List of Top New Species Includes Glow-in-the-Dark Cockroach, New Monkey

intl. Inst. for Species Exploration at Arizona State Univ.(PHOENIX) -- What's new in animal species? Plenty, according to the sixth annual Top 10 list by the Institute at Arizona State University that includes everything from a glow-in-the-dark cockroach to an "Old World" monkey with a bright blue buttocks.

"Through the top 10, we are really just trying to raise awareness about how many species there are on the planet," Quentin Wheeler, founding director of the International Institute for Species Exploration (IISE), told ABC News. "On average, 18,000 species a year are discovered. That sounds like a lot, but it really isn't."

Wheeler said there are an estimated 10 to 12 million living species, but only about 2 million have been discovered. This year's top 10 list was whittled down from more than 140 nominees.

While the institute simply compiles a list, "These discoveries are actually made by professionals and amateurs around the world," he said.

The 2013 release by the IISE showcases, among many impressive things, the discovery of the world's smallest vertebrate -- a tiny, 7 millimeter frog found in Papua, New Guinea. An image released by the institute shows the frog taking up about a third of the space on the face of a U.S. dime. The largest known vertebrate in the world is the blue whale, measuring 85 feet long.

A new type of luminescent (or glow-in-the-dark) cockroach specimen was discovered in Ecuador. Though the species may have already been extinct for some time, Wheeler said it's believed that the cockroach would mimic the toxic luminescent clicking beetle to ward off predators. This cockroach is one of more than a dozen species of luminescent cockroaches discovered since 1999.

Another fascinating finding was a new species of monkey, the lesula, only the second new species of monkey to be discovered in Africa in the last 28 years. The IISE said the lesula has been known to the people of Congo, where it was discovered by scientists, but the species was never recorded. This species of monkey has eyes that observers say look human, with brown coloring, and males have large, bare patches of skin on the buttocks and testicles that is a brilliant blue.

But the most interesting discovery may be that of the Semachrysa jade -- a green lacewing. What is believed to be the first ever photo of the insect was taken by Malaysian photographer Hock Ping Guek, though unbeknownst to him at the time. A California scientist happened upon the image of the lacewing on Guek's Flickr and asked him to mail the specimen to London's Natural History Museum where it was eventually identified registered as a new species.

Wheeler explained to ABC News that some scientists are predicting half of the world's species could be gone by the end of the century (a type of extinction that last happened at the time of the dinosaurs), so furthering these discoveries and spreading interest through the yearly top 10 list is important.

In a statement attached to this year's list of species, Wheeler pressed the urgency of exploring now: "We are calling for a NASA-like mission to discover 10 million species in the next 50 years. This would lead to discovering countless options for a more sustainable future while securing evidence of the origins of the biosphere."

Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio

Teen Wins ‘Doodle 4 Google’ Contest with Heartfelt Reunion Drawing

Sabrina Brady/Google(NEW YORK) -- The instructions were plain and simple: Draw your “best day ever.” Sabrina Brady did just that and it’s landed her quite literally front and center in all of Google’s glory.

Brady, 17,  was crowned the national champion of the site’s fourth ever Doodle 4 Google contest on Wednesday.  Students in grades K-12 from all over the country submit their artwork to the competition, hoping to see their masterpiece intertwined with Google’s iconic homepage logo.

Brady, a senior at Wisconsin’s Sparta High School, scored the top prize for her work titled “Coming Home.” The illustration shows her racing into her dad’s arms upon his return from an 18-month deployment in Iraq.

After reviewing thousands of entries submitted over a two-month period, Google selected finalists from every state in the country and asked users to vote for their favorite.

“Her creative use of the Google letters to illustrate this heartfelt moment clearly resonated with voters across the country and all of us at Google,” Doodle team leader Ryan Germick wrote in a blog post after announcing Brady the winner.

Brady doesn’t just get to showcase her masterpiece on Google’s homepage display; she also won a $30,000 college scholarship, a Chromebook computer and a $50,000 technology grant for her school, according to the tech giant. Google says Brady will attend the Minneapolis College of Art and Design in the fall.

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Bridge Collapse over Skagit River in Washington Sends Cars, People into Water

A portion of the Interstate 5 freeway over the Skagit River in Skagit County, Wash., collapsed May 23, 2013, sending cars and people into the water, authorities said. (Tiffany Matson)(SKAGIT COUNTY, Wash.) -- A portion of an interstate highway bridge in Washington state collapsed Thursday night, sending cars and people into the water, authorities said.

The collapse occurred on the Interstate 5 freeway over the Skagit River in Skagit County, Wash., about two hours north of Seattle.

"N/B and S/B lanes of I-5 Skagit River Bridge collapsed," Washington State Trooper Mark Francis posted on Twitter, shortly after the 7 p.m. collapse. "People and cars in water."

Three people were injured during the collapse. Two people rescued from the water, who were taken to Skagit Valley Hospital in Mount Vernon, Wash., were suffering from hypothermia.

Officials were looking into reports of an oversized load "immediately" causing the collapse, said Travis Phelps of the Washington State Department of Transportation and Washington State Patrol.

"We're looking at the cause being an oversized, over-height vehicle, striking critical portions of this bridge, causing it to collapse," he said.

The National Transportation Safety Board said they will send a team to investigate the collapse.

Clean up efforts will take several days to weeks, according to Phelps. The bridge sees 77,000 cars per day, and Phelps said they are expecting significant congestion until the bridge is fixed.

"We inspect our bridge every two years. We're not going to let anybody drive on a bridge that is deemed unsafe," Phelps said.

The bridge was last inspected in November 2012 and deemed safe, Washington State Department of Transportation spokesman Bart Treece told ABC News.

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Jodi Arias Jury Cannot Decide on Death Penalty, Mistrial Declared

ABC News(PHOENIX) -- Jodi Arias will not be put to death -- at least not yet.

A judge declared a mistrial in the sentencing phase of her murder trial Thursday, after the jury could not agree on whether to sentence Arias to death or to life in prison for murdering her ex-boyfriend, Travis Alexander, in 2008.

Under state law, in a capital case, if the jury can't reach a unanimous decision, the Maricopa County, Ariz., District Attorney's Office must weigh whether to spend time and resources to find a new jury, schedule new court dates, and re-present its evidence to try to reach a death sentence, which could take months, according to Jerry Cobb, spokesman for the prosecutor's office.

Arias, 32, was convicted of first-degree murder for killing Alexander in a gruesome attack in 2008.

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Prosecutor Juan Martinez has argued that because the murder was especially cruel, involving 27 stab wounds, a slit throat, and a gunshot wound to Alexander's head, Arias deserves the death penalty.

But the jury was unable to return a verdict on which they agree.

On Wednesday, the jury stopped deliberations and sent Judge Sherry Stephens a note about their indecision. She responded by sending them back to the jury room to continue deliberating, with instructions on how to ask questions of her or attorneys if they felt they could not come to an agreement.

"Each juror has a duty to consult with one another, (and) to try to reach agreement without violence to individual judgment. You may want to identify areas of agreement and disagreement. If you still disagree, you may wish to tell the attorneys and me what issues, questions or law or facts on which we can possibly help," Stephens told the jurors.

"At this time please go back to the jury room and continue deliberating," she said.

Now a second jury in a new penalty trial will deliberate whether to give Arias the death penalty or life in prison. That trial is set for July 18. If they also reach an impasse, and cannot agree, then Arias's life could be saved.

Stephens would then sentence her to either life in prison with the possibility of parole after 25 years, or natural life, without the possibility of parole.

Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio

Boy Scouts Vote to End Ban on Gay Scouts

Win McNamee/Getty Images(DALLAS) -- The Boy Scouts of America Thursday voted to lift its longtime ban on admitting gay Scouts but will continue to exclude openly gay adults from leadership roles.

The vote by its 1,400 national membership came as no surprise to gay rights advocates, who hailed it as a first step to ending discriminatory practices in the 103-year-old organization.

The ruling by secret ballot at a national convention in Dallas means that mothers like Jennifer Tyrrell, who is a lesbian, will still be excluded from the Boy Scouts.

Tyrrell was let go as an Ohio den leader of her 8-year-old son Cruz's Cub Scout pack last year because she was gay, but she applauds what she sees as a "temporary" policy.

"It's a great first step, and the fact that they've gone to the Supreme Court to defend the right to discriminate shows the progress we've made," the 33-year-old mother of four told ABC News.

"I am encouraged because we definitely are in it for the long haul," said Tyrrell. "Once the ban is lifted on youth, they will see their fears are unfounded. There are going to be [gay] boys who want to continue as leaders. It's just a matter of time."

She said she would continue to fight for other gay families who wanted to be part of the Scouts.

But others, such as former Eagle Scout James Dale, who brought the lawsuit against the Boy Scouts that made it all the way to the Supreme Court in 2000, said the partial lifting of the ban was "unacceptable."

In 1991, he was fired as an assistant Scoutmaster of a New Jersey troop when he came out of the closet in college. He lost the Supreme Court case by one vote.

Growing up, Dale said he found the Boy Scouts to be "one of the organizations that were the most welcoming and accepting."

But today, he sees it as an "anti-gay organization" that is out of step with a culture that is rapidly accepting same-sex families.

"You can have gay Scouts, [but] you can't have gay Scout leaders or anyone over the age of 18," said Dale, who's now 42 and works in advertising in New York City.

"It's still a damning and destructive message that they're going to send to young people. They will go from celebrated Eagle Scout when they're 17 years old to basically not being welcome anymore once the clock strikes 12 and they're 18 years old."

"It's kind of fascinating that the Boy Scouts of America are still so stuck," he said. "They're willing to destroy the organization. Over some...small-minded values."

About 70 percent of all local troops are supported by religious groups, according to the Boy Scouts, and in recent months, some have backed away from their opposition, according to the gay advocacy group GLAAD.

The Mormon church, which sponsors most of the troops, has now endorsed allowing gay Scouts. The Roman Catholic Church has taken no official position. The National Jewish Committee on Scouting, the Episcopal Church, the United Church of Christ, the Unitarian Universalist Association and the Metropolitan Community Church all urged full repeal of the ban.

But many other Christian groups stood firm in protest, citing religious freedom and the previous Supreme Court decision.

Nearly 19,000 past or current members of the Scouts signed a petition from Alliance Defending Freedom, which was delivered to the Boy Scouts this week, urging it to keep the ban.

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New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg Accused of Blackmail in Taxi Boss Battle

Spencer Platt/Getty Images(NEW YORK) -- This is the case of the F-bomb that's landed New York City's mayor in federal court.

One of the leaders of the Big Apple's taxi industry filed suit against Michael Bloomberg this week, claiming a violation of his constitutional right against retaliation in the wake of news reports that a fuming, swearing Bloomberg threatened to destroy the yellow-cab industry once he's out of office next year.

Taxi Club Management CEO Gene Freidman claimed Bloomberg has been trying to "blackmail" and bully city hacks because of their unified opposition to his administration's plans to require all taxi owners to convert their fleets to the new "Taxi of Tomorrow" design.

The mayor and his aides have been "relentless in their retaliation ... in their stubborn determination to override any opposition, from any quarter, to the Taxi of Tomorrow," according to the lawsuit filed late Wednesday in Manhattan Federal Court.

Those efforts, Freidman's suit said, were compounded by Bloomberg's recent comments when the mayor "personally threatened ... Freidman during halftime at the Knicks/Pacers playoff game at Madison Square Garden, stating, 'When I am out of office, I will destroy your f---ing industry," and then stating, "after January, I am going to destroy all you f---ing guys."

The tirade made the front page of the New York Post and the mayor has not denied it.

City Hall had no immediate response to the lawsuit.

After three terms in office, Bloomberg will return to private life on Jan. 1, 2014.

Freidman, also a board member of the Greater New York Taxi Association, has been a key voice in the battle against the Taxi of Tomorrow plan, arguing that it eliminates competition and would put unfair burdens on cabbies and those who own taxis.

His lawyer, Steve Mintz, said Bloomberg "is threatening hard-working taxi entrepreneurs, and it's un-American, offensive and we won't give in. We have won every case in court and will continue to."

Even before the mayor's purported colorful halftime commentary, the Bloomberg administration has been pushing Freidman to abandon his opposition to the mayor's taxi plans, his lawyer said. The key tool, Mintz alleged, is a barrage of summonses against Freidman's fleet that would cost the taxi owner more than $3.5 million.

Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio

Texas Deputy, Shot in 'Evil Evan' Manhunt, Returning to Force

iStockphoto/Thinkstock(BOWIE, Texas) -- The Texas deputy shot three times in March while chasing a paroled Colorado inmate suspected in the slaying of Colorado's prisons chief will be heading back to work this weekend, and he says he is "ready to go back to it."

On Wednesday, authorities released the dash camera video of the moment 27-year-old Montague County Sheriff's Deputy James Boyd was shot during a routine road block on March 21 in Bowie, Texas. After months of recovery, Boyd plans to return to work on Sunday.

"I'm ready to go back," Boyd told ABC News Thursday. "I'm kind of nervous about it but I know I can do the job, so I'm ready to go back to it."

Boyd was wearing a bulletproof vest when he approached the 1991 black Cadillac allegedly being driven by Evan Spencer Ebel just over two months ago. Boyd said that 10 seconds passed between when he had pulled over the car and when he was shot.

"He was driving in the left-hand lane," Boyd said. "Something caught my eye about. There was something there."

Almost as soon as Boyd approached the car, Ebel, a white supremacist gang member who signed his name "Evil Evan," began firing at him with a 9mm Smith and Wesson handgun, police have said. Boyd was shot twice in the chest, and a bullet grazed his forehead above the left eye.

"I was shocked. That's not what I was out there looking for," he said. "I was out there looking for proactive stops. This is the most severe incident I've encountered."

The shooting started a 100-mph car chase across two Texas counties during which the car's occupant continued to shoot at police. The chase ended when the driver was hit by an 18-wheel truck.

Ebel emerged from the wreck and kept shooting at cops until he was cut down by return fire. Ebel was flown to John Peter Smith Hospital in Fort Worth, Texas, where he died.

Boyd said that he doesn't remember much of what transpired between his approach of the vehicle and being in the hospital. He went through months of cognitive rehab before his return to the force this weekend, mainly to work on his stability.

"We worked on my reaction times, my problem-solving skills, and my speech therapy, which is for my listening," he said.

Montague County Sheriff Paul Cunningham told ABC News that once he returns to the force, Boyd will be presented with a new vest and an award. He will also be speaking about his experience at a few area schools. Cunningham said that when he heard about what transpired with Boyd, whose family he has known for decades, he was livid.

"It pissed me off, to be real honest," he said. "Any time you see one of your people hurt [it causes alarm]....We're such a small department, and close knit."

Boyd, at first, will be on dispatch when he returns to the police force, as was requested by his rehabilitation team, which felt he should be taking it easy at first.

"We're going to watch and him and work him back in at his pace," Cunningham said.

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‘Extremely Active’ Potential for Hurricane Season

NASA GOES Project(WASHINGTON) -- Get ready for an “extremely active” active Atlantic hurricane season, government forecasters said Thursday.

Between now and the end of the Atlantic hurricane season (Nov. 30) the National Atmospheric and Oceanic Administration predicts 13 to 20 named storms, of which seven to 11 could become hurricanes. Three to six of those hurricanes could be major, with winds 111 mph or greater.

Three climate factors are coming together to produce an “active” or “extremely active” hurricane season, NOAA forecasters said Thursday. Ongoing climate patterns off the coast of Africa have spawned a period of high hurricane activity since 1995. Water temperatures are warmer than average in the Atlantic and the Caribbean. El Niño conditions in the Pacific Ocean are absent this season; those tend to keep hurricanes from forming.

The 2013 prediction follows an especially active 2012 Atlantic season, which produced 19 named storms. (The average is 12, according to NOAA.) Of those storms, 10 became hurricanes and two became “major” hurricanes packing wind speeds 111 miles an hour or greater. Two tropical storms fired up in May, even before the official start of the 2012 season: Alberto and Beryl. The deadliest 2012 storm by far was Sandy, which killed at least 147 people as it raked its way across the Caribbean to the Eastern Seaboard.

In the U.S., Sandy caused approximately $50 billion in damage.

On Monday, NOAA predicted a below-normal hurricane season for the Central Pacific Basin.

National Hurricane Preparedness Week is May 26 through June 1.

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Man Safe After 32 Days of Alleged Torture

iStockphoto/Thinkstock(NEW YORK) -- A New York City businessman was rescued this week after being held for more than a month in an abandoned warehouse, where his alleged abductors tortured him for weeks in a plot to extort his family for millions in ransom, prosecutors said.

Pedro Portugal, an accountant and father, was abducted off a Queens street in broad daylight last month, when he was forced into an SUV by a two men pretending to be police officers, according to the Queens, N.Y., District Attorney's Office.

From there, authorities said, he was taken to a nearby warehouse where he was tortured with beatings and acid, all in an effort to secure $3 million in ransom from his family in Ecuador.

"This is a terrifying story of a businessman allegedly being forcibly abducted off the streets of Queens County in broad daylight and being beaten and held against his will for more than a month while his alleged kidnappers demanded $3 million from relatives in Ecuador for his safe return," Richard A. Brown, the Queens district attorney, said in the prepared statement.

The kidnappers, "a group of masked males, burned his hand with acid, threatened to cut off his fingers and kill him, and punched him in the face and body causing him to lose teeth and suffer multiple bruises," prosecutors said in a prepared statement.

"In many respects, this thing was like a James Bond movie. He was tied to a chair, duct-taped, ropes put around his wrists, a hood put over his head," Brown told ABC News affiliate WABC-TV.

After 32 days in captivity, Portugal, 52, was rescued on Monday when police officers, disguised as building inspectors, raided the building. They found Portugal bound with cloth and duct tape.

"The outstanding work by detectives in the case may well have saved the victim's life," New York City Police Commissioner Ray Kelly said in a statement.

Three men were arrested and have been identified as Christian Acuna, 35, Dennis Alves, 32, and Eduardo Moncayo, 38.

All three men are charged with two counts of kidnapping and unlawful imprisonment. If convicted, the defendants each face up to 25 years to life in prison.

The men have been arraigned, but had not yet obtained lawyers or entered pleas, sources said.

It was not immediately clear why Portugal was a target for the kidnappers. Authorities said his family in Ecuador owned property, but were not exceptionally wealthy. Police were investigating several possible motives, including a "suspected narcotics link," according to sources.

Investigators told ABC News the victim was known to carry large amounts of cash on him and drove an expensive car, potentially making him a target for abduction.

Portugal's family would not respond to requests for comment.

Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio

Jodi Arias Could Get Second Jury if Jurors Deadlock

ABC News(PHOENIX) -- The jury in the Jodi Arias murder trial began its third day of deliberations Thursday on whether to sentence Arias to death, raising the possibility that prosecutors may retry the penalty phase of the case if the jury is deadlocked.

Under state law in a capital case if the jury can't reach a unanimous decision, the Maricopa County, Ariz., District Attorney's office will have to weigh whether to spend time and resources to find a new jury, schedule new court dates, and re-present its evidence to try and reach a death sentence, which could take months, according to Jerry Cobb, spokesperson for the prosecutor's office.

Arias, 32, was convicted of first-degree murder for killing her ex-boyfriend, Travis Alexander, in a gruesome attack in 2008.

Prosecutor Juan Martinez has argued that because the murder was especially cruel, involving 27 stab wounds, a slit throat, and a gunshot wound to Alexander's head, Arias deserves the death penalty.

But the jury has not yet returned a verdict on whether they agree.

On Wednesday, the jury stopped deliberations and sent Judge Sherry Stephens a note about their indecision. She responded by sending them back to the jury room to continue deliberating, with instructions on how to ask questions of her or attorneys if they felt they could not come to an agreement.

If the jury cannot agree, a hung jury will be declared. Martinez and the Maricopa County Prosecutor Office will then decide whether to find a new jury and present the death penalty phase of the trial to them, Cobb said.

If they decide not to redo the death penalty phase, Arias will be sentenced to life in prison, either with or without the possibility of parole, depending on Stephens' ruling.

The current jury has sat through nearly five months of testimony in the case.

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