Stars of the Past

Missile launching from the USS Lake Erie courtesy U.S. Navy

Also, a new species of bees, an old cliche about university students, and more.

• What star did Tycho see going nova in 1572? "Light echoes" allow us to relive the historic event.
• According to a small Australian study, female art students are more sexually active than male science students. Or maybe they're just more likely to sit around and talk about their experiences in excruciating detail, before they head off to paint their next nude self-portrait.
• A species of bees has split in two, and the smell that the males carry around may be the reason why. So just imagine what Axe body spray is doing to the human race. We kind of hope all of its users will just split off and form their own species.
• It isn't new news that talking even on a hands-free device impairs one's ability to drive, but here's yet more evidence. I'm including the link here as a PSA, so that you can print it out and hand it to anyone you know who needs to be told "Shut up and drive."
• Sometime between this afternoon and Tuesday, the Pentagon plans to conduct the most realistic test yet of its anti-missile system at a cost of $115 million, although the details on what this means are frustratingly vague.