A wonderful gift ..or perhaps an heirloom for your descendants. As Christmas draws near, a friend has drawn my attention to this charming item. (I notice that someone has zippitied in ahead of me in another place, but you can't have too much culture, can you?) In my day, Mr Potato Head came in kit form and you had to supply your own real potato. Now that was art. more inside

The 'smoking louse'. A study at the University of Utah shows that only one of the two lice species on current Homo Sapiens evolved on us. This proves contact with earlier human species - perhaps Homo Erectus. more inside

Clever enough to work for Google? Here's the aptitude test... page 2 page 3 page 4

Mafalda is 40. Sort of like Peanuts with a political edge, Mafalda is immensely popular in Latin America and still a steady seller although Quino drew the last strips in the 70s. more inside

Robert J Lang has developed the mathematical theory of origami to new levels. Here are short accounts of his methods and pictures of the results why no monkeys?

Get a japanese boyfriend. Perhaps you'd rather a geek ? Maybe Ambrose is beginning to look an attractive option.

Build a time machine ."Scientists tell us it's technically possible. Here's a how-to guide for the ambitious tinkerer." I'd like to dedicate this post to Dreadnought (who in no way resembles Sylvester McCoy, I should stress - more Peter Davison). more inside

The psychology of cyberspace. We're all pathological.

Elektro the robot was created by Westinghouse to impress visitors at the 1939 World's Fair. He lost his head for a while, but now he's back. (via robots.net ) more inside

The Allen Brain Atlas Project aims to take brain mapping to a new level. It sounds exciting, though to be honest I'm not sure I understand precisely how they are doing it. They'll never come up with anything as appealing as these, anyway, or this (from quite an interesting paper).

Chick Lit Author round table. So - frivolous froth, or 'valuable social commentary and great literature' ?

Petrarch the father of Humanism, is 700. The Petrarchan Grotto is worth a look, or check out the story of Petrarch and Laura. The old chap is in reasonable condition , given that he's been dug up a few times. Except that his head has been replaced with a woman's.

Transportation Futuristics. Hover cars. Monorails. Escape pods. You know.

Metis allows virtual visits to a long list of ancient Greek sites. You can move around on a map of each site and see a panoramic view from whichever point you choose. Requires Quicktime

Too geeky for the Olympics? Don't like sport? Here's the answer. The Mathematical Olympiad is currently running in Athens, concluding on 18 July. Test your wits against classic past problems. Suddenly, athletics begins to seem interesting...

The Word on the Street is the National Library of Scotland's collection of "broadsides" - one sheet predecessors of popular newspapers, which were around between 1650 and 1910. Try the selected highlights (Crime, Ballads, Emigration, Sport,Tragedy and disaster, Marvels, Humour) or search by subject for stuff like the wonderful monkey of Glasgow.

The very name of Frenchman is become odious! What the Times said about the French Revolution (Read this ye ENGLISHMEN, with attention, and ardently pray that your happy Constitution may never be outraged by the despotic tyranny of Equalization!) Happily, it's a very different story this year.

@lyon is rather nice - stuff from Lyons. On-line gallery of local artists (left panel gives list by artist, middle by theme, right panel artist's details); food (recipes, on-line gastro-forum, etc); and, um, the traditional on-line games of Lyon. And much besides - repays a browse.

Tales of Future Past The tomorrows of yesterday.

The BBC's Internet site competes with commercial sites too much, says a Government report. The BBC has already agreed to close down a number of its offerings. more inside