Friday, February 29, 2008
Detecting Snakes
University of Virginia: Adults and young children apparently have an innate ability to detect snakes quickly.
Seal
In Jerusalem's City of David, archaeologists uncovered an engraved seal from the eighth century BC.
"The find reveals that by 2,700 years ago, clerks and merchants had already begun to add their names to the seals instead of the symbols that were used in earlier centuries," the Jerusalem Post says.
"The find reveals that by 2,700 years ago, clerks and merchants had already begun to add their names to the seals instead of the symbols that were used in earlier centuries," the Jerusalem Post says.
Turtles in Trouble
Andrew C. Revkin of the New York Times:
The growth of logging in the rain forests of central Africa appears to be posing a long-distance threat to one of the world’s most important nesting grounds for several species of rare sea turtles — the coast of Gabon.
Turtle Protector
In Mexico a veterinarian helps endangered turtles by guarding their nests against poachers.
Missing Cat
"A microchip implanted in a Cairns family's missing cat helped them track down their pet — inside a 4m python," reports the Cairns Post in Australia.
Last Wednesday: Snake Eats Dog
Last Wednesday: Snake Eats Dog
Taxidermy
Writer Philip Bethge of Spiegel Online takes an in-depth look at this year's World Taxidermy Championships in Austria: "Over 500 dead animals transformed a Salzburg exhibition center into the deck of a Noah's Ark of absurdities — full of lifeless passengers."
Falling Cat
A falling cat injured a diner at a Beijing restaurant.
My sister has several Siberian cats. The Russian felines fly through the air with the greatest of ease.
My sister has several Siberian cats. The Russian felines fly through the air with the greatest of ease.
Neanderthal Extinction
Australian Broadcasting Corp. has a report about the possible role of cannibals in the disappearance of the Neanderthals.
Babe
Patrick McGroarty of Spiegel Online: "The Stuttgart zoo lost a star resident on Tuesday when a penguin named Babe disappeared from her enclosure. Police believe she was birdnapped."
Thursday, February 28, 2008
Trains
From the BBC (updated):
In other railroad news, a high-speed train killed at least 16 people in India. The driver of another train spotted the dead bodies. Luggage was scattered around the scene.
An Indian baby girl is in hospital after falling down the toilet of a moving train, where her mother had given birth prematurely.
The mother says she fainted after unexpectedly giving birth, and the baby fell onto the tracks.
In other railroad news, a high-speed train killed at least 16 people in India. The driver of another train spotted the dead bodies. Luggage was scattered around the scene.
Cave Cult
RIA Novosti:
Previous: Putin
Russian doomsday sect members, who have been barricaded in a cave in the country's central Penza Region since the fall, could die from infection and poisonous fumes, the Tvoi Den tabloid paper said.
The group of about 35 cult members, including four children, are holed up in the cave waiting for the apocalypse, which they say will happen in May 2008. They have threatened to set fire to themselves if any attempt is made to force them out.
Previous: Putin
Exploring Expedition
On August 18, 1838, six U.S. Navy ships left Virginia to explore the South Pacific. The Naval Historical Center has an online exhibit of art from the expedition.
Dope
Spiegel Online: "Police in the north German city of Bremen have been paying informants in drugs."
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
Escape
Raymond Bonner of the New York Times: "A Singaporean man who was once one of the most hunted terrorist suspects in Southeast Asia escaped from a detention center Wednesday afternoon in Singapore, the Singaporean government announced."
Butantan Institute
IOL has a feature article about the Butantan Institute. The Brazilian biomedical research center reportedly has the biggest collection of serpents in the world.
Hedgehogs
Patrick McGroarty of Spiegel Online: "Many German hedgehogs have been found dead in recent years after meeting a strange end — they got their heads stuck inside McDonald's McFlurry containers and starved as a result."
Clouded Leopards
In India's state of West Bengal, forestry officials found five clouded leopard skins in the possession of a wildlife trader. The illegal items included the skins of two cubs.
Smugglers in the Sahara
Phuong Tran at Voice of America:
Read more.
The Sahara Desert has long been an attractive tax-free zone for entrepreneurs. But getting products through the mostly inhospitable and hostile terrain is hard. There are no auto repair stores for spare parts. Little water. No signs. Everything looks the same.
Mohamed Ekisi, a former customs director in Niger, says nothing can get through the desert without ethnic Tuareg nomads.
Read more.
African Buffalo Attack
Emerging from a patch of tall grass, a Cape buffalo killed a fisherman on a footpath in Namibia.
Snake Eats Dog
IOL:
An Australian man whose pet dog was eaten by a giant python as his family watched in horror is afraid to leave his children alone at home in case of another snake attack, media reports said on Wednesday.
Chinese Christians
An old tombstone revealed important information about Christianity in China during the Tang Dynasty (618-907).
Background: Jingjiao
Background: Jingjiao
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Robots
According to a professor at the University of Sheffield, killer robots are a threat to humanity.
Dominatrix
A 36-year-old Hungarian policewoman on Budapest's police force lost her job after she had played a dominatrix in a pornographic movie.
America's Tropical Epidemic
NPR:
In 1878, an outbreak of yellow fever crippled Memphis, Tenn., fueled by unusually warm temperatures. America's yellow fever epidemic has again become relevant, as a case study of how warm temperatures shift disease trends.
Islam
Robert Piggott of BBC News says, "Turkey is preparing to publish a document that represents a revolutionary reinterpretation of Islam — and a controversial and radical modernization of the religion."
He adds, "The argument is that Islamic tradition has been gradually hijacked by various — often conservative — cultures, seeking to use the religion for various forms of social control."
For more than 25 years, my sophisticated Muslim friends in Asia and Africa have talked about the need to update Islam.
Read Piggott's whole article.
He adds, "The argument is that Islamic tradition has been gradually hijacked by various — often conservative — cultures, seeking to use the religion for various forms of social control."
For more than 25 years, my sophisticated Muslim friends in Asia and Africa have talked about the need to update Islam.
Read Piggott's whole article.
Sharing
Spiegel Online: German authorities are planning to give data on tax evasion in Liechtenstein to other countries, free of charge — despite having paid almost 5 million euros for the information (updated).
Yesterday: Liechtenstein
Yesterday: Liechtenstein
Monday, February 25, 2008
Wedding
Thousands of people attended the wedding of two monkeys in India's state of Orissa (updated).
Temples
News from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign: "An intrepid archaeologist is well on her way to dislodging the prevailing assumptions of scholars about the people who built and used Maya temples."
Turtle Trade
Indonesia's government has moved against the rampant illegal trade in threatened species of turtles and tortoises.
Previous: Turtle Traders
Previous: Turtle Traders
Liechtenstein
"The shadowy informant who blew the whistle on German tax cheats also sold data to U.S. authorities," Spiegel Online reports.
Boots
Spiegel Online:
Good news for police dogs in the German city of Düsseldorf: They are getting U.S.-made boots with thick rubber soles so that they don't cut their paws while chasing criminals around the city.
Antarctic Krill
British Antarctic Survey:
Scientists have discovered Antarctic krill (Euphausia superba) living and feeding down to depths of 3,000 metres in the waters around the Antarctic Peninsula. Until now this shrimp-like crustacean was thought to live only in the upper ocean. The discovery completely changes scientists’ understanding of the major food source for fish, squid, penguins, seals and whales.
Butterfly Fish
ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies: "A beautiful black, white and yellow butterflyfish, much admired by eco-tourists, divers and aquarium keepers alike, may be at risk of extinction, scientists have warned."
Viking Clothes
Viking men's fashions were modeled on styles in Russia.Photo: Annika Larsson
"Vikings did not dress the way we thought" is the headline on a news report from Uppsala University in Sweden.
Sunday, February 24, 2008
Kalinjar Fort
At least five gangs of robbers and murderers roam the area around India's Kalinjar Fort.
Ray of Happiness
A baby thornback ray with a smiling face is a big hit with visitors at the Blue Reef Aquarium in Portsmouth, England.
Saturday, February 23, 2008
CIA
Scott Shane of the New York Times:
Read more.
Larry Devlin is 85 now, suffering from emphysema and tethered to an oxygen tank, his Central Intelligence Agency career long behind him. But he recalls with sunlit clarity the day in Congo nearly half a century ago when he was handed a packet of poisons, including toxic toothpaste, and ordered to carry out a political assassination.
Read more.
Hawaii
Rosemarie Bernardo of the Honolulu Star-Bulletin: "City officials are scrambling to construct an extended, fenced enclosure at a Honolulu Zoo exhibit, after Thursday's brief escape by Berani, a 245-pound Sumatran tiger."
Bandits
Lisa Schlein at Voice of America: "The United Nations World Food Program says increasing banditry in Sudan's conflict-ridden Darfur region is endangering its ability to feed up to three million people there."
One Day at a Time
Daniel Feikin in Kenya:
Full story
It was 8:15 when I finally pushed the kids out the door. That’s when the pop-pop-pop of gunfire started. So I told the kids I just remembered it was a school holiday.
Full story
Friday, February 22, 2008
Madhya Pradesh
Poachers killed a magnificent seven-foot tiger in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh.
Freedom Has a Price
Spiegel Online:
Being a German hostage just got more expensive. A Berlin court has ruled that the government can force victims to pay for the expenses incurred in rescuing them.
Rabbit Forebears
"Fossil hunters have found the remains of ancient mammals that were related to today's rabbits and hares," the BBC reports.
Gun Collector
In Shanghai a former department store manager received a two-year prison sentence for collecting guns.
Bridge
The BBC: "A company owned by Osama bin Laden's half brother has proposed building a bridge across Mandab Strait on the Red Sea, to link Djibouti to Yemen."
Dead Monk
Wild elephants killed one Buddhist monk and injured another Buddhist monk in Thailand's Thap Lan National Park.
"Both victims were on a forest pilgrimage," a Thai trader said.
"Both victims were on a forest pilgrimage," a Thai trader said.
Thursday, February 21, 2008
Help from Above
Via IOL:
Ancient Mayan astronomers aligned their soaring temples with the stars and now modern archaeologists have found the ruins of hidden cities in the Guatemalan jungle by peering down from space.
Lemurs
Russian customs officers captured several wildlife smugglers in the city of Belgorod.
"The smugglers were transporting lemurs in a car," a spokesman for the customs office stated.
"The smugglers were transporting lemurs in a car," a spokesman for the customs office stated.
Savage Fish
Via Xinhua News Agency:
A giant snakehead, a fearsome predator of a fish usually found in the fresh waters of South East Asia and India, has been hooked by an angler from a river in England, media reported Thursday.
Most Wanted
You and your friends can receive email updates about the FBI's ten most wanted fugitives.
When I was 8 years old, I lived near an FBI agent. He let me play with his shoulder holster and .38-caliber revolver on Saturdays.
When I was 8 years old, I lived near an FBI agent. He let me play with his shoulder holster and .38-caliber revolver on Saturdays.
Dinner
"Eat you dinner," my mother told me during my childhood. "You are lucky you have something to eat. People in Africa are starving."Later I went to the U.S. Library of Congress, where I saw this old photograph of two women in Tunisia.
Pig Farm
A farm fire killed 100 pigs in the East Siberian republic of Buryatia.
"The people at the farm should send the meat to hungry pro-Taliban fighters in Afghanistan," one of my acquaintances suggested.
"The people at the farm should send the meat to hungry pro-Taliban fighters in Afghanistan," one of my acquaintances suggested.
The Pythons Are Coming
Steve Rubenstein warns San Francisco residents:
In addition to everything else to worry about, now comes the Burmese python.
The giant snakes are slithering from Florida toward the Bay Area, very slowly to be sure, but inexorably. And they can strangle and eat an entire alligator.
Something New
"Chinese and Japanese scientists have confirmed a dinosaur fossil unearthed in eastern Zhejiang Province in September was a new species of the animal," Xinhua News Agency says.
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
Red Pandas
Spiegel Online, Germany:
Two red pandas have been found dead in their enclosure at Nuremberg Zoo, home to polar bear cub Snowflake. The animals' stomachs had been slit open with a sharp object. The city has called in police to investigate.
Skeleton
Kyodo News via the Japan Times: "A complete skeleton of a Japanese soldier has been unearthed in Papua New Guinea, found clutching his dog tag, diary and helmet to his chest."
Dead Rustlers
Lawmen reportedly killed eight cattle rustlers during a gun battle in Kenya's Rift Valley Province.
"Dozens of other rustlers suffered gunshot wounds during the fight," an American traveler told me. "The injured outlaws escaped when they fled into a forest."
"Dozens of other rustlers suffered gunshot wounds during the fight," an American traveler told me. "The injured outlaws escaped when they fled into a forest."
Monkey Trouble
RIA Novosti:
A group of monkeys has descended on the north Indian state of Himachal Pradesh, snatching food and ransacking farms, national media said on Wednesday.
Measures taken by local authorities to counter the plague of monkeys, including employing monkey catchers and carrying out sterilizations, have so far proven ineffective.
Officials also initially received government go-ahead to kill the animals. However, the culling of the monkeys was later deemed unacceptable to Hindus, who revere monkeys as a manifestation of the mighty monkey god Hanuman.
"We are preparing a proposal to offer people money to catch monkeys," said Vinay Tandon, chief of the State wildlife department.
The department is likely to offer a $10 reward for catching a monkey, the officials said.
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
Freedom Monument
RIA Novosti:
Latvian Interior Minister Mareks Seglins called the British "pigs" after another British national was arrested Tuesday for urinating on a Riga monument.
Police arrested a fifth British national caught urinating on the Freedom Monument, which is Latvia's national symbol, in central Riga.
"These people think it is a tradition to mar our monument. They are pigs, those British. A piggy nation," Seglins told reporters angrily.
Over 15 people, including Russians, have been arrested recently for indecent behavior at the monument. However, British nationals are the most frequent offenders out of any nation.
SARS
Ohio State University:
Scientists who have studied the genome of the virus that caused severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) say their comparisons to related viruses offer new evidence that the virus infecting humans originated in bats.
The analysis tracing the viruses’ paths through human and animal hosts counters assertions that SARS was eradicated in 2004 when thousands of palm civet cats in China were identified as the original source and killed in an effort to eliminate the risk of new outbreaks.
According to this new analysis, humans actually appear to be the source of the virus found in those civets, a wild game animal considered a delicacy in southern China.
Historical Site
In Bangladesh the site of an old mosque has become a safe haven for criminals. The country's Daily Star newspaper has the lowdown on the situation.
Bank Robbers
FBI history:
Full story
The days of the big-name bank robbers—John Dillinger, “Baby Face” Nelson, “Pretty Boy” Floyd, and the like—were long gone when a pair of enterprising, dangerous, and slightly offbeat crooks arrived on the scene in the early 1960s. But within a few years, they’d be as wanted as any of the gun-slinging bank robbers of the gangster era.
Full story
Stolen Paintings
From the BBC: "Two paintings stolen in one of the world's largest art thefts have been recovered in an abandoned car, Swiss police have confirmed."
Previous: Art Robbery
Previous: Art Robbery
Byzantine Cross
Via IOL:
Belgian police were searching on Tuesday for a priceless Byzantine cross and other treasures stolen during an armed robbery from a cathedral in Tournai in western Belgium.
Despite an alarm system and protective case, the thieves made off with the small, richly adorned cross, which is said to contain a fragment of the True Cross, from the 18th-century cathedral Monday morning, authorities said.
Ancient Persia
Hedieh Ghavidel, Press TV, Tehran:
Archaeological finds in Iran show that women and men applied makeup and arrayed themselves with ornaments approximately 10,000 years ago, a trend which began from religious convictions rather than mere beautification motivations.
Ascaris Eggs
IOL:
Hong Kong health officials on Tuesday warned would-be slimmers not to consume parasitic worms in an attempt to lose weight following adverts for products containing worm eggs.
Bandage
Massachusetts Institute of Technology:
MIT researchers and colleagues have created a waterproof adhesive bandage inspired by gecko lizards that may soon join sutures and staples as a basic operating room tool for patching up surgical wounds or internal injuries.
Monday, February 18, 2008
The Deep
"Mysterious creatures from the deep have been discovered in waters off the east Antarctic land mass," Australian Broadcasting Corp. says.
Tigress in the Trees
The Telegraph in Kolkata:
A Bengal tigress climbed trees, hid behind barns and bushes and ran across fields to escape armed villagers before being stoned, thrashed and caught in a Sundarbans village this morning.
Five villagers were injured while trying catch the animal.
Butts
"A national dance craze in Ivory Coast has spawned a black market in treatments claiming to increase one's bottom size," John James of BBC News reports.
Tana River Delta
BirdLife International: "A flourishing wetland on Kenya’s northern coast is under serious threat from plans to grow vast amounts of sugarcane, partly for biofuel production."
Sunday, February 17, 2008
Forest People
In Sri Lanka a group of social workers helped build a bigger shrine room for a fortune-teller. IRIN has the details.
Saturday, February 16, 2008
Islamic Fervor
Michael Slackman in Egypt:
In 1986, there was one mosque for every 6,031 Egyptians, according to government statistics. By 2005, there was one mosque for every 745 people — and the population has nearly doubled.
French Foreign Legion
The Japan Times has an article about two Japanese legionnaires in the French Foreign Legion.
Background: French Foreign Legion
Background: French Foreign Legion
Family Feud
Seth Mydans of the New York Times writes about the centuries-old Sultanate of Surakarta in Indonesia:
When King Pakubuwono XII died four years ago, he left six mistresses with 35 children, but no wife, no heir and no instructions about the succession here in this city in central Java.
He might have guessed what would happen. Two half brothers each claimed the ancient crown, and the family split into two bitterly feuding factions.
Ex-Hooker
In Australia the New South Wales Police Force reportedly expelled a former prostitute from a police training course.
Myanmar (Burma)
"Burma's military government is moving hundreds of zoo animals from Rangoon to Naypyidaw, the country's new capital," reports Steve Jackson of BBC News.
Friday, February 15, 2008
Firefight
Drew Brown of Stars and Stripes:
Read the whole thing.
Noman Jawar Deahim was a hard man to kill.
With just two armed companions, Deahim held off more than 60 U.S. and Iraqi troops in a firefight that lasted more than three hours.
Read the whole thing.
Dust Storms
University of Wisconsin-Madison:
The rest is here.
Every year, storms over West Africa disturb millions of tons of dust and strong winds carry those particles into the skies over the Atlantic. According to a recent study led by University of Wisconsin-Madison atmospheric scientists, this dust from Africa directly affects ocean temperature, a key ingredient in Atlantic hurricane development.
"At least one-third of the recent increase in Atlantic Ocean temperatures is due to a decrease in dust storms," says lead author Amato Evan, a researcher at UW-Madison's Cooperative Institute for Meteorological Satellite Studies (CIMSS).
The rest is here.
Invasion
Survival International:
A group of Yanomami Indians have spent the past ten days camped in a local Brazilian town following the invasion of their land by gold miners and ranchers.
Yanomami from the Ajarani area in the state of Roraima are camping in the nearby town of Caracaraí. A group of ranchers are illegally occupying Yanomami land in the area, cutting down the forest to make way for pasture and scaring away the animals and fish on which the Yanomami rely.
In 2004, a Brazilian court ordered the ranchers to leave the area. The ranchers have refused to leave, and one threatened in November to kill leader Davi Yanomami if he was forced to move.
Recent months have also seen the return of illegal gold miners to the Yanomami territory. When gold miners invaded their land in the 1980s and 1990s, twenty percent of the Yanomami died in just seven years.
Human Sacrifice in Sudan
"French archaeologists in Sudan say they have uncovered the oldest proof of human sacrifice in Africa, hailing the discovery as the biggest Neolithic find on the continent for years," IOL reports.
Spain and Egypt
From the official Russian news agency RIA Novosti:
Egypt: "An Egyptian shoe salesman nearly fell victim to swindlers who told him they knew the secret of how to grow money, national media said on Friday."
Spain: "The world's largest passenger sailing ship, able to hold some 230 people, will be constructed in Spain by April 2009, the Pais newspaper said on Friday."
Egypt: "An Egyptian shoe salesman nearly fell victim to swindlers who told him they knew the secret of how to grow money, national media said on Friday."
Spain: "The world's largest passenger sailing ship, able to hold some 230 people, will be constructed in Spain by April 2009, the Pais newspaper said on Friday."
Curse of the Dead Elephants
RIA Novosti:
The elephants died on February 4, not January 4.
A temple in the memory of three elephants killed by a train will be built in the village of Madukarai in southern India, local television said on Friday.
On January 4, in the early hours, a train hit three elephants — two males and a pregnant female — when the driver failed to notice the animals in thick fog. The female elephant gave birth to a stillborn calf before dying.
Locals believe the elephants put a curse on the village in revenge for their deaths.
"We were running scared all these days when the elephants raided our fields and ran very close to our homes, but we never wanted such an end to their lives," the Hindustan Times newspaper quoted a villager as saying.
In order to ward off the curse, villagers made a bronze statue of an elephant and plan to build a temple for it.
Clashes between man and elephants in the struggle for shrinking habitat are a common occurrence in India, where elephants are often forced to live near villages and towns as their natural habitat becomes eroded by man's activity.
Residents of the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu often resort to symbolic rites to ward off curses they believe have been placed on them.
Three months ago, a 34-year-old man married a dog to try and rid himself of a curse he believed had been placed upon him for killing two mating dogs. Soon after the incident, he became paralyzed, and a local soothsayer told him that the only way to remove it was to marry a dog.
The elephants died on February 4, not January 4.
Thursday, February 14, 2008
Foreign Intrigue on American Soil
From the FBI:
Update: China denied the espionage accusations.
“We urge the U.S. to stop its cold war thinking and stop groundless accusations and do more to contribute to mutual trust and friendship between our two peoples,” a spokesman for China's Foreign Ministry said.
There were secret meetings in restaurants, encrypted email messages using a mysterious shorthand, suitcases crammed full of stolen documents.
There were covert payoffs: a pocket stuffed with a wad of bills, free poker games in Vegas, a wallet suddenly flush with cash.
There were bogus cover stories for trips to the “motherland” where secrets were passed and clandestine couriers who helped deliver materials into foreign hands.
If it all sounds very cloak and dagger, that’s because it is. Two cases worked by the FBI and its partners and brought to fruition Monday with four arrests on opposite coasts had all the intrigue of a good spy novel.
In the first investigation, a former Boeing and Rockwell engineer in California who had access to secret materials for decades was charged with several counts of economic espionage — including stealing U.S. high-tech trade secrets relating to the Space Shuttle and other aerospace and military systems and passing them to China.
The engineer allegedly stole hundreds of thousands of documents, many of which never made it to China. But he did provide China with some two dozen manuals on the B-1 Bomber and traveled to that country under the guise of giving lectures, while secretly meeting with Chinese government officials and agents.
In the second investigation, a weapons policy analyst at the Department of Defense — along with a New Orleans businessman and a Chinese national living in the U.S. — were charged with passing classified government materials to China. Much of the information related to the sale of military technology to Taiwan.
According to court documents, the New Orleans businessman cultivated the relationship with the analyst (and other U.S. government officials) and helped funnel information to the Chinese government. The Chinese national served as a “cut-out” — a go-between who worked with the businessman so an unnamed official in China could avoid direct contact with the analyst.
The Defense analyst’s series of secret meetings and telling conversations with the businessman — including admissions that he didn’t want to get caught and go to jail — are recounted in court documents.
How'd we catch these spies? By using our own set of tradecraft, including surveillance, court-authorized searches and wiretaps, extensive translation work, and close coordination with NASA, the Air Force, and other government agencies.
It all goes to show that while the Cold War is over, espionage is alive and well. Countries around the world are as determined as ever to steal our nation's sensitive military technologies and valuable trade secrets — even if that means resorting to traditional tricks like recruiting American turncoats.
Update: China denied the espionage accusations.
“We urge the U.S. to stop its cold war thinking and stop groundless accusations and do more to contribute to mutual trust and friendship between our two peoples,” a spokesman for China's Foreign Ministry said.
Japanese Village
Archaeologists uncovered a 17th-century Japanese village near the Cambodian capital of Phnom Penh. Many of the village inhabitants were merchants.
Death Threat
Survival International:
A leader of the Ogiek tribe in Kenya has received a death threat by telephone. An unknown caller told Mr. Mpoiok Kobei, "We need your head before Tuesday nineteenth, this month."
Condemned Witch
Saudi Arabia plans to behead an illiterate woman after her conviction on witchcraft charges.
Ecuador
Voice of America:
Ecuadorian Indian leaders are investigating a report that loggers killed a group of tribesmen living in an Amazon nature preserve.
As many as 15 Huaoranis were said to be killed in Yasuni National Park.
Ecuadorian National Police say they have no information about the incident.
Yasuni has been set aside by Ecuador to serve as a protected area.
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
Primitive Bat Species
"The discovery of a remarkably well-preserved fossil representing the most primitive bat species known to date demonstrates that the animals evolved the ability to fly before they could echolocate," the University of Michigan reports.(Photo credit and copyright: American Museum of Natural History)
Hotel Raid
Lawmen nabbed four suspected poachers during a hotel raid in the Indian state of Assam. Three other suspected poachers managed to escape.
"The poachers allegedly were involved in the recent rhino killings at Kaziranga National Park," a trader told me.
Previous: Another Rhino Poached
"The poachers allegedly were involved in the recent rhino killings at Kaziranga National Park," a trader told me.
Previous: Another Rhino Poached
Two Deaths
Today a leopard killed a 60-year-old woman at a village in the Indian state of Gujarat. Three days ago, a leopard killed a 16-year-old girl in a nearby village.
Thai Antiquities
U.S. museums wonder if they can keep the fruits of a serendipitous discovery four decades ago.
Previous:
Probe Widens
Raids in California
Previous:
Probe Widens
Raids in California
The Slow and the Dead
For a week a corpse remained in the back of a van at a San Francisco police impound yard.
Missionary Position
Sex in the wild:
IOL has the story.
Leah, the first gorilla ever seen using tools, has secured herself another small place in history by becoming the first gorilla captured on film mating face-to-face, researchers reported on Tuesday.
IOL has the story.
Orphanage
Cold weather and a food shortage compelled 112 children to run away from an orphanage in Afghanistan.
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
Cockfighting
Katie Thomas of the New York Times:
In America, cockfighting is considered cruel and is illegal. But in the Dominican Republic, cockfighting is celebrated as a symbol of the country’s warrior spirit.
First Contact
Survival International: "Unconfirmed reports indicate that a team prospecting for oil deep in the Peruvian Amazon has encountered a village belonging to previously uncontacted Indians."
Dinosaur from Mexico
Reconstructed skull of Velafrons coahuilensis, a 72-million-year-old duck-billed dinosaur discovered in Coahuila, MexicoPhoto credit: Reconstruction courtesy of Gaston Design, Inc.
From the University of Utah:
A new species of dinosaur unearthed in Mexico is giving scientists fresh insights into the ancient history of western North America, according to an international research team led by scientists from the Utah Museum of Natural History at the University of Utah.
"To date, the dinosaur record from Mexico has been sparse," said Terry Gates, a paleontologist with the Utah Museum of Natural History, Utah's designated natural history museum.
The new creature — aptly dubbed Velafrons coahuilensis — was a massive plant-eater belonging to a group of duck-billed dinosaurs, or hadrosaurs.
Rambo
In real life Rambo seems a little afraid of the jungle.
"Even walking into your motorhome, you find something in your toilet that will eat you," Sylvester Stallone told the BBC. "It's dangerous — how do these people live, man?"
"Even walking into your motorhome, you find something in your toilet that will eat you," Sylvester Stallone told the BBC. "It's dangerous — how do these people live, man?"
Monday, February 11, 2008
Flying Reptile
"A new fossil species of flying reptile with a wingspan of less than 30cm (1ft) has been discovered in China," the BBC reports.
Son Seller
A father offered to sell his 9-year-old son for sacrifice at the shrine of a witch doctor in Uganda. Police arrested the parent.
Pastor
During services at a church in Uganda, a pastor stole the wallet of a worshipper.
"The church members expelled the clergyman," a trader said.
"The church members expelled the clergyman," a trader said.
Ancient City in India
Archaeologists dug out the remains of a 2,500-year-old city in India's state of Orissa.
Sunday, February 10, 2008
Postcards
"The postcard, that cheap and venerable souvenir for the last 120 years, is slowly but inexorably fading from the scene," writes Sherry Wickwire.
Noodle Shop
In Ho Chi Minh City a restaurant bears the memory of an important event in the Vietnam War — the 1968 Tet Offensive.
Germany
Via IRNA:
Thousands of people had to be evacuated in the northern German city of Hanover for the second time in less than two months after a 1,000-kilo military aircraft bomb, dating back to World War II, was discovered, the news reports said Sunday.
Saturday, February 9, 2008
Entomophagy
Sam Nejame:
The New York Times Magazine has the article.
David Gracer eats bugs. Not any old crushed, oozy, sidewalk kind of bug, but insects selected just like any other food — for sustenance and taste. He eats them sautéed, filleted and roasted. And he thinks you should eat them, too.
The New York Times Magazine has the article.
Wild Elephant
An elephant killed a Chinese man at a nature reserve in southwestern China. Last month an elephant injured an American in the same area.
Previous: An American in China
Previous: An American in China
Clash
Three people died during a clash between Bangladeshi pirates and fishermen. The Daily Star, Bangladesh's leading English-language newspaper, has the story here.
Friday, February 8, 2008
Romney
Yesterday Jules Crittenden had the best line about Mitt Romney's decision to exit the Presidential race: "Businessman does the math, opts to cut losses, lays himself off."
Mob Kills Suspects
A village mob killed a man and two women in southeastern Uganda.
"The trio allegedly beheaded a resident in a ritual sacrifice earlier this week," a trader said.
"The trio allegedly beheaded a resident in a ritual sacrifice earlier this week," a trader said.
Demonic Possession
Demonic spirits reportedly took control of approximately 100 students at a school in western Uganda.
"The situation is bad," the headmaster said this week. "About 100 pupils are totally mad. They are chasing everybody including teachers and fellow pupils, throwing stones, banging doors and windows."
Hundred of parents decided to keep their children home from school.
Last year the school had a similar problem. Afterward, cops arrested four people for casting a spell on the school.
"The situation is bad," the headmaster said this week. "About 100 pupils are totally mad. They are chasing everybody including teachers and fellow pupils, throwing stones, banging doors and windows."
Hundred of parents decided to keep their children home from school.
Last year the school had a similar problem. Afterward, cops arrested four people for casting a spell on the school.
Protest
Thousands of Peruvians protested against the construction of hotels near famous historical sites.
Plague of Rats
"A plague of rats has destroyed the crops of tens of thousands of people living in Bangladesh's remote Chittagong Hill Tracts," reports Mark Dummett of BBC News.
Thursday, February 7, 2008
Dance Fever
Religious authorities in Thailand defrocked three Buddhist monks for turning their sleeping quarters into a makeshift disco. Police found alcohol, teenage girls, and X-rated movies on the premises.
Colugos
UC Berkeley:
Read more.
The "flying" lemur of Malaysia is the champion of all gliding mammals, able to drop from the forest canopy, glide more than the length of two football fields, execute 90-degree turns and then alight gently on a tree trunk.
Read more.
Lighthouse
Turkish archaeologists unearthed a 2,000-year-old lighthouse at the ancient port of Patara.
Sri Lanka
Wildlife officers seized two rhino horns and four leopard skins from two businessmen in Sri Lanka.
Meanwhile, South Asian nations agreed to step up cooperation in addressing wildlife trade problems.
Meanwhile, South Asian nations agreed to step up cooperation in addressing wildlife trade problems.
Improvements
The San Francisco Zoo finished the first phase of improvements to its four big-cat grottoes.
Wednesday, February 6, 2008
Tungurahua Volcano
"Ecuador's Tungurahua volcano erupted Wednesday, spewing molten rock, smoke and ash into the air and forcing the evacuation of people living nearby," the Voice of America says.
Guards
IOL: "Dozens of armed guards are being sent to protect India's one-horned rhinos after poachers killed four of the endangered animals in the past month, officials said on Wednesday."
Yesterday: Another Rhino Poached
Yesterday: Another Rhino Poached
Barnacles
News release from the University of Alberta:
Compelled to mate, yet firmly attached to the rock, barnacles have evolved the longest penis of any animal for their size—up to eight times their body length—so they can find and fertilize distant neighbors.
Graduate student Christopher Neufeld and Dr. Richard Palmer from the Department of Biological Sciences at the University of Alberta have shown that barnacles appear to have acquired the capacity to change the size and shape of their penises to closely match local wave conditions. When wave action is light, a longer (thinner) penis can reach more mates, but at times of higher wave action, a shorter (stouter) penis is more maneuverable in flow and therefore can reach more mates.
The research, published in Proceedings of the Royal Society B, suggests that sexual selection—competition with other males, female choice, sexual conflict between males and females—is not required to explain variation in genital form. In barnacles, this variation appears to be driven largely by the hydrodynamic conditions experienced under breaking waves.
Bamboo Raft
Via IOL:
Three Myanmarese fishermen who were adrift on a bamboo raft in the Bay of Bengal for over three months were rescued by fishermen off India's eastern coast, a news report said on Wednesday.
Fast Food
The BBC: "Thai fast food sellers are enjoying a boom in rat sales, as people learn to love the taste of the rodent. "
Cops
"Four San Francisco police officers have been recommended for medals of valor for fatally shooting the tiger that escaped from its zoo enclosure on Christmas Day, killing one teen and injuring two of his friends," reports John Koopman of the San Francisco Chronicle.
Tuesday, February 5, 2008
Cannery Row
Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UC San Diego:
The mid-20th century crash of the sardine fishery off California for decades has vexed marine ecologists searching for the root causes of large fluctuations in the sardine population. Before its collapse, the fishery was one of the world's most productive and formed the setting of John Steinbeck's Cannery Row in Monterey, Calif.
Scientists at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego have now shed light on the puzzle by proposing a plausible mechanism behind the mystery: wind.
Peruvian Pirates
Four pirates with machetes boarded a bulk carrier at anchor off the coast of Peru. The robbers stole items from the ship and crew.
Herbalist
Villagers lynched a male herbalist in Uganda.
"The man was a self-proclaimed sorcerer," a trader said. "He claimed he had used sorcery to kill three locals. Sometimes he jumped like a frog when he traveled from place to place."
"The man was a self-proclaimed sorcerer," a trader said. "He claimed he had used sorcery to kill three locals. Sometimes he jumped like a frog when he traveled from place to place."
Duck Killer
RIA Novosti:
An Indian man who won an award for his work in protecting migratory birds was caught red-handed poaching ducks at a lake in east India's state of Orissa, the Times of India paper said Tuesday.
Another Rhino Poached
Poachers killed another one-horned rhinoceros at Kaziranga National Park in India's state of Assam. Illegal hunters slaughtered three other rhinos in the area this year.
Iriomote Wildcat
Norimitsu Onishi on Japan's Iriomote Island:
The Iriomote wildcat is said to have roamed this small, subtropical island in the East China Sea for 200,000 years, but proved so elusive that it was not discovered until 1967. To this day, many islanders have never seen the wildcat, and some even stubbornly deny its existence.
Monday, February 4, 2008
Divers
Alastair Lawson of BBC News wrote a piece about a daring new breed of amateur diver in Bangladesh.
Dead Elephants
Near India's industrial city of Coimbatore, a speeding train killed two male elephants and one pregnant female elephant today.
"The incident happened when the two male elephants were trying to push and rescue the 25-year-old pregnant elephant stuck in the railway track after noticing the approaching train," India's PTI news agency reported.
"The incident happened when the two male elephants were trying to push and rescue the 25-year-old pregnant elephant stuck in the railway track after noticing the approaching train," India's PTI news agency reported.
History
RIA Novosti:
A poll commissioned by a British TV station has revealed that a fifth of British teenagers believe the country's WWII leader Winston Churchill to be a mythical figure, UK TV Gold said on Monday.
Tug
RIA Novosti:
A tugboat with a Russian-British crew, captured by gunmen off Somalia's coast three days ago, is reportedly being held at a port outside the capital Mogadishu, Russian rescue officials said on Monday.
Land of the Incas
Fashion model with llamas, Peru, 1952Photographer: Toni Frissell, American, 1907-1988
Sunday, February 3, 2008
Tribal Clash
A tribal clash left five people dead and several more people seriously wounded in Papua New Guinea.
Rice
Jonathan Head of BBC News:
In a dingy little office, tucked out of sight down a small alley in Bangkok's Chinatown, Supoj Vongjirattikarn wields a telephone in each hand, speaking rapidly and flicking his abacus with his fingers.
He is one of around 70 rice brokers in Bangkok who literally keep the international rice lifeline going — matching orders from abroad with suppliers, the thousands of rice mills in Thailand that take and process the farmers' harvest. And he has never been busier.
Ernie Pyle
The death photo of America's famed World War II war correspondent Ernie Pyle surfaced today.
Florida
Weeki Wachee spring, 1947Photographer: Toni Frissell, American, 1907-1988
When I saw this photograph, I remembered Raymond Chandler's 1943 detective novel The Lady in the Lake.
Lost Nuclear Bomb
NPR:
On Feb. 5, 1958, a B-47 bomber dropped a 7,000-pound nuclear bomb into the waters off Tybee Island, Ga., after it collided with another Air Force jet.
Fifty years later, the bomb — which has unknown quantities of radioactive material — has never been found.
Milk and Blood
Police arrested a housemaid for forcing a 2-year-old child to drink a mixture of milk and blood in Saudi Arabia. The maid said she disliked working in a home with children.
Saturday, February 2, 2008
Gaza
A Palestinian man tried to smuggle a monkey and a lion cub across the Egyptian border into Gaza. Police caught the man at a checkpoint.
Zoo Experts
A trio of experts found outdated exhibits and stressed-out animals at the San Francisco Zoo.
Señor Scissorhands
John Burnett at NPR:
There are more than 100 topiaries at the Church of San Rafael in Zarcero, Costa Rica. They take on many shapes — a dinosaur, an octopus and Christ carrying a cross. The man who created the park 40 years ago, Evangelista Blanco Brenes, still trims the bushes.
Kerr Eby
Weary Trail by Kerr EbyIllustrator Kerr Eby traveled with the U.S. Marines in the South Pacific during World War II.
Maj. Gen. Julian C. Smith, USMC, who commanded the amphibious assault at Tarawa, wrote:
Kerr Eby was with the Marines long enough to get the feeling of their war. With rapid sketches on the spot, whether in jungle skirmish or at beachhead landing or just living between battles, he used his art to capture that feeling and make it visible to all. It is small wonder, and yet it is the eternal miracle of art, that his finished paintings and drawings are so richly successful. They have caught the dramatic intensity and spirit of men at war, the feeling of men in battle, the sludging through the jungle and the terrible murky heat, the charge on the pillbox, the savagery, the terror, the exhaustion of battle.
The U.S. Navy has 43 works by Eby in its art collection. You can see them here.
Friday, February 1, 2008
Angry Hippo
An angry hippopotamus killed two fishermen in Swaziland. Crocodiles feasted on the corpses.
Mercenary
Zimbabwe extradited Simon Mann to Equatorial Guinea. The Voice of America has the details in an article by Peta Thornycroft.
Black Rats
CSIRO: "DNA of the common black rat has shed light on the ancient spread of rats, people, and diseases around the globe."
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