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He was smarter than the average parrot.

Wed, 12 Sep 2007 14:45:42 GMT

clipped by: padzilla
clipper's remarks: He was smarter than some of my co workers.

Alex the Parrot, an Apt Student, Passes Away

All Things Considered, September 10, 2007 · Alex the famous African gray parrot, renowned for the landmark cognition research conducted by owner Dr. Irene Pepperberg, Ph.D., has died at the age of 31. By learning elements of the English language to identify shapes, colors and sizes, Alex shattered the notion that parrots are only capable of mimicking words.

According to Pepperberg who is a faculty member at Brandeis University, Alex was able to identify 50 different objects, seven colors and shapes, and quantities of up to six. Alex also understood the concept of bigger and smaller and same and different.

Alex also had the emotional level of a 2-year-old child, Pepperberg says. After repeating some learning trials dozens of times, Alex would become tired and throw objects off the trays with his beak. When visiting the veterinarian, Alex would go back in his cage and slam the door.

Tags: parrot, intelligence

Is this how spiderman gets his food?

Thu, 30 Aug 2007 17:13:27 GMT

clipped by: padzilla

Clip Source: www.cnn.com

Monster spider web spun in Texas

WILLS POINT, Texas (AP) -- Entomologists are debating the origin and rarity of a sprawling spider web that blankets several trees, shrubs and the ground along a 200-yard stretch of trail in a North Texas park.

Officials at Lake Tawakoni State Park say the massive mosquito trap is a big attraction for some visitors, while others won't go anywhere near it.

"At first, it was so white it looked like fairyland," said Donna Garde, superintendent of the park about 45 miles east of Dallas. "Now it's filled with so many mosquitoes that it's turned a little brown. There are times you can literally hear the screech of millions of mosquitoes caught in those webs."

Spider experts say the web may have been constructed by social cobweb spiders, which work together, or could be the result of a mass dispersal in which the arachnids spin webs to spread out from one another.

"From what I'm hearing it could be a once-in-a-lifetime event," he said.

Tags: spider, web. texas

How not to kill a spider

Tue, 21 Aug 2007 14:25:01 GMT

clipped by: padzilla
clipper's remarks: This is rule number 2. Rule number one is "Never fry bacon when you're naked."

Clip Source: www.smh.com.au

A naked man suffered burns to one-fifth of his body when he tried to set fire to a spider at a nudist resort in the NSW southern highlands.

The 56-year-old Sydney man tried to kill what he thought was a funnel web spider by pouring petrol down the spider's burrow and igniting it with a match, the NRMA CareFlight service said.

But the fuel exploded and the man was left with burns to 18 per cent of his body, on the upper leg and buttocks.

Resort guests told emergency crews it was probably a harmless trapdoor spider and not a deadly funnel web, CareFlight said.

Tags: spider, gasoline

Yes, but where is Lex Luthor?

Thu, 02 Aug 2007 17:11:33 GMT

clipped by: padzilla

Clip Source: www.technovelgy.com

Superman's fabled Fortress of Solitude has been depicted in films as a vast complex comprised of enormous crystal beams.

Imagine the surprise of miners when they actually found it! Not in the frozen north, but buried a thousand feet below Mexico's Naica mountain in the Chihuahuan desert.

This has been quite a year for Superman fans; the deadly remnants of planet Krypton were discovered in a mine in Serbia this past April (see Kryptonite Discovered By Scientist).

Actually, of course, the Cueva de los Cristales is a purely natural formation consisting of enormous beams of gypsum. Some of the crystals are as long as 36 feet.

Geologist Juan Manuel Garcia-Ruiz has described the probable origin of the crystals in the journal Geology. The cave was drained by mining operations; for millennia, however, the crystals grew in mineral rich, 136 degree Fahrenheit water.

Tags: superman, fortress, crystal

Smarter than the average...

Thu, 02 Aug 2007 17:08:55 GMT

clipped by: padzilla

Clip Source: www.livescience.com

Monkey Unlocks Pen, Eludes Zoo Staff

TUPELO, Miss. - The Tupelo Buffalo Park and Zoo asked residents Tuesday to help in the recovery of a white-faced capuchin monkey that apparently managed to unlock his pen and escape. Oliver freed himself at about 8 a.m. and led park staff on a chase through the park's trail system before eventually eluding them.

Park employee Ann Stewart said Oliver will respond to his own name and may take bait of bananas, marshmallow or grapes. She urged people to call the park if they spot the mammal.

"He will bite. People around here have handled him, but he will bite. Just call the Buffalo Park," Stewart said.

Oliver is a nine-year-old capuchin, a species of monkey native to South and Central America.

Stewart believes Oliver could be in the Country Club or Colonial Estates areas, but said the monkey could have traveled much farther given his ability for speed.

Tags: monkey, zoo, escape

Walmart offers Bible action figures.

Thu, 19 Jul 2007 15:46:00 GMT

clipped by: padzilla
clipper's remarks: I wonder what the talking Jesus will say.

Clip Source: www.wfsb.com

Jesus, Samson Action Figures Hit Wal-Mart

Wal-Mart said 425 of its stores will sell Biblical action figures aimed at Christian parents who prefer their children play with Samson, David or Noah rather than with a comic book character or Bratz doll.

Wal-Mart Stores spokeswoman Melissa O'Brien said the world's largest retailer believes there's demand for faith-based toys.

The toys include a 3-inch figure of Daniel in the lion's den, a 12-inch talking Jesus doll and a 13-inch Samson action figure.

Tags: bible, wal-mart, action figure

YUM!

Thu, 12 Jul 2007 18:15:15 GMT

clipped by: padzilla
clipper's remarks: Melts in your mouth... NOT!
I think I'd rather have the corrugated iron beef... http://clipmarks.com/clipmark/5B0D0349-D10A-4562-8737-75BB0AC50E78/

Clip Source: edition.cnn.com

BEIJING, China (AP) -- Chopped cardboard, softened with an industrial chemical and flavored with fatty pork and powdered seasoning, is a main ingredient in batches of steamed buns sold in one Beijing neighborhood, state television said.

The hidden camera follows the man, whose face is not shown, into a ramshackle building where steamers are filled with the fluffy white buns, traditionally stuffed with minced pork.

The bun maker and his assistants then give a demonstration on how the product is made.

Squares of cardboard picked from the ground are first soaked to a pulp in a plastic basin of caustic soda -- a chemical base commonly used in manufacturing paper and soap -- then chopped into tiny morsels with a cleaver. Fatty pork and powdered seasoning are stirred in.

"Most people can't. It fools the average person," the maker says. "I don't eat them myself."

The police eventually showed up and shut down the operation. E-mail to a friend

Tags: food, china

Get your own mammoth popsicles!

Wed, 11 Jul 2007 18:34:13 GMT

clipped by: padzilla
clipper's remarks: When they clone them, I want one. I'll call him Stampy.

Clip Source: edition.cnn.com

Baby mammoth discovered in Siberia

(Reuters) -- Scientists unveiled the discovery Wednesday of a baby mammoth found in the permafrost of north-west Siberia.

The remains of the six-month-old female mammoth were discovered in a remarkable state of preservation on the Yamal peninsula of Russia in May, a Reuters report said. The specimen is believed to be the best of its kind to date.

A reindeer herder found the frozen animal in May near the Yuribei River, in Russia's Yamal-Nenets autonomous district.

The animal is thought to have died 10,000 years ago and experts say the approximately four foot tall, 50kg Siberian specimen dates to the end of the last Ice Age, when the great beasts were vanishing off the face of the planet. Watch video of the baby mammoth »

Scientists hope the animal might yield DNA samples that could be used to clone and effectively resurrect the extinct members of the elephant family.

Tags: mammoth, clone, frozen

Man flies 193 miles in lawn chair

Tue, 10 Jul 2007 19:23:22 GMT

clipped by: padzilla
clipper's remarks: Lawn chairs are much more comfortable than flying coach.

Clip Source: edition.cnn.com

Man flies 193 miles in lawn chair

BEND, Oregon (AP) -- Last weekend, Kent Couch settled down in his lawn chair with some snacks -- and a parachute. Attached to his lawn chair were 105 large helium balloons.

With instruments to measure his altitude and speed, a global positioning system device in his pocket, and about four plastic bags holding five gallons of water each to act as ballast -- he could turn a spigot, release water and rise -- Couch headed into the Oregon sky.

Nearly nine hours later, the 47-year-old gas station owner came back to earth in a farmer's field near Union, short of Idaho but about 193 miles from home.

"When you're a little kid and you're holding a helium balloon, it has to cross your mind," Couch told the Bend Bulletin.

"When you're laying in the grass on a summer day, and you see the clouds, you wish you could jump on them," he said. "This is as close as you can come to jumping on them. It's just like that."

It was Couch's second flight.

Tags: lawn chair, flight

I hate when this happens

Tue, 10 Jul 2007 19:18:57 GMT

clipped by: padzilla
clipper's remarks: What else could a runaway wrecking ball cause besides chaos?

Clip Source: edition.cnn.com

Runaway wrecking ball causes chaos, accident

MEADVILLE, Pennsylvania (AP) -- A 1,500-pound wrecking ball broke loose from a crane cable and raced downhill, smashing into several cars and injuring three people before coming to rest in the trunk of a car at an intersection Monday.

The wrecking ball, about 3 feet across, was being used to demolish part of a library at Allegheny College when the cable snapped, police said. The crane operator tried to stop it, but it rolled nearly three-quarters of a mile downhill, damaging more than a dozen vehicles as it bounced from curb to curb, police said.

The ball lodged in the trunk of a car, pushing the vehicle about 20 feet. Watch the ball being removed »

Tags: wrecking ball

But does it take out the trash, or kill spiders?

Mon, 09 Jul 2007 14:49:10 GMT

clipped by: padzilla
clipper's remarks: It also won't go investigate strange bumps in the night

Clip Source: news.bbc.co.uk

Japan's single women are being offered the ultimate sleeping partner - a comfort to cuddle up to, but one which does not snore or make demands.

The Boyfriend's Arm Pillow, shaped like a man's torso with one sturdy arm, has been on sale since December and has so far been snapped up by 1,000 singles.

The pillow is only available in Japan, where it costs about 8,500 Yen (£40, $80), and is available in blue, pink or green.

"It keeps holding me all the way through. I think this is great because this does not betray me," she told AP.

Tags: sleep, pillow

The next Big Thing: Vampire resorts

Fri, 29 Jun 2007 14:21:28 GMT

clipped by: padzilla
clipper's remarks: It can't be any worse than EuroDisney.

Clip Source: edition.cnn.com

Dracula's Castle could become a Transylvanian resort

NEW YORK (Reuters) -- In the cutthroat business of real estate, U.S.-based firm Baytree Capital Associates has been chosen to market Dracula's Castle.

Archduke Dominic Habsburg, who lives in New York State, and his family retained the private investment firm to market Bran Castle and the surrounding property in the Transylvanian region of Romania.

The castle and ancillary buildings are located on 22 acres and additional acres also may be attached to the sale. The property is about 20 minutes away from an international airport that is currently under construction and near the Brasov ski area.

The association of Bran Castle as Dracula's Castle can be traced back to Irish author Bram Stoker, who used the castle as his inspiration for the settings of his 1897 novel, Dracula. The Romanian government has about two years left to operate the castle as a museum, which hosts about 450,000 visitors a year, Gardner said.

Tags: transylvania, resorts

When Orson Welles was a Transformer

Tue, 26 Jun 2007 15:46:50 GMT

clipped by: padzilla

Clip Source: edition.cnn.com

NEW YORK (AP) -- The new "Transformers" movie boasts a good cast, but it's got nothing on the original.

In a classic bit of movie trivia, the little-seen 1986 animated film "Transformers: The Movie" was Orson Welles' last film. Yes, that Orson Welles.

Welles was 70 at the time and in poor health. His last released film was 1987's "Someone to Love," but that was shot before Welles lent his voice to "Transformers." Late in his career, Welles often took to commercials and narration work as a source of income.

Author Barbara Leaming spent many days with Welles in his last three years for her book, "Orson Welles: A Biography." She recalls Welles telling her shortly before he died that he had spent the day "playing a toy."

"He was absolutely the same man who made 'Citizen Kane,' " says Leaming of the aged Welles.

Tags: transformers, movies, orson welles

Blade Runner at 25: Why the Sci-Fi F/X Are Still Unsurpassed

Tue, 26 Jun 2007 13:14:03 GMT

clipped by: Mohir

Clip Source: www.popularmechanics.com

Blade Runner at 25: Why the Sci-Fi F/X Are Still Unsurpassed

A quarter-century after Ridley Scott's dark vision of the future changed the face of filmmaking, special-effects maestro and MythBuster Adam Savage offers an appreciation.

Twenty-five years ago, the Ridley Scott film Blade Runner became an instant science fiction classic. Set in a sodden, squalid Los Angeles of 2019, the neo-noir masterpiece influenced a generation of filmmakers and video-game designers. Long before I teamed up with Jamie Hyneman to form the MythBusters, I was a special-effects modelmaker, and Scott's cyberpunk gem almost instantly became the most important film in the canon of movies I love.

Tags: sci-fi, science fiction, movies

77 Million Paintings by Eno

Thu, 21 Jun 2007 18:41:19 GMT

clipped by: ashleystar
clipper's remarks: eno is god.

Clip Source: buzzfeed.com

Brian Eno takes the concept of "video painting" further. The DVD will come in handy anytime you're in the mood to bliss out and stare at pretty random images on your computer screen. In fact, we wish we were doing that right now instead of reading blogs all day.

Tags: eno, art, music, painting