Environment

A strong 6.9 magnitude earthquake struck Myanmar (formerly Burma) on Wednesday. Tremors were felt in parts of India and Bangladesh. International Business Times reports: The earthquake’s epicenter was in Myanmar, but its effects were reportedly felt in nearby Indian cities, including Delhi, Patna, Guwahati and Dehradun. In addition to the tremors, power outages ensued in the Indian state of Assam, where the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, otherwise known as the United Kingdom’s Prince William and his wife, Kate Middleton, are visiting.

Scientists have unveiled a new ‘Tree of Life’ showing the diversity of life on earth through the evolution of living things and their interrelationships. The new tree was created using genetic data collected in recent years. The researchers found a group of bacteria that are so diverse genetically that they represent half of all the diversity of bacteria on the planet. PRI reports: Humans tend to think of themselves as a pretty important branch on that tree. Certainly we think of animals and plants as being the most dominant and abundant forms of life.

Who could have seen that coming?

So size does matter after all...

• INTESA, UNICREDIT HALTED IN MILAN; LIMIT DOWN

The CDC have acknowledged that America could still see an epidemic of the Zika virus in the coming months, admitting that they have completely underestimated the severity of the outbreak.  Dr. Anne Schuchat from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warned that “most of what we’ve learned is not reassuring,” adding that “everything we look at with this virus seems to be a bit scarier than we initially thought.” This is the U.S. government’s most strongly worded warning to date about the Zika virus, which has infected 346 people so far in the United States.

At the beginning of May the planet Mercury is set to travel in front of the sun in a rare event that we will be able to see from Earth.  The planet will not travel between our planet and the sun again for another three and a half years. Businessinsider.com reports: Here’s everything you need to know to watch. The transit of Mercury occurs when Mercury passes between the Sun and Earth, and happens around 13 or 14 times each century. This year the event kicks off on May 9 just after 7am EDT (9pm AEST, 11am UTC), with the planet taking around 8 hours to make its glorious way across the Sun.