Read this and you'll look smart. You don't have to be intelligent to impress people -- you just have to fake it. Here's a daily list of fascinating articles that will wow your friends, surprise your co-workers and make you seem sharp at a cocktail party or over the lunch counter....
- A Raphael oil painting that survived the collapse of a palace and centuries of decay is now ready to be put on display in Uffizi gallery in Florence.
- Archimedes invented a device more than 2,000 years ago that has helped create green electricity in the 21st century.
- The Republic of Kalmykia is known as the chess center of the world -- mostly due to its billionaire president who built an entire chess city to house the World Olympiad and has made it mandatory in schools until the age of 12.
- Brace yourselves. Black Friday comes two days after Halloween this year. In an effort to bolster sales, Kmart is introducing "Early Black Friday," where the retail giant will offer discounts on home-electronics, one of the areas worst hit by the slumping economy.
- Is a snake slithering in your path scarier than the stock market dropping 1,000 points? Depends on the person. Scientists examine what scares us and whey.
- Meet the world's only cyborg. Gordon, a robot, has sensors that send information via computer interface to a biological brain.
- On this day in 1951, the first official zebra crossing began protecting pedestrians just west of London.
