" Toto, I don't think we're in Kansas anymore." Wizard of Oz

Taking the Waters: The History of the Modern Soft-Drink

Seeded on Fri Sep 2, 2011 4:06 AM EDT (wordpress.com)

Soft drinks are something we take for granted today. Everything from sparkling mineral-water, soda-water, tonic-water, lemonade, Sprite, 7-Up, Fanta, Solo, Irn Bru and the most famous soft-drink of all…Coca Cola.

history, water, coca-cola, cures, soda, beverage, medicinal, soft-drink, mineral-water, hydrtherapy

Brother Louie - Stories ( live 1973)

Seeded on Fri Sep 2, 2011 12:17 AM EDT (Late Show: Katy Perry - "Hot N Cold" - Bing Videos)

"Brother Louie" is a song about an interracial love affair. The title was written and sung by Errol Brown and Tony Wilson of the group Hot Chocolate, and was a performed by a group named Stories Top 10 hit in the UK Singles Chart for the band in 1973, produced by Mickie Most.

entertainment, stories, music-video, classic-rock, brother-louie

The stolen, preserved, and eventually cubed brain of Albert Einstein

Seeded on Thu Sep 1, 2011 9:25 PM EDT (io9)

Einstein's brain was saved after his death, and became a strange and morbid piece of scientific memorabilia. It changed hands several times before it came to rest - squared. What became of Einstein's brain? First of all, not what he wanted.

science, death, research, brian, stolen, einstein, cremation, autopsy, pathologist, preserved

Dmanisi's Big, Bad Cheetah

Seeded on Thu Sep 1, 2011 8:44 PM EDT (Wired News)

If you happen to be a fossil cat, there are two main routes to get media attention. The first – be Smilodon.

science, cat, fossil, predator, prehistoric, feline, cheetah, hominins, dmanisi, paleontolgy

Where did the giant mammals of the ice age come from?

Seeded on Thu Sep 1, 2011 3:30 PM EDT (io9)

The most recent ice age was dominated by gigantic mammals like the mammoth, woolly rhinoceros, and saber-tooth cat. But there's an evolutionary mystery here. How did these animals enter the ice age already perfectly adapted for such brutally cold climates?

history, cold, giant, ice-age, mammals, himalayas, climates, rhinoceros, saber-toothed-tiger, paleotolgists

American Indians 101: Kansas Land Sharks and the Kickapoo

Seeded on Thu Sep 1, 2011 3:09 PM EDT (Daily Kos)

During the 19th and much of the 20th century, the American federal administration of Indian affairs can be characterized by several concerns.

history, property, land, native-americans, american-indians, treaties, indian-affairs, geferal-govermenment, kansas-land-sharks, kickapoo

World's oldest person discovered in Amazon rainforest

Seeded on Thu Sep 1, 2011 11:41 AM EDT (mongabay.com)

Maria Lucimar Pereira is arguably the world's oldest living person: a member of the Kaxinawá tribe, Pereira lives in the Brazilian Amazon and will be soon celebrating her 121st birthday, according to Survival International.

brazil, health, amazon, birthday, age, tribe, rainforest, oldest-preson-in-the-world, maria-lucimarpereira, kaxivawa

Iron Dragons: The Mystique and the Romance of Steam Trains

Seeded on Wed Aug 31, 2011 10:17 PM EDT (scheong.wordpress.com)

Steam wafts out and smoke blasts from the smokestack.

history, engine, romance, passengers, inventions, railroads, mechanics, mystique, steam-trains, iron-dragon

Happy Words Trump Negativity in the English Language

Seeded on Wed Aug 31, 2011 4:22 PM EDT (Wired News)

A massive language study, spanning Google Books, Twitter, popular songs lyrics and The New York Times, has found that English tends to look on the bright side of things.

science, social, study, language, english, words, positive, negative, linguisitcs

Mind Control : Your dinnerware may be sabotaging your diet

Seeded on Wed Aug 31, 2011 3:57 PM EDT (io9)

Most people make upwards of 250 food-related decisions a day. Sound high? That's because researchers believe the majority of these decisions are made unconsciously, and that many of our eating habits are actually driven by subtle environmental cues.

science, food, diet, psychology, control, mind, eating, environmental, habits, researchers

Faulty signaling in brain increases craving for sugar and drugs

Seeded on Wed Aug 31, 2011 4:18 AM EDT (Science Daily)

"Our data indicate that the brain becomes hypersensitive to rewards when this co-signaling of glutamate and dopamine does not function.

science, research, alcohol, brain, data, addiction, cocaine, sugar, drink, eat

What's really in that luscious chocolate aroma?

Seeded on Wed Aug 31, 2011 3:49 AM EDT (Science Daily)

The mouth-watering aroma of roasted cocoa beans -- key ingredient for chocolate -- emerges from substances that individually smell like potato chips, cooked meat, peaches, raw beef fat, cooked cabbage, human sweat, earth, cucumber, honey and an improbable palate of other distinct …

science, research, study, chocolate, smell, taste, aroma

Localizing language in the brain: Study pinpoints areas of the brain used exclusively for language

Seeded on Wed Aug 31, 2011 3:00 AM EDT (Science Daily)

New research from MIT suggests that there are parts of our brain dedicated to language and only language, a finding that marks a major advance in the search for brain regions specialized for sophisticated mental functions. Functional specificity, as it's known to cognitive scient …

science, research, study, language, brain, mit, neurons, cognitive, functions

Maze and Labyrinth Gardens in History

Seeded on Wed Aug 31, 2011 2:44 AM EDT (gardenhistoryinfo.com)

Labyrinths are an important part of many cultural heritages and mythologies.

history, design, culture, england, gardens, medieval, symbolism, mazes, labyrinths

The Doors - Love Me Two Times

Seeded on Tue Aug 30, 2011 10:08 PM EDT (Late Show: Katy Perry - "Hot N Cold" - Bing Videos)

"Love Me Two Times" is a song by The Doors. It was written by the band and first appeared on the 1967 album Strange Days. It was released as the second single (after "People Are Strange") from that album, and reached #25 on the charts in the US.

entertainment, music-video, classic-rock, jim-morrison, the-doors, love-me-two-times

The History of Steampunk (Part I)

Seeded on Tue Aug 30, 2011 7:58 PM EDT (steampunkforge.wordpress.com)

When you mention the word "Steampunk" in mixed company you are likely to get one of two reactions: delight followed by a list of favorite references, or confusion followed by a blank stare.

science, science-fiction, fantasy, genre, steampunk, jules-verne, h-g-wells, edwardian, neo-victorian

The Salamanders that Refuse to Grow Up

Seeded on Tue Aug 30, 2011 7:08 PM EDT (smithsonianmag.com)

Workers strip away siding from nearby buildings and remove bricks. Bulldozers push mounds of dirt and broken concrete blocks, while trucks mounded high with bent metal rods, window frames and other debris create a rush hour of demolition on the heavily secured grounds.

science, water, wisconsin, land, reservoir, salamanders, eastern-tiger

Rare Siamese crocodiles hatch in Laos

Seeded on Tue Aug 30, 2011 5:44 PM EDT (mongabay.com)

Conservationists are celebrating the hatch of 20 critically endangered Siamese crocodiles at the Laos Zoo, according to the Wildlife Conservation Society.

science, asia, photo, wildlife, conservation, rare, laos, hatchlings, siamese-crocodiles

Bizarre fish evolved for the oceans but lives on land

Seeded on Tue Aug 30, 2011 4:44 PM EDT (io9)

The Pacific leaping blenny is a marine fish in all aspects...except for the tiny detail that it spends all its time living on land.

science, fish, ocean, bizarre, land, micronesia, evolved, blenny

Are all alien encounters bad?

Seeded on Tue Aug 30, 2011 3:16 PM EDT (PhysOrg.com)

Kudzu, a fast-growing vine imported from Japan, now chokes out many native plants across the southern United States, Zebra mussels native to the Caspian Sea have reduced the food supplies of native fishes in the Great Lakes, and rats imported to New Zealand have decimated the nat …

science, animals, help, fish, plants, species, harm, invasive, kudzu, mussels

Ancient Ireland: The Celtic Iron Age

Seeded on Tue Aug 30, 2011 2:37 PM EDT (Daily Kos)

For some people the term "Celtic Ireland" sounds redundant as it is often assumed that Ireland has always been Celtic. Actually, the Celts did not arrive in Ireland until about 500 BCE and they found an island which had been inhabited for thousands of years.

europe, history, britain, culture, ireland, tribes, celts, iron-age

Science Fiction: The Early History

Seeded on Tue Aug 30, 2011 3:41 AM EDT (rutgers.edu)

Anyone who wants to comprehend human affairs in the 19th and 20th centuries needs some knowledge and understanding of science fiction. But what is science fiction, anyhow? Let's start by distinguishing it from other fiction. On one side lies fantasy, the realm of the impossible.

books, space, tv, history, time, earth, literature, science-fiction, fantasy, imagination

Women Fighters in Reasonable Armor: An Idea Whose Time Has Come

Seeded on Tue Aug 30, 2011 2:56 AM EDT (io9)

It's one of those ideas that's so radical, it might just work: women fighters wearing actual armor. You know, that covers their vital organs and protects them against damage.

art, women, armor, science, fantasy, sci-fi, reasonable, fighters

10 Ways Animals Get High

Seeded on Tue Aug 30, 2011 2:45 AM EDT (io9)

Human beings aren't the only creatures who use substances to escape from reality. Animals the world over drug themselves as eagerly and regularly as any college sophomore with a 'Legalize It' t-shirt.

science, drugs, animals, high, plants, trees, humans, fruits, crops, hallucinogenics