It was that pulsars are rotating neutron stars, the super-dense last stage of collapse of a star not quite heavy enough to form a black hole.

ECONOMIST: Obituary

Over the course of the next few hundred million years, the two black holes in NGC 6240, which are about 3, 000 light-years apart, will drift towards one another and merge to form an even larger supermassive black hole.

BBC: Black holes on collision course

Economists in Thailand suggest reviving plans for a gargantuan construction project digging a hole through the isthmus in southern Thailand (not quite pure Keynes: the hole would not be filled in, but form a canal tunnel linking the Pacific and Indian oceans).

ECONOMIST: Still sick and gloomy, now rebellious

Instead of a black hole taking energy in, he's a pulsar pumping it out in the form of pain relieved, at least for a while, by wry humor and an openness to Jane's beauty.

WSJ: Jane Eyre, Mars Needs Moms and Red Riding Hood | Film Reviews by Joe Morgenstern

More quant easing is likely in the form of bond buybacks and other non-security instruments that blew a big hole in the market in 2008.

FORBES: Ron Paul's Fed Talk Gets Some Talking Monetary Policy Change

The South African has been in superb form at Royal Melbourne, and came within a shot of his 54-hole European Tour record of 23-under 193.

BBC: SPORT | Golf | Els closes on title

Although we have seen improved functioning in some markets, the financial storm that reached gale force some weeks before our last meeting here in Jackson Hole has not yet subsided, and its effects on the broader economy are becoming apparent in the form of softening economic activity and rising unemployment.

FORBES: Reducing Systemic Risk

The latter has dug his team out of many a hole over the past couple of years, and the team management might be inclined to judge his current poor form leniently, but Ponting definitely needs a good series to keep his Test career alive.

WSJ: A Boxing Day Treat to Savor