Friday Snippets and Soundbites

If this snippet of strange isn't enough for you, check out “Snippets and Soundbites” on page 38 of the May (and every) issue of ec. We’ve always got more news of the weird to share with you!

• First off, big ec news: ever wanted to have daily devo text on your phone? Um, yeah, ec can do that now! Starting today, May 1, ec will be offering a daily devo thought via text. It will cost you $1.99 a month on your phone bill, so talk to your parents before signing up. Text "ec" to 32577 to join the ec text community!

• According to a few scientists, some animals can indeed dance to a musical beat. (Too bad ec's editor can't!) The scientists studied a cockatoo that grooves to the Backstreet Boys and about 1,000 YouTube videos, looking for signs that animals were actually feeling the beat of music they heard. The verdict: Some parrots did, and maybe an occasional elephant. But researchers found no evidence of that for dogs and cats, despite long exposure to people and music, nor for chimps. Why? The animals tht really seemed to be dancing shared with people some ability to mimic sounds they hear, the researchers say. (Even elephants can do that). Aniruddh Patel of The Neurosciences Institute in San Diego says the brain circuitry for that ability lets people learn to talk, and evidently also to dance or tap their toes to music. To learn more about the study, read this. To see a "dancing" bird on video, go here.

• A thief in Pennsylvania must have really needed an afternoon sugar fix. That's because he apparently broke into a northwestern Pennsylvania home and stole—wait for it—jellybeans. That was it. No TV, no DVDs, no jewelry, no electronics. The only thing missing from the home was jellybeans. The robber broke a window in the front door, gained access to the home, and took the bag of jellybeans from the dining room table. Guess he was hungry? Police say they are stumped by the strange turn of events.

• Spiders don't usually make most of us happy, but the harmless Theridion grallator might make you smile. The spider bears unusual markings, which happen to look just like a smiley face. Scientists believe the markings help protect the spider from its predators, but that may not be working out so well, since it's facing the threat of extinction. The spider is found only on the islands of Oahu, Molokai, Maui, and Hawaii in the Pacific Ocean but is under threat from non-native animals. To see the smiley faced spider, click here.