Gamma Rays

* President Kaysone Phomvihane, 71, Laos' ruler since the Communist takeover in 1975, died yesterday, Laotian state radio said. The broadcast did not specify a cause of death, mention who would succeed him or other significant details. Mr. Kaysone, who would have turned 72 on Dec. 13, helped direct three decades of revolution against France and the U.S.-backed regime in Vientiane. He had been chief of the Laotian Communist Party since 1955 and was premier from 1975 to August 1991, when the National Assembly elected him president and endowed the post with greater power.

Hometown: Baltimore Current members: Nicky O'Steen, guitar; "Money" Mark Bobrow, drums; Jim Viner, base guitar; Michael Belt, rhythm guitar, vocals. Founded in: 2000 Style: Rock Influenced by: Sick of It All, Social Distortion, Johnny Cash, '70s rock, old punk Notable: Before joining Big Daddy Chrome, guitarist Nicky O'Steen was in a band called Impaler. That band inadvertently played a role in music history when their CD cover art attracted the attention of Tipper Gore. She showed it to her husband's colleagues on the Senate Commerce Committee.

Scientists live and work every day under the pressure of a simple proposition: just when you think something's been settled for good, nature serves up a monkey wrench. Critics of manned orbital exploration of space should take a long look at what happened this week when the shuttle Atlantis got ready to loft into orbit the 17-ton, $617-million Gamma Ray Observatory.A communications antenna boom jammed. Had the shuttle program been scrapped, as many observers advocated after the 1986 Challenger tragedy, this could have been catastrophic.

Comic Tommy Davidson Tommy Davidson will break it down tonight through Sunday at the Baltimore Improv. The high-energy comedian, who was born in Washington and raised in Montgomery County, is scheduled for seven shows during his four-day run. Tickets are $22-$25, depending on date and time. The Baltimore Improv is at 6 Market Place in the Power Plant Live complex. Call 410-727-8500 or visit www.baltimoreimprov.com. Round midnight Local punk rockers the Gamma Rays will get radioactive tonight at the Talking Head Club.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Two astronauts of the shuttle Atlantis zipped around the spacecraft's bay for the second day in a row yesterday, testing possible equipment and techniques for construction of an orbiting space station later this decade.It looked more like play than work during the six-hour spacewalk. Taking turns, the astronauts glided back and forth on a cart running on a monorail along one side of the shuttle's 60-foot-long cargo bay.They were trying out different manual, mechanical and electrical prototype systems for scooting about safely and efficiently in weightlessness.

Question: Has the Hulk always been a glaring shade of emerald green? Answer: No! Back in 1962, when the Hulk's comic appeared, he was gray. He didn't turn green until issue No. 2. Q: True or False: The Hulk's original comic book series has lasted into a fifth decade. A: False! The original comic was canceled after six issues. The Hulk was forced to share a series called Tales to Astonish with other Marvel Comics superheroes such as Giant-Man, Ant-Man and the Wasp for five years. His solo series was reborn in 1968.

Writers love antimatter.Star Trek screenwriters used it to fuel their TV starships and spike their plots. A screw shakes loose somewhere, threatening to free the antimatter fuel and annihilate our regular-matter heroes.An editorial writer once used matter and antimatter as a simile for two apparently contradictory realities that nevertheless exist side by side -- specifically, a booming economy and the average American's money worries.A TV critic used antimatter to power a metaphor for C-SPAN -- that cable TV channel devoted to long speeches no matter how long, or how few are watching.

The first space shuttle flight of the year, scheduled to lift off Friday at 9:18 a.m., features the first U.S. spacewalk since 1985 and deployment of a $600 million astronomy satellite designed to probe the invisible universe of high-energy radiation sources.At 35,000 pounds, the Gamma Ray Observatory is the heaviest civilian satellite ever launched by a shuttle and the second of NASA's four "great observatories" planned for this decade. The first was the Hubble Space Telescope, placed in orbit in April 1990.

Southern Culture on the Skids will bring its backwoods antics to the Recher Theatre's stage this weekend. The band, which has been performing its high-energy mix of hillbilly tunes and R&B for more than 15 years, will grab the spotlight again Sunday when it warms up the crowd for the self-described "punka- billy" act The Reverend Horton Heat. The countrified rock begins around 8 p.m. when Throw Rag opens the show. There is a $20 admission charge for this all-ages show. The three bands will also rock out Saturday at the 9:30 Club in Washington.

MARYLAND Physician oversight lacking Maryland's vow to safeguard patients has been undercut by breakdowns in the system established to oversee doctors, an investigation by The Sun has found. Regulators who once checked every malpractice claim now ignore most of them, and investigators may take years to evaluate a doctor. pg 1a Neither merry nor bright A dispute over utility poles has forced the isolated town of Lonaconing in the mountains of Western Maryland to abandon its 68-year holiday tradition of stringing colored bulbs across Main Street.