Daily Roundup: May 17, 2011

Fruit Bombs: Watermelons exploded on farms in eastern China. The application of a growth accelerator, forchlorfenuron, caused the fruit to burst. Guardian

Wish You Were Here: Scientists in Hawaii discovered the fossils of a land-dwelling crab. The animal died out when Polynesian settlers arrived on the island 1,000 years ago; it's the first documented human-era extinction of a crab. BBC News

RIP, Old Bear: Ming Ming, the world's oldest panda, died at a preserve in China's Guangdong province. She was 34. Forbes

Cloud Computing: Snow days may soon become extinct. Some schools are experimenting with "virtual snow days," during which students would complete online lessons when bad weather keeps them at home. MSNBC

Fracking Fine: The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection fined natural-gas producer Chesapeake Energy $900,000 for contaminating the drinking water near its drilling sites. Reuters

--Della Watson