What Happens When You Throw an Elephant Into a Black Hole?

I don't know. But here is a great article in New Scientist (which is much better than Scientific American) about elephants, black holes, and conservation of information.

Important Safety Information

The American Society for Velociraptor Attack Prevention

Bang postponed. Not Big enough. Reboot.

Here is a collection of six word science fiction stories from Wired magazine.

HG Wells Was Right?

This just in from the BBC:

Humanity may split into two sub-species in 100,000 years' time as predicted by HG Wells, an expert has said.

Evolutionary theorist Oliver Curry of the London School of Economics expects a genetic upper class and a dim-witted underclass to emerge.

The human race would peak in the year 3000, he said - before a decline due to dependence on technology.

An interesting article. I've long wondered about continued human evolution and what that would bring. What will be the environmental pressures of the future that will affect mate selection? How will this be impacted by technology that will allow humans to genetically design their children from the ground up? I think the most likely scenario is that in the future, no matter what DNA you start with, all humans will be tall, symmetrical, athletic and intelligent. Or maybe I just think that because I'm afraid my descendants will inevitably wind up in the "dim-witted underclass."

Cassini

Lest we forget, Cassini is still out there, orbiting Saturn and taking great pictures like this one. Launched from Cape Canaveral at 4:43am EDT on October 15th 1997, Cassini arrived in orbit on July 1, 2004.

Black Hole Palooza

Ever feel like you are being pulled in 200 different directions at once? That's because there are about 200 supermassive black holes within 400 light years of Earth, according to a NASA study of x-ray sources. To be considered supermassive, a black hole needs to have a mass of at least millions of suns and some type of funny costume.

MRO Takes Picture of Opportunity

The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter has used its high-resolution camera to take a picture of fellow Mars explorer, the rover Opportunity, which is currently perched on the edge of Victoria Crater.

Shuttle and Space Station

Here is a beautiful photograph of the space shuttle Atlantis and the International Space Station silhouetted against the sun.