The Phoenix Mars Lander has announced the discovery of real ice on Mars! The news came via Twitter feed.

NASA has just a little bit more information. Some bright material that was photographed four days ago has disappeared, leading scientists to believe it was ice that vaporized when exposed.

"It must be ice," said Phoenix Principal Investigator Peter Smith of the University of Arizona, Tucson. "These little clumps completely disappearing over the course of a few days, that is perfect evidence that it's ice. There had been some question whether the bright material was salt. Salt can't do that."

The chunks were left at the bottom of a trench informally called "Dodo-Goldilocks" when Phoenix's Robotic Arm enlarged that trench on June 15, during the 20th Martian day, or sol, since landing. Several were gone when Phoenix looked at the trench early today, on Sol 24.

There will be a press conference Friday at 1PM EDT with more details.

Wired posted the two photographs in gif form, so you can see the difference.

Best day ever? Wait til the little green men pop up and ticket you for tresspassing!

Here's the game;

All of us have pet peeves. Everyday occurrences that really stick in our craw. They just make you nuts. If you found a old, beat-up lamp, gave her a rub, a genie that sounds like that guy from "Good Morning Vietnam" popped out, granted you three wishes, one may be used to eliminate some of these bugaboos.

In my fantasy world - a magical land where the Mountain Dew flows like wine, there are beef jerky trees, Bob Dylan is on the jukebox and monkeys wear tuxedos - I am allowing you to nominate whatever makes you feel like jamming a screwdriver into your medulla oblongata and cast them into The Pit of Hades.

Never to return.

Tossed into the fiery abyss and destroyed. Similar to when Frodo finally tossed the Ring of Power into Mount Doom.

Think long and hard, be as mean and cynical as you want, and consider what should be set ablaze in Beelzebub's Pit.

All was well with the big stunt until Gustav got closer to street level.

Monkey News!

There are various reports today saying that Cheeta, the 76-year-old star of the Tarzan films, did not receive enough votes to merit a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2009.

This injustice will not stand.

Here is a list of characters that do have stars; Godzilla, Mickey Mouse, Rin Tin Tin, Lassie, Donald Duck, Big Bird, Snow White, Bugs Bunny, The Simpsons and Kermit the Frog. Most of them aren't even real.

Earlier this year, The Munchkins from "The Wizard of Oz" were honored on that famous walk. Walking dead Ozzy Osborne has a star. So does Britney Spears and Pee Wee Herman.

Cheeta needs our help.

An online petition has been set up in the hopes of bringing attention to this travesty. See it here. I have signed her, you should do the same.

In addition, an "interview" with the great ape can be seen here.

God speed Cheeta.

"Get Smart" *** (out of four): It may not be "Smart", but it's still silly, pleasant fun.

There have been dozens of TV-to-film adaptations over the last several years ("Bewitched" comes to mind as the most ill-advised), but "Get Smart" is one of the few cases in which a jump to the big screen actually makes sense. Created by Mel Brooks and Buck Henry, the original television show was a spoof of James Bond films and shows like "The Man from U.N.C.L.E." and "Mission: Impossible". While satirizing the spy genre, it also served to ease Cold War tensions by poking fun at both sides. KAOS (the bad guys) were evil, but they were bungling and incompetent. CONTROL's top agent, Maxwell Smart (Don Adams) was also inept, but just lucky enough to thwart their plans for world domination.

Read more on BigPictureBigSound...

"The Love Guru" *1/2 (out of four): This half-baked attempt to create a feature film around a riff on Deepak Chopra finds Mike Myers lost in Powers.

When an actor lands the role he (or she) was born to play, it's magic. No one does Inspector Clouseau like Peter Sellers (sorry, Steve Martin); No one but Ahnuld could have been "The Terminator" (sorry, "Sarah Connor Chronicles"); and let's face it, Keanu had been building up to Neo his whole life. It seems, judging by "The Love Guru", Mike Myers found his role as well. It's Austin Powers.

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If you have already seen the movie and thought it sucked, then you'll want to read Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull: The Abridged Script. If you enjoyed the movie like I did (I'm very good at the suspension of disbelief), you'll still get a kick out of it. If you haven't seen the movie yet, be warned that every line is a spoiler. A sample:

HARRISON FORD Alright folks, let's get this show on the road. I want to make it to Country Buffet by four.

CATE BLANCHETT
Pryvet, Harrison. I am evil Soviet. You vill help me find Moose and Squirrel, yes?

HARRISON FORD
Holy Christ, you're not going to talk like that the whole movie are you?

CATE BLANCHETT
Da. You vill help locate MacKuffin now.

(via Geek Like Me)

I thought I'd start the summer heat early with the best YouTube videos of Victoria's Secret model/Future Mrs. Echowood, Alessandra Ambrosio.