Robot to kiss asteroid鈥�
For the first time, NASA will visit an asteroid and bring something back. A robotic spacecraft called OSIRIS-Rex is scheduled to launch in 2016, arriving at the near-Earth asteroid 1999 RQ36 in 2020. There it will collect more than 55 grams of dust, which it will return to Earth in 2023. Last year, Japan鈥檚 Hayabusa probe brought 1500 grains of dust back to Earth from the asteroid Itokawa.
鈥efore humans visit?
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NASA also plans to send humans into deep space 鈥� in a craft based on the Orion capsule, which was originally designed for trips to the moon. Now rebranded the Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle, it could take humans to asteroids or even Mars.
Too many prisoners
The US Supreme Court has decided that California needs to reduce the number of prisoners in its jails by 30,000 to improve the mental health of those incarcerated. Instead of releasing them into California鈥檚 communities, the court suggests they be transferred to out-of-state or county facilities.
Metals in the closet
The United Nations Environment Programme wants you to recycle that old cellphone gathering dust in the back of your cupboard. Many of the rare earth elements that green technology relies on are costly, but recycling old unwanted gadgets for the metals they contain could lower the cost of technologies such as wind turbines and electric cars.
Imams 4 Darwin
Muslim leaders have been invited to sign an open letter declaring there is no contradiction between their faith and the acceptance of evolution. Organised by the online Clergy Letter Project, the 鈥淚mam letter鈥� joins the 鈥淐lergy Letter鈥� and the 鈥淩abbi Letter鈥�, by which 12,725 Christian and 476 Jewish clerics have backed evolution.