Science!
For the nonce, the effort to extend the life of the Hubble Space Telescope, which has already exceeding expectations in both astronomy and longevity, shall remain under "Science!" But once astronauts have blasted off to challenge the final frontier and perform delicate surgery, or a sort, in hard vacuum, we'll be under the rubric of "The Stars My Destination." But, let's not get ahead of ourselves: the trouble with Hubblelink.

And speaking of "The Stars My Destination": the Endeavourlink.

Jumping back to "Science!" and our robotic minions throughout the solar system, there is new evidence of the persistence of water on the Red Planet: opallink. Also, the MESSENGER* probe grows ever closer to orbiting sun-drenched Mercury: bigger than South Americalink. Thursday, I heard a B.B.C. radio piece about the seventieth anniversary of Orson Welles's famous broadcast of The War of the Worlds and the ensuing panic. Immediately and involuntarily, my mind's creative department began preliminary brainstorming on a Martian Manhunter story called "The Mercury Theatre." Then this afternoon, on Talk of the Nation: Science Friday, I heard about the latest MESSENGER developments, the inspiration for the above hyperlink. Boom times for Mercury.

Science!

The Rebel Black Dot Song of the Day
Michael Jackson, "Thriller" from Thriller (T.L.A.M.)

*More properly, though indisputably awkwardly, the ME.S.S.EN.GE.R. probe. Honestly, I don't know why they didn't just give up on the acronym and call the thing "Messenger." It's not like the names of the Mariner, Viking, and Voyager probes were acronyms.