SCIENCE: THE TINY FROG WITH A LETHAL SECRET

They may not look like much but these tiny frogs could make you, quite literally, croak.

Phantasmal poison frogs are one of the most dangerous amphibians on the planet with skin that is 200 times more toxic than the painkiller morphine.

The frogs, which can kill anybody who merely touches them, are found on the western slopes of the Andes in Ecuador, South America.

But Blue Reef Aquarium in Portsmouth, Hampshire is celebrating a successful breeding program that has seen 26 of the endangered creatures being born.

When they reach adulthood, the frogs measure just 1cm and turn bright red in colour with three green fluorescent stripes on their back.

Aquarium spokeswoman Jenna MacFarlane said: "These beautiful frogs are under increasing threat in the wild due to loss of habitat and pollution and we are delighted to have been able to breed them successfully here.

"It's imperative we are able to mimic exactly their wild environment in order for the species to thrive in captivity and it's a real achievement they are breeding so successfully.

"They've passed the critical stage of development from tadpoles into froglets and they now look like perfect miniature replicas of their parents".

According to the World Conservation Union the phantasmal poison frog faces a very high risk of extinction in the wild.

The species is now thought to survive in only seven sites on mountains in parts of Ecuador.

Ms McFarlane added: "Despite their deadly status, it is hoped that the phantasmal poison frog could one day help save lives.

"Scientists have discovered that an extract from the skin of the phantasmal poison frog Epipedrobates tricolor can block pain 200 times more effectively than morphine, and without addiction and other serious side effects".

JOKE: Bubba the Archaeologist

After having dug to a depth of 10 yards last year, New York scientists found traces of copper wire dating back 100 years and came to the conclusion that their ancestors already had a telephone network more than 100 years ago.

Not to be outdone by the New Yorkers, in the weeks that followed, California scientists dug to a depth of 20 yards, and shortly after, headlines in the LA Times newspaper read: 'California archaeologists have found traces of 200 year old copper wire and have concluded that their ancestors already had an advanced high-tech communications network a hundred years earlier than the New Yorkers.

One week later, The "Newport Daily Independent", a local newspaper in Arkansas reported the following: After digging as deep as 30 yards in cotton fields near Jacksonport in Jackson County, Bubba Johnson, a self-taught archaeologist, reported that he found absolutely nothing. Bubba has therefore concluded that 300 years ago, Arkansas had already gone wireless.

KUNG FU BEAR 2

Wedding dress revenge: divorced man finds 101 uses for wife's gown

Kevin Cotter was crushed when his high school sweetheart walked out after 12 years of marriage. When she moved out of their home in Tuscon, Arizona, she took all of her possessions except for her lace- and pearl-embellished white wedding dress. She told her soon-to-be ex-husband that he could do with it what he liked.

Mr Cotter decided to write a blog chronicling the 101 uses for the rejected dress.

So far, he has listed 23 uses, from a yoga mat to a pasta strainer, on "My Ex-Wife's Wedding Dress".

He has used the dress as an ice pack, a skipping rope and even a sports banner.

Mr Cotter aims to reach 101 uses and possibly publish a book about his experience in trying to find uses for a garment that usually only gets one outing.

He admitted he was distraught when his wife announced that she was leaving him last July.

"She had all of her stuff loaded and I couldn't help but notice because this bridal keepsake box was dead centre on the main shelf in the walk-in closet," he said.

"She said 'I'm not taking it,' and when I asked what I should do with it her reply was do whatever I wanted."

With the help of friends, he set up the blog. He confessed that his wife, who he has not named, was not happy to find out about what he was doing and asked him to stop.

But Mr Cotter has refused and has attracted hundreds of thousands of hits - and suggestions for new uses for the dress from his fans. One suggested that the dress be used to plug the hole in the leaking well in the Gulf of Mexico. Mr Cotter said he was "not sure how we will shoot this one" - each suggestion features a video showing the dress in action - but said he "really liked the idea".

The ex-wife told ABC news that, while she initially left the dress behind, she later requested that it be kept for her 9-year-old daughter.

She told ABC in an email: "I wish all the best to Kevin and hope he seeks counselling to deal with his anger and resentment.

"His determination, along with his family's support, to continue with this endeavor after his children and I have asked him to stop is incomprehensible."

The couple share custody of their two young children.

Mr Cotter said devising ways of using the wedding dress has helped him cope with the trauma of the break-up.

"This project is a therapy of sorts for me," he explains.

"Nothing about divorce is pleasant or easy and I will share some of my experiences and at the same time lighten them up with some creative uses for this dress I was stuck with."

Best uses for my ex-wife's wedding dress

Yoga mat

Painter's cover sheet

Ice pack

Skipping rope

Camera lens cleaner

Fire escape rope

Gym towel

Barbecue cover

Dog bed

Christmas tree skirt

http://myexwifesweddingdress.com/

JOKE: Blond Buffy Went to Texas

Prior to her trip to Texas , Buffy (a blonde New Yorker),
Confided to her co-workers she had three goals for her trip to the Lone Star State -

1. She wanted to taste some real Texas Bar-B-Que.
2. She wanted to take in a bona fide rodeo. And..
3. She wanted to have sex with a real cowboy .

Upon returning, the girls were curious as to how she fared.

'Let me tell you, they have a tree down there called a Mesquite and when they slow cook that brisket over that Mesquite , it's ooooh so good. The taste is unbelievable!'

'And I went to a real rodeo. Talk about athletes... Those guys wrestle full grown bulls! They ride horses at a full gallop, then jump off the horses and grab the bull by the horns and throw them to the ground! It is just incredible!'

They then asked, 'Well tell us , did you have sex with a real cowboy?'

'Are you kidding? When I saw the outline of the condom they carry in the back pocket of their jeans, I changed my mind!'

Elderly hoarders were trapped for weeks in mound of debris

City building inspector Lauren Mosley photographs the kitchen at a home in the 1500 block of East 69th Street where an elderly couple were found buried under mounds of trash.

An elderly couple who authorities described as hoarders were found buried alive under mounds of trash in their South Side two-flat Monday night and may have been there for as long as three weeks, authorities said this morning.

"It (the residence) was packed from floor to ceiling," said Police Lt. Dale Kingsley.

Police conducting a well-being check at the request of a neighbor about 6:30 p.m. in the 1500 block of East 69th Street in the Grand Crossing neighborhood detected an overpowering odor and called the Fire Department to make a forced entry, police said.

A fire official on the scene said the 75-year-old woman had injuries that resembled rat bites. Both she and her 76-year-old husband were taken to Jackson Park Hospital in critical condition, but a nurse there said this morning their conditions were improved, although they still were in intensive care.

The stench was so overpowering that fire personnel had to don hazardous material suits to deal with the debris.

The couple had not been heard from in three weeks, said Fire Department spokesman Kevin MacGregor. The woman may have fallen through the debris first and become trapped. When her husband tried to come to her aid, he apparently became trapped as well.

The couple apparently were the only residents in the building.

"It just brought me to tears to see the condition they were found in," said next-door neighbor Reola Valentine, 59, who called 311 about 4 p.m. Monday to ask for the well-being check. She said she didn't know the couple but had not seen the man mowing his lawn for quite some time and saw that his gray truck parked outside was accumulating parking tickets.

Over the last few weeks, she said, various people came to their door and when their knocking went unanswered frequently came to her to ask if she knew anything.

Hattie Fields, 83, who lives next door on the other side, said someone she believed was a Census worker was looking for them Monday and came to her to inquire where they were when she couldn't get in. The worker had also noticed that the mail outside the couple's home had accumulated, Fields said.

She said someone called 911 afterwards and firefighters arrived at the couple's residence. The couple was carried by firefighters out the back.

Fields, who has lived in her home since 1965, said the couple had lived in their residence, a two-story apartment building, for more than 15 years. But she said it has been a number of years since she has spoken with them.

"They didn't communicate with anybody," Fields said.

Fields said as far as she knows, the victims are the only people living in the building as of Monday. Other people had lived there within the last five years, though, she said.

"I thought it was an abandoned building actually," said another neighbor, Cleopatra Ingram, who said she has lived in the neighborhood for a year. "Someone should have checked on them. You'd walk past and there was no one there at all."

DINNER WASN'T READY SO HE SET THE HOUSE ON FIRE

SISSONVILLE, W.Va. -- A Sissonville area man was in jail today after allegedly setting fire to his house because his wife didn't have dinner ready.

Guy Edward Jones, 60, of Derrick's Creek Road near Sissonville, allegedly came home after a night of drinking late Sunday and got mad because his wife, Beverly Jones, didn't have dinner on the table, said Lt. Sean Crosier of the Kanawha County Sheriff's Department.

Crosier said the couple got into a fight and Mrs. Jones ran to a neighbor's house. Crosier said she turned around to see flames coming out of the basement and her husband coming out of the basement door.

Guy Jones was arrested and charged with first-degree arson. He was in the South Central Regional Jail this morning in lieu of $50,000 bond.

Cat still stuck on top of power pole in Colorado after 3 days

CENTENNIAL, Colo. - It's been nearly three full days since a frightened cat was spotted balancing on top of a power pole in a Centennial neighborhood, and the cat was still there Tuesday. People who live there were calling anyone they could think of to ask them t get the cat down from the pole.

High winds may have taken down trees and damaged roofs Monday, but they were no match for Moses the cat. Moses was still on his perch on top of the power pole.

Moses was first spotted atop a 20-30 foot pole Saturday. Neighbors know his name is 'Moses' because his collar was found on the ground.

"He's not going to make it much longer. His head is drooping," said Kate Bejcek, a concerned neighbor.

Cradling her own cat, Bejcek vowed to go up the pole herself and retrieve Moses.

"It can get down, it just won't," said Shannon Merrill, whose house in the 6900 block of South Spruce Dr. West is directly below the pole.

After the fire department and local energy company initially refused to get involved, she turned to PETA, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, for help. So far, there don't appear to be any plans to rescue the cat.

Randy Merrill says Xcel would have to turn the power off and coordinate the effort for someone to go up and get the cat down. He said that so far the energy company has refused. He also said the fire department told them they don't do these kinds of animal rescues because of the risk involved.

The belief is that eventually the cat will come down from the pole. Merrill said he believes it is scared of something that chased it up the pole, since they found his collar on the ground.

Animal control officers came by Sunday and placed a ladder up against the pole, wrapped in blankets with a can of tuna on top. They also sprayed Moses with a water hose.

None of it worked.

"The cat was obviously thirsty and drinking the water, but he wouldn't come down," said Merrill.

Moses hasn't been de-clawed, so everyone is hoping he'll eventually climb down own his own.

Rare 'alligator snapping turtle' caught in Chinese lake

The species is only native to North America and was probably someone's pet before being dumped in the lake, the local fishing department said.
The man discovered the alligator snapping turtle, which is not native to the country, in Weishan Lake, in southern China's Anhui province.
The species is only native to North America and was probably someone's pet before being dumped in the lake, the local fishing department said.
The creature's alien status meant that it could have posed a danger to the local ecological system, they added.
Fisherman Sun Yongcheng said he was surprised when he netted the alligator turtle, which measures 76cm long and 30cm wide and weighs 7kg.
He said: "I suddenly noticed a black thing was hooked on the net, which scared me. It was struggling and biting the net when I pulled it up".
The spokesman for the Jining Fishing Bureau said this was the first time an alligator snapping turtle had been found in the local water system.
He said: "Somebody may have dumped their pet into the lake, which could greatly endanger the local ecosystem.