SPIEGEL Surfs the Web Python Explodes after Gator Dinner
Talk about having eyes too big for one's stomach. Park rangers at Florida's Everglades National Park were startled to discover the remains of dead alligator -- sticking out of the mouth of a dead Burmese python. Apparently, the snake had attempted to swallow the gator whole in a fit of gluttony. And then exploded. "They were probably matched evenly in size," Frank Mazzotti, a wildlife professor from the University of Florida, told the Associated Press. "If the python got a good grip on the alligator before the alligator got a good grip on him, he could win."
But greed is dangerous, and in the end, the ranger found the snake with its dinner's tail sticking out of its burst belly. Its head was nowhere to be found. Burmese pythons have been living in the Everglades for the past two decades -- many of them have been dumped there by their owners.
Date a Superhero and Find out if your Pooch is Hot or Not
Like making friends or meeting like-minded Internet users? In the past, people turned to services like Match.com to find a date, Classmates.com or FriendsReunited to hook up with old high school pals, or Flickr to post photo galleries and share them with the world. A new service, Ning.com , takes the concept even further, allowing you to create community networks based on just about any hobby, proclivity, or fetish. You can post pictures of your pet bulldog , say, and meet other bulldog lovers. But unlike similar group-based networks like Tribe.com, there are silly games: You can meet superheroes and date them , too. There's a "hot or not" feature that the site touts as being for "any mammal." You can find the answer to pressing existential questions like, " How much do I rock? " There's even a site where you can make anonymous confessions ("My trousers have some odd stains on the crotch"). Will social networks ever be the same?
Nobel Prize in Physics for Two Americans and a German
Two Americans and one German won the 2005 prize for their work in quantum physics and the study of optics, the Nobel Committee announced on Tuesday. Their discoveries could help build better lasers, develop 3-D holographic movies, and improve communication and navigation both on earth and in space. The announcement follows the Monday awarding of this year's Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine to Australian researchers for proving that a bacterium, rather than stress, caused stomach ulcers and gastritis.
Roy J. Glauber, at Harvard University, won half the physics prize "for his contribution to the quantum theory of optical coherence" -- meaning he showed how the particle nature of light can affect its behavior in certain extreme or artificial circumstances. Theodor Hänsch, of Munich's Ludwigs-Maximilians-Universität, shared the other half of prize with John L. Hall of the University of Colorado, for their work on measuring color -- what the Nobel Committee calls "their contributions to the development of laser-based precision spectroscopy, including the optical frequency comb technique." The Nobel Prize Web site has more detail, and after ceremonies in December it will also post the men's acceptance lectures.
