Earth at Night — a spectacular picture of the Earth taken from the new Space Station.

You have to scroll down and right to view the whole thing. Interesting observations below the picture.

Judge Rules Fingerprints Cannot Be Called a Match:

‘A judge has ruled for the first time that fingerprint evidence, a virtually unassailable prosecutorial tool for 90 years, does not meet the standards set for scientific testimony and that experts in the field cannot testify that a suspect’s prints definitely match those found at a crime scene.

The decision, by a senior federal judge in Philadelphia, comes after two years of efforts by defense lawyers to hold fingerprint analysis to standards set by the Supreme Court in 1993.

The judge, Louis H. Pollak, found that fingerprint analysis had not been subjected to the rigorous testing required under those standards.’

NY Times

Wake Me When It’s Over: ‘The attorney general of Texas has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to review the overturned death penalty conviction of a man whose lawyer slept through his trial.

The 5th circuit appeals court ruled that the “consistent unconsciousness” of his attorney had compromised the defendant’s rights to due process. But the state of Texas is not about to give up on this execution.’ The American Prospect

Animal Virus May Contribute to Mental Illness: ‘A virus that infects animals but is thought to be relatively harmless to humans might possibly contribute to some cases of mental illness, according to a virologist who presented the controversial evidence at a meeting here Wednesday.

Prof. Norbert Nowotny, from the University of Veterinary Sciences, Vienna, told researchers at the meeting that Borna disease virus, which causes a fatal brain disease in animals, might be linked to schizophrenia, depression and chronic fatigue syndrome in humans.’ Reuters