The Cleveland Indians found the playing field covered with snow on opening day 2007. Grounds crews went to work, and so did Dale Omori with the Cleveland Plain Dealer, who took this time-lapse video. As the snow kept falling, the crews kept working. Link -via Metafilter

The Lunchtime Quiz at mental_floss is a sequel to the earlier Dot Dot Dot Com quiz. Do you know who the generic-sounding URL belongs to? These 15 aren’t so obvious. Although I had to guess at all of them, I scored 73%. http://www.mentalfloss.com/blogs/archives/13842

Scientists are working on making teeth regrow the crystals that make up dentin and enamel. This process could eliminate drilling and filling to combat tooth decay. Sally Marshall, a professor at the University of California at San Francisco, is looking for a way to catch decay early and cause teeth to start “remineralizing”.

Marshall's newest work, which has been accepted for publication in the Journal of Structural Biology, focuses on regrowing dentin in damaged teeth with the help of a calcium-containing solution of ions (electrically charged particles).

By putting a layer of the solution on individual test teeth, Marshall has already been able to remineralize some parts of the teeth. The challenge is to get the crystals to regrow throughout the dentin.

To heal properly, the crystals need to form from the bottom of the tooth up to the enamel. Marshall isn't sure whether that's happening yet, but she is confident that she'll find a way to restore dentin functionality over the next few years.

When this technology progresses to popular use, our grandchildren won’t believe our stories about the dentist’s drill! Link

(image credit: Hollingsworth/Corbis)

The recent video of a velvet worm may have given you the willies, but you’ll love the tiny whimsical paintings of Nathan Mazur!

While browsing through an art supply store, local cartoonist and animator, Nathan Mazur, came upon some tiny canvases about the size of a Zippo lighter. Though meant as a novelty item, he purchased a few and used them to paint cartoony, life-sized pictures of bugs.

Wee Beasties is an exhibit of 50 miniature paintings (2” by 2.75”) of insects, worms, and other creepy crawlies. They depict everything from the common cockroach, to the cryptic water bear, all in the artist’s seemingly innocent, saccharine-colored, cartoon style.

The velvet worm is on the left. To the right is (you guessed it) a lightning bug. The exhibit in Pittsburgh runs through April 5th. Most of the miniatures are sold, but you can see them all in Mazur’s online gallery. Link -thanks, Nathan!

A four-month old kangaroo was in his mother’s pouch when she was killed by a car in Torquay, Victoria, Australia. The unharmed joey would normally have died, but Rex the mixed-breed dog took the roo to his owner, Leonie Allan.

"I'd taken Rex for a walk and we'd gone past the dead kangaroo that morning, and later I was working out the front and he started pointing," Ms Allan said.

"I was worried he'd found a snake and called him back, but when he returned he dropped the joey at my feet.

"He obviously sensed the baby roo was still alive in the pouch and somehow had gently grabbed it by the neck, gently retrieved it and brought it to me."

The kangaroo was calm and even snuggled up with Rex. Now named Rex Jr, the joey is under the care of the Jirrahlinga Wildlife Sanctuary, and will be released at 18 months of age. Link -via Arbroath

One of the strangest April Fool hoaxes ever was pulled of by one Isaac Bickerstaff, an astrologer who published an almanac predicting the events of the year 1708. One of his predictions was the death of rival astrologer John Partridge on March 29th. On April first, news of Partridge’s death was all over London, and funeral arrangements were being made. The only problem was that Partridge was not dead. However, he spent the rest of his life trying to live down the hoax. Read the entire story, and the surprising true identity of Isaac Bickerstaff, at Damn Interesting. Link

The Harvard Lampoon’s latest issue came out April first entitled National Geographic. Staff members at National Geographic helped the student magazine to ensure the parody stayed true to the magazine’s style. Stories include Mongolia’s Wildest Waterparks, speculation on the nature of light, and an expose on the manufacture of lava lamps.

Editors from National Geographic could not be reached Monday, but the magazine released a facetious statement.

"Editors are unavailable for comment, having left the country … as usual," it said. "There are reports of laughter from parts of the building, but that could just be because we are a fun place to work."

Link to story. Link to pictures.

Why settle for Vitaminwater? Go for the flavor you really crave with Meatwater! It comes in many flavors: Beef Jerky, Beef Stroganof, Cheese Burger, Chicken Teriyaki, Dirty Hot Dog, Fish'n Chips, Hungarian Gulash, Italian Sausage, Peking Duck, Tandoori Chicken, Texas BBQ, Wiener Schnitzel, and introducing the new Escargot flavor! From Till Krautkramer. Link -via the Presurfer

(YouTube link)
A velvet worm {wiki} attacks a beetle with slime. What a way to go! -via Dark Roasted Blend

In case you are lost, or drawing a blank on what to do for April Fools Day, don’t be blue (or orange or gray). You might find these pages useful. In case you want to design your own April Fool post. -via the Presurfer, YesButNoButYes, and Metafilter.

(YouTube link)
Film maker and writer Terry Jones discovers a colony of penguins, which are unlike any other penguins in the world. It’s an ad for the BBC iPlayer. -via Arbroath

Dark Roasted Blend has a picture gallery of spaghetti intersections, baffling roundabouts, and terrible traffic jams. It’s a wonder we ever get anywhere! Link -via Geek Like Me

I love clever error pages. Finding one helps to take the sting out of not finding what you wanted in the first place. Pingdom shows us 17 Brilliant Error Pages. Pictured is the 404 page from JibJab. Link -via Digg

(YouTube link)
Dean Kamen, inventor of the Segway, has been working on a next-generation prosthetic arm that will blow your mind. A man who lost his arms 26 years ago can now peel a banana without squishing it. Read more about the project at ieee spectrum. Link -via Reddit

New homeowner Wayne Berkowitz heard cat noises from inside the drywall of his house. Workers spent days tearing out the new walls and ceiling to get the frightened cat out. Link -via Metafilter