StrangeSights

• Help out NASA by counting some craters on Mars. The US space organisation and Microsoft have joined to create the ‘Be a Martian’ website which allows websurfers to help in improving maps of the red planet, take part in research tasks and assist studying data. NASA says that counting craters, for example, may help scientists to determine the relative ages of small regions on Mars. “We’re at a point in history where everyone can be an explorer,” says Doug McCuistion, director of the Mars Exploration Program at NASA HQ in Washington. “With so much data coming back from Mars missions that are accessible by all, exploring Mars has become a shared human endeavor. People worldwide can expand the specialised efforts of a few hundred Mars mission team members and make authentic contributions of their own.” Sound like fun? Visit http://beamartian.jpl.nasa.gov.

• “Unfriend” - a word which describes what happens when you remove a person from your Facebook ‘friends’ list - has taken the honors as the New Oxford American Dictionary’s “word of the year“. It beat, among others, ‘intexticated’ (being distracted because you’re texting while driving); ‘funemployed’ (making the most of your unemployed status by pursuing recreational interests); and ‘deleb’ (a dead celebrity). The blog post announcing the news also includes a list of some ‘Obamaisms’ - everything from ‘Obamanomics to Obamalypse’.

• It was a case worthy of Seinfeld’s library detective, Mr Bookman. US high school librarian Georgette Bordine reportedly recently received two overdue books which were originally checked out 50 years ago along with a cheque for $1000 to cover the overdue fees.

• Looking for the “second best job in the world”? In the wake of the hunt for someone to fill the “best job in the world” - as a caretaker on an island in Queensland - the website letsbuyit.com has launched a competition for an “international shopping consultant” whose mission involves travelling to the premier shopping cities of the world - everywhere from Paris to Milan, New York to Tokyo. The job - which involves visiting the cities, finding unique and cheap products and then blogging about it - carries a monthly salary of 5,000 euros as well as a 10,000 euro shopping budget, business class travel and stays in prestigious hotels. Only drawback - the job’s tenure only runs for a month. Apply here if you think you’re up to it!

• A human billboard? American Jason Sadler has found a novel way to make money by selling space on the back of his T-shirt. A former marketing professional, he charges companies the face value of the day - that is, $US1 for 1st January and $US365 for 31st December - to wear their T-shirt on that day. 2009 has sold out - netting him more than $US66,000 - and, at the time of writing only 121 days of 2010 remain. Not a bad way to make what is quite a good living!

In other news:

• A near miss? The UK’s Daily Mail reports that an asteroid passed within 8,700 miles of Earth last Friday (the moon, in contrast, is 250,000 miles away) - but at only 23 feet across, it would have almost completely burned up on entering the Earth’s atmosphere.

• Now that’s perseverance! A Korean woman has reportedly finally passed her driving theory test after 950 attempts. Sixty-eight year old Cha Sa-Soon had been trying since April 2005.