#2 ‘Implementing a Jabberwocky Gibberish Generator’.

In contrast to some computer-programme developers who create gibberish by jumbling word-orders (see Progress In Gibberish Computing #1 ) others take a different approach, and scramble the letters of English words (somewhat) to generate pronounceable nonsense words known as pseudowords or logatomes, similar to those found in ‘ Jabberwocky‘ by Lewis Carroll.

The oldest evidence of sexual reproduction in a flowering plant – a cluster of 18 tiny flowers from the Cretaceous Period, with one of them in the process of making some new seeds for the next generation - has been found in a 100-million-year old piece of amber. 

The perfectly-preserved scene, in a now-extinct plant, appears identical to the reproduction process that "angiosperms," or flowering plants still use today.  The fossils were discovered from amber mines in the Hukawng Valley of Myanmar, known to most as Burma. The newly-described genus and species of flower was named Micropetasos burmensis.

From the earliest days on record, earthquake lights - rare, luminous phenomena associated with some seismic events - have mystified people and intrigued geologists. 

It's well established that as people's waistlines increase, so does the chance for the incidence of type 2 diabetes.

Scientists from Denmark have found that in mice, macrophages, a specific type of immune cell, invade the diabetic pancreatic tissue during the early stages of the disease then these inflammatory cells produce a large amount of pro-inflammatory proteins - cytokines - which directly contribute to the elimination of insulin-producing beta cells in the pancreas, resulting in diabetes. 

Pine Island Glacier is one of the biggest routes for ice to flow from Antarctica into the sea and the floating ice shelf at the glacier's tip has been melting and thinning for the past four decades, causing the glacier to speed up and discharge more ice.

It's been a key factor in estimates for sea level rise in a warming world but it turns out that the ice shelf melting depends on the local wind direction, which is tied to tropical changes associated with El Nino.

With the rush to legalize marijuana in the interests of a libertarian society or, more suspect, for medical reasons, addiction is about to come back to the forefront.

Over 20 million people around the world are already addicted to marijuana. In the last few years, cannabis addiction has become one of the main reasons for seeking treatment in addiction clinics. Cannabis consumption is particularly high in individuals between 16 to 24 years old, a population that is especially susceptible to the harmful effects of the drug. 

Methane hydrates are ice-like solid fuel composed of water and methane. And they are fragile.  In some areas, such as in the North Atlantic off the coast of Svalbard, scientists have detected gas flares regularly and the reasons for their occurrence were unclear. They seem to only be stable at high pressure and low temperature. 

If so, global warming might cause the dissolution of gas hydrates, according to an analysis led by scientists from GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel who say that it is very likely that methane hydrate gas flares are caused by natural processes. 

littleBits are color coded electronic modules that connect together magnetically to create simple electronic circuits. They are designed for ages 8 and up so hobbyists, designers, makers, and artists, and can add light, sound, and motion to their crafts and projects. Since they connect up magnetically (no need for circuit boards, breadboards, or solder), you can’t accidentally connect them the wrong way. With littleBits you can quickly build electronic circuits in a matter of minutes.

The color coded modules are divided into four categories. Blue, for power, currently includes three modules—the power module to which you connect the 9 volt battery, a coin battery module, and a USB power module.

An interdisciplinary group has called on scholars, government granting agencies, journal editors and reviewers to adopt stringent and transparent standards in order to give social science research credibility, substance and impact. 

The authors note that vague methodologies and suspect conclusions has contributed to a distorted body of research that tends to exaggerate the effectiveness of programs that deal with important issues affecting millions of people including health, agriculture, education and environmental policy.

Learning about ancient civilizations used to mean hand-drawn maps and clunky tomes; now anyone can do it, using Google Earth and some idea of where to look and what to look for.

And Google Earth has helped create a map of an ancient Syrian trade route that shows how one city's political sway extended farther than believed. It still takes old-fashioned digging by others to have found the artifacts in the first place, but for visualization and understanding, the future is here.