In order to go explore an icy proto-moon of earth, there first has to actually EXIST an icy proto-moon of earth.
As for Venus, we're more likely to play a soccer match against the folks from Alpha Centauri than to find recognizable life on Venus. Although it is obviously possible that some radically different form of life exists elsewhere in the universe, all life on earth is dependent on the existence of liquid water, which is completely absent on Venus.
To bring this back to some shred of telecom relevance, I was at a shopping mall this afternoon and saw a whole *booth* devoted to products to protect me from the risk that my cellphone could cause brain cancer. The products included some hands-free ear pieces that at least move the source of radiation away from your brain, which would significantly reduce the danger if there actually were any danger to begin with. However, they also included some little metallic stickers to place over the speaker grille of the cellphone itself, for people who insist on holding the phone right up against their brain cases. Those would be utterly superfluous even if there were a real risk, but they claim to reduce harmful radiation by up to 78%. Where is the bunko squad when you need them?
Linc Madison * San Francisco, California * snipped-for-privacy@suespammers.org * primary e-mail: Telecom at LincMad d0t c0m Read my political blog, "The Third Path" DO NOT SEND UNSOLICITED E-MAIL TO THIS ADDRESS. You have been warned.