Nasa engineers have identified the 1.1m tonne asteroid, which in 2000 was given a significant chance of slamming into Earth, as a potential landing site for astronauts, ahead of the Bush administration's plans to venture deeper into the solar system with a crewed voyage to Mars.

The mission - the first to what officials call a Near Earth Object (NEO) - is being floated within the US space agency as a crucial stepping stone to future space exploration.

When an irate Griffin used her caller ID to call back, the man informed her he was a funeral director trying to make arrangements for her son's dead mother.

The 75-year-old Griffin told him: "You're talking to the dead person."

Joe Cataudella, co-owner of Cataudella Funeral Home, said someone played a "cruel prank" and left a message with the home's answering service that Griffin had died.

Griffin, a Wal-Mart greeter, joked that she expects to be around for some time because she's mean and only the good die young.

She says she has no idea who was behind the prank.

Thanks Wobbly

1970--John and Yoko issued an April Fool's Day press release that announced that they would be having dual sex-change operations.

Why do elephants have flat feet?

To stamp out burning ducks