Green Pigs and Stardust

Two news items from the frontiers of science:

First, Taiwanese scientists have used the genetic material from jellyfish to create a type of pig that glows bright green in the dark. Apparently the whole animal, including the innards, is a luminous shade of emerald. The stated purpose for this endeavor is to broaden our understanding of genetics. But the possibilities for cuisine are intriguing. I prepared a nice ginger-chutney pork loin and broccoli rabe for Mrs. Spacetropic tonight as an intimate dinner. I guess one day soon we could snuff out the candles and dine by meatlight.

Second, on the cooler-than-cool news front, the NASA space probe Stardust is expected to blaze towards Earth on Sunday after a 3 billion mile excursion around the inner planets. It swooped though a tail of a comet and collected particles that should teach us about the composition of the primeval solar system. (Tell me, how freaking cool is that? You can suck on your complaints about America. We, as a civilization, are capable of this. But I digress.)

And, cooler still, you folks at home can help analyze the data. The Stardust@Home project is patterned after the pioneering SETI@Home - which allowed regular people like you and me to use the processing capacity of our computers in their "off hours" to churn though massive amounts of data on behalf of centralized computers on the Internet. I'm a nerd, I know, but I love it when networked democracy, Moore's Law, and blue yonder science all work together.