On this day two hundred years ago, two giants of the 19th Century were born. The world is far better off than it would have otherwise been.
From the same planet that brought you the fuzzy lobster.
Being omnivorous is very important when you're growing.
Listen to Mr. T (and science) and drink your milk.
On Amazon.com of all places.
It isn't horribly radioactive, of course. The disturbing part is the 'customers who bought this also bought' section...
Di-positronium, as the new molecule is known, was predicted to exist in 1946 but has remained elusive to science.
Now, a US team has created thousands of the molecules by merging electrons with their antimatter equivalent: positrons.
The discovery, reported in the journal Nature, is a key step in the creation of ultra-powerful lasers known as gamma-ray annihilation lasers.
Much of this Museum is oriented towards children and educating them about science. More than just toss contextless facts at them, the Museum actually tries to instill a fascination with the world and explain the principles of scientific investigation. I'm in a section about Natural Mysteries currently, where one is shown how and encouraged to look for evidence and use it to solve a mystery. When you enter, there's a small abandoned schoolhouse built into the wall. You're told to discover when the last day of school was, when it was abandoned, and other things from its contents and surroundings.
Right now I'm in a remarkable taxidermy exhibit. There are stuffed creatures (most of them real, I think) of all sorts. There's two bears, several big cats, a wall full of gazelle, water buffalo, antelope, and similar heads, and drawer upon drawer full of excellent specimens. Thankfully, the Museum does not frown upon photography.
There's a scale satellite hanging from the ceiling beside a scale Naboo fighter from and there's a slice from a 2000 year old seqoia tree and two early electric cars and there's a gigantic cricket you can see the interior anatomy of and there's a room full of mathematical equations rendered as sculptures and there's a bit of Martian rock and there's a huge DNA helix and there's a formula-1 car and a model Mercury spacecraft and I've only just walked into one wing of the building.
If I'm not out of here in a week, send an extraction team.
