2001 SN 263 (a number to remember)

2001 SN 263 is the name of an asteroid which, they just discovered, is actually three bodies orbiting each other. In the words of spaceref news:

First near-Earth triple asteroid discovered by Arecibo Observatory astronomers – a mere 7
million miles from Earth
http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewpr.html?pid=24775

Once considered just your average single asteroid, 2001 SN263 has now been revealed as the
first near-Earth triple asteroid ever found. The asteroid - with three bodies orbiting each other -
was discovered this week by astronomers at the sensitive radar telescope at Cornell University's
Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico.

Chocolate Covered Irony

By a lovely coincidence today,February 14, dedicated to lovers, is the birthday of Thomas Malthus (1766) who observed and wrote abstractly of the dynamics of population. The connection is that of microcosm to macrocosm. He was not observant enough, though, as any keeper of a feral cat colony can attest. Population dynamics have a way of demonstrating laws which defy the binary mind of man. After two human generations of spaying and neutering cats, in an effort to shape the population of felines, the result has been that the average litter size (of cats) in the United States has increased from four to six kittens. Tom's own idea was to reduce human population by refusing charitable aid to the poor, so they would die off. He meant people die off, not cats.