Tech
Exclusive: See the Largest Burmese Python Ever Captured in Florida – CNET
#Largest #Burmese #Python #Captured #Florida #CNET
Florida has a python problem. Invasive Burmese pythons love the climate and conditions in the state, and they’re impacting native wildlife, particularly in the delicate wetland ecosystem of the Everglades. Now there’s one less python to worry about there, thanks to the Conservancy of Southwest Florida, an environmental advocacy organization that’s been working to remove the snakes from the wild.
On Wednesday, the Conservancy announced that its wildlife biologists had captured the most massive Burmese python yet found in Florida. The female, found in December 2021, measured in at almost 18 feet (5.5 meters) long and tipped the scales at 215 pounds (97 kilograms). Compare that to an absolute unit captured in 2018 that was the same length but weighed 150 pounds (68 kilograms).
The researchers tracked down the snake through a program that uses radio transmitters implanted in male snakes. “How do you find the needle in the haystack? You could use a magnet, and in a similar way our male scout snakes are attracted to the biggest females around,” biologist Ian Bartoszek said in a statement.
In a press conference, the researchers said the snake put up a fight and they had to wrestle her for 20 minutes before they were able to restrain her.
Captured snakes are euthanized. An examination found 122 developing eggs inside the female. “This finding sets a new limit for the highest number of eggs a female python can potentially produce in a breeding cycle,” the organization said, calling it a record-breaking discovery. The snake had also recently dined on an adult white-tailed deer.
National Geographic published an in-depth behind-the-scenes look at the research program and the capture of the jumbo snake.
The Conservancy has so far netted more than 1,000 pythons. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, or FWC, also runs multiple python removal programs, including a public competition that rewards python removal with monetary prizes.
“The removal of female pythons plays a critical role in disrupting the breeding cycle of these apex predators that are wreaking havoc on the Everglades ecosystem and taking food sources from other native species,” said Bartoszek. “This is the wildlife issue of our time for southern Florida.”
Tech
Exclusive: Why I’m skipping the iPhone 14 and holding onto my mini for another year – TalkOfNews.com
#skipping #iPhone #holding #mini #year
I come here not to bury the iPhone mini but to praise it. If reports are true, the iPhone 13 mini will be the last of its line, replaced by a larger iPhone 14 Max this fall. And as someone who owns and loves an iPhone 13 mini, this makes me sad.
It seems that not enough people share my love for the iPhone 13 mini for Apple to update it for the iPhone 14 generation. No matter: The iPhone 13 mini is a great device. So great, in fact, that I suspect we haven’t seen the end of its design yet.
In praise of the little guy
There’s no denying it: people love big phones. The iPhone went on a huge growth tear the moment Apple made it larger with the iPhone 6 generation. Sales figures seem to bear it out. I won’t deny that my love of smaller phones makes me a niche iPhone buyer.
But… do people really love big phones? I think they love big screens showing more information and playing bigger movies. I’m not sure they love the extra weight, the extra volume, the extra amount of bulk in the pocket–but it’s worth the trade-off for that big, bright screen.
Users love big screens, but do they really love big phones?
Michael Simon/IDG
Every year I have the privilege of using all of Apple’s iPhones as part of the process of reviewing them. And for the past two years, I’ve kept coming back to the iPhone mini design.
First off, it’s a non-Pro iPhone. And while reasonable people can differ, I think that in the iPhone 12 and 13 generations, Apple’s iPhone Pro design is worse than that of the non-Pro models. From the bright colors on the back of the devices to the gorgeous anodized aluminum frame, give me the iPhone 13 mini over a duller iPhone 13 Pro any day.
At 5.2 inches tall and 2.5 inches wide, it’s small–meaning it fits well in my hand and my pocket–and yet has a 5.4-inch display that’s perfectly capable of giving apps plenty of room to stretch out. It’s a look that harkens back to the iPhone 5 era, my favorite era of iPhone design. But the iPhone mini’s screen is vastly larger than that on the iPhone 5, thanks to its use of Face ID.
And while battery life on the iPhone mini is undoubtedly less than on other iPhones, I need to point out that Apple did a great job boosting the battery life on the iPhone 13 models. The iPhone 12 mini’s battery life was a little sketchy, honestly. The iPhone 13 mini? Not a problem.
Yes, if you use an iPhone mini, you will miss out on some key features of the iPhone Pro models. I’m currently using an iPhone 13 Pro with a beta of iOS 16, and I’m constantly reminded that the cheaper phones don’t have ProMotion or that extra camera on the back. And yet, whenever I hold the larger phone in my hand or put it in my pocket, I am turned off by its size. Why carry a brick in your pocket if you don’t have to?
It’s dead, Jim
But this is beside the point, right? The iPhone 14 mini is, apparently, not a product that will exist. Now that I’ve praised the mini, I need to bury it. But… will I?
First, let’s consider the report that the iPhone 14 line will only feature a new A16 processor on the Pro phone models. So not only would the regular iPhone 14 models not get access to rumored innovations like an always-on display, they might not be any faster than the current-year models!
I’m sure Apple will make a few upgrades to the iPhone 14 models that will push them slightly past the iPhone 13 in terms of specs, but on the low end, this is potentially the least impressive iPhone upgrade in years. And it means that the iPhone 13 mini will get another year where it’s more or less a current phone. I’ll take it.
And then there’s the inevitable future: I really do believe the iPhone mini design will be back. One possibility is for Apple to simply alternate between iPhone models so that the mini appears one year and the Max the next. It’s also not impossible that Apple might just bring the mini design back every few years since it obviously has a following–just not a big one.
Then there’s the iPhone SE, which was recently updated to a third-generation model. Using the iPhone mini as the basis of a new iPhone SE would make sense, as the iPhone mini is superior to the current SE in every way. Even though it’s slightly smaller, it’s got a bigger screen, support for Face ID, and a second rear camera.
The truth is, the iPhone mini is just too good a product–and a size–for Apple to ignore completely. I’m still sad that it’s apparently not popular enough to merit a new version every year, but I can’t believe it’s gone for good. In the meantime, I’ll be holding on to my iPhone 13 mini–and waiting on the mini’s inevitable return.
Tech
Exclusive: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine's Opening Titles Still Somehow Rule as an N64 Game – TalkOfNews.com
#Star #Trek #Deep #Space #Nine039s #Opening #Titles #Rule #N64 #Game
Star Trek has had an up-and-down history with video games, sometimes managing to succeed in gaming genres it arguably shouldn’t, while never managing to quite succeed in the ones it should. There’s been plenty of great ones, but now a very cool little animation imagines one of its finest entries getting a ‘90s tie-in that never was.
Twitter user SpinaSanctuary’s hypothetical title screen for a mid-’90s Deep Space Nine game on the Nintendo 64 imagines a sideways glance where the platform that gave us Star Wars: Shadow of the Empire instead took a visit to the Gamma Quadrant for some licensed gaming goodness, essentially riffing on the opening moments of Deep Space Nine’s own title sequence, but in a gloriously polygonal retro style.
What could’ve Star Trek 64: Deep Space Nine even been? An adventure game aboard the station? A starship strategy game set during the Dominion War? A retail management sim dedicated to the Promenade á la Roller Coaster Tycoon or Theme Park World? A first person shooter like Voyager got with the Elite Force games, that shouldn’t make sense, but totally does? Whatever it would’ve been, this cute little “demake” has me wishing we could’ve found out.
Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel and Star Wars releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about House of the Dragon and Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power.
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