Malaysia’s last rhinoceros(犀牛), Iman, died last November. Some skin, eggs and tissue are all that remain of her. Now, scientists plan to use experimental technology to try to bring back Malaysia’s rhinos by using cells from Iman and two other dead rhinos.

Muhammad, biologist at the International Islamic University of Malaysia, said, “If everything...well and everybody supports us, it’s not impossible.”

Malaysia’s rhinos, the smallest among the world’s rhinos, once lived across Asia. But hunting and forest losses reduced their numbers. There are about 80 such rhinos left in Indonesia. But, in Malaysia, the species disappeared from the wild in 2015. Iman was 25 when she died at her home in a protected natural area on Borneo island. Tam, the country’s last male rhino, died there in May of 2019. Efforts to get the two to mate and produce young had failed.

John Payne of the Borneo Rhino Alliance has worked to save Malaysia’s rhinos for about 40 years. He said that Tam was likely too old to produce good sperm. “To increase the chances of success, one should get sperm and eggs from the rhinos in Indonesia,” he said. But, Payne said Indonesia is not supportive of the idea.

The Malaysian scientists plan to use cells from the dead rhinos to create an embryo. The embryo will then be placed into a living rhino, or a closely related animal, such as the horse. The plan is similar to one for the African northern white rhinoceros, of which there are only just two left. Even if it worked, the animals’ lack of diversity could create a threat to their long-term survival, Galli told Reuters.

Indonesian scientist Arief Boediono is among those helping in Malaysia. Arief hopes that suecess there will help his country’s rhinos.

“It may take five, 10, 20 years. I don’t know,” Arief said. “But there has already been some success involving lab rats in Japan, so that means there is a chance.”

For now, however, Iman’s skin will be used to create a reproduction of the animal. It will be placed alongside a reproduction of Tam in a Borneo museum.

Scientists in Australia thought they had developed a new tracking device to help them monitor magpies (喜鹊), but these birds had other ideas.

Australian magpies are medium-sized black and white birds from the same bird“family“ as crows and bluejays. They are known to be quite clever. They live in groups of up to 12 birds and work together to defend the area they live in.

The purpose of the scientists’ experiment was to learn more about how far they travel each day and how their social behaviors are influenced by sex, age, and rank. Besides, the scientists were eager to test the newly developed tracking device.

Most trackers are too big to fit on small and medium sized birds, and small trackers tend to be limited when it comes to data storage, battery life, and reusability. The new tracker, weighing less than 1 gram, was designed to overcome these problems. Attached to a backpack-like harness (背带) which could not be removed easily, the device can re-charge wirelessly and transmit (传输) data wirelessly.

The scientists placed trackers on five magpies using their special harnesses. Things started to fall apart almost immediately. Within 10 minutes of fitting the final tracker, an adult female without a tracker tried to remove the harness from a younger bird and eventually succeeded. This pattern was repeated in the following hours, and by the third day none of the birds had trackers anymore.

Scientists refer to this as “rescue behavior,” and it happens when a helper tries to free another individual in trouble and with no obvious direct benefit to the rescuing individual. They think this is the first time rescue behavior has been reported for Australian magpies. However, they aren’t sure if the same individual removed all of the harnesses or if others offered help.

The team didn’t get the data they wanted, but their experiment still produced interesting results. That’s how science works sometimes. The scientists need to try, again to figure out a good way to track these clever birds.

In August 2012, when thousands of honeybees landed on the wings of a Delta aircraft headed to New York, interrupting refueling and baggage loading, Ben Shertzer, wildlife administrator at Pittsburgh International Airport, turned to master beekeeper Steve Repasky. Shertzer learned from Repasky that honeybee numbers have sharply declined in recent years. Perhaps, thought Shertzer, the airport could host some hives (蜂箱).

Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD), first reported in 2006 by Pennsylvania beekeeper David Hackenberg, occurs when the vast majority of bees in any given colony — generally worker bees — die out unexpectedly. Therefore, Hackenberg transports his hives across the country to pollinate (对……授粉) crops: They might travel from Pennsylvania to California, and then, a few months later, those same hives might be moved to Maine for the blueberry crop. In 2006, Hackenberg had left 400 hives in a field to pollinate Brazilian pepper trees; when he returned to the hives a month later, all but 36 hives had been abandoned. The bees had just disappeared, leaving behind the queen and a few baby bees. By 2013, more than 10 million bee colonies had been lost worldwide.

Shertzer and Repasky approached airport management about placing hives in 2013, but were told that the program didn’t fit the airport’s vision. It wasn’t until Christina Cassotis came on board as CEO in 2015 that things turned around. The airport currently has 110 colonies. The program actually benefits the airport as well as the honeybees.

“Swarming (成群飞行) is reproductive behavior,” says Repasky. “In the spring, a healthy colony will divide into two parts, and will take off in a swarm to locate a new home, traveling upwards of a mile or more. While they’re searching, they’ll stop to rest on the first solid object they can find, whether it’s the wing of an aircraft, a runway taxi light, or a baggage cart.” To prevent this behavior, Shertzer and Repasky have placed 15 “swarm traps” around the airfield offering the bees alternative landing spots. It’s worked: Whereas the airport used to have 15 or more swarms a year interrupting air operations, in the past year it has had just three.