One of the predictions of Albert Einstein's General Theory of Relativity field equations is that a large acceleration of mass produces a ripple in space-time called a gravitational wave. A better understanding of gravitational waves would be of enormous significance in helping us to understand how the universe works. Unfortunately until recently there has been no way to detect or study this phenomenon.Scientists believe that exploding stars, binary pulsars, and certain other massive space objects produce gravitational waves, and to study them, facilities have been set up at the U.S. Laser Interferometry Gravitational Wave Observatory, or LIGO, as well as the British-German GEO-600 gravity-wave observatory. Observations have begun and massive amounts of data are being collected, all of which must be analyzed before they can become useful.
Unfortunately only a super-supercomputer could handle these data. That's where you come in.
Einstein@Home is a collaborative project involving many thousands of computers around the world which collect and crunch smaller portions of data, sending the results back to project scientists for final analysis.
I have been running Einstein@Home on my home computer for several weeks. The program was easy to set up, runs invisibly in the background during my idle computing time, and does not slow down my system in any way. I can see the results of my work in archive and real-time, and I have the satisfaction of knowing that I am contributing to the advancement of science.
To find out more and start your own adventure in scientific discovery go to Einstein@Home at http://einstein.phys.uwm.edu/
Once you get running it may take up to a week for you to receive credit for your work since your results will be validated against other computers for accuracy.
Then give yourself a nice pat on the back.
-- Dalton Hammond
The Iditarod Trail, now a National Historic Trail, had its beginnings as a mail and supply route from the coastal towns of Seward and Knik to the interior mining camps at Flat, Ophir, Ruby and beyond to the west coast communities of Unalakleet, Elim, Golovin, White Mountain and Nome. Mail and supplies went in. Gold came out. All via dog sled. Heroes were made, legends were born.
Go to Start > Programs > Accessories > Accessibility and left click on Magnifier, then click on Properties. Place your mouse cursor on the Shortcut Key box, hold down Control and Alt and an unused shortcut letter of your choice, such as "M" for "magnifier". Click "Apply" and close the Properties box.
One night after work I went out for breakfast with a record promo man who was passing through and during the meal he reached in a pocket and took out an ordinary-looking matchbox and showed it to me, telling us that he was a beekeeper hobbyist and that he had just purchased this really expensive queen bee and had to get her to his house by tomorrow. Of course there was no way he could open the matchbox to show me or the little darling would fly away. I just sat there, totally impressed.
Led by their trusty Old Course caddies, Bill and his friends played well in the chilly summer breeze that bathed the links from the North Sea, enjoying the ambiance and the culture of their medieval surroundings. The group had heard many jokes about the legendary Old Course caddies who were said to have a cynical talent for poking fun at the mistakes of any duffer who crossed them with unthoughtful play or comments, so the Americans played carefully and were careful in what they said.
The Space Shuttle Endeavor rockets past the Virginia coastline on its way to Earth orbit on shuttle mission STS-88 in a night launch from Cape Canaveral. To the eye Endeavor appeared as a bright orange star moving rapidly from the South to the East, staying low to the horizon. Low-power binoculars easily revealed a fan-shaped orange exhaust plume.
After enjoying the solitude, the music on the radio, and each other for a couple of hours it was time to go. My friend stepped outside the car to straighten up a bit and in a moment I heard an unusual commotion coming from her direction. When she got back inside she saw the quizzical look on my face and explained that she had seen a snake on the parking lot but that I shouldn't worry; she had stomped it to death.
I took my girl friend (who is a bit younger) to see 
I just love reading about the stupidity of criminals. Here are some stories that are going around. Click on the titles to go to the Blogs where I found them. -- D.H.
Did you get a good look at Comet Hale-Bopp back in 1997? I mounted my Nikon 35mm film camera with a 70mm lens on top of my telescope -- it's called "piggybacking" -- and used the clock drive on the telescope scope mount to compensate for the rotation of the Earth while I kept the shutter open for four minutes to get this picture. Our Great Metropolitan Newspaper liked it so much they put it on the front page, in color. Image copyright 2005, Robert Jones
Did I just see a scorpion? No, it was a fiddler crab, scurrying sideways across the sand from a dune next door, to stop just under my balcony to preen and glint in the moonlight. 
after it. I teed up another ball and slugged it just hard enough to plop it over the bunker in the middle of the fairway and it rolled several yards down the hill toward the little gully that goes in front of the green, a perfect shot, lying 3. From 135 yards my full eight iron skipped past the hole a bit, circled around like in a bowl and stopped eight feet from the hole. Made the putt for an Out-of-Bounds bogey 5. My caddy Casey, a former California State Amateur Champion, applauded it.