Scanpix Sweden/Reuters

We’re not alone

NASA announced that its Messenger mission to Mercury has confirmed the existence of ice in deep, perpetually shaded craters at the poles of the planet nearest the sun. Neutron spectroscopy established the existence of hydrogen-rich deposits that must be water, but perhaps more interesting are signs that Mercury possesses chemically organic material: molecules containing carbon, captured from comets and asteroids. That could provide a crucial data point for measuring the extraterrestrial incidence of chemical preconditions for life.

A line in the ocean

The Canada-Denmark doomsday clock inched backward from midnight as the countries reached formal agreement on a maritime boundary between Canada’s Arctic possessions and self-governing Greenland. “Denmark and Canada are showing that we can settle our disputes peacefully,” said Denmark’s foreign minister, Villy Søvndal. “One might wish the same for the rest of the world.” But keep your powder dry: the status of disputed Hans Island, lying athwart the sea boundary, awaits disposition. Continue…