Now you can stare at cute, cuddly penguin photos — and help scientists, too

What do you get when you put robot cameras in Antarctica to take hundreds of thousands of penguin photos? An addictive way to waste time.

While the computer-driven cameras do an admirable job of capturing thousands of pictures, they don't know what a penguin looks like. So the universities and non-profits who run the cameras turned to animal lovers on the web to sift through the images and identify the animals.

On a site called Zooniverse, they set up Penguin Watch, which lets wannabe penguinologists sort the photos. The researchers say the data will help them track penguin populations and get a better idea of where the animals live and breed — and what's picking off the ones who don't survive. And if you really get into it, you can discuss your favorite photos with other volunteers on the site.

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The Iraqi Air Force accidentally delivered food and ammunition — to ISIS

Iraqi commanders are blaming "young and new" pilots for delivering food, water and ammunition to ISIS militants, rather than the Iraqi soldiers who were in desperate need of the supplies. It's the latest in a series of Iraqi military failures and incompetence in the face of the ISIS onslaught.

According to a report from The Huffington Post, the incident happened Sept. 19. Because of confusion and poor communication, the airmen dropped the supplies over ISIS-held territory. One Iraqi politician told HuffPo that "because of the wrong plans of the commanders in the Iraqi army and lack of experience of the pilots, we, in a way or another, helped ISIS fighters to kill our soldiers." Yikes. Iraqi military reliability has been an issue ever since US forces pulled out of Iraq in 2011.

Would you want to be called a 'coonass?'

In Louisiana, Cajun culture is a point of pride, with its distinctive food, music and dialect. But not everyone of Cajun descent is as proud of the term "coonass," used by some to refer to themselves or other people of Cajun heritage. Depending on whom you ask, it's either a badge of honor or an ethnic slur.

PRI's The World in Words went to Cajun country to find out where the term came from (spoiler: no one knows for sure) and why people are fighting over its use. A law passed in Louisiana condemns the word and claims it is derived from a vulgar French word, connasse, which means dirty whore or stupid person. But fans of the term say that just doesn't make sense. And they have their own evidence to back up their assertion.

Chinese police body-search 10,000 pigeons

China's People's Daily sent out a tweet that raised a lot of eyebrows around the world on Tuesday. And it turns out there was nothing lost in translation. Beijing police really did conduct cavity searches on 10,000 pigeons.

The government released the pigeons over Tiananmen Square on Wednesday as part of a commemoration of the 65th annual National Day, the Chinese holiday marking when Chairman Mao proclaimed the People's Republic of China. And in preparation, workers inspected each pigeon's wings, legs and anus out of an abundance of caution. 

According to the Sydney Morning Herald, the inspected birds were then loaded into sealed vans and transported to the square. The entire process was videotaped and reflects heightened security after a series of attacks attributed to separatist militants from the Uighur Muslim minority.

Chinese are flocking to Hong Kong — to shop, not to protest

The Chinese National Day holiday isn't just reserved for releasing carefully-screened pigeons. It is also a time when workers are given two days off. And many middle-class Chinese spend their free time shopping.

One of the preferred places to shop is Hong Kong because it is nearby and has Western products. Only this time when Chinese travelers arrived in Hong Kong, they were greeted by the city's ongoing democracy protests, as well as the usual sales.

Matthew Bell from PRI's The World is in Hong Kong covering the protests. He reports that most of the mainlanders he talked to just weren't interested in the protests. One woman expressed appreciation for the peaceful nature of the protest, while a man said they should express their opinions and then go home.

What we're seeing on social

Weather around the world

It's barely spring in Australia and people are already gearing up for what is predicted to be a hot and dry summer — one that could rival last summer's record-setting heat. According to News.com.au, forecasts suggest above average temperatures and little rain will again lead to brush fires and frequent heatwaves. The heat has already arrived in Sydney. Earlier this week, the city's temperatures reached at least 35.5 degrees Celsius (almost 96 degrees Fahrenheit) for two consecutive days — the hottest two consecutive days on record.