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_{Carole Lombard, 1934}

Rise Of The Machines

Tractors And The End of Rural America

We've all known people who only buy Hondas, others who swear by their Volvos, and those who proclaim their undying loyalty to Chevys or Fords. But for farmers, brand allegiance to a particular make of tractor is in their blood, which generally flows John Deere green or Farmall red.

Author and photographer Lee Klancher's new book on International Harvester tractors is a thoughtful rumination on a company whose roots can be traced to Cyrus McCormick (who may or may not have 'invented' the first mechanical reaper), as well as the impact of tractors on rural America.

This 240-Year-Old Machine Is An Ancestor To The Modern Computer

An automaton is a self-operating machine or robot. Seen above is the Writer, an automaton built in the 1770s by world-renowned Swiss watchmaker, Pierre Jaquet-Droz (1721-1790).

Made from nearly 6000 parts, the Writer is a self-operating, programmable machine, capable of writing letters and words with a quill pen. The 240-year-old machine is said to be a distant ancestor of the modern-day, programmable computer.

Bizarre Forms Of Ancient Currency

Would you accept a brick of salt or a large rock instead of your regular paycheck? Understanding the value of money over time is a key point in finance - and time has certainly changed what people value. Historically, people have assigned monetary value to a wide variety of objects.

And while most of these currencies wouldn't be practical today, they serve as important reminders of what people used to value and why. Ancient currencies came in many amazing shapes, sizes and formats. Take a look at ten incredible examples of currency that are quite different from what we use today.

Stone-Tipped Spears Predate Existence of Humans

Stone-Tipped Spears Predate Existence of Humans

Human-like beings before our species likely handcrafted sophisticated tools, suggests newly discovered prehistoric stone-tipped throwing spears found in Ethiopia.

Science In The News

Massive Antarctic Iceberg Sets Sail

After lingering in its birthing bay for nearly six months, an Antarctic iceberg the size of Singapore is finally heading out to sea.

Did Early Life Build Earth's Continents?

The story of how life changed the face of the Earth may be more profound than previously envisioned and could lead to new clues for detecting life on exoplanets.

Riddle of Early Bird Migration Cracked

Individual birds haven't changed their migration schedules in response to climate change. Instead, the results of a 14-year-long study of a migratory shore bird species suggested that early-born birds get more worms and can migrate sooner.

Rare Life Dating Back 3.5 Billion Years Found

Gloppy mats of microscopic life left the same signature on coastal and river bank sediments 3.48 billion years ago that they do today.

Oldest Big Cat Fossils Discovered in Tibet

The earliest known big cat lived in what is now China between 5.9 million and 4.1 million years ago, newfound fossils of the ancient prowler suggest.

Marine Blizzards of Death Feed Deep Sea Life

Occasional explosions of sea-surface life provide a feast for creatures on the ocean floor that are worth years of their otherwise normal food supply.

New discovery could cause scientists to rethink chemical makeup of Earth's mantle

A new discovery by researchers from the University of Notre Dame's Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Earth Sciences could change prevailing assumptions about the chemical makeup of the Earth's mantle.

Ol Doinyo Lengai, Tanzania [Credit: University of Notre Dame]

Antonio Simonetti, an associate professor in the department, and his doctoral student Wei Chen worked in cooperation with Vadim Kamenetsky of the University of Tasmania, Hobart (Australia) to learn the art of conducting chemical and mineralogical analyses of melt inclusions within crystals of the mineral magnetite (Fe3O4).

Simonetti points out that the magnetite crystals are hosted within igneous rocks (rocks resulting from the melting of the Earth's mantle) referred to as carbonatites.

"The latter are an exceptional and intriguing type of igneous rock since they are composed primarily of calcium carbonate, or Calcite-CaCO3, rather than silicate minerals, which are the predominant minerals in the Earth's crust and oceanic rocks," Simonetti said. "Despite the small number of carbonatite occurrences worldwide compared to their volcanic counterparts in the past and present day, carbonatites continue to receive considerable deserved attention because of their unique enrichment, relative to crustal abundances in incompatible trace elements, such as niobium and the rare Earth elements."

To date, most of the geological community believed that the sodium- and potassium-rich magmas being erupted at the Earth's sole active carbonatite volcano at Ol Doinyo Lengai in Tanzania were unique, since all other carbonatite occurrences worldwide are dominated by calcium-rich carbonate or calcite.

In an attempt to resolve this question, Wei sought to determine the initial melt composition that gave rise to the Oka carbonatite complex, which is located in southeastern Quebec.

"We approached this issue by examining the nature and chemical composition of melt inclusions within individual magnetite crystals present in carbonatites," Simonetti said. "Melt inclusions are micron-sized 'pockets' present within minerals that represent a combination or mechanical mixture of co-trapped crystals and melt engulfed and isolated early in the crystallization history of the magma while the magnetite crystals were forming. Hence, investigating melt inclusions represents a powerful tool for determining the chemical composition of the initial carbonatite magma at the Oka complex."

Wei and Simonetti's research revealed that the chemical composition of minerals trapped within the melt inclusions at the Oka complex are alkaline in nature and similar in composition to the minerals present at Ol Doinyo Lengai volcano. The finding will have a major impact in relation to deciphering and modeling chemical processes taking place in the Earth's mantle throughout geologic time.

"This has some significant consequences as to how earth scientists should view the overall chemical budget of the Earth's mantle since this is where carbonatite magmas are produced," Simonetti said. "We are not attributing enough alkalies in the region of the mantle where carbonitite melts form."

In addition to its significance for the field of earth science, the finding also has important practical and strategic importance. Carbonatites are of critical importance in the continually evolving fields of superconductors, electronics and computing. Several countries such as the USA, China, Brazil and Canada are host to carbonatite occurrences, and there is active exploration in many of these countries to locate new deposits given the ever-increasing demand for the manufacturing of sophisticated electronic components.

The paper describing Wei and Simonetti's research appears in the journal Nature Communications.

Apollo 11 spacesuit was made by a bra manufacturer

The spacesuit that Neil Armstrong wore when he stepped onto the moon was constructed by a bra manufacturer in Dover, Delaware. Smithsonian magazine tells the history of the Apollo suit:

For the suit’s creator, the International Latex Corporation in Dover, Delaware, the toughest challenge was to contain the pressure necessary to support life (about 3.75 pounds per square inch of pure oxygen), while maintaining enough flexibility to afford freedom of motion. A division of the company that manufactured Playtex bras and girdles, ILC had engineers who understood a thing or two about rubber garments. They invented a bellowslike joint called a convolute out of neoprene reinforced with nylon tricot that allowed an astronaut to bend at the shoulders, elbows, knees, hips and ankles with relatively little effort. Steel aircraft cables were used throughout the suit to absorb tension forces and help maintain its shape under pressure.

"Neil Armstrong’s Spacesuit Was Made by a Bra Manufacturer"

Space Junk Is All Around Us

If you needed any reminder of the vast amount of stuff orbiting the third rock from the sun, consider the one-ton European science satellite that just ran out of fuel, plunged back into earth's atmosphere, burned up into a fiery mess, and dumped debris across the southern Atlantic.

Luckily, the scorched remnants of the European satellite fell harmlessly from the sky. Even so, there are millions of pieces of space junk that swarm around in earth's orbit at blistering speeds, according to NASA, and some of it reenters the planet's atmosphere every day.

Daily Comic Relief

Amazing Facts About Fish Fingers

Fish fingers, or fish sticks, are a processed food made using a whitefish, such as cod, haddock or pollock, which has been battered or breaded. They are commonly available in the frozen food section of supermarkets. They can be baked in the oven, grilled, shallow fried, or deep-fried.

Did you know that 1 in 5 kids think that fish fingers are made from chicken? Here's an infographic showing everything you ever wanted (and needed) to know about fish fingers.

Denmark Leads Way in Healthier Pig Farming

by Julia Koch

Many tons of antibiotics are administered every year to chickens and pigs in Europe, a trend that encourages the rise of drug-resistant microbes. But Denmark has shown how farmers can be made to abandon this policy of dangerous over-medication. More

• Photo Gallery: Cracking Down on Antibiotic Use at Danish Pig Farms

Ten Incredible Roles Performed By Dogs In Warfare

Man's best friend has been used in warfare since ancient times; and today, thanks to specialized training, these canine combatants are taking on crucial military roles and have become, in effect, guardians of national security.

US representative Walter Jones says, 'Those who have been to war tell me that the dogs are invaluable.' He adds, 'They are just as much a part of a unit as a soldier or marine.' Here's a look at ten of the most incredible security roles military canines have fulfilled over the years.

Animal News

Rescued Dog Conquers Mount Everest

Rescued from a rubbish dump when he was a puppy, Rupee is thought to be the first dog to reach the iconic mountain's base camp.

Monkey-Human Ancestors Got Music 30 Million Years Ago

A Dr. Doolittle-inspired study uncovered a previously unknown musical ability in squirrel monkeys.

Animal Pictures

The Daily Drift

Ain't that the truth ...!

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Today in History

655 - Battle of Winwaed: Penda of Mercia is defeated by Oswiu of Northumbria.
1315 - Battle of Morgarten: Swiss beat duke Leopold I of Austria
1660 - 1st kosher butcher (Asser Levy) licensed in NYC (New Amsterdam)
1763 - Charles Mason & Jeremiah Dixon begin surveying Mason-Dixon Line between Pennsylvania & Maryland
1777 - Articles of Confederation adopted by Continental Congress
1869 - Free postal delivery formally inaugurated
1881 - American Federation of Labor (AFL) founded (Pittsburgh)
1920 - League of Nations holds 1st meeting, in Geneva
1936 - Nazi-Germany & Japan sign Anti-Komintern pact
1937 - 1st congressional session in air-conditioned chambers
1938 - Farewell Parade of International Brigades in Barcelona
1939 - Nazis begin mass murder of Warsaw Jews

Non Sequitur

Animal Pictures

Bacon Body Wash

Bacon Body Wash is going to change the way you wash. Before this fantastic product, when you wanted to shower with liquid bacon, your best bet would be to take a vat of bacon drippings into the shower with you and use it to moisturize.

This Bacon Body Wash brings the exhilarating aroma of bacon to yet another part of your morning routine. The friendly Mr. Bacon on the label wants you to smell like he does. Now you can smell like bacon in every nook and cranny.