News in Short

• Not only are humans changing the surface and temperature of the planet, but also its sounds – and those shifts are detectable even in the open ocean, according to research.
• Changes in the ocean soundscape affect wide swaths of marine life, from tiny snapping shrimp to huge right whales, the researchers found.
• Many fish and marine animals use sound to communicate with each other, to locate promising locations to breed or feed, and possibly to detect predators.
• But increased noise from shipping traffic, motorized fishing vessels, underwater oil and gas exploration, offshore construction and other human activity is making it harder for fish to hear each other.

• China's Tianwen-1 probe has sent back its first image of Mars, as the mission prepares to touch down on the Red Planet later this year.
• The spacecraft, launched in July around the same time as a rival US mission, is expected to enter Mars orbit around February 10.
• The black-and-white photo was released by the China National Space Administration showed geological features including the Schiaparelli crater and the Valles Marineris, a vast stretch of canyons on the Martian surface.
• The photo was taken about 2.2 million kilometres (1.4 million miles) from Mars.
• The five-tonne Tianwen-1 includes a Mars orbiter, a lander, and a rover that will study the planet's soil. China hopes to ultimately land the rover in May in Utopia, a massive impact basin on Mars.

• Veteran Canadian actor Christopher Plummer, whose decades-long career featured an indelible star turn in "The Sound of Music" and an Oscar win late in life, passed away. He was 91.
• Plummer starred as the aristocratic widower Captain Georg von Trapp opposite Julie Andrews in "The Sound of Music," the beloved 1965 cinematic tale of a musical family and their mischievous governess in Austria on the eve of World War II.
• Plummer was one of the most recognizable and admired character actors in Hollywood, with some 100 films under his belt and dozens of television roles.

• Ruth Dayan, the Israeli fashion designer and peace activist who is revered across the country has died at the age of 103.
• Dayan founded the Maskit fashion house in 1954, whose designs were inspired by the cultural heritage of Jewish immigrants as well as Israel's Arab community.
• She was also an active proponent of peace with the Palestinians and supported charitable causes.
• Ruth was the first wife of Moshe Dayan, the one-eyed commander who led forces during Israel’s 1948 war of independence and was Defense minister during the 1967 war, when it rapidly defeated its Arab neighbors.

• Scientists from Madagascar and Germany have discovered a new species of chameleon which is now a contender for the title of world’s smallest reptile.
• The new species has been named Brookesianana said the body of the male specimen appeared to be just 13.5-millimeters-long. That’s at least 1.5 millimetres smaller than the previous record holder.
• The tiny male and a slightly larger female were spotted on a mountainside by a local guide during a 2012 expedition.
• They found that the genitals of the Brookesianana specimen were almost one-fifth of its body size, possibly to allow it to mate with the larger female.
• Chameleons are threatened by deforestation on Madagascar, which is home to numerous species.