Yeah that's interesting. I'm really curious about a binary system with a wide separation, which might allow for multiple planets around both stars (though from basic googling this seems exceptionally rare). The mechanics of that system would be fascinating. Also imagine if there was life on some of those planets... what kind of cultural artifacts would come up surrounding the interactions between all those planets.

CGP Grey has a great video on this. Not only is Mercury the closest planet to Earth, but it's the closest planet to every other planet in the Solar System. The definition they showcase in their video is a time-average of the distance, since obviously the Earth can be much closer to Venus and Mars at any given moment than to Mercury - but those planets also spend much longer at the opposite end of the Solar System.

There are giant, naturally occurring lasers in space (technically they're masers): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astrophysical_maser