"Soon, humanity may face an existential shock as the current list of a dozen Jupiter-sized extra-solar planets swells to hundreds of earth-sized planets, almost identical twins of our celestial homeland. This may usher in a new era in our relationship with the universe: we will never see the night sky in the same way ever again, realizing that scientists may eventually compile an encyclopedia identifying the precise co-ordinates of perhaps hundreds of earth-like planets."

“The Physics of Extra-Terrestrial Civilizations” by theoretical physicist Michio Kaku is fascinating brainfood and mindcandy both.

"Victory in name only" by Sidney Blumenthal at Gaurdian Unlimited.

Useful Internet Thingamajig of the Day Dept.:

The U.S. National Debt Clock.

Faint Light at the End of the Tunnel Dept.:

"The I-Word is Gaining Ground" is an editorial by The Nation's Katrina Vanden Heuvel.

"The trouble with this book" is Elizabeth Lund's review of Billy Collins' latest collection The Trouble with Poetry: And Other Poems, at the Christian Science Monitor's website.

Poem-of-the-Day Dept.:

Leslie Monsour's poem "Fifteen," found at "American Life in Poetry" at The Arizona Daily Star's website.

"Reflections on life and death" is a review of Joan Didion's The Year of Magical Thinking by Gaylord Dold at The Wichita Eagle's website.

"22 theories that shook the world" by Steven Shapin at boston.com is a less-than-glowing review of Alan Lightman's book The Discoveries: Great Breakthroughs in 20th-Century Science.

In "Why the Court's Dover Decision Is a Triumph for Religion as well as Science" at HNN, Brian Ogilvie harkens back to what Saint Augustine said about Christians (so-called, anyway) making themselves look ridiculous . . . at the expense not just of science but at the expense of their espoused faith as well.