And maybe its denizens are smart enough not to elect guys like Bush and McCain

I'm not a big science enthusiast; I tend to be one of those arts 'n' history types. Mr. Brilliant is our science geek; he can sit and watch the Science channel for an entire afternoon, enthralled. Astronomy in particular is a problem for me, because it forces us to deal with vastness so incomprehensible that we wonder why insignificant beings like us have the hubris to think ANYTHING we do matters. But this is pretty cool:

Planet hunters say it's just a matter of time before they lasso Earth's twin, which almost surely is hiding somewhere in our star-studded galaxy.
Momentum is building: Just last week, astronomers announced they had discovered three super-Earths — worlds more massive than ours but small enough to most likely be rocky — orbiting a single star. And dozens of other worlds suspected of having masses in that same range were found around other stars.