Crave

(Credit: NASA)

The International Space Station isn't just an orbiting laboratory, spaceship testing ground, and multinational geek fest--it's also the world's highest (250 miles) and fastest (17,500 mph) computer network. We burrow under its metal skin and siphon out its most interesting specifications, like some kind of star-hopping alien data vampires (but without the plutonium-coated fangs).

Read more of "Space Station IT: High technology" at Crave UK.

I know science thinks it can do everything.

I know robots will soon be ordering us around like wait staff at the Ritz.

But I am gravely concerned about an experiment that has been going on up there in space.

Japanese astronaut Koichi Wakata, who returned to earth Friday, had been on the International Space Station since March. And, well, I don't know quite how I am to put this, but he didn't change his underwear for a month.

I know what you're thinking. We're both thinking the same thing.

Not even in the the darkest, most slovenly days of our student youth did we wear the same pair of knickers for 30 days. Around seven days was our limit. Then we'd at least manage a hand wash in a sink.

But here was the intrepid Wakata, prepared for the sake of all our futures to don anti-static, flame-resistant, odor-eating, bacteria-killing, water-absorbent underpants. Yes, water-absorbent.

Will we only have two pairs in the drawer one day? Or even one?

(Credit: CC Mike52ad/Flickr)

I know that there was a lady astronaut a little while ago who wore diapers on a long car journey, but this is surely couture from another realm.

The London Times quoted Wakata as saying, pre-landing: "I haven't talked about this underwear to my crew members."

This is quite understandable. I rarely talk about my underwear to my clients. Not even my underwear clients. However, wasn't just the occasional merest stink caused by this novel eco-friendly fashion show?

"I wore it for about a month and my station crew members never complained, so I think the experiment went fine," he said.

Well, now, in polite society one doesn't normally comment when a fellow worker suffers something of a digestional malfunction, so how can Wakata be sure that his fellow astronauts weren't furtively making sniffy remarks about certain odors emanating from his person?

I know you'll be wondering what astronauts normally do with their soiled undies. Firstly, they take them off. Then they pack them up with the trash, which they shoot into outer space on human-less Russian cargo ships. On the way, the dirty undies are cremated.

But here's the thing with Wakata's undergarments: the Japanese space agency, Jaxa, which designed them, has no firm idea just how well they performed their task.

Which makes two pulsating thoughts thud around my cranium.

One: what if the anti-static, flame-resistant, odor-eating, bacteria-killing, water-absorbent qualities didn't work so well? Especially the last two. What effects might imperfect performance have on poor Mr. Wakata's inner well-being?

And two, I must do the washing.

The 404 studio starts its transition from toxic-waste dump site into a full-on video production system with the help of Buzz Out Loud star Jason Howell. Seriously, there are about six cameras in here pointed at things I don't even want to mention.

(Credit: Print Screen/CNET/Tricaster)

Lots on today's show. First, the Interwebs have tracked down the location of the suspected Domino's Pizza where a few employees rolled dough down their backs and stuck cheese up their nose. Speaking of douche bags, there's a new book coming out highlighting the antics of "that guy." You know, the one that strikes up a conversation at the urinal or, like Justin, who sends you pictures that leave you having nightmares. Rounding out the first half of the show, a 6-year-old boy can't return a brand-new PSP to Wal-Mart after he discovers pr0n on it.

On the second half, we've got some great voice mails, including a call from a special someone in Hawaii who wants to have Justin's babies. Stephen Colbert gets a treadmill named after him aboard the International Space Station. If you're addicted to the Internet, there's an application on the Mac that will help. And finally, AT&T allows parents and jealous boyfriends and girlfriends to track the location of their loved ones. Call it a social network and it's not big brother; it's awesometown.

Again, please RSVP for tomorrow night's BOL and 404 meetup at the Delancey in New York City at 7:30 p.m. Right now, only age 21 and up can come. We're working on trying to get 18+ to get in, but no guarantees. It is a bar, after all. If you can't make it though, please call in at 1-866-404-CNET (2638) to leave a callback or message about something asinine one of us said.

An astronaut fixed a torn solar panel on the International Space Station on Saturday in a risky procedure that involved riding a robotic arm to the damaged area in order to install cufflinks on the torn wing, according to the Associated Press.

In an emergency mission, spacewalker Scott Parazynski rode the 90-foot robotic arm to the far end of the shuttle complex as the crew extended the wing to its full length. He then clipped a hinge wire and, guided by fellow spacewalker Douglas Wheelock, installed the cufflinks. The 2.5-foot-long rip had occurred while astronauts were unfurling the new array on Tuesday, but NASA officials weren't sure how the damage was incurred, Reuters said.

The International Space Station is a research facility that is in orbit 240 miles above the Earth's surface. The station uses the solar panels to generate its electricity by capturing sunlight and converting it into power.

Check out this CNET News.com gallery for more photos of the International Space Station and the ripped solar array.

(Credit: European Space Agency)

Mars needs women, and astronauts need your MP3s.

The European Space Agency (ESA) is holding a contest to send the best astronaut-friendly playlist into space.

ESA will put the winner's playlist onto an iPod, then deliver it via the Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV), an unmanned ship making its maiden voyage in the fall of 2007. If all goes well, the iPod will reach the astronauts aboard the International Space Station.

(Note to ESA: Don't forget to deliver an iPod charger.)

Unfortunately, you can only participate if you're under 18 and from one of the countries participating in the ATV program: Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, or Switzerland.

That's a space-bummer for those of us in the U.S. (and those of us who can't even remember being under 18), but I've been inspired to put together my own space-inspired playlists anyway.

Take a look at my astro playlists and post your own out-of-this-world lists in the TalkBack section below.

Playlist: Blast-off and reentry mix

1. Space Oddity - David Bowie
2. They Punctured My Yolk - The Flaming Lips
3. Space Hos - DANGERDOOM
4. Planet Telex - Radiohead
5. Planet of Sound - Pixies
6. Yourself: A Majesty of Infinite Space - The Detachment Kit
7. Astro - The White Stripes
8. Space Rock - Weezer
9. Apollo Kids - Ghostface Killah
10. The Day That Lassie Went to the Moon - Camper Van Beethoven

Playlist: Floatin' around in space mix

1. California Stars - Billy Bragg and Wilco
2. He's Simple, He's Dumb, He's the Pilot - Grandaddy
3. The World Has Turned and Left Me Here - Weezer
4. Rocket - Def Leppard
5. 9th Wonder - Digable Planets
6. Lost in Space - Kool Keith
7. Mars Attacks - Aesop Rock
8. Transmitting Live From Mars - De La Soul
9. Earth People - Dr. Octagon
10. Let's Go Moon Some Cars - Beck

(Credit: NASA)

Here's something fun for you to waste time exploring.

SpaceRef.com noticed, from this photo, that European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut Thomas Reiter has an iPod and Belkin external battery pack on board with him at the International Space Station.

Upon closer look, CNET noticed a few more brands in use. (A hi-res version of the image is available on NASA's Web site.)

(Credit: NASA)

We've shown you a close-up of the iPod. See if you can also find the Nikon digital SLR cameras, an IBM Lenovo ThinkPad, a Bogen Superclamp holding the armature with the Fujinon camera, a Sony video monitor, several film canisters and a Kenwood controller.

What else do you see? Let us know and, if we agree, we'll add it to this blog.