8 Deforestation in the Amazon surges as Brazil fights COVID-19.

The coronavirus pandemic has slowed down the global economy, but the deforestation in the Amazon has been speeding up. Deforestation in the region has soared since Mr. Bolsonaro took office last year, as he favors expanding commercial development and views environmental regulations as a hindrance to economic growth. During his first year in office, he reduced the financial penalties that were being imposed for environmental violations. This caused the Illegal loggers, miners, and land grabbers to clear vast areas of the Amazon. The deforestation was also accelerated in recent months as law enforcement efforts were affected by the pandemic.

According to Brazil’s National Institute of Space Research, a government agency that tracks deforestation with satellite images, there are an estimated 464 square miles of Amazon tree cover that has been slashed from January to April. It is a 55% increase from the same period last year. This rise in illegal deforestation heightens the risk of fires in the Brazilian rainforest, making them more destructive than the previous year. This can also endanger the indigenous people in Amazon as they don’t have the antibodies to combat the diseases that come from regions outside the rainforest. (source)

9 Dogs love squeaky toys because the sound resembles a smaller prey animal being killed.

If you’re a dog owner, you will know that dogs love squeaky toys. Although it’s tempting to think they just enjoy irritating us with the non-stop, squeaky sounds, there are actually a couple of theories that explain why a dog may be attracted to squeaky toys. The sound of the squeaking activates their hunting instincts. They find the sounds to be simulating and go to great lengths to dominate the source.

Dogs are descendants of wolves and share a similar DNA construct. Their predatory behavioral tendencies kick in when they hear the squeaky toy noise because that resembles the sound of prey that is frightened or injured. The dog won’t stop and will relentlessly attack until the toy stops squeaking. When the dog toy stops squeaking, the dog will realize that it has successfully “killed” it and will cease the attack. This is often the reason why dogs become disinterested in toys that don’t squeak.

It is a good example of a prey drive that was present in dogs when they evolved from their wolf ancestors centuries ago and had to hunt to survive. This behavior is more persistent in some breeds than others. Breeds like terriers and sporting and herding breeds experience a more intense prey drive.

Or it could also be that the dogs just enjoy getting auditory feedback when they’re playing as it gives them instant gratification. (source)

10 There are at least eight nuclear weapons known to be missing.

During the Cold War, the United States lost at least eight nuclear weapons permanently. Here is a list of what the Department of Defense calls “Broken Arrows”:

• Feb 13, 1950 – An American B-36 bomber crashed in British Columbia when it was en route from Eielson Air Force Base, Alaska, to Carswell AFB in Fort Worth, Texas, due to the engines catching fire. The crew jettisoned a Mark 4 nuclear bomb into the Pacific Ocean out of concern for the amount of TNT inside. The bomb’s uranium components were lost and never recovered. According to the USAF, the plutonium core wasn’t present.
• Mar 10, 1956 – A B-47 Stratojet carrying two nuclear weapon cores from MacDill Air Force Base in Florida to an overseas airbase, descended into a cloud formation over the Mediterranean Sea for a scheduled air-to-air refueling. It couldn’t establish contact with the tanker for the refueling and was reported missing. The plane was believed to be lost while flying through the thick clouds, and the cores and other wreckage were never located.
• Jul 28, 1957 – A USAF C-124 aircraft from Dover Air Force Base, Delaware, experienced a power loss while carrying three nuclear bombs over the Atlantic Ocean. To avoid any mishap, the crew had to jettison at least two nuclear bombs into the ocean, which have never been recovered.
• Feb 5, 1958 – A USAF B-47 bomber from AFB, Florida, after a midair collision with a USAF F-86 Sabrejet during a simulated combat mission were forced to eject a Mark 15 nuclear bomb over the Atlantic Ocean. The pilot from the F-86 ejected and parachuted to safety.  In the B-47, the bomb had to be jettisoned to reduce the weight and prevent it from exploding during an emergency landing. The pilot successfully landed only after the bomb was jettisoned.
• Sep 25, 1959 – A U.S. Navy P5M antisubmarine aircraft crash-landed into a region called Puget Sound near Whidbey Island, Washington. It was carrying an unarmed nuclear depth charge onboard, and the weapon was never recovered.
• Jan 24, 1961 – A B-52 carrying two Mark 39 hydrogen bombs crashed while taking off from an airbase in Goldsboro, North Carolina, due to a structural failure. One of the bombs hit the ground with little damage while the other weapon sank into swampy farmland, and its uranium core was never found. The Air Force purchased the land surrounding the buried components to prevent its disturbance. It undergoes regular tests for contamination, but none was found so far.
• Dec 5, 1965 – A U.S. Navy A-4E Skyhawk aircraft with B43 nuclear bomb on board rolled off the aircraft carrier into the Pacific Ocean while the ship was underway from Vietnam to Yokosuka, Japan. The plane, pilot, and weapon sank into 16,200 feet of water and were never recovered. Though the U.S. Defense Department originally stated it took place 500 miles (800 km) off the coast of Japan, the Navy documents showed that it happened about 80 miles (130 km) from Japan’s Ryukyu Islands.
• May 22, 1968 – The U.S.S. Scorpion, a nuclear attack submarine, mysteriously sank 400 miles southwest of the Azores Islands while traveling from Rota, Spain to Norfolk, Virginia,  causing 99 crew members to be killed. The wreckage of the submarine, its nuclear reactor, and its nuclear warheads, remain on the seafloor in more than 9,800 feet of water. (source)

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