The Big BTW

One of the world's most endangered species of whale is experiencing a mini baby boom in New England waters. Credit: @CCSPtown The North Atlantic right whale is one of the rarest species of whale on the planet, numbering only around 400. Researchers at the Center for Coastal Studies in Provincetown, Massachusetts, have announced they have seen three North Atlantic right whale mother and calf pairs in Cape Cod bay. TWO MORE RIGHT WHALE CALVES SEEN IN #CAPECOD BAY! On 4/11/19 the CCS #rightwhale aerial survey team saw 2 more mom/calf pairs in the bay, bringing the number of calves observed by CCS this season to 3. The moms are EgNo 4180 & EgNo 3317. More at https://t.co/SvNe25Hntf pic.twitter.com/qGIa5RV7dl — CoastalStudies (@CCSPtown) April 12, 2019 In all, seven right whale calves have been spotted in 2019. Scientists reportedly did not spot any right whale newborns in 2018. Please consider making a donation to Sunny Skyz and help our mission to make the world a better place.

While Barr told lawmakers that he believed spying took place, he never concluded it was illegal and made clear several times he was not suggesting a crime had occurred. THE FACTS: Barr’s four-page summary of Mueller’s nearly 400-page report did not “totally” exonerate Trump. TRUMP, asked if he still “loves” WikiLeaks: “I know nothing about WikiLeaks. “WikiLeaks, I love WikiLeaks,” Trump said in Pennsylvania. THE FACTS: Nothing’s preventing Trump from releasing his tax returns. Our Country is FULL!” — tweet April 7. Immigrants as a whole make up a greater percentage of the total U.S. population than they did back in 1970, having grown from less than 5 percent of the population to more than 13 percent now. President Obama had child separation.” — remarks to reporters Tuesday. On water, Yale University’s global Environmental Performance Index finds 10 countries tied for the cleanest drinking water, the U.S. among them. TRUMP: “Under this administration, we have ended the war on American energy like never before.” — signing ceremony.

WASHINGTON — Rep. Ilhan Omar says she’s faced increased death threats since President Donald Trump spread around a video that purports to show her being dismissive of the 2001 terrorist attacks. “This is endangering lives,” she said, accusing Trump of fomenting right-wing extremism. “It has to stop.” Her statement late Sunday followed an announcement by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi that she has taken steps to ensure the safety of the Minnesota Democrat and the speaker’s call for Trump to take down the video. pic.twitter.com/gwB2kDUIRp Soon after Pelosi’s statement, the video disappeared as a pinned tweet at the top of Trump’s Twitter feed, but it was not deleted. Pelosi was among Democrats who had criticized Trump over the tweet, with some accusing him of trying to incite violence against the Muslim lawmaker. She later sought to defend herself by tweeting a quote from President George W. Bush, in which the Republican president referred to the attackers as “people” just days after 9/11. The tweet was posted atop Trump’s Twitter feed for much of Sunday, with more than 9 million views. Sanders questioned why Democrats weren’t following Trump’s example and calling out Omar, too. “Certainly the president is wishing no ill will and certainly not violence towards anyone, but the president is absolutely and should be calling out the congresswoman for her — not only one time — but history of anti-Semitic comments,” Sanders said. But she refused to take back a tweet in which she suggested American supporters of Israel “pledge allegiance” to a foreign country.

YG's party following his Coachella performance was busted up when someone opened fire outside the event -- causing a panic, just 2 weeks after his friend Nipsey Hussle's murder. Hours after the rapper left the Coachella stage Sunday night, his after-party was going down at a nearby equestrian center. Our law enforcement sources say they got a call around 2 AM Monday morning for shots fired. Witnesses told cops someone driving past the bash fired multiple shots -- however, once on the scene, cops found no victims and no evidence of the shooting. The parking lot was crawling with cops who had to shut down the party while they investigated. We're told they have no suspects. As you'd imagine, guests were on edge because the reported shots came so closely on the heels of Nipsey's shooting. YG -- who spoke at Nip's Staples Center memorial service -- paid tribute to his friend again during his Coachella gig. Of course, YG was way less kind when it came to talking about President Trump -- but let's keep it real ... that's what his fans came to see.

(Image: © NASA) Just like on Earth, there is a robust population of bacteria and fungi on the International Space Station (ISS) — and a new study catalogues its exact composition. Other organisms come from specific parts of humans, such as Staphylococcus aureus (10%), which is usually found in human nasal passages and skin. While it sounds like a gross combination, the scientists noted in the statement that similar bacteria are found in mundane Earth environments such as offices, gyms and hospitals, so the space station is similar to these other "built environments" frequented by humans. Related: Astronauts Identify Mystery Microbes in Space for the 1st Time It's unclear if bacteria that sometimes cause disease on Earth, such as Staphylococcus aureus and Enterobacter, could cause disease in ISS astronauts, researchers said in the statement, because that depends on things such as how these organisms function in microgravity and how healthy the astronaut is to start. "Specific microbes in indoor spaces on Earth have been shown to impact human health, Kasthuri Venkateswaran, a senior research scientist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory and a co-author of the paper, said in the statement. "In light of possible future long-duration missions," Venkateswaran said, "it is important to identify the types of microorganisms that can accumulate in the unique, closed environments associated with spaceflight, how long they survive and their impact on human health and spacecraft infrastructure." Astronauts collected the samples during three flights spanning 14 months, a time span that allowed the researchers to see how the microbial and fungal populations changed over locations and during time. They came from eight locations on the ISS, including the dining table, toilet, exercise equipment, a viewing window and sleeping quarters. "The authors found that while fungal communities were stable, microbial communities were similar across locations but changed over time," researchers said in the statement. The authors suggest that these temporal differences may be due to the different astronauts on board the ISS."