Twinkies do, in fact, have a shelf life — 25 days, to be precise, according to Hostess Foods. It only seems like the yellow sponge cake injected with vanilla cream filling lasts forever. Maybe because it's been around as long as anyone can remember.

Moths of the Hawaiian genus Hyposmocoma are an oddball crowd: One of the species' caterpillars attacks and eats tree snails. Now researchers have described at least a dozen different species that live underwater for several weeks at a time.

It may sound far-fetched, but federal regulators are studying whether sudden acceleration in Toyotas is linked to cosmic rays. Radiation from space long has affected airplanes and spacecraft, and is known for triggering errors in computer systems, but has received scant attention in the auto industry.

They're not as menacing as Burmese pythons, but Giant African snails are now in the same class as the large snakes — targets of the government. The invasive mollusks are considered a major plant pest and a potential public health threat. And now federal and state authorities are seeking to prevent the large, slimy, shell-toting snails from re-establishing themselves in Florida.

DETROIT — A University of Michigan student boarding a plane in Philadelphia to return to Detroit Metro Airport from winter break got a big fright in the form of a prank by an airport security screener.

Many thanks to the Lempert Report for alerting us to a piece of pet-obesity news. A study published in the journal Public Health Nutrition investigated the relationship between body weight in pet owners and body weight in their pets. Its finding: Overweight owners tend to have overweight dogs, as other studies have reported before. But no such relationship was seen between owners and pet cats.

MARATHON, Fla. — After a citizen's tip led undercover detectives to six large marijuana plants growing in a wooded lot in the Florida Keys, police half-jokingly left a phone number and ransom note.

DETROIT — Drawing nominations from English enthusiasts and those just plain tired of overused expressions, Lake Superior State University's Word Banishment Committee has issued its list of words and phrases it deems time to be "unfriended."

MODESTO, Calif. — Officers arrested a married couple suspected of breaking into a Modesto church late Tuesday, stealing Christmas gifts intended for needy children and starting a fire, a police spokesman said.

A four-year-old boy was found wandering in the street – beer in hand – wearing a dress in Chattanooga, Tenn. earlier this week.