Early Friday (October 9) morning, NASA fired the latest salvo in its ongoing war with the Mooninites, smashing a rocket into a lunar crater just because they felt like it.

OK, that's not necessarily true. The stated purpose of NASA's mission was to discover water ice buried beneath the surface of the moon, but we here in the MTV Newsroom would like to think that NASA's real intent was twofold. First, to get revenge for the infamous Mooninite invasion of Boston in 2007, and second, to remind those moon jerks that the Earth still is the big dog on the galactic block … and, well, if you can't run with the big dogs, YOU BETTER STAY ON THE PORCH.

So, in celebration of the Earth being #1 — and to rub it in the face of those lunar losers even more — we've made a playlist of our favorite "Moon" songs. Yeah, that's right, we're calling you out, Mooninites, and we await your inevitable rebuttal.

Ozzy Osbourne, "Bark at the Moon"
Prime solo-career cut from the Prince of Darkness. Featuring Jake E. Lee on lead guitar and Ozzy dressed as an awesome wolfman in the music video. Seriously, what else do you need to know?

Creedence Clearwater Revival, "Bad Moon Rising"
John Fogerty was right, there really was a bad moon on the rise … or at least there was until the folks at NASA laid down the intergalactic law. Bonus points for this song serving as the inspiration behind Chris Berman's nickname for the immortal Andre "Bad Moon" Rison.

Echo and the Bunnymen, "The Killing Moon"
Swoony, atmospheric post-punk with a message: The moon is a killer and must be stopped at all costs (or something like that). You probably remember this song from the opening sequence of "Donnie Darko," or from the roughly 10,000 cover versions that exist.

Feist, "My Moon, My Man"
Believe it or not, Canada has a space program, too (it's so adorable!), and this sexy, sumptuous tune is its official theme song. Okay, you got us: We made up the part about Canada having a space program.
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The summer weekends are quickly running out, so make sure you spent the next few days hitting the beach, seeing "District 9," lounging by the pool, hanging out with Kid Rock or whatever else means "summer" to you. But before you do that, make sure you arm yourself with all of the greatness that came barreling out of the Newsroom this week.

» Sometimes a dance on top of an ice cream cart is just an endorsement of frozen treats, but that's never the case if you're Miley Cyrus at the Teen Choice Awards.

» Still, Miley really should have just pointed out that she was simply paying homage to videos by Aerosmith and Juvenile.

» If you're Taylor Swift, sometimes you think, "My life can't get any more awesome." And then you get a tweet from Ace Frehley and it gets infinitely better.

» There is a secret formula to "America's Best Dance Crew." Here's a hint: Experience counts.
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Just one week after Radiohead dropped their first piece of new music in two years with a charity single for the British military, another tune from the band has snuck onto the information superhighway. Though the source of the leak remains mysterious, "These Are My Twisted Words" (which may or may not be the actual title) is a tune in the In Rainbows idiom that features a propulsive drum beat and spacey guitars. It first sounds like an instrumental, but then Thom Yorke's unmistakable wail kicks in and delivers a lyric sheet that centers around the couplet "When are you coming back?/ I just can't stand it."

Though Yorke recently said that it would be a long time before there was another Radiohead record, that doesn't mean that new music is entirely out of the ordinary. In the same interview, Yorke suggests that his group will be satisfying fans with EPs and single releases in the near future. It's possible that "These Are My Twisted Words" is one of those releases, but there is also the issue of Yorke's appearance on the soundtrack to "New Moon." The track was already delivered to director Chris Weitz, and while the tune doesn't sound very much like anything from Yorke's 2006 solo album The Eraser (which was firmly planted in the electronic world), the lyrics could be stretched to address elements of the "Twilight" sequel.

One of the central elements of "New Moon" is Edward's exit from the scene for the sake of Bella's safety. In his absence, she becomes close to Jacob. "These Are My Twisted Words" could actually be sung from inside Bella's head, as she spends the first part of the novel pining for the vampire who left her ("When are you coming back?" might as well be her inner monologue). And doesn't "I'm so sick of just talking" (sung by Yorke in the song's opening verse) sound like the plea of a woman yearning for action?

In any event, it's an excellently moody little tune that would do well as a teaser for an EP or as accompaniment to one of 2009's most hotly-anticipated films.

Since the beginning of the Iraq war, Radiohead have remained mostly apolitical (though their 2003 album Hail to the Thief did appear to address George W. Bush). But they've released their first new song since 2007's In Rainbows, and it's a tribute to a fallen soldier. Of course, the soldier in question hasn't seen battle in quite some time.

Today, the U.K. band unleashed "Harry Patch (In Memory Of)," a brand new track that toasts Harry Patch, the last surviving British veteran of World War I who recently passed away. The track is available for download at the band's official site in exchange for a single British Pound, and all the proceeds will go to the Royal British Legion. (The song is also streaming at the BBC Web site.)

The track is a slow, florid affair featuring little more than some strings, an organ and frontman Thom Yorke's haunting voice. The lyric sheet is typically dark and was inspired by statements made by Patch in an interview he gave in 2005. "I've seen devils coming up from the ground/ I've seen hell upon this earth/ The next will be chemical but they will never learn," Yorke sings. Patch was talking about the horrors of war and how frightening the evolution of technology is. It's not the first time the band has taken a stand on an important international social issue, as they were the first participants in MTV's EXIT campaign.

Radiohead is currently making the rounds on the European festival circuit and will be playing a handful of shows in the U.K., Austria and Poland. And "Harry Patch (In Memory Of)" isn't the only music Yorke has been working on — he's also confirmed to be on the soundtrack to "New Moon," the next film in the "Twilight" saga.

Yesterday saw the passing of Merce Cunningham, a legendary New York-based choreographer who redefined modernist dance in this country and was still very active in the dance community, even at age 90. In his later years, Cunningham collaborated with a number of rock bands to create live performances that blended together exploratory music with moody, sensual dance numbers. In this decade, he reached out to the likes of Sonic Youth, Sigur Ros and Radiohead, for whom he had a particular affinity. When he was working with the band on a 2003 project called "Split Sides," he told a reporter, "There might be people coming to the theater who haven’t heard of Merce Cunningham, but not very many who don't know Radiohead, as far as I can tell. They are like the Beatles."

Cunningham got along with exploratory rock bands because they both pushed the boundaries of their respective fields. As a tribute, here is Radiohead's "House of Cards," which pushed the visual envelope in the same way Cunningham expanded the horizons of movement and dance.

June is nearly over, which means that the Fourth of July is right around the corner. The holiday brings another long holiday weekend, where millions of people will hit the road on beach trips, family reunions and anniversary getaways. Anybody who has ever gotten stuck in traffic during a holiday weekend can thank the Federal Highway Act, which was signed on this day in 1956. The new law established the interstate highway system in this country, which allowed for more efficient travel and interstate commerce.

Of course, the establishment of a national highway system also helped to make the life of Radiohead frontman Thom Yorke supremely uncomfortable. The dangers associated with automobiles permeate the lyrics and visuals of Radiohead's work, from the song "Killer Cars" to the video for "Karma Police," from 1997's landmark OK Computer.

By Adrienne Day

There's a lot going on in the world that doesn't necessarily get addressed in our Newsroom blog. Here's a look at some top stories making headlines today.

T.I. channeled the pain and turmoil of his life into the Grammy-nominated Paper Trail — but is that enough to net him the Best Rap Album award come Sunday? Plus: T.I., Jay-Z, Kanye West and Lil Wayne will "Swagga" together onstage for the first time during the ceremony.

We look at how Radiohead took on — and forever changed — the music industry with their Grammy-nominated album In Rainbows.

Zac Efron's "17 Again" co-star Melora Hardin called the teen star "dreamy" and said she didn't think he'd mind dating an older woman.

Comic fans, take note! MTV News' movies, comic book and gaming experts will be onsite at New York's Comic-Con to bring you the latest news, previews, announcements and reports from ground zero. Head over to Splash Page to find out where we'll be.

Dawn Richard tells us how her own love of comic art led to the creation of Danity Kane, the group and the comic series.

New year, new game. How about it? We get that enterprising DJs love to mash up Jay-Z and random rock acts. First it was the Beatles, then Coldplay, and now, ugh, Radiohead.

While these have been entertaining — and the Beatles one put superproducer Danger Mouse on the map — There can definitely be too much of a good thing. So, in an effort to head off the next bedroom bastardizer at the pass before he or she decides to meld some more Jigga peanut butter with someone else's musical chocolate, here are mash-up concepts we never, ever want to hear or write about: Read more...

Grizzly Bear make an exception for one band only.

One of the more anticipated left-field bands at this year’s Lolla is the experimental Brooklyn quartet Grizzly Bear, who after a hugely acclaimed 2006 album, Yellow House, have fans hungry for a follow-up. And it’s in the works -- the guys recently completed four songs in a studio in upstate New York, one of which, “Two Weeks,” they unveiled recently on the "Late Show With David Letterman." Normally, Grizzly Bear would not interrupt those sessions to go on the road for any reason. Well, except one. It turns out one of the biggest bands on the planet, Radiohead, tapped GB to open the next couple of weeks of U.S. shows for them. And as Chris Taylor told me backstage at Lollapalooza today (where both bands were playing), that’s an offer you don’t turn down.

By John Ochoa

How many of you guys are going to the surprise Radiohead show tonight!? Oh wait, never mind. It was canceled earlier this week, just in time for you not to hear about it.

On Tuesday, Radiohead was set to announce tonight's secret show at the Chicago Theater, but Thom Yorke apparently got sick and the gig was axed. The band decided instead to save its energy for Friday's headlining slot at Lollapalooza.

The Thursday show, which was being organized by the band itself and not Lollapalooza promoters C3 Presents, would have been the official launch of Radiohead's North American tour with all the show's proceeds going to charity.

Sucks for die-hard Radiohead fans who can't wait an extra day, but I'm sure their set will kick ass on Friday.

Stay tuned this weekend as MTV News gives you complete coverage of this year's Lollapalooza, with news and interviews from all your favorite bands. And if you're going to the show, help us cover it by uploading your photos and stories to YouRHere.