Societal ADD

The average shelf life of pretty much anything in today's media-mad world is dwindling faster than it takes to copy the lyrics of a Spice Girls song to your already-obsolete PDA.

Bear in mind this will beg the question of why you're listening to Spice Girls in the first place, and why you feel the need to archive the lyrics to their so-called music. And it ignores the irony of the URL in the link above: spicegirlsforever.co.uk (right). But I digress. Again.

Today's news is tomorrow's forgotten relic. It doesn't matter how momentous the message is. The public will doubtless tire of it in a blink before moving on to The Next Big Thing.

Ergo: the world stood still for Apollo 11. No one remembers who flew Apollo 12. When Apollo 13 was launched, the networks ignored the story. Until, of course, the now-famous in-flight explosion crippled the ship. Universal ignorance resumed soon thereafter.

In the shuttle era, Challenger and Columbia are pretty big stories, for obvious reasons. Every other shuttle-related fact seems to elude us (or you, for I am a shameless space geek. But you already knew that.)

Some other forgotten spacey stories from earlier this year that, despite their near-total absence from the headlines, continue to return incredibly rich hard-science from impossibly distant venues:

• The Mars Exploration Rover Mission - remember Spirit and Opportunity? Didn't think so.
• Cassini - Yup, we all enjoyed that first set of pictures of Saturn's rings. But we yawned when the second set came in. What have you done for us lately, oh planet-wizards?
• Mercury Messenger - OK, I lied: this one hasn't launched yet. But I'll wager you've already relegated it to the dustbin of history. Tune in up to and around August 2nd. It promises to be a cool ride.

You might also remember a couple of guys named Mike and Gennady who, as I write this, continue to orbit the planet aboard the International Space Station. They're preparing for a spacewalk on August 3rd. You can watch it live on NASA TV, if you wish. You can also spot their home from your backyard by clicking here. In either case, I promise you it'll be better than Trading Spaces, Monster Garage, or any other piece of instantly-forgettable tripe that passes for entertainment nowadays.

Including the Spice Girls.