A new species of Golden Algae from central Finland.

Golden Algae (Chrysophyceae) are photosynthetic eukaryotic microbes (i.e. single celled organisms that posses cell nuclei similar to those found in the cells of animals and plants, but unlike bacteria which do not), found throughout the world, predominantly in fresh water. The group is mostly poorly studied, with the exception of a few species which are toxic to Fish.

In a paper published in the journal Phytotaxa on 10 September 2013, Magda Škaloudová and Pavel Škaloud of the Department of Botany at Charles University in Prague, describe a new species of Golden Algae from an unnamed lake in central Finland.

The new species is placed in the genus Chrysosphaerella, and given the specific name rotundata meaning rounded. Chrysosphaerella rotundata forms spherical multicellular colonies. Each cell has two flagella and is covered by siliceous (glassy) scales and spines. The scales come in three size classes, large circular scales (3.0–3.5 × 2.2–3.1 μm), large oval scales (2.0–3.1 × 1.3–2.4 μm), and smaller oval scales (1.5–1.7 × 1.2 μm), all of which have a scalloped pattern of ridges about the edge. The spines have a bobbin-like structure, and are 4-10 μm in length. 

 Chrysosphaerella rotundata. (1) Large oval and less or more circular scales. (2) Large circular scale. (3) Large and small oval scales. (4) Spine with a thick shaft, and both oval and circular scales. (5) Two spines with a thick shaft. (6) Spine showing a variation in a thickness of a shaft. Scale bars: (1, 3–6): 2 μm; (2) 1 μm. Škaloudová & Škaloud (2013)

See also Using a Coralline Red Algae as a palaeoclimatic indicator in the Gulf of Aden, Examining an Ordovician Stromatolite with a tool to look for life on Mars, A new species of heavy metal Tolerant Bacterium from the Dabaoshan Mining Area in Guangdong Province, China, Two new species of Amphisphaerid Fungi from southern China, Four new species of fossil Diatom from the western United States and The a Late Miocene-Pliocene Diatom redescribed from Scanning Electron Microscope images.

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Homes evacuated after sinkhole opens up in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.

Seven homes were evacuated as a precaution after a sinkhole opened up in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania on Thursday 20 March 2014, and several more were left without water. No injuries have been reported,  and it is likely that once repairs have been completed it will be possible for evacuated residents to re-occupy their homes without further problems.

The 20 March 2014 Harrisburg sinkhole. abc27.

Sinkholes are generally caused by water eroding soft limestone or unconsolidated deposits from beneath, causing a hole that works its way upwards and eventually opening spectacularly at the surface. Where there are unconsolidated deposits at the surface they can infill from the sides, apparently swallowing objects at the surface, including people, without trace.

In this instance the sinkhole has been linked to a broken water main, which allowed water to escape, washing away soil around the pipe, and beneath the lawn of one of the properties. The neighbourhood has suffered a number of sinkhole events in the last decade, that have been linked to an aging water infrastructure.

See also One person rescued after Chicago sinkhole swallows pickup truck, Homes destroyed by Florida sinkhole, US Marine killed by Missouri Sinkhole, Car swallowed by sinkhole in Indianapolis and Florida holiday villa collapses into sinkhole.

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Two killed in landslide in Azad Jammu and Kashmir.

Two people were killed in a landslide at Lohar Gali near Muzaffarabad in Azad Kashmir on Wednesday 19 March 2014. Dr Mohammed Ashraf Quraishi the Director of the Agriculture Department of Azad Jammu and Kashmir, and his daughter Hina Ashraf Quraishi, a first year medical student at AJK Medical College in Muzaffarabad were traveling from Rawlipindi to Muzaffarabad on the Muzaffarabad-Mansehra Highway when their jeep was buried beneath the landslide. The incident provoked a demonstration in Muzaffarabad against the condition of the road, leading to a confrontation with police in which several people were injured.

The approximate location of the 19 March 2014 Lohar Gali landslide. Google Maps.

The area around Muzaffarabad is extremely prone to landslides, due to a number of active faults in the area, these being driven by the northward movement of the Indian Plate, which is pushing into Eurasia at a rate of 40 mm a year. This causes earthquakes on both plates, as well as the folding and uplift that has created the Himalayas and the Tibetan Plateau. The situation is made worse in spring, when thawing leads to increased runoff from melting glaciers. Landslides are a common problem after severe weather events, as excess pore water pressure can overcome cohesion in soil and sediments, allowing them to flow like liquids. In 2010 and 2011 the region also saw extensive flooding due to melting glaciers.

See also Three killed by Himachal Pradesh landslide, Four member of the same family killed in Abbottabad landslide, At least four deaths following Afghanistan landslide, Magnitude 4.7 Earthquake beneath Lake Guozha, northwest Tibet and Magnitude 4.4 Earthquake in southern Himachal Pradesh.

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A new species of Cicada from Sichuan Province, China.

Cicadas (Cicadoidea) are large members of the True Bug order (Hemiptera) related to Leafhoppers and Spittlebugs. Male Cicadas produce a loud song, similar to that of Crickets, when seeking a mate, though this song is produced in a quite different way, by vibrating special membranes on the Insect's abdomen rather than by rubbing limbs or wings together. Nevertheless this habit, combined with the large size of Cicadas, has led to them being referred to colloquially as Crickets or Locusts in many parts of the world. Cicadas have an unusual life cycle, living out most of their lives as a burrowing juvenile, then emerging on mass as adults to reproduce after a period of time specific to the species; one North American species only emerging at seventeen year intervals.

In a paper published in the journal ZooKeys on 13 January 2013, Xu Wang of the Key Laboratory of Plant Protection Resources and Pest Management at Northwest A&F University, Masami Hayashi of the Department of Biology at Saitama University and Cong Wei, also of the Key Laboratory of Plant Protection Resources and Pest Management, describe a new species of Cicada from Sichuan Province, China.

The new species is placed in the genus Hyalessa, and given the specific name batangensis, after Bantang County in Sichuan, where the species was discovered. Hyalessa batangensis is described from two male specimens, the female is unknown, as are any details of its reproductive cycle. The two specimens are 26.6 and 31.8 mm long, they are black, with golden brown markings.

Hyalessa batangensis, male specimen in dorsal view. Wang et al. (2014).

See also A new species of Cicada from Meghalaya State in northeast India, New species of Leafhopper from Laos, southeast Asia, New species of Leafhopper from Brazil, Four new species of Leafhopper from Southern Africa and A new species of Leaf Bug from the Mangrove Forests of Singapore and Thailand.

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Magnitude 4.7 Earthquake in northwest Xinjiang Province, China.

The United States Geological Survey recorded a Magnitude 4.7 Earthquake at a depth of 41.5 km in the Tian Shan Mountains of northwestern Xinjiang Province, China, at about 0.35 am local time on Tuesday 18 March 2014 (about 4.35 pm on Monday 17 March GMT). An Earthquake of this size at this depth is unlikely to have caused any damage or casualties, particularly given the remote location of the event.

The approximate location of the 18 March 2014 Xinjiang Earthquake. Google Maps.

The Tian Shan Mountains stretch for 2500 km across Xinjiang, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan. The Tian Shan are part of the Himalayan Orogenic Belt, mountains in Central Asia pushed upwards by the collision of India and Asia. The Indian Plate is currently pushing into the Eurasian Plate from the south at a rate of 3 cm per year. Since both are continental plates, which do not subduct, the Eurasian Plate is folding and buckling, causing uplift in the Himalayas and other mountains of Central Asia. This is not a smooth process, the rocks will remain effectively stationary for log periods of time while pressure builds up, then give suddenly, releasing large amounts of energy in the form of Earthquakes.

See also Magnitude 4.8 Earthquake in southwest Kyrgyzstan, Magnitude 4.5 Earthquake in the Tian Shan Mountains of China's Xinjiang Province, Magnitude 4.9 Earthquake in western Inner Mongolia, Magnitude 5.1 Earthquake hits Ürümqi in China's Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of northwest China and Magnitude 6.0 Earthquake in eastern Kazakhstan.

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A new species of Cleaner Shrimp from the western Atlantic.

Cleaner Shrimps (Stenopodidea) are Decapod Crustaceans more closely related to Crabs and Lobsters than true Shrimps (Caridea). They are a small group, with 71 known extant species and to known fossil species from the Late Cretaceous. They are predominantly shallow water species dwelling on Coral reefs in tropical and subtropical waters. The group get their name from the habit of certain species which clean ectoparasites from Fish.

In a paper published in the journal Zootaxa on 11 March 2013, Joseph Goy of the Department of Biology at Harding University and Irene Cardoso of the Setor de Carcinologia at the Museu Nacional of the Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, describe a new species of Stenopodid Shrimp from the Western Atlantic.

The new species is placed in the genus Odontozona, and given the specific name lopheliae, which is derived from Lophelia pertusa, a deep-sea coral with which the Shrimps were associated. Odontozona lopheliae is described from 2 male and eight female specimens collected from depths of between 509 m and 665 m from the Campos Basin off the coast of Rio de Janeiro, the waters off Sapelo Island, Georgia and Green Canyon in the Gulf of Mexico, as well as 84 observations of the species by submersibles around Green Canyon and Viosca Knoll, also in the Gulf of Mexico at depths of between 459 m and 525 m. 

Odontozona lopheliae is a small robust Shrimp with a laterally compressed body. It is white with red markings and reaches between 12 and 21 mm in length.

Odontozona lopheliae, female specimen from off Sapelo Island, Georgia. Susan DeVictor in Goy & Cardoso (2014).

See also A new species of Sponge dwelling Pontoniine Shrimp from Sabah State, Malaysia, The effect of an invasive Crayfish on European wetlands, A new species of Peppermint Shrimp from the Caribbean, Two new species of Cave Crab from Christmas Island and The Christmas Island Blue Crab recognized as a distinct species.

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Asteroid 2014 AY28 passes the Earth.

Asteroid 2014 AY28 passed the Earth at a distance of roughly 6 418 000 km (over 16 times the distance between the Earth and the Moon), slightly before 3.35 am GMT on Monday 17 March 2014. There was no danger of the asteroid hitting us, though had it done so it would have presented a realistic threat. 2014 AY28 is calculated to be between 82 and 260 m in diameter, and an object towards the upper end of this range would be expected to punch straight through the Earth's atmosphere, impacting the ground directly in an explosion over 460 times as large as that caused by the Hiroshima bomb, and creating a crater over 4 km in diameter. Such an event would cause devastation over a wide area, and could potentially cause climatic disruption lasting decades.

The calculated orbit of 2014 AY28. JPL Small Body Database Browser.

2014 AY28 was discovered on 4 January 2014 by the University of Hawaii's PANSTARRS telescope on Mount Haleakala. The designation 2014 AY28 implies that it was the 724th asteroid discovered in the first half of January 2014 (period 2014 A).

While 2014 AY28 occasionally comes near to the Earth, it does not actually cross our orbital path. It has an elliptical 262 day orbit that takes it from 1.02 AU from the Sun (1.02 times the distance at which the Earth orbits the Sun), slightly outside our orbit, to 1.82 AU from the Sun, (1.82 times the distance at which the Earth orbits the sun and outside the orbit of the planet Mars). As a Near Earth Object that remains strictly outside the orbit of the Earth it is classed as an Amor Family Asteroid. However, unlike most of the Amor Family, it is classed as a Potentially Hazardous Asteroid, due to its large size, and the closeness to which it approaches our orbit.

See also Potentially Hazardous Asteroid 357622 (2005 EY95) passes the Earth, Asteroid 2014 AM29 passes the Earth, Asteroid 2014 AZ32 passes the Earth, Asteroid 2014 AW32 passes between the Earth and the Moon on the day it is discovered and Asteroid 2014 AD16 passes by the Earth.

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