All posts tagged: Tortoise

Vet constructs ingenious contraption to help a tortoise hit by a car

Vet constructs ingenious contraption to help a tortoise hit by a car

Published by Jenni Sidey

Get the Popular Science daily newsletter💡 Breakthroughs, discoveries, and DIY tips sent six days a week. Complex problems require creative solutions, and wildlife veterinarian Nielsen Donato is no stranger to what might seem like out-of-the-box problem solving. Last month, Donato and his team at Vets in Practice in the Philippines fixed temporary wheels onto an Aldabra giant tortoise (Aldabrachelys gigantea) that was struggling to walk.  More recently, they built a contraption to care for a four-year-old African spurred tortoise (Geochelone sulcata) that had been run over by a car not once but twice. When the unfortunate reptile was first brought to the clinic, Donato—who is the clinic’s chief surgeon and exotic animal medicine specialist—wasn’t there.  Over the phone, Donato instructed the team to keep the tortoise’s exposed soft tissue damp by rinsing the shell with saline (salt water). They also tried to stabilize the cracks, by fixing inverted screws onto various parts of the shell with epoxy putty, and then tying rubber bands around the screws. The team sketched out their plan of action to …

Can the Lib Dem tortoise outrun the populist hare? | Politics News

Can the Lib Dem tortoise outrun the populist hare? | Politics News

Published by Sam Flores

Can the Lib Dem tortoise outrun the populist hare? For those around Sir Ed Davey, the answer is yes. According to this strategy, the Lib Dems continue their bottom-up grassroots approach – building on gains in the “blue wall” of former Tory seats, while gradually expanding into other more Labour-leaning urban areas. But not everyone is convinced, with some in the party now concerned they are missing the political opportunity of a lifetime. Politics latest – follow live This rival theory reads as follows: the UK is entering an unprecedented age of populism and political fragmentation and – as an historic home for disaffected voters – the Lib Dems should be sharpening their messaging, being more brazen and pushing into a wider set of areas where people are turning away from Labour and the Tories. Questions follow this thesis: why are the Lib Dems not shaping the debate more loudly on big contentious issues? Why is the party not getting down and dirty with the smaller parties in the so-called “air war” raging on social …

Brewers Inherit ‘Rally Tortoise’ After Manager Pat Murphy Is Told No Pocket Pancakes in TV Interview

Brewers Inherit ‘Rally Tortoise’ After Manager Pat Murphy Is Told No Pocket Pancakes in TV Interview

Published by Sam Flores

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — First, the Milwaukee Brewers had “pocket pancakes.” Now, they have pocket turtles. This all probably needs an explanation. During a game last August, Brewers manager Pat Murphy was caught taking a pancake from the pocket of his hoodie for a midgame bite, right in the middle of a dugout interview during a game against the Nationals. It wasn’t necessarily new for Murphy, who’s been known to have everything from waffles to eggs rolls close at hand should he get the munchies. Back to the turtle — er, tortoise. The Brewers were supposed to play the Royals on Friday night on Apple TV, though the game was called 90 minutes before first pitch because of the rain. During a pregame interview with Apple’s reporter, Tricia Whitaker, Murphy said he was informed “under no uncertain circumstances, no pocket pancakes” during their talk, so he pulled out what was supposed to be a pocket turtle. “This is Bobby Jr.,” Murphy said in presenting it to her, having named the creature after his longtime …

JONATHAN THE 193-YEAR-OLD TORTOISE IS STILL ALIVE, REPEAT HE HAS NOT DIED

JONATHAN THE 193-YEAR-OLD TORTOISE IS STILL ALIVE, REPEAT HE HAS NOT DIED

Published by José Betancourt

Sign up to see the future, today Can’t-miss innovations from the bleeding edge of science and tech On Wednesday, sorrow swept through the Futurism newsroom as we heard that Jonathan, a 193-year-old Seychelles giant tortoise believed to be the oldest living land animal, had passed away at his home on the island of Saint Helena, a remote British territory in the middle of the Atlantic. The tragic news, which was based on an X account that claimed to be the tortoise’s owner Joe Hollins, picked up widespread media coverage, from the BBC and USA Today to the Daily Mail. But in case it wasn’t obvious enough that the Elon Musk-owned social media platform is drowning in misinformation and scams, the claim turned out to be a complete lie, forcing media publications to issue a tidal wave of unfortunate corrections. “An earlier version of this story incorrectly reported that Jonathan had died, after the BBC along with other media outlets fell for a fake social media account,” the broadcaster wrote in a notice appended to its …

Jonathan, the giant tortoise, the world’s oldest living land animal ‘is alive’ after getting caught up in alleged crypto scam | World News

Jonathan, the giant tortoise, the world’s oldest living land animal ‘is alive’ after getting caught up in alleged crypto scam | World News

Published by skeptic

A giant Seychelles tortoise, believed to be the world’s oldest living land animal, is alive and well after claims he had died turned out to be part of an alleged crypto scam. Posts emerged on Wednesday claiming Jonathan, who is thought to be 193 years old according to the official website devoted to him, was dead. Reports of his demise were posted on X by the account @JoeHollinsVet, named after Joe Hollins, a vet who has taken care of Jonathan and previously spoken of his experiences. Image: Jonathan, the Seychelles giant tortoise. File pic: St Helena/PA Image: Posing for tourists on St. Helena. Pic: AP The message read that he was “heartbroken” to announce that the “beloved” creature “has passed away today peacefully”. Describing himself as Jonathan’s “vet for many years”, he said: “Rest easy, old friend. You’ll be missed more than words can say” and later thanked people “for the outpouring of love for Jonathan as we mourn his passing”. But the Friends of the British Overseas Territories, quoting the island’s governor, Nigel Phillips, …

Volunteers finally find Betty White—the rescue tortoise

Volunteers finally find Betty White—the rescue tortoise

Published by Jenni Sidey

Get the Popular Science daily newsletter💡 Breakthroughs, discoveries, and DIY tips sent six days a week. Betty White spent the winter hiding from the authorities. The roughly 20-year-old female Russian tortoise (Testudo horsfieldii) named after the iconic actress is one of Oregon’s Badger Run Wildlife Rehab resident reptiles. She went missing this past fall, only to be found months later underneath her enclosure by a volunteer named Rose. Russian tortoises like Betty White are found throughout Central Asia, including in Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Iran, and China. After the fall of the Soviet Union, they became a popular export for former Soviet states.  “Almost all of the Russian tortoises in the pet trade are wild-caught and this has taken a toll on their species in their native territories along with habitat loss,” Laura Hale, a biologist and the president of Badger Run Wildlife Rehab, tells Popular Science. “They are considered endangered or threatened in much of their range.”  Betty White is a Russian tortoise, a species found through Central Asia. Image: Laura and John Hale …

How The Atlantic won ‘tortoise and hare’ race versus digital news start-ups

How The Atlantic won ‘tortoise and hare’ race versus digital news start-ups

Published by Sam Flores

Editor-in-chief of The Atlantic Jeffrey Goldberg appears on stage at the Sir Harry Evans Investigative Journalism Summit in London in 2025 where he is being interviewed by the event’s convener Tina Brown. Picture: Reuters/Chris J Ratcliffe The Atlantic is now in a “virtue cycle” of making a product people will pay for and putting the profit back into the business, according to editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg. Goldberg said the news magazine title has benefited from the “mismanagement” of The Washington Post by hiring “very talented” journalists. The Atlantic added 50 journalists to its newsroom in 2025 and now has an editorial team of more than 200 people. National security, politics, accountability, science and health, and tech have all been areas of expansion. “I want to build the greatest collective of non-fiction writers in the English speaking world. I think I’m getting there,” Goldberg said. The business model of The Atlantic, as he put it, is to “make the highest quality stories and convince the readers of those stories to pay you to read them”. Goldberg was …

Observer boss says title ‘on plan’ after nine months at Tortoise

Observer boss says title ‘on plan’ after nine months at Tortoise

Published by Sam Flores

The Observer’s new app promo. Picture: The Observer The Observer could not be in a “better, more positive position” to head into its first full year of ownership by Tortoise Media, according to co-CEO Richard Furness. Tortoise’s acquisition of Sunday newspaper The Observer from Guardian News and Media, which had owned it for 32 years, took effect in April. The Observer launched its first dedicated website that month, although Furness described it as “a sort of holding website”. It relaunched in November with a registration wall, paywall, and app. Previously, Observer journalism was housed on The Guardian’s website. The Guardian continues to own the Observer archive although Tortoise can make use of a limited number of articles. Furness told Press Gazette that The Observer’s early subscriber and registration numbers were “really encouraging” and particularly cited the number of people choosing to sign up for a combined print and digital subscription. A digital Observer subscription costs £16 per month or £144 for a year, while a print and digital package starts at £18 per month. A …