Kuno leapt from a lake in Moenchengladbach, Germany, and snatched a puppy from the banks. Sadly, he died, possibly due to high temperatures.

A while back, I posted about encountering someone with tattoos covering his arms. I happened to run into him again this week, and he had on shorts. Which showed the intricate tattoos covering his legs.

If he ever has a change of heart, wouldn’t it be awfully painful?

We may be inhaling toxic amounts of manganese during showers, according to a recent study. Too much manganese can result in something similar to Parkinson’s and coordination problems, among others.

Got some at Trader Joe’s because the only ice cream left is the sugar-free stuff, and after enduring heat that must have been in the mid-90s, gelato sounded good. The checkout person moaned when she saw it, and said it was very good.

There is a nest of very loud baby birds. If the spray from the hose jostles the bush just slightly, they set up a piercing racket. I want a picture, but Ma and Pa might go for my eyes.

Maybe if I get some assistance this weekend, it can be done.

I wondered if she was up to two at once.

In the UK, women from many walks of life join up, and have been doing so for almost a century.

Where two fierce currents meet, in the area between Eastport, Maine and Deerport, New Brunswick, is the whirlpool known as ‘Old Sow’.

It comes from messing with a moose.

Funny you should ask. Paya Naga is a serpent-like creature that lives in caverns deep under the river. Buddhist locals believe that fireballs that shoot out of the river toward the sky are sent up by Naga. However, scientists say they are merely gobs of methane.

(sigh)

A little heat always helps.

Down to earth advice and answers from the San Francisco Sidewalk Astronomers , including information on the three-planet conjunction for June, and how to build your own telescope.

Wasmannia auropunctata, also known as the little fire ant, has the ability to clone itself.

H.bos comments:

If all life started with cloning, then this must be a non beneficial transmission stage.

In Taiwan, rice will soon be offered in purple, green, yellow, and pink shades. The colors are derived from food sources - yellow from curcumin (which has its own story), pink from tomatoes. Fourteen colors are planned.

Taiwanese children have strayed from traditional foods toward the ever-popular Western fast food concept, and the colorful rice is an attempt to bring them back into a healthier frame of mind.

According to the National Geographic Society and the World Wildlife Fund, it was the size of a grizzly. Not only was it caught, but it was also eaten. By an entire village, maybe. Amazing pictures accompany the article. No details on how the fishermen actually landed the beast, although we can only guess that it was with great difficulty.

More on the ‘king of fish’ here.

Lindsay comments:

Do you have any pictures of this 646 lb. catfish?? And where do I go to see them?

Thanks, Lindsay, for calling my attention to a broken link, now fixed. The National Geographic site has several pictures.

Tian Tian: My darling, are we going to have a little one?
Mei Xiang: Perhaps.
Tian Tian: Life is so uncertain.
Mei Xiang: Yes, my precious.
Tian Tian: When will you know?
Mei Xiang: My hormone profile is on the internet. Alas, I cannot decipher it.
Tian Tian: Do our hosts know?
Mei Xiang: Maybe.
Tian Tian: Is there quickening?
Mei Xiang: Do you think you could feel something the size of a stick of butter?
Tian Tian: What is butter, dearest?

Lots of babies taking the air tonight, more people than usual pruning since it is the night before garbage day. One of my neighbors is out with his binoculars looking for the conjunction of planets, despite a street light and many trees in the way. It was still bright when I came in, and Venus is visible.

I skipped the movie, because after a very long day in front of two monitors, I couldn’t face staring at one more.

Comes a coupon for Krispy Kreme frozen blend drinks, one called ‘original kreme’. At their site, this drink sounds like a liquid Krispy Kreme doughnut, but very cold with crushed ice. Be still my beating heart.

Now the bad news. Even a small one packs quite the caloric punch. Which is partly why I avoid the Krispy Kreme over by Costco.

Sometimes, a holiday meal is spread over several days. I’ve always felt, as readers no doubt realize, that anytime is a good time for barbecued ribs, which are on the menu tonight, along with the melon.

For the 4th, many possibilities await. A boneless lamb leg, more ribs, perhaps with a different sauce, fried chicken or shrimp. I haven’t decided yet. Shish kebab.

The movie is An American Rhapsody with Nastassja Kinski and Scarlett Johansson. Reading the back of the box, it sounds like something that will make me cry. I could duck out for a night walk, and finish the movie tomorrow night, when I can weep into leftovers.

I’ve never learned how to pick one by thumping it. The last two I bought were less than satisfactory, but the one sitting on the counter is much better.

Some of the best will be at the farmers’ markets late next month, sometimes not till mid August. Then there will be the yellow- or orange-fleshed ones that are so crunchy and sweet.

I’ve not tried the little seedless watermelons, the pricey ones. Even though some diets say watermelon is not so great for those watching their carbs, I say ‘phooey’. It’s going to be close to 100° very soon. A couple of Argentine ants have made scouting runs to my workspace, which is a definite sign.

Remember that I cleaned most of the cobwebs a few days ago, an infallible portent of either high heat or an ant invasion or both.

Recently, temperatures have been very high in China, Switzerland, Italy, France, Spain, and India. Now it’s our turn, as forecasters predict the 90s for the upcoming 4th of July weekend.

Just in case you didn’t know, or have forgotten, the story of the Ethiopian and the leopard, who had great luck with hunting until the other animals got wise.

From Victor d’Aveyron, subject of the Truffaut film, Wild Child, to Amala and Kamala, raised by a wolf in India, to Genie, a modern child - the stories of children isolated in their formative years from human care and nurturing .

An explanation of how the brain anticipates, which sheds light on why we can’t tickle ourselves.

Imagine dealing with a baby who won’t sleep for a whole month. Killer whale and dolphin moms get little rest after giving birth, researchers find.

Wakefulness gives the youngsters a better chance at survival, and also allows more rapid brain growth.

An elderly farmer gets the best of an attacking leopard in Kenya.

The future for cell phone entertainment is promising but (squint) a bit hard on the eyes.

Shoe companies tout their latest products as innovative and unique, incorporating the latest technologies. But the average runner has seen no lessening in the rate of injuries.

One runner learns a lesson or two from the Tarahumara Indians about barefoot running , and adjusts his style accordingly, with admirable results.

Art Garfunkel’s ‘Songs From a Parent to a Child’, even though lullaby-type music is a poor, poor choice for fast-paced work.

How big a role will unmanned combat air vehicles play in future battle scenarios? How do they measure up against the F/A-22 Raptor, for example?

These can become the pancreas’ beta cells, a significant step forward in stem cell therapy .

From Korea Times via Briefing.com.

The death of a top pediatric surgeon raises the question of why so many doctors kill themselves. The article points out that because of their knowledge, physicians are much more likely to succeed at suicide.

A recent survey by the CDC shows that 60 percent of adults in Idaho are overweight. Fifteen years ago, that number was 29.5 percent.

The teen did not seek medical attention until her symptoms had progressed to an advanced stage. Doctors had no choice except to try a new approach .

Scientists speculate that the dark feature on one of Saturn’s moons, Titan, might be a lake of methane .

Which, if it is anything like the lakes on earth, might harbor some really intriguing form of life, or a reasonable facsimile thereof.

Or possibly, the largest catfish ever seen in the entire universe.

Note: Apologies to those who are unaware that lake monsters and catfish are frequent topics on spacebar.

Australian telescopes will be aimed at the comet/NASA probe collision on the 4th of July. They are better situated than telescopes in Europe or the Americas, and astronomers expect to see the comet at the time of impact.

In case you saw The Dish, a film about the role played by Australian scopes during the Apollo moon landing, the Parkes telescope (the dish of the title) will be put to good use looking for signs of water in the comet.

After taking a blood sample, the mother-to-be sends it to a lab, which charges $250 to analyze the DNA of the fetus .

There’s a trick to eating stinging nettles fast . Across the pond, they know the right approach.

Actually, working your way through a bowlful of this botanical wonder, you just might achieve total colonic cleansing nirvana.

It would be great fun to run through here barefoot on the next hot day.

It’s like burning your candle at both ends, but cold. And it has to be eaten much faster than you might like.

There it is again, the Google ad for colon cleanser. Somewhere in the murk of past posts, I must have made some reference to bowels and colonics. I try not to, but these things sometimes slip out. If you’ve not read any ads for these products, they contain testimonials, some of them, and you could go forever without knowing the details of someone else’s impacted problems.

For those who do not read spacebar on a regular basis, Loretta is my pet praying mantis. She is quite happy with a fruit fly diet, and when she is bigger, she will be thrilled to have some variety in the form of crickets.

Before I knew it, the squash (from seeds in the compost) had bonded with the rosebush. My fingers know better than to try to separate the two.

You might want to consider a recent study on bird preferences .

In a much smaller survey, I can vouch for the fact that cats with dirty paws choose white cars over any others.

A chat with a seriously competitive eater from a few years back.

The day is fast arriving when I toss in a large cricket, and my food chores are done for the day. If I keep them in a container outside, maybe I won’t have to deal with the cacophony of night noises which can happen if they get loose in the house.

You might laugh, but when Loretta’s hungry, she positions herself on the edge of her home closest to me. This is particularly uncomfortable for me when I’m trying to eat.

But I thought we went to hospitals to get well.

Our old nemesis, MRSA , raises its nasty head again.

Inspired by a dad’s bout with food poisoning, a teen (with help from a friend) designs a food cover with a built-in ultraviolet light to kill bacteria.

Plans to market the device in Europe and the U.S. are underway.

Is the bear of little brain online? Oh yes, click on ‘Part I’ here .