Updated: December 17, 2014 1:36 PM [ET] | Originally published: December 12, 2014 3:52 PM EST; Bill Nye has never been known to teach science the way you learned it in school — unless, of course, your school taught you about water displacement by spoofing Sir Mix-a-Lot. The Science Guy is still infusing fun into science, this time spreading the gospel of evolution with the help of some emoji. In the video, produced by Mashable as part of General Electric’s “Emoji Science” promotion, the major players in evolution get emoji matches: carbon is represented by the diamond, self-replicating molecules are interconnected faces and bacteria are represented by the purple alien monster.

TIME February 19, 1934 12:00 AM GMT-5 THE WELL OF DAYS—Ivan Bunin— Knopf ($2.50). Three months ago few U. S. readers had ever heard of Ivan Alexeyevich Bunin. Now, by grace of his recently-won Nobel Prize (TIME, Nov. 20), the U. S. public is aware of his name if not of his books. To take advantage of his sudden fame, Publisher Knopf rushed two Bunin reprints (The Gentleman from San Francisco, The Village) through the press, last fortnight brought out his latest (translated) novel, The Well of Days.

From 1659 to 1681, showcasing one's holiday spirit in Boston could cost you a fine of as much as five shillings. That's right — Christmas used to be illegal. It's somewhat surprising, then, that the same puritanical minds also created the first American batch of eggnog at Captain John Smith's 1607 Jamestown settlement. (The word nog comes from the word grog; that is, any drink made with rum.) Christmas was so inconsequential in early America that after the Revolutionary War, Congress didn't even bother taking the day off to celebrate the holiday, deciding instead to hold its first session on Christmas Day, 1789.

A veteran behind-the-camera staffer at CNN died Wednesday after experiencing a “medical emergency” at the Warner Bros. Discovery outlet’s New York headquarters, employees learned from a memo. Melissa Elkas, an electronics graphics operator who has worked for CNN for the last 25 years, passed away after being taken to a nearby hospital, the memo said. The Adelphi University graduate joined CNN in September of 1997 in an entry-level role, according to her LinkedIn page.

Prominent public interest groups criticized AT&T’s plan to buy satellite giant DirectTV in a deal worth about $48.5 billion, calling it an example of out-of-control media consolidation that will do little to benefit consumers. AT&T’s proposed purchase of DirecTV comes as U.S. broadband leader Comcast is trying to convince federal regulators to let it buy Time Warner Cable in a $45 billion deal. That merger would combine the two largest U.