UPI NewsTrack Quirks in the News

Stalin sought human-ape super warrior

EDINBURGH, Scotland, Dec. 20 (UPI) -- Recently uncovered secret documents in Russia reveal that Soviet dictator Josef Stalin wanted to develop a super army by cross-breeding humans and apes.

Documents form the 1920s show scientist Ilya Ivanov was ordered to research the development of such a super-warrior and fodder for the Soviet workforce, The Scotsman newspaper reported Tuesday.

Stalin, the account says, told Ivanov, "I want a new invincible human being, insensitive to pain, resistant and indifferent about the quality of food they eat." Soviet social engineering sought to make a "living war machine," the newspaper said.

The documents claim Ivanov's attempts to use monkey sperm in humans failed, the Scotsman said. Ivanov was exiled to Kazakhstan in 1931 and died a year later.

U.S. surge in vaginal reconstruction

NEW YORK, Dec. 20 (UPI) -- Hymenoplasty, a controversial procedure prevalent in the Middle East and Latin America, is rapidly gaining popularity in the United States, a report said.

Vaginal surgery that includes reattaching the hymen -- long considered the only positive proof of virginity -- is one of the fastest growing plastic surgery segments, the American Society of Plastic Surgeons says.

Gynecologists who market hymenoplasty say business is booming for the procedure some undergo to improve their sex lives, The Wall Street Journal reported.

"Revirgination" can be had for as little as $1,800 at New York's Ridgewood Health and Beauty Center owned by Cuban-born Esmeralda Vanegas.

Vanegas promotes hymenoplasties in her magazine, Esmeralda.

"Losing your virginity is like losing a member of your family," Vanegas told the newspaper. "We can make it seem like nothing ever happened."

While some criticized the surgery dishonest and immoral, hymen repair dates back to the rise of midwives, said June Reinisch, director emeritus at the Kinsey Institute for Research in Sex, Gender and Reproduction.

Boston man saves dog from 4 coyotes

BOSTON, Dec. 20 (UPI) -- A Boston man says he beat back four snarling coyotes at a Hyde Park golf course using a tree branch to rescue Butters, his pet corgi, a report said Tuesday.

The 18-month-old dog, which suffered more than two dozen punctures in the Sunday night attack, was released Monday after undergoing surgery and was expected to recover fully.

Owner John Green said heard growling and snarling while he and Butters took a walk and he ran to the rescue.

"I held up my arms and ran at them yelling," Green told the Boston Herald. "I wasn't going to let anything happen to him."

Green told the newspaper three coyotes backed off when he got there, and Green smacked a fourth coyote with a tree branch to end the attack on his pet.

A state wildlife spokeswoman said a small dog at night could have looked like "moving prey" to the coyotes, which usually feed on smaller creatures.

Female moose wanders Mahopac, N.Y.

MAHOPAC, N.Y., Dec. 20 (UPI) -- A female moose first seen in October has been hanging out in Mahopac, N.Y., eating trees and plants and terrorizing neighborhood dogs, a report said.

Resident Joe DiScala said his 7-year-old dog, Lacey, chased the moose from their yard. But one day the moose turned as it reached a wooded area and put the collie-Labrador retriever mix on the run.

"The day (Lacey) got chased (by the moose), she would not go out," DiScala told the White Plains (N.Y.) Journal. "She was bugging out."

The wooded area has a swamp that the New York Department of Environmental Conservation believes is the home of the moose, which may have come from Vermont.

Environmental officials said there have been 2,777 moose sightings in 20 years.

The creature's range usually is limited to areas around the Adirondack Mountains. This year, though, holiday-decorated yards in Mahopac could include a live version of the deer family's largest member.