Happy Birthday Hubble

To commemorate its 19 years of historic and trailblazing science, the Hubble Space Telescope has taken an image of the Arp 194 system of galaxies. This interacting galaxy group contains several galaxies, along with a "cosmic fountain" of stars, gas, and dust that stretches over 100,000 light-years. There's plenty to celebrate today as the Hubble Space Telescope turns 19 years old: The billion-dollar orbiting observatory is still in business, even though some people thought it should have failed by now. And after years and months of delay, it looks as if help is finally on the way. The shuttle Atlantis is set to deliver hundreds of millions of dollars' worth of belated birthday gifts next month.

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Sky Panorama Over Lake Salda Credit & Copyright: Tunç Tezel (TWAN)

Explanation: As midnight approached, a spectacular sky appeared. Such was the case last month from the shore of Lake Salda in southwestern Turkey. In the above night sky panorama, rocky sand covers the foreground, while building lights are visible across the lake. Looking up, the stars of Orion lie just ahead, while Sirius, the brightest star in the sky, appears to Orion's left. To Orion's right, just above the horizon, lies the Pleiades open star cluster. Arching across the sky is the central band of our Milky Way Galaxy. High in the center, the stars Castor and Pollux are visible. Lake Salda is famous partly for its blue color that is slightly discernable even in the above image.

Free Coffee from Dunkin' Donuts

Even In Defeat, He's Funny

Colbert lost in space when NASA names station node

Wed Apr 15, 11:07 am ET

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – NASA on Tuesday named its new living quarters on the International Space Station "Tranquillity," denying television comedian Stephen Colbert his attempt to get the new Node 3 named after himself.

Astronaut Sunita L. Williams, appearing on "The Colbert Report" on cable TV network Comedy Central, said NASA will name the new module Tranquility, instead of Colbert as he and his fans demanded after winning an online poll conducted by NASA.

But the U.S. space agency did make one concession. It said it will make a new Combined Operational Load-Bearing External Resistance Treadmill (COLBERT) -- a fancy way of saying "exercise treadmill" -- a key fixture in the space station.

"Your name will be in space in a very important place," Williams assured Colbert on his TV show. "Everyday somebody will have to jump on the COLBERT," she said.

Initially, the comedian seemed upset, but then he hit on an idea. "By running on the treadmill, that is what powers the Space Station?" asked a hopeful Colbert.

"Well, not really," said Williams, who in the past served as a flight engineer aboard the space station.

The comedic situation stemmed from NASA's recent public outreach to drum up interest in the $100 billion International Space Station by holding an online contest to name the new Node 3, which will house life support equipment.

Colbert, who parodies a conservative political commentator on his TV show, waged a campaign encouraging fans to vote for him and he eventually won, earning 230,539 write-in votes to 40,000 for NASA's top suggestion, "Serenity."

Contest rules stipulated that NASA retained the right to name Node 3, but in March U.S. Representative Chaka Fattah, a Pennsylvania Democrat, called on NASA to do the democratic thing and use the name that drew the most votes -- Colbert.

In the end, Colbert took Tuesday's news with a friendly handshake, and he thanked Williams and NASA for playing along with him and his fans.

It wasn't Colbert's first attempt to brand a piece of public property with his name. In 2006, he topped another public vote to name a bridge in Budapest, Hungary. But again he lost because Hungarian law required that the bridge's namesake be fluent in Hungarian and deceased.

(Additional reporting by Sheri Linden; editing by Todd Eastham)

I love a good bobber

This XS650 hits the spot.

MMMMMM, Pork Cracklin

Knowing that I have a fever for some good pork cracklin every now and then, my good buddy Bayou Boy took it upon himself to send me a cracklin care package. I don't get to eat crackin all that much because it is as scarce as hens teeth in these parts. But when I go a visiting down south, one of the first things I do is, scare myself up some good old cracklin. For those who are not in the know, pork cracklin is like pork rinds on steroids. They are comprised of the skin of the pig like rinds, but with extra meat and fat attached. Health food they are not, tasty food, oh yeah. So I would like to take this opportunity to give thanks to Bayoy Boy and his generosity in sending me this tasty treat. THANKS BAYOU BOY!!!!!!!!!!!

Florida Woman's Web Cam Helps Capture Burglers in Her Home

If there ever was a reason to have a webcam this is it. While a work, a Florida woman checks her webcam only to find intruders robbing her home. She calls 911 and you can see the police arrive in time to catch the thieves red handed.

Astronomy Picture of the Day
Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer.
2009 April 7

The Colliding Spiral Galaxies of Arp 274 Credit: NASA, ESA, M. Livio (STScI) and the Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA)
Explanation: Two galaxies are squaring off in Virgo and here are the latest pictures. When two galaxies collide, the stars that compose them usually do not. This is because galaxies are mostly empty space and, however bright, stars only take up only a small fraction of that space. But during the collision, one galaxy can rip the other apart gravitationally, and dust and gas common to both galaxies does collide. If the two galaxies merge, black holes that likely resided in each galaxy center may eventually merge. Because the distances are so large, the whole thing takes place in slow motion -- over hundreds of millions of years. Besides the two large spiral galaxies, a smaller third galaxy is visible on the far left of the above image of Arp 274, also known as NGC 5679. Arp 274 spans about 200,000 light years across and lies about 400 million light years away toward the constellation of Virgo.

Where Y'At?

the things i love. fried pork cracklin. inspected and passed by department of agriculture right here in new orleans. belle chasse, louisiana 70037 if you want to get particular. music. i don't know many lyrics, but the sound drives me. like climbing a mountain and almost getting to the halfway point. make me go farther, higher, mount summit. so i can get to the top and go sliding down. with friends. i don't have many but those i do have i cherish. we will all go sledding. afterwards, frozen faces will we all be drinking hot chocolate. maybe brandy. keeps us warm.

motorcycles. zen and the art of motorcycle maintenance. who wants to climb on board and go for a ride? what is it that i love? freedom, independance, power, the ability to do what i want. and my motorcycle gives me all of that. always sounds so good.

it's the...

the deep south. the food. here we go burning down the highway at speeds that make me shiver when i'm in a car and getting passed by. here's throwing caution to the wind, here's taking off one's shirt and living like today might be the last. somewhere there's a skull that will be thrown in front of you only to have it held up and inspected. whether we be kings or court jesters, one day we will all be food for worms. type that into your rotoscope and look for a synonym.

i want to wake up in the morning and be happy.

i want to be alive.

don't tell me what to wear, or what time to go to sleep, or who to marry. i will choose that for myself.