As you loyal readers know, here at the _floss, we take Albert Einstein seriously. That's why we were outraged to learn the other day that a couple of numbnut German physicists claim they've moved microwave photons faster than the speed of light! Anyone who knows even a smidgeon of Einstein's special theory of relativity knows that nothing, according to THE MAN, can travel faster than light. To travel that fast would mean, for instance, that if you were shot through space, you could... READ ON

A year ago, almost to the day, I wrote about e-motorcons and dropped some of the origins of their predecessors, emoticons. Earlier this week, The New York Times had a piece on emoticons, as well, explaining that far from dying out, the fad seems to be growing in popularity and worming its way into business transactions. The most interesting part of the article was the graphic, which I've copied below. I mean honestly people, Elvis? John Lennon? Who has this kind of time on their hands?... READ ON

Have you ever thrown away a garbage can? My wife and I recently moved to a new house and found ourselves throwing out several old garbage cans. It's kind of funny to think the thing you used to collect garbage has to be tossed in a larger garbage container. Likewise, there are words that are used to describe aspects of themselves which I find equally entertaining. Etymology is a good one. Ever wonder what the etymology of etymology is? Well, it's from a Middle English word: etimologie,... READ ON

Recently a friend of mine was telling me that he loves sushi; it's his favorite food, he said. So I said, what kind of sushi? Oh, he said, y'know, negamaki, udon, shabu-shabu, avocado rolls"¦ As you smart readers probably know, none of what he rattled off is technically sushi. Sushi is rice topped with raw fish. I guess it could be a roll, too, but even sashimi, which is the fish without the rice, isn't really sushi. This got me thinking how we often use one word as a... READ ON