Space oddities: Before there were humans in space, they sent up animals - mice, the Soviet dog named Laika and the chimps that came back super intelligent (though we won't talk about them). This Web site has photos of fish aboard the space shuttle Columbia, '60s cats in "simulated spacesuits" that look more like lunchboxes and the stamp honouring the USSR's first canine cosmonaut. Get off the planet at www.tinyurl.com/5mukg.

Big Stuff: Gigantor, a '60s cartoon series called Tetsujin 28 in its native Japan, was one of the originators of the kid-who-controls-a-giant-robot genre of science fiction, which is prized by both power-crazed eight-year-olds and childish adults. Well, a Japanese movie studio is producing a live-action version of Gigantor with CGI robots that have the look of the original, teapot body, pointy nose and all. It premieres next month in the Land of the Rising Sun, but you can see the trailer here: www.tetsujin28.jp.

Comments? Michael Citrome