1. Based on “public safety and quality of life concerns,” Hoboken mayor Dawn Zimmer has rejected a permit request from MTV to shoot upcoming episodes of a Jersey Shore spinoff featuring J-Woww and Snooki in her town. Smart lady. [via Fox News]

2. In other MTV-related news, the network is teaming up with Logo on It Gets Better, an hour-long special on the struggles of LGBT teens; hosted by Dan Savage, the show will chronicle the stories of three young people and include appearances by celebrities like Zachary Quinto, Margaret Cho, and Chaz Bono. [via EW]

3. Rumor has it that after the stock market closes today, Facebook will submit its paperwork to regulators for a $5 billion IPO, making it one of the biggest market debuts in US history. (For reference, Google’s IPO was a mere $2 billion.) [via The Daily Beast]

4. Taran Noah Smith — aka gawky Mark, the youngest and most forgettable of the Home Improvement brothers — was arrested last night and charged with a DUI and possession of hash. This is what happens when you’re a child star who grows up in the enormous shadow of Jonathan Taylor Thomas. [via Gawker]

5. It looks like Ridley Scott is interested in directing The Counselor, Pulitzer-winning novelist Cormac McCarthy’s first attempt at a spec script; given that the “disturbing and powerful” story features two women in its leading roles and is set in the Southwest, we think that the Thelma and Louise helmer could be an excellent fit. [via Vulture]

Bonus Buzz: NASA Engineer Reveals Secret Of Space Cats

When it comes to RVs, you’ve got your run-of-the-mill vehicles, which lead people to behavior like this, and then you’ve got the classier sort — namely the silver beauty known as the Airstream. The gleaming rock star of the RV world, the Airstream has been embraced by everyone from vintage enthusiasts to NASA since its first appearance in the 1930s. In conjunction with its Sailor Jerry Presents concert series, the retro-minded rum merchant has embraced it as well, outfitting an Airstream trailer to take its rock n’ roll mission on the road. Inspired by that iconic mashup, we went hunting for more adventurous Airstream appropriations — and we think you’ll be equally inspired by what we found.

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The recruitment video feels a little lame, but since this is a call for astronauts we can totally forgive. NASA’s hiring space cadets to help identify ” … possible near-Earth asteroids to explore with the goal of visiting an asteroid in 2025.” They’ll be sending a “robotic precursor mission” to the asteroid in question five years before humans show up. Hopefully that means you beat the humanoids that get there first, or something. Click through if you’ve got the “creativity. Ambition. Teamwork. A sense of daring. And a probing mind.” Send us a postcard, won’t you? Read More »

Corn mazes are generally made for the enjoyment of children, but kids are also the last people to appreciate how much effort has to go into the creation of these living puzzles. That’s particularly true when it comes to these amazing corn maze designs made to celebrate the 50th anniversary of NASA. Some of our favorites are behind the cut, but if you really like the mazes, be sure to click on the link to view more and vote on your favorite.

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We’ll admit that ever since Wes Anderson used “Starálfur” in the background of that scene from The Life Aquatic, just hearing a few seconds of the beautiful track instantly transports us to another world. So, it’s only fitting that Gizmodo chose the same Sigur Rós song for this never-before-seen clip, which features a series of time-lapse videos captured over the course of 14 years by the Hubble Space Telescope. No, there’s no jaguar shark to be found here, just some protostellar jets blasting away as stars are created 1,350 light-years from Earth. Check out the stunning footage here, and if you’re like us, try to keep reminding yourself that what you’re watching is real and not a movie.

1. “Mission complete, Houston. After serving the world for over 30 years, the space shuttle has earned its place in history. It’s come to a final stop.” – Mission commander Christopher Ferguson welcomes home the Space Shuttle Atlantis, bringing an end to the NASA space shuttle program at 5:57am this morning. Watch a video of the landing here.

2. Jay-Z and Kanye West have finally released another single from their highly-anticipated collaboration album Watch the Throne, which is due out on August 2. Give “Otis” a listen here.

3. While the word is that you won’t be seeing any footage from The Avengers coming out of Comic-Con, Marvel Studios has launched the film’s official website and released a downloadable teaser poster. So there’s that. [via Slashfilm]

4. In other Joss Whedon- and Chris Hemsworth-related news, The Cabin in the Woods, a horror comedy that the former co-wrote and the latter stars in, has an April 13, 2012 release date after years of delays. That’s just three weeks before The Avengers comes out! [via Vulture]

5. If you’re curious about such things, the nominations for this year’s MTV Video Music Awards have been announced, with Katy Perry, Adele, and Kanye West scoring the most nods. We’re more interested in seeing if Lady Gaga is able to top last year’s dramatic entrance via a giant egg. [via NME]

Bonus link: Celerywave Is The Next Great Music Genre

Yesterday, Atlantis, NASA’s final shuttle for the foreseeable future, lifted off from the Kennedy Space Center. When Atlantis returns from its planned 12-day mission, it will mark the end of the US’s 30-year old space shuttle program and begin what is reported to be a four year wait before NASA is able to make spaceships again. Though NASA has spent years without making shuttles before, it still puts the program in a tenuous place. According to former astronaut Leroy Chiao, “After this mission, we will no longer have the ability to send American astronauts into space ourselves… And, arguably, we will no longer be the leaders in human spaceflight until we get that capability back.” To fuel your nostalgia for an age likely gone, NPR has compiled a nostalgia video about the glory days of shuttle launches past. Click through to watch and let us know how you feel about the momentous event in the comments.

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No, that’s not some image snapped on another planet; it’s a photo taken at Mono Lake, California, the poisonous location where NASA scientists have discovered bacteria made out of arsenic. What’s the big biological deal? It’s the first time that they’ve found a new life form that doesn’t share DNA blocks with any other being on Earth. In other words: Aliens. They’re probably not just like us. More will be revealed today at a press conference at 2pm EST — which is just 30 minutes away! Do you find this as exciting as we do? Or did we grow up watching too much ALF?

Last month, the Aetherius Society sent out a message suggesting that there was a correlation between earth’s deadly earthquakes and “NASA’s recent bombardment of the Moon.” Is there an actual connection between space exploration and natural disasters on Earth? NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab had this to say: “The answer is no, there is no plausible link between the two. There would be no significant change in the orbital dynamics between the Moon and Earth, so there would be no change in tidal stresses that might somehow influence stresses on faults and increase the occurrence of earthquakes.”

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With seemingly limitless scientific ingenuity, it should have been easy to guess that the one thing the brainiacs at NASA don’t know how to do is be popular. NASA’s rep has been on the decline since word of an economic slowdown hit and resources began going to the war in Iraq. Then there was the moon bomb that wasn’t. But with today’s unmanned (and successful!) rocket mission, NASA has a lot to crow about once more.

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