Cyclops Shark is Real

The fisherman who discovered the Cyclops shark is reportedly hanging on to the preserved remains, news outlets reported. But scientists have recently examined and X-rayed the fish, authenticating the catch. According to Seth Romans, a spokesman for Pisces Fleet, Galvan Magana and his colleagues will publish a scientific paper about the find within the next several weeks.

The Cyclops shark is an exception. While rare, "cyclopia" is a real developmental anomaly in which only one eye develops. Human fetuses are sometimes affected, as in a 1982 case in Israel reported in 1985 in the British Journal of Ophthalmology. In that case, a baby girl was born seven weeks early with no nose and only one eye in the center of her face. The infant, who lived only 30 minutes after birth, also had severe brain abnormalities.

In 2006, a kitten born with one eye and no nose (a rare condition called holoprosencephaly), created a stir online as news organizations and bloggers tried to determine if the bizarre photos of the animal were real. A veterinarian confirmed the kitten's condition; "Cy," as the cat was known, lived only a day. The remains were sold to the creationist Lost World Museum.

The World's Only Penis Museum: What are Their Collections?

From gigantic whale penises to speck-sized field mouse testicles and lampshades made from bull scrotums, Iceland's small Phallological Museum has it all -- and recently put its first human member on display.

"This is the biggest one," founder and curator Sigurdur Hjartarson says, patting an enormous plastic canister. Inside was a liquid-immersed greyish-white mass as wide as a small tree trunk and as tall as a man.

Weighing 70 kilos and measuring around 170 centimetres, the Sperm Whale specimen "is just the front tip," he explained.

"The full penis could in fact be five metres and weigh something like 350 to 450 kilos -- but of course, the animal it came from weighed around 50 tonnes," says the 69-year-old retired headmaster, chuckling beneath his woolly, grey beard.

A total 276 specimens from all of Iceland's 46 mammals, along with a few foreign contributions, are on show at what may be the world's only penis museum.

The cramped room is filled with test tubes and glass containers in all shapes and sizes, holding formaldehyde-immersed offerings from whales, dolphins, walruses, redfish, goats, polar bears and rats, just to mention a few.

‘Loch Ness Monster’ England’s version pictures taken by Kayakers

Tom Pickles and Sarah Harrington have never expected anything like what they had just experienced. Their afternoon's kayaking have turned out quite shocking after the sighting of a primeval sea monster. These kayakers have taken their watercraft out on the foggy waters of Lake Windermere, only to encounter what appeared to be "an enormous snake" swimming by.

But what did Pickles and Harrington expect? Didn't they know that Lake Windermere is reputedly the home of the British version of the Loch Ness monster? In the past five years, sojourners on the lake have reported eight sightings of a Nessie-like serpent.

But the kayaking couple rallied from their shock and snapped the clearest photo of the Windermere "monster" since the sightings began. A journalism professor and his wife inaugurated the recent spate of Nessie-esque encounters on the lake back in 2006 reporting they had seen a "giant eel" somewhere between 15-20 feet long.

Ever since then, researchers have set out upon the lake with sonar equipment, in pursuit of "Bow-Nessie," as the creature's British compatriots like to call it. But so far, their efforts haven't borne fruit.

The mystery of what killed tens of thousands of fish Ark. remains unsolved

The mystery of what killed tens of thousands of fish that washed up along the Arkansas River late last year can't be solved, state wildlife officials announced Wednesday, but they do have a theory about what caused birds to fall out of the sky in a small Arkansas town on New Year's Eve.

The Arkansas Game and Fish Commission issued separate news releases on the Dec. 29 fish kill and the New Year's Eve event in which red-winged blackbirds began raining down, evoking images of the apocalypse. The agency issued the releases after autopsies and multiple tests were conducted on the fish and birds.

Scientists determined it's likely that unusually loud noises reported before the birds began falling frightened them so much that they flew off in the dark, even though they have poor night vision and typically do not fly at night. The Fish and Game Commission also said New Year's Eve fireworks likely led the birds to fly at a lower-than-normal altitude and into buildings or trees. It's estimated that 4,000 to 5,000 birds fell before midnight.

Less is known about the fish kill. None of the tests conducted on fish or water samples from the area turned up anything conclusive, the agency.

Colorful Life of Indonesia Marine Life on the Ocean Floor

Scientists using cutting-edge technology to explore waters off Indonesia were wowed by colorful and diverse images of marine life on the ocean floor — including plate-sized sea spiders and flower-like sponges that appear to be carnivorous.

They predicted Thursday that as many as 40 new plant and animal species may have been discovered during the three-week expedition that ended Aug. 14.

More than 100 hours of video and 100,000 photographs, captured using a robotic vehicle with high-definition cameras, were piped to shore in real-time by satellite and high-speed Internet.

Verena Tunnicliffe, a professor at the University of Victoria in Canada, said the images provided an extraordinary glimpse into one of the globe’s most complex and little-known marine ecosystems.

Churchill's dentures fetch nearly $24,000

A partial set of British wartime Prime Minister Winston Churchill's gold-mounted dentures has fetched 15,200 pounds ($23,770) at auction, over three times the estimate.

The false teeth, specially designed to disguise Churchill's lisp, were sold by the son of the technician who was commissioned to make them.

They had been expected to make a maximum of 5,000 pounds at Thursday's sale by Keys auctioneer.

"The atmosphere was electric," said a Keys' spokesman.

False alarm: Google search still working in China

Google Inc. triggered a false alarm Thursday by posting a notice that its search engine and several other services had been cut off from mainland China - a key market where the company has been locked in a high-profile battle over online censorship.

But what initially looked like a dramatic development turned out to be nothing more than a technological hiccup.

After the company's report of a complete blockage in China had been relayed by many media, Google backed off the claim.

18th-Century Ship Found at Trade Center Site

The remains of a ship dating back to the 18th century have been uncovered by workers close to the the old World Trade Centre site in lower Manhattan.

Archaeologists said the 32ft-long vessel was probably used along with other debris to fill in land to extend New York City into the Hudson River. Those who examined the find described it as 'significant'.

An anchor weighing seven stone was also discovered at the site, although investigators said it was unclear whether it belonged to the newly-unearthed ship.

Archaeologists Molly McDonald and A. Michael Pappalardo examined the ship when it was found by staff about 30ft below street level in a planned underground vehicle security centre.

Ms McDonald said: 'We noticed curved timbers that a backhoe [mechanical digger] brought up.

'We quickly found the rib of a vessel and continued to clear it away and expose the hull over the last two days.'

The two archaeologists work for AKRF, a firm hired to document artefacts discovered at the site.

'Pear-shape' women more forgetful, researchers find

Most recent study conducted by a team of US researchers has found that a woman's body shape may influence how good her memory is.

Although carrying excess weight anywhere appears to impair older women's brains, carrying it on the hips may make matters worse, they say.

The Northwestern Medicine team found "apple-shaped" women fared better than "pears" on cognitive tests.

But depositing fat around the waist increases the risk of cancer, diabetes and heart disease, experts warn.

They said the findings, in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, highlighted the importance of maintaining a healthy weight for both body and mind.

Internet Service Company Shows “The Cove” Free of Charge in Japan

The Cove is a movie led by renowned dolphin trainer Ric O'Barry, infiltrate a cove near Taijii, Japan to expose both a shocking instance of dolphin abuse and a serious threat to human health. This movie has been filmed using state-of-the-art equipment with involvement of a group of activists.

This movie screenings in Japan Niwango Inc. have been canceled because of the protest from the nationalist opposition to the film’s depiction of a dolphin hunt. But public can still watch as an Internet service company will show “The Cove” free of charge Friday and invite public to write comment via Twitter and e-mail for an open exchange of views on the Oscar-winning documentary that shows the annual hunt in Taiji village.

There are about 20 theaters in Japan that had planned to show the film but canceled because of protesters made threatening phone calls and screamed slogans outside the distributor’s offices.

The Biggest Burger weighs 90 kilograms

A cafe in Sydney, Australia, said it has set a record-making giant hamburger in the world. Take up to 12 hours to cook and four men to cover the layer.

The giant burger is cooked by the owner, Joe, and Iman El-Ajouz. Total weight of the burger, it reaches 90 kilograms, it beats the previous record which is in Michigan, USA, and previous giant burger weigh is 84 kilograms.

The giant burger is made with 120 eggs, 150 pieces of cheese, 1.5 kilograms of sugar, 2.5 kilograms of tomatoes, and nearly two kilograms of lettuce and common ingredients used in salads.

Sultan Kosen, tallest man walking in the earth

Try to imagine a man with height of 2.47 meter! A very tall Turk was formally announced as the world's tallest man on Thursday after his rival who is a Ukrainian refused to be measured, disqualified and left Sultan Kosen unbeatable as the tallest man in the world.

Sultan Kosen was measured by Guinness World Records said to have 2.47 meter or 8 foot 1 inch, He comes from eastern Turkey, to be precise from the town of Mardin, has now officially been crowned as the tallest man living and walking in the planet earth.

Leonid Stadnyk, his rival, a Ukrainian that has been reported to have height of 8 feet 5.5 inches (2.57 meters) but since he let no one to measure and confirm his height, Guinness said he was stripped of his title.

Stadnyk who turns out to be 39 this year, told the press that he declined to be independently measured because he was tired of being in the public eye, he want to be left one and want to live a normal life, the one he had before he was caught by media and reported widely.

Most bizarre moment in Sunday's 2009 MTV Video Music Awards

The most bizarre moment in Sunday's 2009 MTV Video Music Awards was happened when Kanye West interrupted Taylor Swift's acceptance speech to suggest that Beyonce, instead of Swift, should have won the Best Female Video honor.

West's weird behavior took place just about 20 minutes into the show. Swift's video for "You Belong With Me" won, beating powerhouses like Lady Gaga and Beyonce. Just minutes after her acceptance speech, West appeared on stage and said Beyonce had one of the best videos of all time.

Only in minutes after Kanye West performed his mortal sin by stepping in Taylor Swift’s “Best Female Video” acceptance speech at MTV’s Video Music Awards 2009, people all over the internet reach a consensus that West is officially the worst person who ever lived, ever! You Tube, Twitter, and else where over the internet has condemned his disrespectful act on the stage. Was the Kanye West/Taylor Swift feud real, or a staged publicity stunt?

3 trillionBus fare in Zimbabwe

A woman pays her bus fare with 3 trillion in old Zimbabwe dollars — the equivalent of 50 U.S. cents. The collector accepts the brick of neatly folded bundles of a trillion each without bothering to count the notes.

"No one seems to worry, and it works," said the woman, Lucy Denya, a Harare secretary who says she's seen police officers using old notes to board buses.

The Zimbabwe dollar is officially dead. It was killed off in hopes of curbing record world inflation of billions of percentage points, and Zimbabwe has replaced it with the U.S. dollar and the South African rand.

Yet the role of the old Zimdollar, as it is known, remains in flux. It is still used, and has become another point of contention for the divided leadership of the country, now one of the poorest in the world.

President Robert Mugabe has called for the return of the Zimdollar as legal tender, complaining that most Zimbabweans lack the hard currency needed to buy basic goods. The central bank under governor Gideon Gono, a Mugabe loyalist, has acknowledged printing extra local money to fund government spending that fueled inflation.

But Finance Minister Tendai Biti, who joined the government as part of a power-sharing agreement between his Movement for Democratic Change and Mugabe's ZANU-PF party, has declared the local dollar indefinitely obsolete. He has threatened to quit if a return to the local currency is forced upon him.

Best Buy $9.99 TV offer was too good to be true

Few if any of the deals retailers have offered online during the recession have been as good as Best Buy Inc.'s sale price of $9.99 on a 52-inch TV Wednesday. But it quickly turned out the offer was too good to be true.

The electronics retailer said it will not honor the $9.99 price posted Wednesday morning on its Web site for a 52-inch Samsung flat-screen TV. By early afternoon, the TV was listed at $1,799.99, almost half off the original $3,399.99 price.

Bloggers and Twitterers lit up the Internet with posts about the offer, some insisting Best Buy must honor it, others making jokes.

Best Buy, based in Richfield, Minn., said it has corrected an online pricing error and will not honor the incorrect price. Orders made Wednesday morning at the incorrect price will be canceled and customers will receive refunds, the company said.

Resort plans nude "anything goes" party

An Australian holiday resort will hold a month-long, nude "anything goes" party to combat an expected economic downturn, media reports said on Thursday.

"Tough economic times call for stiff measures," Tony Fox, the owner of the White Cockatoo resort in Mossman, in tropical Queensland state, told the Courier-Mail newspaper.

"It will be a hedonism resort, where anything goes for a month. It doesn't take rocket science to work out what it means," Fox said, naming March as the risque party month.

The controversial "clothes optional" resort made headlines three years ago when police were called to end partner-swapping parties after a swathe of public complaints.

"You've got to wonder what sort of people go and why. Where is the moral code of behavior and how do you stop jealousies and fights?" Cairns Catholic Bishop James Foley said after Fox's announcement.

But local regional Mayor Val Schier said she was not opposed to the event as long as no laws were broken.

"People in tropical north Queensland are extraordinarily creative," Schier said. "It is tough economic times and as long as it is with consenting adults, then there is no problem."

Australia's tourism in industry is being hit hard by global economic turmoil with official figures showing a 7.6 percent decline in overseas visitors in September.

Industry leaders expect holiday bookings may drop by up to a third in early 2009 and are planning a new international advertising campaign to coincide with the movie "Australia" starring Oscar-winning actress Nicole Kidman.

Fox said his resort was almost fully booked for the month-long rainforest party.

Hero dog risks life to save kittens from fire

A dog was hailed as a hero on Sunday after it risked its life to save a litter of newborn kittens from a house fire, rescuers said.

In a case which gives the lie to the saying about 'fighting like cats and dogs', the terrier cross named Leo had to be revived with oxygen and heart massage after his ordeal. Fire broke out overnight at the house in Australia's southern city of Melbourne, where he was guarding the kittens.

Fire fighters who revived Leo said he refused to leave the building and was found by them alongside the litter of kittens, despite thick smoke.

"Leo wouldn't leave the kittens and it nearly cost him his life," fire service Commander Ken Brown told reporters.

The four kittens also survived the fire and on Sunday Leo, who fire fighters nicknamed 'Smoky', was again back at the house.