Wednesday Micro Hits is a compilation of news and ideas that have popped in my head over the past week or so. I usually collect them in a queue and then post them in one fell swoop. This way I don't clutter the blog section of LabSpaces with a million tiny blog entries that will probably interest no one other than myself. So sit back, relax, and click on the links ... maybe you'll find something interesting (or amusing at the very least). Oh, and yes, I realize today is Thursday, but I pushed this off a day because the HR1 issue is more pressing and I didn't want to pull attention away from it with my inane ramblings.

1. I guess the drug cartels have money to burn. They built a 100 foot long sub, to the tune of around 2 million dollars. The thing could travel from Columbia to Mexico, maintaining a depth of 30 feet below the surface. This is an improvement over earlier subs which had to stay at just below the surface (they had a snorkel for air-exchange). We have a budget overhaul coming up, and with all that is going on in Mexico in regards to the drug cartel violence, perhaps it's time to reconsider some of our efforts abroad to deal with things here at home.

2. I've had a horrible cold all week. It started just before my weekend in Miami (lovely weather) and has lingered around ever since. I'm fighting the battle as hard as I can so I avoid a full-blown sinus infection. This has not been a particularly good winter for me.

3. Why would you not take a distress beacon and/or satellite radio with you in case of an emergency? I thought the Navy would be a bit smarter than this.

4. And we thought the US population was ill-informed? Get a load of this travesty in education.

In a survey released this week, 32 percent of Russians believed the Earth was the center of the Solar system; 55 percent that all radioactivity is man-made; and 29 percent that the first humans lived when dinosaurs still roamed the Earth.

5. Add the Monarch Butterfly to the list of species negatively impacted by man. They're being impacted in two ways. First, their populations were endangered by the illegal harvesting of forest where the butterflies would go to in Mexico to breed. Roughly 3% of the reserve sert aside for the butterflies was taken by illegal logging. Second, their food supply is being squeezed out by large-scale farming enterprises.

"The caterpillars feed on milkweed so changing soil use in the United States and Canada is definitely having an impact on the butterflies," said Vidal, who helps manage the authoritative study on monarch populations in Mexico.

6. Watched Watson kick Jeopardy ass last night. Impressive, and all a little bit scary. Interesting that they talked about all the medical implications for this type of computer but really, lets face it ... Watson's first job will be pouring over the wire-tap phone logs of suspected terrorists.

7. So, do I get myself an iPod Touch (to control my AppleTV) or do I wait for this possible cheaper iPhone? If they release a phone that comes in at $199 without a contract, consider me a buyer!