Camel Spider

The camel spider, also called a wind scorpion, is an arachnid, but not a spider at all. It cannot weave a web and possesses no venom. Camel spiders are shade-seekers, called solpugids, which occupy desert regions worldwide. Camel spiders grow to a length of about 5" (12.7cm) with legs outstretched, and are somewhat less daunting than their reputation. The folklore began in 1991 with U.S. soldiers during the Gulf War, and was picked up again in 2003 when the U.S. returned to Iraq. Soldiers reported the spiders would scurry across the sand directly at them as if attacking. In truth camel spiders run after shade and are seeking the shade created by the soldiers. Misinformation about camel spiders ran rampant with rumors of their ability to run 25 mph (40 km/hr), jump several feet into the air, lay eggs in a camel's stomach, and even inject sleeping soldiers with anesthetic venom to surreptitiously suck chunks of flesh. Folklore over the camel spider is not confined to the Middle East. In Mexico the name for the camel spider, matevenados, translates to "deer killers." Camel spiders can reach speeds of 10 mph (16 km/h), they do jump to modest heights, and are aggressive, though they are not the superspiders of myth. Camel spiders feed on invertebrates, insects and even small reptiles. They have enormous crushing jaws that must work quickly because they have no venom to subdue their prey. Finally, camel spiders are so-named, not because they feed on camels, but because they are found in the same desert-like climates as the camel. It's no wonder the camel spider is the source of many exaggerated tales with its impressive speed, generous size, and enormous jutting jaws. The awesome camel spider brings to mind the stuff of movies like Starship Troopers, which pits mankind against worlds where giant arachnids rule. But at least for now, the camel spider remains a mere shade-seeker, scuttling through the sands for another meal that will likely have at least 4 legs, if not 6 or 8. And that's good news for us.

Philippines House To File Complaint vs ‘Exorcist’

‘It made a mockery of the lower Chamber and of the Roman Catholic Church’ Majority Leader Prospero Nograles of the House of Representatives yesterday revealed that the chamber will file a formal complaint before the Roman Catholic Church against Fr. Robert Reyes for insulting lawmakers by performing so-called "exorcism rites" at the Batasan Pambansa building on Monday. Nograles said the House Committee on Ethics will also be asked to investigate the participation of three Akbayan sectoral representatives in the religious ceremonies that "have made a mockery not only of the entire House but also of Roman Catholicism." Akbayan Reps. Loretta Ann Rosales, Risa Hontiveros and Mario Aguja denied the rites were intended to insult their colleagues in the chamber. They explained that the exorcism rites were aimed at ridding the chamber of the "evils patronage, partisanship and dishonesty to pave the way for the impeachment" of President Arroyo. Last Monday, Reyes sprinkled holy water on a mural depicting House members, located at the main lobby of the Batasan building. Garlands of garlic, said to be effective in driving away evil spirits, were also brought to the Batasan building for the ceremony. "Fr. Reyes has not only overstepped the Constitutional boundary between religion and the state but has also made a mockery of Roman Catholicism. I think the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) should take the appropriate actions for this foul and malicious act of Fr. Reyes," Nograles said. Nograles said Fr. Reyes’ behavior which may be considered as "slander by deeds against congressmen" will not be taken sitting down, saying that lawmakers will fight to defend the integrity of the Lower House as an institution. "The members of the House who initiated, enticed and participated in the exorcism committed an unbecoming act and may result to appropriate disciplinary action. In the case of Fr. Reyes, we will leave it to the CBCP but we can also report this to the Vatican, if necessary," the Davao City solon said.

Atomic Glassware And Ceramics

Some antique glassware and ceramics are radioactive! Uranium is used as a coloring agent in the glass and ceramic glazes. Some of these pieces are only mildly radioactive, while others are as "hot" as high grade uranium ore! The most interesting thing about uranium glass is the fact that it flouresces when exposed to ultraviolet light (blacklight). This is a Fiestaware water pitcher. The uranium-containing red glaze was used from 1936 to 1943. It was discontinued from 1944 to 1958 due to a shortage of uranium caused by demand from the U.S. Government to build reactors and bombs. It was produced again from 1959 to 1969. The uranium that was used during this last period was supposedly "de-enriched" by removal of the fissionable isotope, Uranium 235. This geiger counter is reading approximately 3 mR/hr. Please note that radioactive glassware and ceramics are perfectly safe to collect and display but should not be used to drink from or eat from. Acidic food or drink such as tomato sauce or juice may leach the uranium out of the glass or glaze, posing an ingestion hazard.

Japanese Couple Dies From Mushrooms

A man and a woman in Japan have died after eating poisonous mushrooms they picked themselves in a forest, health officials said. It is the first fatal case of mushroom poisoning since 1996 in Japan, said officials Saturday at the Toyohashi public health center in Aichi Prefecture. The couple, who were in their 60s, picked the mushrooms in a forest Wednesday. Officials said the couple apparently thought they had picked "kurohatsu," which are not poisonous, the Kyodo news agency reported. The couple ate the mushrooms in miso soup and developed breathing difficulties about 30 minutes later.

A Farmer Has Caught The Legendary 'Chupacabra' (?)

A Texas farmer may have found what some would call a "chupacabra," a legendary animal known for sucking the blood out of goats. Reggie Lagow set a trap last week after a number of his chickens and turkeys were killed. What he found in his trap was a mix between a hairless dog, a rat and a kangaroo. The mystery animal has been sent to Texas Parks and Wildlife in hopes of determining what it is.

Earth's Core Rotates Faster than Surface

The giant orb of iron and nickel that anchors Earth's center is spinning faster than the planet's surface, according to a new study that confirms scientists' expectations. The finding is based on analyses of earthquake pairs that occur at roughly the same spot on Earth but at different times.On seismic recoding instruments, the earthquake signatures from waveform doublets, as they are called, look nearly identical. When earthquakes strike, their seismic waves can travel through the planet and surface all over the globe. The researchers analyzed 18 sets of waveform doublets -- some separated in time by up to 35 years -- from earthquakes occurring off the coast of South America but which were recorded at seismic stations near Alaska. Earth's core is made of a solid inner part and a fluid outer part, all of it mostly iron. The solid inner core has an uneven consistency, with some parts denser than others, and this can either speed up or slow down shock waves from earthquakes as they pass through. So the researchers speculated that if the Earth's inner core is rotating faster than the rest of the planet, then shock waves from waveform doublets would enter and exit through different parts of the core despite originating from roughly the same spot on the planet's surface. By analyzing the minute changes in travel times and wave shapes for each doublet, the researchers concluded that the Earth's inner core is rotating faster than its surface by about 0.3-0.5 degrees per year. That may not seem like much, but it's very fast compared to the movement of the Earth's crust, which generally slips around only a few centimeters per year compared to the mantle below, said Xiaodong Song, a geologist at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and an author on the study. The surface movement is called plate tectonics. It involves the shifting of about a dozen major plates and is what causes most earthquakes. "We're talking about 50,000 times that of plate tectonic motion," Song told LiveScience. The Earth can be divided into separate parts: an outer crust, a highly viscous mantle, a less viscous outer core, and a solid inner core made up of mostly iron and nickel. Circulating magma in the molten outer core generates a weak magnetic field, which the researchers suspect may be leaking into the inner core and generating an electric current. The twisting force generated by this electromagnetic interaction may be what drives the inner core's rotation. Song said the difference in rotation of the inner core could in turn affect the Earth's rotation and have implications for satellites, rockets and spaceships.

Man’s Belief In Exorcism Kills Ailing Daughter

Steeped in superstition, a farmer in a West Bengal village resorted to exorcism to cure his ailing daughter but the black magic rituals only ended up killing her. Ashok Bag of Ranghat village in North 24 Parganas district adjoining Kolkata beat his seven-year-old sick daughter with a broomstick believing she was possessed, police said yesterday. The girl was earlier taken to an exorcist and subjected to some bizarre rituals that worsened her condition. Bag then brought her back to home and carried out the act of exorcism himself. The girl had high fever and succumbed to the collective onslaught by the exorcist and her father on Tuesday. Bag, a father of eight, has been arrested after a former panchayat member complained, Additional District Superintendent of Police Dilip Bandopadhayay said. The village where the incident happened is economically backward with no electricity and the nearest health centre is 12 km away. Villagers believe that the bamboo groves in the area are home to ghosts at night which often “possess” the people living there.

Albino Zebra

This albino baby zebra has been dubbed Snow White by animal park fans. The cute foal was born without her black stripes at Masai Mara in Kenya, where the film Born Free was set. She’ll never be able to blend in with her mum and dad when she grows up — but that’s all white by us.

Scientists Try To Save Rare And Randy Warbler

Europe's rarest songbird is facing extinction, despite being the most promiscuous and energetic lover in the avian world, and concerned scientists are looking urgently for ways to save it. The male Aquatic Warbler is described as "continuously ready to mate" and able to indulge in record-breaking mating sessions, which in turn gives the females ample opportunity to sample and select the best mates. However, numbers have slumped to less than 20,000 in the past century -- a decline of 95 percent -- and its range has shrunk from continent-wide to isolated strongholds in eastern Europe as humans have ravaged its habitat. "It is officially listed as 'vulnerable' and it faces the prospect of extinction unless things get better," Ed Parnell of BirdLife International told reporters. Scientists from across the continent are meeting in Spain for the first top-level international conference to save the randy songbird, whose habitat is disappearing as marshlands are drained and farmland is expanded. The male bird plays no part in nest-building or raising chicks and spends most of its time hunting for willing females and mating at length. "In contrast to most birds, which get the business over in a mere one to two seconds' sexual contact, aquatic warblers spend up to 35 minutes copulating," according to one paper at the conference in Palencia, northern Spain.

Quebecer Claims To Have Photos Of Lake Monster "Whippy"

A Quebec innkeeper claims to have picture proof that the legendary monster of Lake Massawippi exists. Jeff Stafford, owner of the Ripplecove InnAlthough it doesn't enjoy the status of Ogopogo -- the country's most famous water monster said to inhabit Lake Okanagan in the south central B.C. interior -- "Whippy" has been alive in local monster folklore. Townspeople have been reporting sightings of the elusive creature for generations in the peaceful, picturesque lake nestled in Quebec's Eastern Townships, near Sherbrooke. Jeff Stafford, owner of the Ripplecove Inn, showed photos of what he claimed are "Whippy" to a reporter. Stafford said he was given the photos last week by a tourist, along with a story of how the alligator-like creature surfaced from the depths of the Massawippi and treated him to an extended view. The series of blurry photos show a far shot of an oddly-shaped protuberance sticking out of the water. "This thing was floating on top like a large crocodile or large water snake," Stafford told reporters. He said, according to the tourist, that Whippy was 10 feet long, and had its head stuck out of the water for several minutes. "We were blown away," said Stafford, who didn't doubt the tourist's story for one second. There are many stories of monster sightings in these parts, reports Lurie. Nearby Lake Mephremagog has "Memphre"; Lake Champlains' has "Champ." But with this latest sighting on the Massawippi, the legend of Whippy has pulled ahead of the others. Florent Hebert, who's been guiding tours on the lake for 23 years, said he's seen a lot of strange things that he just can't explain. He said he's been trying to convince people of Whippy's existence, and that these photos finally prove he's not crazy. "I feel much better, because no one believes in the stories I've been telling about the lake," he told reporters. Scientists have explained that these waters are inhabited by some very large fish. At almost 500 feet deep, Lake Massawippi is home to many monster sturgeons. Fishermen have spotted fish more than seven feet long in the lake. Vancouver author John Kirk, who's specialty is investigating unknown animals, guesses the mystery creature in Stafford's photo "could be a form of catfish." "But it doesn't have the profile to be a classical lake monster," he told reporters. Stafford said whatever it was, it didn't act very fish-like. "It was on the surface of the water for about 15 minutes -- that's not fish behavior," he said.

Strange fossil defies grouping

A strange 525 million-year-old fossil creature is baffling scientists because it does not fit neatly into any existing animal groups. The animal, from the early Cambrian Period, might have belonged to a now extinct mollusc-like phylum, academics from America and China say. Other researchers have suggested the creature could represent an early annelid or arthropod. The 5-10cm-long (2-4 inch) fossil, from Anning in China, had a flattened body and horizontal fins which, researchers think, could have been used to support it as it moved along the sea floor. It also had well developed senses, including a pair of eyes on stalks. The trouble is the animal, named Vetustodermis planus, did not possess a set of features, or characters, which placed it clearly within any known group. When it was first described in 1979, Vetustodermis was included in the annelid category. Later researchers argued against this classification, saying it was, in fact, either an arthropod or a mollusc. According to the latest study, the weird creature seems closest to molluscs, primarily because it had a snail or slug-like flat foot. However, the researchers say, it does not sit happily in this group. "Phyla are defined by an organism having a set of features called characters, and currently there are no animals that we know of which contain the set of characters that Vetustodermis has," co-author David Bottjer, of the University of Southern California, US, told reporters. "The phylum with which it shares the most characters is the Mollusca, but squeezing Vetustodermis into the mollusca is a somewhat messy job." Since Vetustodermis requires some "pushing and pulling" to force it into any known phylum, Professor Bottjer and his colleagues are tempted to speculate it belonged to a different group entirely; one which flourished and faded within the Cambrian. "We have always been intrigued by the many molluscan features of these fossils, but in the great menagerie of organisms that have inhabited Earth through life's long history, we may come to conclude that Vetustodermis indeed represents a new phylum," he said. Jonathan Todd, a palaeontologist from the Natural History Museum, London, UK, is also mystified by the baffling animal. "It is an intriguing beast," he told the BBC News website. "It is another strange thing from the Cambrian. It doesn't look much like an arthropod and I don't find its molluscan affinities particularly convincing." However, Dr Todd is reluctant to create a whole new phylum to accommodate Vetustodermis; that, he thinks, would be premature. "Some scientists have thought that there were so many distinct phyla in the Cambrian," he said. "They came to that conclusion because they were not thinking in the phylogenetic sense, they were thinking 'hey, that is a unique set of features - it must be a distinct phylum'." So rather than creating new phyla every time something doesn't fit an existing one, the really interesting exercise, Dr Todd thinks, is to establish just how Vetustodermis slotted into the greater evolutionary tree. If, indeed, it did belong to a different phylum, how did that group connect to the molluscs, annelids and arthropods? "We don't really know the phylo-genetic relationships between the extant phyla," he said. "Molecular genetics has only gone so far. But recent phyla have got to connect somehow. These fossils really offer the opportunity to tie together recent phyla." Vetustodermis planus does not fit comfortably within any known phylum

Man Committed For Fatal Kitten ‘Exorcism’

A Medford man was committed to the state psychiatric hospital for stabbing, spray-painting and setting fire to his pet kitten. Jerry Lawrence McCray, 35, pleaded guilty but insane Thursday in Jackson County Circuit Court to a charge of first-degree aggravated animal abuse. Circuit Court Judge Ray White ordered McCray to spend five years under the supervision of the state’s Psychiatric Security Review Board. In an attempt to exorcise a gray, 10-week-old kitten named Cosmo, McCray stabbed it multiple times with a small knife that folds into a cross-shaped pendant, said Sarita Glassburner, deputy district attorney for Jackson County. He then sprayed it with olive drab paint and lit its head on fire. McCray thought the cat contained "Indian spirits," the prosecutor added. McCray was living in a North Ross Lane group home for the mentally disabled, Medford police said. A caregiver told officers on June 19 that McCray had killed his cat, which was found in some backyard brambles. McCray was admitted to Rogue Valley Medical Center’s psychiatric ward, released and arrested about a month later on suspicion of failing to register as a sex offender. McCray’s five-year sentence under PSRB’s jurisdiction is his second following a 1995 arson conviction. Convicts receive treatment, medication and instruction on managing their illness. Many eventually are released back into their communities.

Witch Accusations Target Women In India

Pusanidevi Manjhi, pictured in India with her husband, Gooda, and their six children, was accused of being a witch and was tortured
At sundown, Pusanidevi Manjhi recalled, nine village men stormed into her house shouting, "Witch, witch!" and dragged her out by her hair as her six small children watched helplessly. "This woman is a witch!" the men announced to the villagers, said Manjhi, 36. She said they tied her ankles and locked her in a dark room. "They beat me with bamboo sticks and metal rods and tried to pull my nails out. 'You are a witch; admit it,' they screamed at me again and again," Manjhi said, tearfully recalling four days of captivity in June in this village in the eastern Indian state of Jharkhand. "They accused me of casting an evil spell on their paddy crop that was destroyed in a fire. I begged them and told them I was not a witch," she said, showing wounds on her legs, thighs, hips and shoulders. After a police investigation, the men who attacked Manjhi were arrested. An official said the attack was spurred by a powerful landowner who used local superstition to mask his attempts to maintain control. Indian newspapers periodically publish reports about women who, after being accused of being witches, have been beaten or killed. Some reported that their heads were shaved or strings of shoes were hung around their necks. "Superstition is only an excuse. Often a woman is branded a witch so that you can throw her out of the village and grab her land, or to settle scores, family rivalry, or because powerful men want to punish her for spurning their sexual advances. Sometimes it is used to punish women who question social norms," said Pooja Singhal Purwar, an official at the Jharkhand social-welfare department. "Women from well-to-do homes in the village are never branded witches," Purwar said. "It is always the socially and economically vulnerable women who are targeted and boycotted." Purwar said she sees an average of five women a month being denounced as witches and tortured in rural Jharkhand. Her department has a public-information project to oppose the practice, providing information at village fairs and conducting street performances and puppet shows. Local police have been alerted to track cases of women who are attacked, she said. While her captors imprisoned Manjhi, her husband, a farmhand, sought help from village elders, who called a meeting to determine whether Manjhi was a witch and summoned a witch doctor for verification. By then, word spread and the police arrived. The nine men were charged under a Jharkhand state law that forbids accusing people of being witches. One was Gahan Lal, the man whose paddy had caught fire. Lal later confessed to torturing Manjhi. "Gahan Lal was a powerful landlord. There were fights all the time in the village over land and wages," said Jayant Tirkey, the police officer investigating the case. "When his paddy caught fire, he blamed [Manjhi] for casting an evil spell. But that is merely an excuse. His real motive is to instill fear among the poor." Tirkey said he thinks village witch doctors are to blame for superstitious practices but added that witch doctors are not arrested because they are not directly involved in the violence. "I never name a witch. I only give villagers some clues to find her," said Leena Oraon, who is known as a witch doctor in Aragate village and who says she studies rice grains to ascertain the presence of a witch in the village. According to a study by the Free Legal Aid Committee, only 2 percent of people charged with witch hunting are convicted. "People go scot-free because witnesses are hard to come by. Villagers often approve of the torture meted out to these women," said Girija Shankar Jaiswal, a lawyer who heads the committee. "They think witch hunting is a heroic act and that it will clean the society of evil." Only two Indian states, Jharkhand and Bihar, have outlawed witch hunting. Last year, after a daylong debate, the legislative assembly of the northeastern state Tripura unanimously decided that killing people for practicing witchcraft should be prevented.

School Legend Lures Many Ghost Seekers

That is welcome news for residents of the school's genteel hillside neighborhood, whose quiet nights are often disturbed by ghost seekers. They regularly report the midnight trespassers to police. Internet apocrypha claim Billy died in the school nurse's office as long as 50 years ago, though the campus is only 41 years old. In some versions of the story, Billy was run over by a school bus. Others have the boy cracking his head on the school playground's blacktop while playing on the swings. Whatever the cause of his demise, the stories claim that Billy loved the school so much that he stayed. Believers say that if a visitor knocks on the school's office door three times at night, Billy will knock back. People who claim to have experienced a ghost describe hearing voices and seeing an unoccupied playground swing suddenly begin to move. Neighbor and former Mariposa teacher Fern Dewees, 67, said nearby residents just wish the rumor would die down. "One time, I was in a shoe store in Pomona buying shoes and I wrote a check, and the clerk (saw the address on it and) said, 'I've been to Redlands, and I've seen the ghost,' " Dewees said. Both Dewees and Ken Tolar, 56, a business-support-services coordinator for Redlands schools, link the legend to an accident that occurred outside the school more than 30 years ago. Tolar, who taught sixth-graders at Mariposa in the early 1970s, said the accident happened in 1972, and unlike in the legend, the victim didn't die on school grounds, wasn't a Mariposa student and probably wasn't even named Billy. What happened, Tolar said, was a boy between 8 and 11 years old came screaming down Puesta del Sol on a bicycle. The hilly road dead-ends at the elementary school, and the boy ran the stop sign and was hit by a truck. "We didn't bring him into the office," Tolar said. "We never brought him on campus because he was so critical. The Fire Department just scooped him up." But the legend began, fueled by noises made by a mechanical clock in the school office. Even though the mechanical clock has been replaced by a digital one, the desire to visit Billy's ghost hasn't diminished.
Ken Tolar, far right, a former Mariposa teacher, says the ghost legend can be traced to a child hit and killed by a truck in 1972. Police are installing surveillance cameras to disuade ghost hunters. With Tolar are Kurt Smith, left, director of analysis and technology for the Redlands police, and Redlands police Cpl. Bob Yzquierdo. Police records show that officers went to Mariposa at least 143 times in 2003 -- responding to three times as many calls generated by any of the district's other eight elementary schools in Redlands. In the first nine months of 2004, Mariposa was the source of 40 percent of all police calls to Redlands elementary schools. And from last January until this month, Mariposa accounted for 50 percent of all police incidents at elementary schools. Police went to the school 79 times this year, including 27 times to investigate suspicious activity, 14 times on patrol requests and 10 times because of juvenile disturbances. The school's relatively remote location in the south Redlands hills compounds the problem, police said, because a visit there can tie up a squad car when it could be responding to more pressing needs. On Halloween, one of Mariposa's busiest nights, the department posts officers at the school, said police Lt. Russ Dalzell. "Before we started doing that, it was just a virtual freeway of cars going up there," Dalzell said. Cameras will be installed at Mariposa in three to five weeks. Where they will be placed and how many will be used are under wraps. The project is being done in concert with a nonghost-related surveillance system at the Redlands Bowl, and Dalzell said the tab for both projects is $99,997. A Department of Justice grant will cover half the cost. The cameras will feed to police dispatchers, who will be able to tilt and pan them to keep intruders in their sights. But will the security cameras stop all the ghost hunters? Dalzell is doubtful. "As long as there's a Web site that says it's haunted, and as long as there's teenagers that want to see if it's true," he said, they'll keep coming.

The Cabbit

The 'Cabbit' as it is traditionally known is a mythical combination of the cat and rabbit. This is an impossibility on two counts: There is a physical barrier which means mating is almost impossible; and there is an absolute genetic impossibility of offspring being born.

Hmmmmmm

Giant Catfish Caught

English fishermen Duncan Rooke and Stephen Buss recently were angling for catfish in the Ebro River near Barcelona, Spain, when all of a sudden -Wham - their dreams of "a big one" came true! After what must have been a classic struggle of men against fish, the two men hauled in the largest freshwater fish ever landed by Brits - a 212-pound female catfish. After weighing and burping her to expel air from her stomach, the men released the massive fish. What kind of fishhook could they have been using to snag such a monster? I've heard rumors of catfish that big, and bigger - "as large as Volkswagens" - in the Mississippi River. But I never put much stock in those rumors, until now. First it was the movie "Jaws" in 1975 that kept a whole generation of swimmers out of the salt-water oceans. Now this! Is no body of water safe from the monsters below? Who knows what kind of underwater demons actually are living in lakes Camelot, Sherwood, Arrowhead and, most likely of all, Petenwell? Surely that Wisconsin River expansion must contain a prize or two to match the monster catfish from abroad? Well, I for one think it's high time we found our Loch Ness Monster! Oh, just think of the possibilities!I can picture it now - the fishing event of the year right here in the town of Rome. The annual Lake Petenwell Monster Search! Anglers from all around the Midwest would flock to our town in the hopes of catching "Petey" the Petenwell Monster. The Lure Bar and Grill could be the staging area for the event, with a trophy prize awarded to the one person who brings in live or captures on film what the judge (me!) deems most monster-like! Soon word would spread about Petey, and amateur monster hunters from around the world would plan their travels to arrive on the designated weekend in the town of Rome. Motels would fill, restaurants would be packed and Pritzl's Bait Shop would be picked clean of available bait for old Petey! Then Letterman and Leno would want to book the winner for their late night talk shows. Photo essays would be featured in The National Enquirer. Barbara Walters and Wolf Blitzer would go to court for the rights to cover the Petenwell Monster story. And soon thereafter, the "Petey" channel would make its debut on cable, with 24-hour coverage from the banks of Lake Petenwell. So, you think that's too far-fetched? That's what the people of Loch Ness once thought. And I just happen to know where I can get my hands on a vintage Volkswagen that floats!

Decapitated Kangaroos Found

The bodies of a dozen decapitated kangaroos have been found on a golf course over the past 10 weeks, their heads missing. Officials are baffled by the beheadings on the Yarrambat Park course near Melbourne. The course is next to a wildlife park and kangaroos frequently graze there. Australian RSPCA inspector Catherine Smith, said: "It's strange. The heads have been taken off with a clean cut." The course's groundsman discovered the first few dead animals and buried - but more and more kept appearing. Rod Joronen told reporters: "I've been here 20 years and I've never seen anything like it." Officials said that one possibility was that the animals may have been shot first in the head and when their heart stopped, had their heads cut off.

Dragons In The Tibet Sky

A photo of two peculiar dragon-shaped objects taken from a plane flying over Tibet’s Himalayas piqued many users’ interest when displayed on a Chinese website. The photographer is an amateur. On June 22, 2004, the photographer went to Tibet’s Amdo region to attend the Qinghai-to-Xizang Railroad laying ceremony, and then took a plane from Lhasa to fly back inland. When flying over the Himalaya’s, he accidentally caught these two "dragons" in a picture that he took. He called these two objects "the Tibet dragons." Looking at the photo, these two objects appear to have the characteristics of crawling creatures: The bodies seem to be covered by scales, the backs have spine-like protuberances, and also they have gradually thinning rear ends. Although the photo caught only a portion of the entire scene, it was sufficient create the appearance of two gigantic dragons flying in the clouds. This photo, shown on some websites such as post.baidu.com and other forums, aroused the website visitors’ curiosity. One person commented, “No wonder that China is the homeland of the dragon! Nature is truly mysterious and powerful, it can always produce spectacular sights beyond people's expectations.” “Is it really true? Is it possible there is an ancient civilization that we don’t know about is preserved in places that are sparsely populated?” “It really looks like the dragons in fables, and I really hope it is.” Certainly, most website visitors hoped that someone could confirm the authenticity of the dragons in the photo. Photo of dragons taken from an airplane above the Himalayas. In Chinese fairy tales, the dragon is a kind of rare heavenly creature. Fables say that it can conceal or reveal itself. It ascends to heaven in the spring breeze and dives and hides in deep water in the autumn wind. It can promote clouds and bring about rain. It also became the symbol of imperial authority later on; all emperors of previous dynasties self-designated as dragons, utensils were also decorated with dragons. Culturally, the dragon is the Chinese ancestors' totem. Nearly all races in China had fables and stories with dragons as the main subject, such as dragon boat races, the dragon lantern dance to celebrate holidays, sacrificial offerings to the dragons to implore timely wind and rain for good crops. Whether this kind of creature really exists is still an unsolved riddle. In the previous dynasties in China, there had been many documents recording eyewitness accounts of magical dragons. The most amazing events are the various "falling dragons," dragons that suddenly fell to the ground under peculiar circumstances, and were witnessed by many. A relatively recent tale occurred in the puppet Manchuria regime in August, 1944. A black dragon fell to the ground at the Chen Family’s Weizi Village, about 9.4 miles northwest of Zhaoyuan County, on the south shore of the Mudan River (the old name of a section of Songhua River) in Heilongjiang province. The black dragon was on the verge of death. The eyewitness said that this creature had a horn on its head, scales covering its body, and had a strong fishy smell that attracted numerous flies. The records from previous dynasties also mentioned the connection between the emergence of these kinds of mysterious creatures, “dragons,” and the transition of dynasties on earth. The appearance of Tibet’s magical dragon invites our curiosity and imagination.

NASA The Next Generation

NASA engineers reportedly will abandon the basic space shuttle design in the next generation of U.S. spacecraft to make them safer and more powerful. The design would separate the jobs of hauling people and cargo into orbit and would put the payloads on top of the rockets, the New York Times reported Tuesday. That would keep space crews as far as possible from engines and falling debris, which caused accidents that destroyed the shuttle Challenger in 1986 and shuttle Columbia in 2003. The plan, originated more than two years ago, is being detailed as attention is riveted on space shuttle Discovery, whose crew made the first emergency spacewalk in history Wednesday to repair a potentially hazardous problem. The plan for new vehicles will be officially announced later this month, the Times said. The project is already being questioned. Alex Roland, a former National Aeronautics and Space Administration historian, says the plan so far revealed has "the aroma of a quick and dirty solution to a big problem." The three remaining space shuttles are to be retired by 2010 under the Bush administration`s plan for space exploration, which includes sending humans to the Moon and eventually to Mars.

Monkey Shines

This monkey must have wheels. The latest sighting of the four-foot tall primate reportedly roaming the area was made at 5:30 p.m. Thursday, but this time it was in South Elgin. “A call came into our dispatcher from the north end of Raymond Street that someone had seen the monkey,” South Elgin Deputy Police Chief A. J. Moore said. An officer visited the site, but nothing was found, Moore said. Earlier this week, police received reports of a 4-foot-tall monkey or primate being seen on Elgin’s southwest side in the woods between Fire Station No. 4 and the Buena Vista Apartments, Elgin Deputy Police. This latest sighting occurred around Raymond and Riverview streets on the east side of South Elgin, several miles from the previous sighting at 5:30 a.m. Wednesday on Vernon Drive in Elgin. Elgin police said they are taking the reports of monkey sightings seriously and according to one theory, someone might have abandoned their pet chimpanzee. Some Fox Valley police officers have expressed skepticism about a primate on the loose and say the reports might be hoaxes. Several primate sightings Friday afternoon in Elgin were not those of a real animal. A 5 foot 11 inch employee of radio station Y103.9 in Dundee dressed up as monkey. He visited several spots in Elgin including Provena St. Joseph Hospital, the Sports Complex and Prairie Rock Brewing Company on Grove Avenue to talk to people about the monkey reports.

Zoo Staff Discovers Panda Cub Is A Male

The National Zoo's giant panda cub is male, weighs just under 2 pounds and is a foot long, according to a veterinarian who examined the newborn Tuesday. Veterinarian Sharon Deem takes a close look at the National Zoo's giant panda cub during its first health exam. The cub, which appears vigorous and healthy, was born July 9 The cub's heart and respiratory rates indicate that he is in good health, zoo associate veterinarian Sharon Deem said. He weighs 1.82 pounds, nearly four times what he probably weighed at birth. However, the giant panda cub still doesn't have a name. "It doesn't matter what its sex is — just it's good to know so we know whether to call it a 'he' or a 'she,' " assistant curator Lisa Stevens said Tuesday. Make that "he." Until now, zoo staff had only been able to view the cub on a camera in the birthing den that is also connected to the Internet for the world to see. But Tuesday, when mother Mei Xiang left the den to eat bamboo in a neighboring room at the Panda House, Deem, Stevens and panda keeper Laurie Perry gave the cub a nine-minute exam. Zoo staff have been waiting until the mother left the cub regularly for several minutes at a time so they could close the door to the birthing area and examine the young panda without causing Mei Xiang undue stress. The cub was born July 9, and is only the tenth giant panda in the United States. Born without fur, he has developed the distinctive striped back, eye patches, and dark ears and legs of his species. He also appears to be trying to crawl. Although Mei Xiang carefully shielded him with her giant paw during his first days of life, the cub now frequently can be seen poking his head out or nursing on her chest. The cub was born blind and vulnerable to infection, and was entirely dependent on his mother's care. By now, zoo staff say the cub has acquired antibodies from his mother's milk, and is better able to regulate his temperature as his fur has begun to grow in. Panda cubs' eyes typically begin to open when they are a month old. Mei Xiang did not leave the birthing den for a drink of water until five days after the cub was born and did not have her first bite of bamboo after the birth until July 25. The Panda House will be closed until at least early October to give mother and cub time to bond, but the outdoor yard is open and the cub's father, Tian Tian, can sometimes be seen there. Mei Xiang was artificially inseminated in March. The cub is her first, and is the longest-living cub born at the National Zoo. The facility's previous pair of pandas had five cubs during the 1980s but none of them lived more than a few days. Mei Xiang and Tian Tian arrived at the zoo in 2000 on a 10-year, $10 million loan from China. The cub is the property of China, and the zoo will make an additional payment of up to $600,000 for it. The money, raised from private funds, goes for conservation projects to save the panda in the wild, where it is so endangered that only about 2,000 remain.

Rare Blue Lobster Found

A rare blue lobster has been caught by fishermen in the US. The crustacean owes its colour to a gene found in just one in five million of the creatures. The female is housed at the Audubon Society Centre in Bristol, Rhode Island, US reports the Mirror. Centre director Jeffrey Hall said: "Now that it's come out with this brilliant blue colour, it's attracting a lot of attention."

Satanic Messages Painted On Walls Of Church

Police said vandals shattered a Tennessee church's windows and spray-painted threatening and satanic messages on its walls. Kip Simar, pastor of the First Apostolic Church in Sparta, said he arrived at the church early Sunday to find broken glass and spray-painted messages, including "Satan is my God" and "Kill Jesus" and threats against him and his family. The church's members, who number around 30, conducted their Sunday morning service despite the building's vandalized condition. Police said they're investigating the incident in Sparta, where there have been fires at two black churches in recent weeks.

Decorated Military Pilot Died Pursuing UFO

Nobody knows what Capt. Thomas F. Mantell Jr. was chasing through the winter sky on Jan. 7, 1948. His pursuit of the "flying saucer" cost him his life.The 25-year-old Kentucky Air National Guard pilot from Louisville died in the crash of his P-51 "Mustang" fighter plane near Franklin, the Simpson County seat. A county historical marker just off Interstate 65 in Franklin commemorates the aviator's death. "Because he was killed trying to catch an unidentified flying object, the story made headlines around the world," said John Trowbridge, manager of the Kentucky Military History Museum in Frankfort. "There is a real X-Files twist to this, too. Mantell lived almost his entire life in Louisville. But he was born in a hospital in Franklin, only a few miles from where he was killed." A World War II hero, Mantell is buried in Zachary Taylor National Cemetery in Louisville. The Louisville Male High School graduate is probably all but forgotten except to family members and friends, Trowbridge said. "But the investigation of Mantell's crash became part of Project Sign," Trowbridge added. "Project Sign later became Project Blue Book, the Air Force's official investigation into UFOs." Mantell and three other pilots, also in single-seat P-51s, were flying near Fort Knox when their radios crackled with a strange request from the control tower at nearby Godman Field. "They were asked to investigate an unidentified flying object which had been seen in the area," Trowbridge said. Col. Guy F. Hicks, Godman Field commander, "said he observed the flying saucer for some time," according to an Associated Press story at the time. One of the warplanes, evidently low on fuel, flew on to Louisville. Hicks said in the news account that the air base lost contact with the other three fighters "in about 20 minutes. Two of the planes later called back and reported no success." The other P-51 was Mantell's. His fighter was not equipped with oxygen for high-altitude flight, Trowbridge said, adding, "He apparently flew too high, blacked out and crashed." Glenn Mayes, who lived near Franklin, claimed "he saw Mantell's plane flying at an extremely high altitude shortly before it apparently exploded in the air," the AP story said. "The plane circled three times like the pilot didn't know where he was going, and then started into a dive from about 20,000 feet," Mayes said. "About halfway down there was a terrific explosion." The wreckage of Mantell's doomed plane was "scattered over an area two miles wide," according to Mayes. "None of the craft burned," he said. Many aviation historians say the speedy, machine gun-armed Mustang was the best propeller-driven fighter of World War II. Mantell, who joined the Army Air Force in 1942, piloted troop transport planes in the global conflict. "He participated in the Normandy invasion and many other European operations," according to the AP account. He earned a Distinguished Flying Cross and four Air Medals for bravery, according to the Kentucky Air Guard. Many people apparently saw the "saucer," including "several other pilots" who flew after it, the story at the time of the crash said. Two of the aviators, James Garret and William Crenshaw, both from Hopkinsville, thought the UFO was a balloon. "Astronomers at Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tenn., reported they saw some object in the sky...which they believed to be a balloon but the Nashville Weather Bureau said it knew of no balloons in that vicinity," the AP story said. In Ohio, "a flaming red cone" was reportedly spotted close to the air base at Wilmington. "Army spokesman said they had no information on the object or its origin," the AP story said. It was suggested that the "UFO" was a huge Navy "Skyhook" balloon. "Whatever it was, it gave Capt. Tom Mantell his 15 minutes of fame," said Trowbridge, who helped get the marker for Mantell in Franklin. The blue and gold plaque stands outside the Simpson County Tourist office.

The Moorland Beast!

Residents in East Ogwell, near Newton Abbot, have reported several recent sightings of a panther-like creature prowling the streets. One resident reported seeing "a black feline at least 2ft 6in tall" stalking fields on the edge of the village. However, retired teacher Mike Healy, 66, believes the monster is his 28lb pet cat, Sebastian. He was alerted when his neighbour told him of the Moorland Beast prowling fields 200 yards from his home. "It had to be Sebastian," he said. "The thing is, he is larger than a domestic cat, and he does move differently. He slinks around like John Wayne playing a gunslinger. But as for being a dangerous animal, that's absurd. The only time he's a danger is when he lies on you." The mysterious cat - known locally as the Moorland Beast - is part of local folklore in East Ogwell with a number of recent sightings. Mr Healy is convinced the beast is Sebastian - not only because of his astonishing size, but because he has been sighted in fields near his house. Now aged four and a half, he is close to being one of the biggest cats on record. Mr Healy said: "When we got him, he was the same size as a normal kitten. The only thing that stood out was how fearless he was. He wasn't scared of the Hoover or even the lawn mower. After a while we realised he just wasn't very bright." What Sebastian lacked in brains, he has more than made up for in bulk.

Courthouse Ghost No. 1 Paranormal Event

The Mendocino County Courthouse in downtown Ukiah made supermarket tabloids as home of the top paranormal event, in the Aug. 1 edition of the National Examiner. In an article titled "The Truth is Out There: The Top 10 Paranormal Events of the Year," the National Examiner decided a "ghostly video" captured by high-tech, motion-detecting cameras was the top paranormal event. The Mendocino County CourthouseAccording to the National Examiner article, "officials scoffed at janitors who reported that a female ghost, wearing a dress and high heels, was haunting the Mendocino County Courthouse " The article also used a creative spelling of the Northern California town where the paranormal occurrence happened, Ukiak, Calif. In a Daily Journal article published April 2, 2004, something described as a "mist" appeared on a motion-sensor camera, moving back and fourth across the courthouse's lower hallway. A janitor, who has viewed the tape, told The Daily Journal the "ghost" can be seen floating in front of a light in the hallway. "Someone came walking down the hallway and we didn't think much of it," a janitor at the courthouse told The Daily Journal at the time. "The door was open and I caught out of the side of my eye a dress walking by in high heels. After it went past the doorway, it only went about five more steps and then it stopped." Employees at the courthouse also said the metal-detecting machines at the courthouse entrances go off and that they've witnessed the elevator stopping on every floor during the night without any passengers. "One time the elevator started up from the ground floor and we could hear it stopping on every floor," the janitor told The Daily Journal last year. "When it got to the top, it turned around and did the some thing back down. And then I had to get into the thing and go up and clean the top floor." Many people in the courthouse refer to the paranormal occurrences as a spirit named "George," which is a name that has been passed through generations of employees. Other paranormal events that made the National Examiner Top 10 include a Sasquatch sighting in Florida, discovered landmarks from Atlantis, tears falling from a Virgin Mary statue in Ohio, animal beasts shot by ranchers in Texas and a 45-foot-long creature videotaped on Okanagan Lake in British Columbia.

Plan Set In Motion To Capture The Loch Ness Monster!

Marine biologist David Caldwell and the Highland Council have agreed to a plan that will finally track and capture the large predatory creature that inhabits Scotland’s famous lake.“Our first step will be to set up a sonar array using buoys,” states Caldwell, who once organized a research team to photograph the elusive giant squid in its deepwater habitat. "While the array is being prepared, the Army Corp. of Engineers will be assembling sections of a pre-fabricated bridge. Once in place, the floating bridge will span Urquhart Bay. Steel fencing, connected to the bridge’s pontoons, will then be lowered into place and anchored to the bottom. The idea is to create a natural habitat to pen the monster. Once the array is up and running, the bay will be baited and the creature lured, then sealed inside." Critics have protested Caldwell’s plan, including members of PETA, and Caldwell’s rival, marine biologist Zachary Wallace. “Caldwell’s plan won’t work, he’s making the same mistakes all Nessie hunters make who rely on sonar. As we know from studies conducted with the Navy, active sonar (pinging) frightens marine animals while damaging their hearing and sense of navigation. A sonar buoy pinging in Loch Ness will simply scare its largest predator into hiding. The same thing happened in Operation Deep Scan years ago. A dozen vessels pinging an underwater trowel is deafening.” Still, the recent gruesome death of American tourist Tiani Brueggart, now attributed to the creature, has caused concern among residents. “We’ve got to do something,” says Calum Forest, a local living in Drumnadrochit. “Penning the creature’s far more humane than killing it…assuming you could even find it to kill. I like Caldwell’s plan, and Council will recoup their losses with the expected increases in tourism.” This is not the first attempt to capture the monster, but Brueggart’s death was the first attributed to this deepwater marine species since 565 AD. According to Dr. Caldwell, the makeshift pen is ready to go.

Unidentified Sea Creature Found After Typhoon

Early on the morning of July 23, a fisherman from Ningbo City in east China's Zhejiang Province was shocked by the sight of a huge creature lying dead beside the seawall near his home. Liu, who lives in Yangshashan of Chunxiao Town in Beilun District and who has been a fisherman for over ten years, said “I have never seen such a monster; it was larger than a whale.” It was first seen by villagers on July 20, according to Mei who breeds fish nearby, and is nearly 12 meters long and weighs around 2 tons, according to district sea and fishery bureau staff. The animal reportedly has a long thin head and a snout nearly one meter long. Partly rotten, with its spine exposed, it has been impossible to identify, but has been described as having some hair, and orange stripes across a three to four-meter wide belly. The skull, which alone weighs over 100 kg, and coccyx of the creature have fallen from its body. Mei said four young people took away a 100 kg piece of the corpse to study and many experts have come to inspect it, but all in vain. From the degree of putrefaction, the animal may have been dead for a week and beached by Typhoon Haitang several days ago, said Hu from Beilun’s sea and fishery bureau. He said its overall structure means it’s unlikely to be a fish, but the shape of its head is like a crocodile’s. Local fishermen have their own ideas about what the animal is and where it came from. One called Li said it must have lived in the sea, because the skin of its chest is very much like that of many large sea animals, as thick and hard as rubber. According to another named Wang, it is very like an elephant seal, especially its mouth, and he said he once spotted elephant seals on a journey overseas five years ago. Many experts said that, being seriously rotten and deprived of lower limbs and tail, the monster is unlikely to be identified or to be made into a specimen. An expert from Ningbo University's sea creature research center who has not seen the animal said the possibility of it being a huge crocodile was slim, for they usually live in tropical freshwater. He also doubted that it could be an elephant seal, saying it would be hard to explain how one got to the subtropical East China Sea from polar waters.