Cheetos and chopsticks....hrm.

It's the most brilliant thing ever. I think credit goes to the Scola.

Cheetos and chopsticks....hrm.

It's the most brilliant thing ever. I think credit goes to the Scola.

You know, as cool as cheetos and chopsticks is (are?) (no, "is," because I'm referring to the singular compound cheetos-and-choptsticks experience), I have an unholy love for licking the neon orange "cheez" off my fingers after eating a bunch of cheetos.

Possibly I need help. Maybe a group. Unrepentant Cheeto Finger-Lickers Anonymous.

You can lick the chopsticks.

But the more you lick your fingers, the more orange goop sticks to them. It's like a vicious circle of numiness....

You can lick the chopsticks.

Ooh. Pet peeve is the cheap disposable chopsticks you get in some places. The surface is rough and wholly unsuited to coming into contact with lips or tongue. It's like licking a blackboard. Well, without the chalk residue. Unless you're using them to eat Mylanta or something, I guess.

You have to sand them against each other for a few minutes first. Not perfect, but a lot better.

It's like a vicious circle of numiness....

If you check carefully, you'll find that written in small print on the front of the Cheetos packet.

But the more you lick your fingers, the more orange goop sticks to them.

You have to wait until you're finished eating the Cheetos before you lick your fingers.

You have to sand them against each other for a few minutes first. Not perfect, but a lot better.

I like the idea, and am now seriously considering packing a small piece of actual sandpaper.

Or just getting Indian instead.

Oh, Hubble, Can This Really Be the End?

The spectacular collision between two satellites on Feb. 10 could make the shuttle mission to fix the Hubble Space Telescope too risky to attempt.

Before the collision, space junk problems had already upped the Hubble mission's risk of a "catastrophic impact" beyond NASA's usual limits, Nature's Geoff Brumfiel reported today, and now the problem will be worse.

Mark Matney, an orbital debris specialist at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas told the publication that even before the collision, the risk of an impact was 1 in 185, which was "uncomfortably close to unacceptable levels" and the satellite collision "is only going to add on to that."

Matney said that it could be one or two weeks before NASA knows if the mission will go ahead. If it does, the shuttle Atlantis is expected to reach the telescope in mid-May.

...

NASA spokeswoman, Beth Dickey, would not specifically comment on whether or not the collision had created elevated risk for the Hubble repair mission.

"What we've told everyone is that there is an elevated risk to virtually any satellite in low-earth orbit," Dickey said. "As far as NASA's assets are concerned, that risk is considered to be very small. I have not seen or heard anything that would lead me to think differently."

Dickey noted, however, that the mission would receive a full check out in the weeks between now and the scheduled launch.

"From a standpoint of space operations and the space shuttle program, NASA is going to treat the Hubble mission like any other Shuttle flight," Dickey said. "It's going to get a thorough risk assessment as time passes. The readiness for flight will be determined as we get closer to the [launch] date."