California Water Worker Snaps Pics of Giant Rodent

And guess what? They like it!

(NEWSER) - A YouTube gem from 2007 is making the rounds again, teaching us something kind of neat and kind of gross: Rats laugh when tickled. When a Bowling Green University professor decided to try tickling the rodents, and then listening to their resulting high-frequency noises on a “bat detector,” he discovered that the rats not only laughed—they actually seemed to be enjoying the whole activity, New York reports. More»

Officials hide contraceptive meds in gerbil feed

(NEWSER) - Chinese officials have resorted to contraceptive pills to control the exploding gerbil population threatening a fragile desert ecosystem, the BBC reports. The government is placing feed pellets mixed with the medication by the gerbils’ burrows, which damage the roots of what plants survive there. Authorities have tried measures to boost gerbil predators—eagles and owls—but to no effect on the rodent population. More»

Laverne Everett takes a scary skydive in California

(NEWSER) - Octogenarian skydiving may not exactly catch on after this video goes viral. Laverne Everett was celebrating birthday No. 80 with her first skydive when she became reluctant to jump at the last second, Huffington Post reports. The man going with her pried Everett free, and the pair tumbled out over northern California—where she nearly came out of her harness. Her partner held on tight as the pair plummeted toward the Earth. More»

Eric Simons turned AOL campus into his personal office

(NEWSER) - A teenage entrepreneur found the perfect place to develop his new software: AOL's campus in Palo Alto, Calif. Only problem: No one knew he was also eating, sleeping, working out, and doing his laundry there, CNET reports. Eric Simons had invented his educational software, ClassConnect, in a new campus "incubator" program called Imagine K12. But when his money ran out, Eric figured he'd see if his campus security access still worked. And it did. More»

California locale tops annual survey

(NEWSER) - If you're yearning for a little beach time this summer, California's Coronado Beach is the place to be, according to an annual survey. The 1.5-mile stretch of sparkling sand wins top honors in the 2012 survey by a Florida professor known as "Dr. Beach," reports AP . Coronado's main drawback: The water is a bit chilly. The top 5 winners in the survey, which takes into account a host of factors including water quality and safety:

1. Coronado Beach, California
2. Kahanamoku Beach, Waikiki
3. Main Beach, East Hampton, New York
4. St. George Island State Park, Florida
5. Hamoa Beach, Maui