MEXICO -  An extremely rare cyclops shark was recently discovered.

The 22-inch-long fetus has a single, functioning eye at the front of its head—the hallmark of a congenital condition called cyclopia, which occurs in several animal species, including humans.

Earlier this year fisher Enrique Lucero León legally caught a pregnant dusky shark near Cerralvo Island (see map)in the Gulf of California. When León cut open his catch, he found the odd-looking male embryo along with its nine normal siblings. “He said, That’s incredible—wow,” said biologist Felipe Galván-Magaña, of the Interdisciplinary Center of Marine Sciences in La Paz, Mexico.

Once Galván-Magaña and colleague Marcela Bejarano-Álvarez heard about the discovery—which was put on Facebook—the team got León’s permission to borrow the shark for research. The scientists then x-rayed the fetus and reviewed previous research on cyclopia in other species to confirm that the find is indeed a cyclops shark.

Cyclops sharks have been documented by scientists a few times before, also as embryos, said Jim Gelsleichter, a shark biologist at the University of North Florida in Jacksonville. The fact that none have been caught outside the womb suggests cyclops sharks don’t survive long in the wild.

Overall, finding such an unusual animal reinforces that scientists still have a lot to learn, Gelsleichter added.

“It’s a humbling experience to realize you ain’t seen it all yet.”

Christine Dell’Amore
National Geographic

British TV chef Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall says eating puppy meat is no more morally objectionable than consuming pork.

The celebrity chef previously shocked viewers by eating placenta pate, curried fruit bat, giraffe and calf testicles and now claims that he would not be against a “high-welfare organic puppy farm.”

Fearnley-Whittingstall, the star of Channel 4′s “River Cottage,” was asked by British magazine Radio Times whether he would try loin of Labrador or cat liver.

“Not unless I was on the point of starvation,” he replied. “In principle, but not in practice, I have no objection to a high-welfare organic puppy farm.”

He added, “You can’t object, unless you also object to the farming of pigs. It’s an artificial construct of our society, a cultural decision, to make pets out of dogs and meat out of pigs. Both animals could be used the other way round, although pigs probably do make better meat than dogs and dogs better pets than pigs, but it’s not a foregone conclusion.”

Source: Sky News.

University of Wisconsin, Madison will be putting on Bat Boy: The Musical!

From November 18 and 19, and December 1-3 and 8-10

Plan on heading to Wisconsin end of November and start of December? If not, get yourself out there because the University of Wisconsin, Madison will be putting on Bat Boy: The Musical! This is a production that you certainly will not want to miss.

Purchase your tickets here!!!

For more information, check out University Theatre Madison’s page … Click Here!!!

Show your support for Bat Boy and University of Wisconsin – Madison!

MICHIGAN –  Sea lampreys do not like the smell of death.  Watch the video below to see how they react.

Anyone smelling death would probably crinkle up their nose.  But nothing compares to the adverse reaction sea lampreys have when the repellant odor is poured into their tank.

This experiment wasn’t just done for the gross factor of sea lampreys spewing out of the water. Sea lampreys are one of the most destructive invasive species in the Great Lakes. Researchers that Michigan State University are looking into the use of such repellants to prevent the ever growing sea lamprey population from entering certain areas.

Sea lampreys are one of the most costly and destructive Great Lakes’ invaders,” said Wagner, who published his results in the current issue of the Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences. “The effectiveness of the odor combined with the ease in which it’s obtained suggests that it will prove quite useful in controlling sea lampreys in the Great Lakes.”

“It’s kind of like a stop light, a noxious odor that causes them to run away from its source,” he said. “By blocking certain streams with these chemical dams, sea lampreys can be steered away from environmentally sensitive areas and into waterways where pesticides could be used more effectively to eliminate a larger, more concentrated population of sea lampreys.”

This approach would allow agencies that control invasive species to save money, use less pesticide and manage other resources more efficiently to have a bigger impact on controlling the invasive species, Wagner added.

Currently, pheromones are used to lure sea lampreys into traps, where they are then killed or sterilized. The researchers said that pheromones are not always as effective in waterways with many other chemical signals, but hope repellants will do the trick.

Now is your time to get your hands on a Bat Boy Bobblehead!

Bat Boy Bobbleheads are at a new incredible low price!!! Now you can finally get your hands on America’s Favorite Mutant!

Act quick – as we don’t know when we’ll put a stop to this blowout. Everyone wants a piece of Bat Boy – even those GTLing party addicts from the Jersey Shore.

CLICK HERE TO ORDER YOURS NOW!!!

Don’t miss out on your chance to grace your desk with a beautiful new Bat Boy Bobblehead. Get yours today and feel the rush!

VANCOUVER, BC – A human foot has washed up in Vancouver — the eighth such grisly find  the last four years.

Vancouver police said that a person reported seeing “the remains of what appears to be a human foot and leg bones in a running shoe” shortly before 5 pm on Tuesday.

“It was quite disturbing — quite a discovery to make,” Vancouver Police Constable Jana McGuinness told WWN.

A police statement said that the shoe was found floating in the water next to the Plaza of Nations marina in the False Creek area, which was cordoned off to allow the British Columbia Coroners Service to begin their investigation.

VERMONT -  Hurricane Irene washed away the Bartonsvile Bridge.

The Bartonsville Bridge in Bartonsville, VT is a historic piece of architecture. It was built in 1871 and was one of the longest town lattice bridges in Vermont. We say “was” because over the weekend, flooding due to Hurricane Irene wiped it out.

Here’s a shot at what the inside used look like:

Watch the bridge collapse:

Check out this amazing video from one of our biggest fans!

Take a listen to this wonderful song from singer/songwriter Buddy Castle.

HOLLYWOOD –  The Discovery Channel’s upcoming reality series, Dark Mind, has convicted serial killers solve cold-case murders. 

The killer, identified on the air only as “13,” will be heard on the show each week telling investigators where and what to look for.

In the hit, 1991 movie “The Silence of the Lambs,” imprisoned serial killer/cannibal Dr. Hannibal Lecter (played by Anthony Hopkins) helps FBI agent Clarice Starling (Jodie Foster) nab a serial killer by getting inside the killer’s mind.

On the TV show, “13″ will be heard but not seen.

His directions were recorded during a marathon phone session with investigators from his undisclosed prison.

It’s not the first time a company has created a product based on serial killers.  There was the calendar:

And,  the trading cards:

“Dark Minds” hosts John Kelly, a well-known criminal profiler, chose “13″ for the show because he’d interviewed the killer several times before, producers said.

“We spoke to ’13′ over the phone for a couple of reasons,” says series executive producer Jeanie Vink. “Prison access is getting harder . . . and we just didn’t want to feed his ego on any level.”

“13,” who isn’t on death row — “There are some cases still pending and it’s possible he might be connected to more murders,” Vink says — was not paid to appear on the show.

Before Ted Bundy was executed in 1989, he tried to help authorities catch the Green River killer.

The show refuses to give any information on his identity, the murders he’s been convicted of or where he is being incarcerated. On the show, his voice is digitally altered so that it cannot be recognized.

Kelly and author/crime expert M. William Phelps, act as co-hosts for the show — set to debut in January.

The show takes up an unsolved murder case every week — including the “Eastbound Strangler” in Atlantic City, where four prostitutes were slain in 2006.

“The spooky part to me is how normal ’13′ sounds in real life,” says Vink. “We’re trying to get into his head and get his unique perspective.

“He certainly confirmed a lot of the suppositions that Kelly and the police are making as they built their profiles” of the killers, she says.

NEW YORK, NY – Heidi Montag may be having second thoughts regarding her extensive plastic surgery!

Could Heidi Montag’s nose fall off? Could she potentially melt from extreme heat? Probably a little extreme, but they are possibilities given Montag’s numerous procedures. The reality TV “star” underwent 10 major nips and tucks in one day in 2009 – a feat she boasted with pride. Looks like the luster of her new body is wearing off and Montag is having serious regrets about her new, plastic body.

Montag opens up in the upcoming issue of Life & Style magazine. She admits that fear has crept into her mind as she’s afraid that her surgeries may backfire. These fears were compounded with the recent and unexpected death of her plastic surgeon, Dr. Frank Ryan.

“I’m desperate to go back to normal,” she told the magazine. “I’m downgrading and going a little smaller, to a D or a double D.”

Now nine months after her extensive procedures, Montag admits that she is still in severe pain and her body has not gotten used to the over the top boob job. “I have major anxiety about it. I was taking painkillers but they weren’t working so I stopped. It hurt either way.”

Her massive tatas impede Montag from hugging her four dogs and she can’t wear anything but custom-made clothing.

“I’m obsessed with fitness but it’s impossible to work out with these boobs,” she says. “It’s heartbreaking. I can’t live an everyday life.”

Montag has been on the search for a replacement surgeon in South America, but she worries she’ll remain trapped in her cartoonish body forever since the untimely passing of her confidant Dr. Ryan. “I feel trapped in my own body,” she added.

“There’s just no fixing it,” she says. “Dr. Ryan knows the work he did, he knows everything.”

At least we know that Montag has a shred of humanity left in her – after all that plastic surgery. Unfortunately, if she does go through with the reduction, her dreams of being a 3D boob-superhero will never be realized.