Once Upon A Time Gandhi Wrote A Letter To Hitler

What do an iconic peace-loving protester and easily the most hated man in all of human history have to do with each other? The answer is simple: a plea that was never heard. Mahatma Gandhi wrote to Adolf Hitler on July 23, 1939 to ask him to keep World War II from happening. At the time, Hitler was already progressing through Europe, having invaded Czechoslovakia earlier that spring. The letter never reached Hitler, (for unknown reasons) and it is hard to image that it would have had much impact if it did. Gandhi wrote two letters to Hitler, which are on display at Mani Bhavan, where Gandhi lived in Mumbai from 1917-1934. These letters are a known, but still shocking, part of the history of WWII. Certainly, they make you wonder what could have been, and even spark speculation about what the world leaders of our time really think about the current state of the world. (via World of Wonder, History Today)

Pregnant Fossil Is First Evidence That Plesiosaurs Gave Birth To Live Young

For nearly 25 years a spectacular fossil that could answer scientists' questions about an ancient marine reptile lay buried in the basement of the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County. The fossil was of a plesiosaur, a large four-flippered creature that roamed the oceans some 78 million years ago. But it wasn't just any fossil, this fossil was pregnant. The fossil shows the mother, around 470 cm long, carrying a single fetus, around 150 cm long. The fetus has 20 vertebrae, shoulders, hips and paddle bones, and is believed to be about two-thirds grown. This is the first case of a pregnant plesiosaur fossil, and it shows that the creatures gave birth to live babies rather than hatching eggs. The finding also suggests that the creatures cared for their young similar to modern day whales and dolphins.

Adorable Baby Panda Will Short Circuit Your Brain With Cuteness [Video]

Of all the weird, horrifying, childhood ruining, annoying junk on the internet, at least there are cute things like this adorable baby panda. This little guy is on a mission to get out of that crib, but he keeps getting stopped right as he gets to the edge. While he might be foiled by his handlers again and again, he keeps trying, and the result is too cute. (via VideoGum)

Researchers Announce Successful Clinical Trial Of Gene Therapy Treatment For Leukemia

For the first time, researchers have successfully used gene therapy to treat a form of leukemia called chronic lymphoblastic leukemia. The clinical trial was only conducted in three patients, which is such a small sample size that it is far too soon to be declaring victory over cancer, but it is an encouraging breakthrough. The research is described in two papers, published in the New England Journal of Medicine and Science Translational Medicine. People have been talking about gene therapy for more than twenty years. Though it holds immense potential, researchers have run into problems with gene therapy as a treatment. In previous research, therapeutic genes that are inserted in a specific place tended to move around for reasons that researchers have struggled to understand. The goal of gene therapy is for a gene that is inserted into a specific place to stay in that spot to serve out its function in the cell. With the new leukemia treatment, this is exactly what the researchers were able to achieve.

The Deadliest Disease Outbreaks In History [Infographic]

This inforgraphic, created by Good and Collum Five Media presents the deadliest disease outbreaks in human history. From Small Pox to the Plague of Justinian, these diseases wiped out huge chunks of the population and undoubtedly shaped the way human society has progressed over time. The infographic focuses on pandemics, and includes a great key for you to learn more about these disease and some honorable mentions. Check out the full graphic after the jump.

Researchers Create The First Living Nanowire From Bacteria

Researchers have created what they call a "living nanowire" using an usual type of bacteria that has long filaments outside its body and conducts electrons better than some metals. This could be an important first step in merging biological systems with electronics for small organic batteries or biological superconductors that are much cheaper to produce than silicon-chip based technologies. The research was conducted by a team from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. Lead author on the paper, Mark Tuominen, explains that humans and animals typically get rid of electrons through breathing, but the bacteria get rid of electrons through their pili, the long filaments that are used as the nanowire. In the bacteria these electrons are created as a byproduct of the digestive process, because bacteria living in anaerobic zones don't have oxygen molecules to carry any electrons like humans and animals do.

Batting Practice Off Infinite Trampoline Loop Is Amazingly Unbelievable [Video]

This amazing video of a guy hitting two baseballs off a series of trampolines has all the makings of a fake viral video. Although, they aren't selling anything other than their mad skillz and ingenuity for rigging three trampolines to bounce the baseballs around the infield until they return to the hitter creating an infinite feedback loop. The hitter's accuracy seems too good be true, but if it is this should be the future of batting practice. (via Viral Viral Videos)

MIT Researchers Announce Broad Spectrum Treatment For Viral Infections

Some of the biggest human health threats facing the world today come from viruses which can cause anything from the common cold to deadly hemorrhagic fevers like Ebola. Over the years, researchers have struggled to find an efficient way to treat viral infections, leaving many people to struggle with disease. Now, researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have announced the creation of a broad spectrum treatment for viral infections that works by killing just the cells in the body infected with the virus. The research was led by a team from MIT's Lincoln Laboratory and was published in the journal PLoS One. Invented by researcher Todd Rider, the treatment is a drug called DRACOs (Double-stranded RNA Activated Caspase Oligomerizers). It was tested on human cells in a lab and in mice against 15 different viruses and was effective against all of them, including the common cold, H1N1 (swine flu), influenza, polio, and dengue fever.

How To Use Social Media To Get Better Grades [Infographic]

When we think of students using social media, it's hard not to imagine the college freshman holed up in the library spending hours on Facebook when they should be studying for exams, but maybe there is a little more value in social media for students than you would think. An interesting infographic by Masters in Education suggests that being involved in social media is actually good for students' grades. However, the graphic doesn't really get into the nuts and bolts of how they established a correlation. Still, some of the claims seem pretty believable, like students using social media to organize themselves into a study group when one wasn't organized by a professor. Even if the social media addict is unlikely to be at the top of the class, it is still good to note that there are positive ways to use social media for educational purposes. It doesn't have to be a brain sucking vortex of wasted time, in fact, it could provide some great new ways for students to learn.