A sign of the times that more and more people are reading e-books. Encyclopaedia Britannica Inc., which has published their encyclopedias for more than 200 years, has announced that they will cease publishing their print editions, focusing on their digital versions of their encyclopedia, instead.

Iditarod Update:Completing the approximately 1,000 mile race in 9 days, 4 hours, 29 minutes and 26 seconds, Dallas Seavey, 25, became the youngest musher to ever win the Iditarod Sled Dog race in it's 40 year history. Second place Aliy Zirkle, came in a little over an hour later.

A Virginia girl named Lori Anne Madison has qualified for the famed Scripps National Spelling Bee. At only 6 years old, Lori, is the youngest to ever qualify for the spelling tournament. She beat 21 other elementary and middle school students in her regional competition by correctly spelling the Spanish word for cowboy,"vaquero". The Scripps National Spelling Bee competition has been held since 1925. This year's event is scheduled for May 29-June 1 in Washington, DC. Lori will be one of 277 participants from the United States, U.S. territories and several other countries trying to become this year's spelling bee champion.

Ratatouille loves shredding snow with his snowboard. And, like many, has his very own ski pass(with photo ID) for Liberty Mountain Ski Resort in Carroll Valley,Pennsylvania. What makes Ratatouille unique is that he's an oppossum! The marsupial wears a bright yellow and green sweater as he shows of his snowboarding form and uses his tail to help make balance and make his turns.See Ratatouille in action at this link:

Photograph from News.com.au

James Cameron, most famous for directing the movies Avatar and Titanic, hopes to become the first person to descend to the bottom of Challenger Deep, the deepest section of the Mariana Trench.The trench is the deepest on Earth.This week, he did a test dive in the Deepsea Challenger,and reached 5.1 miles down, a record for a solo dive in a submersible. In the coming week, Cameron hopes to reach the record depth of 6.8 miles(Mt. Everest could be submerged in the trench). Back in 1960, Jacques Piccard and Don Walsh became the first humans to reach this depth in a bathyscathe called the Trieste.

In its 40th year, the famous trail sled dog race, the Iditarod, began on Sunday, March 4th. Sixty-six mushers are in the 2012 race also called the "Last great race on Earth". The race involves a distance of 976 miles from Willow, Alaska(after a ceremonial start in Anchorage) to Nome. and takes about 11-16 days.This year's race will be additionally challenging due to the record snowfall.

A new section of the Great Wall of China has been unearthed in the country of Mongolia. An expedition discovered the 62 mile long section last August with a lead from Google Earth. It is thought to be the first section of the Great Wall to stand outside of the country of China. Made of mostly dirt and shrubs, the wall which stands mostly shin high, is thought to dates back to the 11th or 12th centuries.