Roundup 1/6: Rude Awakening Edition

A ship from Japan's research whaling fleet collided with—or deliberately rammed?—a vessel from the Sea Shepherd environmental organization in Antarctic waters.

The NASA Mars Phoenix Lander may be revived from a 2-year slumber, say engineers. The probe, which landed on the planet in May 2008, has been in "Lazarus mode" for the long Mars winter (-126˚C), but engineers will soon start to listen for signals as the temperature rises this month.

Speaking of Mars, NASA has decided that the 2012 Mars Science Laboratory rover mission will include a new experiment to help identify carbon samples in its analysis lab module.

The National Council for Science and the Environment wants you to vote to help whittle the issues in species management and ecological research down to the top ... 40 issues.

(Photo Credit: NASA/Jet Propulsion Laboratory)