Quick Hits

Expedition 10 Commander Leroy Chiao, on the International Space Station from October 2004 to April 2005, took more than 24,000 pictures out the window. Here are his 10 favorites. I'd have ranked the Himalayas picture higher.

If it seems like hurricanes have been getting more destructive over the past few decades, that's because they have. And as we warm the oceans, they'll keep getting worse.

This might be the dumbest f***ing policy I've ever heard.

The Flying Spaghetti Monster makes the New York Times.

The World Bog Snorkeling Championship was held Monday. [shudder]

Things overheard in New York.

Enormous feral pigs are causing trouble Down Under.

And finally, this copied straight from Matt McIrvin:

The MESSENGER Mercury probe swings past Earth, and takes color pictures and a beautiful movie on the outbound leg.

MESSENGER will encounter Venus on further gravity-assist flybys in 2006 and 2007, map most of Mercury on three flybys in 2008 and 2009, and finally enter Mercury orbit in 2011. Currently only half of Mercury has been photographed in any detail, by Mariner 10, which flew past the planet in 1974 and 1975. Mercury is not far from Earth as solar-system distances go, but in terms of fuel expenditure it's very hard to get to (being so far down in the Sun's gravity well), and this long series of encounters is designed to help matters.