State of the Climate: Will President Obama follow his climate-heavy inaugural address with a State of the Union speech that dives deep into the nitty-gritty details of how his second term will bolster a clean energy future, cap a carbon-spewing past, and save the planet and its people? Are Michelle Obama's bangs growing in evenly? We are tuning in with anxious anticipation. The Hill, Charleston Gazette
Living large at Mardi Gras: Just in time for Lent, New Orleans has launched an anti-obesity campaign. With schoolyard gardens and healthy lunch programs, the portly port city, famous for its deep-fried, buttery everythings, is getting serious about slimming down -- so serious, a "Fat Cat" float in today’s parade is even going after NOLA's flabby felines. Al Jazeera
Ground control: A new satellite -- Landsat 8 -- hit orbit yesterday, continuing 40 years of non-stop planet monitoring by the U.S. Geological Service. Wired features some of the mission’s most dramatic Earth images, including the two Las Vegas shots above. (Turns out, what happens in Vegas doesn’t stay in Vegas; It spills out into the desert quite rapidly.) Wired
Southern exposure: The Southern Environmental Law Center has listed the South’s top 10 places in danger of irreparable environmental harm. Y’all know those lucky locales are now busy updating their tourism brochures: “Get lost among the lost colony of Roanoke’s uranium mines” or “Take the scenic route through Appalachia’s decapitated mountaintops as you cruise down our new ‘Coalfields Expressway.’” Environmental News Service
Happy Birthday, Charlie!: Today Charles Darwin would have turned 204 years old (well, if he had had some genetic mutation that would have allowed him to live that long), and scientists around the world are throwing evolution-themed "Darwin Day" parties and lectures. Creationists are staying home, planning their next assault on your kid's science education. Slate
That umbrella ain’t gonna cut it: While Northeasterners were taking shelter from big, fluffy snowflakes, Brazilians were running from a different sort of precipitation: spiders. That’s right, spiders falling from the sky! Warning: This video -- by an amateur, possibly drunk cameraman -- will induce heart attacks in arachnophobics and nausea in just about everyone else. Washington Post
A dirty dozen: This 60-second podcast tells you why a poem (or a haiku, if you're lazy) might get you further with your Earth-lovin' lover this Valentine's Day than CO2-belching, poison-spraying, water-guzzling roses. Scientific American
Image: USGS
