Tuesday, June 30, 2009

On Honduras...

Joel M. writes to ask me what I think of the shenanigans in Honduras. This editorial at Investor's Business Daily sums up my take on the overall situation very well. But this excellent Ramirez cartoon perfectly summarizes my take on the politics...

The Spirit Still Moves...

Spirit – NASA's Martian explorer, that is – is still alive and kicking on the surface of Mars, over five years into it's 90 day planned mission. Two big events recently: an unexpected windstorm cleaned the dust off its solar panels, giving it a big energy boost, and it got stuck in the sand. The crew at JPL is carefully maneuvering, trying to get unstuck. The fact that one of the six wheels is stuck (and has been, for a long time now) isn't helping.

But during all the messing about trying to get unstuck, Spirit is still doing science. At the moment, it's taking advantage of the fact that its wheels are digging through the loose, sandy soil to study what's been exposed. And it's interesting stuff!