Friday, February 29, 2008
Thursday, February 28, 2008
Thursday, February 21, 2008
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
He may be two-faced, but this little kitten is still purr-fect
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Cats are known for having nine lives, but a feline born with two faces is practically unheard of.
So you can imagine the shock on Renee Cook's face when her three-year-old cat Amber produced this cute little critter - who was born with two faces.
Miss Cook, of Amarillo in Texas, said she arrived home from work to find her three-year-old Persian and Calico mix had delivered a litter and was shocked when she discovered the two-faced kitten.
The special needs children's nurse said: "I picked it up and said, 'Oh my goodness, two faces'," she told the Amarillo Globe-News.
"I thought it was dead at first because it was cold. But then it started to wiggle and it kept wiggling and wiggling.
"He has a strong heartbeat and was kind of feisty. So now I'm thinking that it's going to live."
The kitten has two mouths, two noses and four eyes, but just two ears.
Ms Cook got some infant formula from a local hospital to feed the as-yet-unnamed kitten.
As the kitten has two mouths, it cannot nurse from its mother, leaving Ms Cook to fill in as surrogate."It can't nurse, but it will take formula," she said.
The kitten's unusual feature has also shocked the veterinary community which said births of this kind were very rare, and those that were born often didn't survive kitten-hood.
Veterinarian David Hodges said: "You don't see many adult cats like that, so the chances of a long-term survival are pretty slim."
However, two years ago, a cat with two heads was born in Arizona, America.Lil'Bit has not only beaten the odds by surviving but has gone on to live a healthy life.
Read More ...
So you can imagine the shock on Renee Cook's face when her three-year-old cat Amber produced this cute little critter - who was born with two faces.
Miss Cook, of Amarillo in Texas, said she arrived home from work to find her three-year-old Persian and Calico mix had delivered a litter and was shocked when she discovered the two-faced kitten.
The special needs children's nurse said: "I picked it up and said, 'Oh my goodness, two faces'," she told the Amarillo Globe-News.
"I thought it was dead at first because it was cold. But then it started to wiggle and it kept wiggling and wiggling.
"He has a strong heartbeat and was kind of feisty. So now I'm thinking that it's going to live."
The kitten has two mouths, two noses and four eyes, but just two ears.
Ms Cook got some infant formula from a local hospital to feed the as-yet-unnamed kitten.
As the kitten has two mouths, it cannot nurse from its mother, leaving Ms Cook to fill in as surrogate."It can't nurse, but it will take formula," she said.
The kitten's unusual feature has also shocked the veterinary community which said births of this kind were very rare, and those that were born often didn't survive kitten-hood.
Veterinarian David Hodges said: "You don't see many adult cats like that, so the chances of a long-term survival are pretty slim."
However, two years ago, a cat with two heads was born in Arizona, America.Lil'Bit has not only beaten the odds by surviving but has gone on to live a healthy life.
Battling for life, the baby born with its heart OUTSIDE its chest
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A newborn baby has survived delivery despite its heart being outside the chest cavity.
The infant's heart was born with its most vital organ exposed and is being treated in the intensive care unit of Shenzhen Children's Hospital in China's Guangdong Province.
The parents knew about the condition before the baby was born, but chose not to abort it.
The unusual and dangerous development was caused by a rare disease - less than five babies in one million are struck by it. The illness affects the child's chest and abdomen.
Less than 200 cases have been recorded and it is the first modern case in China.
Most babies die from the disease before birth.
Doctors are expected to operate to repair the malformation when the infant is strong enough.
In July 2004, Charli Southernwas born prematurely with a similar condition and survived two operations to repair her chest.
And in 2006, Naseem Hasni underwent surgery to put his heart inside his chest hours after being delivered by Caesarean section at Holtz Children's Hospital in Miami.
Read More ...
The infant's heart was born with its most vital organ exposed and is being treated in the intensive care unit of Shenzhen Children's Hospital in China's Guangdong Province.
The parents knew about the condition before the baby was born, but chose not to abort it.
The unusual and dangerous development was caused by a rare disease - less than five babies in one million are struck by it. The illness affects the child's chest and abdomen.
Less than 200 cases have been recorded and it is the first modern case in China.
Most babies die from the disease before birth.
Doctors are expected to operate to repair the malformation when the infant is strong enough.
In July 2004, Charli Southernwas born prematurely with a similar condition and survived two operations to repair her chest.
And in 2006, Naseem Hasni underwent surgery to put his heart inside his chest hours after being delivered by Caesarean section at Holtz Children's Hospital in Miami.
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
Spooky shrunken heads buried in the garden? No, they’re just seed pods, says expert
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No-one wants to make a grizzly discovery at the bottom of their garden, especially when it comes in the shape of four tiny shrunken heads.Luckily for Nasreem Khan these miniature skulls were harmless seed pods rather than human remains.
Miss Khan had been making the most of the unseasonal sunshine by doing a spot of gardening when she dug up the skull-like objects attached to a stalk.Not only did they bear and startling resemblance to human heads, they came complete with tiny teeth.She was so terrified by the unusual discovery that she ran straight to a neighbour's house."I was just doing a bit of tidying up when I came across this strange thing," said Nasreem."It is so bizarre I just can't get over it."
"I have to admit it spooked me a bit, I wasn't quite sure what I had come across but it was a little frightening."What I saw were four perfectly formed tiny skulls attached to a stalk."I rushed around to my neighbour's house saying I had found a skull plant. She didn't know what I was talking about until I showed her."The mystery has been solved by Dr Ian Rotherham, who directs the Tourism and Environmental Change Research Unit at Sheffield Hallam University.He said: "Bizarre as it appears it is nothing to worry about. What Nasreem found was a seed head and I think it could be Aquilegia."It is more commonly known as Columbine and is perfectly harmless."
Not only are the freaky little faces, which were unearthed in Sheffield, perfectly innocent, but the seed pod is apparently quite a common feature in the average garden."It's not a common plant in the wild but it is often found in domestic gardens," added Dr. Rotherham. "It does look a bit sinister, like shrunken heads."
Read More ...
Not only are the freaky little faces, which were unearthed in Sheffield, perfectly innocent, but the seed pod is apparently quite a common feature in the average garden."It's not a common plant in the wild but it is often found in domestic gardens," added Dr. Rotherham. "It does look a bit sinister, like shrunken heads."
Panic after 'Franken-fish' that is deadlier than a piranha is caught in Britain
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A savage fish deadlier than a piranha that has killed people has been caught on British shores for the first time.The giant snakehead - so called because of its long body and fearsome teeth - was caught by an angler in Lincolnshire.Dubbed the "gangster" of the fish world, it eats everything it comes across and has even been reported to kill people.
The monster, which is from south-east Asia, can also "crawl" on land and survive out of water for up to four days.It already has a fearsome predatory reputation in other parts of the world.In the U.S., the fish has been described as a "FrankenFish" and "like something out of a horror film".
Andy Alder, from Lincoln, caught a 2ft snakehead while using a sprat as bait for pike on the River Witham near North Hykeham.He said: "It had a gob full of razor-sharp teeth. To be honest it looked terrifying."Anglers and conservationists are panic-stricken after its discovery in Britain.
An Environment Agency source said: “The reaction was, 'Oh s***'. This is the ultimate invasive species — if it starts breeding here it's a disaster."Ben Weir, of the fishing magazine Angler's Mail, said: "In all my time of working within fishing I have never heard so many concerned voices.
"These guys are the real deal and have attacked humans whilst protecting their young.
"Everyone within the angling and fishery world have been left gobsmacked by its capture."
Experts have examined pictures of the fish and confirmed it was the predator.It is on a blacklist of species that cannot be imported into the UK.There are fears it could have been smuggled in for an aquarium and then illegally released.Catching the vicious fish is considered great sport in Asia.
One of the world's leading angling guides, Jean Francois-Helias of Angling Adventures Thailand, has put his customers onto brilliant snakehead captures.
He told Angler's Mail: "That fish is a juvenile giant snakehead, or channa micropeltes, the meanest of all snakehead species.
"That giant snakehead has no fear. It even attacks human beings when protecting its fry."
The same fish caused chaos when they made it into the U.S. in 2002.
Snipers were set up on river banks to shoot them and entire lakes were poisoned in a bid to wipe them out.
Adult snakeheads can grow to 3ft and weigh as much as 44lb.
Read More ...
The monster, which is from south-east Asia, can also "crawl" on land and survive out of water for up to four days.It already has a fearsome predatory reputation in other parts of the world.In the U.S., the fish has been described as a "FrankenFish" and "like something out of a horror film".
Andy Alder, from Lincoln, caught a 2ft snakehead while using a sprat as bait for pike on the River Witham near North Hykeham.He said: "It had a gob full of razor-sharp teeth. To be honest it looked terrifying."Anglers and conservationists are panic-stricken after its discovery in Britain.
An Environment Agency source said: “The reaction was, 'Oh s***'. This is the ultimate invasive species — if it starts breeding here it's a disaster."Ben Weir, of the fishing magazine Angler's Mail, said: "In all my time of working within fishing I have never heard so many concerned voices.
"These guys are the real deal and have attacked humans whilst protecting their young.
"Everyone within the angling and fishery world have been left gobsmacked by its capture."
Experts have examined pictures of the fish and confirmed it was the predator.It is on a blacklist of species that cannot be imported into the UK.There are fears it could have been smuggled in for an aquarium and then illegally released.Catching the vicious fish is considered great sport in Asia.
One of the world's leading angling guides, Jean Francois-Helias of Angling Adventures Thailand, has put his customers onto brilliant snakehead captures.
He told Angler's Mail: "That fish is a juvenile giant snakehead, or channa micropeltes, the meanest of all snakehead species.
"That giant snakehead has no fear. It even attacks human beings when protecting its fry."
The same fish caused chaos when they made it into the U.S. in 2002.
Snipers were set up on river banks to shoot them and entire lakes were poisoned in a bid to wipe them out.
Adult snakeheads can grow to 3ft and weigh as much as 44lb.
Monday, February 18, 2008
Friday, February 15, 2008
Fake for Real: Man in the Mirror
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Some days when we look in the mirror we like what we see, some days less so. Would it not be great to be able to tweak the image a bit? After all, it is our main manifestation to the outside world, right?Our beloved King of Pop, Michael Jackson, is living proof that manipulating your own looks can be a precarious game. At the height of his success, Jackson underwent pioneering plastic surgery to recreate his own face according to an ideal he had in mind. Sadly, after each operation, that ideal seemed to shift, necessitating new adjustments. People were shocked when a mug shot from his arrest was published in 2004: in it, Jackson arguably looked scarier than the zombie he had played in the 1983 hit video “Thriller”.
For the fans who wondered what Michael Jackson would have looked liked today without plastic surgery, forensic artist Stephen Mancusi created a series of virtual images of an aging Michael by applying basic aging trends to one of Michael’s childhood pictures.Maybe the image couple would be better like this?
It is impossible to say which is the real Michael when you have to chose between a physical appearance sculpted by plastic surgeons and a highly speculative computer generated image extrapolated from childhood photo’s. Both Michaels are virtual in their own way.Fortunately for all his fans, appearance is just an outer shell. Even if Jackson looks like Mickey Mouse ten years from now, inside, he’ll always be Michael and we will always love him.From our Fake for Real series
Fake for Real: Dressed for Faith
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Both men pictured have a strong fan base of believers and skeptics. Saint Nicholas, patron saint of children, visits various countries at the end of each year for a gift-giving tour. The Dutch Sinterklaas is the basis for the North American figure of Santa Claus, whose name is derived from the older Dutch Sinte Klaas. The Dutch colonial town of New Amsterdam maintained a Sinterklaas tradition long after the English occupied it and renamed it New York. This child-loving man is believed to live in Myra, in present day Turkey. The other man, Pope Benedict XVI, is known to live in Rome, Italy. He is the spiritual leader of the Roman Catholic Church and often considered to be Christ’s primary representative on Earth. In contrast to Santa Claus, who is popular mainly among children, the Pope has followers of all ages in many countries.
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