Happy Birthday, Albert Einstein

[filkertom]

On this date in 1879.

It's Science Friday! Got any cool scientific news or little-known facts to share?

Comments

[zenturbo.livejournal.com]

The range in which paper can spontaneously ignite is from 400-500 F. This was proven last week at work when a KimTowel did so on a VERY hot plate (500+ F) and inadvertently lit the oil sink on fire.

[darthparadox.livejournal.com]

The book's called Fahrenheit 451 for a reason...

[bryanp.livejournal.com]

The velocity imparted to my cat increases inversely to how late he lets me sleep before insistently pawing at me to get up and feed his pudgy butt. Unfortunately he just comes back with reinforcements. Or something like that. I'm not quite awake yet.

[unclekage.livejournal.com]

One M&M contains 4.3 calories.

[drzarron.livejournal.com]

It's also "Pi Day"

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/7296224.stm

[jannyblue.livejournal.com]

I celebrated this by eating a chicken pot pie.

It was delicious.

[janeg.livejournal.com]

German police clocked a runaway sheep at 48 km per hour, according to the Globe and Mail today. The sheep jumped on police cruisers to get past a road block, and beat up several police dogs, before being caught when it stopped to eat grass. This may break existing speed records for sheep.

In terms of scientists, I find the old dinosaur hunters like Joseph Tyrrell fascinating. Some had so little information that some combined bones from many different creatures into single skeletons, but they found so much of history for us.

[darthparadox.livejournal.com]

I think my favorite part of this story is that one of the cops saw the sheep running, wondered "I wonder how fast it's going?", and then realized that he had the capability to answer that question.

[annearchy.livejournal.com]

Albert Einstein was born on Pi Day (http://www.piday.org)? Heh.

[bryanp.livejournal.com]

Yep. And Karl Marx kicked the bucket on Pi Day. All in all it was a good day for logic and reason.

[jcw-da-dmg.livejournal.com]

I think the ring around Rhea story was pretty cool.

[gridlore.livejournal.com]

The object that collided with the young Earth to create the Moon is most commonly called Theia or Orpheus. The current model has Theia hitting us twice, the first a glancing blow, the second creating the moon.

[darthparadox.livejournal.com]

Humans are infovores (http://online.wsj.com/public/article/SB120527756506928579-3wNdJRXhkpLqY4EDBt4j3ly1foo_20090312.html?mod=rss_free).

It's a fascinating article, and explains why the Internet may yet end humanity. Besides the obvious, I mean.

[judifilksign.livejournal.com]

Einstein was said to be mildly autistic.

[vixyish.livejournal.com]

My Snapple cap sez: The only bird that can swim but not fly is the penguin.

[graysoul.livejournal.com]

I don't suffer from insanity.
I enjoy every minute of it.

[gardnerhill.livejournal.com]

* The clownfish and the sheepshead both change gender in midlife, from female to male.

*One species of sea turtle eats nothing but a particularly silicate-rich coral; its excrement is pure glass.

* Tidepools are neat.

...What can I say? I grew up near the ocean.

[baphnedia.livejournal.com]

The standard golfball has 384 divets. We made a game out of it (known as IRC Golf). (IRC = Internet Relay Chat)