The space shuttle Discovery launched from Kennedy Space Center this morning, beginning the first NASA mission to space since the loss of Shuttle Columbia and the STS-107 crew on Feb. 1, 2003.
The mission, dubbed STS-114, has several objectives. Astronauts will demonstrate of new methods of inspecting and repairing the Shuttle

The cover story of this weekend’s New York Times Magazine [registration required, use bugmenot] is

Meters Galore, Quackery Clearly Demonstrated, Remedied Omission, More Ammunition, Guest Contribution, Jacob Chimes In, Interesting Fact, Holy Water & Red String Again, And Decades-Old Phone Directories?, And Not Only Failed Prophecies, Old Hag Revisited, She Ain’t Gonna Budge, Useful Knowledge, and Our Electrifying Man in London…
James Randi pontificates on all this and more in this [...]

Reuters graces us with these photos of Rudi, a seven-year-old trained chimpanzee who lives at Everland, an amusement park in Yongin, South Korea. Everland launched a new animal show on July to attract more guests, and while we’re generally against using chimps for entertainment, it’s hard to argue with Rudi’s golfing skills.
And he’s [...]

Quality Control Down Under, Still Down Under, Moving a Bit East, Tom Cruise Actually Makes Some Sense, Magic Pouch, Serious Journalistic Lapse, Starch Detected in Shaw’s Supermarket, Movie Review, Epiphany Time, Good Sense From Tulsa, It’s All Relative, Waldorf/ Steiner/ Anthroposophist Schools in Norway, Ridiculous Claims, I’ll Bet She Eats, Great Dowsing Experiment, Scolded Yet [...]