Really Long Space String Tangled; Etc.

The Russians had a good idea: put a spaceship in a low orbit, then lower a capsule from it on a 30 km tether, all the way back to earth. Step 3: space elevator. Sort of. It's not clear to me that the tether would reach all the way down to earth -- wouldn't 30 km be a really, really low orbit? But it seems like a step in the right direction.

Anyway, it didn't work. The tether, which is made of a very strong, thin fiber that kite-surfers use, got stuck on the way down and wouldn't fully deploy.

Also, Germany's getting a monorail^H^H^H^H^H maglev.

Also, filming has started on the Watchmen movie.

Also, the Sex Pistols got back together to re-record "Anarchy in the UK" for Guitar Hero 3. Wow. Says noted music news outlet NintendoWiiFanBoy.com, "The Sex Pistols recently rerecorded "Pretty Vacant" for EA's skate, proving beyond a shadow of a doubt that they will do things they've done before, again, for more money, twice. And why not?"