These magnificent rays are at risk of disappearing due to targeted fishing, being caught as bycatch, and climate change. Scientists at the research collaboration Mobula Conservation are teaming up with artisanal and industrial fishermen to protect them. Also known as "Devil Rays," mobulas are elasmobranchs: a subclass of fish--including sharks, skates, and sawfish--that are distinguished by having skeletons primarily made from cartilage. More than a third of the species in this group are threatened with extinction. Of the nine species of mobulas, seven are endangered and two are vulnerable according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature.

At first glance at this creature, you'd be forgiven for mistaking it for a sparkly pair of fake eyelashes. But the creature is very much real and was discovered at the junction of three tectonic plates in the Pacific Ocean. Researchers from the Schmidt Ocean Institute spotted the animal while using an underwater robot to scour the seabed. The animal is a polychaete - a class of marine worms, more widely known as bristle worms. 'To describe this polychaete, one simply must use jazz hands -- it is the only way to capture this deep-sea worm's dazzle!' the experts said in an Instagram post about the polychaete.

Comprehensive, precision-laser surveys, conducted via aircraft over the tiny Pacific island of Temwen, have revealed just how advanced its lost city Nan Madol once was. Sometimes called'the Venice of the Pacific,' this megalithic stone city has drawn comparisons to mythic Atlantis -- and even inspired horror writer H.P. Lovecraft, who drew upon news of the site's 1928 discovery as he wrote'The Call of Cthulhu.' But now scores of researchers are in a race to uncover the full extent of Nan Madol's ruins as they undertake plans to preserve the city as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Their aerial surveys, conducted via LiDAR or'Light Detection and Ranging' laser-mapping, has uncovered'a sophisticated and extensive landscape of cultivation features hidden under Temwen Island's vegetation.' The discovery has promised to rewrite the history of many Pacific Island cultures, showing that societies once presumed to have relied on subsistence fishing and natural tropical bounty, were in fact engaged in sophisticated agricultural planning.

Scientists claim they have had the first one-on-one conversation with a whale. The team from the SETI Institute and the University of California'spoke' with a 38-year-old humpback whale, named Twain, off the coast of Alaska. They used an underwater microphone to send out whale calls, 'whup/throp' sounds, and received 36 responses that seemed like Twain was actively engaged in a communicative exchange. AI-powered algorithms analyzed the replies, revealing Twain may have shared a greeting call with the team on a boat in the Pacific Ocean. While speaking to a different species has never been done in this manner, researchers are using the experience to hopefully one day converse with extraterrestrial life.

The number of humpback whales in the North Pacific Ocean fell by 20 per cent between 2012 and 2021, according to a study that used artificial intelligence to identify individual whales from photos of their tails. The decline coincided with a massive marine heatwave sometimes called the blob, which began in 2013 and lasted until 2016. The unprecedented intensity of the blob was almost certainly the result of global warming. The findings suggest that around 7000 whales starved to death because of the marine heatwave, says Ted Cheeseman at Southern Cross University in Australia. The blob is known to have caused mass die-offs of many other animals, such as seabirds.

While the hope of the US returning to the moon has been temporarily dashed, Astrobotic CEO John Thornton expressed high hopes for its future Griffin lunar lander missions. 'What a wild adventure we were just on,' Thornton said. 'Certainly not the outcome we were hoping for and certainly challenging right up front.' Like the Peregrine, these robotic lunar landers are expected to serve as a scout for the NASA's Artemis astronauts before they make their own moon landing in 2026. The CEO and trained mechanical engineer described'victory' after'victory' as his team scrambled to make the most of the scrapped Peregrine mission.

UFO expert Nick Pope discuss the whistleblower claiming that the U.S. has alien crafts and remains on'Fox News @ Night.' A Harvard professor of astronomy is predicting extraterrestrials will make contact with artificial intelligence before humans, due to aliens potentially feeling a "kinship" with human technology. "My expectation from interstellar travel is that it's best done with electronic gadgets and devices rather than with biological creatures because the journey takes a long time," Harvard professor Avi Loeb said in an upcoming documentary titled "God Vs. "Even to the nearest star, it will take us 50,000 years to get there with chemical rockets. And artificial intelligence systems have that patience - and then they can remain dormant ... so that they survive the journey," he said. Space agencies across the world, including NASA and the European Space Agency, have for years been using AI technology to chart galaxies and stars and even send robots to other planets. Avi Loeb, Frank B. Baird Jr. Professor of Science at Harvard University, speaks during the SALT conference in Manhattan, New York City, U.S., September 14, 2022. Loeb said extraterrestrials would likely reach out to artificial intelligence before humans due to a likely "kinship." "If they visit us, of course, we can use our AI systems to interpret their AI systems.

Coral reef conservation is a steppingstone to protect marine biodiversity and life in the ocean as we know it. The health of coral also has huge societal implications: reef ecosystems provide sustenance and livelihoods for millions of people around the world. Conserving biodiversity in reef areas is both a social issue and a marine biodiversity priority. In the face of climate change, Annalisa Bracco, professor in the School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences at Georgia Institute of Technology, and Lyuba Novi, a postdoctoral researcher, offer a new methodology that could revolutionize how conservationists monitor coral. The researchers applied machine learning tools to study how climate impacts connectivity and biodiversity in the Pacific Ocean's Coral Triangle--the most diverse and biologically complex marine ecosystem on the planet.

Whether it's playing tennis or writing an essay, most people have a preferred hand. Now, a study has shown that despite having eight arms to choose from, octopuses also have favourite appendages. Researchers from the University of Minnesota recorded octopuses attacking various prey, and found they preferred certain arms over others when hunting. The team hopes the findings could be used to develop next-generation, highly manipulative soft robots. 'If we can learn from octopuses, then we can apply that to making an underwater vehicle or soft robot application,' said Dr Trevor Wardill, an author of the study.

Fox News Flash top headlines are here. Check out what's clicking on Foxnews.com. Facing a growing threat from China, the Navy envisions drone ships keeping an electronic eye on enemy forces across the vast Pacific Ocean, extending the reach of firepower, and keeping sailors out of harm's way. The Navy is speeding development of those robotic ships as an affordable way to keep pace with China's growing fleet while vowing not to repeat costly shipbuilding blunders from recent years. The four largest drone ships are being used together this summer during a multination naval exercise in the Pacific Ocean.