It's been interesting to see how various governments around the world deal with the freedom of speech issues that the internet has been creating. We've seen Thailand, Turkey and Brazil all block sites at one point or another, after some were upset about some user-created content. However, it appears that at least some are recognizing that you can't make everyone shut up when every computer is its own printing press. Earlier this month, we wrote about how some Malaysian politicians were so upset with some blogs criticizing local policies that there was talk of forcing bloggers to register with the government along with a few poorly thought out statements about how bloggers were liars. While other politicians rejected the idea of forcing bloggers to register, it's interesting to see the country's former prime minister, Mahathir Mohmad quoted as saying that he believes blogs are a valuable source of news -- especially given the "tightly controlled" media. Of course, as the article notes that Mahathir was criticized during his own administration for suppressing the media -- so the praise rings a bit hollow. As one person in the story notes: "I just wished that he would have said the same thing when he was prime minister."

It is perhaps an unlikely combination -- an international team of scientists stationed in Svalbard, Norway and two polar explorers crossing the North Pole on foot. Both teams, however, are currently part of a common effort to collect vital data on the ground and from the air in support of ESA's ice mission CryoSat-2.

A new study to evaluate treatments for addiction to prescription painkillers is being launched in California. This is the first large-scale study to assess whether addiction to opioid painkillers, such as Vicodin and OxyContin, can effectively be treated with drug treatments currently used for heroin addiction.