Scientists have dug up quite a find in France. A lot of amber with animals trapped inside has been unearthed, and it's now being analyzed with some sophisticated viewing methods. A host of animals dating from 100 million years ago have been discovered within, opening a lot of possibilities for paleontologists to learn new thins. Details after the jump.

Scientists have discovered that Crepis Sancta plants growing in urban areas have been producing heavier seeds that fall to the ground. The plant normally germinates using wind-blown seeds. While adaptation to the environment is pretty much expected in all living organisms, the speed at which it occurred was faster than most would probably expect. For more on this, check out the full article.

Australia's Aurora Australis, a marine science research vessel, recent came back from its trip from Antarctica. Dr. Martin Riddle, leader of the voyage, said that their expedition was able to uncover the rich and complex marine life in the previously unknown environment. Find out what they discovered in the full article.

In South Korea, they make glow-in-the-dark kittens. Or at least, a group of cloning experts there were recently able to clone cats that glow in the dark under ultraviolet light. More on this at the full article!

An ancient prayer book was discovered to contain notes from Archimedes, showing that the Greek mathematician already began to discover the principles of calculus more than a millennium before that branch of math was created. The prayer book was sold at Christie's Auction House for US$ 2 million.

The story of the prayer book starts with, of course, Archimedes who wrote his theories and equations on a papyrus 2,200 years ago. Some time later his notes were copied to animal-skin parchment. Then, 1,500 years later, a monk took down the copy from the shelf. His intention? He needed paper for a prayer book.

You can imagine what he did next. He cut the pages and scraped off the surface to remove the ink. He then used the semi-clean parchment to write his notes. Talk about religion giving science a hard time. Anyhow, the prayer book surfaced in 1908 and Archimedes' notes were found.

However, when the studies of the notes were completed, the book did as all mysterious books of history does. It disappeared, only to resurface again at Christie's Auction House when the family in France who kept the book for seventy years wondered if it was worth anything. (Well, they got US$ 2 million for it, so yes.)

After some intensive restoration, it was found that Archimedes' text contained his work titled The Method, which shows that he was already delving into equations concerning the infinity principle, a concept way ahead of his time. One can only wonder how mankind's technological evolution could have evolved had the text been discovered sooner. Then again homework would have been invented earlier, so maybe it was for the best.

 

Ever wondered how your grandparents (or great grandparents) used to look at the future? The National Library of France has recently set up an exhibit of prints dating back to 1910, all of which portray the time's predictions for the year 2000. As you guys might guessed, there's plenty of wild-yet-accurate visions for our time.

Some of the favorite clips we spy include a depiction of what the inside of a classroom would look today - headsets hooking students up to what appears to be an early computer (which is crank-operated, by the way). Notice how the teacher is feeding books into the computer, which we assume would be fed, in turn, as information to the students via headsets? We find it interesting to note that The Matrix hit theaters just a year before this intended prediction.

Other prints that we point out includes the time's predictions for air rescue (today's coast guard), a France-to-China electric train, and automobile warfare. We've posted some of the prints here for viewing - guys who wish to see the Library's full exhibit are invited to click on the read link.

 

In an effort to raise awareness and to ramp up its environmental campaigns, World Wildlife Fund or WWF bought some virtual land in Second Life and named it "Conservation Island". The island will be populated by different animal avatars and the objective, according to WWF, is to teach human avatars how to live in harmony with nature.

"WWF set up the island as a way to help people learn about conservation issues and the need to live sustainably. We want to be able to show people that WWF has solutions to the real environmental issues affecting their 'first life', commented WWF International Online Outreach Manager David Cole.

One avatar SL residents will meet in the island is Mr. Tangee. He's a scruffy looking orangutan that can be found in an ice cream van. His purpose is to let people know that the total number of plantations producing soy and palm oil that are being used in ice creams, cosmetics, and chocolate bars now cover an area the size of France.

This, of course, threatens his kind because most of his natural habitat are being converted to industrial areas. Another notable character is a panda that guides visitors around the wind-powered local town and chats about environmental issues.

Before you go and tell someone stupid that he doesn't have a brain, think again. French doctors from the Hopital de la Timone in Marseille, France discovered a normal man, living a normal life with an almost non-existent brain.

The man was admitted to the hospital for a mild weakness in his left leg, but a group of doctors, led by Lionel Feuillet, discovered something far more interesting. Scans of his brain (shown on the right) reveals that the man's central cavities, ventricles, have expanded to massive proportions, crushing his actual brain against the sides of his skull.

Feuillet said, "he images were most unusual... the brain was virtually absent." However, despite being almost without a brain the man proved to be very much self-sufficient and was able to lead a normal life. He had an IQ of 75, a verbal IQ of 84 and a performance IQ of 70.

While the minimum average IQ is considered to be 85, the man was still able to function well in society. "Even if he has a slight intellectual handicap," Feuillet said, "this has not hampered his development or building social networks."

The doctors traced how he got his unusual brain: as an infant, he apparently suffered from hydrocephalus - a very dangerous buildup of spinal fluid in the brain.

Some people believe that it does, including a number of restaurants. One such establishment in California, Chez Panisse, eschewed bottled water in favor of filtered tap water. "For us, it's about doing the right thing," said Chez Panisse general manager Michael Kossa-Rienzi. Many other fine-dining establishments have joined this cause as well.

It's not that the bottled water itself directly affects the environment - it's the fumes and gases generated by the manufacturing process of bottled water, and the fuel consumed by transporting these to stores that contribute to pollution.

Shipping bottled water, which is heavier than most other commodities, expends more fuel. ABC News also calculated that drinking 1 liter of bottled water in Chicago which was transported from France amounts to consuming about 2 ounces of fuel oil. And this estimate does not include the oil used to make the plastic. By contrast, delivering tap water use little or no fuel at all.

Ruth Caplan of Sierra Caplan offers more numbers to chew on regarding bottled water harming the environment."Each year, people are drinking 30 billion throwaway bottles of water," she said. "If you put them end to end, it would go around the world more than 150 times." She adds that 4 out of 5 plastic water bottles end up in landfills instead of getting recycled.

In an effort to curb the pollution problem - as well as save taxpayers' money - even San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom ordered local city departments not to buy bottled water.

The International Bottled Water Association (IBWA), however, reminds people that bottled water also helps the environment. IBWA member Stephen Kay says that bottled water promotes the use of lighter and biodegradable plastics, as well as encourages the habit of recycling (ever notice the recycling-related symbols on bottled water and other packaged beverages?).

He also points out that it is quite unfair that bottled water is singled out among many other packaged consumables reportedly threatening the environment, and that people are also making a mistake by not looking at the big picture when it comes to preserving the environment.

The American Psychiatric Association (APA) is currently holding its 160th annual meeting in San Diego, California and do you want to know what are they talking about? Well, our beloved psychiatrists are talking about Star Wars and Darth Vader among other things.

Experts from France's University Hospital of Toulouse Psychiatric Department told the APA that if Anakin Skywalker was a real-life person, he could clearly be diagnosed with borderline personality disorder. It's actually a mental illness marked by instability in moods, interpersonal relationships, self-image, and behavior.

One of those who "revealed" these findings was Dr. Laurent Schmitt. The expert mentioned that the study was based from the original Star Wars film scripts. Aside from Skywalker's conflicted relationship with Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi and the rest of the Jedi Council, the following were also taken into consideration:

• Problems with controlling anger and impulsivity
• Temporary stress-related paranoia,
• Frantic efforts to avoid real or imagined abandonment (when trying to save his wife at all costs)
• A pattern of unstable and intense personal relationships
• Changing his name and turning into Darth Vader

Fans of the series know that Skywalker didn't really change his name. It was more like given to him by Sith Lord Darth Sidious. But any fan, we believe, can't contest the other four symptoms. We wonder what the APA thinks of Jabba the Hutt or Yoda.