Since it has been several weeks since “Feel Art Again” covered a Russian artist, today is a good time for Alexei Alexeievich Harlamoff (1840-1925).

1. Alexei Harlamoff truly knew what it meant to move up in the world. He was born to serfs in 19th-century Russia and his parents didn’t gain their freedom until he was about 10 years old. By the time of his death, though, he had been educated at some of the most respected art schools, earned several awards, and depicted the likes of Tsar Alexander II.

2. The above painting, “Young Flower Girls,” was exhibited at the Glasgow International Exhibition of 1888. It was at the exhibition that Queen Victoria spotted the painting, which she greatly admired. Harlamoff is often referred to as “a favorite of Queen Victoria.”

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Speaking at last year’s EG Conference in Los Angeles, animal behaviorist Ian Dunbar gave a talk on dog-friendly dog training. His training method emphasizes positive reinforcement as the key motivator. Dunbar’s talk tackles issues of dominance, classical training (which involves punishment), dogs learning English as a second language, turning distractions into trained behaviors, punishment without force, and human relationship skills as applied to puppies…and kids.

There are a few odd audio issues during the talk, but it’s definitely worth a look for dog owners.

I’m not a champion Scrabble player by any means – I often resort to words like “at” and “it” just to use up a turn. But with this list, hopefully I’ll be a little more creative when using tiny little words. And if all else fails, there’s always “ZQFMGB”… a worm found in New Guinea, according to Calvin of Calvin and Hobbes.

1. Aa. And I don’t mean the acronym for Alcoholics Anonymous, either. Aa is “basaltic lava having a rough surface.”
2. Qat – a flowering plant native to East Africa and the Arabian peninsula.
3. Zax – a slater or slate mason, or the tool used to cut and punch nail holes in roofing slate.
4. Cwm – a valley, especially one created by glacial movement. Be warned: this one won’t get you many points, but it is good for using up pesky, low-score consonants taking up valuable space on your rack.
5. Xu – Vietnamese money
6. Qua – as or as being, or in the character of.
7. Suq – a market, or part of a market, in an Arab city.
8. Adz – an axe-like tool.
9. Jo – sweetheart or dear
10. Qadi – a judge in the Muslim community.

I think this is genius. The Daily Mail has printed pics of what the Thriller-star should look like if he hadn’t taken a surgical knife to the face. Apparently, they took old pics of the famous moonwalker and used PC’s to age Michael’s mug appropriately.

Of course, my only question is why stop there when there are so many other stars to expose. If I had access to this wonderful technology (and enough cash on hand), I’d be commissioning a whole slew of  un-botoxed, un-plastic surgeried, and definitely un-Toupeed celeb pics, and then use them to create a giant matching quiz. Link via the ever-addictive Gawker.

1. Fewer Males are Born

Apparently, rough economic times causes a decrease in the birth of males. Research shows that in times of war and environmental disaster, the sex ratio, which is typically half boys and half girls, gets disrupted. Because of economic stress, women are more likely to go into labor prematurely. Further, since male fetuses are more likely to be miscarried than female, more male babies don’t survive the pregnancy and premature labor. The stress also affects the male reproductive system, slowing down sperm motility. Normally, the faster swimming sperm (XY) create the male babies, but under stress, not as many male producing sperm are able to reach the egg.

2. Fewer people Die

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I don’t know why I keep being surprised by amazing medical technology; it seems like at least once a week I stumble across some jaw-dropping breakthrough like the Exercise Pill — but this really takes the cake. Developed by paralyzed Israeli medical tech genius Amit Goffer, ReWalk is a kind of exoskeleton — similar in many ways to a crab’s — that allows formerly wheelchair-bound folk with control of their upper bodies to walk. Not by their own power, of course, but via a pair of exoskeletal robotic legs which sense changes in the center of gravity and upper body movements, and respond accordingly. I’m sure it takes a fair bit of getting used to, but this guy — a former Israeli paratrooper named Radi Kaiof who’s been paralyzed for the last twenty years — makes it look downright easy:
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Real colleges around the country are opening their doors to accept students for a new academic year. Television and film’s fine collection of fake colleges, however, are always open as long as you can find the right DVD. How well do you know your fictitious colleges?

Take the Quiz: Fictional Colleges

Phelps won 8 medals, Usain Bolt beat a few world records, and Nastia Liukin did some outrageous flips. But can they paint or sculpt? Back when the modern games resurfaced, a true Olympian wasn’t just an expert swimmer,  or the fastest runner. A true Olympian was also a watercolorist, a sculptor, or a musician.

It’s true! Between 1912 and 1948 art competitions were a part of the Olympics. Medals were awarded for architecture, literature, music, painting, and sculpture. (more…)

We’re back with another 5-day trivia hunt!

To remind you of the rules: Every day this week, I’ll be presenting a specific challenge. Your job: come up with the answers and hold onto them! Why? Because on Friday, you’ll need them to solve a short puzzle. The first person to email in the correct answers and successfully show how you arrived at them (thus the title: How Did You Know?) wins a choice of any t-shirt and book from our store.

As with last month, we’re also adding some special prizes this time around for those who come really close, but don’t get all the answers in time. We’ve previously awarded some shirts and books to a couple contestants who impressed us with charts, diagrams, and other complex methods of recording and organizing the clues/answers. So we’ll be on the lookout for the creative among you, as well. This is all to say: it pays to play whether you nab the grand prize or not. And remember, we’re also giving away a really big, sa-weeet prize to any winning contestant who can defend the title three months in a row. Details on that as they develop, if they develop. (Katie Wnuk is our current champion. You can read about her here.)

As with previous How Did You Know? posts, comments have been turned off, but I definitely encourage you to work in teams. Write your friends, send around each daily challenge, conspire, work together, whatever it takes to make sure you’re armed with the right answers going into Friday’s puzzle.

If you missed Day 1, check that out here. Meanwhile, Day 2 is over here and Day 3 right over here.

Today we’re playing Camouflage. On the next page you’ll find 6 hidden names, each the name of a major character from a popular novel. Below them, you’ll find 6 clues. Using the clues, your job is to unearth the characters’ names camouflaged by the other letters/words. Remember: the letters of each answer are in order from left to right. You just need to clear away the unneeded letters in the row in order to see the correct words.

Remember: Be sure to tune in tomorrow for the final puzzle, going up at 2pm ET, 11 PT.

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We know, the banner may not look like typical mental_floss (the world-peace-promoting musician Nassiri has kindly funded the challenge). But we assure you the content is pure Sandy and Kara (you know them as the geniuses behind 5 Questions, True Crime, TV-holic, the Daily Brain Game). Take the quiz here, and let us how you did in the comments below.