Originally it was a nickname for the king of Babylon, one of Israel's enemies. But the passage was reinterpreted long afterward to refer to Satan.

A lie can make its way around the world before the truth can get its boots on.

Nitpick: the quote is not from Pratchett, and probably isn't from Twain either.

http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/notrocketscience/2010/12/22/evidence-that-placebos-could-work-even-if-you-tell-people-theyre-taking-placebos/

The quote you're probably thinking of is this, from Anatole France's The Red Lily:

The law, in its majestic equality, forbids the rich as well as the poor to sleep under bridges, to beg in the streets, and to steal bread.

"Direct Rendering Manager", or "Direct Rendering Module".

http://flyingmoose.org/tolksarc/theories/metech.htm

Actually, they're flying – under the Arthur Dent definition. (1. Aim yourself at the ground 2. Miss)

Which was based on a real-life instance of an island which emerged from the sea, then disappeared again (through erosion) before the squabble over it had been settled.

The original press release (linked in TFA) says the following:

"The simplest application is when you want bulking," Mooney explains. "If you want to introduce some material into the body to replace tissue that's been lost or that is deficient, this would be ideal. In other situations, you could use it to transplant stem cells if you're trying to promote tissue regeneration, or you might want to transplant immune cells, if you're looking at immunotherapy."
Consisting primarily of alginate, a seaweed-based jelly, the injectable sponge contains networks of large pores, which allow liquids and large molecules to easily flow through it. Mooney and his research team demonstrated that live cells can be attached to the walls of this network and delivered intact along with the sponge, through a small-bore needle. Mooney's team also demonstrated that the sponge can hold large and small proteins and drugs within the alginate jelly itself, which are gradually released as the biocompatible matrix starts to break down inside the body.

That may take care of Cthulhu, but what about the geometry of the Temple of Bel-Shamharoth? It had a tessellation made of octagons. Assuming that they were convex octagons, what kind of non-euclidean geometry would be necessary for such a tiling to exist? (In euclidean geometry, no convex polygon with more than six sides can possibly tile the plane.)

Something to do with an american state

A Georgia cracker; so did you do that on purpose?

Fadiman had a second collection called The Mathematical Magpie, though it hasn't been reprinted since 1997. It's probably worth noting that Fantasia Mathematica includes the story "A Subway Named Mobius" which someone above recommended.

they have a judicial system that produces results that are clearly insane.

Well – Italy is hardly the only country where that is so.

No, tapes sucked but then, as now, expensive dick drives had outstanding longevity.

Freudian typo?

What's more, there is no Nobel prize in math.