It’s travelled 400 million kilometers in the last five months, but the long haulof the journey is now over. On April 11th, the Venus Express probe will begin its orbital capture maneuvers after temporarily shutting off communication with Earth. This will hopefully be followed by at least a year and a half of scientific observations.

A small technical fault led to the Falcon 1 blowing up right after launch Space Today reports. A technician left a fuel pipe loosened during processing. Apparently rocket science is rather complex…

Disney is launching a new “family-friendly” (read “parent-friendly”) phone service that allows parents to map their children’s whereabouts using GPS, and control when they can make calls and who to. It strikes me as really creepy now, but I’ll probably have a different opinion when my own kids start asking for cell phones.

Google and Earthlink will be teaming up to provide free Wi-Fi Internet access in the city of San Francisco.

On bad days I feel like my phone already incorporates active disassembly technology but it appears Nokia is the first to intend it. The big idea: use parts that automatically disassemble when heated to a point lower than the plastic’s melting point but higher than what you’d get in normal use. Check out Jeremy Faludi’s write up on WorldChanging for more on why the technology matters.