Thursday, May 27, 2010

Mark Twain's Autobiography

Mark Twain left instructions that his memoirs not be published until 100 years after his death. That day was last month and the first volume of his self-reflection will be published in November.

In another previously unpublished piece, Twain remembered his daughter who died from meningitis.

"She was a magazine of feelings, & they were of all kinds & of all shades of force; & she was so volatile, as a little child, that sometimes the whole battery came into play in the short compass of a day. She was full of life, full of activity, full of fire, her waking hours were a crowding & hurrying procession of enthusiasms ... Joy, sorrow, anger, remorse, storm, sunshine, rain, darkness - they were all there: They came in a moment, & they were gone as quickly."

(image credit: Getty, via The Independent)

Friday, May 21, 2010

The Synthetic Cell

Craig Venter announces the synthetic cell. Encoded in the synthetic genome are three quotations including James Joyce from A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, "To live, to err, to fall, to triumph, to recreate life out of life!"

Pac-Man 30th Anniversary

Google's logo is a Pac-Man game for the 30th anniversary.