His lithium hydroxide CO2 scrubber broke, allowing the lethal gas to build up to dangerous levels. Lithium hydroxide is a corrosive alkali hydroxide, a white hygroscopic crystalline material that is used in filters to purify air. For unknown reason, the filtering mechanism didn't work, and the CO2 wasn't correctly processed. Cassidy didn't notice any apparent effect, but the spacewalk came to a sudden ending after Houston noticed that things weren't right at all inside his suit.

His words after getting into the ISS airlock: "I'm just going to sit here and wait for Dave and enjoy the view."

Balls of titanium, I tell you. [Aviation Week]

The units, demo versions of which already exist (this is assuredly not a concept), take CO2 in from the air and turn it into liquid, which is easier to store and manage. Professor Klaus Lackner, lead developer, notes that the synthetic trees are not designed to replace, say, coal plants that reduce emissions from the inside, but this could be one very useful plastic plant if it sees mass production. [CNN]

Furthermore, the trees inside the structure would be nourished using a windmill-powered pump system, so it would not significantly contribute to our energy consumption. Would something like this actually work? Maybe—that is until the wind kicks up and we have trees falling all over the streets of L.A. [Core77]

The collar illuminates at night, thanks to built in, solar powered LED lights, which could be helpful if your pooch is the wandering type. But the best part is the integrated humidity sensor that triggers a CO2 cartridge to inflate the collar when submerged in water. It's a little bulky, but if for some reason you live in a flood-prone area and your dog is defective and can't swim, it might be a good idea to strap him to one of these collars. Or you could, you know, teach him how to swim. [MAKE via DVICE

The carbon dioxide is the main reason for the excitement because, under the right circumstances, it could have a connection to biological activity as it does on Earth. The very fact we are able to detect it and estimate its abundance is significant for the long-term effort of characterizing planets to find out what they are made of and if they could be a possible host for life.

Until now, the Hubble was mostly used for observations of stars and galaxies in the distant universe. However, the new analysis method created by Mark Swain, a research scientist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., uses the space telescope's near infrared camera and multi-object spectrometer to make these findings.

The technique requires the planet to block its star. At that time, the light of the star could be subtracted from the light of the star and the planet prior to the eclipse. That way, scientists can analyze the chemical composition of the planet's atmosphere by looking at the resulting light, because the gases "absorb certain wavelengths of light from the planet's hot glowing interior".

According to NASA, HD 189733b is too hot to actually have life (at least, life as we know it), but the method opens the door to the discovery of life in distant solar systems.

As if Tom wasn't proof enough that aliens actually exists. [NASA]

The binding borrows the chair's breathable webbing and strong Y support core, creating a lightweight and flexible structure that will run interested snowboarders $390. It's incredibly interesting to see the unique design principles of one product make their way into another product, even if it's obvious (in retrospect) that such ideas would easily scale for universal application.

But everyone be nice to Burton and be sure not to mention that the Aeron's successor was already announced...and it uses a completely new "H" back support. I guess that's what Burton's 2010 line is for. [Fast Company via Core77]