ANIMAL behaviourist Patricia Simonet says she's figured out what dogs are doing when they make that excited panting noise while playing or anticipating a much desired walk. They're laughing.
In addition, Simonet also found that the sound of dog laughter comforts other dogs. Whenever she plays a recording of "play panting" through the speaker system, all the barking dogs quiet within a minute.
She started researching dog sounds in 2001 and began recording dogs at play with her students. They eventually isolated the growling, whining, barking and the sound she now calls laughter.
A 91-YEAR-OLD Englishman who staked a 500 pound (US$875) bet that he would be dead by the end of the first week in December lost his stake by staying alive.
The man said he put the bet on at odds of 6/1 at the start of the year because his wife would have faced an inheritance tax bill of 3000 pounds (US$5250) had he died in the intervening period.
"I thought I'd heard most things that people want to bet on after 30 years in the business," said Sharpe, spokesman for bookmaker William Hill. "But one asking literally to place a dead cert was unique. I'm glad the old man has lost."
The man had feared that his wife 85, would have to sell the home they had lived in for 50 years in the southwest if she had been hit by the tax bill.
"I lost my 500 pounds-but it gave me peace of mind," he said.
THREE prisoners escaped from a prison in eastern France on December 10 in a helicopter hijacked from a nearby airport. The plane was due to leave to pick up skiers in the nearby Alps mountains.
Two armed men hijacked the helicopter in Albertville and forced the pilot to land in the prison courtyard about 10 minutes away. The three prisoners hopped aboard and all five later fled by foot after the craft landed.
Jail officials declined to name the escapees but said one was serving time for drug trafficking, another for armed robbery and the third—who was considered especially dangerous—for leading a gang in a robbery case.
