Follow Slashdot blog updates by subscribing to our blog RSS feed

 



Forgot your password?
typodupeerror
EU

New Large Coral Reef Discovered Off Naples Containing Rare Ancient Corals (independent.co.uk) 13

Off the southwest cost of Italy, a remotely operated submarine made "a significant and rare discovery," reports the Independent — a vast white coral reef that was 80 metres tall (262 feet) and 2 metres wide (6.56 feet) "containing important species and fossil traces." Often dubbed the "rainforests of the sea", coral reefs are of immense scientific interest due to their status as some of the planet's richest marine ecosystems, harbouring millions of species. They play a crucial role in sustaining marine life but are currently under considerable threat...

hese impressive formations are composed of deep-water hard corals, commonly referred to as "white corals" because of their lack of colour, specifically identified as Lophelia pertusa and Madrepora oculata species. The reef also contains black corals, solitary corals, sponges, and other ecologically important species, as well as fossil traces of oysters and ancient corals, the Italian Research Council said. It called them "true geological testimonies of a distant past."

Mission leader Giorgio Castellan said the finding was "exceptional for Italian seas: bioconstructions of this kind, and of such magnitude, had never been observed in the Dohrn Canyon, and are rarely seen elsewhere in our Mediterranean". The discovery will help scientists understand the ecological role of deep coral habitats and their distribution, especially in the context of conservation and restoration efforts, he added.

The undersea research was funded by the EU.

Thanks to davidone (Slashdot reader #12,252) for sharing the article.

Comment Phones are not a cause (Score 2, Insightful) 120

but a symptom of lazy parenting as I see it.
It began with shoving the kids in front of the TV with weekly toy commercial series instead of interacting with them or stimulating their creativity.
Unless a kid discovers their interest in some activity they'll just seek out easy entertainment and perpetuate that often to their kids later.

Books and (Technic) Lego certainly had an influence on my development towards technology and IT.

Comment Re:Of course not (Score 1) 51

I agree. The thing I see with C replacements is that they do not stick to adressing the pitfalls in it but add in unneeded features. For instance, I was disappointed to see OOP added to Rust.

The simplicity of C is what I like about it. No pondering over which keyword/feature I need because there are so many (similar) and it changes all the time, only pondering about what the code needs to do.

Comment Re:Indeed (Score 1) 65

I only know BL 2 and that prequel, but noticed so many not-quite-correct things that it feels unfinished and left me with no confidence about sequels.
Maybe I'll try 3 in five or more years when I (need to) replace my current gaming laptop. And if it runs under Linux/Wine.

Comment Transparency (Score 5, Insightful) 114

One reason for quarterly reporting is that it gives greater transparency and insight into how a business actually works. Many businesses are seasonal. Most obviously, virtually all retail has its best quarter at the end of the calendar year. But many other types of businesses have key cycles each year that are tied to, for example, the buying habits of their largest customers. Suppliers matter, too; if farms have a bad quarter due to weather or other factors, for example, you're going to want to watch how that impacts food producers somewhere down the line.

Slashdot Top Deals

In English, every word can be verbed. Would that it were so in our programming languages.

Working...