OUCH- MY TEETH HURT

A boy in India had 232 teeth extracted after a 72 hour operation at JJ Hospital ,Mumba.This was described as a very rare and a world record.

Bats 'fly by polarised light'

Bats use the pattern of polarised light in the evening sky to get their bearings, according to a new study.

As well as having unusual echolocation skills and their own magnetic compass, bats are now the first mammals known to make use of polarised light.

Other animals with this ability include birds, anchovies and dung beetles.

To make the discovery, published in Nature Communications, zoologists placed bats in boxes with polarising windows before watching them fly home.

Light waves normally wiggle all around their direction of travel, but when they pass through special filters - or are scattered by gases in the atmosphere - they can become polarised, so that the oscillations all line up.

"We initially didn't think that the bats would use polarised light," said the paper's senior author, Dr Richard Holland from Queen's University in Belfast.

Dr Holland was one of the scientists who discovered in 2006 that bats navigate by somehow sensing the earth's magnetic field - but that in-built compass needs to be calibrated. Other experiments showed that the calibration was happening at sunset, when the bats' day begins.

"We thought that surely, the sun's disc itself would be a more likely cue," Dr Holland told the BBC. But his team recently tested how bats responded when the sun's image was shifted by mirrors, and found no difference.read more

Think penguins are cute? These bad eggs need an Antarctic

Wildlife documentaries are often criticised for being twee, crammed with adorable fluff-bundles and doe-eyed darlings. 

They make us imagine the wilds are teeming with creatures that yearn to curl up on our sofas and snuggle.

Remember March Of The Penguins, cinema’s 2005 surprise success? Narrator Morgan Freeman convinced us that they were seabird saints - moral guardians of the Antarctic.

All over America, evangelical churches ferried parishioners to the pictures in busloads, to celebrate the pious, monogamous penguins who mate for life.

So it came as a bombshell to learn in Penguin Post Office (BBC2) that Morgan got it badly wrong.

These birds are nothing less than sleazy gangsters in feather tuxedos. They’re thieving, sex-mad chick-murderers and they stink to high heaven.

At least no one is going to accuse director Andrew Graham-Brown of being twee.

His team filmed the bird’s breeding cycle over a summer on the tiny British outpost of Goudier Island, 700 miles south of Argentina, where volunteers man the planet’s most southerly gift shop and Post Office. 

Once, this was a whaling station, and the evidence is still there of hardy seamen stranded for years at a time at the end of the world - images of Liz Taylor and Marilyn Monroe in flimsy negligees are painted lovingly on the walls.

But now it’s a busy tourist stop-off. 

Cruise ships bring 18,000 visitors a year, and they send nearly 80,000 postcards from the red Royal Mail postbox. ‘It’s kinda relaxing,’ smiled the postmistress, on sabbatical from her job teaching at a U.S. school, as she franked each stamp by hand.

This would be an icy idyll, if it weren’t for the 2,000 gentoo penguins. 

The tourists thought they were cute, but after a week of living cheek by beak beside them, you’d be begging the courts for a seabird Asbo.

They steal incessantly. It would be safer to hand your house keys to a junkie than let a gentoo anywhere near your rockery.

+3

The penguins in Natural World are 'nothing less than sleazy gangsters in feather tuxedos'

Given half a chance, any gentoo will be having a fling with a neighbour, and they don’t care who finds out. Penguin morality would make a rabbit blush.

Domestic violence is rife. 

Husband and wife stab and peck at each other, jealously bickering about everything from their ramshackle stone nests to whose turn it is to sit on the egg. 

Chicks that stray from the nest will be viciously battered to death: penguins appear to enjoy violence.

On top of all that, the human volunteers have to spend every morning with a broom and buckets of hot water, knee-deep in rank droppings on their doorstep. 

Graham-Brown couldn’t have done a better hatchet job if he’d caught penguins dealing drugs to the cruise ship v

ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM - TV PROGRAMME

If you visit Mfuwe Lodge,Zambia for a holiday you may see unexpected guests .Every year elephants walk through reception ,nose around the  lobby ,wander through the  gardens.This trek is done  to feast  on large mango tree in the garden.-link -animal planet

Red squirrel hand-reared by rangers after mother rejects her baby

Red squirrel Flower in the office at Escot – the kit is being hand-reared by two nature rangers after being abandoned by her mother

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A baby red squirrel is being hand-reared by two nature rangers at a Devon estate, writes Louis Doree.

Flower was abandoned by her mother, Holly, who had her first litter of four at Escot in East Devon.

Initially Flower was cared for by her mother, but staff noted she was being neglected.

Nature rangers Kerry James and Victoria Sissons stepped in to save the red squirrel kit and have been successful in hand-rearing her.

Now at eight weeks old, Flower has put on weight and is taking more solid food.

Kerry said: “It is very rewarding to care for Flower and to see her developing so well – though I must admit I am pleased that the late night and early morning feeds are almost over.

“Because she did spend a few weeks with her mother and siblings, Flower knows she is a squirrel and does not mistake us for her parents. It is really great to see her becoming more independent and displaying good squirrel behaviour such as hiding her food.”

Escot Park houses free-range red squirrels in a three-quarters of an acre walk-through enclosure, the second environment of its kind in the UK designed to protect them from the far more numerous and disease carrying greys. Red squirrels have declined due to increased competition from greys and the introduction of squirrel parapoxvirus.

Owner of Escot Park, John-Michael Kennaway is the most recent recipient of The David Stapleton Award, from the Red Squirrel Survival Trust.

Mr Kennaway received the award in recognition of his contribution to saving the red squirrel in the UK through the successful breeding programme at Escot Park and for opening a free access to all red squirrel encounter at Escot park.

Read more: http://www.westernmorningnews.co.uk/Red-squirrel-hand-reared-rangers-mother-rejects/story-21746675-detail/story.html#ixzz38Zxus1ua

NEW WORLD - LONG YEAR

Kepler has found a distant  planet with  the  longest  year  of any planet found so far -704 days around its parent sun.link-Kepler sees world with distant orbit -bbc-science

SCHIZOPHRENIA

SCHIZOPHRENIA-80 previously unknown genes discovered by scientists.These are believed to be a reason people  are at  risk for SCHIZOPHRENIA.This was found in the worlds largest genetic study of disease putting on par with other medical conditions. link- large genes  find in schizophrenia -bbc-health

Two 8ft snakes found in children's playground

Two 8ft boa constrictors have been found close to a children’s playground in east London.

Police were called to Plashet Park in East Ham after numerous reports of two large snakes being spotted in the undergrowth.

Officers used a litter picker and a brown paper bag to retrieve the reptiles, which are non-venomous, but kill they prey by suffocation.

The snakes were taken to a local pet shop where they were identified as mature boa constrictors.

No one was hurt in the incident and police said they believed the snakes may have been released as unwanted pets.

HORSEFLY DON,T BOTHER ME

Dear Horsefly,I am sorry but your constant love bites are causing redness,pain and discomfort.We are going to have to end this relationship as i am fed up with you buzzing me every time i am out and about.So i hope this will help you understand why i wish not to see you anymore.yours Ghostman

DRUNK WASPS ARE HOOLIGANS

Wasps a getting drunk on fermented fruit and attacking people who disturb them.Nests of 20,000 wasps ,double the normal size and more hooligan like.Which in turn means sting send out signals to other wasps to join in -unsure if true

Design

House Lam by Nico van der Meulen Architects http://weandthecolor.com/house-lam-nico-van-der-meulen-architects/36252

And now for something completely familiar

Eric Idle's latest project, his long-awaited Monty Python musical, Spamalot, has singing cows, a killer rabbit, a legless knight, flatulent Frenchmen and young women demanding spankings. It is, he admits, "lovingly ripped off" from the film Monty Python and the Holy Grail, which cost just £400,000 to make in 1975. The stage production is epic in scale, with direction by Mike Nichols, who won an Oscar for The Graduate. Investors, who have put up £6 million, are gambling that it will be as big a worldwide hit as The Producers, after a Chicago opening on Tuesday. Last week, tickets went on sale for a Broadway run in March, with Nichols saying: "I knew the material was hilarious and that I laughed at it all the time. But I still had to know that crucial thing: what is this show really all about?" Then Tim Curry, the actor who made his name as Dr Frank-N-Furter in The Rocky Horror Picture Show, walked onto the rehearsal room stage in New York. "About one minute and 15 seconds into the first reading, Tim pronounced his lines: 'I am King Arthur and these are the knights of the rhooond table.' And then I had it. "It was that upper-class accent that Tim knew to use instinctively. The way he pronounced that one word reminded me that everything English is, finally, about class. I knew where to go from that moment on." The biggest production number is a raucous version of We're Knights of the Round Table ("We dance when e'er we're able"), featuring Las Vegas-style dancing divas in body stockings. John Cleese is said to have taped "the voice of God", previously played by Graham Chapman, who died in 1989. Idle began working on the script from the moment he saw The Producers on its first night in New York. The surviving Pythons have a veto over any Python project. Idle waited until he had a draft script to show the others, and had recorded six versions of the songs. Terry Jones, co-director of the film, arranged a conference call, and a particular tune persuaded the others to approve the project - The Song That Goes Like This, a skit on Lloyd Webber ballads. It was agreed that while everybody provided constructive criticism, it was Idle's project. He said: "If it flops, they can just blame me." Jones said there was a feeling that Idle would not appreciate interference from "superannuated white-haired ex-Pythons". Nichols, 73, insisted that the show be more than a "Python Flying Circus". "There are some things you know will be there - killer rabbits - but you also need to feel that you're getting somewhere; that it isn't a random review." He hand-picked the stars. David Hyde Pierce, from the television show Frasier, plays Brave Sir Robin. A Python fan since childhood, the actor said he told his agent: "I don't care what the part is, I just want it." Hank Azaria, the voice of Moe the bartender in The Simpsons, is both Sir Lancelot and the French Taunter. Lancelot is thought to be more murderous than in the movie, as well as being sexually disorientated. Nichols said that, in explaining his approach, he told a friend: "You know how in the movie there's a cow that flies out of a castle and lands on a page? Well, in the musical, the cow has a singing part." With the script under wraps, there is no word on whether the cast will include the film's 142 Ecuadorian llamas. According to Idle, the movie, while dealing with an heroic theme, was really quite small in scale. "We couldn't afford armies or even horses - thank God for coconuts. That means most of the scenes can be fairly easily reconstructed on stage. "There are technical problems - just how do you lop off people's arms and legs on stage? But somebody else has to solve them. That's the great thing about being a writer." Idle, 61, picked the Camelot-pun title, it seems, both as a tribute to junk-mail and Spam tinned meat. Idle, born in South Shields and now living in Los Angeles, worked on the songs with composer John Du Prez, who played trumpet on Always Look on the Bright Side of Life"which was sung by Idle in the crucifixion scene of The Life of Brian. Nichols sums up Spamalot as "strange", a show in which "you laugh and laugh, and at the same time you don't know why you are so moved." UK News News » In UK News Lightning storm in pictures William Hague in pictures Monty Python Live (Mostly):

The day grecians of Exeter kick started a football dynasty

As Exeter City mark the centenary of the club’s historic game against Brazil 100 years ago, Stuart James recounts the circumstances of the strange encounter Sport is full of strange co-incidences, quirky facts and bizarre anomalies. But few can be as extreme as the fact that Brazil, the five-times World champions and masters of football, played their first-ever competitive fixture against little old Exeter City. Exactly 100 years ago, the Grecians embarked on a long and arduous tour of South America. Their first game was in Argentina on June 14, where they lost 1-0 to a team called Norte in Buenos Aires. It was the first of eight games the Grecians played against clubs and representative teams from Argentina and it turned out to be the only game they lost. Six were won with the other a goalless stalemate with Argentinos. Across the border, Brazilian teams had been trying to get English clubs, regarded in the country as the ‘Gods of Football’ or ‘Fathers of the Game’ to play them for some time, but invitations to clubs like Southampton and Nottingham Forest had been politely declined. Not so by Exeter. Despite a gruelling month or so in Argentina, they agreed to extend their trip and play three further matches in Brazil. All three were to be played at the Laranjeiras Stadium in Rio de Janeiro and the third of those games was to be against Brasileiros, a Brazilian select XI, or Seleção, which remains the nickname of the Brazilian national side to this day. The Exeter team of 100 years ago were no mugs. In goal, for instance, was Dick Pym, who went on to play for Bolton Wanderers and England, but the tired and weary Grecians were no match in a rumbustious encounter that ended in a 2-0 win for the Seleção. Back then, the result was deemed quite a success for the Brazilian side as the excitable public, who had long pined for the opportunity to play against a professional English team, regarded the English as invincible. Over 3,000 packed into Laranjeiras Stadium to watch the game and witness a small-time club from Devon unwittingly kick-start one of the greatest footballing dynasties the game has ever seen. The Brazilian game went from strength to strength with the Seleção going on to win five World Cups – in 1958, 1962, 1970 1994 and 2002. However, their hopes of a sixth in their own country this summer ended in humiliation as the people’s favourites crashed out at the semi-final stage following a 7-1 mauling to Germany; a result that rocked the footballing world and left a nation shell-shocked. As well as their five titles, Brazil have twice been World Cup runners-up, but their brand of exciting attacking play and silky skills has endeared them into the hearts of football fans worldwide. By comparison, Exeter’s history has been far less glamorous. Their one notable piece of silverware came in 1990 when Terry Cooper guided the Grecians to the Fourth Division championship, although Paul Tisdale did lead Exeter to back-to-back promotions in 2008 and 2009, the first of those at the famous Wembley Stadium. Promotion has also been achieved in 1964 and 1977, while a goalless draw against the mighty Manchester United in a third-round FA Cup tie in 2005 felt every bit as good as winning a trophy when the full-time whistle blew. However, as is often the case in sport, there is always the ‘What if?’ scenario. The seeds for the future of Brazilian football had been sewn back in 1914, while the Exeter ship sailed home and into the breakout of the First World War. In fact, the Exeter party, which had left Brazil on July 22 aboard the SS Alcantara, had only reached Madeira when war with the Germans was declared. Their vessel, with its full cargo of bullion and frozen meat, was deemed a German target and on setting sail from Madeira for Lisbon and Vigo, the ship steamed at her utmost capacity, which was about 18 knots, and with its lights out. After the most arduous of journeys, the boat finally docked in Liverpool and the Exeter City players aboard faced targets of a different kind on returning to Devon. Deemed as young, fit and athletic, they were wanted for the ‘New Army’ and to fight in the fields, rather than play on them. At first, football continued with the message from the FA it was “business as usual” but such was the public outcry, backed by a shaming campaign by numerous newspapers of the time, that it was not until 1915 that football eventually ceased. Many of the Exeter party that travelled to South America signed up to fight in the war and either died or were so badly injured, they were never able to play football again. One hundred years on and the Grecians are returning to Brazil to mark the historic anniversary of that tour with a match against Fluminense tomorrow. The game will be played in that same Laranjeiras Stadium and will be kicked off using the same ball as the one used in 1914. But one thing the Grecians will hope for is that the next 100 years brings more fortune than it did the last time they returned from Brazil. Share Share Tweet Share Report this article Get Involved! Upload your pics and stories here. 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Big cat news

Big cat adventures in the Serengeti Alongside herds of migrating wildebeest in the Serengeti, our writers have been enjoying some spectacular big cat sightings 00:5403:12 By Richard and Sarah Madden8:00AM BST 16 Jul 2014Comment In the months leading up to the famously frenetic crossings of the Mara River between August and November, huge herds of wildebeest gather in the southern plains of the Serengeti NP in Tanzania before making their way northwards following the rains that sustain the grasslands on which they feed. Unlike the river crossings themselves which attract huge herds of 4x4s as well as the wildebeest themselves, moving between Nomad Tanzania’s mobile tented camp, Serengeti Safari Camp, and its seasonal cousin, Nduara Loliondo, is a great way of following the migration while often finding yourself completely alone surrounded by thousands of wildebeest and zebra. Further north, Lamai Camp has one of the best locations of any safari camp in Africa, hidden away among the huge boulders of Kogakuria kopje looking north towards the Mara River. It was from here that the spectacular leopard and lion sightings in this film were shot. Film shot on a Panasonic HC-X920 The Bush Telegraph: cheetahs on the bonnet On the plains of the Serengeti our safari columnists have an unforgettable, heart-stopping encounter with a cheetah family Related Content What makes the perfect safari? The Bush Telegraph: Meet the meerkats The Bush Telegraph: Scotland in Africa, I presume Bush Telegraph: The dogs fighting rhino poachers The Bush Telegraph: 'The highlights of a Malawi safari' The Bush Telegraph: a Namibian road trip Read all the Maddens' previous Bush Telegraph columns Essentials The Ultimate Travel Company (020 73051 8098 www.theultimatetravelcompany.co.uk) tailor-make a week at Nomad Serengeti camps from £4,475 per person. A three night stay at Nduara Loliondo followed by four nights at Lamai, comes with all meals, drinks and activities. The price also includes flights from Heathrow with Kenya Airways, connecting flights by light aircraft and private transfers throughout. Early booking is recommended for Nduara Loliondo’s seasonal game viewing, the camp operates from 15 December to 30 April. The Bush Telegraph Travel » Activity and adventure » Tanzania » Safari and wildlife holidays » Travel Video » More Video Telegraph TV Activity and adventure The Bush Telegraph Ads By Google Equity Release Calculator Calculate How Much Equity You Could Release Today. Find Out Now! www.keyrs.co.uk/Calculator Top10 Broadband in the UK Broadband From £2.50. Broadband Comparison. Latest Deals Online. www.uswitch.com/Broadband Eurostar Breaks from £92 Eurostar to Bruges, Lille, Paris or Brussels, includes hotel and B&B www.short-breaks.com/Eurostar How we moderate RELATED VIDEO   The thrill of walking safaris 26 May 2014   The magical herds of Tanzania 12 May 2014   Cheetahs pounce on Telegraph writer's bonnet 16 Apr 2014   Bush Telegraph: diving with whale sharks 26 Mar 2014   Lions take a glorious mudbath in South Africa 26 Feb 2014   Bush Telegraph: On the trail of the black rhino 12 Mar 2014 WATCH MORE»   Prince George's first birthday scrapbook 19 Jul 2014   Leopard saved from a well in India 18 Jul 2014 TELEGRAPH VIDEO Goodwood Festival of Speed 2014: the best classic cars on display Henry Winter's Google+ hangout: Telegraph's Football Correspondent discusses England's World Cup build-up FROM THE WEB 8 Reasons Why Messi is Better Than Ronaldo SportsBreak Which Brands Won The World Cup Of Marketing? Uberflip [?] MORE FROM TELEGRAPH.CO.UK TELEGRAPH TRAVEL COLLECTION Exclusive reader offers carefully selected by our travel experts View TELEGRAPH TRAVEL HAND-PICKED Get amazing deals on luxury hotels and holidays with The Telegraph View TELEGRAPH SHOP Dartmouth Leather Deck Shoes - save £10 View TELEGRAPH FANTASY FOOTBALL Select your FREE Telegraph Fantasy Football XI, £120,00 to be won View Back to top HOME Travel Travel News Travel Advice Picture Galleries Luxury Travel Hand-picked Deals Holiday Type Cruises Snow and Ski Adventure Best Beaches City Breaks Family Holidays Travel Deals Hotel Deals Cruise Deals Travel Money Cottage Deals Travel Competitions Destinations Paris Nice Rome New York Saint Lucia Hong Kong Contact Us Privacy and Cookies Advertising Fantasy Football Tickets Announcements Reader Prints Follow Us Apps Epaper Expat Promotions Subscriber Syndication © Copyright of Telegraph Media Group Limited 2014Terms and Conditions Today's NewsArchiveStyle BookWeather Forecast

Ghost tales from oldest city

In the nearly 450 years of St. Augustine’s existence, many bizarre, eerie and inexplicable events have taken place here. Nowadays, the town’s ample supply of ghostly phenomena entices thousands of visitors and has brought television crews who attempt to capture the elusive spirits on audio and video. Whether or not you’re convinced that supernatural beings inhabit our town, it’s intriguing to consider the possibility they exist. Lily, for instance, the ghost who haunts room 3A at the St. Francis Inn, has been spotted numerous times by the inn’s staff and guests. She doesn’t like certain TV programs and turns them off when no one’s looking. She’s also been known to steal a kiss from the sleeping husband of a honeymooning couple. And who is the ghostly man who wanders the basement of the Lighthouse keeper’s residence, leaving behind a trail of cigar smoke? In “Ghost Tales from the Oldest City,” author Suzy Cain, takes readers on a tour of the city’s most famous haunted locales. Such phenomena as the house where an unseen child cries in the night or the spectral woman in white who carries a suitcase as she wanders the halls of the Casa de la Paz Inn at 22 Avenida Menendez bring chills and thrills to those attuned to the spirit world. Why is it that St. Augustine seems to have more than its share of ghostly presences? Those who look at the phenomena more dispassionately might conclude that the days when rooms were lit only by flickering candlelight, and a lantern’s gleam barely pierced the darkness of streets and alleys, shadows and fog from the river were easily interpreted as visitors from the spirit world. Old houses tend to creak and groan. The wind might whistle down a chimney and sound like a baby crying or cause a poorly latched door to swing open. Then there’s the human propensity to expand and enhance legends of the supernatural as they pass from person to person. A slender volume illustrated by local artist, Dianne Jacoby, “Ghost Tales form the Oldest City” is an entertaining read that will make you look at many familiar locales with a new perspective. When St. Augustine’s streets are empty and a fog is rolling in off the river, who’s to say what’s hidden in the shadows? Q&A Author Suzy Cain: Q. HOW DID YOU BECOME INTERESTED IN ST. AUGUSTINE’S GHOSTS? SUZY CAIN: My family and I moved to St Augustine from Vero Beach in 1994 and stayed there until I immigrated to New Zealand in 2006. When I arrived in St Augustine, I was not sure what I would do for work. One night I saw a woman dressed in historic clothing, lantern in hand, leading a small group through the old city. I was immediately intrigued and later found out that she was leading a ghost tour. Her name was Sandy Craig. I tracked her down and soon took a job leading ghost tours (with Tour Saint Augustine). 2. HOW DID YOU AND ILLUSTRATOR DIANNE JACOBY MEET AND HOW DID YOU DECIDE TO WRITE THE BOOK? Dianne and I met when she joined the Tour Saint Augustine staff. Many of the people we met during the tours asked if the stories were written down. They were not, and so we decided to do just that. Dianne is an artist and she and I got together to talk about the stories and how we wanted them to be presented. Our efforts culminated in a self-published book in 1997, and we sold more than 10,000 copies. We managed all the marketing, sales, distribution and promotion, but when I moved to New Zealand, it became unfair for her to do it on her own, so I approached Pineapple Press, and they agreed to publish a new edition of our book. 3. HOW DID YOU DEVELOPED AN INTEREST IN THE PARANORMAL? I have always been fascinated with great stories (and ghost stories always are great ones). With my theatrical background, being a ghost tour guide was just up my alley. Combine that with a love of history, and it is the perfect job. During my years in St. Augustine, I also formed a small theater troupe called City Gate Productions (of which Dianne was a part), and we produced murder mysteries and historical plays as well as a play for students about the history of St. Augustine. 4. WHAT MOTIVATED YOU TO LEAVE ST. AUGUSINE FOR NEW ZEALAND? It was hard to leave beautiful St. Augustine, but I had always wanted to live in New Zealand from the time I was a kid. The first job I had upon arriving in Wellington was in the mayor’s office taking care of the correspondence. I am now working for The New Zealand Festival as the executive coordinator. It’s a multi-arts festival that is produced every two years. It features theatre, music, dance, fine arts and a Writers Week program. My husband and I love living in Wellington and our two son Wilson, 21, and Joseph, 23, (and now three cats) live here as well. *** Q&A with Dianne Jacoby, illustrator 1. HOW AND WHERE DID YOU AND SUZY MEET? We met when we began giving Ghost Tours of downtown St. Augustine almost 20 years ago. We were the first to conduct guided walking ghost tours in town. Now it’s a big business with many companies involved. After five years, we decided it was time to write a book about some of our favorite ghosts. We carefully researched our stories, most of which were handed down by oral tradition. Some stories we collected or experienced ourselves. 2. HAVE YOU DONE BOOK ILLUSTRATIONS BEFORE? Yes. I have illustrated a number of books and have shown my paintings throughout the country. Now I am specializing in murals and commission paintings. 3. WAS THERE A REASON TO CHOOSE THE LINE DRAWING STYLE YOU EMPLOYED TO ILLUSTRATE THE BOOK? To me drawing is the essence of all art. I love the expressiveness of line drawing, so it was a natural choice for the ethereal, dramatic look I wanted. I had long wanted to draw my impressions of the spirits in their historical locales about town. 4. WERE THERE PARTICULAR PLACES IN TOWN THAT PROVIDED INSPIRATION FOR THE DRAWINGS? I felt it was important to place my images in the proper context as far as historical authenticity. So I loved using the coquina City Gate for the cover. Also the wonderful variety of textures found in the cemeteries are so evocative of our transient past. 5. AS A LONG-TIME ST. AUGUSTINE RESIDENT, DO YOU RECALL ANY GHOST STORIES OR LEGENDS YOU HEARD REPEATED AS A CHILD? My mother’s father was a railroad engineer for the FEC who died in the FEC hospital here in town as a result of injuries from a train wreck. A switchman near Palatka was asleep and did not switch his train’s track and a head on collision occurred with another train. When my grandfather was thrown off his train by the impact, he slammed into the switchman standing by the tracks. The switchman was killed by the impact. My grandfather died some time later. When I began giving ghost tours in town several people with psychic ability told me my grandfather walks by my side to protect me from harm. I find consolation in the companionship of this man who died so long before I was born. 6. HAVE YOU EVER FELT YOU WERE IN A PLACE THAT WAS HAUNTED? Yes. The strongest feelings I have experienced are in the back of the Tolomato Cemetery, inside the De Mesa House on St. George St. and in the northwest corner of the Alcazar building. 7. DOES YOUR INTEREST IN THEATER TIE IN WITH EITHER THE BOOK’S CONTENT OR YOUR ILLUSTRATIONS? Oh yes. The ghosts of St. Augustine were just waiting to be portrayed, so several years ago, I wrote a play called “Haunted Theatre: the Last Act.” We will perform it again this year in late October — just in time for Halloween! Our spirits speak in first person to tell the tragic and terrifying experiences of their lives throughout time in St. Augustine. 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Amphipods are the most abundant of free-swimming creatures in the deepest depths Marine scientists are delighted with the latest video footage of life and death from the deepest, most mysterious region of the ocean. One has described it as the best they have yet collected. A deep sea probe shot the videos in April and May during an expedition that plumbed the 10,000m depths of the Kermadec Trench, northeast of New Zealand. The images reveal the hunting strategy of a large enigmatic fish, the swimming style of a gigantic deep sea crustacean and new information on the activities of the world's deepest living fish. These are new insights on the behaviour of marine animals which inhabit one of the most extreme and inhospitable realms of the planet - the ocean depth range between 6,000m to 11,000m where the floor of the abyss plunges into great troughs, known as ocean trenches. Oceanographers call it the hadal zone. At its lowest point, the pressure reaches one tonne per square centimetre and the temperature drops to one degree C. The technical challenges to sending manned and unmanned submersibles into this environment mean that a sizeable portion of the planet's sea floor remains terra incognito. According to Andy Bowen, chief engineer at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) in the US: "The hadal zone… represents an area somewhat equivalent to that of North America. So it's a substantial area of the ocean that is essentially unexplored." Marine biologist Alan Jamieson of the University of Aberdeen in Scotland regards this as an unacceptable gap in our knowledge of the ocean ecosystem. "The hadal zone is 45% of the ocean's depth range. So the entire discipline of deep sea biology has concentrated on the shallowest 50% and that seems wrong," he said. Jamieson led the team which collected the latest video material. He talks about the expedition and its discoveries in the science radio series Into the Abyss on BBC Radio 4. His spectacular images are some consolation for a technical disaster during the scientific voyage: The catastrophic implosion at 10km depth of the US$3.1m submersible robot, Nereus. Nereus was the world's most advanced deep sea research vehicle - designed and built at Woods Hole. Nereus was lost during only its second mission in the hadal zone. The flagship Nereus underwater vehicle was destroyed recently in the Kermadec trench The expedition was the first to attempt to study systematically an ocean trench at the different depths across its entire width. It was the inaugural mission of an international research programme called Hades - Hadal Ecosystem Studies. The scope of that project is much reduced with the destruction of Nereus at the bottom of the Kermadec Trench. Trenches exist where tectonic plates of ocean crust collide. One great raft of crust is slowly descending into the Earth's interior beneath the edge of the other plate. At the surface, the junction between them is the trench - a broadly V-shaped feature which can run thousands of kilometres in length. The deepest is the Mariana Trench with a floor as deep as 11,000 metres at one location. The Hollywood film maker Cameron visited its lowest point, Challenger Deep, in 2012. Cameron's submarine mission cost millions of dollars and he reported seeing little in the way of interesting creatures. Alan Jamieson's new video images came at much cheaper price. The videos were captured during several deployments of a device called a hadal lander. A lander is relatively simple piece of hardware: lights and cameras within a pressure-resistant housing. It also carries a pole on which a dead fish is secured. The bait lures hadal creatures into the camera's field of view, once the whole contraption has been dropped to the sea floor. In the recent Kermadec expedition, the Aberdeen team began their deployments in the relative shallows. At 1,554m depth, the lander and its mackerel lure pulled in a mass of squirming eels of two species: large arrow tooth eels and smaller snubnose eels. The video camera caught the last few seconds of existence for a snubnose eel. In the frenzy of scavenging, a large arrow tooth grabbed the smaller species and carried it off, undulating backwards, into the darkness. "That was a direct kill," said Alan Jamieson. Even at 1,500 metres, food parcels like the one delivered by the lander are few and far between. Fish detect its odour and emerge from the enveloping darkness to converge on the feast. All species in this environment will scavenge but the new footage creepily shows that a feeding frenzy is also an opportunity for predation. Another revelation about deep sea hunting behaviour came with a deployment to the upper slopes of the trench itself at 5100 metres. Eel-like fish called cusk eels are frequently spotted at this depth, and deeper. The deep dwelling cusk eels, Bassozetus sp, grow up to one metre in length. Alan Jamieson said that on previous expeditions, he often saw cusk eels come to the bait but he never saw them do anything interesting. This time the lander caught several occasions when they burst into action in what Jamieson described as some of the best video sequences he's ever taken. The fish's glum-looking, tight-lipped face opens up to form a submarine vacuum cleaner. Deep dwelling cusk eels grow up to 1m in length The cusk eel holds its position at the bait and waits for the odour of dead fish to attract crustaceans called amphipods. Amphipods are the most abundant of free-swimming creatures in the deepest depths. Dr Jamieson theorises that cusk eels only spring into action when amphipods large enough to bother with swims close. When the fish somehow detects their proximity, its mouth springs wide open in a split second, sucking up the amphipod in a rush of water. Deeper in the trench, there is an amphipod species which has nothing to fear from fish. This creature is unofficially known as the Supergiant - its scientific name is Alicella gigantea. The Kermadec expedition this year captured the first footage of the Supergiant swimming. On this occasion, the animal was caught, brazenly ploughing through a shoal of pink snailfish at 7,243 metres below the surface. Most members of the amphipod group are small, typified by the species many of us are likely to have encountered: the sand hoppers which ping out of disturbed seaweed on the beach. The adult Supergiant is colossal compared to any other amphipod species. On previous expeditions in the Kermadec and Japan trenches, individuals brought up in deep sea traps have measured as long as 28 centimetres, almost one foot. Marine biologists speculate that Supergiants evolved gigantic size as a defence against predation. At some point in the past, their ancestors had the luck to develop mutations in genes which regulate growth. Another adaptation to this environment are food stores in their bodies, according to marine biologist Ashley Rowden at New Zealand's National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research. He said that Supergiants which have been brought to the surface feel as though they are made of wax. "The belief is that the waxy materials are a food storage source for times when there isn't food for those Supergiants to exist on. They are able to use what they've stored from a previous big feast." Sharing the Middle Trench depth range with the Super Giants are the snailfish - the deepest living fish known. They have the appearance of large tadpoles made of pink jelly. They are semi-transparent. The lights of the hadal camera illuminate orange blobs within their bodies. These blobs are their livers. Snailfish feed on small amphipods. The greatest depth at which they have been seen is 7,700 metres. The fish (Notoliparis kermadecensis) in the Kermadec Trench look more or less identical to those seen in the Japan Trench way to the north. However genetic analyses show they are different species and not that closely related to one another. They are closer cousins of the shallower water snailfish species in their respective parts of the world. On this and previous expeditions, snailfish have been brought to the surface in traps. According to Ashley Rowden, the jelly-like consistency makes a snailfish hard to handle. "It's like handling a water-filled condom. It slips around in your hand and you're not quite sure which bit you should be holding so that it doesn't drop to the deck." The latest footage of snailfish in their natural environment reveals them to be more numerous and more energetic than the scientists had supposed. Alan Jamieson says the snailfish had also appeared to be wedded to the sea floor. The new video reveals them disporting in mid water around a precipitous cliff of volcanic rock. The water depth here was 7,669 metres. "We always thought that when you get down to those depths, you'd be lucky if you saw one or two, eking out an existence in this really deep water but we've been very, very surprised to see so many being so active," said Alan Jamieson. "The more I do this the more I don't consider the very deepest parts of the ocean as that different (from the rest of it). They are not weird and 'out there'…. They are just an extension of every other marine environment." The first part of 'Into the Abyss' was broadcast on Wednesday 16th July at 9 pm and will be repeated on Tuesday 22nd July at 11 am. Share this page ShareFacebookTwitter EmailPrint More Science & Environment storiesRSS Boom in satellite ship tracking The demand for ship identification and tracking data acquired by satellites is growing rapidly. EC 'confident' in brain project 'Shoved' sea eagle chick flies nest Top Stories Pressure grows on Russia over crash UK demands access to MH17 crash site Egyptian troops killed at checkpoint UK storms cause further disruption Casualties mount in Gaza conflict Features Five to watch Inspiring tales from athletes heading to Glasgow 2014 BBC SPORT Victorian Strangeness The era when it was fashionable for ladies to limp Last survivors Who will keep Holocaust memories alive? Dying trade Are these the last master craftsmen in England? 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Giant duck escapes

China: Giant yellow rubber duck swept away in flood By News from Elsewhere... ...media reports from around the world, found by BBC Monitoring People gather to see the giant bath toy in Taiwan Continue reading the main story More News from Elsewhere Azerbaijan funds dig at Roman Forum Seoul city workers 'can nap at work' S America's first opera house reopens A giant yellow rubber duck floating on Nanming River in China's south-west Guizhou Province has reportedly been swept away by floodwaters just months after it exploded on display in Taiwan. The 18m (59ft) sculpture by Dutch artist Florentijn Hofman disappeared around 19:00 local time on Wednesday, after the city saw days of heavy rainfall, the Taiwan-based Want China Times reports. Even though the duck weighs 1 tonne, and was sitting on a 10 tonne metal platform lashed to the riverbed with steel wires, it was easily dislodged by the storm. "The duck flopped over and was flushed away really quickly by the torrential flood," exhibition co-ordinator Yan Jianxin tells the Wall Street Journal's China Real Time blog. "It disappeared right in front of me." It's the latest mishap for the yellow duck, which burst while on display at a port in Taiwan and deflated during its exhibition in Hong Kong. The duck has been on tour since 2007, popping up in cities including Sydney, Sao Paulo and Baku as a way of bringing people together. Earlier, the duck was on show in Sydney Use #NewsfromElsewhere to stay up-to-date with our reports via Twitter. More on This Story More News from Elsewhere Azerbaijan funds dig at Roman Forum Seoul city workers 'can nap at work' S America's first opera house reopens Share this page ShareFacebookTwitter EmailPrint About #NewsfromElsewhere A collection of stories being reported by media around the world, as found by BBC Monitoring. Find out more. More from BBC Monitoring About BBC Monitoring Reports and analysis from TV, radio, web and print media around the world Country Profiles An instant guide to the history, politics and economics of countries and territories More from the Magazine Answering life’s questions through daily features, quizzes and opinions. Follow us BBC Monitoring on Twitter You can follow the latest updates on Twitter …and on Facebook You can also become a fan of BBC Monitoring on Facebook Services  Mobile Connected TV News feeds Alerts E-mail news About BBC News Editors' blogBBC College of JournalismNews sourcesEditorial Guidelines BBC links Mobile siteTerms of UseAbout the BBC PrivacyAccessibility Help CookiesContact the BBC Parental Guidance BBC © 2014 The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Read more.

Bad daygor cryptozoologists

A sudy of hair samples linked to unidentified large primates shows they actually came from known mammals ©Dreamstime There is disappointment for cryptozoologists who like to believe that big hairy humanoids live in places such as the Himalayas (yeti or abominable snowman) and remote parts of the American northwest (sasquatch or big foot). The first reputable scientific study of hair samples allegedly linked to these mysterious apemen has shown that none came from previously unknown primates. Biology: Great apes Some chimpanzees are smarter than others – and about half the variation is down to genetics, according to a study of 99 chimps in captivity by Yerkes National Primate Research Center in Atlanta. Bryan Sykes, genetics professor at Oxford university, undertook the study with colleagues in museums around the world who submitted hair for genetic analysis. The 37 samples were anecdotally associated with unidentified large primates. The results, published in Proceedings of the Royal Society B, showed that they actually came from a wide range of known mammals including bears, horses, wolves, cattle, deer and modern humans – but no new hominid. The only surprising result was that two Himalayan samples were genetically closest to polar bears, though the hair was brown rather than white. Polar and brown bears are closely related and can hybridise and, since polar bears do not occur in the Himalayas, the researchers speculate that the fur may have come from such a hybrid or from an unknown species very similar to polar bears but with brown fur. Commenting on the study, Norman MacLeod of London’s Natural History Museum says that the negative results do not disprove the existence of yetis and other cryptic primates. “What they do is eliminate certain hair samples from further consideration that such creatures exist,” he says. “The study demonstrates a test whereby [their] existence can be proven in a way that would be considered acceptable to the scientific community.” Photographs: Dreamstime Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2014. You may share using our article tools. Please don't cut articles from FT.com and redistribute by email or post to the web. ShareClipReprintsPrintEmail ShareClipReprintsPrintEmail EDITOR’S CHOICE SIMON KUPER ©Luis Grañena How to travel: my rules GILLIAN TETT ©Shonagh Rae A peek into the IMF machine MOST POPULAR IN LIFE & ARTS Is Britain closing its doors to talent? Magazine: My friend Louis van Gaal House & Home: ‘Manhattanisation’ of San Francisco Magazine: The Mekong River crisis Lunch with the FT: Zoella LIFE AND ARTS ON TWITTER More FT Twitter accounts MOST RECENT FROM LIFE & ARTS A migrant’s welcome? ‘Vlogger’ Zoella has Lunch with the FT Sleep like a king at Warwick Castle Malevich retrospective at Tate Modern Britain vs the banks Help •Contact us •About us •Advertise with the FT •Terms & conditions •Privacy policy •Copyright •Cookie policy © THE FINANCIAL TIMES LTD 2014 FT and 'Financial Times' are trademarks of The Financial Times Ltd.

Bigfoot news

. An American black bear, one of the many identities of "Bigfoot." LAELAPS: 4 days ago “Bigfoot” Unmasked by Brian Switek Bigfoot is an all-American monster. The mythical ape – a bastardized version of the Yeti – has supposedly been spotted in every state in the union except Hawaii (because that’d just be silly) and has been co-opted into a spokesape for jerky, pizza, and beer. Americans ripped off an existing tall tale, created hoaxes to bring the fiction to life, and ultimately tapped into Sasquatch’s pop culture appeal to make a quick buck. As far as cryptozoological legends go, Bigfoot is a great American mascot. I’m sure Bigfoot believers are already bridling at this post. There is a very active community of Sasquatch devotees who are certain that there is an as-yet-unrecognized species of ape wandering through North America’s forests. They’d prefer that we forget the multiple hoaxes and turn our attention to personal anecdotes and what they claim as physical evidence for the critter. The most common tangible thread is hair. That would make some sense. A furry ape traipsing through the bushes and briars would have to leave some hairs behind. But are these mystery tufts truly indications of Bigfoot’s reality? Science says no. Earlier this month, in Proceedings of the Royal Society B, Institute of Human Genetics researcher Bryan Sykes and colleagues published the identity of 30 hair samples said to have been shed by “anomalous primates”, including hairs believed to belong to Bigfoot. The team didn’t find any evidence of elusive apes.  Genetic analysis of 18 “Sasquatch” samples – collected from locations from Texas to Washington – turned out to be from much more familiar beasts. The “Bigfoot” hairs, Sykes and coauthors concluded, came from raccoons, sheep, black bears, porcupine, horses, canids, deer, and cows. [Sasquatch isn't real, but the creature's pop-culture cred is good for selling jerky.] Bigfoot isn’t the only legendary ape around, of course. Sykes and colleagues also tested hair samples purported to be from the original mythical hominoid, the Yeti of the Himalayas, as well as the lesser-known Almasty of Russia and Orang Pendek of Sumatra. There was no inexplicable “cryptid” evidence in any of the samples. The Orang Pendek hair came from a tapir, while the Almasty fur originated with bears, horses, cows, and raccoons. But the researchers did find something unexpected. One of the Yeti hairs once grew on a goat-like ungulate called a serow, in line with a previous study, but two of the samples best matched genetic sequences from a polar bear that lived in the Himalayas over 40,000 years ago. This could be a sign that there is an unrecognized species of bear in the Himalayas, of recent polar bears in the area that have a darker hair color to make them look like brown bears, or of hybrids between polar bears and brown bears, Sykes and coauthors suggest. Then again, the mitochondrial genes the researchers zeroed in on weren’t informative enough to distinguish between dogs, coyotes, and wolves in other sampled hairs, meaning that launching a hunt for a new bear species on the genetic evidence along would be a tad premature. Perhaps the odd bear hairs are simply from Himalayan brown bears that have undoubted contributed to the legend of the Yeti. As the Sykes paper and journal commentor Norman MacLeod both point out, the new study doesn’t absolutely disprove the existence of Bigfoot and company. But the paper does add to the crushing pile of non-evidence. With all the alleged sightings out across almost the whole of North America, you’d think there’d be so many populations of Bigfoot that you’d regularly find them raiding garbage in suburban neighborhoods or at least leaving behind some tangible sign of their existence in America’s woodlands. They haven’t. If Bigfoot lives anywhere, it’s in our imagination – a symbol of the wild, the unknown, and how our species is excellent at turning superstition into advertising. For more commentary on Bigfoot and other cryptids, check out my 2012 op-ed in Slate and this interview with KUER’s Radio West. References: MacLeod, N. 2014. Molecular analysis of “anomalous primate” hair samples. Proceedings of the Royal Society B. 20140843. Sykes, B., Mullis, R., Hagenmuller, C., Melton, T., Sartori, M. 2014. Genetic analysis of hair samples attributed to yeti, bigfoot, and other anomalous primates. Proceedings of the Royal Society B. 281: 20140161 Google+ Brian Switek Share on email More » There are 9 Comments. Add Yours. Norbrook July 17, 2014 Not surprising, really. It would be really impressive if there were a Bigfoot, and there would be mass excitement in the scientific community. However, with the decades of not having a body, skin, or bones found yet, the odds of there being one is slim to none. Jerrold Alpern July 17, 2014 Donald Prothero, on skepticblog, also has a recent post on this new study: http://www.skepticblog.org/2014/07/16/bigfoot-and-yeti-dna-results-are-in/#comments . Unfortunately, Bigfooters are devout followers of Hebrews 1:11, “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” Showing them the evidence of things seen is a harder task than that of Sisyphus. At least he reached the top of the hill once every day. David Bump July 17, 2014 Other things for which there is no evidence (or no more than, as with Bigfoot, anecdotes; blurry or suspicious photos and videos, prints, etc.): psychic powers, the exact actual affect of human activities on global climate conditions, UFOs, alien life of any sort, the possibility of a living thing forming under any conditions other than reproduction or engineering (and we have to cheat and borrow from living things for the latter), the course of evolution from stromatolite-forming bacteria to all the major phyla. Any of you people laughing at the Bigfoot believers clinging to belief in any of those? Jerrold Alpern July 17, 2014 David, There is overwhelming evidence from many, many sources and lines of inquiry for both anthropogenic global warming and evolution. Scientists do not “believe” in these, they accept the evidence for them. There is no such evidence for Bigfoot. And scientists do not laugh at Bigfoot believers, they simply demand evidence, which has never been forthcoming. “That which can be asserted without evidence can be dismissed without evidence.” – Christopher Hitchens. David Bump July 17, 2014 Well, there’s evidence for Bigfoot in the form of all those people who claim to have seen it, there are all those footprints, there are the blurry photos and videos. Tell me just how much difference there is in believing in something and “accepting the evidence” when the evidence you accept sums up to vague handwaving. The skeptics of AGW (and isn’t the favored phrase now “climate change”?) and evolution simply ask for real evidence — not just that there’s been a warming, but that a significant amount of it is due to human activity. For all I know, it may be, but whenever the controversy comes up there’s more heat than light coming from the proponents, so I have my doubts. As for evolution, the ethos of science since about the beginning of the 19th century has demanded that some form of gradual evolution of life took place, as the only plausible “scientific explanation,” so ALL of the evidence has been interpreted as “for” it, and any permanent lack of evidence was reasoned away in advance by Charles Darwin and all who’ve followed his footsteps. Name one other field of science with that legacy. Jerrold Alpern July 17, 2014 Sorry, David, your “evidence” for Bigfoot is nothing but anecdotes and faked videos. Your criticism of the evidence for evolution and AGW is meaningless without specifics. Describing scientific evidence you don’t like as “vague handwaving” is not an argument. Neither is a meaningless criticism of Darwin and 150 years of scientific confirmation of his theory. The onus is on you to disprove evolution and AGW, not on anyone else to disprove you. David Bump July 17, 2014 We can’t even get anecdotal evidence of the history of evolution, it’s all assumed from imaginary lines of faith connecting fossils or similarities in DNA, and there have been hoaxes and gross errors that were used to support belief in it. As to the handwaving, I was just pointing out that you didn’t offer any specific examples; and in fact, every time I get specific examples from evolutionists, they don’t actually show that organisms could evolve beyond some minor adaptations such as getting bigger or smaller, changing colors or color patterns, or other minor variations which could never produce dynamically complex new parts, no matter how extreme or how many were combined. The theory has been accepted for 150 years, but please cite what ever actually confirmed that organisms could change much more than has been produced by directed breeding programs. Why should I have to disprove evolution when it’s never been proved? That salt is sodium and chlorine has been proved, that lightning is electricity has been proved, that a machine can carry humans in the air under control has been proved, but nobody has ever confirmed or proved that a microbe could be the ancestor of mankind. Jerrold Alpern July 18, 2014 “Climate Change: Evidence and Causes”, https://royalsociety.org/~/media/Royal_Society_Content/policy/projects/climate-evidence-causes/climate-change-evidence-causes.pdf , is a joint publication of the National Academy of Sciences and the Royal Society, the foremost scientific organizations in the U.S. and the U.K., respectively. It contains 20 Q&A’s documenting AGW. “15 Evolutionary Gems” is a paper from Nature, one of the two foremost scientific publications in the world. It contains 15 empirically validated examples of evolution by natural selection. If you disagree with the specifics of either of these publications, please submit a detailed, point by point refutation, supported by evidence-based research published in peer-reviewed journals. If you will not, or cannot, do this, do not bother with any further postings on this thread. False allegations that science is based on imagination and faith are irrelevant here. You must respond with scientific evidence to the current scientific research in these matters. I repeat, the burden is on you to disprove the science, not on scientists to disprove your claims. Jerrold Alpern July 18, 2014 Sorry. I forgot to include the Nature reference: http://www.nature.com/nature/newspdf/evolutiongems.pdf . Add Your Comments All fields required. YOUR NAME YOUR EMAIL YOUR COMMENTS NOTIFY ME OF FOLLOW-UP COMMENTS BY EMAIL. NOTIFY ME OF NEW POSTS BY EMAIL. RELATED POSTS LAELAPS: 2 days ago Baby Mammoths Yield Hi-Res Details for Paleontologists There’s only one fossil that ever made me cry. Lyuba, a one month old woolly ... Read more1 LAELAPS: 3 days ago Feathery Fossil Gives Flying Dinosaurs a Size Boost Early last week, in the pages of PNAS, paleontologist Dan Ksepka unveiled one of the ... Read more2 LAELAPS: July 2, 2014 The Urvogel’s Old, New Clothes On May 5th, 1877, the German paleontologist Karl Zittel first laid eyes on one of ... Read more3 LAELAPS: June 30, 2014 The Dining Habits of a Jurassic Sea Dragon When I was a fossil-crazed tyke, I used to spend hours flipping through a set ... Read more4 LAELAPS: June 27, 2014 Tracing the Roots of Beautiful Bird Hues Baby flamingos are fluffy and adorably awkward. But they’re not pink. The fuzzy infants start ... Read more4 LAELAPS: June 21, 2014 Europasaurus and a Jurassic Mystery Sauropods had a bad habit of losing their heads after death. Despite the relatively stout ... Read more6 MORE RELATED POSTS » ABOUT LAELAPS Brian Switek is a freelance science writer and author of the critically acclaimed books Written in Stone (2010) and My Beloved Brontosaurus (2013). He has published in Slate, Nature, the Wall Street Journal, Smithsonian, Scientific American, and more. Laelaps is his writing laboratory, dedicated to sifting through today's natural history and remnants of the deep past for tales of evolution, extinction, and survival. http://brianswitek.com e-mail: evogeek [at] gmail [dot] com FOLLOW ME ON TWITTER RECENT MISSIVES Baby Mammoths Yield Hi-Res Details for Paleontologists Feathery Fossil Gives Flying Dinosaurs a Size Boost “Bigfoot” Unmasked The Urvogel’s Old, New Clothes The Dining Habits of a Jurassic Sea Dragon SEARCH THE ARCHIVES SEARCH FOR: POSTING RULES Opinions expressed in blogs are those of the blogger and/or the blogger's organization, and not necessarily those of the National Geographic Society. 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Birds -twitter to us

A new software can automatically identity call of vast numbers of birds. This helps towards cracking of dawn chorus closer. Used by recording s of different birds of dawn chorus to identify of each tweet. Links software can decode bird song-bbc science.