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See that pale whitish-blue dot over on the right, under the rings? That’s the Earth as seen from Cassini, orbiting around Saturn. Beautiful.

News today of a Calvin & Hobbes documentary coming - here’s the trailer: I love Calvin and Hobbes in a way that I’m not entirely sure how to express - it’s a shame that there’s not more being made, but there were more than enough created that each time I see a strip it feels funny and fresh, and brightens my day. The artwork is superb. Looking forward to seeing the full version of this documentary. ...

I wouldn’t have been surprised to hear this from the US, but Australia, really? 41% of Australians don’t know the Earth takes a year to orbit the sun: Three in 10 people aren’t aware that evolution is still occurring, with a similar proportion of the public dismissing the idea that humans influence evolution in other creatures. On all of these measures, Australians’ knowledge has declined in the past three years, when the academy last polled the public. ...

Possibly a little late to be jumping into the schemozzle that was Federal Politics last week, but now that Kevin’s back, there’s quite a few people giving Labor another look. It’s fascinating to me because the policy differences between Rudd and Gillard are minimal, so the difference boils purely down to personality and perception. Anyway, that point aside, here’s Pollytics on how the 2013 Election is actually shaping up to be a very, very interesting one: ...

When I first thought about a trip to South America, I had some ideas in my head about how things were - I knew it was no longer the place of the past decades, when some revolution or another would push one government out for another, be it from democracy to communist or military junta, or indeed vice versa. Hell, Brazil is right on the list of economies challenging the developed nations. I do admit though there’s a little part of me that clung to the notion so deeply instilled by the Tin Tin comics, of all things, where one dictator was replaced by another only to himself be thrown out at the end of the day. It’d be a hell of a thing of it did happen, but let’s just say I wouldn’t mind Tin Tin’s role :-) With this kind of context in mind, getting into Buenos Aires, I first felt a shock of the new - Ezezia Airport is very new and nicely fitted out - and then the polar opposite as we approached our hotel. In an ostensibly decent neighborhood, there was a feeling that you were in a place you didn’t necessarily want to hang out at night, judging by the sidewalks and the graffiti, which was ubiquitous. I felt a perverse thrill that perhaps trouble was bubbling under the surface… So what did we do after putting our stuff down at 10pm? Naturally we wandered outside, assured by the nearby lights, late night pharmacy, McDonalds… And it turns out appearances are deceptive, because this was the kind of neighborhood where people were out with their kids at 11 in the evening, as others strolled to restaurants to get started on their meal. ...