You're going to want to check out Carl Zimmer's full article about what exactly is going on here. Essentially, evolution has caused duck penises and duck vaginas to adapt into pretty wild and complex contraptions, with the penises unfurling into clockwise corkscrew shapes while the vaginas have evolved into counter-clockwise passageways with multiple pockets. And you thought your vagina was impressive!

Seriously, go check out the article to give this video some context. If nothing else, it'll provide you with a deeply inappropriate anecdote to tell your extended family over dinner tonight. [Discover Magazine]

Extraordinary Animals In The Womb aired last year, using advances in scanning and imaging technology to trace the gestational paths of animals outside the human family. The documentary footage is actually a combination of digital photography, scans, and computer-generated models. The filmmakers took detailed scans of the animal's wombs, then had the model makers recreate every blood vessel and whisker. The resulting images, while not direct photographs, are, according to the researchers, accurate representations of what goes on inside these creatures' wombs.

You can read more about the documentary at the Daily Mail.

Stunning photographs of animals inside womb [This Blog Rules via Maurissa Tancharoen]

[New Scientist via io9]

The device is called the Violent Elephant Control Gear and is basically a seven kilogram box that attaches to the hind leg of an elephant. If necessary, it's triggered by remote and woosh—ziiiip—-tied is the elephant. I just hope that the poor thing doesn't trip as a result and crush someone. [Psyorg via Fast Company]

Photo by Henry Brett

The robot polar bears are part of the zoo's holiday exhibit, and it's unclear if they'll be around after the season is over. Let's face it, though. These would have to be some damn good robot bears to convince me to see them over live polar bears.

PETA is encouraging the zoo to keep developing the animatronic animals, but listen PETA, hear me out. Sure, you're trying to keep animals out of captivity. You're also promoting the creation of an advanced, highly mobile robot bear army.

I encourage you to rethink your position. [Inhabitots via Inhabitat]

Over 68 scientists worldwide are participating in the Genome 10K Project, the results of which would not only bring understanding of changes in species but also "allow predictions of how certain species might respond to climate change, pollution, new diseases and competitors." There's great potential to discover more about genetics with this project, but I have a sneaking suspicion that at least one of those scientists is in it for the DNA scavenger hunt through zoos. [Genome 10K via Pop Sci]

The black angus heifer was bought from the neighboring ranch they found it on, and operated on by vets and students at Colorado State University.

It's a sweet story and all, but does this seem a wee bit misguided to anyone else? Thousands of dollars to save a cow that was halfway to burgertown? If you want to help out animals, you could spend that money in a way that would save many animals instead of just one. But hey, it does look pretty adorable! [wtop via Neatorama]

Let me explain. The same biological structures used in the mantis shrimp—a strange creature with 500m years of lineage—to see circular polarized light are used in modern satellite communications and the laser/lens setup in DVD and CD players. The fundamental hardware in our tech are called quarter-wave plates. They both do a 90 degree shift to wave patterns, and quarter waves are ideal for our tech because they are part of high compression, lossless data signals. But mantis shrimp eyes can work this magic on a broad array of light spectrum with their tightly packed tube shaped cells, while our clumsy human tech can only do it to a few frequencies. The potential for new higher bandwidth devices is there.

[Wired]

Why rabbits? The fuzzy critters have actually become a bit of a pest in Sweden; wild and stray pet rabbits alike have ravaged city parks in Stockholm, forcing hunters to think out the population. With all those bunny bodies piling up, it makes sense to put them to good use. So the bodies are shipped to Konvex, a company that turns animal and vegetable oils into automotive and heating oils. But even the reproductively prolific rabbits don't provide sufficient power, so Stockholm supplements their bunny-based power with other animal corpses, including cats and horses.

Holy shit. Macabre? Yes. But also strangely sensible? Yes. I don't know what to think anymore. [Scientific American via io9]

Early on the morning of Aug. 1, Siebel said, he and a guide went to a watering hole, where they hoped to observe a variety of game that were known to gather in the quiet early morning hours. They were watching a group of elephants from 200 yards away - "keeping a respectful distance," Siebel said - when one turned and without warning began to charge.

"There was no apparent reason, nothing that should have made it feel threatened," Siebel said. "It was quiet, and then the quiet stopped," when the elephant began thundering toward the two men.

As the massive animal closed the distance, Siebel said the guide fired a gun but missed. Siebel said he was trampled and gored in the leg, until he just "curled into as tight a ball as I could." The guide suffered broken ribs and other injuries.

After the animal left and the men called for help, rescuers came and eventually airlifted Siebel to Nairobi, where he received emergency care before flying back to California for more treatment. All told, he said, he spent 18 days in four hospitals before he was allowed to go home.

Siebel has been using a wheelchair but has told friends he expects to make a full recovery, after reconstructive surgery and physical therapy.

All joking aside, I'm glad to hear that Siebel will be fine and are sorry to hear about what I can only imagine was a horrible experience. But come on, attacked by an elephant? That's amazing. [Mercury News]

The fish he treats are ornamental—fancy ones for aquariums—so I guess there are a lot of people with exotic fish around Chandannagore. But man, how surreal is that photo of the goldfish receiving an injection? Normally when a goldfish gets sick the prescription is one dose of going down the toilet. Be sure to click through to Life to see the rest of the series of images. Amazing stuff. [Life via Notcot]

Steven from Boing Boing Gadgets recently tried the system out with his pug Gus, and I don't quite see the point of it all.

So what does it track? "Average Power Correlate" (APC), which the company claims is a "correlation based on empirical measurement." In other words, a relative measure of the amount of energy that accumulates in the tag's accelerometer. Thus, the charted numbers themselves are rather meaningless, which was a bummer in that I was unable to make any comparison(s) to my own level of fitness, distance traveled, etc.

Yeah I think I'll just keep my $150, thanks very much. [Boing Boing Gadgets]

Tonka got in a tussle with a local dog, who bit off one of her legs. Unable to walk around properly, rescuers had the idea to strap the wheels from a Tonka truck to her underside, turning her into the fastest tortoise around.

Local resident John O'Dea, 35, has now adopted Tonka and said she loved nothing better than roaming in the vegetable patch and going for ‘walks'.

Surfer John said: ‘She is doing really well and loves roaming around the vegetable garden on her shiny new wheels.

‘She has a particular fondness for tomatoes.

‘I take her for ‘walks' regularly around my neighbourhood, I think she likes the speed but I do get a few funny looks.

Man, that hare doesn't stand a chance now. [Daily Mail via Neatorama]

It's pretty cool, I guess. I mean, it's more convenient than having your phone get a text every time the cat goes in or out. Even easier, however, would be just not giving a shit whether or not your cat was going in or out and just focusing on your job instead of allowing yourself to be distracted by this crap.

If only the guy made Twitter a viable business plan. That would be impressive. Speaking of which, don't forget to follow us on Twitter—we want to be your friends![Switched via UberGizmo]

Malcolm always seems to do it when I'm writing some important email or have a lot of windows open. And then he steps on it and everything goes BASDFASDGASDBASDGASd or BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP and all the keys go CLAAAAACCCCCCCCKKK as his nails scrape against the plastic. And then he wants to play and looks at me with a look on his face like, "LETS GO OUTSIDE BUT FIRST FEED ME AGAIN!"

Other writers here think its because geek owners stare at their screens all day, and the pets eventually need some attention, food, or a poo break. What do you think it is that makes pets want to walk on keyboards?

He's built with a pair of metal rods that run down his face, and over forty screws are bolted to his head holding his jaw and skull together.

Surgeons were forced to construct the biotechnological terror now known as Robo-Croc after a car crushed his formerly ordinary-but-endangered crocodile head last year. He's not eaten in three months. They're hoping that by reinforcing his snout and reconstructing his head and face with a similar texture, they can get him to eat again.

Perhaps they should start with one-handed pirates that have cybernetic limbs. I wonder if he's still going to get his brains scrambled by magnets, though? [Telegraph]