Submitted by Rick Hamell: Alligators have clashed with nonnative pythons before in Everglades National Park. But when a 6-foot gator tangled with a 13-foot python recently, the result wasn't pretty. The snake apparently tried to swallow the gator whole and then exploded. Scientists stumbled upon the gory remains last week. The species have battled with increasing frequency scientists have documented four encounters in the last three years. The encroachment of Burmese pythons into the Everglades could threaten an $8 billion restoration project and endanger smaller species, said Frank Mazzotti, a University of Florida wildlifeprofessor.The gators have had to share their territory with a python population that has swelled over the past 20 years after owners dropped off pythons they no longer wanted in the Everglades.
The Asian snakes have thrived in the wet, hot climate. "Encounters like that are almost never seen in the wild. … And we here are, it's happened for the fourth time," Mazzotti said. In the other cases, the alligator won or the battle was an apparent draw. "They were probably evenly matched in size," Mazzotti said of the latest battle. "If the python got a good grip on the alligator before the alligator got a good grip on him, he could win." While the gator may have been injured before the battle began wounds were found onit that apparently were not caused by python bites Mazzotti believes it was alive when the battle began. And it may have clawed at the python's stomach as the snake tried to digest it, leading to the blow up. The python was found with the gator's hindquarters protruding from its midsection. Its stomach still surrounded the alligator's head, shoulders, and forelimbs. The remains were discovered and photographed Sept. 26 by helicopter pilot and wildlife researcher Michael Barron.
Geoff Flood discovered the rolled up note inside a bottle washed up on a beach in New Zealand.The note was dated March 17th, 1936 and said - "At sea. Would the finder of this bottle kindly forward this note, where found, date, to undermentioned address." The message has been written on paper with the ship"s name, SS Strathnaver, in the header. The bottled note, it seems, had been adrift in the ocean for 76 years.Mr Flood waseventually able to track down the sender, a man named Herbert Ernest Hillbrick.
While Mr. Hillbrick had died some years ago, his grandson Peter Hillbrick was still alive. "For this one to be floating around in the ocean for 76 years and just all of a sudden pop up in New Zealand. Where has it been? What story is it going to tell?" he said upon hearing of his grandfather"s note. "The only connection I have with Grandfather is now that bottle. That"s about all. So, it"s a fascinatingstory." A message in a bottle found 76 years after it was thrown into the sea has been reunited with the family of the man who wrote it.
The US government has responded to a tongue-in-cheek petition asking them to build a Death Star.The petition was started on November 14th and received 34,400 signatures in favour of having the US devote trillions of dollars to the construction of a Star Wars inspired space station capable of destroying planets. The humorous request ended up receiving a formal response because it met the minimum 25,000 signature requirement."Theconstruction of the Death Star has been estimated to cost more than $850,000,000,000,000,000," said White House science and space chief Paul Shawcross.
"We"re working hard to reduce the deficit, not expand it." In a concluding statement and in further reference to Star Wars he added - "Why would we spend countless taxpayer dollars on a Death Star with a fundamental flaw that can be exploited by a one-man starship ?" The US government has rejected a petition urging it to builda "Death Star", claiming it was too expensive, conceptually flawed and did not fit in with the policy of not blowing up planets.
A video of the famous "Man of Steel" swooping over the Californian coastline has recently gone viral.The bizarre sight was filmed courtesy of student Kyle Gough who had been out for a bike ride when he came across a remote-controlled aircraft enthusiast piloting a life-size replica of Superman through the skies over Carlsbad, southern California. Having persuadedthe man to launch his unique flying machine for another spin, Kyle succeeded in filming the flight on camera.The resulting footage became a huge hit when posted on-line, generating more than 300,000 views.
"The only reason I did the video was to show my dad," said Kyle. "He’s a big Superman fan." A popular online video captures a lifesized remote control Superman soaring through the sky over the Californiancoast.
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Submitted by Rick Hamell: Alligators have clashed with nonnative pythons before in Everglades National Park. But when a 6-foot gator tangled with a 13-foot python recently, the result wasn't pretty. The snake apparently tried to swallow the gator whole and then exploded. Scientists stumbled upon the gory remains last week. The species have battled with increasing frequency scientists have documented four encounters in the last three years. The encroachment of Burmese pythons into the Everglades could threaten an $8 billion restoration project and endanger smaller species, said Frank Mazzotti, a University of Florida wildlifeprofessor.The gators have had to share their territory with a python population that has swelled over the past 20 years after owners dropped off pythons they no longer wanted in the Everglades. 
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