Craig the Rocket Scientist has asked for the week off, and in our grand benevolence, we’ve decided to let him rest for the week. Instead of new Craig, we’re taking this opportunity to take a look back at the best of Craig from the first 6 months of 2011. Enjoy.

5. Craig the Rocket Scientist: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle – Craig looks at the viability of Stewart Money’s call to start reusing spent rockets.

4. Craig the Rocket Scientist Tells a Bedtime Story – Craig the rocket scientist looks back through history to explain how the US ended up beating The Soviet Union to the Moon.

3. Craig the Rocket Scientist Rules in Favor of SpaceX – In this story from just last week, Craig looks at the SpaceX lawsuit and delivers his verdict in favor of the upstart aerospace company.

2. Craig the Rocket Scientist Presents: March Madness in Space – Sickened by March Madness, Craig the Rocket Scientists developed his own tournament… in space.

And the number one post for the first half of 2011 is…

1. Craig the Rocket Scientist Is Not An Official Spy – Using nothing but some complex math and his knowledge of rocket science, Craig the Rocket Scientist puts forth a theory regarding the capture of Osama Bin Laden.

Happy 4th of July loyal readers! While you’re relaxing and preparing for the fireworks tonight, take a break from the bbq and enjoy this week’s links.

Ever notice it snowing a little more around airports? A team of researchers have discovered that airplanes can trigger snows in the area surrounding airports.

Guessing someone’s age isn’t just a cool carnival trick anymore, geneticists from UCLA have developed a method to determine how old you are from your saliva.

This article from ENR explains how John Deere is changing the workforce perception of the hybrid vehicle.

Ever dreamed of having your own personal mouse slave? Me neither, but one researcher from MIT dared to dream of mouse-mind control.

Good morning loyal readers. This week we have a special edition of the Monday Link Review coming to you live from the ASEE 2011 Conference in Vancouver! The show is set to start at any moment, so enjoy this week’s links, and head on over to booth 548 if you’re at the show to say hi.

While at the ASEE conference, the importance of STEM education is at the forefront. As such, we would be remiss to not mention this piece in the New York Post about the disappearance of science jobs in the US.

Remember learning about static electricity as a kid? Well, everything you learned about static electricity could be wrong.

Pavlov’s fly? To learn more about the science of sleep, researchers at the University of Wisconsin have bred a fly that can fall asleep on command.

Finally this week, a story from the New York Times about the new San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge currently being built in… Shanghai?