Welcome back to Science Saturday, where the Overnight News Digest crew informs and entertains you with this week's news about science, space, and the environment.

This week's featured slide show is from Scientific American and commemorates an astronomical disaster that occurred 100 years ago this week--the Tunguska Event.

Tunguska--100 Years Later [Slide Show]

What happened on June 30, 1908 in central Siberia? Was the atomic bomb–size airburst caused by antimatter? An extraterrestrial spacecraft? A wayward black hole?

The most likely answers to this question, along with details on other science stories of the past week, after the jump.

Welcome back to Overnight News Digest: Science Saturday, in which I present a sampling of this week's science news and the readers celebrate science, space, and the environment.

The New York Times Science slideshow has returned--huzzah!

Siamese Galaxies and Toothy Fish

And more science in pictures: disappearing Martian ice and undersea volcanoes.

Also the genome of lancelets.

More on these and other science stories after the jump.

All hail the official beginning of summer, the solstice, the longest day of the year!

Welcome back to Overnight News Digest: Science Saturday, in which I present a sampling of this week's science news and the readers celebrate science, space, and the environment.

The N.Y. Times failed to grace us with a new slideshow of this week's discoveries in science.  In its place, I present this photo in the news from National Geographic.

PHOTO IN THE NEWS: Mars Lander Finds Ice, NASA Says

June 20, 2008—Before-and-after photos taken by NASA's Mars Phoenix Lander show "perfect evidence" of water ice on Mars, according to Peter Smith, the mission's principal investigator, in a statement released Thursday.

The dice-size crumbs of bright material seen in the bottom left corner of the so-called Snow White trench in the left image, taken June 15, appear to have vanished by the time the right image was taken, on June 19.

More on this and other science stories after the jump.

Happy Fathers Day to all the dads who are reading this.  As for all the rest of us, including the dads who are sons of still-living dads, call your father today.  Sadly, I won't be; my father passed in 2002 and I miss him.

Welcome back to Overnight News Digest: Science Saturday, in which I present a sampling of this week's science news and the readers celebrate science, space, and the environment.

First up, the New York Times slideshow reviewing this week in science.

Missing Sunspots and Technicolor Liquids

More science in pictures: a crowd of galaxies, woolly mammoth hair and new lightweight materials.

More on these and other science stories after the jump.

Welcome to Science Saturday, where you can join the Overnight News Digest crew in celebrating this week's news in science, space, and the environment.  As usual, we begin the festivities with a slide show of this week's news in science, courtesy of the New York Times.

The Milky Way’s Missing Arms and New Bacteria

Also pictured, a possible landing spot for the next Mars Rover, the nucleus of a mouse cell during division, brown dwarfs, rapidly uplifted rocks in Bolivia, and a polar bear in Iceland.

More on these and other science stories after the jump.  Also this week, a special reader feature in the comments--stay tuned!

Welcome to Science Saturday, where you can join the Overnight News Digest crew in celebrating this week's news in science, space, and the environment.  As usual, we begin the festivities with a slide show of this week's news in science, courtesy of the New York Times.

Mud Volcanoes and Parachuting Spacecraft

Also pictured, a demonstration of the effectiveness of mosquito repellent and two supernova remnants.

More on these and other science stories after the jump.

Early Memorial Day greetings, everyone.  Welcome back to Science Saturday, where the Overnight News Digest crew invites you to join us in a celebration of science and the environment.  As usual, we begin the festivities with a slide show of this week's news in science, courtesy of the New York Times.

Hiding Chameleons and Martian Hot Springs

Also pictured, dinosaur tracks from Yemen, mantis shrimp, a robot flea, and a supernova caught in the act.

More on these and other science stories after the jump.

Welcome back to Science Saturday, where the Overnight News Digest crew invites you to join us in a celebration of science and the environment.  As usual, we begin the festivities with a slide show of this week's news in science, courtesy of the New York Times.

Frogs and Dead Stars

Also depicted are methane-eating microorganisms called archea, the Antenna Galaxies, coral reef gobies, and skin bacteria.

More on these and other science stories after the jump.

Happy Mothers Day to all the moms who are reading this.  As for all the rest of us, including the moms who are daughters of still-living moms, call your mother today.  I know I will be!

Welcome back to Overnight News Digest: Science Saturday, in which I present a sampling of this week's science news and the readers celebrate science, space, and the environment.

First up, the New York Times slideshow reviewing this week in science.

Mouse Lemurs and a Satellite View of a Flood

Also depicted--carbon beads from an asteroid impact, a microscopic fungus, missing ordinary matter in space, an erupting Chilean volcano from space, and great tits (the birds) in England.

More on these and other science stories after the jump.

A belated Happy May Day to all of you!  Welcome to Overnight News Digest's Science Saturday, where I share with you this week's news in science.  This week, the unifying theme involves stories that straddle categories, demonstrating one of environmentalism's favorite maxims, Everything Is Connected to Everything Else.

First up in our celebration of science and the environment, a slideshow, courtesy of the New York Times:

Colossal Squid and Parasitic Plants

Also pictured: Circuit elements measured in nanometers, Greenland caribou, a storm on Saturn, and polar bears.

More on these and other stories after the jump.

A belated Happy Earth Day to all of you!  Welcome to Overnight News Digest's Science Saturday, where I share with you this week's news in science.

First up in our celebration of science and the environment, a slideshow, courtesy of the New York Times:

Ancient Crabs and Papaya DNA

Also pictured: Geoengineering side effects, T. rex bones and proteins, the Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary in Spain, sand dunes of Mars, a possible glacier on Mars, the age of the Sierra Nevada, red tide, and fruit bats intentionally eating dirt.

Details on these and other stories after the jump.

Welcome back to Overnight News Digest's Science Saturday.  Tonight's installment begins with some sad news--the death of Edward Lorenz, who coined the term "Butterfly Effect."

LA Times:  Edward N. Lorenz, 90; scientist developed influential chaos theory

Edward N. Lorenz, the MIT meteorologist whose efforts to use computers to increase the precision of weather forecasts inadvertently led to the discovery of chaos theory and demonstrated that precise long-range forecasts are impossible, died of cancer Wednesday at his home in Cambridge, Mass. He was 90.

Lorenz was perhaps best known for the title of a 1972 paper, "Predictability: Does the Flap of a Butterfly's Wings in Brazil Set Off a Tornado in Texas?" The memorable title pithily summarized the essence of chaos theory -- that very small changes in a system can have very large and unexpected consequences.

A moment of silence for Dr. Lorenz.

...

The wake (which is still a party, so have a good time) begins after the jump.

Welcome back to Science Saturday, in which I review this week's reporting on science, focusing on those stories that are noteworthy, unusual, or just plain cool.  This week, the theme is Yuri's Night.  As the site itself says:

Yuri Gagarin was the first human to go into space on April 12th, 1961. The US Space Shuttle first launched on April 12th, 1981. Yuri's Night is like the St Patricks Day or Cinco de Mayo for space. It is one day when all the world can come together and celebrate the power and beauty of space and what it means for each of us. Join us!

Tonight, I invite you and any of the rest of the Overnight News Digest crew who stops by to join us in a (virtual) party to celebrate science, space, and the environment!

Good evening, fellow Kossacks, and welcome back to Science Saturday!  I had such a good time last week that I've decided to make this a regular event.

First up, yet another week in science slide show from the New York Times.

Science in Pictures, April 4

The photographs featured include bacteria that thrive on antibiotics, Cambodian spot-billed pelicans, a new species of anglerfish from Indonesia, Chinook salmon, human coprolites, and the smallest known black hole.

Details on these and other subjects after the jump.

Greetings, fellow Kossacks! I hope you all enjoy my stint as a guest host of OND's Saturday night edition.  I hope I enjoy it, too.  Who knows, I might decide to stick around. :-)

First up, a week in Science Slide show from the New York Times.

Science in Pictures, March 28

Featured--oldest human fossil in Europe, Wilkins Ice Shelf, Space Shuttle Endeavour landing, Xcor's Lynx spaceplane, Enceladus, and Kilauea erupting.

Links to detailed stories about these and other topics after the jump.

Yes, folks, we (and others on the Tubes who voted for us) did it.  We won for Best Political Blog for 2007 in the Performancing Awards.

The Best Political Blog of 2007

Readers' Choice: Daily Kos

Daily Kos is the grassroots voice of the progressive left and allows anyone to contribute, with the best content featured on the front page. It is one of the most popular group blogs on the Internet and has made tangible political impact.

Runner Up: Huffington Post

Yay, we beat Huffington Post!  Well, in the popular vote we did.  Walk through the Looking Glass to read what the editors decided.

Yes, fellow Kossacks, our community is now being recognized by the Performancing Awards 2007 Reader's Choice Poll, which will remain open until January 10th.  The more prestigious of the two awards, in my not so humble opinion, is the Best Political Blog, something we should have no shame winning.  The second contest is for the Most Controversial Blog.  If you are one of those who thinks that all publicity is good publicity, then you won't mind voting for our community for that one, either.

For details, click on "There's more" and follow me through the looking glass.