Digest

Dateline Florida

By Times Wires
Published September 15, 2007

Next time shuttle tiles break, it'll be goo to the rescue

NASA hopes a glob of salmon-colored goo - about the consistency of peanut butter - could be a cure for its troublesome shuttle thermal tiles. NASA wants to test the thermal tile patch on the next space shuttle mission, the Associated Press reported. The goo was one of three methods NASA considered using on Endeavor last month before deciding the damaged tiles didn't need to be fixed in flight. NASA is set to formally approve the repair method Monday. It has been tested extensively on the ground, but never in space. Discovery is scheduled for an Oct. 23 launch.

That's one tenacious little shark

Brendan Chapman, 14, got more than he bargained for Thursday when he went snorkeling at Anglin's Fishing Pier in Lauderdale-by-the-Sea. He came out of the water with a 3-foot nurse shark latched onto his abdomen. Onlookers poked at the shark to get him to let go, but nothing worked until Broward Fire-Rescue Lt. Rob Melendez socked the creature with a well-aimed punch to its nose, a technique he saw in a movie, the Miami Herald reported. The shark was tossed back into the ocean.

Enough of this monkey business

In April, a woman was trampled to death by a camel purchased at an auction at the Sumter County fairgrounds. In July, a man at an auction there was cited after selling a monkey without proper permits. The Animal Rights Foundation of Florida complained about the incidents, prompting the Sumter Fair Association to recently ban exotic animal auctions from its grounds. Buy your camel elsewhere.

[Last modified September 15, 2007, 00:12:05]