BSA National Pike District

Aaron Fotheringham, 18, has become the first person ever to land a double backflip in a wheelchair. A paraplegic, Aaron needed several attempts at a Pennsylvania skate park before landing the double backflip successfully.

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Scientists in Borneo’s Kubah National Park have discovered a frog that can rest on the tip of your little finger.

The frogs, known as Microhyla nepenthicola, were named for the pitcher plant species in which they live. These plants are carnivorous, meaning they kill insects and ants. These plants do not harm the frogs, or the tadpoles living in liquid inside the plants.

This new species of frog is so tiny, the scientists could only track them by following the “harsh rasping notes” of the frogs’ singing. Adult males range in size between .42 inches and .5 inches.

A famous French daredevil, known for scaling tall buildings without ropes for safety, used nothing but his bare hands to climb a 57-story building this week in Sydney, Australia.

Known as “Spiderman,” Robert Alain was arrested once he reached the top of the Lumiere building. The 48-year-old has climbed more than 70 skyscrapers, including the Empire State Building.

Please note: Mr. Alain’s actions are illegal and dangerous. Boys’ Life does not encourage the climbing of tall buildings without permission or the help of safety precautions.

Scuba divers have discovered a strange-looking Asian sheepshead wrasse near Japan’s Sado Island. While the sheepshead wrasse is a common fish in this area, this particular one bears a striking resemblance to the movie character Shrek. Experts say this Shrek lookalike is about 30 years old.

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The Venturi Buckeye Bullet, an electric vehicle built by Ohio State students, set a record by achieving “an average speed of 307.7 miles per hour during a two-run pass at the Bonneville Salt Flats on Tuesday.”

A vehicle called “White Lightning” set the previous record in 1999. It averaged 245.5 miles per hour.

Astronomers have found a star, much like our Sun, orbited by five planets, each about the same size as Uranus or Neptune, located about 127 light-years from our Solar System. The star is called HD10180, and the system surrounding it is more like our own than any ever discovered.

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Reptiles have invaded the Windy City. For the second time this month, an alligator has been spotted in a downtown Chicago waterway. It has not yet been captured.

The nearly 4-foot long gator was seen in the North Branch of the Chicago River. A smaller alligator was spotted Aug. 6. The Chicago Herpetological Society hopes to capture them soon, because alligators won’t be able to survive the Chicago winter. It’s thought these loose gators are abandoned pets.

Students at DeLaSalle Education Center in Kansas City, Mo., have built an electric car they say can earn the equivalent of 450 miles per gallon. As part of a program that pairs students with experts in certain fields, a team built the car virtually from scratch over a number of years. It charges in almost any electrical outlet.

Students tested the car at Bridgestone Tire Company’s West Texas proving grounds earlier this month. It proved capable of more than 300 miles per gallon during that test run. The team that built the car thinks it is capable of more.

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The Scouts of Troop 893, Orem, Utah, honored the BSA’s centennial by setting a lofty goal — to collectively earn 100 merit badges over the course of this summer. By working toward this goal at summer camp, during hikes and on summer Saturday afternoons, the 23 Scouts of Troop 893 collectively earned 125 merit badges.

Boys participating included: Corben Miller, Devin Dickson, Gage Hanawalt, Joey Fitzgerald, Koy Herrick, Lance Fredrickson, Ryan Lewis, Ryan Petersen, Spencer Scholle, Aarik Tayler, Aaron Scholle, Alex Fitzgerald, Alex Gabriel, Chris Petersen, Chris Walters, Curtis Miller, Jake Lister, Tanner Howell, Aaron Petersen, Adam Walker, David Jenson, Garrett Howell and Spencer Green.

A six-month old cub spent 10 days with a jar stuck on top of its head. The little black bear, living in Central Florida, was finally freed from the plastic container by a team from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.

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A unique albino humpback whale has been caught on film off the coast of Australia. This elusive aquatic mammal, called Migaloo, is believed to be the only one of his kind in the world. This is the first time he has ever been caught on film.

Passengers on a nearby cruise ship watched Migaloo for five hours, as he surfaced every 10 to 15 minutes. The sighting took place “1.2 miles from Green Island near the Great Barrier Reef in North Queensland.”

Two striped animals spent five hours this weekend romping through the streets of Carmichael, Calif. While their owner loaded them into a truck Saturday, dogs spooked the two zebras and sent them running in opposite directions.

Many Carmichael residents reported zebra sightings, and sheriff’s deputies eventually rounded up the striped pair. A car had hit one zebra, but it suffered only a superficial cut. The other zebra was found in an apartment complex’s swimming pool. Both have been returned to the owner, who transported them to an Oregon ranch.

A prison used to hold Union soldiers has been found near Lawton, Ga. Known as Camp Lawton, the Confederacy used it to replace the overcrowded Andersonville prison in 1864. For years, Camp Lawton’s exact location has remained a mystery.

Camp Lawton held about 10,000 prisoners during its six weeks of existence. Students at Georgia Southern began searching for it early this year. Rumors say a chest of important papers, gold, a burial trench and the remains of a horse belonging to General William Sherman have been found. Officials have described the discovery as “one of the biggest archaeological Civil War finds in decades.”

A new species of monkey found in South America is at danger of becoming extinct. The Callicebus caquetensis monkey has a distinct bushy red beard. About the size of a cat, this titi monkey was found in Colombia near the borders of Peru and Ecuador.

The year’s best meteor shower is hitting its zenith this weekend. Starting Thursday night, the annual Perseid meteor shower will provide 50 to 60 meteors per hour, all of which should be visible using the naked eye. The evening hours of Aug. 12 and morning hours of Aug. 13 should be best for viewing.

At the San Francisco Zoo, a gorilla named “Bawang” is getting into gaming. When a boy dropped his Nintendo DSi XL into the gorilla enclosure last week, the primate quickly grabbed the gadget and tried to figure it out.

While Bawang “flipped it over and put it up to her eyes several times,” a younger gorilla named “Hansai” made his way over and grabbed for the DSi XL. When a zoo trainer finally showed up, Bawang traded the gaming device for an apple.

Two Florida teenagers won the fifth biennial William I. Koch International Sea Scout Cup last week in New London, Conn. Cody Stansky, 16, of Jupiter, Fla., and Andrew Britton, 16, of Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., teamed up to take home the silver trophy.

Stansky and Britton, both members of Sea Scout Ship 777, West Palm Beach, Fla., have been sailing together since middle school. They are now entering their junior year at Alexander Dreyfoos High School of the Arts in West Palm Beach.

More than 20 new sites have been named to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization’s World Heritage list. UNESCO recognizes these sites for their natural and/or cultural impact on humanity.

New sites include: Russia’s Putorana Plateau, Sri Lanka’s Central Highlands, China’s Danxia Range, Florida’s Everglades National Park and Madagascar’s Atsinanana Rain Forests.

Click here to see them all.

A teenager found a wallet containing $650 stuffed inside couch cushions while looking for his cell phone. Jack Wagster, 16, was visiting friend Nick Gorman’s house when he found the billfold. They live in Snohomish, Wash. The couch had been purchased from a couple in Kirkland, Wash.

Jack and Nick used Facebook to track down the wallet’s owner, Alanna Jensen. They found her now living in Arizona. Alanna said she had lost the wallet at a party in 2005. She was “excited and grateful” when the boys returned it. For their honesty and effort, she rewarded them $25 each.

Archaeologists have found a mid-19th century British navy ship in Mercy Bay, located in Canada’s Aulavik National Park. The H.M.S. Investigator was found 33 feet below the water’s surface and in “relatively good shape.”

The Investigator, led by Royal Navy Capt. Robert McClure, became trapped in ice in 1853. The 66-man crew, which had been on a mission to rescue two missing ships, was forced to abandon the craft.