Wednesday's Words of Wisdom

If we knew what we were doing it would not be research."
— A. Einstein

Mimic Octopus is one of the most amazing things I've ever seen

Toads an earthquake early-warning system?

Researches notice mass exodus of toads from a breeding site in Italy just 5 days before a local quake. 5 days is plenty of time to evacuate. Full article at AssociatedPress.org

46: revised answer to the ultimate question of life, the universe and everything

To celebrate their jubilee anniversary, the Academy of Sciences and Humanities in Jerusalem is displaying Albert Einstein's 46-page notebook on his theory of relativity which explains everything from black holes to the origin of the universe. Never before have all 46 pages been on display together.

• Academy of Sciences and Humanities in Jerusalem
• Albert Einstein on Wikipedia.org
• Photo from Wikimedia Commons

Just for fun:
• The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Universe

Sound Over Season

I have noticed that the same sound —for example, a train dopplering in the distance— has a different quality depending on the season. Am I imagining it or is this possible?

Trapped in Time

M. Campbell identified this substance as tree resin. It will harden over millions of years into amber. Notice the bug trapped in it at top-right. If resin keeps pouring over this bug, it could be perfectly preserved in time.

Google Doodles the Birth of Electromagnetism

Or, at least the birth of electromagnetism's discoverer, Hans Christian Ørsted.

The Guardian.co.uk

How Stuff Works (cool site by Discovery Channel)

Love this web site! Especially the videos which are really short, visually-exciting and information-packed for a quick hit of entertaining education.

Here's an example of one: A 1910 horse-driven fire truck with steam engine that pumps 350 gallons of water per minute, 100 feet into the air. In 1910! So cool.See the 2-minute video showing the steam engine at work.

70% of Plants ID'd to Fight Cancer Found Only in Rainforests

"That's more than 2,000 tropical forest plants, and yet still less than one percent of tropical rainforest species have been analyzed for their medicinal value. Time is running out, as 5-10 percent of tropical rainforest species will be lost per decade unless more is done." Read more at The Nature Conservancy...