NASA's Ion Engine

1. Charge the Fuel

Xenon is an inert gas, seemingly useless for rocketry. Before it’s used as fuel, the engine must convert it into an electrically charged gas, also called a plasma. An electron emitter fires electrons at the xenon gas. When an electron hits a xenon atom, it strips off an additional electron from the atom’s shell to create a positively charged xenon ion.

This page is an electronic archive of images of people proving theorems while wearing sarongs. ‘Nuff said. —Michael Moyer

Techcrunch is a blog solely dedicated to tracking new Web 2.0 applications. How embarrassing that my co-worker from the science silo (fellow poster Michael Moyer) had to bring it to my attention, but man am I glad he did. Techcrunch blogger Michael Arrington doesn't just list the latest Web apps, he provides thorough and smart reviews, often long before the apps get mainstream buzz and show up on one of our other favorite sites, Lifehacker. Check out Arrington's review of the not-yet-public airline price tracker, Flyspy—I'm drooling already.—Mike Haney