Interesting links today

Very interesting article about what our solar system might look like after the sun burns through its hydrogen and eventually (after swallowing Earth as a Red Giant) becomes a white dwarf star.

http://www.universetoday.com/2009/03/19/the-sun-as-a-white-dwarf-star/

Also found a neat article about bacteria found in the upper stratosphere of Earth, basically high enough to be the border of Earth's atmosphere and space itself.

http://blog.wired.com/wiredscience/2009/03/stratospherebug.html

Okay while I'm at it... Found this one as well, its content is on Terraforming, but starting by introducing bacteria that excrete oxygen. For a neat demonstration on just how far we've come in genetic engineering, check out Craig Ventnor's TED talk (also linked below).

http://blog.wired.com/wiredscience/2008/07/extraterrestria.html
http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/craig_venter_is_on_the_verge_of_creating_synthetic_life.html