Phart Art

Charge dropped against man accused for farting

A West Virginia man accused of passing gas and fanning it toward a police officer no longer faces a battery charge. The Kanawha County prosecutor's office requested that the charge be dropped against 34-year-old Jose Cruz.

According to a criminal complaint, Cruz passed gas and made a fanning motion toward patrolman T.E. Parsons after being taken to the police station for a breathalyzer test. Cruz denies fanning the gas and says his request to use a restroom when first arriving at the station was denied.

An assistant says Magistrate Jack Pauley signed a motion to dismiss the charge Thursday. Cruz, who was arrested Tuesday, still faces driving under the influence and other charges.

Herrings converse via flatulence, researchers find

Herrings appear to be sociable fish who like to communicate among themselves and use their natural flatulence to do so, a team of British and Canadian researchers has reported.

"At night herring squeeze bubbles out of their swim bladders through an anal pore, producing sounds not unlike people blowing raspberries," the team of three recounted. The Pacific species (Clupea pallasii) were found to emit distinctive bursts of pulses, known as "fast repetitive tick", or FRT sounds, mostly at night. It was the same story with Clupea pallasii's Atlantic cousin, Clupea harengus.

"Atlantic herring also produce FRT, or �Fart� sounds and video analysis showed an association with bubble expulsion from the anal duct region," the researchers found. "The functions of these sounds are unknown but as the per capita rates of sound production by fish at higher densities were greater, social mediation appears likely. "These sounds may have consequences for our understanding of herring behaviour and the effects of noise pollution."

� noise pollution?

Toy dog causes stink

A novelty dog toy which breaks wind as it bends over sparked a major security alert at a US airport, its stunned owner said today. Designer Dave Rogerson said he could not believe what was happening to him when the life-size mechanical terrier set off an explosives detector at Norfolk airport in Virginia.

Armed security staff sprang into action after something in the dog's "wind breaking" mechanism apparently registered as the high explosive TNT on their sensitive equipment. Rogerson, 31, from Leeds, was grilled by FBI agents and looked on in amazement as they took a series of swabs from the replica animal's rear end.

They eventually returned the dog but stopped Rogerson taking his planned flight to Charlotte, North Carolina, and re-routed him via Philadelphia. "They told me it was the highest reading they had for explosives and they took it very seriously," said Rogerson. "They were very jumpy and convinced there was something explosive in the dog."

Rogerson, who was heading home from the US when the incident happened earlier this month, said he was not formally arrested but was held for a number of hours for questioning. He said the situation was made worse because he had placed his passport and boarding card under the dog as it passed through the sensor machine. When the agents demanded his papers he had to tell them they were in the isolation zone around the dog. Rogerson said: "They were very, very serious. They weren't aggressive but I got a real grilling. "I couldn't believe where the FBI agents were putting their swabs. "They must have got whatever it was off the dog because they let me have it back." Rogerson said he had named the dog Norfolk, after the airport.