Ants are safer, more effective than pesticides, study says

There’s a new ant–agonist on the pesticide market. According to a reviewpublished in the Journal of Applied Ecology, trees protected by weaver ants have less pests, less plant damage, and show an increased yield when compared to trees sprayed with pesticides. The small, red tree dwellers are also cheaper to use and better for the environment.

What makes the weaver ants so effective is their ability to quickly respond and attack larger intruders. They’re categorized as a “superorganism,” which means that the colony functions like one organism, with individual ants acting as its cells and moving around independently. When an intruder enters their environment, the ants coordinate attacks via pheromones before taking the insect back to their nests of woven leaves to feed the colony. With the crops hanging so close to the nests, they fall under the ants’ protection.

To put together his review, Aarhus University bioscience professor Joachim Offenberg pored over approximately 70 recent scientific studies on the use of ants as pest control on nine different crops against various pests in Africa, Australia, and Southeast Asia. One three–year Australian study revealed a 49 percent higher cashew yield in ant–protected trees versus those sprayed with pesticide. Not only that, but the cashews were of a significantly higher quality. Likewise, mango trees protected by ants produced a better quality crop. This, coupled with the ants being cheaper than pesticide, resulted in a 73 percent higher net income.

That’s not to say that similar results were reported across the board.

“There do exist a few cases where the ants alone are not the solution as some pests have adapted and can protect themselves against them,” Offenberg told Foxnews.com. “In these cases, the ants need to be supplemented with other control methods to obtain adequate control. This is called integrated pest management (IPM), when different methods are combined in the same agricultural system.”

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Study finds more sharks than ever swimming in waters along the East Coast

More sharks than ever are swimming along the East Coast, federal researchers announced this week, amid a busy summer in which a record number of the fish have attacked North Carolina beachgoers.

Scientists with the National Oceanographic Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) captured and tagged 2,835 sharks in waters from Florida to North Carolina in 2015, up from 1,831 in 2012 -- the last year the survey was completed. Scientists recorded the length, sex, age and location of each of the sharks caught. The survey has been ongoing for 29 years.

Lisa Natanson, a scientist at the Narragansett Laboratory of NOAA Fisheries’ Northeast Fisheries Science Center (NEFSC) and leader of the coastal shark survey, told FoxNews.com that the rise in the shark population is tied to federal regulations limiting commercial shark fishing, which were enacted in 1993.

“They took off a lot of fishing pressure of these species and it gives them a chance to come back,” Natanson said.

The survey – conducted every two to three years -- covers routes along the East Coast where many species migrate as waters become warmer, making it easier to keep tabs on the population, according to the NOAA.

Sandbar, Atlantic sharpnose, dusky, and tiger sharks were the most common amongst the 13 species caught this year onboard the 100-foot charter fishing vessel Eagle Eye II, which set sail from Port Royal, S.C. and  Ft. Pierce, Fla., from April to May.

Natanson told FoxNews.com that researchers – who used a line with baited shark hooks to catch the fish -- saw an uptick in numbers in waters off Florida.

“Usually we get a few here and there on the first few sets,” she said. “But we were getting a lot.”

The announcement comes in the wake of a string of shark attacks in North Carolina in June and July. Eight people were attacked -- the most in a year in since the Florida Museum of Natural History began tracking shark incidents 80 years ago. The previous high for North Carolina was five bites in 2010, The Virginian Pilot reported.

Despite the increased shark population, Natanson said beachgoers should not assume that there will be a rise in attacks, although “there is always going to be a risk.

“Just because there are a lot of sharks out there doesn’t mean there are going to be more coming in to bite people,” she told FoxNews.com, adding that the survey was conducted in areas where people were not swimming.

Around 2,179 of the sharks captured in the survey were tagged and released, 434 were brought aboard, and 222 were released untagged. The sharks that did not survive capture were dissected at sea to obtain biological samples for studies on shark age and growth, reproduction, and food habits, the NOAA said.

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THOUSANDS FLEE 'HISTORIC' CALIFORNIA WILDFIRES

Some 13,000 residents are leaving their homes as nearly two dozen wildfires rage across drought-parched California.

More than 9,000 firefighters are trying to dampen the 21 conflagrations.

The biggest inferno, the Rocky Fire, jumped over a highway that had served as a containment line on Monday afternoon.                

It has reduced to smouldering ashes more than 62,000 acres (25,000 hectares) north of Sacramento, the state capital.

The blaze tripled in size over the weekend to almost 97 square miles (250 square km), feeding on its own winds.

The Rocky Fire, which is only 12% contained, razed 20,000 acres in just five hours, stunning the authorities.

"The term that I'm using is 'historic'," one firefighter told CNN.

"The reason I say that is that there are firefighters who have 25, 30 years on the job who have never seen fire behaviour like we've seen the last couple of days."

Two dozen homes have been destroyed over the past few days.

The California blazes killed a firefighter last week and injured four others.

A total of some 142,000 acres have burned so far.

The wildfires prompted California Governor Jerry Brown to declare a state of emergency last week.

Lightning strikes in the drought-stricken state were blamed for the fires.

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EATING SPICY FOOD LINKED TO LIVING LONGER

Eating spicy food has been linked to living a longer life.

A study analysed the food habits and health details of nearly half a million Chinese people.

It found those who ate spicy food six or seven days a week had a 14% reduced risk of dying compared with people who ate it less than once a week.

Eating spicy food was also associated with a lower risk of death from cancer, heart diseases and respiratory illnesses.

In women, it also corresponded with a reduced risk of death from infections.

The links were stronger in those who did not drink alcohol.

Researchers stressed the findings were correlational; eating spicy food may also be linked to other dietary habits, lifestyle choices or socio-economic status.

"For example, in Chinese cuisine the cooking of chilli pepper and the production of chilli sauce and oil usually requires more oil, and intake of pungent foods may be accompanied by an increased intake of carbohydrate-rich foods such as rice to relieve the burning sensation," they said.

The study, which is published in the BMJ, said spices have a long history of being used for flavouring, colouring and preserving food.

They have also been used for medicinal purposes.

The research, led by Peking University Health Science Center in Beijing, is in line with previous evidence on the health benefits of spicy foods.

The study authors said capsaicin is the main active component of chilli pepper.

Its qualities have been extensively reported in relation to anti-obesity, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, anti-cancer, and anti-hypertensive effects.

Additionally, the antimicrobial function of spices, including chilli pepper, has long been recognised, they said.

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RUSSIA CLAIMS VAST SWATHES OF ARCTIC TERRITORY

Russia has submitted a bid for control of vast territories in the Arctic to the United Nations, its foreign ministry has confirmed.

Moscow said in a statement that it was claiming 1.2 million sq km (more than 463,000 sq miles) of the Arctic sea shelf, extending more than 350 nautical miles (around 650km) from the coast.

The US, Canada, Denmark, Norway and Russia have all been trying to gain control of parts of the Arctic, which is thought to have up to a quarter of the planet's untapped oil and gas supplies.

The competition to assert jurisdiction over parts of the region has intensified as shrinking polar ice caps have opened up new areas for exploration.

Russia first submitted its claim in 2002, but it was sent back by the UN due to lack of evidence.

It said its revised bid contains new arguments and that "ample scientific data collected in years of Arctic research are used to back the Russia claim."

Russia made a symbolic claim to part of the territory in 2007 by dropping a canister containing a Russian flag on to the ocean floor from a submarine in the North Pole. 

Among tensions over the Ukraine crisis and with neighbours in the Baltic, Vladimir Putin has also moved to increase his military presence in the Arctic.

A Soviet-era military base on the New Siberian Islands has been restored and other outposts in the region have been beefed up. 

Earlier in 2015, Russian forces took part in sweeping training exercises across the Arctic.

Some 38,000 servicemen, more than 50 surface ships and submarines and 110 aircraft were involved in the drills.

Russia has justified its actions by claiming the new facilities are vital for protecting shipping routes that link Europe with the Pacific.

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BRITISH LINK TO SMUGGLING AT MIGRANT CAMP

Sky News has witnessed British registered vehicles hovering around a refugee camp outside Dunkirk.

Local volunteers from the town of Teteghem say the camp, which is home to around 100 migrants, is controlled by people smugglers.

The vehicles, a large white van and two cars, were seen parked up next to containers where people are living.

While Sky News was carrying out filming, the two cars - an Audi and a Vauxhall - sped out of the camp.

Our team was subsequently told to leave the site by a man with a British accent. He threatened the use of violence if we returned.

Eve-Marie Dubiez, a volunteer from the group Amis de Teteghem, said she suspected smugglers were regulating the number of migrants at the camp.

"English cars, all English cars come here, get people to Calais and leave them somewhere 5km, 10km away from the port of Calais and they do what they can," she said.

"After three or four tries the smugglers ask them to pay again, it's a lot of money, it is €1,500 (£1,050) for one crossing."

Behrad, 32, from Iran, has lived in the camp for three months. He has risked his life numerous times trying to reach Britain.

He says it is easier to get onto lorries outside of Calais.

More appear to be doing that, with people travelling as far as Belgium to jump on board a truck headed for the town.

"It depends on your money. A lot of people who come here, they haven't so much money, so they take the cheapest way, which is to try the back of lorries. That's a lot of danger and people lose their lives."

When asked what the other options available to him were he said he preferred not to say "because maybe it makes me some problems."

All of the people living in the camp at Teteghem said they were desperate for a "better life" in Britain.

They also said that the fact they could speak English drew them there for job opportunities.

All admitted that Calais was still central to their attempt to reach British shores.

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SANDRA BLAND'S FAMILY FILE WRONGFUL DEATH SUIT

The family of a black Texas woman found dead in her jail cell after her arrest for a minor traffic offence have filed a wrongful death lawsuit.

Sandra Bland's relatives say officer Brian Encinia showed a "deliberate indifference to and conscious disregard for the constitutional rights and safety" of the 28-year-old.

The lawsuit, which seeks unspecified damages, also names the Texas Department of Public Safety, Waller County Sheriff's Office and two warders in the Hempstead prison where Ms Bland was held.

She used a rubbish bag to hang herself from the ceiling of her cell, three days after she was stopped on 10 July for not signalling before a lane change, say officials.

Bland family lawyer Cannon Lambert told a news conference in Houston: "The reason that we filed a lawsuit today was because, candidly, we've been unable to get many of the answers that we've been asking for, for weeks."Mr Lambert said the lawsuit seeks to hold authorities accountable.

"Mr Encinia is still employed, and it just doesn't make sense that taxpayers will be paying for the type of service that he offered on July 10," he added.

Mr Encinia is on administrative leave after a preliminary investigation accused him of breaking traffic stop and courtesy protocols when he pulled over Ms Bland.

Authorities have released the findings of a post-mortem examination, surveillance video showing Ms Bland being booked into the jail, her jail admission records and other material.

But Ms Bland's family - who question the official account of her death - say more information is needed, such as full toxicology results and her time of death.

Sandra Bland's mother, Geneva Reed-Veal, told reporters her daughter shouldn't even have been arrested.

"The bottom line is that she never should shave been inside the jail, period," she said.

The mother reportedly left the news conference after a reporter asked why the family did not bail her out of jail, calling the question "insulting". 

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