-Our gung-ho enthusiasm for antidepressants mean that there is a certain amount of Prozac in the water these days. Freshwater mussels are less than pleased, though, since Prozac is making them release their larvae before they are viable. Freshwater mussels are sensitive creatures, and 70 percent of the species native to North America are extinct.

-In an irresistible item, a peculiar bird called the Black-Bone Silky Fowl has been found to be packed with carnosine, which has a rep for anti-aging and other positive health effects. The bird is a staple of Chinese medicine, and has soft white feathers over black flesh and bones.

-Check out the brand new Chemical Structure Lookup Service, hosted at NIH,. https://cactus.nci.nih.gov/cgi-bin/lookup/search

-Fucoxanthin, from brown seaweed, is taken up by the fat. It seems to both reduce adipose tissue and turn the fat a bright orange. Anti-obesity clinical trials are in the works.

-Adrienne Kozlowski, retired chemist, and her husband, have taken up hot air ballooning as a hobby. They say it is a perfect diversion for chemists, because manipulating the balloon is all a matter of mastering the laminar flow of the air.

–Peter Murray Rust, of Cambridge, on the future of Chemical information: “We are going to start mashing, and it is going to amaze the world.”

Shuttle managers have set tomorrow at 12:39 EDT as the new launch date for STS 115. This time, things are looking a little better: there’s only a small chance of thunderstorms and no tropical storms or hurricanes in the Gulf of Mexico.

Still, the Air Force weather folks, who do forecasting for launch days, say that lift off isn’t a sure thing. Strict launch weather conditions mean that puffy cumulous clouds may be enough to force a scrub, and there is a chance of scattered showers at the Shuttle Landing Facility a few kilometres from the launch site. The bottom line is that the shuttle has only a 70% chance of getting off the ground tomorrow.

I’m headed back this afternoon, and I’ll write more when I arrive.