The deep-sea mystery of an elusive fossil worm that leaves trails in the form of a hexagon. From Natural History magazine’s home page, go to ‘web archives’, then scroll down to the entry from September 2004, ‘Secret Survivor’. The pictures show the intriguing geometry produced by these creatures.

A pushmower down the street. The kids across the way yelling at each other. Windchimes blowing to a chilly breeze. A robin in a neighbor’s tree. No drama. Dull. Boring. Incredibly peaceful.

After they hatch, there will be many birds out there looking to feed their progeny. Odds are very much against the mantis nymphs. Lately, the little finches and sparrows are flying right up to the windows, going after spiders and crane flies, so I am keeping the egg cases indoors in a big jar till it’s time to move them outside into something bigger, possibly an old aquarium. And yes, I will find some food for them.

In a word, enormous. I had no idea microwaves have grown to such sizes. The toaster oven/microwave has its charms, but I didn’t like the side toaster feature. Having exhausted the local possibilities, we’ll see what’s available online today.

Last night we showed up at the sale late, that is, after the massive crowds had gone. Normally, it’s elbowing, jostling, and on memorable evenings, verbal abuse and shouting among the testier buyers. Heavier ones use their bulk shamelessly. Overflow books are in boxes underneath the tables, so at any given time, large people are pushing politely from both sides above, while others are scrabbling down there at your feet.

I mostly go to get videos that are being phased out for DVDs. This is where I found Picnic at Hanging Rock, for example. The price is now down to $1 each. I found one of my all-time favorites, Playing By Heart. Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, which I’ve not seen. Joe vs. the Volcano, which has those wonderful trunks. Paulie.

Once I got into a conversation with a woman in line that had similar interests, except she looked for PBS specials, English series and such.

One year I had some noxious flu for three weeks. Nothing to take my feverish mind off the suffering except Harry Potter books, which gave me incredibly vivid, terrifying nightmares. Now I will have Mad Max, Beyond Thunderdome for convalescent imagery. And many, many others.

Yesterday, as I went out to rent a video, the sky to the northeast was dark gray, and inside the store, people in line were talking about how bad it looked. There were a couple of poufy, pouchy spots that were almost the beginnings of mammatus, or as close as we get to the phenomenon.

But here, we never get clouds like this.

Of course, it’s a little blurry, my hands were shaking. I would have cleaned the pot up a bit too, but that would have entailed moving the spider. I might get a better shot later, it is in a jar at the moment. After I look up what it is, it will be free to roam the yard once more.

The famous exploding toad story has been hit by dubious animal experts. Now, it is theorized that the toads are victims of messy eaters, such as area birds. No final verdict in yet.

Classic Country Road Songs. Because sometimes, at the end of a horrifically depressing week, it’s okay to hear someone else’s lamentations.

From the National Wildlife Federation’s 34th annual competition.

This toxic molecule causes disease in humans. In the bobtail squid, the same molecule produces light to help the squid dodge its enemies. Who is saying what to whom?

Margaret McFall-Ngai is a principal researcher in this area.

The top entry in Australia’s national Cane Toad Competition uses light as a lure.

At last, a possible answer to Darwin’s suffering, which lasted 40 years, with symptoms of gastric distress, depression, fatigue, heart palpitations, and chest pain.

Knowing that fried chicken plays a major role in this movie, we paid a visit to the local Popeye’s (I don’t like KFC). We had some difficulty placing our order, and what we came home with was not quite what we thought we asked for, but it was okay since the entertainment was superior.

Walken hasn’t looked this good since Sleepy Hollow. By good, I mean that Walken look.

550,000 acres of bottomland hardwood and swamps where the ivory-billed woodpecker was found.

Previously thought to be extinct, the ivory-billed woodpecker is found by a kayaker in an area between Little Rock and Memphis. Jubilant ornithologists compare the discovery to ‘finding Elvis’.

Normally, they reseed, but conditions must not be optimum in my yard. This one grows in the deep shade under two oak trees.

Careful examination of a found stone with a familiar pattern of holes leads to a search for the meaning behind an extra star.

Salamanders and zebrafish can repair their damaged hearts. Could we, someday, do the same?

A home-cooked burger, with onions, lettuce, mayo, cheese, and ketchup oozing out with each bite, can be a glorious thing. My microwave is still on the fritz, so I am eating leftover burger cold, and it has lost some of its charm. But it is excellent compared to the only other lunch alternative today - a cold, raw, whole chicken.

They are safe to eat if the diner abides by a few rules:

a) the third rain has fallen, when the bullfrog has croaked and bred
b) certain parts (feet, legs, thighs) are eaten
c) the cooking pot is lined with the wood of a certain tree, which neutralizes the toxin

If these precautions are ignored, the diner will experience the pain of Oshiketakata, or temporary kidney failure.

At Princeton and Caltech, engineers coax bacteria to communicate with one another using fluorescent light.

A cardiac surgeon recalls a late-night encounter with a benumbed support crew and an unresponsive patient. Unreponsive, that is, until the first cut.

Kidney stones can be caused by many factors, including nanobacteria. The bacteria produce a coating of mineral deposits, forming hard, stone-like objects. In the zero-gravity of space, these bacteria grow five times as fast.

Dying star shows signs of re-igniting, jolting astronomers’ expectations.

You Remind Me of Me, by Don Chaon. I’ve been looking for this, and found it tonight at the small neighborhood library, which was closing in 5 minutes. Then I got a marble fudge ice cream cone, which couldn’t be eaten neatly while at the keyboard, but I managed. I didn’t take a picture, because the other night when I posted a picture of my chocolate cake dessert, my boys over in Berkeley looked at it longingly, and debated whether I had made something that nice without them around.

Wait a minute. Maybe they are bombs.

Applying an alcoholic beverage to the skin for softness and possibly, a side benefit of giddiness.

Her On the Surface of Things: Images of the Extraordinary in Science has long been a favorite of mine.

Some of the amazing images can be seen here.

MIT scientists find the location of song pathways in the brains of birds.

When Elephants Weep, The Emotional Lives of Animals by Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson.

Two mathematician brothers, who think of themselves as one unit, build a supercomputer from mail-order parts in their apartment.

One day, the Metropolitan Museum asked them to make a digital image of the seven tapestries of The Hunt of the Unicorn. The job was way too complex for an ordinary computer equipped with PhotoShop.

The New Yorker articles are very long, but fascinating.

Maybe someone found the perfect spot for curing meats in an outdoorsy setting. Not everyone has a smokehouse.

Organ music of a different kind, designed to go on your late evening playlist.

From this page, click on ‘excerpt’.

It’s a book that’s been on the nightstand for months now. Having read several of Heinrich’s books (Mind of a Raven , One Man’s Owl, Ravens in Winter ), I picked this one up at a library book sale. Last night I read the part about how camels deal with prolonged thirst and desert exposure.

At his site, click on ‘2004′, then ‘Painting Chinese Landscape Painting’ for the Miramar Airshow demonstration, and on ‘Red Star Flying Saucer’ for a video of his fireworks.

Whole-grain goodness in a white bread, but without that slightly bitter taste that kids don’t like.

When Christopher Walken does his thing with the mouse droppings.

Roast chicken, with special attention to the tender morsels on the back, known as ‘oysters’.

Thomas Keller singles out these oysters in the roast chicken recipe in his cookbook, Bouchon.

Kevin Spacey eats a banana.

The main meal of the movie, which includes the catfish, looks scrumptious, but is ruined by the villainess, who insults the hostess’ efforts by sprinkling her food with a bottle of sauce she has brought. Egg rolls and a birthday cake help bring about extensive soul-searching.

How two high school students, with help from one of their moms, solved the mystery of what was known as ‘angel glow’.

In countless westerns, the cook fixes a big skillet of grub. There’s a pot of coffee and maybe biscuits. Fifteen cowboys, after riding all day, are gathered around the campfire. Was it all those Marlboros suppressing their appetites?

How the music in your head keeps streaming, even when the external audio stops.

‘I know this steak doesn’t exist. I know that when I put it in my mouth, the Matrix is telling my brain that it is juicy and delicious.’

The mother of the main character (her son) prepares a plate of french fries for her husband. Before he realizes it’s ready, the son pops in, unaware the fries aren’t for him, eats the whole plateful, and pops out again.

Mary Tyler Moore tortures, hacks up, and otherwise brutalizes some very good -looking french toast.

Two women, ages 60 and 30, have been accused of ‘evil spells’, and lynched by a tribal mob.