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If you’re interested in eye-popping, attention-grabbing animals, look no further than hybrids. While hybrid animals like this wolf-dog are a fascinating cross of two separate species, they also reveal a host of ethical problems. < . . . > To create this “bear-dog” hybrid—who didn’t actually have any bear DNA—Russian breeders allegedly used a Chow Chow and some other sort of long-nosed stray. As animal shelter volunteer Polina Kefer put it, “This dog is a ‘badly-made’ Chow Chow.” While the four-year-old pooch might’ve looked cool to some, mentally, he was a mess. < . . . > Unfortunately, all of...

Greedy killer monkeys were found to be catching and gobbling up large rats in Malaysia. Shocked scientists uncovered the rat-catching macaques on palm oil plantations – and say the hungry predators could be used as pest control. The southern pig-tailed macaques were typically thought to chow down on fruit. They would also hunt for meaty prey sometimes, but generally only small lizards and birds. Now scientists have confirmed that these monkeys are also regularly snatching and devouring large rats.

Oct. 17 (UPI) -- A surprised customer at an Australian restaurant recorded video of a pelican casually wandering into the eatery and patiently getting in line. Jack Simpson captured video at the Cargo's Wharf Restaurant in Kiama, New South Wales, when a pelican walked in through the door and joined the crowd in line. The pelican got out of line after a few moments and wandered around the shop, with a crowd of onlookers following. The bird was eventually escorted out of the eatery without incident. VIDEO AT LINK...................

Thailand's 67-year-old King Maha Vajiralongkorn has stripped his 34-year-old consort of all titles, less than three months after she was bestowed with the position in a bizarre kneeling ceremony. Former army nurse Sineenat Wongvajirapakdi was dismissed from the rank of 'Chao Khun Phra' for 'disloyalty to the king,' the Royal Gazette said, as well as 'acting against the appointment of the Queen for her own ambitions.' She was appointed the king's official consort after they met when she was part of his royal bodyguard - less than a year after he married the Queen of Thailand.

Donald Trump is known to many opponents as the troll in the Oval Office, but the woman he beat for the most powerful seat in the world seems to have learned something from his willingness to tweet provocative pictures and memes. On Sunday afternoon, Hillary Clinton tweeted a mocked-up letter from John F Kennedy to Nikita Khrushchev that was meant squarely to mock a real letter from Trump to Recep Tayyip Erdoğan which was revealed to the public this week. “Found in the archives,” Clinton wrote, over an image of what purported to be a letter from the US president...

This guy normally does Bigfoot stuff so this is a departure for him. Listen to all three accounts and then ask yourself, "Should the last guy solve the problem the way the first guy did?" https://youtu.be/_pHNZSxAPbg

Researchers at UC Santa Cruz have developed ultrasensitive nanoscale optical probes to monitor the bioelectric activity of neurons and other excitable cells. This novel readout technology could enable scientists to study how neural circuits function at an unprecedented scale by monitoring large numbers of individual neurons simultaneously. It could also lead to high-bandwidth brain-machine interfaces with dramatically enhanced precision and functionality. Monitoring the electrical activity of neurons is conventionally done using microelectrode arrays, but these are difficult to implement at a large scale and offer limited spatial resolution. In addition, the electronic wiring required for readout is a major limitation...

Known as Quantum Stealth, the new invisibility cloak takes the form of a thin, inexpensive material that makes objects vanish from sight even though the background is still visible. The brainchild of Canadian camouflage design company Hyperstealth Biotechnology, the new material can conceal the presence of entire vehicles and could prove invaluable on the battlefield. It even works for non-visible wavelengths from mid- and near-ultraviolet to the infrared.

A homeless woman has been found living in a van alongside 320 rats that burrowed their way into its seats in San Diego. Authorities found that the rats had clawed into upholstery, burrowed into the seats and gnawed the engine wiring, the San Diego Union-Tribune reported. After receiving several complaints about the rats, the Humane Society stepped in and offered to help rehouse the rodents. The woman, known only as Carla, started with just two rats. But the rodents give birth every four weeks and produce a dozen in a litter so multiply in no time.

A video of a "Drag Queen Story Hour" in Washington state has gone viral on social media. The video is of a drag queen stripper, and although it reportedly occurred over the summer at the King County Public Library in Renton, it was only recently posted to Twitter. One Blogger reported the June 2019 event was advertised as being for "teens and tweens." To date, the video has received nearly 2 million views and many people who posted comments about it asked, "What does this have to do with reading?" Some pro-family groups and "Activist Mommy" Elizabeth Johnston have criticized...

In the early 20th century, sailors near Alaska reported seeing black bubbles seeming to boil out from the sea, each one the size of the dome of the capitol building in Washington, D.C. They weren't the only sailors who reported the bizarre phenomenon, and they weren't mistaken, except for one thing … the bubbles were much larger. When the mostly underwater Bogoslof volcano in the Aleutian Islands erupts, it produces giant bubbles that can reach up to 1,444 feet (440 meters) across, according to a new study. These bubbles are filled with volcanic gas, so when they burst they create...

The Landlady's Tale By SWORDMAKER copyright 2000 Preface The following story was told to me by the woman who rented my parents their first home in California when they moved to Sacramento in 1939. A devout Catholic (so much so that although she had been divorced by her husband, she did not consider the divorce valid and did not remarry until her husband died many years later) the landlady swore on her Bible, in front of my sister and me after she told us the story, that it was absolutely true. She was quite serious about it. In the 1970s,...

**SNIP** David Henry Hwang and Jeanine Tesori’s perplexing new musical “Soft Power” attempts to do three things at once: tell the real story of a 2015 stabbing attack on Hwang; do a “The King and I”-like turn that both romanticizes and criticizes a stereotypical America; and opine on the 2016 presidential election. There is an intermission, and the Public Theater has two bars. Start a tab. **SNIP** The first act of the dreamy show-within-a-show sees Clinton begging for votes, attempting to dazzle citizens and desperately trying to relate. That’s when she has that big production number at that ritziest of...

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un was shown riding a white horse in the snow on a sacred mountain, in several photographs released by state media Wednesday that experts said could presage a major announcement. “His horseback march in Mount Paektu is a great event of weighty importance in the history of the Korean revolution,” the Korean Central News Agency reported. “All the officials who accompanied him to the top of the mountain felt overflowing emotion and joy and [were] convinced that there will be a great operation to strike the world with wonder again and advance the Korean revolution...

Jeannie Rice is faster at 71 than she was at 70. In October 2018, she stunned the running community when she broke 3:30 for a marathon, running 3:27:50 in Chicago. On September 29, almost one year later, she broke her own 70–74 world record in Berlin, running 3:24:48. She averaged 7:49 per mile. Rice, who splits her time between Mentor, Ohio, and Naples, Florida, ran even splits most of the race. All her 5Ks were in the 23-minute range, until the 35-kilometer mark (about 21.7 miles). Then she slowed to a 26:34. “I faded the last 5K, but I knew...

Police arrested a man last week after he allegedly drove a stolen construction excavator into a light pole and caused extensive damage while driving through two gas stations just off Interstate 5 in Redding. Remore Allen Smith, 37, of North Carolina faces charges of vehicle theft, resisting arrest and hit-and-run after authorities say he stole the heavy machinery from an I-5 on-ramp at about 3:15 a.m. Friday. Smith allegedly drove the excavator several hundred feet on Churn Creek Road, striking a light pole and traveling through a Chevron gas station and then an Arco AM/PM station, the Redding Police Department...

CHULA VISTA, CA — A 41-year-old man was jailed Tuesday on suspicion of chasing two teenage bicyclists onto a Chula Vista golf course, striking one of the boys with his car and then punching the teen several times after the two boys apparently threw food at his car. It happened around 5:45 p.m. Monday at the East Lake Country Club, south of Otay Lakes Road and east of Eastlake Parkway, according to Chula Vista police. The two boys, 14 and 15 years old, threw food at the suspect's Mercedes-Benz sedan on Fenton Street near Lane Avenue, then the driver chased...

ANDERSON, Calif. — On Monday, the Anderson Police Department's (APD) Problem Oriented Policing Unit arrested 10 people after conducting an undercover enforcement operation at the Anderson Walmart to target retail theft and criminal activity. During the operation, 10 total arrests were made for theft, possession of stolen property, fraud, drug paraphernalia possession, illegal narcotic possession, and active warrants. The following is a summary of the arrests made by APD's Problem Oriented Policing Unit: Paige Poor, 27 of Oroville, was seen stealing pants from inside the store. Poor was found to be on searchable probation and in possession of stolen property...

After years of snafus and miscues, a revamped Portland Marathon and its concurrent half marathon—under new management and with a new route through downtown—went off on Sunday and garnered largely positive reviews. But for about 15 to 20 of the race’s fastest runners—organizers don’t yet have an exact number who were affected—this edition of the 48-year-old race was another exercise in frustration. By mile 9, the eventual race winner, Kallin Khan, had already opened up a sizable lead. With a motorcycle guiding him, he was out of sight of the trailing pack. Runners were supposed to bear right from the...

Debra Oliver said: "Funny that – he was buried at sea too" A shocked woman made a bombshell discovery when she found a seashell that looks just like terrorist leader Osama bin Laden. Debra Oliver, 60, found the distinctive-looking shell bearing a striking resemblance to the al-Qaida boss on Winchelsea Beach, East Sussex. She was "drawn to the curious-looking" find as she went for a walk while celebrating her 42nd wedding anniversary with hubby Martin, 62. Legal secretary Debra realised it bore an uncanny resemblance to the September 11 mastermind. She remarked: "Funny that – he was buried at sea...