Penguins Perish in Freak Texas Truck Accident
A truck carrying zoo animals to a new home overturned on a Texas highway. Four penguins died as well as some exotic fish. The octopus got away unharmed. The person who emailed me this (they didn't give a name) writes :
"The story itself isn't all that interesting, but the headline is a classic. Possible sequel to Hippo Eats Dwarf?"
Beware of Eyeball-Sucking Red Lamprey
A prankster in northern Wisconsin has been placing hoax signs around lakes. The signs are decorated with the logo of the Department of Natural Resources and claim that a) a bounty is being paid for crayfish if you deliver them to a DNR office; and b) There's an invasion of red lamprey who like to attach themselves to the optic nerve of swimmers. I assume that red lamprey do not attach themselves to eyeballs. But do they attach themselves to any part of the body? Big Gary's knowledge is needed here.
Chinese Create Robot Secretary
Chinese researchers have created an attractive robot secretary. She can greet visitors, act as a tour guide, and is equipped with advanced voice and movement control. Her name is Rong Cheng. This reminds me of that John Hughes movie
Weird Science. (Thanks, Kathy)
Zaky Infant Pillow
Now you can fool your baby into thinking that you're there holding it as it falls asleep, while you're really out in a bar getting drunk.
"The Zaky is an ergonomic infant pillow designed by a mom to mimic the size, weight, touch, and feel of her hand and forearm to help her baby with comfort, support, protection, and development." Kids raised on this thing will be natural customers, later in life, for the
Boyfriend Arm Pillow. (via
Must Have Gizmos)
Comments
P.S. Are you including The Global Consciousness Project in your new book? Its very interesting.
http://noosphere.princeton.edu/index.html
(i would have mailed this, but ive not got time)
The whole classic headline reads, "4 penguins perish in freak Texas truck accident.
Octopus unhurt, exotic fish not as lucky".
I've never heard of a "red lamprey." A Google search on this term only turns up the story about the hoax signs in Wisconsin. If there is a species called red lamprey, it is probably more widely known by other names.
Lampreys, together with their relatives the hagfishes, are among the most primitive of vertebrates. They have no heads and no jaws; just cylindrical mouths filled with many rows of nasty-looking pointed teeth, which they use to clamp onto their victims (usually larger fish) and suck their blood. There are various species of lampreys, ranging from the size of small worms to a yard long or more. They seem to be especially common in the Great Lakes region (which would include Wisconsin). Some people, who are remarkably unsqueamish, actually fish for lampreys and cook and eat them. It is said that if you put some lampreys in a bucket (another experiment I don't plan to try), it will rapidly fill up with the slime they exude. In other words, they are among the most disgusting creatures alive, even without eating eyeballs.
Rong Cheng would be much more appealing with human-colored skin.
The email address said intern@......
Monica must have been using my computer again.