Scientists and Intellectuals are supposed to be above petty politics and popularity contests, right? Nope. Here are a few bright bulbs that never got the fancy Nobel gold medallion (or the millions of Swedish krona that go with it). And you thought the Oscars were bad. 1. Joan Robinson, Economics Great Britain's Joan Robinson may be one of the most exciting figures in the history of "the Dismal Science." An acolyte of the great John Maynard Keynes, her work covered a wide range of... READ ON

I have fond memories of watching The Secret Life of Machines on The Discovery Channel in the early 90's -- back in the days when the channel was mostly about sharks and David Attenborough films. The Secret Life of Machines was written and presented by Tim Hunkin (with assistance from Rex Garrod) and broadcast in the UK in the late 80's and early 90's. The show was like an early version of MythBusters, minus the myths, and with more quirky animation. It was all about machines -- how they work, how to... READ ON

Who knew there was so much left to discover about plain old H2O? According to Physorg.com, two scientists at Graz University of Technology in Austria came across a strange and phenomenal discovery when they exposed two vats of water to an electric field. Apparently, the water climbed out of the two adjacent beakers to hover across the receptacles and form a water bridge! Insane. In any case, you can read more on the phenomenon and the research here. Link via... READ ON

Alex, perhaps the best-known parrot in recent history, has died at the age of 31. The cause of death is still being determined (suspected to be aspergillosis, a fungal infection), and is expected to be announced sometime today at a press conference. Alex was the subject of ongoing research by Dr. Irene Pepperberg. The name is "Alex" is actually an acronym for "Avian Learning EXperiment," and he was noted for his apparent ability to communicate using spoken English, responding to questions and... READ ON