Gulf of Mexico now worst accidental spill on record

NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana (AFP) - – A Taiwanese supertanker skimmed oil from the Gulf of Mexico Saturday as the months-long disaster became the worst accidental spill on record.

Rough seas and strong winds continued to delay clean-up efforts, displace protective booms and push the oil deeper into fragile coastal wetlands, endangering wildlife preserves and the thousands of birds nesting there.

"This is going to be a very long and arduous clean-up operation in the days to come," said Coast Guard Admiral Paul Zukunft.

"I'm especially concerned with some of the wildlife habitats."

An estimated 35,000 to 60,000 barrels of oil per day has been gushing out of the ruptured well since the BP-leased Deepwater Horizon drilling rig sank on April 22, some 50 miles (80 kilometers) off the coast of Louisiana.

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Giant predatory whale named for 'Moby Dick' author

AP – This artists' rendering provided by the journal Nature shows a raptorial sperm whale Leviathan melvillei …

LONDON – Scientists have discovered an ancient whale whose bite ripped huge chunks of flesh out of other whales about 12 million years ago — and they've named it after the author of "Moby Dick."

The prehistoric sperm whale grew to between 13 and 18 meters (up to 60 feet) long, not unusual by today's standards. But unlike modern sperm whales, Leviathan melvillei, named for Herman Melville, sported vicious, tusk-like teeth some 36 centimeters (14 inches) long.

The ancient beast evidently dined on other whales, researchers said in Thursday's issue of the journal Nature. They report finding a skull of the beast in a Peruvian desert.

The researchers named it in tribute to the 19th-century author and his classic tale of the great white whale, which includes frequent digressions on natural history that punctuate the action.

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The World's Most Beautiful Sunsets

Like trying to retell a dream, recounting a beautiful sunset is a futile enterprise. The colors, the scale--the true nature of a sunset is ineffable. What's more, such beauty is ultimately subjective in the first place. While one traveler weeps at the fading orange glow over the Mediterranean, another sits rapt at the smoggy kaleidoscope over a bustling cityscape.

Where, then, does anyone get off trying to name the World's Most Beautiful Sunsets?
Naturally, we turned to the experts: World travelers, artists and adventurers who have not only bid farewell to the sun on every corner of the globe, but have appreciated the metaphorical, spiritual and, yes, visual beauty of nature's original fireworks display. We asked them to describe the most beautiful sunset they've ever seen.

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Many outraged that Mesa eatery is serving lion meat burgers

Tyler Baldwin reports one local restaurant has started serving lion meat for dinner and it has prompted not just curiosity but also outrage and even bomb threats!

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7th-Graders Discover Mysterious Cave on Mars

A group of seventh-graders in California has discovered a mysterious cave on Mars as part of a research project to study images taken by a NASA spacecraft orbiting the red planet.

The 16 students from teacher Dennis Mitchell's 7th-grade science class at Evergreen Middle School in Cottonwood, Calif., found what looks to be a Martian skylight — a hole in the roof of a cave on Mars.

The intrepid students were participating in the Mars Student Imaging Program at the Mars Space Flight Facility at Arizona State University. The program allows students to frame a research question and then commission a Mars-orbiting camera to take an image to answer their question.

The newfound hole on Mars resembled features seen on other parts of Mars in a 2007 study by Glen Cushing, a U.S. Geological Survey scientist.

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Dear Future DOT Secretary

Dear Future DOT Secretary,

Hi. You will be introduced to us in a couple of weeks. I’m anxious to find out who you are because, well, you have my ultimate dream job. While others dream of winter wonderlands, I am consumed with chronic wanderlust for our lupang sinilangan, having traveled everywhere from Batanes to Bukidnon. After chasing kangaroos in Australia, watching Broadway shows in the concrete jungle where dreams are made of (i.e. New York), going on a South African safari, and hiking up Mount Fuji, I can say in full faith that we live in the most beautiful country in the world. I wish you, as the Secretary of the Department of Tourism, believe the same thing.

For a long time, Bangkok’s #1 source of income was tourism. It’s marketed well as an exotic backpacker’s destination. Singapore had to create artificial tourist attractions such as Sentosa and most recently, Universal Studios, to draw visitors in. The Philippines, with its 7, 107 beautiful islands, doesn’t have to. I don’t know what your definition of tourism is, but I do hope that these proposals find you:

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Jovit Baldivino is Pilipinas Got Talent 's first grand winner

Batangueno singer turned YouTube sensation Jovit Baldivino bags the grand prize  in the nationwide talent show Pilipinas Got Talent.

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