- Here be dragons: SpaceX performs a feat of historic Wright-brothers-importance proportions –yet all people can think of is Wikileaks and ruptured condoms.
- Japan’s Venus probe fails to enter orbit. Next attempt scheduled in about 7 years –if the probe doesn’t perform sepuku to save face.
- “So this black hole walks into a bar…” : Best cosmic mind-blowing stories of 2010.
- Scientists pooh-pooh NASA’s arsenic life finding.
- Who needs Wikileaks? NASA sold computer hard drives containing sensitive government info.
- Speaking of witch hunts, we now turn our cameras to Haiti…
- Randy Quaid vs the Hollywood Star Whackers –well he hasn’t been the same ever since the aliens abducted him.
- There’s Big Birds, and there’s “Holy F%$k that’s big!” birds: Giant stork fossil found on “hobbit” island.
- Horned dinosaur unearthed in South Korea. Fan-shaped tail suggests it swam for food.
- More plant growth could slow global warming, but not stop it.
- Tensions rise in Cancún, as the draft negotiating text receives mixed reviews –nothing a couple more rounds of margaritas can’t solve, ese!
- Antibiotics: you don’t really appreciate how awesome they are… until you run out of them.
- Obama entrusts the Mythbusters with the task of testing a death ray for him –what, are the DARPA dudes taking an early holiday?
- First brainscan of a baby during birth, sponsored by TSA (OK I made up that last part… or did I?).
- From RPJ’s Xmas gift ideas for 2010: a personal DNA sequencing machine –which could spark very amenable table conversation at the Xmas dinner (“guess who isn’t your daddy, Jimmy?”).
Thanks to Kat, Rick, Greg & The Walrus.
Quote of the day:
“People sometimes think that to take a cargo spacecraft and put a crew into it requires this enormous amount of magical pixie dust. This is not at all the case. If there had been people sitting in the Dragon capsule today, they would have had a very nice ride.”
“If there really are people who are going to still find a way to cast aspersions on what was done today, I pity them, because they’ll be fighting on the wrong side of yesterday’s war.”
Elon Musk, CEO of SpaceX.
