Mechanical tumor:

Mio I-zawa's "mechanical tumor" is a quivering hunk of fleshy, organic-looking material that expands and contracts depending on the amount of stress your computer is experiencing. Equipped with a series of motors and pneumatic actuators, the mechanical tumor pulsates gently when the CPU load is low. When the CPU load is high, the tumor's air compressor is activated, causing the lump of flesh to inflate.

Other biologically inspired interactive devices by Mio I-zawa include "external heart," a squishy latex heart on wheels that beats and rolls around in sync with the user's pulse... ...and "elastic cell," a system of 46 soft pulsating cells that react to human touch in a complex, lifelike way.

Previously, previously, previously.

Woman finds awesome snake with awesome leg, immediately beats it to death.

Dean Qiongxiu, 66, said she discovered the reptile clinging to the wall of her bedroom with its talons in the middle of the night.

"I woke up and heard a strange scratching sound. I turned on the light and saw this monster working its way along the wall using his claw," said Mrs Duan of Suining, southwest China. Mrs Duan said she was so scared she grabbed a shoe and beat the snake to death before preserving its body in a bottle of alcohol.

The snake -- 16 inches long and the thickness of a little finger -- is now being studied at the Life Sciences Department at China's West Normal University in Nanchang.

Just to the West of Normal, yes.

Have Safari, Flash and/or the Youtube player gotten screwed up recently? I'm getting a lot more Safari hypno-wheels while it is trying to embed Youtube lately, and often have stuttery playback even when the video is fully buffered.

And a special thank you to the uploaders of videos that I didn't include here because all of the copies on Youtube disable embedding. I'm not going to tell you what they are, because apparently their record labels would rather that you not know about them at all.

Another Horse Slaughtered for Meat in Miami

Another horse was found mutilated and killed over the weekend in Southwest Miami-Dade, apparently the latest victim of amateur butchers only interested in the animal's meat. The horse was found tied to a tree and dismembered along 212th Ave., the latest in over a dozen horse killings in the area in the past few months.

"It's horrible. It's really frustrating to see something that has been going on for some time," said Oscar Martinez, who owns a farm nearby where the latest horse was found. "They have been killing horses all over this area."

Martinez said he thinks the crime happened Saturday night, and that the killers were likely scared off by a car before they were able to collect all the meat. The horse was found Sunday. "They do it at night. When they see a light coming, they just run away. This horse, they were not able to slaughter him completely," Martinez said.

Officials believe the meat is then sold on the black market, where it can go for as much as $20 per pound. The sale of horse meat is illegal in the U.S. [...]

Aja hasn't lost any horses yet, though she said she lives in constant fear that her horses will be next. "Everytime we come to our farm, we're scared that we're going to be missing an animal and we're going to find him dead at a corner, slaughtered to pieces with the buzzards flying overhead," Aja said.

Also: "Rescued" Dolphin Killed By Hungry Sharks

Tuesday was supposed to be a day of celebration for biologists and Dunham, an Atlantic bottlenose dolphin. There was picture taking and camera crews to record the release of the dolphin into the wild. But the special moment turned into a stunning tragedy moments later after the dolphin was attacked by sharks just hours after he was released into the ocean in west Florida.

Dunham, a juvenile male dolphin, was released Tuesday morning after eight months in rehab recovering from pneumonia. Dunham didn't get a chance to enjoy his new found strength and freedom very long. Jeni Hatter, spokeswoman for the Clearwater Marine Aquarium, said the dolphin was attacked twice by at least two different sharks. Experts were nearby were monitoring the dolphin with a VHF radio transmitter at the time of the attack.

Hatter said experts rushed to the dolphin and euthanized him because of the life-threatening injuries. She added that he wouldn't been able to recover.

Woman accused of killing newborn ate brain

SAN ANTONIO (AP) - A woman charged with murdering her 3 1/2-week-old son used a knife and two swords to dismember the child and ate parts of his body, including his brain, before stabbing herself in the torso and slicing her own throat, police said Monday.

Otty Sanchez, 33, is charged with capital murder in the death of her infant son, Scott Wesley Buchholtz-Sanchez. She was recovering from her wounds at a hospital, and was being held on $1 million bail.

San Antonio Police Chief William McManus said the early Sunday morning attack occurred a week after the child's father moved out. The child's aunt and two cousins, ages 5 and 7, were in the house, but none were harmed.

McManus, who appeared uncomfortable as he addressed reporters, said Sanchez apparently ate the child's brain and some other body parts. She also tore his face off, chewed off three of his toes and decapitated the infant before stabbing herself.

"It's too heinous for me to describe it any further," McManus said.

Officers called to Sanchez's house at about 5 a.m. Sunday found her sitting on the couch "screaming that she killed her baby," police spokesman Joe Rios said. They found the boy's body in a bedroom.

Police said Sanchez said the devil told her to kill her son.

"It was a spontaneous utterance," McManus said. "She said she was hearing voices."

Contact lenses for animals

Lions, giraffes, tigers, rabbits, bears, rhinos and even owls can go blind from cataracts, but an east German firm has an answer: custom-made "contact lenses".

The acrylic intraocular lenses are implanted into animals' eyes when their vision has clouded to the point of total impairment, and are fitted for various species, from cat-eye-sized to fist-width for rhinos.

Impaired vision can also blunt the sex drive, stopping animals from reproducing. The World Wildlife Fund, for example, has paid for lens transplants for brown bears in a preserve in China.

Better Vision, With an Implanted Telescope

In a brief outpatient procedure, a corneal specialist implants the mini-telescope in one eye in place of its natural lens. The telescope magnifies images on the retina, extending them so they fall on healthy cells outside the damaged macula, said Allen W. Hill, chief executive of VisionCare Ophthalmic Technologies in Saratoga, Calif., the implant's maker.

The telescope is implanted in one eye for jobs like reading and facial recognition. The other eye, unaltered, is used for peripheral vision during other activities like walking.

Blind man sees after having a tooth implanted into his eye.

During the procedure, a minute section of a patient's tooth is removed, reshaped and chiselled through to grip the man-made lens which is then placed in its core.

It is implanted under an eyelid where it becomes covered in tissue.

The process requires a living tooth as an implant because doctors suggest there are chances the eye would reject a plastic equivalent.

So a canine - which is the best option due to its shape and size - was taken out of Mr Jones' mouth.

A patch of skin is then taken from the inside of the cheek and placed in the eye for two months, where it gradually acquires its own blood supply.

The tooth segment is finally transplanted into the eye socket. The flap of grafted skin is then partially lifted from the eye and placed over its new sturdy base.

Finally, surgeons cut a hole in the grafted cornea to let light through.