The satellites were most recently seen over Houston, Texas, and there’s a likely chance that people in the area will be able to see them again tonight. If you’re in the area, watch for them tonight around 8:40 PM, local time. 

The string of satellites is often called a “train” because of how they move through the sky. The satellites are helping provide internet to remote locations on the planet, making them not only a stunning sight but also incredibly useful. In fact, according to the Starlink website, these satellites have helped keep Ukranians connected to the internet as their country is in the grip of war. 

For more information on when you’ll be able to see the Starlink Satellites in your area, head to the Starlink Space Tracker.

The post It’s a Bird, It’s a Plane, It’s a Satellite Train? appeared first on Outdoors with Bear Grylls.

In a paper published by Nature, the dinosaur was described as having lanky legs, couldn’t fly, and didn’t follow accepted bird evolution. There have been very few bird-like fossils from the Jurassic period, and scientists believe that this species could help bridge gaps in the knowledge about this time period. In general, there are a limited number of fossils of bird-like dinosaurs due to their fragile, hollow bones.

According to CNN, the bird weighed less than 2 pounds and had elongated lower legs. This trait suggests that this dinosaur was a fast runner or lived a lifestyle similar to that of modern wading birds. 

Scientists have described the Fujianvenator prodigiosus as “weird,” and there are still many unanswered questions about how this creature fits in with the evolutionary story of birds. You can read the full essay about the discovery here.

The post Newly Found Fossil May Be Jurassic Bird appeared first on Outdoors with Bear Grylls.

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Jeff Highcliffe posted the video on October 28, 2013. He says he recorded the video on a hunting trip just days before in the woods near Tunica, Mississippi. 

In the video description, Highcliffe says he was camouflaged and sitting still, waiting for it to get dark because that’s when wild hogs come out. He said, “I heard a noise behind the tree I was sitting on. I thought it was the hogs, but when I got around, I could not believe my two eyes. This huge black thing was crouched by a dead cypress about 50 yards away. My first instinct was to run. I was scared.”

Highcliffe thinks the creature is about seven feet tall and knows it is not a bear. He questions if it was a “skunk ape,” a swamp land version of a sasquatch. The video is the only clip shared by Highcliffe on YouTube. 

Why We Can’t Stop Talking About Bigfoot

When it comes to Bigfoot, there are plenty of non-believers, with conventional biologists not backing the claims of a giant creature living in parts of North America. 

“Interest in the existence of the creature is at an all-time high,” the paleontologist Darren Naish said in an article with Smithsonian. “There’s nothing even close to compelling as goes the evidence.”

That article goes on to explain that maybe it’s our want to believe that keeps the legend alive. It’s our love for folklore and stories.

That’s definitely what’s fueling Highcliffe’s famous video. You can see it in the comments with people saying, “It looks so natural, like it’s in its element. Pretty convincing,” and “A man in a suit I can buy. A man in a suit that rips trees apart that’s a bit of a stretch. This is by far the most convincing video I’ve ever seen on Bigfoot and its possible existence.”

The video now has over one million views and falls short of the most popular and debated Bigfoot video ever, the 1967 Patterson–Gimlin film:

What do you think? Do you believe it?

The post A Bigfoot Video is Making Rounds Again. Here’s Why This Video Won’t Go Away appeared first on Outdoors with Bear Grylls.

A Brief History of Pluto

Percival Lowell was researching to find intelligent life on Mars when he suggested the existence of a ninth planet. In 1902, he noticed “deviations in the orbits of Neptune and Uranus.” From 1905 to 1911, Lowell and his team searched for what would later be named Pluto but could not find it.

Astronomers Clyde W. Tombaugh and William H. Pickering finally discovered Pluto on February 18, 1930 at the Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, Arizona. This period of astronomy is defined by planet-hunting.

Pluto, located in the Kuiper Belt zone, beyond Neptune’s orbit, was named the ninth planet from the sun. Its name has a dual meaning. A young girl from Oxford, England suggested the planet be named after Pluto, the God of the Underworld. Her grandfather told the Lowell Observatory, and they decided to use the name, especially because the first two letters of Pluto were the initials of Percival Lowell.

Why Was Pluto ‘Demoted’?

Pluto was demoted from being the ninth planet in our solar system to being the fifth dwarf planet in August 2006. Pluto was considered to be a unique object within the Kuiper Belt, but after more research, astronomers found that there are many objects in the belt similar to Pluto—and, in fact, more similar to Pluto than Pluto is to the other planets within the solar system.

Before Pluto could be demoted, though, the International Astronomical Union had to define what a planet was. The three criteria for an object in space to be considered a planet are:

1. It must orbit around the sun
2. It must be big enough to have enough gravity to force it into a spherical shape
3. It must be big enough for its gravity to clear away any other objects of similar size near its orbit around the sun

Pluto only meets the first two criteria.

Defining a Dwarf Planet

Astronomers estimate that there could be over 200 dwarf planets in the Kuiper Belt alone, even though there are only five named: Pluto, Ceres, Eris, Haumea, and Makemake. NASA defines a dwarf planet as “a celestial body that orbits the sun, has enough mass to assume a nearly round shape, has not cleared the neighborhood around its orbit, and is not a moon.” 

The Hot Button Debate: Should Pluto be Reinstated?

Since Pluto’s demotion in 2006, there has been debate among scientists and Pluto fans alike about whether or not the planet should have been demoted. At the time, people objected to the demotion saying it “altered tradition and history.”

In 2015, the New Horizons mission passed by Pluto, where it was discovered that the dwarf planet has vast “geological complexity.” Since 2017, members of this mission have been advocating for the reinstatement of Pluto as the ninth planet in our solar system.

Arguments for the reinstatement of Pluto suggest that the definition of what a planet is needs to be redefined because it does not take into consideration other planets orbiting around other stars in the universe.

In 2021, a study in the Icarus Journal claimed that the IAU’s definition of what a planet is came from astrology, not science. The New Horizon mission photographed Pluto’s surface, which gave scientists a strong argument for the reinstatement of the dwarf planet as the ninth planet in our solar system because it has a complex and icy surface with mountains and glaciers.

Why I Believe Pluto Should Be Reinstated

Pluto Demoted Day is a polarizing faux holiday. I have no real stake in the argument for or against the inclusion of Pluto as the ninth planet of our solar system,but personally, I think Pluto should gain its planet status back. Astronomers tend to agree with me. In a vote on whether or not to demote Pluto, only 5% of astronomers voted for the demotion the planet. I may not be very good at math, but that seems like the minority ruled on this vote.

Do you think that Pluto should still be a planet?

The post A Brief History of Pluto, From a Pluto Apologist appeared first on Outdoors with Bear Grylls.

India’s mission was a “slower, fuel-conscious route” to the moon. India’s lander named Vikram was half of a two-part mission with Russia’s Luna-25, which crashed into the surface of the moon on Saturday.

India is the first country to land at one of the poles of the moon, making history in space travel. The southern polar region is particularly interesting to countries traveling to space due to possible traces of water that have been found in the deep craters on the moon. The area is often in complete darkness, making it hard to explore.

India had previously attempted to travel to the moon on the Chandrayaan-2 mission but was unsuccessful. News outlets are calling this the “Space Race 2.0,” due to the numerous countries trying to successfully make it into the area by 2025.

India has been working with the United States and France to become an emerging space power, and this moon landing is a national point of pride for the country. Hundreds of people gathered outside of India’s Council of Scientific and Industrial Research to celebrate. 

The post India Becomes the Fourth Country to Land on the Moon appeared first on Outdoors with Bear Grylls.

As the East Coast smoke subsided, so did the coverage, but today fires continue to burn across Canada, and smoke continues to cover sections of the U.S.

The latest out of Canada focuses heavily on British Columbia, north of Washington State and Idaho, where dozens of fires are burning. As many as 35,000 people are currently evacuated. This summer has set a new record number of fires, with as many as 5,700 fires burning from Canada’s Atlantic to Pacific coasts. The fires have burned more than 53,000 acres.

Canada has called in their military to help combat the fires in the west. Officials hope some cooler forecasted weather over the next few days will help slow the spread.

Air Quality

However, this only tells part of the story.

AirNow, the official U.S. partner for air quality and fire smoke data, has live maps to provide up-to-date information. Several fires are burning in the Pacific Northwest and the southwest United States. Much of the country is under moderate air quality, whether that’s smoke from Canada or fires in the U.S. 

Recent heavy rainfall from Hurricane Hilary has temporarily cooled off the West Coast, but this summer continues to set record-breaking heat. When it comes to air quality, AirNow says it’s essential to monitor this, especially for sensitive groups like the elderly, young children, and others who are vulnerable. AirNow partners with the EPA, NOAA, the National Park Service, the CDC, and NASA to collect and provide the data. 

You can check out the interactive map to learn more about the air quality in your neighborhood here.

The post What’s Happening with the Canadian Wildfires? If You Love the Outdoors, This Smoke Map May Make You Anxious appeared first on Outdoors with Bear Grylls.

Wildlife photographer Robert Fuller captured the video of the kingfisher doing what it knows how to do best: catch fish. The bird brings the food into the nest and cares for the young, which is common for this type of bird. 

In a second post, Fuller says the mother bird is away incubating a second set of eggs. Kingfishers generally mate for life, and the male bird will not only care for the young and teach them how to survive but will also take turns incubating eggs and keeping newborns warm. 

While this may sound surprising to hear in the world of wildlife, about 90% of birds share in caring for their offspring.

The post WATCH: This Unique Dad Bird Helps to Hatch Eggs and Raise Young Chicks appeared first on Outdoors with Bear Grylls.

In a post on their social media page, Ojai Valley Brewery said, “Everyone is safe, nothing broken” regarding the earthquake. 

The town sits north of Los Angeles in Ventura County. Ojai is a popular small mountain town destination and a gateway to Los Padres National Forest. 

Fortunately, there is little damage or issues in this area from the earthquake or the storm that made its way past just hours after the quake. 

However, officials with the National Forests want to remind visitors to use caution over the next several days.

“While we welcome visitors to enjoy these amazing public lands, we ask forest users at all times of the year to educate themselves and to be prepared for rapidly changing trail, road, and weather conditions,” said Deputy Forest Supervisor Jeanne Dawson in a press release. “Before you travel, know the conditions you could encounter and let someone know where you will be and when you will return.” 

Many roads and trails in Los Padres have remained closed for months after a winter of severe weather.

The post Video Shows California Brewery Hit by Earthquake Ahead of Hurricane Hilary appeared first on Outdoors with Bear Grylls.

Through DNA analysis, scientists discovered that everybody’s favorite glacier mummy looked a lot different when he was alive than what they initially thought. 

Shortly after Ötzi the Iceman was discovered in 1991 by some hikers in the Italian Alps, scientists reconstructed what he probably looked like.

Initially, they thought Ötzi had pale skin, a full head of hair, and a beard, but according to a new article in Cell Genomics, he actually had darker skin, dark eyes, and suffered from male-pattern baldness (and he was also obese and had Type-2 Diabetes).  

Albert Zink, the head of mummy studies at Eurac Research and co-author of the article, explained that they thought Ötzi had hair because “no one could imagine that he was bald or at least, had advanced hair loss.”

He also added that they thought Ötzi had lighter skin when he was alive because they assumed his skin got darker as he was mummified in the glacier, but they realized that theory couldn’t be explained. 

“As part of the conservation strategy, the Ötzi’s skin has been constantly checked using standardized photographs to detect any changes. There haven’t been any,” Zink said and added: “Now we know that the Iceman’s skin color was in fact, as we see it now.”

The significance of the discovery is that it creates a new image of what Europeans looked like 5,300 years ago and how they evolved and migrated. 

Zink explained that we’re all closer than we realize. “It is therefore important to raise awareness of the fact that even in Europe, people have only recently become less pigmented and that subdividing human diversity by pigmentation makes no sense,” he said. 

Johannes Krause, the director of the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig and co-author of the article, explained that at the time, many farmers in northern Italy like Ötzi had a similar genetic composition. However, their skin wasn’t as dark as the hunter-gatherers who lived in Europe before them.

“These hunter-gatherers would have had blue eyes and such dark skin that genetically speaking, we cannot distinguish them from people south of the Sahara today,” Krause said. “This is a very unusual phenotype, quite different from the way we have until now imagined the original Europeans.”

Krause added that by the Bronze Age, genes for light skin color were spreading faster through Europe because they were better suited to survive in areas that received little sunlight during winter time. 

Both scientists, however, point out that Ötzi is but one sample and they’ll need many more before determining if he’s representative of the population or an outlier. 

In a statement, Elisabeth Vallazza, director of the South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology, which houses Ötzi’s body, said she’s cautious of the findings.

“The current study identifies certain genetic hereditary factors and discusses how Ötzi may have looked,” Vallazza said. “And I will be delighted if future research helps us obtain a more concrete image of this person who lived more than 5,000 years ago.”

Vallazza explained that Ötzi’s image was reconstructed in 2011 by paleo-artists using the best research available at the time.

“The main purpose was to show that Ötzi was a modern human. Middle aged, tattooed, wiry, weathered, a person like you and me,” she said. “There are currently no plans to revise the reconstruction.”

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