Cool Science

I've never noticed if this is a new year's trend before, but a lot of people seem to be releasing really cool new scientific stuff at the moment. Here are some of my favorites:

• The satellite-launching slingshot


• The geostationary banana over Texas


• The vertical takeoff-and-launching sub-orbital spacecraft


• The dolphin boat that can leap out of the water

Hat tips to Instapundit and Dave Barry's Blog for the articles.

Technology saves another life: A bottle scavenger fell asleep in a Dumpster and ended up inside a garbage truck. He would have been compacted along with the trash had he not had his cell phone to call authorities.

Prank of the week: A bunch of people at an office covered a coworker's Jaguar with Post-It Notes and took pictures for all the world to see.

Prank of the past few decades: Two sisters have mailed an uncooked hot dog back and forth to each other for 54 years now. (This reminds me of the story of the two brothers-in-law who gave each other the same pair of pants back and forth--in increasingly elaborate packaging--for over a quarter-century.)