DAILY NEWS MAIL

Cool Multicolor USB Jellyfish Aquarium

2009-07-29T05:32:00.000-07:00

Here’s a new version of those popular jellyfish aquariums. This latest “moody light” model is equipped with multicolor LED lights that lets you circle though five soft lights.

Watching the lifelike Jellyfishes swimming, let your stress fading away and gives you sensation of relaxation.

It is so simple in the operation! Just add water into the tank, connect the USB cable to the USB port. A small motor generates a current in the water, encouraging the jellyfish to swim gently and freely.

The jellyfishes won’t starve or make a mess, they just swim and sleep whenever you want.
Features:
* USB-powered desktop aquarium
* Swimming jellyfish and life-like motion
* 5 bright LEDs – cycle through colors or select your favorite one
* On/Off Switch
* Plug and play
* No batteries required
* Dimension: 175 x 122 x 255mm (approx.)
* Weight: 750g

Interesting and Beautiful Nature’s Pink Camouflage

2009-07-28T13:09:00.000-07:00

Shocking pink katydid

1. The Pink Katydids – Punk Rock

Katydid profile

Pink, white and green katydid found in Osaka, Japan

2. The Rose Dragonflies – Pop

Gorgeous in pink

3. Pink Mantis – Independent Rock

4. The Pink Grasshoppers – Ska

5. The Lonely Leafhoppers – Blues

6. The Pink Furry Moths – Country

Shocking moment polar bear attacks woman who climbed into zoo enclosure

2009-04-11T12:20:00.000-07:00

This is the terrifying moment a woman was attacked by a polar bear after jumping into its zoo enclosure.

The 32-year-old leapt over bars at Berlin Zoo during the bears' feeding time yesterday.

Despite six zookeepers' efforts to distract the four predators kept in the enclosure, the woman was bitten several times on her arms and legs.

The brave keepers eventually managed to push the bear away and pull the woman to safety.

She was bitten by one of the four older polar bears in the enclosure and not by the famous Knut, who took Germany by storm as a cub after he was hand-raised by a keeper.

It is not known why the woman pulled the dangerous stunt but she initially appeared to be elated as she swam towards a bear in the enclosure.

It is not easy to access the enclosure, which is surrounded by a fence, a line of prickly hedges and a wall.

Heiner Kloes, a zoo spokesman, said keepers pushed the huge bear away before pulling the woman out.

She was taken to a hospital for treatment where she is now recovering after undergoing surgery to heal her wounds.

President Barack Obama Pokes Fun At Jessica Simpson’s Weight

2009-02-02T12:56:00.000-08:00

President Barack Obama was interviewed by Matt Lauer the other day and they had an opportunity to poke fun at Jessica Simpson and her battle with the bulge, because she took a part of his US Weekly cover. I don’t know why I’m posting this but with economy in the can, it’s nice to see that Matt the hard core journalist, is making sure to ask the President important questions on current and relevant issues. Anyway, here’s Jessica performing and stretching the limits out of her red t-shirt in Charleston, West Virginia. Oh wait, that’s why I’m posting this.

The picture perfect storm

2008-12-27T00:23:00.000-08:00

Photographs capture the terrifying beauty of clouds gathering over Greenland

Giant 'woodlice' take up residence in Britain

2008-12-23T03:39:00.000-08:00

These frightening creatures may look like enormous woodlice, but are actually ancient Isopods that live deep under the waves.

The spooky one foot long Giant Isopods live up to 6,000ft down on the seabed where there is no light.

They survive in the pitch black and cold they survive by feasting on dead and decaying fish and other marine animals.

Isopods have been unchanged for 160 million years and now they are to go on display in the UK for the first time.

Experts at the UK's Sea Life Centre parks organised for nine of them to be transported from the US where they had been caught in lobster nets in the Atlantic.

Each scary-looking creature was individually wrapped in wet hessian and newspaper before being packed into a box of ice.

They were flown thousands of miles to London before being transported by truck to the Sea Life Centre in Weymouth, Dorset.

The nine Isopods - Bathynonomous giganteus in Latin - will spend time in quarantine before going on display in large dark tanks in Blackpool.

Special reflective glass will give the giant creepy crawlies the feeling they are deep at the bottom of the sea, while still allowing spectators to peer in.

Chris Brown, a marine biologist who is looking after the Isopods in Weymouth, said they had adjusted well to their new environment.

He said: "Isopods live on the seabed at great depths. There are lots of them down at the bottom of the sea but because of the depths they live at, they rarely turn up in fishing nets or lobster pots.

"At the moment they are being kept in a large quarantine tank in a shaded and dark corner at the Sea Life Centre in Weymouth.

"The tank has special coolers that keeps the water at a chilly 4C. After quarantine they will be taken to the Sea Life Centre in Blackpool."

The creatures are crustaceans related to the shrimp and crabs.

Feline good: Asthmatic cat treated with acupuncture

2008-12-17T04:34:00.000-08:00

A cat that suffered asthma and a cough for three years has been cured, after her owner shunned traditional treatments and gave her pet a course of acupuncture.

South African alternative therapist Virginia Sanders turned to needle-based treatment to help her eleven-year-old Siamese cat Kiki.

Kiki had been given cortisone injections for her asthma but Ms Sanders was worried this might eventually damage the moggie's liver.

She approached a holistic veterinarian who recommended the unconventional treatment.

'KikI received acupuncture treatment, which will help her body to heal itself,' Ms Sanders said.

'She has already received three treatments, and her condition has improved a lot. She still has a few "old person's" problems, like a stiff back.'

According to vet Dr Barry Hindmarch, alternative treatments can be used on animals to relieve skin problems, chronic arthritis, kidney problems and cat AIDS.

'Infertile horses have been treated with homeopathic methods, and even livestock like cows with infections in their udders can be treated,' he added.

Hindmarch says nature's gifts are used to supplement conventional medicine.

'The animal is being treated holistically,' he says.

'We look at it's medical history, natural diet, surroundings, and we try to figure out a natural option. Animals also have emotional problems. They grieve, get anxious, some get traumatised, and then it makes a big difference treating them holistically.

'All conventional treatment methods are exhausted before we decide on a holistic method. With alternative medication we try to improve the animal's quality of living.'

Italian masterpiece that lay in an attic for 200 years because it was too risqué is set to be auctioned for £900,000

2008-12-01T11:35:00.000-08:00

A lost masterpiece hidden away in the attic of a French chateau for 200 years because its owners thought it was too racy, could fetch up to £900,000 when it is auctioned tomorrow.

The painting of a voluptuous and partly-clad young woman is by Giambattista Tiepolo, one of the most brilliant and sought-after Italian painters of his time.

Earlier this year, the grandchildren of the original owners brought it down from the dust and gloom to see the light of day for the first time since the 19th century.

The 35in by 27.5in oil - entitled Portrait Of A Lady As Flora (the classical Goddess of Spring) - is estimated to make £700,000 to £900,000 at Christie's Important Old Masters evening sale.

Richard Knight, international director of Christie's Old Master Department, described it as 'one of the most exciting and extraordinary discoveries of recent years'.

He confirmed it had been found in the the attic of a French chateau 'where it had been hidden by the grandparents of the present owners due to the semi-naked subject'.

He added: 'The painting has lain untouched in the same private collection for over 200 years, and as a result it remains breathtakingly similar to the way it would have been immediately after it left the artist's easel.
'Private collectors are attracted to rare, rediscovered paintings offered in untouched condition.'

The painting of the enigmatic, fleshy young woman, left breast provocatively exposed, is previously unpublished and is probably from a series of pictures commissioned some time just before 1760 by Empress Elizabeth of Russia (1709-1762).

It has never before been seen in public and had remained in the family chateau of the present owners since 'at least' the 19th century.

The painting is undated but thought to be undertaken in the 1750s and there is considerable debate about the identity of the model.

One theory is that she is a gondolier's daughter called Christina.

According to art historians, Tiepolo valued her so highly as a model that when he and his family moved to Spain in 1762, he brought Christina too so he could keep painting the woman who was 'beautiful with a haughty look'.

Another theory is that the model is Tiepolo's wife, Cecilia Guardi, sister of the painter Francesco Guardi.

Giambattista (or Giovanni Battista) Tiepolo was born in Venice in 1696 and was at his peak in the 1750s and 60s.

He was called to Madrid to paint for Charles III of Spain and spent the last eight years of his life there, dying in 1770. He is said to have inspired Goya.

The Top 3 Eco-Friendly Bug Awards

2008-11-21T01:43:00.000-08:00

Nature is teaming with busy environmentalists, and nowhere more resourcefully so than in the diminutive world of invertebrates. As if their tootsies weren’t small enough, many of these little folks make it their life’s work to reduce their carbon footprints, recycling and reusing whatever is in their field. Without further ado, then, here are the three of the best. But who’ll take top spot?

3. Environmental Designer Extraordinaire: The Orb Web Spider

Weaving webs tres magnifique, the female orb web spider is one of natural world’s top designers, but she’s one of its thriftiest recyclers too. She’s known to eat her web at night, before spinning a new one, to recoup some of the energy expended producing silk that’s rich in protein and stronger than steel. What’s more, this economical creative maestro uses her own body as a yardstick to measure her webs, for über-ergonomic design. An icon in many cultures, the web crawler is also one of the Earth’s premier pest controllers, with flies and mosquitoes as their favourite bites. But don’t be fooled by her feminine charms. The smaller male risks being taken for a snack when he approaches, or similarly recycled once his work done. This spin-ster gains points for both style and execution.

2. Working Class Hero: The Roller Dung Beetle

Able to roll whopping great balls of dung past practically any obstacle, the roller dung beetle has a work ethic to make any bug proud. It’s good old hard labour. The dung beetle does the rolling – and guards against the theft of his property from rivals – while his spouse hitches a ride or follows behind. Like a mini-JCB, the industrious beetle gets rid of huge amounts of animal dung, and plays a vital role in agriculture. By eating and burying dung, he helps with soil structure and nutrient cycling; and people and livestock benefit from reduced numbers of germ-bearing pests like flies. This trooper’s poop-scooping even earned him major status in Ancient Egypt. There, the ‘scarab’ was revered as a sacred symbol tied to the sun god, and his hieroglyph conveyed essential ideas of being and transformation.

1. Underground Mixing Legend: The Earthworm

Though a shy and retiring hermaphrodite, the earthworm has made a definite noise on the underground eco scene – sometimes heard as a gurgling sound as it moves through its mucus-lined tunnels. Organic gardeners and farmers are big fans, and Charles Darwin himself sent shout-outs, “doubt[ing] whether there are many other animals which have played so important a part in the history of the world”. Blind to such praise, this down-to-earth decomposing dude does crucial soil-fertilising work, breaking down organic matter like fallen leaves into rich humus and mixing it up with earth. With burrowing skills you’ve got to dig, the earthworm actively helps to drain and pump air into the soil. And the coiled faecal casts you see marking its turf make minerals and nutrients available to be picked up by neighbourhood plant life.

Pictured: The extraordinary moment a shoal of fish 'attacked' duck who came pecking around

2008-11-17T13:21:00.000-08:00

This duck ran out of luck when he attempted to have a peck at a shoal of fish.

Because while a single carp may be no match for a duck, in this case safety in numbers saw the bird's attack foiled as the fish surrounded him.

The extraordinary pictures were taken in a park lake in Changsa, Hunan Province, China, yesterday.

Reports suggest the duck started to attack the fish first, before becoming overwhelmed as the army of supporters swam in for back up to launch the counter-attack.

It didn't take long before the duck fled the scene after conceding defeat.

Global warning: We are actually heading towards a new Ice Age, claim scientists

2008-11-13T09:39:00.000-08:00

It has plagued scientists and politicians for decades, but scientists now say global warming is not the problem.

We are actually heading for the next Ice Age, they claim.

British and Canadian experts warned the big freeze could bury the east of Britain in 6,000ft of ice.
Most of Scotland, Northern Ireland and England could be covered in 3,000ft-thick ice fields.

The expanses could reach 6,000ft from Aberdeen to Kent – towering above Ben Nevis, Britain’s tallest mountain.
The Earth has seen dramatic climate fluctuations – veering between cold and warm extremes - over the past three million years, the researchers say.

And changes in the Earth’s orbit and slowly falling levels of carbon dioxide are the cause.

The team says we are approaching a turning point, in the next 10,000 to 100,000 years, which will lead to the new ice sheets smothering much of Europe, Asia and South America.

The theory, which is based on computer models, suggests ice sheets will also slash sea levels by up to 300m, so Russia and Alaska will be connected by land.

The North Sea will become part of a huge glacier stretching from Holland and Scandinavia to the Russian Far East.
Professor Crowley said the stark findings do not mean we should stop fighting warming.

But he urged: ‘Don’t push the panic button.’

‘There’s no excuse for saying “we’ve got to keep pumping carbon dioxide into the atmosphere,”’ he told Reuters.

‘Geologically it’s tomorrow, but we have lots of time to argue about the appropriate level of greenhouse gases.’

Artist makes a splash at the United Nations... using 100 tons of paint

2008-11-11T16:49:00.000-08:00

United Nations diplomats searching for bright ideas will soon be able to look to the ceiling for inspiration.

Spanish artist Miquel Barcelo has just completed a mammoth redecorating job - using 100 tons of paint - at its European headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland.

The 51-year-old artist has spent more than a year painting the chamber's 1,500 sq m domed ceiling and described the results as like watching 'the sea's surface above your head'.

Known as Room XX, the chamber will house the United Nations Human Rights Council after it is officially unveiled next week.

The eye-catching project is the first initiative of the newly formed Fundacion ONUART, an organisation dedicated to using Spanish contemporary art to the ends of diplomacy.

The redecorated chamber will become the UN's most modern negotiating room, using the latest materials and technology in audiovisual resources, conference services, interpretation systems, information technology and telecommunications.

Flight of fancy: The starlings who turned the sky black with a dazzling sunset display

2008-11-11T12:10:00.000-08:00

The Scottish border town of Gretna Green has an influx of visitors, and not just the human kind.

It seems locals and tourists alike just can't get enough of watching millions of starlings converge on the sky on sunset as the birds search for a safe place to roost.

Hundreds of spectators have been treated to the amazing sunset display, which has left them mesmerised by the huge flock's sweeping aerial acrobatics.

Drivers on the A74M, the main motorway between England and Scotland, have been stopping in their droves to witness the sight.

But the shear mass of birds is causing a distraction to commuters and truck drivers who are urged to take extra care when pulling over and parking to watch the display.

And while it may look like the birds are on a kamakazi mission, the logic behind their aerial acrobatics makes much more sense.

Every winter, the birds take to the skies after a long day spent feeding in nearby reed beds.

As they take flight during the last minutes of daylight, the starlings fly quick and fast in a bid to confuse waiting predators such as sparrowhawks and buzzards.

The tiny birds must converge, fly and sqwark, in an attempt to confuse their predators, reaching speeds of more than 20mph, with few if any crashes.

Scientists say the secret behind their amazing spatial awareness is that each starling tracks seven other birds enabling the group's cohesion.

The naturally occurring event is a spectacle which takes place only during the winter months.

Starling numbers have halved in the last 25 years and they are now red-listed as an endangered species.

Experts say the starlings are a mix of British and European birds and will leave for Russia in February and March.

Nature lover Jon Tait, 34, said: 'It's amazing to see the natural world like this. The shapes and movements they make are beautiful - Hollywood special effects couldn't make it more breathtaking.

'Whenever I get the train I have to dive undercover at the station when they come because they leave a bit of a mess, but it's worth it to see them in the sky.

German woman fails in Beer Mug World Record attempt

2008-11-10T06:47:00.000-08:00

A German woman has attempted to set a new world record by carrying 21 beer mugs at once.

Beer Mug World Record...Anita Schwarz from Eichenau tries to set a new world record carrying 21 beer mugs at once across a distance of 40 metres in a tent near Zeltingen, Germany, 09 November 2008. However, Eichenau fails to transport the mugs in one piec Photo: UPPA/Photoshot

Anita Schwarz, from Eichenau, had to transport the mugs across a distance of 40 metres to be successful.

Wearing traditional dress, Schwarz, 48, began with all 21 mugs balanced in pyramid-fashion.

However, she soon lost control and the tower toppled, sending the contents of every mug spilling out onto the floor of the tent near Zeltingen, in Germany.

Only last month the city of Munich in Bavaria celebrated Oktoberfest, its annual sixteen-day festival, widely known for the beer served at the event.

Beginning in late September and running to early October, the festival attracts some six million people each year.

The original Oktoberfest occurred in Munich on October 12, 1810. To commemorate the marriage of Crown Prince Ludwig and Princess Therese of Saxe-Hildburghausen, a horse race was organised. Since temperatures can be as high as 30 degrees Celsius in that part of Germany at the end of September, large quantities of beer were served to quench the thirst of all of the visitors. The tradition has continued and it is now a yearly event.

Oktoberfestbiers are the beers that have been served at the event in Munich since 1818 and are supplied by six breweries known as the Big Six: Spaten, Löwenbräu, Augustiner, Hofbräu, Paulaner and Hacker-Pschorr.

The event has now become famous around the world although there are regularly problems with festival-goers who canot handle the copious amount of alochol on offer.

There are problems every year with many young people passing out due to drunkenness. These drunk patrons are often called 'Bierleichen', German for 'beer corpses'.

A Very Testy Contest

2008-11-08T00:18:00.000-08:00

Contestant Anthony Bell takes a bull’s testicle in his mouth at the weekend’s Hunterville Huntaway Festival in New Zealand. He was in the Shepherd’s Shermozzle on Saturday, which saw 56 competitors run out of the Hunterville Town Hall, find and claim their dog and head for the nearest high hill. The testicle had to be carted 50m by mouth.

Not too bad to carry by mouth, but you wouldn’t want to eat one.

The bulls’ testicles were the curly bit for contestants in the Shepherd’s Shermozzle in Hunterville at the weekend.

They had to fang into dry weetbix, scoff a raw egg and wash the lot down with a can of beer.

The beer probably also cushioned the taste of raw bulls’ testicles, which had to be carted, by mouth, 50m to the next stage of the competition.

Winner Josh Masters said he’d never carried a bull’s testicle in his teeth before, but it wasn’t too bad.

“Best of all, they weren’t connected to anything.”

People who want the information will be delighted to know a bull’s testicle weighs about 1kg, raw, depending on the size of animal it came from.

They were supplied by meat plants where bulls are killed for export meat.

Rumor had it that one spectator did eat a testicle, raw, but organizers said they couldn’t comment on the taste. They claimed they were “lovely” cooked - a sort of Texas version of the famous mountain oyster.

Mr Masters and his bitch Scruff came first in the Shepherds Shermozzle. (She won a bag of dog biscuits and he a jacket.)

The best dog bark came from Guy Peacock’s dog, Pound.

Underwear Made From Aluminum Cans

2008-11-06T12:49:00.000-08:00

US accused of bombing Afghan wedding party, killing 37

2008-11-05T11:51:00.000-08:00

U.S. warplanes bombed a wedding party, killing 37 people, including 23 children and 10 women, Afghan authorities have claimed.

The bombing on Monday afternoon in the remote village of Wech Baghtu in the southern province of Kandahar destroyed an Afghan housing complex where women and children had gathered to celebrate.

The U.S. military said it was investigating the report but an American spokesman added that 'if innocent people were killed in this operation, we apologise and express our condolences'.

Body parts littered the wreckage and nearby farm animals lay dead.

A bombing run by fighter aircraft a short while later destroyed the compound and killed 37 people, including 23 children, ten women and four men, according to a local farmer whose daughter was to get married.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai referred to the incident at a news conference today held to congratulate Obama on his U.S. presidential election victory.

Karzai said he hopes the election will 'bring peace to Afghanistan, life to Afghanistan and prosperity to the Afghan people and the rest of the world'.

He applauded America for its 'courage' in electing Obama.

But he also used the occasion to immediately press Obama to find a way to prevent civilians casualties in operations by foreign forces.

He then said air strikes had caused deaths in the Shah Wali Kot district of Kandahar province.

'Our demand is that there will be no civilian casualties in Afghanistan. We cannot win the fight against terrorism with air strikes,' Karzai said.

'This is my first demand of the new president of the United States - to put an end to civilian casualties.'

The alleged air strikes come only three months after the Afghan government found that a U.S. operation killed some 90 civilians in western Afghanistan. A U.S. report said 33 civilians died in that attack.

Another incident with a high number of civilian casualties could severely strain U.S.-Afghan relations.

Pictured: World's first truly blue roses go on display in Japan

2008-11-02T11:52:00.000-08:00

They are the stuff of legend - signifying mystery and traditionally believed to be able to grant the owner youth.

For years breeders have crossed different colours of roses in an effort to create the impossible. But rose petals lack the enzyme needed to create a blue pigment and the breeders always failed.

Now for the first time, thanks to genetic engineering, blue roses finally exist.

The very first truly blue roses have gone on display in Japan and will be on sale to the public next year.

After 13 years of research the Japanese Suntory company have finally perfected the mythical flower.

Working with the Australian company Florigene the researchers took the delphinidin gene, which creates the blue colour, from a petunia. They then inserted it into a mauve rose called the Cardinal de Richelieu.

The resultant flower was a dark burgundy colour due to an excess of the blue pigment cyanidin.

After using RNAi technology to reduce this the final blue rose was today unveiled at the annual Flower Expo held at Makuhari Messe in Chiba, Japan.

Police officers facing jail after being caught on video 'kicking and throwing' their pet dogs

2008-10-29T09:01:00.000-07:00

Two police officers are facing jail after they were caught violently kicking and throwing their pet dogs around their backyard.

Anja Mason and Craig Macleod were filmed by a concerned neighbour, who watched Tess, a collie pup, and Snoopy, a rottweiler, being abused at their house in Prestatyn.

Both officers have since been removed from front-line duties.

The pair watched in court as the video of the abuse was shown. Glenn Murphy, prosecuting for the RSPCA, said the DVD showed the dogs being kicked and hit.
Mr Murphy said Tess, who was just 14 weeks old at the time, was picked up by the scruff of her neck by Macleod, which was both excessive and unnecessary.

An RSPCA inspector had been unable to find evidence of abuse but told the neighbour that if she was prepared to do something about it, they may be able to take action.

She then took several hours of footage on her camera. In April the dogs had been seized by the RSPCA and they were now happily re-homed.
A vet who viewed the footage said in a report that it was not necessary to use violence as a training regime.

Mason, 29, and Macleod, 34, pleaded guilty to causing unnecessary suffering to a collie, and Macleod alone to a Rottweiler.

Defence solicitor Joanne Stephens said neither Tess nor Snoopy was injured and a report described them as "lovely, happy dogs" with no ill effects.

'The dogs were fed and watered regularly and they were concerned for their welfare,' she said. They were exercised on a regular basis.'
She said Mason had suffered health problems after an operation and Macleod had been a little concerned that Snoopy had been "over-zealous" when his eight-year-old daughter called.

When he picked Tess up by the scruff of the neck he said he was trying to teach her not to chew something on which she could have choked.

Miss Stephens said Macleod had been told by a dog handler that squirting water at a dog was a deterrent. However, the solicitor said both defendants were remorseful "and ashamed of what the dogs were put through."

She added : 'They would accept on occasions being heavy handed, there was no intention to cause any pain to the animals. Both stand to lose their jobs as a result of their criminal conviction.'

Court chairman Wendy Gibbs said all sentencing options would remain open, including custody and a high-level community penalty. There were several instances of deliberate ill-treatment and frightening of both dogs.

'You caused pain and suffering and mental terror to both dogs, you risked injury to both dogs by kicking,' she told them.

Later a North Wales police spokeswoman said: 'Following today's appearance, both officers have been removed from front line duties and placed in non operational roles pending the result of the case.

'As matters have not yet been finalised in court, it would be wholly inappropriate to make further comment at present.'

Magistrates at Denbigh in North Wales adjourned the case until November 25 for a pre-sentence report.

First pictures of British woman aid worker gunned down by Taliban motorbike killers 'for spreading Christianity'

2008-10-20T14:11:00.000-07:00

A British woman who was working to better the lives of disabled children in Afghanistan has been shot dead by Taliban gunmen because she was working for a Christian organisation.

Gayle Williams, 34, was minutes from her office as she walked to work in Kabul when she was gunned down by two men on a motorbike.

The Taliban quickly claimed responsibility for the killing, claiming its leaders had ordered the murder of Miss Williams because she was spreading the message of Christianity.

But the British-registered charity she worked for, SERVE Afghanistan, said this was a 'convenient excuse' for the grim killing, which it believes was 'completely opportunistic'.

Miss Williams, from London, had been with the organisation for two-and-a-half years, helping to raise awareness of disabilities in Afghan communities and rehabilitating disabled people in their homes.

Her family, including her mother in London and a sister living in South Africa, were said to be 'distraught' Today.

The sports-mad aid worker was described as a 'lovely girl' who was 'passionate' about her work and loved life by the charity's chairman Mike Lyth.

He explained that Miss Williams had only recently been pulled out of the southern Kandahar province, as it was considered too dangerous to work there.

'She came back about six months ago as we felt it probably wasn't a good idea to stay on there because we heard that the Taliban had been seen coming in and the threat was there so we pulled our people out,' he said.

'Kabul is supposed to be the safest place in Afghanistan.

'Our people are thoroughly trained and Gayle always used to come by different routes to avoid risk.

'She gave herself for those who were disadvantaged - that was her passion. It was people who were marginalised and helping them to get on track which drove her on.

'At 5am I got a phone call and it was dreadful. She was an amazing girl and in some ways being on the board I have a responsibility for the safety of the people working for us so I feel very deeply about this.'

Today Afghanistan's Interior Ministry spokesman, Zemeri Bashary, said Miss Williams had been shot in the body and leg with a pistol before the men fled the scene.

Miss Williams died almost immediately. Blood stains could later be seen on the pavement where she was killed.

Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid later claimed she was killed ‘because she was working for an organisation which was preaching Christianity in Afghanistan’.

'This woman came to Afghanistan to teach Christianity to the people of Afghanistan,’ he said.

'Our (leaders) issued a decree to kill this woman. This morning our people killed her in Kabul.'

Eyewitness Daolad Khan, who was working on a building site directly opposite the murder scene, said: 'They raced up the street and stopped in front of the lady. They took out a gun and shot her on the spot. Then they rode off.'

A close friend of Miss Williams who did not wish to be named, told the Daily Mail: 'Although she will be sorely missed I will see her again. She will be wearing the martyr's crown.

'Knowing Gayle she would not have wanted anything more for her life than to die in His service.'

Miss Williams, who also holds South African citizenship, attended secondary school in Britain before moving to South Africa where she completed a sports degree with a view to working with people with disabilities.

She moved back to London where she worked with people with special needs, before choosing to work with the charity.

Her favourite sports are understood to have included track events and hockey.

The aid group she worked with - fully known as Serving Emergency Relief and Vocational Enterprises - describes itself as a Christian charity registered in Britain.

Its website states that SERVE Afghanistan's purpose is to 'express God's love and bring hope by serving the people of Afghanistan, especially the needy, as we seek to address personal, social and environmental needs'.

Rina Vamberende, a spokeswoman for SERVE in Kabul, said the group was a Christian organization 'but they are definitely not expressing this on purpose. They are here to do NGO (aid) work. It's not the case that they preach, not at all.'

In Afghanistan, proselytizing - converting a person from one belief to another - is prohibited by law and other Christian charities have faced severe hostility.

In mid-August, Taliban militants killed three women working for the U.S. aid group International Rescue Committee while they were driving in Logar, one province south of Kabul.

Last year, a group of 23 South Korean aid workers from a church group were taken hostage in southern Afghanistan. Two were killed and the rest were released.

In 2001, eight international aid workers, including two Americans, were imprisoned and charged with preaching Christianity. They were all freed by Afghan mujahedeen fighters attacking the Taliban after the U.S.-led invasion.

The killing will lead to a growing sense of insecurity in Kabul.

Kidnappings targeting wealthy Afghans have long been a problem, but attacks against Westerners have also increased recently. Embassies, military bases and the United Nations have erected cement barriers to guard against suicide bombings.

'The risks are great and increasing,' said Mr Lyth. There has been a steady increase of this type of thing happening but it has not often happened in Kabul.

'There were three women shot two months ago in a place which we did not think was safe but now it is on the streets of Kabul and that has really hit home to us.'

Jailed for just 27 months: The thug who killed a bus passenger for asking him to stop swearing

2008-10-17T13:24:00.000-07:00

A yob who killed a bus passenger during a row about his swearing has been jailed for just 27 months. Gary Robson, 23, shoved 60-year-old Stanley Dixon off the bus after he challenged him about his language. Mr Dixon hit his head on a pavement and died in hospital four days later. The drunken thug lunged at Mr Dixon after his partner, Anne Fisher, challenged Robson over the way he was speaking to his own girlfriend. Her complaints were met with a barrage of insults and abuse, prompting Mr Dixon to stick up for her. Newcastle Crown Court heard Mr Dixon and Mrs Fisher had been travelling home to Peterlee from a night out in Hartlepool when Robson and his pals got onto the same bus. Prosecutor Ewan Duff said: 'Anne Fisher had remonstrated with the defendant for using foul language and being abusive on a public service bus late in the evening. 'The remonstration by Mrs Fisher led to the defendant then being abusive to her and in turn led to Mr Dixon intervening in an attempt to stop that abuse. 'The incident ended with the defendant pushing Mr Dixon from the bus on which they all had been travelling so that he fell back from the bus, struck his head on the pavement and from which he sustained fatal injuries from which he died.' Fellow passengers had also been insulted and forced to change seats to get away from Robson and his friends during the journey. One elderly lady had said Robson in particular was using foul language. 'Every other word he used was the "F" word, it was upsetting to all,' she told police. The court heard it was when Robson, who was celebrating landing a new sales job, had turned his anger and aggression towards his own girlfriend, that Mrs Fisher decided to speak out. 'It seems to have been the abuse from the defendant towards his own girlfriend that caused Mrs Fisher to intevene,' Mr Duff said. 'What she did was to turn and ask the defendant to stop swearing as there were young girls on the bus. 'The response of the defendant when Mrs Fisher asked them to stop was to say something to her like "what the f**** has it got to do with you" or "shut the f*** up and mind your own business".' The court heard it was at this point Mr Dixon, a divorced father-of-three with a history of heart trouble, stepped in to defend his partner, but was also met with abuse. Mr Duff added: 'The general picture is of the defendant being aggressive towards Mr DIxon and indeed attempting to hit him on a number of occasions.' Even Robson's girlfriend and his friend were trying to pull him back from Mr Dixon and Mrs Fisher, who had already decided to leave the bus. It was as they stopped to give the driver, who was calling the police, their names and addresses that the fatal clash occurred. Mr Duff said: 'Mrs Fisher saw the defendant coming from the back of the bus and she feared he was going to attack Mr Dixon so she attempted to bar his way. 'She was struck in the face by the defendant, her glasses were knocked sideways and the defendant was able to get past her. 'Mr Dixon was posing no threat at all to the defendant and the defendant made a very determined effort to get to him, knocking Mrs Fisher aside, forcing his way past her and quite deliberately pushing Mr Dixon forcefully in the chest.' Mr Dixon was taken to Sunderland Royal Hospital and later transfered to a specialist at Newcastle General but was pronounced dead on July 2. The court heard Mr Dixon, who divorced the mother of his three children in 1999, had met Mrs Fisher, who has one daughter, in 2002. After the attack Robson went home and bought himself a pizza before being arrested by police the next day. Defence barrister Richard Bloomfield said Robson, who had previously been in the armed forces, was genuinely sorry for what he did. Mr Bloomfield said; 'He will always have to carry with him the knowledge he was responsible for the responsible for the death of another person, all be it unintended. 'He carries that with him and does appear to be genuinely remorseful for what he has done.' Judge David Hodson jailed Robson for 27 months. The judge said: 'It is well recognised that these cases are among the most difficult that any court has to deal with. 'Mrs Fisher's victim impact statement speaks of the devastation that Mr Dixon's death has caused her and how her life will never be the same again. 'No court can ever restore Stanley Dixon to his family, no sentence can ever match their dreadful loss, no sentence of the defendant can ever equate to the sentence the family will have to endure, that will last forever. 'The court must have in mind the unlawful act was done without any intention to kill or cause really serious harm. 'Of course the result was Mr Dixon's death, but I accept that was not your intention.' Robson, of Peterlee, County Durham, admitted manslaugher at an earlier hearing.

Britain could have first 'green Christmas' as climate change warms autumn

2008-10-15T11:37:00.000-07:00

Britain could soon have its first 'green Christmas' because of the dramatic effect of climate change, environmental experts are predicting.

Trees that used to shed their leaves in autumn are now often still in leaf in mid December.

Scientists say it is only a matter of time before foliage remains until the end of the month.

According to records, oak trees - considered a good indicator as they are found across the UK - shed their leaves between November 4 and 21 in the 1930s and 1940s.

But since 2000 the process has happened no earlier than November 23 and as late as December 13.

Dr Tim Sparks, of the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology in Cambridgeshire, said: 'Sooner or later we will get a green Christmas, when the trees are still in leaf.

'In four of the past six or seven years there have still been leaves on the trees in December, so a green Christmas is not so much of a joke now.

'It will only take a delay in one or two frosts and we could have one. It's possible it will happen this year.'

Dr Sparks added: 'Because the temperatures are remaining up there's still a lot of activity and growth.

'Lawns are still growing and people are still mowing and the trees are unseasonably green.

'We are still getting butterflies and other insects flying and there are lots of fungi, such as mushrooms.

'I've scraped my windscreen only once this year. We haven't really had a frost yet.'

A spokesman for Ladbrokes said: 'We've never had a bet on a green Christmas but we wouldn't rule it if we could find a way of adjudicating.'

Fisherman hooked after shark he caught fights back

2008-10-14T11:14:00.000-07:00

First, the fisherman hooked the shark. Then the shark hooked the fisherman.

In a bizarre case of a shark striking back at the man who caught it, fisherman Geoff Johnson lost two litres of blood in a battle with the 6ft reef shark on board his boat.

Geoff, 50, and his partner Jacky Lamb were fishing a few miles from Darwin, in Australia's Northern Territory, when he hooked the shark.

As he reeled it in, he tried to grab it by the tail so he could free the hook from its mouth, but the shark was having none of it.

In a desperate struggle to get away, it bit Mr Johnson on his right knee - and then, to add to the fisherman's agony, the point of the hook that was protruding from the side of the shark's mouth stabbed him in the leg.

'As the shark thrashed around it just tore my leg open, because the hook was still in there,' he said.

'The hook did more damage than the shark,' he told the Northern Territory News.

'There was blood going everywhere...I had to lay down and Jacky had to drive the boat back in.' Jacky was shocked at the amount of blood Geoff had lost. 'It looked like somebody had been murdered,' she said.

It was 45 minutes before the boat arrived back at the shore, where Geoff hobbled up a boat ramp with a blood-soaked towel around his leg while Jacky ran for help.

Bystanders drove Geoff to the Royal Darwin Hospital where he received 30 stitches in the wound.

He has promised to buy a round of beers for those who came to help him.

As for the shark - Geoff will get his revenge when, trimmed and dressed, it ends up on his barbecue.

Reef sharks are regarded as harmless to humans unless provoked.

Pictured: Is this the crocodile that ate a British tourist alive in Australia?

2008-10-06T13:41:00.000-07:00

Caught in a trap and with bloody jaws, this is the crocodile that may have eaten a British tourist alive in Australia.

Wildlife rangers are expecting to confirm today whether they have finally caught the killer reptile which grabbed British-born tourist Arthur Booker from a tropical river last week.

The 14ft male crocodile was caught in a trap, bound with ropes and will be X-rayed to establish whether human remains are in its stomach.

A test carried out yesterday, involving the removal of samples from the crocodile's stomach with a special 'search and grab' camera, failed to provide any conclusive evidence whether it was the reptile that consumed 62-year-old Scots-born Mr Booker.

Rangers and police have also captured an 8ft crocodile, whose sex has yet to be determined, and it will be given a drug which will result in it regurgitating its stomach contents. The drug is less effective on larger creatures.

'We're hoping that we'll soon have our answers,' said Mr Mike Devery of Queensland's Environmental Protection Agency.

Rangers from the agency, working with police, have been searching the Endeavour River, near the remote northern Queensland community of Cooktown, since Mr Booker - originally from Banff - vanished when he left his campsite to check on crab pots he had laid in the river.

His wife Doris, who went looking for him when he failed to return, raised the alarm and police later found what appeared to be the marks of a crocodile on the river bank beside the crab pots.

Mr Booker's watch and his sandals were later found nearby, but there was no sign of him.

There were suspicions that a large crocodile, known to local people as Charlie, may have been responsible - but rangers remained sceptical that he was the culprit.

Mr Devery said that the larger crocodile now in captivity was of greater concern and may be the reptile that grabbed Mr Booker.

'It concerned us when it displayed threatening behaviour, such as not swimming away from boats and remaining on the surface, when we were searching the river,' said Mr Devery.

'This particular crocodile over the last few days of searching demonstrated territorial behaviour that we regarded ... as behaviour where we would remove it.'

But he admitted that the cause of its behaviour could have been the arrival of the search boats which might have approached its nest.

As for Charlie, he said it wasn't a crocodile 'that we had cause to be concerned about.'

The wildlife agency said any trapped crocodiles would not be harmed or killed.

Once examined, whether any was found to be the culprit or not, they would probably be relocated to another remote river system.

Mr Booker's disappearance, and presumed death in the jaws of a crocodile, has opened up a fierce debate about whether the reptiles should be culled - or whether tourists should be banned from areas where their numbers are prolific.

One Queensland MP has insisted that 'the lot of them should be shot' while animal protection groups say it is simply up to people to exercise caution when entering areas were crocodiles live.

Pictured: The incredible Siamese twin fish conjoined at the stomach

2008-10-03T12:14:00.000-07:00

It is so incredibly rare that you would think Siamese twin fish attached at the stomach would never survive.

But at eight months old, these two Nile Tilapia fish in Thailand have found the perfect way to cope with life upside down... or the right way up if you're the lucky twin.

The bigger fish protects its smaller sibling on the bottom, while it in turn looks for food.

The Nile Tilapia fish is a common freshwater species found in tropical rivers, canals, lakes and ponds but these two were found in a Bangkok aquarium.

The fish can reaches a maximum of 2ft in length and can weigh up to 9lb.

Originally from waters stretching from Africa to the Cape Horn, the fish was introduced to freshwater irrigation systems so as to fight algae growth but has now become a pest.

Behind shrimp and salmon Nile Tilapia is the third most imported fish to the U.S.

It is not the first time Siamese twins have been discovered in the animal kingdom.

In July, a pair of barn swallows conjoined at the hip by skin and muscle tissue, were found in Arkansas.

The Arkansas Game & Fish Commission said it was a 'one in a million - probably more than that - occurrence'.

When discovered by officials the birds were not eating, and one died, while a veterinarian later put the other down.

Experts say finding conjoined birds is rare because they likely die before being discovered.

They believe the birds came from a double yolk egg.

Africa’s Most Dangerous Animals - The Top 7

2008-09-28T17:22:00.000-07:00

Below is our list of seven most dangerous animals in Africa based on the estimated number of human fatalities. With some of these animals, exact numbers were hard to obtain since most of the attacks happen in remote parts of Africa.

7. The Desert Locusts
Though they don’t kill humans directly, the devastation they cause to crops has a direct effect on humans and so they warrant a slot in Africa’s top dangerous animals.

The Desert Locust is one of about a dozen species of short-horned grasshoppers that are known to change their behavior and form swarms of adults or bands of hoppers (wingless nymphs). They may spread over an enormous area of some 29 million square kilometres, extending over or into parts of 60 countries. This is more than 20% of the total land surface of the world.

The last major Locust plague outbreak occurred in the summer of 2004 in West and North Africa . The swarms migrated over the continent causing devastation, and in November 2004 appeared in northern Egypt, Jordan and Israel for the first time in 50 years.

One swarm in Morocco was between Tarfaya and Tan-Tan and was 230 km long, at least 150 m wide, and contained an estimated 69,000,000,000 locusts(69 billion), which were being used as a food resource by 33 different bird species.

Its estimated that the costs of fighting this upsurge could have exceeded US$400 million and harvest losses were valued at up to US$2.5 billion which had disastrous effects on the food security situation in West Africa.

Below is a short video showing swarms of locusts out on the rampage destroying vegetation in their पथ्स

6. Lions

The most famous incidents of lions attacking humans are the Lions of Tsavo in Kenya during the construction of the Kenya-Uganda in the 20th century. While lions don’t normally attack humans, some (usually male) lions seem to seek out human prey.

Studies have been conducted regarding the man-eating habit of lions especially in Tanzania। Between the period of 1990 to 2005 at least 563 people in a village in Tanzania villagers were attacked and many eaten over this period—a number far exceeding the more famed “Tsavo” incidents of a century earlier.

5. Crocodiles

African crocodiles have very strong and powerful jaws that they use to bite their prey with extreme force. Its said that the force of a crocodile bite is in excess of 5,000 pounds per square inch which is considered to be the strongest bite of any animal! Compare that to an 800 per square inch bite by a hyena.

Of the crocodile species, the Nile crocodile and the Saltwater species is the most dangerous to humans. Every year, hundreds of attacks are reported through out Africa. Because most of the occur in remote regions, its hard to get accurate data of the actual number of people killed by crocodiles

Its said that most attacks on humans by large Nile Crocodiles and Saltwater Crocodiles are completed within a few seconds। Crocodiles kill their victims by dragging them under water and drowning them.

4. Elephants

Being the largest land mammals, Elephants are among the world’s most potentially dangerous animals. Their huge size make them capable of crushing and killing any other land animal, including lions.

Adult male elephants go through something called musth. The animal becomes very aggressive and when in this state, a thick liquid secretion comes out through the temporal ducts from the temporal glands on the sides of the head. They say an elephant on Musth is aroused sexually or trying to be domineering but this is not conclusive. A musth elephant is extremely dangerous to humans and should be avoided at all costs.

It is claimed that an incident occurred in Africa where some young elephants attacked villages in what was said to be a revenge mission for the massive culling that took place on their herds in the 1970-80s। It seems the elephants never forgot and went on a payback mission.

3. Buffalo

Part of the “Big Five” wild animals in Africa, buffaloes are considered to be very dangerous animals especially the ones that are wounded. The Buffalo is a very strong animal which is respected by other animals including lions.

Apart from humans, they have very few natural predators. I could not find any official data to show the number of people killed by buffaloes but cases have been reported of people being killed or injured badly by these creatures when they cross paths.

2. Hippo
Looking at hippos, one might think they are sloppy, slow and sluggish animals. Don’t be fooled by appearances! Hippos can outrun you and and are believed to be the second most dangerous animals in Africa. Because of human/animal land conflict the hippos invade farmlands at night to feed and destroy the crops and this is where the problem starts. I’ve read this story of hippos going on the rampage and attacking people and spreading terror in the Niger.

1. Mosquito
The mosquitoes is the most dangerous animal in Africa. I thought it weired that a mosquito would be considered an animal but according to Wordnet.Princeton.edu, an animal is defined as “a living organism characterized by voluntary movement“. Mosquitoes are the carrier of the deadly virus that causes malaria, one of the world’s deadliest disease.

Stunning Facts:

* Malaria is responsible for nearly half of the deaths of children under the age of 5 years in Africa.
* It kills more than 2,800 children a day in Africa and according to Third World Network Features direct and indirect costs of malaria amounted to US $800 million in 1987 and were expected to reach US $1.8 billion annually in Africa by 1995.
* 80 to 90% of malaria deaths occur in sub-Saharan Africa where 90% of the infected people live.
* Other: Malaria kills 8,000 Brazilians yearly - more than AIDS and cholera combined!!

' I was tortured by police to confess I killed Scarlett' says chief suspect in Goa murder

2008-09-28T13:27:00.000-07:00

The man accused of raping and murdering British schoolgirl Scarlett Keeling on a beach in Goa has admitted leaving her there semi-conscious – but insisted he was not responsible for her death.

Samson D’Souza, 29, was dramatically freed last week when a judge ruled there was no evidence linking him to the crime in February.

He had spent seven months in custody after the 15-year-old was found dead in the resort of Anjuna following her mother Fiona MacKeown’s decision to continue a six-month holiday by travelling in the region without her.

Speaking for the first time since being released on bail, Mr D’Souza admitted leaving Scarlett in a comatose state on the beach where she was found dead just hours later.

But he said: ‘All I am guilty of is being the last person as far as I am aware to leave her behind at the beach. Scarlett was very drunk on the night she died. She was falling all over the place and could not stand.

‘The safest option was to leave her on the beach. It is not a crime to do what I did.’

Mr D’Souza’s release on Thursday, which effectively leaves the investigation back at square one, is the latest twist in the horrific story of Scarlett’s death and the sorry circumstances leading to it.

When her body was found battered and semi-naked, police initially claimed she had drowned accidentally after taking drugs.

A toxicology report revealed she had consumed a cocktail of drugs, including cocaine, and alcohol.

In the aftermath, Mrs MacKeown, 43, accused the Indian authorities of a cover-up, while her critics questioned her judgment in leaving behind her daughter with an older boyfriend, 25-year-old Julio Lobo, in an atmosphere rife with drink, drugs and sex.

A second post-mortem examination revealed the teenager had in fact been raped, had 50 abrasions on her body and was killed when her head was forcibly held under water for between five to ten minutes.

Mr D’Souza, an Indian who worked at Lui’s bar where Scarlett was drinking on the night she died, was the second person arrested in connection with her death.

The first, Placido Carvalho, was charged with supplying her with cocaine, ecstasy and LSD and was released on bail in April. Mr D’Souza was charged with rape and murder.

Several key witnesses reported seeing the barman lying on top of Scarlett outside the bar shortly before her body was found. But this week, Goa’s Children’s Court ruled there was no forensic evidence linking him to Scarlett, of Bideford, Devon.

‘Other than the accused last being seen with Scarlett prior to her death, there is no other material bringing out his role in her rape or death,’ the court order said.

Now, Mr D’Souza claims he was tortured into a confession by police desperate to find a scapegoat.

Scarlett’s mother has accused him of ‘messing around with her’ and of knowing who her killers were, but said: ‘I don’t think he raped and murdered her.’

The barman says Scarlett was a tragedy waiting to happen due to what he claims was her mother’s negligent attitude to her upbringing. He claims Mrs MacKeown was fully aware that Scarlett was drinking heavily and taking drugs throughout their family holiday in Goa.

Speaking from the home he shares with his French wife Bridget and their 16-month-old-daughter Lya just outside Anjuna, Mr D’Souza said: ‘It was a well known fact around Anjuna that Scarlett was always drinking.

‘She used to go from bar to bar racking up credit bills and even used to go up to people and steal their drinks. She was very like most Britishers – when she started drinking she could not stop.

‘She boasted she had been drinking for three days without sleeping. What mother leaves their 15-year-old girl on their own in Goa to get drunk and end up in such trouble?’

On the night Scarlett died, Mr D’Souza was working at Lui’s bar. He said: ‘Scarlett was drinking in the bar and by the end of the evening she could not walk. I tried to call her a taxi to take her home but she insisted on being left on the beach. I’m afraid that’s what I did. It was only the next morning that I heard she was dead.’

Mr D’Souza added: ‘In hindsight, knowing that she died, it is sad, but I did the most responsible thing that I could at the time.’

He said he believed she drowned while trying to swim when drunk and under the influence of drugs, adding: ‘I cannot say any more than that because I was at home when she died.’

Mr D’Souza said he only confessed to her murder because police tortured him. He added: ‘They held me without charge from February 21 until my first court appearance
in March.

‘To get the confession out of me they initially beat me with their fists. Then they used plastic rods to beat my feet. When that didn’t work they used electric shock diodes on my head and body until I said I would confess to anything they wanted. But I am totally innocent.’

The case was handed to India’s Central Bureau of Investigation in June after local police were criticised for the way they handled it.

Mr D’Souza said he hopes to settle in France once he is formally cleared. He added: ‘We are going to start all over again. My life here is ruined. I cannot stay.’

Fiona MacKeown’s spokesman, Clarence Mitchell, said: ‘Samson D’Souza has been bailed but he is still facing a most serious charge.’

The punk rock turtle with a bright green mohawk

2008-09-26T12:39:00.000-07:00

He may be an endangered species, but this turtle clearly has attitude.

The punk rock-loving Mary River Turtle was photographed in the Mary River near Kenilworth, Australia sporting a fetching bright green mohawk.

But the attractive specimen, who has one blue eye, wasn't making a political protest - his green hairdo is just algae growing on his head.

The Mary River Turtle has become a popular figure with environmentalists who say the endangered creature is being further threatened by Queensland State Government's plans to build a dam on the river.

It is one of the more unusual species of turtles as it breathes through lung-like structures in its tail and needs shallow water to survive.

The hairsute creature was captured by amateur photographer Chris Van Wyk as it quietly waded in the shallows.

The dark matter galaxy that could be orbiting our Milky Way

2008-09-24T13:26:00.001-07:00

A satellite galaxy made almost entirely of dark matter could be orbiting the Milky Way, a new image has revealed.

It is one of 24 neighbouring galaxies spotted by the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, which has recorded the night sky in greater detail than ever before.

The results have doubled the number of known dwarf galaxies orbiting the Milky Way.

The latest finding is particularly significant as it appears to have a very low light-to-mass ratio - a billion times less bright than the Milky Way itself.

Yale Professor of Astronomy Marla Geha, who led the team that made the discovery, believes that the galaxy, named 'Segue 1' is mainly composed of dark matter.

The scientists studying the galaxy believe this is due to the fact that despite having a mass of a million suns, it is not nearly as bright as it should be.
'I’m excited about this object,' she said. 'Segue 1 is the most extreme example of a galaxy that contains only a few hundred stars, yet has a relatively large mass.

'These dwarf galaxies tell us a great deal about galaxy formation, for example, different theories about how galaxies form predict different numbers of dwarf galaxies versus large galaxies. So just comparing numbers is significant.'

The discovery of dark matter is often significant to astronomers, who believe it makes up around 85 per cent of the mass in the universe. Despite the fact that it does not absorb or emit light, it is possible to examine it's gravitational effect on surrounding matter. The scientists hope that discoveries lke Segue 1 will provide clues about how galaxies evolve.

'The galaxies I now consider bright used to be the least luminous ones we knew about,' Geha continued. 'It’s a totally new regime. This is a story that’s just unfolding.'

The team's findings will shortly be published in The Astrophysical Journal.

Scientists discover why we all have fish fingers

2008-09-22T12:18:00.000-07:00

You may think you have little or no connection to the ugly-looking customer pictured below.

After all, you're an intelligent and good-looking Daily Mail reader and it is a crocodile-like beast that splashed about in the seas 385million years ago.

But it was the choice of creatures such as this to crawl out of the water and on to the land that mean you can hold this newspaper today.

For in doing so, their fins slowly evolved into what eventually became our fingers (and our toes, too).

The idea that the digits of land vertebrates were derived from the bones contained within fish fins is not new.

But it fell out of favour in the 1990s largely based on earlier studies of Panderichthys - our toothy friend pictured above - which appeared to show that it lacked the necessary finger-like divisions in its fins.

Instead, it was thought that digits in vertebrates developed simply as an 'evolutionary novelty'.

But now the findings of a study of a fossil have shown that the original interpretation was correct - Panderichthys did indeed have the divisions in its fins that would one day become fingers and toes.

The discovery has been made by biotechnologist Dr Catherine Boisvert and her colleagues at Uppsala University in Sweden after they X-rayed the fossil using computer scans.

She said their findings made a strong case for our digits not being just the happy accident of evolution.

Pictured: At least 40 people killed as fire sweeps through Marriott hotel in Pakistan after suicide car bomb

2008-09-20T12:55:00.000-07:00

A car bomb has exploded outside the Marriott in the Pakistani capital Islamabad killing at least 40 people and starting a fire which swept through the hotel.

The explosion happened hours after new President Asif Ali Zardari, widower of assassinated former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, made his first address to a joint sitting of parliament.

"A car laden with explosives rammed the gate at the Marriott and so far we have brought out 40 dead bodies, but the number could well be higher," police chief Asghar Raza Gardazi said.

Television pictures showed flames and smoke pouring out of the 290-room hotel, located close to the city centre and popular with tourists. A senior official said it appeared to have been a suicide attack.

The blast brought down the ceiling in a banquet room where there were about 200 to 300 people at a meal to break the fast during the holy month of Ramadan.

Imtiaz Gul, a journalist, was among them.

"We just ran for cover, I could see a lot of injured people lying around me," Gul said.
Zardari has pledged to fight Islamist militants who have been blamed for a string of bomb attacks in the country.

But he told parliament that Pakistan would not tolerate any infringement of its territory in the name of the fight against militants. A series of U.S. strikes on militants along the Pakistan-Afghan border have infuriated many Pakistanis.

Zardari won a presidential election this month to replace U.S. ally Pervez Musharraf, who stepped down in August under threat of impeachment.

The United States and Afghanistan say al Qaeda and Taliban militants operate out of bases in remote ethnic Pashtun lands on the Pakistani side of the Afghan border.

The blast outside the Marriott was the biggest to hit Islamabad and destroyed dozens of cars outside and shattered windows and damaged buildings hundreds of metres away. The Marriott chain has its headquarters in the United States.

Police at the scene said people were still trapped inside. A crane was brought in to try to get people out.

There was a large crater in the road by the hotel's heavy security barriers. The street was littered with debris and broken branches from roadside trees and acrid smoke drifted in the air.

The hotel has been bombed twice before but the Saturday evening blast was the most serious in the Pakistani capital since the country joined the U.S.-led campaign against militancy in late 2001.

Al Qaeda-linked militants based in sanctuaries in the Afghan border have launched a bloody campaign of bomb attacks in retaliation for offensives by the security forces.

Taking paracetamol regularly 'triples risk of asthma'

2008-09-17T12:54:00.000-07:00

People who regularly use paracetamol are nearly three times more likely to have asthma than infrequent users, says a new study.

Other painkillers were not linked to the disease, according to the study organised by the Global Allergy and Asthma European Network.

Researchers analysed the frequency of analgesic use in over 500 adults with asthma and 500 healthy people in several European countries.

The findings suggest the risk of asthma symptoms is increased by frequent paracetamol use, at least once a week compared with less often.

More than five million Britons suffer asthma, including 1.4 million children, and the disease causes 70,000 hospital admissions and 1,400 deaths each year.

Some asthmatics choose to take paracetamol out of a range of painkillers available over-the-counter because they have a recognised sensitivity to aspirin or non-steroidal anti-inflammatory (NSAIDs) drugs such as Nurofen.

The latest study was published today in the European Respiratory Journal.

Dr Seif Shaheen from Imperial College London, and one of the authors of the study, said 'Epidemiological evidence is growing that shows a link between paracetamol and asthma.

'Since 2000, several publications have reported this association for instance in the UK and the USA.

'We have also shown that asthma prevalence is higher in children and adults in countries with higher paracetamol sales.

'Considering asthma is a common disease and paracetamol use is frequent, it is now important to find out if the association is really a causal one.'

The researchers believe regular use of paracetamol decreases levels of the antioxidant glutathione, found in the airways and the nose, which protects the lungs from air pollution and tobacco smoke.

It also protects against the harmful effects of free radicals - natural substances found in greater numbers in the lungs of asthmatics because they are generated as part of the inflammatory process.

Leanne Male, Asthma UK’s Assistant Director of Research, said 'Now there is data from across the world suggesting a link between paracetamol use and an increased risk of developing asthma, we need to carry out further studies to identify whether paracetamol actually plays a role in causing the condition.

'This is particularly important because, if proven, it could potentially enable us reduce the number of people developing asthma in a way that other causes, for example genetic factors, may not be as easy to do.'

The moment 23 Muslims were crushed to death in stampede during Ramadan charity hand-out

2008-09-15T19:01:00.000-07:00

At least 23 Muslims were killed in a stampede in Indonesia today as they crowded an alley to receive a cash handout for the holy month of Ramadan.

The victims, who are believed to all be women, were among thousands who packed a narrow sidestreet to receive a cash gift worth just £2.36 each from a rich family.

Fearing they would be too late to receive any money, those at the back of the crowd surged forwards and pushed each other over, police said.

In Indonesia, where more than 30 per cent of the population earn less than 18,000 rupiahs (£1.10) per day, the 40,000 rupiahs would be seen as a considerable gift.

‘They were afraid they wouldn’t be able to get the money,’ said national police spokesman Abubakar Nataprawira.

Women were seen crying out in pain and fear as the crowd packed into a fenced area outside the family’s house in Pasuruan, East Java province.

Religious Affairs Minister Maftuh Basyuni said that President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono had expressed his ‘regret’ over the loss of life and had blamed the organisers of the charity handout.

Cash handouts are a common form of charity favoured by wealthy Indonesians during the holy month.

‘It’s an annual activity from that family but there were a lot more people lining up today than in previous years,’ Pasuruan mayor Aminurrahman said.

He said there were at least 2,500 people in the alley but police put the number at around 5,000.

Muslims are supposed to abstain from eating, drinking and having sex from dawn to dusk during Ramadan.

At night they break their fast with relatively lavish family meals that often include expensive treats.

Many families are tightening their belts this Ramadan, with inflation running at above 10 per cent after a 30 per cent hike in subsidised fuel prices in May.

Indonesia is the biggest economy in south-east Asia but more than 30 per cent of its 234million people earn less than two dollars a day, and unemployment is around 8.5 per cent.

Best of friends: Lonely chicken Gladys finds soulmate...with Snowy the farmhouse cat

2008-09-13T13:51:00.000-07:00

It's an unlikely partnering, but a lonely chicken has struck up an extraordinary friendship with a cat.

In another life, Snowy the cat would surely be chasing chicken Gladys round the farm they both live on.

But against all the odds, the pair have become firm friends - even lavishing affection on each other.

The incredible friendship blossomed just over two months ago when a fox killed 13 chicks - leaving Gladys as the only survivor.

Alone and in need of a friend, Gladys was brought into the farmhouse by her owners to keep her safe. And it was here her beautiful friendship with Snowy began.

Now the two pals are inseparable at the farm in MIddleton, near Leiston in Suffolk, and Snowy even puts her paw around the chicken to comfort her.

Owner Jane Etheridge says one of her bantam hens hatched 14 chicks - including Gladys - but after just two days a fox attack left just three of the chicks alive and a pile of feathers.

Two of the chicks later died but Gladys survived and was brought into the farmhouse where she was fed breadcrumbs to build her strength.

It was here Gladys was befriended by 10-year-old Snowy, and the cat would even wash the fragile bird as well as affectionately rub up against her.

Mrs Etheridge, a 69-year-old pony breeder who is married to Albert, 70, said: 'Gladys would not have survived outside, she would have died, so we kept her inside where she was warm.

'Snowy cleaned her and washed her. Gladys is now about two-and-a-half months old and is our pet.

'She still comes into the house to play.

'She comes in and bounces up and down in front of Snowy and he just stands there and takes it and puts his paw around her.

'They are the best of friends, very much so, and when she first started going out she would not go unless they went together.

'He is a very strange cat and was actually feral when we got him, completely wild. But now he is all too human and a real softie. He sits on my lap, rolls over and puts his paw out on the chair.

'They are a strange couple but we love them both very much.'

Young mother who admitted hiding her two stillborn babies in shoe boxes avoids jail

2008-09-12T14:41:00.000-07:00

A young mother who concealed the birth two stillborn babies then got rid of their tiny bodies by hiding one in a shoe box and burying the other in her father's garden, has avoided jail.

Kerry Ardis, 21, concealed the pregnancies from both the natural fathers and delivered the stillborn babies - which she named Poppy and Louis - herself over a three-year period.

The badly-decomposed body of an infant girl was found in her old bedroom at her father's house in 2005 and the body of a boy was found buried earlier this year.

The corpses were discovered by her father Alan at his home in the Keyham area of Plymouth.

Ardis, who works as a beautician, pleaded guilty to four charges of concealing the birth of two infants and preventing the 'decent burial' of the babies.

She was handed a nine-month suspended sentence by Judge Francis Gilbert, who called the case 'a tragedy'.

He said: 'I'll make it clear that I do not hold you responsible for the death of either baby and on that basis this case is a tragedy for you and your family for which you deserve sympathy and understanding rather than punishment.

'Both times you were young and had to go through the ordeal of having two stillborn babies alone.'

Judge Gilbert said the maximum sentence for the crime would have been two years, but that no guideline cases were available for comparison.

He also placed Ardis under a two-year supervision order.

Tracey Baker, defending, said psychiatric reports on her client revealed she had 'no identifiable mental illness' but was suffering from 'mixed anxiety and depressed mood'.

Speaking after her guilty plea last month, Ardis revealed that she had named the babies Poppy and Louis.

She admitted that she was 'stupid' to hide their remains, but claimed she could not bear the pain of letting her babies go.

Ardis said: 'I am absolutely devastated. I did something stupid. I made a mistake. I just could not let them go, not because I was a criminal or anything sinister.

'The first time I didn't even know I was pregnant - both me or the father didn't know.

'It was a pretty big shock when I started bleeding and there was a baby. Within a few minutes it was all over and I was holding a baby.
'I am not expecting anybody to understand - you feel so lonely and isolated when you lose a baby.'

Plymouth Crown Court heard how the first body was discovered by Alan Ardis on August 11, 2005.

Mr Ardis, 52, began to notice a bad smell and had assumed his then teenage daughter had left food to fester in her bedroom.

But he made the grim discovery after tracing the source of the smell to a shoe box that Ardis had hidden in her wardrobe.

She confessed to her father but the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) chose not to press charges.

But in May 29 this year, the father was working in his garden when he discovered the corpse of a second baby inside a box wrapped in black plastic.

Ardis, of Plymouth, initially claimed that the boy was the twin of her first still-born girl, but tests revealed the baby's death was more recent.

Devon and Cornwall Police launched an investigation and the CPS decided to prosecute on the grounds of public interest.

She was accused of 'endeavouring to conceal the birth of a child of which she had delivered by the secret disposition of the dead body of the said child between July 1, 2005 and November 11, 2005'.

She also faced a similar charge committed between May 4 and June 7 this year and preventing the lawful and decent burial of her babies in 2005 and 2008.

A funeral has now been planned for both babies and their natural fathers are expected to attend.

Secret to a long life: Lucozade, gardening and a steak supper

2008-09-11T13:23:00.001-07:00

A glass of Lucozade and a spot of gardening followed by a steak supper could be the menu for a healthy old age.

Research shows that a combination of a sugary drink, gentle exercise and a protein-rich meal helps over-65s lose weight, build muscle and improve balance and flexibility.

The sweet drink, such as Lucozade, should be taken before exercise to give the energy boost needed to go for a walk, a session at the gym or to mow the lawn.

On finishing exercising, a protein-rich meal helps build muscle.

A three-month-long experiment involving around 80 pensioners showed this to be recipe for health, a science conference heard.

The men and women aged between 65 and 92 did weights at the gym, tai chi, stood on one leg with their eyes closed to improve balance and went for short walks.

Some were told to exercise more strenuously than others and some took Lucozade before exercising and a protein supplement drink after finishing.

After three months, all were more healthy.

However, the biggest difference was seen among those who had done the least strenuous exercise and had taken Lucozade and the protein drink.

These men and women had lost more weight and built more muscle and were more flexible than any of the others, including those who had done more strenuous exercise while supplementing their diet.

The Manchester Metropolitan University researchers said that while strenuous exercise, including lifting heavy weights, helps young people build muscle, the opposite appears to be true in old age.

It is thought that age-related changes in hormone levels and in the immune system lead to new muscle being broken down rather than built after strenuous exercise in the elderly.

But gentle exercise, of the sort that barely causes a person to sweat, still builds muscle and the process is helped along by having a protein drink or protein-rich meal on finishing exercising.

Researcher Dr Gladys Pearson said: 'We give advice that if you are going to be gardening, have a glass of orange juice beforehand.

'Straight afterwards, take have a steak or some milk because this is the time when the body is ready and raring to take up protein.'

The winning exercise routine involved a hourly gym session once a week, made up of a 10-minute warm-up, 30 minutes of weights, 10 minutes improving balance and coordination and 10 minutes of stretches and tai chi.

The pensioners also exercised at home, doing exercises with thick elastic bands that provide the sort of resistance usually obtained from weight machines at the gym and going for walks.

Boosting muscles and balance cuts the risk of falls and fractures, while losing weight benefits all-round health.

Dr Pearson said that her study had involved people in their 60s, 70s, 80s and 90s, and it was 'never to late' to start exercising.

She added: 'With the known link between physical activity, nutrition and improved mood, exercise and nutrition "on prescription" for older individuals should be encouraged.

'With an ageing population and increasing levels of chronic age-related conditions culminating in fraility and disability, the role of exercise and nutrition programmes is likely to become increasingly significant in shaping the prevention, management and rehabilitation of these conditions.'

Crumbs! The new Hovis TV advert that's a real slice of British history

2008-09-10T18:13:00.000-07:00

At 122 seconds, it is one of the longest adverts ever shown.

Advertising the little brown Hovis loaf, which was first sold 122 years ago, it follows a 13-year-old boy through 12 decades of British history and will be shown for the first time on Friday, in the middle of ITV's Coronation Street.

This scene is one stop on the boy's extraordinary journey and vividly brings a bustling Victorian street back to life.

Here, historians Nigel Jones and Lawrence James explain the detail behind the opening street scene.

1 FASHION

Top hats - known as 'stovepipes' - first appeared in the 18th century and were an upper middle-class status symbol.

Their most famous populariser was diminutive Victorian engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel, who wore specially tall ones to compensate for his lack of height.

The best and most expensive hats were made from the pelts of Canadian beavers.

Bowlers were originally the headgear of lowly Victorian clerks and foremen.

Mass-produced, they were cheaper than top hats but more upmarket than cloth caps.

Cloth caps, made from off-cuts, meanwhile-were the typical badge of the working class.

When Keir Hardie, founder of the Labour Party, entered Parliament in 1892, he wore one (actually a Sherlock Holmes-style deer stalker) - as a defiant sign that the working man had finally arrived.

Women's fashions in the Victorian era with whalebone corsets tied so tight they led to fainting fits, reflected the female role as submissive wife and mother.

But Victoria's death in 1901 led to the freeing of fashions - and the rise of women's rights.

2 GAS LAMPS

When Victoria became Queen in 1837, street lighting was in its infancy and only middle-class urban areas had methane gas lamps, lit every day at dusk by a lamplighter using a long pole with a wick at the end.

Lighting spread only slowly, however, and by 1888 when Jack the Ripper committed his serial sex murders in the streets of Whitechapel, his crimes were conveniently cloaked in the gloom that still covered working-class slums.

After the murders, Victoria herself suggested lighting up the East End, but by the end of her reign in 1901, street lighting was still patchy and even Arthur Conan Doyle's fictional detective Sherlock Holmes said he always carried a revolver when east of London's Aldgate after dark.

3 DRAY HORSES

Horses were the only practical means of transport in cities.

Drays stood six feet at the shoulder and were specially bred to supply the thousands of urban pubs with beer barrels.

Coal, bread and milk churns were also delivered daily by horse and cart.

The drayman who worked the horse and cart was an unskilled labourer who could expect to be paid up to £1 per day, plus regular rations of beer as an extra perk.

The horses, when they retired, were less fortunate. They were sent to the knacker's yard and boiled down to make glue.

The first cars appeared on Britain's streets in 1895, but were still very rare at the turn of the century, while the first motorised taxis began to appear in 1900, replacing London's 7,000 'hansom cabs' - named after designer Joseph Hansom, who patented it in 1834 - which were drawn by a single horse.

4 THE STREET

Victorian thoroughfares, which were mostly cobbled, were filthy and strewn with dung from horses and the rotting produce that had fallen off the countless delivery carts.

In fact, people were officially encouraged to collect the dung to manure their gardens, and street urchins would often do so, selling it on for a small fee.

There were also plenty of unofficial street cleaners and if a lady passed by, gangs of children would offer to sweep a clean path across a road for a halfpenny.

Leather tanneries, breweries and factories all contributed to the vile smell.

In 1858, London suffered the Great Stink, when the pong became overwhelming.

Parliament was forced to adjourn because of the overpowering stench from the nearby Thames, which served as London's main sewer.

Four years earlier, in 1854, a cholera epidemic in Soho killed 616 people within a few days.

Joseph Bazalgette, chief engineer to London's Board of Works, subsequently persuaded Parliament to stump up the cash to build a network of sewers under the capital. This network of sewers is still operating today.

5 CANDLEMAKERS

Nearly all working-class homes relied on candles for light.

There were candlemakers - or ironmongers, where candles were also sold - on every high street. A pack of 12 cost 1d.

Candles were made not from the perfumed beeswax of today, but from tallow - animal fat - the evil aroma of which contributed to the smell of Victorian slum tenements.

6 SADDLERY AND BOOTMAKERS

In the age when the horse was all important, saddlers did a roaring trade.

Not only making saddles, bridles and reins, but repairing wornout equipment, too.

Bootmakers sometimes doubled as saddlers, selling new shoes as well as cobbling and repairing old ones.

Both got their leather, which was generally cow hide, from the numerous urban tanneries and contributed to the stink.

7 FOOD

Unscrupulous butchers would often paint meat with red lead (a dye) to make it look fresher and shiny. Unfortunately, the appetising effect would have soon worn off, leaving those who consumed it feeling sick - and possibly badly poisoned.

Pork was not the only food to be contaminated with chemicals to make it look better.

In 1855, a Sanitary Commission report found red lead and ochre contaminating cayenne pepper, and copper and chlorate of lead in sweets and preserved fruits.

Milk and beer were often diluted with water.

The average weekly wage for an unskilled labourer was about 80 shillings, or £4 (about £7 in modern money - although you got much more for your cash then).

In 1899, Quaker philanthropist Seebohm Rowntree, calculated that a poor working man could afford only to spend 3 shillings a week on meat.

With a pig costing 10 shillings, pork was expensive and most customers would buy only the occasional slice of bacon, sold as 'butcher's bits' and chopped up on a dirty and often flyblown wooden block outside the shop.

Game, such as the pheasants and rabbits in this picture, was cheaper and more readily available. A rabbit cost just 3d and a pheasant 2 shillings.

The 1882 Game Law insisted that every butcher that sold game had a licence and bought meat from a legitimate farmer.

Poaching was still rife, however, although the penalties were harsh. A poacher could expect six months in jail if caught.

Geese, meanwhile, were pricey and were generally bought for special occasions, such as Christmas.

Because it was so hard to keep food fresh, and meat generally had to be eaten immediately, people often shopped on a daily basis.

Urban Victorians ate a huge amount of meat but little fruit and vegetables.

Predominantly, as suggested by this picture, they ate potatoes and some cabbage.

8 ENLISTMENT

The words are unclear in this photo but this sign actually offers a bounty of two guineas to those volunteering for service in the Royal Navy.

Such notices would have been a common sight - the Services were always short of men in the Victorian era.

The Press Gang - the brutal practice of using gangs of seamen to kidnap able-bodied men for forced service at sea had been abolished after the Napoleonic wars ended in 1815.

Two guineas - around £2.10 - would have been an incentive at the time but was often spent on alcohol - it would have bought about eight bottles of whisky.

As an extra inducement, sailors at sea were entitled to a daily dram of 'grog' - watered down rum.

Soldiers who survived the imperial campaigns and retired were paid a pension of a ha'penny a day - 4p a day in today's money.

Escape claws: 3ft-long lobster Eddy is saved from the pot after being donated to an aquarium

2008-09-10T14:13:00.000-07:00

Move over Moby Dick. Get out of the water Jaws. There’s a new monster from the deep. And he’s a lobster called Eddy.

The giant crustacean, who was caught in the English Channel, is three feet long, weighs an incredible11lbs and has mammoth 18-inch claws.

But, despite being more than four times the size of the average lobster and big enough to feed ten people, he has been spared from the pot.

Astonished fishermen John Brannan donated him to Blue Reef Aquarium in Newquay, Cornwall.

Eddy, who is estimated to be 70 years old, was caught 40 miles away at Eddystone Reef in Devon.

Blue Reef Curator Matt Slater said: ‘Eddy’s a truly impressive specimen.

‘He is in fantastic condition with a bright blue body and a red-coloured claw.

‘It’s by far the largest crusher that anyone here has ever seen.

‘The claw is so large that he actually seems to have some difficulty lifting it up, particularly when he is out of the water.

‘Initially we thought it may have grown so large as a response to his environment but some experts also believe that females may actually favour males with disproportionately large crusher claws so it could be that Eddy’s developed his huge appendage to attract the ladies.’

Ben Marshall an aquarist at Blue Reef added: ‘He is an immense lobster.

‘Normally if you order a lobster in a restaurant it will be about one to two pounds in weight.

‘This could feed 10 people - it’s huge.

‘He will definitely not be getting cooked. He will be living a long life.’

Eddy is a European Common Lobster and staff estimate that he is over 50 years old.

Mr Marshall said: ‘He is very healthy but the bigger they get the less mobile they get.

‘They don’t tend to wander much so he’s got himself into the corner of the tank.

‘It is not known whether Eddy will stay on display at Blue Reef aquarium but he definitely will not be ending the on a dinner plate.

‘Lobster can live to well over 100 years old.’

The European lobster is solitary, nocturnal and territorial, choosing to live in holes or crevices in the sea floor during the day.

They feed on invertebrates such as crabs, molluscs, sea urchins, polychaete worms and starfish, but may also eat fish and plants.

The largest lobster ever caught was bagged in Nova Scotia, Canada. It weighed 44lb.

World cow

2008-09-10T14:01:00.001-07:00

Invertebrate Astronauts Make Space History

2008-09-09T13:29:00.000-07:00

It's one small step for Tardigrada, and one giant leap for the animal kingdom: The toughest creature on Earth has survived a trip into space.

Except for a few hardy strains of bacteria, any other creature would have been destroyed -- but tardigrades handled the voyage as though it were a dry spell on their local moss patch.

"They have claws and eyes. They are real animals. And this is the first time such an animal was tested in space," said Petra Rettberg, an Institute of Aerospace Medicine microbiologist.

Better known as water bears, tardigrades are eight-legged invertebrates visible to the naked eye and found throughout the world, making them a biology class favorite.

They're capable of halting their metabolisms during times of extreme privation, and can repair DNA damage caused by extraordinary doses of radiation -- a phenomenon that's piqued scientific curiosity and prompted researchers to shoot tardigrades into naked orbit around the Earth.

"The repair -- how fast, how efficient, with or without errors -- is different, but basic damage is the same," said Rettberg, who helped design a tardigrade containment system attached to the Foton-M3 satellite, launched last September by a consortium of national space agencies.

The tardigrades had already been coaxed into an anhydrobiotic state, during which their metabolisms slow by a factor of 10,000. This allows them to survive vacuums, starvation, dessication and temperatures above 300 degrees Fahrenheit and below minus 240 degrees Fahrenheit.

Once in orbit, the tardigrade box popped open. Some were exposed to low-level cosmic radiation, and others to both cosmic and unfiltered solar radiation. All were exposed to the frigid vacuum of space.

Back on Earth, tardigrades that had basked in cosmic radiation revived and reproduced at rates comparable to an unexposed control group. Those dosed with solar radiation were less likely to wake -- but that even a few survived, wrote Rettberg's team in findings published today in Current Biology, was remarkable.

Just how the invertebrate astronauts protected themselves "remains a mystery," wrote the researchers. Rettberg's next task is to identify the responsible genes -- a basic step, perhaps, in better understanding and improving human DNA repair.

Tardigrades may even provide insights into adaptations necessary for survival in off-Earth colonies, though they could not live actively in the extreme and nutrient-poor environments of Mars or the moon.

However, Rettberg cautioned against expecting too much from such early findings.

"It'll just be interesting to see what the mechanisms are in tardigrades, compared to the very simple ones in bacteria and more complex systems in higher organisms," she said. "But in addition, it's just fun."

Fed-up senior doctor quits £100,000 NHS job to become a HAIRDRESSER

2008-09-08T09:21:00.000-07:00

A high-flying hospital consultant got so fed up with NHS red tape he has ditched his doctors coat for a pair of scissors and has become a hairdresser instead.

Former clinical director in anaesthesia Roger Tackley has given up a £100,000 salary to realise his dream of opening up his own salon.

The incredibly long hours and frustration of working within suffocating bureaucracy all added up disillusionment as a doctor.
And a chance meeting with celebrity stylist Trevor Sorbie further inspired the 56-year-old to quit medicine.

He was so fed up with the NHS he even advised his youngest son who is studying to be a doctor not to follow his footsteps.

Now the father-of-two is looking forward to being his own boss after 19 years as a consultant.

Mr Tackley went to night school to learn his new trade after purchasing a salon he was working in part-time last year.

The former Torbay hospital consultant is delighted to have changed direction after opening his own salon in Paignton, Devon today.

He said: ‘I got fed up with all the red tape and the restrictions on what we were allowed to do.

‘I did not get the opportunity to try out new ideas.
‘My hands were tied often waiting for approval from above. And hairdressing is more fun than sticking a needle in people.

‘The NHS job changed. I would deal with protocol and the finance.

‘But I had very little power to make any changes - I could make recommendations but nothing ever got done.

‘All these things just added up in the end and it was time for a change.

‘For instance when I started as a clinical consultant if a new drug or a new technique in anaesthesia came around I could try it out, using my clinical judgement, obviously not putting patients at risk.
Trevor Sorbie

‘But now if anything is a major change from the standard procedure you have to wait for ethical approval or clinical trials to be done.

‘I just thought there’s more to life than spending 100 hours a week in a hospital.

‘I always wanted to do something with hair but I never got the encouragement or the opportunity and as a hairdresser I can be much more of an individual,’ he added.

Mr Tackley, from Torquay in Devon, said everything came to a head in December 1998 while on a four-week family holiday in New Zealand.

He decided to go part time and started an evening class in hairdressing.

‘I was very stressed at this point in time and a bungee jump just put me in the right mood to chuck it in - I finished my job as clinical director in 1999,’ he said.

‘I studied two nights a week at South Devon College but I was very worried about fitting in as I was older.

‘But I got so much encouragement I knew it was what I wanted to do,’ he added.

‘My son is studying medicine at Cardiff and I told him not to do it. But it is a good job with plenty of satisfaction and challenges for him.’

He added that further encouragement came from a chance meeting with Trevor Sorbie on a train in November 2000 when the celebrity hairdresser told him to go for it.

Mystery of the 'couple' buried arm in arm 1,000 years ago: not husband and wife, but two MEN

2008-09-07T06:05:00.000-07:00

Archaeologists have unearthed the mysterious remains of what first appears to be a couple buried together arm in arm more than 1,000 years ago.

The amazing discovery shows the "couple" laying side by side in the grave with one's arm across the other.

But the discovery has left experts with a 1,000-year-old mystery.

They know that the body pictured on the right is that of a man, over 6ft tall but they believe that the body on the left is also that of a man as well.

First they thought the couple were a man and wife united in death. But now they believe they could be two men who were 'brothers in arms', possibly warriors, who died together and were buried in the one grave.

The unusual burial is thought to be from the Saxon period between 410AD and 1066AD.

Now they are waiting for forensic tests to be carried out to determine the sex of the pair and exactly when they were buried.

The remains were just some of dozens of finds at a huge archaeological dig which has been underway for the past year at the planned development of a giant salad growing complex near Ramsgate, Kent.

Adrian Gollop, project officer at the Canterbury Archaeological Trust which has been masterminding the work before the builders move in, said: "It is quite a rare discovery.

"The body on the right is definitely male.

"They are exceptionally tall - both over 6ft. The one on the left has got some female traits to it but it does seem to be male.

"Until we get the bones examined, we cannot be 100 per cent certain.

"They were found surrounded by a ring ditch.

"At first we thought they were early Iron Age but now we think they were from much later - in the Saxon period.

"Rather than looking at the two graves as a couple, we now think they could have been buried as brothers in arms. They died together and were buried together.

"There were no artefacts buried with them to give us any clues. It is a bit of a mystery really."

The tests on the bones have yet to be carried out but it is hoped that the forensic examination will give the team more clues into who the pair were.

Archaeologists have found a wealth of graves and artefacts ranging from the Early Bronze Age (between 2700 BC and 1500 BC) and the Medieval period on the vast 90 acres site.

Adrian said: "It has been fantastic archaeologically." In one section, 18 burials have been found including 16 humans and two dogs.

The team has uncovered hundreds of pits (many probably silos to store grain over the winter) and post holes (remains of wooden structures), numerous fragments of pottery jars and bowls, animal bones (sheep, cattle, pig), abundant charred remains of plants and pulses (especially cereals and peas) and burials of both humans and animals.

Five of the human burials were found in ditches surrounding the main area of Iron Age activity and may have been placed there to 'protect the settlement. Other burials may have been offerings.

Another poignant grave is that of a young girl - thought to be aged in her early teens - who died during a breech birth along with her baby.

The mother and baby seem to have been buried soon after death with the young girl still holding a smoothed pebble she was probably holding during the traumatic labour as a comforter.

Adrian said: "We think she is from the Roman era. She was close to a cemetery of about 20-24 people but she was on her own.

"It was a breech birth and the baby was still in the birth canal.

"She was found with a flint pebble. Some think it may have been ready to cut the umbilical cord but it a smoothed pebble on both sides. We think it could have been held by the mother during childbirth to comfort her."

The archaeological field work is expected to finish later this month.

Breakthrough technique reveals fingerprints on bullets even if they are wiped clean

2008-09-05T12:29:00.000-07:00

It's a discovery that would make even Sherlock Holmes proud.

British scientists have developed a new crime-fighting technique that allows police to lift fingerprints from bullets even if a criminal has wiped down a shell casing.

Authorities in Britain and the United States used the method to re-open three cold cases, including a U.S. double murder that police are now optimistic of solving, said John Bond, the physicist who developed the technique.

'In one case there was enough evidence that could lead to an identification of an offender,' said Bond, a researcher at the University of Leicester and consultant at Northamptonshire Police.

The conventional method of taking fingerprints has been around for more than 100 years and involves creating a chemical reaction with the sweat left behind on an object to produce an image police can use.

But if a criminal wipes away the sweat, there is little left to react with the chemical and regular methods are useless, Bond said.

The new technique allows police to outwit a criminal and produce a fingerprint even if there is no sweat impression to work with.

The British experts focused on hair-width bits of corrosion that sweat often leaves on certain metals in bullets and bombs.

They cover the metal with a fine powder and apply a strong electrical charge that makes the dust stick to the corroded areas, producing a potential fingerprint, Bond said.

'That very fine powder only sticks to the metal where it is corroded, which means it is only sticking where the fingerprint is and means you see the image of the fingerprint,' said Bond, whose team has published its findings in the Journal of Forensic Sciences and the Journal of Applied Physics.

The technique is not foolproof and some people do not secrete enough salt in their sweat to corrode the metal to the point police can get a print, he added.

But for some seemingly dead-end cases it can provide crucial evidence and point to the person who loaded a gun used in a crime.

Detective Christopher King of the Kingsland Police Department in Georgia sought the British team's help to crack an unsolved 10-year-old double murder case and said the method had helped reignite the investigation.

'The results are surprising but to say that I am pleased would be an underestimate,' he said in a statement.

'I feel very optimistic.'

How to change channel by simply waving your hand: The new web cam that could kill off remote controls

2008-09-04T13:16:00.000-07:00

They have a nasty habit of disappearing under sofas or inside drawers.

But the days of arguing over who had the remote control last could be over.

Scientists have invented technology that allows people to interact with their TV with a wave of a hand.

It means viewers could soon be changing channels or the volume on their sets similar to the way Tom Cruise's character uses a computer in the futuristic thriller Minority Report.

The 'gesture interface technology' was developed at electronic giant Toshiba's laboratory in Cambridge.

It has already gone on show at the world's biggest electronics trade fair, the Internationale Funkausstellung, in Berlin this week.

The system combines a webcam - familiar to millions of computer users who want to see and be seen by other people online - with gesture recognition software.

Uses include raising a hand in a 'stop' sign to pause the action on TV. Flapping a hand up or down can raise or lower the volume.

The technology could in future be customised to suit people's preferences.

Touching your right ear, for example, would increase the volume, while touching your left ear would lower it.

The software could also recognise viewers as they walk into a room and switch automatically to their favourite channel - potentially triggering new disputes over who gets priority.

The system can also be used with PCs and other computers.

The user makes a fist and waves it around the air as if controlling a computer mouse. The thumb is simply raised to perform a 'mouse click'.

Toshiba said the gesture recognition system was already extremely accurate as it responded to the shape, colour and motion of hands.

But the technology is being further fine-tuned to differentiate between someone making a control movement and stretching or sneezing.

The company believes it could be available on the market within five years, although it is not yet saying how much it will cost.

Dr Kate Knill, manager of interaction technology at the Cambridge lab, said the system could revolutionise the way humans interact with technology.

'I imagine devices having much more interactive interfaces rather than just a keyboard or remote control - you'll be able to use gesture and speech as well,' she said.

'We have a vision of communicating with devices where you want, when you want and how you want.

'Technology is going to become more and more accessible and much less scary for everyday users.'

Tom Wiggins, news editor of gadget magazine Stuff, said the possibilities of the new technology were fascinating.

'If they can get it to work quickly and efficiently by just waving your arms that would be pretty good,' he said.

But he added it wouldn't be suitable for everyone.

'This is the kind of technology where some people think "wow" and others just aren't that excited,' he said.

'Some people really like having something tactile like a mouse under their fingers to work with.'

In Minority Report, Cruise plays Chief John Anderton, an officer with a special police department called Precrime in the year 2054.

His job is to arrest people before they have committed murder with the help of predictions from three psychics, known as precogs.

Broken images of the 'crime' are transferred from the precogs' minds to a display screen.

Anderson uses hand movements to manipulate the images - such as magnifying them - to establish how and when the murders will occur.

Google takes on Microsoft with launch of Chrome internet browser

2008-09-02T10:55:00.000-07:00

Google is launching a new web browser today that will challenge Internet Explorer and Firefox.

The software, called Google Chrome, is designed to handle video-rich or other complex web programs more quickly than traditional browsers, which were first designed to handle text and graphics.

A beta version will be available to Windows users in 100 countries and the internet search leader said it was working on versions for Apple and Linux users.

'We realized that the web had evolved from mainly simple text pages to rich, interactive applications and that we needed to completely rethink the browser,' Google's vice president for product management Sindar Pichai wrote in a blog post.

Google Chrome promises to load pages faster and more securely than rival browsers.

It also includes a new engine for loading interactive JavaScript code, dubbed V8, which is designed to run the next generation of applications that are still on the drawing board.
Chrome organizes information into tabbed pages and web programs can be launched in their own dedicated windows.

It also offers a variety of features to make the browser more stable and secure, according to a comic book guide that was released earlier than intended to a blogger who then posted it on the internet.

Among Chrome's features is a special privacy mode that lets users create an 'incognito' window where 'nothing that occurs in that window is ever logged on your computer.'

Google's engineers have borrowed ope-source code from a variety of projects including Apple's WebKit and the Mozilla Firefox open-source browser.

The company plans to make all of Chrome software code open to other developers to enhance and expand.

Mozilla recently introduced its own upgraded browser, Firefox 3, and has collaborated with Google on a variety of technical issues, including a system for reporting software crashes and to make software browsers more secure.

John Lilly, Chief Executive of Mozilla said in a blog post that they would continue to collaborate with Google where it made sense for both organisations, but would also focus on keeping the web open by fostering its own commmunity-developed browser.

The launch of Chrome coincides with the recent introduction by arch-rival Microsoft of its Internet Explorer 8 last month.

Internet Explorer holds roughly three-quarters of the browser market, followed by Mozilla's Firefox and Apple's Safari browsers.

To view the user friendly cartoon that outlines Google Chrome visit: http://blogoscoped.com/google-chrome

Beetles Evolving as Lovers or Fighters

2008-09-01T13:32:00.001-07:00

The evolutionary tradeoff between becoming a bigger fighter or lover could lead to new species among dung beetle populations.

Male beetles may not transform in the blink of an eye, but natural selection seems to have driven rapid evolution in the size of their fighting horns — and their reproductive tools — during a time period of just 50 years in one newly studied case.

"As horns get bigger, copulatory organs get smaller, or vice versa," said Armin Moczek, an evolutionary biologist at Indiana University-Bloomington. "What was not known was how frequently and how fast this can occur in nature, and whether this can drive the evolution of new species."

Making tradeoffs

Moczek and fellow researcher Harald Parzer examined four geographically separate populations of a horned dung beetle species called Onthophagus taurus. They found that the relative investment made by each beetle population into horns and genitalia could differ by more than three times the average investment for the overall species.

The different sizes reflect a strategy of making investments with limited resources into either horns or genitalia. If beetles live in low-density environments where fighting is common, males with larger horns and smaller genitalia may find the most success in winning mates. But if fighting is less common, having larger genitalia at the expense of horn size may prove best.

Such tradeoffs between certain characteristics are an "ancient and still poorly understood issue in biology," Moczek told LiveScience. Biologists are not surprised that secondary sexual characteristics such as horns can drive change in the primary sexual characteristic, or the genitalia, but only two previous studies had hinted at this in action.

Size matters?

Evolutionary biologists think that such changes in genitalia size and shape can eventually lead to new species, when individuals from different populations become sexually incompatible. The size of genitalia tends to resist evolutionary change in order to preserve a species' identity, but evolutionary pressure on the dung beetle horns has forced the changes in genitalia as well.

"We proposed that maybe these tradeoffs are an avenue that forces species in directions they wouldn't go with otherwise with genitalia," Moczek said.

Individuals in most species do not choose mates based on a "size matters" mentality toward genitalia, so the tradeoff between the two characteristics also provides a mechanism to explain the link between genitalia and origin of species.

Moczek and Parzer looked at 10 other related beetle species and found similar variety in horn and genitalia sizes, which suggests that the same natural selection pressures continue to work after species have split off.

"If this is all it takes to change genitalia, it may be easier to make new species than we thought," Moczek said.

Getting around

The O. taurus dung beetle originated in Italy, but has spread to other parts of the world to live in far-flung populations. Humans introduced the dung beetles to Australia in the 1960s as competitors to ward off swarms of flies that hover over cow manure, and the beetles became so beloved there that Moczek found himself universally welcomed down under because of his research.

"When I mentioned I was working on dung beetles, I immediately had a beer in my hand and a place to stay," Moczek recalled.

The beetles also showed up unannounced in the United States during the 1960s. The separate beetle populations in the United States, Italy, and western and eastern Australia now allow biologists to see what evolutionary changes have occurred within the past 50 years — and perhaps figure out where the beetles might go next.

Does this photograph prove Abu Qatada is flouting his bail?

2008-08-30T14:43:00.000-07:00

Abu Qatada will no doubt argue that this is not a breach of the strict bail conditions which ban him from using a mobile telephone.

But is the fanatical preacher - once described as 'Osama Bin Laden's right-hand man in Europe' - obeying the spirit, as well as the letter, of the law?

On a shopping trip this week near his London home, the 47-year-old was photographed in conversation with a friend, who then appeared to relay Qatada's words via his mobile to another person.

An onlooker said: 'It was clear to me that the man with the mobile phone was speaking to Qatada before speaking to the person on the other end of the phone.

'He would speak to Qatada holding the phone in his hand away from his ear and then put it to his ear and speak to whoever was on the other end of the line.'

Qatada, who was granted asylum 15 years ago, was freed from a high-security prison in June after the courts ruled that sending him home to Jordan would breach his human rights. He has already been convicted of terror attacks and bomb plots there in his absence.

The eight-page bail order set out a series of stringent rules which placed him under virtual house arrest.

The father of five, whose family are living on benefits of an estimated £50,000 a year, is allowed to leave his rented £800,000 four-bedroom semi for just two hours a day.

He is also banned from using any communications equipment apart from a landline telephone, which is almost certainly bugged by the security services.

He cannot use a computer and he is banned from having any contact, directly or indirectly, with a list of terrorists including Bin Laden.

Qatada has claimed incapacity benefit for a bad back - but it didn't stop him carrying two bags on the shopping trip.

Cocaine and Ecstasy deaths up 1,200% since records began in 1993

2008-08-28T14:34:00.000-07:00

Death from 'middle class' drugs glamorised by celebrities are at their highest level since records began, government figures revealed today.

Party drugs Ecstasy and cocaine now claim nearly 300 lives a year, an increase of over 1,200 per cent since figures were first recorded in 1993.

The statistics, released by the Office for National Statistics, also reveal that far more men than women are dying from drug abuse and are taking them later in life, often into their 40s.

Experts believe that cocaine's 'dinner party' image is masking its true dangers.

The high number of cocaine deaths are thought to be the result of mixing the drug with alcohol which produces a potentially-deadly compound called cocaine-ethynyl.

There have been a number of high-profile deaths involving the drug in recent years.

Actress Natasha Collins, 31, died in a scalding hot bath in January after taking large amounts of cocaine, wine, vodka and sleeping tablets.

Flamboyant German aristocrat Count Gottfried von Bismarck died last July after injecting cocaine every hour during the day and night before his death.

Yesterday drug charities warned of an 'epidemic' of recreational drug deaths as young Britons emulate stars such as Kate Moss, Pete Doherty and Amy Winehouse.

Clare McNeil, of drug treatment charity Addaction, said: 'Cocaine is seen as a middle-class drug associated with success and money.

'People think they can copy celebrities and do a quick line because it doesn't have the same stigma as other class As but it's actually just as destructive.

'People are often ignorant of the risks of combining alcohol with cocaine for example, which can increase the risk of liver and heart disease, strokes and epilepsy.

'The increase in deaths among men in their 30s and 40s is worrying. It suggests that more people are continuing to experiment with drugs well into adulthood.

'At one time young people would dabble then stop as they settled down but these kind of figures suggest an epidemic."

Cows Have Strange Sixth Sense

2008-08-26T06:05:00.000-07:00

A study of Google Earth satellite images has revealed that herds of cattle tend to face in the north-south direction of Earth's magnetic lines.

Staring at cows may not equal the thrill of spotting celebrities in public or rubbernecking at car accidents, but the researchers found nonetheless that our bovine friends display this strange sixth sense for direction.

Their field observations of red and roe deer also showed those animals facing toward magnetic north or south.

"Google Earth is perfect for this kind of research, because the animals are undisturbed by the observer," said Sabine Begall, a zoologist at the University of Duisburg-Essen in Germany and coauthor on the study detailed in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Wind and time of day did not offer better explanations for why 8,510 cattle in 308 locations around the world would mostly face north-south. Shadows suggested that many of the images were taken on cloudless, sunny days, so Begall's group also factored in direct ground observations of cattle herds.

A strong wind or sunlight on a cold day have typically proved more the "exceptions to the rule" that might cause large animals to face away from magnetic north-south.

The data on 2,974 deer came from direct ground observations and photos in the Czech Republic. Researchers also examined fresh beds left by resting deer in the snow, where the animals had sought shelter deep in the forest away from the wind.

Both cattle and deer faced a more magnetic north-south direction rather than geographic north-south, (Earth's magnetic poles do not line up perfectly with the North and South Poles).

Previous research has shown that animals such as birds, turtles and salmon migrate using a sense of magnetic direction, and small mammals such as rodents and one bat species also have a magnetic compass.

Begall and fellow researchers became interested in seeing if larger mammals possessed a similar magnetic sense, following up on coauthor Hynek Burda's work on African mole-rats.

"Our first idea was to study sleeping directions of humans (e.g. when doing camping), but there are too many constraints," Begall told LiveScience. "So, the idea arose to look for other large mammals like cattle, and Hynek was fascinated when he recognized that cattle could be found on Google Earth satellite images."

Google Earth's convenience also came with some downsides. The researchers had to estimate the date, time of day, temperature and wind direction, and could not distinguish between head and rear for many of the cows because of low image resolutions.

However, the researchers suggest that the finding of large animals' sense of magnetic direction could raise other agricultural questions, such as whether keeping cows in barns facing

Titanic lovers Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet reunite in new film

2008-08-25T13:09:00.000-07:00

More than a decade after they lit up the screen in Titanic, Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet are back at it again.

The pair have teamed up for the drama Revolutionary Road, directed by Kate's husband, Oscar-winning American Beauty director Sam Mendes.
Of the highly anticipated reunion, Winslet says: 'I hadn't realised how much my chemistry with him since Titanic would still stick.' But the actress admits that while the chemistry came easily, the love scenes were rather awkward.
She says: 'I just kept saying, "This is too ... weird."'And Leo was like, "Oh, get over it." And I'm going, "Yeah, a little reminder: You're my best friend. He's my husband. This is a bit weird."'

The film details the disintegration of the couple's marriage as life fails to live up to the much-promised American Dream.

Top 25 Dirtiest Cities in the world

2008-08-25T07:10:00.000-07:00

No. 1: Baku, Azerbaijan

Mercer Health and Sanitation Index Score: 27.6

Surrounded by Iran, Georgia, Russia and Armenia on the Caspian Sea, Azerbaijan has long been an oil hub. As a consequence, Baku, the capital, suffers from life-threatening levels of air pollution emitted from oil drilling and shipping.
No. 2: Dhaka, Bangladesh
Mercer Health and Sanitation Index Score: 29.6

Located in southern Asia, between Burma and India, Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh battles with the constant threat of water pollution. Surface water is often thick with disease and pollutants from the use of commercial pesticides. With an estimated 150 million people living in a relatively small area, cleaning up the problem won't be easy.

No. 3: Antananarivo, Madagascar

Mercer Health and Sanitation Index Score: 30.1

Madagascar, located off of the southeastern coast of Africa in the Indian Ocean, makes this year's list with its capital city, Antananarivo. Well known for its variety of unique flora and fauna, Madagascar has often been referred to as the world's eighth continent, but the effects of the human population are quickly leaving their footprint.

No. 4: Port au Prince, Haiti
Mercer Health and Sanitation Index Score: 34

The country's politically inspired violence and corruption are well documented. Equally dangerous: its air and water. Serving as one of the main ports on the island of Hispaniola, Port au Prince is central to Haiti's economic development. A lack of pollution controls, however, contributes to the widespread environmental problems confronting the Haitian city.

No. 5: Mexico City, Mexico

Mercer Health and Sanitation Index Score: 37.7

Mexico City, the capital of Mexico, and the capital of North American air pollution, estimates unhealthy ozone emissions nearly 85% of the year। Mexico's geographical location--in the center of a volcanic crater and surrounded by mountains--only serves to lock in the air pollution, causing smog to sit above the city.

No. 6: Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Mercer Health and Sanitation Index Score: 37.9

Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia, faces one of the worst sanitation problems on both the continent of Africa as well as in the world. The lack of adequate sanitation programs results in infant mortality, low life expectancy and the transmission of water-borne diseases.

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No. 7: Mumbai, India
Mercer Health and Sanitation Index Score: 38.2

India's government hopes to transform Mumbai back into a burgeoning metropolis after recent economic decline। A recent private-sector report, Vision Mumbai, proposed changes in infrastructure, pollution control and economic growth strategy, which contributed to the seeking of approximately $1 billion of aid from Indian government.

No. 8: Baghdad, Iraq
Mercer Health and Sanitation Index Score: 39

Poor water quality in Baghdad threatens to exacerbate the the transmission of water-borne diseases in the city. Fatal outbreaks of cholera struck several provinces of the country, including Baghdad from August 2007 to December 2007. The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) also says air pollution, resulting from burning oil and aggravated by war, is cause for concern.

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No. 9: Almaty, Kazakhstan
Mercer Health and Sanitation Index Score: 39.1

The marriage of petroleum-based industry and insufficient safeguards against pollution sets the stage for an environmental crisis in this city। Toxic waste dumps require a huge price tag for improvement and an even larger price for neglect.

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No. 10: Brazzaville, Congo

Mercer Health and Sanitation Index Score: 39.1

Air pollution from emissions, lack of potable water and the contamination of the city's water from raw sewage contribute to the laundry list of health and sanitation concerns for Brazzaville, the capital of Congo। Each of these press upon the life expectancy of the local population.

No. 11: Ndjamena, Chad

Mercer Health and Sanitation Index Score: 39.7

Ndjamena, the capital city of Chad, faces multi-faceted water management challenges. A main site for concern here is the Conventional Basin of Lake Chad, upon which the country's main fisheries greatly depend. Also noteworthy--the continual influx of population growth, accelerated by the migration of neighboring Sudanese refugees from Darfur, which places an unexpected strain on water management.

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No. 12: Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

Mercer Health and Sanitation Index Score: 40.4

The capital of this east African country continues to grow populationwise, putting a stress on the city's sanitation programs। Solid waste, entering the Msimbazi River, contributes to widely spread infectious diseases among the population.

No. 13: Bangui, Central African Republic

Mercer Health and Sanitation Index Score: 42.1

Bangui, the capital of Central African Republic, faces water and sanitation challenges similar to its neighboring countries' capitals. A rapidly increasing population, coupled with a lack of adequate waste and water management, places stresses on the capital city.

No. 14: Moscow, Russia

Mercer Health and Sanitation Index Score: 43.2

In a city where you can pay $3,000 a month for an apartment that doesn't even have clean running water, Moscow also has troubling levels of air pollution, which present a daily strain on lung health।

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No. 15: Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso

Mercer Health and Sanitation Index Score: 43.4

A recent World Bank study shows that cancer and respiratory disease rates are up due to increased air pollution in Ouagadougou, the capital of Burkina Faso। Increased levels of benzene, from motorbike petrol, and increased dust particles, amounting on average to nearly three times the WHO-stated healthy limit, contribute to these rising numbers. In a city characterized by a rainy season, waste management and sanitation also face challenges.

No. 16: Bamako, Mali

Mercer Health and Sanitation Index Score: 43.7

Bamako, the capital of Mali, and the country's largest city is situated on the Niger River. Rapid population growth, coupled with unbridled urban pollution, are among the many health and sanitation challenges facing the capital. Several droughts have caused migration from rural areas to the urban environment of the capital, which has only led to more water management issues.

No. 17: Pointe Noire, Congo

Mercer Health and Sanitation Index Score: 43.8

The second Congolese city on the list suffers from many of the same pollutants as its neighboring city, Brazzaville--air pollution from vehicle emissions and unbridled water contamination from the mass unloading of raw sewage in the city's water supply. According to the CIA WorldFactBook, about 70% of the Congolese population live either in Brazzaville or Pointe Noire or along the railroad track, which connects the two.

No. 18: Lome, Togo

Mercer Health and Sanitation Index Score: 44.1

Lomé, the capital city of Togo, sits in the southwest near the country's border with Ghana. Water and waste management has become one of the country's main problems as a large percentage of the population continues to live without access to improved water or sanitation. Extensive flooding in Togo only magnifies the problem.

No. 19: Conakry, Guinea Republic

Mercer Health and Sanitation Index Score: 44.2

Life expectancy, infant morbidity, and the percentage of the population that has access to safe water are shockingly low for Conakry, the capital city of Guinea Republic. Previous World Bank initiatives in Conakry focused on water supply and sanitation have not proved very successful.

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No. 20: Nouakchott, Mauritania

Mercer Health and Sanitation Index Score: 44.7

Located in northern Africa, Mauritania sits on the North Atlantic Ocean between Senegal and the western Sahara। Nouakchott, the country's capital, is located on the western coast. Due to the desert-like climate, droughts and water management are critical issues for the country. Oil deposits off the coast and iron ore serve as the country's main industrial opportunities, but the majority of the population depends on farming.

No. 21: Niamey, Niger
Mercer Health and Sanitation Index Score: 45

The Niger River Basin, home to Niger's capital city, Niamey, is a cesspool of pollution and waste. In a country with a total population just under 14 million, the healthy life expectancy at birth is 35 for males and 36 for females, thanks in part to poor sanitation and drinkable water. About one in four children raised here will die before age 5, the World Health Organization says.

No. 22: Luanda, Angola
Mercer Health and Sanitation Index Score: 45.2

Located on Angola's coast with the Atlantic Ocean to its west, Luanda is the city's largest port. Studies from several agencies, including UNICEF and Oxfam, suggest that a large portion of the population in Luanda drink water of poor and in some cases dangerous quality. Much of this portion of the population lives in settlements called musseques built on hardened waste. Water arrives to these settlements in private tanks, which consistently show concerning levels of chlorine. Water conditions such as this only served to intensify a cholera epidemic in 2006.

No. 23: Maputo, Mozambique
Mercer Health and Sanitation Index Score: 46.3

Located on the Indian Ocean, the Eastern African country of Mozambique suffers from lack of sanitation processes--specifically the lack of a solid waste removal system as well as sewage treatment. The capital city of Maputo feels the worst of these consequences. Piles of garbage line the streets, and the sewage in the river is visibly thick.

No. 24: New Delhi, India
Mercer Health and Sanitation Index Score: 46.6

You'll find just about everything except marine life in New Delhi's Yamuna River. Garbage and sewage flow freely, creating a rich environment for the growth of water-borne diseases contributing to extremely high rates of infant morbidity.

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No. 25: Port Harcourt, Nigeria
Mercer Health and Sanitation Index Score: 46.8

Problems with waste disposal continue to contaminate the rivers of Nigeria, especially affecting residents in Port Harcourt. The area lacks strategies for preventing oil spills and contamination, and the clean-up methods after disasters require significant improvement.

5 Keys to Happiness

2008-08-24T22:00:00.000-07:00

If you're not happy and you know it read along.

You've watched "Seinfeld" re-runs, splurged on yourself and downed pints of Ben and Jerry's. Nothing's helping. Maybe you're one of the 20 million Americans diagnosed with depression, you're bottoming out or you just want something to improve your day.
Here are five ways — some admittedly challenging — to help you get that much-needed mood boost:

1. Pick good parents

In Happy Land, genes trump environmental factors, according to the experts. And a study in the March issue of the journal Psychological Science scores another point for the gene team: Differences in DNA that could explain why some people tend to have an extra bounce in their step might also underlie the tendency to be more emotionally stable and socially and physically active.

Genes do not provide free passes from the doldrums, and other external factors will still try to mow you down. But, heredity could provide some people with a horde of happiness that they can draw from when the good times aren’t rolling.

And Canadian researchers' ability to genetically stifle depression in mice in 2006 indicates that human happiness could one day be improved by manipulating genes. This was the first time science throttled the throes of any organism. Mice bred to be void of the gene, called TREK-1, acted as if they had been downing anti-depressants for at least three weeks.

2. Give it away

It only takes $5 spent on others to make you happier on a given day, according to a 2008 study. And selfless acts can also help your marriage become a more enjoyable experience for you and your spouse.

After performing good deeds, people are happier and feel their life has more purpose. But is the act selfless if you expect something in return? Maybe it just depends on how you look at it.

3. Ponder this

Think of a happy place. And you, too, like Happy Gilmore, might sink that putt and earn back your grandmother's house — or overcome your own hurdle.

Humans are more resilient than we think and can endure trying times, as demonstrated in a 2005 study that tracked mood changes in dialysis patients. They were in a good mood most of the time despite having their blood cleaned three times a week for at least three months. But healthy patients envisioned a miserable life when asked to imagine adhering to this demanding schedule.

As Winston Churchill said, "A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty."

4. Work out

Consistently breaking a sweat, along with medication and counseling can help people battling depression by sapping lonely and vulnerable feelings.

Exercise improves one's state of mind in part by affecting the body's levels of two chemicals: cortisol and endorphins. The adrenal glands of angry or scared people produce cortisol. This increases blood pressure and blood sugar, weakens the immune response and can lead to organ inflammation and damage. But working out burns cortisol, restoring the body's normal levels.

Running, biking or using an aerobic exercise machine also causes the brain to release endorphins — the body's natural pain relievers — into the bloodstream. The body foregoes the negative side effects of drugs while still experiencing a natural high. To gain the most from your workout, make sure its intensity reflects your stress level. And challenge your body to continually adapt by varying the exercise’s length and intensity.

5. Live long

If you have the right genes and are selfless, optimistic and active but still find yourself down in the dumps, just give it some time.

A study of 2 million people from 80 nations released in January found that depression is most common among adults in their mid-40s. Among Americans, the worst of times hit women around age 40 and men about age 50.

But with age humans are more inclined to filter out the negatives while focusing on what they enjoy.

Americans in their golden years tend to see the glass as half full, despite their increased doctor visits and chemo treatments. After battling cancer, heart disease, diabetes or other health-related obstacles, 500 independent Americans from age 60 to 98 rated their own degree of successful aging as 8.4 on average, with 10 being the highest in a 2005 study.

Happiness, it seems, takes time.

Dust Storms

2008-08-23T15:24:00.000-07:00

When the Air Itself Turns Against You!
They are known by many names: Haboob, Simum, Black Blizzards. A solid wall of dust almost a mile high, moving whole sand dunes and bringing Biblical darkness to the huge areas of the world. Scorching hot winds (up to 40 degrees Celsius) blowing the sand around with hurricane speeds... What seems extreme to us is actually a common occurrence in Africa and the Middle East. The similar sand-saturated hurricane-speed storms over Mediterranian are called Sirocco, Yugo and Ghibli. The dust (or desert sand) particles become airborne and held in suspension, creating a moving front. The convection of cold air over the heated ground maintains the storm and keeps the dust rolling.

See one such storm coming into the Israeli Negev desert from Sinai (advancing with the speed of appr. 40 mph). According to the photographer Eviathar ben Zedeff (link), the sand wall is over 4,000 ft high:

Dust Storm Israeli Negev Desert

Dust Storm Israeli Negev Desert

Sand Storm in Khartoum, Sudan:

Sand Storm in Khartoum, Sudan

Sand Storm in Khartoum, Sudan

Here is an alarming fact: sand storms now happen ten times more frequently than fifty years ago. For example, Mauritania had only two storms per year in the early Sixties, now it's more like EIGHTY a year. Sahara's sand is also being sent into the Atlantic at an accelerated pace (five times growth in one year, since 2006!) - however, this could be a good thing, according to Wikipedia, as it will cool off the ocean enough to slightly ease the ongoing 2007 hurricane season.

Dust covers Astana, the new capital of Kazakhstan:

Dust covers Astana, the new capital of Kazakhstan

Dust covers Astana, the new capital of Kazakhstan

Storm in Phoenix, Arizona, USA

The lamplighters brave the dust storm in Nevada desert
The next picture may look like an incoming dust storm, but it is just a cloud front.

Cloud Front Australian Outback

The Worlds First Dynamic Architecture

2008-08-21T22:17:00.000-07:00

The Dynamic Architecture building, which will be constantly in motion changing its shape, will be able to generate electric energy for itself as well as for other buildings. Forty-eight wind turbines fitted between each rotating floors as well as the solar panels positioned on the roof of the building will produce energy from wind and the sunlight, with no risk of pollution. The total energy produced by this inbuilt ‘powerhouse’ every year will be worth approximately seven million dollars.

Each turbine can produce 0.3 megawatt of electricity, compared to 1-1.5 megawatt generated by a normal vertical turbine (windmill). Considering that Dubai gets 4,000 wind hours annually, the turbines incorporated into the building can generate 1,200,000 kilowatt-hour of energy.

As average annual power consumption of a family is estimated to be 24,000 kilowatt-hour, each turbine can supply energy for about 50 families. The Dynamic Architecture tower in Dubai will be having 200 apartments and hence four turbines can take care of their energy needs. The surplus clean energy produced by the remaining 44 turbines can light up the neighborhood of the building.

For an overview of the rotating skyscraper and a quick look at the dynamic architecture that underlies it, take a look at this video.

However, taking into consideration that the average wind speed in Dubai is of only 16 km/h the architects may need to double the number of turbines to light up the building to eight. Still there will be 40 free turbines, good enough to supply power for five skyscrapers of the same size.

The horizontal turbines of the Dynamic Architecture building are simply inserted between the floors, practically invisible. They neither need a pole nor a concrete foundation. In addition, they are at zero distance from the consumer, which makes maintenance easier.

The modern design of the building and the carbon fiber special shape of the wings take care of the acoustics issues. Producing that much electric energy without any implication on the aesthetic aspect of the building is a revolutionary step in tapping alternative energy sources. Furthermore, this energy will have a positive impact on the environment and economy.

Is this squirrel impersonating Atlas, or is he just nuts about nuts?

2008-08-20T12:40:00.001-07:00

It is often said that life imitates art.

But few people would expect a squirrel to mimic a masterpiece.

Yet this this woodland creature - holding a coconut above his head - has an uncanny likeness to Atlas supporting the heavens.

The animal, who stands like the 2nd-Century Roman statue of the mythical Greek Titan, was spotted in Fareham, Hampshire.

A witness said: 'I couldn't believe it when I saw him - it's incredible he could even pick up something so relatively heavy'

Atlas was condemned by Zeus to hold Ouranos, the Sky, up on his shoulders to prevent him embracing his brother Menoetius after being defeated by the Olympians.

The pair had been a formidable force during the war while their other brothers Prometheus and Epimetheus betrayed them by joining the other side.

When the Titans were defeated , many of them, including Menoetius, were confined to Tartarus.

But Atlas was ordered to stand at the western edge of Gaia, the Earth in complete isolation while supporting the spherical heavens.

A 7ft-tall marble statue of him, sculpted at around 150AD, now stands in the Farnese Collection in the National Archeological Museum in the Italian city Naples, Italy.

It is unknown who the artist was who created it.

Replicas, including one in Santiago de Compostella in Spain and a 45ft-high bronze version at New York’s Rockerfeller Centre, have since been made.

Muscular Optical Illusion

2008-08-20T12:38:00.000-07:00

Check out the creative idea of the bag makers.It looks like the person is carrying weights rather than a bag.

Look out Britain, here comes Paris Hilton... on a TV hunt for a new best friend

2008-08-20T12:36:00.000-07:00

Calling all Paris Hilton fans - the hotel heiress is looking for a new British best friend and she's coming to a town near you.

The Simple Life star is on the hunt for a pal who can keep up with her fast-paced life as part of her new reality TV show aptly called Paris Hilton's New Best Friend.

The show, which is part of ITV2's new autumn schedule, sees the 27-year-old Hilton come to the UK in search of a BFF - or for best friend forever in her language.

The reality TV show will combine a group of potential friends together in a house, with Hilton eliminating them one by one until she finds her new best pal.

Explaining her reasons for looking for a new best friend in the UK, Ms Hilton said she loved coming to London but hated not having her 'bestie' with her when she arrived.

'Everyone knows I love LA but London, watch out - I'm coming to town and bringing my fast-paced life with me,' she said.

'I'm in the UK all the time, but of course I can't bring all my friends, so I've decided to look for a new BFF across the pond.

'I need a best friend who is hot, who can keep up with me, and most of all, who is real and won't be a backstabber.

'I'm not leaving London until I find that amazing girl or guy who can meet the challenges of being my British bestie!'

ITV2 controller, Zai Bennett, told the Guardian that signing Hilton's exclusive show was a big coup for the broadcaster and described her as 'absolutely the kind of person we want on ITV2'.

World's oldest man dies at the age of 138

2008-08-20T12:28:00.000-07:00

A great-grand father believed to be the world's oldest man has died at the age of 138.

Habib Mian passed away early yesterday morning after a brief illness at his home in the Alwar district, Rajasthan, India.
According to records Habib was born on May 28, 1870.

The grand old man was a witness to the life and times of two kings of Jaipur, the dominance of the British Raj and the decades after the Jaipur princely state of the erstwhile Rajputana merged into the Indian Union after Independence.

The Limca Book of World Records recognises him as the oldest living man in the world in its 2005 edition.

But the Guinness Book of Records did not give him this recognition because his pension papers say he was born on May 20, 1878 at Rajgarh in Alwar district.

Habib Mian also held the distinction of being the oldest Haj pilgrim having visited Mecca in 2004 and the longest beneficiary of old age pension which he has received since 1938.
Habib, who outlived his wife by 70 years, was buried at the Ghat Gate graveyard in the Alwar district, after the "Zuhar" (afternoon) prayers.

Though his birthday had become a public event ever his age came to people's notice, Habib Mian did not celebrate the day this year as he was distressed by the May 13 serial blasts in the city that claimed 68 lives.

Lightning Bolt joins Olympic sprint doubles club after blitzing the Beijing 200m field

2008-08-20T12:24:00.000-07:00

Usain Bolt joined an exclusive club when he stormed to victory in the 200 metres final at the Bird's Nest in a new world record time of 19.30 seconds.

The 21-year-old Jamaican became just the ninth man in modern Olympic history to complete the 100m and 200m sprint double.

He is the first man since Carl Lewis at Los Angeles in 1984 to complete the feat.

Bolt, who casually shaved 0.03 seconds off his own record in winning the 100 metres title in sensational style on Saturday, clocked 19.30secs to break Michael Johnson's 12-year-old record of 19.32s.

The 21-year-old, who turns 22 tomorrow, made a brilliant start and was already well clear of the field coming into the straight.

But unlike the 100m final, where he began celebrating well before the line, this time he sprinted through the tape to initially stop the clock at 19.31s, a time that was swiftly rounded down to 19.30s.

Churandy Martina, of the Dutch Antilles, took silver in 19.82.

American Wallace Spearmon crossed the line in third place in 19.95 but was disqualified for running out of his lane and team-mate Shawn Crawford, who ran 19.96 was promoted to the bronze medal.

Britain's Christian Malcolm finished seventh in 20.40.
When Bolt set off on his lap of honour 'happy birthday' rang out over the tannoy.

Johnson had actually said earlier in the day that he felt his record would not
be broken tonight, but that it was only a matter of time before he could 'kiss
it goodbye.'

But Bolt had other ideas and the determination on his face was clear as he
powered down the home straight before glancing anxiously at the clock as he
crossed the line.

'In order to run 19.30 he has to run the curve better and hold his speed for longer,' Johnson had added earlier. "I didn't think he would run 9.69, but I think he could have run 9.62 if he had run to the finish and tied up his shoes.'

In the final event of the evening, Jamaica's Melaine Walker won gold in the 400m hurdles in a new Olympic record of 52.64s.

Walker powered off the final hurdle to finish comfortably ahead of American Sheena Tosta with Britain's Natasha Danvers putting an injury-plagued season behind her to snatch bronze.

Danvers was almost caught on the line by the fast-finishing Anastasiya Rabchenyuk of Ukraine and waited for confirmation from the giant scoreboard that she had held on to set a new personal best of 53.84.

It was then announced that the American team had launched a protest over Spearmon's disqualification from the 200m final.

OLYMPIC SPRINT DOUBLES

1904 Archie Hahn (United States)

1912 Ralph Craig (United States)

1928 Percy Williams (Canada)

1932 Eddie Tolan (United States)

1936 Jesse Owens (United States)

1956 Bobby Morrow (United States)

1972 Valeriy Borzov (Soviet Union)

1984 Carl Lewis (United States)

2008 Usain Bolt (Jamaica)

American great Michael Johnson hailed Usain Bolt's "incredible" achievement.

Johnson set a record of 19.32 seconds at the 1996 Olympics, and it was considered one of the toughest to beat in athletics.

However, Bolt sliced two-hundredths of a second from Johnson's time when winning
his second gold in Beijing in a time of 19.30secs.

'He got an incredible start,' said Johnson on BBC1. 'I looked at Colin Jackson and I said, 'Wow!'.

'It was much more of an amazing start than he got in the 100m and his turn was just absolutely fabulous.

'He wanted that record. This is his favourite event.

'He went for it. He came in here focused on it, knowing most likely he'd win the gold.

'The reason I felt he might not get it here was he wouldn't have been working on speed endurance, the ability to hold that speed for the entire race.

'But he showed that he had been working on that, and was able to bring home 19.30.

'Incredible time, incredible performance by Usain Bolt once again.

'Congratulations Usain.'

Real or Fake?

2008-08-20T12:21:00.000-07:00

With the aid of computers, many pictures can be edited to make you think they are real........ these are some of the REAL and FAKE pictures
This gives a nice heads up on what is real out there and what is not.

Spiders Found in Iraq Desert

Real

Tsunami Strikes Phuket, Thailand

Fake

Air Force Jets in U.S.A. Formation

Fake

World's Biggest Dog

Fake

Highest Bridge in the World

Real

Fishermen with Giant Catfish

Real

Cloud Formation Resembles 'Hands of God'

Fake

Albino Fawn

Real

A Snake, Fishing

Real

Giant Skeleton Found in Middle East

Fake

Giant Texas Gator

Real

Dog Meets Porcupine

Real

Pres. Bush Fishing in Hurricane

Fake

North Pole Sunset

Fake

Giant Grizzly Bear

Real

Wacky 'Drunk Building'

Real

Hand-Feeding Hummingbirds

Real

Strange Boat

Real

Monster Crocodile in the Congo

Real

Tourist Atop World Trade Center, 9/11/01

Fake

Cruel Shoes

Real

Amazingly Realistic Street Painting

Real

Indoor Ski Resort in Dubai

Real

Shark Attacks Helicopter

Fake

Sandstorm in Iraq

Real

Rare Amphibian Found in Malaysia

Fake

Cash Seized in Drug Bust

Real

Japanese Fashion Craze

Fake

Carcass of Dead Mermaid

Fake

Space Nebula Resembles Human Eye

Real

Animal-Human Hybrid

Fake

MiG Jet Fighter Found Buried in Iraq

Real

Herman the Giant Bunny

Real

The Sundarbans Ghost

Fake

Live 'Worm' in Patient's Eye

Real

Catfish Eats Rubber Ball

Real

Christmas at Arlington Cemetery

Real

Montana Forest Fire

Real

Who's Going To Tell Her

2008-08-20T12:18:00.000-07:00

POINTLESS BIKE

2008-08-20T12:07:00.000-07:00

Bike collector

2008-08-20T12:02:00.000-07:00

High Heel Race !

2008-08-20T09:16:00.000-07:00

Real or Fake?

2008-08-20T08:16:00.000-07:00

Spiders Found in Iraq Desert

Real

Tsunami Strikes Phuket, Thailand

Fake

Air Force Jets in U.S.A. Formation

Fake

World's Biggest Dog

Fake

Highest Bridge in the World

Real

Fishermen with Giant Catfish

Real

Cloud Formation Resembles 'Hands of God'

Fake

Albino Fawn

Real

A Snake, Fishing

Real

Giant Skeleton Found in Middle East

Fake

Giant Texas Gator

Real

Dog Meets Porcupine

Real

Pres. Bush Fishing in Hurricane

Fake

North Pole Sunset

Fake

Giant Grizzly Bear

Real

Wacky 'Drunk Building'

Real

Hand-Feeding Hummingbirds

Real

Strange Boat

Real

Monster Crocodile in the Congo

Real

Tourist Atop World Trade Center, 9/11/01

Fake

Cruel Shoes

Real

Amazingly Realistic Street Painting

Real

Indoor Ski Resort in Dubai

Real

Shark Attacks Helicopter

Fake

Sandstorm in Iraq

Real

Rare Amphibian Found in Malaysia

Fake

Cash Seized in Drug Bust

Real

Japanese Fashion Craze

Fake

Carcass of Dead Mermaid

Fake

Space Nebula Resembles Human Eye

Real

Animal-Human Hybrid

Fake

MiG Jet Fighter Found Buried in Iraq

Real

Herman the Giant Bunny

Real

The Sundarbans Ghost

Fake

Live 'Worm' in Patient's Eye

Real

Catfish Eats Rubber Ball

Real

Christmas at Arlington Cemetery

Real

Montana Forest Fire

Real

Great Art By Pixelnase

2008-08-19T11:21:00.000-07:00

Half-shorn sheep

2008-08-19T08:47:00.000-07:00

Football Ad

2008-08-19T08:44:00.000-07:00

Great Bike Ideas

2008-08-19T08:34:00.000-07:00

The houses from bottles

2008-08-19T08:20:00.000-07:00

Rope Walker

2008-08-19T08:11:00.000-07:00