Science Saturday on Weber County Forum

A short list of science-related news items which we inadvertently stumbled upon whilst googling

Here's a list of science-related news items which we inadvertently stumbled upon during the past week, whilst googling for something else, and put on the Weber County Forum back burner, for publication in this morning's Science Saturday story roundup edition:

1) Scientific American chimes in on the story which bubbled up in the lay press earlier this week, wherein Stephen Hawking warned about attracting extraordinarily rude and obnoxious space aliens to our humble little planet:

• Alien horror: Stephen Hawking hawks Stephen King

The author poses an followup question: "But notwithstanding the fact that intelligent life appears to be extremely rare, what are the odds that space aliens would really want something from our planet?" This query of course provokes a fairly interesting discussion in the comments section beneath the article, which you might want to check out, assuming you have a little free time on your hands.

2) Are you getting reader to sit for a drivers' license or other eye test? There are scores of online "programs" and other vision improvement schemes such as this, many of which are fee-based. In this connection we'll link this April 27 Science News Magazine story, which reports on new research which yields results which look strikingly similar to the "placebo effect":

• Vision gets better with the right mind-set

Perhaps if you're going to spend money for a vision improvement program (or any other self-improvement plan, for that matter), here's where your hard-earned dough might be best spent:

• Instant Self-Hypnosis: How to Hypnotize Yourself with Your Eyes Open

Just a helpful hint from yer old pal, Rudi.

3) And here's a photo gallery you're definitely not going to want to miss, from Smithsonian Magazine:

• Famous Animal Gravesites Around the World

Did you ever wonder what happened to the first hominid to be launched into space? Check out the photo display above to learn all about HAM the chimp. It's absolutely riveting, wethinks.

That's it for now, WCF science buffs. But please don't hesitate to chime in with your own comments and science story favorites for the week.