New Octopus species master of disguise

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Science News Online reports a species of octopus which is so new, it doesn't have an official scientific name, has the ability to mimic a large number of venomous creatures, included the sea snake, lion fish, and flat fish. While the octopus's ability to mimic the ocean bottom has been well-documented, and many other species of animals use mimicry as a defense, this is the first documented case of a species that not only mimics a multitude of species, but appears to choose which animal to pretend to be based on the menace it is facing.

While we're on the topic of smart invertebrates, BBC News reports that nerve bundles in the arms of an octopus are programmed with the necessary information to perform various motions on their own.

Crocs up north help town keep clean

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Mayor Reinhard Reynisson of Husavik, Iceland, is looking into finding ways to solve his town's waste problem. A small fishing community, Husavik has a lot of guts and scales left over from it's local industry. Now he mayor thinks crocodiles may be the best answer.
Geothermal water already used by the town would make a good home for the wayward reptiles, and the packing plants and fish farms would keep them fed and busy. The crocs would also be likely to attrack tourists to the northern community.
Read the full article here.

Even More Awards

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It's what you get when you have WorldCon and Dragon*Con on the same weekend: a slew of award announcements. Here's three more of note.

The International Horror Guild announced in Atlanta the recipients of the 2001 IHG Awards for best horror or dark fantasy. Winners included Tim Powers' Declare for Best Novel and Adam's Fall by Sean Desmond for Best First Novel.

Meanwhile, up in Philadelphia the Association of Science Fiction and Fantasy Artists were awarding the Chesley Awards for best science fiction or fantasy artwork created, published, or first exhibited this year. Winners included John Jude Palencar for best Cover Illustration: Hardback, Jean Pierre Targete for Best Cover Illustration: Paperback, and Todd Lockwood for Best Cover Illustration: Magazine. See the 2001 Chesley Awards site for all of the nominees and winners.

Finally, the Gaylactic Network (a science-fiction, fantasy, and horror club for lesbians, gay men, bisexuals, transgendered people and their friends) also announced in Philadelphia the winners of the Spectrum Awards for positive depictions of gay and lesbian themes in science ficiton and fantasy. Buffy the Vampire Slayer won the 2001 People's Choice Award and David Gerrold won Best Novel for Jumping Off the Planet. See the 2001 Spectrum Awards site for other nominees and winners.

Canadian Anthro & Cartooning Expo

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Sent into me by Jeff Novotny: "Everyone involved with the Canadian Anthro & Cartooning Expo (CACE) is
pleased to officially announce the date and venue for our inaugural 2002
convention. The event will be held from Friday, August 16 to Sunday,
August 18, 2002 in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada."
Read on for the full announcement of the first strictly furry convention in Canada. (Update: I was reminded of Feral!, which is a Canadian furry event four years running, now.)

2001 Hugo Awards presented

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Perhaps the most prestigious award in Science Fiction, this year's Hugos were awarded at the World Science Fiction Convention in Philadelphia (aka 'Millennium PhilCon') on September the second. Among the recipients were such notables (outside the fandom) as "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire" as Best Novel, and "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" as Best Dramatic Presentation.

A full list of all awards and recipients can be found here for the time being.

AIBO is back, and cuter...

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AIBO, the first 'robopet', underwent a major facelift, and price drop, in hopes of catching a larger market. The cute robot is little more than a pedigree puppy in cost now (Down from $2500 US to only $850) and has a bunch of silly gadgets to amuse the technogeek-animal lover, such as a motion capture camera and a 'voicebox' which can be programmed to sing little tunes. In Japan, they will interact with a new TV show starring the robotic dogs.

For those with money to burn, the site is Aibo.com

UK residents needed for nation wide hazel dormouse survey

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Brits are being asked to take part in the largest ever survey of one of Britain's rarest and smallest animals, the hazel dormouse. But these sleepy animals are hard to spot, so the public is being asked to hunt for nuts. Hazelnuts eaten by the dormouse have a distinctive hole on one side, with nibble marks around the edge. Researchers are hoping finding out the range of the hazel dormouse will help avert extinction.

For images on what to look for, and where to send suspect shells, visit the BBC article here

Famous Make-up Artist, John Chambers, Dies at 78

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LOS ANGELES, California (AP) -- Oscar-winning makeup pioneer John Chambers, who did everything from put the pointy ears on "Star Trek's" Mr. Spock to turn actors into simians for the original "Planet of the Apes," has died of diabetes complications. He was 78.

Giant squid no longer loners of the deep

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The famous and elusive giant squid (Architeuthis Clarkei) may no longer be so hard to find.
Scientists at the Wellington National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research in New Zealand suspect there are thousands of the animals living in two breeding colonies off of the South Island. In the last 18 months, the group has recieved more dead specimines than have been found in the last decade elsewhere. NIWA had received 12 of the creatures, which weigh up to 650 pounds, with 18 foot long tentacles. This makes for an encouraging place to start looking for the Giant Squid, the great mystery of the deep, alive. The NIWA are hoping to photo or capture the first live Giant Squid ever.

Read the Globe and Mail article here

Bullies, con stress, bad bosses: social stress could kill...

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US researchers putting mice in stressful social situations they can't get out of are discovering that it leads them to develop a possibly deadly over-activity by the immune system. Mice exposed to two hours of another, more agressive mouse were twice as likely to die from exposure to a desease as mice that were going through severe hardship.

Though the research was on mice, the condition mimics the human problem of toxic shock.

Read the article here

An unusual Chanur website

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Following a recent rereading of C. J. Cherryh's Chanur novels, I did a web search to see what kind of fan pages existed that covered her work. One of the hits was Cherryh's own website, but among the other sites, there was this one that was... ahem... different. Take a look and you'll see what I mean.

Book reviews

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Came across this old review in the Minneapolis-St. Paul Star Tribune of two science fiction books with moderately furry content. Click here for the full reviews, or Read More for the short version

TALL TAILS back on its own

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I just wanted to give everyone the heads up on TALL TAILS being solicited in Diamond's Previews this month. The series will still appear in Furrlough until #109 but in November TALL TAILS #5 and the Collected TALL TAILS Vol. 1 (with #1 - 4) will be released from Dream Weaver Press.

TALL TAILS is a fantasy adventure comic in the spirit of Elfquest and Lord of the Rings featuring funny-animal characters instead of humans. Although it has seen a successful run in Furrlough, the story is just to big to appear in 4-8 page segments. TALL TAILS will return to its own full length comic starting in November and will follow a bi-monthly schedule.

For more information please visit DREAM WEAVER PRESS and start bothering your comic book shop to carry it! There is even a flyer on the website to print out to help spread the word. There's not enough of these types of comics to go around and we all need all the help we can get!

Did a dino go 'quack'?

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Most people think of ornithomimids as swift, ostritch like dinos that lived on plains and grasslands, like they were seen in Jurassic Park. But new fossils show that these dinosaurs had true duck bills, like a bird, and probably filtered their food out of water instead of hunting. The fact that their remains are generally found in wet, swampy locations helps confirm this new theory. If this theory is correct, these dinosaurs will be the largest known land animal to 'filter feed', as they may have topped 1000 pounds. Read the National Geographic article and see photos.

Mars Society Launches Translife Mission Project - Mice to Mars

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At its Stanford convention, the Mars Society resolved to commit its resources to initiate the Translife Mission as its first spaceflight mission project. The Translife mission will consist of a Mars-level (0.38 g)artificial gravity spacecraft carrying a crew of mice



"What do you want to do Tonight Brain?" "Same thing we do everynight Pinky, plan to take over Mars!"

From the Yerf Archive