Apparently Australians love their comic books so much that they’ve decided to start issuing license plates with images of DC superheroes, like Superman and Batman, printed on them. This means that the Australian motor vehicle department is officially the coolest on the planet! When are we going to get license plates that prominently display our geek love?

Link

(YouTube Link)

This poor little guy wandered into a woman’s yard in Australia due to it being a particularly hot day, so the woman decided to let him drink from the hose. Apparently koalas don’t understand how hoses work, because he gets more water on his arm than he does in his mouth!

-via BuzzFeed

Previously: Sam gets a Drink

Believe it or not, the First Lady of mystery and the Big Kahuna had something in common-they were both innovators in the sport of surfing! Agatha Christie, as it turns out, was one of the first Britons to stand up on a surfboard, and she sharpened her wave riding skills in South Africa, Australia, New Zealand and Hawaii as early as 1922. Oh what a sight she must have been braving the waves of Waikiki!

Link

In a continent far far away, a young adventurer named Jacob French is walking solo across the vast land of Australia.

It's an epic journey with a noble cause, but what made it truly Neatorama-worthy is that Jacob is doing so while wearing a Stormtrooper outfit:

Mr French, 20, started his ''Troopertrek'' on Monday and aims to arrive in Sydney by December. To achieve this, he will need to walk 35 to 40 kilometres a day, five days a week, while pushing his 50 -kilogram trolley of supplies and wearing his 10-kilogram suit, which he bought online.

''It does get very hot,'' he said. ''The helmet is not very well ventilated. It's like wearing a bucket on your head. It's not very flexible either, so I'm moving pretty slowly. I had to have it specially trimmed to make it less restrictive.

Link

Since he first saw them dining out on his prized stock he has been at his wit’s end about how to get rid of them, the (Adelaide) Sunday Mail reported.

Now, as a desperate last resort, he is covering his pigs at a farm property in Wynarka, 80 miles (130km) east of state capital Adelaide, in engine oil to protect them from the mice — with the rodents apparently turned off by the taste.

“The mouse problem got really bad in April,” the 50-year-old father of four said.

“We went away in the school holidays and when we came back we drove up the driveway and it looked like the ground was moving — there were hundreds of thousands of them.”

Mouse bait isn’t cheap, though, so farmers are utilizing homemade methods of pest control; aside from rubbing his pigs in engine oil, Gregory mixes confectioner’s sugar with cement. “The icing sugar attracts the mice, they eat it and then the cement clogs them up.”

Link |Image: Wikipedia Commons

(C) Antti Kemppainen

Sometimes nature is more amazing than whatever we can dream up. Though the photo above looks like some sort of special-effects shot from a movie about alien invasion on the Fourth of July, it’s really just a beach in Perth, Australia.

That’s where photographer Antti Kemppainen took this photo, back in January 2007. It was Australia Day and people gathered on the beach to see the fireworks show over the harbor. Meanwhile, lightning was exploding far away, over the ocean. And in the middle of it all, so bright that it would be seen despite the flashes of light, there was Comet McNaught.

Antti just took three photographs and composed them together in a single panorama, so you could see the 180-degree scene that the people sitting there were seeing that day.

Link

After almost 70 years of marriage, Mrs Tang – suffering dementia – allegedly killed Ching Yung Tang in their plush sixth-floor unit in the Connaught apartment complex overlooking Sydney’s Hyde Park on March 12, 2010.

It is said that Clara believed her husband was trying to poison her. She allegedly confessed to the murder.

Is 92 too old to stand trial for murder?  Is there a point where the cost of proceeding outweighs the need for societal justice?

Les Kennedy of the Sydney Morning Herald has more: Link

Parts of Australia are seeing the worst flooding in years. In Brisbane, a video crew paddles through a McDonalds outlet in a canoe. The song is “Fish Heads” {wiki} by Barnes and Barnes. -via the Presurfer

It’s already 2011 in Australia. They know how to celebrate Down Under! -via The Daily What

The Webb Bridge is a pedestrian and cyclist bridge across the Yarra River in Melbourne, Australia. It’s designed to resemble eel traps used by the Koori, a people native to New South Wales and Victoria. The bridge was constructed out of material recycled from a previous rail bridge of the same name.

via DVICE | Photo by Flickr user mugley used under Creative Commons license

Kevin Martin, who works at the Marlin Bar on Queensland’s Magnetic Island, was stunned a wild male koala wandered inside just after 8pm on Saturday.

“He sauntered up to the bar … I asked him for ID and he got all disgruntled … walked around the bar and then climbed up a pole and sulked,” Mr Martin said today.

“We have a big stuffed marlin on the roof and he just sat under the marlin in front of the speaker, listening to the music.

“He fell asleep.”

Rangers were called to take the koala back to his natural habitat. Magnetic Island is known for its large population of koalas. Link -via Fark

(Image credit: Flickr user Matt Hobbs)

Update: See a picture of the koala here.

The term “Boxing kangaroo” brought to my mind a cartoon image of a kangaroo with boxing gloves, but in the wild, these roo fights are less like boxing and more like brutal knife fights. Photographer Julian Robinson (aaardvaark on Flickr) observed:

Bouncing nimbly on powerful hind legs, sizing each other up, the two opponents launch sudden combinations, jabbing and grappling with lightning forelegs to gain the advantage, then lashing out with raking kicks – haymakers far more devastating than any man’s. Each razorsharp hind claw has the potential to disembowel the other animal. [...] Although far from unfamiliar with Australia’s Eastern Grey Kangaroos, Julian Robinson was quite unprepared for the spectacle that was to unravel before his eyes. He stumbled upon the slugfest in 2006 [...]

The dangerous forepaw claws are clearly visible in the first two shots above. “They keep their heads out of range as far as they can, with good reason,” explains Julian, adding: “You don’t see many roos standing up tall. These guys sure got as high as they could get.”

Environmental Graffiti has more: Link

ANY ITEM that looks like a gun will have to be licensed under several changes to the Weapons Act being considered by the Queensland State Government.

Even guns made out of materials as unlikely as soap or plastic may have to be kept under lock and key if they could "reasonably be taken to be a weapon".

The draft act says an imitation is a "reasonable copy" of a weapon that is not capable of causing death or injury.

"If it looks like a gun and feels like a gun, it will have to be licensed," said a government source.

"We just want to know where they are."

Link (Photo: Mark Cranitch)

Scientists studying a species of Australian lizard called the yellow-bellied three-toed skink discovered that they’re seeing evolution in action: the lizard lays eggs on coasts but birth babies in mountains.

Evolutionary records shows that nearly a hundred reptile lineages have independently made the transition from egg-laying to live birth in the past, and today about 20 percent of all living snakes and lizards give birth to live young only.

But modern reptiles that have live young provide only a single snapshot on a long evolutionary time line, said study co-author James Stewart, a biologist at East Tennessee State University. The dual behavior of the yellow-bellied three-toed skink therefore offers scientists a rare opportunity.

"By studying differences among populations that are in different stages of this process, you can begin to put together what looks like the transition from one [birth style] to the other."

Link – Thanks Ethan!

"What we’d like to find out is how people feel when they’re listening to someone using those kinds of shortenings, compared to someone who’s not," doctor Nenagh Kemp told AFP from Hobart.

"It might tell us more about whether people think it makes you sound more friendly or more intelligent or more casual, and also differences."

Kemp said while abbreviations were present in all forms of English, they were more common in Australia, where tradesmen are "tradies", firemen are "firies", ambulance workers are "ambos" and service stations are "servos".

She believes that the shortenings are a way of conveying a sense of informality in a country known for its egalitarian ethos.

"I think it does set up a feeling of companionship or casualness and friendliness," she said.

"You might use that to say, ‘hey, I’m on the same level as you. I’m not being too pretentious."

Link

Photo: RaboDirect Australia [Flickr]

Money doesn't grow on trees. Or does it? As a publicity stunt, RaboDirect of Australia sponsored a stunt where a tree in a park in Sydney is festooned with real $5 bills:

An Overview of Responses:

Lost Opportunity
In the early stages, almost 100 people passed the tree without noticing that anything was different. Even when a group of joggers noticed, they were too busy to stop. The first groups who eventually stopped to interact couldn’t believe it. They inspected the notes and took pictures, but left empty handed.

Follow the Crowd
Only once one brave participant started taking the money, did momentum gather. Legitimised by the crowd, a wide spectrum of behaviour ensued.

Frugality
Some took just one or two notes, satisfied by their modest and unexpected gains.

Opportunist
Consumed by the fantasy, a group of braver participants made the most of the opportunity by filling their pockets.

Employing Tools and Working Together
When the low hanging $5 notes were depleted, participants employed tools such as swinging coats and umbrellas, to help them reach higher branches. Teamwork also came into play as spectators formed human pyramids to reach the notes seemingly out of reach.

Altruism
Perhaps the most comforting observation from the participants was that of altruism. Taller participants shared their earnings with shorter spectators, while one gentleman on identifying the undercover observation team, requested his money be donated to charity.

Link [with video clip] - via Marketing Alternatif

Wave Rock is an unusual landform in southwestern Australia. It looks like a giant wave of water that is about to crash. This feature was caused by the erosion of soft rock below the harder top. It measures 14 meters high and 110 meters long.

Link via The Presurfer | Photo by Flickr user tostao meravigliao used under Creative Commons license

Australia has streets that look oddly like USB cords strewn across the floor of a rain-damaged basement. It turns out the ends of the “cords” are actually buildings, and you can view the Google Map here.

Via Fogonazos

Does this little guy look unfamiliar?  It is a quoll, a rather strange but cute marsupial.  There are six species of quoll all told but they are now considered endangered.

The Northern Quoll is the smallest of the six species and rarely grows longer than thirty centimeters in length. A peculiar feature of the Northern is that after mating the males invariably die and the females are left alone to raise the young. They live mostly on fruit and small vertebrates but despite their size and timid appearance they are happy to scavenge in campsites.

Link

From the Upcoming ueue, submitted by taliesyn30.

Millions of the quick-breeding and fast-moving insects have damaged crops and caused havoc in country towns by infesting parts of Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia – covering an area of approximately 500,000 square kilometres (190,000 square miles), roughly the size of Spain.

Hundreds of thousands of hectares of crops of early sown wheat and barley as well as pastures and gardens have been eaten by the “widespread infestation” of the native Australian pests, which break out annually and are the bane of the Australian agriculture industry.

However this year’s outbreak could potentially be worse than the devastating plague of 2004 – when locusts swept through eastern Australia damaging an area twice the size of England – because of recent rainfall across drought-affected inland Australia.

Link (Photo: Murty Colin)

The numbat {wiki} lives in western Australia and eats termites. To do this, they have specialized equipment. This video is from the BBC series Life of Mammals. -via Laelaps

His only injury seemed to be some cuts and bruises, a black eye and a wounded ego with his colleagues making fun of his misfortune and giving him a new nickname – “Skippy”.

“The main thing they’ve been asking is whether I got one (punch) back on the roo,” he told the Australian Associated Press.

“I can’t even say that, because one punch and it put me to the floor.

“All my years of playing football and never a fight, and then I have a fight with a kangaroo.”

Link -via Arbroath

(image credit: EPA)

(YouTube Link)

The Huntsman spider, common in Australia, aren’t as deadly as they look, but will bite if provoked.  In this video, “Daddy” does his best to safely remove the arachnid from his home.  His daughter has some choice words for him afterwards.

-via Bits & Pieces

Australia is well-known for its myriad deadly creatures, but the peanut-sized Irukandji remains rather mysterious. It is virtually impossible to see and is tiny enough to pass through nets meant to keep jellyfish away from popular swimming spots.

Its sting can lead to symptoms including shooting pains in the muscles and chest, vomiting, restlessness and anxiety. Some symptoms can last for more than a week, and the syndrome can occasionally lead to a rapid rise in blood pressure and heart failure.

In 2002, two tourists were killed in separate incidents after being stung by the tiny creatures off northeast Australia — the first recorded Irukandji fatalities.

Southall was taken to a hospital where he spent the night, but has recovered enough to enjoy the final week of his six month assignment. Link -via Buzzfeed

"Ninety per cent of the methane that sheep and cattle and goats produce comes from the rumen, and that’s burped out," John Goopy from the New South Wales Department of Industry and Investment told ABC.

"Not much goes behind – that’s horses."

The scientists in New South Wales have been conducting experiments in specially designed pens where they measure how much gas sheep emit by burping. They have found, from tests on 200 sheep so far, that the more they eat, the more they belch.

The scientists’ goal is to breed sheep that burp less: Link

The scientist described Crikey steveirwini as “a colourful snail, with swirling bands of creamy yellow, orange-brown and chocolate giving the shell an overall khaki appearance”.

“It was the khaki colour that immediately drew the connection to the late Crocodile Hunter,” Dr Stanisic said.

Link -via Arbroath

It looks like a lioins has jumped up on the hood of an open vehicle! Look closely, though -it’s an illusion, as the front of the car and the passenger area are separated by a sheet of glass. Invisible lion cages are the mane attraction Werribee Open Range Zoo, in Melbourne, Australia. VERY strong glass is used in place of other enclosure types more familiar in zoos – the result is stunning shots of the lions and a unique visitor experience.

This incredible Lions on the Edge exhibit, which puts you just inches from a lion’s jaws, is one of the biggest attractions at the zoo.

Kings of the jungle Tombo and Tonyi are joined by two lionesses in the exhibit. Though it has been open since 2006, the male lions were added just last month – leading to some startling photo opportunities.

Link – via cakeheadlovesevil

From the Upcoming ueue, submitted by cakehead loves evil.

“That cannibal thing is what great whites do; they’ll eat anything, including their own kind,” Hugh Edwards, a local shark expert, told Australia’s 7 News. “It would be sensible not to swim in that area for a little while.”

Link -via Dave Barry’s Blog

The Kurilpa Bridge crossing the river into Brisbane, Australia is expected to carry around 36,000 pedestrians every week. The world’s longest solar foot bridge is 1,500 feet long and sports 84 solar panels. The panels produce all the energy the bridge needs for its LED lighting and sends 25% of the power generated back to the city’s electrical grid. Link -via Digg

Police said they found it loitering near a fence, trying to look innocent.

Brevet Sergeant Adam Russell said intrigued residents had gathered around to watch the arrest – but any dreams he had of nabbing the gnasher in style were promptly voted down.

“I wanted to jump on it Steve Irwin style,” he said. “But (the rangers) wouldn’t let me.”

After three days in the clink, during which the croc endured a hosing-down every few hours, the prisoner was turned over to a crocodile farm. Link -via Arbroath

The story goes like this: When administrators of the Maroochydore High School in Queensland, Australia, implemented a policy requiring students and parents to be responsible for attendance and homework, parents of children with failing grades sued. The staff of the school recorded this answering message as a response:

[YouTube Clip]

The video clip is going viral, perhaps it strikes a chord, but unfortunately, it’s a hoax. Old Internet hands will remember a similar clip circulating back in 2002 with a different school name, the Pacific Palisades High School.

Snopes said:

In 1998 the sole high school in the Palisades Charter Schools group, the 2,400-student Charter High School, instituted an attendance policy mandating that any student absent without a valid excuse ten or more days per semester be failed, regardless of his academic achievements. One of the results of this policy was that in February 2002 forty Palisades High teachers assigned a total of 130 failing grades to students whose classwork would otherwise have merited passing grades, because those students recorded absences and tardiness in excess of the school’s stated attendance policy.

After vociferous complaints (and threats of lawsuits) from parents who contended they were unaware of, or didn’t agree with, Palisades High’s attendance policy (even though every student and parent had been informed of it), LAUSD officials said the failing marks might have to be voided because the attendance policy was not submitted to and approved by the school board. Without board approval, the school must follow the policies of the LAUSD, which states that students must be graded on the work they do and attendance may not be used as a reason to fail
them.

The staff of the Pacific Palisades High School did make the answering machine recording though it was never put on the school’s system.

Still. It’s funny. Thanks alientango!

Does it seem like science is discovering new species left and right lately? After the discovery of the Cat Ba Leopard gecko, bristleworm that eats only dead whale bones, a ghostshark with sex organ on its head, scientists discovered not one, not one hundred, but 850(!) previously unknown blind and pale creatures living in underground lakes and caves:

The species found in these underground habitats were mostly blind and lacking pigment due to the environment in which they live. Above is an amphipod, a shrimp-like crustacean. Of the water-dwelling creatures found, crustaceans represented about seventy-five percent of the new species.

These otherworldly inhabitants of the subterranean outback have adapted to their light-less environments, sometimes by evolving past the need for eyes. They navigate using vibration and chemical senses.

Above is captioned: a crustacean that has fangs connected to secretory glands, from the stygofauna at Cape Range, Western Australia. This is a very primitive group of crustaceans, previously only known from the northern hemisphere.

Link | More details at LiveScience

“We were watching from the veranda with a spotlight, and I thought, who is going to believe this, they’ll think I’m crazy.”

He said the rabbits lived under a pile of wood in the backyard and were around the same size as a household cat.

“These are killer rabbits man,” he said.

“I’ve never ever seen or heard anything like this happening, it could be a breakthrough.”

The rabbits are apparently protecting two baby bunnies. Del Manso is glad to have the rabbits around, as he raises chickens and hasn’t lost any to a snake. Link -via Arbroath

Residents of Sydney, Australia woke up today to find themselves in the middle of a bizarre dust storm that made the city look like it was on planet Mars! Dust storms are nothing new in Australia, but this one is the worst in decades … but is it linked to climate change?

From Reuters:

Weather scientists are reluctant to directly link climate change with extreme weather events such as storms and droughts, saying these fluctuate according to atmospheric conditions, but green groups link the two in their calls for action to fight climate change.

Dust storms in Australia, the world’s driest inhabited continent with a vast desert-like outback interior, are not uncommon. Central and eastern Australia is a major global source of atmospheric dust, say weather experts. But dust storms are usually restricted to the inland of Australia. Occasionally, during widespread drought they can affect coastal areas. Australia is battling one of its worst droughts and weather officials say an El Nino is slowly developing in the Pacific which will mean drier conditions for Australia’s eastern states.

Before the Sydney dust storm, one of the most spectacular storms swept across Melbourne in February 1983, late in the severe El Nino drought of 1982/83. The extended dry period of the 1930s and 1940s generated many severe dust storms, culminating in the summer of 1944/45 when on several occasions dust in Adelaide was so thick that street lighting had to be turned on. Satellite images showed a 2002 dust storm, about 1,500 km (930 miles) long by 400 km (250 miles) wide and 2.5 km (1.5 miles) high, stretching across New South Wales and Queensland states.

Link | More photos of the Sydney Dust Storm at Flickr

Clyde’s owner Katrina Phillips was moved to tears when she got the call last week that Clyde was alive and well in Queensland.

“We just can’t believe he’s alive, it’s just unbelievable and it’s so emotional,” Ms Phillips said.

“I bought him as a birthday present for my daughter Ashleigh and one day, about three years ago, he just disappeared.

No one knows how the cat traveled so far, or what happened during those three years. Clyde will be reunited with Phillips as soon as an escort is arranged. Link -via Arbroath

Adrian Bennett has been obsessed with the Mad Max movies since 1982 when he was a teenager in England. In 2001 he built his own Interceptor, the car Mel Gibson drove in the film. Three years ago, he moved his family from Yorkshire to Australia. Now he has settled in the remote Outback town of Silverton, where the first two movies were made. Silverton has a population of 51 (counting the five Bennetts), but draws 140,000 tourists a year and is also used often as a set for the film industry. Bennett plans to open a Mad Max museum in his new hometown. Link -via Dark Roasted Blend

See more pictures of Bennett’s Interceptor.

Convention organiser and “Gnome Master” David Cook said he did not hesitate in organising the rescue party when contacted about the homeless little folk.

“We didn’t want to see them put in a skip and taken to the tip and all smashed up,” Mr Cook said.

I believe that means they didn’t want to see the gnomes thrown away. A four-member team traveled 800 kilometers to pack up the gnomes of all sizes.They will be painted and refurbished, and will appear at the 2010 Australian Gnome Convention on January 26th. Link -via Arbroath

(image credit: Australian Gnome Convention)

The world’s oldest known dinosaur burrow, recently discovered on the southeast coast of Australia, suggests that some dinos went underground to escape extreme weather.

110 million years ago, when this burrow was dug, the southeastern coast of Australia was adjacent to Antarctica.

The burrow is strikingly similar to another one found in Montana in  2005, which held the remains of a 96-million-year-old dinosaur family.

Illustration by James Hays, Fernbank Museum, via National Geographic News

“Right now burrowing dinosaurs might look like an exception to the rule,” he said. “But I wouldn’t be surprised if more species [dug burrows]. Ten years from now it might be considered commonplace.”
–Emory University paleontologist Anthony Martin

Link – via news

From the Upcoming ueue, submitted by Marilyn Terrell.

Just So You Know, Wombats Aren’t Badgers

Image Via Timmy Toucan [Flickr]

But they used to be confused with them by early settlers. In fact, quite a few places named with the word ‘badger’ were actually supposed to be named for wombats. A few examples include Badger Creek, Victoria and Badger Corner Tasmania.
After a while they did start getting their due credit though. Wombat, New South Wales, asteroid 6827 Wombat and more are named (correctly) after the little marsupials.

They’re Totally Square
Or at least, their poops are. Their 14 day long digestion helps aid their survival in desert conditions by allowing them to digest every nutrient possible. Interestingly, this process allows them to create some of the most uniquely shaped feces in the animal kingdom –a perfect square.

They’re All Backwards
While most marsupials have a pouch that sits upwards, wombat’s pouches face down. The reason for this is the wombat’s need to dig extensive burrows. If they had pouches like kangaroos or koalas, their pouches and babies would be loaded with dirt -that would be a long 6 or 7 months of life for the poor babies living in the pouch.

Your Wombat Friends Are A Little Slow

Wombats aren’t keen on speed. They like to take shortcuts and have been known to bite their way through plants or farmer’s fences rather than walking around them –giving them the name “bulldozers of the bush.” When they need to get out of the way of predators though, it’s a whole different story. Scared wombats can run up to 25 miles per hour for a full minute and a half –about the same top speed of human runners.

Wombats Got Back

Image Via Timmy Toucan [Flickr]

No, I’m not talking Sir Mix-a-Lot style, of course, he still might like the furry critters. But wombats really do have a big, strong butt. In fact, it’s their main form of defense. In the wild, both dingoes and Tasmanian devils prey on the creatures. Most of a wombat’s behind is made of cartilage, making it hard for the predator to bite through when attacking from the rear.
Their other main defensive move is made by diving into a tunnel, waiting for the attacker to put their head in the hole and then thrusting up with their massive legs. This smashes the predator’s head on the roof of the tunnel.

They Were Huge Back In The Day
The Giant Wombat was a common species even when the earliest humans began to inhabit Australia. In fact, it’s believed that the aborigines actually helped cause the extinction of these giants through excessive hunting and habitat alteration. These giant wombats were the size of rhinoceroses and were the largest marsupials in the history of the world.

When Wombats Aren’t Cuddly, They’re Terribly Vicious

Image Via Feverblue [Flickr]

When held in captivity, the creatures can be made somewhat tame and even may allow park and zoo visitors to pet or hold them. On the downside, this lack of fear makes them more aggressive than their wild counterparts. As a result, a lot of people have been attacked, bit and knocked over by scared or angry wombats. One naturalist, Harry Frauca, was bitten in the leg while wearing rubber boots, trousers and thick wool socks. Despite all this protection, the wombat’s strong jaws and sharp teeth managed to leave him with a wound 2 centimeters deep.

They Adapt Well To Captivity

Image Via Shami Chatterjee [Flickr]

Other than the whole attacking people for no reason thing, they seem to love being in zoos and parks. In the wild, these guys only have a life expectancy of five years. However, as captive animals, they have been known to live past 25. That’s five times as long of a life! It’s surely partially due to a lack of predators, but they also live a lot more stress-free this way, which seems to have a big effect on the little guys. We should take a tip from them.

Source #1, #2

The meat-eating Banjo has been dubbed Australia’s answer to the feared Velociraptor.

“The cheetah of his time, Banjo was light and agile,” said Queensland Museum paleantologist Scott Hocknull, who is among the scientists being credited with the discoveries.

“He could run down most prey with ease over open ground. His most distinguishing feature was three large slashing claws on each hand. Unlike some theropods that have small arms (think T. rex), Banjo was different; his arms were a primary weapon.

“He’s Australia’s answer to velociraptor, but many times bigger and more terrifying.”

The bones will eventually go on display to the public. Link -via Fark

I just love the way the announcer says “bebes”!

Digital Inspiration features a map illustrating the countires least affected by the global recession, as ranked according to a survey conducted by Servcorp for the Herald Sun.

Australia takes the top spot followed by China with India and Singapore in equal third place. Qatar is the only gulf nation that figures in this “relatively” recession-proof list.

The data is based on the results of a business confidence survey that was done on international business people of 24 nations to identify which countries they believe are surviving the crisis the best.

Link – via google

From the Upcoming ueue, submitted by mrsmojorisin.

While not deadly like other Australian spiders, the eastern tarantulas are venomous and can grow up to 6cm (2.4in) long with a leg span of 16cm (6.3in). Despite their common name, they do not eat birds, but can kill a dog with one bite, and make a human very sick.

They are also known as whistling or barking spiders for the hissing noise they emit when they are disturbed or aggravated at close range.

Audy Geiszler, who runs a local pest control service, caught one this week that more than covered his hand after he killed it.

“I think I’m going to mount this one in acrylic to show people how big it is. It’ll make a great paperweight.”

Link -via Arbroath

Now, there’s a proposal to control the cane toad population by introducing yet another species to battle it: meat-eating ants.

Omnivorous meat ants are native to Australia and reportedly nests in groups of more than 60,000. Professor Rick Shine said that meat ants attack and eat toads. "The ants are moving through these open areas, scavenging for dead insects and so on. If they encounter a baby toads it obviously seems like an appropriate lunch and jump on it. "

What could go wrong? Link [National Geographic Video]

In most cities it is common to see Chinese dishes such as bakpao (buns), bakmi (noodles), and bakso (meatballs). Though, pork is not used since the majority of Indonesians are Muslims. Another popular Indonesian street foods and snacks are siomay (mackerel fish meat served with peanut sauce, pempek (fish and sago), bubur ayam (chicken congee), bubur kacang hijau (green beans porridge), satay (diced or sliced chicken, goat, mutton, beef or fish), nasi and mie goreng (fried rice and fried noodle), gorengan (Indonesian assorted fritters).

Link -Thanks, Karen!

The state of Victoria in southern Australia has recently been hit with hundreds of bush fires during a record-breaking heatwave – temperatures well above 38°C (100°F). Unfortunately, these fires have proved to be the deadliest in Australian history, with at least 166 deaths reported so far. The fires mostly appear to have been started by lightning – however a few appear to have been arson, and are under investigation – entire towns being declared crime scenes. Twenty-four fires are still burning, and authorities warn that the death toll will likely rise.

Link

Living in the dry Southern California, where brushfire is an ever-present danger, I truly sympathize with the victims of this deadly fire. I sincerely hope none of you are affected.

Global warming has an upside!

“It has been so hot in South Australia for over a week…40+ degrees Celsius everyday – 104 F, very dry also. These are the photos of a little Koala that just walked into the back porch of a home around the way looking for a bit of heat relief. The lady of the house filled up a bucket and this is what happened!”

Link

From the Upcoming ueue, submitted by Trace1138.

Adopted by different families shortly after their birth in Malaysia, Mrs Glasby and Dorothy Loader were separated for almost 50 years before finally meeting last September.

But now Mrs Glasby, from Margaret River, is facing an uphill battle to be permanently reunited with her twin, who lives in Malaysia. In a letter to Mrs Glasby last month, DIAC state director Paul Farrell explained that despite the circumstances, the present laws meant Ms Loader would not be eligible for family migration.

"Under Migration Law where the legal relationship between a child and his/her birth parents has been severed by adoption, the legal relationship between the child and his/her birth siblings is also severed,” he said.

"It therefore does not appear that your twin sister would be eligible for a permanent visa under the Family Stream of the Migration Program.”

Mrs Glasby said she was heartbroken that her long-lost twin did not qualify as family. "We’re identical twin sisters _ we’re the same egg,” she said. “Just because we got adopted into different families they say they don’t consider us related. It’s hard to get anyone more related to me.”

Link – via Arbroath

Bob Johnson has tried everything to keep fruit bats away from his orchard.  The Queensland, Australia fruit grower is so frustrated by bats eating his crop that he has even resorted to playing his bagpipe among the trees in an effort to scare the bats.  Nevertheless, he has  managed to harvest only 3,975 lbs. of fruit this year, compared to 36,327 lbs in an average year. He wants to be allowed to shoot the bats, but the government says he should cover his trees with netting instead.

The Johnsons are angry, arguing that the State Government is bending over backwards to appease environmentalists whose supporters last year successfully lobbied to stop orchardists from shooting bats.

And the couple has been backed by Independent federal MHR Bob Katter, who said the state should let orchardists apply his crocodile control system and “shoot them”.

“Even the most brainless greenie would have to say it is not unreasonable to cull flying foxes that carry diseases that can kill humans,” Mr Katter said.

Link – via coldmud

Photo: David Martinelli