On the lookout for intelligent signals from the stars (Image: Louie Psihoyos/Corbis) 
A combination photo shows (top) a view of the damage near Baiturrahman mosque December 27, 2004, the day after a tsunami hit the Indonesian city of Banda Aceh, and (bottom) an Acehnese man collecting grass for his goat in the same area, December 4, 2009. (Reuters)
Image: Tim Tadder / Corbis
From The BBC:
Amazon's second-generation Kindle
Glucose molecular model. (Credit: iStockphoto/Martin McCarthy)
Terry Tickhill (light hat) and Eileen McSaveney (red headband) use a hand augur to drill Lake Vanda, Wright Valley, Antarctica during the 1969-1970 field season. Water collected during this effort was used to date the lake. The green tent in the background was of the same type as the field crew used for housing during their work in Wright Valley. Credit: Lois Jones
A monitor at Tradeworx’s offices keeps track of the net trading operations during the day. It generally ticks up. Credit: Steve Moors 
In a recent study, a third of subjects claimed to feel real pain in the same
T-rays can offer a safer, more effective alternative to current airport screeners
Representative thin crystalline-silicon photovoltaic cells -- these are from 14 to 20 micrometers thick and 0.25 to 1 millimeter across. (Credit: Image by Murat Okandan)
The eSolar plant in the Mojave Desert generates enough electricity to power 4,000 homes
From Technology Review:
Professor Sue Hartley (right) supports volunteer Adam after he eats a Naga chilli
Skeleton key: the 47 million-year-old remains of 'Ida' are the most complete fossil of a primate ever found. The young female specimen was found in Germany. AFP/GETTY IMAGES
Artist's rendition of a brown dwarf and its moon orbiting a triple star system. (Credit: NASA)
It wasn't until 1809 that Santa Clause got fat, and by the late 1800s he was wearing the full red suit with the fur trim and leather boots. Image credit: stockxpert
From CNET:Citigroup denies it, but its Citibank unit was reportedly robbed of tens of millions of dollars, the victim of a cyberattack by members of a Russian criminal gang, says Tuesday's Wall Steet Journal (subscription required).
The attack was discovered this past summer, says the Journal, but investigators for the FBI and National Security Agency believe it could have happened months or a year prior. The two agencies have reportedly shared information with the Department of Homeland Security and Citigroup to defend against the attack. The investigation is supposedly ongoing, with no word on whether or not any of the stolen money has been found.
The Cyborg Leg It helps perfectly healthy runners run 30 percent more efficiently.
Influencing the weather (Image: J.C Dahlig/Bereau of Reclamation)
Green crude from oil processed from algae
The organ at Christ Church, Episcopal, in Rochester. Stewart Cairns for The New York Times
A Soyuz-FG rocket booster with Soyuz TMA-17 space ship, carrying a new crew to the international space station (ISS), lifts off from the Russian leased Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan, Monday, Dec. 21, 2009. The Soyuz TMA-17's three astronauts will take the orbiting laboratory's permanent crew to five following the early-hours launch, the first-ever blastoff of a Soyuz rocket on a winter night.(Xinhua/Reuters Photo)
From The Telegraph:
U.S. soldiers disfigured in combat will now be able to get face transplants
Stone tools from the Benot Ya'aqov arah.
From Live Science:
Better Connectivity A unit-level "cloud" will allow soldiers in the field to communicate vertically up the chain of command, as well as with other ground and air units operating nearby for seamless sharing of intel, orders, and other data. U.S. Army 
Illuminating the "dark matter" of the genome
From Apple Insider:
Members of a suburban Boston book group. Mary Knox Merrill / Staff
From The Telegraph:
Mike Cipra, a desert program manager for the National Parks Conservation Association, examines a burned Joshua tree that shows signs of growth earlier this month. Scientists say the effects of global warming could make Joshuas extinct within a century. Kurt Miller / The Press-Enterprise
The patient had a stroke in the brain, which stopped neural signals from travelling through the body. The electrode bypassed these channels and sent the thought signals to an FM receiver outside the body to a speech synthesizer via a neural decoder
Predator X: As seen in one of the most popular news stories of 2009, this 45-ton pliosaur crushed its prey with 30-centimetre-long teeth. Credit: Atlantic ProductionsSYDNEY: From T. rex sized sea monsters to the risk of Africa splitting in two - here are the most read news stories of 2009.
KILOMETRE-HIGH WAVES FLOW IN SATURN'S RINGS
NASA's Cassini probe has uncovered for the first time towering vertical structures in Saturn's seemingly flat rings that are due to the gravitational effects of a small moon.
VOLCANIC ACTIVITY COULD SPLIT AFRICA
Volcanic activity may split the African continent in two, creating a new ocean, say experts. This is due to a recent geological crack which has appeared in northeastern Ethiopia.
Supernovas that come from thermonuclear explosion on white dwarfs (known as Type Ia) produce very symmetric remnants. Another type, created when a very massive star collapses, results in more asymmetrically shaped remnants. (Credit: NASA/CXC/UCSC/L. Lopez et al.)
Reindeer and caribou are two names for the same species called Rangifer tarandus, with reindeer generally referring to the domesticated variety that pull sleds. Credit: Stockxpert.
Courtesy Vcom 3D
No surprise here. Oh, and cats aren't getting you any exercise.
Is it better to walk a human or to walk a dog?
New research from the University of Missouri has found that people who walk dogs are more consistent about regular exercise and show more improvement in fitness than people who walk with a human companion. In a 12-week study of 54 older adults at an assisted living home, 35 people were assigned to a walking program for five days a week, while the remaining 19 served as a control group. Among the walkers, 23 selected a friend or spouse to serve as a regular walking partner along a trail laid out near the home. Another 12 participants took a bus daily to a local animal shelter where they were assigned a dog to walk.
Click thru to read the details. Suffice to say, dogs rule.
The VASIMR ion engine could - if powered by an onboard nuclear reactor - take astronauts to Mars in just 39 days (Illustration: Ad Astra Rocket Company)
From The BBC:
The B-2 It's bad, but the brass wants something badder. The next-generation of bombers will conduct extensive intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance missions, as well as carry directed-energy and other non-kinetic weapons. 
UPDATE: The East coast snowstorm seen from space
