📌 TOPINDIATOURS Eksklusif ai: Experts Alarmed as Jellyfish Spawn in Freshwater Lak

As the world’s oceans undergo a dramatic rise in temperature, jellyfish blooms have become a regular occurrence, threatening both beachgoing tourists and coastal infrastructure around the world.

But experts are also scrambling to explain a rise in reporting of jellyfish blooms in one of the last places anyone would expect: the freshwater lakes of middle America.

In the dog days of summer this year, local news outlets began reporting on sightings of rare freshwater jellyfish drifting in all manner of freshwater sources: from the Midwestern waters of Lake Erie to ornamental ponds of northwest Arkansas to the oxbow lakes of Oklahoma.

Technically known as Craspedacusta sowerbii, or “peach blossom jellyfish,” the freshwater critters measure in at about the size of a penny. Sporting translucent bodies with a white-greenish tint, peach blossom jellies have anywhere from 50 to 500 tentacles, four of which can grow to be “very long,” according to a US Geological Survey factsheet.

Unlike their sea-bound brethren, the freshwater jellyfish don’t pose a threat to humans. They do, however, pose a threat to American freshwater ecosystems. Native to the shallow pools which dot the sides of the Yangtze River in China, peach blossom jellyfish were first recorded in the Great Lakes region as early as 1933, assumed to have migrated as a byproduct of the global fish trade.

The USGS describes freshwater jellyfish as opportunistic predators, feasting on small organisms that drift too close, like zooplankton, arthropods, and occasionally, fish larva. With few known predators aside from crayfish, peach blossom jellies threaten native freshwater fish in the competition for resources.

One team of researchers, in a joint research venture between Wheaton College in Illinois and the University of Kansas, set out to trace the proliferation of freshwater jellies into the Midwest, and the threats they pose to local food chains.

“We’ve been trying to figure out the cues that control some aspects of the Craspedacusta life cycle,” Nadine Folino Rorem, one of the study’s authors said in a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration blog. “Our objective was to assess where jellyfish fit in food dynamics, and competition dynamics as well.”

Starting in 2022, the nearly three-year effort identified four distinct “lineages,” each of which is able to endure wide temperature fluctuations. While the studies suggests the jellies may depend on seasonal temperature changes to complete their lifecycle — conditions more similar to the Midwest than the subtropical south — the authors also noted that they’re likely to thrive as overall water temperatures rise.

“We found that different populations reacted the same to temperature factors, which means if temperatures increase, you’re probably going to see a similar response in different locations in northern Illinois and Indiana, meaning increases in some of these life cycle stages,” said Rorem. “Since scientists are seeing increases in jellies in marine environments due to increases in water temperature, we’re thinking we’re probably going to see a similar situation with Craspedacusta.”

More on fish: Elon Musk’s Latest Rocket Crash Allegedly Killed Innocent Dolphins and Sea Turtles

The post Experts Alarmed as Jellyfish Spawn in Freshwater Lakes appeared first on Futurism.

🔗 Sumber: futurism.com

📌 TOPINDIATOURS Eksklusif ai: Waymo Says There’s a Perfect Reasonable Explanation

A video of one of Waymo’s autonomous ride-hailing vehicles driving over the carefully groomed lawn of a golf course has gone viral on social media.

“Waymo spotted on golf course, late for tee time?” a user wrote on subreddit dedicated to the company’s self-driving efforts. “Wonder what happened with this one.”

While many interpreted the video as a particularly egregious instance of a driverless taxi getting confused, the company informed Futurism in an email that there was a perfectly reasonable explanation.

Waymo says the car was being driven by a human driver — and not just being supervised as it navigated on its own — as part of a series of concerts called the Sunset Sessions, which take place at the Penmar Golf Course in Los Angeles, California.

While the latest incident didn’t involve a Waymo driving off course, we’ve already come across numerous instances of the firm’s vehicles getting confused in construction zones, smashing into delivery robots, clogging up streets, honking all night, and becoming involved in other shenanigans.

Earlier this year, a cyclist in San Francisco alleged that a Waymo robotaxi had made an illegal stop in the bike lane ahead of her and “doored” her, forcing her to be thrown into a second Waymo, which had pulled into the same bike lane.

Waymo launched its autonomous ride-hailing services in Los Angeles in November 2024. Things haven’t always gone smoothly: in June, five of the company’s vehicles were set ablaze as part of anti-ICE demonstrations, forcing Waymo to temporarily suspend its service in the city.

In response, the company hired a “community and public affairs specialist” to “educate the public on the safety benefits of Waymo’s fully autonomous driving technology.”

However, as 404 Media reported in April, Waymo has worked with the Los Angeles Police Department, handing over footage for investigative purposes, showing that the protesters’ and the company’s motives are far from perfectly aligned.

Regardless, the company has established itself as the clear frontrunner in the autonomous ride-hailing services industry. As the company boasted in July, it has completed 100 million miles of fully autonomous driving, with a fleet of over 1,500 vehicles across five major urban areas in the US.

More on Waymo: Family Baffled By Waymo Robotaxis Constantly Hanging Out in Front of Their House

The post Waymo Says There’s a Perfect Reasonable Explanation for Its Car Roaming a Golf Course appeared first on Futurism.

🔗 Sumber: futurism.com