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Snails on speed don't get speedier—but their supercharged brains do learn better and make memories that last much longer, a new study says. Scientists gave pond snails the amphetamine crystal meth to explore the memory-related brain processes that get humans so hooked on the drug. Human meth users experience sensations of happiness and high self-esteem that help make the drug extremely addictive. Scientists suspect that such cravings may be tied to powerful "pathological memories" that make such highs difficult to forget. "We were not trying to addict the snails," said study co-author Barbara Sorg, a biochemist at Washington State University...

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- A woman who has a restraining order against the man who falsely claimed to have murdered JonBenet Ramsey said Wednesday the former suspect is living as a woman and trying to form a cult of little girls to have sex with him.....

Related to the platypus, this nocturnal worm-eater is the largest egg-laying mammal in the world. An echidna can weigh up to 36 pounds. Photograph by Tim Laman It may be the strangest mammal in the world—spiky hairs, pointy beak, no nipples, four-headed penis. The long-beaked echidna, found in the rain forest of New Guinea’s Foja mountains, has adapted in remarkable ways. A monotreme, from a group of egg-laying mammals that have been around since the time of the dinosaurs, this primitive animal serves as a living link between mammals and reptiles. Short-beaked echidnas and platypuses are the only other living...

BOULDER, Colo. -- A man who police said was naked except for a pair of woman's thong panties he was wearing on his head is the first person arrested under Boulder's new public nudity law. Police said that Glenn Ford, 55, was standing nude on an offramp of Highway 36 during the Thursday afternoon rush hour. Officers located him at the Baseline Road exit, according to a police blotter.

OCALA, Fla. — As if the latest reports of Burmese pythons, monitor lizards and Cuban tree frogs crawling around Florida are not enough to creep you out, there's a scary new invader in town. It's an exotic lizard called a tegu, a 4-foot-long reptile from Argentina with sharp claws and a voracious appetite for meat that could possibly tip the ecological applecart. One was spotted last week in Ocala National Forest, a place teeming with campers, swimmers and hikers.

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - While trying to find a DNA-based test to determine the sex of lake sturgeon, Purdue University researchers found that the sturgeon genome contains trematode genes that didn't originally belong to it and may harbor a protozoan parasite that causes a sexually transmitted disease in humans. Genetics professor Andrew DeWoody and postdoctoral associate Matthew C. Hale found the parasite and pathogen genes while analyzing DNA from the gonads of lake sturgeon, a species that is on the decline because of overfishing and pollution of its habitats. The only way to determine a lake sturgeon's sex currently is...

LAGOS, Nigeria (AP) -- The marriage took place at one of the Nigerian capital's most recognizable landmarks, under the golden dome of the National Mosque in front of an audience of the elite. But the recent wedding of one of the Muslim leaders who brought Shariah law to Africa's most populous nation is under scrutiny as human rights groups say he married a 13-year-old Egyptian girl.

The marriage took place at one of the Nigerian capital's most recognizable landmarks, under the golden dome of the National Mosque in front of an audience of the elite. But the recent wedding of one of the Muslim leaders who brought Shariah law to Africa's most populous nation is under scrutiny as human rights groups say he married a 13-year-old Egyptian girl. As authorities investigate Senator Ahmad Sani Yerima, the marriage is drawing fresh questions about the role of religion in a country of 150 million people split between Christians and Muslims. Yerima, 49, arranged the marriage with the girl...

Sen. Al Franken's Saturday Night Live buddies from days past are teaming up to throw him a fundraiser in Los Angeles this weekend. Dan Aykroyd and his wife Donna are hosting a star-studded affair at the House of Blues on Sunset Blvd. Friday evening. Former SNL comics Dana Carvey and Kevin Nealon are slated to make guest appearances. Proceeds from the cocktail and dinner reception will go to "Franken MVPs," a new joint fundraising political action committee which benefits Franken's campaign and leadership PACs. Guests can pay a minimum of $2,400 per person to be a "cast member," or pitch...

Check out clip of Al Franken being put on the spot about healthcare and unable to defend his position. He eventually plays the victim role by repeatedly yelling at the journalist "Let me talk", but still refuses to actually speak to the substance of the question.

LONDON (Reuters) – The sexually transmitted disease gonorrhea risks becoming a drug-resistant "superbug" if doctors do not devise new ways of treating it, a leading sexual health expert said. Catherine Ison, a specialist on gonorrhea from Britain's Health Protection Agency said a World Health Organization (WHO) meeting in Manila next week would be vital to efforts to try to stop the bug repeatedly adapting to and overcoming drugs. "This is a very clever bacteria. If this problem isn't addressed, there is a real possibility that gonorrhea will become a very difficult infection to treat," she said in a telephone interview....

Sen. Al Franken and 12 other congressmen signed a letter to the white house Tuesday urging President Obama to extend the Deferred Enforced Departure (DED) for Liberians living legally in the United States. "For the last twenty years, Minnesota has been home to one of the largest Liberian communities in the country," said Sen. Franken. "Roughly 25,000 Liberians currently call Minnesota their home and over 1,000 of them would face deportation if we allow these protections to expire." Since 1991, Liberians who were forced from their homes because of civil war and sought refuge in the United States have been...

After hearing the wit and wisdom of Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn., one has to wonder how modern media corporations could stay in business without the expertise and guidance of those elected to the U.S. Senate. Sarcasm aside, Franken did admit during a Feb. 4 hearing he didn't necessarily have legal expertise to address the Comcast-NBC Universal merger, but he could more than make up for that shortcoming through his experience in show business. Franken, a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee's Antitrust Subcommittee, explained he was bothered by the merger. "As some of you may know, I'm on the Judiciary...

States' Secretaries of State Are Tipping Balance of Power By Ed Barnes - FOXNews.com In every major election since 2000 Secretaries of State have emerged as key, often decisive, and partisan figures in the outcomes of those ballot battles. print email share recommend (6) Katherine Harris, Florida's secretary of state in 2000, helped seal George W. Bush's presidential election. In 2000 it was Katherine Harris, the secretary of state of Florida, who made critical decisions that helped swing the state Republican. In 2004 it was Kenneth Blackwell, Ohio's Secretary of State, who earned democratic wrath for ensuring a close Republican...

Scott Brown on the hustings: Will Ted Kennedy's government health care dream die at the hands of his successor? APPolitics: Democrats seated two senators under shady conditions and rewrote a state election law to keep their filibuster-proof majority in the Senate. Now they plan to deny Scott Brown entry if he wins Ted Kennedy's seat. The fate of health care reform may very well hinge on the Jan. 19 special election in Massachusetts to fill the seat of Kennedy, for whom passage has been touted as a sort of final tribute to this champion of the nanny state. As Democratic...

When Sen. Al Franken, Minnesota Democrat, was a comedian, he was never that funny. Take the title of his book "Rush Limbaugh Is a Big Fat Idiot" - that's some high-quality humor there. Clever, daring and yet so second grade. But when Minnesotans elected him to the Senate, Mr. Franken promised that those days were behind him and that he would work hard to win over his colleagues. So far, his presence in the Senate is making it a less civil place. If the old Mr. Franken were to write a book about it, the title might be "Al Franken...

Twice recently, Mr. Franken's obnoxiousness was on public display. On Dec. 14, after having missed most of a talk by Sen. John Thune, Mr. Franken tore into him, time after time accusing the South Dakota Republican of being dishonest by claiming that the Senate bill would hike taxes immediately while delaying the "spending benefits."

Much has been said about last weeks exchange between Senators Al Franken and Joe Lieberman. Franken's refusal to give Lieberman a few moments to finish his thought was a breach of Senate etiquette, where being polite on the chamber's floor is more important than party differences. Throughout his Senate Campaign, Franken was portrayed as a bit of a jerk, short tempered, scathing tongue and someone who went around looking for an argument. After some good behavior during his first few months, Franken is proving that his reputation of being a real a**hole is entirely accurate.

Al Franken, the Democrat from Minnesota who won election to the Senate after a successful career as a comic and author, has begun to show the sharp-tongued side of his personality by ripping into GOP staffers behind the scenes. Franken has worked diligently to keep a low public profile in Congress while focusing on wonky policy debates. But he has been unable to completely repress the fiery passion that made him a hero of the Democratic Party’s liberal base. Franken has teamed up with GOP colleagues to introduce a variety of legislation, something that may surprise fans who read his...

Here is video of Bill O'Reilly talking to Sen. Jim DeMint tonight, where they focused on Sen. Al Franken's insult against Sen. Joe Lieberman in the U.S. Senate yesterday. During the segment, O'Reilly played audio of Franken defending himself today, where he claimed he had no choice to shut down Lieberman because he had been given marching orders from Sen. Harry Reid. In a sense, he threw Harry Reid under the bus here! DeMint said Franken - a junior Senator - was "way out of line," and was not telling the truth in his defense of his actions. DeMint said...