Here's What's Awesome: TV in Space, Goofy Repairs

By Brady Carlson on Sunday, July 5, 2009.

Little-known fact: Thomas Jefferson's first draft of the Declaration of Independence accuses the King of the following:

He has endeavored to forbid us from disseminating the discovery of awesome stories, except through governors of his choosing, who seem unable to find anything awesome that does not relate to the technological advancement of tricorn hats...

This was replaced in the final version by the phrase "the pursuit of happiness," which means that we at Here's What's Awesome are keeping the spirit of independence alive with each week's set of awesome links. So, before we do anything else: fireworks!

[Geekologie]

Betelgeuse wants Charles in Charge of them!
TV signals don't just broadcast out to your house and mine, they also head out into space, making decades of entertainment Earth's largest interstellar export. Abstruse Goose's TV/space map shows which programs have made it to which stars, in case there are any aliens monitoring the signals. By the looks of this map, the poor folks near the star Pollux are just a year or two away from receiving The Star Wars Holiday Special. [via Gizmodo]

Coat hangers make very good toilet paper holders
Hopefully I'm not too late to the ThereIFixedIt party, a "fail"-style blog chronicling the laziest, least-thought-out home and auto repairs. Few things can top my favorite: an unused container of JiffyPop standing in for a smoke alarm. [ThereIFixedIt]

This is your robot speaking, we'll be dragging you to the gate in just a few moments
Airplane engines are more fuel-efficient in the air than on the ground - you guessed that already from the name "airplane," didn't you? Europe's Airbus is co-developing a way around the problem of having jet engines drive around airport runways: a "taxi-bot" that would dock with planes on the ground and pull them to their gates. Pilots would still be able to steer the bots via remote control, but would get their planes from place to place using substantially less fuel. [NewScientist]

Now it's your turn: as Patrick Henry would say, share an awesome link not related to tricorn hats in the comment - or give me death!

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Word of Mouth is all about what's new. Online and on-air, the show looks at our fascinating and ever-changing world, and puts the latest ideas under a microscope. Word of Mouth investigates everything from science and technology, to health and the environment, to new trends in popular culture. The show airs Monday through Thursday at noon and is hosted by Virginia Prescott.

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