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The strange “beach blobs” that have been washing up on the shores of beaches worldwide have finally been identified.

Jon Copley writes in New Scientist that the “Chilean Blob” and other similar gobs of goo found on beaches are the remains of whales.

In July 2003, a 13-ton blob washed ashore in Chile. Since it contained no bones, marine biologists thought it might be the body of a new species of giant octopus. But eventually they found unique glands that only belong to sperm whales inside the blob.

Researcher Sidney Pierce used electron microscopy on the blob, that revealed the tough collagen fibers in whale tissue. Also fragments of its DNA match that of a sperm whale.
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The Chinese know how to get sexually shy pandas to mate in captivity: Show them panda pornography. The project has been a success: Hua Mei is finally pregnant. Zookeepers are worried that pandas may die out because it’s so hard to get them interested in sex.

Hua Mei was born to two zoo pandas on loan from the San Diego zoo, and is the first foreign-born panda to be returned to China, where pandas originated. Ever since she’s come home to the Wolong Giant Panda Protection Center, she’s been shown videos of pandas mating as an incentive to do so herself. As humans know, this kind of inspiration often works.
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Some scientists are manipulating genes in bizarre ways that seem to have no practical use. Are they creating science or art? Or are they just making monsters?

New Scientist reports that Laura Cinti has created a cactus that grows human hair. She says, “Hair is a sign of reproduction, a sign of our bodies changing, becoming or being sexual. So the cactus with hair becomes a sexual symbol.” To create it, she combined human genetic material with cactus DNA. She says, “Bald men are particularly interested in the work.”

Alas, most of her genetically-modified cacti are not doing well. “They’ve been imploding, shriveling,” she says.
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59 animals have been killed in the Sao Paulo Zoo since last month, including an elephant, dromedaries, monkeys and porcupines. Tests show the animals were killed with a rat poison that is banned in Brazil.

For Reuters, Paula Lace quotes Sao Paulo minister Joao Carlos Meirelles as saying, “We can say with almost total certainty that the suspects will be identified by next week, give or take.”

The zoo has put 15 workers on leave while they are under investigation, and has ordered all zoo staff members to work in pairs. Ronaldo, who works at the zoo, says, “If this is an outside job, I can’t understand how they are managing to do it, given our strict security measures.”
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