Why didn't you warn me? I started this fun little adventure with the novel The Andromeda Strain back in college and enjoyed the book tremendously. If for nothing else, it was funny how much time and attention Michael Crichton spent on the "modern" technology and amazing computational advances. Of course, I read the book in the mid-'90s and he wrote it in the late '60s. It's even more hilariously dated now. You mean, 200 people can work at the same time on this mainframe computer? That's astounding!

It doesn't take a rocket scientist, let alone a forensic specialist, to detect that the CSI franchise is hot. CBS currently boasts three shows with CSI in the title -- CSI, CSI: Miami, CSI: New York -- four if you include the non-Jerry Bruckheimer produced military procedural NCIS. So, then, it shouldn't come as a surprise that CSI is expanding. No, there's not a new CSI TV show happening, but there is an amusement park variation on CSI coming to life at Magic Mountain, the Valencia, California tourist attraction. (By the way, isn't it nice that Valencia didn't get nuked for real like it did on 24 last season?)

Some scientists have way too much time on their hands. Researchers at the University of Stirling in England blended together 179 different facial aspects of 20 top comedians to come up with the perfect face for comedy.

Soft, feminine features, typified by the face of Ricky Gervais, were more likely to make people laugh. According to psychologist Anthony Little, "The characteristics of a feminine face imply that the person may be agreeable and cooperative...Typically masculine facial traits, such as chiseled jaws and high foreheads are regarded as less amusing and their owners are less likely to succeed in a comedy career."