The elixir of life is a mythical potion said to confer immortality. The ancient Chinese thought that precious substances like gold and mercury brought longevity, and these ingredients were often used in their elixirs. Ironically, some metals are highly toxic and thus poisoned the longevity seekers who ingested them. Buddhism gave the Chinese alternate routes to immortality, but the elixir of life received renewed attention in the 18th century with what claims about the Comte de St. Germain? Discuss
Source: The Free Dictionary
Fluxus, “to flow” in Latin, is an international group of artists noted for blending various artistic media and disciplines in the 1960s. Considered an attitude rather than a movement or style, Fluxus encourages a do-it-yourself aesthetic and values simplicity. Fluxus developed out of many of the concepts explored by composer John Cage, who focused on the notion of chance in art through works such as 4’33”—a “composition” performed without a single note being played. What are Fluxus boxes? 
An evolutionary arms race is a struggle between interdependent organisms that evolve competing genetic adaptations with the back-and-forth escalation characteristic of an arms race. This competitive adaptation may occur between members of the same species or between different species, such as a predator and its prey, and it can be either symmetrical or asymmetrical, meaning competitors strive either for the same trait or to counter a trait in the other. What are some examples of this phenomenon? 
Commonly called fireflies or lightning bugs, the carnivorous beetles of the family Lampyridae are named for their use of bioluminescence when attracting mates or prey. Fireflies are capable of producing red, yellow, or green “cold light” containing no ultraviolet or infrared rays. Approximately 90% of the energy used in the process is converted to visible light—compared to 10% for incandescent electric bulbs, which emit the remainder of their energy as heat. How do fireflies produce their light? 
Known pejoratively as “Aucas,” meaning “naked ones” or “savages,” the Huaorani are an indigenous people of the Ecuadorian Oriente in the Amazon basin. With a population of approximately 2,000, the Huaorani speak Huao Terero, a language unrelated to any other known living language. Several Huaorani communities have rejected all contact with outsiders and move often to progressively more isolated areas. During the mid-20th c, what led them to become one of the most violent cultures ever known? 
Known by a number of names, including Follow the Lady and Follow the Bee, three-card monte is a confidence game in which victims, or marks, are tricked into betting that they can find a certain card, such as the queen of spades, among three face-down playing cards. After showing the target card, the dealer often uses sleight of hand before rearranging the cards quickly and giving the player an opportunity to select one of the three cards. What happens if the mark unexpectedly finds the queen? 
Humans are the only creatures to use a form of communication that scholars consider “language”—a system of spoken sounds or conventional symbols that communicates thought. Although some animals display similar social behavior, linguists are reluctant to term it language, instead describing it as “animal communication.” Still, some animals have been taught certain features of human language. Why are most animal languages considered “closed”? 
The music industry’s tendency to record, produce, and broadcast music at progressively increasing levels of loudness to create a distinct sound is known as the Loudness War. Because the maximum amplitude of recorded music cannot be increased, overall loudness can only be boosted by reducing the dynamic range of source audio and distorting recordings, leading to complaints from some audiophiles. What 1997 remix of a 1973 album is considered by some to be the loudest rock CD ever recorded? 
A term coined by psychologist Carl Jung to describe what he called “meaningful coincidences,” synchronicity is the experience of two or more causally unrelated events that are conceptually similar and have very little chance of occurring together randomly—such as the discovery of the same idea by two different people at approximately the same time. Although Jung had introduced the concept of synchronicity in the 1920s, he did not fully explain it until when? 
Identified by the faithful as possessing special spiritual value, wish trees are individual trees which have been distinguished—often by species, position, or appearance—as the objects of wishes. Visitors commonly offer up coins, liquor, and other gifts in order to gain fulfillment of their desires. Among the most famous wish tree visitors was Queen Victoria, whose 1877 visit to an oak in the Scottish Highlands brought it much fame. How are Christmas trees connected to the concept of wish trees?