West Africa, sub-Saharan Africa and South East Asia are most at risk from bat viruses ‘spilling over’ into humans resulting in new emerging diseases, according to a new global map compiled by scientists at UCL, the Zoological Society of London (ZSL) and the University of Edinburgh. (more…)
A tiny bat found in the Netherlands is believed to provide the first direct evidence that British bats migrate over the sea between the UK and mainland Europe.
The bat, a Nathusius’ pipistrelle, flew from Blagdon near Bristol across the country and over the North Sea before settling in a farm building near the coast in Friesland – a direct journey of 596 kilometres (370 miles).
Bat experts in both countries are working together to learn more about this remarkable journey and its implications for bat conservation and offshore windfarms. (more…)
“Virtual Reality Design for Science” is a co-listed class at Brown and RISD that unites artists, designers, computer scientists, and experts in scientific visualization. The goal: to create tools for immersive interaction with scientific data. Test case for the course: the flight mechanics of bats.
PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — If you want to get a good look at a bat, a cave is a pretty good place to go. But on a Thursday in mid-December at Brown’s Granoff Center, there were virtual bats flapping about in a cave of a different sort. (more…)
University of Exeter scientist Dr Fiona Mathews has discovered one of Britain’s rarest mammals living in East Devon.
Members of the public were treated to a surprise close-encounter with the Grey long-eared bat, believed to be one of only 1,000 individuals in the country, at an event organised by East Devon District Council’s Countryside Service at the Axe Estuary Wetlands.
The bat evening was part of a regular Wet and Wild Weekend – a celebration of the wildlife of the Axe Estuary Wetlands attracting nearly 500 people. Dr Mathews and fellow bat-enthusiast Adrian Bayley had set up mist nets so that people could meet some of the animals they were hearing on bat detectors, and were amazed to find the country’s rarest bat.
There are only six known breeding colonies of Grey long-eared bats in the UK. This discovery potentially links an isolated group near Newton Abbot with colonies in Dorset and the Isle of Wight. (more…)
