You've probably heard that a now-paranoid NASA has grounded all future shuttle flights, following an assessment of video recordings that showed a chunk of foam falling off the Discovery during liftoff, eerily reminiscent of the Columbia disaster.  NASA officials are sure that the Discovery's mission and return are safe, but they don't want to take any more chances until the foam problem is permanently fixed.  (Or maybe they'll just get on with a new shuttle design.)  The New York Times has a nice section on this story, including a chart showing shuttle debris damage over the years, and a history of the shuttle program.

Also, this Slashdot post is intriguing, linking to a research paper that claims Asia may soon overrun the USA when it comes to scientific research and technology.  The post generated over a thousand comments.