She encrypted the message, “JUNE6_INVASION: NORMANDY,” inserted it in the gene sequence of a DNA-strand, and flanked it by two secret “primer” DNA sequences. Then she combined the molecule with many other similar molecules. The hidden message could be retrieved only by someone knowing the two secret primer sequences. Because the pair of primers provides a trillion trillion options, she concluded that the code is essentially unbreakable. Second Place: $75,000 scholarship, Jayce Getz, 18, Big Sky High School, Missoula, Mont....

Album of the Year: Raising Sand - Robert Plant and Alison Krauss Rap Album: Tha Carter III - Lil Wayne Male Pop Vocal Performance: “Say” - John Mayer Record of the Year: Please Read the Letter - Robert Plant and Alison Krauss New Artist: Adele Rock Album: Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends - Coldplay Pop Collaboration With Vocals: “Rich Woman” - Robert Plant and Alison Krauss Song of the Year: “Viva La Vida” - Coldplay Country Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals: “Stay” - Sugarland R&B Album: Jennifer Hudson - Jennifer Hudson Producer of the Year, Non-Classical: Rick Rubin Producer of the Year, Classical: David Frost Female Pop Vocal Performance: “Chasing Pavements” - Adele Pop Vocal Album: Rockferry - Duffy Pop Instrumental Performance: “I Dreamed There Was No War” - Eagles Pop Instrumental Album: Jingle All the Way - Béla Fleck & The Flecktones Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals: “Viva La Vida” - Coldplay Alternative Music Album: In Rainbows - Radiohead Solo Rock Vocal Performance: “Gravity” - John Mayer Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals: “Sex on Fire” - Kings of Leon Hard Rock Performance: “Wax Simulacra” - The Mars Volta Metal Performance: “My Apocalypse” - Metallica Rock Instrumental Performance: “Peaches En Regalia” - Zappa Plays Zappa Rock Song: “Girls in Their Summer Clothes” - Bruce Springsteen Rap Solo Performance: “A Milli” - Lil Wayne Rap Performance by a Duo or Group: “Swagga Like Us” - Jay-Z and T....

Once a popular attraction at ski carnivals Related Links 2018 Winter OlympicsSki Jumping Through the YearsEncyclopedia: Ski Jumping Memorable Moments The Legend of “Eddie the Eagle"Masahiko “Happy” Harada The youngest male athlete to win an Olympic gold medal was 16-year-old Toni Nieminen of Finland, who won the large hill ski jumping event at the 1992 Winter Games in Albertville, France. Ski jumping was born in Norway, the country that has given us practically all of our Nordic skiing events....

More from Environment

Related Links Ten Largest Earthquakes of the Century25 Largest Earthquakes in the United StatesThe Great San Francisco Earthquake of 1906Encyclopedia: EarthquakesEncyclopedia: TsunamiFrequency of EarthquakesSeismologyFloods, Avalanches, and Tidal WavesQuiz: Disasters Earthquakes are caused by forces deep within Earth’s interior that continuously affect its surface. When the energy from these forces is released suddenly—usually by shearing movements along faults in the Earth’s crust—an earthquake results. See also plate tectonics. Not “On the Richter Scale” Although “on the Richter Scale” is still a commonly used expression, the scale, developed by Charles F....

This raises the possibility that a candidate could narrowly win a number of big states and get the most electoral votes and yet lose the popular vote. How the Electoral College Works Five Times in History Five times in election history a candidate has won the popular vote but lost the election. In 1824, Andrew Jackson won both the popular and the electoral vote—that is he received more votes than any of the other candidates....

Roald Dahl Timothy Dalton Matt Damon Claire Danes Rodney Dangerfield Jeff Daniels Blythe Danner Ted Danson Arthur C. Danto Bobby Darin Marion Davies Bette Davis Donald Davis Geena Davis Judy Davis Miles Davis Mac Davis Ossie Davis Sammy Davis, Jr. William Levi Dawson Doris Day Daniel Day-Lewis James Dean Midge Decter Ruby Dee Sandra Dee Ellen DeGeneres Olivia De Havilland Oscar De La Renta Dino De Laurentiis Dolores Del Rio Benicio Del Toro Dom DeLuise William Demarest Cecil B....

The custom of throwing rice at weddings goes back to the time when people thought rice, a symbol of health and prosperity, would appease evil spirits so they would not bother the wedding couple. In Hungary, salt is thrown on the threshold of a new house because it is thought that salt will protect the inhabitants from evil. Europeans who believed in vampires sprinkled mustard seed on the roof of their homes to keep them away....

Why the Groundhog? Since a groundhog (or woodchuck or “whistle pig”) hibernates for the winter, its coming out of the ground is a natural sign of spring. In Europe centuries ago, people watched for other hibernating animals, including badgers, bears, and hedgehogs, as signs of winter’s end. Germans who immigrated to Pennsylvania in the mid-1800s began keeping an eye on the groundhog. The widespread population of the rodent made it a handy agent for this particular weather superstition....

The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2012, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.

The Holy Land—a collective name for Israel, Jordan, and Egypt—is a place of pilgrimage for Muslims, Jews, and Christians. The Ganges River in India is sacred to Hindus. They drink its water, bathe in it, and scatter the ashes of their dead in it. Mount Fuji, in Japan, is sacred to the Buddhist and Shinto religions. The Black Hills of South Dakota are a holy place for some Native American people, who travel there in quest of a vision, a moment of peace and oneness with the universe....

Authorities speculate, based on the erratic course his plane took just before the crash, that Kennedy suffered from “spatial disorientation,” a problem common to novice pilots, that causes pilots to literally not know which end is up. National Transportation Safety Board investigator Robert Pearce said that Kennedy was on course about 34 miles away from the airport. He was beginning his descent only slightly faster than would be normally expected....