Slashdot Mirror
Scientists Find New Species In Remote New Guinea
An anonymous reader writes "A team of scientists exploring an isolated jungle in one of Indonesia's most remote provinces said they discovered dozens of new species of frogs, butterflies and plants as well as large mammals hunted to near extinction elsewhere. The team also found wildlife that were remarkably unafraid of humans during their rapid assessment survey of the Foja Mountains, which has more than two million acres of old growth tropical forest."
How do they taste?
the team also found wildlife that were remarkably unafraid of humans
That's what happens whenever you find animals that haven't encountered humans before. Thing is, the after the first few encounters they'll sort themselves into two groups.
One group is the ones who learn to be afraid of us. The other, well . . .
xkcd.com - a webcomic of mathematics, love, and language.
Sarcasm on
They could only reach the remote mountainous area by helicopter, which they described it as akin to finding a "Garden of Eden".
Wood logging companies & local farmers have been found willing to provide easier access to the area, as a local farmer said:
I will burn down 5 hectares a month to create new places for my crops. That way tourist will be able to get closer to these pretty animals everyday without having to endanger them (the editor: By them he meant the tourist, because everybody knows that road travel in Indonesia is the safest way to travel) by helicopter.
A loggin company responded too:
2 million years without forest maintenance is not good for tourism. We are willing to trim the trees for easier access.
Sarcasm off
My wife's sketchblog Blob[p]: Gastrono-me
So anyone taking bets on how long it will take before these 'hunted to near extinction' mammals will really be extinct?
That depends. Can you make fancy shoes out of them?
The theory of relativity doesn't work right in Arkansas.
Which is the closest thing to a sex life these scientists have ever had in their bespectacled, nerdy lives. ... Bespectacled? nerdy? I must be projecting heavily here.
Harpo Tunnel Syndrome--my wrist feels funny.
Rumor has it the giant cassowary has a penchant for Cheetos(TM) flavored human fingertips. Just thought you should know. :)
Microsoft has just released their much anticipated hands-free cordless mouse. Warning, it may hurt a little at first.
Given that you were a Marine that came with a heavily armed task force and loads of firepower I would not be surprised if you were given a welcome reception. :)
Great, now all I have to do is figure out what the "sweet" is in "sweet and cat pork". :)
Microsoft has just released their much anticipated hands-free cordless mouse. Warning, it may hurt a little at first.
When will they be hosing them down with tugboats?
For the ignorants out there, an area of two million acres is equivalente to a 1,264M Volkwagens one.
No, really.
--
Superb hosting 20GB Storage, 1_TB_ bandwidth, ssh, $7.95
Actually "Noahs Ark" was a franchise, there were millions of arks all over the world. Unfortunately they weren't perfect and millions of animals never made it onto the ark but you wont have heard of them because the ones which weren't fish all died.
Any nasty hobbitses?
Opinions on the Twiddler2 hand-held keyboard?
Sloppy, sloppy research. All you had to do was use SPELL CHECK! Even Word spell check! Then you would realize that you were actually talking about the Giant Cappowary. It is also a giant chicken (kismet favors you, my friend), and it can also disembowel you (also correct...miraculously), but it doesn't just use its claws like a raptor. It uses an artistic blend of dancing and martial arts to rend your innards. Much like the American system of gym-kata, a rich blend which evolved in the mid-eighties, the cappowary differs in that it sucks in Tekken 2, and that it evolved millions of years ago in Brazil and apparently Papua-New Guinea. Hooray science. Boo you, for poor research, though. You should research the sloth, you lazy bastard.
Everywhere looks favourable when you compare it to Manchester.
The global economy is a great thing until you feel it locally.
You can't find new stuff when you're sitting behind a desk in a university basement. Seek, and ye shall find!