Neuroanatomist Jill Bolte Taylor talks about her "stroke of insight," when in her late 30s she experienced a stroke in her left hemisphere which left her partially paralyzed; unable to read, speak or understand spoken language; and affected her memory. more inside

You become responsible, forever, for what you have strafed. A former Luftwaffe pilot claims he may have shot down Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, author of The Little Prince.

Questionaut - a flash game my the makers of samarost

Antique spectacles has a lot of interesting images of early specs, plus 'interesting topics' which really are, and much beside. See also...

How the BBC rendered their spinning globe logo in 1985 - A live picture of a spinning globe had been shown before BBC programmes since the Sixties. When colour came to BBC 1, a curved mirror was added behind the globe, and the effect this produced continued to be seen on screen for over fifteen years. But technology had moved on and time was running out for this mechanical symbol. A solid state device had generated the symbol on BBC 2 since the end of the Seventies. Subsequently, electronic clocks on both networks had replaced the mechanical clocks. And in early 1984, work began on a project to generate a digital symbol for BBC 1 too. Here is the story of those great men & women, etc..

Birmingham is the weirdest place to live in the UK - we all knew this, comes as no surprise, right? Almost two-thirds of Brummies believe in the supernatural after reports of giant hailstones hitting city streets and Martians dropping in for mince pies at the Rowley Regis home of Jean Hingley in 1979. Also, The Bull Ring. It's actually the 10th Circle of Hell, it's just been outsourced.

The 14 Precepts of Engaged Buddhism By Thich Nhat Hanh.

Consumers to Providers: Do You Know Who I Am? Poll Finds That Customer Service and Recognition Trump Privacy, Pricing. "There's a whole generation of people coming up that will vote with their feet . . . They say, 'I expect Bank of America to know me this well. I'm on Facebook, and everyone knows me. They know I like cheese ravioli.' " more inside

Neanderthals (Probably) had Language Comparable to Modern Humes

Torchwood Babiez for Torchwood/Doctor Who fans. Yes, it is very cute. Go on, you know, you want to... First four pages in links above. Via this Big Blue thread, headspace's comment.

New Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart portrait found

Google Sky, peoples. more inside

Tommy Westphall's Mind: A Multiverse Explored. An incredibly intricate diagram and key showing how 282 TV shows link to the St. Elsewhere universe via character crossovers, and therefore only existed in the mind of one autistic child. more inside

Samurai-Sword Maker's Reactor Monopoly May Cool Nuclear Revival via and I couldn't disagree more inside

The world's smallest republic has run out of money.

Bear convicted of stealing honey. Rash of pic-a-nic basket thefts continues.

Eurovision is coming, let the piss-taking begin. more inside

Space Robot to join International Space Station. more inside

Museum of the Improbable The Museum of the Improbable was a collection of original, limited-edition, science-fiction and fantasy-themed 3D models. From mid-2005 to mid-2006, the models were available for sale and download. As of June 2006, the models are no longer for sale.

Dolphin leads beached whales to safety. Not that I'm surprised by this sort of behavior. But still, wow!