Here's Lookin' At You

This undated image from the Hubble Space Telescope shows a ghostly ring of dark matter in a galaxy cluster designated Cl 0024+17. Dark matter may have played a key role in forming the earliest stars, according to researchers who suggest that the mysterious and invisible material may also have been responsible for creating black holes.

NASA, ESA, M.J. Jee and H. Ford/Johns Hopkins University/Handout/Reuters

Am I the only who sees a giant eye, staring at us from outer space?

Pinocchio's New AI Friend

Good old wooden boy Pinocchio has competition in Zeno, the robotic creation of David Hansen. With a face fashioned from skinlike "frubber," these little guys stand about 17 inches tall and should be available for consumers in a couple of years.

"It's a representation of robotics as a character animation medium, one that is intelligent," Hanson beams. "It sees you and recognizes your face. It learns your name and can build a relationship with you."

It's no coincidence if the whole concept sounds like a science-fiction movie.

Hanson said he was inspired by, and is aiming for, the same sort of realism found in the book "Supertoys Last All Summer Long," by Brian Aldiss. Aldiss' story of troubled robot boy David and his quest for the love of his flesh-and-blood parents was the source material for Steven Spielberg's film "Artificial Intelligence: AI."

So, in a couple of years, you too can have your own "real" boy. For about $300.

The Whole Tooth, And Nothing But the Tooth

Apparently, Neanderthals had good oral hygiene.

Who knew?



Now, if they just could have fixed that posture thing . . .

A Mooooving Experience

The next hybrid you read about might not be an energy-efficient car.

It might be a human/animal hybrid embryo, designed for scientific research purposes.

"It does seem a little abhorrent at first analysis," said Newcastle University's Doctor Lyle Armstrong, who helped to create the world's first cloned human embryo in 2005.

"But you have to understand we are using very, very little information from the cow in order to do this reprogramming idea.

"It's not our intention to create any bizarre cow-human hybrid, we want to use those cells to understand how to make human stem cells better."

Okay, first those wacky aliens were stealing our cows. Now those wacky scientists are combining those poor cows with humans. What’s going to happen next?



Mooooooo.

Is This The Mythical Bloodsucking Chupacabra?

Phylis Canion discovered this bizarre creature and believes it may have killed as many as 26 chickens on her Texas ranch in the past few years. She thinks the blue-gray skinned beast may be a legendary Chupacabra.

"What tipped Canion to the possibility that this was no ugly coyote, but perhaps the vampire-like beast, is that the chickens weren't eaten or carried off — all the blood was drained from them, she said."

Between this and the recent spider invasion, I'm glad I don't live in Texas.

Don’t Drop That Box

Okay, I can see a new movie in my head, sort of Night in the Museum-esque. Starring Ben Stiller, of course.

A very precious exhibit is traveling around the world. It arrives, packed in peanuts, at Stiller’s museum. He tries his best to unpack it, but he accidentally spills his coffee and hastily attempts to clean it up. In the process, however, he leans too close to the precious box.

A lit cigarette in his mouth catches the box on fire, but he doesn’t notice until it’s too late.

Stiller then grabs a fire extinguisher and sprays it on the box. All the peanuts and oh-so-precious skeleton fragments fly across the room and get mixed up with another exhibit.

He has to piece it all back together before the Big Unveiling that evening.

Later, the museum fills with news reporters and over-dressed socialites. They gather around the exhibit—this is the first time this phenomenal archaeological find has been in the U.S.

Strangely, they discover that Miss Lucy is now half-human, half-wolf. A whole new meaning is found in the term “Missing Link.”

Once in a Lifetime

Spiders are on the prowl. Spider experts claim this happens once in a lifetime.

It's so creepy it's almost pretty. Until you know what it is...a spider web that covers a 200-yard section of a Texas park trail.

“At first, it was so white it looked like fairyland,” said Donna Garde, superintendent of the park about 45 miles east of Dallas. “Now it’s filled with so many mosquitoes that it’s turned a little brown. There are times you can literally hear the screech of millions of mosquitoes caught in those webs.”

Let's add one more screech to that. Mine.

Time Travel

Interesting stuff about time travel.

Here and here and here.

And then someone is starting a Time Travel Fund. I guess it's like a savings account. Give them your money now. Someone in the future comes back and gets you, takes you into the future. For ten dollars.

Okay.

I think aliens are involved in this somehow.

Never Mind

Mr. Rat poses for his close up. At the end of his maze, he pauses, confused. But you probably would too. If those wacky scientists had just wiped away your long-term memory.

Part of a program to develop a treatment for people with Alzheimer’s, Mr. Rat unfortunately can’t remember whether he volunteered or not anymore.

Test Drive This Puppy

It might not look like much, but here you've got your basic Moller M200G on a test flight. Right now the system's computer will only let you fly about 10 feet off the ground. Why? Because if you flew higher than that, you'd need a pilot's license.

Cost for your own flying saucer?
$90,000.

Expression on the teacher's face when you fly your kids to school?
Priceless.

The Old Inside-Out Electromagnetic Wormhole Trick

Apparently, this is an electromagnetic "wormhole" that resulted from turning an invisible sphere inside out.

Oops. Those wacky scientists.