Free Republic

The leap of a frog is a quintessential evolutionary feat. The critter’s girthy gams thrust from behind to springboard the body up and out; a pair of acrobatic arms stretch forward to seamlessly break the fall. The landing is “very precise, very controlled,” says Richard Essner, a biologist at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville. One might expect that any frog worth its salt should be able to stick it. “And most frogs,” says Marcio Pie, a biologist at Edge Hill University, in the United Kingdom, “do.” Then there is the poor pumpkin toadlet. Spanning roughly a centimeter from snout to bum—about...

Languages evolve in sudden leaps, not creeps 18:31 01 February 2008 NewScientist.com news service Phil McKenna Language evolves in sudden leaps, according to a statistical study of three major language groups. The finding challenges the slow-and-steady model held by many linguists and matches evidence that genetic evolution follows a similar path. Mark Pagel from the University of Reading in the UK and colleagues applied statistical tools commonly used in biology to the analysis of three of the world’s major language groups: Indo-European, Austronesian, and Bantu. By comparing commonly used words within each language group, they were able to identify the...

Mobula Ray pictures reveal spectacular leaps By Paul Eccleston Last Updated: 5:01pm GMT 23/11/2007 It looks like a futuristic space ship skimming over the ocean's surface. Or maybe a triangular shaped prototype aircraft launched from the depths. In fact it is a Mobula Ray, a smaller cousin of the Manta Ray, which puts on a spectacular leaping display. The pictures were taken in the Sea of Cortez at the southern end of the Gulf of Mexico. Found in tropical oceans around the world the mobulas off Mexico are renowned for their acrobatics. They hurtle up from the depths and leap...

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Daredevil skateboarder Danny Way rolled down a massive ramp at nearly 50 mph and jumped across the Great Wall of China on Saturday, becoming the first person to clear the wall without motorized aid, an event sponsor said. Way botched the landing on his first attempt but then successfully completed the jump across the 61-foot gap four times, adding 360 degree spins on his last three tries, sponsor Quiksilver, Inc. said. "I was aware of the dangers and my heart was pumping in my chest the whole time, but I managed to pull it off with...

<p>WASHINGTON -- California first lady Sharon Davis on Wednesday blasted the Republican effort to recall her husband, calling it a "hostile takeover of government" that is certain to fail if Democrats stick together by refusing to run a successor candidate.</p>