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New frog species found in hunt for old ones

A search for frogs believed to be extinct has instead led scientists to discover some new ones.

Three species hitherto unknown to science have been found in Colombia.

They include a poison-secreting rocket frog and two toads. All three are tiny and tend to be most active in daytime, which is unusual for amphibians.

However, the same expedition to Colombia failed to find the species it was hoping to rediscover, the Mesopotamia beaked toad.

The disappointment provoked by that non-discovery turned to glee when the conservation scientists came across the three new species.

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crybaby frog

Freezing Frogs

Freezing to Un-Death

The idea that people could freeze themselves, hoping to stave off death and instead thaw sometime in the future, is at this point an element left to science fiction. While some people have tried to freeze themselves (most notably, this list includes baseball great Ted Williams, and that reportedly went badly) so far, no one has thawed successfully.

The wood frog, pictured right, has found better luck.

Instead of migrating to warmer places or creating a warm place in which to hibernate locally, wood frogs just kind of blend in and let the outside environment take over. When their surroundings freeze, so do the frogs. When the frost thaws, so, again, do the frogs. And wood frogs survive the process.