This venomous lionfish, native to the Indian Ocean and the South Pacific spilled into the Atlantic in 1992 and it has spread rapidly up the U.S. coast and into the Caribbean. It is 18 inches long and could certainly hold its own in an eating contest. That's the problem. This dangerous fish is eating up a lot of reef fish at a pretty quick pace. Mark Hixon, an Oregon State University marine ecology expert compared the invasion of lionfish to a plague of locusts. To control the invasion, researchers are trying to figure out what would eat it for breakfast - and lunch, and dinner. It's not the tastiest fish and even sharks steer clear. Surprisingly though, grouper will take the bait.

Check out the video below to see how quickly it attacks its prey.

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Above is an interactive that I did which allows you to go through the voting process in Broward and Palm Beach counties. New optical scan machines will be used in Florida this year, but the machines and ballots do not all look the same.

There always seems to be some kind of voting process issue surrounding election day. Use this simulator to help prepare yourself for voting day so that there will hopefully be no confusion this year.

Also, check out our elections page to view other helpful information and articles about voting and the candidates.

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So the U.S. Department of Transportation released its airport airfare rankings today and crazy enough, Fort Lauderdale International Airport is fourth.

I don't know about you, but I'm a bit surprised. Maybe that's because I tend to fly to Charlotte, NC, where my family lives. According to the charts that you can build yourself on the U.S. Department of Transportation's website, Charlotte has consistently been pricier than the average U.S. domestic airfare. Lucky me.

An airport about two and a half hours away from Charlotte, in Raleigh, NC, is less pricey, though. My new dilemma: which is worse - flying into Charlotte and paying high airfares, or flying into Raleigh and driving two and half hours...

If you fly a lot, or even just a little and are curious, see how your destinations measure up here. Pick three airports and it will chart their airfares and compare it will the U.S. domestic average airfare. Hopefully your destinations are less expensive than mine.

For the full report, click here.

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Now that the death penalty has started up again in Florida, here is a glance at past executions and some of those who are on death row. For more, visit the Florida Department of Corrections.

Here are two men on death row. They are from Broward and Palm Beach Counties. Click on them to learn more. To search for others, click here.

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On Sunday, the Sun-Sentinel will feature a package on Brendan O'Toole, a young man who suffered from severe traumatic brain injury from a horrific car accident in September 2005. Staff reporter Tim Collie and photographer Susan Stocker spent time with Brendan's family to give you this heartfelt story about their hopes and struggles.

Above is the multimedia package with the story that features a powerful video of friends and family; copies of emails Brendan's mother wrote to friends chronicling Brendan's journey for the first few years after the accident; and an interactive graphic explaining the causes of traumatic brain injury.

If you'd like to include your story, feel free to comment at the Sun-Sentinel forum we set up for Brendan's story. Please note that all comments will be approved before they are posted.

If you want more information on traumatic brain injury, visit the Brain Injury Association of Florida or call their family helpline (800-992-3442).

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If you didn't catch my News Illustrated page on Sunday, you can find it here.

For more information on the crime in your city, you can find PDFs of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement's Uniform Crime Report here. There is information about the number of each type of crime by city, county and state and also information about arrests.

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The overall crime rate in Broward and Palm Beach counties rose in 2007 from 2006. It was the first rise in Palm Beach County since 2002 and the second time in three years that Broward County saw an increase. Fortunately, violent crime fell by 4.5% in Broward and 1.6% in Palm Beach County.

To see maps of where the crime is and see how your city fared, check out my News Illustrated page on the back of the Outlook section on Sunday.

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If you missed my News Illustrated page on Dakota, the dinosaur mummy, in the paper Sunday, check it out here.

Also, the video below talks more about the discovery process and shows some great footage of the dinosaur mummy being uncovered. It is pretty cool because you can actually see the head of the dinosaur being uncovered and see footage of them digging it up in North Dakota.

Here are 6 different parts of a documentary by the National Geographic Channel on Dakota's discovery. You can see how the scientists used CT scans and other information to create a computer generated model of how hadrosaurs walked and ran. It aired on tv back in December.
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
Part 6

Also, if you are planning to visit North Dakota anytime soon, the dinosaur's arm, tail and foot will be put on display this summer at the North Dakota Heritage Center in Bismark. A large life-size photo of the rest of the body will be put on floor tiles, with the body parts in place where they would attach. A camera will also be set up for visitors to see the rest of the body being prepared.

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A 3D dinosaur mummy nicknamed Dakota was found in North Dakota in 1999. Scientists are still uncovering it and learning new things about dinosaurs as they go. It is an amazing fossil because it is one of only five naturally preserved dinosaur mummies ever found, but instead of only having skin impressions on bones, Dakota's entire skin envelope remains. It has maintained it’s 3D shape for 67 million years.

The fossil is also the largest object ever scanned at high resolution. It is so large that it had to be scanned a CT scanner normally used to for space shuttle parts for NASA.

To learn more about how Dakota fossilized and what the scientists have been learning about dinosaurs through their discovery, check out my News Illustrated page in the Outlook section on Sunday.

National Geographic is also airing another segment of their special "Dino Autopsy" on Sunday, June 8 at 2p.m on the National Geographic Channel.

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Who said politics can't be fun? Our Crist-O-Meter, an idea from Managing Editor Sharon Rosenhause, ranks Chuck's likelihood of becoming McCain's running mate. It's updated by Sun-Sentinel editors based on breaking news.

Is he getting closer to snagging the job? The Crist-O-Meter will let you know when his fortunes change!

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Sea level is rising as ice at the poles melts, but will it cover part of South Florida? Who knows? The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency released maps that project the areas that could be affected. They show the elevations of lands close to sea level. The areas of land in red are the areas that would be covered with a 70 cm (about 2.3 feet) rise in sea level. According to the EPA, this is likely to happen in the next 120 years and has a 1% chance of happening in the next 60 years.

For additional information on sea level rise, check out these reports.

And to learn more about the melting ice in the Arctic, check out this News Illustrated page that ran a few Sundays ago. It talks about the conditions that led to the record breaking melting season last year.

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Foreclosures are rising and so are gas and food prices. Even though the Commerce Department reported Thursday that consumer spending is up 0.4 percent, I think we are all feeling the crunch of rising living expenses. Above is a look at the rising foreclosure problem. Unfortunately, Florida is second worst in that department.

Despite the rise in foreclosures, Florida is doing pretty well in terms of personal income, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis. You can explore personal income and employment around the U.S. and take a look at GDP by state. The information is also available in charts.

The Bureau of Economic Analysis has a lot of public information in interactive tables.
Also, you can find tables showing the changing prices of food, gas and other commodities over the past 10 years here.

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This is a cool animation of the sea ice from January through December 2007 from NASA. The first part of video doesn't show much, because it's the winter months, but the last half shows the ice melting which is neat to see. There are also other animations of sea ice from past years.

If you are interested in tracking the changes in the sea ice, the National Snow and Ice Data Center has set up a website for Arctic sea ice news and analysis. They give monthly updates on the ice and the conditions in the Arctic, graphics showing changes and other updates. Their website also has other information about sea ice in general and the processes, natural and otherwise, that are affecting it.

On a lighter note, have you ever wondered what it's like to live under blocks of ice? I know I have. Here is a link to an acoustic live stream from underneath the Antarctic ice to give you an idea, not of what sights you'd see, but of what sounds you'd hear. I think I hear Mumble from Happy Feet tap dancing away down there...

And if you didn't catch my News Illustrated page yesterday, you can download it here.

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Say what you will about global warming, but it is hard to deny the steady and fast loss of sea ice in the Arctic. These two images show sea ice extent at the end of the melting season in September. The top image is from 1979, the bottom image is from 2007.

Pretty big difference, huh? The 2007 melting season set a new record for melting, which isn't good, because sea ice plays an important role in regulating climate and providing a habitat for some pretty cool animals, like the narwhal. Even if you have no particular feelings towards blocks of ice, you've got to admit the narwhal is worth saving. I'm mean, come on - it's got a tooth that's longer than you are tall. Check out my News Illustrated page in the Outlook section on Sunday to find out why the ice is melting so fast and how it's affecting the people and animals living in the Arctic.

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With the rising price of rice and possible shortages, here is a look at rice production in the U.S. You can also find information about acreage and yield in the U.S. and by state on the United States Department of Agriculture website.

Soaring rice prices:

Also, here's a look at where rice is grown around the world.

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Here is an interactive game that I made to go along with my News Illustrated page running in the Outlook section of the Sunday paper. I did the page to go along with an event happening this weekend in Kendall. It's the 25th Annual Sunrise Community Hot Air Balloon Race. More than 40 balloons will be taking off and it's FREE! That is always a plus. Here is a flyer with more information about the activities, such as Laser tag and crafts. It should be a fun event and a great way to see hot air balloons in action.

If you want to see a copy of the full page, click here.

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The flights that American Airlines has canceled over the past few days have no doubt been inconvenient. The chart above shows the large jump in the number of cancellations. If you aren't sure if the changes affect you, here is a link to information about the changes and a place to search for information about your flight. You can also email their customer relations department to receive compensation if cancellations have forced you to stay overnight somewhere. Happy travels!

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Light pollution is most prevalent in urban areas across the U.S. Many parts of Florida are not good for people looking to catch a nice view of stars. Here's some information about where you'll find the most and least polluted areas in case you want to do some star gazing.

Here is another map that has details about where to check out the night sky, including detailed light pollution maps for areas all over Florida.

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Here is a News Illustrated page that was done back in 2006 when there was an attack in the Intracoastal Waterway and "Crocodile Hunter" Steve Irwin died. It explains a lot of things about stingrays, like the stinger, body parts, size, etc. Hopefully it can give some insight into the animal that killed a tourist from Michigan Thursday morning in the Florida Keys.

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I built the really awesome interactive map above so that you can see how the population has changed in Florida from 2006 to 2007. It's pretty neat to see what is going on in your neck of the woods.

If you find all this interesting and want more, here is a link to a U.S. and World population counter. It's always updating, so you can watch the world grow right from your computer.

Here is another really cool link that tells you the number of people of people being born, dying, etc. every few seconds. Not terribly useful for everyday life, but definately cool trivia to know. There are also some world population numbers.

If you want to see the changes as they happen, here is the place for an RSS feed.

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