Theorist on Creation of Moon Dies

Alastair G. W. Cameron, a Harvard astrophysicist who helped develop a revolutionary theory to explain how the Moon was formed, died Oct. 3 at his home in Tucson. He was 80.

Dr. Cameron's famous work, known as the giant impact theory, holds that a planet roughly the size of Mars struck Earth, sending fragments of Earth's mantle spinning into the atmosphere. The ring of space debris that resulted may have ultimately come together to form the Moon.

Out of respect, tonight the moon will fall from the sky for a moment of silence.

One Light Stand: No, Elyse Sewell Will Not Sleep With You

Model Elyse Sewell (of America's Next Top Model, which I never saw) has a very interesting and funny blog about her life as a gorgeous human clotheshanger in Hong Kong. From what I hear, she was a pre-med student who took a detour into modeling. That she's bright is obvious from her clever, self-aware posts. That she's lovely speaks for itself.

The funniest post so far: one about a clueless dork who hits on her in a hotel while she waited for a work-related appointment. He was eager to flirt but the language barrier proved a little difficult. She finally got tired of trying to understand his speech and asked him to write down whatever it was he was trying to communicate. He did. The results:

From Elyse's account:

He hunched over into the universal Don't Copy Off My Homework Fartknocker posture and busied himself writing, like, forever.

Sonnet-writing forever. Feeling awkward but not quite yet willing to get testy and snatch back my diary, I took out my camera and took a picture of him as he paused to count his iambs.

Good thing I did. Now you can congratulate him if you ever see him on the street. Because this is what he finally handed back to me.

Totally Unnecessary Sequel, Part XVIII

Rambo is back in business. Sylvester Stallone will reprise his role as gun-toting John Rambo in the upcoming "Rambo IV," said Ben Nedivi of Millennium Films, which is producing the project with Emmett/Furla Films.

The 59-year-old Stallone also intends to bring boxer Rocky Balboa out of retirement. He will write and direct "Rocky Balboa," the sixth film in that franchise, with shooting set to begin next year.

It's funny, because I just saw Arnold Schwarzenegger last week and was struck by how very not tall he was, and back in the heyday of these two (you know, the '80's), rumor was always that Sly was even more petite. Perhaps there is an inverse relationship between one's physical stature and one's uncontrollable ambition to do bigger, badder, more ridiculous movies. Red Sonja 2007, anyone?

Major Dust Storm on Mars Visible with Backyard Telescopes

This begs the question: Why the heck don't I have a telescope? For all my years of nebbish obsession with all things spacey, I've never even looked through one.

A major dust storm has just broken out on Mars and the event will be visible this weekend with good-sized backyard telescopes.

The timing is incredible. Amateur skywatchers around the world are planning to gaze at Mars Saturday night because it will be closer to Earth than anytime until the year 2018.

The dust storm was no more than a small bright dot Thursday yet it was large and obvious Friday, as seen in images taken by Clay Sherrod at the Arkansas Sky Observatories.

Prince Harry, Front and Center Rear

Speaking of people unwillingly written into a thousand Mary Sue/fanfics, Prince Harry the Hellion:

Britain's Prince Harry was forced to drop his trousers during a military parade to prove he did not have his girlfriend's name tattooed on his royal rear, a British newspaper said.

The Sun, Britain's biggest-selling daily, said Harry, third in line to the throne, was ordered to bare his bum after rumours spread he had blonde Zimbawean-born girlfriend Chelsy Davy's name inked on.

During a parade, a colour sergeant yelled: "Cadet Wales, drop your pants and show me your backside!"

Harry, apparently oblivious to the rumour, replied: "Are you serious?" before being ordered: "Just get them off, I want to see if it's true", The Sun said.

The prince had his trousers around his knees before the grinning colour sergeant said: "It's OK, Wales, I'll take your word for it!"

Mr. Sulu Comes Out

And to think of the decades of Kirk/Spock slash that fanboys and fangirls have labored over.

"You know, it's not really coming out," Takei says in the Nov. 22 issue of the Los Angeles-based gay and lesbian magazine Frontiers (www.FrontiersPublishing.com). "It's more like a long, long walk through what began as a narrow corridor that starts to widen."

Takei, a Japanese-American who lived in a U.S. internment camp from age 4 to 8, said he grew up feeling ashamed of his ethnicity and sexuality. He likened prejudice against gays to racial segregation.

"It's against basic decency and what American values stand for," he said.

Rue McClanahan Throws Down. Watch it, Bea Arthur

And you thought Blanche Deveraux was just slutty. Apparently, she's slutty and sassy. Meoow! Actually, I find this kind of refreshing. Now my appetite is whetted for the E! True Hollywood Story: the Golden Girls.

Very Blanche. Speaking of, I was wondering if your Golden Girls co-star Bea Arthur—who was famous on Broadway for appearing in Mame—had any advice for you about going into Wicked?
She hasn't even acknowledged that I'm in it.

Oh. Well, you wanna ask her anything via this interview on Broadway.com?
Oh, I don't need her advice, honey.

Man Writes Anti-Dangerous Dog Bill, Goes Home, Is Attacked By Own Dog

Dog bites man. It happens, you know.

The author of a new state law that allows felony charges against owners of dangerous dogs was hospitalized over the weekend after his own dog attacked him.

Bob Schwartz, who also is Gov. Bill Richardson's crime adviser, was hospitalized at University of New Mexico Hospital on Sunday night with bites on both his arms, said Pahl Shipley, a spokesman for the governor.

Schwartz has three dogs registered with the city: a boxer and two English bulldogs, said Denise Wilcox, who oversees Albuquerque's animal care centers.

Janet Jackson Insists She's Nobody's Mommy

"When I was seventeen
I did what people told me
I did what my father said
And let my mother mold me"

Janet Jackson says she is not a mother. In a terse statement released Wednesday, the 39-year-old singer denied a former brother-in-law's claim that she has a "secret" 18-year-old daughter.

"I do not have a child and all allegations saying so are false," Jackson said.

On Friday, Young DeBarge, the brother of Jackson's ex-husband, James DeBarge, said Jackson and his brother had a child named Renee that was living with Rebbie Jackson, Janet's oldest sister.

Well, she did hide a secret marriage for almost ten years, and this rumor has been whispered about for a very long time. You know, about eighteen years.

Nicolas Cage Explains Name of Son, Kal-El

"Alice and I wanted to have a name that was exotic and American and which stood for something good, because our son is exotic and he's American and we both think he's good. But having said that, I always liked the sound of the name. It has kind of a magical ring to it: Abracadabra Kal-El Shazam!"

Speculation has already begun that their daughter will be named either Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious, or Wonder Woman.

Elephants Mourn Their Dead

Elephants may pay homage to the bones of dead relatives in their home ranges, a study of the creatures’ responses to skulls and ivory suggests.

African elephants have been observed to become highly agitated when they come across the bodies of their own, and they have been seen to pay great attention to the skull and ivory of long-dead elephants. However, this interest had not been tested experimentally.

Now research from a team in the UK and Kenya has demonstrated that African elephants pay a higher level of interest to elephant skulls compared with those of other animals and ivory compared to wood.

Linguist Deciphers Uses of Word 'Dude'

Dude, you've got to read this. A linguist from the University of Pittsburgh has published a scholarly paper deconstructing and deciphering the word "dude," contending it is much more than a catchall for lazy, inarticulate surfers, skaters, slackers and teenagers.

An admitted dude-user during his college years, Scott Kiesling said the four-letter word has many uses: in greetings ("What's up, dude?"); as an exclamation ("Whoa, Dude!"); commiseration ("Dude, I'm so sorry."); to one-up someone ("That's so lame, dude."); as well as agreement, surprise and disgust ("Dude.").

Further studies will explore the linguistic origins of the word "bitch," which is also an ancient and treasured part of our heritage, which can be used as any part of speech, and with countless (and ever-evolving) uses.

Candy Fears are Mere Halloween Phantoms

There is little, repeat, little danger in small sweet packages on All Hallow's Eve. Can we please focus our worry and paranoia on actual, verifiable fears?

Despite e-mail warnings, scary stories, and Ann Landers columns to the contrary, there have been only two confirmed cases of children being killed by poisoned Halloween candy, and in both cases the children were killed not in a random act by strangers but intentional murder by one of their parents. The best-known, "original" case was that of Texan Ronald Clark O'Bryan, who killed his son by lacing his Pixie Stix with cyanide in 1974.

There have been a few instances of candy tampering over the years—and in most cases the "victim" turned out to be the culprit, children doing it as a prank or to draw attention. With the exceptions noted above, no child has been killed or seriously harmed by contaminated Halloween candy.

Man Fleeing Chicago Cops Jumps in Lake

To paraphrase a Cuban Chicago friend, "that water is not warm enough to swim in at the end of August," let alone to hop into in late October for a quickie getaway.

A man fleeing from Chicago police early this morning tried to get away by jumping into Lake Michigan, but officers simply waited on shore until he got so cold he had to come out of the water, WGN-AM 720 reported.

Intergalactic Booty Call: Romance in Space Could Jeopardize Missions

Sex and romantic entanglements among astronauts could derail missions to Mars and should therefore be studied by NASA, warns a top-level panel of US researchers.

NASA plans to return astronauts to the Moon by 2018 and later on to Mars. But a round-trip mission to the Red Planet would probably last at least 30 months and carry six to eight people. That would be a hotbed for intense crew relationships, says a report by the US National Academy of Sciences (NAS).

"With the prospect of a very long-term mission, it's hard to ignore the question of sexuality," says Lawrence Palinkas, a medical anthropologist at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, an author of the report. It reviewed NASA's plans for research to keep astronauts safe and healthy in space – but the plans make no mention of sexual issues in spaceflight.

Megan Mullally Gets a Talk Show

Karen Walker herself will soon sit showbiz's hottest and most telegenic down for a chat in your own living room. Break out the cosmos and happy pills! But really, how can she be 46? Madonna is about 46, and she looks like beef jerky. Megan simply glows.

Megan Mullally's daytime syndicated talk-variety show has been sold in four top markets for a fall 2006 launch.

Mullally has "unique talents as a host, singer and Emmy Award-winning comedic actress," Barry Wallach, president of NBC Universal Domestic Television Distribution, said in a statement.

"The feedback we have received from the advertising and broadcasting communities is one of excitement, as they clearly recognize Megan as a fresh new personality for daytime," he said.

Police Find Naked Man Hanging From Ceiling

DARLINGTON, S.C. - Police responding to an alarm at a cash advance business found a naked man hanging from the ceiling early Thursday morning.

An officer answering the alarm noticed tiles, insulation, wires and metal braces hanging from the roof and on the floor of the Check 'n Go, Darlington Police Lt. Danny Watson said.

A naked man with scrapes all over his body then dropped from the ceiling and tried to open the front door and leave, according to a police report.

"He had a charming story to go along with it though. He said somebody threw his keys on the roof and that's why he was up there," Watson said. "He kind of got a little fuzzy on the 'taking all his clothes off and sliding in the store' part."

Tab Hunter, Kissing Sandra Dee, Thought of Rock Hudson

Tab Hunter writes about being a closeted gay actor in the spotlight of 1950s Hollywood in his new memoir, "Tab Hunter Confidential: The Making of a Movie Star."

When Confidential magazine published a story in 1955 that implied he was gay, "I wasn't angry, I was more fearful," Hunter told AP Radio in a recent interview. "I had very, very few close friends and even a smaller number knew what my sexuality was."

A Call To Arms: Paper Hat Guy E-Mails Bella

Right before I left for Las Vegas, I received an e-mail with the subject line: "I'm the paper hat guy."

Yeah, that's right, paper hat guy. Loyal readers of my blog (Hi, Mom!) will remember him from my blog entry where I whined about being sick and taking the train to see a doctor. A link to that entry: More Delight on the Red Line - This Time, With Paper Hats.

Paper Hat Guy, is, in fact, a real person: Scotty Iseri. He's the guy in the light green t-shirt in the photo above. From his e-mail (which he okayed for reprint here):

Hi bella,

My name's scotty. Just wanted to say thanks for the kind words on your blog. I've been called worse than puckish and lanky.

The paper hat thing is a game i'm trying to get started for CTA riders. There's 3 rules:

1) You can't talk (no saying "Hey you! Put this hat on!")
2) You can't force anybody to play (So no fair putting hats on sleeping/drunk people)
3) You always win (people tend to like this rule)

And you saw how it was played. Get on the train, make a hat, put it on. Make another hat, give it to somebody, stare at them until they put it on. Repeat until the car is full.

Thanks tons for playing along. it's always easier when there's some cool people that catch on right away. If you ever get the urge to play the game, shoot me off an email and lemme know how it went.

Thanks again,

Scotty
www.scottyiseri.com

You heard him, folks. It's a movement. Uncle Hat wants you. Start your own round of the paper hat game the next time you're bustling through the city on the CTA.

Muerto Las Vegas

Glitter Gulch Knocks Bella Out!

Yes, I've recently returned from a week working on a business conference in Las Vegas. It was my first visit to Sin City, Orlando for grownups, Mobville USA, Sodom Heights.

In the interest of discretion (and continued employment), I will offer a few spare observations in summary. Keep in mind that this was my very first trip to Las Vegas, and that I worked (roughly) 18 hour days in challenging circumstances.

1. Las Vegas is gaudy. Even the high-end, "opulant" hotels and resorts: gaudy.

2.Video slots are like playing video games. Video games which eat your money by the giant mouthful, and are, aside from the dubious promise of BIG CASH, totally boring. I got a bigger endorphin release playing Pitfall on Atari when I was 8 years old. (Yes, I lost all of my "designated gaming money" during the 15 free minutes I had to take advantage of Las Vegas adult gaming diversions. Please shed a tear for me and my $20.)

3. At one point near the end of my time there, I stepped outside into a garden-type area to chat with a co-worker who was enjoying a smoke. I saw two little nondescript birds flitting about, searching the ground of bits of food, and something inside me sighed with relief. All that time I'd been working inside this overly-designed and carefully controlled interior environment with the overstimulating bells and flashing lights of the casinos, I'd had absolutely no interaction with what could be reasonably called "nature." As someone with a strong personal (and, previously, professional) tie to the animal world, I had been missing that connection strongly, but had been too busy to reflect and realize it. Like a total nutter, I sat down on a bench and started talking to the little birds. My co-worker laughed, and I laughed at the absurdity, but it made me feel a little better. (Don't even ask my reaction when I re-entered the hotel and saw a toddler spinning around on the floor in front of our office. It was like seeing a unicorn.)

4. I really enjoyed getting to know and work with some new folks (clients and local staff as well) onsite, and am recounting the good laughs we had while I take long epsom salt baths in an attempt to reduce the mass of adhesions that now populate my aching lower back.

Oh, also, one night as some co-workers and I were desperately trying to catch a cab back to our hotel after working like dam-cramming beavers on crystal meth, we saw Arnold Schwarzenegger pull out of the hotel driveway, waving like Miss America. His car went right by us with the window down, and he looked expectanctly at me, perhaps anticipating a big reaction. I was so exhausted I just sort of looked at him and said "See ya."

CTA Ticket Archive

"Standing passengers, please do not lean against the doors."

Tofu Cream is the New Black: Anna Wintour Takes a Pie to the Face

French anti-fur activists said they struck Anna Wintour, editor of the U.S. edition of Vogue, in the face with a cream pie on Saturday to protest against her support for the use of animal fur by the fashion industry.

Wintour, dressed in a fur-trimmed black jacket, was hit in the face with a tofu cream pie as she left the Chloe fashion ready-to-wear show at the Tuileries Gardens in central Paris, members of the group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) said.

That's right, Vogue editor Anna Wintour, well-known for her frosty demeanor and equally frozen face, has been splashed twice in the kisser with tofu cream delight in the name of compassion for animals. It's getting to the point that high fashion should probably just embrace the whole concept, and not only stop using fur in their designs, but send their models tottering down the runway in pre-pied gowns and suits.

Private Spaceflight: Shifting into Fast Forward

The next generation of human spaceflight is no longer the sole province of governments. Private spaceships transporting passengers first to the edge of space--and ultimately into orbit--are in various stages of design, construction and testing.

What's more, there is an air of competition between rival camps of rocketeers. They foresee big business as patrons dig deep in their wallets to shoot for the sky.

A Phrase Which Should Be Banned From the Keyboards of Cultural Critics of All Kinds

"Inextricably intertwined."

Results 1 - 10 of about 238,000 for "inextricably intertwined". (0.62 seconds)

How To Build a Space Elevator

A space elevator made of a carbon nanotubes composite ribbon anchored to an offshore sea platform would stretch to a small counterweight approximately 62,000 miles (100,000 km) into space. Mechanical lifters attached to the ribbon would then climb the ribbon, carrying cargo and humans into space, at a price of only about $100 to $400 per pound ($220 to $880 per kg).

Shirley Temple, Shirley Maclaine Hate Paris Hilton

Shirley Temple: The 77-year-old former curly topped cutie has blasted Hilton, saying that those like the partying heiress are “stealing the thunder from really talented actors who have learnt their craft,” reports the London Express.



100% of these Shirleys agree. Paris Hilton is a talentless skank.




Shirley Maclaine: “She just shops and turns up to parties,” said MacLaine while promoting her film “In Her Shoes.” “So she wears pink and has blonde hair and suddenly she calls herself not a starlet or an ingénue — no, according to Paris, she is a movie star!”

You Always Freeze The Ones You Love: Cryogenics Goes Nano

Cryobiologists are hopeful that a new technology called nanotechnology will make revival a reality someday. Nanotechnology uses microscopic machines to manipulate single atoms -- the tiniest units of an organism -- to build or repair virtually anything, including human cells and tissues.




The hope is that, one day, nanotechnology will repair not only the cellular damage caused by the freezing process, but also the damage caused by aging and disease. Some cryobiologists predict that the first cryonic revival might occur somewhere around the year 2040.




The first thing that will happen when cryotechnology evolves to the point of successful thawing and re-animation? Ted Williams will shake off the frost and sock a few dingers, and Walt Disney will set about creating AustraliaDisney.

Mariah Carey's Breasts Offer Her Many of Life's Advantages

"I used to play poker with my sister. But I think my low-cut dress put some of the guys off."

Brains of Pathological Liars Have Structural Abnormalities

The brains of pathological liars have structural abnormalities that could make fibbing come naturally.

“Some people have an edge up on others in their ability to tell lies,” says Adrian Raine, a psychologist at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles. “They are better wired for the complex computations involved in sophisticated lies.”

He found that pathological liars have on average more white matter in their prefrontal cortex, the area of the brain that is active during lying, and less grey matter than people who are not serial fibbers. White matter enables quick, complex thinking while grey matter mediates inhibitions.

Raine says the combination of extra white matter and less grey matter could be giving people exactly the right mix of traits to make them into good liars. These are the first biological differences to be discovered between pathological liars and the general population.

Courtney Love's Mother Writes Tell-All Biography

Courtney Love is up in arms over a new tell-all penned by her mother, Linda Carroll, that claims among other things that the troubled rocker started using drugs at the age of 4.

Though Love has admittedly not read the book, titled Her Mother's Daughter and due out in January from Doubleday, she has denounced the memoir, claiming that it is full of inaccuracies.

The singer-actress released a statement through her spokesman, Peter Asher, saying that she finds it "astonishing, and profoundly depressing, that any mother would write a book containing numerous allegations about her own young daughter."

According to the New York Post, Carroll alleges in the book that Love's father used to dose his young daughter with "magic pills" and draw psychedelic designs all over her naked four-year-old body. She claims she eventually had to go to court to prevent him from having unsupervised visits with the child.

Unsurprisingly, given her mother's claims, Love reportedly started therapy at age 6. By age 9, she was caught reading porn magazines in an adult bookstore and by 12, she had started drinking heavily.

And everyone thought that Frances Bean would be the next one to write a "Courtney is so f*&'ed up" biography.

Bella Rossa Is Accepting Donations To Fund Her Own Space Flight

The U.S. scientist slated to become the third non-astronaut to visit the international space station said Friday on the eve of the launch that he was nervous, and he defended his participation as a necessary step in the evolution of space flight.

"I will feel most relaxed and most happy when the rocket is taking off," said Gregory Olsen, 60, of Princeton, N.J., whose trip reportedly costs $20 million. "This has been two years of very hard work. In 20 hours, I will feel very, very good."

Olsen, whose trip was brokered by Virginia-based Space Adventures Ltd., said at a news conference that he preferred the term "space flight participant" to "space tourist." Tokarev labeled Olsen as "scientific investigator of the international space station."

Celebrity Caption Contest - Liz Hurley and Donatella Versace

Donatella Versace most closely resembles:
A) A baked apple.
B) A pleather loveseat.
C) A burnt Muppet.

Statues of Ancient Goddesses Discovered in Crete

The life-sized marble statues of two ancient Greek goddesses have emerged during excavations of a 5,000-year-old town on the island of Crete, archaeologists said Friday.

The works, representing the goddesses Athena and Hera, date to between the second and fourth centuries — during the period of Roman rule in Greece — and originally decorated the Roman theater in the town of Gortyn, archaeologist Anna Micheli from the Italian School of Archaeology told The Associated Press.

"They are in very good condition," she said, adding that the statue of Athena, goddess of wisdom, was complete, while Hera — long-suffering wife of Zeus, the philandering king of gods — was headless.

Schwarzenegger Signs California Anti-Paparazzi Law

California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed a law on Friday tripling damages celebrities can win from paparazzi if they are assaulted during a shoot and denying the photographers profits from any pictures taken during an altercation.

The new law comes as Los Angeles authorities try to crack down on aggressive photographers following a series of altercations involving actresses Reese Witherspoon, Lindsay Lohan and Scarlett Johansson, among others.

As an actor, Schwarzenegger had testified against two photographers convicted in a 1998 incident involving him and his wife. He also once lobbied for a buffer zone protecting celebrities.

AIDS Virus May Be Weakening

The virus which causes Aids may be getting less powerful, researchers say.

A team at the Institute of Tropical Medicine, in Antwerp, compared HIV-1 samples from 1986-89 and 2002-03.

They found the newer samples appeared not to multiply as well, and were more sensitive to drugs - some other studies argue they are becoming more resistant.

The researchers, writing in the journal Aids, stressed their work in no way meant efforts to prevent the spread of HIV should be scaled down.

Biologists Observe Gorillas Using Tools

For the first time, biologists have documented gorillas in the wild using simple tools, such as poking a stick in a swampy pool of water to check its depth.

Until now, scientists had seen gorillas use tools only in captivity. Among the great apes, tool use in the wild was thought to be a survival skill reserved for smaller chimpanzees and orangutans.

Tom Cruise is a Moron, Part XXII

Tom Cruise was the victim of a recent Internet scam in the form of a fake press release posted on the British Website Pressbox.co.uk that claimed the actor would be giving a series of lectures on metal-health issues.

The release, purportedly issued by the actor's lawyer, Bertram Fields, claimed that Cruise would be bellying up to a podium at Los Angeles' Scientology Celebrity Center to discuss topics such as "How Psychiatry Invented Schizophrenia and What Scientologists Can Do About It" and "Handling Sexual Disorientation: Out of the Closet and into the Auditing Room."

Tom actually had his attorney respond to this obviously fake (and funny) press release, with the usual humorless intensity. When is this dude going to figure out that making loud public pronouncements and filing kajillions of lawsuits whenever someone writes a spoof article about him or suggests he is less than 100% heterosexual only draws more attention to the subject at hand? Wait. Let's read the funniest part again:"Out of the Closet and into the Auditing Room."

Duh: Army in Worst Recruiting Slump in Decades

The Army is closing the books on one of the leanest recruiting years since it became an all-volunteer service three decades ago, missing its enlistment target by the largest margin since 1979 and raising questions about its plans for growth.

Many in Congress believe the Army needs to get bigger — perhaps by 50,000 soldiers over its current 1 million — in order to meet its many overseas commitments, including the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The Army already is on a path to add 30,000 soldiers, but even that will be hard to achieve if recruiters cannot persuade more to join the service.

Bai Ling and Bobby Trendy Can't Keep Their Nipples To Themselves

That's so endearing. Bobby and Bai still think that a coy Janice Dickenson-style "oops, my titty popped out" will garner positive press and attention. Instead, they look like dumb Tara Reid-style "oops, my titty popped out" attention whores for whom the snap and pop of the press corps flashbulbs is like food and water. Oops!

20 Million Year Old Spider Found Encased in Amber

A scientist has described a spider that was trapped and preserved in amber 20 million years ago.

Palaeontologist Dr David Penney, of the University of Manchester, found the 4cm long by 2cm wide fossil during a visit to a museum in the Dominican Republic.

Since the discovery two years ago, he has used droplets of blood in the amber to reveal the age of the specimen.

It is thought to be the first time spider blood has been found in amber and scientists hope to extract its DNA.

Paris Hilton, Paris Latsis Call Off Engagement

Paris Hilton has ended her five-month engagement to a Greek shipping heir, according to a published report.

The celebutante-turned-model broke off the wedding plans with Paris Latsis, according to a report posted Friday on Us Weekly's Web site, which quoted a statement it said Hilton released to the magazine.

This is such a crying shame. I was so looking forward to what girl Paris was referring to as a "royal wedding," as she said:

"But the actual event is going to have a royal theme and London is the only place to do that. I'm the closest thing to American royalty anyway. It's fitting really as the Queen is married to a Greek and so will I be."

"And so will I be?" She sounds pretty grammatically impoverished. You really have to question this claim of royalty. Did we ever see Princess Diana make porn tapes and show up in public several times with her actual vagina visible? No. We did not.

Giant Space Loofah? No, Hyperion

It may have the look of a giant sponge, but this is Saturn's moon Hyperion, as pictured by the Cassini spacecraft.

The US-European probe has just made a flyby of the satellite, crossing its surface at a distance of just 500km.

The surface is speckled with impact craters which scientists say have been modified by some process, not yet understood, to create the strange look.

Much of the interior of Hyperion is empty space, suggesting it is little more than a pile of space rubble.