FEAR      ..         Coulrophobia is the fear of clowns.     It is a basic survival instinct to react with suspicion to a "person" with a painted smile and unsmiling eyes,   but people with this phobia are terror-stricken when they see this circus staple.             ..             Tryanophobia is an exaggerated fear of injection with a hypodermic needle.     This phobia has a history in genetic memory.     Thousands of years ago,   the people who avoided being stabbed in general were the most likely to survive.             ..             Nomophobia is Fear of being without mobile phone coverage.     It includes the fear of losing mobile network,   mobile battery,   or even losing the sight of their mobile phone.             ..             Cacophobia is the fear of ugliness.     Sufferers actually have intense panic attacks around unattractive people or things.             ..             Astraphobia is a paralyzing fear of thunder and lightning.     The reaction often causes a rapid heartbeat or labored breathing.             ..             Nyctophobia is an irrational fear of nighttime or the dark.     An adult may understand that there is nothing to be afraid of,   but he or she still experiences heightened anxiety when the lights go out.     It is normal for a child to be afraid of the dark.             ..             Papaphobia is fear of the Pope.             ..             Pentheraphobia is the Fear of mother-in-laws             ..             Somniphobia is Fear of falling asleep.     Those who sufer from it often associate going to bed with dying,   or losing time while asleep,   or may fear lack of control             ..             Hippopotomonstrosesquipedaliophobia is ironicly the Fear of long words.             ..             Sanguivoriphobia is the Fear of vampires,   or more precicely the fear of blood eaters.             ..             Anatidaephobia is the Fear of being watched by a duck.             ..             Globophobia is the Fear of balloons popping.             ..             Dendrophobia is the fear of trees.     People with this phobia usually have strange stories about why they are terrified of a particular type of tree.     Hylophobia includes the fear of wood,  and forests.             ..             Anthophobia is the Fear of flowers             ..             Ergophobia is the Fear of work and the work envirnoment.             ..
 

QUOTE: "Fear makes us feel our humanity."

ANSWER: Benjamin Disraeli.


*-- Boa constrictor emerges from office toilet in San Diego --*

SAN DIEGO (UPI) - A full-sized boa constrictor slithered out of a toilet at a public relations firm in Southern California last week, according to a press release from the company. When Stephanie Lacsa, co-founder for Vertical PR + Marketing, noticed a higher-than-usual water level in one of the San Diego office building's toilets last Wednesday, she went to work with a plunger. Something then began to emerge from the toilet drain. "I thought my eyes were deceiving me," Lacsa said, according to a statement from the firm published on San Diego Animal Control's Facebook page. "But as soon I saw the flicker of its tongue, I definitely knew that it was in fact a large snake heading straight toward me." The snake was a Colombian Rainbow Boa, a non-venomous constrictor native to South America. At 5-feet long, the boa was at average full-grown length. Lasca said she shrieked and ran from the bathroom, taping up the door until animal control arrived and captured the snake. "The animal control officer said that she had never witnessed anything like this in her career," Lasca said, according to the statement. "She referred to the incident as 'The Stuff of Urban Legends' and I would have to agree." Holly Wells, Lasca's co-worker and the co-founder of Vertical PR + Marketing, noted that the office was very old. "Our building, which is the Old San Diego City Hall, was built in 1886 so we are accustomed to the old pipes and stubborn plumbing," she said, according to the release. "But we were definitely not prepared for this." San Diego Animal Control said Friday in a comment on its Facebook page that the boa was claimed by a friend of the owner, and that its name was "Bella." Boa constrictors are considered an invasive species in places such as Florida, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, where they thrive in the subtropical climate and are mostly introduced through "escape or release by pet owners." While it does not list boa constrictors as one of the state's invasive species, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife notes, "Some of the animals that are currently, or were in the past, brought into California as sources of food, fur, or pets have turned into major pests."


* Brain surgery stops seizures, fear of spiders *

BRIGHTON, England (UPI) - British doctors said a man who underwent brain surgery to get rid of seizures awoke to find he had also lost his crippling fear of spiders. Dr. Nick Medford, the man's observing physician at Brighton and Sussex Medical School and co-author of the study published in the Neurocase journal, said the 44-year-old man suffered from severe arachnophobia before undergoing surgery on his amygdala -- a portion of the brain partially responsible for handling fear -- to stop his recurring seizures. The study, titled Abolition of lifelong specific phobia: a novel therapeutic consequence of left mesial temporal lobectomy, said the man reported he was no longer afraid of spiders after the surgery. Medford said the man instead found spiders fascinating and could hold a living arachnid without fear. The researchers said the man's fear may have been stored in neural pathways in the part of the amygdala that was removed to halt the man's seizures. Medford said further research on the subject could be conducted without unnecessary invasive procedures. "It's not uncommon for people to have temporal lobe surgery for severe epilepsy," he said. "And arachnophobia is supposed to be reasonably common. So we might be able to test people for that phobia, or any other kind, before and after surgery."