From the Times, this pic just had to come up.



What are you up to, you frozen whale, you smoked, dried, canned piece of soul?"

So did Albert Einstein, then a 26-year-old patent clerk in Bern, Switzerland, begin a letter to his pal Conrad Habicht in the spring of 1905.

Whatever Habicht, a math teacher in Schaffhausen, had been up to was not much compared to his irreverent friend, who had been altering the foundations of physics during the few free hours left to a young father, husband and government worker. As he related to Habicht, Einstein had just finished writing three major physics papers...

Einstein has been dead for 50 years this April, but he is still the scientist most likely to have his picture on the front page of the newspaper, perhaps famously sticking out his tongue. It is still Einstein's universe, and in honor of his "miracle year" in 1905, physicists, universities and governmental organizations have laid on a gantlet of celebrations, conferences, books, concerts, contests, Web sites, lectures, games and a controversial intercontinental light show....

The International Year of Physics, as the United Nations has officially designated 2005, has already had its zany moments of physics fun, with more to come. This month, Ben Wallace, 18, a professional stunt cyclist, flew off a ramp in the London Science Museum and did a back flip 12 feet in the air while folding his bicycle sideways - a maneuver designed by a Cambridge physicist who said she was inspired by a tale that the 26-year-old Einstein had invented his theory of relativity while riding a bicycle.

Never mind that there is no evidence that Einstein even had a bicycle as a young man. Never mind that the "Einstein flip" itself, as complicated and carefully plotted as it was, relies strictly on the old-fashioned laws of Isaac Newton.

If bicycle stunts aren't your cup of tea, perhaps you would take in "Constant Speed," a ballet inspired by relativity, which the Rambert Dance Company will perform in London starting May 24. Maybe you would like to download the rap song "Einstein (Not Enough Time)" by DJ Vader, adopted by Britain's Institute of Physics for an educational computer game, or the Einstein@Home screen saver, which will allow your computer to process signals from the cosmos for the twitches and vibrations of space-time known as gravitational waves....

"In the U.S.A., the number of registered participants is rather low so far," he admitted in an e-mail message, "but we are confident that a project designed to overcome the vastness of Siberia or the deserts of Iran will not break down in the country with the best infrastructure and the highest number of physicists."

Einstein, such a fascination. What an intelligent mind. I bet he was sort of a wackjob socially though. Not that it mattered whatsoever. Relativity is still hard for me to grasp and he thought of it 100 years ago. Amazing.

The International Year of Physics? Interesting... Sorta lame but kinda great too.



Did you know??:
I invented the bicycle!

I'm surprised they even have a year dedicated to it, considering that both in theory and actuality its always present. Its kinda like Valentines day, or mother's and father's day. Like what? You don't love and appreciate your sig other, mom, and dad every day of the year?



I think its kinda cute though. He was a filing clerk so yeah, I doubt he was partying up every night, but who knows. I've not read his biography or anything, anyone got bits and peices of gossip about Al in homage to the upcoming year?