ENVIRONMENT / NATURE - 9,000-strong penguin colony discovered in Antarctica - WORLD

9,000-strong penguin colony discovered in Antarctica

The writer has posted comments on this articlePTI | Feb 10, 2013, 05.56 PM IST

The massive emperor penguin colony had never ever encountered humans until researchers found them on Antarctica's Princess Ragnhild Coast.

WASHINGTON: A huge 9,000-strong colony of emperor penguins has been discovered in Antarctica after scientists spotted their poo trails in satellite images.

The massive emperor penguin colony had never ever encountered humans until researchers found them on Antarctica's Princess Ragnhild Coast.

Researchers from the British Antarctic Survey noticed the trail in 2009 while studying satellite images of Antarctica and it was not until December last year that three researchers from the International Polar Foundation found the colony.

Alain Hubert, founder of the International Polar Foundation, said the penguins were curious rather than scared of them, National Public Radio (NPR) reported.

"When you arrive, they just come to see you, to watch you, to turn around you. The penguins - and especially the emperors -- they are so human. They're so cute," Hubert said.

Since the penguins had never encountered humans, Hubert says they weren't scared, just curious.

Hubert and his team live at the research station during the Antarctic summer and are focused on studying climate change, not penguins.

After they encountered a number of emperor penguins, they were convinced that a colony must be close by. They decided to make the treacherous 48-Km trip east to the sea ice.

"First of all, you have to imagine you're in the middle of nowhere - without any visibility, with complete whiteout after 24 hours driving on the ice -- you go down to the sea," said Hubert.

After navigating their way to the sea, they searched for hours and found more penguins than they had ever imagined. Hubert says that seeing so many animals huddled together was like being on another planet.

"I spent more than five years of my life in the polar regions, but that was the kind of moment that I wouldn't have expect(ed) to be able to just enjoy. It's a privilege," Hubert said.

If there was enough penguin poop to see from space, it seems like there would be quite a stench on the ground. Hubert says it wasn't a problem.

"It's too cold, really, to smell it, you know? I spoke to some scientists and they told me if it was a bit warmer, it's really smelly, " Hubert said.  

HEALTH - UNITED KINGDOM

Baby saved after doctors use smallest man-made heart

Pioneering device enabled 16-month-old to stay alive for 13 days before transplant

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Dr Antonio Amodeo: The surgeon said that two months after the operation, the baby is in good health

Reuters

Last-minute co-operation between doctors and medical authorities in Italy and the US enabled surgeons in Rome to transplant the world's smallest artificial heart – and save the life of a 16-month-old baby.

The tiny titanium device, weighing just 11 grams, was given to the infant in a pioneering eight-hour operation in March, surgeons at the Bambino Gesù paediatric hospital announced this week.
The decision to transplant the experimental US-designed heart made it possible for the baby, whose identity and sex have not been disclosed, to survive for 13 days before receiving a real heart.
"The operation was extremely complex and the child subsequently underwent a heart transplant, but currently, two months after surgery, the child is doing well and is in excellent health," said Dr Antonio Amodeo, the surgeon who led the procedure. The parents of the baby were "ecstatic" over the success of the pioneering procedure, he added.
The infant had been suffering from a form of heart failure known as dilated cardiomyopathy, together with a serious infection of an artificial system that had already been transplanted to assist the failing organ.
"The prognosis of such a complication is, unfortunately, very poor," said Dr Amodeo. "So at that point the only solution was to remove the infected ventricular system, with all the tubes and intervene immediately using this experimental prototype."
The tiny artificial heart, which had never been used clinically before, is still being tested as part of a research programme at the National Institutes of Health in the US.
The surgeons in Rome raced to get a special permit from the US medical watchdog, the Food and Drug Administration, as well as the Italian Health Ministry in order to use the device.
Within 48 hours of deciding to go ahead with the experimental surgery, permission had been obtained from both the US and Italian authorities. The device is capable of pumping up to 1.5 litres of blood per minute.

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