Eddy's Good News: A new species of stick insect discovered and how a stray dogs life was saved

Virgin Radio

7 Feb 2024, 14:05

Every day during his show on Virgin Radio Anthems, Eddy Temple-Morris brings you Good News stories from around the world, to help inject a bit of positivity into your day!

Be sure to listen each day between 2pm and 6pm (Monday - Friday) to hear Eddy's Good News stories (amongst the finest music of course), but if you miss any of them you can catch up on the transcripts of Eddy's most recent stories below:

Wednesday 7th February 2023

It’s a privilege to discover a new species and how wonderful that usually the person that discovered it is referenced in its naming. How even more wonderful when it’s a child that made the discovery.

That's what happened in Indonesia as we say hello to 14 year old Davis Marthin Damaledo who went on a nature walk with his dad when he found a beautiful and odd looking stick insect. He took it home and contacted the Indonesian Mantis and Phasmid Forum (IMPF), a science collective with around 3,600 members, as you do, and they confirmed it was a brand new species with distinctive purple markings. Of course it’ll be named after him.

Here’s the mind blowing thing though: About 1.6 million distinct species of animals and plants have been identified and catalogued to date. Approximately 18,000 previously unidentified species are described every year, according to the UK’s Royal Society, the world’s oldest academy of sciences. Unidentified species are estimated to account for around 80% of all species on Earth.

Via: goodnewsnetwork.org

The US coast guard inspection service are more usually occupied with finding drugs or arms smuggled via shipping containers, but at the international port of Houston, Ryan McMahon, a petty officer 2nd class, was conducting a routine inspection of the more than 10,000 containers that fill the port at any time, when he and his colleagues detected the sound of scratching coming from one of them.

It was s25 feet up but he could still hear scratching. So he had a crane lift it down and opened it to find two junked cars and one incredibly happy doggo! She’d been in there without food or water for 8 days and was so glad to see humans again. If Ryan hadn’t been so sharp eared the poor pooch would have been locked in there for a further two weeks and wouldn’t have made it. 

They think she was a junkyard dog who went in for a nap then it was closed and shipped.

They’ve rescued her, called her Connie and given her to a shelter who say she’s doing great, has an absolutely lovely temperament and will be ready for adoption soon!

Via: goodnewsnetwork.org