WHAT DOES E=mc2 STAND FOR?
In 1905, the deep connection Albert Einstein discovered between energy and mass is expressed in the equation E=mc².   Here E represents energy, m represents mass, and c² is a very large number, the square of the velocity of light. This equation became a cornerstone in the development of nuclear energy.

A CLONE IS NOT A TWIN AFTER ALL
Two new studies have shown that cloned pigs act and look different from the animal whose original DNA they carry. In fact, clones can vary in physical appearance and behavior as much as animals bred conventionally do. The findings debunk the popular myth clones are carbon copies of their "parents." Researchers said the public has been fed the notion cloning technology can create cookie-cutter animals -? pets, for example. "The implication is that your cloned pet is going to behave and look like the one you already have and that will not be the case," said Jorge Piedrahita, researcher at North Carolina State University's College of Veterinary Medicine. Some characteristics might not be the same as parent traits because genetic errors can be introduced during the cloning process -? a good reason, Piedrahita said, for cloning researchers to proceed carefully. He added some clones will be very healthy while others will not be able to survive.

FEMALE LIZARDS CHOOSY ABOUT HOME, MATES
In many species females are very picky about where they call home and who they bring home as a mate. University of California-Los Angeles researchers, writing in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, say they are studying the fitness choices female blotched lizards make and note while the ladies prefer improved territories in which to live, they still select high-quality sires for their offspring. They say having better digs is associated with earlier egg-laying dates, larger eggs and an enhanced competitive ability -- meaning youngsters are more likely to directly benefit from living in a better neighborhood. The females also show a preference for large males and are very dominant in the mating system. They are selective, however, using sperm from large sires to produce sons and sperm from smaller sires to produce daughters.

Why isn't a bubble square?
A bubble is round because the air within it presses equally against all its parts, thus causing all surfaces to be equidistant from its center.

EARLY MAN DIDN'T THROW SPEAR
Early man knew how to make a spear -- he just didn't know how to throw it and therefore had a limited hunting strategy of stabbing trapped animals. The first direct evidence of thrown spears dates back 19,000 years but an analysis of arm bones of Neanderthals, who lived between 230,000 and 30,000 years ago, finds they were much stronger in one arm than the other -- suggesting they threw spears. Duke University researchers writing in New Scientist disagree, noting a two-handed spear thrust puts far more stress on the dominant arm holding the back end of the spear than the front arm. The researchers measured Neanderthal humerus bones, showing they were thicker front to back than side to side -- indicative of a thrusting motion. Later humans who used spears had rounder humeri, suggesting throwing a spear distributes force relatively evenly. In thrusting vs. throwing experiments, volunteers generated 70 percent more force thrusting with the dominant back arm than with the front arm. In extreme cases, the force on one arm was six times that on the other.

MALE WASPS USE CHEMICALS TO FIND MATES
Male wasps have a unique buddy system, using changes in plant chemicals to leave messages to their successors telling them where potential mates are located. Researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign say each spring, amid the decaying rubble of dead prairie plants, emerging male gall wasps find mates by looking for these chemistry clues left behind. As adult male wasps feed in warm weather, they change the ratio of plant chemicals. The researchers say it is very interesting because the females are inside the plant stems and not producing pheromones, so it is a plant's volatile chemicals that attract the males. Once a male finds a site with a mate he will defend it -- head-butting other males away from his turf.

SAN ANDREAS QUAKE SOONER NOT LATER
People living along the San Andreas fault are likely to have a major earthquake sooner than scientists had been expecting. At the Wrightwood paleoseismic site near the eastern end of the San Gabriel Mountains, research by U.S. Geological Survey geologist Thomas Fumal and colleagues from the University of Oregon suggests the area may experience a major earthquake within the next 30 years. Fumal says the time between earthquakes averages about 105 years with the most recent in 1857. "This suggests to me that at least the southernmost 120 miles of the fault may rupture in a large earthquake of 7.6 to 7.8 magnitude within the next few decades," Funnel says. "Such an earthquake would be especially hazardous to the San Bernardino-Riverside (California) urban area, which is developed right up to the fault." Similar research at Thousand Palms Oasis near Palm Springs indicates it also is primed for an earthquake. The most recent large earthquake to rupture this section of the fault occurred about 320 years ago and evidence suggests the average time between quakes is 215 years.