Photo: Ice Jets Erupt from Saturn's Moon Enceladus

A very cool shot from a weekend fly-by of Enceladus by the Cassini probe.

NASA writes: "Numerous plumes are seen rising from long tiger-stripe canyons across Enceladus' craggy surface. Several ice jets are even visible in the shadowed region of crescent Enceladus as they reach high enough to scatter sunlight. Other plumes, near the top of the above image, appear visible just over the moon's sunlit edge. That Enceladus vents fountains of ice was first discovered on Cassini images in 2005, and has been under close study ever since. Continued study of the ice plumes may yield further clues as to whether underground oceans, candidates for containing life, exist on this distant ice world."

Armchair Ascends 98,268 Feet to the Edge of Space

In a stunt having nothing to do with Richard Heene, Toshiba has sent a chair to the edge of space for a new commercial. The chair, lifted by a helium balloon, was monitored by a ground crew using four GPS systems and was filmed by the cinematographer who shot Mamma Mia. According to Toshiba:

The shots were taken at a staggering 98,268 feet above the earth and the weight of the rig had to be carefully managed to a weight of no more than four pounds. The chair is made of biodegradable balsa wood by a company called Artem and cost about £2,500. It was launched 12 miles North-East of the town of Gerlach, Nevada. The temperature dropped to minus 90 degrees when the chair reached 52,037 feet. The chair took 83 minutes to reach an altitude of 98,268 feet where it broke and took just 24 minutes to fall back down to earth with the rig.

The commercial extolls the virtues of the company's LCD TV and the enhanced "armchair viewing" it provides. Watch it, AFTER THE JUMP...

Scientists Find Large Amounts of Water on the Moon

The NASA probe that impacted the Moon in early October has found water:

"The confirmation of scientists’ suspicions is welcome news both to future explorers who might set up home on the lunar surface and to scientists who hope that the water, in the form of ice accumulated over billions of years, could hold a record of the solar system’s history. The satellite, known as Lcross (pronounced L-cross), slammed into a crater near the Moon’s south pole a month ago. The impact carved out a hole 60- to 100-feet wide and kicked up at least 24 gallons of water. 'We got more than just whiff,' said Peter H. Schultz, a professor of geological sciences at Brown University and a co-investigator of the mission. 'We practically tasted it with the impact.' For more than a decade, planetary scientists have seen tantalizing hints of water ice at the bottom of these cold craters where the sun never shines."

And the discovery also gives new life to a song from Celine Dion's eponymous 1993 album, AFTER THE JUMP...

Crescent Earth

On its third swing by Earth to obtain enough gravitational force to send it beyond Mars where it will rendezvous with a comet in 2014, the European Space Agency craft Rosetta shot this image. Earth's south pole is in sunlight.

(via wired)

News: Donnie McClurkin, Purdue, Guidos, Cheesecake Factory

Longtime HIVAIDS activist Howard Jacobs dies in L.A. at 45.

The surface of Mars as revealed by orbiter.

New MTV reality series to feature Jersey shore house "full of the hottest, tannest, craziest Guidos."

Purdue students protest professor Bert Chapman's blog post arguing the "economic case against homosexuality". Chapman: "As a conservative Christian, I firmly believe the homosexual lifestyle is morally wrong, and my blog posting sought to emphasize there are economic and public policy implications to widespread and open acceptance of this lifestyle."

10-year-old refuses to say Pledge of Allegiance until there is liberty and justice for gays.

Marriage equality in Connecticut one year later: "Fully half of the gay and lesbian couples who wed in Connecticut were from other states or other countries. They came from South Dakota, Mississippi, Russia, Hawaii, Costa Rica and Israel, among other far-flung locales. But above all, they came from New York: 455 Empire State couples traveled to Connecticut to marry."

Balloon boy family to plead GUILTY to hoax.

High school band marches in Palm Springs Gay Pride parade.

Human Rights Campaign throws support behind Kirsten Gillibrand: "From her personal lobbying of the New York legislature in support of marriage rights to helping garner support for a Senate hearing on repealing 'Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,' Gillibrand has time and again stood for fairness for all."

Corpus Christi, the Terrence McNally play featuring a gay Jesus, to be mounted in Orange County, California.

Remember the homoerotic Cheesecake Factory hazings from July 2008? The case has been settled, in the amount of $345,000.

And he only gets better with age.

PREVIEW: Rihanna's Rated R.

Jon Stewart catches Sean Hannity using Glenn Beck's "enhanced crowd" teabagger march footage. Hannity, although it "pained him," admitted Stewart was right.

Kim Kardashian fitted with prosthetic face.

Gore Vidal: a life in pictures.

Reverend Donnie McClurkin goes off on gays: ""God did not call young people to such perversion. Society has failed him, his church has failed him ... I would be homosexual to this day if Jesus hadn't delivered."

Title and summary for Prop 8 repeal ballot language to be released next week: "As soon as the approval is given, the Restore Equality 2010 campaign will have 150 days to collect approximately 700,000 valid pen and ink signatures by voters registered in California. To account for the invalid signatures that are bound to show up on the forms, the Restore Equality 2010 campaign is aiming to collect 1 million signatures within the 150 day timeframe."

News: Brooklyn, Jim Carrey, Asteroid, Jodi Rell, Subway Drama

This is how an American soldier is made.

Brooklyn's oldest gay bar, The Starlite Lounge, in danger of closing: "The Starlite Lounge has been a Crown Heights fixture since the 1960s, serving gays and non-gays. In recent years, the venue has become a destination for neighborhood folks looking for a casual daytime hangout, as well as revelers who frequent the dance parties and karaoke nights, according to Leviticus."

WATCH: Drunk Boston woman almost gets run over by subway.

Jim Carrey's new website is pretty fantastic.

Gay man running for Toronto mayor.

Rhode Island domestic partners bill awaits anti-gay governor Carcieri's signature: "An opponent of gay marriage, Carcieri has not yet stated whether, he will sign, veto or allow to become law without his signature a bill to provide domestic partners with the right to make funeral arrangements for their partners."

How same-sex marriage has worked in The Netherlands.

Excellent chart on same-sex marriage and age.

Gays are not welcome at Vatican City, but what about all the gays who are already there?

Madonna is in Brazil to meet Jesus Luz's mother, who is 14 years her junior.

Andy Warhol's "jock" Polaroids are on display in NYC.

A previously-undiscovered asteroid came within 14,000 km of Earth last week and it was only noticed 15 hours before its closest approach: "This is the third-closest known non-impacting Earth approach on record for a cataloged (sic) asteroid."

David Beckham got a post-Halloween buzz.

Connecticut Governor Jodi Rell says she's not running for reelection: "Rell choked up while listing her favorite memories while in office, including meeting those affected by the passage of public health insurance for the poor, updates to mass transit, and improvements to the state's education system. She cited a gay couple who hugged her at Stafford Motor Speedway after she signed the nation's first voluntarily passed civil union bill."

Westboro Baptist Church protests outside of Sasha and Malia Obama's school in D.C..

James Franco's General Hospital role: graffiti artist?

Paris Hilton threatening to sue for being made the spokesmodel for vacant space - literally.

New York Army specialist in Baghdad being discharged under 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell': "Nathanael Bodon of Marlboro is a specialist in the Army Reserve stationed in Baghdad, Iraq. He has been in the reserves for about a year-and-a-half and in Iraq for some four months. The Army found out about Bodon when a fellow soldier found his blog with a picture of him kissing a former boyfriend and tipped off the Army brass."

Sally Kern's husband to join religious groups for Monday rally in D.C. against marriage equality.

Brazilian model Miro Moreira lowers his rate.

N.Y. Posts' Andrea Peyser defends cabbie who kicked out gays for hugging: " Mohamed faces the indignity of having his cab license yanked by the Taxi and Limousine Commission. He's already lost his job. But Medhat Mohamed is no bigot, and he's not a disgrace. He's also not a prude, a gay basher, a homophobe or the more colorful invective that's been lobbed in his direction by a chorus of yuppies with a large bone to pick."