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Today we have part 10 (three to go) of Robert Lang‘s photo series from his trip to Brazil’s Pantanal region last year,  His captions and IDs are indented, and you can enlarge the photos by clicking on them.

Readers’ Wildlife Photos: The Pantanal, Part X: Birds

Continuing our mid-2025 journey to the Pantanal in Brazil, by far the largest category of observation and photography was birds: we saw over 100 different species of birds (and this was not even a birding-specific trip, though the outfitter also organizes those for the truly hard core). Here we continue working our way through the alphabetarium of common names.

Rufous hornero (Furnarius rufus):

They build mud nests that look like small ovens; here’s one:

Savanna hawk (Buteogallus meridionalis):

Sayaca tanager (Thraupis sayaca):

Snail kite (Rostrhamus sociabilis). Usually, I’m using my big lens to try to bring in a distant bird, but sometimes they pop up so close that I can’t get them all in the frame even zoomed out. Especially when they’re flying transversely to the line of sight:

Social flycatcher (Myiozetetes similis):

Southern lapwing (Vanellus chilensis):

Southern screamer and chick (Chauna torquata):

Spot-breasted woodpecker (Colaptes punctigula):

Squirrel cuckoo (Piaya cayana):

More birds still to come.

The U.S. Space Force's X-37B spaceplane (which looks remarkably like a Space Shuttle that someone forgot to put the windows in!) completed its seventh mission this week, touching down at Vandenberg Space Force Base after 434 days in orbit. Although the mission is classified, Space Force officials, said that it followed a highly elliptical orbital path while conducting various tests and experiments. They also described the mission as operating "across orbital regimes,” whatever that means…is classified!

Men who had given blood more than 100 times in their life were more likely to have blood cells carrying certain beneficial mutations, suggesting that donating blood promotes the growth of these cells

Astronomers know the Flame Nebula well—a stellar nursery around 1,400 light years away. It’s less than a million years old and is teeming with brown dwarfs, objects that never quite accumulated enough mass to begin fusing elements in their core. When comparing the James Webb Space Telescope’s (JWST) infrared observations with Hubble's visible light images of the Flame Nebula, the difference is, ahem - astronomical! The infrared wavelengths penetrate the obscuring gas and dust, revealing clusters where young stars and brown dwarfs are taking shape.

Many of the Christian symbols created in the aftermath of the First Crusade have been adopted by White Nationalists. Why?

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Physicists developed simplified formulas to quantify quantum entanglement in strongly correlated electron systems. Their approach was applied to nanoscale materials, revealing unexpected quantum behaviors and identifying key quantities for the Kondo effect. These findings advance understanding of quantum technologies.

Physicists developed simplified formulas to quantify quantum entanglement in strongly correlated electron systems. Their approach was applied to nanoscale materials, revealing unexpected quantum behaviors and identifying key quantities for the Kondo effect. These findings advance understanding of quantum technologies.

Originally described in the context of particles drifting through liquid, Levy walk has been found to accurately describe a very wide range of phenomena, from cold atom dynamics to swarming bacteria. And now, a new study has found Levy walk in the movements of competing groups of organisms: football teams.

Originally described in the context of particles drifting through liquid, Levy walk has been found to accurately describe a very wide range of phenomena, from cold atom dynamics to swarming bacteria. And now, a new study has found Levy walk in the movements of competing groups of organisms: football teams.

Firefly Aerospace's Blue Ghost Mission has successfully touched down on the lunar surface and is now undertaking various experiments. Two of these experiments have been captured on video; the first is the LISTER drill, capable of penetrating the lunar regolith to depths of up to 3 meters. It will provide scientists with data to measure the Moon's cooling rate. Additionally, footage has been obtained of the PlanetVac experiment, which is evaluating regolith sample collection methods under the Moon's vacuum conditions.

Researchers show that Cartan's First Structure Equation, which relates to edge and screw dislocations in crystal lattices, can be recast in the same form as a basic mathematical formula that governs the behavior of electric currents and magnetic fields. This work can help make new concepts more understandable by employing more familiar frameworks.

By replacing clothes dyers with line drying, households in the U.S. could save upwards of $2,100 and avoid 3 tons of carbon dioxide emissions over the lifetime of a dryer. The exact impacts, however, depend on what kind of dryer you have and where you live, new research shows.

A cargo ship carrying sodium cyanide collided with a tanker transporting jet fuel – scientists are warning of potentially severe environmental impacts

A 12-passenger “seaglider” that is part boat and part aircraft harnesses Cold War-era technology to fly just above the waves using only electric power

In a new study, researchers explored how artificial intelligence (AI) can enhance performance and trust in knowledge work environments. They found that when AI systems provided feedback in real-time, performance and trust increased.

In a recent paper, Adam Hibberd and Marshall Eubanks explore the feasibility of sending a mission to rendezvous with YR4, the asteroid that may pose a hazard to Earth someday.

Astronomers have peered back to a time when the universe was just less than 300 million years old. The research team, using JWST revealed something extraordinary in the galaxy: significant amounts of oxygen.

Over 120 years ago, Henry Ernest Dudeney posed the famous dissection problem of transforming a triangle into a square by cutting it into as few pieces as possible. In a new study, researchers have finally proved that the original solution, which involves only four pieces, is optimal by using a new proof technique. This technique shows for the first time that it is possible to prove the optimality of the solution to a dissection problem.

A Japanese study has found that the use of continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) devices, equipped with sensors that alert diabetics when their blood sugar levels drop, can potentially make diabetic drivers safer on the road. Those who used the devices had lower incidences of low blood sugar and reported increased confidence in driving.

Scientists have uncovered a key finding to one of water's unique properties: at high pressure and low temperature, liquid water separates into two distinct liquid phases -- one high-density and one low-density.