“It’s obviously a legitimate question. Do you need to be a rocket scientist to be an astronaut?”
NASA spokesman Robert Mirelson on the need for astronauts to have mechanical and construction skills as well as physics degrees (The New York Times, 24 September)
“We’ve got to get a greater understanding on this, on the frequency of fires, the earlier start to the season and if there’s any connection to climate change.”
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Kevin O’Loughlin of the Bushfire Cooperative Research Centre, on fears that after 10 years of below-average rainfall, Australia is on the brink of a catastrophic bushfire season (The Age, Melbourne, 25 September)
“We should be thinking in terms of a span of about five years. If public consensus develops…it’s possible to do so earlier.”
Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe on how long it will take to revise his country’s pacifist constitution (The Korea Herald, Seoul, 25 September)
“It goes from career aspirations, to wondering whether I’m going to have a family, to trying to assure my future self that I’ve set aside enough money for retirement.”
Matt Sly on his website, which allows you to send emails with time delays of anything from 30 days to 30 years (The Daily Telegraph, London, 25 September)
“They understood that they were selling death.”
Attorney Michael Hausfeld applauds the ruling giving the go-ahead to a US lawsuit against big tobacco companies, accusing them of misleading smokers that “light” cigarettes are less harmful (BBC news online, 25 September)
