Cool and Amazing Tragic end for the zoo deer who leapt into a lion enclosure

This is the moment a baby deer makes a real error of judgement and jumps into a zoo enclosure containing a pair of hungry lions.

Desperate visitors watched in horror as the young whitetail deer literally leapt into the lions' den at the National Zoo in Washington, U.S.

The crowd urged the tiny fawn to run as a lioness chased after the creature and trapped it beneath one of its paws.


But the plucky deer managed to shake off its pursuers, race away before leaping into a moat which surrounded the lion enclosure.

Cheering spectators then watched as keepers managed to the two lionesses back into their pens while they rescued the deer from the water.

Witness Rob Ephraim said the deer ran between people at the railing of the low wall and jumped into the sunken enclosure with the lions.

He said: 'It was running and it leaped, it must have had a death wish.'

Tragically the animal suffered serious wounds to its stomach and had to be put down.

The National Zoo is part of Rock Creek Park, home to many deer and other wild or 'feral' animals including raccoons and chipmunks.


Zoo spokeswoman Pamela Baker-Massan said it was the first time a deer had managed to get inside one of the carnivore's enclosures.

She said that the fawn had suffered serious injuries that it would not have been able to recover from.

Awesome Lightning Vs Aeroplanes

Lightning striking any object is enough to send shivers down your spine, but when the object is an aeroplane, it’s an event that can shake us to our very bones. Every time a plane plummets from the sky, we are reminded of how precarious flying is for us humans, and the force of lightning seems to highlight how much the heavens’ odds seem stacked against us. Yet exactly what danger does it present to planes?

In the wake of the recent Air France Airbus AF447 disaster – which crashed into the Atlantic carrying 228 people, and whose cause at the time of writing remains unclear – let’s consider the phenomenon of lightning hitting planes, and weigh up how much of a risk it poses to our activities in the air.

The hardest golf shot in the world.

It's the golfing equivalent of climbing Everest.

This is the hole that has taken over the mantle of the world's toughest.

From the top of a mountain in South Africa, players must hit a shot 400m over a near forest onto a green 400m below.

If you manage to overcome vertigo tracking your ball through the air, looking to see where it landed requires a mountaineer's bravery.

And the gauntlet has been thrown down to the world's best golfers: anyone who gets a hole-in-one will win an astonishing $1million (£671,000).

The Extreme 19th hole is part of the Legend Golf and Safari Resort at Entabeni in the Limpopo province in South Africa.

It's so high that it takes the ball 30 seconds to reach the green.

And you can forget golf carts - players willing to take their chances on the million-dollar prize have to take a helicopter to get there.

It is both the longest and the highest par-three on the planet.

'I think this hole is awesome,' reigning Open champion Padraig Harrington said.

'This is the type of innovation and excitement we need to get more people playing golf.

'There aren't many new innovative ways to play the game - but this is certainly one of the best.'

To launch the hole - which does not form part of the round - double Open champion Padraig Harrington and fellow pro Raphael Jacquelin, from France, were drafted in to give it their best shot.

Incredibly, they both managed to hit the green - but a hole in one was beyond even their illustrious reach.

Hand of God: Scientists reveal amazing X-ray image of a supernova in deep space

We've already seen pictures of his eye... now we have the first image of the hand of God.

The ghostly blue cloud seems to form an outstretched thumb and fingers grasping a burning lump of coal.

This astonishing image was taken by Nasa's Chandra X-ray observatory, which is orbiting 360 miles above the Earth's surface.

It recalls those of the Helix planetary nebula, whose blue centre surrounded by white clouds earned it the nickname 'the eye of God'.

The hand was created when a star exploded in a supernova, creating a rapidly-spinning 12-mile-wide star called a pulsar, which is deep inside the white blob at the hand's wrist.

The pulsar is spewing out enormous amounts of electromagnetic energy, creating a dust and gas cloud so wide that it would take a light beam 150 years to cross from side to side.
The red disc is a separate cloud of gas. The fingers are thought to have been created as the energy passed from the pulsar to this gas cloud.

Nasa scientists estimate the moment depicted here actually happened 17,000 years ago.

It has taken since then for the X-rays, travelling at 670million mph, to reach Earth.

Girl of five who is the youngest to be given hi-tech legs

No wonder five-year-old Ellie Challis is facing life with an extra spring in her step.

She has become the youngest person in the world to be fitted with the flex-run feet used by leading paralympians including Oscar 'Blade Runner' Pistorius.

Ellie, who lost her hands and lower legs to meningitis as a toddler, had spent the last two years walking on conventional prosthetic limbs. But she complained that she struggled to keep up with her twin sister Sophie.

Her parents Paul and Lisa contacted the world-renowned prosthetic limb centre Dorset Orthopaedic, and managing director Bob Watts agreed to make a junior version of the carbon-fibre blades.

Mr Watts said: 'We were worried that she wouldn't be able to balance properly on them, but she has made amazing progress.'

Ellie, from Little Clacton, Essex, was struck down with meningitis at the age of 16 months.

At one point her heart stopped and doctors called in her parents to say their last farewells.

'Paul and I just stood at the end of her bed shouting at her to survive,' said 35-year-old Mrs Challis, who works as a carer for adults with learning difficulties.

'We thought we were going to lose her, but amazingly she pulled through and her heart started again.'

Over the next four days, however, Ellie's legs and arms started to turn black and the couple were told they would have to be amputated.

'The operation took six hours and I was just so shocked when I saw her - there was so little left of her,' said Mrs Challis. 'I just kept crying.'

Ellie was inspired to overcome her handicaps by Sophie, her constant companion. And well-wishers raised hundreds of thousands of pounds to help her.

She was fitted with NHS prosthetic limbs a few weeks after the operation, but found them too painful.

Mrs Challis said: 'She would wear them for 20 minutes maximum each day as they weren't flexible and they caused her pain.'

In December 2006 Ellie was given new legs with moving knee joints, which were a great improvement.

But the flexible blades will change her life. They helped South African Pistorius race to world records in his 100, 200 and 400-metres events.

Mr Challis, 45, said: 'Ellie can walk twice as fast on these new legs - it really is amazing to see. She is so full of determination.'

The legs cost £10,000 for a pair and will need to be replaced every two years. Mr Watts added: 'We didn't know if it would be possible to make some small enough.

'But now Ellie is the youngest in the world to have such legs - and there is no holding her back.'

Awesome loudspeaker that is thin as a sheet of foil

A groundbreaking new loudspeaker that can be printed on and used as a wall poster has been developed by British engineers.

The lightweight and flexible speakers are less than 0.25mm thick and could also be concealed in car interiors or ceiling tiles.

They were developed by the University of Warwick spin-out company, Warwick Audio Technologies, who plan to start selling them later this year.

Steve Couchman, CEO of Warwick Audio Technologies said: 'We believe this is a truly innovative technology.

'Its size and flexibility means it can be used in all sorts of areas where space is at a premium.'
Enlarge laminate

The laminate is made up of conducting and insulating materials

All speakers work by converting an electric signal into sound. Usually, the signal is used to generate a varying magnetic field, which in turn vibrates a mechanical cone to produce a sound.

The new 'Flat, Flexible Loudspeaker' uses a bendy laminate made up of thin, conducting and insulating materials, which when vibrated by an electrical signal produces a clearer, crisper noise.

The makers say the sound is projected further and doesn't deteriorate in quality or volume like conventional speakers. It can also be angled in a certain direction.

The FFL was first developed by Dr Duncan Billson and Professor David Hutchins, both from the University of Warwick, with early trials using just two sheets of tinfoil and an insulating layer of baking paper to produce sound.

They hope they will one day replace all traditional speakers used in our homes and cars.

Cow gives birth to different breeds

You could argue about it until the cow's come home.

Others would describe it as a moo-t point.

But when these twin calves were born ten days ago, they looked so different that the farmer who owns them has declared then to be completely different breeds.

According to Vic Phillips, you can tell the breeds apart by the colour of their coats.

And when his Aberdeen Angus bull Eric mated with a Simmental cow called Jemima, he says he was blessed with two calves that each continued one of the mating lines.

Mr Phillips, who farms his cattle in Rooksbridge, Somerset, says Ernie has come out a fawn colour and is the same breed as his mother, a Simmental.

And he claims Emily, who is darker shade of black and brown, is an Aberdeen Angus.

Speaking from his 90-acre farm, Mr Phillips said: 'It happens but it is quite rare.

'I thought there must have been a mistake and another cow had given birth as well but it turned out that they were twins.

'We have only been farming for two-and-a-half years this is our first ever set of twins.'

He said he only has one bull, so it is not possible that another bull mated with Jemima.

His wife Trish added: 'Normally when you get twins they are both the same breed but we got one of each which is really rare.

'They are both doing really well and we are delighted with our unusual twins.'

Experts in the field, however, urged some caution before hailing an evoluntionary breakthrough.

Ron McHattie, chief executive of the Aberdeen-Angus Cattle Society, said: 'I suppose if the heifer had mated with two different bulls of different breeds on the same day two different eggs could have been fertilised and she would have conceived twins of different breeds.'

Cattle specialist Sally Wilson from Evolution Farm Vets in Bridgwater, Somerset, said the only way it can happen is if the female mated with two different bulls, of different breeds in the same sitting.

Steam car ready to break 100 year old land speed recor

Awesome pink baby elephant has been caught on camera in Africa.

Google Earth reveals fish trap made from rocks 1,000 years ago off British coast

For centuries it has lain undisturbed beneath the waves, just a stone's throw from one of Britain's best-loved beaches.

Stretching more than 280 yards along the sea bed, this bizarre V-shaped structure is a giant fish trap, used at the time of the Norman Conquest to catch hundreds of fish without the need for a boat, rod or net.

The ancient structure - discovered by archaeologists studying aerial photographs of the West Wales coast - is so large it can now be seen on Google Earth.

Scientists believe it is one of the biggest structurse of its kind.

The fish trap is submerged at low tide and no longer catches fish. But in its day, it was designed to act as a natural rock pool - trapping fish behind its rock walls as the tide flowed out.

Dr Ziggy Otto, a diver and lecturer in the coastal environment at Pembrokeshire College, believes the trap is around 1,000 years old.

'It is an amazing structure,' he said. 'It looks well defined on the photographs, but when you are in the water it looks just like a natural reef.

'There can be little doubt that this rather impressive, and quite apparently man made, structure is an ancient fish trap. The structure is entirely underwater at all stages of the tide.'

The trap is just 12ft deep close to Poppit Sands on the Teifi Estuary in Dyfed. Dr Otto believes the walls are made of locally quarried rock or boulders brought down to the coast by glaciers during the last ice age.

The trap's walls are covered in algae, worms and sea anemones. The wall is around three feet wide, and only the top foot is exposed. The researchers are unsure how tall the original trap was - and how much is buried under the shifting sands.

The V-shaped structure has a gap at its point where fisherman would have placed nets to catch fish. They could also have blocked up the gap, and then scooped up fish trapped in the shallows.

The trap could have been used to catch migratory salmon and trout as they swam up the Teifi, said Dr Otto.

Fish traps, or fish weirs, were common and controversial in Britain 1,000 years ago. They were so effective at removing fish from rivers, the Magna Carta banned them - allowing them only on the coast.

Louise Austin, of the Dyfed Archaeological Trust, said: 'Fish traps were a widely used means of catching fish in the past which made a significant contribution to the economy of many coastal and estuarine communities. Today only a few are known to survive in Wales.'

On an exploratory dive, archaeologists discovered that the trap was acting like a natural reef and was covered in tube dwelling worms, red algae and sea anemones.

They plan to visit the trap again tomorrow.

Although it was recently spotted on aerial photographs, an armchair archaeologists could have discovered the trap for themselves on Google Earth.

Google said the V-shaped structure has been visible on its collection of satellite and aerial photos since at least December 2006.

'It's true that many amazing discoveries have been made in Google Earth - a pristine forest in Mozambique that is home to previously unknown species, a fringing coral reef off the coast of Australia, and the remains of an Ancient Roman villa, to name just a few,' a spokesman said.

'Everyday we're impressed and inspired by what eagle-eyed armchair explorers and scientists alike discover about our world using this technology.'

Last month, a mysterious grid of lines in the Atlantic was spotted on Google Earth 600 miles off the coast of Africa. The discovery set internet bloggers buzzing with excitement and appeared to baffle Atlantis experts.

However, the grids turned out to have been created when the Google map was created - and do not exist in the real world.

Dolphins perfect bubble rings underwater

SeaWorld has revealed amazing footage of dolphins blowing bubble rings out of their blowholes.
They are captured blowing puffs of air and angling their heads so that they rise in a straight line thereby creating the perfect circles.
The underwater mammals from Sea World Orlando's Dolphin Cove are shown playing with the large bubble rings and spinning them around with their noses. They also bite into them to create smaller circles.
'It's a cool behaviour the dolphins seem to learn from one another,' one trainer said.
Another said it was the 'most incredible thing' he had ever seen.

Most of the playful mammals who display the behaviour are females. This may be because males are preoccupied with socialising with eachother.
SeaWorld has kept dolphins for more than 30 years, but one trainer said they were still surprising them.
'Just when you think you've seen it all, something new comes up,' he said.
'These animals have alot more to teach us.'
Watch the incredible video here...

The moment an awe-inspiring desert storm engulfed the Saudi capital

With terrifying majesty, a giant dust storm swept in from the desert and enveloped large parts of the Saudi capital Riyadh today.

The vast, whirling clouds cast an apocalyptic yellowish hue over the city's sprawling surburbs, choking residents with a blanket of grit and sand.

The awe-inspiring storm engulfed buildings and caused huge traffic jams as it enveloped the city of 4million people in a layer of impenetrable gloom.

Riyadh's airport was forced to halt flights as the swirling eddies of dust blacked out visibility from the control tower and on the main runways.

A civil aviation spokesman said: 'It was a very frightening spectacle as it approached the city.

'Outbound flights from Riyadh were suspended and incoming flights were diverted to other airports in the kingdom.'

Motorists said visibility on motorways was reduced a few metres as the storm blew in.

Commuter Nasser Ahmed: 'Most drivers pulled over and shut their windows, while a few ploughed slowly on with their hazard lights on.'

Riyadh, situated in the middle of the Saudi desert, is used to regular sandstorms but today's was described as a 'monster'.

Government spokesman Major General Abdul Rahman Al-Moqbel told Arab News: 'It was enormous. One of the biggest we have seen.

'Luckily there were no serious incidents because of awareness programmes carried out by the Traffic Department from time to time.'

An official from the Saudi Meteorological Department added: 'Sandstorms are due to high pressure in the northern and central parts of the Kingdom.

'This whips up the sand and then the wind can blow it for a hundred miles or more. Tuesday's storm passed in a few hours and temperatures in the north and centre of the country have now dropped, with the wind blowing the storm away to the north.'

But he said many parts of the city were now covered with tonnes of sand, adding: 'No serious damage has been done but people will find they have quite a lot of sweeping up to do.'

Teenage Mutant Ninja Poodle and Her Other Undignified Disguises

So you’re thinking something like: “What is that lady doing with an odd-looking oversized Ninja Turtle cuddly toy?” Except that it isn’t a cuddly toy. It’s a real live poodle. Meet Cindy, also known as Leonardoodle, and her owner, Sandy Paws. The picture before you is just one of Ms Paws’ executions of “creative grooming”. We’re really not sure if it’s ethical, but here are some more jaw-dropping examples of Sandy’s canine-sprucing makeovers on Cindy.
People might claim that someone who does this sort of thing to dogs has got some answering to do. One dog-lover even wondered how she would like it if she were forced to have an all over body tattoo made up of stuff in dogs’ imaginations – bones, say, or rubber balls. A hair-brained remark if ever there was one – you see, Cindy has lots of guises, none of them permanent – though you can see what the guy was getting at.
In any case, clearly the judges don’t see things the same way as the critics. Yes, folks, this is creative grooming at it’s finest; award winning creative grooming. It seems Sandy and Cindy have been scooping prizes everywhere from Burbank in the duo’s native California, to Las Vegas, Nevada, and you can’t fault the skill of Sandy’s handiwork – or its, erm, imagination. Who would ever think of transforming a dog into a camel – or a dragon?
Now don’t get us wrong, there are heaps of good reasons for conventional dog grooming, including the fact that it cleans the dog, improves the health of its skin and coat, and lessens the chance of skin problems. “But not when you’re using dyes in every colour of the rainbow!” cried one observer in horror. “And just look at that thing, reduced to the status of a chicken, or a punk rocker – I don’t know which is worse!”
In Sandy Paws’ defence, she claims to use only semi-permanent hair colour, blo-pens, coloured artists’ chalk with a smidgen of hairspray, temporary spray colour – what else? – oh yes, and all the “special touches” – add-ons such as feathers, pompoms and plastic flowers. A veritable arsenal of colourants, props and adhesives, then, though apparently nothing Sandy wouldn’t use on herself. That’s OK then.

A space dog-essey
One other point made by those who see grooming in general as an important part of dog care is that it helps to build a relationship between the dog and owner. Well, judging from the photos, Sandy is certainly enjoying the bonding sessions. But is it us, or does Cindy look as though she’s not quite so pleased to be there?

Peacock dog

For those who are left a little queasy by the whole concept – if not by the garish colours then by its syrupy beauty queen sheen – the good news is that there’s a whole sub-culture out there. 25 years young and with a readership of 20,000, magazine Groomer to Groomer is a mouthpiece for all things groom-tastic. Scary? Needless to say, Sandy and Cindy have made the front cover.

Making the front pages