One of the greatest horror writers of all time wasn’t Stephen King, but rather Edgar Allen Poe. Poe didn’t write long novels but rather short stories that were so chilling that we remember the haunting lines years after we read the tale. Poe’s released his inner demons on paper, and the results are tales like The Tell-Tale Heart, The Pit and the Pendulum, and The Cask of Amontillado.
The first analysis of the genome sequence of the duck-billed platypus has been published revealing clues about genome organization during the early evolution of mammals. “At first glance, the platypus appears as if it was the result of an evolutionary accident,” said Dr. Francis S. Collins, director of NIH’s National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI). “But as weird as this animal looks, its genome sequence is priceless for understanding how fundamental mammalian biological processes have evolved.”
Image courtesy of NHGRI
Amazingly, there are only three fruits native to North America. Can you name them?
It is common knowledge that honey is an amazing thing. It is good for our bodies both inside and out. We smear it on our skin and hair to make them feel softer, we add it to tea to help ease a sore throat, we dip chicken nuggets in it so we can trick out taste buds into thinking we’re really eating candy. But you might not have known that honey was once used to preserve Dracula.
We never think of chocolate and famous military figures at the same time. We tend to think of chocolate as an indulgence, something to be savored as a reward for doing something spectacular or something we eat when we are stressed and need a quick pick me up. Apparently, Napoleon shared our addiction. According to legend, he always made sure that he had a piece of chocolate tucked into his pocket. Whenever he needed a quick pick me up, he ate it. Perhaps that is why so many chocolate deserts have the word Napoleon worked into their names.
Fashion Advice
Stuffing bits of chocolate into his pockets wasn’t the only thing that the leader of the French Revolution did that was a little bit different. You know the buttons that are on the end of the sleeves on sports coats, the ones near the cuff that don’t seem to have any purpose. You can thank Napoleon for those as well. He didn’t put the buttons on the jacket sleeves for decoration. He had them sewn onto the sleeves of his officer’s coats because he was repulsed by the men using their sleeves as handkerchiefs to wipe their noses, mouths, and brows. The buttons effectively stopped this behavior.
Josephine
Most people don’t realize that Napoleon married twice, both times to the same women. The first time he married his young bride, Josephine, was in 1796. Before this marriage Josephine was imprisoned and very nearly beheaded. Before their marriage Josephine went by her first name, Marie, but after the ceremony Napoleon started calling her by her second name, Josephine. The second time Napoleon married Josephine was just before he become the Emperor of France. The pair’s marriage was annulled when it became apparent that Josephine couldn’t have children. Josephine niece eventually became the Queen of Holland.
There are too many moments in Olympic history that you could categorize as “unfair”. Here is a glimpse at our top five greatest blunders in Olympic history.
1) 1976, 1980 & 1984 Summer Olympics - Let’s Trade Boycotts
The 1980 and 1984 boycotts left a lot of Olympic athletes on the sidelines, but these were not the only times boycotts have occured. In 1976, 26 countries boycotted the games in Montreal due to protests over Apartheid in South Africa .. the offending party was New Zealand who played Rugby in South Africa. Moreover, China boycotted the Olympics until 1984 because Taiwan was recognized as its own country.
By combining information from the camera’s blue-green, red and near-infrared color filters, scientists confirmed that material around the rim of Phobos’ largest surface feature, Stickney crater, appears bluer than the rest of Phobos. The impact that excavated the 9-kilometer (about 5.5 mile) in diameter Stickney crater is thought to have almost shattered the moon.
“Based on analogy with material on our own moon, the bluer color could mean that the material is fresher, or hasn’t been exposed to space as long as the rest of Phobos’ surface has,” Bridges said.
The new view shows landslides along the walls of Stickney and other large craters: Phobos’ striking surface grooves and crater chains; and craters hidden on the moon’s dark side illuminated by “Marsshine.”
“Marsshine” is sunlight reflected by Mars onto the moon. The phenomenon is similar to “Earthshine,” where Earth reflects sunlight that illuminates the dark side of our moon. Like Earth’s moon, Mars’ moons Phobos and Deimos are “tidally locked” on their planet, that is, they always present the same side to the planet they orbit.
These images are among several new HiRISE images being released at: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/MRO/multimedia/20080409.html. The images include an anaglyph, or 3D view of Phobos that can be viewed with red-blue glasses.
The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter flies at about 4,800 kilometers per hour (7,800 mph) between 250 to 316 kilometers (155 and 196 miles) above the surface of Mars.
An emeritus professor of medicine at the University of Wisconsin at Madison, Wis., has studied the link between the virus Ad-36 and obesity. The professor, Richard Atkinson, researched chickens, mice and marmosets. He found that these animals were fatter after becoming infected with a human adenovirus that usually causes colds, eye infections and diarrhea. Tests found about 30 percent of obese people had been exposed to the virus, compared with 11 percent of non-obese people. The study looked at over 500 people.
The Eastern or Moutain Bongo of Kenya is an extremenly rare antelope. Theses antelope are only found in one remote region of Keyna. Bongos are the largest and heaviest antelope and are recognizable by their stripes and spiraled horns. In the 1890’s, the disease rinderpest almost exterminated the species. They havea bright reddish-brown color and have very clear, white-yellow stripes and black markings.
The animal orphanage at Mount Kenya has had a very successful breeding program that has brought back more bongos in captivity than are our in the wild. They said there are currently less than 100 of these animals.
What or who is a superdelegate?
There are 800 superdelegates casting 795 votes (”Democrats Abroad” get 1/2 vote) The news has prominently shown us Dan Abrams - he is a college age superdelegate. That could mean anyone can be a superdelegate .. right? Don’t be decieved.
Superdelegates are senior Democratic National Party (DNC) officials that include (a) Democratic governors, senators, and members of the House of Representatives, (b) an elected member of the Democratic National Committee, (c) A distinguished party leader like former Democratic presidents, or (d) a DNC member at-large who has recieved the blessing of party chairman Howard Dean and the confidence vote of the DNC membership.
How do superdelegates fit into nominating the next Democratic presidential candidate?
The next Democratic presidential nominee needs 2,025 delegates and superdelegates will need to account for about 40 percent of delagate votes.
Where can I find a list of superdelegates and find out who have pledged to vote for Obama or Clinton?
Currently, over half the superdelegates have pledged their votes for one of the candidates. To see a list, go to:
http://demconwatch.blogspot.com/2008/01/superdelegate-list.html
This link shows the official list of superdelegates as of February 26.
