An “Astro-nutty” idea in the New York Post this morning. A Dutch company with some legitimate backers wants to build a reality TV show around a manned mission to Mars. The problem with the mission as proposed is that there wouldn’t be enough fuel to fly the return trip. So anyone who accepts the “prize” would live on Mars permanently.

It’s happening, says the Detroit News. In three to five years, the paper predicts that driverless cars will be commonplace on American roads. A handful of states have passed or are considering legislation to make autonomous cars legal on their streets. And Ford’s latest model, the 2013 Fusion, is almost there. It uses a “radar, ultrasonic sensors and cameras to automatically park, stay within lane markers, and monitor blind spots and cruise control.”

Huge news in the smartphone world in today’s Wall Street Journal. Apple is going to give Google Maps the boot. Apple has developed its own navigation program to be the main map on the iPhone and iPad. The driver in this is revenue—if you control the map application then you can sell advertising based on what people search for on their maps.

Miami Heat fans are some of the cockiest, which makes the one of the most reviled fan bases in the NBA says the Sun Sentinel this morning. They are also some of the most fickle fans, another trait that isn’t looked upon kindly in other basketball cities. Explains a local sports radio host: “The typical Miami Heat fan loves the team when they are winning, hates the team when they are losing and their opinion changes depending on the score at the moment.”

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette takes a look at Bellefonte, Pennsylvania this morning. It’s a town you’ll be hearing a lot more from in the coming months. The sleepy town of 6,100 is about to welcome hordes of journalists as the trial of Jerry Sandusky gets underway. The paper says Bellefonte has a rich history—one that’s tied intimately to the origins of Penn State.

The New York Times has an article about the amazing “cross-laminated timber” in today’s paper. An innovation in the construction industry, it’s basically a new way of engineering wood so you can build high rises from it. The building material is already popular in Europe but is just catching on in this country.

“The woman was looking for a husband. Instead, she ended up with genital herpes.” In an unprecedented case, the Oregonian says a judge just awarded a Portland woman $900,000 after a man she met on eHarmony gave her herpes. Jurors were asked to contemplate, among other things, how much a person should be compensated for a contracting a disease that affects roughly 1 in 6 adults. 

New Jersey tan mom Patricia Krentcil is back in the news this morning. She got her first look at the action figure she inspired—and let’s just say she wasn’t into it.  The New York Daily News got a great picture of the moment, showing Krentcil looking red in the face as she was showed her likeness. Oh wait…