12 METRO Wednesday, December 2, 2009 D Clever: The walking batfish uses a scented horn on its head as a fishing rod to lure its prey Picture: BNPS A joker? No its batfish ITS got a face perhaps only its moth- er could love but marine experts are hoping it will be the star attraction of a new sea world exhibit. So little is known about this rare walking batfish, biologists are not sure whether it is a he or a she. Along with three others, it has been brought from the Gulf of Mexico to Britain for the first time. Its not even clear whether they are males or females or asexual, said Derek Scales, tropical marine expert at Weymouth Sea Life Park in Dorset. We hope to solve that mystery by encouraging them to breed and to learn as much else as we can. Theyve settled in and are feeding well on shrimps and diced fish and were confident theyre going to thrive here. The clever fish Ogcocephalus nasutus use fishing rods attached to their heads to catch their prey of snails, crustaceans and worms, using a scent to lure them in. Instead of swimming, they spend their days plodding along the bottom of the sea bed on foot-like fins. Batfish can grow to 30cm and live on the sea shelves of tropical coasts. They are often found 3,000m down. By Jo STeele SCIENCE & DISCOVERY IN BRIEFMINICOSM plant power: Flowering plants evolved to dominate Earth by developing more efficient hydraulics or leaf plumbing to increase rates of photosynthesis, according to scientists. Measurements of leaf vein density and a linked hydraulic-photosynthesis model were used by US scientists to work out why flowering plants were the most ecologically successful. male fail: It is well-known that men are to blame for most of societys ills and now all our life-spans can be added to the list. Sperm carry genes that reduce life-span, tests on mice show. The finding emerged after female mice were genetically modified to have two mothers and no father. They lived up to a third longer than an identical control group, Japanese scientists said. sugar rush: Eating sweets is obviously nice in itself but even the idea of wolfing them down can also get our bodies going. The mere anticipation of consuming something sugary can often cause our muscles to start taking up more blood sugar. This could be used to help athletes before a competition, according to the Japanese study in the Cell Metabolism journal. Richard and Judy book club coming back to TV RICHARD and Judys Book Club is making a comeback but celebrity reviewers including stylist Gok Wan and Strictly Come Dancing contestant and actress Laila Rouass will replace the couple. TV couple Richard Madeley and Judy Finnigan took the Book Club with them from Channel 4 to digital channel Watch, but they quit their show by mutual agreement earlier this year after falling viewing figures. Channel 4 announced the TV Book Club will air on More4 in January 2010. Burglars go by a Da Pinchi Code CRIMINALS have been chalking sinister symbols outside affluent homes in what has been dubbed the Da Pinchi Code. The signs are aimed at giving fellow burglars information about which properties they should target. The codes, which have been appearing in the village of Tandridge, in Surrey, England, include a plan of a house indicating it has already been burgled; linked circles showing the wealth of the owners; and the outline of a book meaning a vulnerable female lives there.New host: laila Rouass index.html2.html3.html4.html5.html6.html7.html8.html9.html10.html11.html12.html13.html14.html15.html16.html17.html18.html19.html20.html21.html22.html23.html24.html25.html26.html27.html