronaut so far.

After the Columbia and Challenger incidents the first to go back into orbit is the space shuttle Discovery.

A 13 day mission to the international space station was its 39^th mission and is its last.

Six crew members were all emotional as they prepared the space shuttle for its return back to earth.

With regards to space shuttle missions, NASA has plans for two more for this year. Atlantis and Endeavour will see some airtime and as well as space time in the later part of the year.

The fate of the Discovery is a well thought retirement at the Smithsonian Museum located in Washington DC.

Keep posted for more news on the space shuttle discovery landing.

Tags: NASA space mission, NASA space shuttle, space shuttle discovery, space shuttle discovery landing

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New Catfish Species – A new catfish species has been found by scientists in the northern border of the great Amazon River in Brazil.

The new fish, Stenolicnus Ix was discovered during the cycle of expeditions to open up the unexplored area of the Amazon rainforest. The fish is described to have a cream color with a pattern of dark patches on its body, like a jaguar fur. The term ‘ix’ is a Mayan word for jaguars.

Considering the same genus of the specie, the new jaguar catfish is said to be unique because of the “length of the nasal barbells, the whisker-like tactile organs extending from the mouth.”

The species was hard to be found due to its size (about 2cm) and translucency.

“This fish was collected when we were about to finish our research in the creek. It is very small and, therefore, very hard to find. This is why we collected only a single individual,” said Wolmar Wosiack, researcher and curator of the Emilio Goeldi Museum, Brazil.

The researchers managed to collect the tiny fish using “a sieve by scraping sand and leaf litter from the Curuá River bed.” They also spotted some 15 fish species in the area of ‘narrow, shallow waters” just about 16 feet wide by less than 3 feet deep.

The expeditions that took place three years ago were organized by Emílio Goeldi Museum and Conservation International Brazil.

The discovery only proves that much specie have yet to be identified, except for the new catfish species.

Tags: fish stenolicnus ix, new catfish species, new jaguar catfish, protected amazon rainforest

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Mind Controlling Fungi – Scientists have discovered four new species of mind-controlling fungi in Brazil that turns ants into zombies.

The newly identified Zombie-Ant fungi, named by Dr. Harry Evans and Dr. David Hughes, belong to genus Ophiocordyceps, and can be found in Atlantic Rainforest in Southern Brazil.

The researchers identified that ants become infected when they come into contact with spores released by the fungus.

In turn, the fungus manipulates the behavior of the carpenter ant, eventually directing the host to leave its colony after a week.

Upon reaching the place desirable for fungi reproduction, the ant bites down the leaf veins until it dies.

Once the host dies, the fungus then grows out from the ant’s head diffusing spores into the air and the forest floor, hoping it will infect other ants. The spore dispersal usually occurs at nighttime.

The current study revealed that some fungi have adapted to grow secondary spores. By using their primary spores, fungi can produce secondary spores still capable of infecting a group of ants passing through the forest floor.

It meant that once they fail to infect ants on their first spore release, fungi can still find a new host.

The world is just getting more bizarre, seeing that scientists have identified specie of mind-controlling fungi.

Tags: ants become infected, mind controlling fungi, produce secondary spores, zombie ant fungi

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