Curio Cabinet

What is that extremely angry peeping noise? If you’re in the desert, it might just be the last creature you’d expect to see: a frog. Rain frogs, so named because they’re most active when it rains, can survive in some of the harshest environments on Earth, despite their small size and the fact that they’re amphibians, which normally require constant access to water. These little frogs have also become famous online for their angry-looking faces and adorable squeaking.
 
There are more than 200 species of rain frogs, the most famous of which is the desert rain frog, native to Namibia and South Africa. Not only do these frogs live in a much different environment than most frogs, they also look very different. Rain frogs lack the powerful back legs and large feet that allow most other frogs to jump. Their legs are small and thin, while their bodies are large and round, which makes their movements slow and somewhat awkward. They’re small, with a maximum length of just six inches. Their skin, which is smooth and delicate, secretes a sticky substance that causes sand to stick all over their bodies. This sandy coating not only camouflages the frogs, it also helps protect them from the harsh sun.
 
Of course, desert rain frogs prefer not to go out in the sun at all. They're most active during periods of heavy rain, which are few and far between in the desert. When it isn’t raining, desert rain frogs prefer to stay in their burrows, which can reach as deep as eight inches under the sand. When they must leave their burrows during dry times, they prefer to do so at night. Their nocturnal lifestyle helps ensure that their smooth skin isn’t damaged by the intense desert sun. Under the cover of darkness, it’s safer for the frogs to hunt for termites, their most important food source. With their large mouths, desert rain frogs will also scoop up any other insects that wander their way, including beetles and grubs.
 
As for their famous squeaking, as cute as it may seem to us, the frog’s call is actually a war cry of sorts. The squeaking can intimidate predators like snakes or birds of prey. It can also be used to alert other rain frogs to their location. While desert rain frogs are normally solitary, during mating season, male rain frogs squeak loudly to attract females. Imagine a world where an adorable squeak was the height of masculinity.

 
[Image description: A rain frog with brown stripes standing tall with its front raised off the ground.] Credit & copyright: Marius Burger, Wikimedia Commons. This file is made available under the Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication.

You know things are bad when one natural disaster is just the beginning. A village in Switzerland has been left devastated after a landslide, and it could be the first of many to come. On May 19, the small village of Blatten was evacuated after geologists warned of impending danger. Blatten, home to 300 residents, is located in an alpine valley overlooked by glaciers. According to the geologists, one of those glaciers was coming apart rapidly. Indeed, in just a matter of days, the Birch glacier completely disintegrated, sending chunks of ice and rock down the valley. Most of the village was destroyed directly by the landslide, and the rest was flooded soon after.
 
Landslides can happen for all sorts of reasons like heavy rain, snowmelt, and erosion, but this one was caused entirely by the glacier's collapse. In turn, the glacier’s destruction was brought on by climate change, and similar catastrophes may await other alpine communities. In fact, another village, Brienz, was evacuated in 2023 as a precaution, and residents have only been allowed to return on a limited basis. Back in 2017, another village called Bondo was devastated by a similar landslide which claimed 8 lives. While most of the residents of Blatten were able to make their way to safety with just one individual unaccounted for, it may be too soon to breathe a sigh of relief. The debris from the landslide could still cause flooding, further devastating the area. Scientists estimate that all of Switzerland's glaciers will disappear by the end of the century; but they're unlikely to go quietly—and that's the optimistic outlook. More and more climate experts are beginning to believe that the glacial thaw will only accelerate in coming years. The term "glacial pace" might need to be redefined.

 
[Image description: A red train traveling between mountains in Switzerland.] Credit & copyright: Wikimedia Commons, Sikander Iqbal (Siqbal). This work has been released into the public domain by its author, Siqbal, at the English Wikipedia project. This applies worldwide.

Its communications are regular, but its location is awfully unusual. A newly-discovered cosmic object has astronomers puzzled, but finding out its identity might reveal new insights about the universe. Back in 2022, scientists coined the term long-period transient (LPT) for cosmic objects that emit light pulses on a regular basis. Since then, 10 more LPTs have been discovered, including ASKAP J1832- 0911, perhaps the most unusual among them. Recently discovered by a team of astronomers from Curtin University working at the Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder (ASKAP), ASKAP J1832- 0911 appears to be emitting both radio waves, and x-rays every 44 minutes for two minutes at a time. The team studying the cosmic object discovered this phenomenon by happenstance while using NASA's Chandra X-ray telescope. Unlike ASKAP, which surveys a large swath of the sky at a time, Chandra only looks at a small portion. As luck would have it, Chandra just happened to be pointed at ASKAP J1832- 0911 at the right time when it was emitting its x-rays. For now, astronomers aren't sure just what this oddity is. According to the team of researchers, the object might be a magnestar, which is the core of a dead star known for its powerful magnetic fields. Another possibility is that it's a white dwarf, or a white dwarf and another type of object paired as a binary star system. Yet, the team admits that even these possibilities don't account for the unusual behavior of ASKAP J1832- 0911. As the lead researcher, Andy Wang, put it, "This discovery could indicate a new type of physics or new models of stellar evolution." In space, not knowing something is sometimes more exciting than having all the answers.

 
[Image description: A starry night sky with a line of dark trees below.] Credit & copyright: tommy haugsveen, Pexels