The International Year of Astronomy continues its celebration with a photo of triple galaxy group April 1 and 2. 140,000 people around the world voted on six potential targets; the Arp 274 galaxy group won with 67,000 votes.

For some reason I really want a Milky Way Dairy Queen Blizzard... Thanks to Wired for the photo and the following description.

Combine an elementary physics formula, f=m*a, with a hunk of wood or composite material and you get hockey's most powerful shot - the slapshot.

Every year before the NHL All-Star game, players compete for the title of fastest slapshot in the league. This year's winner: Boston Bruins' mammoth defenseman, Zdeno Chara, with a 105.4 mph shot, a skills competition all-time record.  (However, hockey great Bobby Hull's slapshot was once recorded at 118.3 mph - and Hull is almost a foot shorter than Chara.)

Scientific Blogging can help your career! Well, indirectly.

A study out of Melbourne University in Australia found that workers who surf the internet for fun at work, within a reasonable limit of less than 20 percent of total office time, are about nine percent more productive than non-surfers.
 

The House passed  legislation by a 298-112 vote to grant FDA authority to regulate, but not ban, cigarettes and other tobacco products, according to NPR and the Wall Street Journal. The FDA could make ingredients public, ban flavoring and prohibit marketing campaigns.

Can you remember great jokes? I know I can't. Now I know why - the greatest jokes work by subverting usual thought patterns, making them less memorable but funnier, according to the Daily Telelgraph. A final twist and surprise in the joke makes us remember the punchline, but forget the run-up to the gag.

Let's take a little test, shall we?

The Telegraph's example of a bad joke:
What do you call a judge with no thumbs? Justice Fingers.

The Telegraph's example of a "better" joke: