Links and Minifeatures 11 04 Sunday

Too surreal to ignore: Chessboxing. Precisely what you'd think from the name. Six rounds of speed chess, five rounds in the boxing ring.

"The problem is adrenaline," he says. "It can bring you to the point of overestimating positions. After the first boxing round, don't make fast moves - try to slow down. And try to make the last move before the boxing so your opponent has to make the first move afterward."

If I were twenty, I'd probably give it a whirl.

Creature ID'd as coyote, not chupacabra

It would have been cool to see the legend verified. But the facts didn't support that.

California Prepares for More Fires

None of more than two dozen air tankers and military helicopters that arrived from around the country to fight last month's blazes are returning to their home bases, said Francis Solich, a spokesman for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.

Now why didn't they think of that - sooner?

I had a fairly large boost in traffic from covering the fires. Still, I'd rather not have a repeat.

Planet Hunting: Find Neptune and Uranus

I've seen Uranus naked eye and through my old telescope, but never Neptune. It's worth doing, especially if you're out away from city lights and have binoculars (or better). The official moon count for Uranus was about 9 or 10 back then, and no, my telescope wasn't good enough for the rings. For that matter, I wasn't certain if the flecks around Uranus were Oberon and Titania or just dim stars in the right place.

(The first time you see Saturn's rings through a decent home scope, you will be hooked)