Ever wondered what the NASA-Ames Moffet Field Facility looks like if you drive around in it aimlessly for a little while late in the evening? Thanks to a recent research volunteer’s amateur video exploits, now you can find out. What the hell is that scaffolded thing that looks like an immense high-frequency speaker horn?

The Cartifact project maps the presence of homeless people in Los Angeles with wierd, semi-organic effects.

You don’t think of Ohio as a place that gets in on private space access, but they’re trying to get PlanetSpace and their SilverDart rocketship to land or build rockets there.

It wouldn’t be late December on the intarwebs without the obligatory predictions regarding the year to come from all and sundry, qualified or otherwise. The LA Times, however, got John “EDGE.org” Brockman to round up some top-rank talking heads to speak their minds on the forthcoming twelve months. The seven pundits include Steve Ballmer, Chris Anderson and Brockman himself. Their opinion? We’ll be back in control.

While the rest of the world marks time before new year’s, the space industry is keeping busy. Today saw the successful launch of the COROT space-telescope satellite atop a Soyuz rocket from Baikonur. COROT’s mission is to look closely at star systems in an attempt to locate exoplanets.