Malcolm Gladwell, who first came to my attention with the publication of the fascinating book Blink, has a blog. Makes for good reading.

Any apocalyptics disappointed by the world surviving the millenium can dust off their sandwich boards again; astronomers have given the asteroid ‘2004 VD-17’ a 1000 to 1 chance of hitting the Earth in 2102. Meanwhile, another wise post at WorldChanging.com explains why the issue of potential asteroid collisions is one that we shouldn’t get too paranoid about, but nor is it one we should sweep under the carpet and ignore completely.

It seems that the business world is waking up to the profit pontential of space exploration/exploitation. This article at CNNMoney.com discusses these issues, comparing space to the Wild West, and projects like the space elevator to the railroads that opened it up for expansion.

There’s an article at Popular Science that I find absolutely captivating. It’s about Juan Lozano, a Mexican hobbyist who built his own jetpack from scratch. While the pack’s usefulness is limited by its fuel capacity, there’s a retropulp DIY feel to the story that makes the geek in me smile.

I really hate it when people use their mobile phones in the library, in flagrant disregard for the signage that asks them not to. But maybe soon it won’t be a problem for us, as well as for cinema and theatre-goers, thanks to a special paint that has copper-filled nanotubes suspended in it, that the manufacturor claims will block mobile phone signals.