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Next time I have a spare 50 or 60 thousand dollars, I'm gonna get me one of these:



Yes, it's a fossil - and yes, those colours are real. Wired's Geek Dad explains:

The fossil has naturally occurring iridescent colors created when the original shell substance turned into a mineral called aragonite ... The specimen in the photo is a pretty remarkable one that's about to go up for auction at Christie's - the sale takes place on April 7 if you want to mark that in your calendar.

Spectacular! That's going to look terrific on my future, lottery-winning self's mantle.

Spring = Sprung

Spring, summer, autumn, winter: four of the things I love most about living in the temperate zone of a planet with a moderately eccentric elliptical orbit and a 23 degree axial tilt.

Today's vernal equinox marks the end of another bloody winter and the start of the next grilling, hanging out and drinking outdoors season.

Hooray for spring! (and not a moment too soon.)

Solved - by Science!

Science has given us a lot. Cars; toasters; bombs; the elimination of smallpox, polio and God; the etch-a-sketch. But there is (or was) one question science cannot (or could not) fathom: "What is all this crap in my belly button?"



Now, Austrian chemist Georg Steinhauser believes he has the answer:

The researcher spent three years studying 503 pieces of schmutz from his own belly button, then published his conclusions in the journal Medical Hypotheses under the title, "The nature of navel fluff."

Steinhauser found that hairs around the belly button have a scaly structure that pulls fibers from clothing and then directs those fibers—along with dead skin, fat, sweat and dust—into the belly button.

Hmmm. Is this a "journalist brightens slow news day with off-the-wall science story" story, or is it a "scientist claims to make amazing discovery when actually we kinda guessed it already" story? I'm not quite sure.

Ah, well. At least there's still toe cheese. Even science would never dare try to explain that!

[thanx to Aaron]