Large Hadron Collider Animation:

This is indescribably cool – and to think this device could and should have been located here in the US of A:

“A child born to a U.S. citizen overseas through the increasingly common practice of in vitro fertilization with embryos from donor eggs and sperm is not American, unless an American is one of the donors.” [USA Today, via @daveweigel]

“The European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) has reconfirmed the revolutionary September results of its historic experiment that detected neutrinos, a type of uncharged particle, moving faster than the speed of light, according to an announcement from the agency on Friday.” [TPM]

The British scientific publication Royal Society Journal Biology Letters has published new research showing that female red squirrels have sex with up to 14 males a day because the male squirrels are “usually willing and available.”

One of the scientists noted the obvious drawbacks to “having multiple partners means more energy expended on mating, increased exposure to predators as well as increased potential for the spread of sexually transmitted diseases.  Promiscuity also encourages harassment from male squirrels trying to coerce them into having sex.”

Happy Holidays!

[MSNBC: Promiscuous Squirrels Mate With Up to 14 Males a Day]

“The number of ‘Better Know a District’ segments has plummeted in the past few years. In 2006, more than 40 segments aired. That number fell to a little over a dozen in 2007 and has fallen to less than 10 this year, according to POLITICO’s count.”