Meet Ruby Puppy, one of four cloned pups that glow because they have genetic information from sea anemones, a breakthrough that scientists are hoping will aid in the study of human diseases. According to New Scientist Magazine, the dogs produce a protein that glows under ultraviolet light.

The first transgenic dog - called this because it has genes transferred from another speciies - was created by cloning and inserting cells expressing a red flourescent gene which is produced by sea anemones. They hope that it will eventually lead to transgenic dog models of human diseases.

One of the researchers involved with this project, CheMyong Ko of the University of Kentucky in Lexington, said:

"The next step for us is to generate a true disease model."

The team was lead by Byeong-Chun Lee of Seoul National University in South Korea. He was also a part of the 2005 scientific effort with stem cell researcher Woo Suk Hwang that created the first cloned dog.

As much as it sounds like one, this is not a joke. The over-zealous animal lovers over at the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, better known as PETA, are now campaigning to get the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to change the name of fish to "sea kittens".

PETA would like to change the name in order to improve the image of fish as a species.

On the PETA webpage entitled "Save the Sea Kittens!", PETA claims that "People don’t seem to like fish” and that “we’re going to start by retiring the old name for good.” They are urging their members to sign a petition that asks the US Fish and Wildlife Service to stop the "hunting of sea kittens (otherwise known as fishing)."

PETA makes the arguement that "Sea kittens are just as intelligent (not to mention adorable) as dogs and cats, and they feel pain just as all animals do."

The People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals are back in the headlines. This time the animal rights group is after pop star Britney Spears and her use of elephants and lions in her video for her song "Circus". PETA's Press Release Read:

Britney Spears has hit a sour note with PETA over the video for her new single "Circus," which uses cruelly trained lions and elephants even after PETA wrote to her and explained in graphic detail how trainers shock, whip, and beat exotic animals into performing. PETA has just posted an action alert and a special blog post on its popular Web site asking people to contact Spears and demand that she stop using exotic animals in her videos and concerts once and for all.

Non-native animals are destroying the habitat, and ravaging the continent's scarce water supply.

A study conducted by the Desert Knowledge Cooperative Research Centre in Australia's capital city of Canberra found that the country's one million feral camels are running wild in the desert, destroying precious water sources. Another study is recommending that livestock farmers switch from cows, sheep, and pigs to kangarooms because they expel less methane, a gas said to contribute to global warming.

In the report, Murray McGregor said, "Eat a camel today, I've done it. It's beautiful meat. It's a bit like beef. It's as lean as lean, it's an excellent health food."

Camels are not native to Australia, and were introduced to the continent as pack animals by European settlers in the 19th and early 20th centuries. However, as railways and roads spread across the continent, they were released into the wild. with no natural predators, these newcomes ate voraciously, destroying habitats and spreading disease.

Now, as water becomes even more scarce in Australia, they country is being forced to closely monitor their water supplies and look at any way to preserve even just a few extra drops of water.

The second oldest polar bear in captivity in North America - Snowball at the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo - was found dead unexpectedly Friday morning. Snowball was 37-years-old, and died after breakfast, having shown no signs of illness.

The zoo has already conducted an autopsy, but does not suspect foul play or injury. Polar bears typically live 15 to 18 years in the wild, and into their 30's in captivity. The oldest polar bear in capativity was 41 at her home zoon in Winnipeg, Canada.

Snowball was one of three polar bears at the Cleveland zoo, and was considered a queen amongst the trio. She was captured in the Canadian province of Manitoba as a baby, and brought to Cleveland in 1971. Over the years, she had many cubs to multiple fathers.

A 7-year-old boy successfully snuck into an Australian outback zoo and fed a series of small animals to the zoo's resident crocodile. The boy's parents are now likely to be sued after police said that the child was too young to be held responsible.

The young boy fed one turtle, four western blue tongue lizards, two thorny devil lizards, two bearded dragons and an adult female Spencer's goanna to the three-foot, 440-lb. saltwater crococile named "Terry".

The feedings were captured on CCTV security camera video footage at the Alice Springs Reptile Center. The smiling youngster also bludgeoned to death two more thorny devil lizards and a small blue tongue lizard during his 30-minute morningtime havoc last Wednesday.

The reptile center's director, Rex Neindorf said "The fact a 7-year-old can wreak so much havoc in such a short time, it's unbelievable. In my day he'd get a big boot up the arse. Police found him, but in the Northern Territory here he can't be accountable if he's under 10 years of age."

According to Neindorf, many of the animals that were fed to the crocodile were rare or mature, and would be difficult to replace.

When questioned about the rampage, the boy reportedly "clammed up."

The zoo is now looking at suing the boy's parents.

Turtles born with two heads aren't an everyday occurence, and this little guy that recently turned up at the Water World aquatic farm at Wuwei town in Anhui, eastern China is no exception. The turtle weighed just 17g when it arrived at the center, but is now growing at a significantly more rapid pace than its siblings.

The reason for the turtle's incredible growth spurt is believed to be because it can eat more food. With two heads chomping away, it can tear through more food than its one-headed brothers and sisters.

Staff had ordered a shipment of baby turtles from a local farm two weeks, and only discovered the two-headed marvel this week.

Water World spokesman Jimmy Hu said, "It's veryr are to see a turtle with two heads, we plan to keep it and raise it carefully for future research."

Florida isn't the only place the sharks are biting this year, and celebrities aren't immune from the prehistoric chomps. Proof of that is "American Idol" host Ryan Seacrest, who revealed that he was bitten by a shark over the weekend while swimming just off the coast of Los Angeles.

Seacrest told the story of what could have been a fatal encounter on his Monday morning LA KIIS FM radio show:

"I thought it was a stick. I wasn't sure what had happened," he said.

According to Seacrest, he was swimming "about eight feet out" from the LA shore over the weekend, in water approximately 4-feet in depth. He says that the shark viciously attacked his toe before swimming off into the Pacific Ocean's mysterious depths.

"I saw it swim! He took a bite, and he left."

Seacrest describes the shark as being roughly the size of a cat, and says the bite left three small holes in his toe. The wounds were apparently not all that bad, and he simply took an Advil to self-medicate.

Ryan also received a bit of a souvenir from the incident, finding one of the shark's teeth to serve as a reminder of his brush with the marine beast.

Horse racing is coming under fire from animal rights group PETA (which stands for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals). The organization states that they will hold a protest of the second leg of horse racing's triple crown, the Preakness Stakes, because of the deaths of Barbaro, who won the run roses but died in following race held at Pimilico Racetrack in 2006, and Eight Belles who broke down after finishing second at Churchill Downs on Saturday.

PETA is pushing for a wide array of changes to thoroughbred industry. The group staged a protest yesterday in Lexington, Kentucky, with 20 protesters with signs that had sayings such as "Stop Racing Horses to the Grave". A PETA spokesperson said this of the horse racing industry:

"Unfortunately, money and speed is all that matters to these people, and Eight Belles is the most famous recent example in a string of broken and dead animals," Lindsay Rajt stated.

The trainer of Eight Belles shot back at PETA saying they were capitalizing on a tragic situation and using the horrific event as a fundraiser for their organization. Larry Jones, who trained the filly, stated:

Triathelete David Martin, 66, died on Solana Beach Friday after a shark lifted him out of the water with his legs in its jaws, which left deep lacerations and shredded Martin's wetsuit. Helicopters continue to scan the coastline in search of the shark, which is believed to be a great white shark, that killed Martin.

According to city and county officials, beaches in San Diego will remain closed, and will be patrolled throughout the weekend.

While the weekend weather forecasts promises dry winds and summery temperatures, tempting weather to head to the beach, those thousands who would normally make a beeline for the beach will now have to weigh the risks of ignoring authorities and risking their lives to take a dip in the ocean.

David Martin was the first shark fatality in San Diego County since 1994. Before that, the last known fatal shark attack in the area was in 1959.

Experts indicate that the likelihood of finding the shark that attacked Martin, a retired veterinarian, was slim.

Sharks are a rare occurrence in SoCal, however, female great white sharks occasionally swim south to pup. Experts believe that the bite pattern on Martin's legs indicate that the shark was a great white that was 12 to 17 feet long.