ANCIENT REPTILE
There's new information about the world's oldest flying reptile, which was discovered in Australia. The giant creature is known as a pterosaur and lived about 107 million years ago. According to a study published today in the journal History Biology, the animal had a wingspan that was 6.5 feet long and was the first vertebrate able to fly. It lived alongside dinosaurs during the Mesozoic Era, which began 252 million years ago.
SHARK SPOTTING
Meanwhile, this shark was recently spotted circling around a man and his son who were taking a dip at Orange Beach, Alabama. The footage was captured on a drone by a 15-year-old who was monitoring sharks in the Gulf of Mexico. The gulf is home to 50 species of sharks, only about half of which are known to have encounters with people.
BEE SWARM
Finally, a huge swarm of bees was filmed over a crowd of spectators at the Indianapolis 500 Race over the weekend. The video shows the bees hovering above spectators. The man who shot the video says the crowd was unfazed by the bees and was mostly focused on the race. There was even a beekeeper sitting a few rows away from the swarm who helped remove the bees after the race. He said there were an estimated 12,000 to 16,000 bees in the stands.
California’s largest wildfire is threatening a marijuana growing enclave and authorities say many of the local residents have refused to evacuate.
From Wall Street to Silicon Valley, these are the top stories that moved markets and had investors, business leaders, and entrepreneurs talking this week on Cheddar.
Dr. Paul Stoffels, chief scientific officer at Johnson & Johnson, joined Cheddar to discuss phase three COVID-19 vaccine trials. More than 60,000 people worldwide have volunteered to be part of the study.
The pandemic is now striking cities with much smaller populations, often in conservative corners of America where anti-mask sentiment runs high.
California plans to ban the sale of new gasoline-powered passenger cars and trucks in 15 years.
U.S. scientists report that ice in the Arctic Ocean melted to its second lowest level on record this summer.
A huge study of a single-dose COVID-19 vaccine is getting underway as top U.S. health officials seek to assure a skeptical public they can trust any shots the government ultimately approves.
Oregon Senator Jeff Merkley joined Cheddar to discuss Senate Democrats' special committee against the climate crisis. Merkley also addresses President Trump's denial of science and the impacts of climate crisis.
Andrew Wheeler, Administrator of the EPA, joined Cheddar to defend the Trump administration's stance on environmental protections and whether science is taken into account when regulations are put in place.
The death toll in the U.S. from the coronavirus has topped 200,000, a figure unimaginable eight months ago when the scourge first reached the world’s richest nation.
