Chef killed by severed snake head

Chef killed by severed snake head

A snake came back from the dead to deliver a deadly bite to a chef, 20 minutes after he had chopped its head off.  The chef was preparing a dish from cobra flesh when the snake’s head bit him.

Victim Peng Fan had chopped off the head of the Indochinese spitting cobra, a rare delicacy in Asia, to prepare for making the special dish. But when he went to throw the severed snake head into the bin it bit him on the hand, injecting him with fast-acting, deadly venom.

Police say Mr Peng died before he could be given lifesaving anti-venom in hospital.

Dolly - First mammal to be cloned

Dolly - First mammal to be cloned

Dolly was a female domestic sheep, and the first mammal to be cloned from an adult somatic cell, using the process of nuclear transfer. She was cloned by Ian Wilmut, Keith Campbell and colleagues at the Roslin Institute, part of the University of Edinburgh. She was born on 5 July 1996 and she lived until the age of six, at which point she died from a progressive lung disease. The cell used as the donor for the cloning of Dolly was taken from a mammary gland, and the production of a healthy clone therefore proved that a cell taken from a specific part of the body could recreate a whole individual.

Dolly was created using the technique of somatic cell nuclear transfer, where the cell nucleus from an adult cell is transferred into an unfertilised oocyte (developing egg cell) that has had its nucleus removed. The hybrid cell is then stimulated to divide by an electric shock, and when it develops into a blastocyst it is implanted in a surrogate mother. Dolly was the first clone produced from a cell taken from an adult mammal. The production of Dolly showed that genes in the nucleus of such a mature differentiated somatic cell are still capable of reverting to an embryonic totipotent state, creating a cell that can then go on to develop into any part of an animal. Dolly's existence was announced to the public on 22 February 1997.

Dolly lived her entire life at the Roslin Institute in Edinburgh. There she was bred with a Welsh Mountain ram and produced six lambs in total. Her first lamb, named Bonnie, was born in April 1998. The next year Dolly produced twin lambs Sally and Rosie, and she gave birth to triplets Lucy, Darcy and Cotton in the year after that. In the autumn of 2001, at the age of four, Dolly developed arthritis and began to walk stiffly, but this was successfully treated with anti-inflammatory drugs.

On 14 February 2003, Dolly was euthanized because she had a progressive lung disease and severe arthritis. A Finn Dorset such as Dolly has a life expectancy of around 11 to 12 years, but Dolly lived to be only six years of age. A post-mortem examination showed she had a form of lung cancer called Jaagsiekte, which is a fairly common disease of sheep and is caused by the retrovirus JSRV. Such lung diseases are a particular danger for sheep kept indoors, and Dolly had to sleep inside for security reasons.

After cloning was successfully demonstrated through the production of Dolly, many other large mammals have been cloned, including horses and bulls. Cloning may have uses in preserving endangered species and may become a viable tool for reviving extinct species. Cloning of domesticated animals could be important in the future production of transgenic livestock.

World's Rarest Whale Seen for First Time

World's Rarest Whale Seen for First Time

The world's rarest whale has been spotted for the first time, in New Zealand, where two of the whales stranded themselves.

The two spade-toothed beaked whales, a mother and calf, stranded and died on Opape Beach on the North Island of New Zealand. The mother was 17 feet (5.3 meters) long and the calf was 11 feet (3.5 m) long.

Up until now, very little have been known about the spade-toothed beaked whale from three partial skulls collected from New Zealand and Chile over a 140-year period. This is the first time this species has ever been seen as a complete specimen.

 (Source)

Whale mimicking human speech

Whale mimicking human speech

Scientists have been stunned to discover an amazing recording of a whale mimicking a human voice.

The beluga whale, named NOC died in 2007 but had spent 30 years amongst humans at the National Marine Mammal Foundation based in San Diego in California.

Dr Sam Ridgeway, the main author of the study in the journal Current Biology, said that in 1984 they started hearing sounds near the whale enclosure that recalled two people speaking in the distance, too far away to be understood.

When a diver surfaced from the whale enclosure to ask his puzzled colleagues ‘Who told me to get out?’, the team concluded the word ‘out’ which was repeated several times, had come from NOC.

Dr Ridgway reckons NOC would have heard human speech from speakers above the water, and divers communicating below the water.

The team realised they had a rare case of whale mimicry on their hands and were able to record NOC, then nine-years old.

(Source)

Oarfish washed ashore

Oarfish washed ashore

In a bizarre incident in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, an oarfish, was washed ashore on bustling Medano Beach, which features a view of the end of the Baja California peninsula.

Oarfish are deep-water denizens that are rarely seen. But because of their long, slender appearance, and their bright-orange dorsal fins and manes, they helped spawn myths of sea serpents and sea monsters among ancient mariners.

(Source)

Boy finds 30,000-year-old mammoth remains

The fossilised remains. (Photo: Vesti TV)

Boy finds 30,000-year-old mammoth remains

A boy living in Russia's remote north has found the well-preserved remains of a 30,000-year-old adult mammoth, according to media reports.

The discovery was made near a weather station in the eastern Taimyr region, some 3000km northeast of Moscow.

News reports identified the boy as Yevgeny Salinder, son of a couple working at the Sopkarga polar weather station.

Salinder reportedly discovered the animal during a walk. News reports said the remains were that of a male mammoth aged 15 or 16 years, and that its skin, meat, fat hump and organs were extremely well-preserved.

According to the Pravda.ru news website, the last time mammoth remains of such quality were discovered in Russia was in 1901.

Scientists used axes, picks and a steam-blaster to melt the permafrost in an extraction operation lasting a week, the report said.

The mammoth probably died in the summer because it lacked an undercoat and had a large reserve of fat, the report said quoting Aleksei Tikhonov, deputy director of the Zoological Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

(Source)

Poodle Moth

Poodle Moth

It may look like it's just dropped in from Middle-Earth but this fluffy creature is actually a moth. With its bulging eyes and cotton wool-like coat the moth almost doesn't seem real.

When taxonomist Dr Arthur Anker posted his bizarre picture on Flickr other users were at first skeptical about whether the photograph was a fake.

The multi-legged insect is casually tagged a 'Poodle Moth' and there is not mention of a more scientific name.

But believe it or not the strange being really is a true native of Venezuela, where the scientist caught it on camera.

(Source)

Albino Burmese Python Cake

Albino Burmese Python Cake

The photo of this Albino Burmese Python looks so real, but it is a cake. Yes, the snake is a fake. It's a fake snake cake. This photo is of a snake CAKE made to look like an Amelanistic Burmese Python for a birthday party.
indeed.

Just take a look at this real Albino Burmese Python for  comparison sake. The fake snake cake has an incredible resemblance to the real Albino Burmese Python, which is one of the six largest snakes in the world with most averaging 12-feet long. But it can grow up to 19 feet, and, if not handled properly, can be quite dangerous.
 

(Source)

Burmese Python Found With Record 87 Eggs

Photo by Kristen Grace/University of Florida/

Florida Museum of Natural

Burmese Python Found With Record 87 Eggs

A double record-setting Burmese python has been found in the Florida Everglades.

At 17 feet, 7 inches (5.3 meters) in length, it is the largest snake of its kind found in the state and it was carrying a record 87 eggs. Scientists say the finding highlights how dangerously comfortable the invasive species has become in its new home.

The giant female python was discovered in the Everglades National Park and had been stored since May in a freezer at the museum; on Friday, researchers at the museum studied its internal anatomy, making the wild discovery.

(Source)

An octopus can short circuit a light in its aquarium

The culprit of the smashed glass and

 broken lamp is two foot seven inch Otto.

               Photo: EUROPICS

An octopus can short circuit a light in its aquarium.

An octopus has caused havoc in his aquarium by performing juggling tricks using his fellow occupants, smashing rocks against the glass and turning off the power by short circuiting a lamp.

Staff believes that the octopus called Otto had been annoyed by the bright light shining into his aquarium and had discovered he could extinguish it by climbing onto the rim of his tank and squirting a jet of water in its direction.

The short-circuit had baffled electricians as well as staff at the Sea Star Aquarium in Coburg, Germany, who decided to take shifts sleeping on the floor to find out what caused the mysterious blackouts.

It was a serious matter because it shorted the electricity supply to the whole aquarium that threatened the lives of the other animals when water pumps ceased to work.

It was on the third night that they found out that the octopus Otto was responsible for the chaos.

(Source)

Whole trees covered with spiders’ web

Trees covered in ghostlike cocoons line the edges of a submerged farm field in the Pakistani village of Sindh, where 2010's massive floods drove millions of spiders and possibly other insects into the trees to spin their webs.

Beginning July 2010, unprecedented monsoons dropped nearly ten years' worth of rainfall on Pakistan in one week, swelling the country's rivers. The water was slow to recede, creating vast pools of stagnant water across the countryside.

Locals said that they’d never seen anything like it before. It was said to be a slow motion type of disaster. Spiders and other insects sought refuge in the trees. There were so many that entire trees became massive cocoons for them. They spun webs that covered the trees as a whole. People standing under the trees had lots of little spiders falling down on their heads.

(Source)

Glowing Sea Pen

 The phosphorescent sea pen was found by marine surveyors off the coast of Scotland.

Each sea pen named for its quill pen-like appearance is made up of a colony of polyps, or small, anemone-like individuals that lights up when touched. In Scotland, sea pens are common in muddy areas along the coast.

(Source)

A brainless and faceless fish

A brainless "fish" without a face, the elusive Amphioxus was seen in the waters off Tankerness in Orkney.

According to marine ecologist, the rarely seen species is not a true fish; it's an evolutionary step between invertebrates and vertebrates. It has a nerve cord running down its back, a precursor to a proper backbone.

The white structure that resembles a spine is actually the species' gonads, which are located in its belly.

(Source)

Woman impregnated by squid

A 63-year old woman from South Korea became pregnant with 12 baby squid while eating a portion of cooked squid.

She claimed to have felt a prickling sensation in her mouth while chewing on the sperm sacks of squid, which forcefully shoot sperm that try to embed themselves when they land.

The lady went to doctors complaining of what they described as 'bug-like organisms' in her mouth. In fact, doctors found baby cephalopods, which are small pods covered in adhesive to make them stick.

Doctors were only able to formally identify the pods as squid spermatophores after they removed them from the victim's gums, tongue and cheek.

(Source)

Bluey - The oldest dog ever lived

Bluey (7 June 1910 – 14 November 1939) was an Australian cattle dog owned by Les and Esma Hall of Rochester, Victoria, Australia, which, according to an anecdotal report, lived 29 years, 6 months and 12 days, but the record is unverified. Bluey holds the world record for the oldest dog, according to Guinness World Records, who cite the anecdotal reports as being "reliable".

The Australian Cattle Dog is a breed of herding dog originally developed in Australia for droving cattle over long distances across rough terrain. In the 19th century, New South Wales cattle farmer Thomas Hall crossed the dogs used by drovers in his parents' home county, Northumberland, with dingoes he had tamed. The resulting dogs were known as Halls Heelers. After Hall's death in 1870, the dogs became available beyond the Hall family and their associates, and were subsequently developed into two modern breeds, the Australian Cattle Dog and the Australian Stumpy Tail Cattle Dog.

(Source)

Golden poison dart frog

The golden poison dart frog is considered one of the most toxic animals on Earth. A single frog has enough venom to kill ten grown men. They range from less than an inch to two and a half inches in body length. These are more than 100 poison dart frog species living in the rainforests of Central and South America and on a few Hawaiian Islands. Poison dart frogs are so named because some Amerindian tribes have used their secretions to poison their darts.

They are bright in color, which can be yellow, orange, or pale green, depending on their particular range. The frog's color pattern is aposematic, which is a warning pigmentation to warn predators of its toxicity. The golden poison frog's skin is densely coated in alkaloid poison, one of a number of poisons common to dart frogs, which prevents nerves from transmitting impulses, leaving the muscles in an inactive state of contraction. This can lead to heart failure or fibrillation. Alkaloid batrachotoxins can be stored by frogs for years after the frog is deprived of a food-based source, and such toxins do not readily deteriorate, even when transferred to another surface. Chickens and dogs have died from contact with a paper towel on which a frog had walked.

(Source)

Scientists have found soft tissue on dinosaurs

After 68 million years in the ground, a Tyrannosaurus rex found in Montana was dug up, its leg bone was broken in pieces, and fragments were dissolved in acid in Schweitzer’s laboratory at North Carolina State University in Raleigh.

The discovery was astonishing.  The scientist Dr. Mary Schweitzer discovered blood vessels and structures that looked like whole cells inside that T. rex bone—the first observation of its kind. No one ever imagined that even a trace of still-soft dinosaur tissue could survive. When an animal dies, soft tissues such as blood vessels, muscle and skin decay and disappear over time, while hard tissues like bone may gradually acquire minerals from the environment and become fossils. Schweitzer, one of the first scientists to use the tools of modern cell biology to study dinosaurs, has upended the conventional wisdom by showing that some rock-hard fossils tens of millions of years old may have remnants of soft tissues hidden away in their interiors.

(Source)

New species of purple crab discovered in the Philippines

(Hendrik Freitag/National Geographic)

Four new species of crab have been discovered in the Philippine island of Palawan. And one of the crabs truly stands out with its unusually bright purple shell.

It is believed that the particular violet coloration might just have evolved by chance, and must not necessarily have a very specific function or reason aside from being a general visual signal for recognition.

The newly discovered crabs are quite small in stature, each from about an inch to two inches wide.

(Source)

42,000-year-old mammoth baby

Photo by TYRONE SIU/REUTERS

Lyuba, the 1-month old baby mammoth of the Ice Age, died 42,000 years ago and was preserved in the ice. She was found by a reindeer herder in Siberia in 2007. By far, she is the best preserved mammoth mummy in the world. Although her fur and toenails have disintegrated, her skin and internal organs are intact. Apparently, there were traces of her mother’s milk in her stomach. Scientists hope to gain insight into what caused Ice Age mammals, including the mammoths, to become extinct at the end of the Pleistocene era around 10,000 years ago.

(Source)

World’s oldest mammal - a giant bowhead whale that had a 130-year old harpoon stuck in its neck.

A giant bowhead whale caught off the coast of Alaska in 2007 had a harpoon point embedded in its neck that showed it survived a similar hunt more than a century ago.

Biologists claim the find helps prove the bowhead is the oldest living mammal on earth.

They say the 13-centimetre arrow-shaped fragment dates back to around 1880, meaning the 50-ton whale had been coasting around the freezing arctic waters since Victorian times. The weapon fragment lodged in a bone between the whale's neck and shoulder blade comes from a 19th century bomb lance.

Because traditional whale hunters never took calves, experts estimate the bowhead was several years old when it was first shot and about 130 when it died in 2007.

Calculating a bowhead whale's age can be difficult, and is usually gauged by amino acids in the eye lenses.

It is rare to find one that has lived more than a century, but experts now believe the oldest were close to 200 years old.

(Source)