Are Cane Toads Killing Australian Crocodiles Just by Being Eaten?

Australian dwarf crocodiles, whose normal food sources are rapidly vanishing, have begun
eating cane toads instead.  But this new diet is killing them.

The cane toads were introduced in Australia from their homes in Central and South America in
1935 to help control beetles threatening the island’s sugar cane industry.  Now it is estimated
that there might be as many as 100 million of these large amphibians scattered throughout
Australia and they are now considered a dangerous pest.

In 2012, many volunteers signed up to cull these toads, which are threatening not only dwarf
crocodiles, but other reptiles as well, including goannas, snakes and quolls. The toads secrete a
toxin from glands located behind their eyes and on their backs.


The deaths of the freshwater crocodiles and other predators may produce a cascade of
unpredictable ecosystem changes.  This is typical when a new species is produced into a more-
or-less stable ecosystem.  Another example of this problem arose from the introduction of giant
snakes into the Florida Everglades. 

Apparently young crocodiles are more vulnerable to the cane toads’ venom than adults, which
will almost certainly affect future populations of the dwarf crocodiles.

The cane toads appear to be expanding south into the dry interior of Australia, where they will
encounter crocodiles and other predators at water holes.  There is a bit of hope, however, in that
surviving crocodiles may develop a higher tolerance for the cane toads’ toxin.  Some
blacksnakes, which had previously been hit hard by the toads, appear to have developed some
immunity to their poison.

Researchers are carefully monitoring the populations of both cane toads and crocodiles, hoping
to be able to predict the long-term effects of this rivalry on the Australian ecosystems. 

You can read more here:

What Made This Web?

Troy Alexander, a  young graduate student, found an entirely new type of web under a tarp near
the Tambopata Research Center located in the Peruvian Amazon.  Then he found a few more.
But when he tried to identify the creatures that made them, he found no answer so far. Not even
the scientists know. 

The web resembles a circular western horse corral surrounding and protects a tiny spire.  It is
about 0.8 inches (roughly 2 centimeters) across.  Alexander believes the spire either contains
eggs or perhaps tiny pupae.  Seeking answers, he posted photos of his find on Reddit, asking for
help in identifying the maker of the odd web.  So far, he has drawn a blank, even from well-
known arachnologists.  There were plenty of guesses, however.  Some thought it might be a
cocoon, others that it might be a new type of fungus, or a protective defense for spider eggs.

It is entirely possible that whatever made this strange form might be a previously unidentified
species of spider or other insect.  Experts believe that there are literally millions of unknown
species of arthropods (spiders and other insects) alone.  In a survey conducted in Panama’s
jungle, 25,000 species of insects and spiders, along with other arthropods, were identified.
Surveyors discovered that about 70% of these species were previously unknown.   

Based on the results of the Panama survey, insect specialists could have their hands full for years
in trying to identify and study these tiny jungle denizens. 

If you’d like to see a photo of this fascinating web, go here   

Gigantism - The Tragic Story of a Victim

Las Vegas teenager Tanya Angus was a tall, pretty girl.  At 5 feet 8 inches tall, she stood slightly above some of her school friends.  But then, in 1999, she suddenly began to gain both weight and height.  When she passed away, she stood 7 feet 2 inches tall and weighed nearly 400 pounds. 

What happened?  Tanya had developed a non-cancerous tumor on her pituitary gland.  This resulted in the
development of a rare disorder called acromegaly.  Her body was releasing too much growth hormone, and there was no way to control it.

Tanya’s case is typical of adult acromegaly.  Victims develop a benign, or noncancerous tumor on the
pituitary gland, which is located at the base of the brain.  This gland produces several hormones besides the growth hormone, but in Tanya’s case it was the growth hormone that caused the worst of her medical problems. It was this hormone that caused her bones and other tissues to grow out of control.  The pressure created by the growing tumor causes headaches and impaired vision.

    Tanya must have gone through hell.  She needed specially made shoes and could not wear pullover shirts or sweaters.  Jewelers stretched her rings to size 20 and added chain to her necklaces.  Eventually she ended up in a wheelchair.  She ate one meal per day, but some people believed that she lacked the discipline to control her weight.  Her medications caused her face to swell.   

    Eventually, Tanya became an advocate for others suffering from acromegaly.  But her life ended suddenly
when she caught a cold and developed a fatal tear in her heart.

    Tanya’s story is one of the courage of a young woman.  It also points out that even though acromegaly is a
relatively rare disease, there is much work to be done to find a way to control and secure it for the sake of its victims and their families.  I hope someone takes up Tanya’s cause and provides help for those helpless sufferers.

There’s more information about acromegaly at this site

When is a Dead Man Really Dead?

Tony Yahle had been dead for 45 minutes, and hospital staff at Kettering Medical Center were preparing to move his body to the morgue.  Then his son stepped up and said, “Dad, you’re not going to die today.”  At that second, Yahle’s heart began to beat.  Doctors are at a loss to explain his sudden recovery.

It began when Yahle’s family realized he was not breathing and had no pulse.  They performed CPR while waiting for paramedics to arrive, but all efforts to revive him failed.  He was rushed to Kettering Medical Center with no heartbeat or other vital signs.  Doctors spent 45 minutes trying to revive him before declaring him dead.  It was then that his 17-year-old son shouted, “Dad, you’re not going to die today.”

At that point, Yahle’s heart monitor started showing up tiny electrical signals once or twice a minute.  His
cardiologist noticed them and renewed efforts to revive his patient.  Gradually, Yahle’s heart rate began to increase.  Finally, the cardiologist was able to say that Yahle would live through the bizarre incident.

Yahle later was transferred to Ohio State University’s Wexner Medical Center.  He woke up five days later.
Eventually he was allowed to go home to rest and recover.  When asked, the 37-year-old Yahle said he was feeling fine and planned to return to work the following Monday.

Interestingly enough, as I was preparing this article, I ran across stories of two other people, a man and a woman, who had also suddenly revived after having been declared dead by medical personnel.  Both had been dead approximately 45 minutes. 

Ordinarily, when oxygen to the brain has been cut off for a much shorter period of time than 45 minutes, there is significant brain damage.  In each of these three cases, the victims did not seem to experience obvious damage to their brains.  Is there some sort of “magic window” at 45 minutes in which some people can be restored with minimal or no damage? 

If you’d like a little more information, you’ll find it here:

Is This a Vampire Cemetery?

Construction workers working on a road near Gliwice in southern Poland uncovered four skeletons.  Later, another thirteen skeletons turned up.  All seventeen were found with their skulls placed between their knees or hands and stones placed on top of the skulls. 

According to archaeologists, this is the way suspected vampires were buried during the 15th and 16th centuries in Poland in order to prevent them from returning to life. 

So far, a total of 43 graves have been located at the grave site.  The other bodies were not treated in the same way as the seventeen.  Since the cemetery was located near an execution site, it is possible that some, if not all, of the victims were actually executed and then buried nearby. 

It is interesting that there was no sign of clothing or buttons found on the bodies.  It is probable, however, that the bodies were stripped of jewelry, coins, and other valuable items by either the executioners or the people who actually buried the bodies.

The skeletons are being removed from the site for testing designed to determine the ages of the victims and the possible causes of death.  Researchers are also studying church and court records to try to identify at least some of the individuals buried in this strange graveyard. 

There’s another article, along with a few photographs here:

What is This Stone Structure?

There is a strange stone cairn at the bottom of the Sea of Galilee.  It was discovered more than ten years ago, but information about it is only now becoming public.

The cairn (a stacked pile of rocks) is estimated to be 32 feet tall and is cone-shaped.  It is huge, with a diameter of 230 feet at its base.  Built of stacked, rough basalt cobbles and boulders, its weight is estimated at 60,000 tons.

It is probable that the mysterious cairn was built when sea levels were lower and most likely is more than 4,000 yearsold, although investigations into its actual age are still underway.  Archaeologists are hoping to find artifacts or other evidence to help them identify the cairn’s purpose. 

Similar cairns often mark graves.  If that is the case, the individual buried there would have had a high status
deserving of such a massive structure. It is also possible, of course, that the cairn was dedicated to an entire family group.

When Did Humans Really Reach the New World?

There are a number of archaeologists who say they have found evidence that people had ventured into the New World much earlier than the iconic Clovis culture.  In almost every case, their evidence has been dismissed by their colleagues.  So it is no real surprise that one of the most recent studies is being hotly contested.


A research team led by Christelle Lahaye of Michel de Montaigne Bordeaux 3 University in France led a team which excavated a rock shelter in Brazil.  They found 113 stone tools inside the site buried in ancient sediments.  Careful analysis of those sediments revealed that some of the tools had been buried 22,000 years ago, at least 6,000 years earlier than the oldest reliably dated Clovis artifacts.


One of the first criticisms of the team’s findings came from John McNabb of the University of Southampton in the United Kingdom.  He pointed out that evidence in rock shelters is open to different interpretations.  Rocks falling from cave ceilings and walls often resemble crude tools. But in the case of the Brazilian rock shelter, the “tools” are made of rock that is not naturally present at the site, suggesting that they were brought in from elsewhere. The team has found that some of those stones originated at least 10 miles away.

There is one more piece of elusive evidence that has not been discovered yet.  No human remains have been found.  Nor has any ancient cave art, a sure sign of human occupation, turned up at the cave or other nearby sites. 

LaHaye and her team are studying the original rock shelter and others nearby, looking for more evidence of human occupation.  It will be interesting to see how their investigation develops.  If this team can uncover more proof that people were in the Americans 22,000 years ago, there may yet be hope that some of the other claims for early occupation might be taken more seriously.

For more information about this intriguing find, go here