Relevant tune for links reading.

STRANGE BLOBS IN DEEP MANTLE ARE REMAINS OF ANCIENT PLANET: Researchers have long hypothesized that the Moon was created in the aftermath of a giant impact between Earth and a smaller planet dubbed Theia, but no trace of Theia has ever been found in the asteroid belt or in meteorites. This new study suggests that most of Theia was absorbed into the young Earth, forming the [blobs], while residual debris from the impact coalesced into the Moon.

FEMINIST WEBSITE JEZEBEL SHUTTERED: I mourn the loss of some of the best comedic fodder for us Glibs.

NASA WANTS TO EXTRACT WATER FROM LUNAR SOIL: While we know there is water ice on the Moon, presumably great tracts of it nestled in the perpetually dark craters in the polar regions, there is something to be said for researching ways to produce water in other regions. Archived article about water content of moon rocks.

BEAVERS MAY EXACERBATE CLIMATE CHANGE: Stop laughing, this is serious.

EUROWEENIES WANT A MANNED SPACE PROGRAM: The European Space Agency, which is not an appendage of the EU, are aspiring towards a space station, and an orbital cargo launch program which they hope will transition into a crew launch program. I wish them the best, although I hope India beats the pants off them. The last time this column covered the ESA, NASA had just booted them from the Mars Sample Return mission for which ESA was supposed to provide the sample return rocket.