“It came as a joke, but something significant came out of it.”

Scott Barley, a DJ for California-based Highway Radio, who has paid off a $400 fine imposed on NASA thirty years ago when parts of its Skylab space station broke up around Esperance, Western Australia. He was guest-of-honour at anniversary celebrations on 13 July. (Discover)

“After considerable study, we have determined that the potential advantages and benefits of biofuel from algae could be significant.”

Emil Jacobs, vice-president of R&D at ExxonMobil, explains why the oil giant has formed an alliance worth up to $600 million with Craig Venter’s biotech company, Synthetic Genomics.

“This is an opportunity to transition solid-state laser technology to the warfighter.”

Dan Wildt, at Northrop Grumman, which has won a US Navy $98-million contract to install and test a prototype high-power laser on board a ship (Aviation Week).