Monster spider web spun in Texas

Entomologists are debating the origin and rarity of a sprawling spider web that blankets several trees, shrubs and the ground along a 200-yard stretch of trail in Lake Tawokoni Texas State Park.

Spider experts say the web may have been constructed by social cobweb spiders, which work together, or could be the result of a mass dispersal in which the arachnids spin webs to spread out from one another.

Genome transplant changes one species into another

For the first time, scientists have completely transformed a species of bacteria into another species by transplanting its complete set of DNA. The achievement marks a significant step toward the construction of synthetic life, with applications including the production of clean fuel in as little as a decade. The researchers hope that genome transplantation will enable the production of synthetic microbes for green energy sources, pharmaceuticals, chemicals and textiles.

The scientists’ results show that it is possible to transplant the complete set of DNA—the genome—from one species into the genome of a different species, so that the recipient organism is phenotypically and genotypically identical to the donor organism.

Baby Mammoth Found in Permafrost

The discovery of a baby mammoth preserved in the Russian permafrost gives researchers their best chance yet to build a genetic map of a species extinct since the Ice Age. The mammoth, a female who died at the age of six months, was named "Lyuba." She had been lying in the frozen ground for up to 40,000 years. Weighing 110 pounds and measuring 85 centimeters high and 130 centimeters from trunk to tail, Lyuba is roughly the same size as a large dog.

The fact the mammoth was so remarkably well-preserved -- its shaggy coat was gone but otherwise it looked as though it had only recently died -- meant it was a potential treasure trove for scientists. Its skin condition protects all the internal organs from modern microbes and micro-organisms.

Unidentified "Octosquid" Found

What appears to be a half-squid, half-octopus specimen found off the Big Island of Hawaii remains unidentified and could possibly be a new species. The specimen was found caught in the filter of a deep-sea water pipeline. The pipeline, which runs 3,000 feet deep, sucks up cold, deep-sea water for the tenants of the Natural Energy Laboratory of Hawaii.

The specimen tentatively belongs to the genus Mastigoteuthis, but the species is undetermined. Biologists termed the specimen "octosquid" for the way it looked. It is about a foot long, with white suction cups, eight tentacles and an octopus head with a squidlike mantle. The octosquid was pulled to the surface, along with three rattail fish and half a dozen satellite jellyfish, and stayed alive for three days.

The pitch-black conditions at 3,000 feet below sea level are unfamiliar to most but riveting to scientists who have had the opportunity to submerge. The sea floor is full of loose sediment, big boulders and rocks, and a lot of mucuslike things floating in the water, which are usually specimens that died at the surface and drifted to the bottom. Lots of fish have heads like a fish and a body like an eel. There are fish floating in a vertical position, with the head up, and don't move unless they're disturbed.

Elephants on an Evening Stroll

Lake disappears suddenly in Chile

Scientists in Chile are investigating the sudden disappearance of a glacial lake in the south of the country. When park rangers patrolled the area in the Magallanes region in March, the five-acre lake was its normal size. But last month they found a huge dry crater and several stranded chunks of ice that used to float on the water. One theory is that an earthquake opened up a fissure in the ground, allowing the lake's water to drain through. The lake's disappearance seems to be part of the continual reforming of the landscape. The lake itself had not been there 30 years ago.

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No Fear of Heights

Birds & Prey

Purple Frog

Nasikabatrachus sahyadrensis is a frog species from the Western Ghats, India. It is commonly referred to as Purple Frog or Pignose Frog. It was first discovered in 2003. The frog spends most of the year underground, surfacing only for about two weeks, during the monsoon, for purposes of mating. The frog's reclusive lifestyle is what caused the species to escape earlier notice by biologists.

Shark conceived without male contact

Genetic analysis of a bonnethead shark pup has revealed the first example of a virgin birth in the shark world (see a video here as well). The female baby - which died from a stingray bite just hours after being born - did not contain a single strand of male genetic material. Instead, she had inherited all of her genes from her mother.

Her aquarium birth stunned scientists who had thought that, like humans, sharks always required a sperm and an egg to become pregnant. Now, it seems that when starved of male attention, female sharks are capable of activating an ancient survival mechanism that allows them to reproduce without any sexual contact. In this particular case, the pup's mother had had not been near another male bonnethead shark for at least three years.

Analysis of the baby shark's DNA has shown it reproduced by parthenogenesis - a process in which eggs develop into embryos without being fertilized by sperm. Although such virgin births are common in the insect world, and have been known to occur among lizards and some snakes, fish and birds, they had never been documented among sharks.