This week is a good time to spot two spaceships flying over your backyard: the International Space Station and the space shuttle Endeavour.

Winds Slow Wildfires Near Denver: "Shifting wind had slowed the advance of a wildfire bearing down on Denver early Tuesday, but yellow smoke still blanketed the city and officials warned that mass evacuations remained a possibility. Thousands of residents of the foothills had been told to be ready to leave as the 77,000-acre blaze roared northeast toward the metro area, but wind drove the fire back onto itself late Monday."

The Notebooks of Lazarus Long: "Formal courtesy between husband and wife is even more important than it is between strangers."

Heinlein was right! Study Shows Celebrating 100th Birthday Runs in the Family: "Researchers writing in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences report today that siblings of centenarians are 50 percent less likely to die at any given age than are members of the general population. This lifelong advantage over the rest of the populace leads to far longer and healthier lives for brothers and sisters of long-lived people."

What is a News Aggregator? "A news aggregator is a piece of software that periodically reads a set of news sources, in one of several XML-based formats, finds the new bits, and displays them in reverse-chronological order on a single page."

Dave Munk (as of 2pm today) and Joe Thrasher are on vacation this week.

Bringing back Iowa's prairie potholes: "In 1993, the Iowa Great Lakes partnership formed to protect and restore the watershed's habitats. It devised a multiphase plan to guide and focus its efforts. To date, three large-scale projects have been completed involving $1.9 million in North American Wetlands Conservation Act grants and $2.5 million in partner funding to protect and restore 3,290 acres of wetlands and associated uplands. Partners of numerous smaller projects have added at least 1,500 acres more of protected habitat to the watershed."

Man admits draining New York toilet rebate program: "man who helped New York run its low-flush toilet rebate program pleaded guilty to his role in draining $1.3 million out of the water conservation project, federal prosecutors said yesterday."

How thirsty cities could put salt on your fruit: "As a lifelong Imperial Valley farmer, Linden Anderson knows well the dusty havoc a desert windstorm can dump on his crops. Gusts of dirt and sand so thick they halt traffic can instantly coat his 2,000 acres of mango trees in a layer of grit. Now, he and other produce farmers here are concerned that the latest round of California's water wars will add an unsavory dose of salt to the wind whipping over their crops. If a pending proposal to divert 65 billion gallons of the Imperial Valley's irrigation water annually to San Diego goes through the largest transfer of water from agricultural to municipal use in US history the water line of the nearby Salton Sea would be lowered, allowing the wind to scour the exposed sea bed."

Malaysian government to ensure efficient use of water: "The Government wants to ensure efficient usage of existing assets in implementing water supply programmes over the next five years, Works Minister Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu said here. He said the strategies included reduction and control of non-revenue water, rehabilitation of distribution mains, rehabilitation and upgrading of existing treatment plants, promoting water conservation, water recycling and reuse for industrial users."