“I feel the percussive roar on the skin of my face, chest, arms. I am physically connected to Atlantis now.” This is my post of the week. Karen James’s magnificent description of watching the Shuttle launch is better than anything else I’ve read on this topic. And more on why I love the piece here.

“We did not learn enough from the mission to justify the death of the dog.” Jennifer Ouellette on Laika, the space dog

I am LOVING Google+. This is me.

“As a reporter, I feel like I’ve been holding my breath.” Beautiful, brave piece from Kai Nagata on why he quit TV journalism.

How China’s “suddenly wealthy” are triggering an “extinction vortex” among Africa’s