Douglas Adams, author of the iconic satirical series The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, died 11 years ago at the age of just 49.

To honour what would have been his 60th birthday this March, an enormous "virtual" birthday party is taking over the Hammersmith Apollo Theatre in London, with proceeds going to two of Adams' favourite charities.

"Had Douglas been here he would have no doubt have thrown one hell of a party to celebrate his 60th Birthday, but sadly… So his family decided to throw that party for him, and not just any party, but one on a scale befitting the man; and what do you need for that sort of party, you need a huge venue, you need an interstellar line up, and that is just what we've got for you!!" the event's site says.

The eclectic assortment of March 11th's entertainment will include:

• Science: Professor Brian Cox, Robin Ince and Jon Culshaw on life, the universe and everything.
• Interviews: Clive Anderson talks to Terry Jones and Michael Palin about Douglas' comedy

This week, the state of Nevada established the rules that will enable robotic self-driving cars — yes, driver-less cars are finally here — to receive special driving permits starting on March 1st.

"It's not quite driver's licenses for robots — but it's close," NPR's Steve Henn writes.

"The test vehicles will be Nevada's first red license plate since the 1940s," says Bruce Breslow, Nevada's DMV director. Think of it like a learner's permit — those bright red plates will let everyone know there's a student robot driver behind the wheel.

Breslow continues, "And eventually when these vehicles are sold, it will be the first ever neon green license plate that the state of Nevada will ever issue — green meaning go, and the future's arrived."

Google's driver-less prototypes have already logged over 160,000 miles in test runs.

These driver-less vehicles — which can operate autonomously thanks to a series of systems: radar, lane guidance, lidar, infrared cameras, stereo vision, GPS and wheel

Feel bad for leaving your canine friend home alone all day? DOGTV might be the answer to those long boring stretches Fido must endure without you.

DOGTV, cable's first 24/7 TV channel for dogs features three types of programming
designed to help "stimulate, entertain, relax and habituate dogs with shows that expose them to various movements, sounds, objects, experiences and behaviour patterns, all from a dog's point of view."

Television: the ultimate dog babysitter?

Videogum cheekily calls DOGTV, with its 3-to-6-minute clips, "a new breed of television."

Would your stay-at-home pup appreciate some just-for-dogs TV?

Coffee stains. To most of us, they're the bane of our early morning existence. To Hong Yi, they're art.

Hong Yi, an artist known as RED, paints "without a paintbrush." (We last saw her painting a portrait of basketball player Yao Ming — with a basketball.)

The 26-year-old artist is back, this time inspired by the opening of a Jay Chou song, strategically creating coffee-stain rings to invoke the look of a "sepia-toned old photograph."

Watch her "caffeinated masterpiece" below.

"The project took about 12 hours to finish the project. Quite a challenging medium to use — too much water and the rings wouldn't form easily, very little water and you'd have to be precise with where you place the cup coz the rings would pretty much be permanent," RED wrote on her website.

John Cleese recently responded — quite articulately and hilariously — to "your futile" YouTube comments in a video posted by Monty Python's YouTube account.

Yes, comments are being read. And, yes, some of them are stupid. (But stupid people can't recognize stupidity, Cleese quickly forgives.)

Watch his witty responses — and learn what elderberries taste like — below.

Moshe Kai Cavalin in a 2008 file photo. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes, File)Moshe Kai Cavalin enrolled at East Los Angeles Community College at the age of eight.

Now, at 14, he's ready to graduate from UCLA. The math major will then enroll in graduate school with the plan to, eventually, earn a doctorate.

"People need to know you don't really need to be a genius. You just have to work hard and you can accomplish anything," says Cavalin.

The teen has just published the 100-page instructional book We Can Do, in which he shares his own secrets of success and encourages young people to accomplish great things.

"I was able to reach the stars, but others can reach the Milky Way," he wrote.

The book took four years to finish. It was first published in his mother's native Mandarin and translating it personally "was laborious." We Can Do has already done well in Taiwan, Singapore and Malaysia.

The young scholar still doesn't know what he wants to be when he grows up.

"That's a very distant future, and I'm pretty much planning for just the next few years. That's too far

Quirky publisher McSweeney's partnered with the Stanford MRI lab for a Valentine's Day-appropriate "love competition," in which participants were asked "to neurochemically love someone as hard as they can" for five minutes inside an MRI machine.

Because "love is a feeling you have for someone you have feelings for!"

Super-cute idea? Sure. But it's also a fascinating look at the regions of the brain that have us swooning every Feb. 14.

The above video appears in the 15th issue of Wholphin, McSweeney's quarterly DVD collection of short films.

Oh, puppy love.

The ultra-romantic spaghetti experience isn't just for animated pets of Walt Disney's Lady and the Tramp.

Watch the adorable, heartwarming real-life recreation of the scene by the folks at Disney, in time for the three-disc Diamond edition blu-ray/DVD combo pack release of the classic 1955 film. The staple "Bella Notte" is included.

Now, compare it to the charming original video.

Which scene works best? Share your thoughts in the comments section.