The International Herald Tribune says a Frenchman recorded “Au Clair de la Lune” 20 years before the phonograph was invented:

The 10-second recording of a singer crooning the folk song “Au Clair de la Lune” was discovered earlier this month in an archive in Paris by a group of American audio historians. It was made, the researchers say, on April [...]

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This is an image from an old Norwegian encyclopedia, the “Norwegian Familybook” published sometime from 1904 to 1926.

In Norwegian, the animals illustrated are:

1. Jättekänguru.
2. Klätterkänguru.
3. Pungvarg.
4. Näbbdjur.
5. Myrigelkott.
6. Nymf.
7. Nestorpapegoja.
8. Ugglepapegoja.
9. Paradisfågel.
10. Emu.
11. Kasuar.
12. Kivi (dvärgstruts).
13. Lyrfågel.
14. Talegalla-höns.
15. Kamödla.
16. Ceratodus Forsteri.
17. Hjälmprydd kakadora.

So now you know how to say “thyclacine,” “platypus” and “echidna” (numbers 3-5, in [...]

Wired reminds us that the U.S. military now has a functioning army of cyborg insects:

DARPA’s Hi-MEMS program aims to implant place micro-mechanical systems [MEMS] “inside the insects during the early stages of metamorphosis,” the agency explains. That way, as the bugs get older, tissues grow around — and fuse together with — the tiny machines.

Flight International reports that, [...]

How very unexpected.

But pleasant nonetheless.

The new age of sail can start now.

SONG: “My Fingertips Are Weightless” (To download: right-click & “Save As”)

ARTIST: grant.

SOURCE: “Origami spaceplane aims for space station descent”, New Scientist, 21 January 2008, as used in the post The King of Paper Airplanes (and referenced in the Space Boomerang posts).

ABSTRACT: There’s simply something beautiful about paper [...]

A microscopic image of liquid crystal by Wikimedia Commons user "Minutemen."

Happy Easter.

You’ve no doubt heard of the Ben Stein movie extolling the virtues of Intelligent Design and bemoaning the fact that it isn’t being allowed in science classrooms.

Well, I should say something clever about this latest bit of news, but all I can get out is BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

(With a follow-up here.)

It came back.

They’re not sure why.