Man's New Best Friend: Rats Ferret Out Land Mines, TB

Low-tech solution saves crops because elephants' noses very sensitive

(NEWSER) - With elephant populations finally on the rebound in eastern Africa, farmers are increasingly squaring off against the giant pachyderms, which can eat up to 660 pounds of food a day. Electric fences have been deemed too dangerous and expensive, so many farmers have started employing a much lower-tech solution to the problem—hot chili peppers. Chili mixed with engine oil will stick to fences, even in the rain, but the spicy zing of the peppers is too much for the elephants' sensitive noses, reports the Wall Street Journal . More»

They're especially hungry because they can't hunt on bright nights

(NEWSER) - African lions are most likely to hunt prey on moonless nights, and especially on nights following a full, bright moon, the Telegraph reports. A study looked at roughly 500 lion attacks on Tanzanian villagers over the past two decades, and found that a vast majority occurred between dusk and 10pm on nights with waning moonlight. Lions generally can't hunt on bright nights, so a full moon means they're out of luck—and getting hungry. More»

Thousands of homes in neighboring Mozambique decimated

(NEWSER) - Floods in South Africa have left 39 dead or missing after downpours this weekend followed heavy rains that began last month. The army is on standby to lead evacuations and “all disaster management structures in the country have been put on high alert,” authorities said. Farming officials expressed fears for the country’s soybean and sunflower harvest, Reuters reports. Meanwhile, 10 have died in neighboring Mozambique, where thousands of homes have been ruined. More»

Mission provides logistical support to brutal national army

(NEWSER) - Women and children beaten to death with clubs, hacked up with machetes—or, if they're "lucky," gang-raped and left alive. Such shocking acts are sadly commonplace in the conflict that has consumed Congo, perpetrated by both Rwandan rebels and their enemies in the Congolese army. The army, however, enjoys generous logistical support from the UN peacekeeping mission, even though the campaign has led to 1,400 civilian deaths, countless rapes, and mass displacement. More»

(NEWSER) - Former Liberian President Charles Taylor defended displaying human skulls along roadways in his country to scare people into obeying soldiers' orders, reports the Times of London. “Skulls were used as symbols of death,” he told the judges at his trial at the Hague. “Enemy soldiers had been killed and their skulls were used. We did not think that symbol was anything wrong." More»