Assorted Links

Checkers has been solved.  It’s a draw.  At least starting out in the usual configuration.

Google has put up $30 million to fund a Lunar X Prize.  "A $20 million grand prize will be awarded to the first team to soft
land its spacecraft on the moon, rove on its surface for at least 500
meters, and transmit specified images and video to earth."

The Twenty Most Bizarre Experiments of all Time.  Amazing.  Many I would not have thought possible.