6 Bizarre Animal Smuggling Busts

Officers in Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi International Airport recently discovered 11 live otters in a piece of unclaimed luggage left at the oversized baggage area.

The six smooth-coated otters (Lutrogale perspicillata)—Southeast Asia's largest otter—and five oriental small-clawed otters (Aonyx cinerea), the world's smallest otters at less than 11 pounds (five kilograms), are under threat in Southeast Asia.

Demand for their pelts and organs for clothing, food, and medicine—in addition to habitat destruction and environmental pollution—have diminished both populations. (Read an exposé of the world's most notorious wildlife dealer, from National Geographic magazine.)

But otters aren't the only victims of the illicit wildlife trade. Stuffed into carry-ons, packed into suitcases, and bundled into crates, traffickers have tried to smuggle all kinds of wild animals through airports.

"The U.S. seizes over $10 million worth of illegal wildlife each year, but this only scratches the surface," said Edward Grace, deputy chief of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Office of Law Enforcement. "[On] any given day, someone, somewhere in the world, is poaching or smuggling wildlife."

Here are six other kinds of wild animals that people have tried to sneak past customs.

Birds: To smuggle more than a dozen hummingbirds (family Trochilidae) past customs, a Dutchman at an airport in French Guiana (map) wrapped each bird in cloth and hid them in a pouch sewn into the waist of his pants in 2011. He even taped the tiny bundles to keep the birds from escaping. His fidgeting led French customs officers to discover the birds.

Monkeys: In 2002, a Los Angeles man returning from Bangkok (map) owned up to hiding two endangered pygmy monkeys, called slow lorises (Nycticebus spp.), in his underwear. His confession came after officials opened up his luggage and a bird of paradise (Paradisaeidae spp.) flew out. He was also traveling with 50 rare orchids.

Crocodiles: A crocodile smuggled on board a domestic flight in 2010 from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (map) was blamed for a plane crash that killed 20 of 21 passengers. The reptile escaped from a duffel bag in the cabin and panicked the passengers and crew, according to news reports from the sole human survivor. The animal survived the crash but was later killed with a machete.

Snakes and Other Reptiles: An exotic animal salesman attempting to transport 247 reptiles and spiders to Spain was caught by x-ray technicians in Argentina in 2011. The exotic and endangered species included boa constrictors, poisonous pit vipers, and spiders. They were packed inside plastic containers, bags, and socks.

Tropical Fish: In 2005, customs officials in Melbourne, Australia (map) stopped a woman who had arrived from Singapore after hearing mysterious "flipping" noises coming from around her waist. They found an apron under her skirt designed with pockets holding 15 plastic bags filled with water and 51 tropical fish.

Big Cats: In 2011, a United Arab Emirates man at Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi International Airport packed two leopards and two panthers into his luggage—as well as an Asiatic black bear and two macaque monkeys. Every animal was under two months old, and had been drugged for the journey. Some of them were stored in flat cages, while others were placed in canisters with air holes. (See pictures of other animals smuggled through Bangkok International Airport.)

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Arias Trial Shocked by Slashed Throat Photo

The courtroom at the Jodi Arias murder trial was shocked -- and Arias began sobbing -- when the prosecutor stunned them by suddenly flashing a photograph of Arias' ex-boyfriend Travis Alexander with his throat slashed open.

Alexander's sisters and friends burst into tears and one ran out of the courtroom when prosecutor Juan Martinez held up the grisly picture of Alexander with his throat slashed and bloodied.

Arias, who is on trial for allegedly murdering Alexander, sobbed uncontrollably at the sight of the photo. She is accused of stabbing Alexander 27 times, slashing his throat, and shooting him twice in the head in a bout of jealousy. She could face the death penalty if convicted.

In the moments before the incident, Martinez was questioning Lisa Daidone, who dated Alexander in 2007 after Alexander's break up with Arias but while he and Arias continued to sleep together. The defense had gone painstakingly through an angry email Daidone had sent Alexander to break up with him, after she found out he was cheating on her with Arias.

"Do you think that even with everything they claimed he put you through, do you think it is appropriate to take a knife and slash somebody's throat?" Martinez yelled.

"Is this what a normal relationship looks like to you?" Martinez shouted as he held up the picture amid shouts of "objection" from the defense and gasps from onlookers.

Judge Sherry Stephens called for a recess, and when the court returned the judge warned the audience to keep their reactions to testimony silent.

Jodi Arias Murder Trial: Defense's First Day of Witnesses Watch Video

Jodi Arias Murder Trial: Defense Begins Case Watch Video

Jodi Arias Murder Trial: Reported Plea Deal Attempt Watch Video

The outburst came at the end of an intense line of questioning from Martinez as he asked Daidone to explain that Alexander treated her well during their relationship, attempting to disprove the defense's accusations that Alexander was a sex-obsessed, aggressive cheater.

Daidone had testified under questioning by Arias' lawyers that she broke off her relationship with Alexander several times partly out of her suspicions that he was cheating on her, although he had asked her to marry him.

As Mormons they refrained from sex before marriage and she was surprised to find out after Alexander's death that he was not a virgin. Another witness, Desiree Freeman, told the court that Alexander claimed to be a virgin. "He made jokes about it" and seemed proud of the fact, Freeman testified.

The defense cited Daidone's breakup email listing her complaints about Alexander in their effort to portray Alexander as an aggressive philanderer.

"Did you tell him that you felt he wanted you just for your body, that kissing didn't mean anything to him and was just a way for him to let out sexual tension? And that it made you feel used and dirty?" defense attorney Jennifer Willmott asked Daidone.

Daidone said yes, and that she "had felt that way then."

But the prosecutor grilled Daidone about that email, drawing a picture of a more reserved and sexually restrained Alexander.

"You were asked about that email," Martinez said, "and one of the things you talked about, isn't it true that Mr. Alexander wouldn't kiss you at the start of the relationship? You were the person who initiated contact? He was the person holding it up, right? He was holding up your religious beliefs?" Martinez asked.

Daidone agreed.

"He was doing everything he could to conform to what you wanted, wasn't he? Not other way around," Martinez said.

Daidone said that when she sent the angry email to Alexander, criticizing him for thinking about sex and talking about sex, that she was "inexperienced" and "immature," and she later came to regret saying those things to him.

Daidone said that Alexander always kept in close contact with Arias, texting and calling her often. She was suspicious that he was cheating on her, but did not know they were involved sexually.

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Today on New Scientist: 29 January 2013

Creatures of the air caught in the mist

Photographer Todd Forsgren uses mist nets to briefly ensnare a variety of tropical South American birds before releasing them, unharmed

Drug reduces enlarged prostate with few side effects

Shrinking enlarged prostates by blocking a potent growth factor could avoid problems - such as erectile dysfunction - that accompany current treatments

Climate change blamed for Australia's extreme weather

Floods have hit the east coast of Australia before recent bush fires have been put out, giving people a taste of climate change's possible consequences

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The most beautiful explanations

The 2012 Edge questions asked for great thinkers' favourite explanations. This Explains Everything collects them all into a fascinating read

Netted Costa Rican birds pay small price for art

Only mildly traumatic, mist nets offer an easy and safe way to catch birds for artistic, and ecological, study

Iran launches monkey into space

The Iranian Space Agency claims to have launched a rhesus monkey into space on a sub-orbital flight, and returned it safely to Earth

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Erectile dysfunction signals heart troubles: study

WASHINGTON: Erectile dysfunction might signal more than a need for the little purple pill, researchers said Tuesday in a study showing a link with heart disease and early death.

The Australian study -- the world's largest investigating links between erection problems and heart disease -- suggested erection problems could act as a warning sign of more serious health issues.

"The risks of future heart disease and premature death increased steadily with severity of erectile dysfunction," whether or not there was a history of cardiovascular disease, study director Emily Banks said.

Previous studies had found ties between severe erection problems and heart attacks and strokes, but this study was the first to also include mild and moderately severe erection problems.

"These results tell us that every man who is suffering from any degree of erectile dysfunction should be seeking medical assistance as early as possible and also insisting on a heart health check by their GP at the same time," said Rob Grenfell, Cardiovascular Health director at Australia's Heart Foundation.

The study, published this week in the "PLOS Medicine" journal, followed 95,000 men aged 45 and older for two to three years.

The men responded to a survey on their health and lifestyle, and the authors also studied any records of hospital stays or deaths in the group.

Over the study period, there were 7,855 hospitalisations for cardiovascular disease and 2,304 deaths.

Banks said that the study indicated that erection problems seemed to a symptom of heart problems.

"Rather than causing heart disease, erectile dysfunction is more likely to be a symptom or signal of underlying 'silent' heart disease and could in future become a useful marker to help doctors predict the risk of a cardiovascular problem.

"This is a sensitive topic but men shouldn't suffer in silence; there are many effective treatments, both for erectile dysfunction and for cardiovascular disease," she emphasized.

Erection problems are very common. About one in five men over 40 report moderate or severe erectile dysfunction.

- AFP/jc

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Smaller Apple TV box hinted at in FCC filing

A new regulatory filing suggests Apple is readying a fourth-generation Apple TV set, one that looks a whole lot like the last two models, but with one minor difference.

That difference is size. The new version, which was spotted by Endgadget in a filing with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) today, is 93.78mm around versus the current model's 98mm. It also carries the model number A1469, which differs from the current model's A1427 designation.

The filing comes on the heels of a reference to an unreleased
Apple TV model inside of
iOS 6.1, which Apple released to the public yesterday after months of testing. Like the iPhone,
iPad and iPod touch, the Apple TV also runs iOS, though differs in various ways -- notably a lack of touch interface, and the capability to install and use third-party applications.

Apple updated the Apple TV's hardware last March with a third-generation model that added 1080p playback. Since then Apple has put out a handful of interim software updates that added new features, including compatibility with iTunes Match and more recently Bluetooth keyboards. The company is still expected to roll out a full-fledged TV set, possibly as soon as this fall, putting any interim hardware releases under closer scrutiny.

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Timbuktu’s vulnerable manuscripts are city’s "gold"

French and Malian troops surrounded Timbuktu on Monday and began combing the labyrinthine city for Islamist fighters. Witnesses, however, said the Islamists, who claim an affiliation to al Qaeda and had imposed a Taliban-style rule in the northern Malian city over the last ten months, slipped into the desert a few days earlier.

But before fleeing, the militants reportedly set fire to several buildings and many rare manuscripts. There are conflicting reports as to how many manuscripts were actually destroyed. (Video: Roots of the Mali Crisis.)

On Monday, Sky News posted an interview with a man identifying himself as an employee of the Ahmed Baba Institute, a government-run repository for rare books and manuscripts, the oldest of which date back to the city's founding in the 12th century. The man said some 3,000 of the institute's 20,000 manuscripts had been destroyed or looted by the Islamists.

Video showed what appeared to be a large pile of charred manuscripts and the special boxes made to preserve them in front of one of the institute's buildings.

However, a member of the University of Cape Town Timbuktu Manuscript Project told eNews Channel Africa on Tuesday that he had spoken with the director of the Ahmed Baba Institute, Mahmoud Zouber, who said that nearly all of its manuscripts had been removed from the buildings and taken to secure locations months earlier. (Read "The Telltale Scribes of Timbuktu" in National Geographic magazine.)

A Written Legacy

The written word is deeply rooted in Timbuktu's rich history. The city emerged as a wealthy center of trade, Islam, and learning during the 13th century, attracting a number of Sufi religious scholars. They in turn took on students, forming schools affiliated with's Timbuktu's three main mosques.

The scholars imported parchment and vellum manuscripts via the caravan system that connected northern Africa with the Mediterranean and Arabia. Wealthy families had the documents copied and illuminated by local scribes, building extensive libraries containing works of religion, art, mathematics, medicine, astronomy, history, geography, and culture.

"The manuscripts are the city's real gold," said Mohammed Aghali, a tour guide from Timbuktu. "The manuscripts, our mosques, and our history—these are our treasures. Without them, what is Timbuktu?"

This isn't the first time that an occupying army has threatened Timbuktu's cultural heritage. The Moroccan army invaded the city in 1591 to take control of the gold trade. In the process of securing the city, they killed or deported most of Timbuktu's scholars, including the city's most famous teacher, Ahmed Baba al Massufi, who was held in exile in Marrakesh for many years and forced to teach in a pasha's court. He finally returned to Timbuktu in 1611, and it is for him that the Ahmed Baba Institute was named.

Hiding the Texts

In addition to the Ahmed Baba Institute, Timbuktu is home to more than 60 private libraries, some with collections containing several thousand manuscripts and others with only a precious handful. (Read about the fall of Timbuktu.)

Sidi Ahmed, a reporter based in Timbuktu who recently fled to the Malian capital Bamako, said Monday that nearly all the libraries, including the world-renowned Mamma Haidara and the Fondo Kati libraries, had secreted their collections before the Islamist forces had taken the city.

"The people here have long memories," he said. "They are used to hiding their manuscripts. They go into the desert and bury them until it is safe."

Though it appears most of the manuscripts are safe, the Islamists' occupation took a heavy toll on Timbuktu.

Women were flogged for not covering their hair or wearing bright colors. Girls were forbidden from attending school, and boys were recruited into the fighters' ranks.

Music was banned. Local imams who dared speak out against the occupiers were barred from speaking in their mosques. In a move reminiscent of the Taliban's destruction of Afghanistan's famous Bamiyan Buddha sculptures, Islamist fighters bulldozed 14 ancient mud-brick mausoleums and cemeteries that held the remains of revered Sufi saints.

A spokesman for the Islamists said it was "un-Islamic" for locals to "worship idols."

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Jodi Arias Borrowed Gas Cans Before Killing Ex

Accused murderer Jodi Arias borrowed two five-gallon gas cans from a former boyfriend the day before she drove to Arizona to kill another ex, Travis Alexander, according to testimony in Arias' murder trial today.

In cross examination, prosecutors also forced Arias' former live-in boyfriend Darryl Brewer to describe his sex life with Arias as "pretty aggressive."

Brewer, 52, dated Arias for four years and shared a home with her in California for two years. He told the court today that Arias called him in May 2008, asking to borrow gas cans, but would not explain why. She called him again at least two more times, and arrived at his house on June 2008, to borrow the cans.

On the day she picked up the gas cans she told Brewer that she was going to visit friends in California and Arizona.

Prosecutors argue that Arias then drove to Mesa, Ariz., where she allegedly had sex with Alexander, took nude photos of him, and then stabbed him 27 times, slashed his throat, and shot him twice in the head. She is charged with murder and could face the death penalty if convicted.

Arias, who claims she killed Alexander in self defense, had approached prosecutors two years ago offering to plea to a second degree murder charge, which could carry a 25 year term, but the state rejected the offer, Nancy Grace reported on Good Morning America today.

Brewer said that Arias never returned the gas cans. The pair had been broken up two years earlier and they had only spoken "sporadically," he said.

Jodi Arias Murder Trial: Reported Plea Deal Attempt Watch Video

Jodi Arias Murder Trial: Rental Car Covered in 'Kool-Aid Stains' Watch Video

Jodi Arias Trial: Explosive Recordings Played in Court Watch Video

Prosecutors also showed receipts from Arias' trip from her California home to Alexander's home in Mesa, showing that she purchased a 10 gallons of gas at one gas station the night before she drove to Arizona, and then another 10 gallons from a different gas station 10 minutes later. Prosecutors are expected to argue she brought the gas with her to fill up her car secretly on the way to Alexander's home, showing premeditation for the murder.

Arias' attorneys called Brewer as one of their first witnesses as they began mounting their case that Arias killed Alexander in self defense, arguing that Alexander was controlling and abusive toward Arias.

They asked Brewer to explain how he and Arias had been in a stable relationship for four years, from 2002 to 2006, and had bought a home together before Arias met Alexander at a business conference and began to change.

"I saw a lot of changes in Jodi. She became a different person than I had known previously," Brewer said, describing how Arias' behavior changed in May 2006 when she joined a company called Pre-Paid Legal. There, she met Alexander and began seeing him. She continued to live with Brewer.

"She had continued to pay the mortgage, but she was not paying other household bills, she began getting into debt or financial trouble," Brewer said. "For me it seemed she was not as rational or logical."

Arias also converted to Mormonism while living with Brewer, telling him that he could no longer curse and she would no longer have sex with him because she was saving herself for marriage.

The pair had previously had an "enthusiastic" and "aggressive" sex life, Brewer admitted to prosecutors. They had engaged in anal sex, Arias had taken nude photos of Brewer, and Arias had purchased breast implants in 2006, he testified.

Brewer said that after Arias began to change, he made arrangements to move closer to his son from his first marriage, and he and Arias broke up.

They kept in touch with occasional phone calls until Arias asked to borrow the gas cans in June 2008, and then called him a week after borrowing the cans to say that her friend had been killed.

Martinez, reading notes from an interview Brewer gave to authorities during the investigation into Alexander's death, asked if Arias had ever mentioned needing an "alibi." Brewer said he did not recall any conversation about alibis.

"After this date of June 4, 2008," Martinez asked, "you received a call from Jodi Arias, and she was very agitated?"

"She was sad," Brewer said.

"Did she tell you that her friend had been killed and she did not have an alibi?"

"I don't remember that," Brewer said.

Arias was arrested a month after Alexander was found dead, in July 2008.

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Iran launches monkey into space

Lisa Grossman, physical sciences reporter

Last summer, the Iranian Space Agency announced their plan to send a monkey into space - and now they've apparently done it.

According to Iranian state-run television, a press release on the space agency's website, and photos of the event, Iran sent a live rhesus monkey into sub-orbital space aboard a small rocket called Pishgam, or Pioneer. There's even a video posted on YouTube that appears to be of the launch (though New Scientist could not confirm its authenticity).

The report has not been confirmed independently, however, and the US air force's North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) has not reported seeing any missile launches from Iran.

But independent observers say the launch looks legitimate.

"Really, I see no reason not to take their word for it," says Jonathan McDowell, an astronomer at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics who also keeps a log of space launches. He says he's convinced by the photos and discussions he's had with several knowledgeable source in online forums.

In photos released on the Iranian Space Agency's website, the rocket looks like the same kind the agency has launched before, but with a larger nose cone designed to fit a small chamber that can support life. Images also showed a live rhesus monkey strapped to a small seat.

The reports say the rocket went straight up 120 kilometres, which McDowell says qualifies as outer space, but not high enough to reach orbit, and came back down with a parachute.

It's unclear exactly when the launch took place. The press release says that the launch happened on the birthday of Mohammed the Prophet, which is celebrated by Shiites on 29 January, but was celebrated last week elsewhere in the world.

Some countries worry that Iranian rockets capable of carrying animals or people could also carry weapons. Iran has denied any military intention.

"This is not a scary thing because this is not a big new rocket that could hit America or anything like that," McDowell says. "There's nothing military to this. It's purely for propaganda. Nevertheless, it advances their science and their technology by being able to do it."

Iran says the launch is a first step towards sending humans into space, which they intend to do in the next 5 to 8 years. To do that, McDowell says, they'll need to build a larger rocket. The country currently has a vehicle called Safir that has successfully put satellites in orbit, and is developing a more powerful launcher called Simorgh.

The next step will probably be to either launch Safir to carry a human to sub-orbital space, or an unmanned Simorgh flight into orbit to make sure mission controllers can return it to the ground safely.

"They don't want to repeat what the Soviets did" in 1957, McDowell says, "which is put a living being in orbit before you figure out how to get it back."

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Golf: Tiger wins Torrey Pines title for 75th career crown

LA JOLLA: World No. 2 Tiger Woods captured his 75th career title on Monday, winning the US PGA Farmers Insurance Open by four strokes for his record-setting eighth career triumph at Torrey Pines.

Despite struggling in windy conditions Monday over the final 11 holes, Woods showed flashes of the form that has brought him 14 major titles as he chases the all-time record of 18 won by Jack Nicklaus.

Woods won his most recent major title at the 2008 US Open at Torrey Pines and has also won the PGA event staged at Torrey Pines seven times. No other PGA player has won so many times on a single course.

A fog delay Saturday led to the Monday finish, with darkness halting Woods on Sunday after seven holes.

Woods completed a final-round par 72 Monday despite going three-over in the closing stretch, finishing 72 holes on 14-under par 274. Brandt Snedeker, the 2012 winner, and Josh Teater shared second on 278.

Woods had two bogeys and a double bogey between the 14th and 17th holes, but managed a par at the par-5 18th to close out the victory.

"It got a little ugly toward the end," Woods said. "I started losing my patience with slow play and lost my concentration there a little bit. But I was able to get my par there at 18 and got the win."

After missing the cut in his season opener at Abu Dhabi, Woods collected his first victory since last July at the US PGA National at Congressional.

- AFP/jc

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With new 'Star Wars' on tap, Lucasfilm bails on Episodes II and III in 3D

George Lucas and new 'Star Wars Episode VII' director J.J. Abrams.

(Credit:
Joi Ito)

With the creative team for "Star Wars Episode VII" now in place, Lucasfilm and Disney appear to be using the forward movement on that project as an excuse to shelve plans to release 3D versions of Episodes II and III.

In a news post today on StarWars.com, Lucasfilm announced the abandoning of the release of the 3D versions of the two prequel films.

"Lucasfilm has decided to postpone this fall's scheduled release of 'Star Wars' Episodes II and III in 3D," it wrote today. "Given the recent development that we are moving forward with a new 'Star Wars' trilogy, we will now focus 100 percent of our efforts on 'Star Wars: Episode VII' in order to ensure the best possible experience for our fans. We will post further information about our 3D release plans at a later date.

In the weeks since Disney announced the purchase of Lucasfilm for $4 billion, it has made additional news by hiring "Toy Story 3" writer Michael Arndt to pen the screenplay for the next "Star Wars" film, and last week, got the entire "Star Wars" universe excited -- for better or worse -- by hiring "Star Trek" director and "Lost" creator J.J. Abrams to direct "Episode VII."

Lucasfilm released Episode I in 3D a year ago.

Via @FutureBoy

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