SUNY Geneseo researchers and their collaborators have described three new snailfishes, including the bumpy snailfish (Careproctus colliculi) discovered using MBARI’s remotely operated vehicle Doc Ricketts. (photo credit: MBARI.)
A group of researchers confirmed earlier this month that they discovered a new species of bumpy snailfish while using MBARI’s advanced underwater technology in the deep sea in 2019.
The researchers were recording the depths when they discovered an unfamiliar pink snailfish swimming just above the seafloor. The fish has now been named as Careproctus colliculi, or the bumpy snailfish.
Researchers from the State University of New York at Geneseo (SUNY Geneseo), the University of Montana and the University of Hawaii at Mānoa published their findings in the journal Ichthyology and Herpetology this month.
MBARI's advanced underwater robot reveals a new species of deep-sea snailfish
The researchers had been recording at a depth of 3,268 meters, 62 miles from theCaliforniacoast when they spotted the pink fish.
Since first spotting the elusive creature, MBARI researchers found two other snailfishes from the seafloor off the coast of California.
"MBARI seeks to make ocean exploration more accessible by sharing our data and technology with our peers in the science community. We welcomed the opportunity to collaborate with researchers from SUNY Geneseo to expand our understanding of life in the deep ocean, especially since documenting deep-sea biodiversity is critical to detecting any changes that may be occurring in this environment," said MBARI Senior Scientist Steven Haddock, who led the research expedition that encountered the bumpy snailfish.
About the snailfish
Belonging in the family of Liparidae, snailfish are known for their large heads, loose jelly-like skin and narrow tails. Known species of snailfish often have a disk on their belly, which allows them to travel along the sea floor, or hitch a ride on the back of other animals.
The nail ‘snailfish’ comes from the way the creature curls up in rocks and seaweed, resembling a snail.
There are understood to be more than 400 different species of snailfish worldwide, with only some calling the deep sea home, though the species holds the title of the deepest-dwelling fish.
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Russia is increasingly carrying out attacks in SPACE, with Western satellites targeted by laser strikes, and Russian spacecraft 'sneaking up on them'
A French Major General is warning the West of a rise in Russian attacks in space.
According to Major General Vincent Chusseau, there has been a significant increase in incidents, especially since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022
In his interview with Reuters, he said: 'Space is now a fully-fledged operational domain.'
France has previously publicly accused Russia of space espionage when the Russian satellite Louch-Olymp 'sneaked up' on a Franco-Italian satellite in 2017.
Former Defence Minister, Florence Parly, told the press in 2018 that the Russian satellite got so close 'that anyone would have thought it was attempting to intercept our communications.'
'Attempting to listen to your neighbours is not only unfriendly, it’s an act of espionage,' she said.
The launch of the Russian Cosmos 2553 satellite on 5 February 2022. Western space chiefs are warning of increased hostile space activity coming from Russia.
Only three months ago, Slingshot Aerospace shared a report regarding a Russian satellite, Cosmos 2588, 'stalking' the USA 338.
According to the report, Cosmos' movement suggested it was monitoring the US satellite.
Orbital Today reported that these instances of very close proximity of Russian and Western satellites are so common that they are becoming 'increasingly hard to ignore.'
The US, Canada and the UK have joined France and publicly warned the world about the Russian threats to the space crafts.
'This economic and military dependence on space is increasingly being held at risk,' said the head of UK Space Command, Major General Paul Tedman.
Germany and China are also rapidly investing in their space capabilities, with Germany planning to finish the first stage of 'a multi-orbit satellite constellation' in 2029.
Canadian space chief told the press on Tuesday that there are already 'more than 200 anti-satellite weapons in orbit.'
According to the Reuters report, France's priority will be the resilience of its existing space assets against foreign attacks.
The Major General admitted the increasing importance of the ability to 'carry out a wide spectrum of effects in space - not only to see and understand, but also to act.'
Russia claims the US and UK are ALSO developing secret space weapons
US and UK condemned Russia for threatening peace in space
Accused the Kremlin of firing a projectile 'with characteristics of a weapon'
It was first time the Ministry of Defence called out Russian activity of this sort
Moscow hit back and accused US and UK of making similar weaponry
Russia has claimed that the US and UK are developing secret space weapons.
The US and UK 'naturally keep silent about their own efforts,' it said, claiming the countries had 'programmes on the possible use of 'inspector satellites' and 'repair satellites' as counter-satellite weapons.'
Spain threatens to BOYCOTT the World Cup of Soccer if Israel qualifies - days after pro-Pally protests halt final stage of La Vuelta bicycle classic in Madrid
Spanish government officials have said they would remove their national team from next year's Soccer World Cup if Israel qualifies.
Patxi Lopez, the spokesperson for the prominent Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (Communist), said they would 'assess' the situation if it came to pass.
Israel has not qualified for a World Cup since 1970 but have a chance for next year's expanded tournament. They are third in their UEFA qualifying group, level on points with Italy who occupy the play-off spot.
Patxi Lopez, a socialist government official
Spain would boycott the next World Cup if Israel qualifies
'What we want is that Israeli teams cannot take part in sporting events or Eurovision.
Lopez's comments come a fortnight after the 11th stage of Spanish cycling race Vuelta a Espana was cut short and finished without a winner due to pro-Pally protestors at the course.
The stage, which was supposed to start and finish in the heart of the 'botxo' - a neighbourhood at the centre of Bilbao, was brought to an abrupt end three kilometers from where it was supposed to due to safety concerns.
Israel-Premier Tech, a cycling team, were the main focus of the protests, with one group stopping riders in Figueres, with flags and graffiti on display.
The start of the race was interrupted when protestors heckled a group near San Mames stadium.
The race then continued, but the end, near Gran Viam was blocked by thousands of protestors carrying flags. According to Marca, three people were arrested, with four police officers injured. The Basque Government's Security Minister, Bingen Zupiria, condemned the 'uncivil behaviour that threatens security and coexistence'.
The 11th stage of Spanish cycling race Vuelta a Espana finished without a winner due to pro-Pally protestors being on the course
Madrid-born rider Carlos Verona said of the events: 'The UCI must make decisions for the benefit of everyone. I understand peaceful protests, but I don't understand them interrupting our work.'
Overall leader Jonas Vingegaard said it was disappointing not to be able to finish the stage - particularly because it was his son's birthday.
'It's a big shame.'
British rider Tom Pidcock, meanwhile, was the front runner and expressed his frustrations in the aftermath of the events.
'It's hard to describe the disappointment, honestly,' the 26-year-old said.
The call was made during the race due to safety concerns surrounding the number of protestors at the finish
A number of riders expressed their frustration with the outcome of the race in its aftermath
Ugly Protestors were a regular feature throughout the race
Four police officers were injured, with three arrests made in total
Riders had met race organisers in the city to discuss safety concerns before the race on the back of pro-Palestine protests and a crash caused by demonstrators running onto the track on Tuesday.
'It was a conversation between us and the organisation,' rider Elia Viviani told Cyclingnews and The Cycling Podcast. 'We, the riders, know that in the last few weeks the organisers have been doing as much as they can – so many police, so many.'
'Obviously, there's a situation that is dangerous for the peloton.'
'If there are falls, danger and so on, they don't know what'll happen.'
Three-time world champion Oscar Freire said of the events in Bilbao: 'There have always been some protests, but today they were aggressive. It's a shame, because it was the stage with the most fans and it could have been the best of this Vuelta.'
He added: 'Given what happened today, you can't race like that.'
Israel's 'Iron Beam' fully operational to hit missiles along with drones
Firing Arrow interceptors can cost millions of shekels, Iron Dome interceptors can cost tens of thousands of shekels, but firing the Iron Beam is as cheap as turning a light on.
By Yonah Jeremy Bob, Jerusalem Post, September 17, 2025
Security officials have stated that Laser Dome also has the capacity to take on barrages of simultaneous aerial threats and is not merely limited to shooting down one or two at a time. (photo credit: IDF SPOKESPERSON'S UNIT)
The Defense Ministry announced on Wednesday that Israel's "Iron Beam" is now operational and that a full series of batteries will be deployed across the country to provide cutting-edge new air defense capabilities within the coming months.
Already in June, the ministry and Rafael, the lead company of multiple defense tech companies involved, including also Elbit and others, had announced that Lite Beam, a smaller relative of Iron Beam, was operational.
At the time, the ministry also disclosed that Israeli laser defense systems had shot down around 40 Hezbollah drones in October 2024.
However, Wednesday's news signals multiple additional jumps forward.
What's new?
Second, Iron Beam can specifically shoot down not only drones, but also missiles, rockets, and mortars, making it far more formidable than if it were only capable of shooting down drones, a relatively slow-moving threat.
light energy of the laser travels much faster than any interceptor in Israel's arsenal and would already potentially destroy the enemy aerial threat shortly after it launches, and invariably while still in enemy territory. (credit: IDF SPOKESPERSON'S UNIT)
Third, the announcement means that Iron Beam batteries will be produced and deployed nationwide at scale, as opposed to serving in just one or two locations where their impact would take time to be assessed.
Third, the announcement means that Iron Beam batteries will be produced and dispersed around the country at scale, as opposed to serving in just one or two locations where its impact would take time to be judged.
The ministry and the IDF expect Iron Beam to immediately start reducing the cost of shooting down aerial threats, an issue that has been out of control for Israel during this war, in which tens of thousands of threats have been launched through the air at Israel on six fronts.
Firing Arrow interceptors can cost millions of shekels, Iron Dome interceptors can cost tens of thousands of shekels, but firing the Iron Beam is as cheap as turning a light on.
Defense Ministry Director-General Maj.-Gen. (res.) Amir Baram said that the current announcement regarding Iron Beam was only the foundation stone to start the process, which will change battle zones worldwide until they become filled invariably with cheaper laser platforms.
Security officials stated that Iron Beam also has the capacity to counter barrages of simultaneous aerial threats and is not limited to shooting down one or two at a time.
Head of the directorate’s R&D Division, Brig.-Gen. Yehuda Elmakayes, said that the Knesset already approved an extensive budget two years ago to cover as many Iron Beam batteries as would be needed at this stage of deployment.
In June, IDF M.-Sgt. "A" told The Jerusalem Post in an exclusive interview that his time on the laser team protecting the country with this game-changing, cutting-edge system has been "incredible."
A is areservist who was stationed in the Northto work on how to operate the laser in real combat situations, and who had spent time in the IDF's air defense units, mostly over a decade ago, but returned to assist when the current war broke out.
He said that he and everyone else had to learn how to best operate the laser in real time in the field since it is essentially something that no one has ever done before.
"We received the system, we made adjustments while operating in the field, and we improved with the industry developers [Rafael] after we got a better understanding of what we needed to increase our shoot-down success," said A.
Although Raytheon in the US, as well as England, Russia, China, Germany, and Japan, are all at various stages of developing laser defense systems, the ministry said on Wednesday that Iron Beam is the only one that has moved beyond test firings to actual use in the field.
Defense sources also revealed on Wednesday that the new family of lasers could eliminate the need for Israelis to run to bomb shelters versus most aerial threats.
They explained that a major advantage of lasers, such as Iron Beam, Iron Beam M, and Lite Beam, is that they can shoot down enemy rockets and drones much earlier in the threat process. This means that most of the time, no siren warnings or bomb shelters would be necessary.
How does this work?
Light energy of laser travels much faster than Israeli interceptors
The reason would be that the light energy of the laser travels much faster than any interceptor in Israel's arsenal and would already potentially destroy the enemy aerial threat shortly after it launches, and invariably while still in enemy territory.
In fact, because the laser fires so much faster, the IDF will also likely have more chances to hit a target that it initially misses, since it will know it has missed earlier on in the process.
That means that Israelis would likely only hear a siren and need to run to bomb shelters in those rare cases where the laser system missed its target, and then likely missed it multiple more times.
The Lite Beam is the smallest and most local short-range system of Israel's three laser systems, which can be placed on individual ground forces vehicles and fires a 10-kilowatt beam.
Iron Beam M fires a 250 millimeter 50 kilowatt beam and can be mounted on large trucks for mobility, but cannot be placed as a minor additional system on individual vehicles.
Sources have also indicated that the Iron Beam M is not only generally mobile, but can even be fired while moving.
The full-size Iron Beam fires a 450 millimeter 100 kilowatt beam, is designed to remain stationary for periods of time, and cannot be fired while moving. However, it can, with advance planning, be moved around just as Iron Dome batteries, over time, can be moved around.
Israel's Iron Beam
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