Toothaches in space and the possibility of intelligent life on other planets were among the topics that piqued the curiosity of students in Germany and Canada when they spoke via ham radio with the ISS. The Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) program arranged the back-to-back contacts on November 20. During what may have been the first-ever ARISS school contact in German, youngsters gathered at the Museum for Industry in Mannheim, Germany, to speak with European Space Agency astronaut Thomas Reiter, DF4TR. One wanted to know what would happen if he or one of the other ISS crew members developed a toothache.

A unique, state-of-the-art science instrument -- one that couldrevolutionize how astronauts conduct chemical and biological research inspace -- awaits launch this week aboard Space Shuttle Discovery.

Developed by a science team led by NASA's Marshall Space Flight Centerin Huntsville, Ala., the Lab-On-a-Chip Application Development PortableTest System, or LOCAD-PTS, is part of the STS-116 mission's sciencepayload, bound Dec. 7 for the International Space Station.

Source http://www.amsat.org/amsat/archive/sarex/48hour/msg00139.html