March 14 is Albert Einstein's birthday, and the celebration was in full swing at Princeton University, where he held a position until his death, when PETA showed up with an Einstein that made the rest of the tributes look like mere bosons:

Even though we had to use a bit of string theory to keep the big-brained scientist on his feet, students flocked to take pictures with him and hear what was perhaps his best equation: Veggies = health + happiness.

According to Einstein, who was a vegetarian, "the vegetarian manner of living by its purely physical effect on the human temperament would most beneficially influence the lot of mankind." 

We'd say that's relativity genius.

Musician and songwriter Russ Irwin clearly has talent to spare—in addition to his years as a keyboardist and backing vocalist with Aerosmith (and cowriting the band's 2012 hit, "What Could Have Been Love"), he has performed with many of music's leading acts, including Sting, Cheap Trick, and PETA fave Bryan Adams. 

Now, in an exclusive new video for PETA, Russ shows that he has plenty of heart and soul to match his musical skills as he relates how he chose to go vegan out of concern for animals, his health, and the environment: 

Russ' new solo album is titled Get Me Home—and you can bring home some of his style of compassion with your own free vegetarian/vegan starter kit from PETA.

Schools named after Albert Einstein clearly have high hopes for their students' potential. So, for Einstein's birthday on March 14, PETA is urging some of his namesake schools to serve only vegetarian food, funded by PETA, in the school's cafeteria. Eating vegetarian is just as smart as devising the theory of relativity, which is probably why great minds such as Einstein, Leonardo da Vinci, Pythagoras, and Gandhi refused to eat animals.

In a colorful, kid-friendly leaflet that PETA would give to students, Einstein is quoted as saying, "So I am living without fats, without meat, without fish, but am feeling quite well this way. It almost seems to me that man was not born to be a carnivore."

And he was right—the saturated fats and cholesterol in meat contribute to heart disease, cancer, obesity, diabetes, and Alzheimer's disease. Mercury in fish can also cause learning problems and memory loss. But plant-based foods such as blueberries, avocados, whole grains, and nuts contain powerful nutrients to help students' growing minds reach their full potential.

We don't have to be able to come up with E=mc² in order to look like geniuses. We just have to raid the produce aisle.

If you've suffered through having your heart broken (and who hasn't?), you know it feels like you want to die. But if your heart actually were to (physically) break, you really could die. So as Valentine's Day nears, PETA is placing this digital billboard in two locations in Montgomery, Alabama—a state with one of the highest rates of heart disease in the nation.

Why do vegetarian hearts have an edge over carnivorous tickers? A recent study found that vegetarians are 32 percent less likely to suffer from heart disease. In fact, staying away from all the saturated fat and cholesterol in meat, dairy products, and eggs gives vegans a significant advantage in avoiding a range of life-threatening diseases, including cancer, strokes, and diabetes. 

And when your healthy heart starts beating in rhythm with that special someone's, it's good to remember that vegans also get a boost in their love life because we're less susceptible to sexual dysfunction. So whether your heart needs Cupid or a cardiologist, there's one prescription: Go vegan! 

Team PETA does it again! After losing last year by a scant half a point, PETA has reclaimed the crown in the Sixth Annual GlobalBee International Quiz trivia challenge sponsored by the Sister Cities of Newport News. Team PETA blew away the competition—which consisted of a field of 16 teams representing Hampton Roads–area colleges, high schools, civic groups, and other organizations—besting the second-place team by a comfortable margin of 13 points.

Team PETA members Emily Bowling, Chris Holbein, Hannah Schein, and Lauren Stroyeck aced the diverse topics, which included geography, cultural traditions, current affairs, and science. The team walked away with a handsome trophy, which will be engraved with Team PETA's name and kept proudly for a year.

Holbein attributes the team's success to its members' self-described status as news junkies but also gives a nod to their healthy vegan diets, which he says helps keep their arteries clear and their wits razor sharp.

Are vegetarians really smarter? According to a 2012 analysis of nine studies, eating lots of vegetables is associated with a lower risk of dementia and age-related cognitive decline. And a study by Southampton University linked a high IQ with being vegetarian after finding that schoolchildren who tested high on IQ tests were more likely to become vegetarian later in life.

Want to protect your health, animals, and the environment all at the same time? It's a no-brainer—go vegan. 

Here's some welcome news: Despite the barrage of deceptive dairy industry propaganda, sales of cow's milk—already in free fall—have plummeted in the U.S. It seems that more and more consumers are getting the message that dairy foods are as bad for our health as they are for the well-being of cows. 

To make sure the downward trend continues, PETA is re-releasing its series of popular ads parodying the industry's "Got Milk?" campaign. Check them out:

1. On dairy factory farms, male calves are of no use in milk production, so they are often taken away from their mothers when they are as young as 1 day old to be chained up in tiny stalls for weeks—terrified and desperate for their mothers—and fed an inadequate milk substitute to make them miserably anemic in order to produce the pale flesh most desired for veal.

2. Female cows don't fare much better: After having their sensitive horn tissue cut or burned away, most are forced into a vicious cycle of nearly continuous pregnancy, only to have calf after calf taken away so that the milk they produce to nourish their young can be consumed by humans instead. And, of course, once they stop producing enough milk to be profitable, they are sent off to slaughter. 

3. Cow's milk is intended for, well, baby cows, not baby humans, so it shouldn't be a surprise that it's not good for our kids, raising their risk for a variety of childhood complaints. 

4. Adolescence is hard enough without dealing with blemishes. Take it from Woody Harrelson—to lose the pimples, lose the milk.

5. It's not just kids who have to worry about milk mucking up their health—men have good reason to dump dairy products, too.

6. Ugh. Would you drink a glass of water to which even one drop of pus from a cow's infected udders had been added? No? Then why drink cow's milk?

What You Can Do

Steer clear (no cow pun intended) of cow's milk and other dangerous dairy products. And since all foods from animals result from suffering, the only way to be truly cruelty-free is to go vegan. 

Chaka Khan says all she wants to do is keep eating vegan—because she no longer needs medication for type 2 diabetes. And as a bonus, the singer with the big voice is now quite a bit smaller—to the tune of 60 pounds!

Bethenny Frankel's little daughter Bryn probably doesn't even weigh 60 pounds yet, but she's already setting herself up for a lifetime of good health. Bethenny says the 2-year-old chooses not to eat meat but loves her veggies.

Vegan dynamo Ellen DeGeneres never lets an opportunity to speak up for animals pass her by—and she's making sure Adam Levine doesn't either. Adam was chatting with Ellen on her show about his new habit of holding up a piece of paper with a charitable message written on it when the shutterbugs are snapping his picture. So Ellen gave him the perfect ready-made sign: "Please rescue animals."

Steve-O says his dogs rescued him. He credits the love of his two rescued dogs with helping him kick drugs and alcohol. So he's helping dogs by urging other guardians to be kind to their pups and never force them to wear shock collars. "It's horribly painful," he says. "You have to be pretty cruel to put that on a dog."

Miley Cyrus is a gal on a mission to end animal homelessness and is making it a family affair. Miley and her family went straight to a rescue organization to adopt a dog, and she tweeted PETA her excitement over the new pup and the rescued pig PETA sponsored for her birthday. 

Add Liam Gallagher to the list of outspoken animal-friendly celebrities. His clothing line, Pretty Green, is an oasis for animals who are typically killed for their fur—Liam proudly uses only faux.

To keep up with what all your favorite stars are doing for animals, follow @PETA on Twitter. 

In 2008, when PETA offered a $1 million incentive to anyone who could develop a marketable in vitro (lab-grown) meat, there were some who scoffed. Since then, research into in vitro meat has exploded—the  research, that is, not the labs—and the idea (along with PETA's offer) has shown up in The New Yorker and on TV shows ranging from Better Off Ted (R.I.P., Veridian Dynamics) to The Colbert Report.

Who's laughing now?

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Though no one has yet stepped up to claim the prize by the June 30, 2012, closing date, there has been so much encouraging progress that PETA has decided to extend the deadline until 2013. Several scientists appear to be getting close—the University of Missouri (Go, Tigers!) is a hotbed for in vitro meat research, for some reason—but if you think you can close the gap, get crackin'!

Even if you don't know a test tube from a champagne flute, you can help animals, your health, and the environment today by enjoying any of the delish vegan meats—from veggie burgers to faux hot dogs to chick'n nuggets—already in your grocer's freezer case. View or order PETA's free starter kit to learn more about meatless living!

Why must every American president shoot the obligatory "and here I am chowing down on a burger" photograph? Best bet? To please the meat lobby and because of the old-fashioned idea of what "being American" is all about: no falafel; it's red meat and guns for me. Mr. Obama is no exception, often deliberately choosing hot dogs and burgers for his photo ops with visiting heads of state.

Well, the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM) has taken the POTUS to task for promoting foods that are known to contribute to the obesity epidemic in the U.S. and that have been linked to cancer. PCRM has started a petition asking the White House to ban staged photos that show the president, the first family, the vice president, or the president's Cabinet eating unhealthy foods such as processed meats.

You can sign the petition and ask the pres to set a good example for Americans by eating healthy food. Some Obama Oatmeal With Presidential Peaches sounds nice.

PETA promotes and educates the public on the benefits of a vegetarian diet. PETA does not directly or indirectly participate in any political campaign on behalf of or in opposition to any candidate for public office.

PETA U.K.'s dead-serious anti-obesity billboard is stirring up some weighty controversy:

PETA U.K. erected the billboard near a new mortuary in Gloucester built especially to accommodate obese corpses. Oddly, the U.K.'s National Obesity Forum labeled the ad as "irresponsible," although the group didn't say what exactly it objected to. We're not sure why an obesity-awareness group would take issue with a billboard that aims to help people deal with obesity pre-coffin, but protesters ripped down part of the sign (unhelpfully revealing an ad for chips—or French fries to us in the U.S.).

Isn't an obesity-awareness group's protest of an obesity-awareness sign somewhat akin to Shopaholics Anonymous holding meetings at the mall?