Christmas

A researcher at Western University’s Nanofabrication Facility in Ontario, Canada, has built the world’s smallest snowman, measuring an extremely petite 3 microns tall. To put this in perspective, a human hair will typically be 50-75 microns (or micrometers) thick.

The tiny snowman was made using a stack of silica spheres — water crystals would be far too large for a sculpture of this stature. Each of the three globes is a mere 0.9 microns (0.0009 millimeters) in diameter. The arms and carrot-like nose are made from platinum, and the facial features were carved using the lab’s new focused ion beam.
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Having trouble getting into the spirit of Christmas? We have the solution for you: Whitley Strieber’s wonderful little book The Christmas Spirits. In his Journal, he writes: "When I wrote The Christmas Spirits, I was not really speculating, but rather trying to portray a level of being that I believe is entirely real, and to describe its interaction with us as I have lived it.read more

When we buy someone a present, most of us try to get inside mind of the recipient, but thoughtful gifts–where you try to give someone what they want the most–are NOT the best bet. The giving of a thoughtful gift benefits the giver more than the person who receives it.

In the December 4th edition of the Wall Street Journal, Sumathi Reddy quotes behavioral scientist Nicholas Epley as saying, "It turns out it’s not the thought that counts, it’s the gift that counts."

So what DOES work best? Spending a lot of money isn’t important, thank goodness. It turns out that the gifts people like the most are things they have explicitly requested–so ask all your friends to MAKE A LIST!
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