Galileo's Pendulum

Saturn's moon Rhea, as seen by the Cassini probe.

What an age of riches we live in! (I say this with my tongue only slightly in my cheek, so you can still understand what I’m saying. Otherwise it’d be “gwha a agch of writches we wiv in!”.) Here are but a few of the great items I’ve spotted today:

• Still on the hunt for methane in the outer Solar System, Mike Brown got some good infrared pictures of Uranus, which include its elusive ring system. (For those who snigger at such things, here’s a reminder of how the planet’s name is pronounced (hint: not “your anus”).)
• In this increasingly troubled economic climate, it’s hard to get money to do necessary scientific research. Here’s an intriguing idea: crowdfunding science (article by Jai Ranganathan). My take: it can’t replace larger and more consistent funding sources, but it might be a good alternative for many projects, including those that are a hard sell to governmental agencies.
• Why does your refrigerator hum in an annoying way? Alice Bell has the answers — a bit of interesting history of science and technology.

For my “picture of the day selection” (I think I’ll keep this feature up, if people like it), the Cassini mission captured a very detailed image of the moon Rhea, illuminated by the reflected glory of its host planet Saturn.

Now if you’ll pardon me for a bit, I’ve gotta get back to looking for a job.