Charlie the Tuna and Mr. Bubble both turn 50 in 2011.

Helium now makes up about 25% of the mass of the sun. About 1.6% is carbon, nitrogen, neon, oxygen, magnesium, silicon, sulphur, and iron.

A scientific study based in Oxford shows that the African crested rat has come up with an ingenious survival strategy: The rats chew the roots and bark of a highly toxic tree, then spread the poisonous mixture on their specially adapted fur. Researchers say the only other mammal with similar behavior is the hedgehog.

Portrait artist Chuck Close is face blind, as is neurologist/author Oliver Sacks. Face blindness (prosopagnosia) is the inability to recognize or remember faces.

What do Janet Gaynor, Helen Hayes, Anne Baxter, Claire Trevor, Donna Reed, Jo Van Fleet, Susan Hayward, Elizabeth Taylor, Shirley Jones, Jane Fonda, Mira Sorvino, Kim Basinger, and Charlize Theron have in common? They all won Oscars for playing a prostitute.

This article appears in August 19 • 2011.

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